Sapphire and Moonlight: Chapter 1
I decided I was going to go ahead and post it here as well. I’ll probably start doing a small Ao3 link in the authors notes instead of what I usually do with posting the entire link. So without further ado Chapter 1: Plans for the Future.
Plans for the Future
“Hey everybody welcome back to Miraculous Fitness, as some of you know I'm Marinette. For those of you who don't know this is a channel I started with some friends, we cover a variety of things. Meditation, dance, healthy eating habits, and a lot more. We're not certified health consultants or anything though,” The girl who wore a black pair of sweat pants with an apple blossom design on the leg and a black sports bra as she faced the camera said
Marinette felt a bit giddy as she looked at the camera, this thankfully was just a vlog entry to keep the fans updated, after all there was big news to share. She couldn't wait to see their reactions as she beamed at the camera practically vibrating with excitement. This was major news, the biggest news you could share really.
“I am sad to announce that Miraculous Fitness will be taking a brief hiatus while I go on a small trip. Not to worry though, Luka and Kagami will be here still, so you'll still be getting meditation, yoga, and whatever other zany things those two throw together. I wish I could keep you guys updated on the why but it's a top secret project. We will definitely be back though no need to worry. Once we're settled we promise we'll update you guys. Until then though, bug out.”
Marinette smiled as the video blinked out. A hand to her chest as she looked over and waited for the signal. Alya glanced up and gave her a thumbs up.
“You sure you don't want to tell them where we're going? I mean it's Gotham, sure it's the city of crime, but it's still pretty amazing,” Alya asked as they packed up their equipment.
“There's no reason to make them worry. We're just going for an internship after all,” Marinette said.
It was true, by some miracle they had been chosen for an amazing opportunity. Wayne Enterprises was an amazing place to work apparently, or at least this internship was going to be an amazing thing. Everyone in their class had gotten their pick of locations, Alya would be working with he public relations office, Max in the computer science department, Nino had been a bit harder to fit but Wayne Enterprises did host events occasionally so he had decided on that ultimately. The others had all chosen places that suited them as well. Marinette wanting her classmates to get their own choices had opted to simply write in her own choices spot that she was happy being placed anywhere so long as her classmates got their choices. When she had gotten her letter it had only outlined she had been accepted for the program, nothing beyond that. A vague letter, especially once she had seen the absolute mountains some of the others had received.
“I'm going to be meeting up with Lila soon, want to come,” Alya asked.
“Actually I'm meeting up with Kagami. Need to give her some last minute adjustments for the series. But you two have fun,” Marinette said.
Marinette tried, and with herculean effort she succeeded in schooling her expression into something amicable. Lila and she would never get along, and the others would never listen to her about the lies that spewed from the girls mouth, but she had found a type of inner peace. Truthfully she would have never thought of Miraculous Fitness, between running around doing favors for everyone, being Ladybug, and all her other responsibilities she had been stretched thin. It was thanks to the brief time she was left blowing in the wind she was able to recenter and figure out some things about herself. Things she wanted to do. In truth though, it hadn't been easy, letting Lila lie and manipulate others...but Kagami and Luka had both helped her come up with methods of dealing with her frustrations.
In truth they were her inspiration for Miraculous Fitness, Luka and his meditation, Kagami and her fencing, besides fashion and swinging around as Paris's own Ladybug she found that she actually did have these pockets of empty time. Time that had previously been carved out for all of the favors she used to be on call for. So she started experimenting, yoga, dance, a brief stint kickboxing. She had even started vlogging to document it all, not as a way of rubbing anyone’s noses into it, but she would feel flashes of inspiration in the moment and she wanted to remember the feeling as she designed based on the experience. She had NEVER expected anyone to actually enjoy her silly videos but they did! So she had turned originally to two people she knew she could rely on for content and inspiration, but most of all a calm and quiet placed to land, Kagami and Luka.
Kagami had been harder to convince than Luka, but when Marinette had asked her to teach her about fencing and had actually posted a nearly hour long video of the two talking about safety equipment and the importance of making sure your equipment was the right size for you, she had relented. Marinette even managing to convince her mom that it was a good thing, exposure through other medias and would also look excellent on applications. One of the creators of content for a successful web series.
That was besides the point though, Gotham was calling their name. Miraculous Fitness would be fine without her....Paris would be okay too. She had to think about her life after Hawkmoth was defeated and that meant going to this internship and making herself marketable. She had to think about life beyond Hawkmoth, and that was exactly what she had told Master Fu when he had tried to talk her out of going to this internship. So a compromise had been made, she would take Kaalki and if need be a quick portal and she would be back, but Luka and Kagami could handle things, distract and protect their fellow Parisians until she could get back.
Arriving at the Couffaine's houseboat Marinette called out as she heard the sounds of a guitar being carefully picked at. Silence met her greeting but she finally saw his head pop out over the edge.
“Hey come on, Kagami got here a while ago,” Luka said.
Marinette couldn't help her smile as she boarded the boat. Before she had found a balance the ship had even made her anxious, bumping into Lila while she was hanging out or having Rose and Juleka look at her like she was in the wrong. Now though she felt light as air. Lila would paint herself into a corner it was just a question of when, and while she wasn't some paragon of patience she was sure the pay off for her patience would be incredible.
“You'll be leaving for Gotham soon won't you,” Kagami asked, as if she didn't know that they were scheduled for an insanely early morning flight.
“Yep, before the sun is up so dark and early.”
“Well hopefully Hawkmoth doesn't send out an Akuma and you can all relax,” Luka chimed in, looking up from his tuning.
Marinette laughed at that, he had been slamming them pretty hard and all she wanted if she was being honest was a nap, but there was no rest when you ran a store based on commissions, were a superhero even with support, and ran a fitness blog with friends. The daily grind was relentless.
“Honestly, I'm going to sleep the entire flight there.”
“Do you know who it is you're sitting by,” Kagami asked.
“Won't know until I'm on the plane I guess,” Marinette said with a shrug.
It wasn't that she wasn't worried, ending up by Lila would be a nightmare but she would deal with it if she had to. If she could help it though she would rather sit by a complete stranger, less likely to engage her in conversation and she could sleep or work.
“I came by to drop off some things though. You guys are going to need the posting schedule and don't forget about the live stream for this weekend. We promised and just because I'm leaving doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't keep it. Also don't forget the new items for the store are going to be up soon,” Marinette said handing them both folders filled with schedules and some prints of new designs for the store.
“Marinette, you're worrying for nothing, Luka and I know how much trust you are placing in us. We love this project just as much as you do. We will not let you down and you are but a phone call away. Now you know you must make sure you are done packing,” Kagami said as she and Luka shared an amused look.
Gripping her by the shoulders Kagami turned her back towards solid ground, ignoring her stammers and protest. She was stalling, her stress levels high at the thought of not only leaving Paris, but also of being in a foreign country. Turning back to the ship to protest she could only hang her head as Kagami stood on the gang plank, a hand on her hip as she pointed in the direction of the bakery. Seeing the resolve in her friends eyes she began to trudge home alone, once a fair distance from the boat her purse wiggled as Tikki popped her head out.
“Marinette you know she's right. You still haven't finished packing,” Tikki reminded the girl.
“Oh, I know Tikki. I'm just so worried. My packet didn't have nearly as much information as everyone else, and what if Hawkmoth figures out that Chat Noir and Ladybug are out of the country? There's so many what if's...maybe this internship was a bad idea. Maybe Master was right,” Marinette lamented, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng you listen to me. You're future is in your own hands, you are not going to let anything stop you. You're Ladybug, but you're also so amazing even without that! You can do this,” Tikki said, trying to giver her chosen a much needed pep talk.
“Yeah, yeah I can do this! I'm not going to just lose an amazing opportunity. I worked so hard to get this internship,” Marinette said. “Tikki let's go.”
With a new purpose to her walk she took off heading home to pack. She had no idea what was waiting for her when the tires of the plane touched down on the tarmac or what new things she would discover. She just knew that she was going to face it and maybe she would mess up but it was going to be fine, she wasn't alone.
