The Other Part of Me

Aftermath

"Marinette, can I have a word please?"

The class had just packed their things away as Ms. Bustier called Marinette to the front.

It had been two weeks. Two of the longest weeks of their lives. Marinette was still trying to piece everything together, along with checking on Nooroo and Dusuu's well-being as they made their way back into the Miracle Box. Emilie was as corrupt as Gabriel, if not more, Nathalie was Adrien's surrogate mother who had exchanged her own life for his, and they had finally defeated their nemesis. You'd think that alone would make it great, however it did everything but.

She hadn't spoken privately to Adrien since the night they separated as Ladybug and Chat Noir. He had been taken in with his next of kin, Amelie, and moved to England for the foreseen future. Tom and Sabine were currently in the middle of a custody battle for him to return to France. Marinette had been taking questionnaires, being interviewed and having physical tests alongside Adrien to validate their soulmark. They weren't allowed to contact each other until the tests were complete, and the outcome had been officiated. They'd even gone as far as cutting contact as their alter egos, they were not going to risk it turning against them.

Marinette had become a shell of a person, understanding how cold turkey from an addiction can be detrimental to the healing of a broken heart. Yes, her heart was broken. Not for a loss of her love because he would always be there. She was determined he would come back, but her heart ached for what her love had lost himself. Adrien was hurting and she couldn't comfort him, she couldn't be there for him and all she wanted to do was to hold him and let him know that it was going to be alright, that together they'd work through it.

Nino had been a blessing, acting as a go between for the two heroes. He would purposefully FaceTime Adrien at lunch with the volume up on his phone so that Marinette could hear him, the sound of his voice being a constant band aid to her breaking soul. Nino would also take screenshots, and oh how they hurt to look at. Adrien looked ill, but he wasn't dead. That was the motto she now replayed over and over again. Her nightmares no longer consisted of Chat Blanc, but of what had happened on that fatal day.

"How are you doing?" Ms. Bustier pulled out the seat next to hers and indicated Marinette to sit on it.

"Surviving," Marinette sighed, placing her elbows on her knees and chin in her hands, 'fake' crutches resting against the table.

"I spoke to Adrien yesterday," she explained. The teachers were informed of everything, well, everything except their secret identities.

"Oh?"

"He's seeing a therapist."

Marinette could tell that Ms. Bustier was trying to get her to talk about it. The only issue was that talking about it usually ended in Marinette having a mental breakdown.

"Nino told me."

"I've spoken to your parents," her teacher continued, "and we think you should see one too. The school is willing to bring someone in to help you."

Marinette looked up into her teacher's kind eyes. Why would she need to see a therapist, it wasn't like her mother and father were psychopaths and her surrogate mother had traded her life for her own.

"We know what you've been thinking Marinette, that you have no issues compared to what Adrien is going through, but you are wrong. You have different issues but they're still issues. Do you really think Adrien is happy that you're pushing your own mental health to the side because you don't feel worthy of help, that you don't deserve help."

The raven haired superhero wasn't living, she was surviving. She went to school and back to her room, she would eat only if she wanted to and at the moment that was rare.