A New Partner | #MLWattysAwards | ✔️

The Day

Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain haven't been the same since Marinette's death. They smiled less, dreading each day without their beautiful daughter by their sides.

The pain was nearly intolerable. Today was the day of their daughter's funeral, her burial.

Sabine's heart couldn't take any more pain to find the many pictures of Marinette for the funeral. She had gone through baby pictures, adorable pictures from when she was a whiny toddler; even selfies with Alya were difficult to look at without the heartbreak of realizing she was gone.

They dressed in black and remained serious.

"Ready, honey?" Tom asked his teary-eyed wife while wiping a tear of his own.

She nodded, holding Tom's arm as they opened the door to the funeral.

Sabine held her husband's arm tightly as they greeted and thanked those who came.

Alya held back every tear, every emotion to keep from bursting out to cry in that moment she walked in.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," she croaked to the Dupain-Chengs.

"Oh honey," Sabine said, pulling her into a hug, "You were her best friend. She would've been so happy that you're here."

Alya didn't hold back anymore, she wrapped her arms around Sabine and sobbed into her shoulder.

"I know, honey. She's here with us," Sabine stroked her hair, choking back her own stifled sobs.

"I miss her so much! Why did Volpina kill her?!" She sobbed.

Mireille walked up to where Marinette's parents and Alya stood.

"I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry for your loss... Marinette was so strong and brave. I never would have guessed that she was Ladybug at first. She was such a sweet girl," Mirielle rambled nervously.

Alya stopped crying for a moment and turned to look at Mirielle like she was a nut-case.

"Did you just say what I think you just said?" Alya asked her.

"Wha-what did I say?" She asked nervously.

"Marinette being Ladybug," Alya reminded her.

"Yes? Aren't you the LadyBlogger?" Mirielle asked her, confused as to why she didn't seem familiar with the idea. Mirielle assumed Alya had already known that her best friend was Ladybug, since the news was already well-known with a majority of Paris, but immediately regretted her decision to say anything once she saw how much devastation she caused to the girl.

"Yes, I am the LadyBlogger and I know Marinette isn't Ladybug! I swear, she would've... said something! There's no way she- Ladybug is dead as well! No, no!" Alya begun to yell at Mirielle. The girl was overwhelmed and shocked. Her best friend, her sister, her idol was now gone? Alya could not come to terms with this, nor would she want to face the idea.

"You mean 'wasn't'" Mirielle corrected her, shyly recoiling in guilt, "And it's all over the news... so I didn't know that you had no idea. Again, I'm really sorry. This isn't my place to- I'm sorry."

"Wait, you didn't know?" Sabine asked Alya, surprised by the fact that her daughter hadn't even mentioned this to her best friend, or that no one had said anything to the girl. However, she begun to understand that no one wanted to be the bearer of bad news, and that people just wanted to let this information come to Alya in small pieces. In another thought, she also felt that Alya had the right to know, and that she would've discovered this sooner or later.