Chapter Text
It was the little things that first caught Marinette's attention.
She didn't notice at first. But when she woke up after another long night studying and checked the sweater she'd planned to repair, there was no trace of the hole on her sleeve. She couldn't recall fixing it the night before. It appeared to be already fixed, as-good-as-new. She started to question it the third time it happened.
The mystery flew from her mind as she became even busier with schoolwork and the responsibilities of being student president. She barely thought about it as she raced through her days, trying her best to be a good student and a good friend. Whenever her questions resurfaced, she brushed it off as unexplainable good luck. After all, it was just a sweater.
Then, Marinette began to notice that her in-process clothing designs were always finished earlier than she thought they'd be. It didn't alarm her at first. It was entirely possible that she'd just forgotten the unaccounted time.
She thought, I'm just being too paranoid. Nothing extraordinarily unusual has ever happened to me and I have no reason to worry so much. So, she left it at that.
However, the night before the big Math final changed everything.
— — — — —
Marinette was so bone-tired that she was starting to doubt she'd ever slept in her entire life. She held her pencil limply in her hand, determined to finish the last question in a long line of tough worksheet questions. Just one more, and she'd be done all her studying for tomorrow's Math final. She slowly wrote out the final answer, her eyelids drooping heavily until they finally closed shut.
The light from her window woke her up. As she regained consciousness, she discovered that she'd actually fallen asleep at her desk. Blurry thoughts swam through her head as she struggled to open her eyes, trying to piece together the previous evening. She spotted the completed Math review worksheet in front of her, and closed her eyes in relief.
A moment later, she quickly sat up, fully awake and filling with panic. The shoes! I forgot to sew the last embroidered flowers on the shoes for Alya! We're going to celebrate her birthday right after class is over. How could I forget to finish my best friend's gift?? Marinette picked up the deep blue flats from her desk, ready to assess her unfinished work. She might be able to finish it this morning if she hurried. She looked, and her train of thought halted. She looked again, turning the shoes over. Her eyes blinked rapidly, a cloud of confusion settling on her.
The shoes were finished.
She peered closely at the side of one shoe, her thumb running over the design. It was her flowers, it was her design, but it could not have been her that finished sewing them. The yellow petals stood out beautifully from the deep blue background, each blossom alighting on a elegant, green, vine pattern. As she looked closer, she noticed that the flowers became smaller towards the heel of the shoe. She squinted at them, her confusion growing when she realized that the embroidered flowers were smaller than even she could sew. The fine embroidery stopped at the end of the vine, a tiny flower next to a tiny, green leaf.
"Marinette! Breakfast is ready, sweetie!"
Marinette jumped, nearly knocking down her desk chair as she stood up. She scanned her whole room, planning what she'd need to take to school. Then, she jumped into action. She gathered everything she needed, and got herself ready for the day in record time. She only paused once in her hurrying, staring at the shoes on her desk.
I'm not sure what to make of this. I guess I can think about it later, after school is over, she mused. Then, Marinette quickly snapped some photos of the shoes, taking care to get good close-ups of the embroidery. After tucking away her phone, she dropped the shoes into a brightly coloured birthday bag, picked up her backpack, and rushed down the stairs to breakfast.
In her haste to get ready, Marinette didn't notice the person watching her intently, partially hidden from sight.