Chapter Text
Marinette brushed her hair in the shared bathroom mirror. "For the last time, you don't need to redo your hair," Adrien teased.
"Easy for you to say, kitty. Your hair does itself," Marinette pointed out. "It refuses to adhere to the laws of physics. Or logic."
"My hair still thinks it's modelling," Adrien laughed. "Years of having a strict dad who owned a fashion company will do that to you. It's been ten years since we left school, and it still styles itself like this. I need to start growing facial hair, or nobody will think I have changed."
"Is change really so bad?" Marinette asked. "I like how you stayed true to yourself. And real change happens within."
"This coming from someone who grew out of her pigtails since school," Adrien said.
"Hey, I had those pigtails for too long. Sue me, kitty," Marinette giggled. "Let's go. I want to know what happened to my friends."
Francoise Dupont looked exactly as they remembered it back when they were students. Mme. Mendeleiev also looked just as scary as they remembered her to be. "M. Agreste, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng." They trembled, waiting for some long-overdue detention before she smiled at them. "Welcome back."
"Thank you," Adrien said. "Do you know where our old classmates are?"
"They're right at the front, M. Agreste." Mme. Mendeleiev pointed towards the main hall. "Fair warning to the both of you; they've changed since then."
"So have we," Marinette said. "And it's Mlle. Agreste now. Come on, Adrien."
The two waltzed in, expecting things to be different. They were not expecting the true degree.
The first people they saw were Juleka and Rose, who looked pretty similar. Rose's hair was shoulder-length now, while Juleka's was even longer and sported a blue streak. Had to be a tribute to her brother somehow. Both came wearing denim jumpsuits, Rose's being a pink jumpsuit studded with rhinestones, and Juleka's being black denim with pink and purple stitches embroidered onto it. Marinette noted, with a nod, that the Kitty Section logo was stitched onto Juleka's knee.
"Adrien, Marinette, hi!" Mylène was first to reintroduce herself, along with Ivan. "You two look great!"
Mylène and Ivan looked great, too. Mylène's multi-coloured braids were now fewer in colour, thanks to the undercut she now sported. On her hand was Ivan's name, contained within a heart. On her upper arm was a little mime, just like her father.
Ivan's frame was now more muscular, and his left arm sported a tattoo sleeve of hearts. Within these hearts contained his sister's name, Mylène's, his mother's, and the Kitty Section logo. "Should have expected that you'd get tattoos," Marinette said.
"We were expecting that you'd get married," Mylène said. "Where's everyone else, by the way? I was hoping that Alya would be here."
"And I was hoping to see Nino," Adrien said. "Are we really going to miss out on seeing both of our best friends?"
"I think you will," Ivan said. "Alya basically dropped off the face of the earth after high school. No social media, nothing. That Lila business ruined her life."
"Oh, right. Can't believe I forgot about that," Marinette groaned. "She must have been roasted by the internet for associating with Lila."
"That doesn't explain Nino," Adrien said.
"Oh, he's fine, just in another country," Marinette said. "Luckily, his DJ career took off after everything."
"Coming in hot, people!" A blue blur whooshed around the room, landing perfectly in the middle of the room. Marinette gasped with glee.
"Markov, Max!" Ivan cheered. "Looking cool!"
"We all do, Ivan," Max said. He'd completely transformed himself in the ten years since they'd graduated, starting with his hair. He'd taken it out of the short flat-top/afro he'd had as a kid and started growing locs. He'd also gotten himself a motorbike, which was obvious by his biking leather. "That's what time does to you."
"I got some much-needed upgrades," Markov said. He'd gone from just having a propeller with a single claw arm to being humanoid, with fingers and hands and actual legs. Also, his face screen included a mouth and even eyebrows, as big as Max's. "I can walk and fly! About time!"
Kim and Alix walked in at the same time. Alix's hair was still the dyed pink colour it had always been, but no longer tied up. Kim's hair was buzzed. "Let me know when you can swim," Kim said, his hair buzzed short. "You really could do with some waterproofing."
"And you could do with less of a big, loud mouth, Kim," Alix said. "Markov, you look super cool. Good to know you've gained more capabilities."
"Thank you! The lab Max and I work in is rich in resources," Markov chirped. "Getting the parts I needed was incredibly easy. At the rate of production, I might even get more siblings!"
"Congratulations!" Kim said, hugging Markov tightly. "Oh, it is so nice to see you and hug you without worrying about breaking you!" He paused to look at Markov properly. "Whoa. You're taller than me."
"Yes, I am." Markov stated it like it was obvious. Kim immediately gasped and dragged over Alix.
"Look, Alix! Markov can make you see things that are high up!" Kim babbled, like a hyper little kid. "Markov, could you hold her up? Alix suffers from being tragically short."
"I should not hold someone without their express permission," Markov said.
"It's OK, Markov. You have my permission," Alix said. Markov wasted no time in picking up the diminutive skater and allowed her to look around the crowded room. "OK, I see Rose, Mylène, Juleka, Ivan, Marinette, Adrien, and Max. But we're definitely missing people."
"You are correct, Alix. We are missing Chloé Bourgeois, Sabrina Raincomprix, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, and Nathaniel Kurtzburg," Markov listed.
"Seriously?" Alix asked. "Honestly, Chloé was rude and Sabrina was her lackey, but I really hope everyone else on the list gets here OK."
"Don't expect Alya to show up," Kim said. "She doesn't go anywhere anymore, last I heard."
"The last time I saw Alya, she was being shown the door at a young journalist's meeting," Max said. "It was pretty sad."
"Should I search the internet for Alya, Nino, and Nathaniel?" Markov volunteered. "It might explain why they are missing."
"No need, Markov," Nathaniel said. He walked in with Marc, wearing matching navy blue tuxes. "We're late, but we're here."
"You guys all look great!" Marc said. "Markov, you've grown!"
"And not a moment too soon!" Markov said, flexing for good measure. "Hey, Kim, look! I'm you after you get out of the pool!"
"Yes! Make fun of him, Markov! That's my boy!" Alix cheered. "That's my nephew, people!"
"Hold that pose, Markov!" Nathaniel said, grabbing a sketchbook out of nowhere.
"Every time," Marc said, rolling his eyes. "Sweetie, for one night, give it a rest."
"But I might never see this again!" Nathaniel whined.
"Marc, you married him. Isn't there some way to snap him out of . . . this?" Marinette asked Marc.
Marc smiled. "I have a couple." He reached over and whispered something into Nathaniel's ear. Whatever it was was enough to make the redhead squeak and drop the sketchbook entirely.
"Marc, we're with people!" he squeaked, as his face matched his hair. Bustier's former class burst out laughing.
"Wow, you do know your way around Nath, Marc!" Max teased.
"Sweetie, please, not tonight," Marc pleaded. "Your friends are right in front of you."
"But this looks so cool!" Nathaniel whined.
"I'll send you a photo of Markov for you to use as a reference," Max offered.
"That would be nice," Nathaniel acquiesced. "Hey, what's that?"
Nathaniel was pointing to a neglected table of name tags, which looked like it had been picked through by other party-goers. "Nobody from our class took a name tag because we all look so recognisable," Marinette said. "All these changes, and we're the still the same distinctive bunch we've always been."
"Hear, hear!" Kim laughed. As Bustier's class compared their present selves to their past selves, a strange figure came in.
They were tall and muscular, their short red hair and lean-muscular build giving them an androgynous look. They looked dapped in light grey pants, teal long-sleeve shirt, and brown waistcoat. "Who is that?" Adrien asked.
"I think I'd remember going to school with someone like that," Alix said.
The newcomer made a beeline towards Marinette, making the fashion designer tremble in her brand new flats. "Hello. Do I know you?" Marinette whimpered.
"I went to class with you," said the newcomer. "It's me, Sabrina!"
You could have heard a pin drop. "Seriously?" Marinette squeaked.
"THAT'S SABRINA?!" Alix screamed.
"My facial recognition technology identified Sabrina as being an entirely different person!" Markov blurted out.
"Yeah, I've changed," Sabrina said. "I took up running after school was over, and really did some soul-searching. I'm a therapist now."
"Good for you," Marinette said, her heart rate slowing. "Honestly, some of us were wondering if you'd show up."
"Honestly, I thought you'd arrive attached to Chloé," Kim said. Alix elbowed him in the stomach.
"Dude, watch it!" the skater scolded. "But really, where is Chloé?"
"With her mother in London," Sabrina said casually. "She never quite got away from her after that whole Miracle Queen thing. It's sad for her, but I'm liking the freedom."
"No way! Sabrina glowed up! So cool!" Juleka congratulated. More congratulations were bestowed upon the former queen bee's former servant.
"So, all we're waiting on is Nino and Alya," Adrien said. "Weird that they're not here for this."
His phone's chirping notification snapped him out of it, but not entirely. He retrieved the phone and swiped to see what it was.
Nino.
"Hey, dude!" Nino said, over facetime. "Long time, no see, stranger!"
"Nino!" everyone chorused, crushing each other in an effort to be seen by him.
"Hi!" Nino hadn't changed much, save for having grown a mustache. The rest of him remained unchanged, right down to the clothes. "You guys all look great!"
"Nino, where are you?" Marinette asked. "I thought you knew there was going to be a class reunion."
"Seoul, Korea, DJing."
"If you're in Korea. what time is it? Because in Paris, it's 9PM," Max said.
"It's uhh . . . 7AM here," Nino said. Just like that, Max and Marinette shared a skeptical look.
"Uh, Seoul is 7 hours ahead of us. But Nino said it was 7AM, making it a 10-hour time difference," Max hissed. "Does Nino not know how to tell time?"
"No, Nino can handle time," Marinette whispered. "He just can't handle lying to his best friend and he messes up details."
As everyone huddled around Adrien's phone, Nino sidled into the room, holding his own phone in front of his face, still continuing the video call. He looked away from his phone and waved to Marinette.
In unison, everyone looked up to see a shocking sight. Nino was right there. Right in front of them. Holding his phone and waving at them.
Adrien shoved his phone over to Marinette and dashed over to his best friend. "NINO!" he roared, arms outstretched. He was followed by the rest of his old class, who engulfed him.
Marinette joined their group hug with a smile. Her old school friends were finally here, grown up and proud. Everyone was exactly what and where they were supposed to be in life.