Eco - (EH-coh) From the Italian word for "echo"; an effect in which a group of notes is repeated, usually more softly, and perhaps at a different octave, to create an echo effect.

"Maman" - Mama/Mom

~~~

(Mood Music: "La Valse d'Amélie" - Yann Tiersen, Amélie Soundtrack)

"Honey... I'm worried about Marinette."

Sabine paused from her task of decorating pastries to look up at her husband. "Why? What's the matter?"

Tom stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked closer then shrugged in puzzlement. "While I was on break, she came home with a grocery bag full of ice cream cartons, grabbed the largest spoon she could find, then shut herself up in her room. I came back downstairs to work after that, but checked in on her a couple of hours later. It looked like she'd been crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she babbled for a bit, then said she went to the theater and watched a sad movie."

Sabine's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Huh, that's odd. That's not really the type of thing she likes to watch."

"I tried to find out more, but then she broke down again and started ranting about how it isn't fair that the protagonists don't get to be their true selves or be with each other because of their responsibilities, and how one of her favorite characters turned out to be the villain all along, and that maybe true love doesn't conquer all, and uh... well, I couldn't understand the rest." He scratched the back of his head. "I thought she'd be feeling better by now but, uhh..." he leaned in close to whisper, "–y-you think that maybe she's got her 'monthly visitor'?"

Sabine tilted her head in sympathy. "Hmm, it might be. The poor dear. I'll check in on her after our shift. For now, let's give her some space and send up some pain medicine just in case."

"I'll do that. Thanks, dear," Tom said as he exited towards the living area in search of painkillers.

~~~

Tikki let out a giant yawn as she sprawled on her tiny pincushion-esque bed on Marinette's desk.

The teen clicked and typed away on her computer, surfing through all the search engines she'd ever heard of, taking pages upon pages of notes, searching for answers. On occasion she'd leaf through one of the dozen books she'd checked out from the library, flipping through the pages as she found another topic or term to look up. Every hour or so she would call Master Fu to ask him yet another question about the effects of miraculous misuse, past miraculous holders who had turned evil, rare cases of successful reconciliation, until eventually she was pretty sure he'd switched his phone to "Do Not Disturb" mode so he could go to bed.

The kwami eyed her wearily, not wanting to leave her charge unsupervised lest she unwittingly pull an all-nighter during this new quest of hers.

"Marinette, the internet's still gonna be there when you wake up. Tomorrow's Sunday, you'll have all day to do more research. You should go to sleep."

The girl slid her hands down her face, then looked at the clock. It was already one-thirty in the morning. She knew better than to argue with the much older and wiser kwami.

"I guess you're right. I suppose that after what happened today, I've just been trying to keep busy so I don't have to think about it too much. But yeah. I'll get ready for bed."

A few minutes later, Marinette plopped onto her bed, not even bothering to fully crawl under the covers, and fell asleep instantly. Tikki managed to pull the blanket over the exhausted girl's body, then tenderly patted the top of her head. She found a cozy spot next to her and closed her eyes, grateful that she could finally sleep too.

(Continued in part 2)