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"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞."

-𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚊 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚞

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death (/deTH/)

noun

1. the action or fact of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or organism."I don't believe in life after death"synonyms:demise, dying, end, passing loss of life

Her eyes flick away from the highlighted definition that was in the dictionary that she held. Instead, she met sparkling blue eyes and a patient smile as she waited for her to process everything they had gone over. It wasn't that she was surprised to find out she had finally kicked the bucket. She was simply at a loss as to what she was doing in a place, which she dubbed The White Void of Nothingness, with a girl who had all but shoved the book in her hands and pointed at the highlighted section.

It was strange, she had always wondered if there was something beyond death.

She wasn't bothered, instead she felt relief- finally released from the life she loathed. Though, at the same time she was ridden with guilt.

She never got to say goodbye.

"You seem to be taking this well," the girl chirps, snapping her out of her thoughts. The book vanishes as if it were never there, "Unlike you, I didn't really die. But it seems that the, er, higher ups decided your life was too short. Lucky for you, I volunteered myself to switch with you." Her face screwed into confusion, and the other girl's smile turned a bit more melancholic, "I have...stuck in this perpetual cycle of unchanging destiny. Our memories never really return to us until we finally pass, and it's only for a moment before we are reborn from the beginning and are forced to walk the same path that has been paved for us. I truly hope with this exchange, that you can make a change."

The other's words sank in rather slowly, not fully comprehending- there was no way that was easily digestible as she thought, right?

The rusty cogs finally begin to turn.

"I'm going to be you?" she blurted, finally saying something. Her eyes were then drawn to the red, fluctuating light behind the strange girl. She turned slowly, eyes still stuck on the illuminating red light before tearing them away to look behind her. She was met with a similar light, though a soft baby blue in color. She turns back around to meet blue-eyes that nearly matched her own. "But...w-why? Why me?"

The smile she gives her is a knowing one, but instead of answering her she shakes her head, takes her hands in her own, giving them tight yet gentle squeeze. "Please, take care of Tikki when she finally gets to you. Alya, too! She's my best friend- and Adrien..." her smile seems to falter, tears welling up but she blinks them away. "Take care of mama and papa, a-and maybe explain your situation to Master Fu? He might...he might have some insight, and..." she trailed off, her pause longer than the others. She let out a shaky breath, "Enjoy life to the fullest. Don't let anything hold you back."

Her head spun but still managed to grasp everything. This wasn't anything that people were prepared for after all- hell, it wasn't even known as something that existed. There were theories, there were possibilities and religion that believed in reincarnation, past lives- all that. But to find out it's real?

"Well, I guess this is goodbye! It was nice meeting you, Marianne!" She let go of her hands and began to walk past her and towards that baby blue light. It dawned on Marianne, now fully understanding what she meant by switch and whirled around to catch the other by the wrist and pulling her back. "W-whoa!"

(It occurred to Marianne, looking at the other's wide eyes, that she was holding back her tears; trying to be strong for the both of them- because it wasn't just Marianne who was becoming another person.

They were trading lives.)

"I-I died of a heart condition. I was in and out of surgeries since I was younger," Marianne told her, watching her eyes widen. "I was mad at my mom all the time. I-I didn't want more surgeries but she kept scheduling more and more and I didn't take my meds and I-" she choked on her tears, "m-my death is my own fault. I stopped telling her that I love her- gods, I was so childish. I was just so alone-" the girl cut off her rambling with a hug, tight and soft and warm. She felt wetness on her shoulder and cheek- oh, they were both crying now. This person, a complete stranger to her, was leaving her life (the repeated cycle; the again and again and again and again-) to give to Marianne and she was going to live her old one. Marianne choked on sob, "P-please do better- be better than I was! Tell mom that you love her and take your medication and-"

"I will, Marianne!" she laughed, although it was shaky with tears tumbling down her cheeks (finally) as they pulled away from each other.

(She was beautiful, Marianne awed, really. Her features showed mixed ethnicity; Asian was a definite but the other was harder to guess. It was a rare mix, indeed, one you didn't see often. She had midnight blue hair, and bright blue eyes that resembled her own but the shine was unparalleled. So full of life. They were such a mysterious hue, one that she wanted to take the time to find exactly. But she didn't have time. She had seconds-

For now.)

"Y-your name! I don't know your name!"

"Marinette...I'm- was, I was Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"It...it was nice meeting you, Marinette."

They stood there, in the vast void, cheeks tear-stained, holding each others hands before giving each other reassuring squeezes and-

Let go.

They turned to their new lights,the new lives awaiting them and ran. A silent promise engraved into both their hearts and mind.

Live my life better than I ever could.

Marianne wanted to look back, wanted to see Marinette enter that light but her own, new red light consumed her, blinding her before she was enveloped in darkness.

It was warm, but she was unable to open her eyes. Panic rose as something began to try and push her out of that warmth, and oh, she couldn't breathe get her out of here now please. There was a pause before it began again, a strange pressure and now there was a hand helping to guide her out. She gasped for air as soon as she was freed and tried to cover her eyes from the blinding light that was being shined directly into her eyes only to hit herself in the face.

Ow.

Someone picked her up, lying limp on the hand on her back and another supporting her head. People were speaking- they sounded panicked- but the language was unfamiliar in the sense that nothing these people were saying were in a language she understood.

She cracked her eyes open and turned away from the people who were trying to get her to take in the light, and saw a woman with her legs apart, face flushed and sweaty, hair sticking to her as she kept repeating the same thing over and over again. She was on the verge of breaking down but she never tore her eyes away from her.

The people holding her managed to turn her head away and flash that light in her eyes again, causing her to let out a small screech before managing the semblance of coordination to swipe at the hand holding the pen-light.

There was silence, as continued blinking and eyes locking on her short, chubby, grim covered arms and flailing them as she realized that...yeah. Those are her arms. She had...

She had just been born.

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Edited: September 12, 2023