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Adrien was totally engrossed in the movie.
He had finally convinced Marinette to watch the original Star Wars trilogy. There was no way in hell he was going to let her see the new movie without watching the classics.
Not only had she agreed to watch them with him, but she agreed to marathon them, the way God intended for them to be watched.
She had made special Stormtrooper cookies for the occasion, which were gone about halfway through the Empire Strikes Back.
“Bite the heads off first,” she had lectured him, “it’s more humane that way.”
His legs were beginning to grow numb from her weight on him, but he didn’t mind. What mattered was that she was comfortable, her head on his chest and his arms around her.
Finally, at around two in the morning, they made it to Return of the Jedi, Adrien’s personal favorite. He had always had an odd fascination with the Emperor. The character was so eerie and mysterious, not to mention powerful, and Adrien loved it.
The old projector in the theatre room flickered soothingly, and all of the lights were dimmed to create the perfect atmosphere. When his chest started to vibrate, he assumed Marinette had fallen asleep and started snoring. It had been a long night, after all, and she tended to fall asleep a little after ten, so this was way past her bedtime.
As the movie went on, the vibrating continued. It wasn’t uncomfortable, simply odd. Adrien didn’t have the heart to wake her, so he let her continue snoring.
Then came the ultimate scene, the scene that had cemented Star Wars in his mind as his favorite movie series.
On screen, Luke lay writhing on the ground as the Emperor tortured him with Force Lightning. The colors, the music, the screams, all building to an artful climax.
“Father!” Luke shrieked. “Father!”
It was then Adrien realized two things. One, the vibrating on his chest had suddenly become a lot more aggressive, and two, the cries weren’t just coming from on screen.
Blindly, he fumbled for the remote and jammed the pause button.
“No,” Marinette croaked, wiping tears from her eyes, “Adrien, I’m sorry. Don’t stop it.”
“Marinette!” He shifted her body so that he could look into her eyes. “Baby, are you crying?”
“Yes, yes, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”
“Don’t be sorry, babe.” His thumb gently wiped a tear off her cheek. “How long have you been crying?”
“Si-since the fight scene in the f-forest.” She sobbed. “It was so s-sad!”
Adrien bit back a smile, but Marinette seemed to see his face in the dark.
“D-don’t laugh at me!” Her small hands began hitting his arm. “It was sad!” She slumped back down into a pout.
“What was sad about it, princess?”
“Th-the little teddy bear-”
“Ewok.”
Her blue eyes narrowed as she shot him the look of death, which only made him smile more.
“-Ewok’s friend died!” A fresh batch of tears began forming in her eyes. “He died, Adrien, and th-this wasn’t even his fight, and then H-Han thought Leia didn’t love him, remember when I thought you didn’t love me? I-it was awful! And now Luke is dying and his father is just s-standing there and-” A fresh stream began rolling down her face. “How are you not crying!” She said, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hands.
“Sh, sh, Marinette, shh.” He moved her hands away from her face. “Don’t scratch yourself up.” Gently, he wiped away her tears, and swept her bangs out of her face. “It’ll be alright, I promise.”
“D-does it have a happy ending?”
She looked up at him, her fingers curling around his arm, and he fell in love with her all over again. Only his princess would feel so deeply to cry over an Ewok’s death and the fictional suffering of a character. The depth of her compassion knew no bounds, and he loved her all the more for it.
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, and pulled her closer to him. Her breathing was slowly becoming more steady, and he could feel her heartbeat through the thin blanket that separated them. Her tears slowly tapered off, but he continued caressing her face.
Even weeping, she was breathtaking.
“I promise, it has a happy ending.” He whispered, leaning forward to kiss her tear stains.
She let out a contented sigh, and leaned back into the crook of his arm. “Good.” Her smile set his heart a flutter. “You can press play now.”
But as the rest of the movie played out, Adrien’s eyes didn’t return to the screen. Instead, they remained locked on her, his Marinette, his princess. He watched the movie through the reflection in her eyes, felt the emotion she did by taking in her facial expressions. When it was time for the famous kiss between Han and Leia, he saw her face melt into a smile, and whilst Leia captured Han’s heart, Marinette stole his yet again.