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Juleka sighed; she wanted to ask someone a simple question. It was just one little favor she wanted from another person. However, time after time, Juleka wouldn't be able to work up the courage to ask. She was scared of being rejected, and her shyness prevented her from saying anything to anyone. One day, Marinette noticed that Juleka was struggling to even talk to Rose, her best friend. She decided to approach Juleka after school after she noticed that Juleka was struggling with asking their classmates something. "Juleka, is everything okay?" the kind-hearted girl asked the shy goth girl, who nearly tripped over her own feet at hearing Marinette's voice. Marinette caught the girl and immediately righted her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, Juleka. Is everything okay?"
Juleka held her gaze for a few seconds before she dropped it to the floor, finding the tiles more interesting than Marinette's gentle gaze. Marinette allowed herself to relax her shoulders as she softly smiled at Juleka. "I want to ask someone for a small favor." Juleka spoke softly as she raised her gaze but Marinette's bright eyes didn't allow Juleka to look into the girl's eyes. What if she thinks I'm annoying her? The girl wondered as she relaxed her breathing as she noticed that she was getting worked up.
"Did I startle you a bit too much?" Marinette asked her in concern and Juleka's eyes widen. Wait, no, don't go. She thought as she noticed that Marinette was about to go get the nurse.
"W-wait." Juleka's voice stopped Marinette and the concerned girl turned back to Juleka. "I'm fine." Juleka spoke, knowing that Marinette will get even more concerned if she didn't start speaking up now. She then softly smiled at Marinette, showing her that she was really okay.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Marinette asked. "I know I startled you and I'm so sorry for doing so." Marinette spoke and Juleka wanted to laugh at the way Marinette was hovering over her because it reminded her of her older brother, Luka when he gets into his 'big brother' mode. Juleka's eyes then widened. Is she growing protective of me? Juleka sighed as she was hoping that Luka was lying about other people wanting to protect her when she finally lets a smile grace her features.
'Remember Jules, smiles attract people. Your smile attract secretly protective people.' He had told her that but Juleka had put his words about her smile in the back of her mind because she haven't found anyone that reacted like that to her smiling but now that Marinette was reacting like that, she wondered why it was her smiling that made Marinette more protective of her. Juleka decided to not make her brain hurt by overthinking it. She knew that some things weren't made for some people to understand and apparently, it wasn't meant for her to get why Marinette was growing protective of her.
She had noticed that ever since that she had smiled at the girl, Marinette had been hovering but she wasn't being too much with hers. It made Juleka happy that Marinette still trusted her enough to let her do what she wanted to do at the moment, which was just walking around the area. Juleka knew that Marinette only didn't move because she hadn't moved far from the girl and she would never dare to move away from Marinette when the girl plop down against the wall to watch Juleka stroll around the school. "What did you want to ask our classmates?" Marinette asked and Juleka wasn't shocked that Marinette had known that something was up with her; she blamed her shyness that made her wary of people rejecting her when she wanted something.
Juleka sighed, knowing that she could trust Marinette. Marinette was nice. Juleka reminded herself. "Hug." She spoke lamely and she blushed at the one-word response she had given Marinette but to her relief, Marinette understood her.
"Oh! You wanted to give our classmates hugs?" She asked and Juleka nodded her head, hating the fact that she was blushing a very bright red. "Oh, Juleka, that's not something to be embarrassed about. It's sweet." Marinette spoke but it was too late.
Juleka had made herself smaller as she curled up into a ball.
Marinette frowned at this but she approached the girl and she sat next to her. "Can I hug you?" She asked, making sure to ask before she just grabbed Juleka. She didn't want to scare the girl, after all.
Marinette wrapped her arms around Juleka's middle, making sure to listen for a small whimper that the girl would use when she was uncomfortable with anything. When she didn't hear anything from Juleka's lips, she continued to pull the girl closer until she was practically in Marinette's lap. Marinette paused when Juleka tensed up. Marinette knew that if Juleka fights her, she would immediately release her. Instead, to her happiness, Juleka practically melted into the hug as she happily sighed. Marinette giggled. Just like a cat. She thought as she continued to hug Juleka Couffaine. The two girls stayed like that until Juleka was radiating a lot of happiness. When they had broken apart the hug, Marinette softly smiled at Juleka and the girl smiled back. "Thanks, Marinette." Juleka spoken and she walked away, not knowing that her happy smile had helped Marinette make her decision.
"I am a big sister now." Marinette spoke, causing Tikki to giggle at her. "I'm serious, Tikki." She told the Kwami.
The next day, Marinette was watching from the sidelines as she paid attention to Juleka as the girl approached someone and to Marinette's shock, it was Chloé. She wasn't expecting Juleka to approach her, of all people!
But, she then wondered if Juleka had eyes for the rich girl, however Marinette knew that Chloé could be nice on good days but she could also be vicious on other days. She hoped that today was a good day because she did not want to get expelled for beating the girl up.
Marinette knew that she would not feel bad in doing so if Juleka came to her crying. She and Juleka adopted each other as siblings and darn it, she was going to play her big sister role very seriously.
To her relief, she watches as Chloé lets Juleka hug her without any reservation but she could have sworn that the girl had started blushing. Hang on, is she blushing? Marientte's eyes narrowed. So, that's how it is. Marinette thought. The girl then relaxed, understanding that Juleka could like whoever she liked but she knew that if Chloé broke her heart, then Marinette would break her.
That was how it was in the big siblings world and she would make sure that Chloé knew it.