The Other Part of Me

Five Weeks Earlier

"So have you found anything, kid?"

"Not a thing." Adrien told his cat kwami. He began to turn left, right and centre checking every inch of his bare skin for a mark. For some reason not being able to find one filled him with joy. Perhaps he hadn't got a soul mate and was free to do as he pleased, or perhaps she wasn't sixteen yet. As far as he knew Ladybug was slightly younger than him, maybe she would eventually be his. Hope still spiralled in his stomach for a life joined together with her. With his Lady, his partner in crime.

It's not that he didn't like Kagami, it's just everything about her was so similar to his life now. It was organised and structured with a lack of freedom. One thing Chat Noir taught him was how fun it was to be free. How fun it was to be in charge of your own decisions! A life with Kagami would keep him trapped in a bubble, a bubble he was so desperate to burst out of. He'd mentioned this numerous times but she just didn't seem to understand. She was about appearance and social status, and as lovely as she was, it wasn't going to change anytime soon. She made that clear to him.

Being one of the youngest in his class at college, also, managed to cross a lot of other contenders off his list, well contenders that he knew. Alya, Chloé, Sabrina and Alix were already sixteen and each on their roads to soulmate heaven. So were Rose and Juleka, leaving him with two options; Lila or Marinette.

The thought of being eternally tied to Lila sent a cold shiver down his spine, could life actually be that cruel to him? He knew that black cats attracted bad luck, but this ... well this would be worse than just bad luck. She was a liar, and she was a bully. He wouldn't dare be with someone who his friends didn't like, and by friends he meant Marinette. Adrien knew some people just needed the chance to grow and change, but Lila was so far past that chance there was no way she would be anywhere near as sweet, kind and caring he dreamed his soulmate to be.

His second thought ran too Marinette and he couldn't stop the smile from spreading over his lips. That wouldn't be bad at all. She was kind, caring and supportive. Everything you could want in a soul mate. She stood up for him when no one else did, and she challenged both himself, and his nightmare of a father. She had developed her confidence around him recently and he must admit he liked it, a lot. Marinette was slowly beginning to remind him of his Lady. He stood by what he said back on heroes day two years ago, she really was an everyday Ladybug.

Adrien looked over at his computer desk which had become decorated in photographs; all curtesy of Miss Dupain-Cheng. He scanned over the pictures of him with his friends, his mother, Kagami, playing with Kitty Section and then he stopped. The photograph he was always drawn back to. Himself and Marinette, dancing in the moonlight. He still had no idea how his friends took it but that one memory meant more to him than anything. New York was such a turning point for him as Adrien and Chat Noir.

He had slowly began to understand what it was about Kagami that wasn't right, and also about Ladybug's true feelings for him. After their argument, and his sudden departure she'd realised that Ladybug only works with her Chat Noir. The hug she gave him when he returned still played monstrously on his mind. The hug was different and no matter how much she tried to deny it, he knew there was more there than just friendship, even if she still wouldn't admit it.

Marinette had been with him all the way. She'd stood up for him, she'd managed to persuade his father and do something for him. Nobody had ever done that for him before, nobody seemed to care that much, or have the guts to do it. To say he was blown away by her kindness and gesture would be the understatement of the century. He could never show her exactly how much her actions meant to him, he felt forever in her debt. But they way he just left her, he was disappointed in himself. It was not the way he should have reacted.