Marinette woke up the next morning in a unusually good mood. She woke up like the whole world was as it was supposed to be, and she just couldn't explain why. She was just in a good mood. Climbing out of her bed, she stretched, and made her way to look over the city of Paris, the European city of love, from her balcony. It was a atypically sunny day for this time of year, and people we're already starting to filter out to their various districts, be those work, school, or otherwise.
She felt a cool gust of wind strike her face gently, running through her hair. The pleasant breeze felt good against her skin, helping her to wake up from her slightly groggy state. She took a long inhale though her nose, and let it all out in a nice, long sigh out the mouth.
Perhaps it was because she had finally had that talk with Chat the previous day.
It had been a talk she had really needed to have with her fellow miraculous wielder for the best part of a year now, but simply hadn't been able to bring herself to be able to. She needed to let Chat know her honest feelings about him - She just wasn't interested in him romantically. He wasn't a bad guy at all, not to get her wrong at all. He was a great guy. But... He wasn't her soulmate. The miraculous itself had told her so.
The fact the miraculouses had been giving out weird messages indicating whom their wearer was linked to had given her the perfect gateway to tell Chat what she felt. Despite being able to, and having the perfect excuse to bring up the conversation, she had been anxious to.
So it had been a massive relief to hear from Chat that he accepted her feelings. He had been happy for her, and offered his support. He was her friend. He was her partner. The best she could have asked for.
Perhaps if Adrien wasn't around, she might have given him a chance.
Although she had to admit, she was curious as to who his soul was linked to. but learning who that was could put his secrecy at risk, so she wouldn't pry. And besides, he said he didn't know anyway, so what would be the point. She hadn't mentioned her soulmate was Adrien Agreste for the same reason.
At least, she was confident he was.
The more things that happened, the more she became convinced that they were soulmates.
A warm smile made it's way onto her face as she thought about this. If they were... There wouldn't be enough words to describe how happy she would be. There really wouldn't. If she could only muster up the courage to even speak to the blond boy-of-her-dreams, she might be able to move things along. It was rather ironic when she thought about it. She was Ladybug one moment, the hero of Paris, confident and collected, never missing a trick, and unstoppable once she started going, and then the next, she was the clumsy, human train-wreck Marinette, who could barely remember to use her basic brain functions when in front of the boy she had liked for nearly a year now.
Remembering that today was still indeed a school day, she made her way back inside her bedroom, and began to change into her school clothes. Tikki was still sleeping, an unusual rarity for the usually energetic and friendly Kwami. Perhaps she was overworked? Either way, Marinette decided she would put Tikki in her bag so that she could sleep for longer.
Or she would have done if she wasn't blinded by her own miraculous once again. She was going to have to start wearing sunglasses inside if this kept up. Another message? Was this one serious, or was it a false alarm? Peeking with one eye, Marinette stole a glance at the text on her wall.
"Broken soul and optimism broken,
Feelings frozen, and rudely awoken.
The day goes by, filled with pain,
Feeling nothing, he's emotionally drained.
Your love is broken, soul and mind,
Needing something, to turn the tide. "
"Adrien..." Marinette stared at this poem, half dressed, and her hands above her chest, feeling it hurt in empathy as she read it. What had happened to him?... What had hurt him so badly?..
The blunette knew that a miraculous could give you false information, or rather, misleading information. What she also knew now, thanks to that particular experience she had forced herself through, was that a miraculous technically never lied.
Meaning Adrien was, indeed, hurting right now.
Each words was nothing but another bullet of sadness that pierced Marinette's previously happy heart.
She needed to know what happened to Adrien. Was he okay? Did he need some help with something? Was he just having a bad day?
Or had something horrendous happened to him?
Death.
That was a good way to describe how Adrien was feeling right now. He felt like death.
He felt like this the moment he got up. He felt like this when he got dressed. He felt like this while he stared at his breakfast, absolutely uninterested in eating or drinking anything whatsoever.
What was the point?
He felt like death on his ride to school. He didn't even really want to go today, but if he skipped for a reason as trivial as he didn't want to go, his father would probably use that as an excuse to pull him out of the public education system. He was dreading the day he was looking at, but Adrien knew that he couldn't give up what he had worked so hard for for the past year because of one day.
"Urgh..." Adrien groaned to himself, looking as the city passed him by in the back of his ride, gorilla driving him to school as was traditional and customary. He hadn't slept for long. Maybe fifty minutes? He had been crying all damn night, and felt utterly pathetic for doing so.
Ladybug... Wasn't his soul mate.
He couldn't hate her for that. He couldn't hold it against her. The Soul Link... It just hadn't been between them, he concluded. That wasn't her fault. It was just... The way things were.
She liked someone else... Someone worthwhile.
That was just how things were.
"Kid, don't beat yourself up about it." Adrien heard Plagg's voice from inside his shirt. Usually the Kwami wouldn't risk being heard by Gorilla, but it was clear he could see just how absolutely devastated Adrien was. the blond teenage took out his phone and held it in his hand, so on the off chance gorilla looked at him, the well-built chauffeur would conclude he was speaking to someone on his phone. "It's not like you could have done anything about it."
"That doesn't make it any easier to hear, Plagg." Adrien sadly stated.
Plagg cared about Adrien. He was lying if he said he didn't. And he felt terrible that he had to hide the facts from Adrien. Ladybug was his soul mate. That was how the miraculouses were designed. They had to be soul mates. Whatever it was, Ladybug was the one who was uncertain. The one who had screwed up. Adrien had been correct in assuming Ladybug was the person whom he shared a Soul Link with.
Ladybug hadn't.
She really had screwed this whole situation up.
What could Plagg say? What could he tell Adrien to make him feel better? What could he say without breaking the rules? "Your... Your soul mate is still out there, you know."
"So?..."
"So... Doesn't that mean you get the same experience of falling in love over again?" Not entirely a lie... Perhaps they would meet in their civilian identities? That was all the small cat-like Kwami could think of.
"That's not how it works, Plagg." Adrien sighed, looking out his window. He didn't think that he'd be able to get over Ladybug. The most perfect woman on this Earth. The most perfect woman in this entire Universe. "...But thanks for trying to make me feel better.
Three classes in, and Marinette was worried sick.
Adrien hadn't been himself all day. And considering that he was normally fairly quiet, yet rather sociable when comfortable, that was saying something. He didn't even seem to have the energy or motivation to be shy, something Marinette wasn't sure was even possible. He had barely even moved his pencil all day, and she swore at times he had just fallen asleep. Judging from the worried glanced Nino gave his best friend, her suspicious were correctly placed.
Something was definitely wrong.
But what could she do?
She obviously knew something was wrong, thanks to her miraculous telling her that something was wrong, but she couldn't tell Adrien that. He'd think she was a total lunatic. She could hardly even speak to the guy without becoming a nervous, stuttering wreck, so what the heck could she even say to him now?
She couldn't say anything, and that knowledge that she was unable to help him, the person she cared so deeply for, angered and upset her to the point she was almost convinced she herself would become a target for Akumatization.
"Marinette, are you okay?" the thoughtful girl heard Alya call her, and nudge her with her elbow. she had apparently been in such deep thought, Alya had been able to notice her.
"Oh. Yeah, Alya?"
"You okay girl? You've been staring into space for like the past, ten minutes."
"I'm... Have you noticed Adrien's acting sort of weird?"
"Have I noticed the socially awkward love of your life is acting strange after you basically stalked him for a poorly explained reason into an animal shelter?" Alya raised an eyebrow with a smug smile, satisfied with Msrinette's blush. "He seems sort of distracted I guess, but isn't he normally most days?"
"But normally he gets his work done. He's barely even moved his pencil today."
"You've been watching him close enough to tell that? Girl. Stalker. Seriously."
"Stop calling me that!"
Alya smirked once more. "Seriously, if you're that bothered about it, go talk to him. He doesn't bite."
"You know I can't talk to him without becoming a wreck..." Marinette said with a light blush.
In that moment, an idea came into her head.
Marinette couldn't talk to Adrien. She was a socially awkward mess of a person, much like the person she wanted to speak to, only to a far worse degree. She couldn't even get a sentence out right.
But Ladybug could.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Sorry this is up so late. I've had to stay up extra late to make sure this chapter got uploaded. I swear I'll make sure the next chapter is up at a better time tomorrow! Urgh....
I got a comment from someone saying they wanted me to put more focus on Marinette, and that's a good point. Adrien/Chat is by far my favorite character in the entire franchise, so I guess I subconsciously focus on him more. and we aren't even at the MariChat part of the story. Gee, this is gonna be a long one. I promise we're getting there. Give it a few more chapters....
Still, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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