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As swimmers, they never had much skin covered. As such, one would think the opportunity for skin contact would come even sooner than average. Yet, somehow, Ondine had never come into direct contact with her friend Kim before.
She knew that she hadn’t, she couldn’t have, because at this very moment, her hands brushed his as he handed back her wristband, and she felt it. She trembled with the intensity of it, that feeling that rushed through her like a wave, that could be nothing other than a soulmate connection.
Then she looked up, meeting Kim’s eyes, and immediately felt something wasn’t right. His reaction…he didn’t seem to be reacting…
“Everything okay?” Kim asked, looking at her curiously.
Hadn’t he felt it?
Kim’s watch beeped. He glanced down at it, and his expression changed.
“Oh, shoot, I’m going to be late for the movie! Catch you later, Ondine!” With that, he ran off with a short wave to her.
Did he not feel it?!
Kim had just left like…like nothing was out of the ordinary. Like nothing had happened at all. Was it really not a big deal to him, to be soulmates? Was it really so insignificant that he would say nothing, not even react, and just…leave? Or had he really…had he really not felt…?
Maybe…maybe she’d imagined it. They’d been friends for a while, they’d touched before, surely! They must have…right? It was only her mind playing tricks on her, because she thought Kim was cute and funny and she maybe liked him more than a bit…it wasn’t a soulmate connection. It wasn’t. It couldn’t be. Or Kim would’ve felt it too…
Ondine struggled with herself, desperately trying to convince herself that it had all been in her imagination. But it was futile. She knew, she knew what that feeling had meant, as instinctively as she knew when she was experiencing hunger or joy or anger. There could be no mistaking it, and a single word spun around her thoughts as she sank to the floor, unable to continue to deny what had just happened.
Mismatched.
Mismatched.
Mismatched.
It was the sort of thing that happened in fables, or to people far away. How…how could it happen to her? To have a soulmate, but not really; to have a soulmate, but not be theirs in return? Kim…would go off, someday find his soulmate – his proper soulmate, not Ondine – and find happiness that she would never have.
Because she was Mismatched. The anomaly; a mistake in the system. A statistic of failure.
Through her tears, she never saw the butterfly enter her wristband.
Throughout human history, there have been many legends and tales of fantastical creatures. Warnings, mostly – magical beings were to be feared, respected, and often, if possible, avoided. And none were more treacherous than the beings of the sea, notorious for leading humans to their deaths, to enslavement, or…to love. The people of the sea could steal them away from their soulmates, enchanting them with mystery and unnatural allure. With a power beyond humanity, they could tempt them into Unfaithfulness, or prevent them from ever meeting their soulmate to begin with.
Such creatures, such powers were only stories.
But Papillon could make them a reality.
.
.
.
On some level, Kim, of course, recognized that this was most likely the result of an Akuma.
But how freaking awesome was it that the whole of Paris had just become a giant pool? He was ready for this. More than ready. He was born for this. His time had come, he was going to teach all his classmates how to swim, and lead them to their survival in this new, watery world.
Okay, probably not. Ladybug would probably fix everything back to normal soon enough. But a guy could dream, right?
Naturally, he dove right in. How many opportunities did one get to swim in a city-sized pool? Probably not many, although it wasn’t as remote of a possibility as it would’ve been last year, before akumas showed up. He was going to enjoy every bit of it that he could, and hopefully convince his friends to join in, because of course this sort of thing was always better with friends.
They were considerably more reluctant, for some strange reason. The water was perfectly clean, Kim didn’t see the issue.
Of course, he didn’t exactly plan on getting kidnapped by a mermaid calling him her ‘Prince’. The breathing underwater thing she gave him was pretty cool, though, and she could swim really fast! Really, he couldn’t complain. As Akuma attacks went, this was more fun than anything.
Ladybug, of course, showed up, but as she couldn’t breathe underwater, the mermaid quickly reclaimed Kim, and brought him to the pool, which had some noticeable changes. Aside from being completely submerged, that is. He complimented her on the changes, and she seemed pleased.
“This is all for you, my Prince,” the mermaid said. “We can be together, and correct Fate’s mistake. You will be mine, as you should have been.”
“Huh? Have I met you before? I don’t remember meeting a mermaid…”
In response, the mermaid lifted her arm, revealing a familiar wristband.
“Ondine?!” Kim asked, surprised.
She nodded.
Now, Kim did not consider himself to be the smartest guy around. That honor belonged to his friend Max, and truth be told, Kim didn’t really even come close. Which was fine by him, he didn’t mind who he was, but he did tend to miss things. But even he could put together what must have happened.
“Fate will not take you from me,” Ondine said, leaning towards him. “Just a kiss, and you’ll become just like me, and we’ll rule this underwater kingdom forever.”
“You mean I’ll be able to swim around really fast and breathe underwater like you?” Kim asked, excitedly, pushing aside the half-processed thoughts of what he had missed earlier. It wasn’t about to matter in a few seconds, anyway, right?
Ondine nodded, and leaned even further, and Kim found himself leaning up to meet her. Such an appealing idea, becoming a being of the sea, to swim all day and never tire…and Ondine wouldn’t have to be unhappy…he could be with her and there would be nothing to get in the way…how could he resist such a thing? He wanted this, she wanted this, there wasn’t a single downside…
No, wait. There were. There were definitely some downsides. He wouldn’t be able to go to the movies, or hang out with Max and Markov, or race with Alix, or…all kinds of stuff.
Kim pulled back.
He had only a brief moment to be concerned about the hurt and anger on Ondine’s face before Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up again, and forced her away from him. Ladybug came to him while Chat Noir held her off, and asked why she was upset.
In the background, Ondine screamed that she’d let nothing take him from her.
“I was an idiot,” Kim admitted. “I didn’t realize why she acted oddly after I gave back her wristband. Our hands had touched, and she Mismatched with me, but I didn’t notice, so I just ran off…I don’t have a soulmate yet, so it didn’t have to hurt her like this…”
Ladybug gave a sympathetic look.
“Poor girl,” she said. “But that’s something for you two to talk through when she isn’t under Papillon’s control, I think. The wristband?”
Kim explained it to her. Ladybug called her power, then lent her yo-yo to him to help him breathe, as she pulled him to safety, leaving him alone on a rooftop, hidden from view. She returned to the water to finish the fight.
Kim sat alone, wondering what he was going to say to Ondine after she returned to normal.
.
.
.
In the end, he went with something simple. Their secrets game was how they communicated, and it was an easy way to ask her out to the movies. Maybe, if they needed to, they could have a longer conversation about the situation. But maybe they didn’t need to, at least not right now.
It could be years and years before Kim met his soulmate. If he ever did. And who knew what sort of a person they would be?
He knew Ondine. They had fun together, they had things in common. Why shouldn’t he like a girl like that?
So, maybe fate had messed up with him. But that was no reason not to find happiness now.
Some of the stories of the sea had happy endings, after all.