Chapter Text
Marinette had heard the story of the red string of fate dozens of times. It was a tale of a thin, red cord tied to your pinky finger, leading to your soulmate. It was said that if you were lucky enough, you would find the person that was your other half on the other end. It wasn’t something you were born with; as you got older, as the bonds in the world shifted, you would be paired. It wasn’t controlled. It wasn’t sequential. The red string of fate worked in mysterious ways, and people knew not to question it. For example, you could never actually see the string until you’d had a “significant exchange” with your soulmate.
“What does that mean?” Six year old Marinette had asked her parents, wide-eyed.
Tom and Sabine had glanced at each other affectionately.
“It means that once you experience some sort of connection with your soulmate, you’ll start to see the string,” Tom explained. “Like for me, it was when your Maman came up to me and confessed her feelings for me.”
“And for me,” Sabine added, “it was not long after that, when your Papa told me he felt the same way.”
Tom had nodded, scooping his daughter up in his arms. “The exchange could happen through words, through objects, through anything really. When your soulmate says or does something important to your relationship, you’ll start to see the string, and vice versa. You just have to be open minded.”
But I have been, and it’s not getting me anywhere, Marinette thought. She would gaze at the back of Adrien’s head every single day as she sat in class, hoping that one day, something, anything would happen to bring their relationship forward. After all, they just had to be soulmates, right? Who else could possibly be her soulmate?
(Chat Noir, the voice in her head would whisper. Just like he always likes to tell you.
For the most part, Marinette ignored that thought.)
Most of her classmates had already found their soulmate. Rose and Juleka had figured out when they were younger, Mylène had figured out when Ivan wrote her a song before he was akumatized (and he found out not long after that), and Alya and Nino had figured out when the two of them were locked in that cage during an akuma attack. Sometimes, it felt as though she was the only one that didn’t know yet.
It was comforting to know that Adrien didn’t find his soulmate yet--he had showed no indication of seeing the fateful string, no matter how many times Chloé would insist that all he had to do was look a little harder.
Marinette just thought Chloé wasn’t ready to admit she’d found her soulmate--someone who wasn’t Adrien.
It allowed her to remain hopeful. Every single day Marinette would walk into class, stumbling and stuttering around her crush, but it didn’t matter. In the end, all that was needed was one little moment to spark a connection between them, to allow both of them to see the string that was most definitely tied to one another.
Which was why she was absolutely crushed when she heard Nino exclaim before class, “no way dude! You found your soulmate?”
Adrien tried to shush him, but it was too late. Marinette and Alya had already heard. Her best friend glanced worryingly at her. Marinette bit her lip, trying her hardest to hide her disappointment.
It must’ve happened after the gaming tournament yesterday, or today before class, Marinette thought, absolutely crushed. She’d hoped that perhaps when Adrien had been at her house yesterday, when the two of them played Ultimate Mecha Strike III and she’d gifted him her charm bracelet, something would’ve happened. Some sign, some indication that she would finally see her red string, or some sort of promise that it wouldn’t be long before she figured out who her soulmate was.
She should’ve known better. Of course even her Ladybug luck couldn’t help her when it came to soulmates and the red string of fate. Still, Adrien deserved to be happy. After all, he’d found his soulmate, his other half. He deserved that, and even if it wasn’t her, Marinette would at least cherish his friendship.
All of that processing took barely a couple of seconds in her brain. It would be okay. She’d find a way to move on. So Marinette shook her head at Alya and forced a smile.
Knowing she could comfort her best friend later--Marinette seemed fine on her own for now--Alya leaned over, watching Adrien with interest. “So what happened, sunshine?”
Adrien’s cheeks flared with red, and he glanced back and forth from the two girls with an increasing blush rising on his face. He opened his mouth to respond, but when Miss Bustier walked in, he immediately turned around in order to pay attention to the lesson.
No one could get anything out of him. Not Alya, not Nino, not even Chloé. Eventually the class dropped it, but it didn’t stop everyone from knowing: Adrien Agreste had a soulmate. And they were determined to figure out who it was.
Marinette, meanwhile, wanted nothing to do with it. That day, she’d gone to her room and carefully plucked all of Adrien’s pictures off her walls. If Adrien had a soulmate, then she certainly didn’t need to be hoarding feelings for him. It would be best for her to move on.
Tikki rose up and watched Marinette anxiously, wishing she could help ease her chosen’s pain, but said nothing.
Weeks passed. Marinette’s dynamic with Adrien shifted, but not necessarily in what she would call a good way. The blond boy continuously seemed to be seeking out her company--previously it had been the other way around--and Marinette didn’t know what to make of it. Should this make her happy? Happy that he wanted to spend more time with her? Adrien was just her friend. She didn’t mean more to him than that. Right?
There was still no string visible when Marinette’s fourteenth birthday rolled around. She tried her best not to let her spirits be downcasted, though. Just because nearly every one of her classmates had found their soulmate already, before their fourteenth birthday, didn’t mean that she had to be desolate. It would take some time.
So Marinette went through her day, spending time with her grandma, delighted when her friends threw her a “surprise” party, fighting the inevitable akuma--who turned out to be her grandma, but she’d make it up to her--and finally getting to the part of the day she’d been waiting for: cake and opening presents.
After opening the rest of the presents her friends had given her, Marinette looked up to see Adrien holding out his arm, smiling softly at her.
“Here. You never got a chance to open it with all that was going on.”
Intrigued, Marinette took the blue box from him. What could possibly be in it?
She gasped as she opened it, looking in astonishment to see a charm bracelet, similar to the one that she’d gifted him not so long ago.
Adrien eyes glimmered with an unreadable emotion. Suddenly Marinette could feel an unusual pull towards him, unlike anything she’d ever felt before. She gazed at the hand where the charm bracelet rested on her palm. There, tied to her pinky finger, was a thin red string.
Marinette looked up, following the trail of the cord to the source--one blushing, awkward boy as he rubbed his hand nervously against the back of his neck, smiling when he realized what she was staring at.
He already knew. He knew from the moment I gave him my own charm bracelet.
I’m. . . . his soulmate.
“I always carry the lucky charm you gave me with me wherever I go, and I think it works pretty well,” he said. “So. . . . I figured it was my turn to make one for you.”
Because you’re my soulmate, rang the unspoken words.
Marinette grinned. After stuttering out a quick “thank you”, motioning to talk to Adrien in private and getting him to confess that he’d indeed known all along, and letting their family and friends know--all of whom rejoiced, claiming they’d known all along--Marinette went home with her heart lighter than it had felt in days, flopping on her bed with a huge smile on her face.
She really couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present.