Chapter Text
Most little girls, at least for a little bit, dreamed about being princesses, or knights in shining armor coming to their rescue. There is a stage in most young girl’s lives in which they live and breathe fairy tales. For these girls’, it undoubtedly would have gone to most girls’ heads to know that their soulmate even viewed them as a princess from the very start.
But for one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, royal princesses and noble knights were never as interesting as their clothes and fashion. She wanted to know more about how the princesses dresses fell just so, how their clothes always seemed to sparkle just a bit, than how the princess waited and pined for her knight or dashing prince. Sabine always joked her daughter would’ve a bond and on the crown for a good sewing machine had she been royal. Tom always prayed Marinette would do just that regardless. After all, when you grew up with the words, “sorry purrincess love to stay and chat but I really can’t pawse right meow” on your shoulder blade in dark loopy script, your parents were bound to get strange ideas about who, exactly, your soul mate would be.
Marinette never cared much for princesses, princes, knights or even about who her soul mate might be.
Yet, somehow, even without sparing a single thought on the kind of person her soulmate might be, her expectations were still dashed into the dust.
It was a fairly nice summer day, with clear blue skies and a faint cooling breeze. Paris was oddly chatty, even in the warm afternoon sun, milling about the streets.
Not that Marinette could remember much about the day itself, because she was too busy freaking out over a certain pair of earrings that brought along something that was way too special for her too process without freaking out. She was close to the Eiffel Tower, staring at a local ice cream vendor longingly. She had left her home in too much of a rush, forgetting her wallet in her bedroom. The heat was starting to get to her a bit, but Marinette was in no shape yet to return home and face the responsibilities that awaited her.
At least, she was staring at the ice cream vendor. Or, she had been? Marinette wasn’t sure anymore, her head was suddenly spinning, and there was a burst of screaming and roaring. A hand flew to her head, and she groaned. Eventually, when Marinette looked up, she was not at all prepared for the sight that greeted her; in the background a huge dragon-like monster raged, breathing fire into the now sweltering sky and a very strange blonde boy dressed in a black cat suit- complete with ears- hovered over her.
Marinette stared in shock- all she had really wanted that day was a moment to herself, and maybe some ice cream, at least time enough to process what was going on- but instead everything she was trying to avoid was shoved into her face.
The boy’s bright green eyes flicked from Marinette to the monster, and back again a few times, obviously torn. For a brief moment, Marinette could see the gears turning in his head, could see his uncertainty (she felt it all too clearly herself, if she was honest). She saw the moment he squared his shoulders, his decision made;“Sorry purrincess love to stay and chat but I really can’t pawse right meow.”His words tumbled out of his mouth as fast as he moved, springing into action against the dragon currently perched on top of the Eiffel Tower.
Marinette refused to focus on how long it took her to process those words in relation to the ones on her back. Everything was just too much, and all she really wanted to do was sleep in her bed for a week and pretend nothing happened, ever.
Instead, Marinette found herself fighting alongside the strange boy in the catsuit, wearing her own ladybug themed outfit.
It was definitely the strangest week in her life.
But good lord, why oh why did her soulmate have to make the stupidest puns every five minutes? Seriously. Why.