Marinette loved the Ocean. She loved the push and pull of the tides each day, she loved the feel of sand beneath her toes as the wind wafted against her sun kissed skin, and she loved the hypnotic view of one wave crashing into another, building and falling and building and falling as the sun glints off of the snow white crests at the peak of each arch.

But most of all, Marinette loved to be a part of it all.

It was routine for her- wake up, breakfast, grab her board, and immerse herself into the ever flowing rhythm of the waves. If the surf was calm, she would practice her paddling, building up her arm strength with each stroke through the salty water. If the surf was raging, her ebony hair whipped furiously, trying to dissuade the young woman from the crashing and biting sea… but Marinette was stubborn, born to be in the water, and she would ease her way in as she had done thousands of times before. Her practiced and calm demeanor meeting the thrashing fury of the Ocean in a way that others marveled at.

And, oh, did other's marvel at her.

From a young age, Marinette had caught the eye of every person who was lucky enough to see her surf. Growing up in a family of lifeguards, the young woman had the dangers of the Ocean drilled into her small, growing mind for as far back as she could remember. But, her keen eyes and special sense of the Ocean allowed her to see what others couldn't.

The wind spoke to her in a way that weathermen could only dream of- shifting and dancing and cooling and warming- she was the first to know if a storm was rolling in, she had an intuition of which area of the beach would have the best waves, and she always had her eye trained on those who got too close to a dangerous rip tide. The Ocean swam in the depths of her blue eyes and, even while riding through the breathtaking beauty of another tunnel of water, she had this sense of everything that was happening around her.

To Marinette, the Ocean was alive- pulsing, thriving, temperamental- and she was always close by, trying to live along side of it. She was shaped by the tides- fluid in her expectations, constant in her loyalty and relationships, carving her way into the world with each passing day.

It only made sense to her proud parents when they were first approached about her entering the competitive side of surfing. She was a glare of sunshine against the water at 11 years old during her first competition and she blew away the other children in her age group as easily as a hurricane sweeps up sand in a storm. Fierce drive and an unwavering resolve kept her chosen stage name on the tip of every spectators tongue.

"Ladybug!" She had cried out to her parents when they suggested she not use her real name- that much fame could go to a young girl's head. Marinette had no idea how lucky the small creatures were meant to be, but it would become her namesake. Lady luck, always finding the best waves, always popping back out of the sea after the hardest falls, and always coming back for more day in and day out.

When she wasn't on her board, Marinette became like the sea on a sunny cloudless day. She brought joy and warmth into the lives of all of her school friends, she kept tourists and beachgoers safe from harm with her watchful gaze as her parent's head lifeguard, and, despite the occasional tsunami of her anger, everyone around this vibrant girl thought she was the sweetest person alive- no one would guess that she was the same storm of a woman who carried the namesake of Ladybug and who had become renown as one of the top surfers alive.

Despite her age, Marinette enjoyed the anonymity of her surfing career. Not many twenty-two year olds would hide away this portion of their life, but being able to make friends at her university without the stress of wondering who liked her due to her fame or who liked her for herself was priceless in her eyes. A simple tweak to her goggles was all she needed to mask her identity and it has kept her safe the past decade of her surfing as long as she never removed them until she was safely tucked away from prying eyes. Often, news crews would try to catch a glimpse of her with only a bare face, but she was clever and had devised ways to escape from even the nosiest of reporters.

Her goggles along with a spotted red and black singlet and her matching surf board, meant her alter-ego had grown into a sensation. Thousands of people would gather on competition days; half hoping to catch a glance of something spectacular while the other half was waiting for her to fail.

There was a small portion of Marinette that often worried about small slip ups that could happen and what she would do if she were to be unmasked to the scrutiny of the world masses, but each time her feet sank back into the gentle caress of the waves against the shore, she knew that whatever happened would happen and despite the fear, the Ocean would always be there to welcome her back.

And as the tide pulls and pushes her life onward, Marinette would soon be met with another fierce storm of a person- or make that two people- because unbeknownst to her, as the wind caresses loose tendrils of her hair and waves dance around her ankles, Chat Noir is making his way onto the competitive surfing scene and Adrien Agreste will soon be applying for a summer position lifeguarding under Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng.

With a full season of competition and lifeguarding in her future, Marinette dives once more into the oasis provided to her as the waves open their arms and welcome her home.