Connected By Heart
Adrien's heart pounded.
"No, please!" he begged, staring in horror at Marinette's almost lifeless body. "Not again."
The girl in question gazed up at him, her bluebell eyes echoing into his soul just like they always did. Her black hair laid in a crown around her head, her lips pale but still in a smile.
"Oh mon minou, you know we'll meet each other again."
"B-but-" he whimpered.
"I'll always be there," she assured him, "no matter what."
"It's so soon."
"I know. Maybe next time we'll have longer."
Adrien kneeled down and clasped her hand in his. Tears threatened to fall, but he chose to frown instead.
"Shall we?" Marinette prompted, encouraging him to start their tradition.
"Chat Noir and Ladybug," Adrien obliged, still frowning.
"Belle Blue and Malin," she replied.
"Paon and Huli Jung."
"Noire and Conchillian."
"Mariposa and Verte."
"Coquille and Ombré."
"Ladybug and Jaune."
"Abeille and Chat No- oh, oh minou…" Marinette pleaded, sadness bordering her eyes as she watched Adrien tear up again. He hadn't been able to keep himself from crying at the reminder of his past selves.
"You just opened your design shop," he cried. "We'd just revealed ourselves a week ago!"
"Oh Adrien, it's okay."
"I'm Chat Noir, I should've been able to stop… this."
"Neither of us were expecting the robber to come out of the alley, it's not your fault." Seeing his stubborn expression, she added, "We're both in our civilian forms, your abilities as the Black Cat holder wouldn't have helped."
"I still should've-"
"Chaton, no. There's no use fusing. I'll die soon, the bond will cause you to do the same, and we'll reincarnate again. Just like we always have."
"Mari, it takes decades for us to be together again."
"But we'll end up together in the end. We always do."
Adrien was racked with sadness. He'd only found out about her identity a week prior, but they'd been so happy knowing. Their memories of their previous lives had flooded back to them and they delighted in the bond they shared.
Why couldn't they have had the previous Paon and Huli Jung's long life of happiness?
He hated the bullet that had caused this mess, that would undo all their work and leave them reset.
The pain he'd been ignoring previously shot throughout his body, causing him to flinch and double over. He watched as Marinette started breathing slower and slower.
"I... love you... mon chaton... see you... soon..."
"Mari? MARI!" Adrien yelled. He'd be taken soon, but for now he laid his head on her chest and cried. This was not how Adrien had wanted this to end.
Sure enough, he was coated in the familiar purple smoke in minutes. All the light from the world slowly drained from his vision until it disappeared completely.
Adrien could think no longer, now in the death trance he faced whenever Mari died first.
He felt the memories being taken from him, losing Marinette's twinkle in her eyes, her laugh, her smile, in all its forms.
Belle Blue or Mariposa, her smile was always the same, the constant in every life he had.
Nevertheless, he began to forget. And once he had forgotten everything, including whatever name he might have, he woke up as a newborn.
Baby Adrien screamed and wailed in the arms of Emilie's hands. Gabriel looked on adoringly, and chuckled.
"He's got the same pair of lungs as you," he commented to his wife.
Emilie pretended to look insulted, the twinkle in her eyes —like that of Marinette's— giving it away. "Adrien," she called, "welcome to the world."
The girl was born months later, having spent the time waiting in the purple void. She giggled only minutes after being born.
"Oh, there you are!" Sabine cooed. "Look at you, so happy!"
Tom turned to his wife. "Have you picked her name?" he asked. They'd decided to keep the baby's gender a secret, so the name would come from the heart and not months of elimination.
"Hm, you're not a Emma or a Diana, are you now? No, you're bright as a star, my little one. Marinette."
"It's lovely," Tom decided, giving Sabine a peck on the cheek.
Years later, Marinette would save an old man from being run over and come home later to find an ornate box. When opened, she'd meet Plagg and, after some confusion and come-and-get-me tag, become Noire.
On the same day, Adrien would find the clip on earrings of the Ladybug Miraculous and become Conchillian.
They'd meet, Noire would groan at the bug puns, and they'd work to defeat their first ever akuma, Stoneheart.
And someday, maybe after Hawkmoth is defeated, maybe before, maybe accidentally, maybe on purpose, Marinette and Adrien would discover the other half of their soulmates, solve the love square they'd unknowingly have been stuck in, and
remember.
Adrien would remember the twinkle of Marinette's smile in every form she took, and Marinette would fondly recognize Adrien's same personality in every life she lived alongside him.
And this time, they may live to their 90s, with a successful boutique and a masters in physics, and a cat and two hamsters, just for kicks.
For they will find each other in every form, every Miraculous, every life. Sometimes their victory will be short lived, sometimes longevity will bless them. But Adrien and Marinette, Chat Noir and Ladybug, Malin and Belle Bleu, Paon and Huli Jung, Ombré and Coquille, Verte and Mariposa, Jaune and Ladybug, and Chat Noir and Abeille, will always be by their partners' side in the end.
Always together, no matter the Miraculous.
Connected by heart.
This is just a short one shot. I was inspired by a variety of different works, including ones like A Declaration of Love, Lucky Fox Paradox, Rise of Mariposa, Echoing Balance, and definitely Peridot Turtle. All of these fanfictions are wonderful in their own ways, and I highly recommend them. I borrowed some of the names of the alternate miraculous forms (ie. Mariposa, Huli Jung…) for Marinette and Adrien, all credit for those to them. I hope you enjoyed, I promise you Ladybug and the Star of Bethlehem Flower will update soon, I've just been working on some other stories as well, :)
Catch you later!
Punny Princess