start notes—

Even across lifetimes, Marinette will always be Chat Noir's princess.

my tellonym: milkisande

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purrince

… and fairy tales come true, funny;
the one small part i never knew.

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"WHAT do you mean they aren't just dreams?"

Adrien looked at his kwami in confusion, drowsily rubbing his eyes in a weak attempt to dispel the sleepiness that he was still feeling.

The kwami hummed, a rare serious expression on his face. "I think they're your memories, kid."

He shook his head. "Memories?" Adrien echoed, disbelieving. "What do you mean, Plagg? I haven't met any princesses," he paused, then sighed, wistful. "At least, none as beautiful as her."

"Not your memories," Plagg corrected. "Memories of the past Cat Miraculous holders."

Adrien perked up. "You mean, your previous owners? Before me?"

The kwami nodded. "I think so," he began. "Or at least, one of them. Those dreams of yours about that girl… I think I remember her."

"Really?" Adrien leaned towards his kwami, eyes sparkling. "So she's real?"

"Was real," Plagg sighed. "She existed a long time ago. Not anymore."

For a moment, Adrien could see sorrow in his kwami's eyes, though it disappeared so quickly that the teenager thought he'd imagined it. "The question is why you've been dreaming about her. Memories don't get passed on with the miraculous." He looked up at his master. "What triggered it?"

Adrien shrugged, slumping his shoulders. "I'm not sure," he began. "I dropped by Marinette's during patrol, and I just… when she laughed, I saw someone else. And after that image, they kept on coming. In daydreams, while I was sleeping— I kept seeing her; laughing, smiling, talking to me." He looked down, then pressed a hand to his heart. "It's weird, that I've never met her, but I feel something whenever she shows up in my dreams. Like she'd been in my heart the whole time."

Plagg hummed, as if in thought. "Marinette, huh?"

His master nodded. "It's strange. They look nothing alike, but I can't shake the feeling of how similar they are. That girl… she just feels so familiar."

"Well, you may not be that off the mark."

"What do you mean?"

Plagg sighed. "Kid, you've heard about reincarnation, right?" He asked, as Adrien nodded. "Well, the people who believe in it aren't really wrong. They were right, actually." The kwami pointed at his owner. "Souls are pretty much recycled, like yours, over lifetimes. And usually, when you've died, everything is wiped away and restarted— save for a few things."

"Like…?"

"Your miraculous, for one," the kwami began, patting his ring. "Some souls are inexplicably tied to us kwamis, like you and me. Miraculous holders often share the same souls, and that's balance." He began, then frowned. "Sometimes, however, the miraculous falls into the wrong hands; the wrong souls, and causes chaos— that's how you get villains like Hawkmoth and Mayura."

"What does that have to do with my dreams?"

"It's not only the miraculous that are connected to souls," Plagg explained. "They can also be connected to other souls; relationships that transcend lifetimes," he explained. "That's where you get the idea of soulmates—" he wrinkled his nose, "though you people made it a lot more romantic than it really is. Soulmates are lifelong bonds, but they can manifest in other ways, like in friendships or family. Sometimes even in rivalries."

"Wait, so you're saying… this princess is my soulmate?" Adrien finally asked, the gears turning in his head.

Plagg nodded. "Yeah," he nodded. "With the miraculous, your connection to the supernatural— and spiritual world is much closer than to others. I guess it makes sense that your memories must have resurfaced the closer you got to your soulmate."

"Spiritual? Soulmate? I—," Adrien struggled to form words. "What do you mean? I've met my soulmate already? Who is it?"

He sighed. "Think about it, kid," Plagg pointed out. "Who makes you remember your past memories?"

Adrien thought back to the girl who had started all this in the first place.

Her smile, which blurred together with the stranger's laugh.

Deep blue pigtailed hair blending in with flowing black curls.

Pink pajamas that mixed with a pale, white, nightgown.

But their stare— exactly the same; warm, bluebell eyes that pierced his own green ones.

Marinette.

"Marinette's my soulmate?"

Plagg nodded. "I wasn't supposed to tell you, but…"

"Marinette's my soulmate?" He repeated, still finding the whole idea almost unrealistic.

Then, a smile.

"Marinette's my soulmate!"

"Yes Adrien, but—"

And almost immediately after, doubt. "But… what about Ladybug?" He asked, looking down. "I'm still in love with her."

The kwami looked about ready to strangle him.

"You're telling me you can tell Marinette from her past life but not this connection?!" Plagg asked, exasperated.

Adrien still couldn't quite connect it in his head.

"Marinette is Ladybug."

The kwami finally burst out, leaving the teenager reeling.

Marinette…

Was Ladybug?

The emotions escaped him faster than he could actually process them.

Shock, disbelief, denial, rationalization, realization, joy, understanding, love.

Then, panic.

Adrien threw a pillow at his kwami. "Wait, why did you tell me!?" He almost shrieked, pointing at Plagg. "I'm not supposed to know, ohGod, Ladybu— Marinette's going to kill me…"

Plagg sighed. "It's for your own good, kid. It's really on you for not realizing sooner."

The hero only looked at Plagg, confusion evident, before nodding to himself. "Then…" he began, unsure. "What should I do?"

"Go get your princess," his kwami only responded. "Sweep her off her feet, or something. Isn't that what princes do?"

Eyes bright with excitement, Adrien only nodded. "Okay, okay, I just need to get a few things ready. Then I'm transforming and telling her how I feel about her."

Plagg nodded, throwing an encouraging smile his way (something Adrien found surprising, given how out-of-character it was for the kwami to do so). "Live your 'happily ever after' with your purrincess," he called after him:

Then, in a lower and more quiet voice, "While you still can."

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That night, Plagg dreamed about his old master.

A rather young man, he smiled at the kwami, as he pressed a teasing finger to his lips in a 'quiet' gesture.

With surprising catlike agility, the miraculous holder climbed up the tree and to one of the castle balconies, where he was greeted by an all-too-familiar girl— no, a young woman, dressed in a nightgown, dark hair flowing in the wind.

She was teasing the man, a smile on her face, a laugh escaping her lips.

Plagg missed that laugh.

Then she turned to the kwami, offering a piece of cheese she definitely stole from the kitchen.

"Here, Plagg!"

His grateful grin.

Then, a sudden bang on the door.

Hiding behind the tree branches.

The girl screaming as another man— the prince, threw her down to the ground.

Fear.

Helplessness.

Boiling anger.

Returning to her room, late into the night, with a proposition:

"Would you like to run away with me?"

His master's outstretched hand as she grabbed it.

Running.

The guards and the prince hot on their trail.

Capture.

Transformation.

Her eyes, in tears.

A scream.

"No matter what anyone says, you will always be my prince."

Then, nothing.

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Back in the present, with almost catlike agility, an anonymous hero showed up to the girl's balcony.

He smiled as her eyes met his.

"Your purrince has returned."

Confusion, and a flicker of sudden recognition.

His hand outstretched to take hers.

"Would you like to run away with me?"

History is doomed to repeat itself.

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end notes—

so ,, short backstory this was jus supposed to be based on 'ai no scenario' (its a vocaloid song- yes im unhealthily obsessed with these) and focus on the idea of princes/princesses but i kinda (VERY) got off-topic n too excited,, ending up with the being less on the prompt and more on me yelling about soulmate au havcksjfsd [no regrets tho].

i also feel like it makes no sense but the general idea is that one of chat's old reincarnations was a boy who fell in love with a princess (ladybug, marinette's reincarnation), and they ran away together . but it ended badly & in general words they lost her (hence why plagg was so sad when she was mentioned). the last scene is meant to vaguely parallel what happened all those years ago, which plagg is afraid of— because history really might repeat itself again, which means that he'll not only lose marinette, but his master, too. (purrince prompt rlly found dead in a ditch lmao) ANYWAYS:

thank you for reading! ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～