This is a Miraculous Secret Santa 2018 present for KitCaz! It's my first attempt at a Soulmate AU, I hope you like it!

Current note 2020, I'm uploading all the newer stories I've written from AO3 to FF, so for the people who just joined, you're welcome for the story dump! Some of them I'm quite proud of!

A drumroll ran through the crowded studio, and the lights lifted onto a brightly coloured seating area, where everyone's favourite superheroes awaited.

'Welcome everyone, to our latest installment of Celebrity Guest!' Nadja Chamack cheerfully said to the waiting cameras.

The audience applauded wildly, filling the room with its cheers.

'Today's special event is filmed in front of a live studio audience, if you hadn't already guessed.' Nadja smiled. 'We have with us today Ladybug and Chat Noir, who have taken the time out of their busy superheroing schedules to be with us.'

The cheering increased as the cameras focused in on the dynamic duo. Ladybug waved graciously, and Chat Noir threw up a peace sign.

'It's always a pleasure, Nadja,' Ladybug said, smiling back at the interviewer. 'And to you, Miss Cesaire.'

Alya from the chair next to Nadja grinned hugely. 'Always a pleasure for us!'

The signal was sent out for the audience to quieten, and they did so slowly.

Once they had, Alya was first to speak.

'So, first question, any signs of the Papillion?'

'After his appearance at the Louvre earlier this year he seems to have retracted to his hiding place, but he ceratainly can't be far.' Ladybug replied.

'Every day we get a little closer,' Chat added, sitting forward in his seat. 'He can't hide forever.'

'With the introduction of the newer heroes three years ago we certainly have seen more of Papillion in person.' Nadja agreed. 'Do you think that with the villain appearing more often that he's working towards something? Or has a grander plan?'

'Since the beginning Papillion has relentlessly chased after our miraculous, something that he has always remained clear,-'

'-and failed every time,' Chat added,

'-we're still not sure if this is part of something larger. We have some ideas, but as always, we will continue to protect Paris at all costs.'

Both interviewers nodded wisely.

'Do you think that Papillion grows more powerful as his flexing on the Soulmate bond has increased?' Alya questioned, before hesitating. 'I mean, we've had quite an increase on Soulmate pairs becoming a team or double Akuma because of Papillion using the bitter feelings shared through the Soulmate bond between the two. Do you think he's going to lean into that more and more?'

'Soulmate Akumas definitely can cause problems,' Chat acknoledged, 'but it's nothing we can't handle. Paris needn't worry.'

'It is a warning however, that if you're having problems with your Soulmate that open communication, not just through the bond, is essential to a healthy relationship.' Ladybug said, addressing the camera.

'You certainly are knowledgable on this,' Alya smiled, to which Ladybug replied with an answering smile.

'Over the years of being a superhero and seeing people's struggles being taken advantage of as we have, you learn a few things.'

'With the new spring sweeping through Paris at the moment, we have the new wave of Soulmate tattoos appearing on our young viewers.' Nadja said. 'We had that Akuma as recently as last week from that poor girl who let the uncertainty of her new marks get the better of her. Care to comment?'

'Of course as we all know,' Chat started, 'in the spring of one's eighteenth birthday, our Soulmate tattoos appear on our wrists, counting down until the moment we meet our Soulmate. For some, it's a year or two away, for some it's already happened and simply get a row of zeros and the beginnings of the Soulmate bond, and for some, unfortunately,' he leant somberly forward in his seat, 'It's not for many years, or in rare occasion, decades down the road. That can be understandably quite upsetting.'

Ladybug nodded, before addressing the camera. 'If you feel the need, there are people out there who can help. Don't let yourself be caught in a waiting period before your Soulmate arrives, no matter how long that will be. Life isn't only about our Soulmates, there are so many other parts that you can work on and improve with your own two hands before that countdown reaches zero.'

Alya grinned. 'Well said, well said. So, can you tell us if the dynamic duo have theirs yet?' She prompted.

It was difficult to tell around their masks, but to the well-trained eye they flushed slightly.

'That's quite a private question,' Ladybug shifted a little in her seat, hesitating.

Chat, sensing her discomfort, grinned. 'However I do notice that the fresh-faced,recently-of-age Alya Cesaire has hers,' his grin widened, 'and with a string of zeros no less! Care to comment?'

Unable to avoid the obvious change of subject, Alya flushed with a surprising hint of shyness. 'Yes, actually. I only got it very recently. My birthday is in December, so this is the right time for it.' Her smile widened. 'It wasn't hard to figure out, once the connection kicked in. My boyfriend of four years and I couldn't be happier.'

Nadja put a hand on her shoulder. 'Congratulations,' she said, smiling fondly. 'I remember when I first got mine, that kind of joy you get when the connection starts is like nothing else.'

After a moment, Alya spoke. 'As a special treat to our viewers, I've brought with me today a list of questions that have been submitted to the Ladyblog.' She eyed the nearest camera. 'Last minute questions may be asked, so you have two minutes to submit!'

'Go ahead.' Chat grinned at her.

'"Do you think Papillion has a Soulmate?"'

Chat shrugged. 'Who knows? Everyone says that there's someone for everyone, maybe there's someone for him?'

'One could only think that he hasn't found them yet,' Ladybug said with a slight frown, 'otherwise they would be trying to tell him to do what's right. Perhaps Papillion's timer is still ticking.'

There was a murmur of agreement from the audience.

'Are you two Soulmates?'

Ladybug took a breath. 'We have worked together for many years as partners. Nothing could prevent us from protecting Paris.'

'Everyone knows it,' Alya added under her breath with a frown, but Ladybug quite obviously pretended not to hear.

Suddenly a sign flashed from beyond the sight of the cameras, and Nadja straightened. 'I think it's time we took a break. Everyone, please thank Ladybug and Chat Noir for taking the time to talk to us today.'

There was raptuous applause from the audience, and after a long moment during which Chat blew a kiss to the crowd, the lights dimmed.

'Thanks again for coming.' Alya gushed, standing. 'These interviews do wonders for my blog!'

Nadja nodded. 'Truly, thank you.'

'It's not a problem.' Chat smiled. 'Thanks for talking to us!'

With a wave they made their way to the stairwell that would lead them to the rooftop.

After all the akumas within the TV studio, the two were well familiar with the layout and had no trouble navigating the building.

But as soon as they stepped out onto the studio rooftop, and Chat had shut the heavy door behind them, he looked at Ladybug.

'Are you alright?'

She paused with her foot on the edge of the building, yoyo affixed to a far off place for her first swing, and looked back at him. 'What do you mean?'

'You seem a bit,' he searched for the right word, 'off.'

She shook her head, then swung off the edge of the building. 'I'm fine.' She called behind her. 'Maybe I'm tired, or something.'

Chat hastened to follow her, his eyes on her full ponytail and lithe figure as it flew through the fresh afternoon air of Paris. 'I've known you for too many years to believe that. Do you want to talk about it?'

She moved in silence, until they had landed on a distant rooftop overlooking a quiet street. 'I'm worried, is all.'

He had landed a few paces away from her, and now approached carefully. 'What about?'

She walked over to the lip of the building, then looked back at him.

'Chat, has your Soulmate tattoo appeared yet?'

He drew in a surprised breath at her question. 'What makes you say that?' She'd never asked something that was indicitave of their identities before, even towards vague ideas like their age.

'Call it, curiousity.' She replied hesitantly.

'Well,' he said hesitantly, looking down at his hands. 'I got it a few weeks ago, right at the beginning of the season. All zeros.'

'Can you feel the connection yet?' She looked at him with intense eyes.

He smiled a sincere smile. 'I love how earnest she feels.' He looked up at her. 'It seems to be clearer than some of my friends, so I seem to already have a strong connection with her.' He paused, tilting his head slightly. 'Is that what you're worried about? Soulmates?'

She started to shake her head, then shrugged. 'I actually woke up with mine this morning.'

His immediate reaction was joyful, taking a step closer to her with a broad smile. 'Well, congratulations!' He leaned over to elbow her. 'When shall we plan the wedding?'

She smiled ruefully at him, before sitting on the edge of the building and hanging her feet over the lip. She took a moment to look out at the late afternoon sun. 'Don't take this the wrong way, Chat Noir, but honestly I hope it's not you.'

Behind her, his face crumpled, as did his entire posture. He took a deep, calming breath, before moving to seat himself next to her. 'W-what makes you say that?'

She lay a hand on his shoulder, which he shrank away from. She nodded at this reaction, before she spoke. 'I hope it's not you that carries this sadness in your heart.'

He paused, looking down at himself, before looking at her. 'Is that what you feel? Through the connection?'

'Most of today, he was just,' She shook her head slightly, trying to find the words. 'Lonely. From the moment he woke up until later today.' She took a breath. 'I could feel some surface emotions, but Chat, what could I possibly do to help, when maybe I don't even know this person?' She pressed a hand to her chest, surprised at the sudden onslaught of foreign emotions squeezing her heart tightly.

Chat, almost unconsciously, leant sideways and leant his cheek against her shoulder with unreadable eyes. 'I'm sure he's closer than you think, Buignette. You already have a strong connection, from what you've said.' He hesitated. 'Plus, you're Ladybug. I have every faith that even just being around you helps.'

'Do you think?' She questioned.

'Of course I do,' he smiled. 'I know it's true for me.'

She looked out at the sunset for a long, quiet moment.

'What's your Soulmate like? Do you know who she is?' She eventually questioned.

'Well,' he peeked up at her, 'I'm fairly certain I know who it is. But I didn't know if she had her tattoos yet, so I've been waiting.'

'That's very gentlemanly of you, Chat Noir.' She smiled. 'Will you be alright with your superhero identity?'

He continued to look at her. 'I think it'll be fine.'

She looked down at her costumed feet, and the street below. 'It's crazy, this whole Soulmates thing.'

'How so?'

'Well, suddenly you wake up one morning with a chestful of emotion that isn't even yours. And then you find out who that person is, and you're immediately committed to that person for the rest of your life. That's crazy.'

'It is a little crazy.' He admitted. 'But it's just the way it is. And I think it's nice, it gives you a better understanding of the other person.'

She took a deep breath. 'At least the lonliness has lifted.'

He smiled. 'See? There you go. What's he feeling now?'

She looked down at her hands, before a small smile appeared on her face. 'Relief. And, affection. Maybe he met the person he was waiting for?'

He chuckled. 'Maybe you'll have to ask him when you figure it out?'

'Maybe I will.'

If Marinette was honest with herself, and she was having to do a lot of that these days, she was confused.

It had been a week since she had woken up with her tattoo, written neatly on the inside of her wrist in slightly cursive handwriting, and every day the bond between her and her soulmate grew a little bit stronger.

She found herself with more sympathy towards Chloé, who had discovered her tattoo the previous day with five years on her timer, and more willing to be open with Chat, something that

she would have never considered before.

She also found herself hoping against hope that her Soulmate was her long-time crush Adrien, still a member of her class whenever he was able to attend, and with his long absences she hadn't yet found the time to approach him.

However even though her affection for him had dimmed no less, something was pulling her to Chat Noir on their brief encounters.

She no longer found herself pushing him away, or hastily fleeing at the end of a battle (of which the season of Soulmates had brought plenty), but lingering.

Chat was taking this change with a surprising amount of care, instead of the bravado she had been expecting.

However it was a sunny Friday afternoon when Adrien entered her bakery.

With a knowing glance her parents had melted into the back room, leaving Marinette with nowhere to run as Adrien approached the counter.

To her utter demise Adrien had grown somehow more handsome in the years she had known him from afar, even now as he ran his fingers through his hair her knees turned to some of the most runny jelly she had ever felt.

She was Ladybug, damn it! She could handle this!

'G-good morning, Adrien!' She said cheerfully as Adrien carefully closed the door to the blustery day behind him.

He turned and smiled, a movement that may as well have been a sledgehammer to her chest. 'Good morning! I haven't seen you in a while, Mari-' he met her eyes, and visibly swallowed. 'Marinette!'

Why, oh why, this was so much worse than usual, she had only seen him a fortnight ago and she was nothing like this! It was like she was fourteen all over again!

'A-are you after something today?'

He shook his head as if to clear it, and grinned. 'The lovebirds wanted me to grab some pastries on the way past. I was going to swing past theirs later to help with unpacking, did you want to come?' Alya and Nino had been ecstatic to find out their confirmed Soulmatehood, and had immediately gone apartment hunting together. Earlier that week they had found a perfect little place, and were working on moving in that weekend.

'I, uh, I'll have to check, with my parents,' she managed, before reaching for the stack of flattened take-away boxes. 'It's nice to hear they're settling in so quickly,'

She managed to pull a box onto the counter and started assembling it with well-practised ease, before he exclaimed excitedly, 'Marinette! You got your tattoo!' He even pointed, grinning.

'Oh! Uh,' she paused, before glancing at her wrist. 'Y-yeah, I guess I did.'

'When did that happen?' He had been standing in front of the pastry case, but now approached the counter to look more closely.

'A-about a week ago. It started this way.'

He took off the watch he was wearing and presented his own, chuckling. 'We match!'

Hope bubbled up through her chest as she saw her own cursive handwriting upon his wrist, and the list of zeros they presented.

'Th-that's,' suddenly presented with this idea, she all of a sudden found herself shy, wanting desperately but struck mute.

'But you can't tell anyone, alright?' He said, looking up at her. 'It's supposed to be a secret.'

'Do, do you know who it is yet?' She fiddled with the box nervously.

His excitement hesitated, and he moved to replace the watch almost carefully. 'I thought I did,' he threw a pensive glance over his shoulder, 'but, now I'm not so sure,'

Marinette followed his glance curiously, but saw nothing except the empty street behind him.

'Well, they do say that sometimes Soulmates can be surprising!' He smiled at her, buckling the strap of the watch. 'What about you? Do you know who it could be?'

'I'm, not a hundred percent yet, but I'm working on it,' she said hesitantly. 'I just, there's a lot of pressure, don't you think?'

He laughed. 'Yeah, a little. You should have seen my father's face when it appeared. Everyone else was pretty excited though, I thought Nino was going to fall out of his chair.'

The stab of pain that went through Marinette's heart wasn't her own. 'Well, I'm pretty excited for you too. I hope,' she hesitated, 'I hope she's everything you're looking for.'

The pain faded, replaced by a warmth that spread to her fingers, and Adrien smiled a soft smile as he looked at her. 'Yeah, I hope so too.'

The akuma had been defeated, and a five-way fist bump had ensued.

'I need to go,' Queen Bee said, already setting off. 'I have a three-o'clock nail appointment with Mother.'

'We should probably go too,' Rena Rouge hinted, 'Carapace is going to detransform soon and we have things to do,' the two had interlaced fingers as they headed towards the edge of the building.

Ladybug waved them off, before turning back to Chat. 'Do you need to head out too?'

He was looking at her intensely. 'No, but I did want to talk to you.'

She paused, before looking about them on their rooftop. 'Let's find a better place. Do you need to go and recharge?'

'I'd rather get this done first.'

'Alright,' Ladybug said, looking at him sideways, before leaping from the building and heading in the direction of their favourite spot, on the Eiffel Tower.

With their super-speed it only took them a few short minutes to get there, and upon landing he immediately approached her.

'I need to know something, and I need you to be honest with me.'

She took a step back. 'What's all this? What's the matter?'

'It's about Soulmates. I've done a lot of research on the internet and I know that polyamoury in Soulmates isn't unheard of, but the emotions I've been getting through the bond don't seem to line up at all with what poly Soulmates experience, and-' he babbled.

'What's your point, Chat? This isn't like you.'

'I know it's not, I-I think it's something from my Soulmate, she babbles when she's nervous, which is why, I really really have to know, and I'm really sorry to ask you this, I know you've always been so strict about our identities, but-'

'Well?' She said. 'What's your question?'

He took a deep breath, and looked her square in the face. 'Are you Marinette Dupain-Cheng?'

She felt the breath leave her.

'Ch-Chat Noir, you know we can't talk about our identities,'

'I know! I'm sorry!' He mussed his hair anxiously. 'I think you're my Soulmate, but I think Marinette's my Soulmate too, and I'm so confused, and you're the only person I could talk to about this,'

'Chat Noir, please,' she had felt the stress of this in the results of their battle against the akuma, and they overtook him now. And yet, she could feel it through her connection, as clearly as she could read it written all over his face.

But, Chat Noir wasn't her Soulmate, that had been decided as soon as Adrien had bustled into her bakery that morning, which meant, yet her connection was as strong as it was then,

He straightened, and took a deep breath. She felt the compression of his emotions in one well-practiced sweep. 'I'm, sorry to push this on you. Maybe I was wrong.' He turned away, but she caught him to stop him leaving.

'Wait!'

He hesitated, and she felt his emotions through the hand on his wrist as clearly as she felt her own.

'I-' he stopped, looking down at her hand with wide eyes. 'What?'

She stepped forward without releasing him, and cupped his cheek with her other hand. She looked up at him for a moment. 'Minou, does, does that make you my Adrien?'

He smiled at her. 'I thought you'd never ask.' He said, and released his transformation.

Ladybug's heart squeezed as the boy of her dreams with her handwriting on his wrist appeared before her, and she released her own transformation as well.

'I'm so glad it's you, Marinette,' he smiled at her.

'I can't believe you were right here this whole time.' She brushed her thumb over his cheek, and felt his shiver. 'I was an idiot.'

'Maybe we were both idiots.' He wrapped a hand around her waist and kissed her.