Marinette

Alya wrapped Marinette in a hug as soon as she stepped into their room. "Are you alright?"

"Hard to say." She had too many questions left. The things she had found out refused to settle in her mind.

"I guess that means I'm free to leave?" Nino tiptoed towards the door.

Alya glared his way. "We'll continue tomorrow. Don't forget I know where you live, Lahiffe."

"Of course." The man vanished before either of the girls could wish him goodnight. As soon as the door behind him closed, Alya dragged Marinette to the bed and sat her down. "Okay. Now, spill."

Marinette didn't even know where to start. Which part should she shock Alya with first? But then Alya, most likely, wouldn't be shocked at all. She was Alya Cèsaire after all. She loved everything—

"Nino did tell me a thing or two. Willingly."

Marinette quirked an eyebrow. "Willingly?"

"Details, Marinette. Details." Alya waved off the question and grabbed her friend's hands, her eyes sparkling. "The main thing is that you have magic inside you. Isn't it cool? How does it feel? Did you suspect anything? Is that why you heal so fast? Girl, I have so many questions."

Marinette couldn't help a chuckle. "Believe me, I have a ton of questions myself. Adrien promised to tell me everything tomorrow since it's the middle of the night and both of us had quite a day."

"Speaking of Adrien, how did he figure you out? Do people who can use magic give off a certain vibe he recognized? Like some particular aura or something? Or is it—"

Ringing inside Marinette's ears drowned out Alya's voice, exhaustion rapidly overtaking her body as the initial shock of the evening was starting to wear off. She hardly thought of what she was saying, barely hearing her own voice, but Alya kept asking questions and Marinette was blurting answers on autopilot. It was only when Alya's eyes bulged and she jumped off the bed and started to pace around the room did Marinette perk up. What did she say to send her friend in a frenzy?

"Destruction, you say?" Alya murmured, halting her steps and looking at Marinette. "Don't you think it's a bit too much of a coincidence that Adrien, who possesses the power of destruction has the same name as the prince, who is rumoured to possess some kind of destructive powers?"

The most inelegant of snorts slipped Marinette's lips. She shook her head, almost laughing. Adrien? Her dorky boyfriend with the sweetest tooth in the world? A prince? "I think I'm not the only one who needs rest right now."

Alya had never looked more offended. "It's a perfectly viable theory, M. Same name? Check. Same powers? Check. No one knows how the prince looks, so it could be your Adrien. We know Adrien's rich, just like the prince, and we know his father works at the palace, just like the prince's father. And come to think of it, I've been noticing Nino being suspiciously protective of him, always by his side… well, he was always by his side until you two started dating, and then Adrien was practically glued to your hip overnight. But they live together, go everywhere together and when they are not, they constantly check in on each other… not even that—" she frowned, "—it's more like Nino's checking up on Adrien all the time. He could be his bodyguard or something. You can't tell me this isn't suspicious."

Perhaps it was. Perhaps it wasn't. Whatever the case, Marinette had no strength left in her to admit that on top of everything else she'd been hit with today, she might have been dating the notoriously mysterious heir to the French throne. "Come on, Alya. They are just really good friends. Nino is like a brother to Adrien. He told me so many times. And I'm pretty sure if the two of us ever moved to a new town on our own, we'd be checking on each other all the time, too."

"Okay, you've got a point. But the same magical powers are still suspicious, though."

"I'm sure magical powers aren't unique. There are probably tons of people with destruction magic running around."

Alya quirked an eyebrow. "Oh? And how many have you heard of?"

"Give me a break." Marinette rolled her eyes. "I didn't even realize I had powers."

"Touché." Alya chuckled. "But he's still not off the hook. Especially with what you told me about his father controlling him since he was a toddler, because, you know, no one has seen the prince since, oh, what do you know, since he was a toddler!?" Alya resumed her pacing. "Not to mention, they are the same age, and he resembles the Queen rather incredibly, now that I think about it."

Marinette's head started to pound, black circles spiralling in front of her eyes. There was no way. No way! Adrien was Adrien. The prince was the prince. And even if the two of them shared their first name, age, powers, and a bunch of other stuff she was too tired to recite, they were two completely different people. Because Adrien would've told her something so important as that… wouldn't he?

Her breath hitched. Adrien said he had more secrets to tell her tomorrow. He never hid the fact that he was from high society, nor that he was working at the palace. Could Alya be right?

No! Not about this! This was way too important to not mention to his girlfriend of all people! Strangers, yes. Friends, perhaps. But her? Impossible. His secrets must be related to their powers and Master Fu. Maybe his father's magic, but not this. Not something so big. Which meant that there had to be a perfectly valid explanation to all of the points Alya had mentioned. Something like— "There is probably more than one Adrien in the palace. It isn't such a unique name."

Alya stalled, deep in thought. "You're right," she mumbled, almost sprinting to her cell phone. "And we can check that."

"If the palace has more than one Adrien?"

Alya nodded, sitting down beside Marinette as she furiously typed on her cellphone. It took her about five minutes of searching and a few moments of staring blankly at the screen, but biting on her nails, she finally relented, shoving her cellphone into Marinette's hands with a groan and a reluctant admission of "you were right".

Marinette glanced at the screen and let out a sigh of relief. Somehow, Alya was able to dig up the palace's official list of its employees. There were four Adriens:

- Adrien Agreste, His Royal Highness, Prince of France, no picture present;

- Adrien Noir, the son and apprentice of Gorilla Noir, the head of the palace security, her Adrien smiling at her from the photo;

- Adrien B. Aspik, time management advisor for the Crown, a middle-aged balding man with kind but tired eyes;

and

- Adrien St. Neko, a young man in a black leather jacket and little description of what his position actually was.

"See?" Marinette gave Alya back her phone and stretched, yawning. "My Adrien is just a security chief's kid. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to sleep before you come up with yet another crazy idea."

Marinette quickly crawled under the comforter and tucked herself in, swaddling her body like a burrito and refusing to wait until Alya found more proof to the "Adrien is the prince" theory. What an absurd idea! There was no way… right?

"You know," Alya mumbled. "Website pages can be forged…"

Marinette hid deeper into the comforter, tuning her friend out by counting sheep backwards, as loudly in her mind as she could, soon falling into blissful oblivion of dreamless slumber.

"Creation? You mean I can create stuff?"

"Yes, yes you can."

"Like out of the thin air?"

"Yes. And when you muster it…"

"Chat… That's… That's incredible! Do you even realize how much I can do with that?"

"I thought you'd like it."

…

"… get my kwami out of me. It's a bit unsettling when I think about something living in my body."

"I will… Master Fu tomorrow… he'll explain what to do… awakened my kwami when I was a little child, so I don't remember much…"

…

"… Does your father control your every action?"

"He doesn't control what I do. He just sets rules for me to follow… banned me from using my powers until I was older… kept me locked in the palace… the stronger I get, the less control he has over me…"

…

"Ordering me to marry Lila… a weird exception. I'm still trying to figure out what happened there."

"What do you mean…"

"Magic hierarchy. A less powerful wielder cannot overpower a stronger one without their explicit consent… As a child, I allowed him to control me."

…

"Awww, my poor prince… For once I'm glad to be born a commoner."

"Sooner or later, you'll be the queen, my Lady… many people would love to control you."

"… make dating you less appealing with every word… design clothes and run a bakery… Simple life…"

"… won't abandon me?"

"… I love you too much for that…"

…

…

"… tell me you're the prince… Alya is figuring… I'd rather learn it from you."

"… if I could."

"Your father's orders?"

…

"… four Adriens..."

…

"… my friend made that list… for people like Alya… there is only me…"

…

…

…

"I love you, my Lady."

Marinette's eyes snapped open, her breathing ragged. A few rays of sunlight seeped into the room from behind the curtains, slowly gliding up the bedding, no sound except the beat of her heart thundering through the room. She sat up straight and pressed her hand to her chest.

It was still there—a faint memory of something that had to be a dream. Was it a forest? Or perhaps a garden? There was a lake or a river… some kind of water body. Flowers everywhere… and Adrien. She was there, too. They talked and cuddled and kissed and the memory was vague, but the feeling of warmth in her heart still glowed.

What was going on? Why would she start having dreams now of all times? And Adrien? Why was…

Marinette jumped off the bed and dashed toward the door… that was barricaded for some reason with a few pieces of furniture.

"What the…? Alya!"

"Yeah?" Alya murmured from the bed, rubbing her eyes open.

"Did you barricade the door?"

"Yeah, I did."

Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose. She had no time for this. "And what in the world prompted you to do that?"

"My desire to protect you, M."

"From who?"

Alya climbed off the bed, stretching. "We know Adrien's working for his father, right? We also know that his father is the head of security at the palace where people with magic work as well."

"And?"

"And we also know Adrien's been keeping secrets from us, so what if his actual job has nothing to do with management. What if he's going around finding and recruiting magical folk to slave away for the royals? What if he came to Dupont specifically to find you not because of some magical connection but because the palace wants your powers?"

"Alya—"

"Nuh-uh." Alya shook her head, her arms crossed on her chest. "You can't tell me him being so dead set on you moving to Paris isn't suspicious, M. What if he lured you here with a Chattel show just so he can kidnap you and force you to work for them? Huh?"

"He had all of yesterday to do that," Marinette challenged. "You were very conveniently out of the picture, so if that was his true objective, why did he play tourists with me instead of doing his 'job' then?"

Alya shrugged. "Don't know, but I won't make it easy for him. That's first. Second, I already bought our tickets back home. So, in—" she glanced at the clock, "—a few hours, we'll tell them we want to have a girls' day out in the city, and Au Revoir! Suck it, boys! We're back home where we belong, and you'd be lucky if we ever talk to you again!"

Marinette stared at Alya in stupor. Not that the idea wasn't plausible, but they were talking about Adrien. Adrien, who couldn't lie to her to save his life. Adrien, whose favourite activity was to lounge around on Marinette's lap and who practically purred every time she as little as touched his hair. Adrien, who got unreasonably excited at the sight of a croissant. Adrien Noir, who even as an adult retained all the innocence of a child. He simply couldn't be an undercover agent, hunting magic people for a living! It just wasn't in his nature.

"Alya…"

"What? I'm just trying to protect you, M."

Marinette shook her head and started to remove the chairs. "Just help me to move this dresser away. How did you even manage to move it here all by yourself."

Alya smirked. "A girl wishing to protect her bestie can do a lot of things."

"Adrien can destroy the door and all of this furniture with a touch of his finger."

"But he wouldn't do that in the middle of a hotel with lots of security cameras around."

"His father is the security of the country," Marinette grumbled, groaning under the weight of the dresser. Once it was out of the way, she leaped into the hallway and ran straight for Adrien's room. Whatever was going on with that dream of hers, he could explain it. He was there. He must know something!

"Where is he?"

Nino raised his hands in surrender, stepping aside. "If you mean Adrien, he's still sleeping."

Marinette made her way into the room, heading straight for the bed. The sight of sleepy Adrien propping himself up on his elbow as he lazily rubbed his eyes almost caused her to stumble, but nope! She would not jump into those arms for an hour or two of cuddling even if he was the most adorable human being with the cutest messy mop of blond hair on his sleepy head and the silliest lopsided smile on his lips. And this was absolutely not the time to wrap herself around that shirtless chest of his. Nope. Not now. Not until all of her questions were answered. Then, perhaps, she'd allow herself a little snuggling… that was if she liked his answers, of course.

"What did you do to me?"

A frown creased Adrien's forehead. "What do you mean?"

"The dreams. I just had a dream for the first time in my life and you were in it."

"You've dreamed of me…" His eyes widened; Adrien scrambled out of the bed and grabbed her hands. "My Lady?"

Despite her heart sprinting into a mad dash, every cell in her body froze. That nickname… It was just as familiar as his eyes the first time she'd seen them.

"Please, tell me you remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Your dreams."

She looked away, swallowing the knot in her throat. "Not exactly. Just some parts and they are vague."

"What do you call me in your dream?" Adrien watched her intently, squeezing her hands in his. "Do you remember at least that?"

She could almost recall… It was there… on the tip of her tongue and yet out of reach. She thought harder, searching her mind. "I'm not sure… Something like a cat? No, not quite. It sounded more like sha… wait, no. Noir! I do remember the 'Noir' part. But the first one…"

"Chat?"

Marinette's eyes snapped to him, lips parting at the sound. "Chat…?"

"Chat Noir. Come on, please, tell me you remember."

She wished she could tell him she did, but with each passing moment, more details slipped back behind the veil.

"Perhaps if you tell her, she'll remember more?" Nino spoke, coming closer, Alya right behind him.

"Tell her what?"

"Tell me what?" the girls asked in unison.

"Perhaps I should." Adrien smiled awkwardly, turning his full attention to Marinette. "Are you in the mood for another revelation, Ladybug?"

Ladybug? His childhood friend who Marinette had suspected Adrien was in love with back when they first met, but who was engaged to his relative, Chat Noir—and whose name now sounded a lot more familiar than before, and not in relation to someone else, but… Marinette herself?

She closed her eyes, pulling her hands from his grasp and grasping her head, groaning. "Why do I feel like I'm going insane?"

"Would me kicking some butt make you feel better?" Alya stood by her side, glaring at Adrien. "Spill it, Sunshine."

Adrien nervously grinned, rubbing at the base of his neck. "So… I might be the reason you don't remember your dreams."

Marinette shook her head. "That's impossible. I met you a few months ago. I've never remembered my dreams. Ever. In all of my twenty-two years."

"And that's because one of my ancestors was given a 'gift' by some fae centuries ago: a 'blessing' of meeting his soulmate in his dreams every single night. Since then, this 'blessing' passes to every firstborn in our family. I'm its latest victim. You're my soulmate. We meet in our dreams every night, but the 'blessing' blocks your memories of that."

Marinette stared at him in confusion, unable to utter a single word.

"What are you talking about?" Alya glared at Adrien, turning to Nino. "Have you two been drinking?"

Nino suppressed a chuckle. "Maybe we should give them a few minutes alone."

"I'd rather hear this—"

"Come with me, babe." Nino took her hand and pulled her towards the door. "I'll tell you everything you want to know, but this is a conversation they should have in private."

The pair left soon after; Marinette hardly noticed, staring at Adrien, thoughts raging wild in her mind. Soulmates? Dreams? Faes and magic? Why were her memories being blocked if Adrien's obviously weren't?

"Say something," Adrien took a step towards her.

"I…" she swallowed, looking away, clutching her hands together. "I don't even know where to start."

"I don't think it matters where we start. Just ask me the first thing that comes to mind."

Easy for him to say! How could she pick from thousands of questions this new revelation had brought up? "You said we're soulmates, right? Like in fairy tales?"

"Not quite." Adrien smiled. "Fairy tales have more of a romanticized view of soulmates like 'love at first sight' or even 'the only possible love'. That's not how it works in the real world. Soulmates are more like a couple of people who, considering their qualities and characters, have the most chances of being happy together. Not the only option, just the best one. And not quite love at first sight, but not a slow burn either."

That might have explained a thing or two about why she fell for him so fast and hard. "And we meet in our dreams every night because of this 'blessing' your family has?"

Adrien nodded. "In our case, it is mostly a curse, though."

"Why?"

Adrien looked to the side with a sigh. "The dream-you wasn't too happy at the prospect of the awake-you dating another guy when we were already a thing in our dreams. It was heartbreaking to watch, especially knowing neither of us could do anything about it."

Marinette stalled. Was it why she kept chickening out on Luka? Was it why the idea of dating him never felt quite right even though she did like him? And what did Adrien mean by them being a thing? "Are we dating in our dreams?"

Adrien's smile brightened the room. "Since we were seventeen."

She stumbled backwards, getting a hold of a nearby chair and slowly sinking in it. "Five years? We… we've been dating for five years?" Was that how he knew her so well? Was this why it sometimes felt like he was reading her mind? "Adrien, I think I'd remember something as important as having a soulmate and dating him for FIVE freaking YEARS."

Adrien's shoulders slumped as he looked to the ground. "That's why I consider it a curse. It's unfair to you."

"Why? Why don't I remember anything, but you do?"

"To protect my identity," he mumbled. "Which I think is an overkill in our situation, because even if you had remembered our dreams, you wouldn't have been able to know who I am anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"In our dreams, we can't share information that can directly identify us to each other. Names, places where we live, powers we hold, stuff like that. We even had to come up with nicknames to call each other, because we couldn't share our real names. So, I suspect your memories are being blocked only because, theoretically, you could recognize my face if you saw me. But since I've been kept locked at the palace since I was a toddler, that would've never happened until I was released from my father's influence, and by that time, we should've met anyway."

That nagging ringing in her ears from yesterday came back, intensifying by the second. Marinette could hardly breathe. Alya's theories, bits and pieces of her dream, and Adrien's words were dancing in circles in her mind, moving closer and running away, clashing and tangling in each other, whispering to her something she couldn't just grasp yet. She had enough strength only to whisper, "Why protecting your identity from me is so important? Who are you, Adrien?"

He swallowed, biting at his lip, his eyes saddening. "I can't tell you."

Marinette closed her eyes, trying to get her breathing under control, calm down the blood raging through her veins, silence the fierce pounding of her heart enough to be able to speak again. "Why?"

He looked almost in pain as he uttered. "My father's orders."

His magical bounds. Marinette looked away, her chest constricting. Why would his father order him to keep his identity a secret? Why were her dreams stolen from her because of him? Who was he? "So your real name is not Adrien Noir?"

He clenched his fists, watching her for a few moments before whispering through gritted teeth. "Separate them… names… separate…"

What?

"My name's Adrien," he said, watching her intently. "I'm Adrien."

Oh… "But you aren't Noir?"

He didn't answer; she didn't need words. His eyes told her everything.

He looked relieved. His lips tingled in a smile, as he repeated, "My name's Adrien. I live and work in the palace. I have powers of destruction. My father doesn't want people to know my full name. I can't tell you but you know. Dream-you knows. You already figured this out once. You can do it again."

Marinette sucked in the air, her head spinning. What was that dream? She had to remember. She had to know.

She closed her eyes and breathed.

In and out.

In and out.

In and out.

What did she do yesterday?

Powers. She found out about the powers.

Then, conspiracies.

Alya said…

Marinette snapped her eyes to Adrien.

She was Creation.

He was Destruction.

Alya said he might be…

She swallowed as a faint memory surfaced.

She called him…

In her dreams…

She called him…

"My prince."

The room roared. Adrien's cry and his outstretched hands as he lunged for her was the last thing Marinette heard and saw, memory after memory after memory attacking, ripping, flooding her mind.

Tiny toddlers on the beach, building castles. The blond boy, missing his tooth. Her tiny self, sticking her tongue at him. Laughing. They laughed all the time. A bit older, they drew pictures in the sand. He was the one who taught her how to swim. She loved to splash him. He always won their tickle wars. They started to explore the area. Climbing trees, making paths, playing in the garden. Her teen years. He was so awkward. Still such a child. They talked about school, their friends, and hobbies. He liked to fence. His eyes were pretty, even then.

He got his first crush. Her fifteen-year-old self had a blast teasing him about it, but she was secretly happy when it didn't work out. She didn't understand why, though, so she told no one. He stuttered a love confession in Chinese to her two years later. Marinette pretended she didn't hear because she loved him, but not like that. Right? She wasn't sure. By the time he used language she hadn't even known existed, she told him to use French. There was no doubt in her mind by then. She loved him. Loved him like that. So she kissed him.

They hadn't stopped kissing ever since. She wanted to meet him in the real world, and he said he wanted that, too. They agreed to wait until after graduation because they both knew they wouldn't be able to focus on anything once they met. He started to search for her sooner. She led the way. She helped him when he misstepped. She gave him information about herself. Oh crap, she tricked him into crashing her date with Luka! He forgave and still loved her. She loved him more than ever.

Her Kitty. Her Adrien.

Her head was throbbing. Something warm on her chest was… rumbling? No, more like purring. Plagg? She couldn't say how she knew, but it was definitely that little grumpy kitten purring a storm up on her chest.

"I swear if she doesn't regain consciousness in five minutes, I'm calling an ambulance, police, and the national guard on both of you! I don't care who you are! You don't get to talk my best friend into a fainting spell and get away with it!"

Alya. Marinette would smile if she could.

"Should I call for Master Fu again? Maybe he can help?"

Nino's voice.

Something hot enveloped one of her hands, someone's lips whispering against the tips of her fingers. "No. Not yet."

Chat. Her silly Kitty.

"My mom told me this was normal; she had fainted as well when she remembered her dreams. It's caused by the nervous system being overwhelmed with a sudden lifetime of memories, so she'll need a few minutes to adjust and reboot in a way. But she'll be alright. I know she can do it." Another kiss to her fingertips, he whispered against her skin, "Come on, princess. Come back to us."

She tried to open her eyes… too heavy. Her head hurt. Her body refused to obey.

"Come on, girl." Alya's familiar soft touch on her hair. "Don't make me kill those two. I'm too young and fabulous for prison."

Marinette almost snorted. A shiver ran down her skin, her body suddenly feeling lighter. Light enough for her to squeeze Chat's hand back.

"She moved!"

"Marinette?" Alya called. "Marinette, can you hear me? Wake up, girl!"

An electric current ran through Marinette's body, releasing her from whatever grip was holding her back. She groaned, squinting her eyes open. His face was the first thing she saw. "Chat?"

"That's Adrien," Alya corrected.

Adrien didn't. His lips stretched in a hopeful smile. "Ladybug?"

She reached forwards to slightly caress his cheek, spooking Plagg off her chest. "Hello, Kitty."

With her name on his lips, Adrien launched forward, wrapping her in a tight hug. "You remember? You remember everything?"

"I do." She pulled him away slightly just so she could take his face in her hands and look at him properly. This was her Chat, her best friend and the man she loved her whole life in her dreams. But it was also her Adrien, the dork she fell rapidly and deeply in love with within a matter of weeks in their awake reality. It was so weird to look at him and realize they were one and the same. She knew that in her mind, but seeing it with her memories finally freed was a completely different thing. "I can't believe I finally remember. It feels surreal."

"My Lady," Adrien whispered, gently running his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping away the tears rolling down her cheeks. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Kitty." She snuggled closer into his touch, their lips meeting soon after, everything and everyone around them forgotten.