Marinette met Adrien in the 8th grade. After a rocky start, she quickly fell for him. She had a crush on the boy all through middle school and the start of high school. Alya and Nino were always very supportive, playing their roles to try and help Marinette proclaim her feelings. In total, more than a dozen school friends played some part in her ridiculous schemes. She was never successful in admitting her feelings no matter how simple or elaborate she went.

Marinette fell in love with Adrien when she was sixteen. He had made an off-hand comment in a moment of frustration caused by his father's pressure. It had hurt the entire friend group so Marinette had confronted him. It was the first time they had ever yelled at each other. Adrien had taken a deep breath, deflated, and apologized. It was the first time that Marinette had ever seen him truly in the wrong. It was her first chance to see him own up to his mistakes and work to fix them. Her crush became love when she saw him as a fallible human and appreciated how weak and strong he was at the same time.

Marinette became Tethered to Adrien on her twenty-first birthday. The change was subtle but instantaneous. She could feel a flutter in her stomach, then a pull. It dragged her to her apartment door. She opened it to find Adrien walking down the hall for her party. He was too far away for her to have heard him; he hadn't knocked or called out. She just knew he was there.

Marinette spent the next few weeks testing the oddity. She documented every time she felt it, the different ways it manifested, and what Adrien was doing. She researched as best as she could online but couldn't find anything. Her parents were unable to provide any help. Their responses to Marinette's 'hypothetical' questions indicated that they didn't have whatever she had. After a month, Marinette began referring to it as her Tether.

She wasn't sure why it had started on her twenty-first birthday. She wasn't sure what it actually was or why she had it when the internet and her family had never encountered it. All she knew was that it tied her to Adrien. She could tell when he was near. She could tell when things were…off. She meant it that night in the garden when she told Adrien that Fate wanted her to keep him company. She could tell when he needed her.

The past four years she had felt closer and farther from Adrien than ever before. By its very nature her Tether pulled her to him. On the other hand, he didn't have a Tether pulling him to her. Deep down she had hoped that he was connected to her as she was to him. Even though she had no idea what the Tether was or what caused it. Even though she knew of no other person who had it. Her naïve hope had been dashed when she realized that he didn't recognize her from the garden. Or rather, the truth she had known deep down was proven beyond her ability to ignore.

She had known the truth even if she had been unwilling to face it. Her love declarations had ceased after she discovered her Tether. She had stopped crafting crazy plans with Alya. She had allowed her friend to believe that she had moved on from her infatuation. Really, she had allowed her Tether to place her in an unending limbo rather than allowing it to pull her forward. No more.

Why am I just a friend to him? How has he never noticed? How could I have a Tether for him, and he not have one for me?

I can't just be his friend. I have to tell him.

Making up her mind was a baby step in the right direction. Everyday for the next week, Marinette followed a very specific schedule. Wake up, bicycle to work, work on her collection, and ponder.

I could just say 'Hey remember the night your dad announced your upcoming wedding? I was your mystery lady! Surprise!' but he might think I'm crazy.

I could wait until my collection is released and reveal my identity by wearing my dress from that night. I like the drama, but he'll also think I'm crazy for that one. Not to mention he'll probably already be engaged by then. Also, the point of me telling him is to communicate. Dramatic reveals are not healthy communication, so get it together self!

By the end of the week, Marinette had made headway on her collection and was on track for Paris fashion week in October. She had also come to an important realization about the Adrien situation. I'm not ready to confront him head on. Luckily, Alya was ready to dust off her confess to Adrien scheming hat.

"Well…what if you called him? No looking in his eyes. You can hang up if you get overwhelmed."

"That still feels really intimate. I mean… It's like he's right in my ear! And, and I wouldn't want to hang up on him! If I hang up before telling him then he'll think I'm a weirdo. If I hang up after I tell him, he's gonna track me down and demand answers! Or worse, what if he doesn't track me down?"

"Ok well what about texting?"

"That's almost as bad! I mean I don't have to worry about the ear thing, and I can type it all out, but there's still the issue of him tracking –or not tracking—me down. Plus, you know me, I'll type it out a million times but never hit send!"

Alya nodded along with Marinette's concerns, understanding that these barriers were mountainous to her friend. By this time, Marinette's hair was a bit disheveled from her running her hands through it and scrunching her hands into fists. They were quiet for a few minutes, Alya deep in critical thought, Marinette spiraling.

"Okay, correct me if I'm wrong." Nervous nodding from Marinette. "You need to tell Adrien that you love him and that you were the women from the garden. You need to tell him soon, because he is going to get married in about nine months and if he gets married to someone else you will be eternally tormented. However, you are deathly afraid of him rejecting you if he finds out you are the woman from the garden. You are also worried about the general nature of confrontation but know you need to do this. How am I doing so far?" Marinette peaked her eyes out from the throw pillow she had grabbed and buried her face in during Alya's monologue and nodded sadly. "Perfect. Well then, I have a potentially controversial suggestion. What if you messaged him online but not with your name tied to it?"

Marinette started to open her mouth to list the reasons why that wouldn't work but Alya beat her to it. "I know! I know! That's potentially a recipe for disaster if we mismanage this. And at some point you will still have to tell him that you are his friend Marinette. BUT, this will allow you to make a baby step. You make a fake username, you message him, tell him that you're the garden lady, see how he felt about that night, and then we make another decision there. At least if you do that, it will help you to make some kind of headway. And hey! There's no initial risk of him tracking you down. Or not."

Alya arched her eyebrow and bit her lip, waiting to see how her friend would react. Marinette was quiet for a few moments. Then her brows furrowed in determination. "Okay. Let's do it."

"Let's do it? Yes!" Alya fist pumped into the air and then grabbed her roommate by the shoulders. "Well what are we waiting for? How should we contact him? We can't do social media, that'd be screened out. We have to choose something that we know he has access to that the general public doesn't. I suppose we could get a burner phone, but what if Adrien sees you with two phones?" At this point she was rambling at a level which rivaled middle school Marinette. "Oh! I know! What about mecha strike? You can only play that in your respective rooms so it's not like he could call you or see a second phone or text garden lady but your phone buzzes next to him! It's perfect!"

As her friend was speaking, Marinette turned on her console and grabbed the controlled, navigating to settings. She and Adrien had played video games together for more than a decade and often played in private online rooms alongside other childhood friends. She couldn't use her main profile, bakergrl_78, so she went through the steps of setting up a second profile. It would need to be something which could catch his eye. It would make him want to reply.

YourMysteryLady

Booting up Ultimate Mecha Strike with her new profile, Marinette set up a private room and sent the invite off to MrNoir3. The two girls sat on the couch with their hands loosely clasped together. There was nothing to do now but wait.