CHAPTER 6: Four Touches

The second time Adrien touched Marinette Dupain-Cheng, he knew for sure that something was up.

He hadn't been sure what to make of his first physical interaction with Marinette. He was relieved that the miscommunication between them regarding the chewing gum was resolved, but was unsure about how he felt when they had first touched. His mind kept replaying the moment over and over again, analyzing his experience.

He vividly remembered the shock of warmth that had spread through his body; it was similar to the fond emotion one felt in their chest when they received a really good hug, but ten times as powerful. Adrien realized he hadn't experienced real love in an achingly long time, ever since his mom had disappeared. For him to feel something similar from just touching Marinette, someone he had only known for a day when it happened- well, he was happy, but extremely confused. Wasn't he supposed to feel that way when he touched his soulmate?

And so, he had decided to test it out again, but the weeks went by as he tried to figure out how to touch her once more without being weird about it. He wasn't even sure why he was so adamant about touching her again; they couldn't be soulmates because neither of them had transformed into animals. But nevertheless, his need persisted, even though it was hard to interact with her now that she stuttered whenever he was around. Why is she only like that with me?

About a month into the school year, his dad decided to hold a small hat-designing competition for his classmates, for reasons unknown to him. He had stood in awe as Marinette defended her hat's design to his father- his father of all people!- and he was elated when she had won.

"Congratulations on your demonstration, Miss Marinette. You're the winner."

Marinette turned to Alya, a giddy smile on her face. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She bowed to his father, whose stoic expression persisted onscreen.

Adrien managed to catch her eye and wink at her as his father continued, his tone detached. "Adrien will wear your derby on our next advertising campaign."

Adrien eyed the hat, and it occurred to him that this was the perfect opportunity to touch her again. He reached out and cupped his hands around hers, acting as if he was merely grabbing for the hat. This time, the spark of warmth that passed through him was even stronger, and he couldn't help his widening smile.

"Awesome job, Marinette," he told her, sincerely. A flicker of pleasure went through him when he saw her responding blush. He took the hat from her hands before it became awkward, internally mourning the loss of contact with her. Who knew that one touch from a girl could make him feel so… so loved. Would I feel the same if it were Ladybug? He briefly wondered.

The competition had ended a few hours ago, and now he was at home, chilling in his room. Nathalie had canceled his piano practice after it became apparent that all his sneezing from Marinette's hat (and the pigeon akuma from earlier) was preventing him from doing anything productive. He had taken some allergy medication and rested in bed per her orders, not that he was sorry to be able to relax and let his thoughts wander.

He just… didn't understand. How was it that he felt this way when he touched Marinette? It was similar to when he thought about Ladybug, where his heart sped up a bit and the butterflies came on full force, but instead there was more warmth than butterflies, and more of a content, joyful feeling than the anxiety that came with his crush on Ladybug. It felt… right.

"Plagg," Adrien called for his kwami, sure that the magical creature would have some answers, "what do you know about soulmates?"

Plagg popped up from his trashcan and looked at his holder curiously. "Why do you ask?"

Adrien scowled at his kwami. Of course, Plagg wouldn't make it easy for him. In the last few weeks, he had gotten to know even more just how sarcastic and lazy the cat kwami was.

"Because you're a magical creature who probably knows a lot more than I do?" Adrien deadpanned. His voice then turned pleading. "C'mon Plagg, help me out here."

"Well, I do know that when you do find your soulmate, you'll turn into a black cat," Plagg said, coming to hover casually in the space between the garbage can and Adrien's bed.

Surprise flashed across Adrien's face. "What? My soul animal is a black cat? Really?"

Plagg peaked open an eye and gave his holder a look. Adrien got the message: Yeah, duh.

"Okay," Adrien mused, thinking that there were worse things to be than a cat. He could live with being a cat; after all, he was a cat-themed superhero. "Do you know who my soulmate is?"

"Nope!" came the kwami's too-cheerful reply. Adrien immediately sulked at that, and Plagg decided he had probably messed with the kid enough. They needed to talk about soulmates at some point; might as well get it over with quickly. "Alright kid, I'll bite. Why are you asking?"

Adrien sighed again, contemplating how to bring up his thoughts to the kwami. He still remembered how the kwami had teased him all those weeks ago: "The first day of school and we already got two lovebirds!" The kwami would undoubtedly tease him again for having both Marinette and Ladybug in his thoughts, regarding soulmates no less.

"It's… about Marinette," he admitted.

"Aww, Lovebird #2?" Plagg taunted. "The girl who is always a stuttering mess around you?"

"Yes, Plagg," Adrien groaned, already partly regretting this conversation. But he needed answers! That is, if Plagg even had them…

"What about her?"

"Well, when I touched her-"

"Oh," Plagg interrupted his holder, a frown coming to his face. "Let me guess, you felt some kind of spark when you touched her?"

Adrien sat up. "Yes! It's happened twice now. Once, when I gave her my umbrella, and the second time was today when I took her hat from her." He gave his kwami a worried look, fiddling with his blanket anxiously. "Doesn't that mean she's supposed to be my soulmate? And if she is, why haven't we changed yet?"

Plagg's ears drooped a little as he examined his holder. How he wished he didn't have to be the bearer of bad news, god of destruction or not. "Adrien, I hate to break it to ya, but not many Chat Noirs find their soulmates."

Adrien gave the cat a searching expression and frowned. "That doesn't answer my question."

"Alright! I'm getting there," Plagg scoffed, wanting to get this over quickly. "The reason you felt the spark with this Marinette girl is because she's probably your soulmate. You haven't changed because the miraculous interferes with the soulmate magic that changes you into a cat. There, happy now? Can I have some cheese, please?"

"No, you can't have some cheese!" Adrien couldn't believe his kwami, asking for cheese when he needed answers! "What do you mean the miraculous interferes?"

Plagg further sagged in the air, if that was possible, then flew over to touch the miraculous ring on Adrien's right hand. "See this ring?" he asked. Adrien nodded, waiting for Plagg's explanation. "Well, when you do turn into a cat, it'll transform with you, along with anything else on you. But the ring doesn't like to do that, so it resists the soulmate magic that would usually transform you when you first touch your soulmate."

Adrien contemplated this for about two seconds before a horrible thought came to his mind. "Does that mean I'll never know who my soulmate is? That I'll never change?"

Plagg sighed, and floated closer to Adrien's face. "I never said that. The miraculous interferes, but only to a certain extent. When the soulmate magic gets strong enough, the miraculous can't resist any longer, and you'll transform. Simple as that."

Plagg tried to be patient as his holder thought about the information he received. "How does the soulmate magic get stronger?" was Adrien's next question. Plagg resigned himself to answering this one and the next few before he got his cheese.

"You just have to touch the girl a few more times. But you also have to touch her as both Chat Noir and yourself." At Adrien's questioning expression, the kwami merely shrugged. "I don't know, kid. For some reason, that's a requirement."

"So, what if Ladybug was my soulmate? Would her miraculous also interfere?"

Aaannnd back to Lovebird #1, Plagg thought, annoyed. At least Adrien seemed to be taking all this rather well. Some of his past holders had gotten really angry, not talking to him for days and withholding his glorious, beautiful cheese. He supposed he could handle the questions.

"I'm not sure," the cat admitted, "That's never happened before." He decided to humor his human, though. "My guess would be that if Ladybug was your soulmate, you would have to touch her in four different ways. Chat Noir and Ladybug, Adrien and Ladybug, and both Chat Noir and Adrien with who she is under the mask."

"Oh," Adrien whispered, looking a little crushed. Touching Ladybug in all those ways would be difficult; the suits definitely got in the way and he didn't even know who she was under the mask.

"Sorry, kid," Plagg drawled, trying to comfort his holder with a pat on the cheek. "I told you to not get your hopes up."

"You're basically telling me it's impossible to know if Ladybug is my soulmate," Adrien accused, some anger finally manifesting.

"Why so much focus on Ladybug?" Plagg inquired, happy to play devil's advocate and avoid Adrien's accusations. "You said you felt the spark with Marinette, right?"

"Yeah…" Adrien murmured, his irritation briefly forgotten as a smile grew on his face again. "Marinette's amazing. You should have seen the way she defended herself today to my father!" He paused for a bit, analyzing the way he felt. "I guess I could see myself with her if there wasn't Ladybug…" He smiled ruefully at his kwami, trying to stay positive. "We'll just have to wait and see, huh?"

"Yep. Now, I've answered your questions, and I'm exhausted. Cheese!" Plagg demanded.

"Fine." Adrien rolled his eyes at Plagg's impatience and stood up from his bed. "Just don't get crumbs on my bed this time."

*Edited 11/25/19*