For a few seconds, Marinette simply stared at her grinning partner, completely baffled as to what the heck he was even here for. He'd basically come here completely out of the blue, no real reason for him to even be here. staring back at her, he waved at her. Clearly he was expecting her to open the window so he could speak with her. For what, she had absolutely no idea. Had she not been so curious, she probably would have just closed her curtains.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, once she had opened the window, coming off as slightly more abrasive than intended.

"Not happy to see me, Princess?"

"Chat, I'm not in the mood for your games."

"I suppose we could play computer games..."

"Chat!"

"What?"

With a heavy sigh, Marinette glared at the cat-themed hero who was stood with the biggest grin she'd ever seen on his face. they seemed to have a rather contrasting relationship, depending on who she was. As ladybug, she had a friendly, yet no nonsense attitude with him, occasionally engaging in his terrible jokes, but keeping focused on the task at hand. She could trust him with anything, and valued his honesty above all else.

As Marinette, she tried to keep up that sort of personality, but with a slightly more 'Damsel-in-distress' manner, so Chat wouldn't be able to put two and two together, and figure out she was Ladybug. In spite of that, being around him, she found it nearly impossible to put up with him sometimes. He was her closest friend as Ladybug, and that seemed to seep into their relationship when she was Marinette, regardless of if she wanted it to or not.

"Look, Chat, I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep, so what do you - "

"You really seem to like this model, huh?" Was he ignoring her, or was he just testing to see how far he could push her? He had gone over to her desk, literally walking past her, and had began inspecting her wall, lined with pictures of Adrien. She could have sworn she saw his cheeks go a bit red upon seeing those. "Celebrity crush?"

"No - Yes - I - None of your business, cat!" She broke out into a combination of stutters and blushes, which only seemed to amuse Chat Noir. He was enjoying himself, Marinette could tell. He was doing everything he could to stop himself from bursting out into laughter. She forced herself to calm down, before she addressed the hero in front of her. "What do you want, kitty? I'm tired."

Deciding he had had his fun, Chat turned to her with a smile, and leaned against her wall, his armed crossed, trying to look suave. "Nothing really. Just wanted to check up on you."

"Really? Why?" What reason did Chat have to check up on her of all people?

"Your captivating beauty beckons me to come to your side from across Paris, of course!" Chat stated with his usual flirtatious grin. Had it not been for the miraculous Soul Link revelation, Marinette would have been willing to put money on him doing this to every girl that crossed his field of vision. He kept it going for about five seconds before he gave her the real reason. "You've been having a rough couple of days. I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"How do you know if I've been having a good day or not?"

"These eye's aren't just here to look purr-retty, Mari."

And now he was making puns. Ooooh, she wanted to punch him. She was really getting tempted to punch him. She probably would have done if he hadn't locked eyes with her, and she felt a wash of warmth cover her, similar to that she had felt with Adrien. Coincidentally, they shared the same green eye color, one Marinette adored. She could get lost in those for hours...

So she had to tear her gaze away from him to make sure she didn't. "So - So you watch me? Isn't that stalking?"

"I thought they called it 'Watching from afar'."

"That's what they call it in movies." Marinette muttered, remembering this exact conversation happening with Alya a few days ago. Oh, she could practically taste the irony.

"Well, I don't 'Watch you from afar,' Princess. Let's just say I'm observant and I hear things." Chat stood upright and pointed at the pictures above Marinette's desk with his thumb. "You've been trying to help this guy, right?"

"How - How the heck did you..."

"Again, I'm observant." Chat said, almost purring at the fact he seemed to have one-upped Marinette's attempts at secrecy. "So, what's so special about this mug, then? Not a bad looking guy at all, but is that it?" He asked, referring to Adrien. "Seems a bit superficial if I'm honest."

"No, it's nothing like that!" Marinette defended, blushing. Why did she even feel the need to defend herself against Chat? What part of her brain was screaming at her to make sure he understood? Why did she even care what he thought of her? "He - He's handsome, yes... But there's a lot more to him than just that!"

"Such as?"

"Why - Why do you even care?"

"Maybe I wanna make sure my Princess is falling in love with the right guy."

Another explosion of color hit Marinette's cheeks. b=But it had nothing to do with Adrien... "He - He's a really kind person... And he's just a really kind guy... He's a famous model, so it would be so easy for him to become someone like Chloe - You'll have seen her, I'm certain - But he wound up as such a kind person... The first day I met him, I was convinced he was just like Chloe. Some sort of rich, self absorbed bully... But he proved me so wrong..."

Why was she telling him all of this?

"He's got all this confidence, all this money, fame, his future is basically assured for him... He's smart, he's generous, he's caring... He found a small kitten the other day, and went out of his way to help it. It's just a small thing, I know, but the small things are what makes up a person."

What was it about Chat?

"And when I saw he was feeling down... I tried to help... and just made things worse. I thought he was going to hate me. I really did... But he thanked me, for trying, even when I made him feel so much worse... He's so patient, so gracious and thankful for everything anyone does for him..."

Why was talking to Chat about Adrien so easy?

Looking at him now, chat had just watched, smiling kindly at him as she had just rambled on about the things she loved about Adrien, not at all interrupting, not questioning, not making fun of her, or doing anything like that. He was just smiling and listening to her. "Cute." Was all he had to say once he was certain she had finished talking.

For some reason, that compliment made her knees feel weak.

"Well then, I guess I've bothered you for long enough." Chat declared, making his way back towards the window. "Stay safe, Princess."

It would have been easy to let him go. Marinette could have not said a single word, and Chat would be gone, probably for good.

She didn't do that though.

And she never figured out why.

"Chat?"

"Yeah?" He turned his head to face her again, a soft expression on his face.

"Are you... Are you going to come back here at all?"

For the first time all night, Chat raised an eyebrow in question. "Do you want me to?"

A silent nod.

"Why?" The green eyed cat asked.

Why was a very good question. Why did she want Chat to come back? Why did she care? She didn't even know, but for some reason, whatever it was, she hated the idea of not being able to talk to Chat again like this.

What the hell was wrong with her?

"You... You're easy to talk to." That was all she had. She couldn't come up with any other reason, not even to herself, as to why she wanted Chat to come back.

And it seemed to work.

"Fair enough." Chat said with a shrug, and another cat-like grin, for about the tenth time in the last few minutes. Perhaps I'll come around again then."


What had Marinette been thinking?

Why did she ask Chat to return?

What possessed her to do that?

She had already rejected him as Ladybug, and he had seemed to be fine with it. He had, surprisingly, accepted it. So why? Why was she calling for him as Marinette? God, if he found out who she was, he'd think she was playing games with him!

Talking to him was so easy. Being around him didn't make her sweaty, it didn't make her feel worried. She could talk to him. That's what this was.

That's what this was.

But that didn't explain her beating heart around the cat themed hero.

Never, in the history of her life, had she felt her heart beat faster, not her face explode with color as much, except when she was with Adrien. With Chat, it felt different though. Almost stronger. Here was a person whom she, as Ladybug, had fought alongside so very, very often. They had faced dangers together, fought together, had one another's backs, defended the city, and become known as the unstoppable heroic duo to all of Paris. They were the closest of friends.

Not once had her heart gone like this around him as Ladybug. Hell, she had kissed him as Ladybug, and that hadn't affected her, so what the hell was going on with her now?

Wasn't her soul linked to Adrien?

Another dazzle of light from her ear-rings. Marinette was starting to think that these miraculouses reacted to the very thought of a soul mate, or the Soul Link. The usual routine played out, and Marinette's jaw almost dropped after reading this message.

"A Soul Link closer than you know,

Caring for you, and yet although,

Heart broken and filled with pain,

He grins and gets back up again.

Wrongly he was pushed aside,

But by your souls does love reside."

Her brain began spiraling. Pushed aside? Filled with pain? Back up again?...

Was this... Was this message talking about Chat?

Was this poem referring to her pushing chat aside as Ladybug? As she had rejected him? But... she was linked to Adrien, wasn't she? She was certain of that, and the poems all pointed in that direction. They all indicated to her soul mate being Adrien. She was certain of it.

Had she been wrong?

Was her soul linked to...

It was true that if Chat left, she wouldn't know what she'd do. She doubted she could defend Paris on her own. She relied on him heavily. they were two parts of one team. They needed one another to do the best work they could manage.

Had that turned into love at some point?

Was her soul linked to...

Chat Noir?


We're gonna start going places with this now, guys ^_^

I have plans... Many plans : )

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And I'll see you in whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!