A/N: Happy New Year everyone! May this year be less deadly than the last (damn you 2016 for taking Father Mulchay from us at the last minute!)! Here's a chapter to kick off the new year!
"Marinette, hurry up or you'll be late!" Tikki says from where she floats above Marinette's desk. A thoughtful look crosses her face then Tikki adds, "Actually, that might be a good thing."
"How in the world could that be a good thing?" Marinette huffs, hastily pulling her hair into a ponytail.
"Don't forget your earrings, I can't get too far away from them or I'll go back to sleep."
"I'm getting to it."
Marinette found the earrings underneath a loose floorboard in her room, shortly after her family moved into the bakery. At the time, she just set them aside. She was quite young and hadn't gotten her ears pierced yet, so she had no use for them.
After she got her ears pierced, Marinette found herself wearing the simple black studded earing more than any others. She was wearing them that day. The day she met the boy who made her heart race like no other. Whom her soul cried out for.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going," Marinette apologizes as she gathers her things. She was such a klutz, even causing trouble for other people.
She looks up, her eyes meeting a set of emerald ones, and there's an instant connection. The boy offers his hand, helping her stand, while not once breaking their eye contact. The boy smiles at her, then unexpedly,
"Don't worry about it princess."
One.
Two.
Three.
Marinette's cheeks burn, her heart pounding against her ribcage. Had he just called her Princess? He did. Why did he do that? And why does she like the sound of it so much? Unable to come up with a response, Marinette turned on her heel and ran.
She had run all the way home that day. Marinette liked fairy tales as much as the next girl, but she had never really bought that whole 'love at first sight thing'. But she sure as hell experienced it. And Marinette knew that somehow, that boy was connected to the dreams. The dreams that haunted Marinette her whole life. Green eyes filled with such loneliness, filled with regret, with the hurt only betrayal could bring on. Her head buried in her pillow, Marinette begged for a logical explanation. Something to explain why she had to stop herself from doing something embarrassing like tackling a boy she just met on the streets in a hug. Truth be told, she wanted to do a lot more than hug him. There had to be a logical explanation, and so she pleaded with the powers that be to give her an explanation.
That's when Tikki awakened.
"Oh dear, you are quite upset about this."
Marinette screams, looking up to see a ladybug like creature floating in front of her. "What the-who are you? What are you?"
"Please calm down Marinette, we don't want your parents to be alarmed."
"Then answer me!"
The ladybug creature smiles gently, "My name is Tikki. I am a fairy of good will created by the gods to help you reunite with Chat Noir."
"Chat Noir? Am I supposed to know this person?" Marinette, still wary but also unable to tame her curiosity, asks.
"Yes and no." Tikki sighs. "To start, I guess I need to explain your side first. You see Marinette, you're a reincarnated soul."
"Okay, this is a dream right? I hit my head when I bumped into the boy? I'm laying unconcious on the sidewalk right now."
"You know what I say to be true Marinette!"
"No, I don't. This is crazy." Marinette slides off her bed and moves to the stairs, "This is just a crazy dream."
"You have dreams you do not understand." Tikki calls, "Of a boy, a boy you deeply love. Sometimes he dies, sometimes he's with another. But most off all, he's lonely."
Marinette freezes on the steps, her hand tightening on the railing. "How...how do you know about that?"
"Your previous incarnations suffered from the same dreams. They are memories of your past lives. The gods allow you to remember bits and pieces to better help you find Chat Noir. I was created for the same purpose. Chat Noir has a fairy too, his name is Plagg. I don't know who Chat Noir is, but I'm going to help you find him."
"Why do you call him Chat Noir?"
"In your first life, he nicknamed himself that. He saved you on a cold lonely night. You spent the entirety of your life looking for a boy who had died before he even met you." Tikki gushes, barely stopping for breath. "You two love each other very much, you vowed to find one another. But in each life, something has stopped you from truly being together."
"I felt something, with that boy." Marinette whispers, turning back to face Tikki. "Is he Chat Noir?"
"I do not know. I can not sense souls while I am in hibernation, I can only watch. But if your reaction is anything to go by, I think he is."
"I've….I've never seen him before today. What if I don't find him again?"
"You will. With my help, you will. I have failed you so many times before, Marinette. But this time, I swear to you. This will be your soul's last cycle."
Five years later, and she hadn't run into her Chat Noir again. Tikki says it's probably because Plagg isn't awake yet.
"Why would you be awakened but not Plagg?" Marinette questions.
"The conditions of Plagg and I awakening are that our charges must ask for guidance from the deepest depths of their heart." Tikki replies. "You have done this, but clearly Chat Noir has not. I've tried and tried to find the smallest hint of Plagg's presence, but I've come up empty."
"But why wouldn't he do that? Wouldn't he want an explanation for what happened?" Marinette asks, "He had to have felt the connection too, right?"
"Of course he did, Marinette. But he is different from you. You are a sensative girl who's quite attuned to her feelings. You were able to tell the difference between the crushes you've had on other boys, to that meeting because of this fact. But Chat Noir of this lifetime is not quite so aware. Remember, he had a friend with him. It's possibly his thoughts were pulled in a different direction before he had time to fully process things. I truly believe you should not let it worry you Marinette. Chat Noir has always been a little slow on the uptake. In many of your lives, I was often the one who was awakened first.
"So, you want to tell me why it was a good thing for me to be running late?" Marinette asks as she makes her way down the street.
"I'm not sure," Tikki admits. "I just had a feeling. You know how these things work Marinette, I can increase your luck, but I can't explain how or why."
"What, so by being late I'm going to meet Chat Noir again?"
"I don't know Marinette. This whole process is so much harder without Plagg."
"Five years. Five stinking years of getting people's hopes up and lying to friends." Marinette kicks a rock near her foot in irritation.
Knowing you're magically connected to someone isn't something you can bring up in everyday conversation. But that knowledge, the feelings that meeting created, the memory of the feel of his hand, it stopped Marinette from falling for anyone. Even without Tikki telling her they're destined or whatever, she'd still want Chat Noir. She would want that feeling again.
But she couldn't not go out, at least every now and again, without creating unwanted attention. People would question why she wasn't interested in anyone, and that's something Marinette doesn't want to answer. So when Alya started playing matchmaker in Lycee, Marinette kept quiet and let her.
She'd gone out with many people,but all of them ultimately ended in failure. Some of the guys seemed genuinely interested in her, and that Marinette feel even worse.
"Hey girl, you're late."
Chloe Bourgeois. Much like with Alya, Marinette's friendship with Chloe was sparked by one of Tikki's feelings.
Marinette first met Chloe in her first year of university. Initially, she was a little put off by her, because Marinette's first view of Chloe was her bitchy side. It wasn't until a few days later that Chloe hunted her down and explained that the guys she'd been rude to were actually making fun of Marinette behind her back.
"I'm a bitch, I own up to that. But I only show it to those who've earned it. I hate pigs who put others down. Anyways, I'm Chloe. Let's get some lunch and talk."
That was all there was too it. Tikki told Marinette that she was lucky to have met Chloe. Marinette had to agree with that sentiment. Over the last two years, Chloe had become one of Marinette's closest friends. Chloe's the only one who hasn't tried to set Marinette up, something she is grateful for.
"We're not going to see all the apartments if we get behind schedule."
"Sorry Chloe, I had trouble getting out the door this morning." Marinette apologizes. "We still have to wait for Alya anyways, so it's not a big deal."
"Alya said she'd meet us at the apartment, remember?" Chloe sighs, pushing herself away from the table and standing up. "She's already there. Let's go."
Hours later, when Marinette's once again in the shelter of her own room, she collapses onto her chaise. "Who knew apartment hunting could be so exhausting. My feet are killing me."
"Nevermind that!" Tikki zooms out of Marinette's bag. "I've been trying to get your attention for over an hour."
"Well I'm sorry, but I couldn't just disappear to talk to you." Marinette sighs. "What's so important that you're in a huff about it?"
"Plagg woke up."
