So here's the latest chapter! Much sooner than the three months between Chapter 1 and chapter 2.. but what can I say? Chapter 2 had more comments in ONE WEEK than the first one had in those three months! Do you people realise how encouraging that is?! Super happy that people actually seemed to like my (I like to think unique) interpretation on the League's approach to soulmates, had me grinning for days. I hope I can continue to deliver a story everyone will enjoy! Also, fun fact I learned while researching for this fic - me and Marinette share a birthday; which doesn't mean much, but I thought it was pretty neat.

Marinette took a second or two just to process the fact that the 'room' was no longer empty - that she wouldn't be spending another night staring across at an empty chair, wondering why no one had claimed it.. before letting a beatific smile to spread across her face.

She blushed a bit, realising she was already halfway across the room without conscious thought; to take a seat, or hug her soulmate she wasn't quite sure yet. She felt unreasonably happy - as cliché as it sounded, she felt as if there was some kind of warm fuzzy sensation spreading through her body..

'Why shouldn't I be happy?' she asked herself, sounding giddy even in the confines of her own thoughts, 'He has a nice voice - it kind of reminds me of the clipped way Kagami sometimes talks - and he's here! And he's been waiting for me!' and despite herself, Marinette almost giggled.. at least until his words fully registered.

…

"You have been waiting for me!?" she exclaimed indignantly, stopping just as suddenly as she had started to move.

She saw him raise a brow - which was already strange, considering the weird blurry 'force-ghost' like appearance the two of them were sporting should have meant his expressions were hard to read - but she just knew that was what he was doing.

"Yes..?" he drawled out, "I was led to believe that in this.. space, language would not matter. Were my words not clear?" he asked, a hint of condescension in his tone.

Marinette bristled, about to tell him exactly where he could stick his condescension - when she paused, considering his statement.

"What do you mean you were.. led to expect language would not be an issue?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her despite her previous indignation - sure, you could look up the history of your kind of bond online (there were thousands of databases and forums dedicated to the subject), but as far as she knew this was his first time entering the dream.

Along with Hawk Moth's spell affecting how their bond first presented..

He glanced at her in surprise, before shrugging. Standing up, he approached her where she stood almost in the center of the room (having stopped her approach there earlier), before crossing his hands behind his back as he observed her.

"My Grandfather took me to a Soul-Sage when I was younger - I believe the intent was simply see if I had a soulmate, but this particular sage was a master of their craft, and was able to divine not only that my soulbond would present upon your 17th birthday, but also the kind of bond it would be.." he trailed off, eyes narrowing in focus as he stared at her.

She blinked in surprise - that was unexpected. Tikki had of course explained the nature of her soulbond to her, but Marinette had assumed she would have to lay out the technicalities of their bond to her soulmate. It was a nice surprise to have her soulmate already know, considering how some people have been known to hate this specific kind of bond.

'His grandfather sounds like a lovely old man - considering how expensive Soul-Sages are, it must have cost the man a fortune! What a sweet gesture..' Marinette thought happily, picturing an energetic older gentleman, with kindly eyes, who smiled frequently and loved his family without reservations.

"If you were wondering why our shared space and appearance seem to be.. distorted, for lack of a better term - it is due to the nature of our bond. This space is a representation of our relationship with one another; for now it is unformed, as we don't know anything about the other, but in time.." he said, before she cut him off.

"..in time, as our trust in each other grows, the room will start to reflect that - in most cases, becoming more solid - like a picture book being coloured in - with random bits and pieces of our lives recreated as representations of.. well, you get the idea." she said, giving him an impish grin and taking not a little pleasure in his surprised expression.

"Indeed.." he muttered, tilting his head at her like a curious puppy.

"Were you also taken to a Soul-Sage?" he asked, apparently trying to know how she had learned about their bond as well.

She tensed for a moment - it wasn't as if she could say 'No, but I am the latest in a long line of magic-wielding superheroes, and it apparently comes with the territory' - before shaking her head. No need to overcomplicate this - an unfortunate consequence of her secret identity was that despite 'Marinette' hating liars, 'Ladybug' had become very familiar with the advantages of half truths.

"Not really," she started slowly, "It's more a case of it.. being an inherited trait?"

That should be fine - there were plenty of soulbonds that repeatedly presented in family lines.

"How fascinating.. My own family have soulbonds that vary greatly, so I hadn't considered.." he trailed off.

Suddenly frowning, he looked her and asked:

"If you were not the first in your family to develop this kind of bond, could you perhaps offer any clarity regarding the way our bond presented? The Soul-Sage I was taken to was reputed to be one of the finest in the world, and yet she had mentioned nothing of the.." he trailed off, waving his hand in an encompassing gesture.

Marinette blinked a little at the question, before grimacing as realisation settled in.

'Damn! If he really has been to a Soul-Sage, then he would know that it wasn't normal.. so much for ignoring that particular problem until later..' she grumbled internally, before deciding there was nothing for it but to admit.. something resembling the truth.

"That.. was kind of my fault?" she started hesitantly, before hastening to explain as his curious look morphed into a more cautious frown.

"I just mean that the thing that caused it happened on my end! I didn't do anything like - it was done to me! Well, not me specifically, but there was a group of us - that didn't plan it either.." she babbled, her nervous habit popping up again at the worst possible time.

Cutting herself off with a groan, she hid her face in her hands and considered just letting out a scream of frustration.. before deciding that she was likely making a strange enough first impression, without randomly screaming at her soulmate.

After a few moments of silence passed with no audible reaction from her soulmate, she chanced a peek at him through her fingers.

He was still standing there, with an expression that might have been a glare on his face.. actually, he was standing in almost the exact same position. Hands folded behind him, back straight, chin up.. it was actually kind of funny? It was like he was standing at attention..

'Or,' she thought, 'the way a rich kid with a strict upbringing might be raised to stand.. was her soulmate a socially awkward rich kid?'

Taking a closer look at his expression, she noticed that while he appeared to be scowling, there was.. something that made her think he was amused? A subtle turn to his lips - which she would not focus on too much for unrelated and unimportant reasons - a spark in his eyes?

That actually calmed her down a lot - befriending and getting socially awkward rich kids out of their shell was her niché!

'Which is a weird thing to know about myself, but my nemesis is a manipulative asshole who has ruined butterflies for the whole of Paris - so not the weirdest thing about my life.'

Taking a calming breath, she said:

"Sorry, I babble when I get nervous - what I meant is that I was involved in a supervillain attack; see there's this villain in my city called Hawk Moth. He..—" she said, before being startled by her soulmate jumping in.

"Uses the distraught emotional state of his victims in order to create champions which he imbues with some form of ability based on a variety of factors, manipulating them from afar in an attempt to obtain the 'Miraculous' of Ladybug and Chat Noir, the local heroes I believe."

Marinette blinked once.

Twice.

"..akumatises people who are upset into his minions," she finished automatically; Marinette was definitely leaning towards the rich-kid theory more and more.

"That's what I just said," her soulmate said, looking honestly confused at her words.

'Definitely a socially awkward rich-kid..'

"How did you know about him anyway? I mean, he's a big problem for us, but I didn't think Hawk Moth was that famous around the world?" she asked, well aware that as much as she hated Hawk Moth, there were some villains out there that were a lot worse.

"Ah," he said, looking almost uncertain for the first time in this meeting, "my.. family has had some.. unfortunate run-ins with villains who affect the mind. Suffice to say, we do our best to keep track of any known villains with similar abilities."

Marinette opened her mouth to ask him more, before wincing and closing it without a word. Akuma victims were somewhat fortunate in Paris in the sense it was widely known and accepted there was no way to resist Hawk Moth's control - they weren't usually blamed by anyone for what they did under his control. That being said..

'A family history with mind-controlling villains.. is probably not the kind of thing to ask about during a first meeting..'

Then her eyes widened as something else occurred to her.

"Wait.. if you know about Hawk Moth," she said, feeling nervous despite herself, "then you know where I'm from.. don't you?"

For a moment he just looked at her, and somehow she knew he was thinking about the same thing she was - how their bond was a bit more sensitive than most, growing and waning in direct proportion to the amount of trust they had in each other. Her soulmate knowing something as important as where she was from without her meaning to tell him..

She wasn't exactly sure what his life was like, but he seemed to be every bit as wary about their bond as she herself was.. just look at them! They were both still appearing as vague ghost-like apparitions to each other, because neither of them had yet to trust the other enough to offer their name!

The Marinette of a few years ago wouldn't have hesitated - she would have introduced herself with a smile, she would have tried to put him at ease by offering as much of herself as possible.. but as she was now, she couldn't do it.

She wanted to - Oh, how she wanted to. The idea of a soulmate.. of someone who could understand her completely, who would never betray or leave her, with whom she could share some of the burdens she had.. it was enticing. A bit of her old self had resurfaced when she first saw her soulmate; the part of her that wanted to jump in head first without a worry.

She couldn't let herself lose control like that.

Ladybug couldn't afford to lose control of her emotions like that.

Too much had happened - she had lost friends and allies, she had had to take up responsibilities she was in no way prepared for, she had spent years forcefully keeping her emotions under control (worrying about what it could mean if she slipped up even once)..

"Gotham."

"What?" his soulmate asked, seemingly without thinking, having been startled out of her thoughts by his words.

Clearing his throat, he repeated:

"Gotham. I.. it's where I live."

He could see she was slightly taken aback; that wasn't too unexpected. The fact that they had manifested a bond around trust had.. implications for their innermost selves.

Something his Grandfather had taught him was to respect the nature of soulmate bonds; they weren't just a measure of compatibility, like some believed. They had greater meaning - greater importance to the individual's nature.

Now admittedly, his Grandfather was something of a megalomaniac..

Yet that didn't take away that he had a surprisingly strong belief in the efficacy and importance of soulbonds. Not to mention more experience observing the different kinds of bonds, and which bonds presented in which people.

Seeing his soulmate still staring at him slack jawed, he gave a small shrug, content to let her draw her own conclusions.

"..You didn't have to tell me that, you know? I wouldn't have asked anything like that before we knew each other better," she said, sounding almost confused.

Which he could understand - when it came to Soulbonds that had a communication aspect, sharing identifying information such as your name, city, or social media presence was.. 'frowned on' wasn't the correct term, but a certain amount of caution was encouraged.

After all, Soulbond or no, love didn't happen immediately - and there could often be mitigating circumstances, beyond one's soulmate seeking you out before you were ready to meet with them.

Still, he'd rather be clear in his intentions - what if his soulmate thought him a fool?

Or worse, an idealist?

"It was rather apparent from your reaction that you were bothered by myself knowing information as important as that - especially considering you had not meant to share it. I myself would have been.. greatly aggrieved, in a similar situation."

Damian steadfastly ignored the little voice in his head demanding 'then why did you tell her?!'

"Oh," his soulmate uttered, that one word carrying an odd mixture of emotions that he couldn't begin to unravel.

He opened his mouth to..— he wasn't sure what. Invite her to take a seat? Bring up some triviality to engage in small talk? Ask her for her name so that he could finally see what colour her eyes were and he could stop staring at her like Tim stared at the coffee machine while it was brewing his first cup of the day?

Fortunately (for his pride, if not his nagging curiosity), his attention was soon caught by a shift in the walls to the side of where the seats were set up - and judging by the quiet gasp his soulmate had let out beside him, she had noticed the same.

As if on cue, the two of them approached the wall together - and to his surprised disbelief, there seemed to be a window forming.

Two windows actually; the one closest to his chair showing - to his shock - a view of the manor grounds from his window.

'So the other window is likely the view from her room..' he thought; attempting to take a surreptitious look at the window in front of his soulmate, and found her doing the same.

Letting out a snort despite himself, he took a step back and motioned with one hand at the window before him - and after a moment of hesitation in which he sensed (sensed, because he still couldn't fully see her) her blushing, she moved to stand between him and the window.

Looking over her shoulder, he ignored the slight tenseness in her posture; though he did note how she started to relax as she observed the view.

Which was incidentally why he had chosen this particular room - the view had an unrestricted view of the manor's sprawling land, and coincidentally was angled in such a way that almost nothing of the city itself could be seen. Looking out of his window it was easy to imagine sometimes that his room was situated in the middle of nature.

"Is that a cow?" his soulmate asked incredulously, pulling his mind back into the present.

Damian felt himself smile - it was hard not to, reading the surprise in his soulmate's posture and tone.. especially considering the topic at hand.

"Indeed it is," he said, trying not to sound too eager, "My father and I came across her during some.. family business, and I decided she would be better off with us. So I re-homed her." he finished.

There was a strange quiet, and for a moment he thought the story had weirded his soulmate out a bit too much, before she burst into giggles.

"You re-homed her?" she got out between giggles, "maybe this is an American thing, but in France I'm pretty sure that means you stole her..?"

Damian huffed in annoyance.

"I did not steal—, that is, I did not steal her! I merely.. liberated her," he countered, hoping she hadn't picked up his slip of the tongue.

Judging by the sudden widening of her eyes, he was not that lucky.

"Wait, you almost called her something! Does she have a name? She does, doesn't she? Wait, let me guess! Daisy? Bessie? Blackie? Or is it an embarrassing name..? I bet it is! Is it MooMoo? Is it Cowabunga? How about Milkshake?" came the teasing questions from his soulmate, who honestly seemed a lot more into this than he would have expected.. Her choice in names also made him realise she couldn't ever meet Grayson.

'Dick barely uses anyone's actual name if he can help it; if he had her help coming up with new names heaven knows what we'll be left with..' Damian thought.. before blinking in confusion as she went still, looking at him with wide eyes.

'She's actually kind of cute like this..' came the unbidden thought, before he shook it off.

"Is it Cockadoodle Moo?"

The serious tone of her question had caught him off guard, and it took him a moment to actually process the words.

When he did, he let out a loud snort, before quickly covering his mouth with his hand to stop himself from laughing out loud - yet even so, he felt his shoulders shake from suppressed laughter.

And judging the grin on his soulmate's face, and the cute little swaying movement she made, she was well aware of the fact.

Once Damian awoke and spent some time thinking over his encounter with his soulmate he would realise just how often he had described her as cute in his thoughts - it would send him into a minor panic, at least until he convinced himself he was simply sleep deprived and could not be held accountable for what thoughts arose during his exhausted state.. but that was for later, however.

"I have no idea," he gasped out, starting to calm down from his fit of laughter (and honestly, when was the last time he of all people had laughed this much?), "how you just said the words 'Cockadoodle Moo' with a straight face," he finished, moving to take the seat behind him, leaving the 'window' to his left and the sparring mat to the right.

'I really should ask her about that - I doubt the centerpiece of this mindspace would be based on me alone..'

Before he could make his mind up one way or another, she took the seat across from him - reclining back with her hands laying on the armrests, chin tilted up with a haughty expression.. it would have been the image of a queen on her throne, were it not for the fact that she was sitting cross-legged on a recliner that was a bit too large for her slight frame.

"It is quite simple young one," she started with a tone that perfectly matched her faux-pompous expression, "I'm just that good," she finished with a smirk.

Damian grimaced - it seemed his soulmate was well aware that their bond first presented on the elder of the two's 17th birthday.

"It's barely eleven months.." he grumbled, pretending to look at the rest of the room.

"Doesn't matter, still counts~!" she sing-songed smugly.

"But!" she continued, "Don't think you can distract me so easily - I still want to know her name.. unless your silence means I got the name right~?" she finished teasingly.

"Tch," he responded, making a point not to look her in the eyes. Damian knew he was a curious individual, and combined with the paranoia that was so ingrained in his family.. he found it hard to resist a mystery.

Yes, that made sense - his mind's incessant need to contemplate what colour his soulmate's eyes were was nothing more than the product of being raised as the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul. There was no ulterior motive whatsoever.

He nodded to himself, happy to have figured out that crucial bit of information.. before sighing in resignation.

It did not bode well for his future that he was already this inclined to acquiesce to her requests.

Dragging a hand across his face, he glanced at her - serious posture now gone, as if it had never been there. She was still sitting cross-legged, now with her hands crossed in her lap as she leaned forward eagerly.

"Bat-Cow," he said, after taking a fortifying breath.

Don't get him wrong, he loved Bat-Cow - but there was also no use denying that he had named her when he was 10, and it had gotten him teased more than any other single he had done in his life.. and considering he had three older brothers, one older sister, and two.. half older sisters?

Barbara was a strange case - technically his father hadn't adopted her, but she had been considered part of the family for years, and he knew that Dick planned to propose some time in the future, which meant she wouldbe family.

Stephanie was.. even stranger. His father had offered to adopt her, but the two of them had had a private conversation, and in the end it had never happened - no one in the family seemed to know what had been said, but considering Stephanie still practically lived in the manor and she and his father seemed fine, they mostly just ignored it.

The point is, he knew to expect one of two reactions - either extreme levels of teasing (like he suffered from Tim and Jason) or just peals of laughter (as Dick and Stephanie reacted on hearing about his new pet).

So hearing his soulmate inhale sharply, then start to snigger, before bursting out in full blown laughter was not something that surprised him.

What did surprise him, however, was the way it stole his breath away.

He realised how cliché that sounded - and he wasn't feeling anything close to some fictional portrayal of 'love at first sight' - but that didn't take away from the fact that seeing her so.. happy, drew his attention like little else.

'Like a moth to a flame..' came the inadvertent thought, before the possible double meaning of that statement snapped him out of his daze.

Noticing her laughter had trailed off, he looked up to see her gaze at him with an unexpectedly soft smile.. which turned into a blush, as he instinctively smiled back at her.

Not that he would comment on it, feeling his own face warm a bit.

Clearing his throat, he decided to try and change the conversation topic, and asked:

"How about you? Do you have any pets? Liberated, or otherwise?"

His soulmate shot him a look which clearly showed that she knew exactly what he was doing, but she answered anyway.

"No, I've actually never had a pet.. See, my parents own a bakery, and our home is on the top two floors of the building, while the bakery is at the bottom. Health and safety regulations meant no pets for me.. though when I was younger, I thought it was more about the size of the animal, than the animal itself, and became set on owning a hamster.. I was caught trying to sneak on into my room more times than I'd like to admit.." she said with an embarrassed chuckle.

Damian let out a small chuckle himself, picturing a younger version of the girl across from him attempting to smuggle hamsters past her parents.

"So your parents are bakers?" he asked, curious to learn more about her parents.

"Some of the best in Paris!" she exclaimed, suddenly sitting up straighter, "And that's not just me speaking up as their daughter, you know. They've won several awards, and the Mayor of Paris frequently hires them to cater for his events.. and this was when his daughter and I still didn't get along - long story, I'll tell you later - so you know that was all merit based. I wish I could have you try some.." she trailed off, flopping back into her seat.

That was something he had noticed - his soulmate was one of the most expressive people he had ever met. She gestured wildly as she spoke, her body language almost exclaimed her mood, and her tone when speaking said almost as much as her words.

It was.. nice?

He would - grudgingly, in the safety of his own mind - admit that he cared for his family.. but none of them tended to be very expressive. If that was due to their nightly activities, training, their pasts, or a simple overlap in their personalities was a question for the therapist they should all no doubt be seeing.

He was about to tell her not to worry about it, or lie and say he didn't eat baked goods, or offer to fly to Paris to try some (he really needed to get a grip on his impulses - this was the last time he ever stayed up this long willingly), when their mindspace luckily saved him from embarrassing himself.

To their surprise, a small plate formed on the table between them - the plate itself holding a dozen or so macarons, which (considering their topic of conversation) could only be those made by her family's bakery.

Sharing a surprised look, his soulmate shrugged before reaching out to take a bite of one - letting out a happy moan at the taste.

Suddenly rising from her seat and moving towards him, he had a bare second to admire the speed she moved at, before he had half a macaron in his mouth.

Closing his mouth and starting to chew involuntarily, his eyes widened as the taste registered.

The cookie itself was soft and chewy on the inside, with a crumbly exterior - but what really set it aside was the almost explosive taste of strawberry that came out through the cream filling.

Swallowing it down, he let out a laugh at her expectant look.

"Alright - I will concede that perhaps you were telling the truth. That was definitely the best macaron I have ever tasted," he said, not stopping the small grin from spreading over his face.

Seemingly satisfied with his acknowledgement, his soulmate moved back towards her seat.

"Honestly, the only thing that could make this better would be.." he started, before trailing off as a very familiar china set and teapot appeared on the table.

Feeling his eye twitch slightly at the specific drink having appeared, he nevertheless moved forward to pour both himself and his soulmate a cup of tea.

Taking hers with a soft 'thank you', she looked at him curiously before asking:

"Mind if I ask what that little.. reaction to the tea was?"

Damian paused, his cup halfway up to his mouth.. before slowly lowering it again as he pondered how to answer her question.

It would later strike him again that he had immediately considered how to answer, rather than whether to answer.. but for the moment, it escaped his notice.

"My parents.. weren't married. In fact, I never met my father until I was eight years old - having been raised by my mother's side of the family since my birth. They are.." he trailed off, unsure how to phrase his words in a way that didn't reveal too much.

"Hey, if the story is too personal, you don't have to.." his soulmate started to intervene, but he shook his head to cut her off.

"No, it's fine.. My upbringing had made me arrogant, and I admit that I looked down on.. almost everyone really. My paternal grandparents died when he was young, and he was practically raised by the family butler; and when my siblings came along - I'll tell you about them some other time, it really is a story of its own - the same butler helped raise them. Yet when I first arrived, I saw him only as a servant.. and treated him as my mother and her family would have.." he finished with an uncomfortable shrug, still ashamed of the way his younger self had behaved towards Alfred.

"And the tea..?" his soulmate prodded gently, after the silence stretched a bit too long.

Giving her a half smirk, he said:

"..Brown sugar instead of white, fresh cut lemon - a china cup."

"..That sounds like a quote?" she said, blinking at him in confusion.

"It is - it was actually one of the first things I said to him.. after asking him where the 'rest of the servants' were," he finished with a grimace, noting her eyebrows shooting up to her hairline.

They were quiet for a moment as Damian thought back to those days, before he shook his head.

"I've tried to make amends for those days, and I believe he's largely forgiven me.." he stated, somewhat sardonically, "but ever since that day he never misses a chance to offer me that exact drink," he finished with an amused grin.

Old he may be, but Alfred's wit was still sharper than anyone's - to Damian and his siblings' everlasting dread, whenever they broke one of his house rules.

Picking up his tea again, he saw his soulmate was observing him over the rim of her cup, her expression.. almost fond? Though he couldn't think of why that would be..

For now, he decided to just enjoy the moment - this meeting had gone.. both a lot better, and a lot worse than he had initially expected. Everything he had learned about her so far had seemed to put to rest his worries about his own nature, which was excellent.. but he has also been acting a lot different than he normally would have.

He couldn't help it - he felt drawn to her. A part of him still considered that he was only acting the way he was due to having been severely sleep-deprived beforehand.. though another, stubbornly optimistic part, felt like he was simply acting the way he was because of who she was.

'Good grief, if this is the sort of thing Grayson felt for Kori and Barbara, I should probably apologise.. or at least stop making fun of his foolishness when he was younger. I don't know how I would react if I felt this pull for two separate people..' he thought.

He was pulled from his thoughts as his soulmate's hand suddenly shot to her chest, followed by her giving him an almost apologetic smile.

"I think I'll be waking up soon.. which means I'll only see you again tomorrow night.." she trailed off, seeming to be as disappointed as he suddenly felt.

Damian wasn't entirely sure how she knew that - perhaps it was something she had learned from one of those in her family who had also had the same bond, or perhaps it was guess, or perhaps it was even as simple as the two days longer than him she had experienced in their shared mindspace.. but what he did know is despite his worry, despite his caution, despite his fear - he couldn't let her go just like that.

He took a deep breath - barely noticing her focus her full attention on him, clearly picking up that he was working up to something.

'Calm - collected - precise. What angle is most likely to gain me the outcome I desire?' he thought to himself, before noticing how she was sitting there with her legs crossed on the seat, hands fiddling, chin lowered and looking up at him.

Seeing her almost as nervous as he was, actually helped him to calm down quite a bit.

Before his rational mind could take back control, a part of him he was most definitely blaming on Grayson seized the reins, and he blurted out his question without hesitation.

"If I told you my name was Damian, would you tell me yours as well?"

For a split second she just gawked at him, and Damian seriously considered the merits of waking up to kill Grayson and then himself, before she sat forward and grabbed his hands in her own.

"Hello Damian," she said in a tone filled with wonder, eyes tracing what he assumed was his appearance becoming clear to her.

"My name is Marinette.." she finished with a beautiful smile.

A beautiful smile he could now see - for whatever reason, the change had started around her smile - a radiant smile that was as infectious as it was beautiful.

Moving on from her smile (forcing himself to stop looking at her lips immediately, for unrelated reasons) he then noticed she had light freckles on both sides and the bridge of her nose.. and finally her eyes.

She had an almost angelic pair of bright bluebell eyes that stole his breath away - he internally swore never to doubt his instincts again; it was no wonder they had constantly urged him to find out what her eyes looked like.

He blinked, suddenly realising that those same eyes were staring back as intently as his own, and almost as one the two of them reared back nervously - both now sporting bright red blushes.

For better or worse, Damian noticed she was starting to fade away - he assumed she was waking up - and she gave him one last genuine smile.

"Until tomorrow, Damian.." she said, and he hated how much he loved her saying his name.

"Goodbye, Marinette.." he just managed to get out, before she faded away completely.

...

Damian wasn't entirely certain how long he had just sat there, the memory of a glowing smile and dazzling eyes running through his head.. but the next thing he knew, he awoke in his bed.

Taking a moment to just lay there quietly, he reflected on how his first meeting with his soulmate.. with Marinette had gone.

Contemplating the effect she had had on him, he let out a slow breath as he came to only one conclusion..

"Grandfather was right.." he muttered, using the palm of his hands to rub at his eyes, before letting them drop to his sides again.

"Fuck," he breathed out.

So.. bit shorter than last chapter, sorry! I wanted to keep this chapter Damian & Marinette only, since it was their first meeting and all. I also try to keep my chapters balanced between POV's, but Damian completely took over near the end of this chapter.. hope I didn't write their characters too badly out of character - there are reasons for both Marinette's sudden confidence, and for Damian's.. uninhibited behaviour as well! Damian's should be obvious, though I will clear things up next chapter. This chapter was a bit of a fast burn.. but don't think it's going to stay that way! I like my romance to start with a blaze, before smoldering into a nice slow-burn.

I would also like to blame Damian taking over on the fantastic author LilaVaporizer9000, and their story "I Need A (Girlfriend) Hero!" which is what ultimately pushed me over the edge in starting this story. Definitely give it a read if you haven't yet!