A Misleading Miraculous?

Sunday proved to be a very mild day over the great French city, neither warm, nor cold, not sunny, nor rainy. There were short bursts of sunshine, and equally short bursts of clouds blocking out the suns rays throughout the day, keeping the citizens on their toes, regarding if there was about to be a rainstorm or no at some point throughout the day. Many kept umbrella's with them, just in case.

Marinette stood on her personal balcony, leaning on the railings to prevent her from falling, and watched the street life pass her by for a while, deep in thought. She kept her hand on her cheek, and watched people walking along the streets, cars drive pass the road, people go into her family's bakery to purchase fresh goods and then leave again, sweets in hand. She recognized some of the people she observed. Others she didn't.

She wasn't particularly focused on that though. She was focused on something far weirder that had happened to her last night. Something she hadn't expected in the slightest, and something that still shook her a bit whenever she thought about it.

Some sort of message. According to Tikki, from her own miraculous.

A blinding light, some sort of message on her wall from the light inside her earrings, and a message. a poem. Once Tikki had explained what everything was, Marinette hadn't wasted a single second of her time in writing down the exact poem, word for word, before it faded after a short amount of time. She had read it, over and over again.

"Of golden hair, and green of eyes,

Your heart is where his loyalty lies.

Known far and wide throughout your life,

And conflict come from love and strife,

For of your form, he knows you well,

And for you, shall walk the pits of Hell."

It was quite the romantic image, Marinette thought to herself, with a mild blush on her face, despite not even really knowing who the poem was referring to. She had a very good idea... But part of her had already deemed that as impossible, mostly due to a certain lack in her own confidence. Really, there was only one person she knew with golden, or, more accurately, blonde hair, and green eyes... Well, two, but there was no way in any way it was Chat. That cat didn't even really know her outside of Ladybug, and the message didn't mention her other persona. So that had to mean it was someone who knew her as Marinette...

She blushed, far darker this time. Was it Adrien?

The evidence pointed to him...

"Tikki..." MAainette called for. She was joined shortly by her short, red, with a few black dots, Kwami. "Can you explain to me this 'Soul Link' thing again?"

"Trying to figure out who your Soul Mate is?" Tikki asked cheerfully, landing on the railing next to Marinette's hand.

The blue haired girl nodded. Previously, she hadn't really believed in the concept of a soul mate. She liked the idea, but she liked the idea of people being free to make their own way in life more... But the emergence of that message, and Tikki telling here of a Soul Link... Now she wasn't sure. "I suppose you could say that..."

"Well, the first thing is, a link isn't exactly a literal thing." Tikki explained to her human partner. "It's more an invisible, intangible, bond between souls. It sort of exists, but at the same time, doesn't. Sort of like how you and Alya interact, even if you're far apart. You're still friends, no matter how far away you two get. That's your friendship link with Alya."

"Okay..."

"Well, A Soul Link is a bit different. They're made at birth, and only one is present per person, and that link always matches another's."

"And that person is your Soul Mate?"

"Yes... And no." Tikki explained. "Basically, a Soul Link means you and that person have a very, very strong connection, but it's not uncommon for people who are linked by souls to have other romantic partners, and still live an equally filling and romantic life. What the Soul Link does mean though, is that if people who share one were to enter a relationship, it would be the equivalent of what you humans call 'A match made in heaven.'"

Marinette blinked a few times upon hearing this. "So... Even if, for sake of example, Adrien isn't the person my soul is linked to... There's still a chance for us to be together?"

"Yes. All a Soul Link means is you have a very strong connection. But the majority of Soul Mates usually stay together. They often feel incomplete without their other half with them." The red Kwami hovered next to her partner. "You want your Soul Link to be with Adrien, right?"

A crimson blush erupted on the blunette's face. She knew she was being obvious, so she didn't even bother trying to deny it. "Gold of hair, and green of eyes, Tikki. I only know one person like that. And it doesn't mention anything about me being Ladybug, so it can't be Chat..."

Tikki knew this wasn't exactly true. It was half true... While it was true Marinette and Chat were Soul Mates - They had to be - It also wasn't exactly a lie that Marinette could win over, fall in love, and live and feel the same romantic feelings for Adrien that she would for Chat... If Marinette were to choose Adrien over Chat, and Chat dissapeared, Marinette would feel empty. That was the curse of the Soul Link. while it can withstand any strain, when one side of it is gone, the other half can suffer too. It can withstand the strain... but the emotions of the other half can't always.

, Tikki thought to herself. She sighed. "Soul Links are complicated things. Links in themselves are complicated. Every relationship you have with someone can be altered and changed depending on your relationships with others, and that can restructure your entire web of links."

"Basically who I am friends with can change peoples opinions of me?"

"It's not fair, but that's how it works."

Marinette sighed this time. "As if things weren't complicated enough already..."

The young girl looked out her balcony for a while longer, watching, and thinking about the information she had been given. She wasn't entirely sure she understood the concept of Links quite yet, but the Soul Link was easy enough to understand. Soul Link partners worked well together. They got along. They understood one another. They weren't always romantic, but usually were. For them not to be was a rarity.

And she was convinced... Her Soul Mate was Adrien...

Marinette had had a crush on Adrien Agreste for quite some time now, coming close to about a year. Despite not having gotten along with him at first, she had come to get to know him far better, and had fallen completely in love with him. It wasn't even accurate to call it a crush anymore. She really was just in love with him. And exactly what wasn't there to be in love about with him? He was handsome, yes, that was nice, but there was a lot more to him than just a pretty face... And it was a pretty face. He was a kind, humble and supportive person, despite being rich. He never acted like Chloe, despite having known her before having ever attended public school, and had not become into the kind of person that she was. He easily could have become that sort of person like Chloe, but he never did. He never used his position, wealth or family to get his own way, nor did he try to intimidate other people because of it. He intentionally tried to place himself lower, onto their level, and tried to get to know them that way.