Chapter Text
Marinette stepped onto the ice.
Almost instantly, she felt the stress of the day melting off of herself.
Here she could be free of responsibilities. When she was skating, her only responsibility was to have fun. At practice, there was no pressure to be perfect, like at the competitions.
She scanned the skaters moving around the rink. It was a freestyle session, which meant it was more crowded than it was during a usual practice session, when there were just a few of them on the ice.
There was one skater in particular that she was looking for: her best friend and training partner Adrien Agreste.
She spotted his blond hair near immediately; he was practicing jumps in the center of the ice. In the past few months, he’d grown desperate to land a quadruple jump. But he’d also grown four inches (and was now taller than her, a fact he constantly held over her head), which meant he was having to relearn how to to jump completely, making the whole process infinitely more difficult.
From a spot on the edge of the rink, she watched Adrien skate into a takeoff, glancing back over his shoulder as he did. She could tell before he dug his toe pick in that he was going to under rotate it, and sure enough, he did. The quad flip he was aiming for turned into a triple, and he fell hard against the ice.
Marinette hurried over to help him.
“Need a hand?”
Adrien looked up and his face lit up as he realized it was her. He grabbed her outstretched hand without hesitation and let her pull him to his feet.
“Nice of you to finally join me,” Adrien exclaimed. “I’ve been waiting forever. ”
“Forever?” Marinette asked, happy to fall into their comfortable banter. “That is a long time. But not all of us can be homeschooled, Agreste.”
“Weren’t you going to talk to your parents about it so we could train more?”
“Not all of us need to train 24/7 to be good,” Marinette said. “Want to see what I can do now?”
“Obviously.”
Marinette pulled away from him and into the center of the ice rink before jumping into a graceful camel spin. From there, she reached down to grab her boot, pulling it in and then up, raising her leg up straight behind her head as she spun. She dropped her leg and spun out of it, giving him finger guns as she stopped herself.
“You got your Biellmann? When?” Adrien asked, mouth open wide.
“This morning while you were in the gym. Finally, right?”
“It’s sick! I’m so proud of you!” Adrien said with a grin. “You already make it look so easy, Mari. How?”
“Oh, come on,” Marinette said. “At least you can do a triple flip!”
“I want a quad,” Adrien grumbled.
“And I want a consistent triple anything.”
“You’ll get your triples soon enough,” Adrien said. “But I will never be able to do a Biellmann spin.”
“No? Do you want to try?” She reached to grab his leg, trying to get him to pull it higher than an arabesque. “Just try it; I won’t let you fall.”
“Mar--Marinette!”
She giggled at the way his face went red and his voice cracked, and Adrien glared, making a move to shove her over. She anticipated his move and ducked out of his way to skate off, turning over her shoulder to make sure he was chasing after her.
And he was, just like always.
That was one of the things she loved about him, that no matter what, she always knew he’d be right there with her, without her ever having to ask. He was the one that caught her when she fell, who encouraged her when she failed, who cheered for her when she triumphed.
A perfect team, forged from years of training together.
Adrien finally caught her and spun her around until they fell into a heap, all tangled up together, laughing. “Caught you.”
Marinette looked up at him, where he was still laying beside her. Something about the way the light was falling across his face made him look… different. Less babyish and more like an adult.
And handsome, too. She had started noticing that lately.
Which was strange.
She had never thought of Adrien as anything more than a friend. After all, they’d known each other since they were five years old, when they had been the only kids to sign up for lessons at their local rink.
They’d started off as ice dancers, for some reason neither of them knew, learning how to waltz and cha cha together, and had been happy with it-- they made a good team, after all.
And then they’d seen one of the older students land a double axel.
All ideas of ice dancing immediately flew out the window. They wanted to jump . They wanted to fly.
But they had been too young and inexperienced for pairs skating at the time. Coach Armand trained them together, for individual skating, with the promise to pair them together when the time was right.
The time had never been right.
By the time they were old enough to be a team, they’d started to become successful skaters and after deliberation, decided it would be better to continue as individuals.
Now, though, as skills got more difficult, competitions got more intense, and changing bodies made for constant sharp learning curves, they had decided ice dance might be the right discipline for them. They’d dropped in on an ice dance class last week for a refresher and had been surprised to find they still remembered most of the rhythms.
Marinette had been more surprised by how flustered she’d gotten standing so close to Adrien, their bodies pressed together. She hadn’t missed the way Adrien had blushed either, avoiding her gaze as she looked up at him.
It had been interesting-- something she’d wanted to ask him about, but almost as soon as they’d finished practicing, he’d said his dad wanted him home early that night and taken off.
And now it was too late to bring it up.
“We’re going to have to work on the falling over when we become a team,” Adrien said as he stood up. “Can’t have that happen in competition.”
“That’ll be on you,” Marinette said. “You’ll have to lead.”
“I can lead,” Adrien said confidently, pulling Marinette standing and into a sudden waltz hold that made her eyes go wide. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.”
She had to tilt her chin to look up at him. “You’re-- you’re sure you want to do this?”
“Absolutely. There’s nothing I want more than to skate with you forever.”
The surety of his words brought a blush to Marinette’s cheeks.
“I want to skate with you forever, too.”
Adrien dropped his gaze to their joined hands. “Mari, I--”
“Adrien!” someone called, and both Marinette and Adrien turned, the moment abandoned.
“Adrien,” Coach Armand called again, beckoning him over.
“Oh,” Adrien said, slowly dropping his hands from her body. “Looks like I’m not practicing today, I guess.”
“Oh,” Marinette said.
“We can… maybe finish this conversation later?” Adrien asked.
“I’ll call you tonight,” Marinette said with a nod.
“Cool. I’d like that.” He grinned like he couldn’t help it before he turned and started towards the side of the rink, throwing a wave at her over his shoulder. “Have an ice day.”
Marinette groaned at his stupid pun and his smile went wider.
“Talk to you later, Mari!”
“Bye, Adrien,” Marinette called after him, watching him skate off. “Oh! And don’t forget to talk to your dad about the thing .”
He turned backwards to throw her a thumbs up and a grin.
The thing was ice dance; once the current skating season was over, they were finally going to make it official. Marinette had already gotten permission from her parents. Now Adrien just needed to talk to his dad about it and, if he approved, the partnership they’d always dreamed about would finally happen. That was the only uncertain: if his strict father would let them.
But after tonight, they’d hopefully have an answer.
That knowledge carried her through a productive practice and the hours of homework she had afterwards until she could finally call Adrien and ask.
But when she called, his phone rang and rang until the answering machine finally picked it up.
That was weird— Adrien always answered her calls.
When she tried calling again later, the same thing happened. Then she tried to text him, but her messages bounced back to her, undelivered. Had he blocked her? No. That was impossible; his phone was probably acting up or he got busy or something. She decided to just ask him about it at practice.
But he didn’t show up at the rink the next day, either. Or the next day. Or the next.
When she asked Coach Armand about it, he said Adrien had some personal matters to take care of.
The days turned to weeks, and the weeks into months with nothing from Adrien.
Marinette missed her best friend. She’d tried to go to his house to ask after him, but no one ever answered the door. The texts and calls continued to go undelivered and unanswered.
Eventually she gave up.
It wasn’t until almost six months later that she heard from Adrien again. And it wasn’t even from him: it was a blurb on social media.
Junior World silver medalist Kagami Tsurugi to enter ice dancing partnership with Adrien Agreste, Junior Grand Prix bronze medalist. The pair will train under Philippe Martin in the United States.
Marinette was still in shock over the news when she arrived at the rink, pulling on her skates while on autopilot. Not only had Adrien abandoned her for another girl, he was also leaving France. Without a word. Not a text, not a call, not an email.
“I heard Adrien got an ice dance partner,” Chloe Bourgeois said, leaning against the locker next to Marinette’s. Chloe had started taking lessons two years ago with the goal of making Adrien fall in love with her, which obviously didn’t work, but Adrien was always nice to her because their parents were friends. “I thought you were supposed to be his partner.”
“Shut up, Chloe.”
“Hm. I guess he decided you weren’t good enough,” Chloe said. “That’s what he told me, anyways.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Marinette said with a roll of her eyes. “Why would he tell you that?”
“Adrien and I still text,” Chloe said, smug at Marinette’s look of surprise. “You don’t?”
“No…”
“I guess he likes me better after all. Here, see?” Chloe asked, turning her phone to show Marinette a string of text messages.
Not that I care, but I thought Dupain-Cheng was supposed to be your partner.
She was, but I’m just not sure it would have been a good match.
Why not? I thought you two were like besties?
She’s never been as strong technically as me. I don’t want her to hold me back. She’s just… not good enough.
Marinette shoved Chloe’s phone back into her hand and stalked out of the locker room, feeling tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.
How could he do this to her? How could he be so cruel? That wasn’t like the Adrien she knew. The Adrien she knew was gentle and kind and goofy and sweet. He was the one that cheered for her successes, comforted her when she failed, and caught her when she fell.
And she’d always done the same for him. She’d been there for all of his highest highs and the lowest lows.
She’d been the first to hug him when he’d won his first national title when they were nine. And she’d been the one to hold his hand when he’d broken his wrist when they were eleven. And it was her that comforted him when his mom died, her who forced him to get up out of bed and get dressed and come skate.
She was there for him, whenever he needed her, and he had just abandoned her. They were supposed to be the dream team: best friends and partners, a perfect match both on and off the ice.
What happened to that?
What happened to ‘I want to skate with you forever?’
If that’s how he wanted to play it, she didn’t need him. She’d never need him ever again, or anyone else.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng decided right then and there that she would be a ladies French figure skating champion. No. Not just France; she’d win the Grand Prix. She’d win the World title.
She’d become a fucking Olympian.
She would show Adrien Agreste just what he had missed out on.
She’d make him regret leaving her for the rest of his life .
Adrien thought she wasn’t good enough?
She’d show him just how good she could be.
That afternoon, for the first time, Marinette landed her triple flip.