Chapter Text
In the world, there were quite a few different soulmate bonds. Some physical, some mental, and then, there were some that could be seen by no one but yourself. The hidden one was seen as something special , saved for just you and your soulmate until meeting.
Some documented hidden bonds were found to appear after sharing names. A beautiful intricate pattern showing the opposite’s life, but it was just in a way that you would understand it, and was in no way able to be discerned by any others. Most pairs still tended to cover them up, just to keep things private, as most things tend to be.
It had been about 200 years since the last hidden marking, and so as more bonds came to life, the hidden connection became forgotten, and thought of no more.
——
“Maman!” A six year old Marinette called, “Maman, Maman, look. It’s so pretty!”
Smiling at her daughter’s enthusiasm, Sabine quickly dried her hands off and turned around. “Yes, sweety? What did you want me to see?”
Giggling, Marinette pulled her pants leg up some more. “It’s right there, Maman! Don’t you see all of the colors? And the pretty shapes? It’s all right there on my leg!” Starting to get annoyed like most six year olds would do at that point, frustrated tears began to well up in her eyes, “It’s right there ,” she repeated, trying one more time.
Sadly shaking her head, Sabine said, “I’m sorry honey, I don’t see it.” Frowning at her daughter’s distress, she tried her best to distract her, and put her thoughts on other things, “Do you want to help me finish cooking dinner? It’s your favorite.”
Nodding her head in agreement, Marinette began to focus on the new task at hand, but she would never forget the way her mother looked at her, as she was no more than a mere child seeing random things just to see them. Having been bored to the point that your mind would just come up with new things. Marinette knew she wasn’t like that, and sometimes considered very mature for her age.
Now knowing to never speak about the designs again, in case they ended up staying, she forced a smile on her face, and began to carefully roll out the dough that had been placed in front of her.
____
Eight years had passed since the last time Marinette had tried to show anyone her markings. She had tried once more, subtly of course, to just show off her markings, but there had been no outward reactions. At that point, the patterns had traveled towards her mid back area, wrapping around her abdomen. That was the largest individual pattern. While they all ended up looping into one bigger picture, this one was such a bright angry red that anyone that could see it would be quite alarmed, which was no different where Marinette was concerned.
It wasn’t the most explicit thing, but even after only a year of being Ladybug- one of the city’s protectors- it wasn’t that hard to discern what it stood for. It made her concerned for whatever life her soulmate was leading. It also made her wonder what kind of patterns they themself had upon their skin. So many of the things that she had seen and been forced to do weren’t pretty, and she wasn’t quite sure how it would reflect.
Glancing back down at her outfit she had on, which consisted of her regular blazer, white t-shirt, black capri jeans, and pink ballet flats. She wasn’t quite sure if that’s what she wanted to wear today. There was no special occasion, but for some reason she didn’t want to cover up her skin today.
While she knew that no one else would ever be able to see them, she still didn’t feel comfortable having them bare and uncovered. It was just like an irrational fear, but then again, when would fears ever begin to be rational? Taking a breather, and a quick glance around, Marinette quickly snatched another outfit out of her closet and changed before she could change her mind, finally heading out the door to which when the door opened both of her parents called out to have a nice day, one louder than the other.
With another glance at her outfit, Marinette mustered up all of the courage that she believed she had, and entered the school building. One of the freaky things was that she was early. Not on time, not late, early. That should have been a sign of something. Usually it wasn’t possible, due to all the late nights of projects as well as akumas that like to pop up at the worst times. It wasn’t like she could blame the victims, as they were just that- victims. It wasn’t like you could just choose when to not feel. People are already trying their hardest to be happy all the time, but there will always be a breaking point.
Taking a seat in her classroom, Marinette pulled out her sketchbook and began to wait patiently for the class to finally start. When a few of the students began to trickle in, there were a few double tacks with Marinette already being there, and one particularly loud gasp from Max at seeing that he had always been the first student there for the entirety of the school year so far. She couldn’t help but smile slightly. It felt… nice, to get these kinds of reactions from people. They could only see her top half as of right now, but she knew that whenever Alya came in she would be squealing, as she had been trying to get the girl to wear it out for months.
Tuning back into all of the chatter going on around her, Marinette closed her sketchbook and glanced up at the clock, wondering where Alya and Nino were. Adrien had said that he had a photoshoot scheduled for that morning, so she hadn’t expected him to be there, but that was it.
Madame Bustier had just walked in, and a few seconds after, so did the missing pair, Alya and Nino. Smiling in greeting at the bonded pair, she could barely disguise her giggles when Alya took notice of her outfit. Happy that Alya was late this one time, so she wouldn’t have time to comment, she smirked.
“Oh no,” Alya whispered, “we’ll be talking about this later. I’m not sure what’s up with you today, but I’ll put my integrity as a journalist on the line over the fact that I will figure it out.”
Both turning towards the front, their teacher made an announcement.
“So class, I am pleased to inform you that as our class has the top ranking scores in our year, we will be going to Gotham!”
It was silent for a few beats, before someone spoke up.
“I’m sorry what?”