Stopwatch | Miraculous Ladybug | Soulmates AU

T - 0 Days... Again

"How is this possible?" Marinette wondered aloud, pacing back and forth alone in her room. She wanted more than anything to talk to Nathaniel about this or maybe even Alya, but she knew that her identity as Ladybug, even if it was over, had to remain a secret. She would ask Tikki but she did not want to open that can of worms again. She was done with the miraculous, done being Ladybug, end of story.

Instead, Marinette just muttered the questions to herself as she stared down at the changed mark on her wrist.

Marinette had never heard of someone's soulmate timer changing. As far as she knew, it was impossible. Sure, some people didn't have soulmate timers at all, like Chloe Bourgeois. However, nobody ever had two timers and nobody's timer ever changed.

Did it change because of the miraculous? Did something happen to Chat Noir? Is it because she decided not to continue using the miraculous? Did Tikki do something to change it? Was she cursed? Is Chat Noir really her soulmate? Will it keep resetting to one day every day she thinks she meets her soulmate?

All these questions made Marinette start to feel light-headed and it was getting late so she decided to lay down in her bed. But when she did, all she could do was stare at the ceiling. Her mind was racing too fast to be able to fall asleep. When she finally did fall asleep, her dreams were plagued by nightmares of her failing as Ladybug and of Paris being destroyed because of her.

When Marinette's alarm went off, her eyes were already wide open. She quickly turned it off and got herself ready for school. After a brief pause, she pulled her hair into pigtails and positioned a scrunchie over her wrist, which once again read 𝟢 𝒹𝒶𝓎𝓈, and made her way downstairs.

When she got to the kitchen, her parents were already up and were watching the news. Marinette turned and saw that Nadja Chamack was announcing that the police had cornered off the areas where all the stone beings were frozen.

"Paris is relying on our new guardian angels, Ladybug and Chat Noir, to save us all. Our lives depend on them." The words cut into Marinette like daggers in a magician's box. She froze in her spot, wide-eyed, trying to push back the tears trying to force their way onto her cheeks. Her father must have noticed something in her expression because he rested a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, I know how upsetting and scary this is, but don't worry. We've got two superheroes looking after Paris and the best way of helping them is to show them that we're not scared because we trust them," he reassured with a confident smile. His words should have shattered the girl's nerves, but they only ricocheted off them.

"But what if Ladybug fails?" She murmured.

"Then I'd come to save you! Super-Baker to the rescue!" He shouted as he wielded a bread roll. For the first time in almost 24 hours, Marinette let out a laugh.

"Thanks, super dad." She smiled and hugged him before heading upstairs to grab her bag. She turned back towards her trap door but before she could leave, she stopped in her tracks. She paused by her vanity and stared at the drawer. With a nod of her head, Marinette quickly grabbed the small box and dropped it in her bag, making a decision.

~Time Skip to class~

"Alya, wouldn't you like to be a superhero and go out and fight supervillains and monsters?" Marinette asked as she walked side-by-side with her new friend to class.

"Totally!" Alya said enthusiastically. "I'm not scared of anyone! Why?"

"Oh, no reason," Marinette shrugged nervously. Alya looked down towards her phone to check her new website, The Ladyblog. With the distraction, Marinette quickly swiped the miraculous box from her bag and placed it in Alya's.

Before she could think any further about her decision, the two girls walked through the doorway and Marinette saw a sight that made her red with furry.

"Hey! What are you doing?" She yelled as she rushed over to the blonde boy that was kneeling by her seat. She could see him fussing with some gum on her chair and she let out a huff.

The blonde boy looked up at her in a panic. Marinette could almost see something familiar in his eyes but she couldn't think much about it due to the laughter coming from behind her. She turned to see Chloe and her best friend, Sabrina, snickering.

"Okay, I get it. Good job you three. Very funny," She said sarcastically.

The boy jumped up immediately. "No, no! I was just trying to take this off," He exclaimed. Marinette wanted more than anything to believe him. There was something about him that she felt drawn to. However, her anger clouded any thoughts that might have shown that.

"Oh really?" She spat back. Turning away from the boy with a very deliberate glare, she carefully covered the gum with a tissue from her bag and sat next to it. "You're friends with Chloe, right?" Marinette made it clear that it was meant as an insult rather than an actual question. She could hear him mutter something but she tried not to listen. The boy moved to his seat in the row across her, but she kept her head turned away from him.

However, she couldn't help but think about him. She turned to Alya and whispered, "I know I've seen him somewhere before..."

Alya held out her phone for the dark-haired girl to see.

"Of course, that's Adrien Agreste, the model!" She exclaimed, shocked.

"Oh man, really? Forget it." Alya frowned at Adrien before turning back to her phone.

A few minutes later, attendance was called. Of course, the teacher had to start with the new boy, much to Marinette's annoyance.

"Agreste, Adrien?" She asked. Marinette turned to him and saw Nino lean over and whisper to him.

Immediately the boy shot up in the air and shouted, "Present!" Everyone in the classroom laughed for a moment before being calmed down by Ms. Boustie.

"Bourgeois, Chloe?"

"Present."

"Brual, Ivan?"

Suddenly, the room shook as Stoneheart emerged from the doorway. "PRESENT."