Requested by @CowolfCreations

I'm so sorry for the long wait! I hope the wait was worth it :,)

Marinette didn't know what was worse: the fact that Chat Noir, her papa, and Adrien all have the same idealism about soulmates, or the fact that she might have feelings for Chat Noir.

In which Marinette wants to know if Adrien really is her soulmate, so she asks two people (and the actual candidate himself) what they're thoughts are on soulmates.

She just doesn't expect their answers to be so similar, and to have her reflecting on her mixed feelings for Chat and Adrien.

Who, unknowingly to her, are the same person.

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"So... soulmates huh?"

Marinette's chuckled, her smile sheepish as she offered her father a light-hearted shrug. She usually never asked her parents questions about love-related topics due to having to listen to how her parents met, which she didn't necessarily mind, though that story would often lead to horrible second-hand embarrassment moments which would have her blushing uncontrollably whenever her parents tried to not-so-subtly hint that she and Adrien were destined to be wed and have children together (which she didn't disagree with at all.) But that didn't stop her from wondering how her father had known that her mother had been the one. And if he believed her to be his soulmate, how had he known for sure? 

And how could she know if Adrien was meant to be hers?

"Yeah," Marinette nodded, "Do you believe they're real?"

"Of course I do," Her father said, grin wide. "I married your mother, after all."

Marinette chuckled, slowly take a seat next to her father on the sofa. "But how did you know maman was the one for you? Was their a sign? Something that stood out to you? A little voice in your head telling you pick her pick her?"

Her father laughed, shaking his head as he did so. But then he hummed as he contemplated her question. "Well... I suppose it was when I realized I couldn't see myself living without her. That if I were to lose her, my life would fall apart. That I had to have her at my side."

"And that's how you knew for sure?"

"Well, something like that." Her father chuckled, "I always considered soulmates to be like 'partners in crime.' They do everything together. Fight for each other, do mischievous things together, love each other. If you don't consider that special person to be your partner in crime, then maybe they aren't your soulmate."

Marinette took her bottom lip in between her teeth, contemplating her father's response. Partners in crime? Was Adrien her partner in crime? She always considered Alya to have that sort of position in the best friend department, and Chat Noir definitely had it in the superhero department. So did that mean Adrien had it in the love department?

She pondered over that question until the first day of their camping trip began. For a school summer program, Marinette and her classmates were attending summer camp, and Adrien had actually gotten permission from his father to attend. Adrien had been so happy about being able to go, and even grew happier when he found out that Marinette was going as well. In fact, he was so happy she was there that he insisted on sitting beside her on the bus, and they spent five hours together watching funny videos on her phone and falling asleep on each other's shoulders.

The sight had been incredibly cute. And Marinette only knew this because Alya had taken a photo of them--which she thanked her friend immensely for.

But things grew more confusing as their week away continued. Adrien began finding ways to sneak into the girl's cabin with Nino, only so that he could snuggle up against Marinette on the twin-sized bottom bunk while they watched more funny videos on her phone under the covers in hopes that their counselors wouldn't find them using their phones. She found those nights to be some of the best nights she'd ever had. But that still left her confused. Nino obviously wasn't against the idea of sneaking in to sleep next to his girlfriend every night, and then escaping in the early morning before the counselors woke up...

But why was Adrien doing it?

Marinette wondered if perhaps it was a sign. A sign that he was her soulmate. Her father had mentioned that soulmates were like partners in crime, and she agreed with that...

But every time she thought of partners in crime, she found her thoughts circling back to her superhot—SUPERHERO, she definitely meant to say superhero, partner.

She was able to confront her partner with the matter as soon as she returned home from her trip. Well... confronting him subtly, that is. Ladybug and Chat Noir met on the Eiffel Tower the night she had returned home, and although she was exhausted from a long week of camp, she couldn't wait until the morning to talk to him.

"Welcome back, LB." Chat Noir was sporting a grin as soon as he landed beside her, but she could tell that he was just as equally exhausted as she was. He tried to hide his yawn behind a toothy grin, which she easily spotted despite his attempts. She offered him an apologetic smile in return.

"I'm sorry for wanting to meet up so late. I promise I won't keep you long."

"Nah, it's no big deal." Chat Noir waved off her apology with a playful swat of his hand. "I'm just happy to see your face again after so long."

Ladybug giggled behind a closed fist. "I was only gone for a week!"

"And it felt like a dozen centuries, bugaboo."

"Drama queen." Ladybug teased, watching as her partner innocently batted his eyes in response. She felt the butterflies in her stomach flutter uncontrollably, and she idly wondered when that had ever started happening around Chat Noir. "I was actually hoping I could ask you something... something that's been troubling me for the last week now."

Chat Noir's playful smile vanished as soon as he detected the serious tone in her voice. "Sure. Is everything alright?" He asked cautiously.

"Yeah... everything's fine." Ladybug assured him. She moved to sit down at the edge of the structure, preferring to have her legs dangle over the edge than to stand any longer on her tired feet. Chat Noir seemed to appreciate that idea, and instantly moved to take a seat beside her. "I just... I was wanting your advice, or rather opinion, on something."

"Oh?" The feline beside her raised a curious brow, but he didn't prod any further.

Ladybug nodded slowly, her eyes shifting over to his curious, green ones as she cleared her throat. With the question already prepared on the tip of her tongue, she asked, "Do you believe soulmates are real?"

She watched as her partner's eyebrows rose up his forehead at an equalized height, an indication that he was clearly surprised by her question. He licked his lips shortly afterwards, confusion still clouding his irises. "Uhh well... yes. Yes, I would say I do."

"Why? Because of what you see in the movies?"

To that, Chat Noir's confusion broke out into a lazy smile. He chuckled, shaking his head. "No. Not because of romance movies or novels. Probably because I know what it's like to have a soulmate, you could say."

Ladybug furrowed her brows slightly at that. "What? Since when? Who in the world is your—"

However, before she could finish, he cut her off with a light-hearted chuckle. "Do you really not know the answer to that question?" He asked, wiggling a playful brow.

It only took her a second to catch on to what he meant, and when she did, Ladybug frowned at him. "Very funny. But even if that were true, how do you know that I'm your soulmate? I mean... is it clear? Did you get a sign? Did the little voice in your head tell you so?"

Chat Noir huffed out a laugh through his nose, his smile wide as he kept his amused eyes focused in hers. "Not exactly. Finding your soulmate is more like a feeling than an actual blunt answer. You kinda just... know. You find yourself realizing they're the only person you want to be with like that, that you want to do everything with that person. They're the person you want to live life with and share everything with." Chat Noir sighed then, as if he were further thinking of his answer. "Honestly," he breathed out another laugh as he turned his gaze towards the lit city in the distance. "Your soulmates is like your partner in crime."

Ladybug's eyes widened at that, her thoughts immediately circling back to what her father had said. Her own papa had used that same phrase, and somehow, Chat Noir was using it too... as if the two of them had conspired with each other prior to her approaching them both with the same question.

"P-Partners in crime?" She squeaked out.

Chat Noir nodded, his gaze still appreciating the view. "Yeah, that's exactly what soulmates are like. The best way to describe them, in my opinion." He turned back  to look her, flashing her a soft smile. "I already consider you to be my partner in crime... and not just literally."

By literally, he meant his superhero partner. The person he literally fought crime with. But figuratively, he meant that she was his soulmate, which he said without any doubt, and it didn't even matter if she didn't feel the same or not. Because Chat Noir fully believed that they were destined for each other.

And Ladybug... well Ladybug was starting to wonder if perhaps he was right.

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"Adrien!"

At the sound of his named being called, Adrien quickly turned around. A smile broke out on his lips as soon as his eyes spotted Marinette sprinting down the hall towards him, her bookbag dangling on one shoulder and a stack of four books cradled against her chest. By the time she reached him, she had leaned over to rest a hand on her knee, breathing heavily as she struggled to catch her breath.

He smiled down at her softly and reached forward to take her bookbag from her. She let him without a single rebuttal. "Are you alright?" He asked amusingly.

Marinette nodded, though he didn't exactly believe her even when she stood up fully again. "I was rushing to catch you before science. I have a question for you."

"Okay." He slung her bookbag over one of his shoulders, his smile soft. "What's up?"

"Well..." Marinette began to wring her fingers together, a sign that she was nervous. His eyebrows furrowed as soon as he noticed it and he opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, but he cut himself short as soon as she asked him, "I was wondering... if you thought soulmates were real or not?"

His eyes widened in surprise, and he almost choked on his own saliva. But instead, his squeaky-barely audible voice, croaked, "W-What?"

Out of all the questions he'd expected her to ask him, he hadn't expected that one.

"S-Soulmates..." Marinette cleared her throat. Her eyes refused to meet his, instead focusing on her hands which were no w fiddling with the seem of her shirt. "D-Do y-you think they're real?"

Suddenly feeling nervous himself, Adrien licked his lips. Ironic how Ladybug had just asked him this question, and now Marinette had the same exact one for him. "Um yeah. Sure I do."

But that answer didn't seem to appease Marinette. She frowned slightly, her bottom lip protruding out as she seemed to be lost in thought. Adrien swallowed heavily, forcing himself to look away from her ever-so-tempting, plump, pink lips.

"How do you think they're real?" She asked him after a moment of awkward silence had passed between them.

Adrien shrugged, a bit unsure himself. "I don't know, really. I guess it's a feeling. It's not exactly the clearest feeling... but if you pay attention hard enough, it can be pretty obvious." He tried to find Marinette's eyes after his pause, only to realize that her eyes were darting everywhere but to look at him. He inhaled deeply through his nose, forcing himself to take a deep breath to calm his sudden, unwanted nerves. "I guess the best way I could describe a soulmate is someone who you consider to be your—"

"—partner in crime." Marinette whispered, and then her eyes snapped up to meet his, as if she hadn't meant to say those words out loud and was hoping he hadn't heard them.

But Adrien had heard her loud and clear, and when her eyes met his, his had also widened in complete shock. "Yeah..." he said slowly, his adam apple bobbing as he struggled to keep his cool. "That's exactly what I was going to say."

For some reason, sweat collected on his upper brow as he and Marinette continued to stare at each other in complete bewilderment. Adrien would've chalked up the incident to be a complete and utter coincidence, had that actually been the case, but something inside him had already convinced him that this was clearly not the case.

There was honestly no denying what the two of them had just unwrapped before each other's eyes.

Without even meaning to, Marinette had just revealed to him that she was Ladybug.

And by now, he was sure she had figured out that he was Chat Noir too.

"Well..." Adrien chuckled, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck nervously. "Only partners in crime would be stupid enough to accidentally reveal themselves to each other. It's looks like I can officially say that cat is out of the bag... for both of us."

He was relieved when Marinette actually laughed, and quickly leaned forward to rest her forehead against his chest—either to hide her flushed cheeks from his view, or to prevent them both from feeding off of each other's embarrassment. Either way, he definitely didn't mind. Her touch sent a jolt of electricity up his spine, and his stomach did a couple of summersaults. Only your soulmate could make you feel feelings like that.

"I-I guess you were right all along, Chaton." She murmured against him.

He chuckled softly, allowing himself to loosely wrap his free arm around her waist.

"Of course I was right." He whispered fondly, "I knew all along that you were my soulmate. It was just a matter of convincing you that I was right."

"Don't push it, or I actually might reconsider this whole soulmate thing."

Adrien laughed, leaning down to nuzzle his face into her hair. He pressed a chaste kiss to the top of her head. "Oh we can't have that." He said as his lips grazed her forehead. "I just got you, and I'm not planning on letting you go anytime soon."

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A dose of fluffy Adrienette keeps depression away :)

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