Chapter Text
A string is a glowing red thread that leads from one person’s heart to their soulmate’s heart. It will appear when the soulmates are both ready to meet and when they’re locations are close to each other it will gently tug them together. Sometimes, two people could know each other for years before their strings bring them together. Sometimes, it brings strangers together to form a bond that will last a lifetime.
Alya and Nino hadn’t had their strings tug them together until the day at the zoo when Ladybug locked them in a cage together. Likewise, Ivan and Mylene were tugged together shortly after Ivan was freed from Stoneheart. As soon as he was courageous enough to be honest with Mylene about his feelings, their string had appeared.
Marinette always loved hearing about her parent’s soulmate story. They had been culinary students enjoying a day at the farmer's market when their string brought them together in front of a pastry cart. Tom had been smitten with Sabine’s obviously strong, caring nature. Sabine had thought that Tom’s bumbling and clumsy attempts to introduce himself were adorable. The pastry vender treated them to a pair of macaroons in celebration and they always joked that cookies brought them together.
A few years ago, Marinette had hoped that her string would lead her to Adrien, but now Marinette felt like she’d dodged a bullet that it never had. She’d been hopeful that she and Adrien would draw closer in their friendship, especially after he promised to have her back against Lila. However, as time went on, Adrien seemed to make more and more compromises to appease his father. Instead of gaining confidence and independence as he grew up, he seemed more focused on blending in and not making waves. When he came to Marinette and confessed that his father had explicitly instructed Adrien to keep LIla happy--and Adrien had agreed--Marinette knew he was no longer the boy she had fallen for. She felt sad that the trust she had in him was gone and sad that he wasn’t willing to stand up for himself or for others. But, try as she might, Adrien didn’t want to do anything about his unhealthy situation and she could only do so much.
After she’d gotten over Adrien, Marinette had some hopes that her soulmate would be Luka, but his string had soon led him to Kagami. While many were shocked by this pairing and dismissed them as having nothing in common, Marinette almost instantly saw the connection they had and how good they were for each other. They truly were each other's balance. Kagami brought order to Luka’s free spiritedness and Luka in turn helped Kagami free herself from rigid perfectionism. They were noticeably happier soon after they established their bond. Luka was expressing himself more verbally and firmly and Kagami was learning to live as her best self instead of an unattainable best. She began expressing herself more emotionally, though only a fool took this to mean she’d lost her competitive edge.
Marinette was thankful that she and Kagami had eventually had a heart to heart about their turbulent start. Luka and Kagami became close friends and fierce supporters to Marinette, something she was especially thankful for as things with Lila escalated.
It had taken longer than Lila probably had hoped, but Marinette’s friendships--even with Alya--had finally fallen apart. Over the years, Alya kept pushing Marinette to apologize and make friends with Lila and one day Marinette had gathered the courage to be brutally honest with her.
“Alya,” Marinette had said, “Lila has been publically needling me and privately cruel and threatening to me ever since she arrived in our class. I’ve tried to prove this and her lies to you countless times over the years, but my evidence is never good enough for you. I’m tired. I’m tired of the pressure, I’m tired of having to keep myself together all the time, I’m tired of not having your support, and I’m tired of constantly being criticized--if not down right abused--by the people who should know me better.
“Do you not see how Lila has changed you? Everything you do revolves around her. She’s in every conversation, she’s the deciding factor in almost every decision you make. When was the last time we even hung out together outside of me helping you babysit or you coming around to lecture me about something Lila said? Which, by the way, you never ask my side of! That’s not healthy, Alya. It’s toxic. It’s toxic between you and me and it’s toxic between you and Lila. Is that how you really want to live your life?”
Needless to say, that conversation was not pretty. She’d been met with denial and hostility. Alya claimed she was being unfairly cruel to Lila and until she got over her pettiness she didn’t want to be friends. It broke Marinette’s heart, but she was no longer surprised. She actually felt some sense of relief that the confrontation was finally over and she no longer had the stress of treating their friendship with kit gloves.
Lila didn’t have any power over Marinette though Alya’s friendship anymore, but that didn’t stop her. The bullying got worse, sometimes physical others mental, and was almost a daily constant. Marinette took note that Lila made sure it was contained between the students and Marinette. She wanted Marinette around to suffer in the shadow of Lila’s ‘victory,’ so she didn’t paint any tails of woe to the teachers that Marinette was bullying her. She just fed that line to her classmates and they followed her word without thought.
Tom and Sabine fought hard to have the principal or Ms. Bustier take action but they both had the mindset that the kids should work it out for themselves. Ms. Bustier was convinced that Marinette’s kind nature was a thermometer for her classroom and took to the belief that the situation was a misunderstanding and would blow over. No one took a serious initiative to keep themselves aware of how catastrophically the atmosphere had changed.
Marinette’s parents were understandably furious and were looking to formalize a legal complaint. In the meantime, they were strongly encouraging Marinette to switch schools. However, Marinette was now one year away from graduating. She’d had years of hard work as class representative--Lila never ran because she was busy with her ‘charity work’ and the class kept her in office despite their rift because Marinette got the job done. She’d also developed a good reputation with her teachers and other students around the school. She didn’t want to lose these connections and have to rebuild her reputation and references just when she was trying to apply to universities and internships.
So she stayed. She wasn’t even able to manage a class transfer because Ms. Bustier had caught wind of the change and mistakenly ‘helped’ Marinette stay with her ‘friends’ and Principal Damocles had been negligent to ensure the request had gone through.
Sabine had scoured the city for a therapist suited for Marinette’s needs and had been happy to find Dr. Chang. Marinette had fought back a giggle when her parents introduced her to the man for the first time and she had to pretend not to know Master Fu. She couldn’t have asked for a better therapist however--apparently he’d had time in his nearly two centuries of life to become quite qualified in the area of mental health. He’d acquired several specialized degrees…though he didn’t mention the years they were earned. She was able to talk to him about everything and he helped her have hope and plans for a brighter, healthier future.
And did she have plans! Audrey Bourgeois had renewed her interest in having Marinette as her apprentice. In the few years since her first offer, Audrey had a wake-up call regarding her relationship with her daughter and they’d become closer and healthier, though not perfect. While Chloe and Marinette were not close friends, Chloe credited Marinette with instigating the change with her mother. Audrey kept a close eye on Marinette and was willing to be more flexible with her offer this time around. She suggested something of a cross between university and an internship. Marinette would get her degree, work for Audrey remotely, and travel to select events with her. Audrey even suggested that Marinette take full advantage of the opportunity to travel and choose a university abroad.
Tom and Sabine supported this idea heartily, having both studied abroad themselves. They’d found it to be a transformative experience and they hoped it would be a rejuvenating experience for their daughter’s self esteem after so long in a toxic environment.
Marinette was more open to the idea than she would have thought. The idea of a new environment was tantalizing--and the promise of being able to blossom on her own without the nasty voices of former friends over her shoulder claiming she was full of herself or didn’t deserve her success spurred her to pour over university pamphlets from London, New York, Madrid, and Tokyo. She quickly decided to narrow it down to countries she had a comfortable mastery of the language. Though her Nona had been teaching her Italian, she had no desire to go anywhere she associated Lila with and so Italy was never considered. London was a promising option that would allow her to visit her parents a little easier...but she knew it would be just as promising to her fellow classmates and she’d risked a greater chance of crossing paths with them.
Of course, this all hinged on one very important detail: a butterfly. She refused to leave her responsibilities as Ladybug--especially now that her Guardian training was nearly complete. She was constantly brainstorming battle plans about how to take down Hawkmoth and was very much hoping to end his reign of terror before she had to make a final decision about university.
As if she didn’t have enough stress, Ladybug and Cat Noir were under constantly increasing criticism about apprehending Hawkmoth and Mayura. It was not appreciated.
Study abroad or not, Marinette was planning on taking a break from Paris as soon as Hawkmoth was defeated. Master Fu was perhaps the biggest supporter of her plan. He planned to retire after Hawkmoth was gone and said that having Marinette relocate the Miracle Box for a while was a wise choice.
These plans afforded Marinette a surge of hope that helped her face her classmates. She’d already started applying to universities and institutes in America when Ms. Bustier announced a class trip to be held in late October. When she heard the location, Marinette couldn’t help but smile. It seemed a little Ladybug Luck was working in her favor because only the day before she’d received news that she’d been offered an interview at one of her favorite options. With a little finagling between her teacher and the school--making sure her classmates didn’t hear even a whisper about it--Marinette made an appointment for an interview and official school tour.
Come October, Marinette would be seeing what Gotham Fashion Institute of Technology has to offer her future.
Note--the Gotham University name (GFIT) is a nod to Big Hero 6 and their school SFIT.