One Way or Another

A Missing Ingredient, A Name Game and A Retaliation

Adrien wiped away a tear as he continued looking at her. And when he sniffled, he saw her stir slightly at the noise.

After a second, Marinette opened her eyes to find him there. "Kitty?" she whispered sleepily. "Are you okay?"

A head shake. "No, I'm not okay," he cried.

Scooting closer, she put her arm around him. "Don't be afraid, Adrien. I know that we'll figure it out."

"I'm sorry, I just... can't lose you," he cried. "I can't."

She wiped a tear away. "You won't lose me. I promise."

"But if we can't fix..."

"Don't think about that," Marinette murmured. "Worrying isn't going to help anything. Try to keep your thoughts on other things."

"There's nothing else to think about, Princess."

A loving smile. "Of course there is. We still need to decide on where to go for our babymoon. After Fashion Week and all of this... nonsense is over with, we need to go somewhere. Just the two of us." She laughed. "Before there's three of us and we don't get the chance to ever be alone again."

That got a small smile from him. "Okay. Well, how about Rome? We haven't been there since our honeymoon."

"Mmm, our honeymoon," she murmured. "That was a good time, don't you think?"

"The best," he agreed softly, pulling her closer.

"Alright, so it's settled then," she said with a big smile. "We'll go to Rome."

"Rome it is. I can't wait, Princess."

"Me neither."

He moved forward and pressed his forehead against hers. And they lay there together for a minute in silence.

"Marinette?" he whispered.

"Mmm?" she murmured, her eyes now closed.

"I don't want you to go out as Ladybug anymore."

"Oh Kitty, I told you that you shouldn't worry about those things. Don't worry about Lila, and don't worry about fixing the Miraculous."

"I can't just forget about all of that," Adrien argued gently. "You're the most important thing in the world to me. And now that she has the Butterfly Miraculous, Lila is going to come after you."

"I can handle Lila..."

"But you're injured now. Things are different."

Marinette sighed and opened her eyes to look at him. "I can't stay hidden from the world forever, Adrien."

"It won't be forever. It's only until we fix the Miraculous and you get better. Then we can confront Lila together and take care of her. But until then, I want you to stay out of sight. No more superhero stuff."

"But what if there's an emergency?"

"I will handle any emergencies that come up. You need to stay hidden to protect yourself."

"I can't let you go out there by yourself," she argued. "Then you'd be an easier target if Lila goes after you."

"You heard my father. She's only interested in going after you."

Marinette sighed again. "I don't know..."

"Princess," Adrien interrupted softly. "You're pregnant. You need to keep yourself safe in order to protect the baby. Please, think of him. Our baby. He needs you."

And she stopped arguing as her thoughts turned to the little one growing inside of her. Adrien was one hundred percent right, she needed to do everything that she could to protect him. "Okay," she finally conceded.