One Way or Another

A Winner, An Enchanted Sleep and Fate

"Thank you, Gabriel," Marinette responded as he, Emilie and Nathalie made their way out of the study.

With just the two of them there, Adrien moved closer. "What did you want to talk about?"

A huge smile. "Well, I was reading my book this morning... wait, today's still Wednesday, right?"

"Yes Princess, it's still Wednesday," he replied quietly.

"Right. So I was reading, and I think that I finally found the perfect na..."

She stopped as a commotion was heard coming from the foyer.

Adrien turned his head toward the door. "I'll be right back," he said before standing up and hurrying off to find out what was going on.

Using her hands to push herself up, Marinette carefully stood, paused a moment to get her bearings, and slowly followed. Even though she was moving so slowly, she could feel her heart racing. And the fogginess in her head wasn't helping anything.

It took a minute for her to reach the foyer, and the scene there was the thing she had been dreading the most.

Emilie was on the floor, Gabriel and Nathalie kneeling down next to her. Adrien had joined them and was kneeling by her feet.

But she wasn't asleep. Her eyes were still half open and she was saying something. She must have been whispering because Marinette couldn't hear anything from her place at the study doorway.

It looked like Emilie paused, and a second later Nathalie stood up and ran up the stairs.

Adrien took her place beside his mother. And then Emilie started speaking again.

Marinette tried to get closer, but was too unsteady on her feet and had to grab the doorframe to catch herself. With the noise, Adrien looked over at her. But he turned back to Emilie as she kept speaking. Then he nodded before standing up and approaching Marinette.

They embraced when he reached her.

"Adrien," she said, holding onto him. "What's going on?"

He replied through tears. "It's happening. She's falling into her enchanted sleep again. We're too late."

Marinette started tearing up too as they held onto each other in despair.

Knowing that she only had a few moments left, Emilie was determined to do one last thing. And that was to tell her husband something. "Gabriel?" she whispered.

"Yes, my love," he cried, leaning over her and cupping her cheek in his hand.

A second passed before she got the words out. "I forgive you."

Gabriel shook his head. "You don't have to..."

"I forgive you," she insisted. A pause as she fought to keep her eyes open. "And I know that I was angry with you about all those horrible things that you did. But I'm not angry anymore. I forgive you, and I... I give you permission to do whatever you need to do to fix this."

His eyes widened as he listened to her.

"Whatever it takes, you have my permission," Emilie continued.

Across the foyer, Adrien, Marinette and the kwamis watched the scene. Marinette wanted to go up to Emilie to say her goodbyes, but Gabriel deserved that more than she did. So she let them have their private moment together.

After a minute, they watched Gabriel nod at his wife. Then Emilie closed her eyes and she was gone.

There was a heavy silence that followed. It only ended as Nathalie walked down the stairs, carrying an unconscious Annabelle in her arms. "She won't wake up," she announced tearfully once she reached the bottom.