One Way or Another

A Winner, An Enchanted Sleep and Fate

Adrien looked down as tears started welling up again. "Can we please go downstairs and get back to work now?"

Gabriel stepped over to his son. "It's okay, Adrien. Marinette is going to be fine." He glanced down at the silver ring on his right hand before continuing. "She's resting in Annabelle's room?"

A nod.

"Why don't I go check on her?" Gabriel suggested. "You two go downstairs and I'll meet you there in a minute."

"Okay," Adrien whimpered. "Just don't take too long. We need to work."

"It will be quick. I promise." He took a step away but stopped when he saw someone. "Marinette?" he asked.

Adrien spun around. "Princess! What are you doing? You should be resting," he added, running up to her and grabbing her hand.

"I need to talk to you," she cried. "Please Adrien, please listen to me."

Seeing how distraught she was, he nodded. "Yes of course, Princess. I'll listen." He guided her over to the couch and sat her down. Then he kneeled down in front of her. "Alright, go ahead."

Marinette reached over and pushed some hair away from his eyes. "I'm sorry Kitty," she whispered. "But we're officially out of time."

He blinked at her. "No... that... that's not true. You said it's going in order. My mom and Annabelle just fell asleep, so we should have at least a few days."

"It's not the injury. It's the infection. It's spreading too quickly and the baby won't make it a few more days."

"The baby?" he repeated in a whisper.

"There's not enough time to save him. Even if we figured out what the ingredient is right this very second, it would take too long to get it here in time to make the potion and fix the Miraculous. The infection could have spread to him already. And I can't handle losing him too."

All Adrien could do was stare at her. He wasn't even trying to keep his tears in anymore.

"I'm sorry Adrien," she continued, fighting back her own. "But it's time."

After a moment, he nodded. "You're right. It's time."

She nodded back.

Then they both held their open hand out towards the other.

Confused, Adrien looked down at her empty hand. "Wha... what are you doing?"

Equally confused, Marinette answered. "I'm waiting for you to give me your ring. What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting for you to give me your earrings."

A beat of silence.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not giving you my earrings. You... you promised that you wouldn't..."

"I'm sorry I lied to you," he interrupted, a tear falling down his face. "But I can't lose you. You know that. You need to survive, and the baby needs to survive."

"We've already had this argument," Marinette cried, closing her eyes in frustration. "You can't heal us both. If the infection has already spread then we'll lose him anyway." She paused to catch her breath and open her eyes again. "Adrien, please. Please just give me your ring."

"No, I... I don't understand. Why do you want my ring?"

A weak shrug. "So I can wake them up," she replied, looking back at where Emilie and Annabelle were lying.

He shook his head, confused again. "You wouldn't be able to save them both..."

"But the baby and I can."