Delicate, Chapter 28
There is an old saying about relationships... how one should make love with your partner as if it was the last time. Because life is unpredictable, and full of mystery... and it just might be.
Neither Marinette nor Adrien had any intention of this night being their last night together, nor was that particular sentiment voiced out loud...
...but there was most certainly an extra something in the air surrounding them.
Around two in the morning, Marinette woke up - had she actually managed to fall fully asleep? she wondered - and felt the need for something to drink. As quietly as she could, being careful not to wake Adrien if she could help it, she wriggled free of his embrace; as she watched, Adrien rolled over slightly and settled back into a sound sleep.
She padded into her kitchen, rummaged through her refrigerator for some juice... and sensed a presence.
"I had a feeling that we weren't quite done tonight," she said, without turning her head.
"Not by a long shot," a gruff voice responded.
Marinette closed the refrigerator door and faced a floating Plagg, with a nervous-looking Nooroo just behind him.
"I hope that you know what you've set in motion tonight," Plagg snarled. "It's not too late to change your mind about this plan!"
"Oh, I know. I am very aware of what might happen."
"You're so concerned and upset that you went in there and humped your brains out, huh?"
Marinette's eyes flashed with anger as she leaned in close; Nooroo backed away somewhat, while Plagg stood his ground.
"You know damned well that if I tell Adrien that we can't do this, that we can't try to save his mother... it would break his heart. We need to study Emilie up close and make sure that we're fully ready for this plan before we try it... but we're past the point where I can just say 'no,'" she declared. "We can oppose him... or we can help him. And help her. And give him the best chance he has to set all of this right."
"Which sounds good," argued Plagg. "But you're-"
"What I am doing," she snapped, "is watching Adrien get ready to risk his life. For a good cause. For the best cause; trying to save someone. I can't stop him, or refuse to help, and live with myself! So I am putting the life of the man I love into your hands."
"Yours," she exclaimed, pointing to Plagg, "...and yours," indicating Nooroo. "I didn't just decide to do this on a whim. I decided to try because, if this works - and if I have your complete cooperation, I think that it can - we can change three lives for the better. I didn't ask to be the Guardian... I didn't ask to be Ladybug! But as long as I am... that's what I do. I try to do what's best for others."
"So if you have a problem with that, or if I can't count on you tomorrow... say so right now," Marinette hissed, emotions rolling in her voice. "We can't do this without you. And I could order you around, and make you help... but I won't. I need you to do this on your own."
Plagg hovered in one place, his face contorted with various responses warring to be spoken... and then his eyes closed.
"Fine," he growled, disgust in his voice. ""But if this goes wrong... I will never let you hear the end of it."
"If this goes wrong..." Marinette sighed, "I will never forgive myself for being part of it. Don't worry about that. And as for 'humping our brains out,' if you don't like how I connect with and comfort the man I love... someone I might just be saying goodbye to tonight... go screw yourself. Show us all how it should be done."
With that, Marinette took her glass of juice and marched out of the kitchen, headed back to bed.
Plagg glared at her as she departed... then turned and faced Nooroo. "...Well?" he barked. "You sure had a lot to say just now."
"When I need to speak..." Nooroo replied, "...I will."
Some time later... Gabriel Agreste opened his front door and looked down at two familiar faces.
"...Well," he greeted them, managing a small smile. "Isn't this a meeting for the ages... knowing what we know."
"Two superheroes and their arch-villain, face-to-face at last," Marinette replied. "But this isn't our big, final confrontation. I don't want this to be anybody's final anything."
"Well spoken," Gabriel granted. "Please... come in."
Adrien stared at his surroundings, which seemed oddly... still. "Where is everyone tonight?" he asked. "Usually, there would still be staff around... Nathalie would be underfoot for another couple of hours..."
"I gave everyone the night off, and cleared the building. Even Nathalie, though she resisted the order somewhat," said Gabriel. "When wrestling with the forces of life and death... I reasoned that the fewer potential witnesses we had, the better. Our dual identities are in our respective pasts, as well, and I assume that we all wish to keep it that way."
"I'm fine with that." Marinette gave him her own small smile. "Is there somewhere that the three of us can go, to talk about this first? I want to run by you what we want to attempt before we try it. We're not doing this without your buy-in, as you have two family members at risk here."
"I do appreciate that," Gabriel nodded. "Follow me, please."
As Marinette laid out the components of their plan of action, Gabriel listened intently, remaining stonefaced.
"This sounds like somewhere halfway between a fairy tale and utter madness," he noted. "But that describes much of our lives, these past few years."
"I can't entirely argue with that," Marinette conceded.
"So... this is more mystical surgery than anything else," said Gabriel.
"In a word... yes," agreed Marinette. "Wayzz will examine both Adrien and Emilie to determine if this is workable, or if the danger is still too great. If the risk is acceptable, Adrien will lock onto what is containing Emilie's and Duusu's spirits, using perceptions granted him by Nooroo from afar... and then use another Kwami to transform that into a crystalline shell around the silver locket. Not a true Miraculous... but close! I will cast Wayzz's shell around the whole thing, for protection's sake and for what stability it can provide for the energies involved. If all goes well, we will draw Duusu into the locket and Emilie fully back into her body."
"If the risk is acceptable," scoffed Gabriel, looking uneasy. "As if risking my wife or my son is acceptable."
"Do you know another way of doing this?" Adrien asked him, his voice steady. "As you have been told... the Wish is no longer an option, and it never truly was, given its costs. We have been given... special dispensation by another Kwami to even attempt this, with his help. I know that I can't live with Mother existing this way, if I can do something about it..."
"...And I know that I cannot talk you out of it," Gabriel sighed. "Any more than I could persuade Emilie not to try, if your roles here were reversed."
"We will be as careful as we can," Marinette added. "Naturally. But... we are taking a chance here; I won't lie to you about that. Part of me... doesn't want to risk this, either," she declared, sending a meaningful look Adrien's way. "But part of me envisions her in stasis down there, and the two of you suffering from that... and I can't do anything else."
"Do I have a role in this process?" asked Gabriel.
"To be perfectly frank... we hope not?" replied Marinette. "Because that would indicate that something is going very wrong. We would like you to be there... as moral support, and as a witness, and as one more presence that might inspire Emilie to make that leap."
And, if necessary... though I pray not... to be there to say a proper goodbye, she thought.
"Then, before I talk myself out of this... let us proceed."
The trio walked slowly towards Emilie's capsule. As they approached, Wayzz floated out of Marinette's pocket and buzzed around Emilie's silent form from all angles.
"...Are you nervous?" Gabriel asked Marinette.
"Very. And you?"
"On the verge of trembling," he admitted. "How long do you think that..."
"Not long."
Wayzz answered Gabriel's question, then flew to Marinette's side once more, facing him.
"I am satisfied," the Kwami declared. "I make no promises as to whether this can actually succeed... but all of the pieces appear to be in place. Emilie's state has most definitely improved since last I saw her... to my eyes, at least, if not to yours. We could spend years trying to concoct something that might enhance her chances further, with no guarantee of success and the potential for backsliding."
"Adrien... are you fully prepared?" asked Gabriel.
Without a word being spoken, his eyes locked onto his mother's still body... Adrien answered with a shimmer of energy that swept over him.
"Hah. A butterfly in his pocket, I take it?" Gabriel noted.
"Shhh," Marinette hushed him.
The costume that formed around Adrien was without frills or bright colors, looking more like a scientist's lab wear than anything else. A thin visor snapped into place before his eyes, and his intense concentration was obvious as he peered through it.
"Wow. This is... something else," Adrien marveled. "If this is how Kwamis see the world..."
"We all see its aspects slightly differently," Wayzz noted, approaching him. "Often in combination with other senses. It is difficult to explain to someone with human eyes... but right now, you are seeing the spectrum of light, emotional energies in flux and mystic potentials all at once, from what I know of Nooroo. Tell me... what are you seeing when you look at your mother?"
"For the most part... it's... I see a faint yellow color," said Adrien. "Yellowish-gold. Pulsing, very gently, just enough for me to notice."
"Good," smiled Wayzz. "That is your perception of her life force, for lack of a better explanation. I see much the same, and that tells me that her body is alive and functioning, albeit in a preserved state. If all you saw was a dull grey... we would be done here."
"Up around her head, there are many more flickers of color. Like a kaleidoscope, kind of. Little filaments of all different colors..." Adrien continued, focusing intently on that area. "There is some kind of... core? About the size of a golf ball. Almost like that's a little sun, giving off tiny multicolored rays that don't go very far. I... uh... I can't describe what that looks like, completely... it's some kind of color that I've never seen before! Kind of purple and green and something else all at once."
"Now, that you are seeing much better than I can," Wayzz pointed out. "Though that is largely what I'd expected you to find. That is your goal."
"There's... something inside her head?" mumbled Gabriel.
"It's not... fully real," Marinette reminded him. "It's not a tumor or an object so much as it is... well... a portal to where Emilie's true self is, with a magical shell around it. Where she's being protected. It can be removed without harming her, or cutting her head open, or anything like that. It's... what happens after that where we're crossing our fingers."
"Understood."
Wayzz floated up next to Adrien's ear. "The stage is set," he murmured. "Whether we proceed with the attempt is up to you now. We can neither force you nor forbid you, and you understand all that is at risk."
"I do," Adrien whispered back. "And I'm ready."
"We'll all be here," said Wayzz. "Marinette will be right behind you, giving you her strength. Good luck to you."
With that, Wayzz floated back to Marinette, giving her a small nod.
"Step back, please," Marinette told Gabriel, her voice somewhat shaky. "We're about to begin." Once he had retreated, she closed her eyes.
"Shell on... and Shell-ter."
A green aura surrounded Emilie's chamber and the two heroes, as Marinette's green-and-gold bodysuit formed around her.
"Adrien," she said, "this aura should help you, as much as anything can. You'll feel my presence. You'll know I'm here. Use this as your anchor... your base to return to."
"I will. I promise," Adrien replied.
"I love you."
"I love you, too. And I always will."
Encouraged, Adrien reached into his pocket and produced a small object. He held it out in front of him and whispered, "Plagg... it's time."
Gabriel watched, wide-eyed, as a tiny cat popped into view and hovered in front of his son.
"Adrien... I don't know what I can say right now," Plagg mumbled.
"Just do your best. I trust you," Adrien smiled. "Please help me... one last time."
The Kwami accepted the small foodstuff from Adrien's hand, gulped it down quickly... and gasped aloud. Even from a short distance away, it was obvious to both Marinette and Gabriel that something remarkable was happening to him.
"...Do it," blurted Plagg, seemingly bursting with energy...
"Alche-Plagg... claws out."
The white flash, appearing more green than white within the turtle shield, came and went.
This was not the familiar Chat Noir costume that Marinette and Gabriel had seen before. Rather, this was a Chat of many colors... all at once. Both he and his costume appeared to shimmer, as if energized by unknown forces. Nooroo's visor remained over his eyes, as he continued to stare intently at his mother's head.
"...Father?" Alche-Chat said, quietly. "If something should go wrong..."
"Nothing will go wrong," Gabriel declared. "I have complete faith in the two of you. I must. We will cross that bridge when we get to it... but I will never blame you or Marinette if this should fail."
"...Marinette?" continued Alche-Chat.
"I'm here for you," she whispered. "Always."
Alche-Chat concentrated as hard as he ever had in his entire life... focusing every bit of his perception and will on the glowing portal that only he could see, his hands resting on his mother's unmoving head. As he forced himself to look even harder, to stare more and more closely, all thoughts of flesh and blood and bone cast aside, only the portal existing in his mind's eye... he began to make out faint crystalline patterns on the surface of it.
There! he gasped, internally. There is my target.
It's now or never...
...
"Cataclysm."
The explosion of multicolored light was unlike anything those present had ever seen... and, very probably, unlike anything any human alive had ever seen.
Marinette concentrated, keeping the green energy shield up around them, as she did her best to focus only upon Alche-Chat. He began to let out a steady sound, somewhere between a grunt and a wail, as energy continued to flow to and from his outstretched hands.
"Keep focusing," she encouraged him, just loud enough for him to hear. "You've got this. Use the new power. Take only what you need. Create what you need most."
Adrien's silver locket floated up into the energy stream, as if lofted by telekinesis, reflecting the cosmic lightshow on its shiny surface... and after a few moments, growths began to appear around it, like crystals forming and merging in a chemistry lab beaker.
"It's working," Marinette declared, softly. "I think it's working. I can see the new shell forming around the locket."
"I'm... almost... out of material," grunted Alche-Chat, through gritted teeth. "The wall's nearly used up."
"Then do what the Kwamis said to do next," breathed Marinette. "Call out to Duusu and Emilie with your mind. Call them home."
As the last of the crystalline fragments slid into place, Alche-Chat closed his eyes tightly.
Duusu, he thought, projecting his mind's words outward with all the willpower he had left, we have found you at last. This is the keeper of the Cat Miraculous calling you now.
I know that you are here. I know that you have been protecting my mother since her accident... that you have been unable, unwilling to leave her side. But we have prepared a place for you to rest and recover. We are summoning Emilie back to her body, and we would like to reunite you with the other Kwamis in the Miracle Box.
They're all there. All eighteen of them will be waiting for you when you get there. They'll be so happy to see you again! They've missed you so much.
A presence made itself known within Alche-Chat's mind... something small emerging from the portal slightly, certainly not human. It projected something in his direction, and he resisted the urge to flinch or duck away... but it caused him no harm, and seemed composed more of sound than anything else to his highly-altered perceptions.
I think you're trying to communicate with me, thought Alche-Chat. I can't understand it, if you are. I'm human, not a Kwami.
The projection stopped, abruptly... the entity choosing to simply remain still, instead.
What we've created here is not a true Miraculous... but it is made from your essence, and it should be a safe haven for you for a short while. We need you to call Emilie back to her body... to tell her that it's safe, and that her son and her husband are here, and that they miss her very much. And we need you to trust us... and to let go. Let go of Emilie, let go of her mind. Let her come back to us Let us protect her now.
...Can you do that?
Please?
All at once... something shifted. Alche-Chat couldn't make sense of what he was seeing... his senses seemed jumbled, as if he was hearing the shifting colors and feeling the sounds in his mind...
...and then... everything changed for him.
Marinette gazed in wonder at the spectacle in front of her... and gasped loudly when the crystalline locket began to glow, faintly at first, then a bright blue color, throbbing and pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Oh... my," she managed. "I think... did we do it?"
She slumped down to her knees, exhausted. "Shell off," she mumbled, returning to her normal self.
Alche-Chat mumbled something that she couldn't make out, but that was presumably close enough to "Claws in" to trigger his own transformation. He fell down to his hands and knees, then laid down on his side on the floor.
Slowly, Marinette reached over and placed her hand on Adrien's leg, letting him know that she was still right there with him. With her other hand, she picked up the locket; as she did, a very wide-eyed Wayzz examined it closely.
"G-Gabriel," Marinette called out, "Check on your wife. Wayzz... did it work?"
"Oh, my goodness," Wayzz bubbled, circling the locket frantically. "Oh, my word! Duusu... is here. Adrien drew him out! This makeshift container is holding him."
"Good," breathed Marinette. "So far, so good."
"...No change," Gabriel called over. "At least... not yet. Nothing that I can tell for sure."
"It might take a little time for anything to happen... if it is going to happen-" Wayzz began to reply.
"...Adrien?"
All eyes snapped to his fallen form. Adrien was motionless, with Plagg lying next to him... and only Plagg showed any signs of recovery.
"No. No, no, no!" Marinette cried out, crawling towards him as quickly as she could. Wayzz hovered directly in front of Adrien's face, checking his reactions.
"No!" Gabriel bellowed, agony obvious in his voice. "Is he... will he be..."
"We don't know!"
"Should I call an ambulance?" begged Gabriel. "The hell with my secrets."
"Do you really think that one would help?" Marinette grunted, shaking Adrien gently. His body felt warm to her, but limp and unresponsive... much as Emilie's had felt to her touch.
"This is not good," Wayzz declared. "Not good at all."
"...HELP him!" pleaded Marinette, helplessly. "What can we do?"
Wayzz opened his mouth to speak... but the sound that filled the room was a loud CRACK!, instead.
Marinette's eyes shifted to the crystalline locket... which was still glowing, but more brightly in one spot. A thin line was now glowing intensely along one face.
"Oh, no," Wayzz cried out. "It's coming apart!"
"...What does that mean?" Marinette yelped.
"It means that if it shatters... Duusu's essence is doomed. It cannot exist on this plane without a Miraculous or the protections of the MIracle Box," declared Wayzz, glumly.
Marinette's head whipped back and forth between the fallen Adrien and the failing locket. She closed her eyes and let out a wordless scream.
Wayzz flew to her ear. "I do not know if either can be saved, but you must act quickly," he told her. "And that extended Shellter drained my own power... You know what you must do now, Marinette. I'm sorry."
She watched as Plagg rolled over, very slightly... but Adrien remained still.
I didn't want to do this in front of Gabriel, she thought, but I have no choice now.
"Spots ON!"
Yet another flash came and went, transforming Marinette into her more familiar form.
Once transformed, Ladybug lashed out with her yo-yo, scooping the locket into it in one motion. She knelt beside Adrien and kissed him, very gently, on his forehead.
At Gabriel's pained expression, she shook her head. "I don't know what to do. I need to save this Kwami, if I can; I'll be back as quickly as I can."
"...What can I do?" wailed Gabriel.
"Love him. Hold him. I don't know! Hold on until I get back."
Exhausted as she was, duty and fear drove Ladybug's legs; she dashed to the elevator, popped open a small hatch in its roof, and launched herself like a bolt of lightning up the elevator shaft.
Gabriel stared at Ladybug as she fled with her precious cargo... then knelt by Adrien's side.
"My son... what have we done?" he moaned. "What have I done? None of this would be happening, if not for my past actions."
He reached down, intent on picking Adrien up in his arms... only for Adrien's eyes to open.
"Don't you dare touch him," an unearthly voice declared, coming from Adrien's barely-moving mouth.
Ladybug had never timed herself, traveling across the rooftops of Paris... but she was almost certainly setting a new personal speed record as she bolted for her apartment.
"Wayzz," she muttered, "talk to me. Talk to me!"
"I can... barely hold on," shouted Wayzz, from the vicinity of the yo-yo at her hip. "The locket... it's still inside the yo-yo... the crystals are going fast."
"And Duusu?"
"Still... there! But... weak!"
Propelling herself through will alone, Ladybug kicked herself into an even higher gear, all but throwing herself towards her destination, praying that it would be enough.
"If you remove his Miraculous now," the voice told Gabriel. "Either of them... you doom both son and wife."
"...What is this?" Gabriel barked, recoiling slightly. "Adrien? You don't sound like yourself. Are you all right?"
"He is anything but all right," said the voice. "Listen to me. Listen well, Gabriel."
Shocked into silence, Gabriel nodded.
"I had told myself that I would never set foot in this house again... much less come face-to-face with you," not-Adrien declared. "I spent years helping Adrien rebuild his life from what you did to it. But necessity called... and here I am. And here you are."
Gabriel stared in awe, his mind putting the pieces together.
"...Nooroo?" he gasped.
"...Yes," Nooroo-in-Adrien's-body replied. "I gave him the power to house a Kwami's essence, to save his life and keep his body working. It was all that I could think of in the moment. It will not last long at all; human bodies were never meant for this."
"I... suppose that this is not much of the right time for an apology," Gabriel mumbled.
"Not hardly."
"If you are in Adrien... then...?" wondered Gabriel.
"As far as I can tell," Nooroo sighed, "Adrien reached out to the spirit of his mother... and she answered. And instead of her moving to where we wanted her to go, he flew into her embrace! I can hardly blame him for that... but that may have been a terrible error on his part. He is no longer in this body; I am not sure if he and Emilie are in either body."
"N-no," gasped Plagg, forcing himself to an upright position. "I warned him... I frickin' well TOLD him..."
"What can be done?" Gabriel asked, forcing himself to at least try to think rationally. "Can the two of them coexist, wherever they are, without that Kwami sheltering them?"
Nooroo shook Adrien's head, negatively. "Not for long. One or both may simply fade into nonexistence... or if they do somehow manage to combine, two minds in a single body, that's a sure recipe for descending into madness. We might have two or three more minutes before I have to let go of his body, and I don't think that Ladybug can get back here that quickly."
Gabriel turned to Plagg, desperation on his face. "...Can you help him, whoever you are?" he begged.
"I... wish I could... so much," gasped Plagg. "But my powers... don't sustain life. They take... it away. Not... that I'm not tempted... to do that," he growled, "when I get... my strength back."
"...Do with me as you will, once this is over," snapped Gabriel. "I will not resist."
He looked down at his son's body once more. "Nooroo... I do not deserve your assistance or compassion. I know that I do not," he lamented. "But for the sake of my son and my wife... I implore you. Is there anything else that you... or we... can do?"
Adrien's body stared back at him. "Something monumentally dangerous. Something stupid. Something that would be a last resort," Nooroo stated.
"...Anything!"
"Very well. Take the brooch from Adrien's chest."
With a shaking hand, Gabriel did as he was told. Adrien shuddered... and was still once more.
Gabriel watched as a tiny purple avenger floated out of Adrien's body... approached him, with a pained and angry look on its face... and reached out to touch him.
Two more kilometers...
One more kilometer...
Ladybug's body was screaming at her in physical agony, but she refused to listen to it.
Almost there...
Wayzz pulled himself up closer to Ladybug's head, with significant effort. "Your house keys are in your civilian attire," he advised, "so we'll have to figure out how you can transform and-"
"Nope," Ladybug barked out. "Hold on!"
"Huh?"
Wayzz's eyes went huge as Ladybug ran straight at the side wall of her apartment, took a huge leap... and plunged straight through the closed window!
She tumbled across her bed and landed on a heap on the floor, glass fragments and wood splinters flying everywhere around her. Shaking her head to try to regain her bearings, she managed to point towards her closet. "Wayzz... the door!" she moaned.
With a monumental effort, Wayzz tugged at the doorknob once, twice, a third time... and turned it, pulling the door open against the resistance of the carpet.
"Nnnngh!" grunted Ladybug, as she hurled her yo-yo in the direction of the Miracle Box. They watched as it opened on contact...
...and a bluish vapor wafted out of it, unhurriedly. It hung in the air for a speechless moment, settled downwards in the direction of the box... and vanished.
"No," Ladybug wailed. "Were we too late? That mist didn't look like Duusu!"
"Take off the bracelet!" Wayzz ordered her. "I'll go in and see what I find there, and do whatever I can for Duusu. Adrien needs you! Go!"
Dutifully, Ladybug did as she was told. Wayzz dove into the Miracle Box as Ladybug rose to her feet, dusted herself off and winced as she felt exertion and emotion and injuries hit her all at once.
I can barely move... Ladybug wheezed, and I can feel that my face got a little cut up. None of them should be deep... the magic protected me pretty well... but even that has its limits.
But none of that matters now.
Without another thought, Ladybug launched herself back out her window, avoiding any shards of glass sticking out of what was left of it, and pushed herself through the evening sky as if the concept of exhaustion simply didn't exist.
Ladybug hit the bottom of Gabriel's elevator with a loud THUMP and took off running. As she got closer to Emilie's chamber, she took inventory of what she saw.
Emilie's still not moving -
Adrien's still down -
What is Gabriel doing -
There's some kind of... weird shimmer around them?
ADRIEN'S STILL NOT MOVING -
OH GOD I DON'T THINK HE'S BREATHING -
She threw herself at father and son, desperately, her worst nightmares coming true -
- only for a tiny floating cat to stop her just short of them.
"St-stop!" Plagg yelled, weakly. "Please!"
Ladybug skidded to a stop, her eyes locked on Adrien. "What?" she demanded. "What is going on? Is he-"
"No time," gasped Plagg. "You need to-"
"He's not breathing!" screamed Ladybug.
"LISTEN!" Plagg howled, with most of the rest of his energy. "Nooroo stabilized Adrien. It could only work for a couple of minutes. So he confronted Gabriel... who begged for his help... and Gabriel used Nooroo's power to stall for time until you got back."
"...Nooroo let Gabriel use his power?" Ladybug wondered, the shock of that stalling her panic response momentarily.
"He gave him the power to freeze everything in an area. Almost like stopping time there... temporarily. Trying to keep them from getting any worse. But the out-of-body magic's still kind of protecting Adrien and Emilie. It's NOT protecting him!" managed Plagg. "He's frozen in place and suffocating!"
"Oh!" realized Ladybug. "He's not breathing, either...!"
"I had to stop you. If you ran into that bubble and froze up, too, that'd be ballgame," Plagg gasped. "Now, do something!"
"I have to think!" Ladybug countered. "Okay... it's not affecting you. Why not?"
"I'm just far enough away. I think it's centered on Adrien. It only reaches about a meter or two."
"Is it instantaneous?" she asked. When Plagg stared back, blankly, she grabbed a nearby small object and tossed it towards Adrien. Its motion continued briefly... slowed... and then stopped, leaving it hanging in mid-air.
"Okay. Momentum still applies, at least briefly... so maybe I can do this!"
She hurled her yo-yo at the brooch on Gabriel's chest, hoping to dislodge it... and watched as it snapped shut around the brooch and refused to move.
"Great. Just great," she moaned, tugging on the motionless wire. "Now that's frozen, too! And now, how do I use Lucky Charm?"
"I don't know if you can," Plagg shouted. "Any more ideas?"
"Just one."
Ladybug took a few steps back and judged the angles, quickly. "You'd better be right about this being centered on Adrien," she muttered.
"I'm sure it is. But be careful!"
She took a deep breath...
...and took off running, as fast as she could, hurling her entire body weight at Gabriel's motionless chest.
As she got close, she felt a bizarre slowing sensation...
...felt the impact as she made contact with Gabriel...
...and then felt nothing at all.
Body, mind, and soul... Ladybug's world simply stopped.
Slowly... the world came back into focus for her. She felt herself falling... very slowly... and landed on the floor with a soft plap.
In front of her, she watched Gabriel gasp for breath, flat on his back a short distance away.
"Thank... goodness," he managed. "I thought I... I thought that all of us were done for."
"We're... not out of... the woods yet," sighed Ladybug. "I knocked you out of that... stasis bubble... by breaking your connection with Nooroo, knocking the brooch loose. But that started everyone else's clock running again, too!"
"What can we do?"
"Think!" Ladybug ordered herself. "Plagg, you're wiped out. Nooroo, I'm sure you are, too. Wayzz is with Duusu. That just leaves one Kwami who can act. LUCKY... CHARM!"
The scarlet energies coalesced over Ladybug's head, as she mentally willed it to be something unbelievably useful that would solve this whole crisis. They formed into an object, which fell into Ladybug's outstretched hands...
...and she stared at it, in complete disbelief.
"I don't believe this," Ladybug sputtered. "Somebody tell the universe that I can take a hint, already!"
"Is that... an engagement ring?" wondered Gabriel.
"I guess so! And, no, we don't have anything yet that we forgot to tell you about," she replied.
"For what it's worth, you have my blessing, but what does that have to do with saving the two of them?"
Ladybug concentrated...
"It's not what it is. It's what it represents," she smiled, the lightbulb coming on. "Go to Emilie," she directed him. "Speak to her. Persuade her to let go of Adrien and return to her body... to return to you. In the name of the love that you share."
"Can she even hear me like this?"
"We thought so before. And with the cosmos dropping a clue like this in my face... I'm sure of it."
She moved to Adrien's side... and Gabriel to Emilie's.
Gabriel took the motionless Emilie in his arms, laying his forehead against hers, and began to whisper to her, haltingly.
"My love... you and Adrien are the two things that make this world worth living in for me," he began. "When I lost you, I swore that I would tear the world asunder to bring you back. And I did... many things of which I am not proud, out of desperation and rage. I put everything in danger... but the world has seen fit to give all of us one last chance."
"You and Adrien have found each other once more... and I beg of you now to do what may seem insane to you. Let go of Adrien... let him return to his body... and he will be there waiting for you when you open your eyes, I promise. Follow my voice. Follow it back to your body... to your home... to our life together."
"I do not know what stands in your way, what stands between us. But if you can hear this... I am reaching out with everything I have. Reach out, my darling. Please. Please... come back to us now."
Nearby, Ladybug cradled Adrien in her arms, trying to keep her voice steady, trying hard not to break down at the sight of Adrien like this. She held the ring up in front of his eyes.
"Adrien... it's me. It's Ladybug. It's Marinette," she whispered. "I just used Lucky Charm, trying to bring you back... and this ring is what it gave me. I think someone's trying to tell us something. Though if it's all the same to you, I'd rather have you pick one out yourself someday, when we're ready for that."
"This is a promise, that when we are ready... I'm going to say 'yes.' But I need you back here, back in your body, for that to happen. For us to start the rest of our lives together," Ladybug said, wiping her eyes. "So I need you to let go of your mother... no matter where you are now, no matter how wonderful the reunion is. I need that to be for real. Let her go to her body, like we planned all along, okay? And come back to me. I need you, Adrien, so much. I can't lose you now."
"There's so much waiting for you... for us... for all of us. You just have to say 'yes' right now. 'Yes... I'll come back.' I'm right here, waiting for you. And I'll never stop."
They held their breath, watching and praying...
All of a sudden, a coughing fit seized Adrien's body! He twitched as he coughed for several seconds, like a drowning victim exiting the water, and then his eyes snapped open.
"...Adrien?" asked Ladybug, hesitantly.
"Wow," Adrien gasped, regaining some awareness. "That was... one heck of a ride... Let's never do that again."
"Spots off!" Ladybug beamed, then hurled herself into a stunned Adrien's embrace. He held on tight, feeling her body shake with loud sobbing.
"I thought... I was s-so afraid... that I'd l-lost you," Marinette bawled. "Several times there."
"This is where Plagg gets to yell 'I told you so,'" Adrien replied.
"You're goddamned right, I do," a tiny voice snarked from nearby.
"I... I couldn't help it," apologized Adrien. "Everything was so overwhelming, and I wasn't sure where I was, I barely knew who I was any more... and then my mother was there, and she was healthy, and she was running to me, and she was right there and I couldn't think of anything else."
"You did wonderfully. All of it," Marinette breathed. "And now, like you said, let's forget that we know how to do any of that."
"But what about my mother?"
Adrien and Marinette turned to Gabriel, whose attention had shifted to his son's reawakening. He looked into the capsule at Emilie's form...
...and for perhaps the first time in his life, he was utterly speechless.
While his wife's body remained mostly motionless... a hint of a smile had formed on her face. Her eyes had shifted to face him... and a small tear was running down each of her cheeks.
"Emilie, my love?" Gabriel wondered aloud, visibly confused. "You're here, at last... but you can't move, you can't speak?"
"Tikki?" Marinette ventured. "You're the only one of us that isn't falling over. What can you tell us about her?"
"I'm on it," Tikki declared, flying over to Emilie.
While she conducted her investigation, Marinette hugged Adrien again. "...Can you walk?" she asked him.
"Sure," Adrien grinned. "Let me..."
He started to rise, but found that his legs were wholly uncooperative. "Ah... a little help, please?" he admitted, which alarmed both Marinette as she assisted him and his father. "I'm not... my legs still work, I can feel them, I'm just beyond exhausted," he assured both of them. "I'm numb everywhere."
"That's comforting," breathed Marinette.
"Indeed," said Gabriel. "Particularly after the moment that you two just shared... and that Lucky Charm."
Adrien looked at his father, confused... then turned to a blushing Marinette. "Um... what was the Lucky Charm? I was pretty much out of it," he asked her.
"Oh! Um... it must've disappeared when I transformed back," she evaded. When he gave her a raised eyebrow, she whispered, "We'll talk later."
"For what it's worth..." Tikki interrupted, earning Marinette's gratitude. "I'm going to want Wayzz to examine her as well; he's more of an expert on these kinds of things. But I think that everything is fine with Mrs. Agreste upstairs, if you know what I mean." She turned to Emilie and asked, "If you can hear and understand me, can you look at your husband, and then at me?"
Emilie's eyes slowly moved from one side to the other, making Tikki smile.
"Adrien was away from his body for just a few minutes, and he's wobbly. His mother was separated from hers for years," Tikki pointed out. "So... I suspect that there will be a lot of relearning-how-to-do-everything before things get anywhere resembling normal again." She turned back to Emilie and added, "I don't know if that is at all comforting to you... but I do look forward to getting to know you better, as we help you heal."
"Which we will all help with. I, um... my name is Marinette, Mrs. Agreste. We haven't been formally introduced," she called over to her. "But I'm your son's girlfriend."
"And quite a bit more than that," Gabriel added. "What should we do in the meantime?"
"Well... I would imagine that with your wife's spirit returning to her body... all kinds of sensations, needs, bodily functions are coming back, too. And I would wager that she would need quite a bit of help with those... and a lot of explanations as to what has happened," Tikki suggested. "A nice, comfortable bed to lie on would be my first idea."
"Speaking of explanations..." Plagg piped up. "Can someone tell me what happened to Duusu?"
"I would really like to know that, as well," Nooroo chimed in.
Marinette went quiet for a moment.
"I... don't know," she admitted. "But I think that we need to go and find out now."