Chapter Text
Marinette honestly thought that after defeating Shadowmoth, her life wouldn’t be quite so eventful.
She was an adult now, heading to university in the fall and ready to start her future. She had everything planned out.
Adrien turning out to be Chat Noir threw a wrench into those plans, but they’d settled into a comfortable friendship. She’d needed a little time to get used to the two most important boys in her life being the same person, but ultimately, she was just so happy that he was still part of her life. Her crush on him hadn’t faded, but she could at least be a person around him.
But, of course, fate decided it wasn’t quite done messing with her yet.
She woke up one morning to hear her mother speaking loudly in rapid Mandarin. She could pick out a few words, but not enough to get the gist of the conversation.
She headed downstairs and entered the kitchen just as her mother ended the call with a huff.
“Is everything all right?” she asked.
“It’s fine,” Sabine said, sounding tired. “My sister wants to meet you.”
Marinette blinked. “Your sister?”
“Shu Yin,” Sabine said. “She’s my older sister. Your aunt. We…aren’t the closest, but she heard about your visit to Shanghai a few years ago, and wants to host you in Beijing for the summer.”
“I’d love to meet her!” Marinette said with a smile.
Sabine sighed. “Marinette, Shu Yin can’t speak much French. And with your Mandarin…”
“Wouldn’t you be coming too?”
“No, the bakery couldn’t handle me or your father being gone for so long.” Sabine gave her daughter a frown. “Shu Yin offered to cover the cost of your trip. I’d love for you to be able to see more of China, but without someone to help you manage getting around the city…you got lost for ten hours in Shanghai! You may be an adult now, but I am your mother, and you are not going to China alone.”
Marinette nodded. “All right, Maman. I’d like to meet my aunt, though, maybe she could come to Paris sometime.”
Sabine’s face softened into a smile. “We’ll see.”
**
Marinette lamented to her friends later that day lamenting her inability to speak Mandarin. She deserved a vacation, dammit! She’d been Ladybug for so long!
Alya chimed in with, “Well, hey, Adrien, don’t you speak Mandarin?”
“Yes,” Adrien said. “Marinette, if you want someone to go with you—”
She hugged him before he could complete his sentence. “Oh my gosh, yes, thank you, thank you, this solves everything!”
She pulled back as what exactly she’d agreed to–a summer with Adrien by her side, the two of them in a foreign country together. Oh. Shit.
“I’m happy to help you,” Adrien said with a soft smile and what Alya called his heart eyes.
She might’ve been better about talking to him now, but could her heart take this?
**
Turned out Adrien had plenty of free time and more than enough money to charter a private jet to take the two to Beijing. As soon as they’d graduated, they were off, planning on spending a full month, at least!
Marinette didn’t know how she was alive. The sun was setting as they flew, and Adrien was literally haloed by the glow.
She was going to spend a month with him. Well, it would be fine. Marinette wasn’t completely clueless in Mandarin, and she’d be spending so much time with the family she never knew that she didn’t need to worry about making herself look bad in front of Adrien, right?
Oh, god, her family. An aunt she didn’t know, had never met, and now she was going to be living in her house for a month! What if Shu Yin hated her? Why else would she have waited so long to meet her?
“What are you thinking?” Adrien asked suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts.
“What if Aunt Shu Yin doesn’t like me?” she asked, her voice so soft she could barely hear herself. “I didn’t even know about her till recently. I don’t know why Maman never talked about her.”
Adrien reached over to her plush seat and gently grabbed her hand. “Hey. Family isn’t always easy. But she invited you to stay with her for a reason, right?”
Marinette nodded slowly.
“And if she turns out terrible, we’ll just get a couple of hotel rooms and have a fun trip in Beijing on our own,” he said with a wink.
Oh no. She was not surviving the month.
**
She slept most of the night on the jet, and woke up hours later as the jet was landing.
“Good morning,” Adrien murmured, his hair sticking up at the back of his head from his own sleep.
Without thinking, she reached over and smoothed down his hair for him, her hand curling around the back of his head. “Good morning, Chaton.”
They stayed there in that sleepy, silent moment for some time until the wheels of the jet hit the tarmac, startling them both.
“So,” Marinette said, quickly drawing back, “my aunt’s meeting us here, right?”
“Right,” Adrien replied. “Are you ready for this?”
She took a deep breath. “Yeah. I am.”
As they descended the stairs from the jet, a sleek black car waited for them, with a man standing beside it. He opened the doors for the two and spoke in rapid Mandarin. Marinette caught her aunt’s name briefly, but was totally lost on the rest. Adrien replied easily, and translated for her, “He’s your aunt’s driver. She’ll meet us at her house.”
“Oh, okay,” she replied, the little gnawing pit of worry growing larger in her stomach. Her aunt didn’t even want to meet her right away. She stepped into the backseat of the car, buckling her seatbelt.
Adrien’s hand rested on her shoulder. “Breathe, my Lady. It’s going to be fine.”
She took a deep breath, and nodded. “You and me against…my family?”
“Well, we already dealt with mine,” he said with a grin. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
**
The car took the two through the city. Marinette pointed out sights to Adrien that she could recognize from her intense Wikipedia rabbithole of the city she’d fallen in the night before coming.
She quieted as the car passed by some heavy iron gates and drove along a driveway surrounded by immaculately kept gardens.
“What is it?” Adrien asked, concerned.
“This is where my aunt lives?” she wondered. “This is…”
She stopped talking as the car pulled up to the front of a large manor. A woman who looked so much like Sabine waited outside the doors.
« Marinette! You’re here! » she cried as the driver opened the car door. She rushed towards the teenager and hugged her tight.
Marinette smiled and replied in halting, unsure Mandarin. « Auntie Shu Yin? It’s very nice to meet you. »
« And who’s this? » Shu Yin asked, smiling at Adrien. « A boyfriend? »
« No, no! » Marinette cried. « He’s my… » Oh, what was the word for friend? « My husband! »
Shu Yin’s eyes went wide, and Adrien coughed like he’d just choked on air. Marinette’s smile faltered. What did she say?
« Husband? » Shu Yin asked, eyeing Adrien. « And you didn’t invite your auntie to the wedding? »
Marinette just kept smiling, unsure of what was being said.
« No, she misspoke, » Adrien said quickly. « Marinette and I aren’t married. »
« Why not? Is my niece not good enough for you? »
« No, no, she’s wonderful, » Adrien said, giving Marinette a fond smile that made her insides feel all gooey. « Besides, even if she did feel that way about me, if I could ever be that lucky, there’s the whole thing with my father…it’s better that we aren’t together. »
Shu Yin scoffed. « What? Your father doesn’t think my niece is good enough for you? »
« Not exactly, » Adrien replied. « He wouldn’t approve, but that’s not really the problem. »
« Well, he’s there, and you’re here, and I’ve missed out on too much of Marinette’s life already, » Shu Yin said. « So, we’ll just have to have your wedding while you’re here! »
Whatever Shu Yin had said, it had Adrien blushing. And really, that was just adorable. So when her aunt glanced towards her, Marinette nodded.
« Wonderful! I’ll have the bedroom set up for the both of you. Don’t be shy, I want grandnephews before you leave! » Shu Yin said with a wink. She breezed into the house, leaving Marinette completely dumbfounded and Adrien red in the face.
“What was that about?” she asked.
Adrien gave her a shy smile and replied, “Well, apparently, we’re getting married.”
“What?”
“Your aunt thinks we’re engaged,” he explained. “And she wants to host your wedding here. You, uh, accidentally told her I’m your husband.”
Marinette’s eyes widened, and she felt a cold pit in her stomach. She sank to her knees on the ground as the strange surroundings and unbelievable situation started to overwhelm her. “No. No no no no no. This is a disaster!”
“It’s okay,” Adrien said, kneeling beside her, gently brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. “I’ll make sure to clear it up with her, and you can just enjoy your vacation like planned.”
“I’ve been here five minutes and I already caused such a mess,” Marinette muttered. “I’m sorry you’re being dragged into this. I’m just—I’m not good enough, I’m not even Chinese enough, I’m just a stupid French girl…”
“Hey,” Adrien murmured, gently grabbing her hands in his. “You’re Marinette. You’re perfect at being you.”
She gave him a sad smile. “What kind of Chinese girl can’t even speak Mandarin? I should have grown up speaking it with Maman.”
Adrien was silent for a long moment, gently rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. “Well…we don’t have to tell her that you messed up.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean, we can pretend to be engaged. We just don’t get legally married, and when we go home, we can go back to normal.” He smiled at her, that smile so full of kindness that made her fall in love in the first place. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, will you fake marry me?”
She couldn’t help herself from giggling a little as she nodded. “Of course I will.”
“You and me, my Lady,” he promised as he stood. “Now, come on, I think the driver took our bags inside already.”
They walked through the door to find an opulent sitting room, decorated with lavish ebony furniture and well-kept plants everywhere. A woman in a tan polyester uniform dress watered one of the plants before glancing up in surprise.
Adrien spoke to her briefly, and soon she was leading them to their rooms. She stopped and opened the door of a beautiful room with a large bed, decorated nicely with a painting of fish on the wall. A nearby door led to an ensuite bathroom.
« Whose room is this? » Adrien asked.
« Mrs. Zheng said you two would be sharing, » the woman replied. « Is that a problem? Mrs. Zheng believed you are a couple. »
« No, we are, it’s all right, » Adrien replied with a practiced model smile.
The woman gave a short, prim nod, and walked back to the main room.
“Where’s the second bedroom?” Marinette asked.
“There isn’t one,” he responded, glancing at the singular bed. “We’re engaged, remember?”
“So…Aunt Shu Yin thinks it’s normal that we’d…” she mumbled, following his gaze.
He nodded before turning to her with a smile. “We’ve been in tighter places before, right? A bed isn’t going to hurt us.”
“Right,” she agreed, forcing a grin.
Oh, she was so not going to survive this trip.