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Ladybug was tired. It was Christmas - the most festive season of all - and yet this new Butterfly holder, Malachite, seemed determined to ruin the most wonderful time of the year. Malachite’s akumas were not as straightforward as Monarch’s were, and it took considerably more time and energy to defeat the akumas. It seemed Malachite had an abundance of akumas up their sleeve, so yeah, Ladybug was tired.
They were currently up against The Futurist - a promising young lawyer - who had just discovered during a gynaecologist appointment that she was barren, and when she broke down at work, her boss fired her for “being too emotional” (Ladybug thought that there was some sort of malpractice lawsuit potential there, because that was definitely an unfair dismissal), and all her hopes and dreams and promises for the future had shattered… and that’s when Malachite swooped in and weaponised the heartbroken woman. Ladybug truly felt for her, but The Futurist was keeping her and Chat Noir on their toes.
As far as they could figure, when The Futurist’s beams hit someone, they were taken out of their own time and sent to some point in their future, to see for themselves how different their future was from their expectations, and Ladybug could only imagine that not all those futures were as good as people hoped. While Ladybug knew she had to avoid the beams at all costs, she couldn’t help but wonder if her future was happy and bright.
They had been fighting for over an hour, and they were starting to tire, and it was only a matter of time before they were going to slip up. They got backed into a corner, and The Futurist sent a beam at them, too close to dodge it, so to ensure they wouldn't be separated in the future, the heroes held onto each other as the beam hit them. They felt disoriented as they crashed into the ground in a heap, groaning in discomfort when they heard giggles. It was a hard landing - she should have a stern word with Malachite when they got back to the present.
‘Ughhh,’ Ladybug moaned painfully.
‘Are you okay, m’lady?’ Chat Noir asked, his voice sounding muffled, like he was talking into the carpet they lay on.
‘Daddy! Daddy, look! It's you and mummy!’ a little girl cheered brightly.
Ladybug and Chat Noir turned their heads from where they lay and met eyes with a blond man no older than his mid-twenties, green eyes wide and mouth agape as the baby boy in his lap cooed adorably, reaching for who they presumed was his older sister.
‘Adrien, honey, what was that noi- oh.’ From around the corner came a woman of the same age as-
Hang on! Did she say-
‘Adrien?' Ladybug cried, scrambling off Chat Noir and helping him up. This older, dad, Adrien (Dadrien?) seemed to realise something and looked at the woman.
‘Marinette, I think this is it, remember?’ Dadrien said.
Wait-
‘Marinette?' Chat Noir breathed, eyes bright as he regarded the older, mum, Marinette (Mummanette?), smiling as they regarded her, a shiny object catching the light caught her attention, and evidently Chat’s as well. ‘We're married?’ he asked gleefully.
Ladybug's head whipped towards her partner. ‘We're married? Adrien? You’re…?'
The sudden revelations gave her a bit of whiplash. She needed to sit down. Or be splashed with water. Or take a nap for a week. She - in the future - was married. To Adrien. Who was Chat Noir. With two kids. Maybe they got the akuma’s powers wrong, because this definitely feels like the most pleasant dream she could ever conjure… well, it would be if it weren’t for the crash landing and the tailspin her mind was currently having.
Chat Noir looked back at her, ecstatic. ‘So you're really Marinette?’
‘Yes, sillies!’ The little girl rolled her eyes exasperatedly, which was kind of adorable, before turning to Mummanette. ‘Were you always this silly, mummy?’
‘Not always, but sometimes, sweetheart,’ she replied kindly. ‘Would you two like to sit down?’
‘Please,’ said Ladybug gratefully. She was feeling lightheaded. She gingerly sat herself down on couch adjacent from Dadrien, and Chat Noir- Adrien carefully cleared some toys from the couch surface before sitting next to her.
‘M’lady?’ Both Ladybug and Mummanette looked towards Dadrien. ‘Uh, Marinette - I think it's time to call Alix if they want to get home and defeat the akuma,’ Dadrien pointed out. The baby boy cooed again.
‘Right! On it,’ Mummanette said, waddling towards the phone on the kitchen countertop.
Adrien- Chat Noir turned to Ladybug and whispered excitedly, ‘And you're pregnant! This is the best day of my life!’
Ladybug looked past Chat-Adrien-Noir to Mummanette, and he was right. Somehow, she had completely missed the fact that her older self was very clearly pregnant.
Mummanette chuckled as she put down her phone. ‘That’s what my Adrien said when we found out we were pregnant with young Emma there.’
‘Well it was the best day!’ Dadrien defended lightheartedly. ‘As was every time I found out you were pregnant.’ He got up, walked over to Mummanette, and hugged her to him with one arm as he held their baby boy in the other. ‘But you, my love, are the best thing to ever happen to me.’
Mummanette leaned into Dadrien’s embrace, and the moment was so soft, so warm, so tender, that Ladybug almost mimicked her older counterpart to lean into Chat Noir- but she stopped herself.
‘Muuuum!’ Emma called out, making Mummanette lift her head away from Dadrien.
‘Yes, dear?’
‘Can I show little Mummy and Daddy Mr Squeakles?’ she asked.
‘Sure, dear.’
Emma took Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s hand in her tiny ones.
‘Let’s go say hi to Mr Squeakles!’ Emma declared, trying to pull the heroes off the couch.
Chat Noir laughed lightly at her efforts. ‘We’re coming, Emma.’
The journey wasn’t far, only travelling to the young girl’s room to find-
‘Tada~ Mr Squeakles!’ Emma announced brightly.
‘Oh my goodness!’ they cooed in unison, for in front of them was the most adorable little hamster. Ladybug heard a chuckle from behind them.
‘Emma chose that name herself,’ Mummanette said with a smile as she leant against the doorframe. ‘You both know the name we would’ve chosen, but Emma was adamant.’
Mummanette foldly stroked Emma’s hair as the girl hugged her before she went off to rummage through her toy box.
‘Our children are our whole world,’ Mummanette said softly as she watched her daughter shuffle through her toys. ‘We’d fight hell and high water for them - we have, and I’d do it all over again.’
Ladybug looked up at Mummanette curiously. ‘You have?’
Her older counterpart shook her head. ‘You’ve already had enough spoilers so far. Some things you two just have to figure out yourselves.’
Emma seemed to have found what she was looking for, because she raced over to Chat Noir, her grin wild and free, just like the one Chat normally wore.
‘Little Daddy, look!’ Emma cried happily, shoving something black at him… a sock? Chat’s eyes were suspiciously glistening.
‘Sock Plagg?’ he asked in awe.
‘Yes! It’s Plagg! Wanna play with me and Plagg?’ she asked, and before he could respond, she took his hand and pulled him out of her room and back towards the living room. It was then that Ladybug was struck by the keen absence of their future-kwamis.
‘Don’t worry,’ Mummanette soothed. ‘Plagg and Tikki are with Zoe and Alya while I’m so close to due date. It’s a bit hard to fight if I’m too concerned about my waters breaking.’
Ladybug huffed a laugh at the lighthearted comment.
‘But they both are always adamant on being with me when the babies are born,’ Mummanette continued as she guided her out of Emma’s room and back to the others. ‘The first time I went into labour, Malachite had attacked with one of her akumas - Tikki was absolutely enraged that she might miss Emma’s birth, that she kinda… became super-powered.’
‘Super-powered?’ Ladybug echoed as they entered the living room and rejoined the others.
Mummanette shrugged. ‘Alya said she couldn’t remember much from that fight, only the sensation of “pure creation” is what she called it.’ She chuckled. ‘You could probably imagine how frustrated Alya was being unable to describe her experience.’
Ladybug chuckled. She could imagine that.
Suddenly, a white portal opened up, and Bunnyx emerged.
‘Aunty Alix!’ Emma greeted happily, and ran over from where she had been playing with Chat to hug the hero’s legs.
‘Hey, kiddo!’ Bunnyx said, ruffling Emma’s hair, ‘you being a good big sis to little Hugo?’
‘Yes!’ Emma chirped. ‘I’ve been the bestest big sister ever!’
‘I don’t doubt it,’ Bunnyx laughed before looking at Mummanette. ‘I got your message, and I have the time and place sorted in a Burrow portal so they can go back home.’
All at once, Ladybug felt like she had too many questions to ask and a frantic feeling washed over her. She didn’t want to go yet, and from the look Chat was sending her, he didn’t want to go either.
‘Hey, guys,’ Dadrien said from his position on the couch with little Hugo in his lap, and they looked over at him, ‘you will get back here, okay? You’re just going to have to take the journey the long way around.’
And just like that, Ladybug felt settled again. It seemed that no matter the time or the place, her Chat always knew what to say to make her feel better. She nodded at Dadrien, and noticed Chat mimicking her actions.
Before Ladybug could say anything, Chat shot over to Dadrien and gave him a big hug, being careful of little Hugo.
‘I can’t wait to be you one day!’ she heard Chat say, before he disentangled from the hug and gave Hugo a gentle, tender kiss to the top of his head, making the baby gurgle happily. He then turned to Emma, who already had her arms outstretched expectantly. Grinning wider than Ladybug had ever seen him do, he picked Emma up and spin her around before hugging her and kissing her cheek.
‘Until next time, Princess!’ he said before he put her back down again. Emma hopped about in delight.
‘Daddy! Even little you calls me “Princess”!’ she said excitedly.
Chat walked over to Mummanette and gave her a gentle hug, before pulling away to hold her hands. 'I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you, Bugaboo, and our family.’
Ladybug would be lying if she said she wasn’t touched by his sincerity. She’d also be lying if she said she wasn’t about to start crying.
Chat returned to her, his eyes more full of love and joy than she had ever seen anyone have before, and he took her hand, lifted it up and kissed it reverently. ‘I'm so glad you're you, Marinette. I couldn't think, hope, dream for anyone better to share all this with.’
Okay, she was crying now. Smiling, happy, but crying. They may have been dating since before Monarch’s defeat, but knowing her boyfriend, her superhero partner, and her future husband were all one and the same made her indescribably happy. She wanted to kiss him senseless. She wanted to go on a date and get to know all of him, now that she knows. She wanted to say and do a million things, but she could say and do all of that after they defeated The Futurist, so she settled with giving him a kiss on the cheek.
‘Nor I, Chaton, but if we want to get started on our future, we need to go back to the past and save our present.’
His eyes widened adorably. ‘You want this too?’
She chuckled fondly as she took his hand. ‘Of course I do! I love you, but we haven't got time - we need to go!’
Her loveable dork practically melted.
‘She loves me!’ he swooned, and while she rolled her eyes outwardly, she knew exactly what he was feeling. It was old and new and oh so exhilarating having the full picture, and even the simplest of things felt entirely glee-inducing. If she didn’t at least try to keep a level head for the sake of battling the akuma, she knew she’d be just as melty and giggly as he was.
‘Of course I love you!’ she laughed as she coaxed him towards the Burrow. ‘I’m your girlfriend!’
‘Oh my god, you are!’ Chat murmured softly, stumbling through the portal. Bunnyx shook her head fondly and followed him. Ladybug went to step through, but paused, turning back to face her future family.
‘I… thank you. For… well, everything,’ she said, trying to convey all of what she was feeling and struggling, but Dadrien and Mummanette seemed to understand.
‘You’re welcome,’ Mummanette said, giving her a warm hug, before stepping back and taking Hugo into her arms to let Dadrien hug her too.
‘Don’t stress, Buginette,’ he whispered as he held her, ‘you’ll be here sooner than you know, and you’ll wonder where all the time went.’
‘Thanks, Kitty,’ she whispered back, before they pulled out of the hug. Then she was hit in the legs by something strong.
‘Bye bye, little Mummy!’ said Emma, and Ladybug knelt down to hug her properly.
‘Bye Emma,’ she replied, feeling her voice starting to choke on the emotions she had coursing through her. ‘I’ll see you soon, okay?’
The young girl nodded, before lifting her arms to Dadrien, who happily obliged with her wish.
‘Oh,’ Dadrien began, suddenly looking more self-conscious than she had seen him this entire time, ‘can you, uh, please let my younger self know that it’ll be okay? I know he worries about fatherhood, and-’
Ladybug smiled and made a little wave motion with her hand.
‘I’ll tell him, don’t worry,’ she reassured. ‘But for the record, I always knew you’d be a wonderful dad - this is just the proof.’
With a final wave to the family, blowing a little air-kiss to Hugo in goodbye, before entering the Burrow. It seemed that in the time she was saying her final goodbyes, her boyfriend and future husband, Adrien Chat Noir Agreste, had collected himself.
‘Ready, m’lady?’ he asked, holding out his hand. It was a loaded question, but the answer was simple. She took his hand.
‘You and me against the world,’ she replied with a smile, and they stepped back into their present together.