I just finished revising the parts that I am still in the middle of writing- meaning they were still in the planning stage and I've only just started properly writing them out- and I just wanna say. Brace yourselves. You're all in for one big emotional ride.

Also, to celebrate getting past 1000 hits on AO3, I am posting twice today :)

............

"Hey M'ladybug," a voice whispered from behind her, causing her to open her eyes from her meditation and spin around to where he was stood at the entrance of the cave they had promised to meet up in.

"Adrien," she nodded before opening her arms to beckon him into an embrace.

He looked younger in a way, happier. As if his life did not rely on the destiny he had to fulfil.

He grinned and jogged forward, rushing into her and lifting her off of the ground as her joyous laughter echoed through the walls of the cave. He buried his head into her shoulder and inhaled the sweet scent that he had craved more than ever in the year that they hadn't been able to see much of each other, "I missed you dearly."

"I missed you too."

............

She smiled in her sleep , which caused Adrien to sigh in relief. And it was like that for a while, there was even one moment where she started giggling lightly, obviously enjoying whatever her dream was about. He may have been slightly disturbed by the way she had started giggling out of nowhere, but, at least she was genuinely happy.

It was strange, feeling so many emotions when, for a long time and especially after they had broken up, he rarely felt anything more vigorous than the anger that he was known for. And when he had been stuck in her prison, even that had died down, because his anger did nothing to even blow a hole into the prison to escape.

And he still wondered why she did it. Why she imprisoned him without any explanation apart from her gut-wrenching apology just before his whole life left the world for what he thought was for good.

He resented her at times, yes, but he could never hate her. How could one possibly hate another when that person had been the meaning behind their happiest moments? When he had felt so devastatingly sad when she had left the realms and himself behind. She was never truly the enemy to him and she could never become one ever in his life. No matter how deranged or destructive he would get in the future (and perhaps somewhere deep down he hoped it never came too far, especially when he remembered how much she wanted it not to), there would be one person he could never hate. How could he hate her when clearly every time he looked at her, he could feel the fragments of what had been breaking when their relationship had ended and what had shattered completely when she had departed from life, slowly but surely come together again.

But this time it came back incredibly stronger, as if something new had been added to make sure that those fragments would never shatter again.

He held onto her hand as she slept peacefully and he thought of how immensely grateful he was that she was here, not just a dream, not just a voice in his head, not just a figment of his imagination. And he hoped that this was it. That she would stay with him and they could go back to those happy moments. That they could move forward and create new ones.

Contrary to popular belief, he didn't believe in all that his father did, he only wanted to avenge him and his mother from all that had wronged them. And whilst his father had drilled it into his head that he must become void of all but his anger, Adrien had never been able to truly fulfil that purpose, not when she was involved.

It was only with her that he had ever wanted to be elated for. It was only ever with her that he wanted to reach out to and just be able to hold her in his arms where he knew she could be safe.

Things changed after she had died. Because he had questioned whether he had ever been good enough for her, whether everything he had done was worth it when it meant he couldn't have her. And when she revealed that she was alive again, he had made a vow that he would protect her more than he had ever done before. He would do whatever it took to ensure that his Ladybug never crossed to the realm of the dead ever again.

But he felt somewhat reluctant to approach her when he realised who she was again. What if he couldn't protect her?

He squeezed her hand tighter, though never with the intention to hurt her.

He hoped that this was it. That she wouldn't be targeted by anyone again. But he knew that her being associated with him just screamed for trouble from those who hated him. He knew this wouldn't be the end. He could feel that it wouldn't.

His vision which had become blurred as he had been lost in thought, became focused as soon as Marinette shot up from her sleep and looked around, confused, until her eyes fixated onto his face with an angry pout.

"I'm annoyed at you."

"Uh," and this time it was him who was confused, and he made sure to show that by scrunching his eyebrows and giving her a quizzical look, "Would you care to elaborate?"

"The book from my vision. You burnt it," she was going to cross her arms over her chest but she was momentarily distracted by the fact that he was holding her hand tightly, still.

"Vision? What vision?"

She snapped out of her trance and moved her hand away to actually cross her arms, ignoring his look of avid desperation as her hand left his own, "I've told you before, I get these visions which almost always come true if I do not do something about it. Sometimes they show exact events but others, like this one can be pretty vague."

"And... A book. You said I burnt it? But I don't reca-"

She whacked his shoulder in response, "You literally burnt a whole section of the Solerian Royal Library. The book in my vision was part of that specific collection which you destroyed. And so I am annoyed because I cannot believe you! All those poor books and all of that literature just gone and we'll never be able to-shmphh-"

She glared at him as he pressed his hand over her mouth in order to shut her up, "You shouldn't believe it. Because I didn't," she tried to question it, but with his hand still on her mouth, her words came out muffled. He still understood and explained, "No one in their right mind would burn perfectly good books. And I am someone in my right mind."

She took the opportunity to rip his hand off of her mouth, only to say one word, "Debatable."

He moved his hand again, this time only using one finger to shush her, "You wouldn't be saying that if I told you that none of those books were damaged and all of them are in my private section of the palace's library."

In less then a second she was jumping out of the bed and screaming for joy as she hopped into his arms to squeeze him to death. He gave her a small smile though she couldn't see it as her head leaned into the side of his own and her arms wrapped around his neck, as her legs hung over one side of him, meaning she was actually sitting, curled over his lap. It was only after a few seconds that she had realised what she had done without even thinking and she froze in his arms.

She didn't expect that he would wrap his arms around her waist and bring her closer into him, and now that she was aware of the tantalising position she had put them in she was glad that her face couldn't be seen by him, as she was sure that her face had once more, become red from the heat of his enchanting persona she had finally realised she had become attracted to.

She wished she could stay like this forever.

But some good things have to come to a pause when there are lives at stake.

The doors burst open and Marinette jumped off of Adrien, landing behind her on the bed and fumbling around so whoever came in didn't grasp onto what exactly they had walked into. Adrien whipped his head around to see who it was with a scowl, but his face immediately fell into that of concern because there at the door was Felix.

Holding an injured Kagami in his hands.

Marinette gasped when she finally looked up, not at all expecting that the first time she could properly see the general face to face, she would be unconscious and wounded. She stood up and breathily exclaimed, "What- what happened?"

Felix came further into the room and straight to where they were, gently placing the fierce but comatose and therefore, vulnerable warrior on the other side of where Marinette had been sleeping prior to his arrival.

He moved some of the hair out of her face and gave her a long loving glance before turning to face them with an inconsolable look, "Can you help her? Please. I know you are a healer. I heard you know more than even some of our best ones."

Marinette immediately nodded, making sure to give him a reassuring smile, "I'll try my best, I promise," and to make her point she made another flower, this time one that looked very much like the head of a red dragon, and she held it out to him. He took it, holding onto the flower, slightly comforted by the new promise she had made to him, "Do you know anything about what happened? It could help me understand how to heal her."

He sniffled, reaching up to wipe his own tears before they could fall and mumbled loudly enough for them to hear, "She did say a few words before she passed out. Something about the bordering villages and an imposter and a fake cataclysm? I'm not exactly sure what it means."

"Well at least we know where to go," Adrien finally spoke up, taking charge of the situation, "Felix, I know you don't want to leave her right now but I need you to come with me and investigate what has happened. Take her badge and gather a few of our best soldiers. We may need them. I'll go inform the council that there may be a class 2 or 1 attack on our villages and to get ready to send provisions and backup. From the look of her neck, it seems that someone has tried to imitate my power."

"How they did it, is the question," Marinette whispered from next to him as she watched Felix dig into a hidden pocket by Kagami's waist and take out a golden token with the words Supreme General written and a dragon wrapped around the words like it protected the words. She turned to Adrien, "I may need some of the books that you stole- as well as some others- but you said the stolen ones are in your personal room?"

He nodded, "Don't worry. Just tell Aunt Caline- she's our Book Master- who you are. She already knows I've given you permission to have free reign of the library and she will help you with whatever you need. Anyone else also at the library will know not to bother you and if you need any ingredients just show them the token I gave you yesterday. They will give anything without question," he looked back at Felix who was holding Kagami's hand and leaning in to whisper to her words of his love for her, "She is meant to be immortal so hopefully whatever it is will not kill her but please do all you can to minimise the damage. She would be devastated if she couldn't be able to fight."

She moved her hand to grasp his, giving it a light squeeze and sending him a look of consolation, "Go," she told him, "Don't waste your time here any longer when you can try and save more lives out there. Your people need you."

His large hand held onto her small one for a few seconds and he leaned in, though hesitating for a split second, and pressed a light kiss at her temple, "I'll be back okay," he said in a softer voice than Felix had ever heard from him (and yes, he was still aware of everything around him).

He let go of her hand and Marinette watched as he struggled to get Felix to leave before at long last, the two brothers left her alone in the room with her newest patient. Marinette sighed sadly at the state of Kagami and rubbed her hands together, getting ready to inspect her wound closely before she would head out to either get the ingredients she may need or to the library for more information on how to heal her. She had a feeling it would be the latter.

............

She was right in thinking that she would need to head to the library, where she had met the woman Adrien dubbed 'Aunt Caline' who Marinette realised was actually a fairy. The woman was truly kind to her and immediately put her magic to work as she found the books for Marinette to look through. She even fulfilled her request of finding the specific book she had seen in her dream. But Marinette hadn't even touched that book yet.

"Take a break dear. You've been here for hours."

Marinette's hunched form had quickly straightened when she heard the voice from behind her. She looked back to the Book Master and gave her a smile which came out as more of a tired grimace, "I guess I should. Do you suggest anywhere I could go?" she asked before she proceeded to stretch her neck from the stiffness that had been caused over hours of sitting over books and noting what she thought would help Kagami.

She stood up, stretching her arms over her head as Caline said, "The gardens are very nice around this time of the year. And it's actually just the corridor over so I don't mind if you take a book out of here, as long as you stay there. And as long as you bring the book back."

It was one of Caline's policies that (unless they were part of the royal family) they needed an express reason to remove the books off of the premises of the Library. But because Caline could tell that Marinette was likely going to be their future queen- Adrien had never been invested in anyone as much as he had in Marinette- she had decided to give the girl a little leeway until, gradually, the two would properly convey their feelings to each other and it was confirmed that their relationship was, in fact, an established one.

"I'll take this one," Marinette lifted the book that had been sitting at the edge of the desk just waiting for her to finally pick it up. She also lifted a sheet of parchment with words scribbled on but with Marinette's naturally delicate writing style, it still looked relatively neat, "And I am incredibly sorry to ask of this but can you please do me a favour?"

"What is it dear?"

"Can you please give this note to the apothecary and tell them to send the ingredients to the room Kagami is in? I may need these ingredients so I'd rather have them all ready in the room than having to scramble for everything all at once but I'm still unsure whether or not they trust me enough," she murmured the last part, feeling slightly embarrassed that she had said it, but ultimately she knew that a lot of people who knew of her presence in the palace still had reservations about who she was and what she meant for the future of Luneith.

Marinette herself was unsure also.

The older fairy gave her a knowing look and another kind smile that reached her eyes which crinkled slightly, "I understand dear," when Marinette came closer to her she reached out to take the list of ingredients, "You go and enjoy the fresh air for an hour. I got word from the ones who have been watching over her that Felix had called on a professional to place her in a time bubble and watch over her. Alix has already promised to inform me of any changes immediately so if you aren't back, I will come out there and tell you if Kagami's condition has worsened. But our general is a fighter and I'm sure nothing will happen to her in the hour you have a break."

Marinette bit her lip, "I hope so. And, thank you."

Caline nodded and patted the girl on the shoulder, before watching the girl leave the room with the book she had wanted to read held close to her heart.

She sighed as she wondered why the women very publicly associated with Luneith's royalty seemed to always find themselves in harrowing situations and she found herself thinking back to her best friend who had been thought to betray her own kind. But really, Emilie had been betrayed by Soleria, not the other way round. Maybe it started then or maybe it started before. One thing was for sure, it would take something extraordinary for whatever figurative curse which had been placed on these women to be broken.

She quickly read over the list of ingredients and added some she knew from her extensive knowledge that Marinette may need in the future. She teleported straight to the Royal Apothecary and carried out the favour Marinette had asked of her, hoping that the girl rested her mind from reading too much information in one sitting.

And when she got back, she wished that the feeling that something was lurking in the dark had been stronger, that she was terribly right in wondering why danger followed those- just like Emilie- who had gained the attention of the royalty of Luneith.

Because when she had went to check up on the girl once the hour was almost up, the only thing that remained was a book, opened up on a seemingly random page, and a gold ladybug token which had the name Marinette on one side and the royal seal on the other.

She surveyed the area around for any clue as to where Marinette could have gone but to no avail did she find anything more than a rustled path in one direction which suggested foul play. Book in her hand, her finger pressed in between the pages it was opened on, Caline quickly tried to follow the trail in the garden.

It lead to a large scorch mark on the ground, which had caused the grass and any life surrounding it to wither, and looked very much like Destruction had caused it. To the trained eye though, it was something much more personally sinister than Adrien could ever be. And there was something precisely familiar about it that Caline couldn't wrap her head around.

She called for the guards loudly and they quickly came. She told them everything she could think would be needed for the case, including how she suspected that this may have been the same person who injured Kagami. The similarity in energy was too much to just ignore.

One thing was for certain. Someone had been there. Someone had taken Marinette.

Caline prayed to the moon and the sun that Adrien would hurry back for she knew that if the girl was gone for good, Adrien would never be the person he was always meant to grow up into. Not just the God of Destruction, but the true son of Soleria and Luneith. The destroyer of two realms which could finally merge into one.

The one she believed the old prophecy had always been about.

............

When Destruction came back and found out the news, all hell broke loose.

............

Marinette had only been to the garden once before, during the tour Adrien had given her whilst most of the palace apart from the night shift guards had been asleep. She hadn't felt too confident in venturing out of her or Adrien's rooms without the demon in question being there with her. Considering she had also been terribly exhausted for the first couple of days, she just didn't want to be in too many new places at once.

But when she was doing her work, she always had to have a break in a completely different atmosphere to her workplace. That way, when she came back, she would have a fresh mind ready to see things in a different perspective which could build more ideas that she may need to solve a problem.

The garden was beautiful, nothing like in Soleria, as the flowers and the plants that were in the garden did not grow with the everlasting sunshine found in her home. A lot of the grass and the leaves were blue and even purple, something Marinette only had seen in certain patches of grass that didn't see sunlight in that area. And they were patterned in a way that swirled to the centre of the garden, where a large grey marble fountain was placed.

It was a depiction of a beautiful lady dressed in a simple sleek dress but even in just marble, Marinette could tell see just how much elegance she held in her stature. The water of the fountain was placed in such a way where it spouted out from her waist so it gave her dress an alternate silhouette to the dress that was sculpted on her figure, creating a beautiful image akin to that of stars falling down her body. The figure was holding a child in it's arm, probably no older than one, also sculpted in the same marble as his mother. He resembled his mother even more as a baby, she noted.

The prettiest part of the whole fountain, in Marinette's opinion, was the eyes. Because, in place of the irises of both mother and child, were bright green emeralds that really brought their stone faces to life.

"He was cute as a baby," she said to herself, even though she thought practically everyone who had been a baby at one point in time was cute then. She absently wondered what she would have looked like as a baby- as when she was brought in to this world, she was brought as a mere ladybug, not a human, and she had never lived out her childhood as one. Not in this life at least.

She found a spot that was near to the back of the garden, where there was a large tree she could sit under, and she found herself reminiscing about how often she had done this back in Soleria.

She missed her home, of course she did. But she knew she wasn't welcome there. Maybe here, she would be regarded as more than just a weak and simple fairy. She would be seen as someone trustworthy to the people, just like the Book Master had become. And perhaps it would take a long time to do so, but Marinette was willing to wait.

Her master Fu had once told her whilst she was still a little ladybug trying to become a human, "Good things come to those who wait." And she would wait, but she would also do all she could to become that trustworthy person, to become the protector and healer that others deserved. And maybe even become the Goddess of Creation like Adrien said she was. Whilst she was willing to wait, she was not going to sit idle as the world around her continued to move on.

She finally opened the book that had been calling out to her since she had woken up from her vision, and she found the page that she had clearly been frowning at in her vision. The book had been a document of all known akumas to this date, minus the one she had seen and had been able to protect Adrien from. And each description of each akuma and their sightings and the havoc they caused was accompanied by many opinions by scholars and academics who all wanted to collectively understand anything and everything they could on this topic.

One of those being Master Fu.

The page she had seen in the vision was actually page twenty-three, and had been about his early opinion on the akumas, when there had only been a few of them actually making their presence known. It had been written even before the war had ended when the akumas were still something new and terrifying. Now they were just terrifying.

'Princess Creation came to me today to express her uncertainty about where these malevolent creatures came from. She felt as if they hadn't just come out of nowhere as many people believed. That there had been another force involved in creating them. No creature, not even a Demon was naturally this evil.

I have to say, I completely agree with her.

There is something out there... or perhaps, and more likely, someone who decided to play with the dark magics and use it to make these creatures and use them to control what a person would desire, twisting it into their own evil cocoon until the desire became less about what the person wanted, and more about the power they- whomever they could be- could gain.'

She found herself frowning, just like in the vision but she didn't even have time to realise that the picture in her head looked nothing like the image of her reality.

Before she could even comprehend it, she blacked out completely.

............

So yes. Someone has kidnapped her. Three guesses who.

Did you think I would allow them to get together this early on even though they've kissed so many times, have been getting closer and have already acknowledged their feelings in their minds? Hah. Nope. I'm just going to embrace this villainous moment.

Just get ready because we are in for a wild ride.

And don't forget, Kagami is still injured.

Sorry for updating a bit late today. I had to go grocery shopping and when I came back I posted a one-shot which took a bit of my time.

See you in a bit lovelies <3