Making Choices

11

"Okay. I trust you, Adrien." Ladybug smiled at Adrien, even though curiosity was still tugging at her brain. "You know you can tell me anything, right? I don't really have anyone to tell in this kind of situation, and we'll be splitting up soon enough, anyway."

"Thank you, Ladybug. I'll keep that in mind." He felt bad for keeping things from Ladybug, but Adrien knew this was just a job to her, nothing more. Besides, it was only one detail, a large one, but still only a single detail. Nothing would matter in the end.

Everything went silent again as both of them ran out of things to say. The weight of secrets untold weighed on their shoulders, pressing down on them more than anything else on this trip had. Would this be the thing that finally drove them apart once and for all?

"We'll keep travelling tomorrow, but we'll have to stretch the last of the food a little longer. Try to save your energy so you can heal."

The hours passed in silence, night fell, they slept, before waking with the sun and preparing to leave.

Ladybug knew something was wrong, and for the first time was reconsidering her choices. Had she done something to warrant this feeling, or was her mind playing tricks on her? Maybe this was karma for everything she had done. The ghosts of everyone she had killed coming back to haunt her to the end of her days as revenge for what she took from them.

Their destination was drawing ever closer. Ladybug knew that even at the slowed pace they were currently travelling at, they would arrive tomorrow. She would say goodbye to Adrien, and they would part ways for who knew how long, and then she would return to Paris and fall back into the cycle of working for whoever paid her the most.

But was it really that simple?

Weeks of travelling with Adrien had ensured that she would never forget about him, never forget the way he looked when Alya had been killed, never forget the horror on his face when she suggested leaving a child to die. Would he forget about her? If he were busy doing whatever he would do to save the world, would he have time to think about their adventure?

He would be doing something so completely different to what she would return to. While her job entailed waiting for hours on end, his would most likely be fast-paced and incredibly dependent on speed. If the end of the apocalypse was to be bought around, the people working to return the world to order wouldn't wait around for long.

In fact, they would probably be waiting at the door to collect Adrien and whisk him away to begin his new life.

Something twinged in Ladybug's heart and she almost stopped walking in shock. It was something she had never felt before, but she had heard about it. When her parents told her about their first meeting, when she read stories about princesses finding their happily ever after. That feeling had been falling in love, but there was no way she was falling in love with Adrien. Right?

She couldn't be. Their relationship was strictly professional and nothing more. It never would be. Once they had gone their separate ways there was little to no chance that they would ever see each other again, even less chance that their relationship was in any way salvageable.

"I should thank you." Adrien didn't look at Ladybug, keeping his emotions concealed.

"What for?"

"You've kept me alive for weeks, you listened to me when I said we should go around the gate, you didn't force me to walk after I hurt myself, you still haven't abandoned me after everything I've done wrong. All of that, and we're still here." His eyes flicked to Ladybug before looking away. He just wanted to say these things before they arrived at their destination, seeing her face would only waver his confidence.