"You're not going."

"I am going."

"No, you're still injured - you're staying home."

"I don't care what I am I'm going!" Marinette had a fierce look in her eyes, they'd been arguing for a solid couple of minutes already, her body half-raised off the chaise while Adrien's hands were firmly on her shoulders trying to keep her from standing and racing into a fight that she'd certainly lose.

"No, you're not. You'll get hurt again, and I-" Adrien sighed, shaking his head, "Marinette please just sit still," he said softly when she struggled against him to rise. "Please stay here."

"You can't purify the akuma - if it gets away then it'll multiply! And Lila, that sneaky conniving-" she stopped herself suddenly, the fire behind her eyes flickering out briefly when she realized who she was talking to, "She… we have to stop her." She glanced away, her cheeks tinted a light pink. She hadn't meant to be in a shouting match with Adrien, but when she couldn't go out and do her job as Ladybug it had set off something inside of her that made her angry at him without intending to be.

"I know… Look, I'll-" he stood up straight, releasing her as he sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he gazed off into a corner of the room, thinking, "I'll capture it. I'll get… I don't know, a jar."

"A jar. You're going to capture an evil magical butterfly in a jar." Plagg sighed, hovering up to his shoulder and shaking his head, "You two really are hopeless. There's an obvious solution to all of this," he said, gesturing vaguely between the two of them. When neither seemed to catch his drift, he gestured at Tikki, who had previously tried to stop the argument before it started - a miserable failure of a plan - and was now just hovering behind Marinette watching the exchange. "Do you think he could do it?"

Tikki squinted at Plagg, trying to figure out what he meant, then a small gasp escaped her. "Plagg, no," She shook her head frantically, crossing her arms, "You're not thinking-"

"Come on Sugarcube, it's not like he's not capable," he lazily plopped himself down on Adrien's head, grinning, "Besides, if he starts to do poorly he can just come back here and Marinette can take them back."

"No. No no no no," Tikki was still shaking her head, her tiny cheeks puffed out as she tried to fend off whatever twisted logic Plagg was using. "Not only is that reckless and irresponsible as an idea alone, if they actually did it would put everything on the line! What if he got into a bad situation and couldn't get away? No. No, I won't allow it."

"What are you two talking about?" Adrien said, trying to glance up at the top of his own head to look at Plagg. "Won't allow what, Tikki?"

"Take what back, Plagg?" Marinette turned to her kwami, her head slightly cocked to the side, "What's going on?"

"Weeeeeeell," Plagg grinned even wider, leaning over Adrien's forehead and tapping him on the nose, "There is a solution to your problem. A very simple one. Cat Noir can't purify an akuma, but Ladybug can."

"Yeah but Marinette is hurt, she can't-"

"Right. Marinette is hurt so you don't want her to be Ladybug, but Ladybug has to be there to purify the akuma," Plagg tapped him on the nose again, "Come on, Adrien, you're smarter than this. I think." He frowned, seeing the vacant lack of understanding in Adrien's eyes and sighed in frustration - he thought this would be more fun.

"Plagg stop it," Tikki squeaked, hovering closer to the earrings Marinette was wearing, "They can't-"

"If Marinette can't go out-"

"Plagg, stop it."

"But Adrien can-"

"Plagg!"

"And Ladybug is the only one with the power to purify an akuma-"

"Plagg!" Tikki rushed over, slamming her hands over his mouth and knocking him off Adrien's head. "Shush!"

Marinette and Adrien both stared at their kwamis for what seemed like hours as the gears turned in their heads. Marinette can't go out, but Adrien can. Cat Noir can't purify an akuma, but Ladybug can. If Marinette can't go out as Ladybug, then Adrien… Almost simultaneously, they snapped their eyes to each other, eyebrows raised, as they both uttered a soft, "Oh."

xxx

Little on the short side - sorry about that. 11 will be significantly longer, but between KH3 and the time to write it it'll be a little bit. I promise once I finish KH3 updates will go back to fairly frequent. And, hey, I've got an AU idea I'm super excited about that I'll be starting soon, too! I'll try and get this finished before I jump ship to it, but the idea is going bonkers in my skull so we'll see what happens.

Special thanks to OnlyHere4Puckabrina - I rewrote this chapter from the ground up because your idea was significantly better than mine and I loved it. I apologize if it feels like I stole it out from under you, but it was absolutely BRILLIANT! Ily.