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dejnar · 6 years

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Secret Santa Marinette Style™

I am so sorry @buttercupandwestley that I failed to upload this even near the holidays. It’s too late and it does not match the mood anymore but I hope you still like it! Oh my god I hope so bad that you like it. Like I said earlier it escalated. It got completely out of control. You will see what I mean.

If you don’t like to read long texts on Tumblr I uploaded this on fanfiction.net too.

Christmas is over but... Happy New Year! 🎉 I wish you good luck and that everything you wish for comes true ❤️ You are a cutie and it was a joy to regularly visit your blog 😊

That’s my contribution to the @miraculousladybug-ss , thank you guys for setting this up!

Last day of October

“Do you remember how I told you about my mom being that happy about my sibling’s grades that she got way too high-spirited and granted them a wish and that, and I quote, ‘they could wish for whatever they want no matter what it is’?” “Yeah, I remember. Part of the reason your mom was that overwhelmed was the fact that your grades were pretty bad because of all the time you spent on the Ladyblog, wasn’t it?” Marinette grinned whimsically at her counterpart. “That’s not the point Marinette!” Alya pouted and folded her arms. Yet she couldn’t keep her acting up too long since she longed to break the news. “Anyway, listen to me instead of teasing me!” She lightly hit Marinette’s shoulder as she giggled. “Excuse me, I didn’t mean to offend you. What did you want to tell me?” Feeling quite noble Alya continued. “Well, since this fateful day my parents and I lived in a constant fear of what could possibly come up to us. What can I say, they finally decided what they wish for.” That was kind of a turn of events for Marinette because she witnessed the two girls had debates going on for hours about it. “Wow, I thought those little monsters would never come to an understanding. So what do they want?” Curiously she looked at Alya who kept silent clearly punishing her for her previous chaffing. “Come on, tell me already! What is it? The table tennis table? Or, my personal favorite, the trampoline?” Marinette begged to know and willing to finally proclaim Alya gave her a resigned look. “Neither. Somehow they came up with another, completely new and different idea.” She sighed. “They want a cat.” Adrien’s head literally popped out of nowhere. “So it’s true!” Surprised Marinette blinked at her crush who suddenly stood beside her. “Your family is bringing an unbelievably cute kitten to your house at that very moment!” Shorttaken Alya looked at him in confusion. “Not exactly. My siblings are too young and my parents and I too busy to care for a little kitten with a lot of needs. They’re adopting a cat that’s already grown a little.” “Still adorable” Adrien’s eyes began to glisten with joy. After getting over his cuteness, which took her nearly twenty seconds, Marinette pointed at him. “How does he know?” Alya shrugged. “Nino I guess.” In indignant disbelief Marinette looked at her. “Wait, you told Nino before you told me?” Alya rolled her eyes at her best friend when she answered. “Sure, duh. You were gone throughout all of lunch, remember?” Beginning to blush Marinette sheepishly lowered her head and remembered the akuma attack she fought down with Chat Noir earlier “Uhm… You’re right. Sorry?” With a smirk Alya waved it off. “Don’t sweat it girl. Hey, you guys wanna hang out next week to get to know our newest family member? I think she needs some time to acclimatize before she meets so many people but it should be fine in a few days if you’re cautious.” Loving the idea Marinette began to smile brightly. “You betcha! Adrien, do you wa-” as she turned to face him she had to laugh at the view she gained. Obviously overjoyed Adrien was nodding aggressively, face slightly red. “Who could say no to a kitten?” Nino asked as he joined the scene and patted his best friend’s back. “Calm down man or you may pass out because of anticipation.” “Kitty!” was all Adrien managed to blurt out through his compressed lips causing his friends to bubble over with laughter. The bell rang and they headed to class, the other three still amused while Adrien blushed embarrassed. After school Nino and Alya had to leave right away for whatever reason they didn’t want to reveal so Marinette ended up waiting for his drive home next to Adrien. Frozen she rapidly thought about any topic to talk about to distract herself from just staring at him. But Adrien forestalled her smiling dreamingly at a point in the distance that wasn’t really there. “I bet Alya rushed home to see her cat.” “You’re really that excited over a random cat of a classmate?” Marinette asked him astonished and he looked down timidly. “Yeah… Well, as you know I was homeschooled and never had many friends besides Chloé. I wanted a pet since forever and cats have always been my favorite. But obviously my father didn’t approve. It’s kind of a childhood dream coming true even if it’s for someone else. You know what I mean?” He laughed nervously but Marinette’s genuine smile banished all of his bashfulness. “Yes, I think I understand. I have to say that I really admire it that you’re happy for Ella and Etta instead of getting jealous and being cruel.” He couldn’t help but blush over such an unexpected compliment especially because it was about his character for once. “Thanks, Marinette. You know” he beamed at her “I’m super glad we’re friends.” Now it was Marinette who blushed. Before she could respond a shining car drove around the corner and Adrien waved his goodbye at her. “See you tomorrow!” She looked down the road still after the car was long gone.

First week of November

“Ok guys, I need to talk to you after school. All of you.” Surprised at Marinette’s serious greeting instead of her usual warm hugs her friends looked at her. “Something’s up girl?” Alya asked worried but Marinette shook her head. “After school!” she repeated and headed to class without any other word. “Damn, did we do something?” Nino looked at Marinette’s back in concern. “She was alright just yesterday” Adrien replied thoughtful. “What did you say to her when we were gone?” punching his arm Alya threw an angry glare at him. “Ouch! Nothing! …I guess.” His assailant just bristled with anger in response and followed Marinette to class. “Dude I hope you didn’t screw up too bad” Nino said while putting one hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t even do anything!” Adrien cried in despair but Nino just gave him a pitying look. “Maybe that’s the problem.” And with that Adrien stood in the halls alone, no idea what he possibly could have done to cause such a situation.

Turned out they were just messing with him. After the bell rang to free the students into a beautiful autumn afternoon Adrien stepped out of the school building and spotted Marinette who looked perfectly happy. Relieved he headed towards her and the other two who also seemed pretty glad it wasn’t a severe situation. Buzzing with anticipation Marinette jigged in front of her three closest friends. “It is November guys!” she finally squealed with glee and a thrilled beam on her lips. “It certainly is” Alya agreed smiling fondly. Every time Marinette got so excited over something Alya loved her even more than usually. Her overwhelming joy also infected the two boys standing next to them although they had no idea what caused Marinette to reach that level of enthusiasm. “Man you must have some great plans to get that hooked about a month like any other” Nino whistled impressed. “It’s not a month like any other!” Marinette disagreed indignantly as if he just insulted her. “It’s the month before December!” she stated stamping her foot. “Riiiight…” he tilted his head and mystifyingly narrowed his eyes. Adrien laughed. “Could you please bring back the overjoyed Mari? I have to say I liked her way more than huffy Mari to be honest.” Carefully he reached out his hand to open the fist Marinette clenched without noticing it. “Sure” was everything she was able to mumble into her scarf glad that she could hide her blush behind it too. Nino and Alya exchanged a knowing look. “Back to business!” she continued in a cheerful tone again since she managed to regain her voice shortly after Adrien let go of her hand. “What I wanted to say is that it’s Secret Santa time!” Adrien’s eyes promptly began to glisten, causing Marinette’s heart to jump. He also liked one of her favorite things in the world! Nino’s face brightened up immediately too and Alya clapped her hands in delight. “That’s a great idea Marinette! But… I’ve never done such a thing. How exactly does it work?” ashamed Adrien looked down to the ground where he drew circles with the tip of his toes. “Well, normal groups of people draw a partner by lot in December and buy them a present for Christmas.” Alya explained to Adrien showing him that he had no reason to be embarrassed. “But I guess Secret Santa in Marinette Style™ is quiet different?” she added questioningly looking at her best friend. “You’re absolutely right!” she grinned back. “We all get our so called giftee assigned at the beginning of November - means today, right here and now - so that we have enough time since Secret Santa Marinette Style™ is a little more complex and has some strict rules!” “I am kind of afraid” Nino confessed playfully frightened but Marinette just laughed it off. “Don’t be! Actually it’s pretty simple. You’re supposed to make four gifts instead of just one, secretly delivering them one by one every week of December. The fourth one is ought to be opened on Christmas Eve, obviously. And most importantly, every gift has to be self-made!” Adrien’s eyes widened “How am I supposed to do that?” Marinette’s smile grew even bigger though nobody would have guessed that something like this would be possible. “We have some cute Christmas angels who are willing to assist us!” She waved at someone behind Adrien’s back and as he turned around he saw Rose waving back while Juleka took her hand and dragged her towards the group. “Hey guys!” Rose chirped happily not letting go of Juleka’s hand even though they already reached their destiny. “We’ll help you deliver your presents!” “Yeah. Just hand us the gifts every week and we’ll make sure they’ll end up with the right human” Juleka explained with a smile on her face. While Nino and Alya were performing some sort of cute jig together, Adrien looked at the two girls in front of him in concern. “And you’re ok with that? I mean, like, helping us but not participating yourself?” “Sure! I had to experience a lot of Secret Santa rounds already. I’m kinda glad I don’t have to do it again this year” Juleka sighed and he would have sworn he saw her shiver a little at the words ‘Secret Santa’. “That’s true!” Rose nodded in agreement still smiling brighter than the sun. “Juleka is everything I need anyway.” The world suddenly seemed to freeze. Alya and Nino immediately stopped in their tracks, Adrien and Marinette stood thunderstruck and everyone’s glances flew between Rose and Juleka and their still touching hands. “Oops. Dropped it” Rose laughed nervously while Juleka hid her face behind her black gloved hands. Before the silence could grow uncomfortable Alya pointed her finger at Marinette with a triumphal smile on her face and declared “Told ya!” Marinette giggled with joy. “This day is getting better and better!” Raising her hands to Juleka’s shoulders Rose sheepishly smiled at her classmates “I guess we’ll leave now or Juleka will melt on the spot. Please keep it to yourselves!” “Of course we’ll still be your errand girls though” Juleka mumbled as Rose pushed her towards the school building. “Nice!” Nino simply stated watching them leave and then turned back to Marinette as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. “Is that everything we need to know?” Before she answered to her friend she made sure through eye contact that Alya felt the same urge to freak out about what they just witnessed later. “Nope, you don’t even know the best part yet!” She went silent for a moment to raise the tension. Looking into her friend’s eyes told her that it worked. “In the end you have to guess who your Secret Santa is and deluge them with all the love you have!” she bounced like an excited toddler causing her pigtails to bounce. Alya chuckled as she put an arm around her shoulders. “Typical Marinette. Being the love spreading cutie she has always been.” “Sh! The drawing begins at this very moment!” Marinette hurried to say to hide her flattered embarrassment. The attempt failed. “As you wish” Alya tousled her hair before letting go with an affectionate smile on her face. Marinette smiled back with still a slight blush on her cheeks. “Nino, gimme your hat!” Marinette reached out towards him. “Of course Your Highness.” Nino handed her his red cap while making a bow, she curtsied with a giggle and took it. Reflexively she inspected it from every possible angle. “By the way, you should definitely exchange this with a beanie to avoid catching a cold” Marinette warned Nino but he just shrugged. “Nah. I have my headphones keeping my ears warm, I’m fine. Thanks for worrying though.” “I hope that’s true” suspiciously she glanced at him but decided to leave it there. Rather than starting a discussion about her friend’s valuable health she threw the four sheets with their names on them she prepared earlier into his hat. “Ladies first” Marinette said as she held it up to Nino. “Very funny” he rolled his eyes while reaching out his hand but at his comment Marinette pulled the hat back down. “Tz, if you don’t want to go first I won’t make you do it!” Instead she handed it to Alya who grinned and grabbed the first slip of paper. “Whoops, gained myself” she said apologetically and put the paper back into the hat. “Try again!” Marinette encouraged her nearly smacking the hat into her face. Amused Alya took a step back, chose a new one and rolled her eyes at it the moment she read it. “Seriously? Again?” The other three laughed as Alya tried again. A sigh of relieve escaped her lips as she gladly smiled at the name. “Got one!” victoriously she waved with her piece of paper. “Great! In that case I’m giving Nino the opportunity to draw next!” Turning back to him again she smirked at an impatient Nino. “You’re too kind!” Sincerely delighted he took his turn and scanned the name then nodded perfectly satisfied “Nice.” Slowly Marinette turned to the remaining participant trying very hard not to blush too intensely. “Ok. Adrien it‘s finally your…” Before she could finish her sentence Adrien gently pushed the hat towards her. “You go first, Mari. It was your idea and you put so much effort into it, you should at least have a choice.” His kind smile made her legs shaky and useless. She shyly smiled back at him as she chose one of the last two names. Nino. Wondering if she should be relieved or disappointed over the fact that it wasn’t showing Adrien’s name was quickly replaced by tons of present ideas for the upcoming musician. “Okay then! It’s my turn!” Curious Adrien grabbed at the last name. For a brief moment Marinette was afraid that he still could have ended up with his own name and they all had to try again but as he unfolded the small white paper he began to smile widely. “Sweet! This is going to be so great.” Sheepishly Nino coughed and looked at them with an apologetic expression. “Sorry guys but I have to leave now since I have to discuss our new physics project with Kim. Wish me luck he doesn’t turn it into a dare. See ya!” He waved at them as he ran away and Alya caught him clenching his fist and cutting a caper. Her buzzing phone interrupted her smiling shake of the head. “Mom? Hey, what’s up?” She quickly turned to Marinette and Adrien “Sorry guys, I’ll be right back!” With that she took a few steps away from them. Meanwhile Adrien worked up all his courage and hesitantly approached Marinette. This could be his only chance if he didn’t want to confess his weakness to all of them. “Uhm, Marinette?” he tapped her on the shoulder so she would face him. “Yes Adrien?” she turned around and looked up to him. The unprepared sight of his dreamingly green eyes made her heart skip some beats. “You know… When I asked how I was supposed ‘to do that’” he drew quotation marks into the air in front of her face “I didn’t mean the secret delivery thing but the rule that everything has to be self-made. I guess… I’m pretty bad at those things.” Nervously he turned his look away and scratched the back of his head. Marinette’s eyes widened. You stupid little goopy mess!, she thought to herself wanting to slap herself. Making Adrien feel incapable and uncomfortable was the last thing she intended. “Oh! I’m so sorry! Sometimes I kind of forget that not all people do the same stuff as I do” she laughed awkwardly and lapsed into babbling. “Guess I kind of threw you in at the deep end, huh? But don’t worry. Until you don’t tell me who it is I will help you and teach you a thing or two about handicrafts if you want me to and I’m convinced you’re better at it than you think! And I’m certain we will find another conclusion for you I mean it should be fun for all of us after all, right? Right, of course. Uhm, what I want to say is your Secret Santa, whoever it might be, can, and will!, be glad about the fact that they-” Adrien laughed a pure laugh that calmed Marinette down a little and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I didn’t mean to make you feel guilty, no need to get nervous about this. I’d like to take your offer to help me if I need it which, let’s be honest about this, won’t take too long I guess. Thank you Mari, I actually feel a lot better now!” She returned his warm smile although she had no idea how her absurd chattiness would help anyone. Eventually Adrien looked down at his watch. “Unfortunately I have to leave now too but it looks like Alya finished talking to her mother. See you tomorrow! Bye Alya!” “Bye Adrien” Alya waved at him as she passed him on her way back to Marinette. “You were that excited over this whole Secret Santa thing that it even distracted you from acting weird and awkward in front of Adrien. It must truly be a Christmas miracle!” she gasped excessively. “You are a horrible person, Alya Césaire” Marinette laughed but at the same time linked arms with her best friend. “But seriously” Alya smiled and nudged Marinette’s shoulder with her own “I’m proud of you.”

For the next few days Marinette was caught in a relentless battle against her own self. Of course she could just change the rules entirely so Adrien wouldn’t have to struggle too much with the crafting and allow him to buy everything instead. But then it wouldn’t be Secret Santa Marinette Style™ anymore and if her parents drummed one lesson into their daughter it was that “amazing girls like you should never and under no circumstances change for a boy who simply couldn’t handle their brilliance”. Thus changing the rules wasn’t an option. Another voice in her head tried to seduce her to take advantage of the situation and spend as much time with Adrien as possible under the pretext to show him a thing or two about handicraft work. Marinette had to admit that she liked that idea a little too much but knowing herself she would just lose control over herself and screw both of her purposes – resisting the impulse to encroach on Adrien’s projects (in that case it wouldn’t be Secret Santa Marinette Style™ in Adrien Style anymore) and, even more importantly, acting like a decent human being around him. So what should I do?! Marinette groaned and tore her hair. “Seriously Marinette, you have to stop to treat yourself like a sinner for wanting to spend time with Adrien” Alya shook her head at Marinette’s inner conflict. She may not have said anything for a little while but Alya knew exactly what was going on behind those bangs. “So I’m not a terrible person for considering exploiting Adrien’s lack of knowledge?” Marinette, by now a picture of misery lying on her desk, mumbled into the crook of her arm. “Get a grip on your unnecessary feeling of guilt, girl! May I remind you that Adrien Agreste himself suggested that you should teach him that stuff? In fact I would go as far as to say that he asked for your help and it would be very cold-hearted of you to refuse his request.” Slowly Marinette straightened up and Alya smirked proudly at herself. “If you put it that way I have to help Adrien…” Pondering Marinette stared at a poster on her wall, straight into a pair of enchanting green eyes. “Exactly.” While patting her best friend on the shoulder Alya decided to get a pastry from the bakery below as a reward for another good deed she just performed.

Second week of November

“Ok guys, new rule!” Marinette opened the Emergency Secret Santa Meeting with her friends at lunch with a determined smack on the table. Adrien looked at her in absolute horror while Nino next to him squealed and stared up to her, frightened. “Even more rules?” Laughing Marinette quickly calmed them down. “Don’t worry it actually makes it kind of easier: Everyone gets a joker! That means I allow you to buy one of the presents instead of crafting it.” She winked at Adrien who gave her a thankful glance. “Obviously I’m not going to make use of said rule” she continued and playfully threw her hair over her shoulder. “That’s a point of honor.” “Guess I’m not as honorably as you, I’ll definitely buy something. Thanks Mari! That makes it easier for me to deliver the best presents out of this group.” Confident as always Alya put an arm around Marinette’s shoulders and looked at the boys with a challenging smirk on her lips. “What about you guys? What do your egos say?” A resoluted expression appeared on Nino’s face as he answered completely serious: “I will do this on my own! I know I can make it!” He ended in an epic pose with a clenched fist. Impressed Adrien clapped him on the shoulder while the girls suppressed their giggles. With a resigned smile Adrien looked at Marinette. “I guess I’ll desperately need that joker. Thanks for changing the rules for us I know how much you liked your original idea.” As always when Adrien directly addressed her Marinette flushed and started to stutter a little. “Oh, uhm… no worries! It will be fun. I-I mean, it will be a lot of fun anyways!” Gladly Adrien smiled at her and her knees weakened. “I’m happy to hear that! I’ll do my very best for you guys.” Before Marinette could respond something to that cute statement Alya cut in. “Hate to interrupt but I have to go. And I’ll take Nino with me, just because I can.” Surprised by the unexpected grip around his arm and the enormous force behind it Nino defenselessly followed Alya out of the room. Sheepishly Adrien smiled at Marinette and scratched the back of his head. “So… do you still agree with helping me out here? Otherwise I have to pay you to grant me three more jokers.” Nervously he laughed since it was only partly meant as a joke. But Marinette’s genuine smile calmed him down immediately. “Sure I will, I always keep my word” she responded with a kind smile and gained an even softer smile from her counterpart. “I never expected anything different.” “Besides” she nudged his shoulder with her own, “I can’t allow you to mistreat Secret Santa Marinette Style™ like this.” His laugh warmed her whole body, giving her the confirmation that it was worth the effort to act like a sane person around him. “With that being settled would you meet up with me tomorrow to brainstorm a little? I really don’t want to screw this so… I guess it’s best to get down to it as soon as possible.” Marinette could only smile entranced by how sweet he was. “Sure! I’ll think about something easy to show you.” As a reward she gained a happy smile. “Thank you so much Mari! I have to go get my books before class but we’ll see each other tomorrow at my place at the latest!” Not even waiting for her response he waved at her as he left the room, leaving behind a startled Marinette. She would visit Adrien’s house. The house that also happened to be the home of Gabriel Agreste. If it wouldn’t have been for Max who asked her why she was just standing in the middle of the room staring at the door she would have been late for class once again.

On the same day Marinette headed to her favorite store to get some materials she needed for the presents she came up with and to get something for Adrien to practice with. It was a beautiful clear autumn day and on her way she appreciated the colorful trees and enjoyable breezes. Just as she was about to reach the store she closed her eyes to inhale one of those breezes and immediately bumped into someone. “Oh god, excuse me, I wasn’t…” The words died on her lips as she looked into a pair of amused, green eyes. “Princesses don’t need to apologize” Chat Noir said before giving her a kiss on the hand. “Not even if they’re clumsy.” Perplexed by the unexpected encounter with her partner Marinette looked up to him in silence for a few seconds before she finally managed to say something. “Chat Noir, what are you doing here? Is there a needle-swinging akuma or anything?” she jested, too surprised to realize that Chat began to nervously fidget. “Uhm, a friend of mine recommended the shop to me since I needed something to… do heroic things. But what are you doing here? I thought princesses have servants to handle those things for them. Don’t tell me…” he gasped. “You’re not a real princess?!” Marinette rolled her eyes but giggled. Maybe she would have been suspicious of his behavior if she wouldn’t have been that confused herself so she only ascribed it to his usual weirdness. “I’m fine on my own, thank you. Also, if your friend recommended this shop they must have a pretty good taste! I like that one very much too.” “I’m sure the sense of taste of such a charming princess is the furry best” he winked. “I would love to let you tell me how great I am while ignoring your horrible puns further but I actually have to hurry, my parents are waiting for me to help with the bakery. Good luck with those mysterious heroic things you have to do” Marinette excused herself with a playful smile. “I will definitely overcat every difficulty to secure you a save kingdom!” he assured her with a flirtatious grin. “Told you your puns are horrible” Laughing she walked past him into the store. When she was gone Chat Noir sighed loudly and leaned against a lantern next to him. Why didn’t he think of the possibility he could meet Marinette when he decided to go to the store she mentioned to him earlier? Maybe he was overreacting but it could have been a hint to her when she saw him there as Chat Noir at the same day. Not that he had much of a choice. He knew very well that his father would not let him go to buy fabrics, of all things. He would tell him that he could get him anything, only the best of the best of course. And also he would hire someone to create the gifts for Adrien. Since there was nothing he could do about it he hoped Marinette wouldn’t think about the reason why he was there and headed home.

The next evening Marinette heard a muffled sound from above her and got a little worried. Quietly she opened her window and slowly peered out on her balcony but what she found there soothed her instantly. “Chat Noir! What are you doing here?” For a moment she was afraid that he somehow figured her out but looking at the nervous, guilty looking boy in front of her she knew he had to be there for another reason. “I came to apologize” he answered hesitantly. “I was quite a flirt yesterday and I wanted to make it up to you. You deserve a proper conversation at least.” A soft smile appeared on Marinette’s lips due to his unexpected kindness. He was a good one after all. “But you don’t even know me. How do you know that I deserve your effort?” she walked up to him with a curious expression. “Let’s say I’m pretty good with assessing someone’s character” he answered smiling and his tensed body began to relax. “So, what brought you to the store?” he asked as if he didn’t know too well. But her shining eyes and the devotion in her voice was totally worth to hear the whole explanation of Secret Santa Marinette Style™ again while hardly getting a chance to speak on his side. “…and that’s how it works! I am so excited I can barely wait for December to begin!” Chat couldn’t help but laugh warm-heartedly. Of course he knew how passionate she was about her project before but he once again witnessed her charming cuteness and once again it completely enchanted him. “You really are the incarnated Christmas spirit, aren’t you? I have to admit that your words kind of move me and I would love to hear more but unfortunately I have to leave. Keep it real, Princess.” Slightly he bowed and giggling Marinette followed suit. “It was very nice having you here, minou.” Surprised by the warm feeling Marinette’s words caused inside of him he jumped over her balustrade. “The pleasure is all mine. See you soon, Marinette.” While she watched him leave over the nearby roofs Marinette realized something. Usually, as Ladybug, she didn’t get that emotional around Chat Noir but today, as Marinette, all her thoughts bubbled out of her without interruption. And it felt right and save with him. No matter what happened, no matter how bad things would be, she could always count on her partner, her friend, and that meant the world to her. With a knowing smile Tikki watched the two of them saying goodbye.

Third week of November

“This gift from god is the most precious creature I have ever seen in my entire minor existence.” “You say that every time you see a ca-““SHE IS!” Adrien was holding Totoro, apparently Ella and Etta were huge Ghibli fans and didn’t care for the sex of their cat, right in front of his face so their noses touched. Nino imagined seeing the same eyes-squinted grinning expression on both his best friend’s and the cat’s face. Every now and then Adrien let out a squeal of joy while snuggling with the British shorthair silver tabby. Marinette was sure she would never see anything that pure and innocent in her whole life ever again. “Can you even imagine the drama if Totoro would have disliked Adrien?” Alya was watching the boys with crossed arms. A shiver went down her spine as Marinette considered that scenario. “Don’t even think about something as terrible as that! I guess it would have completely wrecked his will to live.” She sighed, relieved that they hadn’t had to try to prevent Adrien from drowning in his own desperate tears. “Quite possibly” Alya laughed, nudged Marinette’s shoulder with her own and began to smirk. “You should join the cuddling. Maybe Adrien will end up nuzzling your nose somehow.” In no time Marinette’s face turned flame red, too baffled to stop Alya from pushing her towards the carpet the boys kneeled on. Well, Nino kneeled. Adrien had ended up lying on the ground, Totoro climbing over his chest like it was a part of Mount Everest instead of the body of a model. An affectionate smile replaced the blush of embarrassment on her face and she gathered the courage to sit down next to Nino. “I didn’t even get the chance to pet her” he grumbled jealously. The moment the three of them had entered Alya’s home Totoro had run up to Adrien straightaway, rubbing her head against his legs and meowing in delight. Clearly there was something to Adrien that somehow connected them but Marinette had no idea what it could be. They captivated each other on the spot. Marinette understood Nino’s grudge too well. But Adrien didn’t even realize how grumpy his friends were. “Don’t you think cats are the greatest?” Happily he smiled up to the cat on his chest. “I like turtles” Nino answered deadpanned. “Foxes are definitely the best!” Alya jumped in as she joined her friends serving cookies. Marinette held her hand in front of her mouth and giggled joyfully. She was thankful to whoever blessed her with those quirky, wonderful friends. “What is your favorite animal, Mari?” Adrien asked, averting his eyes from Totoro for the first time this afternoon and smiled at her for a little moment before turning back to the cat. Still counts, Marinette thought proudly before answering. “I like all kinds of animals it’s hard to chose just one…” “She loves every single creature on this earth, our lovely Marinette” Alya chuckled and put an arm around her best friend. “When it comes to favorite earth-creatures those present have a good chance” she responded laughing. At the end of the day Marinette had another entry on her mental list of terrific gatherings with her best friends.

After an exhausting day full of lectures about being late to class and nearly falling asleep during dinner Marinette allowed herself to take a break on her balcony. As she admired the sight in front of her she spotted a fast shadow approaching. “You again” she said surprised when Chat Noir landed in front of her and bowed. “The path of faith brought me here once again, Princess. Your speech from last week inspired me and I want to learn from the furry best how to Christmas” he explained with an eager smile. “How to… what?” Uncomprehending Marinette tried to understand what Chat was talking about. “Since a flawless hero like me has to live a life in isolation I never experienced Christmas like you described it to me. Would you mind to…” Suddenly he became timid and Marinette was taken aback due to the fact that she never saw him like that before. “…show me to enjoy Christmas the way you do?” The coy and begging smile on his face could just as well belong to a five-year-old. It was impossible to say no to that. Everyone was talking about puppy eyes but no one ever gave warning of kitten eyes! “I’d be honored to pass on my legacy. Even though it’s not that hard, you simply devote yourself to something you like that delectate others too. In my case it’s crafting gifts for my friends and family and I’ll help you find that something for you too but, for my sake, no puns” Marinette imposed her one and only condition. “I thought this was meant to be a time of fun and joy!” Chat protested, causing a cheerful laugh of his newfound master. “Yes, you’re right but since both of us are meant to have fun…” “You think my pawns are hilarious, don’t even try to deny it.” “…let’s try to find something different that both of us will enjoy. Is there anything else you like?” Without a second thought Chat revealed the thing he was already thinking about all day: “I love Totoro.” Panicking over the realization of what he just said he already made up an excuse about how he met Alya’s siblings and their cat but Marinette’s eyes began to shine and she excitedly jumped up and down in front of him. “Really? You do? That’s great! If you want to we can watch it right now!” Chat Noir blinked at her, uncomprehending. Until now he had thought the girls came up with the name for their cat on their own and he had no idea what she was talking about but since it seemed to be a suitable opportunity to keep his identity a secret he tried to play along as best as he could. “Yeah sure, it’s great!” Marinette squealed and looked at him curiously. “What’s your favorite part?” “Uhm… uh… I don’t know… That’s a tough question. Maybe… everything?” Laughing she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her window. “We’ll watch it right now so you can decide what you like best about it!” After 86 minutes of laughter and tears of joy Chat not only got the origin of his favorite cat’s name but also craved for more Ghibli films. Since Marinette was perfectly fine with that they ended up in a Ghibli marathon all night.

Last week of November

“Father, my friend Marinette is with me to work on a project together!” Adrien called up the stairs into an empty hallway. To Marinette’s surprise Gabriel Agreste appeared just seconds later and her heart stopped for a second at the sight of her greatest idol who even addressed her directly. “Hello Miss…” “Dupain-Cheng” she blurted out tensed. “Hello Miss Dupain-Cheng. I don’t understand what is withholding my son from studying with my assistant Natalie as usual but I guess as long as it is for school I can accept it.” Adrien didn’t feel the need to correct his father who once nodded his head at them and then disappeared into the hallway as fast as he came. Normally Marinette would have been worried about putting Adrien in trouble but she barely realized what his father had said because she was too overwhelmed by the impressive mansion and its noble furniture. Even though they had planned to meet at his place before Adrien had to postpone their meeting due to extra fencing lessons and all the built-up excitement flooded Marinette at once. “You’re coming?” with an amused smile Adrien startled her out of her thoughts and she saw that he was already halfway up the stairs. “Oh, uhm, sure…” she mumbled embarrassed and hurried up the stairs behind him. Once they settled on Adrien’s comfortable couch he gave her an eager look. “I am ready to learn!” he stated, triggering tension and happiness in Marinette at the same time. “Well… I never taught anyone so don’t expect too much, ok? I don’t want to disappoint you” she responded carefully but Adrien’s expression stayed as cheerful. “I’m certain you won’t. Let’s try this out together! What do you think is a simple thing even I can handle?” Relieved Marinette smiled at him and relaxed, starting to bloom while talking about her passion. “It shouldn’t be a problem for you to modify already existing objects to your heart’s content and it may not sound like it but it’s fun! You can live out your creativity very easily. To begin with something appropriate…” gleefully babbling Marinette scrabbled through her bag until she finally found what she was looking for and proudly handed Adrien a simple white picture frame and a… gun? Adrien’s eyes widen in shock and as soon as she understood where his fright was coming from she uncontrollably started to laugh. “That’s… That’s just a hot glue gun! You never saw one? When it comes to handicrafts it is your very best friend!” Embarrassed Adrien looked to the ground. “In that case I’m going to call it Nino” he tried to distract her from his slip-up, gladly realizing that it worked perfectly. Greatly bushing thanks to his sweet words as always Marinette hurried to continue. “In that case take Nino and some decorations I brought you’d like to stick to the frame. Of course you can paint it previously too but it would be a waste of time to wait for the color to dry so we’ll directly start with the glue.” Gently he interrupted her. “I think that spending time with friends is never a waste of time but I get what you mean. Go on, that’s very promising and encouraging!” That cuteness again. If he would go on like that he would end up accidentally killing her. Marinette had to clear her throat before continuing her explanation. “I have to offer… beads of all kind, glitter, colorful buttons, feathers, small bells and… a lot of other things in fact.” They laughed together and Marinette felt that she grew more and more comfortable and relaxed around him. All in all she slowly but surely grew a little more confident around him. At the end of the afternoon Adrien knew the basics of crafting and Marinette made her way home extremely happy and proud of herself, promoted by a set date for another crafting session.

“I’m curious Chat.” Prying Marinette advanced towards him. Once again she found herself next to the hero of Paris who grew a habit of visiting her regularly. “Someone’s being a nosy princess” he teased, provoking Marinette to playful huffy crossing her arms. “I only got one question minou. Don’t act like such a jerk!” His smirk softened and turned into a genuine smile “You know you can ask me anything, Mari.” Ignoring the light blush on her cheeks she smiled back. “What… Uhm, what would you like to be if you weren’t a superhero?” Chat looked at her in surprise. He didn’t know what he had expected but it certainly wasn’t a question like that. “Hmmm…” He scratched his chin and narrowed his eyes. “No idea?” laughing Marinette nudged his shoulder with her own and Chat began to laugh too “In fact I’m 100% sure what I want to be but it’s kind of embarrassing.” “What is it?” Marinette asked encouraging, excited for his answer. “A pokemon trainer.” “A… pokemon trainer?” “Yes. Absolutely. No other option.” Marinette blinked in disbelief and Chat got worried that he unsettled her with his nerdy confession. After a few seconds she finally began to beam. “It suits you, minou.” “It does?” he was visibly delighted and relieved. “Yeah, I mean it. Out there looking for adventures and caring for your friends, I can even see it in front of my inner eye.” “You don’t think it’s weird and… awkward?” he asked to reassure and Marinette gave him her ‘Are you serious?’-look. “Chat, I just outed myself as the biggest Ghibli fan there is so, no, that’s not awkward at all. Never be ashamed of the things you love. They make you who you are and I like who you are.” Pondering silence fell upon them. A warm feeling filled Chat’s chest. Rarely someone took his dreams serious, especially his childish ones. But Marinette seemed to understand him and he added it to the reasons why he cherished her. “So” Marinette crossed her legs, leaned even closer to him and looked at him as curious as ever “Which one is your favorite pokemon?” He didn’t even need a second to think about his answer. “Easy. It’s Eevee.” A complacent grin appeared on her lips since she had expected that answer. “Ah, I guess your favorite eeveelution is Umbreon then?” “Purrfectly right my Princess. You seem to understand me incredibly well, I truly appreciate that. But you still have to tell me what’s yours.” Marinette’s face turned bright red. “Mi- mine?” “Of course” Chat laughed. “You obviously know pokemon pretty well. You can’t hide your inner nerd from that super Cat with super vision! Tell me, you have to give me the chance to make a guess too.” Sighing she squared her shoulders and looked straight into his attentive green eyes. “Skitty.” An amused twitch played around the corners of his mouth. “Seriously, that pink little fur ball? You got to be skitten me.” “Shut up you moron” Marinette had to laugh that hard she nearly fell off her chair. “Besides, I guessed right.” “Yeah, sure you did.” “I did!” They spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing a lot without realizing that he started to call her ‘my princess’. But Tikki did.

First week of December

On the first day of December four nicely wrapped little presents were sitting on the desks of Adrien, Nino, Alya and Marinette. The whole class caught a Christmassy spirit as they saw them while walking into class. Marinette hurried to her desk smiling but stopped as she heard a high-pitched squeal from behind her. She turned around to look at Alya wonderingly but Alya herself stared to another direction. As she followed her gaze Marinette realized who the real origin of the sound was. Nino stood in front of his present, hands pressed to his mouth and almost crying. “But… You didn’t even open it yet.” Adrien put his present back down to the table that he had already grabbed excitedly too so that he could try to calm his best friend down. “It’s so beautiful” he whispered but opened the soft package impatiently. Inside was a self knitted orange and blue striped bobble hat with some sort of flaps on the left and right. Confused he inspected the holes and his eyes widened as soon as he realized they were meant for his headphones. “The one who did this must be a genius” he exhaled impressed. Alya raised an eyebrow at him since he didn’t instantly realize who his Secret Santa was but decided to concentrate on her own gift instead of scolding him for being an idiot. Without further ado she ripped the paper apart and opened the box inside it. Brightly smiling she inspected a piece of paper with a photo and some personal information of her on it. “Wow, this is great, my own journalist pass! I’m officially important now!” she proudly concluded and pinned the badge to her blouse. “I’ll wear that every day so if Ladybug crosses my way she may think I’m worth giving a personal interview to! It’s the perfect plan!” Marinette giggled and Adrien felt a little proud of his idea while opening his own poorly wrapped present. Confused he looked at a chaotic basket with a little awry patchwork blanket inside of it. “What is this…?” he wondered and Nino next to him tried to act as innocent as possible. “Maybeee… it will make sense once you have all presents?” Adrien’s face brightened up without thinking about the fact that Nino more or less revealed himself as his Secret Santa. “It sure will! That makes the whole thing even more thrilling!” Proudly Nino beamed and Marinette had to suppress a laugh while opening her own small present. Inside she found a short ribbon with two pendants on it: a small green paw and a little ladybug. Excitedly she attached it to her phone and held it up to the others. “Look what I got! It’s great!” Nino gave her a thumbs-up and Adrien opened his mouth to congratulate her but was stopped by Madame Bustier’s voice filling the room: “Good morning, children! Let’s start today’s class!” During the whole lesson all of them inspected their gift further and waited for the break to come to brag and discuss about them. And they did. Marinette walked in on Alya and Nino who headed to the cafeteria before her and they seemed to have a serious conversation. She wanted to leave already but then she heard Nino saying her name. “…but also, Marinette!” “Hey, did you call for me?” she joined them but froze as soon as she saw the pale, wide-eyed Nino. “Woah, hold on, what’s going on here?” Alya waved it off and smirked. “Nino’s having a crisis.” “I mean, like” he continued without even realizing Marinette had arrived “she suggested I need a warmer hat but she was talking about a beanie not a bobble hat. So someone else could have used that as an inspiration for my gift. BUT there’s a high chance that it indeed is her! Alya help me I’m going insane.” He was sweating. “Stop torturing yourself, Nino! This is meant to be fun! You still have three weeks to figure your Secret Santa out and you will even get more clues. Relax, you’re not supposed to know it by now.” “But Alya said…” “Alya does not know everything even though she likes to act like it” Marinette interrupted him for his own sake and he already relaxed while Alya next to him stuck her tongue out at her who blew her a kiss. At that moment Adrien came up to them with a huge smile on his face. “Hey guys, are you as excited as I am? I can’t wait for next week!” For the rest of the break they happily chatted with each other, Alya kept chaffing Nino causing Marinette to laugh adorably and Adrien realized something. Throughout the whole Secret Santa event and its preparations he grew closer to Marinette with every day and she finally came over her shyness around him. Of course he had already cherished her but now he experienced how truly pleasant her presence and friendship was. And even though he got to spend more time with her it still wasn’t enough. Luckily for him there was Chat Noir. At the same day Marinette heavy heartedly came to a conclusion too. The more time she spent with Adrien she discovered that she truly admired his presence, as a friend. She had a crush on him for over two years now and he hadn’t shown the slightest bit of interest in her so what could possibly happen to change his platonic feelings towards her? Maybe she should work on that ‘just friends’-thing to be able to spend more, less awkward, time with him.

To her own surprise and joy Alya’s plan of catching Ladybug’s attention worked out. Since the rules of Secret Santa Marinette Style ™ forbade it to give a present to any other than your giftee Marinette made a plan to rejoice her by admiring her newest achievement. “That badge is pretty cool!” Ladybug gave Alya an accretive look who proudly smiled at her heroine. She puffed up her chest and presented a badge that read ‘VIB – Very Important Blogger’. It looked objectively real. “Isn’t it? A friend of mine made it for me but I don’t know who it was yet. Secret Santa, you know?” She leaned in and whispered as if the following were top secret information. “I guess it’s my best friend though. It seems she made another present too but I just can’t imagine that the boys in the group are… creative enough to be capable of something like that to say the least.” Chat tried very hard to keep a straight face. Aside from needing to keep his identity a secret he didn’t know if he should be insulted about what Alya just said or if he should be proud about the fact that she thought Marinette’s gifted hands created the thing that was actually made by him. Thinking of Marinette… He wanted to visit her again this evening.

Still musing about her feelings towards Adrien and her resolution to let go of them Marinette stood on her balcony and admired the scenery in front of her. Somewhere along the line her thoughts wandered off to the wonderful moments she had spent there during the last few weeks and how suddenly the person who accompanied her ever since sneaked a way into her life. Making excuses about not knowing “How to Christmas” he joined her on a regular basis as she was working on Christmas presents for her loved ones. Yet again Tikki tried to talk to her about her feelings towards Chat Noir but Marinette wasn’t ready to face the inconvenient truth about the conflict she was in as Ladybug. Maybe it would have been different if she had to work on gifts for Adrien. Maybe it was led by her decision to come over him. Or maybe Adrien hadn’t had the slightest part to play in this. No matter what it was, Marinette fell for Chat. “Princess! I’m here to wish you a happy Christmas Month!” Chat greeted her, startling her out of her thoughts. Nevertheless a bright beam appeared on her face because she was more than happy to see him. Amazed that his words had such a positive impact on her Chat couldn’t help but smile happily as well since her beam was quite infectious. “The same to you, minou! Good to see you” hearing her own affectionate tone she advised herself to pull herself together. Relieved that Chat seemed to not analyze her words she relaxed. “You missed my clawver puns, didn’t you? I knew it, you long for my catchy jokes and my tailent to make you laugh” he blathered and instantly wanted to slap himself. Snap out of it Agreste, it’s just Marinette! No need to be nervous. But the scolding didn’t help at all, his heart beat rapidly against his chest and under his gloves his hands were sweating despite the chill weather. To his surprise Marinette laughed instead of shaking her head annoyed yet amused like he expected her to. “You are terrible, you know that? I would rather call your puns pawful to be honest. Maybe I should look for a new furend to spend my evenings with” teasingly she smirked at him while his eyes widened in disbelief. “Did you just… Did you made…? For me?” An excited smile and a suppressed squeal found their way to Chat’s lips. Even though she intended to do something nice for him she didn’t expect him to get that happy about only two horrible puns. Not that she wanted to complain. His reaction was adorable. “Consider it an early Christmas present” she laughed while motioning at him to enter her room. “It’s the best gift you could have pawsibly made me, Purriii-” She pushed him into her room. “Enough is enough” she said before following him. But secretly she thought to herself that she could get used to that silly, loveable kitty curling up on her bed. And he didn’t want to leave it anytime soon either.

Second week of December

“Fancy!” Alya stated as she immediately put on the orange mask she found inside the sparkling box she just opened. Marinette inspected it impressed too. She recognized the mask from her favorite store she recommended to Adrien and was quite proud of how he customized it. The painting wasn’t perfectly symmetrical but it still looked pretty good. Deciding that she sufficiently examined her student’s work she finally opened her own present. Silently she stared at the photo inside her hands. Everyone knew that she loved Alya with all of her heart but this present freaked her out. Shocked she looked at a photo of herself standing in front of the Eiffel Tower right next to Chat Noir and… herself. She blinked. Alya had photoshopped the two heroes of Paris into a photo of Marinette she took a few weeks ago. Gawking at the picture she was afraid that she was unable to pretend that she liked it even a bit. She just looked at her face and her face and it gave her goose bumps over her whole body. Apparently she couldn’t believe that Alya spent so much time editing the photo and still didn’t recognize her. Or did she?! Warily she looked at her best friend. “I can’t remember that ever happened” she nervously said to her friend. “I know that you met Chat Noir but did you ever meet Ladybug?” Alya asked without really paying attention while looking at her mask through her selfie camera. “Maybe one day you will really stand next to our heroine” she winked and Marinette wasn’t sure if she should be offended that her best friend still hadn’t get it even though she must have spent hours with Marinette’s face next to Marinette’s face but she was too glad to even care. It was nothing to make believe her relieved happiness was thanks to the present. She wrapped her arms around Alya’s neck. “Thank you so much!” “Who said it’s from me?” Alya shrugged but smirked at her. In front of them Nino barely could hold back the tears as he looked at the poster with a logo Marinette had designed just for him. Behind a graphic of Nino’s headphones a red vinyl shimmered due to the color she had used. The picture was surrounded by a quote of him she had always liked very much: ‘All I need is friends, family and music!’ Next to him Adrien inspected some ugly grey felt shaped like mice. At the sight Alya wrinkled her nose and Marinette began to feel bad for him but Adrien seemed to be perfectly happy with it. “I have no idea what’s going on but I still love it” he said cheerfully and everyone was impressed by his unconditional trust and love he had for his friends.

Later that day Marinette once again found Chat Noir on her balcony and invited him in on condition of no puns for at least that evening. Grudgingly he agreed but both of knew that he wouldn’t stick to his word but it didn’t matter because they also knew that Marinette didn’t mean it. In consequence of him spending a lot of time inside of her room over the past few weeks Chat straightaway recognized the new frame on Marinette’s desk. In school he hadn’t had the chance to look at it so he inspected the picture interested and ended up genuinely confused. “I can’t remember that this ever happened?” he said, scratching the back of his head. He wouldn’t forget about saving Marinette and taking a picture afterwards, would he? Guilt built up inside of him but it vanished as soon as Marinette began to laugh. “That’s just what I was thinking! But a friend of mine made it, it’s photoshopped.” Chat smirked and took his chance to show off a little. “I guess I could arrange something to actually take a picture like that.” Marinette laughed it off nervously because no matter how incredible his powers were he definitely couldn’t arrange that. “Nah, I already spend more than enough time with you and I met Ladybug a few times so I think I can live with that one.” “You’re lying.” Afraid Marinette looked up to him. Did he figure it out at least? But he just wiggled his eyebrows. “One could never spend enough time with me.” “Please shut up” Marinette laughed relieved and loaded the cheesiest Christmas movie she could find into her computer: Love Actually. Today Chat would learn about the sentimental feeling of Christmas.

“I am ready for something more difficult!” Adrien announced as soon as he was standing inside of Marinette’s room, his posters long gone. Unsure she motioned him to sit down on her second chair. “Are you sure? It’s only two more weeks until Christmas.” With a motivated grin on his face Adrien nodded and settled down next to her. “I learned from the very best and I’m certain I can try something more complicated! But not too hard please” he backtracked and Marinette giggled quietly. Then she had a sudden inspiration. “I have the perfect idea!” she said, hurried to her cupboard and rummaged through it for a while. Suddenly she threw a pair of fluffy socks at him that he managed to catch before it hit his face. “Socks?” he asked wondering as Marinette came back to her desk with her sewing box. “Yes, socks! It’s quite easy to sew a plushie with a sock. Let me show you…” Delighted Adrien watched her as she transformed the sock into the head of a black cat. Firstly she drew the shape of a cat on the sock and then sewed the outline. After that she cut it out, turned the inside out and stuffed it with some fiberfill until it looked squashy and cute. He had to admit that it indeed seemed to be easy but Adrien had the presumption that it would be harder for him as it was for her. Throughout the whole process he kept asking her questions and he intently watched every step as she showed him how to backstitch. “It may not work perfectly the first time you try to do it but a pair is made out of two socks for a reason” she winked and giggled cheerfully and if anyone would see Adrien’s affectionate smile they would instantly know what kind of feelings he developed for her. Tikki nearly had a breakdown. Unfortunately he had to leave for Chinese lessons but maybe it wouldn’t take long for a certain superhero to visit Marinette. On his way home Adrien bought 6 pairs of socks.

Third week of December

Deep in thought Adrien inspected the present he found inside the little box that lied on his desk that day. “What’s that? A bracelet? A keychain?” He narrowed his eyes and intensely tried to solve the mystery. “Maybe you’ll get it once you get your last present?” Nino next to him said, unsuccessfully trying to not sound too suspicious again. “I guess…” Adrien answered barely paying attention to him. There was another person barely paying attention to the whole scene: Marinette. She looked at the nicely decorated sketchbook inside her hands. It was red, had green paws and black dots all over it and some glittering highlights. A pink Logo said ‘Marinette’s greatest ideas’. Tearing up she quietly stared at it for straight 5 minutes while Alya watched her happily smiling. Since it was clear that her best friend loved her present Alya decided it was time to wrap up her own gift. She squealed as she held some kind of lasso in her hands. “I’m a true superhero now too!” Excited she shook Marinette before she posed epically in front of the class. In the meantime Nino had another breakdown. “But I need to wear my glasses! All your work goes to waste!” he cried out in agony, dramatically holding the spectacle case he got up to the sky. Before anyone could try to calm him down he made up his mind. “You know what? Whoever you are, your effort will be appreciated!” He took off his gasses and put them inside the case. “I will not be able to see anything today but that’s totally worth it!” He stood up again and tried to sit back down on his seat but the whole class watched him nearly falling over the backrest. Hurryingly Adrien stood up to guard his best friend to his seat. “Thanks man” Nino said and blinked, looking slightly past him. “You should really put your glasses back o-“ “No! My Secret Santa will be appreciated!” Marinette giggled. Of course she was a little worried about him but Nino was too dorky and adorable to be serious about that and she was sure Adrien would take good care of him.

“You’re a Marinette-Elf! A Marielf!” Chat Noir said excitedly, inspecting her hat, skirt and shoes while circling her. “I’ll definitely hold on to that nickname” he decided, ignoring her disapproving snort. She had known it would be a mistake to show herself to him like that but she was really proud of her design and for some reason she wanted to present it to him. “Where did you buy it?” Chat asked after his 5th round around her. “Excuse me?” she revolted with her hands on her hips. “Where did you get the costume? I would love to dress up with you” he admitted sheepishly but she was too offended to realize how sweet he was. “Chat, I made it myself” she clarified deadpanned. Wide-eyed he circled her another 5 times and inspected it even more precisely. “Oh my god Princess, I am so sorry! Marinette, that’s impressive! It looks professional and it is really well sewn. Of course I knew you’re good but why didn’t you tell me that you are a genius?” Actually Marinette wanted to tease him and ask him why he had thought so poorly of her but his admiration embarrassed her and she proudly flushed as he stepped extremely close to her to look at the pattern she stitched on her collar. Her breath caught with his face just a few inches away from her own and he slowly looked up as he realized how near her face was, how closer her lips were. For a few seconds they got caught up in each other’s eyes and while Chat noticed that the clear blue of Marinette’s had a calming influence on him she decided that the vivid green she lost herself in was from now on her uncontested favorite color. Eventually Chat shrunk back from her as if he just burned his hands on her body. In fact it exactly felt like that. Heat crept through his whole body from where he touched Marinette despite his gloves and he began to laugh nervously. “Well, Princess… ha… uhm, what do you want to t-teach me today?” he stammered, feeling like an awkward idiot who saw a beautiful girl for the first time in his entire life. “Wearing ridiculous costumes” she exhaled still paralyzed staring at him. The situation and the emotions that unexpectedly flooded him were too much for him so he followed his cat instincts and did the only thing he was able to manage at this moment: running away. “In that case I already passed my lesson for today, didn’t I? That comes in handy because I forgot I… I need to be somewhere. See you soon!” And with that, he was gone. For way too long Marinette kept staring at the spot where Chat stood before, only one frightening thought screaming at her: She had a helpless crush on Chat Noir.

Marinette couldn’t stand it any longer, she needed to talk to someone about her confusing feelings. Too late she realized that Alya may not have been the best choice. “He’s just a flirt.” “He is not!” “You are the one dating him after all” Alya smirked at Marinette who rolled her eyes. “I am not.” Alya shrugged “But you want to. And in that case you totally have a crush on said flirt.” “I told you he is not a flirt! He tries his best to be a gentleca- man. A gentleman.” Oh no. There was no way Alya would ever let go of what she just said. Unsurprisingly her best friend’s eyes widened, her mouth fell open and her ‘I don’t really care’-attitude was gone within a single second. “Were you just about to say gentlecat? Are you freaking kidding me, Marinette?” Bright red Marinette avoided eye contact and fumbled at her purse with Tikki inside of it. Come to think of it she should have rather talked to her in the first place. “I didn’t… I wasn’t… Seriously that was not what I was going to say!” Finally Alya managed to regain her composure and shot Marinette a knowing grin. “Whatever you say girl. Oh, for your interest, you didn’t even deny that you have a thing for Chat Noir at all.” With a resigned sigh Marinette slid down her chair. “I don’t have the power to do that. Please give me a break.” Laughing Alya patted her best friend’s head to at least comfort her a little. Neither of them noticed Adrien sitting in his chair as straight as a post. He had heard everything. For the last few days two strong feelings accompanied him on every step he took: the urge to confess his affection towards Marinette and the painful dread of being rejected by her. Nevertheless at that very moment he made the decision to tell Marinette how deeply he felt for her. Persuading himself that as Chat Noir he could deal with it if she dismissed him and that he could try harder as Adrien gave him all the courage he needed.

Last week of December

This week no one found a present on their desk, the friends had agreed to get to the finally on Christmas Day. A little disappointed the rest of the class compelled them to report every present to them since they witnessed the whole thing from the beginning and wanted to know how it ended too. Except for Chloé of course. On the last day of school Rose handed every single classmate a little personalized Christmas card while Mylène served various cookies and Kim refused the bet that he wouldn’t miss a single one of them. Marinette loved the team spirit of her class and knew for sure that she would miss them dearly throughout vacation but she was too excited to feel sad. Alya, Nino and Marinette planned to meet on Christmas Day to deliver the last gifts and even though Adrien wasn’t sure if his father would let him go he assured his friends that he would somehow find a way. That statement worried his friends more than it eased them but they couldn’t change his mind so they decided to just enjoy the holidays.

“Come out already!” Marinette hid out of sight of her window. So far she was not ready to face Chat Noir after what happened the week before, she needed more time to figure her feelings out. “Tikki, what should I do? He knows I’m home but I… I can’t talk to him!” With an understanding smile her Kwami snuggled up to her. “I get that it’s hard Marinette but you don’t want to be as shy around Chat as you were around Adrien, do you? Is it worth to-“ “Princess! Please, I have to tell… show you something!” “Gosh, he’s stubborn. What did you want to say?” slightly annoyed Marinette faced Tikki again. “It’s just that I’m concerned that you’ll be unhappy about-“ “I know that you can hear me Marielf. It’s urgent, come on!” Questioningly Tikki looked at her. “You don’t want to go see him? Not at all?” Conflicted Marinette began to waffle. “It’s not like I’m completely aga-“ “I am freezing, you know?” Eventually an upset moan escaped Marinette’s lips and she tucked a blanket around her shoulders as she rushed furiously towards her balcony. “Chat, I swear to god I’m gonna…” She popped her head out of the window but froze in her tracks as she saw Chat’s face right in front of hers. Suspiciously she looked up and there it was, fatefully hanging above them: a mistletoe. “Woops” Chat whispered. “Guess we have to do it since it’s a very strict Christmas rule and I just learned that you have to stick to those.” He already leaned in but Marinette grabbed the green branch and threw it away. “I’m not going to kiss you because of such a stupid thing!” Seeing his deeply pained expression made her say the next sentence earlier than she had planned to. “I’m going to kiss you because I want to” she corrected under her breath, quickly wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him towards her. Both of them felt the smile on the others lips as they finally met gently. It was a cute, soft kiss but it was all they could ever wish for.

Christmas Day

Adrien spent the next day with his head up in the clouds. All day long he felt the memory of her kiss on his lips, thought about the enchanting blue of her eyes and heard her laugh in his ears. Never before had he experienced such a fuzzy, tickling feeling and he knew that this had to be love. But his high spirit got dumped just a few hours after his first kiss. “Adrien.” His father looked down at him and Adrien was afraid of what he had to say. It was a rare occasion that his father spoke to him personally instead of delivering news through Nathalie except for when they were dining together. If he was completely honest to himself Adrien already knew what his father had to say but he fought back the disappointment and instead kept his hope alive until his father continued. “I have to excuse myself this evening. A… situation appeared and I have a lot of work to do. I’m aware it is the second year we have to miss your mother and I genuinely regret this unfortunate situation.” Adrien gulped. Don’t cry. “But we’ll still have dinner together. Just… a little earlier. I’ll spend Christmas with my son nevertheless”, his father added quickly as he saw his son trying to hide how deeply hurt he was. Even Gabriel Agreste couldn’t let his son feel so bad on Christmas so he reluctantly made a decision and sighed. “You may even spend the evening with your friends. Just be back home in time.” After that showing of emotions he left immediately and Adrien was too overwhelmed to stop him. He knew exactly where he wanted to spend his Christmas Eve. Or rather: With whom.

Dinner with his father was unexpectedly amusing and light-hearted. Obviously his father tried his very best to make it up to his son that he would not be able to spend Christmas Eve with him by trying to even joke around a little. Of course he wasn’t funny at all but Adrien appreciated the effort he made. Maybe the unexpected meeting his father had to participate in was the best thing that could have happened, Adrien couldn’t remember of when he had so much fun with his father before so it didn’t matter if it was Christmas Eve or Christmas Noon. In addition he was super excited to meet his friends and especially Marinette later. He had never spent a holiday with friends before and the anticipation flooded through his body with every heartbeat.

Christmas at the Dupain-Chengs was the purest thing Adrien ever experienced. The love they had for each other was sensible in every word they spoke and every gesture they made. There was not a single moment anyone seemed stressed, annoyed left alone angry. Even when Tom forgot to get the dough for his Bûche de Noël out of the oven in time due to a video game he and Adrien lost against Marinette he laughed about it full-heartedly. Now Adrien knew where all the warm feelings Marinette had to spread were coming from. This little flat near Notre Dame was filled with more affection on only one evening than the mansion Adrien called home had been since his mother disappeared. He truly felt like he was part of the family. Knowing that the comfy homey feeling he felt in every inch of his body wouldn’t last he enjoyed it to the fullest. After all it was impossible anyway to not be extremely happy spending the whole time right next to Marinette. “You haven’t opened your present yet, Adrien!” Sabine complained and handed him a nicely wrapped round package. “My what now?” Adrien asked bewildered and Sabine giggled nearly as cute as her daughter did. “You’re our guest and we like having you here! Of course we prepared a little something for you.” Adrien couldn’t believe it. The evening got even better. “But… I asked if I could spend the night here just three hours ago. How could you find me a present in that time?” Heavy-weighted Tom placed his hands on Adrien’s shoulders. “It’s nothing big but we want you to feel truly welcome here. Open it already!” Marinette’s encouraging smile sealed the deal. Excited Adrien ribbed the paper apart and held a little jar in his hands. Inside of it were cookies and if that wasn’t enough he realized they were shaped like cats as soon as he wanted to try one. “Oh my, thank you so much! That’s incredible nice of you but I don’t think I can eat them. They’re adorable.” Tom proudly put an arm around his wife as she gladly smiled about the fact that Adrien liked his present while Marinette threw her arms around him. His heart stopped. “In that case I’m going to make you more cookies in any shape you want!” she laughed and Adrien wanted to tell her so badly how cute she was but he couldn’t. He wanted to tell her that he was the one she kissed just yesterday and that he wanted to do exactly that right now. He wanted to tell her the truth, that he was Chat Noir and that he was the one who loved her. But not a single sound made it over his lips. Fortunately the bell rang at that very moment. “Alya and Nino are finally here!” Marinette cheerfully sprinted towards the door, leaving Adrien alone with his complicated thoughts. A few moments later Nino startled him out of his thoughts. “Dude, you’re coming?” Quickly Adrien followed his friend to Marinette’s room where she and Alya were already chatting cheerfully. It seemed like they were talking about Totoro but Adrien was too distracted to even realize that. “Okay I can’t take it anymore you need to open your present right now! You know I’m your Secret Santa anyway.” Eventually Alya handed Marinette an oversized present. Gasping she took it hesitantly. “Oh my god Alya, what’s that?” “You know the thing is you have to open it” laughing Alya pushed it towards her and slowly Marinette unwrapped the gift. It was a huge framed screenshot that threw the bold headline ‘THE GREAT MARINETTE BLOG!’ to its reader’s faces. Some of Marinette’s designs were spread over the page and Alya wrote down a list of things ‘Everyone has to love about Marinette Dupain-Cheng’. In the middle was another headline above a photo of them: ‘Does she have the best friend in the world or what?’ “She does!” Marinette squealed and threw herself into Alya’s arms. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! This will definitely get a special place on my wall. I love it! I love everything! I love you!” “You’re next!” Regardless of the cuddling going on Nino passed a package to Adrien. Realizing that it wasn’t official yet that Adrien was his giftee Nino got afraid he screw the whole gift exchange and made up a pity excuse. “I… uhm, I found it over there… It had your name on it… so I guess… it’s from your Secret Santa?” The gift did not even have a name tag on it but Adrien was too excited to notice and quickly opened the present. “What is that even supposed to be?” Alya crocked an eyebrow at the… thing in his hands. “It’s a cat!” he answered without missing a beat. “… a cat?” “Yeah, sure! It is obviously a cat.” “Obviously!” Nino emphasized Adrien’s statement. He was holding a stuffed black sock, two corks glued to each side, two buttons poorly sewn to what Alya considered the front as it seemed slightly thicker than the rest of the ‘body’ and some loosen strains of wool were tucked to it at the other end. It did not have ears though. Obviously Nino could have used Marinette’s help too. “Moreover it is a gorgeous little kitty” Adrien added. And he meant it. “Adrien, please tell me you didn’t draw your own name and kept quiet to not cause us any trouble and please tell me you were not making these crappy gifts for yourself.” “Crappy?!” An offended yell escaped Nino’s lips. “They’re made with love! … Wait, I just revealed myself. Now he knows that his Secret Santa is neither Marinette nor you. It’s obvious now, I screwed up everything!” “It’s already been obvious, babe.” “No!” “Yes. It’s been as obvious as your Secret Santa since the very moment you opened your first present.” “No, it wasn’t!” “Nino, I can’t even knit. And I guess neither can Adrien.” “Maybe I was in the misconception of believing that both of you loved me enough to learn it for my sake.” “Nino, you can’t be serious. Since it’s obvious that I am Marinette’s Secret Santa yours could only be Mari herself or Adrien and you cannot convince me that anyone would assume that Adrien is capable of creating the gifts you got! No offense” she added with a short glance to Adrien. “None taken” he laughed. “People are full of surprises, Alya! I believe that everyone has an unexpected hidden talent inside of them. Also I got that excited that I couldn’t think straight” he added quietly. “Yeah, that’s obvious” Alya answered after a victorious laugh. “I get it now!” Adrien suddenly interrupted her. “A basket, cat toys and a collar! You made sure that I would be able to secure a comfy home for my new kitty friend and that it has everything it needs! You’re at least as precious as this little boy right here” Proud and happy Adrien beamed at his best friend. “Aw, man!” Nino clenched one hand to his chest and started to tear up while Adrien put an arm around his shoulders. “These guys…” Alya shook her head while Marinette giggled next to her. Before Nino could start to cry Marinette decided to step in. “Do you want your gift now too?” “YES!” he said a little too loud without hesitation so she handed it to him. Within seconds Nino opened it and revealed a fictile trophy that looked like a Grammy Award. “Best musician in any universe and all dimensions - ever” Nino read out loud and looked at Marinette, tearing up again. “Dude. How can you expect me to act all stoic while all of you are being cute as hell?!” He threw his hands up in despair before putting his glasses down to dab his eyes with the tissue Alya offered him. Coughing slightly Adrien took out the last Secret Santa present of the year. “So it really is you” Alya whistled impressed as she reached out to take it and started to unwrap it. Adrien flushed a little, scratched the back of his neck embarrassed and avoided her eyes but smiled brightly due to her surprised gasp. “I did everything on my own! But I had great help when it comes to instructions” he smiled at Marinette who would have been proud of him if the plush Alya was currently holding wouldn’t have been a Kwami. It was possible that he miserably failed the proportions of an actual fox or he did very well at Kwami proportions. “It’s a side kick!” Adrien explained unsure why Marinette looked so shocked. “Isn’t it time to go back to your families?” Marinette heard herself saying while her thoughts circled around one question. “Unfortunately yes. It got kinda late so I have to leave… But we’ll see each other tomorrow, right?” Alya asked with a hopeful smile. “Of course! Say Merry Christmas to your family for me, would you?” While the girls hugged each other Nino faced Adrien who was still worried about Marinette’s reaction. “Man, I’m still kinda sad that you’re spending this big day with her family instead of mine but I get it that it’s too crowded at my place with the whole family for you. Save some Christmassy happiness for me, would you?” “Of course” Adrien laughed and for a moment he thought that he was only overreacting but as soon as Nino and Alya were out of the door Marinette expression got serious and she dragged him back to her room. “How did you come up with the sidekick?” she asked as innocently as possible. Surprised he looked at her. “What do you mean? You showed me how to easily sew plush toys with socks and that’s exactly what I did” he explained, wondering what she wanted to hear. “Yeah but… why did you chose these proportions? It looked… quirky.” “Oh… well I guess that’s all I was capable of” he tried to laugh it off. When he decided to sew Alya a Kwami he was sure no one would get suspicious since they had no idea what Kwamis were much less what they looked like. “Yeah, makes sense” Marinette answered without a trace of amusement in her voice. Nervously Adrien tried to withstand her observing look but he failed and his eyes darted to his bag where he assumed Plagg being asleep as usual. “Ha!” Marinette blurted out and sprinted to the bag to rip it open. Helplessly Adrien reached out his hand in an attempt to stop her but he could only watch her, now paralyzed. Even though she already expected it she stared at the black cat-like Kwami inside bewildered. It yawned. “Hey kiddo, why did youuuuuuuuuu…” It’s already huge eyes widened even more as it saw Marinette. “Too late now to act like a doll, isn’t it?” With a resigned sigh he flew up to be on eye-level with her. “Hello Marinette. My name is…” “Plagg. I know. Tikki mentioned you before.” Plagg’s jaw dropped open while Adrien finally overcame his state of shock and hurried towards them and grabbed Plagg, laughing nervously. “Hahaha, Marinette that’s kind of embarrassing, you found my… You know that’s just a toy that… Wait. Who’s Tikki?” ‘And how does she know about Kwamis, Plagg in particular?’ he added mentally. The situation freaked him out, he had no idea what was happening. Already opening her mouth Marinette intended to explain but she was stopped by a red flash that dashed towards Plagg from a hidden corner of her room. It happened too fast for Plagg to elude so he got caught up in a tight hug from Tikki, her voice even higher pitched than usual. For the first time since he met him Adrien heard something like a giggle from Plagg as he snuggled up to his red companion. Adrien didn’t know which fact bewildered him more: Marinette holding a Kwami or Plagg being delighted at shown affection towards him. And then it hit him. “Wait… wait. Waitwaitwait. That would mean that you… you are…” “Yes, Chat.” “You are… You are… I mean it would mean that you are…” “Chaton!” “But… You are- wait! You are…” “Tikki, I hate to interrupt your reunion but spots on for the sake of that adorable dork.” Dumbfounded Adrien stared at Marinette. Ladybug. Who was Marinette. She waited for him to react in any way but he just stood there, frozen. For more than 40 seconds and Marinette got nervous. “Minou? Could you say something?” “Howcanyoubesocalmrightnow?” he squealed. “I guess I kind of hoped it was you…?” she admitted quietly and sheepishly looked down. Finally Adrien moved and walked up to her. She looked up to him. “I couldn’t have wished for this in my wildest dreams” Adrien whispered under his breath, took her face in his hands and kissed her. “Oh my… I’m so happy right now.” Smiling Marinette nuzzled his nose with her own and Adrien happily leaned in to touch foreheads. Neither of them realized how long they were standing there but suddenly Marinette drew back. “Oh wait, I got a present for you!” Excitedly Marinette rummaged through her drawer while Adrien watched her delighted. “You were not allowed to prepare a gift for me. It’s an official rule of Secret Santa Marinette Style ™, remember?” “I didn’t know it was you, remember?” she responded, slightly annoyed. “Oh yeah. I guess you didn’t break a rule. But I did!” he beamed brightly at her and proudly handed her a small package wrapped in pink at the same time Marinette gave him a small box in light green. “You dishonored my baby!” she yelled and threw her present at him. As he caught the soft piece he walked over to her and put his arms around her. “I wanted to make you something special. And Chat Noir did not participate so… It’s absolutely fine.” “I guess” she answered trying to hide her smile but Adrien cupped her face and kissed her again. “Now open it!” he said excitedly and she began to laugh. Since she really wanted to know what it was she ripped the paper apart. “Oh my god! This is… open yours.” “We are meant for each other. That’s the purrfect purresent, Purrincess” Adrien whispered into her ear and Marinette had to fight the urge to slap and to kiss him at the same time. “You’re not even in costume right now” she complained and he grinned roguishly grinned at her. “You have to deal with the Chat Noir inside of me all the time now.” She leaned towards him and smirked. “I guess I can only just live with that.” And with that she decided to give in to the urge to kiss her silly cat. “But… you know Umbrion’s details aren’t green but ye-“ “It’s shiny, ok?” she interrupted him. “And I mean… Do you really think Skitty looks like this?” she held up the sock plush he made for her. He smirked. “But you still love it.” She beamed at him. “I do indeed.”

“Merry Christmas, my Lady.” “Merry Christmas, my love.”

You did it! It’s over! I am still sorry and I still hope you like it! You’re great!

(also thanks to @midnight1217 and @reyawoodelf because without them this wouldn’t have come to an end and I would have been completely lost)

#miraculous fanfiction #mlss2017 #mlss 2017 gift #too long #i still suck at tagging

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