Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug.
Marinette was dressed in her best pink linens and was bouncing excitedly in front of her small mirror as her maid was finishing pinning her hair back. "I am so excited, Tikki! I can't believe I have to wait a whole three hours to see Grandfather's new treat that he made this year!" With the warm hand on Marinette's shoulder, Tikki was able to persuade Mari to sit down in her chair and stop bouncing.
"Just wait, little one. The time will come before you know it. But first we need to finish getting you ready so you can get to the party on time," Tikki explained patiently. Marinette nodded and sat still; obedient. Tikki finished Marinette's look off with a bright pink bow and sent Mari down the stairs. As soon as Tikki was out of sight, Marinette slid down the stair banister to meet the rest of her friends who were waiting impatiently for the party to start. Marinette linked her arm through Alya's and joined her in trying to peek through the cracks in the door to where the party would be taking place. "What do you think Grandfather's surprise will be?" Mari whispered in Alya's ear.
"I bet it will be a whole army of elephants, or maybe Joanne of Arc with her swashbuckling army!" Alya theorized. "Wouldn't that be great Mari?" Marinette nodded in agreement. "Or maybe he has a whole horde of monkeys that he has collected!"
"That would be impossible for Master Fu to bring monkeys to France. You know how much money that would take?" One of Marinette's friends, Max asked, adding to their conversation. "It takes about.."
"Does it really matter?" asked Kim, hitting Max on the shoulder. "The only thing that counts is how fast the monkeys can swing. Do you think it would be possible Max for me to beat them in a swinging race?"
"Well if my calculations are correct," Max went on, and Marinette and Alya quietly made their way to the group of girls who were admiring Rose's work on Juleka's amethyst dress.
"Wow, did you really make that Rose?" Mylene asked.
"Yep, I sure did, with a little help from Marinette of course," Rose added, smiling at Marinette from across the circle. Marinette blushed.
"Oh it was nothing, but the color does really suit you, Juleka." Marinette complimented her.
"Thanks," Juleka whispered, tucking her bangs behind her ears.
Monsieur Dupain stuck his head through the crack in the door and smiled at the children, who were still flocked around the door. "Are you ready, children?" He asked excitedly. All of the attention in the hallway turned to him, and they all nodded their heads vigorously. He laughed and opened the double doors to a ballroom with a flourish. "Merry Christmas, little ones!"
All of the children gasped as the magical wonderland sparkled in front of their eyes like little gumdrops. The doors had opened up to a large ballroom with a great big fir tree that was as wide and tall as a giant. There were popcorn strands circling the tree with little bits of tinsel covering every inch of the tree. Scattered across the fir tree's branches were little dollies, candy canes, and toy soldiers. Beneath the tree was a plethora of brightly wrapped Christmas presents for everyone in the room as well as a small animatronic train circling the base of it. All of the children in the room rushed straight to the presents and started unwrapping them or passing them out. Alya got a new notebook with a few new ink bottles and pens, which she cherished dearly. Mylene, Rose, Juleka, and Sabrina got little dollies to play with, while Alix and Kim got a pair of roller skates. Max got a counting game, and the rest of the children in the room got similar to Marinette's friends. Marinette's enemy, Chloe, got a thousand new dolls and dresses, as per usual, but also a kiss from her father, which Marinette could tell meant more to her than any of her presents. The only things Marinette got was a candy cane from the tree and a notebook to write down her fashion ideas in. Other than that she took more enjoyment from giving her parents some of her own hand-made scarves.
The party was in full swing now. The kids were playing games like dominoes, and tiddlywinks while the adults were talking and eating finger sandwiches in groups. Soon enough Marinette and Alya were sitting contentedly in a corner looking at the new inks that Alya got, instead of playing games, to take a break. They were analyzing the new gold ink when Grandfather Fu came up behind Marinette and tapped her on her shoulder.
"Merry Christmas, my dear Mari," he whispered as he handed Marinette a long box that was wrapped in red and black spotted fabric. Marinette hugged him, and wished him a Merry Christmas as well, then sat back down with Alya and carefully opened her package. Inside the delicately wrapped box was a small little nutcracker. Each curve of the nutcracker was clearly made with lots of care. His little suit was painted with the richest black paint with gold accents and a red sash. Attached to his sash was a realistic little scabbard. His eyes were beautiful bright green like a fresh, fir tree. His hair was a soft flop of blonde that stuck out, unruly from his black cap. A delicate black, cloth mask covered the skin from his cheeks to his forehead making his eyes stick out even more. He looked like he could take on any army. Marinette stroked the little soldier's head with the utmost care and kissed the top of it.
"It's so beautiful, Mari," Alya commented, smiling at her friend. "I believe that you are a favorite of Master Fu. I am almost sure that you will become his apprentice when you come of age."
"Please, that's as probable as living in a world of dancing candy," Marinette responded as she stroked the face of her nutcracker.
"What. Is. That?" came a snide voice as a shadow covered Alya's and Marinette's corner. Marinette looked up and saw a bow covered Chloe staring disgustedly down at the nutcracker in Marinette's arms. Beside her stood her best friend, Sabrina, shaking her head with her hands on her hips.
"It's a nutcracker, Chloe," Marinette replied, trying to hide her hatred. She had to at least act nice on Christmas Eve, or try to. "Grandfather Fu gave it to me. Isn't it beautiful?" Marinette held up the nutcracker for Chloe to see.
Chloe quickly snatched it from Marinette, holding the nutcracker by the head. "It's disgusting! NO wonder the old man gave it to you. It's so poorly made it doesn't even do its job!" To portray this fact, Chloe shoved a nut into the toy's mouth and used the lever on the nutcracker's back to make his mouth chomp on the nut. Before Marinette's eyes the precious wood of his teeth and chin were starting to crack.
"Chloe stop that! You're hurting him!" Marinette cried out as she tried to grab her nutcracker back.
Chloe added a few more cracks to the nutcracker's face before giving it back. "Now it looks just like you, Maritrash! Come on Sabrina, let's go to play with our gorgeous dolls." With that, the tormenters were finally gone and Marinette could slide down to the floor with her nutcracker cradled in her arms.
"He doesn't look so good," Alya commented, staring down at the doll in Marinette's arms. His once shining suit was marked up with little finger prints and specks of dirt all over it. The nutcracker's scabbard was askew on his waist and the lever on his back was wrenched up too high. Marinette's eyes traveled to his face and saw that the fresh slacker around his mouth was cracked as well as some of the paint. One of his teeth was chipped and there was a fine crack running from his lower teeth to the end of his chin because of the nut that was still in his mouth. Marinette daintily grabbed her handkerchief and tied it around his head so his chin could be safely secured.
"There you go, little fella," Marinette whispered. "You're all fixed up." She kissed his head, and then got up carefully. In the distance the two girls could hear the background chatter dying down as Grandfather Fu's voice commanding the room. "Come on Alya! Grandfather Fu is starting his show!" The two girls scrambled from their corner to join the crowd as Grandfather Fu opened the first box next to him.
It was a small box tied with silky, purple ribbon. He turned it on its side and tapped the side three times before popping open the lid. The crowd held their breath in anticipation as they watched the box carefully. Slowly, a little animatronic mouse head peeked his head out, who then quickly scuttled to the middle of the table. He was dressed in a little red suit with bright gold buttons and he stood up on his hind legs and did a little dance for the audience. It bowed as he finished and the crowd clapped, but the audience's attention soon turned to two life-size boxes opening up. Out of one came a Harley Quinn girl with vibrant diamonds of color scattered across her dress. She peered around the door of her box to find her companion who was doing the same on his side. Both of the brightly colored animatronics sported white masks that covered their foreheads and cheeks completely. Their cheeks were drawn on as well as long eyelashes circling around the eye cutouts. The male Harley Quinn grasped his partner's hand and led her to an open space. There they spun together in a sprightly waltz. Every spin they made moved them closer and closer to the audience. They pushed the audience back so far, the crowd became a circle around the couple. The male lifted his companion in the air, and with a few twists, the girl was back on the ground with her back facing him. When their dance finally ended, more and more animatronics stepped out of their boxes. Soon all of Grandfather Fu's animatronics were dancing in and around the audience members in time to the music box. In the final act each animatronic brought a small bag of candy to each guest. Even the little mouse, in his dainty suit, gave a bag of treats to a baby in its mother's arms. With that, the dancers bowed and crawled back into their boxes. There was an eruption of laughter and cheers as the audience clapped for an encore. Grandfather Fu bowed to accept the applause, and then soon disappeared.
It was getting late, and the ball was coming to a close. Besides, there would be more celebrations tomorrow, on Christmas Day. The children bid farewell to their parents and scuttled back to their own, respective rooms.
Marinette's maid helped her slip on her night-gown and tucked her into bed. "Sleep well, my child. And goodnight little nutcracker," Tikki whispered to the new doll in Marinette's arms. Tikki smiled. "Get some sleep. Your parents will be up in a few minutes."
"Thank you Tikki!" Marinette chirped sleepily as her eyes started to close. As Marinette drifted off to sleep she felt the kisses of her parents on her cheeks and the comfort of her little soldier in her arms. She slept soundly for a few hours, but was woken up suddenly as a feeling of something missing crept in to her bones. Marinette realized that she had forgotten to give Alya her present, and it was still under the tree. Instead of waiting for the morning, Marinette decided to creep downstairs and get it.
In a pink nightgown and slippers, Marinette crept downstairs with her soldier in her arms for comfort, and a candle in the other for light. It was a few minutes before mid-night, and the whole house was as silent as snow falling. Very carefully, Marinette opened one of the ginormous doors to the ballroom a smidge. She squeezed her little body through the crack and stepped into the dark ballroom with only her candle to light the way. Marinette's eyes scanned the enormous room, and when she spotted the present, she ran towards it. Gathering the present in her arms, Marinette turned to leave, but was stopped by a middle sized man's shadow blocking her path.
Marinette turned around quickly in fear, and almost extinguished her candle. She calmed down as she saw her grandfather behind her. "Oh Grandfather! It's just you." Marinette clasped her chest, trying to recover her breath. Mari stood there, waiting an answer from her beloved grandfather, but he offered none. "Grandfather?" Marinette asked timidly. Grandfather only smirked as he and the room almost seemed to grow.
Marinette gasped in fright as she realized she was the one shrinking. Her beloved nutcracker had disappeared, leaving Marinette alone to fear about how the toys and animatronics in their boxes were growing to be twice her size. When it finally stopped, Marinette was no bigger than a small, baby mouse that was surrounded by all of the toys around the tree. Grandfather Fu was nowhere to be seen; neither was the answer to Marinette's problem.
Hey Readers! Here is my two part Christmas Special. I felt like just writing a simple story; one without much of a plot. I hope you liked reading this nice little short story. The second, and last part will be published tomorrow. Please leave a comment, follow, or favorite if you wish. Hope you have a great holiday with your family. Until I write again, TTFN!
