The Perfect Gift
Hey all! Welcome to day three of my Christmas Countdown!
I originally started writing the prompt for tomorrow before I realised that it was actually the third. I almost accidentally skipped today. But it's alright. It's here now! :)
Prompt: Secret Santa
...
The Secret Santa the class had organised that year was due to be finished and all the gifts bought by the last day of the term but Adrien still hadn't found the perfect gift for Marinette, whose name he had gotten when they first started, and there was no more than a week left of school. He had been trying to decide what to give her since they began. He wanted to give her the best present he could find. Something special to show how important she was to him. And it was a lot harder than he expected.
Because he recently found out that his princess was also his lady. He hadn't meant to find out. It was an accident. But he knew now and there was no changing that.
He was planning on getting her a special gift and presenting it to her as Chat Noir to tell her that he knew and to apologise for finding out when he shouldn't have. The problem was, Adrien had absolutely no idea what to get her. Sure he could just get her some designing supplies, but that was so general. Besides, she would most likely be getting some of that sort of stuff from her family and other friends anyway. His present had to be different. And so he began his quest to find the perfect Christmas present for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, his lady.
...
It was the next day and Adrien hadn't made any progress with deciding what to give to Marinette. He sighed to himself as hopped in the car to go home at the end of the day. He had tried to talk to Marinette today, to see if he could get any ideas, but she had only managed to get a few sentences out before she ducked her head and ran off. It was usually like that whenever she was around him. She would turn red, stammer something out then leave as quickly as possible or hide behind Alya.
He wondered if he intimidated her in some way. She always acted oddly around him.
She didn't hate him, right? He didn't know if he'd be able to bear it if she did.
As soon as he got home, Adrien went straight up to his room. Chucking his bag down, he flopped onto his bed. "Plagg," he groaned. "What do I get Marinette for Christmas?"
Plagg rolled his eyes, flying out of Adrien's shirt pocket. "Why are you asking me? You know her better than I do."
"I was hoping you might have some helpful advice but I guess not."
"Well if I could have some camembert I might be able to think of something."
Adrien scoffed, but couldn't help but smile at his kwami. "I'll get you some camembert you pig. Just think about it while I get it."
He ran out of the room, leaving his kwami floating lazily in the air. A minute later, he was back holding a plate with a lovely big chunk of camembert. He set it down on his desk and Plagg immediately dived for it. "Do you have any ideas yet?" He asked eagerly as soon as the kwami had finished eating.
"No. But have you thought about doing some window shopping until you find something?" Plagg suggested.
Adrien beamed. "That's a great idea. Maybe I'll see something that will be perfect for Marinette. Thanks Plagg."
"Yeah I know, I'm a genius." The kwami said sarcastically, although he was secretly pleased that he had been able to help his chosen.
Adrien grabbed his bag off the floor. "Come on Plagg, we'll go right now!"
Plagg sighed. "Do we have to go right now?" He grumbled, but flew over to Adrien's bag anyway.
...
Adrien was strolling along the street, peering into every shop window as he passed. So far, he hadn't found anything except a lovely little fabric shop Marinette would probably like to visit. He had seen a couple of his other classmates hurrying around, probably also trying to find gifts for their Secret Santa recipient.
He hummed softly to himself as he walked along. It would probably be getting dark soon and he would have to head home even if he hadn't found anything.
Adrien had zoned out a bit as he moved along and he almost missed the delicate flash of silver he saw from one of the shops. Curious, but also drawn to the bright colours inside, Adrien entered the store. He headed towards where he saw the silver from outside and found a necklace with a tiny little charm, tucked behind some of the other bigger, gaudier necklaces.
It was subtle, but gorgeous. But the thing that caught his eye was the little pendant dangling from the chain. It was a cute little silver Ladybug, carefully crafted and inlaid with two tiny red gems on the wings. He grinned to himself. It was the perfect way to tell his lady that he had found out her identity. And it was definitely something Marinette would like, even if she reacted badly to him knowing who she was.
"That's a special one." The shop owner said from behind him and Adrien whirled around in surprise. "It was handcrafted by my father. He loved ladybugs. Perhaps you are thinking of giving it to a special lady?" When Adrien only blinked in surprise, the elderly man smiled kindly. "I'll leave you to make your choice then. I'll be right over there if you decide to purchase the necklace. But I'm sure whoever it is for will love it."
As soon the the man was out of earshot again, Plagg floated out of Adrien's pocket. "You should get it."
Adrien poked his kwami back out of plain sight. "Why are you so eager for me to get this now?" He asked.
"One, so we can go home and you'll stop complaining about not knowing what to get her and two, this was made by a past Chat Noir for his Ladybug. It's only fitting if you get it know and pass it on to your Ladybug."
Adrien stared in surprise at his kwami. "How did you know that?"
"I never forget a past miraculous holder." Was all Plagg said. "Are you going to get it or not?"
Glancing at the necklace again, Adrien made up his mind. Plagg disappeared into his pocket again as Adrien slipped the chain off of the display and carried it over to the counter. The man gave him a bright smile, as he took the necklace to put it in its box. "I thought you'd get it. You made a good choice."
Adrien could only nod as the shop owner wrapped his purchase up and put it in a bag for him, passing it back to him. "Have a lovely day young sir. And do come back to tell me how the special lady reacted to the gift."
"I will, thank you sir." Adrien said as he left the store.
...
It was the last day of term and Adrien had Marinette's gift ready. He had decided to get some pretty fabric and a few other bits and pieces from the little fabric store he had found and give it to her in class since she would most likely be opening it and for some reason, he didn't want Alya or anyone else seeing him give his special present for her. That was just for him and his lady to know. He had included a little note with the fabric saying merry Christmas and telling her that the gift she got in class was only part one.
When it came time to exchange gifts, Adrien handed the package over to Marinette with a smile, ignoring Alya snickering and nudging her best friend's side, obviously communicating something to her because Marinette turned pink and pushed her away. Then she turned to him. "Thanks Adrien." She managed to get out.
He grinned. "No problem M-" he caught himself before he could call her his lady. "Marinette. I hope you like it."
As soon as all the presents were exchanged, Miss Bustier announced that they could open them if they wished. Most people went to open theirs, except Chloe, who rolled her eyes and stuck the gift in her bag, not giving it another glance.
Adrien could feel Marinette's confusion as she read the note he had included. Both him and Nino turned to face the girls and talk to him. Marinette met his eyes and held up the note. "Part one?" She mouthed, clearly confused.
He nodded with a bright grin. "You'll see later."
...
It later that day, when the sun had set, Adrien transformed and headed out as Chat Noir to a certain princess's house. It didn't take him long to arrive and he landed gently on her balcony.
Chat Noir tapped on her trapdoor then hopped nervously from foot to foot, waiting for her to open it. Her gift was held behind his back, carefully out of sight. Was she even in her room? A few seconds passed then the trapdoor opened and Marinette poked her head out. "Chat Noir? What are you doing here?" She seemed surprised but pleasantly happy to see him. That was a good sign, he thought to himself.
"Hey Princess, can I come in?" He asked.
She nodded and moved out of the way. He swung down into her room, still holding his arms behind his back. "What are you doing here, Chat?" She asked again.
"I'm here to deliver part two, Princess."
Confusion crossed over her face at his words. "Part... two?" She frowned slightly, trying to make sense of his words.
He nodded and brought his arms out from behind him, presenting her with a small, beautifully wrapped box. A red and green ribbon, to represent him and his lady, was wrapped around the box. She took it, blinking in surprise. "You didn't have to get me a present, Chat." She told him as she opened it.
He didn't say anything to that, simply watching as she lifted the lid. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the necklace nestled against the little cushion inside. He could see her trying to work something out. He placed a hand over hers. "As I said, part two of your gift earlier and," he paused, taking a deep breath. "I just wanted to tell you that I accidentally found out you were Ladybug a few weeks ago and I'm sorry."
Her eyes snapped to his when he released his transformation. They were wide open, staring at him in surprise. She opened her mouth a couple of times but couldn't manage to actually say anything. Adrien wondered whether that was a good or bad thing. Eventually she glanced down at the necklace and a smile spread over her face. "You're Chat Noir." She finally said.
He nodded. "Yeah." He had just detransformed in front of her, of course he was Chat Noir. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Are you- are you disappointed?" He asked.
"Disappointed?" She echoed.
"Y-yeah. I mean, you don't really seem to like me as Adrien and you always run away from me and well-" his rambling was cut off by her soft laugh.
She stared at him almost disbelievingly. "I don't hate you. I... well, I-" she glanced away shyly. "I actually have a crush on you, that's why." She whispered.
He gaped at her. "Really?"
When she nodded, a wide grin split his face and he scooped her up in a tight hug, laughing. "I can't believe my lady actually does like me after all." He murmured.
He felt absurdly happy now he knew Marinette also liked him and didn't hate him for finding out who she was, or for revealing himself to her. He pulled away and gestured to the necklace. "Can I?"
She nodded and passed it to him. He slipped it around her neck gently and clasped it at the back. She turned back to face him with a small smile. "Merry Christmas, Mon Chaton."
"Merry Christmas, My Lady."
...
Christmas fluff doesn't need any angst!
And yeah, I did the almost cliche necklace gift. I was quite stuck with this story and couldn't really think of anything else. But then I got carried away and this story ended up being longer than I expected.
And in case you were wondering, each day will be a specific Christmassy prompt which is on my tumblr (alwaysinstoryland. tumblr. com) if you'd like to check it out and see what prompts I'll be doing for the rest of this countdown.
Christmas countdown question: Do you set up a Christmas tree? When do you set it up?
Also really unimportant thing: I'm kinda happy because I kept accidentally doing alliteration in this without meaning to... which no one really needed to know but I wanted to say it anyway. :)