December 10th - "Decorating"

Chat Noir chased after his lady in high spirits. He had a Santa hat on his head, mistletoe on the end of his tail (just in case!), and a song on his lips as they flew over the rooftops. But this wasn't just any patrol. They'd already delivered toys to the children's hospital, cookies and sweets to the police station, and now they had been tasked with finishing up the decorations on the enormous tree in the town square and lighting it up.

This was gonna be awesome.

"Hey, my lady," he called as they finally made it to the town square. "I bet I can hang up more garland than you!"

Ladybug grinned at him from beneath her own Santa hat. "You're on, kitty!"

Chat ended up losing spectacularly, mostly because Ladybug was just so amazing. (The fact that he'd gotten distracted by the shiny tinsel in the garland he was supposed to be hanging up was totally beside the point—and no, he was not tangled up in it—he could get himself out just fine—ok, please, my lady, help me, it's caught on my tail! Ow, ow, ow….)

By the time he was finally free, a crowd had started to gather. The two superheroes grinned at each other and took turns doing acrobatics and other showy moves as they finished the decorations, resulting in cheers and applause that made their cheeks redder than they already were.

Unfortunately, during one of their final moves, they miscommunicated somehow, and ended up crashing spectacularly into each other, midair. Even better, when they landed, Chat's bad luck caught up with him in full force, and he smashed into the generator that had been intended to run the lights of the big tree. The crowd surged forward, anxious to make sure that their superheroes were okay, which they were, of course. The Miraculous armor was very useful. But neither of them felt any better when they heard the mayor's horrified gasp at the mess they'd made.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Mayor," Ladybug said, wincing as she helped her partner to his feet. "We'll help clean it up—"

"Oh, don't worry, Ladybug," Chloe interjected, for once coming to the rescue. "We'll just get another one. Right, Daddy?"

"R-right, my sweet," he said, hesitantly. "But I'm afraid we'll have to cancel the festivities for tonight at least. There's no way to get a replacement in time."

All around, the crowd groaned and grumbled and booed. People had been looking forward to this for weeks! Especially with the two superheroes leading the ceremony. Chat watched as Ladybug's shoulders drooped and quickly determined to cheer her up.

"Aww, don't be sad, Bugaboo," he said jauntily. "Maybe all we need is a Lucky Charm…?" he indicated the yo-yo at her hip.

"I don't think it works like that, Chat," she said, biting her lip.

"Worth a shot, though, right?" he insisted, "after all, 'tis the season for hope. And joy. And miracles." He winked at her. She smiled weakly back.

"Guess there's nothing to do but try," she finally said. She threw up her yo-yo. "Lucky Charm!"

Chat blinked at the tiny object that fell into her hand. Okay, not entirely what he was going for… He'd been hoping for a tool, or spare part, or maybe even a replacement generator, but what they got was….

"A lighter?" Ladybug said, with an air of disbelief.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Chloe asked disdainfully, "set the tree on fire?" The crowd started laughing. Ladybug looked around, her anxiety obviously increasing as more and more people jokingly offered suggestions.

"Don't worry, my lady," Chat said bracingly, "I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"That's just it, Chat," Ladybug said softly, "I've got nothing! No ideas! I… I think the stress of this season is getting to me," she finally admitted. Chat blinked and realized just how tired his lady looked. Before he could open his mouth, though, her yo-yo shot out and she gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm gonna go think for a bit," she said, her eyes shining with tears, "maybe something will come to me."

She flew away before Chat could say anything.

End.

A/N: (Cringes.) I am so sorry, but not sorry. This has been your friendly neighborhood Chicken, reminding you that all may not go according to plan this Christmas season (these past couple of days have shown me this in excess). Remember to breathe.

(Don't worry, I'm planning on continuing this one later...)