Marinette sipped the last of her chocolat chaud as she peered out the window of her room.
The softest flurries of snow fell like weighty feathers, clumsily wafting down through the skies to dust the windows and the ground below. It wasn't likely to be anything that would stick around for long, but at least this Christmas was shaping up to a festive one.
It was Christmas Eve night, late enough that many children—and more than a few hopeful parents—had already fallen asleep.
Her own parents certainly had.
She smiled, bundling up a bit before she transformed. Tikki was freshly fed from the little plate they'd nominally still set out for Santa—tradition, her parents had insisted—and ready to go.
After the red light washed over her, Ladybug wound an extra scarf around her neck and grabbed the satchel she'd made specially some years ago to carry the tiny gift without dragging her back as she whisked across the skies of Paris.
Millions of lights traced across the skyline. Far more than usual for this time of year.
But she was rushing towards the biggest beacon of them all.
Traffic was far lighter than she'd expected. With the added hush of the new-fallen snow, it was a little jarring.
It was a fairly Silent Night; but she was certain her Kitty would fix that.
She smirked as she swooped into landing on one of the lower rungs of the Eiffel Tower.
Chat Noir hadn't kept her waiting long.
She hadn't expected just how much she'd been anticipating his arrival. Not until she'd spotted him on his baton, vaulting over the rooftops. Not until she'd bounced on the balls of her feet.
And despite all the wind whipping about her face, she really hadn't been feeling the cold.
When she was sure he had gotten close enough to spot her, Ladybug aimed her yo-yo up, darting further up the tower, onto one of the beams where only they could safely reach.
"Good evening, m'Lady." He landed into a half bow.
He was wearing the old scarf she'd made him the year before, she noticed.
Smiling fondly, she handed handed Chat his gift. She'd gone a little overboard on the wrapping. Even a ribbon with hand written puns he'd be proud of…
Chat tore the paper slowly, just as carefully as his claws might ever allow. If he could save that wrapping, he was going to...
He looked up, shocked. Gently, he lifted the soft fabric up for inspection, marveling over even the smallest of details. There were soft knit claws at the edge of his finger tips. The palms had paw beans reminiscent of those at the bottom of his boots.
"You made this, Bugaboo?"
"I did." She grinned, entirely satisfied. "For some silly reason, there's just not enough Chat Noir gear out there."
He wanted to cry, jaw dropping in undisguised awe. As Chat Noir (and as his model self), he'd gotten dozens of handmade gifts over the years. But the special detail and attention she had always put in… never failed to amaze him.
In fact, the only work that had ever even come close had been from Marinette.
"You had mentioned how cold it was at your new place. Maybe you can't always wear them outside… but it would keep you from freezing there. Especially considering how slim you are…"
Chat hugged her, clearly ecstatic, but doing his best not to be too flirty.
She beamed up at him as he pulled away.
Beaming, he pulled a tiny card out from his suit pocket. "Then I'm sure I got you the right thing!"
Ladybug peered down at the card he'd placed in her gloved hands. "What's this?"
Chat Noir chuckled. "You're not the easiest Lady to buy for you know, especially with these masks keeping so much hidden. But I figured with as creative as you are, a gift card for an art supplies store wouldn't go wrong."
She laughed at that. "That is definitely a good option."
They rushed around the rooftops together for a little while longer, partly just to stay warm. Ladybug and Chat Noir lingered, side by side on the warmest rooftop they could find.
"Did you ever figure out your plans for the holiday?" Ladybug asked, hovering close to him for the warmth.
Chat Noir smiled. "It's not going to be as lonely as I'd feared."
"Oh?" She smiled secretly. She blinked guilelessly. "I know you've said it can get a little rough at this time of year…"
"Maybe." Her kitty blushed, winding the scarf neatly around his neck… but not before she'd spotted the rise of pink on his cheeks.
She chuckled softly, hiding her curved lips behind her own scarf.
Of course, that drew his gaze. He was quiet for far longer than she'd come to expect from him, but eventually he spoke up. "You have plans, too?"
Mmmhmm," she murmured.
"Oh…" Chat Noir was clearly a little surprised, but thankfully not as pouty as he used to be.
Her smile widened, and she leaned against his shoulder, looking out at the twinkling lights. "There's this guy… he kind of surprised me." Her eyes darted to his, careful not to let herself betray too much of her feelings. "Honestly, I didn't think I was going to be as fond of him as I have been. But I think he's kind of grown on me."
Chat Noir's green eyes widened as he stood beside her, his taller form positioned just so to block the brunt of the now rapidly falling snow. A sweet smile tugged at his lips. "I'm happy for you, Bugaboo."
She beamed at him, gently knocking her shoulder against his playfully. "I am too…"
Early the next morning, Adrien stopped in to celebrate Christmas with his old bodyguard and his family. The larger man was still as silent as ever, but you wouldn't have noticed with the boisterous little ones running around the house.
Out from under his father's thumb, it seemed that they both were allowed to be far happier.
The Gorilla (he couldn't entirely call him anything else in his own mind, even after all these years), smiled fondly upon his family, swooping and scooping up the tiny toddler who was just about to crash into a wall before disaster struck.
When it came time to open presents, Adrien had two cards. One from the Gorilla himself - a picture of him beaming with his new family.
And then, there had been a message from Nathalie. Adrien sighed, going quiet as he read over it. At least he knew his Father wouldn't be entirely alone. Nathalie was there with him, wearing her matching monitoring anklet.
Adrien winced. He was still due to drive out and visit the pair of them nearer to the end of the winter break. That was a troubling thought...
But the moment his old bodyguard placed a comforting, hulking hand on his shoulder, Adrien knew he wouldn't be driving out there by himself.
Wearily, Adrien trudged back through the snow to his flat a little bit after noon, only to find a message from Nino that Marinette was supposed to stop over later that evening. He tried to throw together something nice from the limits of their fridge.
In a panic, he rushed around the apartment, scrambling to clean everything up all in one go. Of course, he'd only been living outside of the mansion for a short while, and the entirety of his cleaning knowledge had been gleaned by watching Nino and Alya over the past few months; it could only take him so far...
With a little extra cheesy inducement, Plagg had helped. A little.
By the time Alya and Nino got back in around the middle of the afternoon, he was desperately trying—and failing—to clean up a storm.
The laundry was done (but unfolded). The dishes were drying. The counters and table were washed. Adrien had the broom out and swept the hardwood floors.
Not that the piles of books and mail—and other junk they had managed to accumulate—were staying neat and tidy before he could scoop them all up.
Alya simply grinned at the sight before her, taking a bit of pity on him. She marched over to the fridge, quickly taking stock. "I'm going to stop past at Mom's. She mentioned we could take some leftovers off her hands. She always makes enough to feed an Army. Well, Nora at least..."
She pressed a quick kiss to Nino's cheek and headed back out into the snow.
Meanwhile, Nino rolled up his sleeves and dove in, right beside him.
By early evening, Adrien and Nino's apartment was warm. Of course, the stove was running hot, warming a bit of the extra food from Alya's mother and running the kettle for tea.
When Marinette finally knocked at the door, she arrived with a bag of pastries in one hand, and her bag of presents in the other. Her parents had practically insisted upon it; they'd been feeding all four of them for so long, it must have seemed second nature to them.
Shuffling the bags into one hand, Marinette rang the buzzer.
Alya practically knocked her over at the door, as the boys both headed out to greet her.
Nino hugged her first, once Alya stepped aside. "Hey, Marinette!"
"Hey!" She beamed, bags still hanging from her hands and knocking into his shoulders.
Adrien smiled, offering his arms out for a hug as Nino took the bags from her hands.
He might not have hugged her first, but he was definitely angling to hug her the longest. The one evening cuddled together on the couch had barely seemed long enough. "How was your Christmas?"
"Good!" Marinette confirmed. "My parents decided to spoil me a little bit…"
After they'd all had a glass of wine, they each started to pass around their gifts.
Adrien had been far too generous to her, bringing her a few out of print design and sample remnant books from his Father's collection. Not that his Father would be using them much anymore, but it couldn't have been easy for him to go through the belongings that hadn't traveled out to the countryside and figure out what might be nice for her.
Alya gave Adrien his gift. He tore open the paper, only to blush furiously. He stashed it back in the paper, flaming red to the tips of his ears. He stammered a hasty thanks, before stealing out of the room to hide it away.
Marinette looked between Alya and Nino suspiciously. "Alya…" she warned.
Alya cackled merrily. Nino looked close to crying with stifled laughter.
"It seems Adrien is a pretty big Ladybug fan." She smirked, in explanation. "I just gave him a collage of all the best shots from this year, including their appearance for the Christmas lighting ceremony.
Marinette flushed. "Oh…"
Alya couldn't know that wasn't actually Ladybug there.
Oh, no… She gnawed at her lip, mulling the seriously smug expression on her best friend's face. Alya definitely did know. And she was definitely up to something.
Marinette sighed. Even as she'd lost hope, Alya never had. But it seemed anything with Adrien had long ago been clear to be a hopeless case.
She handed over her package to Alya, a sweater she'd knitted in an array of deep muted jewel tones that would compliment her natural coloring. Nino was opening up his own gift when Adrien finally thought it was safe to come back out of his room.
She'd hand stitched a pair of black leather gloves for Adrien, and tried not to blush horribly at the winning, heartfelt smile he gave her, and ignore the dodgy things it was doing to her heart.
"Girl!" Alya gasped, her fingers tracing over the chevron pattern woven into the body of her new sweater. "This is amazing! How long did it take?"
Marinette shrugged. "A few weeks. It was tougher to find the right yarns."
Alya flushed prettily, carefully tugging the sweater over her head.
Marinette was about to fuss about the way Alya was handling the sleeves and stretching… until a gleam caught the corner of Marinette's eye.
"Holy cow, Alya!" Marinette yelped. "Apparently, I wasn't the only one who got spoiled."
Alya snickered, letting her best friend tug her hand and get a better view of the fairly large ring on her hand, along with an intricate pattern of henna.
Marinette's brows furrowed. "When were you going to tell me?"
Alya's laugh grew louder. "Now, of course. Nino proposed on Christmas Eve…"
Nino chuckled. "Well, that was in front of her family. I actually did it the night before first."
Alya chuckled. "Etta and Ella were too sad they'd missed it. And earlier today, his cousins insisted on getting a bit of practice on the henna for the real wedding."
Marinette bit her lip, she might have been a little more offended if Adrien hadn't appeared equally as shocked. He definitely must not have noticed the ring.
Not that he was the greatest at subtle hints.
Or the not-so-subtle ones.
"Look how gorgeous this is!" Marinette gushed over Alya's ring. She grew silent, in astonished awe over the colors. "It's such a pretty reddish-orange. Oh, and the way the stones beside it are a little lighter just gives it such a subtle radiance. You did a really good job, Nino!"
Nino flushed.
"I mean, I think so," Alya chuckled, closing the distance between herself and her fiance. "But I'm a bit biased…"
Adjusting his cap to hide the growing flush on his face, Nino coughed. "It was a family ring. Though I did want to get a new stone setting for Alya, something that would make it more hers. I don't really know anything about the stones… the jeweler said it was some kind of sapphire, but the color was what sold me..."
Marinette beamed, her eyes meeting Adrien's fond gaze for only a moment. He'd been watching her. "You did a great job, Nino. I'm only a little sad I didn't hear earlier."
Alya cajoled. "Well, it wasn't like I was able to reach you the other night."
Marinette paled. "Sorry. I got busy."
She was silent, but the meaningful eyebrow lift from Alya coupled with a sly smirk spoke volumes.
"Alya!" Marinette groused, her nose wrinkling up in distaste. Her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned back into the couch. "You know that's not what I meant. My last shift just ran a little long."
"Well, I hope you got overtime to stick around for so long..."
A secret smile curved her lips. "I think it was worth it…"
Alya grinned. "I hope so. I'd hate to think my Maid of Honor wasn't getting absolutely everything she deserved."
Marinette gaped at her, bouncing up onto her feet with all the unrestrained excitement she'd ever had when they'd first met. "Really?"
"Of course, girl!" She smirked, noting that she wasn't the only one who'd noticed. "There's no one else I'd trust more with the job."
Not long after Marinette headed back out into the snow, Alya and Nino retreated back to his room.
She didn't dare to speak—or really, to snicker—until he'd pulled the door fully closed.
"Alright," Nino glanced at her, curious. "What's up?"
Alya smirked smugly. "I think your Best Man was eyeing my Maid of Honor more than the Christmas present I put together for him…"
"Go to sleep, Adrien." Plagg groused, his tiny head nestled in the pillow.
Adrien sighed. He'd tried.
Tried and failed utterly.
His mind just kept replaying the highlight of his night on endless loop. Marinette had the sweetest expressions on her face when she started to talk (in only the vaguest terms) about their night locked in the store together.
He had never been so glad to be sitting down at the time; his heart couldn't really handle much more.
But even now, his heart was still racing enough that sleep had proven elusive.
Adrien sighed, reaching out for the phone on the side table. Maybe he could play a mindless game for a bit and convince his brain to shut down for the night?
He hadn't expected to see an email notification.
From LuckiestCharm
Adrien bit his lip, barely stopped himself from giggling. He sat up in bed, eyes straying over to the bedside table, where a very familiar string of beads nestled in a small box of keepsakes on top of his dresser. How was it possible Marinette was this cute?
'Hello! Are we still on meet up tomorrow?'
Adrien's fingers flew across the keys before he'd even thought much about it, popping over the chat function of the email service. 'Of course.'
She had been typing for a while. Stopping and starting… and erasing it all.
He frowned down at the phone. 'Did you have a particular cafe in mind?"
She didn't make him wait as long this time. 'About that… We've been pretending at being the heroes of Paris, right?'
'Right…' His brows furrowed. Where was she going with this?
'So...I was thinking. What better place to meet than up there?'
'Up there…' Adrien puzzled, frowning down at his screen...until inspiration landed. His eyes widened. 'You mean up on the Eiffel Tower?'
'Yep. Maybe up on the observation deck?'
When he could finally manage to breathe again, Adrien responded.
'I wouldn't miss it for the world, m'Lady.'
'I'm glad. :) See you soon, Kitty!'