Forty-Seven: Mistletoe Musings

Author's Note: I'm in a holiday mood, so a few weeks of Christmas cheer as Chat and Marinette make plans to celebrate together – for any Christmas with her is better than the alternative.

It was a few weeks from Christmas, and I was in the final throes of the semester, studying for finals. Normally, I'd have been ensconced over at the Bakery with Marinette, but she seemed to think I'd be a bit distracting for some reason and had sweetly asked me to hold off from visiting until finals were over. I'd been quite bummed, actually, but she had softened the blow with a massive care package of goodies from the Bakery and a promise I could spend as much time as I wanted there once school was out for the remainder of the year.

Plagg was perched on my desk, munching on his cheese and looking over my calculus notes. For reasons he kept to himself, he appeared to be a master of the subject. While he'd been rather evasive when pressed on how he'd gained his knowledge, I'd managed to get enough out of him that led me to believe he may have actually known Isaac Newton. It reminded me once more that I was but one in a long, long line of Miraculous holders, making me vow that someday I'd get my trusty kwami to divulge who had come before me.

Math was one of my stronger subjects, so his rapid-fire questions to see if I recalled this formula or that derivative had been fairly straightforward. Where it had become tricky was when he'd begun dropping problems on me; they'd started easy but had become amazingly difficult. As I tossed my stylus on the desk and rubbed my eyes after solving the final one, I groaned when I realized I'd spent more than two hours on it.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked down at my tiny feline tutor. "That last one was devious," I said.

Plagg was leaning over my tablet and nodding. "Not intentionally," he murmured. "But congratulations! You've successfully landed on the moon."

"What?" I said, startled.

"It was a beauty of a problem," he smiled as he settled back on top of my computer speaker. "My holder at the time worked at NASA in Houston. She was brilliant."

I stared at him. "Wait, what?"

"They didn't have computers like you know them back then," he said. "It took a team of people to figure out how to shape the math so it would work with the mainframe; that problem you just solved? It stumped some of the best minds for weeks."

I continued to stare at him. "Your holder... was a woman?" I asked.

Plagg rolled his eyes. "That's what you're focusing on?"

"I just assumed-"

"Incorrectly," Plagg laughed. "Okay, ready for the next round?"

"I need a break," I said, looking at him meaningfully.

My kwami rolled his eyes again. "Seriously? Most kids your age just play a video game to relax."

I arched my eyebrow. "I'm not 'most kids,'" I reminded him.

"You need a hobby Adrien. Why can't you bake, like Marinette?"

"What a great idea," I said, smiling a Chat smile at him.

Plagg's eyes went wide. "That's not-"

"Plagg - claws out!"

As the wave of transformation washed over me, Plagg protested all the way into the ring; I tried not to smile, for he was correct in surmising I was off to the Bakery. I knew I needed a break, and I was certain my Princess did, too. When the green glow faded, I pushed back from my desk and leapt over my couch, landing in the open window.

And there I paused; usually, as Chat, I generally had a more flexible outlook on rules than my alter-ego, so dashing off to visit with Marinette would firmly have been in-bounds for me. But as I had grown into my role, and grown into my relationship with Ladybug, I had to admit I was becoming a more responsible feline. She'd asked me to let her have some study time, and as much as I wanted to breach that request, I needed to respect that.

I dropped my head as I perched on the windowsill, tapping my tail thoughtfully against the wall. It wasn't unheard of for Chat to visit my best friend, Nino; without calling ahead, though, he was likely to be with Alya, and I had no desire to be a third wheel, superhero or not. And though I'd become closer with Luka, it felt wrong to pop in unannounced – especially as Chat; as I went further down the list of my friends, I realized just about everyone was probably studying, or with someone already and didn't need an overgrown cat underfoot.

For once, I found myself suited up with no place to go.

I cast a long glance back at my desk and the waiting calculus, balanced out the equation in my feline brain and then turned to leap out into the evening. A quick spin around my favorite stops in Paris wouldn't take more than an hour, and I knew I'd feel refreshed enough to tackle the final items I needed to know cold before the final in the morning.

Halfway through my grand circle tour of the City of Lights, my feline hearing picked up a very particular ziiiing that had started to keep pace with me. Smiling to myself, I skipped the next stop on my itinerary and instead altered course for the Eiffel Tower. Putting some of that calculus to good use, I deftly used my final baton move to arc myself into the air, landing halfway up one of the four legs of the Tower. Leaping from beam to beam, I made short work of climbing into the aerie I'd discovered a long time ago; stowing my baton, I folded myself into my patented patient cat stance and waited.

I wasn't alone long, for the lithe figure of my partner swung up to the crossbeam I was on and landed gently next to me. "Hey kitty," she smiled as she sat down and snuggled in next to me. "Aren't you supposed to be studying?"

"I am," I replied as I wrapped a paw around her torso and slid her even closer. "But I fear Plagg has overworked my brain cells. I needed a break."

Ladybug nodded into my shoulder. "That's funny! Tikki's been helping me, too. I never thought to ask her before now about being a study buddy. Turns out, she's pretty good with history – seeing as though she's lived through most of it."

I laughed. "Plagg seems to have been around for some critical discoveries as well," I added. "But I think he secretly enjoys torturing me, especially with math problems." I looked at her sidelong. "I was desperate enough for a break that I nearly broke my promise to give you some peace and quiet."

Ladybug snuggled closer. "I'm proud of you for keeping to it, kitty," she said. "But you want the truth? As good as Tikki has been, I miss having you there, tapping your tail as you work through something." She sighed. "I thought your antics would keep me from focusing, but as it turns out, you're the perfect partner there, too. You know when to help keep me on track, and when," she laughed, "it's time to take a break."

"Especially for feeding time," I reminded her.

"Especially that," she agreed with a chuckle.

We sat for a bit looking at the sparkling city lights and my thoughts drifted back to my first Christmas as Chat and the near disaster with Santa Claus. "Do you think we'll see him again this year?" I asked Ladybug.

"Who?" she said, pulling herself out of her reverie.

"Santa."

She turned to me. "I don't know," she said honestly. "He does seem to get into trouble, though, so we should probably be ready."

"Twice now," I said. "And can I just admit to a smidge of jealousy that you were at the top of his list?"

Ladybug laughed. "I was just as surprised as you," she replied, "for until that moment, I didn't even think he was real."

"I didn't say I was surprised," I teased, "for you're at the top of all of my lists. Just jealous that you beat me."

"I beat you at a lot of things," she joshed.

"Video games don't count," I countered good naturedly. "But I will happily stipulate to being totally comfortable as number two."

Ladybug leaned up and tapped my bell. "You're number one on my list," she reminded me.

"And that's the only one I care about," I said as I tapped my masked nose to hers and then tasted her lips for a few moments.

Actually, it was longer than that, for when we finally pulled apart and looked at our respective phones, we'd been gone much more than the hour I'd originally planned on. Groaning as I put back my baton, I ruefully said: "I've got to get back. Calculus waits for no cat."

Ladybug sighed as she pulled away from me and we both stood. "New rule," she said as she readied her yo-yo. "After tomorrow's final, we study together."

My eyes narrowed with a smile. "I'm going to hold you to that, Milady."

"I would expect nothing less," she replied. "Also – you're coming for Christmas Day."

I blinked. "I'm what?"

"Coming. Brunch, presents, dinner. All day."

"With your family?" I blinked again. "Really?"

"Yes, silly kitty," she laughed as she ran a finger along my mask. "I'm well aware that Christmas will last less than ten seconds in the Agreste Mansion. I expect you to escape as soon as you can to join us."

I knew I was wearing a goofy smile. "Your wish is my command, Milady," I said. "And I can't tell you how much that means to me. Since my mother—"

"I know, kitty," she said softly. "It's time you had a true Christmas again."

I cocked my head. "Your parents are okay with a superhero coming for dinner?"

"It was my mother's idea in the first place."

"I knew I loved her," I gushed.

Ladybug smiled wider. "That settles it, then. I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Of course," I replied, still wearing my goofy grin; I was afraid that if I looked down, I'd see my boots were floating above the metal.

"Until then, Chaton," she breathed as she leaned in for a final kiss and then leapt off the tower.

I watched her polka-dotted form disappear into the night and leapt in the opposite direction, heart filled with joy and anticipation for the twenty-fifth of December. For even though it would be a brief period of time, I was going to be part of a family again – one that wanted me.

There were no words for how happy that made me feel.