"That was..."

"Yeah..."

Silence again.

"I guess we should come back tomorrow then?"

Marinette nodded.

"I think we should just go to bed for now. There's nothing else we can do. I'll walk you home."

"There's no need for that," he said. "I don't want you going out of your way."

They started walking.

"No, I wanted to talk to you anyway."

"Oh?"

The compound, while completely enclosed, had the look of a normal village. There were houses and shops, cobblestone streets lit up with lamps and an open sky above them. Through the invisible magical barrier the stars twinkled in the inky black with wispy, barely-there clouds drifting lazily across. At this time, most of the elves were home and the warm yellow glow from the windows spilling on to the snow created an idyllic hallmark scene.

"I... I wanted to tell you I'm sorry." She looked straight ahead as they walked side by side.

"Oh, um, what for?"

She stopped and faced him.

"I should have been training you, looking after you, making sure you fit in but... honestly? I never really wanted to do that. I didn't want to be your babysitter and I was annoyed that I had to so I haven't treated you the way I should have. I kind of... abandoned you and that was wrong."

Adrien rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh well, you know, I wasn't really looking for a babysitter."

Marinette slapped her hand over her face.

"I know! And I shouldn't have thought about you like that. This wasn't about you, it was about me. But you're a nice guy, Adrien and I'm going to make sure you have the North Pole welcome you deserve."

Adrien smiled, one dimple pulling in his cheek.

"That's really nice of you, Marinette, but you know, Nino has already given me quite an introduction to the place."

She pouted slightly, crossing her arms.

"Okay, well at least let me treat you to a hot chocolate and a croissant at my parents patisserie."

They were nearly back to his room now.

"Your parents have a patisserie?" he said. "How do they have the time for that?"

They stopped outside his door.

"Oh, Maman and Papa love to bake. It's like a hobby to them. They don't get much chance this time of year but they get involved when they can and I help out as well. So how about it? Tomorrow morning, eight o'clock?"

"Okay, great! It's a date."

"D-date?"

"See you tomorrow, Marinette," he called, waving as he disappeared inside.

A tide of red washed over her face. She pressed her palms to her hot cheeks.

"Did he say 'date'?"

Adrien was already there when she arrived. He brightened when he saw her, smiling and waving.

"Hey, Marinette!"

She picked up the pace then nearly collided with him when she tripped. He reached out his hands, his grip strong but gentle on her shoulders.

Flailing, she stepped back again, snapping rigidly upright. Pink tinged her cheeks.

"Adrien, uh, hi morning! Um, no... good hey! I-I mean..."

He smiled good naturedly.

"Shall we?" He offered his elbow for her to take and she stared at it for a moment before reaching out and tucking her hand into it.

"Yeah, okay, let's go in."

They entered the patisserie, the bell above the door jingling merrily. An elf – Rose – popped up from behind the counter, her smile bright.

"Hi! Marinette, it's so good to see you! And you must be Adrien. I've heard to much about you. Wow! You really are very handsome. It's so cool that you've come to join us."

Adrien approached the counter, his eyes wide as saucers as he took in the sweet treats before him.

"Adrien, this is Rose. She's um Juleka's..."

Rose's smile tightened then relaxed again, sadder, smaller.

"Juleka's my girlfriend."

"Oh, I... I'm so sorry."

Rose waved away his concern.

"It's okay. Thank you. I try to keep busy. And I believe that she'll be back. Soon. I..." -tears started to well up in her eyes - "I miss her. I love her so much. But she's out there, I can feel it. And I know she misses me too. She'll be back in time for Christmas, I just know it."

Marinette marvelled at her strength and certainty. There weren't many who would still be smiling. Her hope was palpable.

"So, what can I get for you two? Out on a date?"

And just like that Marinette was flustered again.

"Oh, no... I mean it's not... we're not..."

"Marinette tells me this is the best patisserie in the North Pole so I just had to try it. What would you recommend?"

Ten minutes later they were sat in a corner booth with two large mugs of thick hot chocolate with lashings of whipped cream and a plateful of macarons to share.

Adrien looked just like the cat that got the cream. He hummed happily to himself as he took a large sip of his drink. When he put it down Marinette laughed.

"You've got a bit..." She gestured at his face, covering her laughter with her other hand.

He licked the cream off of his lips, sharing in her laughter but some still clung to the corner of his mouth. She reached her hand across.

"You've missed a bit just... ah." Her hand dropped away before she touched his face. He picked up a napkin and wiped it away.

"Thanks."

"I'm glad you came today, Adrien, I'd really like to get to know you better. What do you like to do for fun?"

Adrien smiled happily.

"Well, I really enjoy fencing. My parents were always keen for me to develop a lot of skills so they put me into private tutoring. I also learned piano, Chinese, Japanese, Morse code... ah..." he trailed of at Marinette's look of astonishment.

"Wow, that's incredible. You must be pretty smart to. It's not just anyone who can be filtered into mechanics, you know?"

The tips of Adrien's ears turned red and he ruffled the back of his hair.

"Oh well, I mean, it's really not that impressive. Not like you. You can do everything around here. Plus your designs are amazing. When I was modelling... what?"

Marinette stifled her giggles again and bit her lip.

"No, no, it's nothing, just... of course you're a model as well. How can you not be? You're gorgeous."

Adrien blushed harder. "You think I'm gorgeous?"

Marinette's eyes widened and she waved her hands about desperately.

"Ah no, I mean, well yeah, objectively like I'm sure some people think you're handsome because you have that whole symmetrical face thing going on and the eyes and smile and stuff but I, you know, I think you're not horrible to look at."

They both looked away.

"So... um, what about you, Marinette? What do you like to do when you're not designing or training to become the next Santa?"

Marinette brightened and soon they were in a full blown discussion about the pros and cons of various gaming consoles, which Ultimate Mecha Strike was the best and who would win if they were to compete against each other.

They sat chatting, oblivious to the passage of time. The chiming of the clock announced the hour and they both jumped.

"It's time for you to go," Marinette said, pushing up out of her chair. He stood as well, grabbing one last macaron. "I'll walk you to mechanics."

It wasn't far but by the time they got there it had started to rain.

"Oh shoot. I didn't bring an... umbrella..." As she spoke Adrien pulled an umbrella out, opening it and handing it to her. "Oh, um... thanks."

Adrien nodded.

"I'm glad we're friends, Marinette. I was worried about settling in here at the North Pole but you've made it easier for me."

"Friends," she echoed.

Suddenly the umbrella closed around her. Embarrassed, she peeked out from beneath it to see Adrien laughing. It was beautiful, lighting up his entire face. His laughter was infectious. She giggled, righting the umbrella.

"See you later, Marinette." And with a small wave, he went inside the building.

"Friends," she said again to herself wistfully before she turned and walked away.