"Oh, there he is!" A young Cat Noir told his best friend, Marinette. Mari just sighed. Cat had been a little naughty lately and she could figure out why. Maybe he was lonely, and wanted some attention. She wished he would just ask.
The Santa looked traditional, red suit, round belly and white beard. To Cat's surprise, his turn came faster then he thought it would.
Santa gave him a surprised look at Cat's wide grin, and very twitchy tail. "Now, what would you like for Christmas?" Santa asked. Cat thought for a moment. Santa chuckled and put his arm around Cat's shoulders. "I think what you need Cat Noir, is some Christmas Patience," he said.
Cat blinked in surprise. What was Christmas Patience? "You'll know when the right time comes," Santa said, as Cat slid off his lap.
Cat watched Mari talk to Santa next, thinking. "what did you ask for?" Cat asked, as they headed towards the entrance of the mall. "A new spool box. I really need one. Mine is old and its starting to splinter."
Cat nodded. Mari ran her own little sewing business and having the right tools was important. "Now, you keep away from my yarn ball tonight." She sounded a little annoyed, or a bit tired. Possibly both.
I was playing with it when she asked me not too. Maybe I should say I'm sorry, he thought. "Princess?" "yes?" "I-I'm sorry. Maybe I can help your father tonight. I know your busy," Cat said.
They were quiet the rest of the way home. When they got there, Cat went to help Tom (Mari's dad) and Mari went straight upstairs to her sewing supplies.
"I'm glad he apologized, Tikki. Sometimes I think he wants to play all the time," Mari said. Tikki watched Mari's knitting needles flash in the light. "The way I see it, Cat wants some attention." Marinette scowled just a little. "Why? He gets almost all my free time, and he gets to patrol with Ladybug. No, he's just a naughty kitty!"
Marinette climbed up to her bed. She heard Tikki sigh. Maybe her Kwami was right. She shrugged.
When she woke up the next morning, Cat was in a patch of sunlight. He spends every night in my room trying to protect me. Maybe Tikki's right.
At school, Cat gave her the usual hug. "See you after school?" Mari checked her phone. "I'm got sewing class, then I need to get a sweater done...what's wrong?" "nothing. Have a good day at school, love." Marinette swallowed hard. "Okay," she said, softly.
When Adrien arrived, Marinette waved. Adrien gave her a small smile, and then took out his history book. Okay, don't panic, Marinette. Adrien just needs to study.
On a normal day, Adrien would sit with her until the bell rang. Both of the people I love are acting sad, Mari thought. Did I do something wrong?
Plagg, Adrien's Kwami, couldn't figure out why Adrien didn't want to eat lunch. "I told you, Plagg. I'm not hungry," Adrien said. "I need to learn patience," Adrien said, resting his chin on his knees.
"Or," Plagg said, "you could tell her how you feel?" Adrien looked at his Kwami. "how are you feeling?" Adrien wasn't sure. When the sun wouldn't come out for days on end it wore on him. Plus, his princess had been so busy lately. There wasn't even a lot of time for kisses.
Cat had made up his mind what to do, but he decided to wait until Mari got home. As soon as she got in the door they both burst out, "I have something to say!" Cat gestured to Marinette.
"I'm sorry I haven't had much time for you. I'm going to try to fit in reading time again," she said. They liked to read a book to each other before they went to bed. "And I have to learn more patience. I guess I was missing you, and I thought by being naughty, I'd get it. Though that's not the kind of attention I want," Cat said.
"I appreciate that. Is that what Santa was telling you?" Mari asked. "Yeah, he called it Christmas Patience." Mari giggled. "We could all use a bit of that this time of year," she said.
Cat worked on his patience skills, and as the days went by he found it easier. He found that both Mari and Ladybug were much more pleasant.
"I have a surprise for you!" Mari said, excitedly one day before their break from school. Cat stood in the kitchen as she ran upstairs.
"I know its a little early," she said. Cat unwrapped a small stuffed ladybug, filled with wonderful smells. "this is one of the reasons I couldn't spend time with you," she explained. "I was making you a ladybug!"
Cat stared at his wonderful, soft gift. He could hug it when Marinette wasn't around,and it would remind him of Bugaboo.
Cat knew that he had gotten his gift. Instead of coming from Santa, it came from the girl he loved, and all it took was some love and Christmas Patience.