Bloom's sitting in front of the gigantic Christmas tree in the city square, thinking about her parents - Kwamis, she misses her parents. This will be the fourth Christmas without them, and it never gets any easier. The tree's bigger, the decorations are much more extravagant than anything they had back in Gardenia…but its just not the same. They didn't decorate it together, the city council did; there won't be any presents under this Tree tomorrow morning, just a bunch of melted snow. What it eventually comes down to is…its not hers, as selfish as it sounds. Christmas is about giving, about being selfless…but it also works the other way around, to. To give someone a gift, they have to get it. Selflessness from one person demands selfishness from another in return…and its been four years. She figures she's allowed to wish she could bring her parents back. So long as she doesn't try to make that wish come true, anyway.
Longg explained the consequences of what Hawk Moth wants the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous' for…they can be combined to form an ultimate power, one that would be used as a wish…with devastating consequences. If she brought her parents back, for instance, she would either kill two other people or lose her magic…or, possibly, her memories of being Dragon Fyre, as her personal history would've been completely rewritten and she wouldn't have been in Paris when Hawk Moth activated the Butterfly Miraculous. And that's just what she'd use it for, to bring back the parents that were taken from her - who knows what Hawk Moth would use it for. Take over the world? Get all the Miraculous' in existence? It isn't something she wants to think about.
"Hatchling, why are you so quiet?" Longg's voice pulls her out of her thoughts, and she sees the Dragon Kwami floating there with a worried expression on his face.
Bloom sighs, then says "Just thinking about them, Longg. I don't even know if they were buried in Paris or not, you know that? Or where, for that matter." She's looked, to, searched all the graveyards she could find - and never found any stone or stones that said Vanessa and Mike Peters. She doesn't even know if anyone searched for her, for that matter.
"And you miss them." Bloom nods, staring at the tree in an attempt to not cry - bad idea tonight, seeing as its snowing and all. Longg hums, then asks "When's your birthday, Bloom?"
Bloom just shrugs, saying "Believe it or not, I don't remember. I've had other things on my mind the past few years, and there was nobody to get me anything anyway…but I remember it was in Winter." Kwamis, that sounds so depressing when she says it out loud. Or thinks it, for that matter.
Longg hums, then says "Well, since tomorrow is one of your holidays…I suppose it's close enough." As much as Plagg is worried about his Kitten's home life, he's equally as worried about his Hatchling's - it's no real wonder the two of them basically adopted one another when they haven't got anyone but their superhero partners and their Kwami in their lives.
To Bloom's utter confusion, Longg then starts humming, doing a strange dance of some kind…and then he spits out a glob of something bright and shiny into her hands. Seeing Bloom's expression, Longg says "Wait a moment, the resin will vanish. Happy Birthday, Hatchling!"
Sure enough, the brightly-glowing goo vanishes after a moment, leaving a small orange object that looks like half of the yin-and-yang symbol. Bloom picks it up to look at it better, asking "What is it, Longg? I've never seen anything like it."
Longg proudly says "It's called a Kwagatama, Hatchling. A great symbol of friendship to us Kwamis. We take a hair from our current Holders, join them with the hairs of all our former Miraculous Holders, and spend the next few months growing a resin that eventually becomes the Kwagatama."
Bloom smiles at Longg, feeling something inside her almost ripping apart at the first gift she's gotten in four years, and manages to croak out "Thank you, Longg." She'll keep it in her pocket for now, she's got the perfect idea for what to do with it. All she needs is a silk cord, and she can make that.
And then her phone rings, and she picks up to hear Nathalie's usually-emotionless voice filled with worry as she asks…if she's seen Adrien. Because he's disappeared from his room sometime after heading up, having gotten depressed when his father wouldn't come to help decorate the tree.
Bloom pinches the bridge of her nose, then says "Tell me everything, Nathalie. I can't help if I don't know all the details."
Nathalie sighs, then…starts explaining everything. Bloom knew some of it from Adrien himself, other bits from unintentionally overhearing conversations between him and Nino…but she didn't know everything. She knew Adrien's father changed after his mom disappeared, but she hadn't known he might as well have been a thousand miles away. She knew her brother was lonely, but she hadn't known he started hating Christmas after last year when his father never even showed his face for a single moment. She hadn't known he would feel so alone he'd decide running away was a better option.
When I see that alley cat, I'm gonna skin his hide…
As if thinking about him after Nathalie hung up to keep calling other kids in his class summoned him, she hears a noise and sees Cat Noir leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
Alright, THAT'S IT!
Seeing him just leaping from rooftop to rooftop, completely unaware of how he's affecting everyone that cares about him…it just makes something in her snap.
Cat Noir's leaping from rooftop to rooftop, completely numb from both the cold and his own emotions. Usually, he can deal with his father's distance ever since his mom disappeared…but not tonight. Not tonight, when they'd sit in the bedroom with hot chocolate and his Mom would tell stories late into the night, when his Father once dressed up as Santa Claus because Adrien was insistent on seeing the guy.
Now it all feels so…so dead. He'd rather be alone tonight, than hear all the memories reminding him how everything changed in what feels like the blink of an eye - his mom was there one minute, gone the next, and nothing was ever the same again. And its never more apparent than on Christmas Eve night.
He's violently ripped out of his thoughts when he's suddenly suspended midair, unable to so much as twitch - he can breathe, his heart is beating and he's sure his face is showing every emotion he's currently feeling…but he can't move even his little finger. Also, he distantly notes, he's not cold anymore.
And then he goes hurtling down to the ground, landing in a pile of snow with a solid thud. When he looks up…Bloom Peters is standing there, mad as hell and fire…literally in her eyes.
Uh-oh…
Cat Noir swallows, then nervously asks "Uh…can I he-"
"Adrien Agreste, you godsdamned idiot! What the hell were you thinking?!" He scrambles up as the fire-haired girl stalks forward, suddenly knowing without a doubt that…this is his sister. This is the girl that's come to visit him when Ladybug's on Patrol and he's feeling lonely, this is the girl that's joined him on his own Patrol when she's feeling the same, this is the girl that's taken over a hundred mind-controlling Akuma attacks for him and his Lady and never batted an eye. This is the girl with power over fire and an explosive temper, and he can see her literally steaming in the cold, snowy night.
Yep, his sister is mad. He decides its in his best interest to let his sister rant, as she asks what he thinks he's doing running away when its snowing without even bothering to give himself some kind of cover story, does he even have anything warm to wear, does he have any idea how worried everyone is.
Once Bloom finally stops to get a breath in - and he's really got to wonder just how big her lungs are - he says "Oh, Sis, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" He didn't mean to worry her - or the rest of their class. He didn't even think anyone would notice he was gone! He can count, on one hand, the number of times his father has been in his room in the past few months and have fingers left over! He never expected anyone to find him missing! And he certainly didn't expect anyone to be notified of his disappearance, he's pretty sure nobody but maybe his sister actually cares about him that much!
Bloom stares up at him, then…her eyes narrow and she quietly hisses out "How dare you…"
Cat Noir tilts his head in confusion, asking "Uh, what?"
Bloom screams at the top of her lungs "HOW EFFING DARE YOU THINK NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOU?!" Cat Noir feels his eyes go wide, even as he takes a step back and hits the brick wall - bad news, he's trapped with an angry Dragon Fyre about ready to throw a fireball. Worse news, she's angry at him. Which just means she'll keep it to yelling at him, but still. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH YOU MEAN TO NINO, THE BOY WHO BECAME YOUR BEST FRIEND YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL? THE BOY WHO GOT AKUMATIZED TO THROW YOU A BIRTHDAY PARTY?!"
Um, oh, right…
"WHAT ABOUT YOUR BODYGUARD, HUH? I'VE SEEN HIM GET BETWEEN YOU AND AKUMAS MORE TIMES THAN I HAVE FINGERS AND TOES TO COUNT THEM ON! YOU THINK HE DOES THAT JUST BECAUSE HE'S PAID TO? WHAT ABOUT CHLOE, THE GIRL WHO'S EVERY THOUGHT NOT ABOUT HERSELF IS ABOUT YOU?! SHE VALUES YOUR FRIENDSHIP MORE THAN ALMOST ANYTHING ELSE IN THE WORLD, YET YOU THINK SHE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT YOU?!"
Um, well, when she puts it like that…
"AND WHAT ABOUT MARINETTE? YOU CANNOT BE THAT BLIND, ADRIEN, YOU REALLY CAN'T! OF COURSE SHE DAMN WELL CARES ABOUT YOU! DO YOU HONESTLY THINK SHE'S NOT SEARCHING HALF THE CITY RIGHT NOW?!"
And then he knows the worst part is yet to come, as tears suddenly spill over her cheeks as she asks "What about me? Did you seriously think that me being your sister means nothing to me?"
Cat Noir tries to hug her again, a thousand apologies at the tip of his tongue, when she tries to slap him square across the face. He dodges, but figures he might've deserved that one. And the punch that he also dodges, ending with her punching the brick wall behind him. He manages to catch her by the elbows, keeping her from hitting him in the face, and keeps himself from wincing when she starts pounding on his chest hard enough to get through the suit. Yes, his mounting guilt says, he absolutely deserves it for being…in his sister's own words, a conceited, arrogant, idiotic nitwit.
When she finally calms down, enough that Cat's not legitimately worried about her transforming and attempting to beat some sense into his head with her sword, she makes a small ball of fire and presses it to his chest, reminiscent of how she recharged his Miraculous. And he didn't realize just how cold he was until he's suddenly almost burning up inside, its like liquid fire running through his veins at first. And then it seems to settle, going from burning hot to a comforting kind of warmth - he has to wonder if this is how his sister feels all the time, never feeling the cold whatsoever.
And then Bloom's scowling at him, telling him to change back so she can keep Plagg warm as well, and calling…Marinette. "Hey, Mari? Its me. Guess who I found, can we make a stop at your bakery for the night? Someone decided it'd be a great idea to run off for the night in his usual outfit without even a sweatshirt on to offer any protection from the cold. Great, thanks, see you there." She then hangs up, giving him an orange-eyed look that says he's not out of trouble just yet, and he quickly transforms back into his civilian form. And then he's getting dragged along by Bloom, putting the hoodie she was wearing on as they go, and head towards Marinette's parents' bakery.
Marinette lands in her room and changes back, quickly telling Tikki to stay hidden, and heads downstairs when she hears the Bakery door open. Only to see a raging Bloom dragging Adrien by the front of a hoodie that clearly doesn't fit him, as the red-head half-marches, half-drags the blonde further in and practically throws him onto the sofa. A mug of hot chocolate - which both Bloom's classmates think is just a bunch of melted chocolate - gets shoved into Adrien's hands as Bloom piles some wood into the fireplace, and Marinette asks "What happened?!"
Ten minutes later, she's wishing she hadn't asked. Because Bloom's in a justified fury over Adrien just up and vanishing, Adrien seems to be taking it as comforting more than anything else, and she really wishes this were an Akuma attack she could 'Lucky Charm!' away.
Plagg and Tikki, on the other hand, are sitting curled up together on Marinette's pillow, catching up for a bit as they listen to Longg's chosen rant and rage about how one of her hoard - because that is exactly what their Chosen are to her, hers to guard like the creature she's named after, even if she isn't saying as much to preserve her partners' secret identities - decided it'd be a great idea to run off into a snowy night without any food, protective clothing, or any plans to go to any friends for the night.
Plagg snickers, then says "Somehow, I don't think my Cat will be feeling particularly lonely for a while…"
Tikki asks "Because Bloom is going to be all over him like scales on a dragon?"
Plagg grins, and says "Spot on, Sugarcube!"
Tikki just rolls her eyes at her oldest companion, biting back another retort of 'I told you not to call me that!'
When Tom and Sabine get back to the Bakery, they find Marinette, Bloom, and Adrien out cold on the sofa together. Not having the heart to wake the teens at such a late hour, they call Nathalie, let her know they found Adrien and brought him back to the Bakery to get warm, and honestly think its for the best that he heads home in the morning given how cold it is outside and how the snow is getting worse.
The next day at school, Adrien immediately notices one specific change in his sister's appearance - its not big, and not very noticeable, but he picks it out in an instant. There's something hanging from underneath the scrunchie she always uses to keep her wild hair up. It looks a bit like the ying and yang symbol, but only half…and bright orange. It's hanging from the end of what he recognizes as a silk cord, which she's apparently using to keep her hair tied up along with the scrunchie.
He'll have to ask Plagg about it, because he's sure she didn't have it last time they were in class. And he's getting her an Ipod, for storing music to listen to, as an apology gift.
AN: Hey, everyone! Hope you liked the chapter - gotta say, I didn't expect the Christmas special. Adrien actually ran away! And, honestly, given the detail that his father was in his room oh...maybe three times in all of Season one that I know of...yeah, I don't really blame him for thinking nobody would notice he was missing. I think I've seen his father face-to-face with the kid maybe five times all total so far. Yeah, great parenting, Agreste Sr. - the guy can set his own hours, he literally works from home in his office, yet he can't be bothered to have a meal with Adrien? Honestly, I think his bodyguard actually cares about Adrien more than Gabriel does. It's seriously pathetic, on Gabe's part. The man NEEDS to get his priorities straight. On every level, at that.