*Author's Note*

This story was written for Taurus Pixie. I was rereading her story Twelve Days of Chatmas this past Christmas, and began to wonder what Ladybug's side of the story looked like.

Well, 2020 had majorly sucked, and I could not find inspiration to save my life, it seems, so when I had that spark, I was so surprised I knew I had to run with it (apparently I'm now so void of original ideas I'm a fanfic writer of fanfiction...). So, a huge thank you to Pixie for unofficially lending me her muse for this project. Pixie, thank you so much for the glorious story that birthed this idea (and for writing most of the dialogue for me already XD ). Thank you for your encouragement all throughout 2020. Most importantly, thank you for helping me re-find my inspiration and drive to write, even if I need to use you to piggyback my way here. My sincerest hope is that you enjoy my interpretation of your fantastic story.

(Also, can we spare some thank yous to send my husband's way? He's the one who thought of the title for me. :D Ya know, because I apparently can't come up with anything new on my own this year...)

**DISCLAIMER: This is an uncollaborated, unofficial, POV-swap, companion story to Twelve Days of Chatmas by Taurus Pixie. This story contains major spoilers for Pixie's story. If you have not read her story yet, stop what you're doing, and go read that first (it's published on this very site). I promise you, it will be worth it for the hurt/comfort, and this story will still be here when you come back.**


Chapter 1


Ladybug paced the rooftop her and Chat Noir agreed upon as a meeting spot. They were supposed to go on patrol nearly ten minutes ago, and he was still nowhere to be seen. It wasn't like him to be late for patrol; for any sort of scheduled meet-up with her, actually. If anything, he was typically the one waiting, eager to spend as much time as possible together.

"It's getting close to Christmas," she reminded herself. "Maybe he's caught up in some family festivities or something. He's fine." She tried picturing him hanging up Christmas ornaments on a tree, which ended up a bit amusing since she could only picture him how she knew him: as Chat Noir. She imagined him perched on his extended stick so he could reach the top of the tree to place the star or secure the lights or sprinkle some tinsel on everything. Ladybug then had a nice little chuckle at the idea of Chat Noir just tossing tinsel like some overly enthusiastic flower girl.

"Yeah," she breathed out in assurance, "he's just covered in tinsel right now, or tangled up in lights, or freaking out his family as he juggles the Christmas ornaments or something. He's fine, just lost track of the time. That's all." She let out a shaky sigh and checked her yo-yo again.

No akuma alerts, so at least it seemed fine that their patrol was starting late, and Chat Noir wasn't caught up in a battle she didn't know about. Ladybug again walked the length of the roof, hoping maybe Chat Noir was just out of view of where she was waiting. Still nothing.

Another check of her yo-yo. No messages from Chat Noir either.

"Where are you?" she asked the wind.

The sun was nearly set. While Paris was typically lit up fairly brightly at night – especially with all the added illuminated Christmas decorations – and she could see well enough, it still bothered her that she no longer had the daylight for their patrol. Potential akuma victims could be hiding in the shadows, trying to find somewhere to be alone with their pain, and she'd have a much harder time finding them now. She really needed Chat Noir to help her, and he was over ten minutes late.

Where is he? Did he forget? She opened her yo-yo once more. Still no messages from him. Her thumbs hovered over the touch screen as she debated sending him a text or calling him. With an audible sigh and drooping of her shoulders, she closed her yo-yo again. There was no point; he wouldn't be able to get the messages unless he was Chat Noir, and if he was powered up he should be coming to meet up with her.

"Please be okay." Her fingers gently brushed across her yo-yo, hoping for some sort of contact from her partner. Shaking the nerves loose, she paced the rooftop once more. "Five more minutes. Then I'll just patrol on my own. He's fine. He probably just forgot. Or he got caught up in something. Or-"

As she turned a corner she spotted him. Chat Noir stood on a rooftop across the street from where she was waiting. He was just staring at her with a goofy smile on his face. No. He wasn't staring at her, he was staring past her, as if he were lost in thought or something.

"Chat Noir?" She was getting worried and he was lazily daydreaming? Without so much as a text to let her know he was alright and on his way? How long had he been standing there?

Chat Noir jumped when Ladybug called out to him; ripped out of his reverie. He blinked a few times, clearly trying to catch his bearings as she walked to the back ledge of the roof she was on.

"I was starting to get worried. Where were you? What are you doing standing over there?" Before he could answer, Ladybug lassoed the chimney beside him with her yo-yo and swung herself over to him. As soon as she landed she rushed to Chat Noir to look him over to make sure he was alright. He didn't seem to be puppeted by an akumatized villain, but she wasn't sure how to be certain about that.

Chat Noir didn't answer her. He didn't move. He simply gulped as she stretched her body out to get a good look at his eyes. They weren't glazed over like they tend to be when he was being controlled. Ladybug couldn't figure out why he was acting so strange.

"Okay, now I'm really worried." She waved a hand in front of his face and watched as his eyes followed it. "You're never this quiet. Has something happened?"

"No!" Chat Noir snapped back to normal as he blurted out the first thing Ladybug heard from him all night. He gave her his goofy grin that he clearly thought looked suave. His eyes had their usual twinkle. He was fine, a bit distant at first, but now he was himself again.

Tension released from Ladybug's shoulders and neck, but her face still scrunched in confusion. Where was he just a moment ago, and why hadn't he tried to contact her?

"Then what's going on? Why were you so late?" As she asked the questions she wondered if he could even answer. If it was something that might reveal who he is would he withhold that info, or use this as an excuse to drop her hints?

No, she told herself, he knows the rules. He may want us to know who the other is, but he wouldn't purposefully try to reveal himself or figure out who I am.

"I...errr..." He started scratching the back of his head as he broke eye contact.

It was something personal, and I'm over here demanding to know! I'm such an idiot! Ladybug berated herself. As she opened her mouth to tell him to not worry about it, he preemptively cut her off.

"I-I got you a Christmas present." This was the most nervous she had seen Chat Noir. To know it was over him getting her a present was kind of adorable. "Well," he continued with a small squeak in his voice, "made you a Christmas present."

Ladybug took a step back as she finally noticed Chat Noir had been protectively cradling something in his hands. He shot it forward to show her his surprise.

He held out a tiny terra cotta pot barely five centimeters tall and fitted snugly with white foam. Sticking out of the foam was a charming, albeit clumsily cut out, card stock tree with curving branches. Almond-shaped leaves cut out of green construction paper and doused in green glitter filled out the tree in a fluffy circle arching around the trunk. It must have taken him hours to cut out and glue on the dozens of leaves, and Ladybug could picture the poor guy still finding the green glitter in his home for months to come with the amount he used. Plump looking pears were cut out of yellow-green construction paper and scattered throughout the tree. Perched atop the trunk, nestled within the main Y of the branches, was an adorably round bird made out of brown card stock with little gray accents colored in with marker. The smallest wooden clothespin Ladybug had ever seen was painted red and glued onto the bird for its beak. Clasped within the beak was an equally tiny note with Ladybug delicately written across the front of it. The finishing touch, however, were the two dozen or so red valentine hearts – also cloaked in glitter; Chat Noir's poor table – hung throughout the pear tree sculpture like romantic Christmas ornaments.

There were bits where the glue was clumped and poking out from behind the leaves or hearts, and some of the hearts were cockeyed or stuck to the trunk instead of the leaves and branches; clearly they had shifted before the glue could dry and he hadn't noticed. The tree also leaned forward a bit from the weight of the clothespin and note not being counterbalanced. The whole thing was a bit unpolished, and a bit rushed in places, but it was also clear that so much time and dedication and effort was put into it. The little card stock tree was a bit goofy and clumsy, and maybe not the most well thought out, but it was also endearing in its imperfections. This project was just so Chat Noir that Ladybug couldn't think of a more perfect present.

"Aww, Chat Noir, you didn't have to-"

A sharp winter wind startled them as it whipped past, tilting Ladybug slightly off balance with its force. The tree did not fair as well.

Chat Noir stared in shock, one eye twitching, as he held tight to the pot. The card stock tree was nearly ripped out of the foam; dangling by a small corner as the trunk itself, now terribly bent, leaned against the side of the pot. A good quarter of the leaves that weren't quite dry were either shifted out of place or blown off completely. Three of the pears were lost to the wind, and the rest were stuck to the trunk of the tree or the edge of the pot. Not a single heart ornament remained. The partridge now dangled upside down on one of the branches, with the note ripped where the wind tried to tear it from the faithful grip of the wooden beak. A long glue smear trailed behind the paper bird, and glitter was stripped from the leaves the partridge passed through.

All of that work, and one good gust wrecked it. Ladybug knew that pain all too well.

"Chat Noir, are-"

"And this wasn't it! This wasn't the present I got you." Chat Noir forced laughter and too broad of a smile as he took a step away from Ladybug. "As if I would get you something so horrible."

Ladybug's face fell into a little pout. It pained her that he thought so poorly of his gift. "Chat Noir, it's fi-"

"Next time I see you, I'll give you the present you deserve." Both of their eyes drifted to the damaged pear tree sculpture. "This was just a joke." Chat Noir gestured with the pot and then forced another laugh. "But I promise," he continued, taking a few more retreating steps, "that you shall have a Christmas present worthy of someone as amazing as you! You'll see!" He hastily placed the pot on the roof as he took his stick off his back. The second the pot was out of his hand, the stick extended to jettison Chat Noir into the sky.

"Chat Noir! Wait!" Ladybug rushed towards him, arm outstretched. "What about-"

He propellered his stick to glide a few houses down the street; definitely out of earshot. In a flash he was leaping across the Seine and was gone.

"-patrol," Ladybug finished with a sigh. It was probably too late to bother anyway. Plus, her heart wasn't really in it either, not after her partner was so crushed.

She bent down and gingerly picked up the little sculpture off the roof. Turning it slowly in her hands, she admired the craftsmanship Chat Noir had put into this immensely heartfelt gift. Picking at the partridge, the bird slid some more; the glue still hadn't set. She glanced in the direction that Chat Noir disappeared, and gave a little smile and knowing head shake. She delicately played more with the bird until she could wiggle it free of the sculpture. Placing the pot back on the rooftop, she opened up the magical pocket within her yo-yo, and placed the bird and note gently inside. Next were the pears and loose leaves. As she stood back up a few of the hearts caught her eye. She managed to collect five of them and put those in her yo-yo as well. Once she believed she had cleaned up as much of Chat Noir's project as she could find, she cradled the sculpture and started home.

She was determined to find a way to prove to Chat Noir how precious this present was to her. In the meantime, her mind whirled with gift ideas for him in return.


~ Thank you for reading. Comments are always welcome. ~


*Closing Notes*

Okay, so real talk: I had every intension of having this story done and fully published by the 4th so I could promote it on my writing blog on the 5th, and have it all wrapped up in a beautiful Christmas bow for Pixie before the Christmas season ended. Heck, I originally planned on publishing each new chapter on the appropriate day of Christmas (well, technically, I originally wanted to have this done FOR Christmas as a nice surprise for Pixie, but ignore that...) starting with this chapter posting on Christmas day, chapter two on Boxing day, so on and so forth. Either way, at the latest, I wanted to just mass-publish the full 12-chapter story by the 5th, so that the story was concluded on the 12th day of Christmas. Given I still have chapters 9 through 12 to write? That clearly wasn't happening either. So I waved the white flag and figured I'd at least start you fine folks off with this story as I try to get my act together and finish this up this week.

Boy howdy, Life sure is doubling down this first week of 2021!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the start of this wild ride. It's going to get super bumpy for LadyNoir from here on out.