*Author's Note*

**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 7


Ladybug closed out the next afternoon blindfolded again.

After their escape from the geese the day before, and their halfhearted patrol of the city, they parted ways with Chat Noir asking her to keep watch for a message from him.

"I'll make this right," he had said with a bow.

"Chat Noir, you really don't-"

"I do, and I will." He had puffed out his chest to make himself as tall and wide as possible. "I promise you. Just keep an eye out for a new message." He gave her hand a quick peck, and then off he went, grumbling deprecations to himself.

It was a bit ridiculous to periodically transform just to see if she had a new message from her partner, but she couldn't deny his request. The next morning, however, she debated keeping up the practice. She hadn't heard word from Chat Noir the rest of Saturday, and she wasn't sure Tikki would be thrilled with another day of useless transformations. Her kwami reassured her that it was fine, however, so, like clockwork, Marinette snuck off to become Ladybug every two hours.

During her noon transformation, Ladybug finally found a text from Chat Noir. He gave her directions to a park and asked her to meet him at four. She wasn't sure if he was doing the same thing – powering up just to see if he had messages – but she sent him back a text that she'd be there.

Now she was standing in the middle of a large park with the blindfold again wrapped around her head.

"You know, Kitty, you really don't have to keep doing all these things for me."

"Yes, I do." Chat Noir was more resolute than he was even the morning before. "Especially since your other surprises ended in disaster."

"Kitty..." Ladybug wanted to cry. While the blackbird surprise – whatever it was supposed to be – and the picnic didn't go swimmingly, neither of those were his fault. Entirely. The fact that he was kicking himself so firmly about those cut deep. His eyes were also a little puffy, and didn't have their normal shine to them. She could only imagine how much sleep he had lost over trying to come up with these surprises for her.

"This is all already too much. Your partridge in a pear tree was the most perfect gift you could give. You don't have to-"

She couldn't complete the thought. There was too much to fill in the blank. She didn't deserve any of this effort. She didn't deserve him putting so much work into these gifts. She didn't deserve such a sweetheart of a partner. It kept all her willpower – and the knowledge that the park was filled with citizens who could whip out their phone any minute – to not pull him into a hug and thank him for everything he had already done that week.

Lost in her own thoughts for a minute, she didn't realize right away that she didn't hear Chat Noir anymore.

"Chat Noir?"

"Huh?" he blurted in front of her, "What?"

"Are you okay?" she asked nervously, "You completely spaced out on me there." Maybe everything wore harder on him than she was giving credit.

"I'm purr-fect, my lady." There was laughter in his voice, and he included one of his stupid cat puns. Ladybug released a small sigh of relief. "Nothing to worry about," Chat Noir continued.

"As I was trying to tell you before you zoned-out on me," Ladybug groped the air for Chat Noir to make sure he was paying attention this time. He grabbed hold of one of her wrists, and gave it a gentle squeeze to cue her that it was him and that he was still there. "I hope you're not putting too much pressure on yourself to come up with a gift for me, because I get the feeling that's what this has been all about. It's not that I don't appreciate it, but the first-"

"Don't worry, my lady," Chat Noir interrupted. She frowned. He wasn't getting it. "It's no trouble at all. Now," his voice perked up as he got giddy about his latest surprise, "follow me."

He slid his hand down her wrist and into her hand. With a small tug, he bid her forward. With another sigh – Ladybug knew they really needed to have this talk he was avoiding – she relented and let him lead her to this big surprise.

She trusted him completely to lead her safely through the crowd and around obstacles, so they were able to walk at a normal pace; as if she could see clearly. It still felt like an unbearably long walk through the park in silence. She had tried a couple more times to talk to Chat Noir about all of these surprises, but he kept brushing her off; telling her how much she was bound to love this latest gift. Eventually she heard Chat Noir's boots click on wood. There was also the sound of water sloshing. Ladybug wondered if he was trying the lakeside picnic again, but in an area populated enough that hopefully geese weren't roosting nearby.

"Chat?"

He let go of her hand, but then she felt him cupping her ears; muffling that sense as well.

"Chat Noir?" She nervously giggled. She had no clue what he was planning, but the fact that he was putting this much effort into her not finding out prematurely was adorable.

A couple minutes later his hand was back in hers, she heard the sound of what she hoped was his pocket zipper, and a gentleman thanking Chat Noir. There was another pause before the sloshing of the water around them got louder and Chat Noir walked her towards it.

"Trust me?" he purred in her ear.

She gave him the best side-eye she could, considering he couldn't see her eyes, and nodded. He scooped up her free hand and turned her slightly.

"Take a step back and down."

She did as she was told, and her footing instantly wobbled. She was climbing into a boat blindfolded. If she were Marinette in that moment she would have guaranteed capsizing. As it was, without the use of her eyes, she was unsteady. Chat Noir's grip tightened, anchoring her and helping her steady as she lowered her second foot into the boat. Ladybug heard him gasp as her weight shifted too much and the edge of the boat dipped before he was able to right her. With a plop, she was seated and safe. She then heard him hop in behind her and ask for a cast off.

Chat Noir rowed them out into the water. The rhythm of the oars cutting through the water was soothing, and Ladybug nearly drifted off; enjoying the peace of an uneventful boat ride. The sound of the public enjoying the park faded. There was the sound of other oars connecting with the water, but they were far enough away she wasn't sure she'd hear them if she wasn't powered up.

"Okay." Chat Noir pulled the oars into the boat and let them drift. There was the slight rustling of paper before Chat Noir cleared his throat. "You can take your blindfold off now."

Excited to see what all the secrecy was about, Ladybug removed the blindfold. They were alone in the middle of the lake. A few other boaters were drifting in the distance, and swimming a few meters out was a small flock of swans. Ladybug panicked briefly at the reminder of the geese, but these swans seemed so peaceful, and didn't appear to even notice their little boat floating by them. The water rippled with a faint orange glow from the evening sun hanging low in the sky. Once again, Chat Noir was able to show her such a picturesque moment, and she was in complete awe.

"Chat Noir." She let his name hang in the air as she tried to gather her thoughts. The best she could come up with was, "this is amazing!" She gripped the edge of the boat to balance herself as she looked around. The swans, still calm and almost dismissive of them, began circling their boat. It was like a scene from a fairy tale movie.

The swans wove an intricate but delicate ballet in the water as they circled the boat. Some ducked their long necks down in the water to look for food. Others stretched their necks out and ruffled their feathers in a shudder to shake off whatever itch they might have had. A couple preened their wings as they floated around. All seven swans shifted what they were doing, trading tasks between each of them. A couple of times one of the swans would swim up to another so they would circle the boat as a pair, their heads nuzzling each other's necks. The whole dance was hypnotizing.

Ladybug turned to Chat Noir to thank him, but his eyes were closed. She smiled at how peaceful he looked, knowing how much he had earned that rest. Then he started to list to his left.

"Chat Noir!"

His eyes snapped open, but he had already slumped too far and couldn't correct his weight fast enough. In a gasp, the boat capsized and they both were tossed into the lake. The shock of hitting the water jolted Ladybug out of the zen-like relaxation.

Chat Noir had passed out! The thought sent another jolt through her. Where is he? Is he alright? She wiped the water out of her eyes and whirled around to where he was thrown. He was there, equally in shock, and holding a piece of paper above his head. Relieved, she swam over to him.

"Ladybu-!" Chat Noir let out a heavy breath when he noticed her beside him.

"Chat Noir, are you okay? Did you just fall asleep?" This was getting insane. He was putting way too much on himself. He needed to take care of himself, not worry about a Christmas gift for her!

The flock of swans that had been circling them must have been startled by the capsized boat, because they had grouped together a few meters out and started honking. None of them were facing the teens, so Ladybug assumed the swans were more communicating with each other than yelling at them. Still, she kept a watchful eye while also trying to focus on Chat Noir. Which meant she didn't have any eyes left to keep track of the boat as it drifted away, leaving them stranded.

Ladybug noticed a bit too late, and she splashed around her as she flailed for anything to catch hold of it.

"No! No no no no. Wait!" Ladybug began swimming after the boat, only to hear a very loud and long honk trumpeted behind her. She swung around just in time to see one of the swans buzz by Chat Noir and pluck the piece of paper out of his hand before soaring off into the sky. The poor boy simply stared at his empty fingertips, dumbfounded.

With more trumpeting, the rest of the flock followed the one with the paper, zipping past Ladybug and Chat Noir. A few feathers fell into the water from their collective takeoff, making Chat Noir violently sneeze out of his shock.

"Chat Noir?" This was bad. He was already having a rough time with all of these birds lately, but now this? Stranded in a lake, whatever his planned gift to her was literally plucked from his hand, and now a sneezing fit?

As she inched closer to him she saw his jaw tense up and his shoulders and neck equally tighten. His eyes seemed puffer through the green cat-eye screen of his mask. He looked so defeated, and she couldn't bear it. Even if she didn't have to worry about Hawk Moth potentially akumatizing her partner, she couldn't handle him looking so down. She had to fix this somehow.

She found his hand under the water and gave it a squeeze. When she caught his gaze she gave him a smile she hoped would convey all the love she had for this boy.

This is fine. You don't have to be sad. I loved the moment we had. She was afraid he wouldn't listen to her again, so instead of saying any of that, she gave his hand a little tug.

"Come on," she splashed around a little bit as she pulled him behind her, trying to get him back into his usual playful mood. "Race you back to the shore!" She gave him a wink and shot off towards the shoreline.

She didn't hear him at first, and she wanted desperately to turn back around to make sure he was okay. She had hoped his competitive nature would shake him out of his funk, and she couldn't ease up so soon.

Come on, Chat Noir. Catch up.

Then she heard it. Softly behind her, she heard Chat Noir laughing, and then the frantic splashing of him trying to overtake her. She was grateful she was already drenched. That way she didn't have to explain the tear stains down her cheeks later. Forcing a poker face, she flipped into a backstroke.

"Is that the best you've got, Kitty?" she playfully teased. "You'll never beat me that way!"

"Just wait, my lady!" His voice was perky again. It had worked. She just needed to find a way to get it in his head that she didn't need all of these theatrics. His first gift was perfect.


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


*Closing Notes*

Oh, thank the Lord! We're done with the birds! There are so many birds in this song! Poor Chat Noir. At least he doesn't have to worry about any more birds past this chapter.

I'm going to work hard to keep my promise to have this story done before February, but I honestly don't have much more of a game plan than that. Hope to see you fine folks again soon.