December 2, 2nd gift:
It's Wednesday, which means only one morning of lessons for Marinette and therefore a more restful day.
At least, that's what she thought, until Tikki brutally pulled her out of bed because she forgot to put her alarm clock.
So she got out of bed thirty minutes late, got ready in less than twenty minutes and ran to college to finally arrive only three minutes late; which was a real miracle for her.
However, this wake-up failure forced not only to miss breakfast, but also to neglect the symmetry of her piggytails which was totally hazardous.
But it was not yet the worst in this chaotic morning.
In fact, what annoyed Marinette the most this morning was not having had time to open Chat Noir's second gift.
The morning of lessons finally ended; not without some additional adventures-among others; bump into Alya, Nino, Adrien and even Miss Mendeleïev half a dozen times, listen to Chloe make fun of her hairstyle, spill the contents of her backpack on the stairs... - in short, a normal half-day for the clumsy young girl who she was.
When she finally got home, she casually threw her backpack on the floor of her bedroom and ran her nose through the many packages that decorated the room.
She hurriedly turned over the labels of the packages to find the number 2 she was eager to unpack; at least with the gifts from his partner, she was sure she would finally have a few bad days.
And she couldn't ask for more than what she found in that second gift; a box of 24 Belgian chocolate pralines was hidden under a golden packaging adorned with a superb black satin bow with golden dots.
When she opened the box to taste one of the wonders, she came across a little note left there by the feline hero.
"I don't know if you are as greedy as me my Lady, but I sincerely think that no one can resist good Belgian chocolate, don't feel guilty and indulge yourself. Your greedy partner, Chat Noir."
Of course she loved chocolate! Even though she had never told him. She was very fond of sweet things, nothing too surprising when you are the daughter of a famous baker.
Marinette sank into her desk chair enjoying a pistachio-filled white chocolate praline when an all-too-familiar ringtone sounded.
It was the Akuma alert on her cell phone.
-I think the moment of relaxation will have to wait, she sighed out loud. -Tikki, spots on!
When she was transformed, she grabbed the box of praline and slipped it into her yo-yo. Her yo-yo was a bit like Marie Poppins' bag; being magical, she could put anything in it without any problem.
To her surprise - or maybe not - she and Chat Noir were dealing with Mister Pigeon: for the 52nd time since they had battled the Hawkmoth villains. Which was not very disturbing in the end, finally, if we forgot the allergy of Chat Noir to pigeon feathers which caused him some inconvenience, because apart from that, Mr. Pigeon was an easy enemy to beat and therefore this wasn't really boring with him in the face. Unsurprisingly, they had purified the Akuma in less time than it took to say Ladybug.
Which left the two heroes a few minutes before them before the end of their countdown and their de-transformations.
Mister Ramier used to offer them ice cream because he felt guilty for being such an easy target for Hawkmoth. And this time was no exception, but Ladybug politely declined his offer; taking Chat Noir with her on a roof away from the crowds and the media.
She opened her yo-yo to face his partner's incredulous gaze and pulled out the box of pralines she opened and waved under his nose.
-Would my greedy partner like to share some pralines with me? She asked him with a big smile.
-This cat has a stomach on legs and never refuses a treat, my Lady. He succeeded with a smile as bright as the one she was giving him now.
He sat down next to her enjoying a 100% milk chocolate praline.
-Kitty, I wanted to say thank you for the chocolates and also for all the letters and photographs that I was able to discover yesterday, it was really a gesture that I will never forget and which brought me a lot of comfort.
-You don't have to thank me for that Bugaboo. This is something I did because it felt normal and necessary.
-Necessary? She repeated with incomprehension
-Yes, necessary. Since you are the new Guardian, I can see that you doubt yourself. So I wanted you to remember all our victories so far and above all I wanted you to know that the Parisians trust you. And I trust you too my Lady: I have a blind and unwavering trust in you.
Ladybug gasped at his partner's words as she only offered him a sincere and grateful smile before pulling him into a grateful embrace.
At the same time, her Miraculous gave her penultimate sound warning; signaling that she had only a minute left before losing her transformation.
She pulled away from his partner and stood up, throwing her yo-yo up to wrap it around the nearest fireplace. Before taking off, she turned to his partner to whisper:
-Thank you for always being there for me, Kitty.
To be continued…
