December 11th, gift number 11 :

Marinette held in her arms a big package, certainly the biggest of all those who were hanging out in her room. She handled the gift and palmed it delicately: it was soft. The packaging was silver with little red and white Santa heads all over it.

She removed the glossy paper and fell on a plaid in her partner's color, black with green paw prints. He was cozy, very cozy. For a moment, she imagined herself wrapped in the comfort of the plaid, nestled in the heat of her partner's arms. She suddenly felt her cheeks blush with her thoughts and shook her head to chase away this unexpected, but comforting, image from her mind.

She folded the plaid carefully and placed it on her meridian, before going down to have breakfast.


When Marinette entered the inner courtyard of the college (surprisingly, five minutes early) she noticed a noisy gathering of students around the stairs.

Curious, she went to Alya whom she had spotted in the back of the group and asked her instantly what could cause so much noise.

-Did you not see the headlines this morning? Ladybug and Chat Noir honored their presence at a volunteer evening with sick children last night.

-oh... well, no, I didn't see, she replied. -And that's what's causing so much commotion here this morning? She wondered with astonishment.

-Lila was explaining to us that last night she was present with her cousin of 8 years who is being treated for leukemia in the same hospital. Answered Alya.

At that moment, the voice of the young Lila Rossi rose and came to Marinette's ears.

-Ladybug and Chat Noir invited me to spend the evening with them and to share the VIP buffet that had been set up in their honor, boasted the young Italian.

Marinette shook her jaws and muttered between her teeth when she heard Lila's lies, when she suddenly felt a presence just behind her.

-I'm sure she's lying, said the familiar voice behind her.

Marinette jumped and turned, suddenly facing Adrien Agreste.

-Ho... How can you be so sure? Asked Marinette almost without stuttering and after giving herself a few seconds to recover from her surprise.

Adrien nervously put his hand in his neck and calling on his training as a model to mask his disorder, he replied very calmly:-I am sure that Ladybug and Chat Noir are smart enough to see clearly in her little game. I doubt very much that they would invite a liar to share such a humane evening with them.

-You are right. Ladybug and Chat Noir are certainly not fooled by her behavior, she replied confidently.

Adrien smiled at her, and then they moved together away from the group to their classroom.


Marinette turned off her computer after reading the last article in the Ladyblog, which referred to the presence of her alter-ego and Chat Noir, the day before, among the hospitalized children.

It reminded Marinette, not without annoyance, of the bad day she had just spent, an endless day during which she had been forced to listen to Lila boast of being one of the best friends of the two heroes of Paris, using her usual lies.

Marinette let out a sigh, to her surprise, which looked almost like a grunt.

Lila really had the chic to stir up Marinette's anger, even when she wasn't targeting her in particular, or at least not directly (since she was targeting her heroic alter-ego anyway).

In one movement the young heroine caught the plaid that rested on her meridian and climbed into her bed.

She went to bed, wrapped in the plaid her partner had given her, it was comforting and soothing.

She fell asleep a few minutes later; her thoughts having quickly moved away from the young redhead woman to wander towards a young blond feline with green eyes and wearing a black suit.

To be continued...


Thanks for all your reviews, that's a real motivation for me. And I'm really thrilled to see you so excited about this story, and I promise you many surprise, because this is it, we're going to start building crescendo in intensity.