Yo! I hope that you guys are all doing okay. Thank you so much for your reviews, they really help me out a lot. And thank you to Song of Shadow for your explanation as to why there might be so many birds in the Twelve Days of Christmas song. That certainly makes a lot of sense. Doesn't make it any less frustration though ahahahaha *cries*. And of course, we're back to birds again…though it was pretty easy to come up with an idea for this chapter.

Six Geese a Laying

Chat Noir didn't think he had ever felt so determined in all his life. He was determined that this time, his gift idea would work, and that nothing would go wrong. He had made sure to pick the perfect, quiet location, far away from anything else and from any people who might come in and ruin the moment.

Right now, Chat Noir was sticking with the very familiar. He had done a very similar surprise for Ladybug in the past, and although she had initially failed to turn up, when he did eventually manage to show it to her, Ladybug had loved it. So he knew that he couldn't go wrong with this idea. He knew what he was doing, he knew Ladybug loved this sort of thing, there were no animals involved, and he wasn't his civilian self. All of the variables that had caused his plans to go wrong before had been removed.

Therefore, this time, it was bound to work. Right?

Chat Noir did his best to squash down any doubts that he had. Instead, he took a step back and admired his handy work. This was a location he had frequently visited with his mother sometimes when he had been allowed out of the house before he had been banned from coming here by his father.

It was rather emotional just simply being there, but Chat Noir couldn't think of anyone he would want to share this spot with than Ladybug. It had been his and his mother's special place. Now, it could also be his and Ladybug's. His mother would have wanted this for him. She would have loved Ladybug.

The beautiful park was situated not far from the Palace of Versailles. However, it didn't look like a typical park. It looked like someone had taken a section of the countryside and dropped it in the middle of the city. The park was full of beautiful weeping willows, crystal clear lakes with tall reeds, soft, green grass, with the promise of peace and quiet, and a break from the busyness of city life.

Chat Noir had set up the perfect romantic spot, just under a large weeping willow tree next to one of the lakes. The frost on the ground made it look like it was covered in a dusting of icing sugar, and a faint mist hung lowly in the air. It was cloudy, but that only made the light of the candles feel more warm, cosy, and romantic.

Surely, this would be the perfect gift.

Under the tree, Chat Noir had laid out a huge picnic blanket, surrounded by candles and beautiful decorations. There was a picnic basket filled with cakes and pastries, and a flask of hot chocolate leaned against the basket. Ladybug was going to love it; Chat Noir just knew it.

Hopefully here, they could just sit and talk and be themselves. They could relax away from the noise and dangers of the city, take a break from fighting evil, and maybe get to know each other a bit more. Maybe it might even help Ladybug fall for him as much as he had fallen for her. One could only hope anyway.

Now all that was left to do was to go and get Ladybug.

Nodding to himself in satisfaction, Chat Noir took off, back into the city. Finding Ladybug was definitely going to be the fun part. He knew that she didn't have patrol until a bit later, so he guessed that he was just going to have to wait for her. But that was okay. He would wait a million years for her.

However, as he was about to stop and wait for Ladybug in their usual meet up place, he was shocked to see Ladybug running across some roofs just ahead of him. He quickly snapped out of that state of shock though and ran after her, easily catching up.

"Hey bugaboo," Chat Noir greeted her playfully.

Ladybug nearly tripped over before coming to a halt. Chat Noir followed suit.

"C-Chat Noir? What are you doing out and about?"

"I might ask you the same question." Chat Noir chuckled.

Ladybug looked away awkwardly, looking incredibly flustered all of a sudden. "I-I had some stuff to do."

"It's okay," Chat Noir reassured her with a warm smile, "you don't have to tell me. But what you do have to do is put this on and come with me." Chat Noir grabbed hold of and held up the blindfold he had kept tied to his belt, ready for this moment.

"A blindfold?" Ladybug asked, confused.

"Don't worry, it'll all make sense soon," Chat Noir explained, walking over to her.

"What are you up to?" Ladybug narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Chat Noir pretended to laugh evilly. "If I told you, then it wouldn't be a surprise." He wrapped the blindfold around her head, making sure that her eyes were completely covered.

"There isn't going to be any shrieking birds this time, is there?" Ladybug asked, half nervous, half joking.

Chat Noir shuddered at the memory. "No, cat's honour."

Ladybug smiled and shook her head while Chat Noir waved a hand in front of her face, making absolutely sure that she couldn't see anything.

"How am I going to get to wherever it is you want to take meeeeeee!" Ladybug began shrieking in surprise as Chat Noir scooped her up, holding her bridal style, and causing Ladybug to grip his shoulders in panic. She was about to instinctively remove her blindfold before Chat Noir shifted her weight so that he could free one of his hands to stop her.

"Trust me," Chat Noir once again reassured her.

Ladybug froze for a moment before relaxing in his arms. There was a small smirk on her face as she curled into his chest, allowing herself to be at his mercy. Chat Noir smiled down at her, tempted to just stand here and stare at her face all day. But he knew that would be weird. Plus, he had to get her to his surprise. He was dying to see her reaction and spend some time with her.

With that thought in mind, Chat Noir took off back towards the park with Ladybug nestled in his arms. He loved the feeling of her warmth against his chest. Every now and then, her soft, dark hair would tickle his chin, sending shivers down his spine. His legs felt wobbly and weak as he continued to run with her, and his heart soared in his chest at the feeling of having her so close to him. He could feel his cheeks growing warm, however, he refused to allow shyness to overpower him this time. He was going to be the confident, romantic Chat Noir, not shy, awkward Adrien.

He finally made it back to the park, and the quiet stillness of the area was instantly relaxing. He could sense Ladybug's confusion at the sudden lack of the sound of traffic. Now all that could be heard was the sound of birds singing and the rippling of the lake water as it gently washed against the shore.

Chat Noir landed near the picnic area he had set up, allowing Ladybug to have a perfect view of it when he took her blindfold off. He gently set Ladybug down, and she wobbled on her feet slightly, but luckily, Chat Noir caught her, chuckling as Ladybug's cheeks turned slightly pink over what just happened.

Ladybug soon regained her balance though, and Chat Noir let go of her to walk around behind her so that he could start removing her blindfold. He removed it slowly in order to try and increase Ladybug's anticipation. Finally, he pulled the fabric from in front of her eyes, and Ladybug gasped and froze at the sight before her.

Chat Noir couldn't help but grin from ear to ear at her facial expression. She loved it. He could tell. He watched as she continued to stare at everything before her with wide eyes. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and Chat Noir's heart was ready to leap out of his chest over how beautiful she looked.

This was it! He had finally done it! He had finally given her the perfect gift!

"Chat…" Ladybug gasped.

Hisssssssssssssssssss.

Both Chat Noir and Ladybug slowly turned their heads to the right towards the lake, looking towards the source of the sudden hissing sound. On the edge of the lake, was a white goose, sitting on top of an egg in a nest. It was staring them down, and Ladybug and Chat Noir stared back, shocked that something as small and non-threatening looking as a goose had produced such a terrifying sound.

Hisssssssssssssssssss, it hissed at them again.

However, Ladybug soon turned around and ignored it, a smile forming on her face again as she stared up at Chat Noir. But Chat Noir's eyes kept nervously flickering towards the goose. He could have sworn that he had memory from when he was a child of being chased by one of those things. Maybe that was the reason that his father never let him come back here after that incident.

"Aww, Chat, you really didn't have to –"

Hisssssssssssssssssss.

Ladybug was once again interrupted by the sound of the goose hissing at them.

They both turned their heads to stare at it again, and this time, five more geese began to waddle their way out of the reeds, as if they were coming to see what all the fuss was about. All of them instantly locked eyes with Ladybug and Chat Noir, and began hissing at them as well.

Chat Noir darted behind Ladybug, terrified as he peered over her shoulder, the memories of that day finally coming back to him.

Ladybug couldn't help but giggle at his reaction.

"It's okay, Chat," she tried to reassure him, "they're just geese."

"More like devils with wings," Chat Noir gasped out, beginning to back away and pull Ladybug along with him.

Ladybug continued to laugh, however, her laughter soon morphed into a terrified scream as the geese began charging towards them, quaking and hissing as they did so, angrily flapping their wings as they ran towards them.

"Okay, yeah, they are kinda scary," Ladybug admitted in a shaky voice before she screamed as one of the geese tried to jump up at them.

Chat Noir screamed as well, both he and Ladybug clinging onto each other in fear as they tried to back away, hoping that the geese would finally get bored and head back towards the lake. They had no such luck though. The six geese continued to charge towards them, trying to jump up at them.

With one final scream that echoed around the park, both Ladybug and Chat Noir took off, completely abandoning the picnic as they ran for their lives, the six geese continuing to chase them deep into the evening mist.

I hate geese. They're a menace in my village. I've been chased by them a few times. Why are geese so full of anger? But now they have ruined another one of Chat Noir's gift opportunities. We're halfway through now which is terrifying. Feel free to leave a review, and I'll see you guys again tomorrow…for more birds *sobs*