Hey guys, I hope you're all okay. Thank you so much for all of your amazing reviews! I really appreciate it. Believe it or not, this chapter was actually the most difficult to come up with an idea for, and I have no idea why. I just hope that it turns out okay as a result.

Eleven Pipers Piping

This time, Chat Noir was sure that he had the perfect plan. He had made sure to think this idea through extra carefully, leaving no possible outcome up to chance. He was prepared. He would treat his lady to something extra special. He would make sure that this went to plan. Ladybug would have a good time, and he finally would have given her the perfect gift.

"What is it, Chat?" Ladybug demanded worriedly as she dropped down to the ground in front of him before straightening herself out and standing up properly. "What's the emergency?"

Chat Noir pretended to look afraid as he held two theatre tickets out in front of him.

"We need to hurry, my lady!" Chat Noir exclaimed while Ladybug stared at the pieces of paper in confusion. "These expire in an hour!"

"Wait…what?" Ladybug continued to look perplexed.

"I told you it was an emergency," Chat Noir said smugly as he began spinning his tail around in his hand.

"That's your emergency?" Ladybug gasped, looking slightly annoyed. "Expiring theatre tickets? I thought you had been captured by an akuma or something! I was frantic!"

Chat Noir gasped, his ears drooping slightly as he realised it probably was a stupid idea to lead Ladybug here this way. He had hoped that she would see the funny side, but he supposed he could understand why Ladybug was sounding so mad. Maybe he should have just asked her to meet him as normal, but he was worried that after everything that had happened lately, especially last night, that Ladybug might not turn up. Especially with how busy she seemed to be all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I was worried with how disastrous last night went, I…I was worried you might not show up…" Chat Noir admitted, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

Ladybug's face softened slightly. "Aww, Kitty, that wasn't your fault."

Chat Noir sighed. "I feel like it was. I should have been more careful. I've done nothing but embarrass you and put you in awkward situations these past few days, and I'm sorry. But let me make it up to you today. I got us these tickets to see this fancy new show. They're called The Eleven Pipping Pipers, and I thought you might, I dunno, want to try it out?"

"Are you sure it's such a good idea?" Ladybug asked nervously. "Last night when we went out in public we ended up being hounded, and look where being recognised in public got us while we went shopping in that market."

"Fear not, my lady, for I have thought of everything!" Chat Noir proclaimed confidently, reaching behind him in the small ally to pick up a stash of clothes that he had brought for just the occasion. Being a model had its perks. Chat Noir had been able to snatch some clothes from the dressing room. He wasn't sure what Ladybug's size would be, but he hazard a guess.

"Ummm?" Was all Ladybug could respond with as Chat Noir handed her a fancy looking dress and large hat. The dress unfolded itself in her hands, draping down her body, going way past her feet before rolling itself out on the ground.

Oops.

Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him.

All Chat Noir could do was smile awkwardly as he pulled a fancy tux over his superhero suit. "Maybe it'll start a new fashion trend?"

"Ha ha, very funny," Ladybug grumbled as she fought to pull the large dress obviously meant for a much taller, fully grown woman over herself, nearly tripping over the hem of the dress multiple times as she did a test walk in it.

"Of course, we could always just go to the theatre together as our civilian selves. That would save people from recognising our superhero forms." Chat Noir winked at her.

"Nice try." Ladybug then sighed as she stared down at herself. It was still very much obvious that she was Ladybug, only now she looked more ridiculous with the fancy red dress that was much too large for her hanging off her body. Her arms and chest were still totally exposed, revealing the superhero suit underneath that would easily give them away to anyone.

"This isn't going to work." Ladybug noted, looking far from amused.

Chat Noir thought for a moment before chuckling as he removed his black jacket and wrapped it around Ladybug. The jacket was huge on her, making Ladybug look like some sort of little kid. He tried not to laugh at her appearance, knowing that it would only cause Ladybug to further question whether the idea would work, but no doubt Ladybug could probably easily see through him.

However, Ladybug didn't say a word. Her face was completely unconvinced, but she still seemed willing to go along with his idea. This gave Chat Noir hope. Hope that things were finally going to go his way. That he could finally impress Ladybug and give her the perfect gift. Because getting Ladybug to go along with his idea was half the battle; a battle he had now already won.

"My lady," Chat Noir bowed to her before offering her his arm.

This time, Ladybug couldn't help but giggle as she took his arm and let him lead her out of the ally and towards the theatre. As they approached the building, they pulled their hats down in front of their faces to try and hide their obvious masks from view. Luckily, the building was incredibly quiet, most people already probably having been seating for the show.

This was it. Chat Noir was finally going to do it. They were disguised so they wouldn't be hounded by people. There were no animals involved. There was no Chloé to ruin things. He hadn't made anything that could break apart. He was making sure to keep his tickets clutched tightly so he wouldn't drop them or allow anyone or anything to snatch them out of his hand. He had paid attention to every detail, and he was going to make this work. Ladybug would finally have her gift. He would make sure of it. Nothing will go wrong this time!

Pulling their hats further over their faces, Chat Noir handed the usher their tickets. The man looked a little freaked out by them, so he quickly tore their tickets and pointed them in the direction of their seats. Ladybug and Chat Noir quickly dashed into the theatre, where luckily they had been seated on the second floor, hopefully meaning that they would be far away from the eyes of everyone else in the room.

Their seats were right at the front of the balcony, providing them with a perfect view of the show, which was just beginning to start as they took their seats. They had made it! Everything was going perfectly! Him and Ladybug were going to be able to see this show in peace.

The music was amazing, each wind instrument sounding perfect as the sound caused the whole room to vibrate, relaxing everyone in the audience. The eleven musicians in the show certainly were talented. Ladybug looked like she was really enjoying it as she laid back in her seat, closed her eyes and just listened with a small smile on her face. Soon, Chat Noir wasn't paying attention to the show at all, but was rather staring at his lady instead. Her features were so soft and delicate. Chat Noir longed to feel the softness of her cheeks against his bare hand, to press his lips against hers and –

"Chat? Are you okay?" Ladybug's concerned voice snapped Chat Noir out of his daydreaming.

The music was still playing, only this time, Ladybug had opened her eyes, only to probably noticed Chat Noir staring at her. She looked a little uncomfortable and worried, and Chat Noir's cheeks burst into flames as he scrambled through his brain, trying to think up some sort of believable excuse.

"I…erm…I have to go to the bathroom," Chat Noir lied, mentally smacking himself over that being the only thing he could come up with.

"Oh – umm – okay…" Ladybug replied, still sounding confused. "But don't you want to wait until the intermission?"

"Oh, no, it's really urgent." Chat Noir crossed his legs for good measure, wanting to kick himself for being this awkward and embarrassing.

Ladybug didn't say anything as Chat Noir quickly turned on his heel to head out of the theatre and find a bathroom. While there, he could maybe hide for five minutes while he regained his composure and got over the cringe inducing awkwardness of having been caught creepily staring at his lady in the dark while totally not fantasising about her in any way shape or form.

While beginning to shuffle his way out of the row of seats, Chat Noir turned to watch the pipers, feeling guilty about missing most of their show while he was busy staring at Ladybug. However, as he was walking along while staring at the eleven pipers, Chat Noir's foot became caught on one of the legs of the chairs, tripping him over. Chat Noir yelped, feeling himself topple over the rails of the balcony. Instinctively, Ladybug lurched forward, and they attempted to grab hold of each other, but all Chat Noir could reach was her baggy dress, which he tore off as he continued to fall.

Knowing that it was the only way to save himself, Chat Noir grabbed his baton before jamming it into one of the light fixtures, halting his fall, and causing him to dangle in mid-air, and for his hat to slip off his head, sending it fluttering to the audience below.

The audience had already begun to look up to see what all of the commotion was about, and gasped at the sight of Chat Noir dangling above them while Ladybug tried to reach for him. Ladybug facepalmed while Chat Noir smiled and awkwardly waved at the startled people below him. The lights in the theatre turned back on, and the pipers stopped playing. Some of the pipers looked annoyed while others stared at the two superheroes in shock.

"It's Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Someone yelled.

Chat Noir then shrieked as the audience began dashing towards them, kicking and flipping himself so that he was standing balanced on his baton before running back towards Ladybug. He yelped again before leaping into her waiting arms as swarms of people began to surround them.

Using her yo-yo, Ladybug managed to swing them out of the room and over the heads of the rabid crowd, dying to take pictures with them and get their autograph. Still carrying Chat Noir in her arms, Ladybug dashed out of the theatre as fast as possible, before she quickly darted back into the ally that her and Chat Noir had met up in earlier. The crowd ran past them, and Ladybug sighed in relief before putting a shell-shocked looking Chat Noir down.

"That was close," Ladybug said, out of breath.

Chat Noir turned his back on Ladybug and took a few steps away, squeezing his eyes tightly shut as he fought back tears. His heart felt like it had been ripped in half as it pulsated and throbbed in his chest like a deep wound. He gritted his teeth together as he could feel sobs trying to claw their way out of his chest.

He'd done it again.

For the eleventh time, he had ruined everything.

And that was it now.

It was Christmas Eve. He had no more chances.

He had failed to come up with the perfect gift for Ladybug. Every time he had tried, something had always ruined it, whether it was himself or someone or something else. How could he have let all of this happen? Now Ladybug was likely going to hate him. He was going to be a sad, lonely kitty, just like he was every other Christmas. He had hoped that he could cope due to the satisfaction of having done something nice for Ladybug, but he couldn't even achieve that.

"Chat?" Ladybug asked gently. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," Chat growled out through clenched teeth, still not turning around to look at her.

"Clearly you're not," Ladybug replied, sounding increasingly worried.

Chat Noir sighed in frustration, a few tears finally bursting free of his eyes. "All I wanted to do was give you a really nice gift this Christmas. I wanted to do something special for you, but no! The universe hates me! All I've done is get us into trouble and put us in embarrassing situations!"

Ladybug sighed. "Chat, listen –"

"I don't even know why you put up with me. I'm nothing but a failure and a joke. Happy Christmas Ladybug. I'm sorry I couldn't get you anything special. I suppose the best gift I can give you now is to leave you alone." Chat extended his baton.

"No, Chat, wait!" Ladybug pleaded, but it was too late. Chat Noir had already taken off, leaving a worried Ladybug behind.

Awww, Chat. I feel like this chapter wasn't that good, but it was such a struggle to write. Well, only one more chapter to go now guys. I can't believe how much these past few days have flown by. It literally feels like I started this story five minutes ago. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and opinions in a review as it always helps me out a great deal. See you guys tomorrow for the final chapter. And yes, TLOS21, the Pipping Pipers was a reference to the hilarious typo that you made. I couldn't resist, lol.