Ladybug entered the small park, talking to herself. "How do you tell your best friend you love them? Arrgh, I could use some good advice!"
A gentle voice caused Ladybug to whirl around, seeing Mama Cheng with an amused expression on her face and holding a watering can. This why Ladybug loved this park. The quietness save the chirping birds in the trees and the pretty flowers were a feast for her eyes.
"Maybe I could help, Ladybug?" "Oh," Ladybug blushed, walking closer. "You heard me mumbling?" Mama Cheng only nodded, and continued to water the flowers. "Love is like a flower. At first, it is shy to grow, but it stretches towards the sun, in your case, Cat Noir."
Cat is like the sun, Ladybug thought. Kind, sweet, generous and good. She basked in the glow of his love, a warm feeling like the sun. "Then you begin to bud. A shy smile here, a hand brush there, a flirt or banter." "Bantering is good for us," Ladybug explained. "Or when Cat tells me a pun, it helps the fog in my mind clear." She could get so focused the she didn't always see the solution until Cat would tell a joke or pun, and all at once the path to victory would appear.
"Then your petals open and at last you bloom, showering each other with love and when your ready you tell him "I love you."
"Is really all that simple?" Ladybug asked. Mama Cheng smiled. "Each flower blooms at the proper time. Today might be the day, perhaps tomorrow. You'll know, dear. You'll know."
"M'lady, M'lady!" Ladybug turned to see Cat running towards her a frantic look on his face. "Cat, what's wrong?" "I completely forgot it's Mother's Day! Oh, Bugaboo, can you help me think of a gift?"
Heavens, she had forgotten too! "Let's go look for something together. And later, I have something to share with you."
Mama Cheng smiled as she watched Ladybug hook her arm through Cat's. She didn't need presents or gifts. She wanted Ladybug to be happy, not knowing it was her shy daughter beneath the mask.