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“Cataclysm!” The tree turns to ash. Chat Noir feels relief for the destruction of the tree but only for an instant. Looking at the ash he instantly regrets what he has done. A look of panic sweeps across his face horrified at the damage he caused. What’ve I done…
“Chat!” From the rooftops, he could hear Ladybug’s voice call out to him.
“Ladybug!?” What was she doing here? He turned to see her swinging down running towards him. Just when he thought this day couldn’t get any worse.
“What’s wrong? Where’s the trouble?” Ladybug stayed on her guard scanning the area looking for a supervillain.
“There’s no trouble.” Chat looked away from her. He was too ashamed of himself to look her in the eyes.
“Then why is the city Christmas tree in ash?” Ladybug asked confused.
Chat took a deep breath. There was no use in hiding it from her.
“I-I destroyed it.”
“Chat, why would you do that?” Chat could hear the sadness in her voice. He didn’t say anything. He just wanted to run, just run away. He heard Ladybug sigh. A very depressing sigh. “Look, I’ll fix it up but you better get going for now.” Chat looked down at his ring which was down to three paws. Chat nodded and started to run away. “Chat!” he heard Ladybug’s voice call out to him. He stopped in his tracks and turn painfully to look at her. It was the last thing he wanted to see was a disappointed Ladybug. Instead, she wore a worried look on her face. “Meet me at the tower in ten minutes!” She called out pointing to the Eifel tower nearby. He nodded because how could he refuse? Maybe he would be able to compose himself and come up with a story to explain himself.
It took a while for Adrien to find some cheese for Plagg. Most of the shops were closed but he did find a kind Santa that offer some cheese from his sandwich. The man was very kind and gave him a cup of hot chocolate. He saw Ladybug’s beetles sweep through the air presumably cleaning up the mess he caused. He took that as his cue to leave and head to the tower. As much as he hated this day at least there was a silver lining. To see Ladybug on Christmas even if it was to be scolded by her.
Ladybug was already at the tower when he arrived. She was sitting on the beam looking over the city. It’s no surprise that she beat him there. He did take the roundabout way to get there. He looked closely at her earrings and saw that she had taken the time to recharge her kwami so there was no risk of time running out. She heard him approach and turned around and greeted him with the same worry smile she had on before.
“I can’t stay for long but I couldn’t leave without talking to you. Do you want to explain why you destroyed that Christmas tree?”
“That’s nice that you’re concerned for me but this Cat has his secrets.” He hoped that a wink and a fake smile would be enough to get her to drop the question.
“It’s no secret that you’re clearly upset.” She said. She knew him way too well. “Chat, you can talk to me.”
“Alright, I was feeling a bit lonely tonight and it made me angry that everyone is with their families for the holidays and… I’m not.” It was mostly true. He didn’t have to go into detail about everything. How his father doesn’t want to celebrate Christmas and that his mother was gone.
“Chat, I’m sorry.” She placed a hand on his shoulder in sympathy. He just simply shrugged. It was nothing new, it had been like this for the whole year.
“It’s okay, it’ll be better tomorrow. I know.” The next thing he knew, she was wrapping him in a hug. He didn’t resist and embraced her back. He wanted to cry and just let it all out.
“What’s that? “Ladybug questioned the present on his back
“Oh, it’s a present.”
“Where did you get that? That’s Adrien’s present. Chat, where is he? Everyone is worried and looking for him.”
“Looking for Adrien?” Chat blinked looking at the present then back at Ladybug. “He, um gave it to me. He stepped out for a breath of air and saw how upset I was, and he gave me this present. He was on his way back home now.” He was surprised that people were taking time out of their holiday just to look for him. Even Ladybug was looking for him.
Ladybug gave a breath of relief. “That was really nice of him.” She was a little sad that he didn’t even get a chance to open the present, but it was a really kind thing to do. Especially for Chat. He might have needed it more than Adrien. “Why don’t you open it?” Chat looked at ladybug and back at the gift and proceed to unwrap it revealing a handmade Santa hat with a card. Chat pulled out the card and read it aloud.
“Merry Christmas, Signed Marinette.” He took a minute to look over the handmade hat. A smile appearing on his face. “Wow, she’s so kind.” He couldn’t believe that she actually took the time to make him something. “I feel kind of bad taking his gift. I should give it back to Adrien.” He really did feel bad about lying but he couldn’t tell Ladybug that he was Adrien.
“No, I’m sure she would want you to have it.” Ladybug took the hat and placed it on his head. His ears went flat against his head so they would fit. “You look dashing in the snow with it on.” Chat let out a laugh at the pun she made for him.
“Thank you, Ladybug.” He was feeling much better.
“Anytime, Chaton. Merry Christmas.” She stood up and prepared to take her leave. “I’m sorry I have to go, I’m sure my family’s worried about me.”
“Of course.” He followed suit and bowed, seemingly in a much better mood than when he first arrived. “Merry Christmas, My Lady.”
He watched her leap from the beam and take off swinging over the rooftops of Paris. Maybe this doesn’t have to be a terrible day after all. He was going to head home and try to find a way to bring the Christmas spirit back into his home.
But, before that, he had to make a stop at a certain bakery.