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Adrien had finished up with fencing practice, feeling accomplished as he had finally gotten a particularly tricky move working for him. He was happy with his progress and hoped he would maybe get a chance to tell his father about it.
'Yeah, that's not likely to happen,' he thought to himself as he opened the locker. For a moment he thought he had the wrong locker as there was festive bag sitting inside it. But wait, no, there was all his stuff behind it.
"What's this?" He asked out loud even as he reached in, moving the tissue paper aside. There seemed to be material underneath.
"Don't ask me. I was napping," the groggy voice of his kwami came from inside the locker.
"Shh," Adrien said, looking around quickly, though there was no one near his locker. Still maybe he should wait until he got home to examine his gift. On the other paw he wanted to know who it was from. Curiosity and cats being a thing, Adrien sat the bag, which looked to have at one time been a plain paper bag but now had a Christmas tree with red balls painted on it, onto the bench. He thought the balls looked a bit like ladybug prints, but that wasn’t the focus of his attention. Instead he pulled out what laid inside.
The sweatshirt was green and sewn on it was a felt tree with a several cats around it. Adrien grinned big, for all the cats were black. There were also lights on the tree, real working lights, and it strung out onto the scene with a couple of the cats playing with it. It was tacky, but well made. Adrien had been gifted the best ugly sweater ever!
Hanging off one of the cuffs of the sweatshirt was a tag.
Chat Noir, Meowry Catmas.
It wasn’t signed. Adrien looked at the back of the tag to be sure. He then examined the sweatshirt more closely. It could have been bought, but care that was taken to keep the battery pack secure and the stitching on the felt which looked like it was done partly by hand, not by machine, made him think it was one of a kind.
’Was it Ladybug? Adrien wondered, looking again at the tag. When he got home he would have to see if the handwriting was similar to the love poem he’d gotten. It sure looked familiar!
Realizing he was dawdling too long, Adrien carefully packed the sweatshirt back in it’s bag and got out of his fencing gear so he and Plagg could get to the car.
That night, Chat Noir was in high spirits as he raced across the rooftops of Paris. The handwriting matched, or at least he thought it did. Did this mean that Ladybug knew his identity? Granted he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that the letter had come from Ladybug, but who else could it have been?
So when Ladybug finally arrived at their meeting spot he was practically dancing. Smiling ear to ear, he picked up her hand and gave it a quick kiss. “Good evening my Lady.”
Ladybug retracted her hand and laughed. “You’re in a good mood kitty.”
“Classes are nearly out for Christmas,” he replied. It was only a small part of the truth.
“They are,” she agreed happily. “Looking forward to your fill of cakes and cookies?” she asked, her smile seemed only for him and he wondered if it was his imagination or the truth.
“That is on my agenda,” he nodded then tilted his head. “Also giving gifts. Which reminds me, when are we going to be exchanging ours. Unless, of course, you’ve already given me mine?”
The look of confusion was not what he wanted to see. “What?”
Thank goodness for the years of modeling and being around old rich people. If there was one thing that Adrien was good at it was schooling his expression. He worried he didn’t recover fast enough though. “It wasn’t you? A shame. I guess I have a secret admirer after all.”
“Ooooooh!” And Ladybug giggled and he never thought his heart would sink hearing it, but there he was. “Good luck with that.”
“Thank you,” he said, his voice light hearted, but internally he was screaming. While yes he would have loved to have gotten a sneaky gift from his lady. The fact of the matter was this meant there was someone, probably at his school, that knew his identity and he didn’t know who they were!
The next day at school, Adrien wore his new shirt with pride. There was nothing on the sweatshirt to out him at Chat Noir, and hopefully by wearing it openly he might catch the reaction of those around him and pin point who might have given him this most pawesome ugly sweater. Then hope they would keep his secret.
Then he’d have to tell his lady.
At least he hoped he would be able to tell Ladybug who it was that knew his identity, because today was the last day of classes until the new year and if he didn’t find the person today he was in trouble. Big trouble!
The first to comment on his sweater, not surprisingly, was Nino. He could know. Nino was his best friend after all. It didn’t seem like Nino though to be so sneaky about it however and his reaction matched up to what Adrien would have expected from his friend. “Yo, dude. Got away with wearing something not approved by your Pops?”
Adrien laughed as they started up the steps of the school. “Pretty much. Is it festive enough?”
“Bro, if you were any more festive you’d have music playing. It can’t play music, can it?” Nino leaned in a bit closer.
Adrien glanced at his sleeves. He looked at the sweatshirt pretty carefully last night. “No, I don’t think they put music in it.”
“They?” Nino lifted an eyebrow. He didn’t miss a beat.
Adrien couldn’t help but rub the back of his neck at he chuckled. “I found it in my locker after practice, without a signature.”
“Dude, a secret admirer? I’m not surprised, but I am. No that you have one, but that you’d encourage it.” Nino was glancing around nervously.
“Well if I wear it I can find out who it’s from maybe and then thank them.” Adrien explain in perfect logic.
“Yeah, but what if they think it means something?” Nino pointed out. If this was a real secret admirer he’d be right, but more was at stake than his dating life, or lack thereof.
“It does mean something. I haven’t had someone make me something like this before.” Why did Nino’s face turn ashen?
“Right, I guess that is something important for you,” Nino said but his voice sounded strangled.
In class the next person to react to his sweatshirt was Rose.
“Oooooh, what a festive sweater Adrien,” the small blonde all but cooed.
“Thanks Rose,” Adrien said as he smiled at her. Rose was a bubbly sort of person that tried to compliment everyone. It wasn’t truly unusual for her to go out of her way to say something about the sweater, right? Adrien noticed her hands folded in front of her chest as she looked a little closer at the details. There were bandages on the tips of a couple of her fingers. That was interesting!
“Did you buy it for yourself?” She asked, and Adrien started to wonder why she was so curious. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Alya and Marinette were coming into the room.
“No, it was a gift. I think it was a secret admirer,” he told Rose even as his friends were going over to their seats behind him.
Rose cooed at the notion while Adrien thought he heard an eeping like sound behind him. “That is so romantic!”
And that scratched Rose off the list of suspects!
“Oh, Marinette,” Rose then waved her hand to the girl that was behind him. “I have a few questions about…” and Rose skipped up the step to talk animatedly to Marinette about a sewing project in hush whispers. Well Rose was whispering. Marinette wasn’t responding much. Must not have fully woken up yet.
By the time their teacher entered the room Adrien wasn’t any closer to figuring out who might be behind the ugly sweater. Ms. Bustier sat down instructions for the morning, which consisted of keeping the volume down once they got done with some very trivial school work, “Because it’s still a school day.” Adrien had thought the classwork had been fun, but some of his classmates seemed less impressed. Once class descended into more festive enjoyments he he glanced at the small bag that contained presents for his friends. He wasn’t sure he’d get a chance to escape his home over the break and he wanted to be sure he got a chance to give them their gifts.
Nino and Alya were right there to give gifts in return, but Marinette only had a small package of cookies to give him that she’d given all their classmates. He knew he shouldn’t be disappointed, Marinette was a very busy girl, but he had hoped to get something extra from his friend. She seemed very much lost in thought and Alya finally huffed and dragged Marinette out of their shared desk declaring they were going to the bathroom.
“Alya’s probably trying to find out if she forgot it at home,” Nino muttered to Adrien between bites of his cookies.
“Forgot what?” Adrien asked in confusion.
“Your gift. I know she’d been working on something for you,” Nino told him with a wink. That did improve Adrien’s mood surprisingly.
“Adrikins,” Chloé’s voice cut into any further conversation.
“Chlo! I got your gift here too,” Adrien said, digging into his bag. It was a distraction maneuver. That wasn’t the voice of a happy Chloé.
She took the offered gift and looked at it for a moment but did not immediately unwrap it. “Hmm, speaking of gifts. Who gave you that horrid sweater!”
Adrien shrugged. “They didn’t say.”
“What? Adrien what are you thinking!” Chloé seemed aghast. Adrien really thought she was being overly dramatic. From his desk, it was easy to see the return of Alya and Marinette. The former looking exasperated and the latter downtrodden. It worried him a little, but he couldn’t do anything about it right at the moment.
“I am thinking that it’s a really awesome ugly sweater. It even has different light functions,” Adrien said even as he pressed the control from the inside of the sweatshirt which changed the gently blinking lights to a higher speed pattern.
“Ugh. Adrien this isn’t fashionable at all!” Chloé, in her own way, tried to reason with him.
Adrien nodded in agreement of the fact. “But that’s the whole point.”
Seeing that she was not going to win the argument about the sweater, Chloé sat down a gift for him on the desk, “Merry Christmas.”
“Thank you Chloé. Same to you,” Adrien smiled as she walked away. Well, that crossed Chloé off the list. He was half relieved it wasn’t her. Adrien wasn’t worried about her keeping his secret, not really. Ladybug on the other hand would have had kittens!’’
The school day progressed with little actually school work and lots of merry making. Except for him slowly crossing people off his list of suspects, he was really enjoying the day. He hadn’t realized though he’d not made any progress with his hunt until he was walking to the doors of the school with Nino. He slowed down, then finally stopped.
“You okay Bro?” Nino asked, looking back at Adrien.
He couldn’t leave school without knowing, or at least having a clue as to who was behind the sweater. Maybe he hadn’t made himself available? They could have been intimidated to say anything when he was surrounded by his friends for most of the day.
“I just forgot something. That’s all. I’ll text you later and see if we can meet up during the holiday. Okay?” Adrien took a few steps back.
“Uh, okay. I’ll talk to you later,” Nino said with a wave. It was obvious he knew something was up, but Nino was probably use to his odd behavior at this point and just didn’t question it.
Adrien backtracked into the school. He spotted a few students here and there who would nod in greeting to him, but nothing more. Most everyone wanted to get out of school to start their holiday after all. He was about to give up when he heard a voice stutter not far from him.
“A-adrien? Doing what here,” Marinette frowned, then grinned in the blink of an eye. She was always expressive. “I mean what are you doing here? I would have thought you’d already be gone.”
Marinette wasn’t exactly who he was looking for, but he couldn’t help but be glad to get to see her one more time. Her hands were moving in wide gestures, which she did from time to time, especially when she was excited. Adrien would have betted Marinette loved the holiday season. If he did escape the house, besides as Chat Noir, he’d have to see if Nino would be up for stopping at the bakery. “I was just making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything since we won’t be back for a few weeks.”
“That’s smart, not that you’re not smart, you’re always smart, I mean…” Marinette took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes and for a moment Adrien was sure she was going to say something important. “Merry Christmas Adrien.”
Marinette moved away fast, which was so very Marinette as far as Adrien was aware. “Merry Christmas Marinette.”
Another ten minutes and Adrien gave up his search. If they were at school, they were no longer there. Adrien knew when he next saw Ladybug it wasn’t going to be a good conversation.
Saturday morning's akuma had been loud and obnoxious, but one of the easier villains to defeat. Normally they did not patrol the same day they battled. They'd tried before but it was always a time juggling issue and they both agreed unless they felt like there was a need it was wiser to save their strength, and extra sleep time, and just patrol the following evening. So Adrien thought it best to double check before they both had to depart due to their miraculouses running out.
"Are you still up for our gift exchange tonight?" He asked. They'd planned it on Saturday just so they'd still have time if an akuma pushed back their plans.
The look Ladybug gave him was wide eyed. Why did she looked so startled? Did she forget? He felt let down. He was use to that sort of thing with his father, not really but he should have been. Still this was Ladybug.
"Gifts, right, because we totally haven't done that yet. I wonder how many extra... Sorry, yes. Yes. Tonight," she was interrupted by the twin chimes of their miraculouses. "Bye, gottago, seeyoutonightIloveyou!"
Adrien was pretty sure he didn't hear that right as Ladybug swung off.
That evening Chat Noir was not the first at Notre Dame. This was disappointing for the young hero because he was still trying to figure out how to tell Ladybug the issue with his identity. He hoped his gift would lighten the blow somewhat. He had originally gotten her a commemorative DVD set on Jagged Stone. One that wasn't technically out yet, but when he told Nathalie he wanted it, she produced it in a matter of days. It had been unexpected but he knew his lady was at least as much of a fan as he was, and despite wanting to see the biography and documentaries on Jagged’s most famous songs, Adrien kept it wrapped up to give to her.
Now though he'd added some expensive chocolates as well as a, he hoped, very simple gold necklace. Was it too much? Probably, but he screwed up somehow and he felt guilty even though he had no clue how he fucked up.
"Hello my Lady," he greeted her as he landed near her. He was still rehearsing what he planned to say to her even as he bow dramatically. The bag where he had the wrapped gifts noticeably behind his back.
"Merry Christmas Chat Noir," she greeted him with a nervous smile. What did she have to be nervous about? Already he could smell the aroma of baked goods near by. She made him fresh cookies! If he hadn't already been in love with her already he would have been in danger of doing so.
“Merry Christmas to you as well. Are those cookies I’m smelling?” He asked with a wide grin.
Ladybug nodded without a word, then held out a bag to him. It was a brown bag with a painted winter scene on it. He wondered if she did it herself. His lady was so talented. He sat down the bag with her gifts for a moment to take the bag from her hand, but she held onto it and looked up at him with a serious expression. “I have a confession. This isn’t your gift.”
Chat Noir blinked in surprise even as she released her grip from the gift. He wasn’t sure if he should look inside if it wasn’t for him, but she gave him a small nod and he started to move the tissue paper to the side. “The other day I made a mistake and left your gift instead for my friend as a surprise. I don’t even know how I messed up since the bags didn’t even weigh the same.”
What he found was a book of some sort. The cover was hand made, but of very good quality. He opened it and noticed pictures and decorative pages. A scrap book. But why would she give him a scrapbook she made for someone else? Then he noticed it. The pictures. There was him and Nino at the park. And there was a picture of them plus Alya and Marinette at the Jagged Stone concert a while back. And there was the school pictures. He was shocked. Every single page he went to had pictures of him. He looked up at Ladybug feeling breathless. “You knew?”
Ladybug shook her head. “I didn’t. That was for Adrien. That was suppose to be in his locker after fencing practice, not…”
“Not the sweatshirt. Then me wearing it…?” He was starting to feel like he messed everything up.
“You said it was for you. If you were not, well you, you wouldn’t have done that. Would you?” Ladybug had her hands behind her back, fidgeting slightly.
“No,” he all but whispered. His gaze dropped from Ladybug back to the book in his hand. He closed it and looked at the cover. It was well made. Really well made. He then opened it and looked at the inside cover.
Adrien,
Hoping you have a very Merry Christmas this year and every year.
-Marinette
Because really who else could make his amazing ugly sweater and then this fantastic gift.
“Oh my, you’re mad at me aren’t you!” Ladybug, Marinette, said with panic edging her voice. Why would she think he was mad? Then he realized he was crying. Of course he’d make things a mess!
“No, no, quite the opposite,” his voice sounded thick as he tried to rub the tears away with his arm. He then lowered it to look at her. “I’m really really happy right now.”
“You… you are?” She sounded scared but hopeful. There was really only one way to express himself properly. With the scrapbook carefully secured under his arm, he used the other to pull Ladybug into a hug. She was only surprised for a moment before she was hugging him tightly in return.
They stood together for several moments, Adrien still trying to get his mind wrapped around everything that had happened the last few days. Finally he leaned back to look at her. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”
Chat Noir wasn’t positive, but he thought there was a blush half hidden by her mask. They soon settled down to sit and look out at the city below, their transformations dissolving so that they could meet their partner’s kwami, and Adrien had a chance to give Marinette his gifts. She protest that it was far too much, but he shook his head and just held out the scrapbook as evidence.
In the quiet evening they shared the chocolates and fresh baked cookies together. “You know, there’s one thing I don’t get Bugaboo.”
“What’s that Kitty?” It was still odd to hear their alter ego nicknames outside the mask, but Adrien thought he liked it. A lot.
“When you made the sweatshirt, it’s a one of a kind, right?” She nodded her agreement and he continued. “What were you going to do when you were walking around the streets of Paris and saw a guy wearing Chat Noir’s sweatshirt?” Her face paled and then she blushed. “You didn’t think of that did you?”
If there was joyous laughter from high above the streets of Paris, well it was the Christmas season. If there was a voice filled with embarrassment trying to be angry, also the holiday season. If the next day Alya and Nino were invited to the bakery and when they went up to the apartment they found Adrien and Marinette snuggled together under a blanket looking at a scrapbook as a Jagged Stone concert played on the TV, well hallelujah it’s a miracle!