"Alya, I don't know about this…" Marinette trailed off, shaking falling snow out of her hair. "Excuse me, Monsieur!" She weaved slowly between a crush of people filling up the shopping center, struggling to keep up with the other girl's pace.

Her best friend turned to her flashed her a mischievous grin, "Girl, it's going to work! Just remember to *put your name on the gift this time*." The crowds shifted and pressed, and Marinette caught glimpses here and there of Alya dodging quickly through openings in the crush of people. She found a gap in the river of bodies and pulled off to a shadowed corner by a food seller's booth and waited for Marinette to catch up. When Marinette pushed through and slumped against a street lamp next to her, "Yeah, but I almost died from a heart attack last time."

Alya threw up her hands, "Pfft, you'll be fine." Twirling she said, "Mari, if there's a perfect gift for Adrien, it's here and we're going to find it!" She picked up a mittenful of snow and tossed it at Marinette. "Now stop making your bestie do all the hard work! It's Christmas Eve tomorrow and I had to drag you here right after class! You gotta commit."

Marinette laughed, "Alright, alright!" She put up her hands in a gesture of resignation. "You've got a point." She blushed. "It would be nice to see Adrien opening a gift I gave him." She could almost imagine his beaming smile, and the look in his eyes…

Alya cleared her throat and Marinette sheepishly smiled, "I'll admit it! It's not a bad idea."

Filled with renewed optimism, the two girls set off arm-in-arm through the busy throngs of crowds at the open-air Christmas Market. Vendors were peddling every ware imaginable, their booths filled to the brim with elaborate antiques, delicate blown-glass ornaments in every color, handmade clothing, and food. Food! No matter where you looked there was a stall selling something good to eat: craft-cured sausages, cheeses from small-batch fromageries, and sweets from chocolatiers and high-end patisseries. The smells of hot cider and cocoa wafted through the air and Marinette felt a grumble in her stomach.

All the while, a light dusting of snow flurries danced in the air and made the entire scene looked like a picturesque scene out of a snow globe. Marinette smiled and felt the quiet warmth of Christmas spirit spread through her bones. There was something about the holiday that made it her favorite. It might've been the cozy togetherness of family, all the traditions - sitting by the fireplace, sheltered from the snow; decorating the tree; and frosting sugar cookies with her dad. The two of them spending time finding *just* the right gift for her mom.

Her eyes struggled to take all the sights in. There were so many people, and so many things to look at. The sheer amount of choice was dazzling. How could she pick something that would be just right for Adrien? Not to mention she would have to give it to him tomorrow at school - couldn't risk what happened last time. Just the thought made her feel a little excited and a little queasy at the same time.

Shoving her feelings down, she dragged Alya over to a clothing booth where they had a collection of scarves, hats and jackets. She ran her hands over the soft knitted scarves, muttering, "I couldn't get him another scarf." Deep within her purse, Tikki squeaked quietly, "It's not like he knew it was you…"

Alya turned to her, "Did you say something?"

Marinette let the scarf drop from her hands, and gave a nervous giggle, "Just talking to myself." Out of the corner of her eye, she gave a small smile to Tikki. Alya shrugged and winked, "Leave the daydreaming until later."

Finding herself alone again, she looked over all the items at the booth. Yeah, she could just get Adrien a scarf for Christmas again, and it wouldn't be regifting from his perspective… but it felt wrong.

Without realizing it, she had wandered over to one very bright, lime green scarf. It was knitted, soft merino wool and felt heavy in her hands. Maybe Chat'd like this? It'd certainly match his eyes, and it would keep him warm on patrol. …Were they even going to exchange gifts this year? They hadn't discussed it, but it felt right to her. Her kitty was always watching her back.

"Oh, nice scarf! You going to buy it?"

"Hmm, yeah, ma—ADRIEN." Standing there, bundled up in a navy peacoat, was her dream crush. And she had talked to him? "Yeah, uh, I'm thinking buy it. Oh, uh, I mean I'm about thinking it." She heard a high-pitched sigh emanate from her purse.

He quirked an eyebrow, "That's…good?"

She felt her cheeks burn hotter. Why couldn't she say anything when he was around? It was like her brain decided to go rogue and humiliate her for fun. She was normally pretty cool. It wasn't fair.

Right at that moment, Alya swooped in and saved her. "Hey, Adrien! Just checking out the Christmas market too?" Relieved at getting a conversation he could follow he, smiled, "Yeah, there's not much to do at home right now. My dad's been pretty busy with work."

Alya gave a sigh, "Yeah, I totally get you - holidays are the worst with my mom. It's not like hotel chefs get the day off, you know?" She smiled at Marinette. "Want company?"

Adrien nodded over at Marinette. "Oh, that would be great. That really okay?" Marinette gave a stiff smile and nodded her head vigorously. Just out of view of Adrien, Alya facepalmed hard. He didn't so much smile as look… quietly pleased. "I don't really have any Christmas shopping to do, and the staff have already decorated the place, but…that'd be nice."

Marinette froze. The look of quiet relief on his face was so cute she could hardly bear it. She knew that he had a pretty lonely home life from what she saw of Mr. Agreste in class and during any student-parent class activities. That she could be a good part of his holiday was almost too good of a present to top. She looked to the North and gave a whispered thanks to Santa. Maybe Christmas miracles do happen?

Chat's scarf, she thought to herself. "I, uh, I'm still looking around here," she mumbled and then darted deeper into the booth. She could see Alya giving her an incredulous stare. "Ugh, why am I worrying about that silly cat when Adrien's out there?"

"Because you care about him, too?" Tikki responded helpfully. Marinette smirked and gently nudged Tikki back into her purse. "It was a rhetorical question! He's my partner so of course I'm … appreciative. He's no Adrien, but Chat's a reliable guy." She nodded firmly. Yeah, showing her appreciation for her kitty cat was a good thing to do. She threw a furtive glance back to where Alya was keeping Adrien busy in conversation. There were enough displays that she hoped neither Alya nor Adrien noticed her grabbing the scarf and taking it up to the register to buy.

After the cashier rang it up, she folded it neatly into her school bag. Thank goodness she hadn't dropped it off at home before she and Alya came here. She hurried back out and the three of them took off down the bustling aisles of stores.

"So did you get what you needed?" Adrien asked.

"O-Oh, I, naw, wasn't very what I wanted," she giggled nervously, completely aware of how her brain was failing her. Conversation was moving at a pace that was too fast for her to process that *Adrien Agreste* himself was spending the evening with her. "Hot chocolate?"

"Yeah, it's pretty chilly. I could go for some hot chocolate. Alya?"

She nodded. "Lead the way, man."

When they got there, Alya suddenly really had to go find the ladies' room. "Get me a large, okay, Mari? I'll be back." She receded into the crowd with a wink, and Marinette found herself left alone with Adrien. The lines at every stall seemed miles long but, just this once, Marinette didn't mind waiting.

"Finish all your Christmas shopping?" Adrien started, trying to make conversation. Marinette tried to will her pounding heart to slow. Alya gave her this amazing chance and she wasn't about to mess it up like she always did. She felt her cheeks burn but knew that with the cold nipping at her face, Adrien wasn't likely to notice.

"Almost… I have one more left to go."

"Ah, did you get that scarf you were looking at?" he said.

"Oh, no… wasn't quite right. But, uh, I got my parents gifts so that's good. I'm pretty set."

Adrien smiled. (Marinette fought the urge to melt into a puddle on the ground. The things this boy made her feel.) "What's Christmas like at your place?"

"Well, we normally open at least one gift on Christmas Eve, then sleep in late, open all our gifts, and make a big Christmas lunch. Plus my dad usually makes a ton of sweets."

They shuffled further down the line. Marinette could just make out the menu, which had an assortment of pastries in addition to the coffee. "Mmm," Adrien murmured warmly, "That sounds amazing." He fell silent for a second, and she was afraid that something she'd said had made him upset, but he continued after a beat. "I've never had a holiday like that. Plus your dad's a baker so you guys must have really good cookies."

He looked out on the crowds. "Christmas is pretty quiet around my house."

Marinette's heart panged. And on this holiday, the one that was supposed to be special and warm and wonderful. She had always taken it for granted, starstruck, that living with a famous fashion designer would have more pros than cons, but the reality seemed harsher. Christmas should be spent celebrating family and friends.

Finally the two of them made it to the front of the line, a surly looking cashier leaning over the counter. "Whaddya want?"

She looked up at Adrien and locked eyes with him. "Y-you know, if you wanted, you'd be more than welcome t—"

Then they heard the jingle bells. And then the screams.

And then, they saw it.

Overhead, a black sleigh flew through the sky, raining explosive chunks of coals down upon the throng of people. A man, clad all in a black suit trimmed with gray fur, stood at the bow of the sleigh and chuckled coal down at the crowd. He looked down upon them with empty, rage-filled eyes, "Ho, ho, ho - You've all been NAUGHTY!" The coal he threw shattered on impact and scattered colored firework-like trails of color everywhere. The rays of energy shredded holes in everything they pierced. "Christmas is cancelled this year!" People started stampeding, sprinting every which way to try escape the colorful projectiles that burst through the crowd.

The cashier peered out onto the street and gave them a quick look, "Actually, sorry, we're sold out." They ducked away behind the counter.

Dark Santa swooped over the festival again, "I see you when you're hiding!" Explosions rumbled through out the market as colorful smoke permeated the air. "I know you can't escape!" He was close enough for Marinette to notice his fluffy beard, prominent eyebrows and owlish features. Santa grumbled, "All those ungrateful students…"

Marinette traded surprised glances with Adrien. "Is that Monsieur Damocles?" he muttered.

She had to get him out of here stat so he could find a safe place. And she needed a decent place to transform without him catching on. Wouldn't be too much to ask, would it? But first Adrien had to get clear.

She grabbed his arm. "You've got to get out of here! I think our best bet is to run through the rear side of the shops until we're free. I don't think we should draw attention to ourselves if at all possible, so it might be better if we split up. You go left and I'll take the right. Hopefully Alya will be alright."

—

Adrien stood there flabbergasted. The stuttering, nervous wreck that was usually Marinette had completely disappeared and was replaced by … someone else. He'd seen her rarely get like this - with the class presidency, sure, but it was always easy enough to forget about since she was usually so shy around him. Yet, even in this chaos, she was so composed.

He noticed she was still holding on to his arm and blushed. That was different. A fiery burst of shattered coal exploded the next booth over and he stiffened. The flames began to rapidly eat through the drapes covering it and began to burn with an unnatural green light. "Alright, good idea. Don't draw attention to yourself, Marinette."

She took off sprinting in the other direction as they both dodged and weaved coal fire. He turned back to her for just a fraction of a second in regret, but pulled himself away. Adrien couldn't help her. "Sorry, Princess, but I'll take this guy out and keep you safe." Just from the look in her eye, he knew that she would be fine - that she'd find a way. That girl was made of steel.

Running in the opposite direction, he flipped open his messenger bag and shouted into it. With all the mayhem in the area, a guy talking to his bag was the least of everyone's problems. "Plagg, you awake? We gotta go!"

Plagg drifted out towards Adrien's face. "But I was having the sweetest dream about a wheel of Camembert. It was as big as the MOON."

Adrien rolled his eyes and gestured around. The burned-out remains of what used to be shops stood around him. Faint yells cried out in the distance. "Do you even see this?! Transforme moi!"

Emerald light enveloped him and he felt his normal street clothes replaced with his superhero suit. He looked back at the path of ruin that he'd came from. "Alright, maybe it wouldn't hurt to just pass by and make sure she's safe. After all, that's heroic and Chat Noir is heroic. Yeah."

Chat took out his baton and vaulted from any available wall or foothold. His suit kept the smoldering fires from burning him, but it still made the winter day unbearably hot. He scanned left and right, searching for any sign of life or movement. The area had cleared out quick after Anti-Santa attacked. Hopefully she had gotten away.

His head hung low. Why had this had to happen at a time like this, when he was just starting to enjoy himself? He could swear that Hawkmoth must have a direct line into his brain so he could ruin a good time whenever one came up. That guy needed to interrupt his photoshoots more often instead.

"Princess!" He called out. The sound echoed over the crackling of distant fires. But nobody answered back - there was just the empty silence of the battlefield.

"Looking for one of your fans, kitty cat?"

He did an about face to find himself a short distance away from his Lady. "Ah, not exactly, my Lady," he started. "I saw a civilian girl around here running for cover - she was the one who helped us with the Evillustrator - and I wanted to make sure she was alright."

Ladybug gave him a droll smile, "Ah, Marinette, right? She's fine, Chat. I saw her running out from the opposite end of the market." She watched him as he let out a sigh of relief. "Now can we focus, please?"

He responded with a sharp nod. "Why, I couldn't agree more, my Lady. This akuma certainly has given us ample Claus for concern."

"You're going on the naughty list."

"So I guess I'm just going to have to try twice as hard to get back in your good graces, Santa Bug?"

She rolled her eyes. "That name is terrible."

"As long as you stop by my house Christmas, you can call yourself whatever you like," he countered with a smirk.

"YOU BOTH ARE ON THE NAUGHTY LIST."

The Dark Santa hovered in the air around them, suffusing it with his Akuma's power. Chat could almost swear he could see the air shimmer with it. Coal began to hover from Santa's sleight and then shot out as if guided by an invisible force. He and Lady flipped and evaded the projectiles with an easy practice.

Ladybug turned to him, yo-yo spinning in hand, "Looks like Father Christmas came early."

Chat raised an eyebrow. "Are you practicing one-liners too? Make sure that he lands in the snow when you punch him out so you can say, "Cool off!"

His Lady cracked an honest-to-goodness smile, and just began to laugh. He could swear he could feel his heart grow two sizes.

She clenched her fist. "Dark Santa, I don't have time for you. Christmas is supposed to be a time of comfort and joy. Let's end this quick."

Dark Santa began to throw coal towards her, and Chat bounded and leaped, knocking the projectiles back into Santa's path with his baton. "This is getting old!"

With a spin of her yo-yo, she called out using her special power and glowing power began to emanate from it. "Lucky Charm!"

When the light receded, a fishing net was left floating in the air for a fraction of a second. It was red, woven through with black thread in a ladybug pattern. Dropping into Ladybug's grasp just right, she held it aloft with both hands and smiled. "I think I know what to do with this, Chat."

He smirked. "Gotcha covered, Lady!"

Chat extended his baton high in the air and did an acrobat drop towards the Dark Santa. His opponent continued to throw explosive coal, and Chat knocked a few of them back, watching as the beautiful colors burst in a wide radius. Dark Santa threw more, but instead of knocking them back hard, he punted.

The man in the black suit chuckled. "You fool - this is it for you. I'll pick your Miraculous off your broken body." With that he tossed even more towards Chat in bounding arcs.

The coal exploded in a blast of color and Chat, just at the edge of the blast radius, was knocked back in a wave of force into the path of a not yet detonated piece of coal that burst and then flung him upwards. The chain reaction propelled him into the air and he ping-ponged around, somehow managing to balance himself and defy gravity. He extended his baton and knocked Santa's sleigh over.

"Grr, boy, you're not allowed to do that!" Dark Santa pulled his hat off of his head. From within it, there seemed to be an endless assortments of bombs and he doubled down on his artillery fire. The pompom at the end of the hat seemed to close with an angry red light.

The continued throwing coal allowed Chat to juggle himself in the air almost endlessly as long as the explosions happened in the right spot. He owed a lot to his indestructible suit. He was also almost 100% sure bomb surfing wasn't likely to catch on as a real sport.

"Hey Santa, did I ever mention that physics was my favorite school subject?" Smoke heavily covered the area, melding together in a strange otherworldly soup of various colors. The last bomb detonated and Chat arced through the air, landing gracefully back on the ground. He took a defensive stance and listened, searching for any tell-tale sign of footsteps or the whistle of Santa's sleigh as it flew through the air. Nothing.

Just then, Dark Santa burst through the clouds of smoke. "And did I mention that I can fly on my own power?"

Chat Noir's eyes widened. "Well, this is new. But I guess it doesn't make any whether you're in a sleigh or not." He bounded away, running through the smoke that filled his lungs, and catching the sharp acrid smell in his nostrils. Santa continued to fly towards him, displaying zero signs of being bothered by the fires, unhindered by debris on the ground.

"Coward! You can't escape!"

"Also, FYI. You look really stupid like that - I'd go back to the sleigh thing if I were you."

Chat rounded a corner and ran right past Ladybug standing stock still in the shifting shadows created by the smoke, "Mouse is in the trap, my Lady."

"Thanks, kitty." She pulled on one end of the net that was tied between two poles, making a taut web which Santa promptly flew into and tangled himself in.

The man struggled but without his hands, he couldn't produce any more coal from his magic hat. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the hat and flailed around. Landing neatly besides him in a crouch, Chat plucked the hat off Santa's head. "Honor's all yours," he said, tossing it to Ladybug. "I think it's in the pom-pom anyway." She tore the fabric in a messy split and the Akuma flew out. A few short flourishes later and all that was left as proof of the situation was a white butterfly and a very confused college principal.

"H-How did I get here?"

The two heroes fistbumped. "Bien joue!"

—

Marinette wandered back to the newly restored Christmas Market. The citizens had flocked back, completely unperturbed by the rampaging Akuma that had been there less than an hour before. If anything it was really impressive how blase the whole Parisian population had been getting about these attacks. Although that was to be expected, given how many of them had been Akumatized at some point this year…

She caught sight of golden locks standing near the front gate. Adrien! Next to him was the familiar face of her best friend. The two of them waved to her when she caught their eye.

"Girl, I was wondering where you were! I mean, I know everything's back to normal thanks to Ladybug, but I still worry, alright?" She pouted. "The section of the market I was in got evacuated by the Fire Department right away and I couldn't even get any photos for the Ladyblog!"

Adrien chuckled, "Yeah, I heard it was awesome though!" He looked down at his watch ruefully, and Marinette felt a pang of panic. No, totally not fair! My day with Adrien was spent fighting akuma?!

Just then Adrien's phone began to ring and he gave the girls an apologetic look. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stay too long. My dad has some work for me to do." He put his cell to his ear and started mumbling to a voice on the other line. "Yeah- I mean, Yes, Nathalie."

He turned to Marinette and said, "I'll have to get a rain check on that hot chocolate. See you around." He paused for a beat and added. "I might not be at school tomorrow because of this so, just in case I don't see you, Merry Christmas."

Marinette felt her heart sink. She hadn't even gotten him a gift and now she wouldn't be able to give it to him? Alya gave her a sympathetic gaze.

And then the idea hit.

"Oh, uh - Adrien."

The blond looked at her, eyes intent, carefully listening. "Yeah, Marinette?"

She gathered her courage. Just say it, Marinette, she repeated to herself silently. Just say it.

"Would you- Well, I was going to get you a Christmas present but then I thought - I don't know - you said that Christmas was kind of quiet at your house, so I thought - and only if you're not doing anything with your dad, I mean, I don't want to interrupt - maybe you'd like to come over and frost Christmas cookies at my place? I'm sure my parents would love to have you over."

He stared at her for a second, his mouth slightly agape. "Me? Spend Christmas with you?"

"Oh, but don't feel obligated! If you're busy that's ok—"

"No, no! That sounds amazing!" He looked down and quietly added, "I'd love to. … Thanks."

Alya was equally wide-eyed standing behind him. A crazed smile crept up on her face and fist pumped silently in the background and threw Marinette distant high-fives. She was silently mouthing, "YESSSS~"

"Great!"

Marinette bounded off, ecstatic. This was perfect. Perfect. How could it get better?

Now to go give that kitty his Christmas present. Once she did that, she could rest easy.

—

Chat stood waiting on the roof at their usual rendezvous point, watching the snow float down in soft flurries and trying to see how large he could make the cloud of his breath. Clutched in his hand was a package. He had tried to reason why he shouldn't give his lady a gift on Christmas and had found himself unable to come up with a good reason. Maybe he wanted to see her eyes sparkle - sure, absolutely - but most of all, not giving his partner a gift felt wrong. She had been on point during the last akuma attack and he wanted to show her his appreciation.

He heard the crunch of icy snow behind him and turned to find Ladybug holding a peppermint-patterned bag in her hands.

"Oh, Chat! You… brought a gift too?"

His heart fluttered in a panic, happy that she had even thought to give him something. He covered up the grin with his usual jokes. "Hmm, looks like you put me back on the Nice list after all?"

She shrugged. "Who knows? This could be full of coal."

"I'd still enjoy it." He met her halfway and presented his gift to her, a small white and silver snowflake-patterned box.

They exchanged gifts, and they fell into silence as wrapping paper was ripped. He watched carefully for her reaction as she opened the small box. Inside was a delicate gold chain with a tiny lacquered Ladybug charm. He could see her try and fail to suppress a smile. "Kitty, you didn't have to do this."

He had what he knew was a dopey smile on his face. He didn't care.

Opening his box, he pushed aside tissue paper to reveal a very plush, lime green scarf.

Where have I seen this before? He faintly remembered speaking to Marinette about it yesterday at the Christmas Market. There's no way.

Well, no, definitely not. She said she didn't buy it. Although he could have missed it, maybe? He looked up to find her staring at him. "Do you like it?"

He grinned. "My Lady, I love it." He looped the soft fabric around his neck, feeling the softness of it against his cheek. "And it matches my eyes! You shouldn't have."

"There's something else," she added.

He put a hand into the field of tissue paper and felt a smaller box. Pulling it out, he saw that it was as box of warm spice cookies. They were plain rounds, not like high-end cookies. But he could get those any day of the week and it had been a very, very long time since he had had homemade cookies.

"I thought you might like those, too," she said. "I've been practicing a bit."

He bit into one as it crumbled lightly in his mouth, sweet and soft.

"I do, my Lady. Thank you."

—

Marinette stood outside on the sidewalk to the Agreste Mansion, wearing what she hoped was a cute enough outfit. She wore a white long peacoat and a pink scarf and hat. There wasn't really a need to pick Adrien up since he lived so close by, but she couldn't resist getting a chance to walk with him through the snow on Christmas.

She mustered her courage and rang the doorbell - things were going to be fine.

The wrought-iron games of the mansion mechanically swung open, ghostly, and she walked up the drive to the front door. Before she could even knock on the door, it cracked open and Adrien stuck the top of his head out. "Hey there, Marinette! It's pretty nippy, isn't it? I'm ready; I'll just get my coat."

She blushed. She and Adrien Agreste. One-on-one. Well, and her mom and dad, but they weren't going to ruin this for her.

Perfect. Everything was -

"Ready?" Her crush said, looping a lime green scarf around his neck. She froze for a second, and when the moment had passed she regained her voice.

"Oh, uh, nice scarf, Adrien - where'd you get it?"

"This?" He said, clutching the soft fabric. "It was a Christmas present."