Cold Days, Warm Hearts

Chapter 8 - Together

Adrien came back through the trap door with the freshly made hot chocolates in his hands. A blend of both of their favourite memories of Christmas he mused to himself. Two vastly different flavours, but together they made the perfect blend.

"Want to take a short break?" He asked. Marinette looked up from her work and smiled at the beverages in his hand.

"Oh, they look like fun." She said, lifting the foot on the sewing machine and cutting the threads. "And I just finished up too."

"Perfect timing then."

Adrien dimmed the lights in her room, allowing the fairy lights she had hung earlier to twinkle and he took out his phone to find a Christmas playlist. Marinette giggled as Wham's "Last Christmas" started to play. "That's a bit corny isn't it?" She laughed, clinking her glass with his and taking a sip. "Yum." She hummed.

"It's a classic." He retorted, leaning into her and singing the chorus.

"Last Christmas, I gave you my heart,
but the very next day, you gave it away.
This year, to save me from tears,
I'll give it to someone special."

Marinette smiled over the top of her drink as he continued to sing, but deep down she felt guilty. Chat had tried to give her his heart so many times, but every time she turned him down, only to find out that he had been the boy she had secretly loved for so long. The thought that he might leave Paris saddened her more than she could say, and yet she still didn't know how to tell him that she loved him.

At the sound of the music, some of the kwamis came out of the miracle box to join in the fun, dancing around on her desk. "I should go and try my dress on and see how it fits." Marinette said, finishing up the rest of her drink and standing up. "Don't let them get into too much mischief."

Adrien gave her a salute. "Never fear m'lady. Your stand-in Guardian is on duty."

Marinette giggled, taking her dress with Tikki following her. When they were in the privacy of the bathroom, Tikki floated up to her face. "Are you really going to let him go and take Plagg?" She asked with concern.

"I can't make him stay." Marinette replied, already resigning herself to the fact. "And after everything they have been through I would never take Plagg from him."

"That's not what I mean." Tikki said seriously. "I mean you would separate Ladybug from Chat Noir."

Marinette gave Tikki a frustrated look as she slipped on her dress. "What would you have me do? Every time I tried to confess to Adrien it failed, and everytime Chat confessed to me I pushed him away."

"Tell him the truth. Tell him you love him, that you always loved him."

"Tikki." Marinette sighed, looking at the dress in the bathroom mirror. "There's no akumas anymore, there's no danger. If Adrien wants to explore other options..."

"You belong together, Marinette." Tikki insisted. "Ladybug and Chat Noir are yin and yang, just like Plagg and I are, and yin and yang are always stronger together." She floated up to her chosen and touched her cheek. "Master Fu always believed you two were made for each other. If you let Adrien go, you may never get that chance back again."

"But Adrien has been so hurt..."

"Then help him to heal Marinette." Tikki said. "You're the only one that can."

When Marinette came back up through the trap door she found her sewing box upside down on the floor and Adrien chasing around Orikko and Daizzi who had run, or more accurately flown off, with a long piece of red ribbon.