Author's Note: This is the last story I'm going to post before Christmas, so let me wish you all a very happy holiday period and only the best things coming your way in year 2018!

It's been a year since I've discovered Miraculous Ladybug, and a bit less since I've stumbled into this fandom. During this year I've met some fantastic people here and for that I am very grateful.

Thank you all for being so amazing! Treat this story as my gift to you (although in a way they all are).

A special thank you to wonderful Remasa who betaed this.

~ * ~ the Mistletoe Ball ~ * ~

Chat knew it had been a bad decision even before he slipped. The rooftops of Paris were covered in a thin coat of ice from the freezing rain. The rain itself was the reason they came up with the idea of the tag game in the first place. Otherwise they were risking some serious butt frostbite.

That's why the feline hero was chasing the wet red blur ahead of him in the rising darkness of December afternoon. His hectic schedule barely made it possible to get some well deserved time for personal enjoyment. So really, patrols were the only time he could spare and he'd be damned if he wasted it because of a bit of drizzle. Well, more of a sleet right now, but he chose to ignore it in favor of the pleasant flutter of his heart as he ran after Ladybug.

The city was slowly lighting up with bright decorations prepared for the festive period. He always loved those lights and was thrilled to get to watch them this way - leaping over the roofs and admiring the subtle pattern from high up, like no one else could.

He should have minded where he put his feet instead of watching the lights. His boot caught up in a loose tile and lost traction. The other leg wasn't ready to compensate and Chat suddenly found himself free-falling. He was already prepared for a rough impact when Ladybug slammed into him, her momentum sending them to the side, rather than down. They still ended up tumbling over the street like two wet bowling balls, but it was definitely less painful than a direct meeting with the ground after a horizontal flight.

Ladybug slowed down and gracefully finished the roll by leaping to her feet. Chat wasn't that lucky. There was an open truck loaded with evergreens and mistletoe down the road and of course Chat rolled into it and got buried under hollies to the tips of his cat ears. His landing was anything but soft. Some of those twigs had very pointy needles.

'Ow, ow, ow, ow-' he complained trying to break free from the green trap.

Somewhere above him he heard the melodious laughter of the love of his life.

'Hand,' she demanded and he blindly obeyed, raising his clawed arm up. He felt fingers closing over his wrist and in a blink he was pulled out and deposited on the ground.

Chat kept his eyes closed, partly out of embarrassment and partly for protection, as he began to shake himself from the needles and twigs to Ladybug's amused chuckle. It was quickly replaced with a gasp and then silence.

The feline hero decided to open his eyes only to find her sapphires boring into him mere inches from his face. Now it was his turn to gasp in surprise, but Ladybug took care of it by grabbing him by the bell and pressing a heated kiss to his lips.

To say Chat was dumbfounded was to say the half of it. His eyes opened wide, pupils dilated and he would have inhaled sharply if his mouth hadn't been occupied. When his brain finally restarted and supplied his limbs with instructions how to reciprocate it was already over. Ladybug giggled once again, a delicious coat of pink adorning her cheeks. With a subtle wave and a whispered 'See you next patrol' she was gone.

Chat stared for a moment after her, trying to determine if it was a dream or if he hurt his head in the fall after all. He raised a hand to his hair to scratch an annoying itch and he felt a sprig tangled there. Carefully he patted his head in a few other places and came up with more twigs.

Ow. Getting rid of this mess would take a while, he thought absentmindedly pulling more random pieces out of his hair. It turned out to be a sprig of mistletoe. He pulled another one, and another. His hands quickly filled with more sprigs and he ended up with a mistletoe bouquet.

Green eyes flared at the sight and his trademark grin found its way to his face. He could work with that.

Marinette wrapped herself tighter in the shawls she threw over her winter coat. The sleet from the previous evening was replaced with snow sometime during the night and now Paris was covered in a white blanket, unusually thick this early in December, but no one complained. It would be nice to have a truly white Christmas for once.

The girl quickened her pace. The air was pleasantly crispy, but still cold. She was thankful the delivery didn't take much time and she was already on her way to the comfortable warmth of her house. That was when she heard the quiet creaking of feet on snow. The pavements were clear so the sound must have been coming from the park she was walking by. Plenty of people there. Marinette shrugged. It was probably some kid enjoying the fluffy whiteness. She resumed her stroll towards home but the creaking steps followed her. Something was up.

A snowball landed a few meters ahead of her, but she ignored it. Then a second one hit the pavement less than a few steps from her. A third one followed, hitting even closer. Either someone had an extremely bad aim or they were trying to catch her attention.

Marinette huffed and turned around to see what was going on and she instantly got a face full of snow.

'Oh, god, Princess!' she heard Chat's terrified squeal. 'I'm so so so so sorry! I didn't think you'd turn around!'

The girl wiped the fluffy cold slush from her eyes and cheeks. It was a loose snow ball, and it had fallen apart at the impact, so she wasn't really hurt, just a bit wet. Nevertheless she shot her attacker a murderous glare. 'What do you want, Chat?'

Seeing that she was mostly okay, Chat put on his easy grin and strutted nonchalantly her way with the swagger of a very tipsy sailor in a storm. It didn't even take Marinette's acquaintance with him to see he was up to no good.

'Nuffin,' he murmured nearing her. His teeth were now fully visible with the width of his grin.

'So you just felt like throwing snow at me?' She raised a brow in disbelief.

'Ah, I may have wanted to show you something,' he replied slyly, invading her personal space. At her questioning gaze he only pointed a clawed finger up, above their heads.

Marinette automatically followed it to where a bunch of mistletoe sprigs dangled from the end of Chat's own tail. Before she even understood what she was looking at, she felt his lips brushing her cheek.

The girl gasped and spluttered but all she was left with was Chat's snicker echoing in her ears as the feline hero was already leaping to the rooftop. Once safely above her, he turned around and shot her a brief salute. 'See ya, Princess!' he yelled and disappeared among the chimneys.

Marinette felt the blush creeping its way to her cheeks. Her scowl dissolved into a tender smile as soon as he turned around. She giggled happily, her hand tracing the slightly damp patch of smooched skin. When she reached to her pocket for her mittens, she found an envelope loosely tucked in there. The sneaky mangy tomcat!

The girl opened the envelope. Inside, she found a tiny sprig of mistletoe tied with pink ribbon and a heavy piece of handmade paper. Her jaw dropped immediately as she read the stylish, round letters of the invitation.

"Gabriel Agreste and Adrien Agreste

have the pleasure to invite

Mademoiselle Marinette Dupain-Cheng

To the Mistletoe Ball

At Le Grand Paris Hotel

On the 23rd of December, 7 pm."

Adrien was having another one of those days when everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. At the moment he was stepping from one foot to the other and rubbing his hands together in vain attempt to warm himself up as he waited for his father to get to the set. The photoshoot for the Mistletoe Ball advertisements was scheduled to be over an hour ago but it didn't look like they'd be finished any time soon. The boy sighed. Chat was supposed to be meeting Ladybug for patrol around this time. It was clear that wouldn't happen today. He was hoping his partner wouldn't worry too much.

The idea was to get some tasteful picture of the two Agrestes, as the hosts of the first Mistletoe Ball, a charity event Adrien convinced his father to throw just before Christmas. The idea was supposed to be sound and simple. What Adrien forgot to take into consideration, was that nothing was simple in case of Gabriel Agreste. First, the man showed up late because of an unexpected crisis that needed his attention. Then he criticized the outfits prepared for them and demanded substantial changes. While they waited for the new clothes to be delivered he inspected the decorative arc made of hollies that was supposed to be their background, and discovered the lack of their theme plant. Finding no mistletoe he barked another order and Nathalie rushed to organize some fresh sprigs. And finally when everything was ready, he got attacked by a pigeon, the poor creature possibly thinking he was some sort of huge candy cane, and the man's hair got severely ruffled. A hairdresser had to be called as Gabriel didn't trust the stylist present on the set enough to let him touch his precious hair.

Adrien shivered under the heavy blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He was wearing a smart suit underneath, coupled with a white and green striped tie, to match his father's favorite white and red one. By no means a winter outfit. Left to himself he wandered over to the decorative arc where he could be alone for a while. He nearly missed the characteristic swoosh of a yoyo and light steps approaching him from behind the hollies.

The boy turned around just in time to see Ladybug marching up to him with a mischievous smirk. Her eyes gleamed and her lips sparkled, as red as the berries on the branches of the hollies.

'Hey, handsome,' she practically purred, halting to a stop in front of him and effectively rendering him speechless. 'I'm glad to be at the right place at the right time,' she chuckled, casting a quick glance to the top of the arc where an impressive bunch of mistletoe sprigs spinned happily in the wind. Then without further ado she grabbed his face and pressed her red lips to his cheek. The heroine quickly pulled out and shot him a saucy wink while the crew caught onto her presence and started cheering and hooting at the sight of the two of them.

Ladybug silently pointed to the mistletoe as if explaining her prank, and then with a self satisfied smirk she was gone, leaving the stunned blond model behind. Adrien felt the blush blooming on his cheeks and slowly crawling up to his ears. He wasn't sure if the thick layer of foundation would be enough to conceal it.

Gabriel chose that moment to appear on the set again and to Adrien's utmost horror got instantly not only briefed with the heroine's occurrence, but also presented with visual evidence, as the photographer turned out to be quick with his cell phone. A mysterious smile danced across the designer's lips as he watched the viciously red imprint of Ladybug's lips on Adrien's cheek bone. And if Adrien thought he couldn't be more embarrassed, he clearly underestimated his father once again, as Gabriel insisted on leaving the imprint for the session as a clear addition to their theme plant.

Marinette arrived at the Mistletoe Ball fashionably late. Of course she never intended it this way. Faithful to her style she just fell asleep in the afternoon after pulling a few all-nighters to get the dress ready. Now she was standing at the foyer, waiting for the official part to be over. From behind the heavy doors to the ballroom she could hear strong voices of Gabriel and Adrien, making their welcome speech and answering journalists' questions. Nothing really interesting in that part, she just needed it to be over so that she could slip inside.

The girl inspected her reflection in a large gold-framed mirror. The evening dress turned out really nicely - the deep magenta an unorthodox choice of color for a Christmas themed ball, but it complemented her hair and skin tone perfectly. A tight bodice nicely hugged her figure, leading down to where the skirt flared from her waist. For a festive sparkle Marinette added some Swarovski crystals along the boat neckline and in an asymmetric triangle inset on the skirt, giving the garment a princessy vibe, without making it overwhelming.

The speeches dragged on, so the girl moved to look at the posters for the gala, displayed prominently on the stands down the corridor. A small smile appeared on her face as she admired her alter ego's lipwork on Adrien's cheek, captured for posterity in the pictures from the eventful photoshoot. She had to hand it to the boy; he was a professional. She could spot the embarrassment in his eyes only because she knew it was there. For everyone else he looked every bit the confident host of the Mistletoe Ball he should be. Next to him, Gabriel Agreste was wearing a shameless smirk and not even trying to hide his amusement. The result was one of the funniest photos of the Agrestes, and it did a marvelous job in advertising the event. It was already obvious that Adrien's first initiative resulted in great success and there were rumors spreading of turning it into an annual thing.

Marinette hadn't noticed when the monotonous oration turned into delicate music and the susurrations of the party getting started. She realized it just as strong hands snaked their way around her waist and closed over her tummy. She felt the characteristic cool of the silver ring on her skin, even through the layers of her dress. Light breath warmed her earlobe.

'You look gorgeous in this dress, my Lady,' Marinette heard a whisper by her ear and felt Adrien nuzzling the hair at the base of her neck, where a few strands slipped from the high bun. She hummed happily and turned around only to snort when she saw an impressive sprig of mistletoe tucked behind his ear, decorated with a green bow.

'What?' he asked feigning confusion.

Marinette gave the sprig a playful tug. 'I guess now I have to kiss you, Minou,' she sighed in mock complain.

'Not if I kiss you first,' Adrien murmured closing the distance between them and claiming her lips. The kiss was lazy and gentle, with just a hint of spice that sent a pleasant shiver down her spine to where his hands rested at the small of her back. Marinette could hear the purr starting deep in his throat and she gave in to the temptation to set it free. Just as she ran her tongue over the seam of his lips as a signal to deepen the kiss, she heard someone clearing their throat.

The pair slowly broke from the kiss and turned to the source of the sound.

Gabriel Agreste was standing at the now closed door to the ballroom, a tall blonde woman wrapped in a dazzling blue gown at his side. Her green eyes warmed as she nodded to Marinette.

The man shook his head in disbelief, composing his features into a mild frown. 'Adrien, do you really need a social cue to kiss your own girlfriend?' he asked, eyeing the mistletoe behind his son's ear. He kept his voice stern, although there was a mirthful lilt to it.

Adrien shrugged and winked at the girl. 'No, not really. Just, you know, a little inside joke.'

'Then you better take it off, dear,' Madame Agreste smiled wickedly, 'I think I saw Chloe heading this way, and you know how she is when she sees mistletoe.'

As Adrien tried to untagle the sprig from his hair, Marinette wondered if the look of pure horror and disgust in his eyes matched her own. She felt her facial muscles stiffened at the reminder of the last time Queen Bee assaulted her under the mistletoe. The girl made a mental note to avoid their friend and mistletoe traps. Speaking of traps…

'Funny you should say that, Madame Agreste,' Marinette giggled and pointed over the woman's head.

Gabriel and Adele raised their eyes to the ceiling and they chuckled when they saw a generous bunch of mistletoe hanging there, covered in golden ribbons. They both pursed their lips to keep the outburst of laughter inside, but then the man's eyes darkened and a delicate pink brushed his wife's cheeks. Gabriel lifted his hand to Adele's face and tenderly stroked his thumb over the blush. She took a step closer and splayed her palms on his chest. His icy blue eyes softened when they locked onto the warm green fringed with long dark lashes. They gazed at each other for a moment and then gave in to the mistletoe call.

AN: Whoops, I guess I forgot to mention this is post-reveal and established relationship? My bad :D

If you are one of those people who need to know what is Mrs. Agreste doing there, and how come they are all on such good terms, I suggest you read a possible scenario that could lead to this. It's a story by my miraculous friend Remasa: "No One Mourns a Villain" posted on fanfiction . net

As usual, thank you for reading and I hope for a follow, fav or a review. They make me happy!

After ML Secret Santa story – "Clearing the Friend Zone" this is my second wintery-christmasy fic, and there's going to be one more, on Christmas Day.