She's Sunshine, She's Grace, She'll Punch You in the Face

Chapter 56: Sincere Apology

Marinette was back at the manor and was putting the finishing touches on both Selina and Jason's gift when the young couple were called down for dinner.

While on the way to the dining room, Damian said "I can't believe you have almost finished everyone's gifts that you promised. It's fascinating to watch how quickly you work and how everything is so well made."

"It took years and years of practice and I'm still not done learning everything I need to know. I just hope that everyone likes the things that I have made them."

"I know they will, Angel. Don't worry too much about it. In fact, I'm almost positive that if you handed Todd an old rock you found in the yard as a gift, he would cherish it forever." He joked.

"I know." She giggled at him. "And just so you know, when I start to make my dress for the Gala, I won't allow you to watch me. I want it to be a surprise."

Damian looked a little upset before widely grinning at her. "That's okay. I had something I've been meaning to do anyways." He says as they take their seats at the dining table.

"What are you going to be going then?" She asked curiously as she absent mindedly snatched a bowl away from Dick without realizing.

"It's a surprise, but you will find out soon enough, I promise." He took the bowl from Marinette when she was done with it.

"Oh, I love surprises." The bluenette smiled with glee before turning back to the table and taking a piece of food that Dick was just reaching for again.

Dick snapped his head towards the young girl but saw that she wasn't paying him any mind, but was instead pouring all her attention towards Damian and their conversation. Sighing, he reached for a different bowl filled with green beans and yet again, Marinette swooped in and stole the dish right out from under him. All around him, his family started to laugh at his predicament and finally Marinette looked around at everyone at the table.

"What's so funny?" She asked, a bit confused.

Even Damian was slightly smirking. "I thought maybe you were doing it on purpose but it seems you have no idea. I was just playing along." He began to chuckle.

"What?" She looked around the table and saw that the only one who wasn't laughing was Dick, although he didn't seem to look angry. "What did I do?" She asked him sincerely.

"You have been snatching food away from me the whole time you were talking to Damian." Dick finally broke into a smile. "And I thought I was becoming your favorite."

"I'm sorry." She giggled. "I promise I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, I can tell." Dick playfully laughed as he finally began to pile food onto his plate.

Everyone went back to their normal dinner time chatter and after awhile, Marinette's phone started to ring. Looking at her phone, she recognized it as her ex-best friends' number and sighed.

"You mind if I take this?" She looked over at Bruce.

"Sure." He nodded.

Marinette walked out of the room and hesitated for a moment before answering the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Marinette." She could hear Alya on the other side, who sounded a bit nervous. "Are you busy?"

"I was just eating dinner but I have some time to talk. What's up?"

"I uhh... I wanted to ask you something."

"Okay."

"How did you know Lila was a liar so quickly?"

Marinette smiled for a moment before answering. "I'll be honest Alya, I was a little jealous of her at first. She seemed so cool with all of her stories and a little bit too perfect and well.... You know how I was about Adrien back then. I followed them."

Alya giggled from the other side of the phone. "Yeah, I believe that."

"Anyways." Marinette continued with a smile still on her face. "I saw her steal a book from Adrien. In retrospect, I see now why Adrien's father liked that book so much. It was filled with all the lore of past miraculous holders. Lila saw the Fox miraculous and decided to create a copy of it and she claimed to Adrien that she was a hero before throwing the book in the trash. I obviously fished it out and ended up taking the blame for the book being lost so Adrien could keep going to school."

"That's why she looked so much like Rena Rouge! How did she even get akumatized anyways?"

"I-I don't know." Marinette lied.

It was quiet for a moment before Alya spoke again. "Marinette... I'm sorry. I've been acting like a total bitch. Nino was right about me only worrying about myself like a child. I just hope that I can set all this right when I get back to Paris."

"Thank you, Alya." The bluenette smiled brightly. "And a word of advice. Don't wait until we get back home. I would start debunking all your past false articles on the Ladyblog to show that you can take responsibility for your mistakes. This will make wonderful practice for your future in journalism. Also, I would apologize to the class as well. I'll be there if you need some help."

"You're right... Hey, do you think if I do this that Ladybug might talk to me again so I can set the record straight?"

"Only one way to find out, right?"

"Yeah." Alya sighed. "Do you hate me?"

"No, of course not. It's just like I told the rest of the class. It will take me some time to ever fully trust you again but you know I'm not the one to hold a grudge. All I ever wanted was for everyone to see the truth and for all of us to be friends again."

"I know and I'm sorry again. Lila ruined so much for everybody and I took it all out on you. It wasn't right. I promise that the second I see you tomorrow I will give you a big hug and apologize again. I have no excuse for the way that I have acted."

"Alya, I understand how you felt. I'm just happy that we can both move on from this together and we can learn from this." Marinette looked into the dining room doorway to see everyone looking at her and she knew right away that everyone was listening. She waved as Alya continued to talk.

"Thank you, girl. Hey, I'll see you tomorrow at GA, okay?"

"See you tomorrow, Alya. Have a good night."

"You too. Goodnight." And they both hung up.

Marinette put her phone in her pocket and sat back down at the table next to Damian.

"So, she really did apologize?" Damian questioned.

"She did. And she meant it this time. I could hear it in her voice how bad she felt. It's nice to know that she still cares." Marinette softly smiles.

"She better not hurt you again or she will be answering to all of us." Jason said seriously.

Everyone around the table nodded in agreement.

"Thanks you guys, but I don't think she will. And if she does then I'll let you all have at it." She chuckled after finishing off her plate. "We have patrol tonight, right? We better hurry up."

"Right you are, Miss Marinette." Alfred nodded with a grin.