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

Chapter 82: Realizing Your Worth

Marinette had just gotten out of the shower and she opened her bathroom door to see Damian laying on her bed waiting for her as usual. The only thing different though was his extreme look of being lost in thought.

"Hey, Dami." She crawled in bed next to him. "What's on your mind? You look like you're thinking about something."

"Oh, sorry Angel." Damian looked down at her with a smile. "I was just thinking about today. A lot happened." He gently pushed the hair out of her eyes to see her better.

"You aren't worrying about the Joker, are you?"

"This is Gotham. You should always be worried about the Joker."

"You know that's not what I mean." Marinette shook her head. "I'm talking about his creepy letter."

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't bothered by it. But no, that wasn't really what I was thinking about." He stared deep into her eyes like he was searching for something.

"Then what is it?"

"I was thinking about what you said earlier. About what you saw? I look at you and I see the most happy and cheerful person I have ever met. It pains me to know that you have seen these horrors that you have described. Nobody should go through something like that. Especially not you."

She thought about that for a moment before taking a deep breath. "I know that you don't like it Damian, but if it wasn't me then who else? And before you say anything," Marinette stopped him before he tried to speak up. "it couldn't have been you. Not even your father. The circumstances behind it all wouldn't have allowed it. I've learned to cope with it and move on. And if I'm being honest Damian, I wasn't coping all that well until you came along. So, thank you for that."

"What do you mean?" He looked at her with confusion behind his eyes. "You have friends and family. You had happy relationships before I came along."

"Yes, but I didn't have you. I would wake up almost every night due to my nightmares but ever since you came in here that one night, I haven't had them since. Sure, I was okay and had a small group of friends who would distract me from my past horrors, but with you I'm truly happy. I haven't felt anywhere close to this since before I got my miraculous. For a moment there I thought I was nothing but unlucky, but now I see that I went through all of this so I would come out on the other side a stronger person. Because of all of this, I have found a new family and I've found you."

"But am I really worth it? Am I worth all that you have seen? All that you have been through?" He looked at her with the most serious face she had ever seen.

Marinette reached up to cup his cheek. "I've found my soulmate, Damian. I would do it a million times over if it meant I could find you again. If it meant that I could make you smile. I wouldn't even hesitate."

"You really mean that?" Damian gently grabbed her hand that was on his cheek and leaned into it a little.

"Of course I do, Damian." She giggles. "I think its about time you start to realize your worth. My life is so much better with you in it."

"Thank you, Marinette." He kisses the palm of her hand. "I still don't understand what I did to deserve you."

"Oh, what do you mean?" She scoots closer to him so she can rest her head on his chest. "It has to have something to do with the first time you met Dick and tried to kill him." She said sarcastically.

"Very funny." He rests his arm around her shoulder. "I told you that's what I was raised to do. I didn't know any better."

"I know." She looks up at him with a smile. "I think that it's kind of funny now that I think about it. I wish I could have seen Dick's face when he realized he was being attacked by a little assassin child."

"I think his face was even more confused when I told him I was Batman's son and that I knew his true identity." He chuckles.

"Yeah." Marinette yawns. "You sure do know how to make a great first impression."

"Your first impression of me wasn't that bad, was it?"

"What do you mean? Punching you in the face while I was dancing on a rooftop was kind of not the greatest first impression on my behalf. You were completely understanding, all things considered."

"That's because I was completely enamored by your dancing." He pauses for a moment. "That reminds me. I'm not much of a dancer myself. I've had a few lessons but only because my father required it. We go to a lot of social parties that involve dancing. Anyways, I was wondering if I could dance with you some time. If-if you want to."

Marinette's only reply was her soft snoring.

"Looks like she fell asleep, kid." Plagg spoke up from the bedside table where he was hiding in.

"That's okay." He looked down at her sleeping face and smiled. "I should be getting to sleep too."

"Goodnight, kid. I'm going to go raid the fridge." Plagg then zoomed out of the room.
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"Master Damian, Miss Marinette. Time to get up. Breakfast will be ready in 10." Alfred knocked on the door with his usual wake up call.

"Thank you, Alfred. We'll be down in a minute."

"A minute?" Marinette mumbled into Damian's chest. "Speak for yourself."

"Come on, Angel. It's Sunday which means it's our last full free day together before I have to go back to school."

"You're right." Marinette slowly lifted her head up off of Damian's chest. "I can sleep in later."

"I'm going to go get ready." Damian threw his legs over the side of the bed before swiftly standing up. "I'll meet you in the hall."

As Damian began to walk away, Marinette grabbed ahold of his wrist at the last second before he was out of reach. She yanked him towards her to give him a soft kiss on the lips before releasing him again.

"I'll see you in the hall." She smiled and waved at him.

It took him a moment to get his feet to move again, but he eventually made his way out of the room with a dorky smile plastered on his face.

A few minutes later, the two met up with each other as promised out in the hall. They held hands and happily chatted on their way down to the dining room for breakfast.
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Breakfast was going about how it usually does. Jason and Tim were fighting over some food while Bruce made sure nothing got too out of hand. Marinette and Dick were laughing at the whole ordeal while Damian and Alfred just shook their heads. Selina was playing footsie under the table with Bruce as usual, but no one ever really noticed that.

The tables usual chaos was abruptly halted when the doorbell rang throughout the manor.

A few people at the table pulled out their phones to pull up the manors security system, including Damian.

Marinette leaned over his shoulder to see very tan woman, practically orange in complexion, with long orangy-red hair that went all the way past her butt. She was wearing a simple purple, loose fitting turtle neck with skinny blue jeans and black boots. Marinette found that the strangest thing about her, other than her skin tone, was the large dark tinted sunglasses that hid her eyes. It was almost like she was hiding them on purpose.

"Who is she?" Marinette asked.

"Kori!" Dick leaped out of his chair with so much speed that it fell to the ground.

"Dick's girlfriend?" Marinette asked as everyone followed after him towards the front door.

"Yep." Damian nodded. "We weren't expecting her so soon."