Meant to Be

Case Closed

The next day, everyone came to the courthouse for the case hearing, including, Lorelei, Robin, Beth, and Celeste. Mirabel didn't understand why those girls were here, but she wasn't happy to see them. Noemi, Mr. Turtle, and their attorney were on the defendant side while Mirabel, Mr. Prescott, and their attorney were on the plaintiff side. The judge, Judge Derek, came in.

"Good morning," Derek spoke up. "I see the workers of the Vega City Graphic Designers are accused of plagiarizing off Butterfly Graphic Arts. Why is that, Mr. Prescott?"

"Because our design was released before Mother's Day, and the plagiarized version was released after," Mr. Prescott pointed out.

"Maybe so, but it was our design to begin with, and you're the ones who stole it from us," Noemi accused.

"That doesn't make any sense," Robin spoke up.

"No, it doesn't," Beth agreed. "The original design was released before Mother's Day, and yours was released after, so how could Mirabel have possibly plagiarized off you?"

Noemi was shocked and nervous. "How could she not?" she asked.

"Because we know Mirabel," Lorelei replied. "She's the best designer in the United States, and I'm not exaggerating because she was the best in Vega City, and now she's the best designer in Butterfly Bay."

"Yes, and we've seen her designs," Celeste chimed in. "She may not be perfect, but she's awesome in every way, and her designs prove it."

Mirabel was surprised but touched. "Wow, you really mean that?" she gaped.

"We do," the girls chorused.

"Wow, I'm touched," Mirabel smiled.

"That's good to hear, and I've seen your designs," Derek smiled. "They're absolutely outstanding."

"Thank you," Mirabel smiled.

Now Noemi was green with jealousy. "It's not fair!" she fumed. "Why does it have to be this way?"

"What do you mean?" Mr. Prescott asked.

"I'm supposed to be the best designer in the world, but no, Mirabel keeps taking that title away from me," Noemi whined. "It doesn't matter where she works—she's still better than me. I'm sick and tired of living in Mirabel's shadow and hearing about what a great designer she is! If Mirabel never became a graphic designer in the first place, she never would've been more successful than me, and I wouldn't have slacked so much that I copied and pasted her card design, changed the colors, and pretended it was my own! Then I wouldn't be here..."

"...admitting that you plagiarized off Mirabel," Mr. Turtle finished.

Noemi realized that she'd just admitted that she plagiarized off Mirabel. Now she was in boiling hot water.

"Plagiarizing from another company all out of petty jealousy of another worker—pathetic," Derek frowned. He banged his gavel and said, "I find in favor of the plaintiff, Butterfly Graphic Arts, and I hereby sentence the Vega City Graphic Designers to recall the cards they plagiarized."

That was it—Butterfly Graphic Arts had won the case, and just about everyone cheered.

"Okay, I guess I should make an original design," Noemi sighed.

"Guess again, Noemi—you're fired," Mr. Turtle snapped.

Noemi was shocked—she was fired from the Vega City Graphic Designers. "What?" she gasped. "Why?"

"You slacked in work over Mirabel, and you plagiarized off her," Mr. Turtle replied. "If I can't trust you to come up with a design after slacking so much, I can't trust you after plagiarism out of jealousy."

"Get Noemi out of here," Derek told the security guards.

The security guards each took an arm and dragged Noemi out of the room.

"No, you can't do this to me," Noemi whined. "I'm the best designer in the world! Just ask my husband! He thinks I'm the best, and I'm totally better than Mirabel!" She continued to rant, but she was drowned out the minute she was out of the room.

Mirabel approached her old friends from Vega City. "Guys, that was amazing," she smiled. "I can't believe you stood up for me like that."

"Well, like you said, now we know how you feel about not belonging," Lorelei said. "We know we've been mean to you before you left, Mira."

"But we didn't want to be mean," Celeste said. "We were jealous of how creative you were, how your parents let you move in with your grandfather, and how you were allowed to live alone after he died."

"We couldn't get our acts together," Robin said.

"If we had focused on our own lives, everything would be perfect for us," Beth said.

"Well, now that everything is ironed out, you can finally move on with your lives," Mirabel said. "When I left Vega City and moved back here, it felt good to move on and leave the painful past behind. That's what you should do."

The girls realized that Mirabel was right.

"You're right—we can move on," Beth smiled.

"We can finally focus on our own lives," Lorelei smiled.

"That's the first thing I'm going to do when we get back to Vega City," Celeste said.

"Me, too," Robin smiled.

"Speaking of Vega City, I'll be sure to go back and visit when I've got the chance," Mirabel smiled. "Also, now that we're friends again, will you be guests at my wedding to Enrique?"

"Oh, you know we will," Lorelei smiled.

"You're a lot cuter with him anyway," Beth grinned.

"You, too, Mr. Turtle?" Mirabel asked.

"I'll be waiting for an invitation," Mr. Turtle smiled.

Everything had been ironed out—Gabe and Noemi were finally out of Mirabel's hair forever, the case had been won, the plagiarized cards were being recalled, and Mirabel was friends with her Vega City friends again. Now there was only one more thing to worry about.