Masked Permanently

Dinner Plans

Ladybug was pacing around her civilian room, wondering how she would go about this.

It wasn't like she could go on the internet and go to a how-to website that would instruct you what to do when your superhero suit won't come off.

She froze when her trap door opened and her mother was staring directly at her. The little girl part of her wanted to run to her mother in tears, seeking advice from the one woman she felt solved all her troubles.

"Ladybug?" Sabine asked, genuinely surprised to see the superhero standing in her daughter's room.

What could she possibly say that wouldn't sound crazy?

"Uh- hello Mrs. Cheng! Your daughter, Marinette told me to come to her room to- um, find her- give me something she made as a thank-you gift!" Ladybug told her mother, relieved when she saw her mother's face soften as a sign of belief.

"Aww, that's nice dear. Come eat dinner with us. I'm sure she'll be here in a few minutes. A heroine like you must be starving after a fight like that!" Sabine exclaimed, inviting her own daughter to eat dinner without even realizing it.

If she was being honest, Marinette was hungry. It wasn't like she was going to detransform anytime soon, so she might as well have a bite to eat.

"Thank you so much, Mo-Ma'am!" She corrected herself quickly.

"Oh dear, you could just call me Sabine," she chuckled gently as the heroine followed her down the ladder.

"Thank you, Sabine," she said with a smile. It felt a bit odd to her tongue calling her mother by her name, but if this was the reality she was going to have to face, she'd have to deal with it.

"Oh my! What a pleasant surprise!" She heard her father's voice bellow with joy. Somehow, this nearly brought tears to her eyes. Would she ever be able to be with her family without revealing her identity or detransforming? It felt nice to hear her parents' voices and to smell their cooking.

"Hello Mr. Dupain," she smiled politely, shaking his larger hand as he held it out as a greeting.

"Call me Tom," he chuckled, turning around to face his wife.

"I wonder where Marinette is. She's supposed to be here for dinner," Sabine voiced her worry a little.

"I'm sure she's fine, sweetie. I bet Marinette is hanging out with Alya and she's got forgotten what time it is," Tom lightened the spirit a little.

"I'll give her a call," Sabine picked up the phone as Tom went to finish preparing the dinner.

"You could go ahead and take a seat on the couch if you'd like. Watch a little television?" Tom told Ladybug, causing her to smile in return.

"Thank you, Tom," she remembered to say his name, resulting in the man smiling kindly.

Marinette mentally panicked, very well knowing that her mother wasn't going to reach her if she called.

"Would it be alright to use your restroom?" Ladybug requested.

"Go on right ahead. It's a little down the hall," Tom replied, then left to tend to the dinner.

Marinette took off to the bathroom, where she remembered she left her phone that morning. Luckily, it was under a bunch of her stuff, so her parents likely hadn't seen it.

The moment it rang, she muted it, then waited a few seconds to pick it up.

"Hello Marinette?" Her mother's voice came out of the other end of the phone call.