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

Chapter 1: The Start of What's to Come

Marinette should be happy, and for the most part she is. She has some loyal friends, she defeated Hawkmoth and she had won her class a trip Gotham. In fact, she is packing for that very trip right now.

Sadness still seemed to hold onto the poor girl everywhere she went though. She was sad she had lost most of her friends to her school bully, Lila. 'Maybe I should have seen this coming' she thought to herself. Lila had promised to make her life as miserable as possible. Who knew she would have succeeded?

Even though Paris's super villain was caught by Chat Noir and herself, it came at a horrible cost. Hawkmoth's sidekick, Mayura, had died because of her use of the damaged peacock miraculous. The duo were none other than Gabriel Agreste and his assistant Nathalie Sancoeur. It broke her heart to know that these two people were the only ones that Adrien -or Chat Noir- had loved as family and they are now both gone from his life.

"Marinette!" Tikki shouted to get the young hero's attention "I've been calling your name for the past minute now. What has you so distracted?"

"Oh, Tikki. I'm just thinking. I have to remember to pack all the things I'll need." She lied. No need to open that can of worms again. "I think its best to only bring Kaalki, Plagg and yourself. Hiding the box here seems like my best bet and if I need to grab the box fast, that's what Kaalki is for. What do you think?"

"I think you might also want to pack some delicious cheese too." Plagg piped up from behind the desk. "Who knows what the quality of cheese will be in the States. We need to be prepared for these things."

"Don't listen to him. He's hardly ever useful." Tikki says while Marinette giggles at her kwamis' banter. "And I think that's a fantastic idea Marinette. The miracle box would be quite a hassle to take through airport security. It's plenty safe here in your room with those new motion sensor cameras you got."

Marinette smiles, "Can never be too safe, can we Tikki? I know Plagg won't help, but do you mind helping me to make sure I remembered to pack everything? I would hate to have to buy deodorant or something at Gotham because I forgot"

Staring daggers at Plagg, Tikki cheerfully agrees.

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Marinette goes over the schedule one last time with Madame Bustier while on the flight to Gotham. The first week will be spent touring and exploring Gotham's important buildings and landmarks. The second week will be spent at Gotham Academy and the last week is a free week, with the second to last day being the Wayne's charity ball. To her dismay her distractions don't last for long. Unfortunately, all of her friends going with her on the trip (Chloe, Alix, Kim, Max, and Adrien) are all already sleeping. She would sleep too if not for the fear of waking up screaming from a nightmare. So now she's forced to listen to Lila's ridiculous lies even though she is 7 rows in front of her and way too loud.

"I'm so excited to be going back to Gotham. I know my Damiboo misses me dearly. He texts me all the time." She says in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Oh, but you probably know him as Damian Wayne."

"OMG girl! You know the Wayne's?" says Alya excitedly. "You have to get me an interview."

"I'll try Alya, but no promises. They are a very secretive family. They don't even want word of Damiboo and I to be dating yet until his 18th birthday." Lila's face morphs into an almost believable look of panic. "Oh no! I wasn't supposed to say anything. You can keep a secret, right?"

"Of course, Lila. Your secret is safe with me. But wow... you are dating a Wayne! That's amazing! What's he like?"

"He is just the sweetest. Its like he wears his heart on his sleeve. I'm so lucky to have such a kind, caring and sensitive guy to be with."

Now was the time she decided to tune them out. She could have sworn she would start losing brain cells if she listened for too long. Instead she put in some headphones, listening to music, as she sketched out some ideas she had from looking at the angular design of the plane she was on. 'Might as well put this time to good use' she thought.