The Gift of a Friend

                                    

                                          

  Author note: I know you all were dreading it but it's finally here... the Manon episode. I've done my best to temper her usual... nature for the chapter, bare with me for the chapter and enjoy

  "Tom I'm afraid this is an intervention." Sabine began.
  "Look I know the new coquettes recipe isn't everyone's favorite but it's healthier, it'll grow on us if we give it a chance." Tom tried to deflect.
  "Dad you know that's not what this is about." Marinette tapped her foot.
  "O-oh? Then what?" Tom being quite a large man shrunk quite impressively before the women of his household.
  "Dad you have to stop adopting Digimon!" Marinette opened the door to the bakery where no less than fourteen Digimon including Agumon and Gabumon wandered about the kitchen doing chores.
  "But they were hungry!" Tom pouted watching a Guilmon try to sneakily swallow an entire load of bread without being seen. "How could I turn them away when they're so cute!"
  "Tom you know I love the side of you that needs to feed all the hungry mouths." Sabine gently put a hand on his shoulder. "That generous side was what made me fall for you in the first place... but fourteen is too many." Sabine's grip tightened and Tom bent forward stifling a yelp. "No more got it."
  "Yes honey." Tom pouted. 
  Sabine turned to her daughter. "Perhaps your grandmother or grandfather could take some of them."
 "Grandma's always moving around and given his history with computers I don't think grandpa is the best fit for a Digimon." Marinette reasoned aloud.
  "Hmm you have a good point." Sabine sighed. "Maybe I'll call my brother and see if he could take some." She tapped her chin in thought.
  "They do seem to enjoy working in a kitchen." Marinette giggled as they stepped out of the kitchen. 
   As they exited the Digimon all came to a halt now alone. At once all fourteen exchanged a glance. They nodded and continued on with their work.
  "I'll call him I need to make some calls for school and projects anyway." Marinette said as she headed up her stairs.
  "Thank you honey, lunch will be ready in about ten minutes." Her mother smiles warmly  as Marinette disappeared into her room.
  "Since I'm making calls already I suppose I should check in over seas." Marinette flipped open the doll house in her room and pulled out the kwami phone she left in case of emergencies. Scrolling through she triggered a group call.
  "Heroes check in."
  "New York checking in." Eagle's voice came through.
  "Shanghai checking in." Fei joined the call.
  "How are things going? Figure out your issues?" Ladybug asked. This was their process. Checking in every few weeks or anytime anything big happened in the news. A couple times Eagle even tried to call Ladybug just to make a lucky charm to fix the damage as Majestia went ham on some poor villain. Ladybug was not as big a fan of that.
   "We found out where the organ music was coming from." Jessica Keynes reported in a lax tone. "Turns out some freaky vampire dude called Myotismon was hiding in the Statue of Liberty. Majestia beat his frilly cape off him and then he went through like... four power up forms and then died when the sun came out." The other heroes could hear the loud pause in her story. "So yeah that happened."
  "That's... ok then." Ladybug struggled to process all that. There were vampire Digimon now. Superb. And yet still not Ladybugmon... suspicious.
  "Shanghai is safe too." Ladydragon broke the silence. "The quakes were caused by a giant turtle Digimon with two heads and a big tree on his back but he turned out to be a pretty chill guy so Mei Shi convinced him to go live in the forest out of town." The dragoness confirmed.
  "Ok that's good, atleast your problems are solved." Ladybug sighed. "I wish mine would sort out like that." She pinched the bridge of her nose.
  "We aren't doing anything maybe we should come help." Eagle suggested.
  "Yes! I'd love that! I've been dying to go visit my friend in Paris." Fei squealed.
  Ladybug eyed Lalamon and Tikki with a knowing smirk. "Do you both have a place to stay?"
  "Oh yeah I have a friend I could call gimme a sec." Eagle's phone beeped away.
  "Me too be right back."
  Marinette hung up the phone and pulled out her personal cell.
  "Whatcha doin?" Lalamon titled her head.
  "Give it a second." Marinette said knowingly and began counting her fingers down. Three... two...one... Her phone rang and she put it on speaker. "Hello you've reached Marinette." 
  "Heeeeeyyyy Marinette it's Jess from the New York trip!" Jess crowed through the speaker.
  "Hey Jess what's up?" She said with a fake smile locking eyes with her two partners.
  "Me and Aeon are gonna be in Paris for a business thing just dropping off something for my mom and we're gonna stay to see the sights! Mind if we crash at your place?" The eagle heroine asked with her usual brash confidence.
  "I'd love to have you over it'll be super fun!" Marinette nodded at the non humans catching on.
  "Awesome! Can't wait I'll text you the deets later." The American hung up.
  Marinette counted down once more and her phone opened again to speaker.
  "Hey sister Marinette!" Fei chimed. "Your uncle is closing up the restaurant to go on another cooking tour and he said he'd pay for a plane ticket if I wanted to visit you while he was away!" Fei giddily explained.
  "That sounds amazing Fei it's been way too long, I have some friends visiting from America so this works out great I can entertain all of you at once!" Marinette explained as her devious plan came together.
  "All the better! I promise not to pick their pockets! Talk to you soon!" Fei hung up with a squeal.
  "Honestly they make it too easy sometimes." Marinette smirked.
  Her back up was on the way. And boy would she need it soon. As she celebrated another schemed. And another still... made an interesting discovery.