Very important chapter, which serves as an introduction to the special chapter "Marinette vs Lila".

A huge thank you to my BabyClara beta-reader. She does a titanic job... ;)

Chapter: Daddy's Girl (Jason)

In general, if Todd's family acquaintances were asked what they thought of Marinette, most of them would answer: "shy" followed by "clumsy.".
Which was absolutely TRUE.
However, all these nice little people tended to forget one detail. A detail of a very big, extremely important fact: Marinette was Jason Todd's biological daughter.
This meant one thing that was not to be forgotten with this "shy" and "clumsy" little girl.
She was certainly a little kitten. But she was a wild kitten... A kitten of a very dangerous species.
Tim was being dramatic?
No absolutely not.
He had several situations in mind that perfectly illustrated what he was saying.

Once, as a favor to Jason, Bruce and Tim volunteered to go to the grocery store for him. He was in the middle of an exam week. To their surprise, Jason didn't give them a list of groceries, but he did give them a strange instruction.
"Just follow Pixie's instructions, she knows what to take."
Bruce and Tim didn't bother to understand what Jason was saying and left with Marinette to go to the supermarket.
When they arrived at the market, Marinette gave each of them a small list. She also had her own piece of paper. Tim went his own way while Bruce stayed with Marinette. When he came back, he realized that there was still nothing in the cart. Intrigued, he moved closer.
"Gramps, what are you doing?!"
"I'm taking mustard."
"Exactly! Gramps we don't take anything without looking at the price first!"
"Hmm. It costs $7.41."

"Is it not good?"
"Gramps... You've never done the grocery run by yourself before, right?"

"Hmm. You know, you shouldn't let Grandpa Alfred do everything for you, you have to learn how to get by on your own in life."

"That's okay. Just this once, do what I tell you to do, okay?"

Tim discreetly went back to check the prices of the items he had taken. (He must have changed more than half of them)
[Jason cried with laughter when Marinette came home from the supermarket, outraged because Bruce had tried to pay for the groceries instead of using the money Jason had given her].

The teenager will never forget this movie session either.
Dick wanted to do a Disney Marathon, because he wanted Marinette to know the "classics". The first movie was The Lion King.
"... Can a brother marry his sister?..."
"Uh... No, why?"
"I read a book about lions at school. Lions live in families, and all the females help raise the babies."
"Okay?"
"But there were two dominant males. Mufasa and Scar. That means that Nala is either Simba's sister or cousin... that means he made a baby with his sister... or his cousin."

"And then... Why do the animals all gather around the lions to greet their new baby, if the lions eat them?"

"And, uh... Simba, wasn't he having, like, a big breakdown? Yeah, because... looking up at the sky and seeing his dead dad's face, it's not really normal, actually..."

"Uncle Ric? Are you okay? You look funny..."

Tim decided to intervene. It would be easier to distract Marinette with another activity than to explain to her that she had just ruined Dick's childhood.
"You know what, Pixie, how about playing Monopoly?"
[Jason laughed maniacally for twenty minutes after Tim told him about it].

Then there was that time Jason was called to school because she had made her whole class cry. The reason? She had explained to her teacher from A to Z, that no. Santa Claus didn't exist. But it was in front of her whole class and there were several children who still believed in Santa Claus...
"I still don't understand what I did wrong. It's the pure truth."
"I know, baby, it's just... not all truths can be told."
"Then what?! I have to agree to listen all day, that some old pervert comes into people's houses and only gives presents to kids?I refuse to be part of this glamorization of pedophilia!"
"... Where did you learn the word " glamorization "?..."
"Seriously Jason?! Is that all you're worried about right now?!" [Tim]

Dick chooses this moment to enter the room.
"Hey, you come help me decorate the tree, Pixie, so Santa Claus will be so impressed that he'll give you the best gift."

Jason and Tim exchanged looks. They had both forgotten that detail, Dick still believed in Santa Claus.
Marinette squinted.
"Uncle Ric... Come here and have a sit, we need to talk."
"Marinette, NO!" [Jason]
"Marinette, YES!"

Once again, Tim came to save the day by taking Dick far… far away from Jason's apartment.

Then there was this time, when Jason called Bruce, a little distraught. Tim was there, training, but he was still listening discreetly.
"Bruce, I need... an opinion."
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes and No... Marinette got suspended from school today. And... I really don't know if I should punish her or not."
"Marinette? Suspended? What's happened?"

Jason sighed.

"Apparently, there was a group of older kids bothering another boy in Marinette's class. From what I understand, these older kids love bothering the younger ones."
"Hm-Hm. Marinette intervened?"
"That's right, she did."
"What did she do?"
"She broke their noses... with... her history book..."

"The thing is, apparently one of the kids has a powerful father. So the director is a little freaked out. She wanted Marinette to apologize and..."

There was a silence.

"And?"
"She got up from her chair, pointed her finger at the director and said, "I am not a coward! I don't care who his parents are! If he or anyone else hurts someone in front of me, I will hit him again, until he learns to respect others! And the next time, it won't be a history book in his face, but a FUCK*** DICTIONARY!" Bruce... I have tears in my eyes!... I'm so proud of my baby!"

"Bruce, I don't know what to do. How can I punish her when I'm proud of her? How?!"

Tim, on the other hand, couldn't help but have a little smirk on his face.
Like father, like daughter.

-XxxX-

Marinette woke up in the middle of the night. She was very thirsty, so she decided to go into the kitchen to drink some water.
She drank her glass of water, but something caught her attention. She had heard a strange noise coming from the terrace.
Curious, Marinette opened the living room window that looked out onto the terrace to see outside. She went around the terrace, but there was nothing there. She went back inside and closed the window.
At that very moment, she noticed that there was a package on the coffee table. It was a small package wrapped in orange and black paper.
The little girl felt a shiver run down her whole body. She took the package and went back to her room. On the way, she made sure her daddy was asleep.
She then went to her room, closed the door behind her, and went to her bed to open the package.
Inside there were three pictures and a note.
The photos showed the three boys who had annoyed her friend, crying, tied up, with their family in tears.

Oh...

Then on the little note there was just written a few words.

"Well done, little flower."

Marinette gulped.

Grandpa Slade was really... a strange person...

"Little owl... This man is very dangerous, you shouldn't accept his gifts."

The little girl looked at her imaginary friend. (She was the only one who was able to see him.)

It was a small white owl with minnow eyes (one blue eye and one yellow eye), with black wingtips, and black eye outline.

Marinette wasn't sure why, but since she was a baby, she was able to see this little creature. Creature that was her best friend.
"You should tell Mr. Jason about it."
"I can't. Daddy will be even more worried. He' s already paranoid by nature..."
The small owl sighed.
"Marinette, fear is a leprosy that consumes the body. The only way to get rid of it is to get rid of the affected limb. Control the fear before it controls you, little owl."
Marinette says nothing. The tiny owl was right.
But unfortunately for her, "courageous" was not a quality that was part of her temperament. If earlier in the week she had hit the boys who were annoying poor Nathaniel, it was only out of anger.
She tore up the pictures and threw them in the garbage and went back to bed. However, she couldn't go back to sleep, she was afraid that her evil Grandfather would come and take her while she was sleeping.
Marinette got up and went to take refuge in her father's room. She knocked on the door several times and entered. Her father stood up, his hair in a mess, rubbing his eyes with one hand.
"Marinette?"
"Daddy, I had a nightmare."
"Hmmm. Come here."
Marinette settled down next to her father. He covered her with his blanket and put his arm around her to bring her closer to his chest. Her daddy had a comforting smell, and the bed was all warm and cozy.

Yep, now she felt safe.
She was finally going to be able to sleep.

"Good night Shërii."
"Good night, little owl."

A/N:

So, for this story, I decided that Marinette would have a Miraculous from the native American Miracle Box (the one Liiri is from, in the movie "Miraculous New York"). I had already planned that for this story, I would use an original Miraculous. This movie gave me some ideas.

So "Shërii" is the Owl Kwami. His name comes from the Albanian word "Shërimin" which means "Healing".

In this AU, Shërii gives the power of "healing". In other words: allows to heal any wound, even mortal ones. On the other hand, a dead person cannot be resurrected. Indeed, in this AU, there is a Kwami of Death (Muurte) and a Kwami of Life (Liffa). These two Kwamis are special. They do not possess jewels. The difference between Liffa and Tikki is that Tikki can create objects, but cannot give life. By contrast, Liffa can only create living beings, but cannot create inanimate objects.

However, there is a counterpart. Whoever wears the Miraculous Owl is unlucky. In Marinette's case, her "clumsiness" is not "normal". It is because of the presence of Shërii!

It so happens that in this AU, Shërii is the one who created the Lazarus' pits! He is the very essence of the pit.

So, to give a story: The miraculous of Shërii was destroyed a long time ago by a man who wanted to attain immortality. It did not work, but it gave birth to the Lazarus' pits. For centuries the spirit of Shërii had been a prisoner of the waters of the Lazarus pit. Then one day, Talia threw Jason into the pit. Only half of Jason's soul had returned to his body. That's why he was in a zombie state. Since Jason was an "incomplete" being, Shërii's soul merged with Jason's soul. Alas, Shërii did not enjoy this event at all and his soul came into conflict with Jason's soul. That was why Jason was also emotionally unstable, because his body rejected Sherii's soul. Time passed and Jason had a romance with Rose Wilson, who became pregnant. At that moment, Shërii's soul fragment found itself merging with the baby's soul.

Jason didn't realize it, but he regained control of his emotions after leaving Rose. He was no longer influenced by the waters of The Lazarus' pit.

Shërii, who watched Marinette grow up, became very attached to the little girl and treated her as if she were his baby owl.

You will learn more about Shërii in the special chapter, and throughout the following chapters ;)

A/N 2:

- Small precision. Shërii communicates with Marinette using telepathy. This is why, when Shërii speaks with Marinette, the text is in italics.
- Now you know who helped Marinette steal in the "Innocence" chapter.
- The owl is a creature that can either be seen as a messenger from the underworld or as a harbinger of bad omen, sometime as a messenger. One of the conceptions that native Americans have of the owl is that it allows them to be clairvoyant. To see the true from the false... If you see what I mean :D