"She's still so tiny." Damian watched as Sakura shifted Hana in her arms.
"Yes, I suppose so," Sakura hummed. "But it's natural for premies to be small." Hana giggled, blowing bubbles from her spit. Damian grimaced at the sight. "Hush, you did the same thing when you were a baby."
"I did not!" Damian protested. Hana giggled at his outburst. She waved her arms, lightly smacking her hands. "Hm, she's smart for her age."
"I know," Sakura said with a sigh. "She's hard to keep up with sometimes."
"Already exploring?" Damian asked.
"Not yet, but I wouldn't doubt it if she started to soon," Sakura said.
"Mother said I started walking when I was nine months, never once crawled," Damian said. "Two months later I was talking."
"You've talked to her recently?" Sakura asked.
"She likes to check up from time to time," Damian said.
"Speaking of checking up, how're things?" Sakura asked.
"You mean training, don't you?" Damian narrowed his eyes. "If you must know my...'reconditioning' is moving along fine I suppose."
"'Reconditioning'?" Sakura raised an eyebrow at the description.
"Well, father is trying to make me forget about my previous training," Damian said. "'Justice not vengeance'." He rolled his eyes and sat back, looking up at the new mother.
"And is it sinking in?" Sakura asked.
"I guess." Damian shrugged.
"How's your book?" Sakura asked. Damian looked at the book in his lap and shrugged.
"It's okay I guess," he said. "There's not much to do here besides read and train. I'm not much of a swimmer, I don't care for the games in the game room, and nothing else in this house appeals to me."
"I didn't see you as the type to like all that stuff anyway," Sakura said. "So, who're you reading?"
"Dickens." Damian picked the book up and closed it. "I've been working my way through his novels. I'll probably finish them by next week."
"Alright, I got it," Dick said, entering the room. "Oh, hey Damian." He passed the kid and went straight for Sakura, kissing her. As he did so he took Hana into his arms.
"If you want to hold her all you have to do is ask," Sakura rolled her eyes and stood up. "You don't have to kiss me to distract me so you can take her." She grabbed her bag and adjusted it onto her shoulder.
"I can't just kiss you because?" Dick asked playfully.
"Are you two leaving now?" Damian asked.
"We'll be back in a few days," Sakura told him. She ruffled his hair playfully. Damian pouted but didn't move her hand.
"I'm not a child." He stood up and stretched his arms.
"Call if you need anything, okay Dami?" Sakura asked.
"Alright," Damian agreed.
"'Dami'?" Dick looked at her in amusement while Damian was glaring at her.
"Yes, 'Dami'," Sakura confirmed. "So, are we off?"
"Yeah, I need to get back to Blüdhaven, station has me on call tonight," Dick said.
"See ya Dami" Sakura said, waving goodbye to him. Damian waved, watching them leave.
"We'll drop by again soon," Dick said.
"Don't know if I'll be around the next few days," Bruce said.
"Why? Oh no, I remember," Dick said, realization dawning. "The missing children. We've heard about them in Blüdhaven."
"So the story's already spread that far." Bruce frowned at the thought.
"Gah! Dick!" Sakura cried. Dick chuckled and turned around to see Sakura messing with the car seat. "This really shouldn't be so hard."
"Hold on." Dick laughed and buckled Hanna up quickly.
"I hate this stupid thing," Sakura said with a huff. Dick chuckled and kissed her. Sakura pouted and walked over to the other side of the car.
"If you need anything call us, okay?" Dick said. Bruce nodded.
"I'll hold you to that." Dick smiled and climbed into the front seat of the car.
"Thanks for coming over," Sakura said, leading Artemis into the house.
"Trust me, it wasn't a problem," Artemis said. "I was relieved when you called. Studying has been such a pain. It's nice to have a break."
"Yeah, I know the feeling." Sakura said, setting Hana in the playpen.
"So, how are things?" Artemis asked, sitting on the couch.
"Oh, things are the same," Sakura said.
"Really, no suffering from lack of sleep?" Artemis chuckled and raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, have you forgotten which family I'm a part of?" Sakura asked.
"Oh right, bats never sleep," Artemis muttered. She turned on the TV and relaxed. Sakura hummed to herself as she fixed some tea. The house phone rang and she picked it up.
"Hello?"
"I can't stand him sometimes!" Sakura chuckled and leaned against the counter.
"Hello to you too Damian," Sakura greeted. "So what's the problem now?"
"The case of the missing children is solved," Damian said. "The guy behind it called himself the Dollmaker."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Sakura asked.
"Not when he's dead and father thinks I did it," Damian hissed. "Trust me, I wanted to rip his heart out after what he did to those children, but I didn't. Justice not vengeance! I respected his teachings and tried to follow them and he still doubted me!"
"Alright, rewind." Sakura went over to the stove when the teapot whistled. "What happened when he died."
"Well, I ran away from father to chase him so he wouldn't get away. After I caught up with him I wanted so badly to rip his heart out, I even told him that," Damian said. "But I didn't. Then some other guy did."
"Who?" Sakura poured the tea into two cups. She pressed the phone against her shoulder as she took the tray of tea over to the coffee table.
"I don't know!" Damian shouted. "But it's pissing me off! If father is going to accuse me of killing someone I'd like to have actually done it! At least then I deserve it!"
"Damian, calm down," Sakura said. She could hear Damian taking deep breaths. "Alright, do you need me to talk to him?"
"No," Damian said with a huff. "Who knows what he's going to do when he finds out that I told you all this but yet I never told him. I didn't even tell him what the guy looked like. And before you ask, no I'm not telling you either!"
"You don't have to Damian," Sakura said. "And if you don't want me to talk to Bruce, then I won't do that either." She took a sip of her tea and breathed a relaxing sigh. "But if you want me to come down there I could." there was silence on the other line. "Hello?"
"No, don't do that," Damian said with a sigh. "Besides, I don't think father will appreciate you coming over right now. He's got some blonde bimbo over."
"The billionaire playboy strikes again," Sakura said with a chuckle. "Bruce'll do anything anything to keep people from suspecting he's Batman. All that is for show though."
"Was my mother?" Damian asked.
"Talia…she was different," Sakura said with a sigh. "From what I've heard she drugged him the night you were conceived. But, I do believe there are some genuine feelings there. However, the past is keeping Bruce from doing anything. He doesn't trust Talia, or Ra's."
"Who does he trust?" Damian asked.
"Romantically? I'd say Selina Kyle," Sakura answered. "Those two have been off and on since before he adopted Dick. Look, why don't you read Dickens, try and clear your mind," Sakura suggested. "Call me back in the morning and we'll talk some more, alright?"
"Sure, nothing else to do in the stupid house anyway," Damian said with a huff. He hung up without bothering to say goodbye.
"Batfamily drama?" Artemis asked, drinking her tea.
"Yeah, Damian and Bruce have hit a rough patch," Sakura said. "I hope they can work through it."
"They will," Artemis said. "It'll take Bruce some time but I'm sure he'll eventually warm up to the idea and get used to having a biological son."
"Damian's probably mad because of Dick, Jason, and Tim," Sakura said. "Bruce has had plenty of practice being a father, but with them, there was never a blood relation. If something ever went wrong that was there as a fallback. He doesn't have that fallback this time."
"Poor guy, must be panicking on the inside," Artemis muttered.
"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "So, how's the team been?"
"Well, the others are finding it kinda hard to adjust to Tim being gone," Artemis said. "He started a team in Jump City."
"Yes, he told me." Sakura placed down her cup and leaned back against the couch. "Other than the absence of Robin, how're they doing?"
"Oh! The other day Jaime realized just how old Bart is, it was hilarious," Artemis said with a chuckle. "Uh, Tye and Asami drop by every so often, they seem to be doing well. I think Virgil's finally adjusted to the cave and the team to him."
"What about Garfield?" Sakura asked. "M'gann called me the other day to gush about him, but I could barely understand her."
Artemis nodded her head, knowing what she was talking about. "Billy asked Garfield out on a date."
"Aw! That's so cute!" Sakura giggled. "Alright, and the league?"
"Ugh, you know them, same old same old," Artemis said, waving her hands. "Oh! But, Roy's joined the league again. Oliver isn't quite sure how to handle Jade or Lian, but he loves Lian."
"Oh, that reminds me. I wanted to set up a play date with Lian, the twins, and Hana." Sakura said.
"I think the twins would enjoy the company, Lian, I'm not sure," Artemis said. "She's going through a phase, doesn't want to be around anyone that isn't family."
"That's too bad." Sakura pouted and looked over at Hana. "I don't know what to do with her sometimes. She never has anyone her own age to play with."
"None of your friends in the Hidden Villages have kids?" Artemis asked. She finished her tea and set it down. She picked up Sakura's cup and handed it to her.
"They do, but none of them have clearance to use the zeta beam," Sakura said, sighing into her teacup. "And we're still not entirely sure how the zeta waves will affect a baby. Honestly the closest person to her age that she plays with is Damian. While she's good for him, I'm not sure about the other way around."
"Understandable," Artemis said. "You thinking about daycare?"
"It's crossed my mind," Sakura said. "But not in Blüdhaven."
"Why not?" Artemis asked.
"This place is sometimes worse than Gotham," Sakura answered. "An elementary school got held up the other day, and a high school a couple weeks before that."
"Well, Dick sure knows how to pick 'em." Artemis muttered.
"Indeed he does," Sakura said with a sigh.