"Hey, it's me. Just wanted to come and talk to you after the incident. Just wanted to tell you how things have been going since that day.
"You threw us all for a loop, doing what you did. Mom's completely distraught, but under it all, I think she's proud of you. Roy's proud of you too but he refuses to speak to anyone, especially me. He just keeps to himself, even more than usual. He doesn't even talk to Dick or Wally. You really surprised us all, except me.
"I always knew deep down inside that you would do the right thing. You had already proven that you weren't the cold-blooded assassin that everyone else thought you were. A cold-blooded assassin wouldn't save her sister, the one that she was sent to kill along with her little team, from an avalanche. Just because you worked for them didn't mean that you were just like them. Unlike them, you still have good inside of you. You proved that to us that day.
"I know that you left before Mom came home, and left me with him. I know that you were just scared, scared of what he would do. But why'd you leave me behind? We're sisters – you said that when you saved me. You said that you didn't want to see me dead, but what about beaten and broken? Because that's what happened to me after you left, sis. He happened. He decided that I was weak for not stopping you from leaving. He decided that my weakness should be punished, that he could beat and train the weakness out of me. It's because of you that I'm like this.
"If you left because you were scared, imagine how I felt! I was nine, for god's sake! You were the older one. You were thirteen, sis. You had no right to leave me here all alone with him.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, sis. It's just that I really needed you then, needed someone to stop me from becoming the monster that he wanted me to be. I can't really blame you though. I'm the one who became the monster. I couldn't – didn't – fight it. It's my fault.
"What I'm trying to say is, I miss you. I just wish I could see you one last time, tell you all of this. Tell you how much I miss you, even though we've spent the past three years fighting each other, even though we work for separate sides; you worked for the criminals, I worked for the heroes.
"I need you here with me, even if just for a minute. You need to know how proud everyone is of you. You deserved a better farewell than the one you got, but I know that you weren't expecting a good-bye from anyone at all.
"We had a small funeral for you. It was just me, Mom, Roy, and Ollie, who you knew as Green Arrow. He even paid for the whole thing.
"I brought you some stuff. I have those yellow roses that you always loved to pick with me. Remember how you taught me to check where there weren't any thorns so that I wouldn't prick myself? I remember us sitting under that huge oak tree in the backyard, you teaching me how to hang upside down from the branches.
"I brought you that teddy bear you gave me when Mom was taken away. The one I slept with every night that you weren't there, especially the night after you left. I've always kept it.
"I also brought you the sai you used that night, the one you used on him. I thought you might like to have it.
"The injuries I got from him that night still haven't fully healed. I just got released from the hospital today. I wanted to come over here as soon as possible. Those injuries will heal eventually, but other things will never leave me. Your silent scream as his blade penetrated your heart. The quiet good-bye you whispered to me as your heart stopped beating and your eyes clouded over. I will never forget these things.
"I will never forget you. I see things that remind me of you every day. Anytime I see that oak tree, I remember the days we spent under it. Anytime I see your Alice in Wonderland poster I remember how you would read that book to me and how you took your name from the story, the name you used with them, the assassins, the Shadows. Anytime I see two sisters together I remember how close we used to be.
"Sis, I miss you. I'm sorry I couldn't save you from him, save you from your death. I know you were happy though, having gotten rid of him – Sportsmaster – Dad. I'm glad for that, that you could die happy. I just hope I can do the same.
"I love you, Jade."
I knelt to the ground, ignoring the pain shooting through my body as I propped the teddy bear against the carved headstone. I placed the sai and flowers down gently and stood up, wiping the tears off my face as I glanced at the engraved words one last time before I left, heading back home. I would be back for sure; back to tell her how everyone was doing without her. Without Jade.
Jade Crock Nguyen
1991-2012
One who did what had to be done