AN: This is the official first chapter of The Gypsy Twins! The bold italics are Romani.
Artemis POV
I wake up to the sound of a beeping alarm. Ugh, how I hate Mondays. I groan and smack the alarm I few times, but fail to hit the snooze button. Great, now I'm awake. I yawn and get up, changing into my annoying Gotham Academy uniform. I miss Gotham North, where I could just wear normal clothes. I grab my backpack from where it sits on my desk and head to the kitchen.
"Good morning Artemis." Another yawn. "Morning mom." My mother sets a plate of pancakes down in front of me. Eat quickly. You need to be at the bus stop in ten minutes." She tells me. I groan and eat faster.
I finish eating and dash out of the apartment, telling my mom that I'll be home late because of a team meeting. I pass the only two neighbours that I'm actually friends with on my way out of the building.
"Hi Artemis!" Sapphire Robinson calls after me, her twin brother Samuel on her heels. "Why are you coming with me, doesn't your mom drop you off at school on her way to work?" I ask them. "Why, you don't want to hang out with us?" Sam teases me. I roll my eyes. Sam reminds me a tiny bit of Wally, except a lot less annoying.
"Aunt Mary had to leave early today, so we're taking the bus." Sapphire says, referring to their adopted mother, Mary Smith. Sapphire and Sam go to Gotham North, and we used to always hang out together, but since I've started going to Gotham Academy, we've become more distant. We make it to the bus stop just in time, and soon we're at my stop.
"See ya Arrow." Sam says, using an old nickname. The twins know of my skill at archery, but not of my heroic use of it. "Bye guys." I say, but Sapphire's entranced by something outside of our window.
"Sam, is that-?" She trails off. He looks out the window, then grabs Sapphire by the hand and pulls her off the bus with me, and the two run after someone.
"Dickie!"
Dick POV
"Bye Alfred! Later Jase." I hop out of the expensive car and run to the towering castle that is Gotham Academy, but I stop, dead in my tracks, when I hear a voice calling out my name in Romani, a voice that I didn't think I'd ever hear again.
"Sammy?" I ask, turning to face the black-haired boy behind me. "Richard, it is you!" Another person cries, wrapping me in her arms. I hug her back.
"Sapphire! It's so great to see you guys! What are you doing here?"I ask. Sapphire and Sam are a blast from the past, and it's great to see them, but it also brings back memories. Some are good, like swinging on the trapeze during practices, stealing Strongman Steve's boots and watching him storm all the train cars looking for them, campfires with my circus family. But some are bad, like when Jack almost went bankrupt, when Sapphire lost her mother's journal (she found it again a few days later), and of course, the infamous night when my parents died.
"Sapphire, Sam, what language is that? And how do you know Dick Grayson?" Artemis asks. I laugh in my mind. I've heard Arty complaining to M'gann and Zatanna about 'that weird, annoying Grayson kid'. If only she knew that she fought side-by-side with him on a daily basis.
"We're speaking Romani, a language from our childhood." Sapphire tells Artemis, interrupting my thoughts. "And we know Dick Grayson from our childhood as well."
Sapphire POV
"Richard, it is you!"I can't believe it. We've heard about Dick Grayson on the news, but Sam and I hadn't thought to visit him. We had figured that he wouldn't remember two insignificant figures from the circus, now that he's rich and famous.
"Sapphire! It's so great to see you guys! What are you doing here?"He remembers us, he speaks perfect Romani. He hasn't forgotten, hasn't turned into the big shot rich kid we had expected. I'm about to tell him that we've lived here for almost 3 years now, but Artemis interrupts us.
"Sapphire, Sam, what language is that? And how do you know Dick Grayson?" She asks. I answer before Sam can say something stupid. "We're speaking Romani, a language from our childhood. And we know Dick Grayson from our childhood as well."
Artemis's eyes go wide, then she snaps, "Explanation. Now." "Ya see, Arrow, we used to be in the circus. Dick used to be in the circus too. We were in the same circus. Then one day, Dick's parents died while we were doing a show in Gotham. Bruce Wayne took him in and Batman found this murderer guy who snapped Dick's parents' lines. The circus fought for custody but Bruce won and adopted Dick."
I continue, more to Dick than Artemis now, since Artemis knows most of this. "About a year after you left the circus, Dick, Jack was sued for child labor because he wasn't paying Sam and I. We didn't mind that, I mean, he gave two kids food and shelter, and the opportunity to do something we loved in front of thousands of people. But Interpol didn't care. They won the court case and we were put up for adoption, but no one wanted two nine-year-old circus freaks, and we refused to be adopted without our twin. A few months later, Aunt Mary and Uncle George came, and they adopted us."
"They took us back to Gotham, and we were psyched to have the chance to see you." Sam continues. "But Mr. Wayne didn't know who we were when we came knocking, thought we were kidnappers or something. So, we gave up. We've been living in Artemis's building for almost three years. We probably would've been allowed to visit you if we didn't come with adults, I mean, kids don't kidnap other kids right? But by the time Aunt Mary and Uncle George let us out by ourselves, we figured you wouldn't remember us."
"Of course I would've remembered you. I'd never forget my family." Dick tells us. "Well, I'm late, and if the rich kid wants trouble with the principal..." Artemis says, before making her way down the sidewalk. "She's right, I have to go. Swing by the Manor on your way home. I've missed you." Dick tells us, and runs after Artemis.
Sam and I hurriedly board the next bus to Gotham North. We're late, but I'm okay with it. I didn't get a chance to tell Dick, but I've missed him too.
AN: So what did you think? REVIEW