***Disclaimer*** I do not own any of the DC characters. Only my own original characters; however, I wish they were all mine!
Yup yup, so I got some nice feedback for chapter 1, so I'm liking how this is going haha… still working on the rest of the story, but I have a pretty good idea of where I'm going. Again, like to thank Skytail, my two best friends, and Quegalfreshbreath (you're so nice!). Sorry it took so long to update, I had a crap load of testing this week…well, hope you all enjoy.
Chapter 2:
The morning of the funeral service, Kathy woke up in her father's arms. She could tell that her eyes were swollen, and as expected, she could see that so were his. The night before she had gone into her father's room because she couldn't stop crying, but she wasn't surprised that she found him with the same dilemma. The small girl had tentatively crawled into her father's arms and the two of them had cried together until they both had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Kathy looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was seven on the dot. She knew that they all had to prepare for the service, but she really didn't want to go because going to the service would be accepting her mother's death. Against her better judgment, Kathy gingerly placed her small had upon her father's cheek before whispering, "Daddy, we have to get ready."
John opened his eyes, yawned, and gave his daughter a sad smile. "I won't ever be ready."
Kathy nodded. "Me neither, but we have to do it. For momma."
John nodded in agreement. "For momma," he concluded.
That day was one of the longest days the Ahn family had had up to that point. The memorial service itself was quite somber, as most funerals are, and many people were very upset. Gotham had lost one of its most cherished citizens. A mother, a friend, an advocate for the poor and needy, Sylvia Ahn was an angel on Earth, and the entire city could feel its loss. The entire city, it seemed, came to pay their respects.
Kathy found that being in a place full of sad and crying people made it hard for her to mourn the death of her mother. Anytime she shed a tear, she would see someone who was just as upset as she was, and she couldn't help but to feel that she should feel the most upset. This should be the hardest for her, and she should be the only one that should be crying, not some stranger that she didn't know. It was wrong, she knew it, but Sylvia was her mother, and although people would be sad for her loss they would not have to feel it for the rest of their lives. She on the other hand, would have to live on without a mother figure in her life.
Throughout the entire ceremony, she wondered what her life would be like without her mother. She thought about all the things they did, and now wouldn't be able to do. All day people had been telling her that they were sorry for her loss, and this had made Kathy realize that everyone pitied her; more importantly, it was also then that she realized that she also pitied herself. Not only had she lost the most amazing in her life, she had lost the most amazing person she would ever meet.
It wasn't until they started to lower the casket into the ground that Kathy had started to cry. The entire ceremony she was like a stone statue, emotionless and silent, but when she realized that the casket was disappearing into the Earth, taking her mother with it, she broke down.
"…Dad," she whimpered. The casket sank lower.
"Dad!" she didn't realize that she had just screamed her father's name. She began to run towards the hole in the Earth; she couldn't let them put her mother away.
"Daddy! They're taking her away! Stop them! Stop them!" she felt a firm hand grip her wrist before she could get any closer. Not bothering to see who it was, she fought against the firm grip while keeping her eyes locked on the open ground. It was then that she felt that same grip pull her into a firm embrace. She didn't bother look up. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was no longer crying- she was sobbing. She could feel her entire body vibrating, and she just wanted to scream. Kathy buried her face into the large figure's body, and took note of the familiar smell—her father's smell.
"Shhhhuuuuuhhhh….I know baby, I know," her father cooed to her. He gently stroked her hair as her cries got weaker and weaker. "We'll be okay, baby. We'll be okay."
Meanwhile, the guests of the ceremony had started to feel both startled and heartbroken. They had not expected that kind of outburst during the funeral, but now their hearts were going out to the young girl. It seemed that most of the guests had been saddened by the spectacle, and many of them had now begun to cry, young Dick Grayson included.
Bruce Wayne had been a close friend of John's a few years back; however, due to their responsibilities as both a crime fighter and a father, respectively, the two of them lost contact. When Bruce had heard about the accident, however, he made sure to attend the funeral with Dick. Dick was now twelve years old, and had just recently lost his parents, so Bruce naturally tried to get Dick to stay home, but the boy insisted on joining him. Neither of them, however, expected this kind of outburst, especially not one from the only child who had managed to not shed a tear.
When they first saw her run for the casket, however, they were both hit by their own memories of their pasts. The two of them had lost their parents at a young age, what was worse, was that they were both right there when it happened; however, this was the thing that linked the two of them together. They had both witnessed the deaths of their parents, and this fact tied the two of them together.
Dick immediately felt tears running down his face after seeing Kathy comforted by her father, but Bruce was able to control himself. He hardened his jaw and looked upon the pair with sadden eyes. Although he did not cry, he'd be lying if he told you he wasn't upset.
For the Ahn family, the rest of the day went by in a blur. People came to see them, left, and more came, and more left. It seemed as if the cycle wouldn't end. It wasn't until Daniel went to talk to his aunt and Bruce went up to see his friend that John came to his senses.
"Bruce?" asked John, quite surprised.
Bruce nodded and tried to give him his best smile. He held out his hand, but John pulled him into a fierce hug.
"Long time no see, Wayne." He let the man go and looked at his face. "Good to see you."
Bruce nodded. "I'm sorry it's been so long."
"I'm sorry we have to meet like this," John replied. At that moment both of the men felt a sudden pang of awkwardness. Things get quiet between the two, but it was then that Bruce saw young Kathy hiding behind her father's back.
"You're not Katherine are you?"
Kathy nodded.
"That's right; you were a baby when you two first met. Looks just like her mother doesn't she?" said John.
Bruce nodded. "An exact copy."
This made Kathy smile. She was flattered that this man had said she looked like her mother; her mother was the most beautiful person she knew, after all.
"This is Dick," Bruce added, "I adopted him a few months ago." Dick stepped out from behind Bruce and smiled, "Nice to meet you."
John nodded his head accepting the boy's introduction. "How old are you?"
"Twelve, sir."
John looked at the boy and began to chuckle. "Wayne, you're 5 years younger than me, but you always seem to top me. How is it that your kid is already older than both of mine?"
Bruce smiled. "I don't know, but I doubt that I always beat you."
"True, you don't always beat me…I have two things you don't" Bruce raised an eyebrow.
"Not only do I have two kids, I have an adorable baby girl." Bruce smiled and nodded acknowledging his defeat.
"Touché." he replied.
John smiled. "Kathy? Go find Daniel and introduce him to Dick. I want to talk with Mr. Wayne."
Kathy nodded and gently grabbed dick by the hand. "Let's go find my brother."
"Uhh… okay," Dick replied unsteadily.
Bruce watched the children walk away, but then he looked at his friend. Something was bothering John, he just didn't know what.
"What is it you want to ask me?" he asked.
"Bruce," John sighed. "I know I shouldn't ask this…I shouldn't bring up skeletons, but…"
"… But you want to know how long it'll take for your children to accept their mother's death."
John nodded. "Daniel is only a year older than you were, and Kathy, two years younger…god Bruce, you saw her. I don't'…I don't know what to do. One minute she seems fine, but the next she has a breakdown."
"She'll be fine, John…it just takes some time," he paused, "You never accept it, but you learn to live with it."
John kept quiet. He figured as much. "What did you do? You know, to pass the time."
'I became the Dark Knight,' Bruce replied in his head, but aloud he said, "I took up some…extracurricular activities."
"Activities? Like dance or martial arts?" It did seem like a good idea.
"Yeah, like that." Bruce replied.
John looked over at his daughter. "Okay, I'll talk to her about it."
Sorry, this chapter has been long overdue. Man I've been so busy! With testing and homework…there aren't enough hours in the day! Well, I hope you enjoy my second chapter.
By the way, if you wonder what Kathy looks like as a teen (High school Senior, age 17) you can check out a drawing I did of her at Deviantart. I'll post the link on my profile.
Hope you like it
