Alice: Here's the next chapter!

Emily: Thank you so much everyone. I can't express how happy I am with all the fans of this story.

Alice: I really love you guys!

Emily: And there will be Daddy!Bruce coming up later in the story, so be pumped for some father/son moments!

Monday Evening

Jade Nguyen and Kaldur'ahm

Jade shivered as she walked outside. Because the sun was setting, the air around her had become very cold. Of course, she only wore tattered dark green sweatpants and a thin gray t-shirt with holes in the sides which would cause her to be cold. Her father had gotten angry again and hit her. She narrowed her eyes at the sidewalk at the thought. She wasn't hit too severely and it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. But parts of her wondered what would have happened if she never left her family. Back when they still were a family, minus her mom, her father had been much worse especially with her younger sister Artemis around. Her frustration and pain had caused her to make the biggest mistake of her life: leaving. She walked out, leaving her little sister behind and everything.

And karma came back and bit her in the ass. Her mother recovered and was released from jail on good behavior. Claiming custody over Artemis, they now lived a relatively happy life. In fact, Artemis might even be blocking out the memories of the times when she was with her father and sister. When Jade was found, it was nothing but good news. Her mother was disappointed that she left Artemis and never fought for custody, leaving her to be left with her father. Lost in thought, she didn't realize she was in view of the school until something hit her, causing her to go flying back. She hit the ground, growling as she stood up to beat whoever would mess with her. Her eyes widened when she saw something she didn't expect.

Her younger sister was silently crying, on her knees as her fists were clenched. "Artemis," Jade breathed out. What... what was she doing here? Why was she crying? Her overprotective sister instincts hit with all force as she knelt down, practically snarling. "Who did this?"

Artemis stared up at her older sister and shook her head before shakily standing up and running off in the opposite direction of the school. Jade frowned but decided not to chase after her. If Artemis wanted to talk, she would have. Jade was foolish for thinking Artemis would just pour her heart out to her. Sighing, she stared off after her.

Regret for leaving the family soon filled her once again.

Kaldur forced a smile as his older brother Garth officially announced he was marrying Tula. His guardian Arthur Curry smiled brightly as Garth leaned down and kissed his fiancee. His fiancee. It hurt thinking that. Kaldur clenched his fists and smiled brightly, claiming he needed to go for a walk. The family nodded as he grinned at them and walked out. Sighing the moment he closed the door, he began to move his feet as he frowned at the ground. Sometimes life wasn't exactly fair. He understood that when Garth and him had to be adopted by Arthur Curry because of his father's mental instability. That's when he had met Tula, who offered him warmth and comfort. And now his own brother was going to marry her. She would literally become his sister. The thought alone scared him.

He sighed again as he continued walking only to blink when he came across an old park. He smiled fondly. Of course his feet would bring him here.

"Kaldur'ahm?" Tula blinked as soon as they released hands. She tilted her head to the side and giggled cutely. "That's a funny name!"

"You can call me Kaldur... if it's less... weird," Kaldur blushed in response. Tula had been only a few years older than him yet she was so confident. Her bright eyes caught his and for a moment they just stared at each other. Smiling she walked over to him and introduced herself as Tula to which he replied his own name. He was sure the girl was going to start making fun of him for his name like everyone else had. Surprisingly that wasn't the case.

"It's so cool," she grinned. "I really like your name! It sounds like a superhero name. Are you a superhero?"

Kaldur blushed as Tula leaned in, her energetic face so close to his that if he leaned forward just a bit he could kiss her. Fighting back the urge, he just smiled back at her. "I... I'm not. Arthur is."

"Arthur? You mean Mr. Curry?" At Kaldur's nodd, she just grew even more excited. "He lives right next to me! I heard he just adopted two kids. I wonder what they'll be like... I hope I get to meet them soon!"

"I..." Kaldur glanced at the ground, blushing. "I am the one Arthur adopted."

Tula's eyes went wide as she took a big gulp of air in surprise. "Wooooow!"

Ever since that moment, they had become friends. Then a month or two later, she had met his brother. He thought that they were brother and sister until they started dating. Eventually they would break up, he figured. But they didn't. Now they were getting married.

And Kaldur couldn't be more devastated.

He made his way over to the sandbox where Tula had confronted him that day only to frown when he heard slightly sounds of sobbing. Turning around, he saw a blonde girl sitting on the swings. He walked over, decided not to leave a crying girl alone at this time. It was cold, after all. "Excuse me?" Kaldur asked politely. "Are you alright?"

The girl glanced up slowly and frowned at the sight of him, almost like she was expecting someone else. Kaldur took her silence as a no and took the swing next to her. The girl stayed completely silent. Finally the girl spoke. "I don't usually cry, so don't think I'm weak or anything."

Kaldur frowned slightly before sending the girl a comforting smile even though she still was staring at the ground. "I never thought you were weak. I just thought something was bothering and you might want to get it off your chest. It would make you feel better, won't it?"

She sighed. "No. It won't."

Kaldur frowned but sighed, expecting this. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry or anything. I agree. I wouldn't feel comfortable telling my story to a stranger."

"It's fine," she mumbled. It was an awkward silence after that. The only noises were the sounds of the wind blowing and the creek of the swings moving slightly back and forth. "What's your name?" she decided to break the silence.

"Kaldur'ahm," he answered without hesitation. "But you can call me Kaldur."

"You're that senior from the newspaper," she glanced at him. "My friend Dick talks about you."

When she slipped out the last sentence, her eyes instantly filled with regret and sorrow. Something must have happened with Dick then, Kadlur concluded. "You mean Richard Grayson?" Receiving only a nod, Kaldur continued. "Yes he's on our newspaper. He usually is really energetic. He likes talking about his two friends Barbara and Artemis. You couldn't be Artemis could you?"

"How'd you guess?" Artemis smiled bitterly.

"Because Barbara is the one I always see in the papers with her father. It's always about how her father did something with her help. One way or another she makes it in there. Then again, it's not like Dick doesn't have any publicity." Kaldur tried to make a joke. Artemis didn't laugh. Kaldur coughed slightly and continued on. "He's a good kid though. He really is."

"That's the thing," Artemis sighed. "He's too good of a kid. It's impossible to hate him... even if you say you do. When you really think about it, you don't hate him. That's why I'm crying."

"You're crying because you don't hate him?" Kaldur was officially confused.

Artemis shook her head with a tiny laugh. "I'm crying because of something I overreacted to. Sure, I'm still upset over it but not as upset on how I reacted. I mean... Wally West is just a boy! A stupid boy who I rarely talk to. I shouldn't be screaming horrible things at Dick because I didn't get what i wanted. I'm still mad at him but more for keeping secrets than what actually happened." At Kaldur's confused face, she just laughed again. "It makes no sense to you but... you'd understand if you saw what I just saw."

Kaldur smiled a tiny bit. "I guess you're right. I don't know much about the situation but I do know one thing. You should never blow away years of loyal friendship because of some boy."

Even though he said that to Artemis, he felt that he was saying it to himself more. He shouldn't resent his brother or throw away Tula's and his friendship over some stupid jealousy. He should be happy for them and that Tula would still remain in his life. Would it take a while to get over her? Yes. But he was willing to walk the extra mile. Just so he could be happy along with Tula and Garth. Smiling, Artemis and Kaldur made small talk before they parted ways when the sky got too dark.

Jade watched the scene with a soft smile. Artemis smiled and waved goodbye at the boy as they both walked away from each other. Jade slowly jogged up to Kaldur, who didn't notice her. Once Jade was right behind him, she grabbed his hand and leaned in so her lips were close to his ear. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for taking care of her."

She quickly ran off before Kaldur could turn around and see her. Appearing confused, he just shrugged and began walking home as Jade watched in the shadows smiling. If she couldn't be there for her sister, she was glad that someone like him could.

Because, in the end, Jade realized, family is all that matters.

Alice: I'm thinking of adding SeaArrow to this story.

Emily: AKA Kaldur x Artemis. What do you guys think?

Alice: Should I add that?

Emily: Anyways, it may seem like Jade's realized something important and Artemis isn't as mad as she thought.

Alice: But what about Wally and Dick? And Conner and Megan? Conner isn't going to forgive Wally just like that.

Emily: And Wally won't take the beating well either... Next chapter will be from Conner Kent and Roy Harper's POV.

Alice: Thanks for reading and please tell me what you guys thought!