Within a few hours Artemis was approached by Jade, who sat next to her. "I'm gonna take care of everything, the estate, the funeral, it's all going to be okay. I promise." Artemis didn't say anything and instead just put her head on Jade's shoulder and allowed her to wrap her arm around her. "It's gonna be okay."
"Where's dad?"
"I called and told him. He just hung up on me after I told him."
"Typical. Of course he's gonna miss mom's funeral, why would I ever expect him to actually be a decent human being for once?" complained Artemis, getting off the bench and pacing around.
"Artemis, go home and get some sleep."
"I don't have a home anymore. I am not going to go live with dad, or you for that matter, no offense, but I am an orphan. Oh my god I'm an orphan." She said, as if the words finally meant something to her.
In the other room, Zatanna, Conner, Kaldur, and M'Gann were still sitting around, trying to be supportive of Artemis.
"So what's gonna happen to her?" asked Conner.
"What do you mean?" asked M'Gann.
"Like, is she gonna come live in the Cave with all of us now, or what?"
"That is up to her. She still has a living father and sister, but it is likely she will not want to live with either one of them. So unless she has someone else, the Cave might be her only option." Responded Kaldur.
"I know the circumstances are horrible, but if she does come live with us, that would be really fun, wouldn't it?" said M'Gann, trying her best to make light of the situation. Zatanna just sat in her chair, rubbing her arm and staring off into space. A few seconds later, Cheshire burst through the door and yelled at Zatanna, telling her to get in there. She ran inside to find Artemis on the bench, grasping the arm rest with all of her strength breathing heavily and tears streaming down her eyes.
"Oh god." Said Zatanna, before rushing over and sitting next to Artemis. She grabbed onto her and said "Artemis look at me, look at me." With some hesitance, she did as she was told. "Look at me and focus on my voice, okay? Okay?" Artemis nodded and gulped nervously. "Take a deep breath." After a few seconds, she did that. "Again." Again. "One more time. Good. I want you to say out loud that it's going to be okay." Artemis looked at her with a mixture of confusion and reluctance, but Zatanna insisted. "It's… it's going to be okay." Her voice was shaky, and she was still crying, but had her composure back. "It's going to be okay." Repeated Zatanna, pulling Artemis into a hug and stroking the back of her head to comfort her. After a few minutes they separated and Artemis had stopped crying.
"Where am I gonna go now?" she asked.
"You can come live with us in the Cave." Zatanna suggested.
"Oh god does that mean I have to transfer to Happy Harbor?" she joked, making Zatanna laugh a little bit.
"Happy Harbor's not that bad. And the Cave would be fun. Conner and M'Gann live there, all the Atlanteans are temporary live-ins, and we'd have it to ourselves all the time. Just you… and me…" she said, which got Artemis to smile.
"Okay. Maybe it won't be so bad." She accepted and once more buried herself in a hug with Zatanna.
Cheshire did as she said and handled everything. The funeral was set for Tuesday, and not a lot of people would be attending. Just Jade and Artemis, everyone from the team, and a few of Paula's old friends who she still had contact with. The next day everyone was helping Artemis move of all of her stuff into the Cave, which didn't take very long since she hardly had anything at the apartment that she didn't already have in her temporary room at the Cave. After everything was unpacked, Artemis sat down on her new bed and let out a large breath. Zatanna stood in the doorway, admiring the new room.
"Wow, this new bed is kind of uncomfortable, maybe you should come help me break it in." said Artemis, patting the space right next to her. Zatanna just shook her head and laughed as she walked over and joined Artemis as her little spoon.
"If I've got you here every day, then maybe this won't be so bad."