When Ari awoke once more, the sun was peering through the hospital windows and the familiar feeling of morning drowsiness greeted her. She yawned, memories flickering in her head of a doting father, caring mother, concerned sister, and elusive brothers haunted her dreams as the truth of her past had been made clear on such a dark night.

"Uch." She grumbled, seeing how dull hospital sleeves clung to her arms instead of the comforting sweater she loved to wear.

Ari glanced around the hospital room she was in, eyes widening as the identical bed next to hers was empty. Where did she go?

"-if she's mad at me?" Her answer came from a voice she hadn't heard in a long time. It took all of Ari's effort to not tear up hearing her friend's warm voice once more.

"I'm sure she won't, but it's not helping you to think about everything that could go wrong." Then came another voice, that was more deeper and older sounding, but equally as comforting as her friend.

Yet again Ari hid back her tears, oh how she missed Barb's voice, both of their voices. She tilted her head up, and saw the two sitting by the windowsill, no longer reduced to mindless eel monsters.

"June?" The conversation stopped as Ari spoke. "Barb?"

Both of their eyes widened, Juniper's eyes were brimming with tears as she got up from her chair. Before Ari knew it, Juniper had wrapped her arms around her body and buried the brunette into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry…" Juniper sniffled, her tears dripping from her cheeks and falling onto Ari's head. "I should've never listened to her. I thought... I thought if I did you'd be safe, but I just made it worse and I'm so, so sorry for what I did to you."

Ari didn't know how to respond, she wanted so badly to comfort Juniper, but wasn't sure how to put it into words. So instead she hugged back, to silently reassure her friend that she didn't blame her.

"We're so sorry for what happened to you at the dance." Barb added. It hurt hearing the pain in her voice, in both of their voices.

"It wasn't either of your faults." Ari sniffled, pulling away from the hug to face Juniper. "I'm sorry for what I said to you at the dance, I let my fears get the better of me when you needed my help."

But Juniper shook her head. "You don't have to say sorry, I'm just glad you're alive."

"Me too." Ari wiped away the tears in her eyes, looking at both her friend and Barb. "Me too."

Click!

"Hi is she-" Karmi's head poked through a door, eyes widening as she noticed Ari. "You're awake!"

"No, I'm actually sleepwalking." Ari rolled her eyes, but then her eyes widened as the tiredness snapped out of her eyes and her brain processed who was talking to her. Karmi… she's back to normal!

The biotech major snickered, not noticing her reaction. "Goofy as ever-oof!" She did when Ari got up to wrap her into a tight hug. "I missed you too, buddy." She awkwardly patted the younger girl on the back.

"Are you okay?" Ari asked her. "I tried to come to SFIT to help you but I… didn't make it."

Juniper's eyes widened. "What happened?!" But the look in her friend's eyes said it all. "Oh."

She turned back to Karmi. "Are you holding up well?"

"As much as someone who found out their boss was an evil clone can be." Karmi awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

"Karmi! Hurry up!" An unknown woman's voice was directed at the room.

Ari frowned at the voice, but Karmi recognized it as she glared back at the hallway. "Give me a moment, Mom!"

"Did you come visit to say goodbye to your friend?" Barb asked her.

Karmi nodded. "Yeah, my parents are making me take a break from school after everything that happened."

"Wait, you're leaving?!" Ari exclaimed.

"You make it sound like I'm never coming back." Karmi crossed her arms. "It's just for a while, and you have my phone number."

She had a point, but Ari was still sad. "I'm gonna miss you." She hugged her friend again.

Karmi sighed. "I know." She glanced over to High Voltage, waving at them. "I hope you two feel better soon."

"You too." Juniper waved back.

"Have a safe trip home." Barb told her.

The biotech major chuckled. "I will." She gave Ari one last thumbs up, then left the room.

Ari stared down at the floor once she left, already missing her. Who knew when she'd ever see Karmi in-person again.

Juniper approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You gonna be okay?"

She sniffled and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine." Ari smiled at her friend. "So what now?"

"Well, you don't have to, but I'd still love hearing about what you've been up to lately." Juniper sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Like old times?" When she was still incarcerated, when they used to send letters to each other all the time, before the monster crisis affected their friendship.

"I'd love to!" Ari exclaimed.

"Awww." They glanced over at Barb. "Don't mind me kids, I'll just be heading back to my room, don't wanna intrude or anything." She chuckled, getting up from her chair and exiting.

Juniper hid her blushing face in her hands. "My mom is so embarrassing sometimes."

Ari tried to comfort her, but she just snickered at her friend's reaction like a gremlin.

Later...

"And then he stayed up all freakin night on the computer, I had to drag him back to sleep."

Juniper snickered at her friend's dramatics. "Oh no."

"Thankfully Baymax helped, if I'm not gonna get my brother to stop pulling all-nighters, he will." Ari explained. "Hope he managed to get some sleep last night."

She grew silent, and Juniper thankfully changed the subject. "Are you still having trouble in classes?"

"Uch, don't make me think about it, science is my brother's thing, not mine, and I hate it!"

One of the nurses, Lily, walking into the room interrupted their conversation. "Ms. Rosemary, you have visitors."

Ari perked up, hoping it was her brother. "Who is it?"

"Us." Rachel poked her in to wave. "Hi…"

Her head pounded, an ache in her chest as she recalled her regained memories. She both missed Rachel and felt so upset at her for keeping secrets from her.

She knew the scruffy brunette was hiding something but hiding blood relations? That was a bit too much for her.

The nurse left the room as the Rosemarys entered. "Hi sweetheart, are you feeling better?" Sarah asked her, noticing the distressed look on her face.

"Not really." Ari managed to cough out, glancing away from her.

Juniper caught onto the fact that her friend was acting off because of the Rosemarys presence and glared at the group. "What do you people want?"

"Jeez, can't someone visit a friend who's in the hospital?" Rachel glared back at her.

The two glared at each other for a few moments before Ari spoke up. "Okay, enough." She told her friend, then glanced over to Rachel. "I remembered some stuff about you, and your parents."

"Your brother mentioned that." Elio rubbed the back of his neck. "And that you wanted to talk to us."

Ari nodded. "Yeah, why didn't you tell me that I was…" Her head was killing her now. "That I was your kid?"

Juniper's eyes widened as she glanced between Ari and the other Rosemarys. "Wait what?!"

Both parents flinched, Rachel had tears in her eyes. "It's my fault." Sarah spoke up. "When you got abducted and Elio found you at the Lucky Cat, he explained how… you really were shaken up from that."

"Yeah…" Ari remembered how lost she felt at that time, there had been nothing but fragments to her name.

"We were scared that if we dropped the whole story on you, it'd make things worse." Elio added. "So we thought we'd wait until you remembered more."

That did make sense, but Ari was still confused. "But… what about when Cass adopted me? Did I do something to make you guys not want me around anymore?"

"No!" All three members chorused.

"We would never abandon you like that." Sarah vehemently protested. "You were happy with her, we didn't want to take you away from your family like that." She held her arms to her chest. "Like how you were taken from us…"

Rachel sniffled as she hugged her mom. "You must really hate us, I wanted to tell you for a long time, but I was so scared of losing you all over again, I'd rather you forget me and still be in my life than hate me and…" She stopped speaking as small sobs came from her.

It hurt Ari so much to see her family like that, so miserable. Was that how they felt when she was apart from them? "I don't hate you guys. I'm confused, maybe upset, but not hateful."

"Ari…" Rachel murmured.

She couldn't see her sister so sad anymore, so Ari got up to give her a hug. Immediately the scruffy brunette held onto her like a lifeline, like she was scared her sister would disappear if she let go.

"I'm confused, in more ways than one." Juniper muttered, her expression narrowed into a squint. "You two aren't that apart in age, how are you sisters?!"

Now that it came to mind, Ari could agree with her friend. "Yeah how is that possible?" Then she called her old memories of Rachel. "Also Rach I'm so sorry for every single time I misgendered you in my dreams."

That got Rachel to snicker at her. "Oh my gosh it's fine! You didn't remember!"

"Well to answer your question, it's because Ari was technically from a surrogate, but then my little rainbow child came as a surprise." Sarah explained, a small but sad smile on her face as she ruffled her youngest daughter's head.

"Oh." Juniper blinked, then glanced back at her friend. "Um, are you gonna make her move from the Lucky Cat? She really loves living there and also working there, I know she's family to you guys, but-"

"We're not going to make her move anywhere." Elio reassured the dancer. "Ari can choose where ever she wants to live."

Ari sighed with relief, she was happy to remember her family, but she didn't want to leave the Lucky Cat. "Um, I have another question related to the Stones." A grumble came from Rachel when their name got mentioned. "Were they bad people?"

Elio's face grew serious. "They weren't the same as the ones who took you away from us first, but they didn't try to bring you back to us. I'm sure they cared about you in their own little way, but anyone who keeps a kidnapped child from her family isn't fit to be a parent."

"Hiro would agree with you." Ari had mixed feelings about them, feelings she'd need time to mix through. "Oh boy, this is gonna be a headache to explain to him…"

"We can swing by the cafe to explain to him and his aunt if you'd like." Sarah offered.

"Please."

Rachel chuckled at her face. "Are we cool now?"

"We're cool, Rach." Ari smiled at her. "But this is still awkward, how about instead of thinking about the past too hard, we just… start over?" She held her hand out.

Her sister took it. "I'd like that Ari."

Her family stayed for several more minutes, helping her catch up on the missing gaps between her memories, and even told her more about Lyle, her late older brother.

I guess that's one thing me and Hiro have in common, but at least he remembers Tadashi… Ari had bitter thought, she couldn't even remember his face, or how he died!

She didn't ask her parents that, but Ari could tell they were hiding some details. "It's why we couldn't tell you, we were worried your kidnappers would find you again." Elio explained. "They're bad people, still out there, waiting to strike."

Whoever they were, Ari had a bad feeling in the back of her neck about them. But sadly, her family had to leave. "Get well soon!" Rachel waved as they left, and just as they entered, their exit made Ari have an ache in her chest.

"Well, I didn't know you had a secret family history." Juniper commented after they were gone. "Guess your family tree roots ran deeper than you thought!"

Ari glared at her for that. "I'm gonna say that when you have a secret family history."

"Bold of you to assume I have one."

Meanwhile…

I have to admit, this isn't so bad. Momakase had been surprised that she was staying in the hospital instead of a prison cell while being questioned for her involvement with Sycorax, but it was a nice change of pace.

Except for the food, I guess they were right about that.

After being cooped up in that building for so long, taking orders from her two-timing boss, she didn't mind her current stay. All she wished was that she could explain herself to her son, it's the least he deserved after what happened last time.

As if someone answered her prayers, her son entered the room, holding the hand of a woman with curly dark brown hair with purple in it. "Mum?" David's voice was a soft whisper.

"David." Her eyes widened. Putting down the book she was reading, she went to approach him, but hesitated to move further as he stepped back. "I have a lot to answer for, don't I?"

"Ya think?" He questioned. "Why did you work for Di? Why did you try to hurt my dean? And why didn't you talk to me for so long?!"

The woman next to him cleared her throat. "Ease up with the questions cookie, one at a time."

This must be Sienna. Momakase realized. She had never met the artist in person, but had heard plenty about her son's girlfriend.

"Well, I will say that the no contact wasn't by choice… I had only meant to do a few errands for 'Liv' in exchange for information and some powers. But she wasn't willing to let me go so easily." She explained.

David frowned. "You couldn't fight back?"

"I could've, but she elegantly pointed out that if I had attacked a well known CEO at the time, you wouldn't hear me out, and she might've threatened you and Mikan a few times-"

"She what?!" He cut her off with a gasp. "Oh my gosh, you put up with that?" Now David felt terrible for thinking his mother was ignoring him on purpose.

Momakase nodded. "Unfortunately, but if it makes you feel better, I'm not going to be working with any other villains for a long time."

"What kind of information did Di give you?" Sienna questioned.

The chef/mercenary hesitated. She didn't want to tell her family's secrets to a stranger, telling Kat was bad enough, but David clearly trusted the artist, so she'd put a little trust in her in return. "It's why I steal." She turned to David. "I was looking for your grandmother's blades."

"My what?" David blinked in surprise.

"Our family had always been skilled in using swords, but my father… your grandfather had to give up my mother's blades to protect us at the time until we moved." Momakase frowned at the memory of that dark time. "I came back to look for them, they're all I have left of my mother."

David's eyes watered as he frowned. "Mum I'm sorry that happened to you, but stealing and cheating and hurting people is not okay!"

She was tempted to eyeroll at that, her son had a good heart, but she on the other hand was willing to do what was needed. "I suppose my recent actions have been going a little too far, to say the least."

"Helping someone try to blow up the city is considered 'a little too far' nowadays?" Sienna raised an eyebrow.

Momakase narrowed her eyes. "Don't rub it in."

"I just wish you'd stop doing all that bad stuff, it's no fun having to visit jail to see your mom…" David muttered. It hurt so badly to see him upset, he always was whenever their visits took place in jail.

Sure, she wanted to find her family's legacy, but the family in front of her was what mattered now. Searching for those blades, as treasured as they were, the search only brought pain to her and her son.

Causing them to be separated, her hunt for any clues for their locations ending up with those he cared about hurt. Maybe it was time for her to spend less time searching for things of the past, and focus on the present, focus on the more precious treasure in front of her.

"Okay then."

He sputtered. "Wait, what?"

"I've been a thief for a long time, I've made a lot of enemies, enemies that caused us to be separated for so long, perhaps it's time I stop." Momakase explained. "I want to find my mother's blades, but not at the cost of making you so upset. I'm sure I'll find them someday, but perhaps it's time I put a pause on that and-"

She was cut off by David tackling her with a hug.

David sniffled as he hugged his mother. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too." Momakase placed a hand on his shoulder.

Sienna rubbed a tear from her eye at the scene. "Aw, I just love happy endings."

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

TheLittleMermaid: I live

Wasabi: SHE LIVES

Gogo: The queen

Honey Lemon: Hi Ari!

TheLittleMermaid: Thanks Hiro for not telling me where my PHONE was :C

Hiro Hamada: you couldn't find it on the stand?

TheLittleMermaid: You could've left a note?!

Hiro Hamada:

Mikan Ferns: She's got you there

TheLittleMermaid: I'm bored what's everyone up to

Fredzilla: Minecraft marathon

Honey Lemon: getting a snack

Sienna Kline: Cookie and I are visiting his mom at the hospital, I'm getting water rn

Sara Ferns: I drove them there and im just vibing in the lobby bc his mom scares me

TheLittleMermaid: mood (but can u visit?)

Sara Ferns: sure

TheLittleMermaid: Also Hiro can u visit too?

Hiro Hamada: Can't sorry : (

Hiro Hamada: But Aunt Cass will pick you up tomorrow tho

TheLittleMermaid: Yayyy!

David Ferns: rip

Fredzilla: Hi David! How was talking w/ your mom

David Ferns: oh uh it was ok and we're cool now, it'll take time to forgive her 100% but im just glad i can talk to her

TheLittleMermaid: I still am mad at her, I demand an apology :/

David Ferns: I'll pass the message n.n'

Hiro Hamada: Anyways I'm going to take a nap I got little sleep last night

Fredzilla: Same

Gogo: Same

Wasabi: Same

Sienna Kline: I am concerned

Sara came visiting with a muffin in her hands. "Hi guys!"

"Hi Sara!" Ari waved. "Where's the muffin from?" She was surprised the wavy-haired blonde hadn't eaten it yet.

"It's from your aunt's cafe." She explained. "Want it?"

"No thanks." She wasn't hungry anyways.

Juniper was staring at the muffin with wide eyes. "Uh… can I have it?"

Sara shrugged. "Sure kid." She tossed the muffin to the dancer. "So what happened to you anyways?" The wavy-haired blonde turned to Ari.

She frowned. "I don't really remember… I guess I got caught in the crossfire."

Her friend paused from scarfing down the muffin, a dreadful look on her face. "I know what happened, but it's really bad."

Oh no, don't tell me- "Did I get turned into a monster?" Ari questioned.

She had noticed there was a bandage on her neck, the same as the one on Juniper's. Her friend had explained it was from surgery getting the deactivated chip out. Which meant that the one on her neck was the same.

"Yeah…" Juniper muttered, not having the strength to look her in the eyes.

Sara's eyes widened with terror. "What?!"

"I feel like it's my fault." Her friend stared at her hands.

"How is it your fault?!" Sara stared at her in shock.

Her friend didn't reply, so Ari spoke up. "She told me that Di blackmailed her and her mom by threatening me, telling them that if they did what she asked, they wouldn't hurt me."

Sara winced. "That's horrible!"

"Even worse, after what happened at Bridgeton, Di tried telling me that you didn't care about me at all and that's why you scratched me." Ari turned back to her friend, then her eyes widened, recalling she hadn't explained that to Juniper yet. "Oh wait."

To say her friend's expression was full of rage was an understatement. "She told you what?!"

Sara had a similar expression. "Man, that lady could spin tall tales."

That's putting it lightly… Ari felt a trickle of shame as she remembered falling for such tall tales. "Why did I believe her?"

"I don't blame you, I did hurt you badly." Juniper muttered. "Surprised you're still talking to me after that."

Ari frowned. "June we talked about this!"

"I still feel bad, Ari!"

Sara cleared her throat, the two looking at her. "Anyways, uh Juniper, right?"

"Yeah?" The dancer frowned.

"Do you… recognize me?" Sara asked her.

Ari was confused at the question, as far as she knew, her friend hadn't met any of the Ferns. Sure, she mentioned them a handful of times, but the dancer never told her if they visited her or not.

Juniper squinted at the wavy-haired blonde. "Not really? I mean a little but that's because Ari mentioned you a few times."

"Well…" Sara dug into her pockets and pulled out her phone. "You might wanna see this."

She scrolled through something, and then showed it to the dancer. Ari leaned over to see what it was, it was a picture of two little kids, both with blonde hair interacting with each other using stuffed animals.

The crazy thing about it was that one kid looked a lot like Sara, and the other looked just like her friend.

"Ohhhh." Surprisingly, Juniper's reaction was mild. "Oh now I get it."

"Really?!" Ari turned to Sara. "You never brought this up before?"

Sara gave her a look. "It was none of your guys' business, how do you think my siblings and I felt?"

Juniper flinched at the words, but neither of them noticed. "My mama did say there were some kids I used to play with when I was little, guess you were one of those kids."

"Yeah, maybe we could talk again?" Sara offered.

"Maybe."

There was a pause, a rather awkward pause that thankfully ended as David called out to his older sister. "Sara we're leaving!"

"I'm coming!" She waved to the two before following her brother.

After she left, Ari glanced back at Juniper. "So about that family secret thing-"

"I will throw this muffin at you."

"Excuse me girls." One of the nurses came in by the door, she looked familiar for some reason, but Ari couldn't put her finger on it.

It did make her frown as the nurse reminded her of the woman she thought was her mother, with similar looking blonde hair and orange eyes. "You have another visitor, some girl named Megan Cruz?"

She did perk up at that name. "Oh I know her, send her in!"

The nurse nodded and left. A few moments later, the reporter came in and gave Ari a big ol' hug. "So glad you're okay!" She exclaimed. "I heard the story from my dad, I'm so sorry that happened to you!"

She nervously chuckled. "Please don't mention him right now, he says mean things about my friend." Not to mention he was giving Elio a hard time.

The reporter tilted her head in confusion, but then noticed Juniper in the room. "Oh! Long time no see, I haven't seen you since the dance-"

"Yeah, I know. Kind of hard to forget the dance after what I did." Juniper snapped, a little irritated at the mention of that event. "No need to remind me."

Megan frowned. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay June, Megan's cool." Ari tried to reassure her friend.

But the dancer was still wary. "Surprised you're talking to me anyways, thought you'd hate me for what happened."

"I don't." Megan shook her head.

"You should, I hurt people." She protested.

The reporter walked over. "Megan-" Ari tried to stop her, but she merely took one of Juniper's hands and held it in a comforting manner.

"Did you mean to hurt people at the school dance?"

There was a look of confusion. "What?"

"Did you mean to hurt my classmates?"

She shook her head. "No."

Megan smiled. "Then I don't hate you, it wasn't your fault, so be a little nicer to yourself, okay?"

"That's what I've been telling her!" Ari exclaimed.

Juniper had a slight blush of embarrassment on her face. "I guess I'll try…"

Oooh, maybe it's more than embarrassment? Ari raised an eyebrow. She did recall the reporter lamenting a few times that she couldn't speak to Juniper after the dance. Perhaps there was something going on between them…

Sure, Ari did have a crush on Juniper once, but even if her friend didn't have the same romantic feelings as her, she wanted her to be happy. "Gee Megan, guess I found out who you were really visiting, hmm?"

Megan raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Ari simply grinned. "You know."

Then she started giggling, much to the reporter's confusion. "Ari what does that mean- Ari!"

Juniper just shook her head at the brunette's antics. "Yep. That's my best friend all right." She sent Megan an empathetic stare. "You get used to it."

That just made Ari giggle even harder, it was good to be back.

AN: COM might be over but I still have some surprises! :3c hehehehe

But first, Ari reunites with her bestie and has a talk with her family... I did not mean for Juniper to be a witness but she was (cue live slug reaction meme)

Also yeah, the Rosemarys, and foreshadowing, more on that in arc 3 (or will it be in the next 2 chapters?)

Originally David talking to Momakase would've been off-screen but c'mon... I would be doing him dirty so I added that scene

and then ended the chapter with Megan because I had to! ;3

QOTW: No question of the week but I will say next week will be out of this world! hehehehehehehehehhehehehehehehe

HAHYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Well I would say next week but I'm actually taking a break since I'll be on vacation and updating without my handy dandy computer is like pulling teeth. But I will resume updates the moment I get back!

See you guys next time!