The Reverse (A YJ Fanfiction)

Chapter Fifteen

Paula's arms were wrapped tightly around Artemis. She'd had a warning about what was going to go down with the whole adult world and kid world thing, but she was still relieved that her daughter was fine.

"You're sure you're alright?" Paula asked.

"Of course I am, Mẹ. Why wouldn't I be?"

Paula shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I wasn't the one there." She smiled. "Did you see Jade?"

"Only for like two minutes. She's good. Didn't look hurt. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing bad or abnormal."

"Good." Paula sighed. "I wish that I could see her."

Artemis thought for a minute. "Next time I see her, I'll tell her that."

"You don't have-"

"I want to. If it makes you happy, then I want to." Artemis said with a smile.

On the inside though, Artemis was angry. Why on earth would her mother want to see her traitor of a sister? Artemis wasn't even thinking about Jade betraying the Shadows. She was thinking about her older sister's betrayal of her. How could she just up and leave, abandoning her with that... that... ba*****, that worthless excuse for a father. Didn't Jade realize what Sportsmaster would do to her little sister? 'Of course she did,' The little voice in her head said. 'Why wouldn't she? She didn't love me. She didn't even care about me at all. She said that she did, but she was lying. It was a lie.'

"Artemis? Baby Girl, are you ok?" Paula asked her younger daughter worriedly, seeing the sadness, anger, and betrayal in her eyes and the way her smile dropped.

"Of course I'm ok, Mom. Stop worrying about me. I'm going to bed." She walked to her room.

Paula followed her. "Are you sure that you're-" Artemis slammed the door. Paula sighed.

Artemis flopped backwards onto her bed. Which hurt a little, due to the fact that she'd been slammed into the ground by Kid Flash while he was using his superspeed. She was pretty sure that she'd broken a couple of her ribs. She hadn't told her mother because she didn't want to worry her.

'Why should I even care about worrying her?' The thoughts popped into the girl's head. 'I'm not enough for her.'

"I stayed, and Jade didn't, and I'm still not enough for her; she still wants Jade. Jade the Great. The good one. The not partially psycho one. I might be a villain, and I might not be completely in my right mind, but I stayed. I stayed for Mom. And she doesn't even care because I'm not Jade!" She threw her pillow across the room, almost immediately regretting it because she just wanted to cover her face with it and scream.

She didn't even notice that she switched to speaking aloud, yelling actually, until her mom rolled into the room. "That's not true," Paula said softly, wheeling over to her beloved daughter. She stroked Artemis' anger-reddened face gently. "That's not true at all, Baby Girl. I do care. I care so much. I never would have made it through prison without you. Your letters were literally the only thing keeping me from just killing myself because it was all too much. You wanted me home so badly, how could I just take that from you? My beloved girl, who cared more about me than she cared about herself. Yes, I did realize that that wasn't the case for your sister, who while she did send me a letter or postcard from time to time, didn't stay. Not like you.

"I don't want to see Jade because you're not enough for me. That's not it at all. I want to see for my eyes how she's doing. Have her tell me herself. I'm her mother, too, after all."

Artemis nodded and sat up. Then she did something that she hadn't done in years. She stuck out her arms, tears in her eyes, just wanting to be held. Paula pulled the girl onto her lap, running her hand over the teen's blonde hair. "It's alright, Baby. Just cry. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Everybody needs to cry sometimes. And yes, even your father, I know what you're thinking. Scream and cry all you need, you've kept it pent up far too long."

As Artemis sobbed, she knew that she was going to tell Jade that Mom wanted to see her. There was no way Artemis could be selfish enough to keep Jade from such a loving woman, even if the girl did hold a grudge against her sister.

Paula grabbed the pillow from the floor. "Scream, Baby Girl. Let it out. Throw it again if you need to. Do whatever makes you feel better."

Artemis screamed into the pillow and then started throttling it. "Thata girl! Get it!" Paula said laughing. Artemis continued to punch the heck out of the pillow while her mother cheered her on. She finally threw it to the floor. "Victory!" Paula declared, laughing.

Some of Arty's long hair had escaped her thick ponytail and hung in her face. She shook her hair back, not bothering to hold back her laughter.

Paula smiled at her teenager. It had been a long time since she'd seen her so carefree and genuinely happy. She thought to herself that she was not going to let her daughter go that long without these happy, carefree moments again.