Okay, guys, new story up here! I'm going through the alphabet, centering around Dick Grayson's (Robin's) childhood.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not YJ. Not Finding Nemo.

Enjoy!

A is for ANEMONE

Barry smiles as he walks down the hallway, for once not sprinting all over creation for the League. He had dropped Wally off with Roy and Dick for the day so they could train together while the mentors did some missions, and Wally was always excited for that.

Laughter echoes down the industrialized hallway from the open door where the League had set up an unofficial 'playroom' for the trio, brilliant and childish. Immediately Barry discerns only two laughs-Wally's and Roy's. Which means...

Barry sprints the last few feet and gets into the doorway in time to grin again at the sight.

Roy and Wally are howling laughing, leaning over to clutch their stomachs. Dick is brilliantly red, clutching three sheets of stapled notebook paper, squirming uncomfortably underneath his two older brothers' laughter.

"Stop laughing at me!" Dick finally explodes, but it's so much shyer than normal, Wally and Roy hardly pay attention. "C'mon, guys, stop!"

"D-dude, say it again," Wally finally wheezes out, crying he's laughing so hard.

"No!"

"C-C'mon, Dickie," Roy tries to sober up, but he's still stifling giggles, shoulders jerking, as he straightens up and squares off. "You gotta p-practice."

"No! You guys are mean!"

Wally doesn't stop laughing, even as Roy manages to apologize. "One m-more time, Dickie, we won't laugh. Promise."

"Fine." Dick grumbles the word and glances down at his notebook paper. "The sea anenenomone-amenonone-sea amenonenomone-stop laughing at me!"

Even Barry can't stop the laughter that bursts out. Unusually well-spoken for a six year old, Dick could easily pronounce impossible scientific names without an ounce of hesitation-but apparently the word anemone is in a class all of it's own.

Dick glares at them verociously, never one to pout, and clutches his paper to his chest, blushing brightly. "It's hard! Amenome-anemome-anomonone-it's hard to say!"

Barry gets his giggles under control and crouches to get eye-level with the little boy he considers his adoptive nephew. "Dick, try to say it one syllable at a time, okay? A-ne-mo-ne."

"A-ne-no-mo-ne," Dick tries, brows furrowed at he tries to get the syllables out properly. Still, his tongue gets tied up in knots and Barry rocks back on his heels, laughing hysterically. "Anenomone! Amenone! Amenonone!"

"S-stop," Wally begs through his cackling, "I can't t-take it!"

"Stop it!" Dick orders helplessly as the trio continue to laugh at his expense.

"What's going on here?" Bruce asks warily, coming into the room. Immediately Dick throws his arms around his adoptive father's knee and hides his face, scrunching up his homework assignment in the process. "Dick, what's wrong?"

"They're making fun of me," Dick mumbles, not letting go of his father.

Bruce's heart immediately melts-it's easy to see on the normally stoic Batman's face. He reaches down and plucks Dick off the ground, easily settling him up onto his hip. Dick puts both arms around his neck and curls close, homework dangling loosely from his hand.

"And why's that?" Bruce asks tolerantly, shooting a look over at the still-laughing Barry, Wally, and Roy.

"I can't say it!"

"Why not?" he asks perplexedly, thinking that his son couldn't say why they were making fun of him.

"It's unpronounceable!"

Barry goes into a fresh peal of laughter. "The kid can say unpronounceable but not anemone?"

Bruce immediately understands and silently curses Finding Nemo, recalling the resulting twenty minute attempt to correct the six year old's pronounciation, to no avail. Dick's little hands grab the back of his shirt tightly, wrinkling the homework, and Bruce automatically reaches up to pat his back assuringly.

"It's difficult," he comforts gently, leaning back so he can see his young son's disappointed face. "Why were you trying to say it?"

"I had to write a report on them," Dick explains softly, leaving out the fact that he's in second grade, despite being only six. "And read it to the class. Roy was gonna help me, 'cause he's ten, but I can't say amonene-anomonone-stop laughing at me!-I can't say it and they keep laughing."

Bruce chuckles quietly under his breath while Dick's shooting them dirty looks before gently dropping his son, letting the natural acrobat land on his feet with ease. He bends so that they're eye-to-eye, and Dick automatically puts both of his hands on his father's face, a Romanian gesture of love and acceptance, to listen. "Try to say it very slowly, Dickie. One sound at a time. Like when you were learning to read."

Dick's brows furrow again in concentration. "A. Nem. Mo. No. Mo. Ne."

Bruce nods once, and Dick tries again. "Anemonone. A. Nem. Mo. Ne. Anem-monone. Anomonone. Anemome."

He chuckles and gently pulls away from the little boy, the others still laughing. He holds out his hand for Dick to take. "I think it's time to go home, Dickie. We can work on it at home."

Dick latches onto his father's hand, the other going to his belt. Bruce's eyes gleam in pride but he pretends not to see the little boy drop three smoke bombs as they walk out the door.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated, ya'll! :)