Just a heads up, I am terribly sorry for this chapter. I had it in mind forever ago. It was meant to be a follow up to In My Daughter's Eyes which was a few chapters back, but I kept putting it off…

Disclaimer: I own nothing famous. Only Diana here is mine. And I suppose the spelling mistakes I own too. I apologize for any of those possibilities...

Thunk!

Artemis cursed quietly to herself as she heard something fall in her bedroom closet as she worked on putting things away. Sliding open the closet door, an old cardboard box dumped over from the shelf, the contents on top flowing out. Dropping to her knees, the blonde began cleaning up. She paused as she gave a glance at the paper in her hand with an old tear on the side and a tiny chunk missing on the bottom of the page. On it was a crude drawing, yet one familiar after the extended years that it was created.

It was of a few large blobs of resemblances of people; one with long yellow hair that was holding the hand of a standing figure with fairly long black hair. Both of them had big smiles. On the side was a slightly bigger figure than the blonde with big poufy black hair and a blonde man towards the back as if he was watching all of them. Artemis gave a soft laugh to herself in the recognition of a five or perhaps six year old self's version of her family.

Her expression shifted to a sad smile as her stormy grey eyes lingered on the child version of herself holding her mother's hand. With a sigh and a slow blink away, Artemis set the picture aside and turned back to continue picking up the rest of the dumped mess.

Her hand found a photograph a toddler aged Lian playing with her grandmother and Jade standing on the side watching with a partial smile on her face. Artemis matched the smile of her sister. "I never knew about this one," she said quietly to herself. Roy must have taken that rare moment and Paula held tightly to that considering the worn sides of the picture.

Artemis had gathered all the belongings of the box of memories that her mother kept and sat everything on her bed, now determined to go through everything. Her once made bed had slightly disassembled covers as she stared for a long moment at the various items in and outside the box. With an involuntary sniffle, she pulled out a small light brown stuffed teddy bear with a little green bow. The blonde let out a short laugh having recognized the little stuffed animal to once have been Irey's when she was little. Her red-headed daughter must have given it to grandma for safekeeping.

Artemis had no idea that her mother kept all of this throughout these many years. Paula must have put the box in her closet at some point. Artemis held the bear close and closed her eyes tight. Although it had been a couple months since Paula had been gone, it still felt like it was just happened. She remembered the day when she first learned about her mother dying.

(FLASHBACK)

Artemis hung up the keys after returning from taking Irey and Jai to school as they managed to miss the bus. Again. One would think if they had super speed that they could manage to make it on time to catch the bus. Not wanting them to run to school and expose themselves, the mother took them and scolded them for better manage their times. She rolled her eyes at the thought of two nine year olds taking her heeding seriously.

The young mother was shaken out of her doubts as her three year old daughter tugged at her side.

"Mommy, Nana Paula needs help. She fell—"

At those words, Artemis took off around the house looking for her mother. She found Paula in the guest room turned into her room, on the ground next to her wheelchair. She looked a bit dazed when she lifted her head up to greet her blonde daughter.

"Mom, what happened?" Artemis reached carefully under her mother's arm to brace her up to instead sit on the edge of the bed.

Paula groaned as she replied in an almost convincing tone, "I'm fine. Just tried to reach something on top of the dresser."

Artemis glanced over to see the dresser at a considerable distance where her mother's wheelchair was stationed. Artemis put her hands on her hips, her eyes full of worry. "No, you're not fine. This is the second time this month you have fallen. What is going on?"

Paula avoided her concerned daughter's eyes for a while, closing her eyes and putting a hand to her head. Finally, she sighed in defeat. "You understand how I have had some minor dystonia since my… accident?" Artemis' eyes flickered over to the gestured wheelchair briefly before she nodded.

"It has gotten worse, hasn't it." She softly stated.

"Yes," Paula admitted. "For these past six months. Oliver and Dinah had been a tremendous help in aiding until I requested to be closer to you since—" Artemis bit back her tongue as she waited for her mother to continue. Paula closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, her lips in a firm line as she hesitated.

Dark eyes barely opened and staring at the ground, she added in a faint voice, "The discovery of the developing brain tumor."

Artemis shot up at those words, pacing the room with her arms above in exclamation. "How—Why didn't you say anything?! There are specialists who can help you and…"

"Artemis," Paula called out, tenderly grabbing the frantic younger woman's arm to stall her and recapture her attention.

Still a bit enraged with a major scoop of distress from this particular news being kept a secret, Artemis fisted her hands and took a few deep breaths to calm back down. She sat next to her mother, her eyes watery. In a quiet voice laced with betrayal, she asked, "How could you never tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you."

"There's still time to…"

Paula shook her head as she grasped her daughter's hands in her lap. "The Queens put up a mighty fight to have me taken in for special surgery, but I couldn't have it. There was a high chance I wouldn't survive it at this rate."

Paula looked up in Artemis' eyes, the younger not able to break off contact as a couple small tears leaked through while she bit her lip.

"I begged for this… predicament to be kept quiet from you. Then of my request that I wanted to spend time with my family. You never questioned my wanting to stay with your family for an extended time. For that I am thankful for, having made the transition much more comforting."

Silence passed between them for what felt like hours as Artemis struggled to take in the dreaded information. Paula continued to rub her enclosed hands in a soothing manner.

The rest of the family was told about her condition later that night. About a month after the revelation, Paula lost the fight to keep strong and determined. She became too weak to really get around anymore and put on bed rest. Shortly after, she peacefully passed away surrounded by her family. At the funeral, Jade stayed close to Artemis' side surprisingly for a large amount of it and stopping in every so often afterwards. She even thought that she recognized the stranger in the distance as her father, but never bothered to seek out the possibility.

Paula Crock was not the perfect mother in the eyes of the world, but she was in her daughter's eyes. The woman had done so much for her family and tried to ultimately do the best for them. Her early acts towards that goal might have not seen the best and fit for a family, like the thieving antics with her husband, yet she had promised to herself to turn her life around for her girls. Artemis couldn't ask for more from her mother. Paula pushed to have things different and better for her which in the end, which is what it ended up being. She became a hero, saved lives, and raised a family to have an actual childhood… Paula was the one who was actually a hero for Artemis. And for that, she would always be grateful and continue to love her for.

While the rest of the family cleaned up after dinner, Artemis sat at her mother's bedside for some extra company as she became restricted to the bed the week prior. Paula reached out slowly to grasp her youngest daughter's hand. In a raspy voice, she spoke in her native tongue.

"Tôi yêu em mãi mãi và luôn luôn—"

Paula had to stop due to a dry voice. Artemis immediately reached for a glass of water. Her mother struggled to down a few sips before pushing the cup away. Artemis set it back on the end table and turned back to face Paula's tired eyes.

"Please remember… even if I'm not there," Paula gripped her daughter's hand as close and hard as she could, looking her straight in the eyes. "I will always love you. You will be in my heart. Forever and always, con gái tôi."

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