"God, I miss you, Sunshine."

THE MORNING FOLLOWING THE GALA, CHARLOTTE KENT WENT TO VISIT JASON TODD'S GRAVE. As she walked through the cemetery, weaving through the rows of tombstones with a bouquet of cherry blossoms in hand, the Kansas-born woman felt someone watching her.

Her blue eyes scanned the area, but found nothing. The nineteen year old, starting to wish she'd inherited her father's x-ray vision.

The feeling didn't go away as she approached the familiar grave. At first glance, the five year old grave looked undisturbed, so Charlotte continued her routine of talking to her best friend.

"Hey, Jase." The brunette started, sitting cross legged next to the tombstone. "I thought I saw you last night, at Bruce's gala. I was so sure that it was you, but it wasn't."

"I wish you were here." She admitted, cerulean eyes pooling with unshed tears. "I wish that I'd tried a little harder to get you to stay home, or at least went with you that night. I wish I'd gotten there sooner, so that I could've stopped him from hurting you."

"I heard your screams that night. Did you know that? I heard you screaming for help from Metropolis. I tried to get there as fast as I could, but I wasn't fast enough."

"I was too late and I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for that." She was full on sobbing now, her entire body shaking from her cries. "God, I miss you so much, Sunshine."

The Kent woman shakily placed the cherry blossoms on the grave, touching her forehead to the tombstone.

"I'll see you next week, Sunshine." Charlotte promised, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. Once she'd composed herself, the brunette stood and started to make her way to the parking lot.

As she walked farther away, Jason Todd left his hiding place from behind a small mausoleum to watch her go.

"Once this is over, Firefly." He muttered, the white clusters of hair from the Lazarus Pit falling into his eyes. "I promise, I'll come back to you."

⚔️

THE COMMUTE FROM GOTHAM TO METROPOLIS WAS A FAIRLY TOLERABLE ONE. Even if it wasn't, it wouldn't stop Charlotte from traveling back and forth every week.

It also helped that Charlotte had found a relatively cheap apartment near the University of Metropolis.

"Why'd I choose forensic science for my major again?" The half-kryptonian sighed, face-planting on to her notes.

"Because you wanted to help people and be like your favorite uncle." Barry Allen chuckled, grinning at the nineteen year old through the FaceTime call.

"I should have been a business major then, so I could be like Bruce or Ollie." Charlotte snorted, sending an innocent smile to the speedster.

"I'm going to ignore that, Charlotte Mae." The meta-human chucked with a roll of his eyes. "How was the gala? Anything interesting happen?"

Her mind flashed with the memory of the mystery man from the night before, as well as the image of her curled up on the balcony in tears.

"Nope, pretty boring actually." She lied, shrugging casually in an attempt to convince the older man.

"That's good, considering how Bruce's galas usually go." Barry joked, knowing that almost every formal event held by the billionaire usually gets attacked by criminals.

"I know right." Charlotte laughed, trying to mentally shoo away the memory from her mind.

"You excited for your birthday next week, kiddo?"

"I guess." She shrugged, trying to force even the tiniest of smiles.

"You know, no one would blame you if you didn't want to celebrate this year, Cheer Bear."

The speedster had started calling Charlotte Cheer Bear when she was eight years old, because how happy it made the little girl when they were first introduced. That following birthday, he'd started the tradition of getting her a different Care Bear every year. Starting, of course, with Cheer Bear.

"Thanks, Funshine Bear." The young woman smiled warmly at the speedster. "I think I'll be okay, I just miss him."

"I know, kiddo." He sighed sadly, hating that the bright young girl had to be the one to find Jason the way she did.

For the first four years, Charlotte had refused to celebrate her birthday, because of the loss of her best friend. Before the gala, she'd told her parents that she'd be comfortable with a small gathering this year.

But after her breakdown at the gala, she was starting to rethink that decision.