Burned

2.03: The Ending

WITH THE FLAMES IN HER EYES, SHE BURNED.

As soon as Artemis spoke those two words, a loud song began to play. It was loud yodeling, making a couple in the distance look up. Artemis lets out a laugh while Peter blushes, clearly embarrassed. He takes his phone from his pocket, picking up without looking at the caller ID. Artemis turns her gaze to the bright full moon in the sky. It was a clear night, so the stars were visible. She recognises a few constellations and turns her gaze to where there was now a black place in space, but she knew that Loki was there, waiting for her in Sakaar.

Loki really became a special person in Artemis's life. The first week, maybe even longer, they were really cold and awkward around each other. Then, a blessing in disguise happened. They were on Knowhere, trying to become closer to the Collector. There were some objects in his collection, Artemis still doesn't know which ones, that Loki really desired. So the two of them had made a plan with which they could get to the objects.

Artemis was disguised as a new maid in the Collector's staff. For some reason he accepted it immediately. So, Artemis scouted around in the collection. After she would be done with working, she could finally go to her temporary home, telling Loki what she had seen during the day, while he was already looking for exits and good other planets to go to after they would've gotten the objects. It wasn't necessary, however.

On a Monday, Artemis believed as she hadn't paid attention to the dates at all, she overheard a conversation between the Collector and another maid of his. She still knows what the exact words were they had used. The maid, Yacine, said that Loki was captured and was now as the only magical being part of the collection. They were waiting for Artemis to save him, as they knew how Artemis was the most powerful magical being they knew.

What they didn't know, was that Artemis now knew about their plan, so she had to distract the Collector. He was arrogant enough to think he would always win. So, Artemis freed a alot of the people and animals trapped in glass cages, making the staff panic. While they were handling the crisis, Artemis freed Loki. A guard of the Collector's saw it and almost killed Artemis. Loki protected Artemis, teleporting the two of them to Xandar where they hid out for a while.

The two of them realised after the incident, they could blindly trust each other. Something neither of them really knew how to do, but they managed to learn over the two years. Loki had grown protective over Artemis, while Artemis constantly tried to get closer to Loki, just because he seemed like an interesting person. They would never admit it, but they truly loved each other. Not in the way Artemis loved Morgan, but in their own, weird way, in which it could only be described as how Peter and Harley had loved Tony Stark.

'Hey, Artemis?' Peter asks, getting Artemis out of her trance. She nods. 'Harley said that Morgan's coming back. I'm going to find Harley, if you'll wait here then Morgan's here soon, all right?'

Artemis nods, the butterflies in her stomach returning again. 'Does she- Are you sure she'll want to see me?'

'Positive,' Peter assures his friend, after which he goes inside again, to the, in his opinion, far too loud music, too many people and too little air.

Morgan on the other hand leaves the sweaty crowd with difficulty. She steps outside, breathing in the fresh air. The first thing she notices is how bright the night tonight is. The second thing she notices is that on the picnic table where Peter is supposed to sit, now sits a girl with beautiful brown hair. For a second her heart stops beating, thinking she recognised the hairdo, but then realised that the Witch she was in love with had left her and it was Morgan's job to forget her.

So, Morgan walks over to the girl. 'I'm sorry,' she begins with a kind voice. 'Have you maybe seen the boy that sat her a minute ago? Blond, not that tall, his name is Peter Parker.'

Then the brunette turns around. The moment Morgan's brown eyes meet the girl's green ones, Morgan's breathing stopped. Her heart malfunctioned. She couldn't say anything and was unable to process what was going on. Artemis, the girl she had seen two years ago for the last time, sits in front of her. Her hair braided in soft braids, her dress fitting her perfectly. The necklace reflects the light of the moon.

'He left just now,' Artemis responds in the British accent Morgan knows far too well.

Then Morgan panics and punches Artemis in her face.

Artemis quickly covers her nose with her hands. Her eyes water, but she blinks the liquid away. 'I think I deserved that.'

'Tell me something only you would know,' Morgan commands. She point her right hand at the Witch, showing her blue repulsor.

'Let's see,' Artemis answers, not feeling intimidated by the shorter girl. 'I'm horrible at Mario Kart, you couldn't perform that one spell I taught you, oh, and you called me Yzma the first time we met.'

'It is you,' Morgan gasps.

Artemis opens her arms hopefully. Morgan climbs on the picnic table and hugs her tightly. Both the girls let out a few tears and find comfort in each other's arms. It hurts a little, because the two are holding each other too tightly, but neither of them care enough to let the other go. Then, after what felt like eternity, they let go of each other. Artemis's green eyes are filled with many emotions, while Morgan only felt happiness and love.

'Oh, by the way,' Artemis interrupts the silence. She unclasped her silver necklace. 'Your bow only works with this necklace.'

Morgan takes the jewelry from the Witch, hanging it around her neck. 'You know, I've tried for two years to shoot an arrow with it and now you come here to tell me I couldn't anyway? I've become really good at archery.'

'Harley told me so, yeah,' Artemis responds with a smile, happy that Morgan doesn't hate her.

'Why didn't you come back?' Morgan asks out of the blue. The mood of the conversation shifts.

Artemis bites her lip. 'I would've put all of you in danger. I now know how to fight the Witches. I'm sorry, Morgan. I've missed all of you so much. I missed you. Please forgive me.'

Morgan lies her hand on Artemis's right cheek. The two girls look into each other's eyes, absolutely charmed by the beautiful colors. Then they can't hold themselves back anymore. Neither of them knows who actually took the initiative, but they pull each other even closer than they already were. Their soft lips meet. Artemis tastes a faint hint of strawberry, probably the taste of Morgan's lipbalm. When they pull back, they smile at each other.

'You're forgiven,' Morgan says with a happy look on her face.

'I missed you,' Artemis informs the American with a smile on her face.

Morgan chuckles and blushes. 'I missed you, too.'

And with that, the two teenagers pretend for the rest of the night everything was completely fine, ignoring all their duties and all the horror around them. Because for tonight, everything was in the right place again.