Central City,

November 11, 1999

"Mommy, mommy! Look, it's snowing!" 5-year-old Wally said, hurrying outside of the house and laying down on the ground, moving his arms and legs up and down to make a snow angel.

"Wally! Don't go outside without your jacket on!"Mary West says, running after her son with his jacket in hand.

"But mommy! It's snowing on my birthday!" he says, getting up and jumping up and down. Mary chuckles and bends down next to her son. She cleans his back from any remaining snow and helps him put on his jacket "I know honey, but you don't want to get a cold on your birthday either now, do you?" she asks, raising her eyebrow softly. He shakes his head vigorously and hugs her neck, right before running away from her and playing with the snow.

"Don't go too far Wally!" she says, keeping an eye on her son.

"I won't mommy!" he replies, making a small snowball and throwing it in the air. He tries to catch it but it just falls on the ground. He picks up the small amount of snow that his snowball made and starts giving it form again when he spots something on the other side of the street. A little girl is sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, her head resting on her knees and her arms wrapped around them. He immediately drops his snowball and runs to the other side of the street, sitting down next to the girl.

"Hi" he says softly. She looks up and he sees her tainted red eyes, showing him that she's been crying "Are you okay?" he asks, tilting his head to the side a little. The little girls sniffs a little and shakes her head, resting it on her knees once again.

"What's your name?" he asks. When she doesn't respond he speaks again "I'm Wally"

She looks up at him and he smiles big at her "Do you want to play with me? We could make snow angels and igloos. We could have a snowball fight like the ones I have with uncle Barry! It's really funny!" he says, getting up. She looks at him and shakes her head again "No, thank you" she finally talks, but it's barely a whisper.

"Why? He asks, sitting up again and looking at her.

"I'm sad… I don't want to play" she says.

"Why are you sad? Maybe I can help you" he says, smiling at her.

"Daddy… daddy left us and he took my sister with him… I miss them" she says, new tears streaming down her face.

"But he'll come back? Right?"

"No… mama says he will never come back"

"Don't worry" the small redhead says, picking up her hand and squeezing it "I'm sure he will. Daddies always come back. At least that's what my mommy always tells me" he says.

She looks at their hands and back at him again, a small smile growing on her tear-streamed face "They do?" she asks him hopefully.

"Yes, they do" Wally says, nodding vigorously. He gets up again and pulls her with him "Do you want to play now?" he asks.

"Yes, I want to" she says, smiling big at him too. He smiles at her too and kisses her cheek rapidly. They both blush and look away from each other, letting go of their folded hands.

"I'm Artemis" she finally says, looking at him again "And you're… Wally?" she asks and he nods, smiling at her. She smiles too and he grabs hold of her hand again, leading her to his house's yard.

Mary folds her arms while watching her son and the little girl play, a grin plastered on her face for she heard the whole conversation.

That was the first time they met.

-xxx-

Central City,

June 1, 2004

"What?" Wally asks, not believing what he just heard.

"You heard me" Artemis whispers, looking down. It's been a tough week since her mother told her they're moving once summer vacation settles in. Now, the most difficult part was to tell Wally.

"You can't move out! What about our summer vacation! And Megan's birthday party! And my birthday!"

"I'll still be here for Megan's birthday… I'm just not in yours… I'm sorry" she says, playing with her folded hands on her lap.

"Artemis… what if we never see each other again? We have to see each other! It's always been like that for these past five years… we have to keep talking and playing together. And what about our friends… have you told them yet?" he asks, his eyes filling with tears.

"Yes, I have… they understood" she says, looking at him through her eyelashes.

"You told me last? I was the last one to know?" he asks, hurt filling his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, Wally" she whispers sadly.

"Don't be" he says, grabbing his backpack and walking out of the room.

"Wally" she whispers again, her voice raspy and her eyes filling with tears.

And this… this was the first time they broke apart.

-xxx-

Central City,

July 12, 2011

"Yo, Wall-man" Dick Grayson says, slowing down his skate until it stops right in front of Wally. They high-five and Wally climbs onto his skate too, both boys riding down the park.

"So, school's almost here, huh?" Dick states, looking at his best friend from the corner of his eye. Wally sighs.

"Unfortunately, yes… I just wish Summer Vacation would last forever! I mean, it's not like school is going to make us happier…" he says, making Dick chuckle.

"Actually, it will. You'll need it for the future" he says, matter-of-factly. Wally glares at his best friend and rolls his eyes at him.

"You know what I meant" he says, resting his foot on the ground and pushing it, driving the skate forward.

"Yeah, I know, I know" Dick says, laughing a little. A comfortable silence falls between the two friends as they keep skating until Wally stops abruptly. Dick stops ahead of his friend "Wally? What's wrong?" he asks. Wally whispers something inaudible and Dick raises and eyebrow at his friend "What?" he asks once again.

"Artemis" Wally says louder this time, right before letting go of his skate and starting to run where he saw the blonde "Artemis!" he calls out and she turns her head to look at him. Her eyes widen and she looks around quickly. A bike passes in front of him and he stops abruptly, falling to the ground. He groans and gets up as quickly as he can, running to the bench the blonde was sitting…. Just two seconds ago. He looks around "Artemis!" he calls out to her "Artemis!"

He sits down on the bench rubbing his face with his hands. She looked so real… and she was so close to him… he almost could feel her… touch her. Maybe it was just his mind playing a trick… maybe it was-

That's when he notices the book. He reaches out for it and examines it.

"Alice in Wonderland" he reads out loud and his eyes light up with hope. This book was Artemis' favorite when they were kids. She used to tell him how her father used to read it to her and her sister before they went to bed. She told him this story so many times he knew it by heart. He got up again and started looking through the park again, when someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around hopefully but his face fell when he saw his best friend.

"Dude! Way to leave me back there! Did you at least catch her? Because, dude, I didn't see anyone" Dick says, eyeing his friend.

"She was real Dick, and she was here!" Wally said enthusiastically.

"Wally… I hate to break it to you, but-"

"You don't need to, look what I found!" Wally says, showing him the book. Dick eyes it carefully before sighing.

"Wally, we can't be certain that's hers" he says calmly.

"It is! I'm sure Dick" Wally sits on the bench and sighs "I just don't know where she went… why she ran away from me" Dick was about to respond when a picture falls from the book, landing on the ground. It shows a young Wally, about 6 or 7 years old with a white shirt and his best jeans from that time standing next to a small blonde, her grey eyes sparkling as she adjusted her white dress. Behind them was another boy, with jet black hair and piercing blue eyes holding a book that had stuck a small paper where it was written, in bad handwriting "Bible". Then, next to the blonde stood a small red-haired girl with a wide smile on her face, accentuating her freckles. She was holding a bouquet of flowers and her left arm was interlaced with the blonde's right arm. Wally picks it up from the ground and turns it around. In the back, you could read:

Wally West and Artemis Crock's wedding. The priest, Conner Kent and the maid of honor, Megan Morse. The West's yard, July 5, 2002

Again. He lost her once again.