The past few months had been chaotic and amazing. Ashley recovered in late February. She felt excited to be back on her feet, but some bad memories threatened to come after her.

For one, March was approaching. Almost a full year after Ashley's mother's death would be passing, but that wasn't the worst of Ashley's problems. Her mother's birthday was also coming up. And by some cruel twist of fate, her mom's birthday was the day she died.

Ashley knew Erin would help if things went bad, but then an announcement that no one expected kinda made the whole situation worse.

"Morning, Ginny," Erin said when Ashley walked downstairs.

"Good morning, Rin! How are you?"

"Great! Now you're back on your feet, we can finally ditch the impossible use of ramps!"

Ashley burst into laughter and Rascal yipped at her. Ashley picked him up.

"Good morning, Rascal! You're extra cheery today!"

She took him and his twin sister and sat on the table.

"Aren't you guys super excited today? I wonder why."

After they ate, Ashley and Erin left for the theater.

"I know what today is," Erin said, "And I'm proud of you, Queenie."

"For what?"

"For being strong. This- This is big, but I am so proud of you for staying strong."

Ashley smiled softly. "Thanks."

As they walked inside, all of the Queens were on stage, waiting to begin warmup.

"Good morning, Queens," Ashley yelled.

"Queenie! You're walking!"

Ashley ran and gave everyone a massive hug. "I'm finally back in my feet!"

She gave Natalie a squeeze. "I missed being able to run and hug you."

"We all missed seeing you perform, which is what we wanted to tell you."

Ashley looked up. "Oh? What's up?"

"We thought you deserved a chance to play your favorite Queen," Grace said.

"Oh! Seymour!"

Ashley grinned. Seymour was her favorite Queen, and Ashley was excited. But..

"I'm sorry. I might not be able to."

"Oh? Why not, Missy?"

"It's just- It's my mom's birthday, and Seymour was her favorite-"

"Well then," Jaye'J said. "That's perfect! You can debut on her birthday!"

"Yeah, but she's dead.."

"Oh."

Everyone went quiet. Ashley sighed.

"She actually died on her birthday, and she died singing Heart of Stone. I just don't think I could do that today."

Natalie smiled. "It's OK, Caramel. You don't have to if you don't want to."

Ashley nodded. "But the thing is, I do want to. I just want to do this. For Mom."

"Aw. That's sweet."

Ashley nodded. "I'll do it!"

***
"Is it too late to say break a leg?"

Ashley was sitting in her dressing room, fidgeting with a lock of her red hair. She was all dressed and ready to go, but extremely nervous.

"No, you're fine, Rin."

Erin was dressed in her Ladies in Waiting costume, and she was going as Joan. At this point, Erin had been Joan, Maggie, and Maria, as she had gone on for Ashley's covers too.

"Are you OK, RedHead?"

Ashley shook her head, and Erin gave her a hug.

"It's gonna be OK. Your mom would've been over the moon if she was here."

Ashley sniffled. "I know. That's what I was thinking about."

Erin squeezed her hand. "It's OK. I know you're going to ace it tonight."

Ashley nodded. "Thanks."

"You're welcome! Now, come on! Show starts in fifteen minutes!"

Ashley nodded again and Erin left. Ashley sighed to herself and walked to backstage.

She could hear the audience's excitement, and it made her smile.

She found a photo of her mom, the last real photo she brought from New York.

"Hey, Mom. Happy birthday. I miss you. I'm going on go Seymour tonight. I know you would've loved it."

She took a breath. A sudden song popped in her head.

"Hey Mom. Dead Mom. I need a little help here."

She sang the song softly to herself, and walked over to a secluded corner and thought.

"Dead Mom, I'm tired of trying to iron out my creases. I'm a bunch of broken pieces. It was you who made me whole."

She sang the song bitterly, blinking back the small tears in her eyes.

"People always just stare at me, like all 'Hurry up, get happy! Move along. Forget about your mom.'"

Ashley sighed and quickly walked to her dressing room. She didn't want to sound like a child, but she missed her mom. Her smile, her laugh.

"Ignored it for a while, but the world's just lost it's mind for real! You won't believe the mess that I've become."

As she took a shaky breath and sang the rest of the song, she only wished someone heard her. So they could comfort her. So she wouldn't feel alone.

"No more playing life's cruel game! I'm going insane now that things changed! Whatever it takes to make them say your name, Dead Mom!"

Ashley looked up and realized she had ended up crying. She quickly redid her makeup and looked at herself.

"I'm doing this for you, Mom. I only wished you were here to see this."

She sighed and went to meet the rest of the Queens, Jaye'J, Mille, Grace, Aimie, and Vicki.

"Hey, Partner! You look amazing!"

Ashley smiled. "Thanks! Are you going on for Cleves?"

"Yup! Can't wait to hear your Heart of Stone."

Ashley nodded. "Thanks."

"You ready to do this," Jaye'J asked. Ashley nodded again.

"I got it! Let's do this!"

***
Despite all the nagging in Ashley's head, she really loved the show. Just as she began Heart of Stone, she could've sworn she heard her mom's voice.

"Go, Ash! I'm so proud of you, baby."

She smiled softly and sang. As she did, good memories flooded her brain. Times of happiness, and light. When her mom would take her home after school and they'd bake cookies all day long, when Ashley had a nightmare as a kid and her mom sang lullabies until she fell asleep again.

"'Cause like a river runs dry, and leaves it's scars behind! I'll be by your side, cuz my lo~ove. Is set in stone."

Ashley blinked back the small tears, but her mom's smiling face made her smile. And she belted like nothing else mattered.

"Yeah!"

The other Queens backed her up as she sang for her mom, for everything she did for her.

"Oh! The fire's burnt! The wind has blown! The water's dried!"

Ashley paused and gulped. "You'll still fine stone. Woah, yeah! In my heart of stone!"

She could feel all the pain in her disappear as she sang loudly. All the tears she was fighting streamed down her cheeks.

"Ooh yeah! You'll still find stone."

She took a shaky breath. "My heart of stone."

I did it, Mama. I did it for you.