Note: Due to the nature of the fic, please note that I will use italics to signal changes in perspective. You'll understand what I mean once you begin reading.

"...and when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other's sight, as I may say, even for a moment..."

― Plato, The Symposium

There's a port on a western bay

And it serves a hundred ships a day

Lonely sailors pass the time away

And talk about their homes

Felicity giggled as her dad's voice rang out in the car, bopping the steering wheel with his thumb. It was things like this that made her happy when her dad would come home from his business trips. Her mom would always be so sad when he was gone that it was as if Felicity's life had been on pause until he walked through their door again.

Today was one of those days and she sat in the backseat of their car on the ride home from the airport, her mom in the front shaking her head and smiling as her dad kept crooning to her.

There's a girl in this harbor town

And she works laying whiskey down

They say Brandy, fetch another round

She serves them whisky and wine

Felicity knew this song by heart, even at eight years old, and they sang it every trip home. Her dad looked back and winked at her as the chorus came up and she started singing with him.

The sailors say Brandy, you're a fine girl (you're a fine girl)

What a good wife, you would be (such a fine girl)

Your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea

On the other side of the continent, Oliver slipped his arm around Laurel's shoulder, enjoying the way she smiled and leaned into him.

"So, sophomore year buddy, what's on the agenda?" His best friend Tommy called out from across the table. They were enjoying their last Saturday before school started again and Oliver scowled at him for bringing it up.

"Detention, maybe some flirting with teachers, who knows," he shrugged in a cocky way, a parody of all the high school stereotypes.

Laurel huffed and pushed his arm away and he just rolled his eyes; she wanted to date the illustrious Oliver Queen, but generally it was preposterous to assume anyone would date seriously in high school.

"Well that sounds like every other year, dude," Tommy joked. "At some point, we have to work our way up to fake IDs and alcohol."

Oliver grinned in agreement and got up to refill his soda, listening to Laurel as she bickered with Tommy about underage drinking; she was always so self-righteous.

He took a few steps and suddenly felt a force slam into his chest, knocking him back, his body collapsing on the floor. He felt his friends shake him vigorously, but the only sound he could hear was faint lyrics to a song he didn't recognize.

He came on a summer's day - bringing gifts - from far away

But he made it clear he couldn't stay

The harbor was his home

The ringing was all she could hear as she slowly regained consciousness; the smell of iron and rain hit her nostrils and she coughed weakly. Felicity opened her eyes and her heart sped up, realizing a bright light was shining into their car and people surrounded it, but all she could hear was still the ringing.

"Daddy?" she coughed and tried to look to the front seat where her parents were, but all she could see was the light. The door on her right opened and she looked over, panicked, as a fireman held up his hands. She could see his lips moving as he leaned in slowly to cut her seatbelt and lift her gently out of the car.

"Where's my dad?" she asked him, but was too scared to raise her voice above a whisper. Felicity shut her eyes, locking out the outside world, passing out as she was put on an ambulance and taken to a hospital.

Oliver blinked and opened his eyes, the interior of the ambulance blurring, making him see double. Though it wasn't double he was seeing - each vision looked different, one with two females working over him and the other with a male and female paramedic. He slammed his eyes shut, "What the fuck is going on?"

"Oliver man, thank god," he heard his friend Tommy's voice far away. "You're okay, you passed out in the middle of the restaurant. We're taking you to the hospital."

He heard the tremor in his friend's voice, grateful to have one who cared so much.

"Where's Brandy?" He licked his lips, remembering what he had heard before he passed out.

A looked passed between the paramedics and Tommy, who just shrugged in confusion, "Mr. Queen, it's possible you have a concussion. Your parents have been called and they're meeting us at the hospital."

Oliver nodded, not sure what else to do. His eyes were heavy, his body calling him to the darkness again.

"He's blacking out again, we nee-" the voices faded from his head and were replaced with entirely different ones.

"Ms. Smoak, you need to tell your daughter immediately. She's been asking about him all day."

"I was just hoping to have one more day," an unfamiliar female voice answered, her tone unsure.

Oliver's eyes were open, but unresponsive to the paramedics. He was looking at a TV screen in a hospital room, listening to Scooby Doo. He had never had a concussion before, but hallucinations didn't seem like a normal trait.

He felt someone beside him and heard the voice again.

"Hey baby girl, need something more to drink?"

"No mommy," Felicity's voice was smaller, more scared, than it had been a few days ago. A once fearless eight year old was now a shy, timid one in a hospital gown with a few broken ribs.

The way her mom looked at her scared her, the sadness that she only saw when her dad was away was back.

"Where's daddy, mommy?" She had been asking the same question the entire morning after a long night of tests and scared tears.

She had felt so alone.

Donna Smoak took her daughter's hand and kissed it, "Baby girl, someone hit daddy's car on our way home. We were safe, but your daddy.."

Felicity scrunched up her face and put her hand against her mom's cheek, staring at the tears that soaked it.

"Your daddy didn't make it. He's not coming back, Felicity."

The last sentence was said softly, and Donna watched as her daughter processed the news, gripping her hand tightly.

"No, no, no," the little girl cried, "He promised he'd always come back! MOMMY, HE PROMISED."

Felicity's tears fell with no limitations, her body convulsing with the effort, and her mom gathered her gently in her arms, holding her head to her chest as they cried.

Oliver had lost the other voice, unable to discern anything but the paramedics and Tommy rolling him into the hospital, but he felt a wave of an emotion he could only describe as grief roll over him.

He was suddenly in tears, sadness overwhelming him, sobs wracking his body as wave after wave of the emotion hit him.

"Oliver, what's wrong?" Tommy put a hand on his friend's shoulder, shocked at the immediate turn of emotion.

One of the nurses looked over and answered, "Sometimes people with concussions tend to have problems processing emotions, it's nothing serious. It'll pass."

He just nodded, watching his friend stare at nothing, tears falling from his eyes.

And then, just like that, it stopped. Oliver's body was released from whatever hold it had been in and he blinked, looking at his friend in shock.

"Am I okay?" he asked in awe.

Tommy stared at him with big eyes, shrugging in identical shock.

Neither one of them knew how to explain it, least of all Oliver.

10 Years Later

Felicity set the last of the moving boxes on her small dorm bed, sighing and settling into the desk chair. Her mom walked in after her, sinking onto the bed, smiling at her daughter.

"I promised myself I wouldn't get emotional, but I'm so proud of you baby girl."

A flush set across Felicity's face, but she smiled at her mom. They had worked so hard to get her here: MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; her home for the next four years, if she could keep up with her scholarship.

Her long black hair curled at the tips, swishing as she shook her head, "I know mom. I wish the room was less…small, though."

Donna smirked at her daughter, "Oh honey, this is nothing compared to that apartment on Crescent Dr, do you remember that?"

Rolling her eyes, Felicity sighed, "How could I forget? That place reeked of curry!"

They smiled at each other, and Felicity burned with the desire to bring up her dad. She knew that it was a topic that was mostly off limits even now, ten years later. She missed him fervently, his songs and his smile - the way he made her mom light up. They had made it through, but some years were better than others. Felicity still bore the scars, and she had learned that the emotional scars were the ones that went deepest.

She awkwardly scratched her nose, "So, we should start unpacking, don't you think?"

Thus began the next stage of her life - with a final hug and kiss on the cheek from her mother, Felicity said goodbye to the sadness that had plagued the last ten years of her life.

"Ollie, come back to bed," the blonde cooed from the bedroom of the yacht.

Oliver turned and smiled at her, holding up his finger, telling her one moment. He dashed up the hallway where his dad was standing.

"Hey dad, what'd you want?"

Robert Queen studied his son, not sure where to start - how did one begin to explain the Undertaking to their irresponsible playboy son?

"Oliver, I know I promised to stay out of your personal life, but you should really reconsider the damage you're doing to both of those girls and their family."

He scowled at his dad, "That's not your decision to make, we're just having some fun. When we get back, I'm going to move in with Laurel."

Robert sighed and pressed his fingers to his temple, "Does Sara know that?"

Suddenly there was a loud blast from Oliver's bedroom and the yacht violently rocked. Oliver ran towards the blast, knowing Sara had been there.

"Sara!" He cried out, and saw the side of the yacht had been blown open. The young blonde was holding on to the bed as the ship turned on its side slowly, Oliver grabbed on to the nearest pole.

"Ollie!"

It was the last thing he heard as water crashed in and he saw her slip away, eyes boring into hers.

The boat rocked back and another explosion and crash sounded. Oliver's heart beat fast, but he grabbed a life vest from the hallway emergency cabinet and slipped it on. The last thing he heard as he fastened the vest around him was a crack in the wall of the boat splitting open even more. The cracking sound had been his head hitting it, sending him into darkness.

Felicity sat in a lecture hall with two hundred other students, listening to her professor drone on about art history. She tapped on her laptop, ignoring the glares of those around her; she was at MIT - what was the problem with using a laptop in class? There wasn't one, she would surely tell them.

Suddenly, she felt as if her breath had been stolen away and she gasped for air. Water surrounded her, the cold seeping into her bones, terror sending her pulse racing.

She went rigid in her chair and the students around her looked at her disdainfully until they realized her mouth was gaping open and she was clutching her throat. One student raced over and moved her computer off the desk and pulled her up, trying to give her the Heimlich maneuver - assuming naturally that she was choking.

Felicity couldn't understand what was going on, all she saw was a dark sky and endless ocean. "Where am I?" She gasped.

Oliver broke the surface of the water, gasping for air finally. The water was cold and the storm was just getting started, the sky black with its anger. He had heard a voice as he surfaced, but as he looked out he realized no one was nearby.

Felicity shook her head and looked around, noticing for the first time that all three hundred students - and professor - were staring at her. She quickly bent down and grabbed her laptop, apologizing to those around her, and ran out of the room.

She ran all the way back to her dorm room where she finally sat down, her chest heaving with the strain. Crossing her legs, she tried to remember what she had seen - felt, even - to decide if she needed to check herself into the psych ward.

Oliver was pulled onto the life raft with his dad and one other crew member. As his dad explained to him about survival and the realities of their situation, he pulled out a gun from the lifeboat kit and shot the other man. Oliver jumped back, "Dad, what are you doing?"

"Survive, Oliver. Right my wrongs. Survive."

Felicity heard and saw all of this, her body frozen in rapt attention as the older man put the gun's barrel to the side of his head and shot himself. She heard yelling from the man he had called Oliver and gasped herself.

She clapped her hands over her mouth, not understanding what was going on or why she felt the need to silence herself.

Suddenly, her vision of the event shut off and she only saw her dorm room. Blinking slowly, she tried to process what had just happened - and was failing miserably.

Neither Oliver nor Felicity slept very well that night.

Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed this prologue. It's simple, clean, and short but hopefully it brings you back for more. If you enjoyed it, please leave a message here or come find me on tumblr - caishakalianah

Thank you for reading.