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Having a Pod...

Here's the big thing to know about having nothing, when you finally have everything you never want to lose it. There are things one is willing to do to keep what they've gotten, what they've dreamt of having, and Garth had dreamt of having a family. Being outcasted from the Idylists had been something that should've killed him. Left to the Trench, if Arthur hadn't found him… Garth shuddered to think what would've happened to him.

Arthur saving him from the Trench had also given him something, a family, a name, and a home. Poseidonis might have looked down upon him, but given the name Garth and a home, he couldn't have cared less. Arthur was kind to him, Arthur; who was barely king and newly married had adopted him. Mera liked him even; despite her constant prying to find out if he remembered anything before the Trench; he didn't, the information that he was even an Idylist would come later. And even after discovering he was an Idylist, he renounced them as his people, clinging to the Atlantean home he had found, hopeful that Mera and Arthur would not kick him out as their first child was expected. They had kept him.

The birth of Arthur Curry Jr. was a momentous occasion, and Garth had fallen in love with his new little brother, at fourteen. A.J. was Garth's life, he'd die for his baby brother, and he took great joys swimming around Atlantis with A.J. and through the city ruins, and reefs.

Which brought him to today, as he swam through the palace; returning from the Silent School, and A.J. sitting on his shoulders babbling.

"Is that so?" he chuckled at A.J.'s enthusiasm over an urchin that had currently taken his attention.

"Mine!" the three year old announced.

"I bet," Garth chuckled. Swimming into Arthur's study he paused seeing Mera and Arthur in a heated argument; their arguments were always epic when they happened, but both heads snapped to him when he entered.

"What's going on?" Garth asked as he pulled A.J. off his shoulders and into his arms.

"Nothing," Mera stated swimming over to him and taking A.J., she shot a parting glare at Arthur before she swam around the corridor.

"How were the lessons?" Arthur asked with a smile. For a man as large and as imposing as Arthur, Garth couldn't ever remember Arthur being scary. Sure, the tattoos were intimidating, but Garth had started following in his foster father's footsteps; his foster grandfather had proudly taken him to get his first tattoo when he was fourteen.

"Difficult, but worth it, I'm mastering my skills and the teachers are most impressed with my shields," he admitted. "I admit that I am struggling with hydrokinesis," he said tiredly.

"Vulko attempted to teach me some, but I was never gifted in hydrokinesis," Arthur chuckled.

"It's hard, but I feel that it will be worth mastering it," he admitted.

"Good lad," Arthur chuckled clasping his shoulder.

"What were you an Mera arguing about?" he asked again, he wasn't going to give it up, because it was obviously important between the two of them. He hated it when Mera and Arthur got in serious fights.

"I have to go to the surface, there's a meeting at the UN, Vulko has suggested we take A.J. with us and present ourselves to the surface as the royal family," Arthur sighed.

"That's a good thing, right?" Garth asked uncertainly.

"It's… complicated, kid, I'm going up to pop's place," Arthur said.

"I'll come!" Garth decided; he liked going up to the surface to meet pop's. Tom Curry was a man with more philosophy and historical information than most Atlantean scholars, he was quick witted, quiet, and a linguist, Garth found the surfacer fascinating. His other surface friends were cool but Pop's took the lead on cool, like Glacier cool.

"You're not drinking this time," Arthur warned.

"Afraid I'll drink you under the table?" Garth challenged.

"Pop's will have to put it in a sippy-cup for you if you're not careful."

"Come on! I can breathe underwater, no way he could beat me in a drinking competition."

"There are some mysteries of this universe that will never be understood," Arthur shook his head, Garth grinned as he swam after his dad.

"If we go to the surface with A.J. you're coming with," Arthur warned him seriously.

Garth sobered up as he swam by his father. "I understand." Arthur was a wild man, slightly crazy, and definitely a thrill seeker, but Garth knew his dad was nothing but kind beneath his gruff exterior. His dad was also a giant sap; like his pops, and wrapped around Mera's pinky. However, his dad, for all gruff, brutish attitude, was also very protective of his family, a trait Garth wanted to emulate, because he loved A.J. and Mera like they were his.

"You may never be a Prince of Atlantis, but you are my son," Arthur said as they neared Maine. "And I need to know you're looking after your baby brother."

"Always," Garth decided firmly.

"Good," Arthur nodded as they leapt from the water to the dock. Garth smiled seeing his grandfather there. Rushing forward he hugged Tom as tight as he could.

"Someone is getting tall!" he heard his grandfather chuckle.

"I will be taller than dad," he stated smugly.

"No respect for his elders, see what I'm dealing with here pops?" Arthur griped as he shoved Garth to the side to hug his dad. Garth laughed as he sidestepped them.

"Hey, can I get another one while I'm here?" Garth asked.

"Did you ask Mera?" Arthur asked as they walked for the lighthouse.

"No."

"Absolutely!" Pops decided.

"They glow purple when I use my magic, it's cool!" Garth said as he showed Tom then, allowing the purple energy of his magic wind it's way up his arm, illuminating the tattoos normally black ink. They weren't the tā moko that Arthur had, but between Pops and Arthur, they had adopted to helping him build a unique design to honor his heritage, and to still feel closer to his adopted dad and mom. It was thoughtfully outlined and carefully constructed; by Pops himself.

"So you have the mystic of the family, your grandfather will be relieved to know that talent is not lost," Tom said to Arthur.

"Of course Garth's a natural talent," Arthur stated proudly.

Arthur stared at the seventeen year old currently passed out on his old bed, snoring, his new tattoo was inflamed and red. Grabbing a blanket Arthur draped it over the teen, who grumbled a bit, twisting out of reach a bit, into the wall of Arthur's old room. Walking down to the living room he saw his pops sitting there in his favorite armchair, with a mug of hot tea, and another in hand. Arthur took the invitation as he sat down on the couch, their old television was playing a history documentary about the Medal of Honor recipients, quietly, it was harrowing and saddening to hear the price of what those heroes did.

"How's A.J.?" Tom asked with a wiry grinned. Arthur snorted as he pulled out his most recent photo of his toddler.

"He's swimming faster," Arthur chuckled handing the blurred photo to his pops. Tom chuckled. The curly bleached hair of his son was a gift from him, Arthur could see a lot of his dad in the kid though. However, A.J. was also obviously his, and it was kind of cute; minus the eyes; those eyes were all Mera's.

"You must bring him, on your next visit," Tom chuckled.

"I will old man," Arthur grinned. He was really glad A.J. and Garth both had relationships with the surface world and his pops, it was healthier than how most Atlanteans viewed the surface. With his reign he had been able to talk to countries, lessen the over fishing, increase trade, and with Bruce's help, started a clean ocean treaty which was currently cleaning up the ocean of decades of pollution.

"What's on your mind?" Tom asked as they leaned back in their seats.

"It's… the UN has come to acknowledge Atlantis as a world power and asked us to join," Arthur said.

"That is good is it not?"

"It's… complicated." Arthur was King of Atlantis and a United States citizen, he loved both the land and the sea, found home in both and found peace in both, changing the world was his focus now, bringing about a peace between land and sea was not easy though. "Vulko has suggested that this would be the time to bring my family out," Arthur said calmly.

Tom looked resigned about that as he leaned back in his old recliner. "You do not think so?"

"I'm not sure," Arthur said. "Mera is arguing that it would bring Atlantis to a standing monarch and announce the succession of a healthy heir. I…" Arthur shook his head. "Call me crazy but there's this nagging gut feeling of something being off about the entire invitation, and request," Arthur said.

"What?"

"Calvin's recent escape from prison, Orm's disappearance, it just… it feels too much like a trap. The deaths and captures of other key League members. And B's son's death last year," Arthur admitted.

"You will do what feels right for your family," Tom said.

"I can't just think about my family though," Arthur thought bitterly. "I am no King," he repeated the truth as he leaned forward dragging his hands through his long hair. Nearly five years of doing this king thing and he had no idea what the hell he was doing! It was so easy to just be Aquaman, to go save stranded fishermen, in distress subs, thwarting pirates, it was all so easy, but now it wasn't because; as his mother, father, advisors, and wife pointed out continuously, it wasn't about saving people anymore, it was about being a king, a leader, something more to the people. The problem was he wasn't just a King of one of the kingdoms; he was THE King, and that was a hell of a lot to put on a wild man drifter who had only wanted to make it to happy hour and occasionally help out.

Arthur had never imagined himself King of Atlantis, ever, not even when he wanted to see his mom or visit Atlantis, or form a relationship with his baby brother. He had never imagined getting hitched or having two kids; it just wasn't in his cards.

So now that he was here, with a wife whom he adored, and two kids he loved, and a kingdom looking to him for answers, he had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do. There were so many freaking ways he could fuck this all up and create a Global War, and there were so many ways he could fuck up his marriage and lose the best thing that had ever happened.

"You are King," Tom stated firmly.

"But I was never meant to be a King, or THE King!" Arthur hissed. Surging to his feet because he felt the need to move now. "There are a thousand ways to go, and there's no one giving me a straight answer about which is actually best for the people. Everyone has their own agenda, and the idiots running the show stay in power. I've found it hard to trust my own council, and losing Calvin has made it difficult to focus, now there's the UN, which is nothing but a bunch of useless old power nations that can't get a long for longer than three seconds to declare war. Getting Atlantis to work with Australia, the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. was hard enough, but asking them to get along with the world when the world can't even respect us as a real nation!? And opening to trade, thank God for B or that'd never happen, however, there's still all these contracts heading through Mera's father from LexCorp that he's been pushing for, and… I miss when the world was smaller," Arthur groused collapsing at the end of his tirade. "And Mera's pissed at me because I don't want to leap into showing off A.J. to the world, and she thinks I'm uninterested in her because I'm fucking EXHAUSTED! Between being the King, in the League, and the kids…" he rubbed his face over.

"I see, rest here tonight," Tom said.

"Thanks pops," Arthur said as his father got up to leave. Arthur's and Mera's fight had been of an intensely personal nature, one which had him fearing for his marriage, and if he and Mera didn't get a minute alone without advisors and kids butting in. Shit he missed when things were simple and could be fixed by a pint and a hardy fight.

And Arthur could shake this nagging feeling of trouble coming.

Falling over on the couch he'd spent many a hangovers on he groaned, he wanted things to go back to being simple!

Mera sat alone in her room, A.J. had long since fallen asleep, and her red hair floated around her as she stared at her sleeping baby. Before her the bioluminescent lights of Atlantis illuminated the ocean floor and she sighed.

There was a time she'd have said this was the easiest thing to do, she was born to rule, raised to be a Queen, taught to be a warrior, and bred to do her duty. However, her heart was hopelessly entangled with Arthur, since the first moment she had met him. Arthur was different, and he brought something more and something different to the throne beyond passion of caring about the people of Atlantis, Arthur fought for everyone, and he brought that to the throne.

His passion, his kindness, his fight, it all came to be embodied in her husband who had smiled at the title mongrel. He was not much different from when they married. Arthur's more paternal nature had emerged when they had taken in Garth, and at the birth of A.J. but his fatherly nature did not extend to his people. Mera turned to trace A.J.'s cheek gently, closing her eyes, as she felt her child's soft tanned skin beneath her fingers. She wanted A.J. to know the two worlds, to feel like he belonged.

She bit her lip as it trembled and closed her eyes to the city.

She wanted her husband, her lover, she wanted to feel Arthur here.

She did not want to fight him about joining the surface world, she didn't want to fight him about declining Luthor's offer, or fighting against her father. She just wanted peace for her family.

"He might not accept."

"He will."

"And if he shouldn't?"

"There are ways to persuade him to our point."

"He will see the Light."