Wally groaned. He threw his hands over his face, leaning his head back on the couch. "Why are girls so hard?" The high school senior sat along with the rest of the team in their TV room.

Artemis glanced over at him from the other end of the couch. "Girls aren't hard, Wally. You're just a stupid jerk." She crossed her arm underneath her chest.

Wally turned his head in her direction. He peeked out from his hands at his ex-girlfriend. "Sara, has no reason to be mad at me. I said hi to her yesterday and even told her we should go on a date this weekend. I don't see why that would make her upset."

M'gann walked into the living room with fresh baked cookies. "Wally, did you forget that yesterday was Valentine's Day?"

Wally smacked himself in the face. "I did forget."

"Again," Artemis chimed in.

Wally pointed over at the blonde. "She's not going to break up with me like you did is she? I can't take that type of rejection again. I might start thinking something is wrong with me."

"Who's fault is that?"

Wally jumped off of the couch. "I gotta go. Need to buy a whole lot of candy and flowers." He sprinted out of the room and toward the zeta-tubes.

Artemis shook her head. "I swear he's hopeless."

Wally made it to the zeta-tube.

"Recognize: Aqualad B-02." A bright light flashed out of the tube. Wally had been so in his head about his angry girlfriend he didn't hear the announcement. He crashed into the one who stepped out of the zeta-tube. Wally flew back on his butt.

"Ow, where did that wall come from?" He rubbed his cheek.

"I am no wall." Kaldur picked himself up. "But still it is good to see you again, Wally. Even if this is how we meet again."

Wally gazed up slowly. "I'm dreaming."

"No, you are not. I assure you I am indeed real." Kaldur walked up to the redhead and stuck out his hand. Wally slowly took Kaldur's hand. Kaldur pulled the young speedster back onto his feet. Kaldur stared at Wally for a moment before pulling him into his arms. "It really is good to see you again."

Wally lifted his arms to embrace Kaldur back only to drop them before he could. Instead he separated them by pushing against Kaldur's chest. The Atlantean was still taller than him, he may have even gotten stronger since the last time he saw him. "Why are you here?"

"Kaldur?"

The two looked behind Wally. The rest of the team had gathered into the room to see that their favorite Atlantean had returned. M'gann's face lit up once she had been sure. "Kaldur!" She flew over to him with the others running behind her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. The others quickly surrounded Kaldur and Wally. "I thought we would never see you again," M'gann spoke as she rubbed her cheek against his.

"It is good to see you again as well, M'gann."

"We thought you be stuck in Atlantis forever," the young Nightwing said.

"I also feared that. Thankfully King Orin saw reason and relieved me of my duty of protecting his son," Kaldur explained.

"So you're the famous Aqualad who used to be on the team."

Kaldur looked to see that there had been three new members to the team since his departure. The first was a young man who wore the Robin costume and two girls. The first girl had long black hair and white skin while the other who had just spoken was a black young woman with short black hair. "And who would these three be?"

"Right you haven't met. This is the new Robin, she's Zatanna and that is Rocket." Nightwing gestured two each of the new members.

Kaldur rested one hand behind his back as he stuck out his other hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you all."

Wally crossed his arms. His features grew cold and distant. "I still don't understand. Aquaman had you on guard duty non-stop for well over two years and then all of a sudden he just let's you go. What gives?"

M'gann looked over at Wally. "Who cares? The point is he's back." She quickly turned back to Kaldur. "You are back?"

Kaldur'ahm nodded. "I am. And I am happy to see you all."

"What happened to your tattoos?" Superboy pointed out that got everyone's attention.

Kaldur lifted his arms, examining them himself with a great sense of satisfaction. "Queen Mera insisted that I complete my magical training while I was protecting her son. Truth be told those were the only moments I could be consider freedom since I had been there."

They all fell silent for a moment before Nightwing took over again. "Um, Zatanna is a magician as well."

Kaldur walked up to Zatanna and stuck out his hand to her. "It is always nice to meet another who practices in the mystic arts."

"Yeah." Zatanna shook his hand.

Wally's cold gaze had long faded from Kaldur. His eyes fell on Kaldur's bared arms and his gills. He noticed that the back of Kaldur's hair had receded upward in the back. The Atlantean had changed quite a bit since the last time he had seen him.

He shifted his gaze away from the Atlantean to the zeta-tube. "I need to get going. I have stuff to do."

Artemis placed her hands on her hips. "Are you kidding me? Kaldur'ahm is finally back and you just want to bail?"

Wally turned to face the group. "Hey, I told you I need to get a bunch of flowers and chocolates. I'm not trying to get broken up with for the third time." He headed straight into the zeta-tube before anyone could say anything else. The machine turned on, flashing him out of the cave.

"He could have at least said goodbye," M'gann said.

"What did he mean by that?" Kaldur looked to the rest of the Team. The rest of his friends averted their gazes. Rocket and Zatanna looked at the others not sure what the problem was.

"Am I missing something? Is there a reason you guys aren't telling him about Wally's girlfriend?" Rocket questioned.

"Wally has a girlfriend? I see. It is good to know that he is doing well," Kaldur responded. "What about the rest of you? I would love to know what you've all been up to while I was gone."

-AL-

"So you and Wally use to have a thing together?" Rocket pointed at Kaldur from across the table. The team had made their way to the kitchen as they caught up with the Atlantean.

"Yes."

Rocket laid her arms down on the table. She looked him up and down. "Shame."

Kaldur raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Rocket rested the back of her hand on her hip. "Just that it's a shame that a cutie like you are into guys instead of the women."

"There have been only two individuals I have had romantic feelings for in the past Wally and Tula."

"Tula? What kind of name is that for a guy?"

"Tula is a girl from Atlantis; however she chose my best friend Garth over me." Even reciting those words made him remember that painful moment. He switched his attention over to Nightwing and the others. "What about Wally? Who is this girl he's dating?"

"Her name is Sara Michelle, she's a girl that goes to his high school," Nightwing offered his friend. "They've been dating for the past four months. Wally forgot about Valentine's Day which was why he was in such a hurry to make it up to his girlfriend when you showed up."

"So that explains it."

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