A day late, but I think 14 pages worth is more than enough to make up for it! Enjoy the chapter!

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Angie?" M'gann was upset that I had to skip out on the Halloween party at her school. I smiled, scratching my cheek as we entered the mission room.

"Sorry M'gann! Kaldur promised me we'd go to Atlantis for the weekend!"

"How are you even going to breathe down there?" Conner asked with a raised eyebrow as M'gann wrapped his head with gauze. I think he was going as a mummy, but I wasn't too sure. Wally howled in his werewolf costume and I sighed, shaking my head. I had to admit that I did want to go, but Kaldur and I had been so behind on this date…I wasn't going to let the opportunity slip from my fingers!

Zatanna and Artemis came through the tubes from the other side of the room and I grinned. "Zatanna's going to help with the whole breathing thing."

I ran up to the two of them, complimenting their outfits as a witch and a vampire. I then beamed silently at Zatanna, who smiled as she raised her hands. "I finally got it down pact! Ready?"

"As I'll ever be!" I replied, closing my eyes. She chanted her spell and I could feel a warm breeze on my neck. I opened my eyes and touched under my ears to feel gills. They opened and closed like a fish's. "So. Cool."

"Those gills should help with the breathing, and you'll be able to resist the pressure, too. It won't wear off until I cast a spell to take it off, so no worries on drowning!" She said as she raised a finger.

As I nodded, Artemis nudged me. "Enjoy your weekend full of fish men!"

I blushed, sending a playful glare her way before giving Zatanna's hand a squeeze, "Thanks Zatanna!"

I said my goodbyes to the group since I needed to figure out if I was forgetting anything for the trip in my room. I couldn't help but notice Wally had become silent as he stared at Artemis.

"Be careful Wally," I warned, "If you stare too long she'll catch you and suck your blood!"

He jumped before turning to me with a growl, "Y-yeah, well you just make sure your hair doesn't choke all of Atlantis!"

"I took care of that problem a month ago!" I said with a grin as I pointed to the bun I had put my hair into, "My dad came up with a restricting biochemical stimulant that keeps my hair occupied when in the water. So it won't grow anymore!"

"Well isn't that nifty?" He said with a sarcastic grin, crossing his arms, "So are you heading out now?"

"Not quite," I said with a shrug, "Kaldur said he had to talk to Batman before we could leave."

"How did it go?" I asked lightly when Kaldur came to get me with a sigh. He looked at me and shook his head lightly.

"My old friend Roy is very untrusting." I nodded, unsure on what to say on the topic before he changed the subject, "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded, pulling my backpack's straps onto my shoulders as I beamed up at him with a smile. "I'm more than ready!"

He smiled in reply and we walked to the tubes. He looked over my body and paused as he noticed my gills. "How did you—"

"Magic!" I said in excitement, "Zatanna made them for me. She said I'm good with pressure as well."

"That is a relief." He admitted, "I was worried that any technology would fail you."

The transporter started up and he stepped through first. I took a deep breath and followed.

"Welcome to Atlantis."

I stared with wide eyes as he took my hand in his and we swam forward. The colors under water were so much more vibrant to the eyes; everything seemed to be almost glowing. There were statues of mermen, mermaids and dolphins. There were even some statues of old Greek looking philosophers; to say in the least, it was gorgeous. As I looked around, Kaldur chuckled. "I take it is to your liking?"

"This place is amazing!" I gasped, swimming ahead of him to explore more. I twisted my body around so that I was swimming on my back and I stared at the designs on the ceiling of the corridor we were in. I stopped to stare longer as Kaldur caught up. I looked back to him, a smile wide on my face. "Thanks for bringing me here, Kaldur."

"It is the least I could do." He said with a smile as he swam forward, taking my hand again to guide me, "Besides, there are many friends here that I would like you to meet."

I ignored the pit in my gut when he spoke of his 'friends;' I knew that included Tula. I told you that I was territorial; meeting her and not acting like a complete fool was going to be a challenge.

I ignored the feeling, and soon enough it went away. Kaldur insisted that we first go to his home, which was located in a different city. We exited the corridor and I stopped as I took in the bright colors and peaceful atmosphere of Atlantis. The waters were busy with life of both fish and merpeople alike, but all at the same time the waters stayed calm. Kaldur called me, and we headed over towards a school of dolphins. He petted one as I approached. "Dolphins?"

"They are most helpful in travel when you need to get somewhere faster," He raised his hand to me, "Come, let us go."

I took his hand slowly, confused until he pulled me onto a dolphin's back. "W-wait, you mean we're going to ride dolphins?" He nodded.

"Kaldur, I couldn't even stand riding on Robin's bike—there's no way I'll be able to ride a dolphin."

"I do not believe they are too different," He said with a sudden grin, "You should be alright—I am sure Abdulla here will make the trip very short."

He nodded to the dolphin as he got on his own, and we lurched forward. I screamed as the dolphin swam forward quickly, as if she was being timed. "Slow down, slow down!"

I could hear Kaldur chuckling behind me and I turned to glare at him. "You're the worst!"

"Ugh." Kaldur helped me off of the dolphin, who swam away as soon as I was off. I rested in his grip for a moment, holding my head. "I didn't think I could get sea sick in the sea…"

"The more you know." He said before looking away from my glare.

"You get this sick kind of joy from seeing me suffer sometimes…" I narrowed my eyes even more, "There's a dark side of Kaldur I never knew about."

"Kaldur'ahm!"

We turned to see a blonde swimming towards us. She was older, although you couldn't see a day of age in her golden skin. She had strong cheek bones and a bright green dress. She embraced Kaldur as I stood behind, staring in curiosity. She noticed, and began to speak to me in an excited tone. Too bad I couldn't understand a lick of what she was saying.

Kaldur spoke to her, raising his arms and pointing to me. She looked at him and then looked at me with an open mouth as she slowly nodded. "Ah."

Kaldur asked for my hand and he pulled me forward. "Angie, this is my mother." I gasped, staring at her before bringing my hand down to clasp over the other.

"It-it's a pleasure to meet you! Your son has taken such good care of me…thank you for having him—I mean—for raising him to be such a gentleman—gentle merman?" Kaldur stopped me before I could go on with my nervous rant. He chuckled as he translated what I said. She laughed happily as she brought her arms around me and pulled me into a hug. She said something and I looked to Kaldur for a translation.

"She welcomes you, and is looking forward to learning more about you."

I nodded, still in her grip, and brought my hands up to return the hug awkwardly. She separated herself from me and proceeded to pull me inside what I guessed was the house.

I confirmed it when I noticed how ridiculously homey it looked inside; a dining room, kitchen and lounging area were all visible from the doorway. I could see a couple of doors further back and I mentally noted to see if I could find Kaldur's room later.

I noticed a man sitting at the table, and he stood up as we made eye contact. He smiled as I assumed Kaldur's mother introduced me to him. I smiled back, still nervous. "H-hello."

Kaldur came from behind me and hugged the man. He turned, their arms around each other's shoulders, and Kaldur introduced him as his father. I smiled nervously and when I began to rant again, Kaldur stopped me with a chuckle. "Relax, Angie. My family will not judge you."

I nodded before his mother began to pull at my shirt. I blinked as she untucked it from my shorts, causing it to begin to rise in the water. I pulled it back down with a red face and looked at Kaldur for help. He was frowning in embarrassment as he covered his eyes. "M-my mother insists that she gives you another outfit…"

With his eyes closed, he couldn't save me from being dragged into one of the back rooms. She sat me down and opened a closet full of clothes. She turned to me again, eyeing me up and down as she began to pick out an outfit. I sighed—so this is why Kaldur could always deal with M'gann's hyper attitude.

"Kaldur'ahm!"

We entered the living room again, where Kaldur and his father had been sitting and talking. I kept my eyes on the ground for a little, pulling on the tight shirt that only covered my chest.

"Kaldur…I think your mom wanted a girl." Kaldur's mom had a lot of fun dressing me up. She'd found a dark purple top and skirt that had a gold design on it. There was a gold scarf kind of thing that wrapped around my groin area to ensure no one could see up the skirt, and flipped over the top so that it rested between my legs. She had decorated my hair as well, although not as much as she wanted since I refused to let her take my hair down. I had a gold head piece that circled around the back of my head and stopped with swirls at my temples. It was a bit much, but since she had followed my requirements (a halter top and my hair up in a ponytail), I was content.

Kaldur approached me, smiling as he took my hands in his. "You look beautiful, Angie."

I blushed, but looked up at him with a smile in thanks. His father called something from behind, causing Kaldur's eyes to widen and his hands to drop mine. He turned red as he turned to his father, who was laughing along with his mother. "W-what? What'd he say?" I questioned. He shook his head, rubbing his eyes before taking my hand again.

"It is nothing…let us go now. It is almost time for dinner."

We said our goodbyes to his parents, and after receiving a strong hug from his mother we made our way into the city. He showed me a lot of things on the way; their culture was sophisticated and impressive; I wanted to stay longer than a weekend to learn more about it.

After a ride on dolphins again (I was assured that the dolphin I was on would go slower), we entered the building we had transported outside of, and went down many corridors. There were a lot of soldiers that were half shark. They raised eyebrows as I gawked with an open mouth. "This is so cool. Shark-mermen!"

"Do try not to gape too much; it is still considered rude to stare in Atlantis." He suggested as I pulled my jaw up and looked forward.

"Ah ha, right…my bad." I blinked as I saw the room in front of us coming into clear view, "Kaldur…what is this place?" It was decorated a lot more than all of the other places we'd been to.

"Ah, I see our guest has made it! How splendid!" I looked to my left as Kaldur and I stopped. Aquaman was sitting at a large table with a beautiful woman sitting beside him. The two smiled at me as my face reddened. I looked at Kaldur, who had placed his fist on his forehead as if saluting his king. I did the same very quickly but Aquaman only laughed. "Please, do not be so formal. Come, sit with us, young Medusa!"

We sat down across from the two and I kept my head down. The last time I had seen the King of Atlantis, I'd been in a really nasty mood. "U-um, I am sorry for the way I acted last time—"

"No, no!" He said, waving his hand with a smile, "It was understandable—Kaldur had upset you quite a bit."

I only turned deeper red as he talked about my reaction to Kaldur putting on Dr. Fate's helmet. I looked around the room until I landed on the woman beside him. She smiled gently as her red hair seemed to dance in the current. I gazed at her with curiosity.

"Ah, I have forgotten that you have not met the queen," the king said as he raised his hand towards her, "This is Mera, my wife."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Angie." She said with a smile, "Kaldur finds himself talking quite a lot about you, despite his usually focused mind."

I glanced at Kaldur with a small grin before looking back up at her, "Thank you; it is an honor to be here as well."

"I take that you are enjoying your time here?" She asked, "You are in very impressive garments."

"My mother demanded that she have her way with her outfit before we arrived," Kaldur explained with a small sigh, "You understand how she is, my queen."

She chuckled, nodding, and we talked as a group until the food came out. It was pretty ordinary looking to my surprise. I hadn't necessarily been thinking of a giant octopus or anything, but…at least a starfish, maybe.

"You look confused." I blinked, looking up from the plate in front of me as Aquaman tilted his head, "Do you not enjoy seafood?"

"N-no, not at all!" I said, shaking my head, "I just…it's interesting to see the similarities between my world and yours."

He smiled, cutting a shrimp before nodding, "Yes, it is isn't it? That is why Kaldur and I both enjoy the surface world so much." Kaldur nodded in agreement as he chewed his food. I giggled lightly before digging in myself.

We ate until we were stuffed, and as the servants cleared the table, Mera leaned forward. "Angie, Kaldur tells me you are of siren decent?"

I blinked before nodding slowly. She smiled, standing up slowly before she continued talking, "We would be more than happy to introduce you to other sirens. Perhaps they can help you train, or learn more about your ancestry."

I looked to Kaldur with a smile before looking back up at her. "That would be great—thank you!"

"Then how about tomorrow we go to visit our sisters?" She suggested, turning to Kaldur, "Is that alright with you, Kaldur? I am not sure if you have plans made."

He shook his head, saluting her with his fist on his forehead again, "In all honesty my queen, I had not planned our day out yet. It would be our honor to have your assistance."

"Wonderful. I do believe there will be someone with us tomorrow who misses you, Angie." She nodded to me before taking her leave, Aquaman soon leaving after.

"Someone who misses me?" I repeated, turning to Kaldur in confusion. He said nothing and we headed out, the waters darkening but were illuminated by the glowing colors of the buildings. He took my hand in his again.

"Angie, I wish to take you to a special place. Close your eyes." I did as he said and focused on his large hands surrounding mine. He stopped and lowered me so that I was sitting down. My feet were hanging; we were at a cliff. "Alright, open your eyes."

I blinked, looking at him first as he sat beside me. He shrugged towards the front of us and I turned. My jaw dropped at the view of the kingdom of Atlantis, fish swimming everywhere as merpeople winded down for the night.

"Wow." It was breath taking, to say in the least.

"I am glad we were able to make our date this time." He said, looking at me with a smile, "If it were not for you speaking out to me, we would not be here."

I shrugged, blushing at his praise, "I-it was nothing. I just…wanted to tell you how I felt, I guess."

He took my cheek in his hand and my smile dropped as I stared at his eyes. Today there were more blue than green. "Hey, Kaldur, have you noticed that your eyes change…"

He silenced me with a kiss. My heart was throbbing, ready to burst. We parted, but he rested his forehead on mine. Neither of us said anything, content with the atmosphere, and only moved when the waters were fading to a darker purple.

"How did you sleep?"

Covering a yawn, I nodded towards Kaldur who was already up and at 'em. "Surprisingly well—I never expected a pod to be comfortable."

I swam out, relieved that I hadn't drowned in my sleep, and joined him in his living room. His father was gone (off to work, Kaldur explained), but his mother was in the kitchen cooking a feast.

"Good morning, how are you!" She called when she saw me. I could tell she hadn't been practicing the phrases since she said it as more of an exclamation instead of a question. I nodded with a small chuckle regardless, which made her happy. Kaldur chuckled lightly as well and leaned towards me.

"She asked how to say that five minutes ago."

His mother pointed at him with a glare and said something that caused him to stand up straight again. He chuckled and I followed suit before we sat down. Kaldur translated most of the conversation, although every once in a while her eyes would narrow and her mouth would turn into a smirk as she mumbled something his way. He'd blush and shake his head as he answered her, but he wouldn't tell me anything.

Soon we left the house, since we had promised to meet Queen Mera. We rode on a turtle's back today, much to my pleasure, and had a lovely (slow) view of the morning of Atlantis. A market had opened up in what Kaldur explained to be the common place of the town.

After we got off of the turtle, we made our way into the castle once again. I recognized the part of the castle we were in and told Kaldur in pride. He slowed down. "Then…you will not mind finding your way to the throne room from here?"

I stopped and swam back to where he was floating, "Why? Are you going somewhere?"

"I have friends I would like to see," He explained, "And they are currently in classes right now. I hope to catch them during their break, so that they may come see us after they are done."

"Oh." Tula immediately came to my mind, but I put on a smile so that he couldn't see my jealously, "Yeah, that's fine! Go ahead; I'll be with Queen Mera!"

He didn't second guess my feelings on the subject. His smile widened to my poor heart's dissatisfaction before swam away quickly. I crossed my arms and shook my head before I heard a bark. Blinking, I swam forward towards the throne room. Was that my imagination, or did I really hear barking?

"Lae!" She attacked me with kisses as she jumped into my open arms. Pushing her gently away from my face, I looked up at Queen Mera, who was approaching from behind. "You're taking care of Lae?"

She nodded, her hand on her stomach, "Yes. My husband and I thought that she would be an excellent playmate for our child, once born."

"You're pregnant?!" I tried not to scream it, but it came out louder than I had meant. Now rubbing her stomach, she smiled with another nod.

"Today marks the third month."

"Congratulations!" I said, clasping my hands together, "I'm sure Aquaman is thrilled!"

We continued to talk, Lae at my side at all times, as we moved forward towards an open field of seaweed. Our conversation came to a halt when I found myself gasping at the sight. Who knew algae could look so pretty?

"Our people are close with the sirens, as you may or may not now," Mera explained, heading over the field. I nodded, following her.

"Yeah, Kaldur mentioned that to me before."

"Both of our people have old bonds with the sea," She continued as we began to swim across the field, "And so with our often colliding species, we always try to stay involved with each other."

As we reached the other side I realized that there was another portal. But this one was different; it wasn't technologically built like the Justice League's. It was a doorway standing on its own with vines growing around it and back down onto the ground. I could see something engraved on the back of it, but something told me that I wouldn't be able to read it anyway. Suddenly, there was a dim light in the doorway. I stepped back to stand beside the queen and gave her a concerned look.

"Do not worry, it is a sister from the other side." Mera explained (although I didn't really understand what she meant) before she mumbled to herself as she raised her arms. "Now let me see if I can remember this correctly,"

She began to chant, her arms glowing like Kaldur's tattoos did, and the engraved symbols on the arch glowed as the vines moved on their own. The vines seemed to almost dance to her words before they flushed themselves into the dim light that had appeared. The white light turned into a mild green as the vines disappeared, and then suddenly turned blue. Mera lowered her arms and smiled down to me. "Go ahead."

I walked over with hesitation, but decided that it couldn't be dangerous since it was Aquaman's wife, the queen of Atlantis, telling me to do it. It was much blander on the other side; there weren't any arranged gardens or buildings—just sand and rock. She swam in front of me and told me to follow her. I did as she told and we headed up.

We broke the surface water and I covered my eyes from the light; Atlantis was so much dimmer. As I blinked my vision back to normal, Mera spoke. "Welcome to Sirenum Scopuli."

I looked up to see we were now in a guarded island. There were tall rocks (fifty feet tall at least) around us, sharpened at the edges. It was when I was scanning these rocks that I saw something flying. I realized it wasn't a bird, but a person with wings.

It was a siren. And she wasn't the only one. I looked around and saw dozens of fliers walking around, their hair long and their wings bright white or dark black.

Mera and I stood out of the water and I stared at them as much as they stared at us. Mera began to speak to someone in Atlantean, so I turned to look at her again. She was speaking with an elderly woman, whose back was hunched over and her wings had turned as grey as her hair. She had narrowed eyes and cheeks that fell down over her lips and moved when she talked. She gave me the feeling of Hawkwoman—a serious attitude towards everything.

She looked at me as Mera turned, as if introducing me, and I stood stiff. I glanced towards Mera, who realized I understood nothing of what they were saying. She brought her hand up to my forehead and chanted, her arms glowing once again.

"I am sorry Angie; I forgot for a moment that you could not understand us." She said with a small smile, "I have cast a spell so that you can understand us now. Is that better?"

"Yes, much better." I said with a smile, secretly excited to use this to my advantage with Kaldur and his mom's conversations tonight at dinner. I focused myself again and looked at the crouching woman. She stared at me, looking me up and down before approaching me.

"Well what are you waiting for? Let me see your wings, child."

Used to the impatient people of the world, I did as she asked. I pulled them out, grunting slightly since I hadn't needed them for the past three weeks, and spread them with a sigh. I looked back down to her (that's right, she was shorter than even me) to see she held the same expression than she did before. She pulled my arm and twirled me around so that she could investigate my feathers. I rolled my eyes and rested on my hip as I waited for her to finish. When she pulled out a feather, I yelped and turned around. "That hurt!"

She ignored me and turned to the water to clean the feather of my blood. I had gotten comfortable with the team about my feathers, but now that I was suddenly surrounded by clean bird people, I suddenly really wanted to clean my feathers.

She stood up and flicked some water off of the feather before holding it to the light. She finally spoke when she brought it down. "You are Eloisa's daughter."

Sudden gasps were heard behind me and I turned to see that people were now stopping to stare at me. At first I was more interested in how she could tell who my mother was from my feather…but the eyes on me took hold of my attention quickly. I found myself wrapping my wings around my body as I turned back to her. "T-that was my mom's name, yeah; so what?"

Mera took hold of my shoulder, "Angie, Eloisa was taken from the island fifteen years ago. Her absence nearly caused a war between our people; if it had not been for the King's negotiation, there would have been a war."

"What?" I yelped before turning back to the older woman, "No, you've got it completely wrong! She was kidnapped by Cadmus!"

"Cadmus?" The grandma questioned. I nodded, explaining what the organization was, and her eyes narrowed again.

"So the wingless caused the disruption of our peace." I blinked as she turned to the other sirens, "Then they must pay!"

Suddenly everyone was cheering and egging on each other. I stepped forward, shaking my hands, "No! You can't do that!"

"They took one of ours," She scowled, pushing me behind her, "This is an opening war threat on any kingdom."

"But it's just one group of people that did it, not the whole species!" I countered.

But they would have nothing of it. Suddenly the sirens were pumped up, ready to fight. Was I really related to such a rowdy bunch? Usually I wanted to just stay away from fights; they were trying to start a multi-species war.

Mera pulled me back as she began to try to convince the grandma, Mertha I learned her name was, to stop this nonsense. When she also failed, she looked at me with lowered eyebrows. "I am sorry, Angie. I did not expect this to become so hectic on your first visit. Perhaps we should pull back for now, and get my husband."

"But there may not be enough time," I said with a panicked tone, "I'll try to stop them while you go back."

She hesitated, but when I pleaded with her she agreed. And so I was on my own with this group of crazy people I was apparently related to.

"H-hey!" Mertha turned to me with an annoyed glance, "Shouldn't you listen to the daughter of the victim?"

A few people actually stopped their cheering and looked at me. I smiled lightly with hope, but Mertha noticed, and began to chant that they had to shed blood to be even.

"Are you a crazy old bat or something?" I asked, raising an irritated eyebrow, "You don't need blood to be even or anything like that!"

"You should be on our side!" Mertha pointed at me, trying to change the tides, "It was your mother that suffered!"

"You don't know anything about her!" I yelped unexpectedly. I had obviously never been close to my mother, but hearing Mertha use her as a weapon of destruction irked me terribly. "My mother fell in love with a human. In fact, he saved me from being an experiment too! I would probably be killing people if it weren't for him. I hardly doubt she would want us to kill his people because of her suffering."

By this point I had actually quieted most of them down, including Mertha. She glared at me silently, and I was sure she could see me shaking. Talking in front of a big group was something I hadn't done for a long while, and I certainly wasn't used to challenging strangers with weapons all on my own.

I wasn't sure about what else I should say, and was scared to find their reaction. Lucky for me, Kaldur shot out of the water and was at my side in seconds. He stood tall, leaning far over the old woman in front of us. But he paid no attention to them, and looked at me with lowered eyebrows. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah." I said, smiling lightly with a sigh of relief. He smiled back, just as relieved it seemed, before he turned his attention to Mertha.

"I have heard the situation from the Queen. Attacking the—"

"Save your breath," Mertha said with a growl as she turned away from us, "We already heard it from the brat. We get it; we won't attack the wingless fools…yet."

Some of the crowd actually 'awed' as the group divided back to their normal lives. I stared in disbelief—all of this happened in less than five minutes. They were curious, angry, about to go to war, and then back to normal.

I was ready to go, but Mertha turned to me again. I stared at her with a questioning look when she grinned up at me. "You're tougher than your mother. She was always such a push over—never really fit in here. But you…you'll do just fine."

"Huh?" That was literally all I could say.

She walked away, waving her hand in the air, "Feel free to come visit us any time, Angie."

I nodded to her slowly as I turned towards Kaldur. I looked up to see he was smiling. "It is good to see that there is someone else other than the King that can calm the sirens down. They often are quite rowdy when they feel they are personally attacked."

I sighed, holding my forehead as we walked towards the water. "Kaldur, I don't think I'm related to these people. They're way too stubborn, and easily excitable."

He coughed into his hand to attempt to hide a still visible grin, "I do not see the difference."

"Hey!"

"Oh, this is so wonderful! Now Kaldur can't hide his secrets." Those were the first words that came out of Kaldur's mother's mouth when she realized I could speak their language. Kaldur held his head in his hand while I chuckled. "I'll tell you so many things tonight at dinner!"

"Actually, Mother," Kaldur interrupted, "I was wondering if we would be able to move that dinner to lunch tomorrow? I was hoping to introduce Angie to my friends at the Academy, and they wish to dine with her tonight."

"Well aren't you just a popular tadpole?" She asked with a laugh. Understanding her made her a lot less pushy and a lot friendlier. I accepted her compliment with a smile before we headed out, again.

It had been a busy day. It was a little weird to think that I had actually stopped a war. And after all that, right now all I wanted to do was eat and sleep…but I knew that meeting Kaldur's friends was important to him, so I said nothing.

I had to admit that I wasn't looking forward to this dinner. My confidence was shrinking; there was no way I could be in the same room as Tula and not feel uneasy.

We arrived to the Academy, where I could see a lot of different species of people. There were merpeople, octopus-people, whale-people and even shark-people. He waved to some of them, but we continued until we came across a ginger and a dark brunette. Kaldur called their names and my heart sunk. The beautiful ginger that was turning was none other than Tula.

The two (the boy's name was Garth) swam up to us, and greeted Kaldur warmly. Tula took my hand in hers and introduced herself. "I am Tula, Kaldur's old friend, and this is Garth. We have heard so much about you; it is such a pleasure!"

Oh god. She was sweet; really sweet.

"I-it's nice to meet you, too." I said with a small laugh. I should have told Kaldur I was too tired; I didn't want to be here right now.

"Come, let us dine." Garth suggested, swimming forward. We followed and seated ourselves at a bar-side restaurant. It was chill and relaxed, kind of like beach stalls. "So tell us more about yourself, Angie."

"O-oh, well," I tried to bring a smile to my lips and succeeded slightly, "I don't think there's a lot to tell about me. I'm on Kaldur's team, and we work together to bring the bad guys down."

"Her powers are of the Sirens." Kaldur added, "She is a decedent of Medusa."

"Well that is not much to tell at all now, is it?" Garth asked with a laugh. Tula smiled and leaned forward so that she could see me from beside Garth.

"I heard from the Queen today of your argument with Mertha. That was quite the feat."

I felt sick to my stomach with jealousy whenever she spoke. She genuinely meant all of these complements, which was what was killing me. All this time I'd been focusing on how I could show her up…but she was legitimately interested in getting to know and befriend me. There was no way I could compete with her; she was too…well, everything.

She was perfect.

"Ah ha, yeah, well, I'm one of them so I guess I just 'out-stubborned' them."

I think they started catching some of my rough feelings, because they strayed from the topic. When I continued to give off answers, Tula excused Garth and herself for a moment. I saw her give Kaldur a look, at which I pretended I didn't, and stared at my hands.

"Are you…alright?" Kaldur questioned after a moment of silence. I nodded, not moving my eyes.

"Peachy."

"Angie, I know that you are not 'peachy' when you use the word peachy." He pressed, "What is wrong?"

"I don't know," I said with a sigh as I lifted my head and stared up into the deep sea, "I think I'm just really tired."

"Why did you not inform me?" He asked, "We very well could have stayed home."

"But I knew how much seeing Tula meant to you—" I jumped and mentally cursed myself, "I mean, I knew how much seeing Tula and Garth meant to you."

He blinked and leaned towards me, which only encouraged less eye contact. "Are you concerned about my feelings for Tula?"

"Well," I pushed myself off of the seat and floated into the open water as I turned to him, "This has been great, but I think I want to go back to the cave now."

"Angie—"

"The King and Queen have been great," I said, smiling bitterly with a nod, "And your mom was amazing. Thank them for me, okay?"

I turned and began to swim, running into Tula and Garth on the way. "Are you leaving already?" Tula asked with a frown.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm really not feeling that well…" I lied, giving them the best smile I could gather. I could feel my jaw shaking in frustration as I turned from them. I wasn't fooling anyone, and I knew that I was acting like a child that couldn't have a toy all to herself. I thought I had out grown this, but apparently not.

It was weird to cry underwater—my vision got blurry for a second until the tears merged with the ocean water. I looked around, trying to find my gatherings, when I realized that I was completely lost. I didn't know this part of the city—I knew some of the castle and that was about it. And so I slowed down and paused at a bench. I wiped my nose and brought my knees up so that I could rest my chin on them.

It wasn't even jealousy at this point—now I just felt stupid. Being tired and hungry had probably been a factor, but something told me that I would have been fake one way or another to the ginger regardless of my state of being.

"I thought it would be best to give you some time alone," My body tensed when I heard Kaldur's voice. I looked up at him with lowered shoulders as he stood in front of me. "Do you wish to talk, now?"

I lowered my feet to the sand and drew circles with my toe as I avoided answering him. He sat beside me and sighed; I peeked up at him to see he was stretching his neck over the bench's back and staring upwards. I looked back down and sighed to myself.

"Is it wrong for me to be jealous?" He didn't move for a minute, but then he slowly sat up so that he could see my face (although I kept it facing down), "I mean…I know that you're really good friends with her, Kaldur, but you used to love the girl…it makes me uncomfortable. I can't help but want to compare myself to her."

"You should know better than anyone that my feelings for her have ended, Angie. I chose my role as Aqualad over her."

"But that doesn't mean your feelings left!" I snapped, looking up at him before looking away again. He took my hand in his.

"Angie, I love her, but only as a friend." When he realized I was still unconvinced, he added more, "Do you remember in the mental training exercise when I mouthed something to you?"

I blinked, looking at him in confusion, "You mean…before the beam hit you?"

He nodded, "I was speaking in my native tongue, so it would be no surprise that you did not understand what I said."

I shrugged lightly and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "So…was it something important?"

He turned so that he faced me all the way and he smiled lightly as he stared at our linked hands, "I said I love you."

I pulled my hands out of his so that I could cover my blushing face. My eyes left his and went everywhere, when in reality all that I wanted was to look at him. "W-what—but—I—you—"

"I care for you, Angie." He said, eyes closed as he took my hands in his once again, "I know that we are still far too early in the relationship to say such strong words, but at that moment, you were all that was on my mind."

I didn't say anything, and he decided to lighten the mood. "Besides, she and Garth…they are dating."

"What?" I covered my mouth as people looked at me with a strange expression. I turned to him with wide eyes, still covering my mouth. "Y-you mean…"

He nodded lightly, "During my last visit in Atlantis, she rejected me."

Oh crap.

"Kaldur, I'm so sorry. I'm such a goof—I've just been so awful."

"Do not blame only yourself," He said as he closed his eyes with a small shake of his head, "I was at fault as well."

When I gave him a questioning look, he further explained, "You see, I must admit that I wished to…'show you off' to my old friends. I hoped to let them see that thanks to them I had found someone truly wonderful. But I was so prideful that I did not pay attention to how tired you were; I should have postponed this dinner for tomorrow."

He had wanted to show me off. Suddenly I felt like an even bigger fool for even questioning his care about me. He had literally sacrificed himself for me before—how could I not have believed in him?

I leaned onto his chest and spread my arms around his waist as I smiled uncontrollably. He chose me, he liked me. My cheeks were rosy from his praise, and all of my concern had flown out the window; I just wanted to snuggle with him. "Let's go back; I'll apologize for acting so stupid."

"I do not think that is a very good idea," Kaldur said with a chuckle as he shook his head, "You see Tula and Garth think I did something to upset you. She demanded that we have personal time for the rest of the evening since I apparently cannot notice when you are feeling under the weather."

"Oh." I replied, separating from his chest and rubbing the back of my head, "Then…what are we going to do now?"

"I believe this is the moment where I take you out for a meal." He said with a smile, "Besides, I am still very hungry,"

My stomach growled as if on cue, "And it seems that you are as well."

"Must you return already? It seems as though you only just got here." I smiled lightly as I hugged his mother back. She had been unbelievably sweet, and the lunch full of embarrassing Kaldur had only brought us closer.

"It was such a great opportunity, meeting all of you." I looked around to Garth, Tula and his parents, "I hope it's alright if I come to visit again soon!"

"If Kaldur doesn't bring you more often than he should, we will be sure to scold him for being selfish," Tula said with a wink as she came towards me to link hands, "But in return, do take care of him for us on the surface."

I nodded with a smile as I gave her hands a squeeze before Kaldur began his round of goodbyes. I gave the ocean a final glance around before we took our leave. They waved until we were out of sight, and I glanced towards Kaldur. "I can see why it was hard to leave them…they love you a lot, Kaldur."

He nodded with a small smile as we rounded the corner, "Yes, but I made a choice, and I plan to stick with it."

I took hold of his hand. "I'm glad."