DISCLAIMER: All public characters, settings, etc. are not mine and are property of DC comics. I am not making money off of this work. All my original characters/plot are property of me, the author, and I am not associated with DC comics in any way, shape or form.
AN: hey y'all! Back w a fic!! This was requested by a lovely internet friend: ae-in on tumblr and Rae-in on archive! Make sure to go check em out! See you at the bottom!
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The day Mar'i and Damian Grayson-Wayne formally pronounced their life-lasting love for one another, their parents weren't present.
Damian was the first to propose it, surprisingly. Mar'i had knocked it down multiple times for more than a few months for the sole reason that their families wouldn't be there. However, Mar'i had changed her mind when she saw Damian's desperate eyes and frown one September night, when he had asked once again.
Damian's intentions were completely innocent. He had truly intended for them to get married—an intimate sharing of souls that would simply be between him and Mar'i. Damn his father.
So when they walked into an empty courthouse one October afternoon, both had a mutual understanding that this would not be the final ceremony.
Mar'i had too big of a heart, too vastness of love to be able to disregard the love their families held for the couple. For that, Damian wanted to show his love by permitting them to do a separate ceremony. Mar'i had agreed whole-heartedly, simply wanting some way to pronounce their lasting love to the rest of the family after the courthouse ceremony.
However, they needed to tell everyone before the public version of the wedding.
It was a family dinner, their alighted souls mending with the ones in their families. Dick and Kori were over, as well; it was sporadic, the times they went over for dinner. However, it was a coincidence that they arrived on that October night.
It was perfect.
Mar'i looked around at the filled table, everyone talking animatedly and fighting over the last piece of bread because "I deserve it Jay! I've been up all night!" ("Not my fault you're so damn wired all the time, Babybird").
Damian was tentative, surprisingly, about the whole subject. She could tell he had wanted to call her his wife in front of everyone before that. Because Dami was like that—more than prideful about his accomplishments. Especially as a new husband and his new wife.
"Mar'i and I are wed," Damian suddenly announced in Arabic. Jason dropped his fork while Bruce's eyes widened (at least, for the normally stoic man).
Dick's chewing slowed. "Hm?" He asked, lost. "What happened?" Jason picked his fork back up, a silent chuckling beginning to rumble through his back and a wide, cocky grin plastered across his countenance. He peeked in his peripherals, hoping to take note of Dick's expression as he finally found out about the marriage. It would be absolutely glorious.
Dick looked panicked, now. "Starshine!?"
Mar'i winced at the callow nickname. "Dad-"
"May you please pass the salt, Richard," Damian told him. Just as Dick passed the salt, the tips of their fingers connecting, Damian said, "Mar'i and I are wed."
Tim and Duke's jaws visibly dropped, even more so when Damian began casually shaking the salt into his salad. Cass and Steph stared at each other until they began snickering, as though they knew what was going on behind courtroom doors. Knowing Cass, she probably knew the day after it happened and had told Steph. Barbara's lips quirked up with a knowing look in her eye, Selina's look mirroring hers. Alfred continued eating, though a small twinkle in his eyes told the whole table that he was happy for the couple.
Dick's hand dropped onto the table in shock, then when he shook himself out of it he rose out of his chair so suddenly that it began tipping over.
"Richard," Kori warned as she rose from her chair as well, her poise not outshining her obvious frustration. Dick turned his head to look at his wife, his face becoming twisted. "You should be happy for them," Kori told him, her voice biting but still managing to be as smooth as silk.
Dick's jaw dropped. "Kori-"
"Richard." Her voice was no longer hiding her frustration. Dick's chest caved in defeat.
He sat down, managing a side glance at his daughter and apparent husband. "...should've known they would've done something so stupid..." Dick muttered angrily to himself.
Tim blinked, then asked when everyone began eating again, "Wait." Everyone turned to him, including the newlyweds. "This has to be a joke!"
Mar'i rolled her eyes. "I could show you the papers," she challenged him.
Tim's eyebrows rose to his hairline. Damian jumped in, "Our ceremony was on September 17th of this year."
Dick gasped, and Bruce was still and silent, attempting to assess the legitimacy of the claim. He came up empty handed, as it seemed as though his son and apparent new daughter-in-law were emitting signs of telling the honest truth. "Are you serious, Damian?" Dick demanded. Kori took a deep breath. Dick continued, "You two said you were on a date!"
Mar'i shrugged her shoulders with a small smile. "Wasn't lying, exactly," she teased.
Dick snapped his mouth closed, then put his head in his hands tiredly. "Mar'iander," he began, and Mar'i knew what was coming. "You just turned 18. How can you know-"
"You and Mom had me when you were 18," Mar'i refuted. Dick lifted his head from his hands, fear permeating his expression.
"You're not pregnant, right? That's not why you would tell us now? You didn't marry him for that, right? You don't need to, Starshine." His voice was panicked.
Damian cringed at the thought of them having children at such a young age. "No, Dad!" Mar'i yelled. "I'm not pregnant!"
Bruce let out a short, relieved breath.
Damian huffed through his nose, then said, "Mar'i intends to have a separate ceremony in front of our families. You lot." His voice was tinged with some annoyance, and no one could honestly blame him.
Kori's face lit up. "You are to have a separate wedding for us, Starshine!?" Mar'i nodded, and Kori got up from her chair to embrace her daughter, the mother's comforting warmth soothing Mar'i's anxiety with her father's reaction. Mar'i smiled into her mother's broad shoulder.
Dick's face softened greatly at their exchange. He had then realized how Mar'i had told them: fearfully. Dick never wanted that for his daughter—to be scared of telling him something so life-changing. Too many times had Dick made that same mistake and he was left in the dark, not knowing what to do or where to go with his life. The past years, being with Damian, had clearly changed Mar'i to the better. And, to Dick, his daughter deserved to feel happy. Always.
"Are you happy, Mar'i?"
That surprised Mar'i—that her father was able to put aside his own wants in order to let Mar'i fly. Although he had done it too many times in her lifetime, he was constantly on guard for her naivety to remain that: naivety. Innocence.
But now? She needed to let go.
Damian wasn't afraid of her powers. Wasn't afraid of her bright personality. Didn't try to change her. He accepted, and that was all Mar'i could ask for. He accepted her for her heritage, for her flaws, for her wants and needs. He helped her fly.
"Yes," she answered, her response firm and holding no amount of doubt.
Dick's eyes dropped down to his plate, then he nodded once. Mar'i knew he was not fully accepting, but did not comment any further. Her innocence was long gone before she announced this, but for some reason she still keened at his approval. For that, Mar'i was happy that she was married.
Because Damian didn't approve. In fact, he was the one who craved approval the most. He was the one to constantly ask if he was being a good partner. He was the one to hesitate during affection for the sole purpose of her seeing him in a different light. Mar'i had learned that, when affectionate, Damian was an unstoppable octopus, but she didn't mind it one bit. Because that was Damian's true self.
Mar'i let Damian take her innocence.
She saw no flaws in that. In the beautiful unionship of two vastly different beings. A unionship that grew everyday. Mar'i was grateful for Damian. Everyday.
The public wedding was adorned with extravagant decorations, most of which Damian did not want. However, he eventually relented after much push (affection) from Mar'i.
It was short and simple, otherwise. There was no choreographed father-daughter dance, no DJ, no other heroes outside of the Batclan. Just them, their family, and their new marriage.
Mar'i brought up the idea after a night of pleasure.
"Can we even execute that on Tamaran?" Damian asked, coming out of the shower in only a single towel wrapped around his waist.
Mar'i shrugged with a dopey smile. "My mother wants us to, so I assume yes," she responded.
Damian furrowed his brows. "Why would Koria-"
"It's part of Tamaranean tradition. The ceremony is slightly different, but it's still a joining of two souls," she told him, then added, "Even when one is half-human and the other full." The smile was still on her face as her eyes drifted into daydream, the possibilities seemingly endless for the ceremony.
Damian blinked once, then answered, "Okay." Mar'i deserved it. For all his mood swings, insecurities, and flaws. She deserved to get something she wanted. She deserved anything she wanted, and Damian simply wanted to give.
Mar'i's eyes blinked quickly, effectively putting her out of her daydream, and she said excitedly, "Really!?" Damian nodded, a smile quirking at the ends of his lips. "Oh my X'Hal, Dami!" Mar'i jumped out of the bed. "Thank you so much! I love you," she proclaimed.
Damian wrapped his arms around her waist, the touch still hesitant. To alleviate that, Mar'i hugged his waist, her uncovered breasts pressing against his bare chest.
"In fact," she continued, a mischievous smirk playing at her lips, "I think I'll show you how much I love you, husband."
Damian groaned, although a content grin was pulling at his lips still. "I just showered, my love."
Mar'i shrugged a single, tan shoulder and led him back to the bed. "If anything, we can shower together, Dami. Later, though."
The ceremony on Tamaran was beautiful: adorned with flowers grown by the native people and glad leaders who ordained the couple with smiles stretched across their tan faces. It was a long process, the couple needing to complete various tasks to prove their love and viability of their marriage.
The top politicians were there, their sheer presence feeling intimidating to even Damian. However, the immense support of their coming together eased those worries. The couple was married in one day, then came the two day festival. People from all around Tamaran celebrated the joining of the two souls, their own spirits reflecting that over Damian and Mar'i, the descendants of their queen.
Mar'i had made a commitment to keep in contact with her mother's native planet, and was more than happy to participate in major decisions with the help of her new, forever partner.
She didn't want to completely cut her life off from her mother's legacy, the legacy her mother still managed to uphold; Mar'i needed to be with her native planet. To help it in the best way possible, while managing a new adult life and continuing to succeed in her hero work. She needed time. To adjust, to learn to love herself and a new husband.
Her new husband. It felt surreal, for her, to even say that. After all the ceremonies, the judgmental looks from her family, the criticisms of the media. He was still her husband, despite all the trouble they went through for the marriage.
It was a new type of love when officially married, growing from an adoration to an endless, immeasurable amount. It was something she was confident was the right decision. That was so rare for someone like Mar'i.
It felt as though everytime she looked at him, the world was spinning around her. As though she were in control of the uncontrolled, a new type of sensation she had not had even in the years before their marriage. Damian was wild, uncontrolled, and someone she had never met before. Damian was unique in his own way. Damian was too important for her to lose, and that scared her.
It scared her that someone was able to make her feel that way—a way no one before had been able to. Damian was, despite his insecurities, himself around her.
It felt intimate, to be with someone who could push down their own walls to show this passionate, romantic side of them that no one before her had ever seen.
Their souls intertwined by their passion, their purely romantic hearts that could look upon someone they loved and accept. Accept the person. Accept the absolute love they themselves held for that person. It was complicated, but so simple. So slow, yet so fast.
It was uniquely theirs.
And it would remain that for the rest of their lives.
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A/N: did you like it?? All love!!!