Scene 28 - Anniversary
Brianna sat on her bed, flipping through the notes from her psychology class at Ivy University. Since she was the first on the team to go to university, she went in blind as no one else experienced college life before. Her time so far was not as bad as she had expected and her schoolwork was manageable if she planned her time right. Juggling school, family, the Team's missions, and her love life with Kaldur'ahm was all in a day's work for a superhero. Her weekly dates with the Atlantean were reduced to monthly ones and life in general was just a little busy. Despite that, the blonde boy still popped by almost daily, showering her with care, concern, and affection.
Like clockwork, Kaldur knocked on her door before entering with a glass of warm water for his girlfriend. The days were gradually getting chillier and even though the Green Lanterns installed a central heating system, he was still worried about Ember's weakness against the cold. Seeing as how she was still comfortably lounging in a t-shirt and sweatpants, the heating system appeared to be fully functional.
"I brought you water, Brianna."
His girlfriend looked up at him cheerfully, "Thanks, Kaldur."
He glanced over her notes, "Everything going well?" The brunette nodded before giving a reply, "Yeah, just revising the concepts I learned."
She placed her notes aside and added on, "I have studied enough for tonight though; you want to walk around the cave for a bit?" Without needing to reply, the Atlantean stood up and held hands with his girlfriend as their feet brought them to a special place they enjoyed, the library.
"Our one year anniversary is coming up," Brianna said casually as they sat on the couch. Kaldur was aware of the date but he wasn't sure on what people do on an anniversary. His parents went out for a simple meal on their anniversary but things on the surface world were much different. Just last month, M'gann insisted with Conner that they spend theirs "like how people do so in the movies" with a candlelight dinner, a romantic stroll on the beach, and gifts with flowers and jewellery. It was almost a disaster when she forced Superboy into a suit and he wasn't aware that he needed to present his lady with flowers and gifts. However, the couple did have a good time anyway after she learned that things that happen in movies aren't directly translated well into real life.
Wally and Artemis on the other hand, were rather low-key and even though he forgot Valentine's Day this year, the speedster made up for it in his own way which impressed the archer. After all, it was the thought that counted and according to him, everyday could be Valentine's Day.
These two conflicting situations on handling a special occasion confused the Atlantean and he decided to be honest and said, "I know but… what do we do on an anniversary?"
Brianna looked amused, "Truthfully, we don't need to do anything. Some spend the day lavishly, some just have dinner, others just wish their significant others a simple 'Happy Anniversary' with a hug and kiss or with gifts."
The information was new to him, "Oh."
The girl laughed and grasped his hand reassuringly, "How about we hold our date on our anniversary? A meal, maybe a movie and ice cream after that of course."
A smile graced his face, "I look forward to it."
Grunting with effort as beads of perspiration rolled down her face, she held on for as long as she could as she stared hopelessly at Aqualad. "Come on…!" Her voice pleaded desperately as the one arm she was grabbing the blonde with was slowly losing its energy and he was on the verge of slipping away from her grasp. The other arm which allowed her to grab onto pole to support her weight was also getting sore and it trembled occasionally from fatigue. The cliff was a steep drop and she could not see the bottom. Right now, she wished super strength was once of her powers but she was still a human with average vitality after all.
"Aqualad, WAKE UP!" She hollered and the Atlantean stirred in her hold before coming to his senses.
His green eyes stared up at her with a pained expression, "Ember? Let me go. You can't hold on to me for very long."
The brunette shook her head, "No, I'm not going to let you fall. Besides, I won't let you die on our anniversary." She tried to keep up the humour as she struggled to pull him up.
"I'm not exactly very light and you can't fly in this state. I'll only pull you down with me," Kaldur began to twist his arm slightly to loosen her grip. To his dismay, she caught on and moved her hand along to prevent him from doing that.
"Stop it!" Brianna cried out as tears were threatening to stream down her cheeks.
"I love you, I'm sorry." The Atlantean's words were a quiet whisper before he jerked violently from her hand and plunged down.
"No!" The pyro screamed as she pushed her body off the cliff to fly down as fast as she could to catch up to him. As they neared the base, she could see the blues of a lake and came up with a plan. Hands outstretched, she managed to envelope her boyfriend with a hug and did her best to slow their descent by pulling them upwards with her flight. It was a futile attempt as gravity worked against them and she could see his lips were moving but the sound of the wind roaring in their ears made it impossible to hear what he was saying.
With great effort, Kaldur turned their bodies over and his eyes widened to how close they were to the water. One arm still holding tight against Ember, he unsheathed his water bearer and drew up the water from the lake as a cushion to slow their drop. Both of them plunged and sunk quickly into the liquid. A little disoriented from the change in medium, Brianna struggled underwater as she kicked her legs as fast as she could but she was still weakened from exhaustion. Aqualad swam in front of her before putting his hands on her face and giving her a kiss. Renewed with oxygen, she held her breath as the blonde teen pulled her up gently towards the water's surface.
Ember exited the water with a gasp and inhaled deeply while her boyfriend hugged her close to keep her afloat. After getting her bearings, she returned the hug.
"That was dangerous! I almost lost you," She pulled away to chide him.
"It was a sacrifice I was willing to make to see you live," Kaldur said in return while Brianna shook her head, "Not this again. Stop thinking that you're some sort of expandable meat! Everyone's lives are valuable, including yours. Plus, if you waited longer, M'gann would have arrived to help us. I pulled in a call, you know. I don't want to lose you again!"
Her voice was a sharp crack and she could see that she was on the verge of crying again. He immediately pressed a kiss against her lips again to comfort her.
"I'm sorry, Brianna, but this is my duty as team leader to make sure you all come home safe. This is the choice I made, please respect it. I love you."
The brunette could only make a face as she looked away… "You're so stubborn." Those were the only words she could say as her lips descended on his once more.
They pulled away and Kaldur'ahm looked a little sad, "I'm sorry the anniversary didn't go as planned."
Sighing, she placed a hand on his cheek, "It doesn't matter. As long as I'm with you, I don't care if we celebrate it or not. The dinner and gifts are just extra perks but not entirely compulsory."
Brianna then expressed her love for him once more with a very tender but sweet kiss. Hearing the sound of a door opening, the teens looked up to the sky to the sight of a familiar bio-ship.
Brianna attempted to get the last line in before the rest of the Team pulled them up, "However, you still owe me ice cream and… let's go diving again."
To her surprise, he replied, "Alright… Happy Anniversary, by the way." She could only smile before they were levitated out of the water.
Author's Note: You thought they would go out for a romantic dinner, didn't you? ;) I always wanted a scene of Brianna holding onto Kaldur so he won't fall so I decided to include this scene on their anniversary. Frankly, you can only write dinner & movie dates so many times before it gets a little repetitive and boring so I decided to gloss over it.
Anyway, I have good news! I have finished writing all the chapters in this story. Question is, do you want me to keep updating once a week or should I bump it up to twice a week?
While you decide, it's time to reply to reviews! ^_^
To LadyFelton1994: Thank you!
To Molly Grace 16: Really? I always see Kaldur x OC stories on tumblr. Two of my favorite Kaldur x OC fics are "Incendium" by Vertikalen and "The Nile Chronicles" by Sunahu. You should give them a read. They inspired me to start an account on to post my fic. =)
To piggythelaw: Aww, I'm not killing you with a sugar overdose, I'm making you have sweet and pleasant dreams! =D
To Eszra: Yay! I hope you keep smiling as you continue reading the chapters.