"Good.", Dazis smiled reassuringly as he gave Nena a pat on the shoulder. Nena took a deep breath; hopeful things would indeed work out, but she was nervous about what that whole dealbreaker might be. Was it related to her tragic accident or was it something else completely?
Peggy replied, "Let's have most of us head back to the kids or helping out with the final details for the wedding tomorrow, while I get Preston.", and most of them nodded in agreement, giving reassurances and thumbs up to Nena before they left, leaving her, Manuel, Dazis, and Steve in the office room.
Steve gave Nena a warm smile, "Don't worry, it's going to be okay, Nena.", as Nena nodded, biting her lip as Manuel rubbed her back, as they waited for a few minutes before Preston came in, smiling warmly at Nena, "I heard the news. It won't take too long.", as he was carrying Steve's stuff and extra paper, passing them to Steve who smiled gratefully.
Nena replied, "Thank you, Preston...", and Preston smiled, "Love is love, Nena. You're part of this huge family that may be of smaller families altogether, but we wouldn't leave family behind if we can help it.".
Smiling gratefully, Nena nodded, and so, Preston went to make one of his portals, showing an amazing glimpse of the throne room in the palace to Nena as her eyes widened, admiring the decor and such for a moment as Dazis and Steve walked through, with Preston as the last one through, and the portal vanished.
Manuel chuckled, "Never thought you'd have such a lovely, pretty young woman as your soul mate, let alone your future mate...", glancing at the drawn picture of Zuku, and Nena exhaled, "Thanks, Papi...But you heard them...What if she's scared of me, even if I don't blame her for coming into my dreams as of late? This dealbreaker sounds really serious...You know that some people had conditions in courting times, and then eventually dating times now...".
"Look, I can't promise you what the future may hold, Nena...", Manuel told her as he rubbed her back. "But I promise to be there with you all the same.", giving her a reassuring smile.
Nena smiled at her father, appreciating his support, "I know...it means a lot to me...Never thought that you would meet someone who would want me before actually asking for my hand in marriage and such...", blushing with a sheepish chuckle.
Manuel snorted, "Nena, if you hadn't noticed, this huge family isn't exactly normal, and honestly, normal is overrated these days if you ask me.", and Nena giggled, agreeing there, as it was true that she would usually become a home wife and all out of tradition like previous generations of women, if she never had her dreams of being a boxer and being a woman of an idol, like in Peggy and her sister's situations, though she knew that they wouldn't mind being home wives now with the side jobs of working as a mechanic for Audrey, and a secret agent for Peggy if she could still do that.
"Doesn't hurt that it's exciting too...", Nena replied with a smile, and Manuel chuckled, "Indeed.", remembering his sister Rosaline when she gets crazy with colors despite being colorblind, not caring what anyone thinks of what she's wearing on any given day as long as she's committed to helping the Ramirez family business.
Manuel kept comforting Nena as she waited, getting nervous and anxious, watching the clock here and there while gazing at the drawn picture of Zuku, lasting a hour before eyes snapped up to see a portal appearing, with Dazis and Steve coming into the office room, and Nena's heart skipped a few beats as her breath caught as the next one came through, revealing to be Zuku, not noticing that Preston came last, closing the portal.
Their eyes locked, dark chocolate brown to bright sea blue, as they felt like the only two people in the world right now, as Nena realized that she's breathtakingly real.
Now for sure, Nena knew this was the one she was dreaming of; almost perfectly a match, even better than what Steve had drew and he was pretty damn close to matching even in his drawings.
Zuku was the same too, for the past hour, everything changed as she knew there was something for her in the air almost all day since she turned 20 last month physically for the first year of being a young adult at 20..
She had seen Nena in her dreams, fuzzy and such at first, and then bit by bit, things got more clearer, and she watched her grow up here and there, not fully revealing things, but it was clear that she has found her soul mate...She came to love the way how Nena's ponytail bounces when she moves in a strange yet exotic dance while being in eye-catching clothes that caught her curves so perfectly, the way she laughs at a muffled joke Zuku couldn't hear, how her eyes sparkle when she's excited, wanting to comfort her when she's upset, to hold her when she's crying, and angry at the unseen strangers who dared hurt her soul mate's heart, and most of all, wanting to kiss her.
She really focused hard on her job and hobby when she realized that she must have scared her off or something for when she saw enough of what happened to her, she was scared for her, seeing her almost furrow into herself like a little child here and there, barely catching glimpses of her when it was obvious that she didn't want to dream many more of Zuku which both brought her to feeling guilty yet bittersweetly understanding about the fact that she possibly could be alone and rejected, but she'd keep her safe either way if the dreams were putting her beloved soul mate in danger, like how she was in that closet...
After all, she heard stories around the palace from other staff and Dazis that the surface world isn't particularly good or particularly bad, it was just...it wasn't Atlantis...She couldn't have blamed her soul mate, if she didn't want her...After all, Zuku wasn't always innocent, not ever since the day of the incident.
And then today, when Dazis came with Steve in tow, explaining the situation, almost igniting her hope that she hasn't messed up, and with the hope Steve was right of his amazing skill to draw, as she had heard that Lady Peggy's husband is an artist next to being a warrior, she described all she saw of Nena, a name where her heart skipped a beat to hear for the first time when she heard it, and to her most shock, he did it so incredibly well, and then now, right now, Nena, in the flesh, is the one she is truly had been smitten with, far more beautiful and perfect than the drawing of her...
It took a moment before the two of them suddenly found themselves standing face to face as both of them glanced away with their faces red, their minds almost thinking the same thing there. "So...", Nena finally spoke first. "You're Zuku?".
Zuku whispered, "Yes...And you are Nena...", feeling strangely safe under Nena's shadow as she is only two and a half inches shorter than her, and for Nena, she is slightly proud that she's tall, wanting to protect this petite beauty, as she smiled, "Yep...I admit it took a heck of some time for me to accept that I'm lesbian, but I would never, ever blame you for changing my life when I saw you in my dreams...I am sorry for everything...I was...I was terrified and stupid for getting drunk after I couldn't get enough of seeing you...I don't know if you have seen me working hard for my career, but being rejected by almost all of them...I thought they were friends...I thought you'd...you'd be angry at me when I didn't want to see you last week...that you'd reject me for technically cheating on you in a way with my friend's sister by kissing her and touching her when I was imagining you over her...I m-messed up...but I...I promise I'd make it up to you...if you want me, that is...".
Zuku chuckled, "How could you consider it cheating if we never actually met before? You didn't even know of Atlantis and all at that moment, so you just were following mostly what you had thought you already knew.".
Nena's heart pounded in relief as tears fell, as Zuku's hand hesitated for a moment during its movement before touching Nena's cheek, gently easing her tears away, and Nena's breath caught as Zuku's hand is soft and warm, and she whispered, "I...I thought you were scared of me when you'd realize that you were sort of disrupting my sleep with the dreams when I was working especially hard for the championship...", too caught in Zuku's eyes and all, not noticing that the others left the office so quietly, including Manuel, leaving the two to mesh out everything.
Zuku whispered, "I was scared about you rejecting me, still am, with my dealbreaker, but I would never be scared of you when you just told me that it wasn't my fault for changing your life suddenly by being your soul mate...but I'm sorry I made you quit...The moments where I saw you doing that strange yet exotic dance in the dreams, even if everything wasn't quite clear about why or where or what...I think Steve called it boxing? You...you looked so passionate...And beautiful...".
"That's an interesting way of describing it for sure...", Nena chuckled. "I don't think anyone's truly called women's boxing any of those phrases before, at least that I know of.".
Zuku blushed, smiling, brushing a stray band that came out of her braid over her ear, and Nena's heart raced at the action as she looked so cute and attractive, and then replied, "And don't apologize for making me quit. I chose family and you...Yes, it hurt, being...being judged, called names, and not being able to be myself, being forced and kicked out from all the hard work I did for the past few years, and being...being ashamed...I thought my own family would hate me, but they didn't...Papi, Audrey...I'm sorry that I ignored you all that last week when I was...was depressed and scared...You must have been relieved when I came back in the dreams this week...".
Zuku nodded, "Don't say that you're sorry, I forgave you already. I was so relieved, Nena...I nearly had that thought...that I lost you to...to death even before you came back in the dreams...", relieved, a half-choked sob as she heard that Nena chose her family and her over her career when it was threatened, and Nena moved a hand to caress her cheek as Zuku's breath caught, feeling the calloused, strong hand on the cheek.
Nena replied, "I'm here, Zuku...I'm right here..", as they stood, with their hands on each other's cheeks, and somehow, they can feel something starting right there, and a soft silence was for a minute before Zuku whispered, "C-Can we sit? I...I need to tell you...my...my story...my dealbreaker...".
"Of course...", Nena replied gently, guiding her to the nearest spot to sit, in the loveseat which is ironic as Nena hoped it would bring them closer, but still wondering of the dealbreaker, though she would hear her story first...
Zuku brought forward her braid as a nervous habit as she caressed it through her hands, looking at Nena, "I was born perhaps five centuries after the great flood and the sinking of Atlantis...I was told that my grandparents and my uncle didn't make it in time before the shield...Only my parents, my aunt with an older and younger set of cousins were close enough to the shelters...I grew up innocent, carefree, and I soon discovered when I was 10 in physical age...that after seeing other families, other kids, that I wanted something more...I...felt like I was missing something, yet I felt still right...I had one of my older cousins as a healer...and he still remembered some things prior to the great flood...He heard me out and strived to help me out after talking with my family who was immediately so incredibly supportive.".
Nena listened, awed and amazed as Zuku exhaled deeply, tears slipping down, "After it was finally complete, with instructions here and there, when I was 12 then, my cousin wanted to celebrate, so...so we went fishing, intent to get one of my favorites from the lake on one of the boats...All of the Atlanteans knew more or less of being adept swimmers and such...but on that day, with one vigorous net of fish that fought us, I lost my balance, and went into the water, into the net...I...I didn't know which way to go up, with the fish crowding me and slapping me and all as I tried to get out...He dived, using his sharp knife to cut the top of the net out, grabbing me, bringing me out of the water as I was choking, coughing, terrified, and as I got into the boat, I was starting to calm down with him climbing after me...the last thing I saw and heard of him was his voice telling me to breathe, saying that I'm safe, that it's okay when the net, still tied partly to the pole, went snap, and the pole...the pole hit him...he..he went falling back into the water...I tried to move, but I froze when I saw the water...scared of the water, calling for him...that was when I saw blood...and soon, no bubbles...It...it was my fault...I was upset and screaming for them to stop calling me by my old nickname he was saying to me those...those last few moments, wanting a new nickname...I...I caused him to die...".
"No. You didn't.", Nena told her as she shook her head. "That was just an accident, no one could know the pole was going to snap and even more so to snap back to strike your cousin.". Nena knew that she had probably been told this sort of thing before, but guilt often was a funny thing at times.
Zuku looked at her in shock, whispering, "But...but I...I should have saved him...but the water...I...I was so fine with the water, swimming every other day, playing and diving before...something just...I froze, Nena...", tears still falling, her voice struggling to speak, choking back a sob.
Nena immediately did follow her instincts, to hold and comfort her, realizing that Zuku looked like her when she was in her room, baring everything to her sister, yet this feels more different as she gently took Zuku into her lap, her arms, realizing this is what Nola was talking about, that Nola had tried to be there for Zuku in helping her get better through the mental trauma, but right now, Nena realized, as she held her soul mate, gods, her actual, breathing, living soul mate, she felt like she and Zuku was two puzzle pieces melding into each other into a click together, and she is determined to be here right now for her.
Zuku had frozen for a minute before she broke down, sobbing as she burrowed into Nena's chest, suddenly feeling more like she can be herself, bringing out that lost, scared, terrified child she was that day, somehow feeling protected and loved as to her surprise, she can feel Nena's lips kissing ever so softly and often upon the top of her head, on her hair and such, her hands gently caressing her back, and hip, with her legs resting into Nena's lap, and strangely enough, it felt right...
"Just let it out, Zuku... I'm here for you...", Nena assured her. It honestly was a bit of a surprise to her of just how almost instantly close they were with one another but maybe that's just part of the soul mating; that you'd almost instantly be connected and close upon the first meeting.
Zuku really listened, and she let it all out, unlike how she only had partly let it out with family and Nola all those centuries, and Nena was all too determined not to let her go, as it must have been perhaps an hour or so, as Nena said many reassuring words here and there, "It's not your fault. You were only a child...I'm here. I'm right here...That's it...You didn't know that it would happen. You aren't a killer. You tried to help. It's okay...It was just an accident...I'm here for you...Let it all out...".
Nena's shirt was wet with tears and snot, but she didn't care as she caressed Zuku's back, "That's it, deep breaths...", as Zuku finally is slowing down, sniffling and taking deep breaths, feeling Nena's other hand gently clean her face of the last tears, looking at her.