Everything You Are - Orm Marius/Ocean Master

Chapter One - By Birthright

"I always know where to find you." Aurelia knew her father's actions spoke to just how much he loved and missed her mother. They do say actions speak louder than words, and Tom's actions screamed of his love for Atlanna. Every morning at sunrise he would walk down to the very dock where they had parted all those years ago, and stand on the edge, looking out over the water as the sun rose, waiting for his beloved to return to him. It sounded like something out of a fairy tale, but then again, Aurelia's whole life sounded like something out of one. That's what came with being a half-breed child of a mythological marvel of a land.

Tom had repeated this ritual every day since the day Atlanna left, never missing one.

At the sound of his daughter's voice, Tom spun around from where he had been retreating back to the lighthouse, a huge smile on his face. He chuckled. "Old habits."

Father and daughter embraced each other in a tight hug.

Tom put an arm around his daughter as they began to head to the house. "Come on, I'll buy you breakfast."

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"Would you like me to have them put that in a sippy cup for you?" Tom joked. He had taken Aurelia out for drinks at the local bar which they often appeared at.

Aurelia snorted as she gulped the last of her beer. She slammed the now empty mug down onto the counter as purposefully as her father had done with his. "Haha, you're hilarious." She licked the foam off her lips. "How is it that I can breathe under water but you can still drink me under the table?"

"Maybe that's my superpower." Tom puffed out his chest proudly.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not a superhero, Dad."

The TV above them blared with a news report. "...A Russian submarine hijacked late last night by high-tech pirates. The same pirates who are suspected in connection with the disappearance of the Navy's highly classified prototype stealth submarine. And a further development: we now have unconfirmed reports that the metahuman dubbed by social media as 'The Aquawoman' was responsible for this daring rescue."

Tom turned to her with a look that said, "See?"

"That wasn't me."

"Bullshit. You're doing it, huh, what Vulko and Aria trained you to do. I knew you couldn't stand on the sidelines forever. Well, you've got the powers, and the name: Aquawoman."

She laughed. "It's silly."

"Now all you need is a suit."

"I'm not a hero." She was firm.

"To some people you are. Your mother and I always knew you were special."

"Don't even start."

"Your mother believed you'd be the one to unite our two worlds someday."

"Dad-"

"Whatever Atlantis's problems are, you're bigger than them."

"Yeah well Atlantis stole Mum and now she isn't coming back."

"You don't know that for sure."

"I do. They took her away for loving you and having me. And you know it."

"Kiddo, one day you're gonna have to stop blaming yourself."

Absentmindedly, her hand went to clasp the gold pendant that always hung around her neck. It was the symbol of Atlantis, and it had belonged to Atlanna - she had been wearing it herself when Tom had found and rescued her. She had removed it from her own neck and placed it around her daughter's the day she left, and Aurelia rarely, if ever, had taken it off since.