Everything I Need - Orm Marius/Ocean Master

Chapter Twelve - Let's Do Things a Little Differently

"So, now what?"

"Now, you be their Queen," Orm had told her following their victory in the battle for both the sea and surface, to which she had replied that it was going to be fun.

And it was fun, so far, but also a lot of work. Like, a lot.

It's not like she hadn't been expecting this - being Queen of Atlantis and the One True Ruler chosen by Poseidon the Sea God himself based on some ancient prophecy by King Atlan had never sounded small. And in the wake of the battle, they had a lot of cleaning up to do, so she had a lot on her mind at the moment.

Honestly, what was her life? A superhero and now Queen of a legendary underwater kingdom that most humans still believed was a total myth? It all sounded crazy but it was all very real for her. This was her life.  

And so, here she was, official Queen of Atlantis. Well, pretty official, anyway. There was still the official coronation ceremony coming up, that she was preparing for, once everything was cleaned up after the battle. In fact, everyone was preparing for it, ready to finally welcome in a new reign to Atlantis. And a promising reign it appeared to be. 

Aurelia felt so fortunate to have Atlanna there to help her with all of this Queen business, for it was nothing short of overwhelming. Of course, Vulko and Aria were there as always, as well as Mera. Tom and Arthur were there too, supporting her as much as they could. She was surrounded by support.

And of course, Orm was there too.  

As for them, well... Their mid-battle snog had certainly sparked something, something that showed no sign of stopping. 

Orm said they were 'courting' now. Aurelia loved how official and formal it sounded.

The Great Hall was empty - the last time she had been in here it had been as a prisoner, facing the tyrant king, but she tried not to think about that. That was all over now, and pretty soon she would be ruling from this very room, from this very throne - that which she was now lounging in. It was actually kind of comfy.  

The grand doors opened and her new boyfriend swam into the room. 

"My Queen." He bowed low.

"You don't have to do that, you know."

"But I do."

"Well, that's sweet, but I'm not going to be offended if you don't. You know, I'd actually prefer it if you'd greet me with a kiss." She swam over and kissed him for emphasis.

He smiled into the kiss. "Very well, then I'll do both."

"It's so weird having everyone address me like that now, with all the bowing and 'My Queens'. Before, I was the half-breed outsider, now I'm the freaking Queen.  It's gonna take some getting used to."

"It will, but you'll do great."

"Thanks."

"So when did you change your mind?" he asked. 

"About?"

"Me."

She chuckled. "You grew on me. I started to see that there was more to you beneath the surface. And along the way I just sort of knew, knew that you were the one..." Like her parents had known. She really hadn't understood it until she had experienced it herself.

Orm smiled and blushed at this.  He reached out to take both of her hands in his, which he gave an affectionate squeeze.  "Well, I knew you were the one, too."  They shared a chuckle.  "I was thinking - once everything's cleaned up here, maybe we can do one of those things you were telling me about - a date?"

"I'd like that a lot."

"We don't have to get more of that drink though, do we?" he winced.

She laughed.  "Beer? No, we don't. There's lots of things we can do."

"Good, I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too.  And I've been thinking a lot about it and, what if we did things a little differently? I mean, not to disregard tradition, but I think Atlantis could move forward a bit in the way they do things.  And you've been training your whole life for this, and I barely know where to start. So, will you be the king to my queen?"

Orm eyed her. "Aurelia-"

"Let's rule together, side by side, and eventually we can get married if we want to. Not because of some ancient law and tradition, but because we're in love and we want to?"

"I would like that very much."

"Cool.  'I, I will be king, and you, you will be Queen'..." She began to sing.  "Except the other way around. 'We can be heroes, just for one day.'" She began dancing along.  "David Bowie, Heroes. Great song. I'll play it for you next time we're up on the surface. I have it on vinyl."

He looked confused, but smiled.  "Sounds good."

"Oh, and, I have something for you-" There was a swoosh and the water rippled around them as she used Poseidon's Trident to summon something into her hands: Atlan's Trident.  She held it out to him.  "What do you say? Want to upgrade your weapon?"

Orm's eyes grew wide.  "Oh-"

"You can keep Ocean Master, your funny title."

"It's a powerful title."

"Okay, but still silly. Like your pointy mask-helmet thing."

"All right." He reached out and took the famed weapon. "Thank you.  And please keep 'Aquawoman'."

"Fine. It has grown on me. Ocean Master and Aquawoman, together we'll be unstoppable!" She raised her own trident into the air, her voice booming through the empty hall. 

Orm chuckled. "I love you Aurelia."

"I love you too, Orm."

(Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as always! :))