Young Justice: Solstice

Twenty-Four

I added an epigraph with an extended summary, a playlist, and a cast if any of you are interested. :^)

The rest of my body was so sore that I stayed absolutely still to keep from risking any more pain, but someone was pushing my hair back from my forehead, murmuring something in a language that I couldn't quite understand. 

"Mum?" I whispered deliriously, hoping beyond hope.

"Not quite," Said a female voice. Though she didn't sound like Mum, she had a thick accent like her, similar to what I'd heard before.

"Do not try to get up," She said, though I had no intention of doing so. "Your charm ran out of time, and it needed a chance to recharge. Your friends got out safely, do not worry. They also returned the Prince to the palace.

I shot up. "Oh my gosh, the mission!" I then tried not to cry as the room tilted on it's side and my brain pounded in my head, feeling as heavy as the box I'd found in the desert. 

"Hush, my dear," She urged me back down onto the bed of sorts, tucking strangely textured blanket around my arms and dabbing my forehead with a cloth. Was it damp? We were still underwater, so what qualified as "damp" around here?

"Your friends are fine. The rest of your team, I'm told, arrived just in time, along with The Drift, and arrested all Purists on the sight. Ocean Master is once more incarcerated, thanks to you keeping his trident away from him. If you had not taken it, as foolish as it was, he could have telported away or done who knows what with his magic."

""Yeah, but I still got knocked out," I muttered. After rubbing and blinking my eyes several times, my vision finally cooperated. Sitting on the chair next to my bed was a gorgeous woman, her skin a shade or two darker than my own, with hair long and luscious in the water, and just asgolden as Kaldur's.

"You...you look familiar." I mumbled, still somewhat delirious.

She chuckled, taking a small bowl from the table behind her. "I doubt we have met before, Solstice," She shook her head, holding the bowl to my lips and clearly intending for me to drink whatever was in it. Probably some medicine or something.

"I am Kaldur'ahm's mother."

By trying not to spit it out, I started to choke on the medicine she gave me. After a few sound smacks on my back, I was able to breathe a little bit better.

"You're Kaldur's mum?" I asked.

"Yes," She said, both sadness and pride in her voice as she returned the bowl to a table full of vials all different colors of the rainbow, and containing a variety of substances from powder to strangely shaped shells to seaweed.

"That's where I saw you," I said, "he has a picture of you that he liked to look at while he wrote mission reports. You and his...stepfather, I think it was."

She stood very still for a moment. "He did?"

"Well yeah, he did, but then he asked me to start writing the reports for him because he was getting stressed out. Which is great for me because writing about actual things that happened is the perfect way for me to de-stress, so it's a win-win." 

Slowly this time, I stood up and wrapped the blanket around my shoulders, walking towards her as she tried to busy herself with all the bottles and other various things one needed to be a doctor of some sorts in Atlantis.

"This is all amazing." I told her, changing the subject. The former topic was obviously a very awkward one. "I mean, all of Atlantis is, and I wasn't able to see much of it because I had to swim off to the mountains and find the Purists, but I am absolutely amazed by everything here. Atlantis has been one of my obsessions since I was a kid, even before Aquaman first appeared, and I can't believe it's still alive and thriving and all the architecture and the clothing and the armor and everything-" I stopped, realizing that I was rambling now, but at least Kaldur's mother was smiling at me. I wondered if it was more of a wince.

"You sound like a very inquisitive girl, Solstice." She stated at last. 

Shutting the lid of the chest containing all her supplies, she placed her hands on her hips and looked me up and down. I stood a little straighter. Was she judging if I was good enough to be this close to her son? Was it Cassie or Kaldur who told her about me? Probably Cassie, if things were this awkward between the mother and son, but either of them could have let it slip about Kaldur having kissed me.

"Well, since you are awake, you should be fine. But no missions for the next three days, and get pleanty of rest and food. And exercise your lungs. You stopped breathing for a moment, they said."

"Th-thank you...?" I inclined my head, trying to ask for her name

"Sha'lain'a. My name is Sha'lain'a." She smiled warmly, then hugged me tightly. It felt just like the times when my mother hugged me, and I almost wanted to cry.

"I am glad that my son has a friend like you," She whispered, and suddenly I was too shocked to cry.

"They should be waiting outside, if you are ready to go home," She nodded at an archway, framed with pink coral and shiny blue shells. 

Unable to come up with anything else to say, I nodded, and swam outside.

I instantly spotted Kaldur waiting next to the doorway, and my tattoo involuntarily lit up, making me feel warm again.

"Hey," I said.

He turned in surprise. He must have been half-asleep just as I was.

"You are alright," He said, wrapping his arms around me tightly. I inhaled sharply, then rested my forehead against his chest. He seemed to radiate electricity, leaving a trail of sparks ashis hands brushed my arms.

"Yeah, but I'm tired." I admitted. He chuckled, sounding almost like his mother.

"Your mom is absolutely amazing," I said, wondering what that would get out of him.

He said nothing, but when I glanced up, his face had returned to the stoic "leader-gaze" he used on the team. The one that showed absolutely no emotion at all.

"So, what kind of mission did Batman have for you?" I asked. "And how did you get to S'atiroman cave so fast?"

"He did not give me a mission," He said. He released the hug, but his hand was hanging so very close to mine, so I grabbed it as we walked down the street of Shayeris. "He, Batgirl, and Aquaman agreed to keep me in the dark about this mission. I found out soon enough, however, and when it became clear that you and Wonder Girl were the only ones non-responsive to comms, I headed for the cave."

I nodded. "I know that you're mad, but seeing how the Purists wanted you dead in return for Prince Joseph,  I don't blame them."

"I could have helped." 

"And you did." I told him, stopping us both so that we could talk. "I'm not saying that they made the right choice, but Artemis told me how deep you went with your undercover mission. How much you were willing to sacrifice. None of us would have wanted to risk you giving yourself up to certain death like that again."

He stared at me quizzically, ocean-green eyes staring in my brown ones intensely.

"How do you trust me this much already?"

I shrugged. "I may have only known you for a couple months, but the team really respects you. Cassie and Robin hold you in pretty high respects, and Mal and Artemis vouch for you. Whatever impact you have on the team, it's a good one.

"Besides, someone who was really working for the bad guys wouldn't patiently listen to all my ramblings of ancient civilizations or answer all my stupid questions about Atlantis." I said decisively.

That made him look down, hiding the adorable grin that appeared on his face like magic. "But they aren't stupid, and history is fascinating-" He tried to say.

"See? You are way too nice and sincere to be a bad guy!" I said. Both of us started laughing.

"How did I get lucky enough to fall in love with you?" He asked, his forehead touching mine

"Probably the same way I got lucky enough to fall in love with you." I said.

And that was where we had our second kiss, on the streets of Shayeris, Atlantis, leaving my whole body tingling with warmth and electricity.

Holy crap three chapters in 24 hours, I should sleep but I really don't want to....oh well!