for an entire year arthur was without his kingdom, without his family, and he was without mera. it was suffice to say arthur was lost, and even now he was still trying to figure out how to find himself. he was barely the kind of man mera or his parents would recognize. even the people of atlantis would not know their king, they wouldn’t even know the bastard prince they’d first seen fight for just a place among them. arthur was angry, and he was lost, and he had nothing more to lose and that made him dangerous. he relied on nothing more than his charm and brute strength to get him out of messes he got himself deeply into and of course it was barely enough.
arthur was a shell of himself for longer than he’d ever care to admit. he dreamed of mera’s face as he disappeared into nothing right in front of her eyes. the way she asked him to stay, and how he’d never gotten to give her one last i love you. because he did, he loved her so intensely he didn’t know that his heart knew how to love that deeply. he wanted nothing more than to be back by her side, ruling a kingdom he knew in his heart was his home. when he woke up, hand shaking reaching for something that wasn’t there he would drink to help it go away. shove the feelings he had deep down inside and shut it off for awhile. just like he had before he met mera, and it worked just as well as it did then. that’s to say, it barely worked at all. he missed the time spent with his father, and he really hoped to learn more and spend more time with his mother but it was all taken away in what felt like a snap.
when he first came to atlantis he was a king that didn’t want a kingdom, and now, much later, he was a king without a kingdom and he wasn’t sure what to do about that. he’d spent time caring for a place and it’s people and had finally come to real terms with the fact that it was not only his to rule, but it was his to protect when suddenly it was ripped from him. mera was more than capable of leading in his absence, she had more of a mind for the political side of things anyways, but with he disappeared and... with orm still locked away it threw a bit of a wrench in things. he was a wild card, and it was safe to say that there was at least a few people who were still loyal to that dick of a little brother he has.
his mind wandered and trailed off with these thoughts often, and most of the time he had friends now that helped pull him out by the skin of his teeth. he’d connected with people and let them bring back some of the more human parts of himself but still. when you look at him now compared to the man he was, and the man he could be it wasn’t anything at all.
with more people appearing planet side arthur, for a moment, let hope spring into his heart that maybe his family, his mera would come back to him. would appear in front of him like he’d dreamed of for months before he just stopped remembering his dreams all together. but of course, after a few days of searching he stuffed the hope deep down inside himself and snuffed it out. hoping only lead to pain, and if he had to feel another ounce of on behalf of the people he loved that he lost, arthur might lose himself completely.
he just wanted to get back to his new... home if you -- could even call it that. nothing felt like home without mera by his side. arthur wanted to get into his bed and sleep this away, he had every urge to drink it away, but the thought of barry’s disappointed was enough to keep him out of the bottle this time. then he heard it something he never thought he’d hear again. mera’s voice close enough to him that he could almost reach out and touch, and it made him freeze where he stood.
a familiar pair of arms wound their way around his body and he stood stock still for a few long moments just trying to remember how to breathe properly. over a year without it then suddenly every single one of his senses were just filled with mera, and finally when it clicked... it wasn’t a dream, it wasn’t a nightmare, she was here and real and grounding and she was... now facing him -- or was he facing her, it didn’t matter. her hands wrapped around his arms and his chest grew tight and he made the slow movement to wrap his arms around her waist and cling tight. it was as if he was afraid she’d slip away if he let go.
finally his voice cooperated with him and he was able to speak though it was thick with emotion he didn’t normally show. “y-yeah... yes i’m here and you’re here... god i can’t believe you’re really here after all this time.”
