For a while, we just sat there on the beach, unsure of what to say. That was until I spoke up.

“Prove it.”

Sea-Snail looked at me, startled “What?”

“Just to be safe, prove to me that you’re my father, what’s something about me or mom that only you would know.”

Sea-Snail looked hesitant, understandably unsure of how to respond. “Your mother’s favorite color is blue, she says it’s because it’s the color of her home.”

“Ok, that’s a start,” I said to myself.

“She also liked seaweed wraps. She took the throne when her parents died in a fire when she was 20 and she hasn’t been to the surface since.”

Now I was more inclined to believe him, the details of how my grandparents died was a very touchy subject, not even Pinkie knew about it.

“And if it helps, when you mom and I got married, we were given these.” Sea-Snail rolled up his sleeve to reveal an amethyst bracelet with the royal crest and the Dolphin-swordfish symbol. The same one that was given to me on my 15th birthday, the day I was officially given the title of ‘Princess’ (and is currently on my dresser). “They are only given to members of the royal family, usually when you come of age or marry into it.”

“Yeah, I knew that.”

Once again, the beach went silent for a bit, both of us hesitant to speak. “This-this is all happening so fast.”

Sea-Snail sighed “I know, I would’ve told you this much later if I hadn’t made that creepy slip-up.”

“It’s ok, I would have made that same mistake. So…” my tone shifted to something more stern “...why did you leave our family?”

Sea-Snail sighed, slightly misty-eyed “...It’s a bit of a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

“Of course you do.” Sea-Snail sighed, not much hesitation left. “Your mother and I had a very rocky relationship by the time when you were born. At first we loved each other, but as our relationship went on and on we argued more and more and we started to realize our feelings aren't what we thought they were, I’ve never agreed with your mother’s Ideals of Isolationism, but when your egg was stolen Novo got more paranoid, she became more isolated, and more or less...shut everyone out of her life, by the time the egg was retrieved she had already divorced me and had full custody of you, I didn’t argue with her because I don't want to make things worse between us.”

“So mom shut you out.”

“It was partially my fault.” Sea-snail started to tear up “I probably should have done or said something before our divorce was finalized, I should have stood up for myself more or fought for your custody, but it all happened so fast back then. How they let me keep that band is anyone’s guess.” he covered his eyes “Please don’t think I’m making her look like the bad guy, I know a lot can change in nineteen years.”

“Hey, I’m the one who lived with her for nineteen years, up until recently she’s always been a little isolated, but why did you leave the guard.”

“Work became repetitive and tedious, wasn’t very fulfilling, and I became disillusioned with their ideals. You’d be surprised how extreme they were when you were a kid.”

“What are you doing now, Sea-Snail?” I asked.

“I’m more or less a swimming instructor right now.”

“I see.” I smiled at him, hiding my heavy emotions. “So, what’s up with the name Sea-Snail?”

“My name wasn’t very well thought out. My parents were kind of idiots.”

I snorted “Clearly...so what do you want to do?”

Sea smirked, “Follow me, kiddo, and you’ll see.” All of a sudden he started running towards the ocean, him gesturing for me to follow him to the ocean.

We dove beneath the surface, us changing into our aquatic forms, Sea-Snail having a black tail and short blue fins, just like he had when I was in the egg.

Once we were far enough from the surface, he turned to me and smiled. “So, Skies, do you think of yourself as a fast swimmer?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. I’ve always been fairly fast for my age.”

“Well, let’s see about that!” he smirked, giving me the impression he wanted to show me something. “I guess I’ll give you a five-second head start.”

“Really?” I looked at him confused. “Well, if you say so!” I giddily took off swimming at my full speed, quietly giggling at the rush of water around me, the sights of the beautiful ocean around me zooming past me with every pump of my tail.

Before all of a sudden, Sea-Snail torpedoed past me, briefly stopping to wave at me as I raised my eyebrow, slightly annoyed.

I pumped my tail harder to catch up with him, clearly seeing the irony in his name. I tried as hard as I could, but by the time I got close I became exhausted and collapsed on a ledge. Dad stopped and turned around to sit by me.

“Whoa…” I told him, hyperventilating “That was...exhausting. Were you always that fast?”

“Yep, was one of the fastest in Arissia back in the day, it’s what got me assigned to the striker guard. They were all about speed and agility.” he happily sighed. “Though honestly, I thought I’d be a little rusty, I don’t go this far underwater as often as I used to, especially not with a tail.”

“Why not?”

“Well, if you couldn’t already tell, I have...other obligations on the surface, I don't want to get into it right now, but let’s just say I’ve moved on from your mother.”

“I see…” I said, still trying to catch my breath. “Naga, everyone likes to tell me I’m fast, by you’re a whole new level.”

Dad chuckled. “Hey, you’re pretty fast yourself so you probably got that from me. And by the way, if you want my advice, try to keep your fins and arms straight, the webbed fingers create a lot of drag.”

“Thanks,” I said, still panting a little, but not as exhausted. “But I don’t swim that often, I’m more into shells.”

“Interesting.”

I awkwardly defended myself “Hey, don’t judge me, I’m a child of the sea, and up until recently, I rarely left my room.”

“Hey, I’m not judging.” he pointed to the seashell necklace I was wearing alongside the pearl one. “So..did you make that?”

“Yeah, I make a lot of these, in fact, I’m thinking of making one for Spada, though I’m worried he’d find that creepy.”

“Hey, go for it, that’s some nice handiwork and he’d love to have it.”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah…” Dad started to look misty-eyed again (even though we were underwater) before he held me in an embrace, unable to hold back his emotions.”I...it’s just...so nice to see my daughter after all this time.”

Once again neither of us said anything, just holding each other in an embrace, barely able to contain the rush of complex emotions.

Author's Note

'She also likes seaweed wraps', huh wonder where I got that from?

Thanks for being patient, I promise more chapters of this, Gilded Sunburst and even some new stories soon enough.

Anyway, that's my two cents, likes and comments are appreciated, MJP out