It was a particularly mundane night in the city of Talokan, Your husband Namor was out for a few hours to handle business so you were left by yourself, alone with your thoughts. The servants came to check on you once in a while to ask if you needed anything but every time you respectfully declined, there was something on your mind that had been bothering you for the entire week but you never voiced it to people- you missed your home.
You were born in The Jordan River to a Kuliltu and Kulullu, spending your childhood and teenage years on the land of Palestine and the shores of the Red Sea. Ever since you met Namor you haven’t seen the surface world since, you didn’t need to, your parents decided to permanently migrate back into the water when you got old enough. Your life was complete but there was still a small ounce of homesickness in remembering your surface world life.
You were well aware and understood Namor and his soldiers’ hatred for the surface world so you didn’t feel comfortable telling them about these things but you caught yourself thinking about it from time to time.
“حبي (my love)” a deep but quiet voice said, followed by a light knocking on the door. You turned around to see Namor, looking at you with a warm smile on his face. He made the effort to learn your native language of Arabic so he could understand you and your family. You lit up when you saw him, getting up and embracing him. “Bix bintech bejláake'? (how was your day?)” You asked him eagerly, You also learned his language for the same reason. “Tuláakal jóok' uts, (Everything went well,) He said, kissing your cheek. “Tin tukultaj ta. (I thought of you.) you smiled at him and walked to the shared hammock you two slept in.
“My parents are very happy with the gifts you gave them, (In taata'obe' ki'imak u yóolo'ob jach yéetel le síibalo'ob ku k'eeyaj ti' leti'ob,)” You said as you laid on the hammock, looking at him taking his cloak off and folding it. “My mom won’t take her bracelet off. (In na'e' ma' u Tsel le brazalete.)” He chuckled as he walked to the hammock to lay with you.
You both stared into each other’s eyes- Namor’s eyebrows furrowed in concern which made you curious as well as also concerned. “لقد تم اطلاعي على شيء ما (I was made aware of something)” He said, putting his hand on your face.
"على علم بماذا؟ (Aware of what?)” you said, wondering what could be on his mind. “Ba'ax yaan k'aas in yaakunaj? Le sirvientes in a'alab u ma' a yaax yaantal janal. (What’s wrong my love? The servants said you haven’t been eating.) You frowned at his question, you didn’t think it was that noticeable you were having an off day.
“أنا بخير (I’m fine),” You said to him, smiling to relieve his worries but his face stayed the same. “لا داعي للقلق بشأني، أعدك (You don’t need to worry about me, I promise.)” You kissed his lips, you hated lying to him, so you turned to your other side so you wouldn’t face him. “Ma'alo'ob áak'ab (Goodnight)” You said, hoping that he wouldn’t push the issue further.
There was an awkward silence for a moment. “Ma'alob áak'ab in yaakunaj (goodnight my love)” Namor said, finally breaking the silence.
The truth was, Namor knew something was off. You were mentioning your surface home more often in the past weeks, every time you mentioned it he noticed how you immediately talked about how you loved being underwater, it felt like borderline overcompensation to him.
He knew you loved him and Talokan very much, but a piece of your heart will always be with Palestine and he couldn’t take that away from you. He wanted to do something special for you, but he didn’t know how you would react. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep right beside you.
*
It was around a week later, servants were helping you do your hair. Your homesickness had gotten a little better, but it was still there. Something was different about today, servants giggling to themselves and stopping when you got close enough- Even Namora and Attuma were acting a little bit off.
Namora walked into your room, vibranium spear in her right hand. Her hair was down which was unusual for her, she always had it pinned up in case she was thrown into a fight. Your eyes slightly widened at the sight.
“A wilik increíble, (you look amazing,)” you said with a smile. “Ba'ax u biilal. (What’s it for?)”
“K'uj 'ulkan ts'o'ok u ofrecido jump'éel gesto yaakunaj ta wo'olal. (K’uk’ulkan has offered a gesture of his love for you.) You raise your eyebrow. “ Bix le je'elo'. (how so?)”
She just points toward the door, nonverbally asking you to follow her. You obliged out of curiosity, letting Namora guide you to the pool of water that connects to the rest of Talokan and the ocean where Attuma was waiting in the same, slightly altered patterns as Namora.
The whole swim there was slightly awkward, you were in your head most of the time thinking of all the ways he could surprise you. You were slightly scared, the anticipation of it all made you nervous about the outcome.
You got out of the water a couple of seconds after Namora and Attuma did and sat on the sandy beach. It was dark out so you were confused for a moment, looking around to see the so-called surprise that was waiting for you. But then you realized- the beach looked familiar. “لا يمكن أن يكون (It can’t be.)” You said, looking at both the warriors dumbfounded as Attuma looked like he was trying to hold in a laugh.
It soon dawned on you that the beach you laid on at that moment was Rafah- In Palestine.
You then noticed a trail of cyclamen a couple feet away, you got up and followed it, Namora and Attuma staying behind.
It was a long, tiring trail, but you managed. Soon enough the trail stopped right in front of a small brick building, K’uk’ulkan right in front of it, looking down with his hands behind his back. He lit up when he saw you, “ وصلت (You arrived)” He said, smiling.
You ran up to embrace, kissing him all over. The long walk didn’t even matter to you, you were just happy he went out of his way to do this. You stopped to look at him, slightly tearing up. “ هل قطعت الدرب طويلاً؟ (Did I make the trail too long?)” He asked with a hint of unsureness in his voice which made you laugh a bit.
“تمكنت (I managed.)” You said, reassuring him. His smile dimmed a bit, “أعلم أنك كنت مشتاقًا لزيارة منزلك (I know you’ve been longing to visit your home)” You frowned when he mentioned it, you considered lying even more but at that point it had been eating away at you. You let out a sigh, “اعتقدت أنني أخفيته جيدًا بما فيه الكفاية. (I thought I hid it well enough.)” “لا أريدك أن تشعر كما لو كان عليك إخفاء أي شيء عني. (I don’t want you to feel as if you have to hide anything from me.)”
He put one of his hands on your cheek. “Y/n,” He started. “كوني لا أحب العالم السطحي لا يعني أنني سأبعدك عنه. "لديك شيء ما هنا، ولن أنزع ذلك أبدًا من الشخص الذي أحبه." (Just because I don’t like the surface world doesn’t mean that I'll keep you from it. You have something up here, and I will never take that away from the person I love.)”
He paused for a moment before lifting his other hand to show you a red keffiyeh. “A na' áanteni' u kaxtik le nook' úuchuk utia'al u beetik. (Your mother helped me find the right cloth to make it.)” You were already tearing up, but him pulling that out just made you burst into happy tears. “You have done so much to take in my culture, this was the least I could do.”
It didn’t matter how big or small it was in retrospect, It meant so much to you regardless. “أحبك (I love you)” You whispered. “In yaakunech (I love you)” He said back. You both put your hands together and held each other- content.