Disclaimer: I do not own Finding Nemo. Just this story.

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The current of the ocean was cold and unforgiving to Marlin as he tossed and turned in his sleep. Ever since Coral died, he had been having reoccurring nightmares of the day the barracuda came and killed her along with their unborn children. He could remember the huge sharp teeth thrashing at him and how it terrified him that it could kill his own soon-to-be family.

"CORAL!"

Marlin woke up from his terrible nightmare. He looked around the new anemone he moved to and sighed. Because of what happened to Coral and their babies, Marlin became scared of the dangers of the ocean and decided to move to a smaller anemone hidden among the reef away from predator. Marlin swam out to check on Nemo, the only un-hatched baby that survived the encounter with the barracuda and was left with a small scratch on the surface of its shell. Holding the egg and nuzzling it for comfort, Marlin could hear a "tap, tap" tapping noise from inside.

"Oh my goodness. You're hatching!"

Marlin could hardly breath. He was both in shock and in joy for this was the day his son was to be born. After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Marlin placed the egg in a bed of sand and watched anxiously as the little fry wiggled and pushed against the egg's surface. Finally, the egg burst open and a small orange clownfish popped out and looked around, mesmerized at everything he saw. Marlin smiled proudly as he scooped up the tiny fish in his fins.

"Happy birthday, Nemo. Welcome to the world."

The baby clownfish looked up at his father with wide-eyed curiosity. It amazed Marlin on how much his son looked so much like Coral with his big fire opal eyes and light scales. Then he noticed something else; Nemo's right fin was deformed and much smaller than his left, more normal looking fin; most likely caused by the scratch on his egg. Marlin began to fear that his son wouldn't be able to swim well, which is a huge disadvantage when it comes to being chased by predators. Nonetheless, he found that the fin was a reminder of how lucky he was to survive the barracuda attack.

Nemo babbled happily in his father's fins and suckled on his little "Lucky" Fin. Marlin couldn't help but smile. He saw that his son was perfect in everyway.

"You're very lucky to be hear my son" He said cuddling him. "And I'm very lucky to have you with me."

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I know, its a sappy begining, but It'll get better. Anyways, Please R&R.