Until… Whenever
By Icha
Rated: K
Summary: Wonder Woman met her old friend Andros. Should her husband be jealous? Tribute to Lynda Carter (WW) and Tim O'Connor/Dack Rambo (Andros). Major characters are either WB's or DC's, no infringement intended. Special thanks to Hepburn for her lovely beta.
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"I know a planet with eight moons. They fill the night sky like jewels in the crown. You'd be beautiful under that sky."
Diana looked at the bright full moon with its silver rays shining so brightly; it illuminated a large proportion of her spacious balcony. The night breeze carried the fragrance of roses creeping into the balcony, mixed with jasmine and lily of the valley from the garden below. She sighed, not unhappily, as she caressed a palm-sized milky crystal on her hand. She remembered what she said after hearing those beautiful words, almost forty years ago.
"Andros, I can't. I'm needed here."
She also remembered how pain clearly etched on his almost-immortal face as he swallowed his desires, inhaled deeply and said, "Yes… yes you are…So, Princess. Until…whenever?"
"Until…whenever."
He smiled and took off in a blitz of a lightning storm. Still, she could remember the look of longing on his face as he let himself be swallowed by the galactic wind. Looking back, she could also remember the same look of longing on face as he offered the first invitation, decades beforehand.
"Come with me. To a planet of water. Of a civilisation of dolphins. To a planet of gods when you meet intelligent plants. To a planet where the gravity makes you fly. Oh, those thousands of worlds. You can see them. You can taste them if you wish. Spend some time with me. Us. Come to my world."
And her answer was still the same. She was needed here, on Earth. She waited though, after year 1977, in case he came again in 1992 as he promised… but he never came. Of course, he never came. History 'wiped' her out of existence in the mid 80s, but returned her again quite anew and innocent to Man's World just a few years afterwards. Until recently, she never remembered this memory, for her new body did not store that information. But then, crisis after crisis happened, and after the last crisis, she suddenly remembered all her lives before the lethal beam of the Anti-Monitor 'killed' her, reverting her back to clay. She remembered her lives during World War II. She remembered Steve Trevor and Etta Candy, and was grateful that Steve was now married to Etta. She remembered her mod life with Eastern Guru I Ching. And she remembered him. Andros.
All those memories came rushing back again as she encountered the young Octarian just a few days ago in Alpha Cygnus system, when another galactic crisis happened. The 'young' Octarian was not young anymore, though. Even by Amazonian standard, residents of planet Octarus were way more 'immortal' than they. But evidently, life caught up and Andros looked a bit older than the images in her ancient memory. He was still gentle and sensitive, but his flirting had been replaced with more wisdom, along with more crinkles at the corner of his eyes. She wondered if he remembered her, but she didn't need to worry about that.
"You look exactly the same, Princess," he had said after the crisis was over. "Still the brave, courageous, and beautiful woman I knew."
"Not really," she smiled. "I can fly now."
"Yes, you can," he smiled too. "I've heard your name whispered in awe across the galaxy. Wonder Woman. The Amazon. The Ambassador of Earth."
"And I heard you are an Elder now. Octarus is blessed to have you as an Elder."
"I do hope so," his smile lingered as he took her hands, examining them gently before diverting his attention to her abdominal area. "And you are carrying another life."
"Andros, I –"
"I understand what happened, Princess. You have forgotten. You were… wiped out."
Then, he explained everything. How the Intergalactic Council had been observing everything. How they chose to flee to another dimension when the Anti-Monitor attacked. A very cowardice decision that still fumed him every time he thought of it… It took him years to convince the Council that it was safe to return to their original dimension shared with Earth. It took him becoming an Elder himself before his voice was justly heard and acted upon. It took them a while to locate their original dimension because apparently some other maniacs had mixed up the delicate design of the multi-verse. And when they eventually returned to the original dimension, they had found that the universe was pretty much in order, with the Guardians of the Universe and the colour-spectrum Corps guarding the known universe.
"Everything changed. Our Octarus was not the same Octarus anymore. We were unsure of our place in this universe, and it took us some Earth years to bridge the relationships with the Guardians and others before contacting Earth again, with your amazingly advanced civilization this time."
"We still have so much to learn though."
"That's why they need Wonder Woman, Princess." He let go of her hands. That was when she realized he had placed a crystal on her right palm. "Here, take it. For the baby," he further explained when she gave him the questioning look. "It will give him, or her, access to the knowledge of the known and unknown universes. Her mother will tell him or her how to use it wisely."
"That…" she lost her words. "That is such a generous gift, Andros. Thank you."
"My pleasure. And please wipe out the guilty feelings on your face and in your heart, Diana. I still love you as a dear friend, and I know you still love me too, as your dear friend. I've known it since I saw you fighting for the Octarians a few days ago."
She hesitated before saying "I've moved on, though."
He smiled. "That is another subject I would like to impart on you. I have given a similar crystal to my own son, just a few weeks ago. My wife Kimirra is with him now, although she wished that she could say hello to you."
Upon hearing the words 'son' and 'wife', Diana's sorrow melted away. Her lips formed a very bright smile as she hugged Andros, rather differently this time. "A baby! Andros! Congratulations!"
The rest of the conversation was filled with tears, laughter, chuckles, and friendly nudges until Superman flew in and declared that the Justice League was ready to go back home to Earth. Though that was not until Diana and Andros said 'See you again' wholeheartedly and promised to visit each other once their offspring were big enough for intergalactic travels.
"Heard that you had a great adventure up there."
She turned to find her husband striding towards her, his cape billowing behind. She quirked her eyebrows; he hadn't even bothered to change into civvies.
"So I did. Alfred has prepared supper. You want me to heat it up?"
"I thought we had a deal that you would not do any more planetary or galactic adventures while you're in this condition."
"I was really just helping. Honestly, I was just doing the third tier personnel's job. Other than the peace negotiation, that is." When her husband produced a snicker, she relented and said, "Okay, I'm sorry. That would be really the last time. Promise."
He looked up. "Promise?"
She held one hand up to her chest. "With all my heart." When his scowl finally disappeared, she continued. "I also heard that Batwoman and you patched things up and the Dr. Darkk business was off."
"Tiring business as usual, but Kate was very helpful."
"Damian too?"
"He was the one who told me to go home earlier. In fact, he almost shooed me."
"That's good, that's good…"
He kneeled in silence for a while in front of her, his gauntleted hand caressing her enlarging tummy. "I also heard from Clark that… you met an old friend?" He was more speaking to her tummy than to her eyes.
"Big brother Clark was right. A very old friend."
Taking the crystal from her palm, her husband tentatively asked, "In terms of age or friendship?" When she said 'both', he resumed with even a smaller voice, his eyes studying the marbled floor of the balcony. "Should I be worried?"
Diana Wayne of Themyscira tilted her head in silence for a moment or two before answering. "No, never. Not at all. It was in a previous lifetime, literally. But if you want to know…" she reached to slowly lift his chin up and take off his Batman cowl. "…Bruce…if you really want to know, I can tell you all about it over supper."
Bruce locked eyes with his wife for a few seconds before producing a relieved smile. "A bedtime story would be preferable, Princess."
-END-
Author's note:
I've been in love with Andros since I saw him during Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman Season One. That time, Tim O'Connor played him. I always thought that Diana (at least that universe Diana) was better with him than with Steve Trevor. Then I saw Season Two, and although the younger Dack Rambo played Andros this time, their chemistry remained. If they decided to play Diana and Andros in the TV series, I'd be more than happy. Andros has the right mix of wisdom, admiration, and even flintiness (for the younger version) for Lynda Carter's Diana.
Honestly, I don't mind an nth Earth where Lynda Carter WW and Andros (whatever version) are together. But of course, since my allegiance is with Bruce/Diana, I somehow found a way to bring Bruce Wayne (who also has a habit to call Diana 'Princess') into this. Hope you like it.