My WonderTrev feels are strong with the approach of the Wonder Woman movie. Diana graces the first chapter of this project.
Diana
She didn't know how to honor him.
How could she possibly do it right, when he was so larger than life? How could she give voice to the myriad of emotions he evoked in her? How could she ever pay a tribute that would perfectly capture who he was, and what he was to her?
She didn't know how to honor him.
She held him as he died. And she wept. She stoked the fires of her rage, her grief, so she could finish the mission. It's what he wanted. It was all she could do. It was the only thing that made his death worth something.
She didn't know how to honor him. Except as a soldier.
But the war ended, and she gave up on saving man's world. They would never come together. They refused to be saved. The battle was finished. She was no longer a warrior. What should she do now? He was one bright thing in a world gone gray and now he was gone. He said she inspired him, but he had inspired her. How could she keep his memory alive?
She didn't know how to honor him.
She kept the name he gave her as a mark of respect and love. She used it to forge a new identity and a new life. She wondered, sometimes, as she idly traced the name on her business cards, if he ever knew he was a prince among men to her. He had opened her eyes and he was all she could see. He gave everything to his cause. She understood that. She felt the same, even though she was still alive. The world was a dark place that took what it wanted, leaving broken pieces behind. She kept him safely guarded in her broken heart.
She didn't know how to forget him.
The years were relentless. They moved her farther away from his time, from his war. From his life. New wars, new battles, endless strife. She watched from the sidelines and refused to get involved. A soldier no more. He was all but forgotten in history. But he wasn't forgotten by her. How could she forget him? The pain became a dull ache, ever present, a constant thing. She dealt in antiques and history and she was occasionally reminded of him through little things. A certain smile, hair falling over a pair of blue eyes, a wry joke.
Or a pure heart and a desire to save the world.
A hero in a blue suit emerged, and she saw some of Steve in him. She wondered how long it would take before the world broke him too. She waited. She watched. She mourned his loss of innocence, his idealism. It was familiar, which meant it was inevitable.
But the moment she saw Steve in him the most was when he gave his life for something he believed in. And he believed in this world. She saw herself in him, but she saw Steve more. She saw the awful cyclical nature of humanity come around again as Lois wept over his body. She felt the crushing loss, the grief anew.
The world buried him amid pomp and circumstance. Bruce scoffed at them, calling it a circus. But she understood. They were paying tribute the only way they knew how. Not with a god-like statue, not with worship. With heartfelt grief and the desire to carry on in his name. With gratitude and the desire to be better.
They don't know how to honor him. Except as a soldier.
Bruce was readying for battle, honoring him in the same way whether he realized it or not. Even he reminded her of Steve now, in how he could fight so hard and do so much without powers. She saw him everywhere. And Diana felt the stirrings of a feeling long forgotten in her own heart.
Hope.
Maybe this was the best way to honor him after all. As a soldier.
Stop the war. Protect the world. Make the sacrifice worth it.
To honor both a superman and her prince, she would fight again.
Hope to have more chapters next week or so. Thanks for reading! :)