This is the end.
Finally, the very moment that she'd been avoiding was before her, daring her to be brave. Each second that passes takes him further from her, and she knows. Like a lightning bolt to the chest, Diana knows it like she knows how to breathe.
This is the end.
She thought that they would have more time. Another moment alone away from the world; a second carved out just for them was all she wanted, but it is too late. Selfish, selfish, selfish, she thinks harshly to herself only to come to inevitable conclusion that he, Clark Kent, Kal-El, Superman, would always belong to the world around them. It's belated and particularly untimely thought, but none the less true. And so that moment will not be had, because their moments are numbered.
This is the end.
But gods, she wishes she could tell him everything, so there would be no question as to his heart or hers. Just a moment, a second to touch her fingers to his lips and feel one more breath against her skin. Unintentionally, she holds her breath. It's childish to think that if she doesn't breathe that maybe, just maybe time would hold still, but it won't…
Because this is the end.
Biting her lip, she wraps her arms around her waist and waits impatiently wishing he knew how much she needed him right now, but knowing that in the end, the only one left to pull herself together will be herself.
Because this is still the end.
If only she could concentrate on these fleeting moments. If only she could extend them, because, sweet merciful Athena, she needs more time. She needs him. It hits her hard enough to knock the air from her lungs. She needs him, she needs him, she needs him. Her fingernails bite into the skin of her palm as she tries, tries, tries to make these seconds last.
But this is the end.
Finally his eyes meet hers and the suffering in them knocks her knees out from beneath her. How could she wish this upon him? Perhaps that breaks her most of all, knowing that she will let him go. That she has to let him go. Bless him, he was holding on just for her. Pressing her hand to his face, Diana gives up on holding back the dam in her eyes and lets the tears fall. They are out of time, and she has to be the one to do this, because he won't do it for her.
This is the end.
His soft skin is too warm, his blue eyes too green, his color too pale.
This is the end.
Each of her unsteady heartbeats pound in her ears making it hard to hear his shallow breaths. This wasn't what she wanted, they could have been so much more, they should have been so much more. Pushing his hair back from his forehead, she tries to smile, but it breaks half way through. Gods, how could he be taken from her too? How could he leave her like this?
She wants to hold on tighter, but it's time.
This is the end.
"…Taking everything I've got to hold on, Diana…Energy inside…burning…pain's intense…"
His words are soft but clipped, watery but sharp; the tone something she'd hoped to never hear from his lips. As much as she wants him with her, she doesn't want this for him. And suddenly it doesn't matter that they aren't alone, because they are the only two left in their universe, perhaps for the last time.
"It's time."
Her words are steadier than she thought they'd be, calmer than she thought they'd be, but inside she's a hurricane of emotion. This is the hardest thing she's ever done, but for him, she'd do anything.
"I love you, forever and always. Let go, Darling. Your parents are waiting for you."
She holds him too tightly, but she can't make her fingers let go. How could she ever have prepared for this?
His last words are so soft, his heartbeat is so slow, his eyes so dim.
"What a lucky man I was…To have loved you."
Her smile falls and she's clutching her brave front, but it's tearing apart at the seams.
Diana watches him in his last moments; the light in his eyes fades even as her heart screams for him not to leave her, but it's too late. For a split second, he looks so calm, so peaceful before the energy he's consumed win the battle his battered body was fighting.
With a brilliant light, he's gone…
Somewhere between her throat and chest her heart catches on a sob and shatters into a million jagged pieces. But no matter how she begs the gods, no matter how hard she cries it will change nothing.
This is the end.