"Ani ohevet otach." I love you.
They're the first words Etta memorises after she arrives on Themiscyra. She says it when Diana wakes, and before she goes to sleep.
Those three simple words act as a shield between Diana and herself. They hide Etta's tears, her heartache, and the feeling of exhaustion that weighs her shoulders down some mornings.
Etta shouldn't be here, but she is. It's why she cries in the shower with a sore chest and a tight throat when Diana goes to train with Antiope in the mornings. Part of her doesn't understand it, and part of her is relieved. She can breathe now. All her fears and worries about having a roof over her head and finding employment have all dissolved.
She can live again.
The water cascades down her body in rivulets, branching off from her hair and following the shape of her breasts and stomach. It runs gentle between her thighs like the golden rope Diana keeps on her at all times and Etta can't hold back her sobs anymore. She presses her hands against the shower wall and shudders, swallowing and blinking away the tears as fast as they come.
"Ani ohevet otach," Diana murmurs, sliding her hands around her waist and moulding herself to Etta's body. "What's wrong?"
"I'm okay. Just — I'm still adjusting, that's all." Etta sniffles. She feels safe. That's what's wrong. For the first time in a long time, Etta has found a place she doesn't want to leave.