Motherly Concern


(other story is on hold for now sorry!)


"Think about this, my daughter."

"That's all I've been doing, Mother." Diana scowled.

"Not enough. He's a mortal."

"I know."

"You are not."

"I know that, too."

"You know it, my little sun and stars, but you don't understand." Hippolyta placed a soft hand on Diana's elbow. "You are immortal through the grace of the gods. You will live until the sun darkens in the sky and the world is gone."

"Unless I fall in battle. I know."

"He will not. You can be with him, my daughter, but you cannot grow old with him, though he grows old with you. How long will this last? Fifty years? Seventy? Will you stay by his side as the pains shoot through his limbs? Will you watch the grey shade his hair, take over, as the last strands fall? Will you see him grow bent and frail with time, shriveled like a withered nut? Will you carry him when he grows too weak to walk? Dress and bathe him when he becomes too weak to move?"

Diana swallowed a deep breath. "If that's what my destiny commands."

"Destiny! Hah. Your own willfulness commands, not destiny. You would choose to stay by his side and watch him die. You will bury him, mourn at his graveside, wear the widow's weeds for the rest of your long life? You choose this?"

She closed her eyes. "I know where this path leads, Mother. I'm not a stupid child." But she wasn't merely Hippolyta's child either.

Her mother read her sudden hope in her gaze. "No," said Hippolyta. "They will not grant him immortality, and if they did he would never forgive you."

"How do you know that!" The anger, frustration and fear fluttered in her chest and came forth as pain. "Did you already ask the gods to deny me this?"

"As if they would listen. No, they told me, my darling child. You know there is nothing you do that escapes their notice."

"I know." The gods watched her, watched over her, cared for her, judged her. They would know where her heart lay in this matter.

"I cannot make this easy for you, my daughter. I wish I could. I can only advise you. Make it quick, like the removal of a scab. The wound will heal cleanly for you both."

But it wouldn't, Diana knew. With foresight that wasn't at all mystical but practical, she knew that if she broke off her relationship with Bruce now, that he would run back to Batgirl, and her own wounds would never quite heal because of it.

"Give me time," she said at last. "I'll tell him, but I need time."

"You are immortal. Time is the one thing you have in abundance."