I got the idea for this from the reviews left for my other story, my sparkling angel. This is a sort of sequel and is from Zeus' perspective, telling his thoughts and feelings after reading Hera's words. Hope you like it. Disclaimer: I don't own Zeus or Hera or any element of Greek Mythology, I'm just borrowing them for a little while.

….This gives me hope we will come back from the end, back to forever. Because I am Hera, your sister, your wife and your queen, and you are Zeus, my love, my weakness, my sparkling angel.

I stare blankly at the letter before me; it shook lightly in my trembling hand making the words appear hazy. Only the sound of my heavy, ragged breathes and the pounding of blood reached my ears. 'Why was I never good enough for you?' The words scream at me and drag their sharpened claws along my brain, causing me pain worse than when Athena burst forth from my skull.

'Why was I never good enough for you?' I drop the parchment on the over-stuffed pillow beside its envelope that has my name scrawled across it. The mere sight of it is enough to burn my heart.

'You never understood the pain and humiliation you put me through.' I glance at my reflection bitterly. I know that I beautiful, not handsome, but beautiful and I'm told often by my conquests. You used to tease me and tell me that beauty is only skin deep and well in my case that is true. I've put my own needs and selfish desires ahead of those around me, and for the first time in all my millennia's walking this earth, I feel an emotion so very new to me: Guilt.

'With every passing day I see his cruel nature shimmer in your eyes. It is this dark side that I fear. The one that is taking over.' Our father was corrupt by power, allowing it to cloud his mind and heart, turning him into a monster. Despite the cruelty he inflicted on so many, he remained faithful, never once straying from the vows he took. And I have. I have become unfaithful, corrupt and cruel. He swallowed his children. I treat mine as if they are not. He took his wife for granted, but nowhere near as much as I have.

For all this time I've been blinded by the power I have. I use my conquests, for that is all they are, as a way to show all my authority and prove that there is nothing that the king of the universe may not have. But no more. I see now what I have become and I understand that I do not need to show my strength through how many foolish maidens I can bed; through how many heroic offspring I produce through these affairs.

'I wonder sometimes, if you love or even care for them, more perhaps than you even love me? But the way you move through them makes me question if you have ever, truly, loved anything in your long, immortal life.' Oh my darling queen, how I have wronged you! If only you knew how deeply my feelings for you run. If only you knew how much I loved you. But you shall no longer doubt my love for you. No more shall you feel pain because of my infidelities. No more. I shall change. I swear on the River Styx that I shall change for the better.

I hear someone moving around on the floor below me and I relax as I feel Hera's presence enclose me. Taking several deep breathes and steeling my nerves, I slowly make my way to where she is rummaging through her desk, looking for whatever relevant paper work is needed. As I stand in the doorway, leaning casual against the frame, I watch her in wonder and drink in her beauty, something I have not done in ages. She suddenly becomes aware that someone is watching her and looks up quickly. When she notices me, her eyes turn hard and she fixes me with a cold, aloof glare. "Was there something you wanted, husband?" Her voice betrays none of the emotions I can feel swirling inside of her.

I simply hold her gaze and don't reply. I stride purposefully towards her and, before she has a chance to react, I grasp her hand and gently tug her into my chest, winding my other arm around her waist. Her hand automatically comes to rest on my shoulder.

"What are you doing?" She hisses, though from the faint blush that taints her cheeks, I gather my attentions are not unwelcome.

"Dancing with you." I grin mischievously and her eyes widen slightly.

"Why?" She whispers suspiciously, her voice sounding breathless despite the fact she hasn't done any physical exercise. Yet.

"Am I not allowed to now?" I look deeply into her eyes and soften my voice, "Because I want to. I want to have you near me."

At first she looks shocked but then her shock is replaced by anger. She tries to pull out of my embrace; however I'm not willing to let her get away. Not this time. "Gods, is that all you think about?" She seethed with rage, "You think that by trying to get me in a good mood that you will be able to go to one of you whores without any fuss. If you're that desperate, why didn't you just stay with them instead of coming back here?" Her eyes burned with unspoken pain that I had never bothered to notice before.

I pulled her tightly towards me, so that our noses were almost touching and our breathes mingled together. Our eyes locked as I spoke softly, soothing her aching heart. "I'm not going to anyone else Hera, not anymore." I smiled softly at her confused expression. "I read your letter."

"You…" She choked. Her jaw went slack in shock. "I…you…but…." Hera turned her face away with shame, refusing to look at me, tears welling up in her elegant eyes. "I never meant to tell you like that. It's just that you never listened to me and treated it as if it was all unimportant. I just wanted to let it all out. I needed to. I'm sorry."

The sight of her heartbroken expression shattered my heart into a million pieces and I felt a surge of protectiveness wash over me. I needed to protect her from this pain. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry, and I am. More than you could ever imagine." I wetted my dry lips. I'd never been very good at confessions of the heart. "I was a fool. A blind one at that. Pretending it wasn't an issue made it easier to deal with but I ended up pushing those i love most away. I never realised what I had, and I've come so close to losing it that I see how precious it is to me. How precious you are to me." A fresh wave of tears pooled in her eyes.

"Do you really mean that?" Her heart had been laid out before me, vulnerable. Now all I had to do was offer mine in return.

"I'm not going to pretend that this will be easy, because it won't. We are both going to have fight to make this work, but I want our marriage to work. I want you in my life and I want to be a good father and a good husband." I felt nervous as paused to look at her. I'd never been this open with anyone before. "So what do you say?"

She grinned lovingly at me, "I've waited nearly three millennia to hear you say that. I never went anywhere, I've always been waiting for you to realise that I'm here and that I love you more than anything else."

I felt light and carefree at this. We still had a long way to go, however this was a start. We could only go forward from here. "I love you, my darling angel."

Together we danced the night away, twirling out of the door and into the rest of our lives. Together.

Finished! Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Please leave me a little review and let me know what you think of it. (;