As soon as I reached the surface, the snow around my feet began to melt. I walked for a little ways, snow melting and flowers blooming in my path. I took a quick look behind me and saw that the entrance to the Underworld (which was a simply cave, by the way) was blocked by a huge boulder. Same as always.

I walked into a nearby forrest. I knew my mother would sense my presence on earth eventually, but it was best I just kept walking and looking for her.

Eventually, I found her. She was sitting on a large rock, no snow covering its surface, and she was crying. I knew she knew I was standing there, and I knew her sobbing was fake. She was trying to either make me feel bad or fake innocence. I cleared my throat and her head shot up. A smile grew on her face as she sprung up from the rock and nearly knocked me over with a hug.

"Oh, my darling Persephone!" My mother cried, "I thought I may never see you again!" She released me from the hug and stared intently at my face. "How dare that horrid Hades go back on his promises!"

I wanted to protest, tell her that I was the one who chose to stay in the Underworld, tell her that she was the reason I stayed. But, I couldn't. However much I hate to admit it, I was happy to see her. "I'm not sure what he was thinking." I said softly.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. I'm just glad that you've finally returned to me." She smiled. Already, I could feel the cold winter air warming up. The snow in the area melted quickly and suddenly, it was spring.

It took a few weeks for the rest of the world to transition into the new season. I spent this time gathering new flowers and enjoying the warmth and the sunshine with my nymph friends. They were such wonderful company, especially since they had the same appreciation for nature as I did.

At the moment, I was sitting on a low branch of a tree. I know I say low, but I had to stand at the tips of my toes in order to reach the branch. So it wasn't really low, but it was the lowest on this tree.

I sat there for a long while. It was nice having some peace and quiet to myself, and it gave me some time to think. Usually, when I'm alone, I tend to think about Hades. He's always been a bit of a mystery to me. I never know what to do about him. Sometimes I hate him and other times I can tolerate him. But then there are those rare smiles and small signs of affection that only I get to see. Sometimes he actually manages to get my heart to race. But those moments come and go very quickly. I know he loves me, but I still can't help but to loath him.

"Hello."

The sudden voice to my left jolts me out of my thoughts, so much so that I actually fall out of the tree. Strong arms catch me before I can hit the group and I look up to see a very handsome man looking down at me with the biggest grin I have ever seen.

"I didn't mean to startle you, princess." He puts me down and laughs a little.

"Apollo," I sigh, "what are you doing here?"

He's silent for a moment and I notice that his eyes glance quickly over my body. Is he checking me out? Gross.

Finally, he smiles. I hate to admit it, but his smile is rather charming. "Well, I saw you sitting over here all by yourself and you looked rather distressed."

"You mean you were stalking me and you wanted a reason to talk to me."

He smirked and nodded. "That too."

I shook my head and turned around, walking away from Apollo and following the flow of a nearby river. I knew he was following me so I just kept talking. "Don't you have anything better to do with your free time?"

He caught up to me and threw his arm around my shoulders. "I'd say protecting you is rather productive."

"Protecting me!" I stopped in my tracks. Why does everyone still think I'm a child? They've stopped calling me Kore centuries ago and yet they still treat me as if I can't handle myself. Who does Apollo think he is? "I don't need you protecting me!"

Apollo backed up and help his hands in surrender. "I just don't want anything happening to you."

"You mean like a kind, honest, and handsome man coming out of nowhere and kidnapping me?" I'm not sure why I gave Hades so many compliments in that sentence. He was none of those things. Except perhaps handsome. But I could tell where this conversation was headed. Might as well start defending my husband now.

I could tell that Apollo was shocked by that string of compliments towards Hades as well. He stared at me, eyes wide and mouth hanging open, but he said nothing.

"Is that what you are going to protect me from?"

Apollo sighed and looked me dead in the eyes. "Persephone, I don't know what's gotten into you, but don't you remember how much you used to detest that man? He pulled you away from everything you loved and trapped you in darkness."

He was right, of course. "Another thing he did was save me from making a stupid mistake!" That was true, too. Before Hades had come along, many gods asked for my hand in marriage. My mother said no to each and every one of them and drove them away. Apollo and Hermes were two of those gods. I had overheard them talking with my mother. Hermes doesn't show it, but I know there's some kind of infatuation towards me. Apollo has a tendency to flirt, but he does that with everyone.

When I was young and naive, I had the dumbest crush on Apollo. It got to the point where we planned to be wed without my mother knowing. Sure she would find out eventually, but it would be too late then. However, Hades had stolen me away and forced me to be his bride before Apollo and I could be married. When I returned to the surface for the first time, I took a lot of comfort in my mother. And when I saw Apollo, I broke things off with him. Sure, I was married to the last person I would ever want to be married to, but I was faithful. Apollo and I remained friends and I grew out of my silly crush for him, but I could tell there were still some feelings left with him.

"A stupid mistake?" Apollo spat, "What, was I just some kind of coping mechanism for your complex mother issues?"

I felt the urge to slap him, but I didn't. "No. But what good would it have been marrying you? You can't offer me anything."

"Persephone," his voice was calm now, "why do you insist on defending Hades?"

I crossed my arms and glared at him. "Because he's my husband, and I am a loyal wife."

He looked at me for a few moments then turned and started walking away.

"Hey!" I raced after him. "Where are you going?"

"If you're so loyal to your husband, then I suppose it's best for me not to stick around." His face was serious. He glanced over at me and smirked. "Wouldn't want to give you any temptations." I should have known I hadn't actually hurt his feelings. But I figured it would be fun to play along with his flirting game.

"Temptations?" I looked over at him and pursed my lips. "Even if you disappear I won't be able to stop thinking about you."

His smirk became more pronounced. "Is that right?"

I stopped walking and turned to face him, placing my hands on his chest. "Yeah. I mean, you're just so handsome and perfect." I leaned in close, as if I were about to kiss him. When he leaned in too, I pushed my hands away from me and Apollo fell backwards into the river we were walking along. I laughed as his head came above the surface. He half-heartedly glared at me.

"And here I thought you were actually interested." He said.

"Why on earth would you think that?" I laughed again and stretched my arm out, offering him my hand. "Here, I'll help you out." That was a mistake.

He took my hand, but instead of letting me pull him out of the water, he pulled me in.

I sank to the bottom then pushed my feet against the ground, up to the surface.

"That wasn't very nice."

Apollo shrugged his shoulders. "You pushed me first."

We spent a while swimming in the river. The water naiads splashed at us occasionally. When the sun was starting to sink brow the horizon, we finally decided to pull ourselves out of the water. We sat at the edge, our feet still in the water, and we talked. Not about anything in particular, but it was nice. That is, until the subject of Hades came up again.

"I don't understand." Apollo said, not looking at me. "Do you love him or not?"

"I don't know." I whispered. It was the truth. I didn't really like him, but I always found myself thinking about him. "He's just so complicated. I want to hate him, but I don't think I can completely."

"You don't hate him, but you don't love him either?"

"I guess." I sighed. "My relationship with him confuses me. I'm not sure how I feel about it."

"But there is the possibility of you loving him?"

"Can we just drop it?"

He nodded and we sat there in silence.

I don't know how long we sat there, but eventually, he told me he had to leave and he was gone. I sat there by myself, staring out at the nearly faded sunlight, thinking about Hades as I always did when I was alone.