Changing Tides


CHAPTER II: PARADISE AT IT'S FINEST

Bruce continued to stir in his sleep, every now and then he would mumble things that would sound as if he was calling out 'mother' and 'father'. As Diana watched him in his slumber a cloud of sympathy shrouded her. She should be more cautious around him, but there was something about him that made her feel oddly safe. If her mother found out that she was showing hospitality to a man, she would not even think twice before sending her into complete exile. Diana slightly shivered at the thought of becoming one of the many victims of her mother's harsh punishments. She glanced at the face of the man who was lying on the floor. Perhaps it was worth it to help him. The corners of her mouth curved into a light smile. It was amusing how she had always hated men until she met her first one. They didn't seem as bad as her mother and the others portrayed them as, well at least not this one.

She quietly rose from the ground and walked over to the mouth of the cave they found sheltered in. She began to pace the entrance in deep thought. How will she ever get him off of the island? Make him swim? Build a raft? Build a plane? The simplest and most logical choice would be to go and steal the invisible plane from her mother. But that would most likely mean complete exile for the rest of eternity. It would also prove difficult to wind through the palace without getting caught; after all Bruce was still injured. Diana sighed in frustration; there was no easy way out of this situation. Suddenly she heard shuffling from behind her, back in the cave. She quickly turned around to Bruce attempting to sit up.

He was shirtless with bandages wrapped around his entire torso. His ribs were severally wounded and there was nothing much she could do except to reposition a couple of them back into place. Only time and good care would be able to heal his fractured collarbone. She had made him a make-shift sling from the hem of her robe. He looked extremely exhausted but he didn't seem to have a high fever anymore. She sighed to herself in relief; the worst of it was over, now he just needed some time to heal completely.

Bruce's eyes fell upon her, his usual vivid blue eyes were dull due to his fatigue. He looked up into her eyes and kept his gaze steadily on them.

"How long have I been out for?" his voice was husky and weak,

"Two days," Diana replied. He didn't respond, instead he took a good look at his surroundings. Bruce then tried to get up on his own but ended up falling back down, groaning in pain. Diana quickly strode over to his side and helped him ease back into a comfortable position.

"It's best that you don't move around too much for the time being," she stated as she settled him against a flat section of the wall,

"Is that a personal invitation to stay longer?" He flashed a feeble grin at her. She slightly rolled her eyes at him in reply. His expression quickly changed to one of concern as he realized the situation he was in.

"How am I going to get out of here…?"

Diana bit her lower lip and remained quiet for a moment. She finally let out a sigh and settled down next to him and replied,

"I have a few ideas,"

.::Five Days Later::.

As he slowly walked the length of the beach, he took in the beautiful scenery of the shoreline. He had never been anywhere so calming. If it weren't for his urgency to leave the place, he would not have minded staying for a few more weeks. A get-away from Gotham never felt so good. He stood still and closed his eyes, a light sea breeze swept across his face. The wet and salty taste was something rather enjoyable. The nightmares that used to haunt him almost every night had suddenly disappeared during his stay on the island. It wasn't just the comfortable environment the island had provided him with though.

He spotted her a few yards down the beach. She was wearing a pure white toga with the hem pulled up a bit, revealing more skin around her thighs. He gleamed at her beautiful figure. Surely he had dated plenty of glamorous super models, but she was well-beyond all of them. It wasn't just her body that had attracted him, but also her pure heart. The doubt that clouded his mind claiming that everyone was untrustworthy faded quickly the moment he had met her. She was innocent, pure and loving. He sighed loudly in disappointment; it's too bad she hates men.

They had many conversations during his stay on the island. They often discussed various topics ranging from military strategies to more personal ones. Over the past few days they had learned a great deal about each other, and it had only left them wanting to know more about each other. Bruce felt a deep connection between the two of them, but she had always seemed like she was trying to keep her distance from him. Perhaps it was just her instincts kicking in, telling her he was a man and men were no good.

As he approached her, she slowly looked up and gave him a small smile before looking back down to continue her work. They both decided the best option would be to make a sturdy raft. Even though it wasn't the most plausible, it was the only one they could work on at the moment. He had no complaints about it, but he was secretly hoping that it would take longer to build it than first expected. But his luck ran out, they were already halfway done with it. Diana's inhuman strength had made the progress much quicker. He couldn't be of much help, since he was still wrapped up in bandages. Nonetheless he had healed a considerable amount. Every now and then he would offer to help her, but she would reject the offer and tell him to rest up for the long journey he would have to encounter on sea. He enjoyed watching her at work; she was skilled on numerous levels. She wasn't made of brute strength; everything she did she calculated to make sure she'd spend the least amount of time and energy possible.

When she had finished her portion for the day, she walked over by his side and collapsed into the sand. Bruce sat down and joined her as they watched the sun set in the ocean horizon. The sky was painted a deep purple as the stars became visible. They sat there in complete silent, both just watching the magnificent change in the sky. Bruce quietly leaned back a bit and stole a glance at her from behind. She had tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, revealing a bit of her slender neck. Her long silky hair was being tossed around by the wind that had picked up. The moment was quickly interrupted by the sound of her stomach growling. Bruce paused a second before bursting out laughing hysterically. Diana turned her head and glared at him with both irritation and embarrassment. She placed a light punch on his arm and he yelped in pain. As his laughter came to a stop, he wiped a tear from his eye.

"Let's go eat," Bruce continued to grin as he stumbled to get back up to his feet. Diana got up and helped him stand. He nodded his head slightly in a thankful gesture. They began to walk side by side back to their shelter.

"What's it like?" Bruce began, "to have superhuman abilities?"

Taken by surprise by his sudden question, Diana remained silent for a bit before responding.

"I like to consider them privileges; they could be taken from me at any given moment," She just stared up ahead into the incoming jungle. Bruce softly nodded his head satisfied by her answer. They walked into the dark jungle in silence, until Diana spoke up.

"What's your world like?" She asked, unintentionally accenting the 'your' in her question. Bruce knew she was referring to 'man's world', as the Amazons titled it.

"Noisy," was the first thing that came into his mind when he thought of Gotham, "it's very noisy,"

There was a small muffled laugh from her direction. He turned to face her.

"I wouldn't mind some of that," Bruce cocked an eyebrow,

"That's what you think," In response she smiled faintly, looked down and responded in a small voice,

"No, it's what I want,"

Bruce looked at her with understanding and sympathy. Just like him, she was also stuck in some place she didn't want to be. He was stuck in the past, while she was stuck on this island. Bruce gave her a crooked grin and with a sudden impulse took her hand into his. He quickly regretted doing so, thinking that she might reject him and pull-away, but instead she froze for a quick second before relaxing her hand into his. She turned to a shade of red and tried to look away, avoiding eye contact with him. He couldn't help but grin from ear to ear; perhaps she didn't hate him so much. He squeezed her hand tightly before he started running down the trail with her hand still in his. He dragged her along the pathway yelling at him to either slow down or stop. She had every chance to let go of his hand, but she just held on. She enjoyed the feeling of his warm, broad hand holding hers.

He finally came to a stop a few feet in front of the entrance to the cave, but Diana was unaware and walked right into him. She muttered in annoyance, demanding he tell her why he suddenly stopped, but she soon realized why. Right in front of the two, by the entrance of the cave; were four Amazonian warriors glaring at them. Then the 4 pairs of eyes fell upon their intertwined fingers. Bruce clenched his jaw tightly as Diana bit her lower lip.

Her mother would be absolutely delighted to hear about this.


AUTHORS NOTE:


Hey guys! I was delighted to hear from a few of you. All the criticisms were very helpful and I hope to get back to editing chapter one ASAP. Hopefully this chapter was more appealing and contains less grammatical errors compared to the first.

Thanks for the support and reviews~!

Chapter three will be up soon!