I do not own any of these characters, nor am I making any money off of this story.

Thank you so much Kipling-Nori. You're a real Wonder Woman. :)

This takes place a little over a year after the last chapter.

I appreciate any and all reviews. Thanks!

The Starry Nights

Chapter III:

The Second Star to the Right

Or

Pocketful of Starlight

The second star to the right
Shines in the night for you
To tell you that the dreams you plan
Really can come true.

-Disney's Peter Pan

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, Never let it fade away!

Catch a falling star an' put it in your pocket, Save it for a rainy day!

For love may come and tap you on the shoulder, Some star-less night!

Just in case you feel you want to hold her, You'll have a pocketful of starlight!

-Catch a Falling Star

"Bruce, is it really necessary to go on patrol tonight?"

The only answer she received was a stern glare.

"We could stay here and play cards with Alfred. We haven't done that in a while."

"Diana."

"That tone doesn't work on me."

He turned around and began to stalk toward the cave.

Perhaps it's time for a different approach.

In less than five steps, Diana had managed to maneuver herself in front of Bruce, wrap her arms tightly around him, and plant her lips firmly on his.

After a few pleasurable minutes, Diana broke contact with Bruce, and gave him the most seductive look she was capable of.

"Are you finished?"

Okay, that didn't work.

"Bruce, it makes no sense."

"I thought you wanted to see this case through."

"There is no case! We captured all the people involved in that drug smuggling ring last Tuesday, and Gotham has been quiet ever since. You'd think, for once, we could just take the night off. Besides, it's less than 20 degrees outside. No one is going to be out in this cold."

"That's what they would like you to believe."

"I refuse to go ou-"

Diana's ultimatum was interrupted by a beep from her com-link. "Wonder Woman?"

"Yes, J'onn?"

"Can you and Batman go to Chile? It seems there is a local uprising that may escalate into a riot."

"Of course. Just give us a minute to change into our uniforms."

Diana gave Batman a triumphant look. "Looks like we're not going patrolling tonight."

This time she didn't try to stop him as he went to his cave to change.

When they materialized in Chile, Diana became confused when she saw nothing but a tranquil meadow, punctuated every now and then by a sheep, cow, or goat.

Wonder Woman walked over to the nearest building, hoping to find some answers.

The quaint little chapel was just as quiet on the inside as its outer surroundings, and equally bereft of people.

"J'onn, did you send us to the correct place?"

"La Serena, Chile?"

"We're here, but I don't see anyone."

"I must have been mistaken."

"That's alright. We're ready to be transported back to Gotham."

"I hear there is an observatory about fifty miles east from where you are at, located in the mountains. Please give Batman my regards."

"J'onn?...J'onn? That's odd." Diana turned to Bruce for his assessment of the situation.

"A lesser man would point out that we will be patrolling Gotham tonight."

Deciding to be spontaneous and a little spiteful, she scooped him up in her arms (a position she knew he disliked) and flew eastward. "And a lesser woman wouldn't be able to put up with you."

"Where do you think you're taking me?"

"The observatory."

He attempted to give her a bat glare, but she laughed it off. "Don't make me drop you, Bruce."

As they approached the site, Diana decided she would rather view the skies from a different vantage point, so she flew towards the highest peak, and thanked her gods when she found the perfect landing spot—an outcropping that was about 30 feet wide, and 20 feet deep, with an opening in the mountain's face. She managed not to drop Bruce until they were only eight feet off the ground.

Of course he had to land gracefully.

As she watched Bruce walk away from her into the little cave, she tried to reign in her temper. She wanted to enjoy tonight.

She forced herself to regulate her breathing. When that didn't help, she turned around to look up at the sky.

What she saw took her breath away.

Thousands upon thousands of stars shone down on her, in formations she had never seen before. Though she had briefly studied the constellations of the southern hemisphere, she had never witnessed their splendor firsthand. As she peered into the canopy, she found a familiar site—Orion. Only he was upside down.

When she turned around to call Bruce to show him, she received another surprise.

As he stepped out of the shadows, she noticed that he had removed his cowl from his face and that his arms contained a picnic basket.

The delight on her face indicated to Bruce that his plan was a success. And it was just beginning.

Diana couldn't help laughing as she remembered her earlier crankiness.

"You knew this the whole time, didn't you?"

"Of course I did."

"But how did you know that I would pick this ledge?"

He looked at her as if she had just asked him if the sky were blue.

(He neglected to inform her that there were about twenty other similar outcroppings with picnic baskets in their caves.)

"I should have known you were up to something!"

He just smiled at her as he removed the contents of the basket to the blanket he had spread out before her.

By the time everything was ready and they had begun to eat, Diana was no longer able to keep her curiosity from bubbling over.

"So why did you go through all this trouble?"

"It's February 27th."

Diana's cheeks burnt with embarrassment. For the life of her, she could not figure out the significance of that date. We've been together nearly two years, but that anniversary isn't till March. And we met each other in June, so that couldn't be it either.

Finally, admitting defeat, she looked sadly at her boyfriend and confessed, "I'm so sorry Bruce, but I don't remember what happened on February 27th."

"I didn't expect you to. I've never told you, but" he stopped to clear his throat "it was the day I knew I loved you."

"You are just full of surprises tonight, aren't you?"

"I have something for you."

"Bruce, you've done so much already. I couldn't possibly accept anything more. I just want to sit back and relax with you."

"Trust me. You'll like it."

He pulled out a star map and handed it to her as he began his explanations.

"At first I tried to get you a star in a conste-"

"You bought me a star?!"

"No. A constellation of stars."

He paused to see if she had any other questions, but as she remained in stunned silence, he continued.

"I wanted to get a constellation that reminded me of you, but the scientists thought it was astronomical heresy to change the names of the Scorpion and Goat."

"Tonight, after all you did, I will laugh at anything you say, however unfunny it may be. You could even call me fatty, and I would still smile."

"I'll keep that in mind. Eventually, I was able to persuade them to change the names of a few stars."

"How many?" She started to count the stars he had circled on the paper.

"Eight."

Diana tried to find them, but was having difficulty.

"They're over to the east."

"I see them! They're lovely. How did you manage to do it? I didn't think that buying a star was even possible."

"Normally, it's not, but there are certain advantages that come with being a billionaire or a billionaire's girlfriend, as I'm sure you will testify."

"Yes, Bruce. Of course, Bruce. Whatever you say, Bruce."

"You're not that funny either. Come here." After kissing her into silence, he picked up his narrative. "As I was saying, I simply hired enough scientists who were members of the International Astronomical Union, and eventually everything fell into place."

"How long have you been working on this?"

"Since that first night we went star watching, so almost a year and a half." As she kept shining gazes of intense happiness his way, he was finding it more and more difficult to keep his cool. But he made himself continue.

"I'll leave it to you to connect the dots to draw a suitable constellation, but I did take the liberty of naming the individual stars, and I have a tentative name for the constellation itself."

"What did you name them?"

"I'll tell you another time."

"Ok." Though Diana was slightly disappointed, it only lasted a second. She had too many things to be excited about.

"Thank you so much, Bruce. I love it. All of it! And especially you." She leaned in to kiss him, but he pressed his fingers to her lips.

"I'm not finished."

He removed his gloves, and then he reached into one of the compartments of his belt and pulled out a small pouch. Diana watched as a beautiful gleaming object dropped into his palm.

Having seen enough movies to know that something potentially life-changing might be about to occur, but not wanting to get her hopes up too high, Diana attempted to clarify the situation.

"What is it?"

He stopped to consider his answer. "It's many things. A band of gold. A symbol. A promise. My mother's ring."

Diana tried not to tremble as she asked her next question. "On which finger does it go?"

"The second one from the right or left, depending on which hand you choose to wear it."

"So what does a promise ring stand for?"

"Typically it's a sign of a couple's fidelity to one another. But this ring will mean anything you want it to mean."

She couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice as she asked her next question.

"Anything I want?"

When he didn't answer her question, she tore her eyes away from the sparkling stone to look at him.

Her eyes widened as he slipped the solitaire onto her left ring finger, and when she noticed that it was actually two rings soldered together, her voice nearly left her.

"Bruce?"

"For as long as we both shall live."

After he had pronounced those last words, Bruce kissed his Diana.

That night Diana gave Bruce a little gift of her own. And while the constellation Virgo was saddened that she had lost her most devout follower, Bruce and Diana managed to begin their happily ever after.

To Be Continued With

Chapter IV:

Shining Star

I'm sorry if that last chapter was too sappy, but if you made it through the other ones, I'm sure that you were desensitized long ago.

For those who say they would never get married, technically they didn't. For those of you (like me) that wanted a marriage, I think this comes close. Too bad she was wearing her uniform, huh?

The next chapter picks up where this one left off. I'm upping the rating of this story, not because it's going to turn into some explicit story (Trust me, it's not!), but because it no longer seems appropriate to keep it at K+.

If anyone knows how to better work the formatting on fanfiction, could you let me know? I don't know how to get rid of the extra spaces, like in the lyrics for Catch A Falling Star. I would prefer if it looked like the Peter Pan lyrics. Also, I wish there were more space between my page breaks and the text. Any help would be greatly appreciated.