Huntress3419 – Aww, yay! I'm glad it stood up to your expectations. And hopefully you're right! It's only been two days since I last uploaded that I'm starting this, but we will have to see how long it takes me to write and upload. Hopefully it won't be too long!

KC – I, too, believed that Henry was still disinterested in her. But it became a little clearer after a few more chapters, and the other books, that he really did care about her. I figured that it was about time that Henry showed how much he cared about her. As for James and Henry, I thought that they would have put the past behind them and moved forward, but after reading The Goddess Legacy, I've decided that the two of them have some hidden frustrations with each other that have lasted lifetimes. Hopefully I'll figure out how to prove that a little more. (:

IRead2Much4eva – Thank you! I particularly love the behind-the-scenes scenes myself. I wasn't planning on it, but Ava has become a starring character in my version of Henry's story. She's just so loveable. (:

mrpuppy – Disappointment does not even begin to cover how I felt about the lack of Henry's POV in Legacy. All the others got first-person stories, and Henry's third-person version was lacking for me. I'll be honest: while I thought that Legacy was a worthwhile read that helped give the characters more definition (I actually felt sorry for Calliope for a fraction of a second, there) I would have rather checked it out from the library than spend my last remaining $8.00 in gift cards for it. I'm pleased that you're enjoying it. While I have found that my spelling/grammatical errors get under my skin, I'm glad that they don't take too much away from the story (it is an unedited version, anyway. I'm too lazy to read it over. Haha!)

Allyson Winters – Really, thank you. You don't know how glad I am to hear it! (:

megan p123 – Lol, I figured, for a moment, that maybe the two reviews were from the same person, but I ultimately decided that it was maybe two different people. In that regard, welcome to the fanfiction community! (: And thank you so, so much for your review. It really does my heart good. (:

SSMLFob20 – Thank you! Henry has easily become one of my favorite characters (I watched Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief the other day and sat there, looking at Hades, and thinking, that's nothing like Henry, despite the fact that I knew that they were two completely different characters.) And I'm glad you like the long chapters, because lately they've been straying from my shorter chapters and becoming even longer. Sigh. (:

Don't you know – Thanks (: That really makes me feel good about my writing!

Eve – Thank you! And I'm updating! (:

As The Robin Flies – Thank you so much. It really means a lot. (:

klaualice – I'm continuing, no worries there! (;

The Goddess Test Series belongs to Aimee Carter.

9: Christmas

Before I could give Kate the chance she deserved, I needed to get rid of the heavy cloud hanging over my head that was Persephone. Now that I looked back, I could see that she had always been there in some way or another. She had always been what kept me a healthy distance away from the previous eleven girls that had faced the tests. I knew that in voting for her to become mortal, I would lose a piece of myself to her eternally, even though she didn't want it. But now there was someone here, someone who wanted my heart, I was sure, and I was determined to give her all of it. I would have to retrieve that piece from Persephone back.

It didn't help that as the days passed, we got closer to Christmas. None of the girls had ever made it past Christmas before. And I couldn't bear the thought of Kate, lying dead and cold, on a day that was supposed to be celebratory. Kate deserved more than that, eternal life in her Underworld. I had debated on whether or not to take her down there to see what it would be like, should so fail. Should she die. But I had ultimately decided against it, believing that it would be much too hard for her. She believed that her mother was going to be there soon, in that world of cold stone and illusions.

My evenings with Kate were no longer easy by any standards. I was always looking over my shoulder, watching her back, hoping that whoever was doing this, sabotaging me and the girls, wasn't watching from the shadows. I had always held onto the notion that I would know if someone unauthorized entered my manor. But whatever was inside me hadn't recognized the threat the first eleven times, and this time I wasn't willing to risk Kate, the twelfth girl.

I was fully aware of the fact that I was pulling away from Kate. At this point, Ava had told me, I was supposed to be trying to woo her, trying to tell her how much she meant to me. I honestly wasn't even sure what I felt for her – I'd never had emotions so jumbled like this before. I knew what love was, I had felt it passionately for Persephone. I knew what hatred was, because James and my brother, Walter, often brought out the worst in me. I knew what embarrassment and annoyance were, I knew what it felt like to be sad, alone, and betrayed. I even knew what it felt like to be jealous. But this… this was something new altogether, something that I could not put a name to. Something… something indescribable, unspeakable, secretive, and mine.

Ava wasn't the only one to see it, though she was the only one to point it out to me as smugly as she could. Sofia's looks were softer, less concerned. Irene smiled at me every single time we spoke or passed each other in the hallways. Phillip gave me a nod, and there was a twinkle in his eye that the rest of us only saw when he was at the sea. Even Ella, who still harbored anger towards me on most days, seemed to be warming up to Kate and giving me sly, knowing smiles.

"You're a piece of work, you know that? I've never seen two people so completely confused in my entire existence. And for your information, that is a very long time, even though I don't look half my age." Ava said, perching on the table in the library. She moved between her seat there, between stacks of books, and the window seat where she looked out the window, perhaps thinking about her own problems. Even after thousands of years, my nephews were still fighting over Ava's attention. There was a part of me, I admitted, that thought a little badly of her for stringing them all along like she did. But I'd once sat with Nicholas, whom Ava loved dearly, and he'd told me some of his deepest thoughts – the way he knew Ava was a free lover, that she couldn't be tied down to any one single man. Even though she had a son with Dylan, she spent her time rotating between him (who wasn't staying in the manor, for fear of uncovering his secret identity to Kate), Theo, Xander, and Nicholas.

"You're one to speak about confusion," I replied dully, turning the page of my book. I'd gotten used to her constant presence. It wasn't often that I spent time here on earth. My time in Olympus was rare, and most of the time I avoided it at all costs. There was too much squabbling going on there between my brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews. Besides, their problems concerned the living, and I was god of the dead. There were often hundreds of years between our meetings. But these months here, with all of them, were stressful and relaxing at the same time. But most of the time, it was the former.

Ava huffed and shifted, knocking over an entire pile of old books. They weren't as old as me, but as far as book standards went, they were ancient. She looked at them for a long moment, eyes trailing over the dust they expounded from their pages. But she didn't move to pick them up. Even though I wanted to pick them up myself and place them back on their table, I remained seated in my chair, book open in front of me. "All I'm trying to do is to give you some helpful advice. And what do you do? You shoot me down. Sometimes I really do think you have mood swings, Henry. It's unhealthy, you know that? Mortals have names for that. It's a psychological disease." I could feel her narrowed eyes on me.

"I've been thinking about visiting Persephone." I said. The moment the words were out of my mouth, I paused. Where had they come from? For the past few days, they'd only been a mere suggestion bumping around inside my skull. I'd told her, once, that I would visit her. But I never had. It just felt too wrong to travel down to the Underworld in order to visit my ex-wife and her lover. It seemed like a certain type of torture that I didn't need to subject myself to.

Ava gasped loudly, sounding absolutely horrified. "That's the worst idea you've had yet. That's almost as bad as saying that you want to fade. I could hit you right now. I really could." Ava leapt off the table and came to stand right in front of me, putting a hand on my book, drawing my attention away from the pages to her. "You really are an idiot, you know that? Daddy always said that you were missing a few marbles, but going to visit that girl? She destroyed everything, Henry, because she was selfish. Don't you dare think about her, or I swear, I will make you fall in love with something completely undesirable." Her eyes were hard, blocks of glacial ice.

I didn't say anything. I'd learned long ago that matching anger with anger never worked out in the end. At best, it worked out like my confrontation with James had – the two of us were still angry, problems remained unresolved, and dark emotions bubbled deep within. It was times like that, when those emotions skimmed the surface, that I thought of my father, the way we looked alike, the hatred that gleamed in his eyes. Was I destined to end up like him? I could always change my appearance, of course, but this was me. Putting on another face would be like constantly wearing another mask. I'd lose myself.

Ava's eyes continued to search mine until I sighed and snapped the book shut. "Fine. I will not visit her. I just thought –"

Ava cut me off before I could finish my sentence. Her eyes had gone from hard to soft, and I recognized the emotion crossing her face, now. It was sadness, love, and hope. "She doesn't have what you need, Henry." Her words were soft, but they reminded me how much she really knew. Ava liked to seem like she was dense and innocent, but her wit was just as sharp as Irene's. She was not dumb in the least. "Take it from me. It's possible to love two people at once, but there's always a person that you love more, someone that you can't live without. And even if you can't give them all of yourself, you can give them a piece of you. Love needs to be divided. You cannot place your entire heart in the hands of one. It really is a beautiful notion, Henry, but you need to take a piece of who you are and keep it close to you always. Love is dangerous. It's there one day and gone the next. It can build you up and tear you down. Even we put our hopes and trusts into people that don't deserve it."

I looked at her for a long moment, wondering why her words of advice seemed a little off. It was almost like she didn't want me to try and give Kate the chance I thought she deserved. Or was she telling me that I made a mistake in trusting Persephone? Ava had never really been one to dance around her words, but I was starting to believe that she was spending too much time with Irene when she wasn't hovering around me or keeping Kate company. "Are you telling me not to trust Kate?"

"Should it matter what I tell you?" She asked. I thought I saw the corners of her lips twitch up in a small smile, but I couldn't be for sure, the expression was so fleeting. "Mortals have this passage they say, concerning love. I'm sure you've heard of it – love does not boast, love is kind and all that. But there's more to it than just that. You love who you need to love, Henry. Don't let any of us, even me, influence what you have to say for her. The one person you need to listen to is yourself. And I'm not talking about that mind of yours." She reached out and touched my chest, just over my heart, lightly. "Listen to your heart, Henry. It may not be the seat of love, but I swear to you, it knows."

With that, she stepped away from me and towards the doorway that led into the hallway. Pulling it open, she peered into the hall, checking for Kate, I was sure, and then turned to look at me over her shoulder. "Christmas is coming up. Kate will make it past Christmas. I can feel it."

# # #

We were all celebrating Christmas because it was what Kate had done with her family. There were days, sometimes, when the others had festivities. Xander liked any excuse to have a party. And so when he found out that Kate celebrated Christmas with Diana, he and Ava planned a large dinner for all of us. Another chance, he said to me, to see how Kate acted with all of us. They were proud of her at the ball, though they all believed that she had acted nervous. And for good reason, I'd said. But she was used to them now, and even if she didn't know it, they were her judges.

The manor was being decorated by the others with Xander at the helm, ordering where things were supposed to go and how they were supposed to look. Sofia was planning a large dinner in the back kitchen. Calliope and Ella worked together to decorate a large tree in the dining hall. James had not shown up, a fact that I secretly enjoyed. Ava was with Kate, waiting, watching.

None of the girls had survived past Christmas. Not a single one. And as I stood there, watching my family prepare for a celebration centered around the girl in a different part of the manor, I couldn't help the tight feeling I got in my stomach. Gods weren't supposed to get nerves, but I had them. The one person I could always depend on to give me flat advice and truthful answers had changed recently. Ava was speaking riddles around me as much as she could, never giving me a perfect, easy answer. I had the feeling that someone had put her up to it. Walter, maybe. It would be just like him to make things harder than they needed to be.

"Henry." I turned my head towards the voice. I wasn't even sure who was talking to me. I realized that I'd been staring at the completed Christmas tree for a while, unaware of the twinkling lights and the bright star sitting at its top. I was too busy thinking about Kate, hoping that she made it past Christmas, hoping that she passed the tests, hoping that I could give her everything she needed, everything she deserved. "You look like you're a million miles away. What do you think about the tree?"

I let my eyes scan over Calliope's face. There was a time, long ago, when I would not second guess my sister for any reason. She was one of the strongest of us, even if Walter refused to admit it. If not for her, I had no doubts that the outcome of our war with the Titans would have been different. Back then, I had been naïve enough to think that Calliope didn't have her own demons to contend with. But we all did. After seeing what Walter put her through, the lengths that she went to prove to him how bad he was, the way came to me, begging to be my queen, telling me she cared for me and that she had made a mistake in marrying our brother…. These days, I wasn't so quick to believe my sister. The only one that had my full trust was Ava.

I turned my eyes to the tree that she and Ella had decorated. It looked bright, almost foreign. "It's very nice. I'm sure Kate will love it." I almost missed the way Calliope's eyes darkened for just a moment. But when I turned to get a better look, they were crystalline blue, staring up at me. Perhaps it was just my mind playing tricks on me. I was worried for Kate, and that was lessening my ability to notice my surroundings.

"I'm sure she will. She and Diana did this, right?" She asked, her voice feigning innocence. Ella glanced over her shoulder, eyes looking over Calliope in a weary way. I'd always known that Ella and Theo weren't very easily trusting of Calliope. She had almost ordered them killed, after all, since they were Walter's children through a mortal woman. Ella was not one to let go of skirmishes like that so easily. If there was anyone she was more protective of than her brother, it would be her mother.

"Yes, they did," I said, watching the lights twinkle and wink along the wires. There was something almost calming at it. Warm, almost. I couldn't really describe it, but I could feel it inside of me, bubbling in my chest. Hope, maybe? Happiness?

My thoughts were cut off by an urgent call from Ava. Henry, come to Kate's room, quick. There's a box in here. It doesn't feel right. Hurry! The words echoed through my mind, and as they ran through a second time they seemed to get louder. I was frozen for a moment, horror washing over me, soaking me from head to foot. I reached out and grabbed Nicholas by the arm, nodding to Theo across the room, commanding him mentally to come with me. Before I could even take another chance to think about Ava had said, I was off, running through the manor, propelling myself forward to Kate.

There was a part of me that worried what I would find. Would Kate be dead? Were we too late? Had our unseen enemy gotten past us for a twelfth time? The other part of me scolded. I could almost hear Diana telling me to stop thinking of the worst. She would have told me to think of the brighter side and stop assuming that everything is dark and deadly and dangerous. If only she could see us now.

Turning down the hallway, I could see the door that led to Kate's room. It seemed as if I was so far away, ridiculously far away. I almost felt like the hall was lengthening, purposely keeping me away from her. As I snatched the doorknob, I could have sworn that I heard Kate's voice. Only after I had swung open the door and seen her standing there, in front of a Christmas tree, pink-wrapped gift in hand, did I find my voice. "Stop." I commanded. In my panic, there was a hint of my power radiating off of me in waves. I only realized after I saw Kate's breath that it was too cold in here. My eyes connected with Kate across the room, going back and forth between her beautiful face and the box wrapped in her hands. I could feel that there wasn't something right about it, the same feeling that had probably tipped Ava off.

"It's a present," Kate began. I could see her hands trembling, though. She honestly hadn't believed me when I said she needed to watch her back. Apparently, she believed that I had this more handled than I did. Disappointment flooded me – not for her, but for myself. All I wanted to do now was protect Diana's daughter, and I couldn't even do that.

"Kate, step away." I said. She made a face at me, the only mortal I'd ever met that, after knowing who I was, still dared to treat me like I was just another human. There was a deep-rooted part of me that said she should care about what I thought because I was a god, something that the Titans had probably instilled in me long ago. But the majority of me was pleased that she could treat me like a friend. I didn't want to be her captor, like I had been to Persephone. I wanted her to care for me, to like me. I could still remember the days where Persephone would sit across from me in front of a fire, her hatred for me rolling off her in waves. Kate cared for me, I could see it. And it did me good.

Kate crossed her arms, her brows drawn together, a frown set upon her face. She obviously thought that the lot of us – Ava, me, the guards standing behind me – were taking this a little too seriously. I knew she didn't have the ability to sense the malice in the gift, but I figured that even a mortal would have been able to tell when something was going to do her wrong. Wrapping it in a bubble, preparing myself for it to explode, I ignored Kate's gasp and carefully raised the lid from a distance.

Inside was at least a dozen chocolates, little candies in different shapes and colors. There was one in the middle, a purple flower adorned on its top. Before our eyes, it cracked open and broke in half. Green acid oozed from the inside. It dripped onto the pink paper underneath the rest of the chocolates, disintegrating it with a hiss. The panic and horror inside of me twisted to sheer anger. Kate was still safe, but barely. I knew she would have taken a bite without even thinking about it. Perhaps she would have even chosen that one first.

"Cancel dinner," I demanded. We were not going to party when someone had slipped past us again. Xander could take up his disappointments with me later, but for now, he was going to have to get over the fact that we weren't celebrating anything tonight. "Make sure everyone is in their room. I want a complete search of the manor." I knew, though, deep down inside, that whoever had planted the gift wasn't here anymore. Whoever they were, they were the equivalent of a trained assassin, ruthless in their killing and smart enough to know how to get away. They'd done it eleven times before.

Kate stared at me for a second, but she managed to regain her voice. To my surprise, she turned it around on me and demanded that the others get their Christmas dinner after the manor was searched. Like me, she seemed to already know that we weren't going to find our culprit roaming the manor. She also made a second demand, in which I was required to spend my evening with her. The guards had already started to disperse, but Ava was still standing there, watching. I could feel her pleasure with Kate's conditions radiating from her.

I gave a simple nod in agreement, but I almost couldn't hide the smile that was fighting its way across my lips. I had never, not once, met a girl who was so selfless, who was so endearingly naïve, who was so spunky and warm and… everything that was good in this world. I left her with a few words of advice – not to dare open any more presents – and gestured to Ava to come with me. Perhaps she knew more than what she'd told me. She was in Kate's room the entire afternoon, after all.

As soon as the door had closed all the way behind me, I grabbed Ava's arm and transported the two of us to the library. She stepped away from me sharply the moment our feet had touched the library carpets. "What was that?" She demanded. "I tell you to hurry up, and you took forever to get there. And she wouldn't listen to me! I told her not to open that present, and she refused!" Ava exclaimed. She turned around to face me, her cheeks sharp, her eyes sparkling with anger. "Why in the world did it take you so long?"

"I came as quickly as I could," I replied in a level tone. Ava was having some sort of nervous breakdown, I could tell. She had never been around a Mortal for a very long time – she had never truly grown to love them in a way that wasn't just physical. Ava had never really made a female friend like Kate. And it must have shaken her up to be faced with the idea of watching her friend die. It had shaken me to my very core. "She's fine."

Ava sniffled, drawing the back of her hand across her cheek roughly. "Why am I the one freaking out? You should be the one freaking out. And I should be the one telling you to snap out of it." She said. Ava wasn't new to death, but I saw it every day of my existence. My realm was based on it. Without it, I would have probably faded by now.

"I see death every day," I replied as lightly as I could. But the idea of Kate facing death at such a young age, with so much to offer the world, hurt me deep down inside. I struggled to keep my face blank, looking her in the eyes just long enough to ensure that neither of us were going to lose it completely before looking away, my eyes straying towards the window. "It's nothing new to me."

Ava stalked over to me and grabbed both of my arms. "I've never been emotionally invested in any of your girls before, Henry. I've always wanted you to find a new queen, sure, but I've never wanted the girls to survive just because I thought they deserved to live. I know that sounds so bad, but it's true. But it has to end, Henry. Not only for your sake, but hers. Who would want to sabotage you?"

I blinked, staring down at her. Ava had never really been the type to surprise me. Sure, she was a little impulsive, but I expected that from her. What I didn't expect was for her to immediately step in and decide that things needed to be taken care of – especially when it came to Kate. I knew, of course, that Ava had found a friend in her. But I imagined that, on her side, at least, it was the same type of friendship that she had with all mortals. They were there, they were what kept us alive, but they were below us. Even though we depended on them, they depended on us, more. "I can't imagine who it could be." I replied.

Ava glanced over her shoulder, eyes scanning over the library. "It can't be a mortal that's doing this, Henry. And if it were the Furies, or the Fates, we would know. It's something like us. Someone like us." She insisted. Glancing over her shoulder again, she whispered, "Maybe it's even one of us."

"That's absurd." I said, my eyebrows drawing together as I looked down at the goddess of love. "Are you suggesting that one of us has killed eleven mortals just because they could?"

"Because they don't want you to survive this. Maybe it's James. He's always had his eye on everything that yours, you know. That girl, the Underworld, Kate…." My heart constricted as she mentioned Kate's name. Did James really want her? Is that why he was trying to get more involved with this test than he had with all of the others? I could feel anger bubbling underneath the surface. "Or maybe it's daddy," she whispered. "You and daddy are always at each other's throats."

"I don't think –" I began.

"Or maybe," she exclaimed, turning away from me and starting to pace the library. "It's not your failure that they care about. Maybe it's the girls. Maybe someone doesn't like them, doesn't think they're good enough for you." She said. Pausing at the table, she looked down at the books and said, "But that doesn't make any sense, because by killing all the girls they're aiding in your impending fading, and if they were that bothered about all of the girls not being good enough for you, then they care about you. That's just a theory, but I think it's probably someone who wants you job. Maybe even one of the other gods, the ones not on the council." She offered.

"Ava," I said, shaking my head back and forth. "Why don't you go unwind?" I suggested. "The others should be in their rooms, and the manor has been searched. Theo says that there was no one hidden anywhere. They've gotten away again. We'll just have to keep a closer eye on Kate. Make sure the others eat, and I'll take a plate to Kate. I've got to uphold my end of the deal," I said quietly. I didn't want to let Ava know that I was extremely pleased at the idea of spending Christmas with Kate, even for only a short while.

Ava made a face at me before turning on her heel and leaving he room, muttering something about more outrageous theories. I waited until she was a good way down the hall before moving towards the desk, where Kate's wrapped Christmas gift was. Taking a hold of the present, I looked down at it for a short moment, running my thumb over the paper, before disappearing to the kitchen to get Kate a plate of food.

# # #

I stood at the door for a moment, holding the tray of food. Cerberus stood behind me, accompanied by Kate's puppy, which she had named Pogo. I was unsure of where she had gotten the name from, but I didn't ask and she didn't explain. Looking out of the corner of my eye, I caught Theo watching me with a broad grin on his face. He was enjoying the discomfort that was so obvious on my face, I was sure. I could feel my nerves rumbling in my stomach. Perhaps Kate didn't really want me to join her. Perhaps she had changed her mind.

Finally, opened the door and stepped inside, only to see Kate lying on the floor. She had pillows and blankets strewn across the bedroom, all of them gathered together in a type of makeshift bed. She looked up when I walked in, lying on her stomach, wearing her pajamas. I paused for half a second at the sight of her, but I managed to regain my careful composure and continued, handing over a mug of hot chocolate. I set the tray down on the coffee table next to her. I worked to keep my voice level and easy, but I had the feeling that it sounded forced. "Is there room for one more?"

"Plenty," she said. Her voice sounded overly warm, like she was trying to convince me into something. I stood there for a moment longer, to the point where she offered me a chair. But a part of me said that I wanted to be as close to her as physically possible, and I couldn't do that in a chair. Awkwardly, I sat down next to her, struggling to get comfortable. Now that I thought about it, I couldn't remember the last time I'd sat on the floor. Finally, I managed to settle down amidst blankets and pillows, wrapped in the warm presence of Kate.

She returned her eyes to the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree set up in her bedroom. There were no gifts underneath the tree, to my relief. Ornaments and strings of twinkling lights had been wrapped around all sides of the tree, and sitting on the very top was a large star. I watched the reflection of the lights in her blue eyes for a little while before asking her if she did this every year. I could easily imagine Diana taking part in something so relaxing, something different than what we knew, building it up until it was larger than life.

We sat in silence and watched the lights. My mind ran with thoughts, so fast that I couldn't focus on any single one. This had never happened to me before. A lot of my thoughts were about Kate, the way she looked in her pajamas, stretched out on the floor. The way her eyes sparkled as they rested on the tree. The way her thumb ran up and down the handle on the cocoa mug. The way she bit her lip, a sure sign that she was thinking about something deep. And then there were the thoughts about who wanted her dead, who wanted me to fail. I wondered if Diana would be pleased with the steps I'd taken to ensure that Kate was happy here. I wondered if Diana would be disappointed in me if she failed. I wondered if I would get a chance to see my favorite sister before I disappeared into the great beyond.

"What's it like to be dead?" Kate asked. The question yanked me out of my thoughts, and I turned to look at her. Her cheeks were flushing, her eyes on the mug in front of her.

I sat there, staring at her, trying to form an answer in my mind. Was she worried about her mother? Worried about herself? "I would not know. I do not know what it is like to be alive, either." Kate pursed her lips, and in an attempt to continue a conversation – any conversation – I said, "But if you would like, I could tell you about death." The words sounded morbid, but I figured that she would need to know this, if she were ever to be my queen. If she were to rule as my equal in the Underworld, she would need to immerse herself in the knowledge of the dead and the dying.

I explained to her the difference between dying and being dead. I explained about the afterlife, the way one might see the gates to the front of the property as their entrance into the Underworld. I explained about the different beliefs and the way the Underworld fit into them. I told her about the afterlife, and the way that I needed James to temporarily help me, even though it killed me to do so. And finally, I said the final words, the ones that I wished I had never even said. I mentioned the fact that James would have asked Kate to attempt to be his queen if he were to become the ruler of the Underworld and I were to fade.

Luckily, Kate seemed to take in the information and change the subject, just a little bit. She asked what she would do if she passed, and I told her that it was like a job. I told her about the reason we existed was to help the souls that were unsure of what to expect in their afterlife. Different beliefs clashed more than not, and there were always the souls that didn't know what they deserved. I explained to her that my job was to choose her, and my brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, were the ones that were testing her. She'd proven that she had something different than the rest of the humans I'd encountered. Now it was up to my family to decide if she was worth immortality.

At one point, she put her soft hand over mine, and it was almost like I could feel my skin tingle. It warmed my heart, warmed all the way through me, erasing the pieces of me that were frozen in hard blocks of ice, reminding me that there was something out there in the world other than Persephone. Kate told me, in the lightest whisper, that she wanted to pass. I had believed that much, since she was very clear in the fact that she wanted to save me. I may have been a bird with a broken wing to her, one that needed her to survive. And in a way, it was true. But I would not suffer if she failed, she knew that. I would just… disappear. But Kate wasn't the type to let something like that happen, not if she had anything to say about it. I wondered briefly if Diana had raised her that way, knowing that her daughter would have to have a sense of determination that was stronger than steel.

"Perhaps it is impossible that anyone takes Persephone's place, but if that is the case, it is out of no failure of your own. But if anyone is capable of it, I am certain it is you." I told her.

"I'll never be Persephone, and I know that, but – we could be friends. And you wouldn't have to be alone anymore." Kate was being honest. She was being sincere. She was offering up her entire life, the rest of her life, for an immortal existence of sitting beside someone that she considered a friend. She would give up everything, everything, for me. I looked away from her, throat closing up, suffocating my words. Maybe it was the fact that she was so selfless, but it also might have been the fact that she believed she couldn't replace Persephone in my heart. I'd said as much, not in so many words, and not so directly. But if Kate didn't believe she could do that, and I was weary if it was even possible, what did that mean for us?

Finally, I said, "I would very much like that." It was true. I wanted Kate by my side. If there was anyone that I would want to keep with me at all times, it was her.

Kate changed the subject – to Christmas presents. I had known that I needed – wanted – to get something for Kate, something that she would cherish. I honestly hadn't expected to get something from her, though I knew it was a possibility. Kate would have gotten a gift for everyone in the manor if she could. She stood up and slid halfway underneath the bed, coming back with a large package wrapped in gold paper. While she was retrieving the box from under the bed, I placed my gift to her in her spot, where she would be sure to see it.

I waited for her to open her present. Unwrapping the paper and lifting the lid to the box, she peered inside. I watched her expression carefully. What if she didn't like it? What if she wondered where I had gotten it and asked? I had never been so worried about the fact that someone would dislike something before. Kate's eyes got a little larger, her mouth dropping open a little bit, as she carefully reached inside and withdrew the photograph from within. Diana had given it to me years ago, when Cerberus had ruined Kate's birthday picnic. I had the original still – this one was a reflection, a true memory.

Excitement burst through me when I realized that she truly did like it. I reached for the box she had given me, unwrapped the paper, and lifted the lid. Inside was a navy blanket, yellow dots carefully arranged. I stared down at it, unsure of what it was. Eventually, I asked. She had truly stumped me.

"It's the night sky," she said, holding the reflection close to her heart. "See the dots? They're stars. I remembered what you said about the stars moving. You said they were different when you met Persephone, and – this is how they are now. When you met me." Her words were soft as she explained the meaning behind the dots on the blanket. My fingers ran over them. Nobody had ever given me anything with so much thought, nor much care. Persephone, my wife for lifetimes, had never given me a gift.

We stared at eat other for a while, and then she said, "Can I try something? If you don't like it, I'll stop."

I gave a slight nod, unsure as to what she was going to do. She seemed nervous. She leaned forward, closer to me, and suddenly her lips were pressed against mine. I sat there, completely frozen. A kiss? She'd wanted a kiss from me? She wanted to give me a kiss? My body seemed to warm from head to toe, shooting through my veins like fire. And suddenly I was free again from whatever restraints had held me back. My hand went to her neck, my fingers curling over her smooth skin.

Eventually, she pulled away from me. We sat there, staring at each other, before we both admitted that it had been… nice. It had been nice, something that I never would have thought that I would have, something that I would really like to experience again. I was right when I said that Kate had opened doors into the darkest parts of me. She was pulling pieces of me together, parts that had been separated for so long I didn't know if they would function together properly. Slowly, she reached forward and linked her fingers through mine. I didn't miss the fact that our hands seemed to fit together perfectly.

Kate asked me if I would stay.

I accepted.

Sorry it took so long to get out. I've been a little iffy with my writing (writer's block, it's been going on for the upside of a month, and I'm starting to go insane. Hopefully I'm getting back into the groove of things.)

I apologize in advance for mistakes in spelling/grammar. I just uploaded this chapter without reading through it. Hopefully it doesn't bother you too much.

I want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time out of your day to read this chapter. I also ask that you take a minute to leave me a review in the box below. I remind you that you don't need to have a fanfiction account to leave a review. Thanks again! Peace (: