"You can't be real."

Diana raised a brow in amusement. "You would say that. Why aren't you happy to see me?"

"Because I don't like games. Diana is dead. I saw it happen."

She looked off into the distance for a moment, but she blinked, her mind returned to the present. "You don't know what you saw. Your suspicion is unfounded, my friend."

Bruce narrowed his eyes, feeling his patience run out. "Don't call me that! I've had enough of this- who are you?!"

Diana glared at him. "I am Diana of Themyscira. Your friend, your teammate. We founded the League together. I died, and have been reborn. Is it truly so hard to believe?"

Bruce swallowed, not sure if he could believe what she said. He wanted to believe it was her, truly he did, but it was so easy to be tricked by some crazed villain wearing the face of the dead. It could be Circe or the Scarecrow, or any number of new enemy that knew of his connection to her and wanted to hurt him.

Alfred had drawn him out of the cave, claiming that a certain young woman wanted to speak with him. Alfred himself had seemed as if he'd seen a ghost- that should have been his first clue. The man had been shocked to find that Diana had been waiting for him in the back yard, walking on the water of his koi pond.

Bruce didn't know if he could believe that this was the same Diana that had died only days before.

Her eyes flashed at him, sparking blue fire. She was before him in an instant, her hands cupping his face. "I know what you're thinking. You can't believe that I am Diana. Fear hovers over your heart; you are terrified of the pain it will cause if you begin to believe I am your Diana, and then find me to be some impostor."

Bruce stared at her, saying nothing. He was not convinced.

Not yet.

"My lasso is gone. If it is the absolute truth you seek, Bruce Wayne, you need only to look in my eyes and know me as your friend."


"You...you can't be Diana. I saw her die. I felt her die..."

Clark felt tears welling in his eyes, the pain of the clenching heart so full of new hope.

The sight of Diana before him- more radiant, more beautiful than ever before, was too much to bear. He moved off the rock he'd been reclining on, away from her.

Something was...she looked different. Her wardrobe had changed: gone were the clothes she'd worn in Smallville and the golden armor of her heritage. She wore a short, flowing white tunic with a long royal blue cape. Gold leather sandals. A gold circlet over her brow. A golden eagle emblazoned across her chest.

Clark frowned and shook his head. No. No, it was more than her clothes. It was her. There was a new power coursing through her, a beautiful force unlike Clark had ever felt before.

This can't be you- you died, I saw it happen, I felt it...

Diana stood before him, watching with a small smile. "Bruce has just said the same thing, in Gotham."

"What? What are you-?"

She moved closer to him, pausing as Clark took a step back. She opened her arms to him, a gesture meant to show she intended no harm. She thought that Clark, of all men, Clark would know that she truly was Diana. She was changed, reborn, but still Diana at the core of her self. She had to make him see that. There had only been words between them. More was needed. Clark could not trust his eyes, but perhaps her touch...

Diana took another step forward, laying her hands over the plains of his chest. She was relieved that he did not move away from her once more. "Clark. Please, listen to me. My body was destroyed, but my spirit was taken to Olympus. Hera made all things clear to me. I know it sounds impossible, but you and I are proof of the impossible."

Clark kept his gaze with hers. He wanted to believe her so badly, but how could he trust what she said? How could he believe any of it?

He swallowed. Then, slowly, he raised his hands, placing them over hers on his chest. "I want to believe you."

"Then do. Let go of your pain and the fear that I will be revealed as some villain. I am Diana, reborn, and I will tell you everything."


"Diana...how can this be?"

Hippolyta reached forward, cupping Diana's face. The skin beneath her fingertips felt almost cool to the touch, it was not the warmth of real flesh. The queen's heart had swelled to the point of pain as she'd seen Diana emerge from the balcony and into her bedroom. She'd been speechless, numb with shock at the sight of her daughter returned to life. Diana had come in and wordlessly sat on the edge of her mother's bed.

Diana felt the full force of her mother's pain and rage in that small touch, Hippolyta's sorrow of losing her child and the pain of the joy in seeing her return. Like Bruce and Clark, she sensed the queen's fear that Diana could be yet another villain in disguise. Diana felt her resolve come to the surface.

I will make them see who I am. I will reveal Truth to all who seek it.

Diana hugged Hippolyta fiercely. She absorbed her mother's every pain and fear. She took it all.

"I was taken to Olympus, mother. Hera opened my eyes to the mysteries of the gods. I am reborn, mother. A goddess."

Hippolyta pulled back, stroking the hair from Diana's face. "A goddess? My daughter, the greatest Amazon of us all."

Diana laughed. "The others don't believe me. I don't know how to convince them that I am the true Diana."

"They are fools, then. Please, let us alert your sisters. They will rejoice in your return. We can reveal your new life in your temple."

She raised a brow. "I've not been dead a month and already you have built me a temple."

Hippolyta smiled at her daughter. Once a warrior, now a goddess. "I spoiled you in life, Diana. My little sun and stars. Why break such a long habit after your death?"