Everything slowly returned to normal. Hestia steadily moved back to Olympus. She settled in. Her family came to visit her all the time. It was almost like before. Except, Prometheus still wasn't there.

Also, for the first few weeks, her family seemed to have gained the need to constantly check on her. Apollo visited her daily with a new song celebrating her return. Poseidon constantly checked in to make sure she was alright. He even gifted her the undersea hero camp he kept talking about.

When she'd asked for an explanation, Poseidon had sheepishly responded that he wanted her to know that he trusted her judgment.

The only people who seemed to be acting mostly normally were Ares and Hephaestus.

Apparently, while Hestia had been gone, Ares and Aphrodite had gotten closer to each other. To the point that whenever Ares stopped by, he asked Hestia to pass on a handwritten note to Aphrodite.

As for Hephaestus, he spent most of his time in the forge but occasionally invited Hestia to visit and help him brainstorm new projects. It mostly consisted of him thinking out loud and Hestia baking cookies.

Aphrodite, however, was always giggling about something. Or complaining that Hestia had completely ditched her all goddesses night ("I hadn't you expected you to take that challenge about living with mortals seriously"). Fortunately, she hadn't started asking Hestia to come to another one. Hestia already had enough difficulty just finding some well-needed alone time.

Most times she needed some space, she visited the mortal realm for a breather. There were always hundreds of little things she could do to help. Those visits inevitably ended with her getting even more visits from her family.

Still, it was good to be back with her family. She'd missed their antics and the unique ways they all saw the world.

She finally caught up with the last one at the Winter Solstice. Hades had been happy to see her. Apparently, he had finally befriended the three furies who'd been the last holdouts against his reign. He mentioned something about Zeus advising him to trap the remaining holdouts in an urn.

"Brother knows best," he smiled cheerfully. He instantly sent a scowl at the few minor gods that had gathered around Hestia's spot. Most of them scattered "But you really should deal with these suitors at some point. This is getting ridiculous. How do you even maintain the necessary 15 meters of personal space with them hanging around?"

"They probably just wanted to meet you," Hestia insisted. Honestly, she couldn't believe that her little brother didn't know how cool he was. He lived in a realm mostly untouched and unseen by basically everything living. Even Iapetus, the titan of mortality had only visited on select weekends. Hades, on the other hand, was trying to make it at least a semi-organized place.

"Are you sure?" Hades looked rather perplexed. "I heard-" Hades cut himself off. "Besides, Hera always said my gloomy disposition pushes everyone away."

"Of course, it doesn't," Hestia assured him. Besides her brother wasn't gloomy. He was just… shy and fond of dark places. Of all her siblings, he'd seemed the most comfortable living in their father's stomach. Not to say that any of them had found it comfortable.

"Of course, you would say that."

Hades started brushing himself off. Then he paused and looked intently at Hestia.

"Also, by any chance have you seen a normal-looking urn anywhere around here? Specifically, one that might be making-" Hades wrung his fingers nervously. "- some well, err… weird sounds that might sound very oddly specifically like screaming."

Hestia shook her head. She had a feeling she'd recall an urn-like that.

"Great, that's fine," Hades tugged at his robe. "Well, if you could find it, I mean keep your eyes open, that would be great. I'm sure you're really busy with your admirers and all. I just… you've always been… well I could really use it back.

"I brought it here a few solstices ago and I must have misplaced it because I can't find it anywhere. And now I'm starting to get rather nervous because it may or may not contain all of the still rebellious kids of Nyx and I really hope it didn't end up in the wrong sort of hands. It was such a bother to gather them in the first place and- yeah."

Hades finished awkwardly.

"I'll keep my eyes and ears peeled," Hestia promised. "Is there anyone else also looking for it?"

"I mean, Zeus, of course," Hades answered. "He gave me the idea to trap the troublesome spirits in a jar of course. I let him know as soon as it went missing. He promised to keep an eye out, but as I'd rather not everyone know."

"Of course, you can trust me," Hestia promised. "If I spot any urns, I'll send a message to you right away."

Hades smiled. "Thanks."

He swung his helmet over his head and vanished into the shadows.

When Hestia really needed a break, she would visit Pandora and Epimetheus. They seemed to get more relaxed every visit. The two of them had moved long past the honeymoon phase and well into the comfortably wed stage.

They bickered occasionally but always made it up. Though compared to some of the quarrels that Hestia's siblings got into, they were always done in a calm orderly manner.

During her last visit, they were arguing about one of their wedding gifts. She could tell there was some tension between them, however, they didn't mention anything the entire time Hestia was there. Instead, they got their little daughter Pyrrha to put on a skit. Her cousin, Deucalion, helped. Hestia could sense the Flame somehow joining in the dance with them. Almost like a shimmering mirage mimicking their tale.

For some reason, the Flame didn't feel as attached to Pandora as Hestia remembered.

Things finally came to a head

when Apollo stormed out from a visit. Hestia wasn't totally sure what happened. He'd been practicing a song to woo one of his loves.

As usual, Hestia praised and wished him the best of luck with the goddess he was looking to woo. He'd stared at her incredulously. The poor goddess was probably a tree. If that was the case, then there wasn't much they could do. No one had found a way to undo the transformations of Gaia.

"Do let me know if there's anything I can do to help," Hestia offered.

That was when Apollo stormed out. "Can't believe you haven't…"

Hestia blinked in confusion and made a note to bring it up with Aphrodite when she stopped by to pick up her hourly note from Ares.

Aphrodite seemed more surprised by Hestia's confusion than Apollo's behavior. Something about that seemed to excite her though.

"You have no idea why this god stormed out the way he did?" she grinned conspiratorially.

Hestia shook her head. "I'm worried I said something wrong. He's been pining after this goddess for so long. I'm glad he felt comfortable using me as a sounding board but…" she shook her head.

Aphrodite just giggled. "Wait, no one's told you?"

"It's not like I'm looking for gossip," Hestia shrugged. "Most anyone has told me is how well off they're doing. Or various parties that they keep inviting me to."

"Parties you've managed to avoid," Aphrodite sighed. "I would know. I went looking at them at each one."

Hestia blinked. "I'm not really that good at parties."

She was always impressed how her family managed to be anything but overwhelmed at the wild and loud affair. The amount of pushing, transformations, as well as the volume had never been something Hestia fully understood. She'd tried throwing a party when she'd returned, she wasn't sure what she'd done wrong, but she'd gotten the sense most of her family hadn't particularly enjoyed it. No one explained what she'd been missing. She'd had drinks – seltzer- and food – plenty of home-baked cookies and cake. The party had ended with all the cookies. The seltzer had been left untouched although her bare shelves had been thoroughly searched.

"I'm well aware," Aphrodite sighed. "I can't believe that you tried hosting a party with literally no ambrosia or nectar."

That might explain it.

"Or music. You could have at least asked me for advice."

"I didn't think of that at the time," Hestia admitted.

"Of course, not," Aphrodite admired her nails. "But you honestly have no idea what's going on?"

"That's why I asked you," Hestia sighed.

Aphrodite blinked.

"Alright, so you know the phrase, absence makes the heart grow fonder?"

"No…"

"Good because I just made it up. But anyway, it's true. Sometimes being away from someone makes you appreciate them more."

"What does that have to do with this?"

"I'm getting there," Aphrodite took a sip of nectar. "You were gone for quite some time. Add on the fact that most gods, goddesses, or nymphs try to stay on Olympus as much as they can. When someone who chose to leave comes back, they spark interest when they return. And with the right push, it can be a romantic interest."

"Oh." Hestia wasn't sure what she'd expected. It wasn't that she didn't know about romance. She'd seen her siblings and their children fall in love. She'd heard tales of ballads and walks in gardens under the rising moon. It had just never quite… called to Hestia in the same way. It didn't sound unpleasant; it just didn't seem necessary. She'd had her family and she'd never been searching for something different. And yet, by going away, her family had suddenly decided they wanted something different. Something they called more.

"You know I expected you to be a lot more excited about this," Aphrodite stared at Hestia.

Was she supposed to be pleased? If she wasn't, did that mean something was wrong with her?

"Do you have any favorites?"

"Everyone?" That was a good answer, wasn't it?

Aphrodite was laughing.

"You do realize only one gets your dowry," she joked.

"Dowry?"

"I mean your face personality can only go far as to get you a partner," Aphrodite joked. "Particularly when I haven't gotten the chance to give you a makeover. But yes, your brother offered the dowry of choice to the god or goddess who wins your hand in marriage."

"The dowry of their choice?" Hestia asked. Why would her brother offer something like that? The last person he'd offered that to had been Hera.

A prize that special, Hestia was shocked that her family hadn't gone to war with each other yet. Unless there had been, behind her nose.

Hestia didn't have any misgivings at how far some family members went to get what they wanted.

"Is there fighting over it?" she asked meekly.

"Obviously," Aphrodite smiled. "Though they have been doing an excellent job keeping it under the wraps. Though I do hope you plan on choosing Apollo or Poseidon because so far, they're the only ones still in the running. You missed it, but they terrorized the rest of the competition on giving up."

Hestia had been wondering why those two, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, Hera, and Hades had been the only ones to come visit her lately.

The realization made her feel sick. Her family was fighting. Her family was fighting over her. She'd returned to stop that. She might not know what she was supposed to feel about… whatever had happened to her family's views of her while she'd been gone, but she at the very least knew how she felt about them fighting.

"So, spill, who are you thinking about going with? Or do you want to pick one and then secretly date the other?"

"Can I have a moment?" Hestia asked, gently. "I just need a few moments to process, everything."

Aphrodite's smile spread slowly. "Of course, do let me know what you decide."

Then Aphrodite was gone, and Hestia was alone with her thoughts. Her family was fighting over her, again. Not only that they were fighting over something that Hestia hadn't even agreed to. For a moment Hestia considered taking some time for herself and staying at Epimetheus and Pandora's place. But they were already stressed planning out Deucalion and Pyrrha's wedding. She didn't want to add on the stress of a visiting goddess. On top of that, her returning to Olympus had been meant to be just that, a return, not a temporary visit while she moved back into the mortal world. Besides, if Hestia left now, she would have no control over the situation she was returning to.

The only thing to do would be to deal with the situation at hand. Thinking it through and coming up with a plan. Her family was fighting over her. One of them planned to take her for their wife and her brother planned to pay for the dowry.

Prometheus had always been good at this. Not for the first time since the trial, Hestia missed her old friend. The first thing he'd always said in a good plan was asking oneself what the desired result was. After that, the only thing left to figure out was the means to get there.

Hestia knew her desired result. She wanted her family to stop fighting over her. Ideally, this would happen without her marrying someone to make peace. Her mind flew back to Aphrodite's arrival. All of Olympus had sought to woo her as well, the solution had been to marry her off to a god that 'no one could be jealous of'. Would that be what would happen to her? Her family get so tired of fighting that they tossed her off to someone without concern for her interests.

If this was how she felt without even being forced into anything, what did that mean about how Aphrodite felt? She'd been through a similar situation. Just because Aphrodite seemed content, didn't mean she was. At the time, Hestia hadn't thought about how it might feel to Aphrodite. The whole group was more focused on keeping their family from descending into anarchy than on what would make Aphrodite, or even Hephaestus, happy and fulfilled in the long term. Hestia had just assumed that they would fall for each other since everyone was already in love with Aphrodite and Hephaestus was a sweet soul anyone could love. But just because someone was kind doesn't mean that being put in a romantic situation with them meant that romance would bloom. If that were the case… Hestia resolved to check on Aphrodite after all this was over. Hopefully, once everything was calmer, she could make sure her friend was happy.

But to get there, Hestia had to figure a way out of her own problems. Her family was fighting and the prize for her hand in marriage wasn't doing anything to keep the peace. It was time for Hestia to face her brother.

A/N: Another chapter done. Thank you for reading! As it looks right now, there actually should be only 1.5 chapters left. Which is exciting. This story took longer than expected. Once I'm done with this one, I can move onto the sequel(s). This is the background set up. And yeah, the sequel fic(s) will occur during the actual timing of the series. And will tie in, hopefully clearer. :)

Additionally, I just got an Ao3 Account. I'm going to start cross-posting soon - though I don't have an exact timeline for when I'll begin. My Ao3 Account is called:

HaveBookWillTravel2

Anyhow, once again, thank you for reading this far. I really appreciate it.