Two months later:

"Sensors registering an anomalous object at .5 parsecs off the port bow," Andromeda reported.

"Probably just another stray swarm ship that hasn't been mopped up yet," Bekka observed.

"Negative," the AI answered. "It's too small for a swarm ship. In fact," she added as they closed in far enough to get a better reading. "It's a stasis pod."

"Gee, I wonder which god we got this time," Harper remarked. Bekka gave him a dirty look.

"Send out drones to retrieve it, Andromeda," the captain ordered. "We all know the drill by now."

&&&&&&&&

With an eerie sense of déjà vu, they all congregated in the docking bay as the pod was brought on board. Everyone was hovering around expectantly, except for Trance, who seemed amazingly calm.

"Well, at least this one's in better shape," Harper said, pushing a button. "She ought to pop right open."

It did, and as it did so, a fiery red head popped up and a familiar voice said, "Hello, Seamus, help me out of here, won't you?"

A stunned Harper grabbed her around the waist and surprised even himself by lifting Meaghan completely clear of the pod. All was chaos for a while as everyone gathered around to greet the prodigal.

When the tumult subsided a bit, Meaghan turned to Dylan. "Dylan, may I presume upon our friendship to ask a favor?"

"It wouldn't have anything to do with transport back to your husband, would it?" The entire group began to leave the docking bay en masse.

"It's been a few eons," she said. "I've missed him terribly."

"Aren't you exaggerating just a bit?" Bekka suggested. "I'd hardly call two months eons."

"Neither would I, Bekka." Meaghan slid her arm around her friend's waist. "But for me, it really has been eons. All spent arguing with father about coming back, I might add."

Harper looked puzzled. "Then how did you..?"

"Ha, ha," Meaghan said coyly. "Really, Seamus, it isn't that difficult. Time runs differently there."

"May I ask a question?" Rommie broke in.

"Certainly." Meaghan smiled at her. "You needn't ask, you're family, just like everyone else here."

"I've been doing a bit of research of late," the avatar said. "Greek mythology to be precise. And in all of it, I've never run across any mention of any gods doing anything so selfless for mankind as you and Ares did. So, why?"

"It's been quite a few millennia, Rommie," Meaghan explained. "We were all so young then. But some of us have matured a bit." She grinned impishly. "After a few millennia, even Mr. Harper might mature a bit."

Everyone had a little chuckle at that, even Harper managed a half-grin.

"Besides," Meaghan added on a more serious note. "In a very real way, we are the parents of mankind, even though we have nearly ceased to be remembered by them. We felt a certain responsibility."

"Speaking of responsibilities." The AI appeared. "Do you wish to contact Charlemagne before we arrive?"

Meaghan considered a long moment. "I think not. I want to surprise him."

"I'm sure it will do that," Dylan muttered. "But are you sure it's wise?"

"Probably not." Meaghan grinned at him. "But then, wisdom was never one of my attributes."

"So, how did you persuade your father to let you come back?" Bekka asked. They had by this time proceeded to the captain's office where they could be private.

"Well, I cried, I begged, I pleaded on bended knee," Meaghan said. "In the end, I had to threaten to start a war between the gods. Which probably would have been messy. Not that that would deter father."

"Then what did?" Trance asked quietly.

"Well, lightning and thunder-bolts are very impressive," Meaghan explained. "But when you get right down to it, their power is limited. But love," she added, getting a little dreamy eyed. "Just keeps right on growing. There was a possibility that I might win. I think that was what finally made father back down."

There was a brief silence, then Rommie broke it, saying, "There is a possibility that you are now more powerful than the father of the gods?"

"Was," Meaghan amended. "I'm not a god anymore."

&&&&&&&&

Charlemagne sat in his office. It was late, all the staff had gone, and the children were tucked into bed sound asleep. When he wasn't mechanically attending to his duties, or lavishing his attentions on his children, he was spending a lot of time in his office. He had spent more time with Meaghan here than just about anywhere else. He had his back to the door, something he normally wouldn't have done, and sat there staring at the glass of brandy in his hands. He took a small sip, then a larger one. He even considered drinking himself into temporary oblivion, but it wasn't a serious consideration. It wouldn't blot out the pain that long. What he really needed was a drink from that river, what was it? Lethe, the one that would totally erase one's memories. Except he didn't really want to forget Meaghan. He wanted her back. In a fit of frustration, he flung the glass against the far wall where it shattered into a thousand pieces. Perhaps it was that sound that masked the opening and closing of the door and the soft footsteps behind him.

"Those tiny little bits of glass are so difficult to clean up, love," a soft voice said from behind him, as a delicate hand came to rest on his shoulder.

For a moment, Charlemagne thought he was hallucinating, but the hand on his shoulder seemed real enough. To make sure, he took hold of it, and kissed it. Then he spun his chair around suddenly. "Meg!" An abrupt tug on the hand brought her tumbling into his lap.

Meaghan curled into his lap like a spoiled house-cat. "I've missed you, love," she murmured, and kissed him. The kiss lasted a while.

"Funny," Charlemagne remarked when they finally broke apart. "I would have thought it would feel different, knowing that I'm kissing a god."

"You're not," she said, a soft, white hand reaching up to caress his cheek.

"Well, not right at this moment," he agreed teasingly.

"Not ever again," she informed him softly. "I'm not a god, nor am I immortal. I'm just your wife. I hope you aren't disappointed."

"Never," Charlemagne vowed, kissing her fiercely to prove his point. "But how can you stop being a god?"

"It was part of the bargain I made with father to allow me to be with you," she stated softly.

"You gave up immortality, for me?" Charlemagne was stunned. He may have had a generous opinion of his worth, but that she would do this..,

"In all the long millennia," she explained, "I have never been as happy as I've been with you. And I knew in my heart that if I waited until the end of time, I could never be as happy with anyone else. So instead, I get to be mortal and live out my days with you. I considered it to be an equitable trade."

Since Charlemagne couldn't think of a reply to that, he kissed her again.

"What did you tell the children?" she asked.

"I couldn't face the truth myself," he confessed. "So I just told them that you wouldn't be back for a while longer. They've missed you."

Meaghan smiled warmly. "I've missed them, too. Perhaps I should go and see them."

She started to rise, but Charlemagne pulled her back into his lap.

"Plenty of time for that in the morning," he murmured in her ear. "I missed you, too, Meg." He kissed her again as he started unfastening the front of her dress.

&&&&&&&&

Epilogue

Zeus waved his hand, and the viewing portal closed on the scene of Charlemagne and Meaghan embracing.

"Do you think he believes it?" Ares asked.

"Why shouldn't he?" his father replied. "She does."

"What I don't understand," the war god went on, "is how over the ages whenever some god or goddess took a fancy to a mortal and asked you to bestow immortality on them, you always turned it against them. Yet you gave Aphrodite exactly what they wanted. And she didn't even ask for it. Why?"

Zeus looked at his son for a moment. "Maybe I'm getting a little sentimental in my old age," he said. "Or maybe it was because she didn't ask. She didn't once think of taking such a risk with him, and so instead she offered to give up everything for him. Despite what my wayward daughter thinks, I can't really make anyone not be a god anymore. So, instead, I gave her what her heart truly desired. An eternity with the man she loves."

Ares took a moment to let it sink in, then asked, "When are you going to tell them?"

Zeus shrugged. "I'm not," he answered. "I'm sure that sometime down through the years it may even occur to them to notice that neither one of them is aging." Then another thought occurred to him. "You did say that they shone with the light of love?"

"They did," Ares admitted. "I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised. Who should be more likely to love truly than the goddess of love herself?"

"All these long ages." Zeus shook his head. "And you haven't even learned that the light of love never shows unless both of them truly love? But then again," he added, "who should be easier to love than the goddess of love?"

Ares gave an abrupt snort of laughter. "You are getting sentimental in your old age, father."

"Maybe someday you will too."

"Doubt that the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt I love." William Shakespeare Hamlet Act II Scene 2