June 2000

Many things made Zoë feel free; the rush of the wind in her hair while she rode in Artemis' chariot, the laughter of her fellow sisters, a good hunt, and the stars were amongst the many things. But nothing made her feel quite as free as the feeling of being in water.

Oceans were the best of course. Rivers and hot springs were great too. Lakes were ok and pools were only for the truly desperate.

Unfortunately, she seldom went into oceans or rivers for fear of sea creatures seeking out revenge on a treasonous act she committed millennia ago and it wasn't too often that they came across a hot spring. Even though the majority of her inherited powers lost do to being disowned, she still enjoyed the thrill of water, the rush of currents. Pools had became a comfort she couldn't afford to pass up, even if they did have limitations on where one could swim.

So when Artemis rounded up all the Hunters and told them that they would spend the next two days in a motel in the middle of nowhere, Arizona and said motel had a pool, Zoë was ecstatic. The pack of hellhounds that they had been tracking for three months had admittedly been more difficult to take down than what she would have cared for but now, after their hard-fought battle, she was relaxing in a pool with numerous pizzas nearby.

Majority of the Hunters had retired for the night by now, after all it was nearly midnight and they had had a long day of fighting, but a few of the older Hunters stayed at the pool.

Alice and Mary were, of course, seated together taking quietly on the steps on the far end of the pool. Artemis and Naomi were perched beside one another on the edge of the pool, their feet and legs dangling in the water. Zoë—while staying very much in the water—remained right near Artemis, close enough that she would frequently brush her calves in the water. The trio watched as Phoebe and Bailey were spending the rest of their energy wrestling in the shallow end.

"Easy," Zoë warned Phoebe after a particularly hard dunk. "We survived a whole pack of hellhounds without any major injuries, we don't need any now."

"Oh come off it, Zo," Phoebe replied, playfully rolling her eyes. "She can handle her own, can'tcha, Bailey?"

Bailey puffed out her chest slightly. "Of course I can."

Zoë heard Naomi sigh. "How do you two still have so much energy?"

"Adrenaline, I guess," she shrugged.

"Uh huh. Well I definitely don't have any of that anymore. So. I think I am going to bed. Artemis, thank you for the pizza."

"You're welcome, Naomi. It was a well-fought hunt. We all deserve a little bit of a break," Artemis smiled. She noticed Zoë leave the water and for a moment she thought her lieutenant was retiring as well before she realized that she was just walking towards the pizza boxes. She turned her attention back towards Naomi.

"I'm so excited to sleep tonight," Naomi said tiredly as she stood up. "If Laura did anything to my bed, so help me…"

"I guess that's my que too," Bailey said, swimming towards the steps. "Come on, Phoebe."

Phoebe grumbled slightly but made no actual protest as she followed behind, passing by Alice and Mary on her way out of the pool.

"I think I'm going to go to bed as well," Mary spoke up, standing and walking towards the table with all of the pizza boxes on it. "But not before I get another slice of pizza. Thanks again, Artemis."

"Of course."

"And perhaps next time there could be wine on the menu?"

Artemis chuckled lightly. "Don't push it."

"Ok, ok. Don't know unless you ask, right?"

"You don't need any wine anyway, Mary," Alice teased. "You're enough of a nutter without it." She smirked as Mary huffed slightly and watched as her cheeks went pink.

When all of the Hunters were finally back inside the motel, Zoë sat beside Artemis with a spare piece of pizza in hand and presented it to the goddess. She took the pizza and offered a grateful "thanks" before taking a bite.

As they ate in silence, Artemis glanced at Zoë; she was staring at the stars—as she often does at night—and had the faintest of smiles on her face.

"You're happy, darling," stated Artemis with a smile.

"That obvious?" Zoë asked, looking at Artemis.

"You only scolded Phoebe once throughout the entire day and looked the other way when Aeva cut you in line for pizza."

"She was hungry."

"She was going for seconds while you had yet to put anything on your plate."

"There was plenty to go around. See?" Zoë said, gesturing to the boxes on the table. "There's still an entire pizza left."

"You're glowing, dear one," Artemis said ignoring her weak protests, affection and admiration in every word.

Zoë allowed a small smile. When she finished the crust on her pizza, she slowly lowered herself back into the pool, leaving just her head above the water.

"The Hunters did well today," she began, "and I'm being spoiled by my goddess with pizza and a pool. How could I not be happy?"

Artemis took the final bite of her pizza. "Well perhaps I should order pizza more often because you are radiant."

"Do you know what would make me happier, my lady?"

"Hmm?"

"If you were to join me in the water."

"Sorry, brave one, but that one is not happening. I don't want to have to dry off just to take a shower later and—"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence, however, as she was caught off guard and pulled into the water by her arms. When she reached the surface, Artemis' initial anger subsided very quickly when she heard Zoë's airy laugh.

"You will be fine," Zoë teased, swimming closer to push Artemis' back up against the pool wall. One hand gripped the edge of the pool while the other hand pushed Artemis' wet hair out of her face.

"Like I said, you're positively glowing," Artemis smiled. She wrapped her arms around her lieutenant's neck. "I like when we go swimming," her breath just a few centimeters from Zoë's lips. "You're much more loose when you're in a body of water."

"And you find that shocking?"

"No. Just stating a fact, rather."

They both smiled softly at each other before enjoying a quick peck.

"If we don't get out of this water now," whispered Artemis, "we'll never leave this pool."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"No," she mused, a warm smile on her face. "I suppose not."