"Are you sure you're going to be alright? My mother ordered a surveillance detail on you, day and night."

Steve chuckled. "I'll be just fine. She said I will receive food and fresh water right? As long as you come down here from time to time and keep me company, I'll be fine."

Diana gathered the things she knew she would need from her baggage and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll have you released in a matter of hours. A day, tops. There's no way I'll leave you rotting in here."

"I'll be working on my tan. Again, don't worry about me, I'll be just peachy. The surveillance detail speaks English, right?" She nodded. "Then I'll be safe. Go with them. I'll wait here for you."

"What did I do to deserve you?" she told him with a smile as she hugged him tight.

He leaned closer to her and kissed her for a long, blissful moment. "You exist, Diana. That's all. Go now, before your mother charges in here like a tank battalion and snatches you away. And if you worried about me, just come down and see how I'm doing on my own with your own eyes."

Reluctantly, she did leave. "I'm here, Mother," she said.

Hippolyta nodded. "Good. Mnemosine, give her your horse. You stay here with Eubea and guard our guest. He's not allowed to step off the dock, allow him to stretch his legs on the dock but if he sets a foot on the beach he'll regret it. Understood?"

The two selected guards nodded. "Understood, Your Highness."

"Mother, don't you think it's a little excessive? He means us no harm!"

"Don't, Diana. Not now. You shouldn't have brought him here, you know the rules!"

Diana sighed. "I know mother, it's just… you know who he is, he's been here before."

She jumped on her horse with certain angry sprint in her movements. "Yes, that's exactly why I'm doing this. Do you remember what happened when he crashed here? He brought nothing but death. I won't risk it a second time. He stays on the boat."

"But Mother…"

"Enough, Diana!" shouted Hippolyta. "This is not the moment. Now, get on that horse and come with us."

Again, she sighed. "Yes, mother."

All her plans to stand up for herself and for Steve… gone down the drain. The lingering feeling of inadequacy was back in full force, mixed with the reverence she felt towards her mother for very obvious reasons. It's going to be tough. She thought as they quickly rode up towards the citadel. Nothing had changed, every rock, every patch of green grass, every single tree and building were in the same place as they had always been, and it felt weird. Outside the world was in constant motion, a never ending change that wouldn't allow anything to remain the same for too long. It didn't work on Themyscira. Time didn't pass, people didn't age. The weather rarely was different from warm and sunny, rain only fell when the crops needed it.

She was riding behind her mother when Menalippe pushed her horse closer to hers. "Why the sulk, Diana?" she inquired. "Aren't you happy to be home again?"

"I am, but… I was hoping you wouldn't freak out like that, about Steve. I swear he doesn't mean to cause trouble he just…"

"Hey, girl, listen up. I'm sorry I said I wanted to kill him, I was just a little surprised. But… maybe I remember wrong but you said he had died."

Diana nodded. "I know. And he did. Until… Menalippe, it's a really long story. Do you mind if I get changed into something more comfortable before I explain what happened?"

She gently rubbed her shoulder. "Don't worry Diana. There's time. How long are you going to stay?"

"A month, maybe six weeks tops. We need to get back to work and it takes about a week to get back to the place we live so…"

"I understand. Will you tell us what happened though? I think we will all benefit from a thorough explanation, that way we will understand better what happened. Because believe me, I've lived long enough to know that dead don't come back to life on a whim. Not with Hades guarding Underworld."

Diana chuckled. "I have a lot to explain even on that side. It's going to be an interesting evening, believe me."

She nodded, a warm smile on her face. "I believe you, Diana. Now, tell me something: the boy down at the beach, is he fussy about food?"

That made her laugh. "No, not at all. He's a soldier, he's used to gruel and stale food. I think whatever you'll feed him, he'll be happy. Oh and he loves your spanakopita."

"Oh, you still make it like I taught you? Good to know, at least we know what to give him. I'll make sure he's safe and sound down there. Can I trust him and be a little lenient about his condition?"

"Yes, you can trust him. I swear he's a good man, he'll do as told as long as no one tries to kill him." Diana took a deep breath and mustered all her courage, because she was going to ask a favor that would go against her mother's orders. "Menalippe, can I ask you something? It's really minor, but Steve loves to run in the morning. Like, you know… for training reasons, to keep fit. He's not exactly a marathoner, but he goes out running almost every morning, it's a habit, do you think…"

"Don't ask. I'll make sure he gets at least some time on shore for a morning run. Tell me though, how is it going in Man's world?"

"Well, if you excuse the language, it's a fucked up crapsack, that's how it's going," replied Diana, bitterly. "It's a mess, no matter your point of view."

"Language excused, but don't get caught cussing like that in front of your mother. You know she hates it."

Diana smiled, albeit for a very brief moment. "All too well."

They reached the citadel in a few minutes of steady ride and from there, she followed her mother up to the keep, where the Queen, and in this case the Princess, resided. On the way up she saw the tower of the armory, the side she had climbed still showed the holes she had punched in it to use as leverage. She smiled, for a brief moment, as she recalled the exhilarating sensation she had experienced climbing that wall, getting another glimpse of her true potential that she never knew she had until that night on the airstrip in Belgium.

They left the horses outside the keep and Diana followed her mother inside, carrying the bag with her things over her shoulder. She tried to straighten her shoulders, making sure she wouldn't look like she was intimidated by her mother, but the look in her mother's eyes showed she was clearly seeing through her feeble attempt of appearing strong.

"Diana, don't look at me light that!" she heard her mother say as she walked towards her room. "It's for our own protection!"

"Protection from what, Mother? Steve's a human being, he came with me, he's not a threat! Why did you have to treat him like one?"

"Because he's a man, a stranger, one that you assured me died in a ball of fire and he suddenly returned on Themyscira like nothing happened. He also happens to be very intimate with you, from what I saw so don't look at me like I am torturing him. He's perfectly safe and sound down there!" she exclaimed. "Also don't think I didn't hear what you asked Menalippe, and what she told you. And I had nothing to say about it, so take it as a gesture of goodwill."

"You're treating him as a prisoner!" exclaimed Diana.

"Because until further notice, he is a prisoner!" rebutted Hippolyta. "Now get changed so you can join the others. They'll be delighted to see you."

Yeah, sure… whatever… she thought as she dropped her bag on her bed and immediately looked for clothes that wouldn't look as out of place on the island in the big armoire in the corner of the room. She had just opened it when her mother walked up to her and hugged her from behind, placing a quick, sweet kiss on her temple. "Welcome back Diana. I missed you so much."

Diana felt all the air in her lungs being pushed out by an invisible force clutching at her chest. "I missed you too."

"We have things to talk about. Many things."

"So he's been here."

Her mother nodded against her shoulder. "Yes, he came. But it's not something I want to discuss now. Get cleaned up and join Menalippe, she's doing some elaborated training today, I'm sure you can appreciate it. And she'll be very happy to have you back there."

She took a deep breath. "Sometimes I feel like you two are the only ones that appreciate when I come back."

"That's absolutely not true and you know it. I'll leave you now. I have some matters to discuss with the Senators and I don't want you to get bored. Feel free to come and go as you wish."

"But… we'll talk, right?" asked Diana.

"We will. This time, we will. I'm done running from my past. See you later."

Her old clothes felt a little tight at the shoulders. Had she put on some muscle bulk there, in the past years? Sure, she worked out, but mostly to keep up appearances and pure enjoyment of the thrill she got from the adrenaline kick, but her body would never get much benefit from a standard workout regimen tailored for humans, even if she pushed harder than most. It took her a moment to adjust to the feeling, but by the time she had walked down the training ground she had got used to it, at least enough to push through the Amazon's daily workout.

But most importantly, when she finally reached the grounds, every warrior down there stopped what they were doing to come and greet her, cheerful and clearly happy to see her and to have her back again to train with them. It was invigorating, to train in the old ways, to rehash old concepts she had nearly forgotten but that were still deeply embedded in her muscle memory, fight hand to hand with equals who might have been not as strong as her, but surely they knew how to fight. Sparring was brutal on Themyscira, and while no one aimed to kill anyone, but they were aiming for direct hits, like a full contact sport. And damn they hit hard. Had she be human, she would have ended the day pushing an icepack on her left eye. After all, Niobe had always been a hard hitter, she shouldn't have expected nothing less.

Later, after training, they all enjoyed a gargantuan banquet at dinner. It had been a very long while since Diana had eaten dishes prepared the way she was used to from her life on the island, and it almost melted her heart, experiencing those scents and flavors she had nearly forgotten. She did know how to cook those dishes, but produce in Man's world wasn't as fresh, as fragrant as they were on the island. As much as a good at cooking she was, it was never the same.

"Gods…" she moaned as she dove in her plate of moussaka. "This is just so good…"

"Only the best when it comes to my favourite niece!" exclaimed Menalippe, sitting beside her. "And don't worry, Steve is getting his fill too. I had some of every dish served tonight delivered to him. He'll be in a food coma by the time he's finished. If he doesn't gorge on the wine before that, in that case he will probably be hungover next morning."

"Don't worry about him, he can hold his alcohol pretty well. The morning after he drank Zeus' strange immortality potion he only needed an aspirin and a gallon of water to get over it."

The General looked very baffled by that comment. "Wait a second… Zeus's immortality potion? Is that how he got resuscitated?"

Diana shook her head. "No, that happened some days later. He wasn't resuscitated anyway. I have a friend that can run so fast he can travel back in time. And that's what he did. He travelled back in time, snatched Steve out of the plane just a moment before it went ablaze and brought him back to Bruce's kitchen right under my eyes."

"Wait a second." It was oddly entertaining, watching the strong, intelligent woman at her side being thrown into uncharted waters to the point she couldn't really believe what she was hearing. "Time travel? You mean… he's the Steve that crashed here with that… what was it called… with the plane? Not a reincarnated or magically resuscitated Steve? And who's Bruce?"

"The one and the same, with all his memories, his quirks, his qualities and his flaws. And Bruce is' another friend. I got better at making friends in the past eleven years, you know?"

The older Amazon looked astounded. She pulled off her headgear for a moment, pushed her hair back and set it back in place. "That's why he addressed Hippolyta the correct way, insisted on not being opposed on staying on the boat… I thought he was… someone else! I don't know, someone that was posing as him to hurt you but… Then why wasn't your mother…"

"She knew. Zeus came here, months ago I think, and they spoke. He must have told her something about him, because she didn't even question his presence. I think she was expecting him to come with me, somewhere down the line. After all, it turns out most of the Gods back then were pining for us and they were planning on giving him a little edge against mortality, before he blew himself up," she explained. "They managed to do so only after Barry brought him forward in time."

"Diana… I'm astounded. This is… something you hear in legends or in plays and epic poems. I never thought this could happen, again at least. It was common practice some thousands years ago but now? I had no idea they would still act like this!"

"Oh, believe me, it took me more than a few days to realize it was true and not just some kind of sick joke. I witnessed all of this and I can barely wrap my head around it. You're in good company."

Menalipped nodded and took a long, thoughtful sip of mead from her cup. "I see. By the way, I took the liberty of speaking with your mother about Steve's living arrangements. I managed to convince her to let him set up camp on the beach, right beside the dock. He's still under close scrutinize, but he's at least allowed on shore. We gave him firewood so he could light a fire and other things to help him with his necessities, along with the food. Eubea told me he was very thankful and dearly appreciated the help we gave him. He was so different from the other time he was here, now that I think of it… more respectful of our ways."

"Yes, he's that kind of guy. And yes, he's grown a lot. He said that coming to terms with his mortality on that plane and being so close to dying gave him a lot of perspective on life and the different aspects of it… he doesn't remember dying because it never happened to him, but his death gave me some perspective too."

Menalippe smiled and hugged her tight with her free arm. "You really love him, uh?" she asked.

With a sigh, Diana nodded. "I think I fell in love with him the moment he tried to save Antiope."

She chuckled. "And to think I wanted to kill him with my bare hands right there and then… poor guy. He must be pretty remarkable, for you to turn yourself inside out like this. You left the island with him as a cheerful, slightly naive girl and came back as a hardened warrior, that spark of joy, that lust for life you had was gone. Look at you now… it's almost like he was the source of your joy."

"Not exactly," replied Diana. " mean, I love him with all my heart, that's true, in the last few months he became one of the reasons I wake up in the morning, but you see… when I left the island and reached Man's World, everything was dark, covered in soot and smoke, people were… I don't even know how to describe them, they were desperate and everyone just saw the world as if it was going to end the next day. Steve instead… he was like a beacon of hope, hope that humanity was still good as I had always thought. My beacon of hope in a world I didn't know, that I didn't understand and that didn't understand me. It took him a while, but he trusted me."

"Well, you saved him from certain death, he had to give you some credit."

"He did. Not immediately, but he gave me more than some credit. Last time we were in Metropolis I overheard him and friend of mine talk about me. Steve described me like the person that hung the moon in the sky. He convinced me to come back and face those who don't want me here. He said that if I can face monsters from other planets I can face my detractors at home. And talk to my mother, shed some light upon how I came to be, from her point of view. He was very adamant about this."

"He's right. He's very right. You should have faced them long ago Diana, they're just a bunch of bitter people. You went for a very good reason, and you had good reasons to return too. You didn't even force your way here, you asked your mother if you could come to shore. She allowed you back, and I think you deserved to be back. Those who can't accept your mother's decision can go and join Hades, for all I care."

to Tartarus, for all I care."

"Yeah well… I'm still an outcast, Menalippe. I've always been an outcast, everyone has always treated me differently. Why should they stop now?"

"Oh dear, I think of a long list of many painful things you could do to them, but I'm not going to suggest you should diminish yourself dealing with them in a violent way. Diana, you're a proud Amazon, just as they are. Thing is, they're envious. That's it. You did what we never even dared to think about. You fulfilled your destiny but also did so much more than that, and they're envious. I think they're going to be a little more malleable though, after that happened last year."

"You think?" asked Diana.

She nodded. "I do. And if they're not, just bang your gauntlets together and shove them a hundred yards backwards. They'll learn."

Diana sighed and smiled. "I missed talking to you, a lot."

Menalippe, smiling herself, dragged her in a tight, one-armed hug. "And I missed talking to you. Are you going to talk to your mother, tonight?"

"I'll try. I'll go down to the beach and see how Steve's faring though, before I try."

"Yeah, go and have fun before she potentially ruins it."

As Menalippe was speaking, Diana was taking a sip of wine from her wine, but the innuendo wasn't lost to her ears and, caught off guard not expecting it, she inhaled some of the liquid and started coughing spasmodically in order to breathe normally again. Promptly, Menalippe patted her back to help her a little. "Hey, don't tell me you get so hot and bothered about sex even with him?"

She coughed again. "Of course I don't, I just wasn't expecting the joke from you!"

"Oh please Diana! You heard me say way worse things in the past! Go on though, finish dinner and go to Steve. I'm sure he's waiting for you."

Diana looked at the end of the table, ten yards at her left, and observed as her mother was deeply engrossed in an animated conversation, most likely an argument of some sorts regarding her and Steve's presence on the island, and drew a deep breath. "Are you sure? I don't want to disrespect my mother any more than what I have already done."

"She's occupied at the moment. She won't even notice you're gone. And in case she does, I'll keep her in check. You'll be safe. Come on, go and have some well deserved fun."

She found him sitting in one of the many folding chair that were available below deck, reading a book by the light of the roaring fire, the bright licks of the flames projected shadows that danced on his skin in the most enthralling way. In a certain way, it was almost erotic, the way the light moved over his figure, ever changing and somehow making him look bulkier. She had to swallow a thick lump that had formed in her throat before she spoke to him in order to get his attention.

Not that she needed to, he saw her approaching as soon soon as she came close enough to the light. He raised his eyes from his book and his face lit with pure unabashed joy. "Wow!"

"Wasn't it the first thing you ever said to me?" she asked him, plucking the book from his hand so she had more room to kiss him.

"Uhm…" he mumbled against her lips, before pulling back. "Yeah, and I think you were wearing the very same clothes when I said that."

"Could be. I see you got yourself a quite comfortable spot."

"Ah, yes. Menalippe came down this afternoon with a couple of your sisters with food, water and enough firewood to last me a couple of days. I'm doing pretty good, everything considered. Seriously better than what I had thought. Even the surveillance isn't too invasive. I can't really complain."

"I see… listen, I don't have much time, I'll try to talk to my mother tonight, I don't know how long it will take me or if I even will be back for the night."

Smiling, Steve wrapped his fingers around her waist and gently pulled until she was sitting in his lap. "I don't mind. Take all the time you feel you need, I'll be waiting and if I fall asleep, wake me up when I'm done. Or just sleep up there in your old home if it gets too late, I'm fine with that too. Just… talk, be sincere. Poke and prod a little more, shout if you feel the need to, but get the answers you need from your mother. You've waited long enough, she owes you at least the truth."

She nodded as he kissed her forehead. "I'll try. If she doesn't relent tonight, I'll try tomorrow. I'll be a pestering little brat if I need to, but I'm going to get those answers, I swear."

"Ah, that's the Diana I fell in love with! Go and get those answers, you crossed No Man's Land, you killed a god, you helped kill a Kryptonian abomination and you were essential for stopping an intergalactic alien invasion. You can face your own mother holding your head high!" he exclaimed. "Now go and kick some royal, toned butt."

Gods, Steve's pep talks were the best! "Either I come back victorious, or I won't come back at all! Thanks Steve, I'll come back as soon as I'm done." She kissed him again, before she stood up "Love you!"

"Love you too Angel!" she heard him yell as she walked towards the road.

Let's just hope she drank enough.