Happy Monday, readers! This truly is a long ass chapter. This is where I tell you what I think Diana has been doing over the last century. Enjoy! WARNING: Fluff Alert

10

"It would be a lot easier if you let me carry you, Steve," I tell him while helping him climb the stairs to my chambers, his arm thrown over my shoulders and mine around his middle.

He shakes his head and out of breath says, "No, I still have some dignity left. I can climb stairs."

I sigh, "Men and their pride. This is the last flight, come on."

We climb the stairs at a painfully slow pace. After Epione and Ersa explained to us what was happening to Steve and Antiope, Mother proposed to move them to a more comfortable space. Antiope decided to go to her chambers and I suggested Steve went to mine. I almost laughed out loud at how red Steve got when I told him he could go to my chambers in front of my Mother and Aunt.

Of course Mother and Antiope know perfectly well that I want to have some alone time with him, since we haven't really gotten the time to talk since he arrived here, but Steve being a product of his time thought they would think something completely different.

Epione said the effects of the paste would fade in about 10 hours, which should be plenty of time to tell him everything.

Or maybe not.

"Last one, my chambers are right here to the right."

We cross the threshold and I hear him whistle. "Wow. I'm pretty sure this was the size of my apartment in D.C"

I help him sit on my bed and I sit next to him. "You should see my Mother's. How do you feel?"

"Out of breath and tingly." He exhales loudly. "So…"

I try to contain my smile but it feels like it might split my face in two. "So…"

Argh, to hell with it. I've waited long enough.

I lean forward and capture his lips with mine. I feel his surprise but he soon responds with as much enthusiasm as I do. Oh, there it is again. I feel something stir inside of me, that thing I can't quite describe. A sensation that starts at the pit of my stomach and spreads all the way to my toes and fingers. I felt it only once before that night in Veld.

There has not been another man. I had lived my life without one and when I met Steve, I knew he would be the only man I would ever want. But it is now, with his hand resting on my face and the feel of his lips on mine that I realize how much I was craving to feel loved.

We pull apart and I rest my forehead against his. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

"I missed you too. So much so that I escaped the Underworld."

I laugh and kiss him again. "Steve, we need to talk about some things. All that's happened since you left. I'm sure you have questions."

He nods. "Yeah, I have a lot of them actually. But first, I remember what you were wearing when you pulled me out of the water. I've never seen anyone wear that before. You were showing a lot of skin."

I smile and stand up to grab my shorts and t-shirt. "These are shorts, they're made out of a material called jeans, and this is just a regular cotton white t-shirt."

He touches my clothes and looks curiously at them shaking his head. "What year is it?"

I hesitate. "You've been gone a long time, Steve."

I see the fear in his eyes, but I also see the determination to not let my answer throw him. "Diana, please. Just tell me. I can take it."

"It's 2018. You've been gone 100 years."

His eyes widen and he looks back down at my clothes. "Oh."

I sit back down next to him. I start filling out the holes in his knowledge of how things work in the Underworld, just so he can see why things are the way they are. I tell him that time passes at a constantly changing pace as a way to stop the souls from noticing the passage of time too much. The Judges of the Underworld take a long time in deciding where each soul should go, so in order to avoid chaos, they manipulated how time works.

He doesn't say anything. The only thing that tells me he's listening to me is the nodding of his head.

"What happened after I died? What happened to you?"

I close my eyes at that. His whole world has been tilted upside down and he wants to know what happened to me.

I'm transported back to the worst night of my life. "Ares had overpowered me. He had me wrapped in iron sheets and I could barely move. I was on the floor, he was looking down at me telling me to give up. I saw the plane, the one you were in, flying above and I remember calling your name over and over, trying to pull strength from you. Reminding myself that you and everyone else were counting on me to defeat Ares. But then… then the plane blew up."

I turn to look at him, knowing that he's now here. That the pain I feel when I tell him what's next is not something that I will have to feel with such intensity ever again. The pain of that night will never leave me, but I can now put that behind me and move forward.

"I have never experienced such grief and rage. It unleashed something in me, this raw power, and I killed everyone that was shooting at me without a second thought."

I feel Steve take my hand, and I tighten my hold on him just to anchor myself enough to not let the pain of that night knock me down all over again.

"I remember the amusement in Ares' face when he saw me unleash my power on them, but then he said something that snapped me from the spell I was in. He said that men were weak, just like you. That almost made me crazy. You had just sacrificed yourself to save millions. That made you strong, not weak. So I channeled all my rage towards him. But he still had one more card under his sleeve.

He rolled over a car and Maru came rolling out from it. When I saw her, my first instinct was to crash her because it was her. She was ultimately the reason why you were dead. I picked up a tank and looked at her directly in the eyes and I saw something I wasn't expecting to see - fear. I closed my eyes and remembered your last words to me, and it was in that moment that I didn't see her as a monster anymore. I saw her as what she was. Human. So I let her live. When I realized that yes, humans are flawed but if you give them a chance, they will surprise you in the most amazing ways.

Ares unleashed all he had against me and instead of fueling my power with rage, I decided to fuel it with love. I killed him and his influence on men was lifted. The war was over officially 2 days later when the armistice was signed on November 11th, 1918."

Steve lets himself fall backwards onto my bed and I stay sat waiting for him to say something. His eyes move left and right while he processes the, really, little information I have given him so far.

"What happened to Sammy, Charlie and Chief?"

"They all survived, barely, but they did. They all lived happy lives and died of old age surrounded by loved ones. Etta too."

I see his eyes shine and he swallows hard. "Good. That's good. Were there any more wars?"

My hearts sinks a little at having to tell him that the war that followed was even worse than the one he fought in. The faces of all those people still haunt me. "Yes, the Second World War from 1939 to 1945. I'm afraid it was even worse than the one before."

He looks at me with a terrified look on his face. "How could it possibly have been worse? How many people died?"

I feel my face contort with the pain of the memories of those 7 years. "They were never really able to get a concrete number. But it was estimated anywhere between 60 and 80 million people."

The horrified look on his face portrays all his emotions rolled into one. I see the disappointment, the disgust, the pain and anger of knowing that men will never remember their past transgressions.

"How is that even possible? 80 million people…"

"I can go into the details of it, but not now. It's long and painful and you don't need to know everything right this instant. What I will say is that it was the biggest genocide in human history and until now, there hasn't been a third world war, but I'm afraid the possibilities of one are getting bigger and bigger everyday."

He rubs his face and looks at me pleadingly. "Can you just tell me something good? Anything?"

I smile softly at him. That I'll be glad to give him. "Women got that vote, and Etta and I were there through it all. We still have to fight in several fronts. Women are not yet seen as equal to men in many regards, even after 100 years. But we're getting there. We work, we drive, we do construction work."

He smiles. "Etta must've been so happy. She was so excited about that."

I smile at the memory of Etta jumping up and down and crying from the utter happiness that something so many women had fought for had paid off. "She was. She couldn't stop talking about it. Not that she was ever quiet, but still."

We laugh at the memory of the very talkative Etta.

"What else happened? How about technology? I can only imagine the progress made in a century."

I lie down next to him and sigh. "Oh my God. Actually I don't think you could even imagine what people have managed to create. Airplanes that fit over 300 people; portable telephones called cellphones; the ability to talk to a person face to face even when they are in different parts of the world; microwaves; laptops; cronuts; nutella; doritos and the latest trend, fidget spinners."

I look at him and laugh at the confusion on his face. I have a feeling I'll be seeing that expression a lot.

"You just said a lot of things I don't understand. I have a lot to learn, huh?"

"You have no idea. I wish I could show you my cellphone, but I forgot it on the ya- Oh my God, Bruce! I can't believe I forgot about him!" I sit up abruptly. I really can't believe I forgot about him! I have to let Mother know he's coming tomorrow, other wise they're going to kill him once he crosses over.

"Bruce? Who's Bruce? Is he your…"

"Friend. He's a friend. I came here with him, but I asked him to wait outside of the cloak and to come get me after 4 days, which is tomorrow. I wasn't exactly expecting for you or Antiope to come back, so now that schedule is going to have to be moved."

He struggles a little to sit up, but he manages. "How much of a friend?"

He tries to ask nonchalantly, but his body language betrays him. "Steve, are you jealous?"

I try to contain the smile, but I can't. I wouldn't have painted Steve as the jealous type. Well, we didn't exactly get to know each other that much, so I guess there's plenty for me to learn about him.

He shrugs. "No, but you must trust him if you came here with him alone… in a boat. Alone."

"Yacht,"

He frowns. "What?"

"We came here in a yacht. You wouldn't catch Bruce Wayne in a boat if he could avoid it. He's one of the richest men in the world."

He bites down on his lower lip and lifts his brow. "Anymore of these friends I should know about?"

I shake my head. "Not really. I don't have that many."

"You don't?"

"No. It's hard. Watching your friends die and you're left behind. So I thought it would be easier to not make any real friendships."

I see the sadness in his eyes and I know what his next words are going to be. "I'm sorry you felt like that, Diana. I never wanted that for you. It sounds incredibly lonely."

All these years I've tried to convince myself that no, it wasn't loneliness that I was feeling, it was my dedication to mankind's safety that was occupying all my time and that was why I felt alone, not because I was purposely keeping people at arms length. At first, I didn't buy my own lie, but it turns out that if you repeat something enough times over a period of 100 years, you eventually believe it.

"Yes, it is. I eventually learnt to occupy my time, though." I smile at the memory of the children in the hospital, who as sick as they might be, they still smile and see the best in everyone and everything. They fuel me to keep fighting. It helps when you actually know the people you're fighting for.

Steve moves so he's now completely lying down on the bed and he motions for me to lie down next to him. I smile and cuddle up to him, the sound of his beating heart more calming than anything I've tried in the last century.

"Tell me everything. How's your life? What do you do? Where do you live?"

I start playing with the buttons on his shirt. "After the war was over, Etta and I agreed that I needed to integrate into the community. So we sat down one evening and she started telling me about all the jobs I could do with the knowledge that I already had. Of course it took us forever to find something, but we eventually agreed that librarian was a pretty good fit, since the system was simple enough to learn and with my extensive knowledge of literature, it shouldn't have been too difficult and it wasn't. I started working at the Maughan Library and I stayed there for about 5 years."

I feel his hand start rubbing my arm up and down in a soothing manner. "I've been to that library. It's beautiful, but it's hard for me to picture you as a librarian. After seeing what you could do in the battlefield, it's hard to picture you behind a desk." He lets out a laugh.

I smile. "I know, but I liked it very much. Before that though, with Chief's help, I contacted people who falsified some documents for me without asking too many questions. I needed all the basic documentation, birth certificate, passport, all of that. After those first 5 years as a civilian I guess you could say, I felt comfortable enough to venture on my own and make some changes. I decided to move to Oxford and get a degree in Art History. I needed that degree so more doors could open for me. Of course I excelled since everything that was being taught I had already learnt, especially in Greek and Roman art, so with that degree I was able to teach at Oxford, London and Durham University."

"Now that I see you being. A teacher. I bet your students loved you."

"I think so. I loved them. All the girls were eager to learn, some were full of questions and others wanted to act all cool around the others, but would come look for me in my office and asked for my opinion of this painting or that sculpture. I also taught regular history classes. I had a few students who became quite famous, like Marjorie Chibnall."

I hold those years as a teacher quite dear to my heart. It taught me a lot about how people think, react and act in general. It taught me the importance of education for mankind and how that shapes their thinking in many ways. It was also quite rewarding to see women fight for an education and for a place in society above that of daughter, wife or mother.

"I was a teacher for about 15 years. I then was forced to make some drastic changes because I kept running into people who I had worked with or taught to and they were all starting to comment on how I looked exactly the same. But then the war started so I tried to help as much as I could. Obviously it wasn't enough. At the end of the day, I'm just one person."

I struggled after the second war with guilt. My mind always went back to all the rescue missions and I would always look for the things I could've done differently. It was always 'if I had done this' or 'if I had waited a little longer', but I learnt that I gained nothing by looking back. What was done was done. No point in thinking in the 'what ifs'.

I feel Steve rest his chin on top of my head. "I have no doubt in my mind that you did everything you could. And for the people you saved, it was enough."

I nod against his chest. "It took some time, but I eventually came to accept that I did my best. But after the war, I became a nomad. I never stayed in one place longer than 3 or 4 years. I lived all over, from Thailand to Norway. I liked being a teacher so I taught whatever subject they wanted me to teach. Most of the jobs I would take were for languages, which as you may remember, I had no problem with."

His chest jumps with a contained laugh and I feel him shake his head. Probably remembering my exchange with Sammy in the bar.

"I did that for about 20 years. I always made sure to go to the most remote of places to avoid somebody recognizing me in the future, and I think it worked because nobody ever said anything to me. I lived in 6 different countries during that time. Namibia, Thailand, Norway, Poland, Peru and Haiti."

All the tiny villages I went to were always so grateful to have someone willing to move to places so far away from modern society. I was only glad to take the job and help them find the tools to succeed in the future.

"You've become quite the international woman." He says with amusement. "How about now?"

"Now I live in Paris. I changed my modus operandi about 20 years ago. With the evolution of technology it became harder to falsify documents. For example, my Oxford degree is now worthless because one, it's from the 20s and two, even if I forced one so the years add up, employers might want to contact someone there and no one will have a clue of who I am. And if they searched the records, either my name would appear as a student from the 1920s or they wouldn't find it at all which would immediately lead to suspicion of forgery, which I can't risk."'

I can almost hear him thinking, trying to figure out how I managed to cheat the system. "So what did you do? Did you look for menial jobs that wouldn't require too many references?"

"In a way. When I moved to Paris 5 years ago, I decided that I would like to go back to art, any area at all. Whether it would be for teaching or selling paintings, it didn't matter. So I looked for jobs related to art. I started working in this tiny art gallery called 'Toile Blanche' that sold minimalist paintings. They were looking for people who were knowledgeable in art and were good at sales. They interviewed me and realized that I had both qualities, so they didn't ask for references. I worked there for 6 months. Then I found a job in another art gallery that was owned by the same people who owned 'Toile Blanche'. I was sales manager there. Then I found a job in Musée Bourdelle as head of the art department. I was actually surprised they gave me that job considering that on paper, I had so little experience.

About a year into the job, there was an exhibition for the Argentinian embassy to display the work of Bourdelle in honor of General Alvear. Among the guests was the wife of one of Louvre's most generous donors. She asked who had arranged the display and she congratulated me on my work and asked for my name. About a month later, I was called by the Louvre's Human Resources department to ask if I was interested in arranging an interview for the position of Antiquities dealer. I, of course, accepted and that's where I'm working now."

He pulls back and looks at me. "That's amazing, Diana. The things you've managed to achieve. You're amazing."

"I've been very lucky. The good thing about working for so long is that you make quite a lot of money and I invested it too. So even if I don't get a job that pays too well, I can still live comfortably."

I really have been lucky in so many ways. I've been lucky that in 100 years, I haven't been caught, with the exception of Lex Luthor and Bruce, but that matter was handled. I've been lucky that even though I didn't open up enough to make close friends, I've been surrounded by good, loving people. And the luckiest thing of all, I got the man I love back.

"Are you telling me you're a millionaire?" Steve asks jokingly.

I look up at him and smile. "Maybe"

He inspects my face trying to see if I'm playing with him, but he seems to realize I'm not and laughs.

"I'll say it again, you're amazing."

"I had plenty of time to learn."

It wasn't that hard to amass the small fortune I have. I never splurged and only bought what I needed. It also helped that the amount of money I had in the 1940s was quintupled by the 1980s because of inflation. I didn't need to move a finger. What was hard was moving that money around without raising too much suspicion. That was one of the reasons I never moved to the US. Over the last 30 years Americans have become paranoid when it comes to immigration and an immigrant with a big enough bank account might attract too many eyes; especially one with no family or significant roots anywhere on record.

I visited the US plenty of times because of work, but I never went for pleasure. Being in Steve's country, the one he was fighting for in the first place was too much for me. I couldn't bear the thought of getting to know the country without him by my side, so I didn't. Maybe now he can show it to me. I don't know if I'll ever consider living there, but now I definitely wouldn't mind going as much as I did before.

"I have another question." Steve tells me.

"Ask away."

"Why did you come here?"

"My Father came to me in a dream and told me about Steppenwolf. He said everything I would need I would find here in Themyscira."

I feel him stop rubbing my arm. "Wait, I thought you had no Father."

I nod against his chest. "Yeah, I thought that too. Turns out my Mother lied to me. Zeus is actually my Father and I was conceived in the normal way." I wrinkle my nose at that.

"Huh. So you're half God?" He asks a little amused.

"Yeah, I was the Godkiller not the sword."

He bends his arm so he's now running his fingers through my hair. "I wasn't that far off then. I thought you were an angel the first time I saw you. My angel on the wing."

I laugh a little confused. "Angel on the wing?"

"Yeah. When I was sinking with the plane, I looked up and saw this silhouette standing on the wing and I remember thinking: 'An angel is watching over me'. I don't think I was that wrong since you saved my life."

"I don't know about being an angel, but I'm glad I was the one to rescue you. What would I have done if another Amazon had pulled you from the plane and you had fallen in love with her?"

He shakes his head. "I would've been grateful to this unknown Amazon, but I still think I would've eventually seen you and fallen victim to that smile of yours."

I kiss his chest and keep playing with the buttons on his shirt. "And I think I would've fallen for your eyes. The bluest I have ever seen. As blue as the water surrounding this island."

He takes a deep breath, chest rising and he sighs loudly. "I love you."

Resting my chin on his chest and looking at him, I repeat once again what I should've told him a long time ago. "I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."

He laughs and I move upwards so I can kiss him.

We stay there for a long time and as much as we both want to do more, we realize this is not the time. Not yet. So we lay there in each other's arm and we say nothing. I feel myself relaxing more and more by the second and I start to nod off. I can feel Steve's breathing getting shallower, getting sleepy too.

"Diana?" He mumbles bringing me out of my almost sleep state.

"Yeah?"

"I changed my mind. When the pain starts, I don't want you with me. I don't want you to see me like that." He's still mumbling, not fully coming out of his relaxed state.

I, on the other hand, am fully awake now. "We don't know how long you'll be in pain, Steve. How do you expect me to stay away, for possibly, days?"

He takes my hand and intertwines his fingers with mine. "There's nothing anybody can do, not even you. There's no point in you being there for every second of it. Go train. Keep your mind busy for the both of us. Come see me from time to time, but don't stay for long."

I shake my head. "Steve, you don't have to do this alone."

"I'm not. You told me you'd be there for every second of it, but it doesn't have to be physically. I know you're there. You're always there."

What he's asking me to do is going to be not only mentally, but physically difficult to do. I want to be there, to remind him every second that this will pass. But I also understand what he's saying. If it were the other way around, I'm sure I would be asking him the same thing and he would be fighting me on it, just like I am.

So against every single thing my mind and heart are begging me to do, I nod. "Okay, I'll try. I won't promise you anything because I simply can't, but if that's your wish, I will do my best to honor it."

I feel him tighten his grip on my hand. "Thank you. But I do need you to promise me something."

I get a bad feeling about this. "What?"

"Promise me that no matter what happens, no matter what I tell you, you won't stop the pain. Even if I beg you to make the pain stop, you will not listen to me. I want this prison I'm in to end so that we can finally have the life we want. We won't be able to do that if this doesn't end, so don't stop it. Promise me that."

I stay silent for a few seconds. What he's saying makes complete sense, but my heart won't understand that. When on this very bed he starts screaming in pain, I don't know what I will do. I don't know how I will react. But I also know that Steve's strong and he will beat this if he puts his heart and mind to it.

So, petrified but hopeful I say, "I promise."

"Thank you," he tells me relieved.

It takes me a little while to fall asleep, but the steady beating of his heart eventually relaxes me enough.

It is later that night that I regret making that promise to Steve.

I'm violently awakened by the sudden jerking of his body and from his lungs came a scream of such agony, I'm almost certain the walls of the palace trembled.

AN: I told you, it was long! Do you picture Diana doing the things I wrote? What else do you think she did? For the rest of the week you should expect updates between 4pm-7pm. I'll let you know if it'll go back to morning updates on Friday. See you Wednesday!