"I don't get it." Lois admitted.
"I believe the idea is to lay here in the sun and allow the radiation to slightly 'cook' us, until our skin pigment becomes a shade or two darker…"
Lois was lying on a beach atop the whitest sand she could have ever imagined. Her hair was long and pulled back into a lose ponytail. The water flowing up and down the beach was blue and crystal clear. The sun was high and bright in a cloudless sky. The breeze was gentle and cool, and seemed to complement the nearly perfect temperature. The only sound was the ocean before her, the birds singing in the thick jungle behind her and the hint of someone strumming a harp in the distance.
It was a perfect day. Just as it had been yesterday; and the day before that, and the day before that. Just as it always was in Paradise Island; in Themyscara.
Beside Lois lay Diana, Princess of the Amazons, Champion of Themyscara, Ambassador of Peace and Wisdom, and more commonly known to the rest of the world as Wonder Woman.
She was lying with her eyes closed, her body parallel to Lois, but easily a foot and a half longer in the white sand. Her jet black hair spread out from her head like a wave, naturally resting in the perfect position hairstylist spend hours trying to obtain for photo shoots and shampoo ads.
And, with the exception of her ever present bracelets; all she wore was a two piece bikini that could best be described as "string".
Lois, no stranger to gyms and women's locker rooms, was never bothered by female nudity, or near nudity. In fact, she worked hard keeping herself in shape and rarely felt uncomfortable being naked around any other woman, but at the moment, the desire to cover her own bikini clad body with as much of the perfect white sand as she could was almost overwhelming. It was Wonder Woman she was laying next to, after all. She couldn't imagine any woman in the world not feeling insecure around a woman that was six feet of sculpted beauty; raven black hair, flawless cream skin, crystal blue eyes, and a body that many women paid tens of thousand of dollars to achieve.
Lois frowned and tried very hard to focus on something else.
"No…" she said, sitting up. "I got the concept of tanning-"
"I'm not sure I'm doing it right," Diana admitted. "We've been doing this for three days, and while I can see a noticeable change in your skin pigment, or tan as you call it, my skin remains unaffected. Maybe if I try some more of that 'tanning lotion'…"
"You invulnerable, remember?" Lois sighed.
Diana thought for a moment. "Do you believe that has something to do with why I can not do this correctly?"
"Just a guess." Lois smiled. Diana frowned. "What I don't get is you!" Lois continued.
"Excuse me?" Diana replied, her eyes narrowing.
"You. Them. This whole damned island!"
Diana sat up then, her crystal blue eyes suddenly very serious. "Superman… Clark… expressed to me that you desired to come and stay here with us for your vacation. If you find the island, or the company, not to your liking, we can contact him and arrange for him to come and take you home."
Lois waved her hand and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Diana." She began. "That came out wrong. You have been great. All the women here have made me feel more than welcomed. In fact, everything here has been perfect. Everything: the food, the weather, the sand, the water. Everything is perfect! And that's what I don't get!"
Diana frowned again. "Things are as they always are here." She explained. "What you refer to as perfection, I only see the norm."
"That's my point!" Lois said, tossing her hands in the air.
Diana looked at her for a long moment. "Perhaps you have had too much sun." she said softly.
Lois laughed. "My first day here," she began. "We went horse-back riding around the island. My horse stumbles, throws me, and not only do you catch me and probably save me from breaking my neck; but you throw the horse over your shoulders and carry it back to the stable!"
"Was I just supposed to leave it there?" Diana asked sitting up.
Lois laughed again. "The second day, I participated in what I can only describe as the most grueling morning exercise known to man… or woman for that matter. This morning," she went on. "We got massages before breakfast, listened to some of the most beautiful poetry and songs I've ever heard, and now we are lying on the whitest beach I've ever seen; on top of sand that, even though I'm laying here almost naked, doesn't seem to get into any cracks or crevasse…"
This time, Diana giggled slightly.
"I mean every woman on this island; stable girl, teacher, cook, guard, healer; chamber maid; every single one of you. You're all built like Hugh Heffner's next wet dream!"
"Who's Hugh Heffner?"
Lois smiled "And every single one of you can fight better than almost any man I've ever met!"
Wonder Woman folded her arms under her massive bosoms and raised an eyebrow. "Almost?"
Lois roared with laughter and fell back into the sand. Diana simply glared at her and shook her head. "Definitely too much sun." Diana breathed.
"God!" Lois yelled. She looked at her raven haired companion. "You are the strongest woman in the world. If you arm-wrestled Clark, I wouldn't be sure who to put my money on. You could beat the cape off of Bruce any day of the week, and maybe even beat the Flash in a game of 'Hot Hands'…"
"Hot what?"
"And even if you didn't have all that going for you…" Lois continued. "You could get rich off your face and body alone!"
"I'm not sure I follow you, Lois." Diana admitted.
Lois sighed. "You're one of the most beautiful women I've ever met. You are very intelligent, if not a bit naïve. You're the princess of a mystic island that is the closest thing to perfect paradise anyone could imagine, the Ambassador of Peace and Wisdom throughout the world…"
"What's your point?" Diana asked, slightly annoyed.
"My point is that you have the type of life little girls dream about!" Lois sat up again. "You have everything anyone could ever ask for. A life of pure perfection! Yet you're out there! You're out there risking your life next to the boys; fighting intergalactic bad-guys, supernatural zombies, and evil super-geniuses; when you could be jet setting around the globe, walking runways, posing at photo shots, living a life of glamour and wealth!" Lois tossed her hands into the air and let out a heavy breath as she fell back into the sand. "I just don't get it." she breathed.
Diana regarded her for a long moment. Then she turned her eyes towards the seas and gentle crashing waves.
"As you know," she began; her voice soft, her tone even. "Superman… Clark is one of my closest friends."
"Yeah." Lois said, her arm shielding her eyes from the bright sun.
Diana was silent for a long moment.
"We he first told us; Bruce and I, of his intention to marry you, I asked him 'Why?'" She went on.
"Excuse me?" Lois asked, sitting up on her elbows, glaring at the Amazonian powerhouse.
"I asked him: Of all the women in the world, why her? What makes her so… special?"
"Jealous much?" Lois said, sitting up completely.
Diana turned towards her, her eyes a mixture of determination and focus. It was a look that made many a bad guy shake in his boots and turn tail and run.
Lois met her gaze evenly.
"Do you know what he told me?" Diana asked.
Lois raised an angry eyebrow in response.
"He said: 'Although she's beautiful; it's not her looks. Although she's smart; it's not her mind. For all the hours she spends at the gym, it's not her body. It's her spirit!' he said. 'She approaches the world like she's ten feet tall. She never backs down from challenge. She's constantly throwing herself into dangerous situations, always running into the fire when everyone else is trying to run out. She goes after stories, after life, with a reckless abandon few people have.'"
Diana turned back towards the ocean then. "'I can fly.' he said. 'I can move at super-speeds. I can melt steel with my eyes, blow out a volcano, see through anything but lead, and except for Kryptonite and magic, I'm nearly invulnerable. But when I look into her eyes, when I touch her skin, when I hear her voice, when I kiss her lips… that's the closest to vulnerable I ever feel.'"
Lois blushed. Her gaze faltered and she found herself looking at the sand and water.
"And do you know what I told him?" Diana continued.
"What?" Lois asked softly.
"I told him he was making a mistake!" she admitted, turning back towards her, her eyes fierce.
Lois looked as if she had just been slapped across the face.
"I told him you were too stubborn!" she continued. "I told him you were head strong and impulsive! That you got yourself into more trouble than you knew how to get out of. That you ran when you should walk. You spoke when you should be silent, and that you were a distraction that he, the League, and the rest of the world, could ill afford! And you know what?"
Lois, mouth hanging opened and speechless, didn't respond.
"I was right!" Diana said harshly.
Lois was on her feet, her hands balled into fist, her chest heaving. "Where the hell do you get off!?" she fumed.
Diana was suddenly standing, looking down at Lois. Way down.
"But that was before I knew you," she said calmly. "Truly knew you."
Lois blinked at her, Diana's eyes now full of kindness and caring.
"You are stubborn." She said softly. "But that is only because you refuse to allow any one, or anything, to stand in your way when you set your mind on something. You are head strong, but it's because your purpose is so clear, your goal so apparent. You run because you have no fear. You speak when others don't have the courage." Diana raised a soft, perfect hand to Lois's face and brushed back a lock of hair. Lois flinched, but did not try to stop her.
Diana caressed her face softly. "These past few days, I have seen you ride the wildest of our horses…"
"Is that why they called him 'Demon'?" Lois asked with a frown.
Diana smiled and nodded. "And when he threw you, you didn't scream or cry out for help. You braced yourself for what was to come. I have seen you stand and train with the finest warriors in the world and never give and inch. And even now, you stand against what you yourself have called the strongest woman in the world, and are prepared to fight in defense of your honor."
"What?" Lois asked, face serious. "You don't think I could take you?"
Diana gave her a smile that adults usually reserve for small children, but did not answer. "You are the woman you are. As the Gods intended you to be! You do not try to hide who you are, or run from your destiny; you embrace it. You go after it with reckless abandon. Often at your own peril, but I'm sure you would not want it any other way."
Lois smiled slightly.
"We amazons are the same. We are as the Gods intended us to be. We are mothers, daughters, and sisters. We are teachers and philosophers, bringers of peace and kindness. And yes, each and every one of us is a warrior born. You ask me why I fight; why I risk my life against countless villains, only to have another arise in its place. I ask you, sister; why do you travel the world, chasing stories, seeking truth and understanding, revealing what you find to the world. It's because that's who you are. I fight for those who cannot, because that is who I am!"
Lois let the amazons' words sink in quietly, her eyes looking at the gentle face of the taller woman. "I was wrong about one thing, however…" Diana admitted.
"What was that?"
"When he married you," Diana smiled. "It was no mistake. When Clark is with you, he has a chance to be normal; too truly be human. He gets a chance to forget about being Earths greatest champion. When he's with you, all he has to worry about is being your husband. Superman needs that. The world needs Superman. Superman… Clark… needs you."
Lois looked up at the taller woman; a woman that could crush boulders with her hands, a woman that could fly, deflect a hail of gunfire with her bracelets, and force the truth from any ones lips with her lasso.
"I…I don't know what to say…" she said finally.
"Nothing needs to be said, sister." Diana replied. "Come. Let us head back to the palace for lunch." Diana knelt down and pulled her toga from the sand, shook it once, and wrapped herself in it. Lois did the same. They began walking towards the path that led to the heart of Paradise Island.
"I could have taken you, you know…" Lois said softly as they walked.
Diana laughed slightly. "I am sure you would have tried, Lois." She replied with a wide smile.
"I am sure you would have tried."