Hercules had mentioned not sleeping since they parted, but it became truly clear when he fell asleep at the edge of the bath, resting his cheek against her chest. His arms were tight around her, and his breathing carried a thousand sighs.

While he slept, Megara caressed his hair and traced his face, from his jawline to the ridge of his cheekbones and back up the slope of his nose. He was the last thing many horrors that walked the earth had seen before he banished them to Tartarus. He had pursued justice many times for those who could not find it themselves. And now he rested against her, seeming as innocent and helpless as a cherub.

She watched the door and the windows for intruders, but somehow, she knew they would face no intruders. They had won a victory, and their prize was freedom.

"Aphrodite," she whispered, "thank you for the gifts of pleasure we share." Her fingers wandered the prominent curve of his ear. "Hera, thank you for helping us hold our marriage steady despite the odds." She combed Hercules's hair back from his eyes and worked oils through it. "Zeus, thank you for bidding him to become a hero so that he would fall into my path."

Her prayers faded into an abiding sense of joy that she could express only by humming one of the songs composed for her by the Muses. It was the ode to a life lived before this one. One day, perhaps, she would help the Muses compose one for the life she now lived, which made her previous world seem so small. Now, she was capable of approaching people without fear, and nobody would drag her down into the darkness.

Hercules stirred. The song must have been what roused him. He brushed his face against her chest and sighed, then raised his eyes to her. "I love you," he whispered, eyes wide with an innocence she thought she'd chased away.

Considering the lyrics of her song, Megara brushed her fingertips along his cheek and smiled down into his eyes. "I'm so grateful it's safe to love you. I'll never stop."

Hercules smiled, then closed his eyes as if he were memorizing what she'd said. "You know… I've started thinking… Hecate and Medea pulled a dirty trick on us, but I'm grateful for one thing: I got a chance to prove I know you anywhere."

"I wish there were an easier way to prove that, but you're right. And I proved that nobody gets to take my man from me, especially not against his will."

That statement excited him. "Maybe that's why I felt so weird after watching you do that!"

"What sort of weird do you mean?"

"I wanted to… be with you after that. Show my gratitude. Physically."

"I guess you're used to showing love with protective violence, and so when I flew into a violent rage on your behalf, it felt like a declaration of love."

"Wasn't it?"

"Yes… it was more, but it was that. Only one of us ever claimed to be a hero, and you let that slide when it probably should've warranted a punishment."

"No, it didn't. When a prisoner fights for freedom against a kidnapper, violent means are permitted." Hercules smiled. "Trust me. My father knows better than to blame you for a death that was his fault. Think of it. He called off the gods from watching Hecate, and that's when she took you. Omphale would still be alive, scheming with her patron, if not for the fact that Hecate sprang her trap. She wouldn't have done that if my father remained vigilant. This guilt doesn't belong to you, and don't let your father's voice in your head tell you it does."

"You think I still need his help to hate myself?"

"I think he's the one who put that voice there. I've talked to him enough times to know how he wields guilt. You're not alone in that knowledge. He comes off as so reasonable it's easy to forget his view is warped around deciding if people are obedient enough to suit him."

"It's too bad he became king. He made for a great regent, but then he got too much power."

"Maybe he needs to go back to being a regent. But whatever he does, I'd rather he wasn't involved in our lives at all, so that will complicate how we interact with your brother. He'll want to meet his niece, eventually."

"Let's figure out things that have to do with other people some other time. You brought me back to life twice. I want to enjoy our life together."

"You weren't dead the second time," Hercules insisted as if he'd been arguing with someone for hours. Maybe he had been warring with that thought in his own mind.

"No, but I was close to it, and you… what did you do, exactly?"

"You know how I can will myself places? I willed some of myself into you until you had enough blood to keep you going."

"You will some of yourself into me all the time; it is pretty life-changing, but I didn't think—"

"Theoi, I'm trying to be serious!" Evidently, it wasn't working because he broke into a fit of laughter.

"So am I; you really don't seem to appreciate how you're built like every girl's dream, and I'm not done talking about it."

Somehow, she succeeded where he didn't and let him be the only one in a fit of hysterics while she only smiled.

Gasping and coughing to end the laughing fit, Hercules finally sat up. "I could see your life force; I could feel it. Your heart was beating, but you'd lost so much blood you were shutting down. I only sort of understood what was happening to you, but I knew that I might lose you if I didn't act quickly, so I did. I'm so grateful it worked." He bowed his head over hers to rest their brows together, then dipped lower for a kiss.

Megara relished the contact. She opened her mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck to fully invite him in.

Hercules had been sitting at an angle with her in his lap, but now he shifted to align their bodies. Their kiss rubbed him against her, and she groaned invitingly. While he'd slept, his aura had faded, so he looked human again. With his renewed vigor, his aura surrounded him and thus energized the water around them again.

When Megara pulled back for breath, she asked, "Is my blood like yours now?"

Hercules blinked a few times. He hadn't been thinking of her blood. That much was clear. "I… lemme check." He raised one of her arms to examine it and turned its vein side toward him. He stroked her wrist and made her giggle, but he held her in place so she wouldn't squirm.

As he concentrated, a faint red-gold light emanated through her skin.

Hercules's eyes widened, and he smiled open-mouthed as if he had seen something beautiful. "It isn't all like mine, but… who knows? With time, it could be."

"And I'm carrying your child. Who knows between the two of you how much of the original me will be left over?"

That seemed to concern him. "I want the original you."

"I'm thinking… She's a demigoddess, and you're a full god. Right now, she's feeding off my blood and everything she filters through me. So… it makes me wonder, is all."

At first, he seemed concerned, but gradually, Hercules began to grin. "I already know both of us want you with us forever. We'll work together and make you immortal along with us, Meg. And… I think we should try and come up with a name for her. Not now, obviously, but soon."

"Why not now?"

"Because," a hint of mischief appeared on his face, "right now, I want you all to myself, and I'm not about to share while you try and think of a name for her."

Megara's mischief levels rose to match his. "You know. I always liked flower names."

Hercules snickered. The sound wasn't natural to him, but she knew where he'd picked it up. "We're doing that, then?"

"I don't know what you're doing, but maybe a pretty girly flower name, something that makes people think how cute she is before they meet her."

"You're named after a throne room, you don't want to continue the tradition and name her after another room in the house? We could call her courtyard or dining room."

"Yes, clearly, it's a tradition worth upholding. We should name her atrium because she's going to be so welcoming."

"Or we go back to your original idea." Hercules toyed with her under the water to let her know he hadn't forgotten his priorities. "She could be a rose, but there are thousands of girls with rose names. Ours is special."

"We could name her after the flowers that grow in the public gardens…" it was becoming more difficult to tease him the more rhythmically he teased her, but she was determined. "Or we could name her after you because she'll be your firstborn."

Hercules made a disgusted noise. "She needs a cute name; she doesn't have to walk around explaining that I'm the big goofy one."

"Might keep some people from messing with her if your name's the first thing they think of."

"Hm… could be, but you're way scarier than I am. Maybe she could be named after you." Hercules buried his face in the arch of her neck and sucked on it as if he hoped she wouldn't be able to talk.

She couldn't let him win like that. "No way, it was already confusing enough tripping over myself to answer when someone was calling for my brother! We're not creating an immortal being whose destiny is to be forever confused with her mother. She'd hate me eventually."

"Okay, so don't name her after me, either. They'll spend her whole life asking if she can lift stuff."

"Pretty sure that's inevitable, considering you're the one with a reputation. Anyone who knows me is most likely going to think I'm a conniving harpy."

"That's not true," Hercules surprised her by taking this moment to once again will some of himself into her. He gazed into her eyes and whispered, "What's true is you're the most incredible mortal girl in the cosmos, and you deserve more." He shifted forward as if this would drive his words deeper, too. "When they tell your story, Meg, they'll remember how selfless, patient and wise you are. You're funny and courageous, and you're going to be an incredible mother. So, don't worry about your legacy. I'll write you into the stars right next to me, and we'll stay there forever."

Megara nodded. "Whatever you say… I know by now you can make the impossible happen."

Hercules rose out of the water, never breaking their connection.

The sudden exit from the water left her cold, but Hercules's aura took up the slack from the bath as he carried her into the courtyard, the two of them still dripping. "We've got recent memories around this place," he said, "I want us to rewrite them."

Each step rocked him within her, and it got Megara's teeth chattering. "I'm not sure… what you're talking about…"

Hercules seated himself on one of the dining couches in the courtyard. It was the same one he'd brought Medea to when she was disguised as Megara. "I've got you back now," he said and brushed the hair back from her face. "The real you."

So that's what he was up to. "And I'm grateful you never let them change your opinion of me." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the bridge of his nose. "Welcome me home properly, won't you? The Underworld was so dreary… as always."

He needed no further prompting. Hercules surged back to his feet and rather than walk up the stairs with her, they were suddenly tumbling into bed. "It's never happening again," he whispered and lifted one of her legs to hold her further open. "You're not going back down there unless it's to mock your enemies or visit Thanatos. You belong with me, where you're safe and loved." His words were interrupted with a few low grunts as he put extra effort into every movement.

"I'll stay with you forever," she whispered back right before she lost control of her mouth, and the only noises she could make were a few frenzied moans.

Hours later, when Hercules was curled around her with his arms locked behind her back, Megara heard him whispering in his dreams. "She belongs with me, don't take her again."

She knew it was another in his arsenal of nightmares, but there was a reason she hadn't given in to sleep yet. It was too easy to imagine she'd wake again to the sight of the stalactite teeth grinning down at her. There were now two unwanted blue chthonic masters to endure in her dream world, and she wasn't sure when she'd be ready to face either one.