The Meanings of Lost

Chapter 19

Two Months Later:

Diana:

Six of the seven major academic schools fell. A few days after the incident with the fire, it was proven by Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman (with the help of the local police force, of course) that The Sisters of Perpetual Sorrow had been behind the fire. Not only that, but the school was encouraging the bright students to use their intellectual lessers for supernatural experiments, though nothing like the two girls I'd seen.

The Sisters, as well as the other girls' and boys' schools in the seven, had collapsed. Stonewall, having been the least reliant on the other schools, had filed to be separated from their peers and won. Later, they announced that they would no longer be accepting applications and expelled half the school body. It's been declared that all remaining students may if they so desire, graduate from Stonewall.

The news, still, is going on and on about the schools and the academic standards thrust upon children. Do we actually need schools like this? Why stream children and ostracize the normal by making them feel dumb? All children should just go to the same schools for average people.

I turn off the television. It's ludicrous. Students should be challenged, especially those who want to be. I think of Ambrosine. I haven't heard from her since that note she'd written, but I have a feeling she wasn't in the group that got expelled.

I look around. I haven't moved back to my London house yet. I'm still at Bruce's hospital for the supernatural, as no one seems to think I'm stable enough to be left alone and he had both Steve and the John Doe transferred here alongside me. There's something substantially wrong with them that we can't figure out. They've only been awake a few times, and each time it has been disastrous. The first time Steve opened his eyes he lunged at the first person he saw, intent to kill. The other man did not try that but became a bumbling fool, fascinated by the world. He was fine until I walked into the room, then he lost it and fainted, cursing Hades all the while.

So Alfred keeps them sedated and semi-conscious until we can figure out how to fix them. Until we can figure out what Hades did. That's all we know. hades did something to them. Hades disturbed their rest because of me. Steve died because of me, and now, because of me, he could not rest peacefully. Maybe my mother was right.

We're going to try and wake them up again today. They can't stay like this forever (well technically they can, but no one wants that). We've tied them down and they're in separate rooms. They're trying the John Doe first. I'm not allowed to be in the room, for safety precautions. I'd begrudgingly agreed to these conditions so long as I could be there when Steve wakes up.

"Diana?" Someone knocks on my door.

"Hmm? Come in," I reply. "Hi Alfred," I say with a disinterest.

"Just because Bruce lives in a cave doesn't mean you have too," he tells me. "Go outside or something."

"You make it sound like I'm a moody teenager. I'm technically older than you'll ever dream of living."

"Still, get some fresh air, Diana. Go Christmas shopping or something." I roll my eyes. So superficial.

"If I go will you leave me alone?" I ask.

"I have no plans on coming with you," Alfred replies. Perfect.

"I'll get my coat."

"Already ahead of you, Miss," he says, handing it to me.

I take a bus to an out of the way town. It has tonnes of quaint little shops, all selling hand-crafted, holiday-themed odd and ends. I wonder if I should get anything for Ambrosine. I have no means of sending her a gift and I don't think Bruce, Clark, Barry, and I are all at the sending each other gifts level yet.

I browse the shops. Nothing sticks out at me.

~~~~~

I return a few hours later.

"Diana!" Barry is instantly behind me, helping me with my coat. "John Doe is safe and well," he reports.

"Have you learnt anything from him?"

"I don't think he trusts us," he replies. "Maybe he'd talk to you? Bruce says it all has something to do with you."

"He did now, has he?" I ask, thinking of that wonderful photograph on my phone.

"Yes, though we were all assuming before he confirmed."

We walk down the hallway. I tune Barry out as he talks a mile a minute about science. He loves talking to Clark and I, for our inhuman abilities allow us to understand fast speech. Instead of listening to him, I listen to the click my heels make as I walk.

Barry leads me to the door of the room we keep Mr. Doe in. I take a deep breath as I place my hand over top of the cold metal handle, covering it. Three... Two... One...

I count down in my head. At one I push down on the latch and pull the door towards my face. John stands up when he sees me. There's something in the way his brown eyes stare into, some knowingness, some loss. I just can't place my finger on it, but I've seen it before. Somewhere long ago, in the old world. It fills my chest with a warm feeling that's soon met with sorrow.

Calm yourself, I command.

The man in front of me stands. "Diana," John breathes. The voice is alien yet the notes on which he pronounces my name strike true to my soul. He takes a step forwards but I tell him to stay back, raising an arm intimidatingly and widening my stance.

"Diana, it's me. Steve," he says. "Hades, he switched our bodies," he argues.

"How do I know you are not lying?" I ask. This stranger is treading into dangerous territory. I hope he knows who he is meddling with. Bruce, Clark, and Barry are all alert now, ready for the moment a fight breaks out. Whether they want to protect the man or me, I cannot tell. They should focus on protecting him though. He can't answer questions if he dies. Again, a little voice says in my mind. Dies again.

The man stutters for a moment. "I can... I can tell you all that passed between us since we crash-landed on Theymsicra, the Paradise Island. I can describe to you how the ocean shone like a crystal in the purest waters imaginable. How the sand was as white as bone and sparkled like diamonds in the sun."

"So can others." It's going to take much more than a description of my home island.

He takes a step forwards. "I know what you told me the night we left. I remember how fascinated you were with watches. I remember the Amazon who questioned everything and was not afraid to state her opinion and would not be told what to do, not by society, not by me and not by the Gods." He was right in front of me now. "And I know the words you uttered after the victory in No Man's Land. The words you told me in the night, the ones you whispered in my ear between the sheets at that hotel. The ones you said even the Gods would not overhear." My heart flutters. Is that true? Is he back, in this new body? He leans close to my and soft yet clear repeats to me the same words I'd told him a century ago. His warm breath lingers on my ear as I stare up into his eyes.

I no longer see the eyes of a stranger. They are replaced with the soul of my love. Our hands find each others'. A flash of red and yellow traverses the room in seconds and we are alone. I pull him closer, I need him closer. His lips find mine and suddenly he's kissing me, raw and tender. The tears I'd been holding back finally free themselves and stream down my cheeks as he wraps his arms around me, making my heart beat faster and faster.

"I missed you so much," I croak between kisses.

"I love you," he replies. I lean against his chest and weep all the tears I'd never shed, and then some. The new ones of joy for being reunited. He holds me tight and at this very moment, I swear by the Gods life is perfect as I feel the pressure of his lips against my hair and the tenderness of his new voice as he promises never to leave me and to love me for the rest of his life in this world, and whatever afterlife he is given again.

~~~~~

It finally happened!! And 700 views wow!!! Thanks so much, everyone. It was literally 13 days ago on Valentine's I was celebrating 400 views. You guys are all the best, always voting and leaving encouraging comments. Please continue to do so,
~Beneath_the_Willows