One - Sunrise

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The Soul World, the Soul Stone - Location Unknown

"Thanos, My Love. Did you miss me?"

The two stood staring at each other for a long time, taking in the sight of one another after so long apart. And it was a wonderful sight.

The barren world around them melted away from focus, and it was only them, only each other, reunited, at long last, finally together again.

Thanos broke the silence.  "You always knew how to make an entrance." Bright, colourful lights, her cape and hair blowing in the breeze, was all apart of her signature theatrics.

She shrugged, grinning. "Well, I do have a reputation to uphold."

"Welcome back, My Love."

"My Love-" She began walking towards him, he walking towards her, both eager to close the gap between them.

She only took a few steps, however, before she collapsed, fell right over, landing hard on the orange ground.

He rushed to her side, as quickly as his injuries would allow, to find her stumbling to her feet.

"Oh - that's not good..." She shook her head, suddenly dizzy.  This was not a sensation she was familiar with, and quickly settled on that it was because although they were all together again, the Stones, full of infinite power, she was still separated from them.

Suddenly he held her in his arms, as he had dreamt of for hundreds of years.  He could gaze upon her glowing eyes, which changed colour to the respective colour of whichever Stone she was using, and her multicoloured skin, also the same colours as the Stones. Finally he could see all this for real, and not just as a memory.

"I did."

"Hmm?" Now she stared up at him curiously.

"I did miss you."

She chuckled.  "And I missed you - my Stones!" she suddenly gasped, eyes landing upon the charred, broken gauntlet. "What happened to them?"

"The snap was very draining, to me, and to them," he explained.

She held her hand hovering over them.  "They are weak, I can tell. Then so am I.  I missed them -  but don't worry, I missed you too, Titan." She smiled up at him.

That smile quickly fell, however. "And what happened to you?!" she gasped, gently touching his seared arm.  "What did you do?"

"The fight to obtain the Stones nearly destroyed me.  But I was so close, I held them all, so nothing could have stopped me then, not even death."

"You are in pain, I can tell."

"In body yes, but the pain in my heart has at last been soothed."

At this, she chuckled. "And you call me dramatic. But we are together again, that is all that matters. All will be well now."

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Titan II, The Garden - Space

When Adonia awoke, she could feel the close presence of the Stones, yet not the usual attachment of them to herself. They had been reunited, but not fully.

Throwing her cloak around her shoulders, torn and worn now from centuries trapped away, she stepped outside into the early morning.

The orange light of the sun was just beginning to pour across the green hilly landscape of the planet they were now on. The front porch of their hut allowed a perfect view of the sunrise over the mountains.

Thanos was already awake and seated on the porch, watching the sun emerge into the sky.

She knew this place immediately. "Titan II.  The Garden."

"Yes. I thought, what better place for us to go? There are many memories here."

"Yes." She nodded.

"Come sit with me, My Love. Let us watch the sun rise on a grateful universe."

She did so, coming to sit beside him on the porch, feeling the first rays of the sun warm her face. 

There was a moment of silence before she spoke. "Is it, grateful?" She paused, her question hanging open in the air between them. "And what of the cost?" He turned to look at her.  She closed her eyes.  "I am sensing great chaos and fear across the universe.  Everywhere.  Constant." Her eyelids fluttered open and met his dark eyes.

"In time, they will come to see that what I did was for the greater good."

"Let us hope. And what about you? Do you still think it's for the greater good? Or were you speaking for yourself as well?"

"I always had faith in my mission."

"Ah, but that was before. What about now, now that it is complete?" No answer. "I warned you of the cost, long ago, and you didn't believe me. You never did."

"I did believe you."

"Balancing something throws off the balance of another. I don't think you can ever have perfect balance. You may have created something worse: chaos."

"As I recall, you once said we were perfectly balanced."

She cracked a smile. "Perhaps we were."

"I thought, and hoped, that bringing you back would solve everything. That all would be well again."

"I'm flattered. But we both know that's not true. My love has lost all his light." She gestured to his armour, which he had hung up, almost like a scarecrow. "An empty shell of what once was." She traced a scar on his arm with the tip of her finger. "This battle for the Stones, for the fate of the universe, has taken its toll on us both. We are weak, yet strong. Strong, yet weak." She ran her hand over the gauntlet, the Stones seeming to hum with the contact, calling to her, reaching out. She smiled at the feeling of being close to them again. "I always loved a good paradox."

The sun had fully risen over the hilltops by now - it really was morning.

"A new day. So, what will you do now?"

"Now, I finally get to rest. After centuries of conquest, I have finally completed my missions."

"And after you rest? Farming doesn't suit you, Titan."

"For the first time in my life, I don't know my path."

"Sometimes that can be a good thing." She rose to her feet.  "But, it is a new day, and the possibilities are endless!"










(Finally, we actually get to see some of Adonia! ;)) Got some dialogue inspiration from the comics!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! We'll check in with the Avengers in the next chapter! :))

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