Chapter Text
[1]
Diana whirls around in a tight circle, swinging her blade so quickly that to anyone watching, it is only a blur of shining light. Her foes swarm against her, a ceaseless wave of enemies, but Diana cuts them each down with ease.
She is Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons, and no one can defeat her.
The sound of applause, accompanied by a light giggle, falls down upon her ears, and Diana jerks her head upwards, brandishing her weapon—a long, sturdy stick—in the noise’s direction.
“That was impressive, Princess,” a young woman calls down from her perch up high in a nearby tree. “Although I couldn’t quite tell from this vantage point… Were those ghosts, you were fighting, or bumblebees?”
Diana grins, sheepish. “Don’t tease me, Kasia,” she pleads. She turns and tosses the stick away, and Kasia’s bright blue eyes follow its path as it arches swiftly across the field as though shot from a bow. “What are you doing up there?” Diana goes on, changing the subject.
Kasia holds up the book she’d had propped up in her lap. “Reading,” she responds.
“Oh, anything interesting?”
“I believe nearly all books are interesting,” replies Kasia.
Diana laughs, before taking a few steps forward and jumping up to grab onto a sturdy branch lower down on Kasia’s tree. “Nearly all of them?” she questions, as she swings lightly back and forth in the air, her arms hanging straight and taut.
“Mm,” Kasia agrees amiably. “Nearly all. This one concerns Urania, the Muse, and her studies of astronomy and mathematics.”
Flexing her arms just slightly, Diana launches herself into the air and settles easily at Kasia’s side.
“Are you sure that’s one of the interesting ones?” Diana asks, skepticism evident in her voice. She peers over at the pages, but it is not a book she recognizes.
Kasia nudges her elbow gently into Diana’s side, either unimpressed or unconcerned with the other woman’s sudden appearance beside her, before she lays her head down onto Diana’s shoulder. “You don’t fool me in the slightest, Diana. I know you love learning as much as I do.”
“Nearly so,” Diana rejoins with a smirk, and she can feel the upward tilt of Kasia’s responding grin against her shoulder.
They remain in a comfortable silence for some stretch of time, neither one in any hurry to move.
Eventually Diana continues, “Regardless, I think I will leave the astronomy to you and Urania. I shall stick to defending you against the bumblebees.”
Kasia laughs, the sound a sudden, bright crystal call into the air. She lifts her head and turns to look at Diana with an affectionate gaze.
“My hero,” she whispers, just before she leans in to press her lips to Diana’s cheek.
Diana feels the heat rise up her face, but she makes no attempt to hide her own answering grin.
On the eve of the first day of the Feast of Five, Diana sleeps lightly. She knows the importance of rest, especially before what is sure to be a long and glorious day, but excited nerves keep her on edge.
It is one of Diana’s favorite times of the year, the weeklong Feast of Five. First a hunt for the glory of Artemis, a harvest to honor Demeter, and finally a feast to celebrate Athena, Hestia, and Aphrodite—the five patron goddesses of the Amazons.
The biggest yearly celebration on Themyscira, and it is all set to begin at dawn.
So on this of all nights, it does not take much to wake Diana.
“No, please, no!”
Diana is awake and alert at once, on her feet in an instant, with her sword drawn.
But there is no enemy in sight, no threats lurking in any shadows.
No physical ones, at least.
There is a soft whimper, and immediately, Diana is kneeling at Kasia’s side, her sword dropped to the ground and forgotten.
The furrow in Diana’s brow deepens; she feels powerless against this foe, these nightmares that oftentimes plague her friend.
“Kasia,” she murmurs, her voice a soft whisper of breath.
The only response is for Kasia to clench her bed sheets more tightly in her sleep as her head thrashes back and forth.
Diana tries once more, louder—“Kasia, wake up.”—again to no effect.
Hesitant and unsure what to do, Diana reaches her hand out, her open palm hovering uncertainly over Kasia’s head.
But when Kasia cries out again in a voice full of fear and panic, Diana immediately drops her hand to curve around Kasia’s face. Kasia seems to settle, just a little, at the feel of Diana’s touch, and Diana softly brushes some stray hair—beautiful and golden, even in this darkness—out of Kasia’s eyes.
“You are safe, Kasia. He cannot hurt you anymore,” Diana promises. “Wake up, dear friend. I will keep you safe.”
Diana doesn’t know why Kasia seems to remember more from the time before her rebirth than some of the others do, or why the memories continue to haunt Kasia’s dreams.
Perhaps it is because she’d been relatively young when she was killed.
It had been difficult for Kasia, telling Diana about her previous life; that life in the World of Man, ended so viciously when a man took violent offense at Kasia’s refusal of him. Diana understands that it is a true intimacy to share such stories. Now she can only thank the goddesses that Kasia’s soul was one of those chosen from the Underworld to be reborn as an Amazon.
After several moments of Diana’s soothing voice and touch, Kasia’s eyes flutter open. There is a wildness to her gaze until it locks onto Diana’s, and then a sense of calm settles around her, belying the torment she’d been experiencing mere seconds prior.
The urge to kiss Kasia is not a new one, but even so, the sudden rush of yearning nearly overwhelms Diana.
A quick flash of shame follows the impulse, however. Unquestionably, now is not the time for such amorous thoughts.
She moves to pull away, but Kasia does not let her—her hand sweeps forward to grasp Diana by the wrist, returning Diana’s hand to the side of Kasia’s face. Diana allows the guidance, and her thumb strokes lightly across Kasia’s cheekbone, even as Kasia maintains her grip around Diana’s wrist.
“Stay with me?” Kasia asks quietly, her first words since waking.
There is no hesitation before Diana replies. “Of course,” she says. After a moment, she repeats her words from earlier, declaring, “I will keep you safe, Kasia.”
“Yes, I know,” replies Kasia, as though there was no question of it at all. She rolls over onto her side, tugging Diana along behind her. Diana moves with her, climbing quietly into Kasia’s bed alongside her. She wraps her arms around Kasia, settling into the position with an ease born of familiarity. This is not the first time they have slept like this, the arrangement becoming increasingly common once they began sharing a room within the large sleeping quarters.
It doesn’t take long for Kasia to fall back into sleep, but Diana stays awake. She waits to see if Kasia’s nightmare will return, but the sound of Kasia’s even breathing remains a soothing balm to counter Diana’s disquiet.
Eventually, Diana can no longer stop her eyes from drooping closed. She resettles herself, snuggling more deeply into Kasia’s warmth. Without overthinking it, she lightly brushes her lips against the back of Kasia’s neck, before sinking softly into sleep.
There is no mistaking the hush of silence that suddenly falls across the mess hall upon Diana’s entrance.
Diana quirks her head, confused at the reaction. Her eyes sweep across the others—upon first glance, she takes in Epione, Mala, Io, Niobe, Euboea…—and they all seem to look over at her, before their gazes dart away when Diana meets their eyes. It’s then that Diana spots Kasia at a separate table, and with a mental shrug, she moves to go sit across from her.
“What are they doing?” Diana inquires as she takes her seat.
Kasia looks up from a book, only then noticing Diana’s presence. “Hm? Oh, hello, Diana. What are who doing?”
Diana inclines her head towards Epione and the others before reaching to grab a grape off of Kasia’s plate.
“Ah,” Kasia says with a smirk, when she sees those of whom Diana was speaking, “I believe they are trying to work up the nerve to ask for your help.”
Puzzled, Diana can only muster out a “…What?”
“Artemis, Penthiselea, and their group, they’ve challenged the new trainees,” explains Kasia. “It’s some sort of tradition, as I understand it, one where the new trainees never win. I heard they’re on the last stage, which involves stealing some of the brewmaster’s latest batch.”
Diana argues, “But no one knows where Althea keeps her stash.”
“Precisely,” Kasia agrees with a nod of her head.
Diana can’t help but feel offended; she asks, “And why haven’t I been told about any of this before? I have been training right alongside them, have I not?”
Kasia’s smile is an indulgent one. “Yes, of course, but you’re not exactly the same as any other trainee, now are you?”
Diana opens her mouth to protest, but Kasia cuts her off.
“Something about having the Queen for your mother and the General as your aunt, perhaps?”
Kasia’s smile only widens when Diana settles into a frown, unable to counter Kasia’s point. “Don’t worry, Princess,” Kasia goes on, and she reaches out to nudge a bent knuckle against the corner of Diana’s downturned mouth. “I’m sure they’re only a little intimidated by you.”
“Hm,” is all Diana says, unsure how she feels about that.
After stealing another grape from Kasia’s plate—Kasia swats at Diana’s hand in protest, but makes no real attempt to stop her—Diana then stands up, decisive, and walks over to the other table.
“So,” she says, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “What’s this I hear about a challenge?”
The others all look around at each other and grin.
It is a mere two days later when Kasia happens to walk by as Diana and her newfound friends are celebrating their success.
Diana is only a little bit tipsy.
“Kasia!” she calls out in excitement. “Come, rejoice with us!” The others, grateful to Kasia for bringing Diana into the loop, raise a cheer as well. Diana leans back to wave Kasia over to the campfire, nearly losing her balance off the back of the log she’d been sitting on.
Okay, Diana may be slightly more than tipsy; Althea’s no-longer-so-secret stash is superb.
Kasia ambles over with a soft, amused smile on her face. Taking a seat next to Diana, she asks, “So I take it that everything worked out, then? Congratulations to you all.”
“Diana,” Niobe urges, as she passes a mug over to the newcomer, “tell Kasia how you managed it.”
Diana shrugs, though her smile is one of pride. “All the rest of you did most of the work,” she says. “I merely assisted with the final retrieval.”
“Don’t downplay the part you played,” adds Epione, nudging Diana in the side from her place to Diana’s left. “We couldn’t have done it without you, Princess.”
Diana smiles at the playful touch. Before this night, these women had been her comrades in arms, true enough. But now Diana feels that they are truly friends; sisters, even, in a way they had not been before.
“Yes, Diana, tell Kasia of your brave feats of strength!” Mala teases with a knowing tone that Diana does not quite understand.
“Truly, there was no real bravery involved,” Diana insists. She takes another sip of her drink before turning to Kasia to explain, “The ale was tucked away in a narrow fissure halfway up one of the cliffs along the beach. Once I made it inside the opening, there was a whole cavern of space, but from the outside, the spot appeared highly unremarkable.”
Euboea, sitting on the opposite side of their campfire, shakes her head wryly. “Diana,” she chides. “When you are trying to impress a woman, you need to emphasize the difficulty—the danger!—of what you have done!” She gesticulates with her hands, and beer sloshes out of her mug, as she continues, “Explain how high the cavern was from the ground! How treacherous the climb! How you placed yourself at the mercy of the gods without fear!”
Diana can only cock her head in puzzlement. “Impress Kasia?” she queries. “Why do I need to impress Kasia? She is already my friend.”
The others burst into laughter, and though it is clearly not meant unkindly, it leaves Diana with nothing but an increasing level of bemusement.
“I tried, Kasia, I tried,” Euboea says with a last chuckle and a wink. “But our dear Princess remains without guile.”
Her brow furrowed, Diana turns again to look at Kasia, but Kasia’s expression, while both kind and indulgent, and beautiful as ever, affords no explanation.
“Worry not,” she says, reaching out to gently pat an open palm against Diana’s cheek. “I assure you that I am thoroughly impressed.”
Between the heat of the fire, the alcohol, and the praise, Diana cannot help but blush, although she hopes it is not overly visible in the deepening dusk. She still doesn’t understand what she is missing, but as the others raise up a cheer for her, and as Kasia meets her eyes with open affection, she decides that it doesn’t matter.
There is something relaxing about the repetitive motion involved in shooting a bow and arrow.
Draw the arrow, bring it to her bow, pull the string back, find her target, and release; draw the next arrow, bring it to her bow, pull the string back, find her target, and release; draw the next arrow…
There’s an ease to it, a fluidity of motion that Diana finds calming. Antiope has set up targets for her in difficult, long-range locations, but Diana has yet to miss a single one.
Kasia lies in the grass beside her, lounging back on her elbows in a relaxed pose. Her eyes sometimes follow the path of each arrow, but more often than not, she simply watches Diana.
“You know,” she begins conversationally, as Diana draws her next arrow, “I have been wondering how much longer you plan on being a coward.”
Diana scoffs, but there is no hitch in her movement as she replies, “You seem to have spent too much time in the sun, dear friend; I am no such thing.” Her arrow flies true, finding the target that lies at the top of a far-off cliff, marked by a splash of yellow dye near the base of a tree.
“No?” Kasia counters. “Then when, dear friend, are you finally going to kiss me?”
At the final two words, uttered with such nonchalance, Diana cannot help but shift her torso sharply towards Kasia, releasing the bowstring when it is headed in entirely the wrong direction.
“What?” Diana asks in breathless surprise.
This time, Kasia’s gaze does follow the flight of Diana’s arrow, as it soars over to where four other Amazons are training in hand-to-hand combat. They are fortunate that Diana’s arrow does not strike any of them, but as it lodges itself into the earth between them, they all stare at it in confusion for a beat, before turning as one to shout their displeasure.
“Sorry!” Diana calls out, waving an arm in appeasement. “It was an accident, sorry!”
Kasia chuckles, drawing Diana’s attention back to her.
“I— When will I— What?” Diana stammers out. Later, Kasia will tell her that she had never seen Diana so flustered; that there was something utterly endearing in the display.
Kasia grins, but does not respond verbally. Instead, she lifts one arm up into the air, a clear request for Diana to pull her to her feet.
Diana does so, and the two of them end up standing face to face.
“Well?” Kasia challenges.
Her heart beating uncomfortably quickly, Diana searches Kasia’s face, but she finds nothing but sincerity and a hint of vulnerability. Her eyes dart inescapably down to Kasia’s lips and remain there, and for a moment, she dares not even breathe.
Diana laughs, then—all this time that she has spent thinking about kissing Kasia, dreaming of kissing Kasia, but she has swallowed her feelings down, and tried hard to simply be a good friend, and… And it turns out that she has been a complete fool.
Kasia cracks a hesitant smile, but she seems suddenly unsure of herself and takes a step backward.
Diana steps forward, keeping close, and then before Kasia can say anything else, she drops her bow and lifts her hand to the back of Kasia’s neck. She tugs only lightly, but Kasia nearly falls into her arms, and Diana pauses for but a split-second, enough to catch Kasia’s sharp inhale of breath, before she brings their lips together.
In spite of what has prompted this moment, it is still nearly a surprise when Kasia kisses her back.
Suddenly, Diana cannot stop smiling, even as it prevents her from deepening the kiss. She settles instead for pressing their lips together over and over again, each kiss short, and firm, and sweet.
When they pull back just slightly, Kasia is looking at Diana like she is the most precious thing. She keeps one hand gripping Diana’s elbow and reaches up with the other to stroke her thumb lightly across Diana’s lower lip, seeming to marvel in the moment.
Her expression turns impish, however, as she tells Diana, “Well, took you long enough.”
Diana laughs again, clear and bright and happy, before she leans back in, Kasia’s hand now cupping her jaw as Diana brings their mouths back together.
Eager as she is, Diana presses forward perhaps harder than she should, and Kasia loses her balance. She falls back into the grass with a noise of surprise, and forward momentum takes Diana tumbling down with her. Their easy laughter is cut off when, lying halfway on top of Kasia, Diana kisses her once more, this time slow and deep.
“What do you see, when you look at the stars?”
Kasia is looking through her telescope, and she doesn’t shift her gaze at Diana’s question. Nor does she answer right away, but Diana knows that it doesn’t mean she is being ignored. She knows Kasia will give an answer, once she has one.
It doesn’t take long.
“I see the flow of time. I see how, from one night to the next, the sky seems to always be the same, but if you were to stop looking, the stars all would have moved by the time you looked up again.” Kasia’s voice is soft and reverential, as she continues, “I see the birth of light. I see life. I see the way towards home.”
Something in Kasia’s tone makes Diana ache to touch her. She reaches out and, not wanting to disturb Kasia’s observations, she merely brushes her fingertips in a light touch down Kasia’s bare arm. Kasia shivers, the hairs on her arm now standing on end.
Kasia finishes making some note and then removes the long lens from her eye. She turns and blinks rapidly at the change in perspective, from the celestial bodies above to the dark world on the ground. Some of Diana’s bewilderment must show itself on her face—Diana has tried before to see what Kasia sees, to no great success—for Kasia laughs at the look of her.
“That is not quite what you meant, I take it?” Kasia asks.
Diana smiles and shrugs. “Not quite,” she admits, but she doesn’t fully know what it even is that she’d meant.
Kasia’s studies take her all over the island each night, and, when she can, Diana has taken to coming along as well. She doesn’t even pretend to truly understand what it is that Kasia actually does, as they walk to some new observation point for Kasia to look up at the sky and take some sort of measurements.
Kasia tries again. Her gaze remains on Diana’s face, a soft smile pulling at her lips, as she says, “I see my place in this world. I see a mystery I long to understand but know I never will. Not fully. I see a world apart. I see beauty. I see you.”
And this time, something clicks in Diana’s mind. She gets it, somehow, and she inhales a quick gasp of comprehension.
Diana whispers, “You see what I see, when I look out at the ocean.”
At that, Kasia’s face falls, though Diana doesn’t understand why. It is only a moment, a moment that Diana wouldn’t have even caught, had she not been staring into Kasia’s eyes, before Kasia blinks and the look of sadness is gone.
“One girl looking up, and another looking out,” Kasia says. Her tone is light, teasing. “It’s no small wonder that we ever see each other at all.”
Diana grins in response. “I see you now,” she says, her voice soft and low, and her eyes sweep unsubtly up and down Kasia’s body. She reaches out and grabs hold of Kasia’s hand, the one not still holding her telescope, tangling their fingers together.
But Kasia isn’t ready to stop teasing yet, and she adds, “No, I understand, now. You only look to me because it’s too dark to see the water.” Even as Kasia says it, Diana can hear the laughter only just barely held in check.
Still, Diana’s tone is sincere when she says, “Your stars give me enough light. I can see the ocean just fine, but I’d rather look at you.”
“Charmer,” Kasia laughs.
But without another word, Kasia tugs Diana closer, wrapping her free arm around Diana’s shoulders and pulling her down into a kiss.
Later, when they’re walking back to the city, Kasia continues the conversation, as though they’d never stopped.
“At least I know that I cannot touch the stars,” she says, and it takes Diana a minute to grasp what she’s talking about. “Will you disappear, one of these days, sailing off on some never-ending search to find whatever may lie on the other side of the sea?”
Diana’s first instinct is to laugh the question off. But, even as sleepy as she is, she hears enough in Kasia’s tone to take the inquiry seriously.
She takes a moment to think of how to respond, before she replies, “Why would I ever leave? All that I could possibly want is already here.”
Diana wakes to the feel of lips pressing a gentle line across her collarbone.
Even as her eyes remain closed, she smiles and raises a hand to scratch lazily at the back of Kasia’s head. Kasia leans into the touch, uttering a soft sound, something between a hum and a purr, and then arches her face upwards so she can bring her lips to Diana’s.
“Oh good,” Kasia murmurs, “you’re finally awake.”
Diana chuckles, the sound coming out throaty and deep with sleep. “Have I kept you waiting long?” she asks. “I must apologize.”
Kasia hums in agreement as she ducks her head so that her lips may chart a course down Diana’s neck. “Yes,” she says, in between kisses. “I have been ever so patient. I woke up, finished reading my book, and yet you still continued to doze on. So then I decided to wake you.”
“I see,” Diana says. Her hand has fallen to Kasia’s back, trailing slowly up and down along her lover’s spine. Kasia’s kisses have Diana buzzing in restive energy, now, and her eyes flutter open so that she can reach for Kasia’s chin, urging her back upwards so she can kiss her with firm intent, even as she remains prone on her back.
Kasia nearly melts into her touch, and Diana finds herself waking up more and more with each passing second. It isn’t long before she can no longer resist flipping their positions. With Kasia settled happily beneath her, Diana kisses her way along Kasia’s jaw, nudging her nose against that spot on Kasia’s neck, just below the edge of her jawline, where her pulse thunders.
Her fingers reach for the hem of Kasia’s tunic and pull it easily up and over Kasia’s head, leaving her torso bare. Then Diana continues to move southward, down Kasia’s smooth, lithe, body, leaving the blonde squirming in eager anticipation.
“By the way,” Diana murmurs, a teasing grin beginning to stray across her face. “The Queen has asked me why you haven’t come to dine with us in a while.”
Kasia freezes, her hand halfway into gripping the hair at the back of Diana’s head.
“…Are you really talking to me about your mother right now?” Kasia queries, her voice breathless.
Diana remains where she is, pressing a kiss against Kasia’s sternum, but lifts her eyes to meet Kasia’s incredulous gaze.
“Well,” Diana says, “I thought I would mention it, while I have your attention.”
Huffing out a laugh, Kasia lets her head drop back onto the pillow and sinks her fingers further into Diana’s dark tresses as she replies, “Well then you can tell Hippolyta that I have become somewhat disinclined to dine with her since I began defiling her daughter.”
In response, Diana nips lightly at the underside of Kasia’s breast.
Kasia continues, adding, “Don’t you dare actually tell her that. Or Antiope. Sweet goddesses, I’m going to”—Here, Kasia pauses to let out a soft moan as Diana’s lips and hands continue to trail down her body—“going to get myself expelled from this island, I just know it.”
Diana chuckles, but says nothing in return.
After a moment, Kasia speaks again. “Can we please be done talking about your family, now?”
“Yes,” is all Diana needs to say before she slips her hand below Kasia’s waistline to sink her fingers where Kasia wants them, eliciting a groan of pleasure from them both.
Neither one of them has anything else to say—nothing intelligible, at least—for quite some time.
Diana is speaking with Artemis, discussing a possible change to their training regimen, when Kasia bursts into the room.
Before anyone can ask what she is doing, Kasia exclaims, looking directly at Diana, “I love you. You know that, don’t you?”
For a long moment, Diana can only stare back at Kasia in bewilderment. She glances over at Artemis, but her expression of wide-eyed surprise offers Diana no assistance in understanding what is going on.
“I…” Diana clears her throat and looks back at Kasia, who remains standing in the doorway, posture straight and stiff. “Yes?” Diana responds. Of course she knows that Kasia loves her.
“Good,” Kasia says. She nods once, sharply, and then turns and strides back out of the room.
This does nothing to clear up Diana’s confusion. There’s a beat of complete silence at Kasia’s retreat, before Euboea, who had been sitting nearby, conversing with Niobe, bursts into laughter. Diana looks over at them, and Niobe too has a knowing smile on her face, but she says nothing.
Then Diana hears a soft chuckle beside her, drawing her attention back to Artemis.
“I think you’d better go on after her, Princess,” Artemis suggests with a smirk.
With a confused nod, Diana turns to follow in Kasia’s wake. She speeds up to a jog once she’s left the room, hurrying to try to locate where Kasia has gone.
She finds her before too long, standing on her own at the edge of the city, looking out at the ocean.
“What was that all about?” Diana demands once she’s reached Kasia’s side.
Kasia, her arms crossed tightly over her body, shifts her head to look briefly at Diana, before she turns away again.
When Kasia speaks, Diana has to lean forward to hear her words, before the wind carries them away and over the cliff.
“We have been together for… quite some time, now,” Kasia begins. “That is, I have been thinking of us as ‘together’ for some time now, and I have been waiting for you to say it. And things have been wonderful with you, don’t misunderstand me, but I have been waiting, and waiting. And then I thought maybe you were waiting for me. So.” Kasia shrugs. “So I came to you and said it. And now whatever happens next is up to you.”
Diana almost asks what “it” is, but, as if reading Diana’s mind, Kasia adds, “And I swear, Diana, if you need to ask me what I’m talking about, then I don’t care that you’re the Queen’s daughter and the strongest Amazon on this island, I may have to hit you.”
Diana quickly shuts her mouth. She doesn’t doubt that Kasia means it.
And it is true—when Diana takes a moment to think it all through, she does understand. At least, she partly understands.
“But… But surely I have already said it before…” Diana pauses, frowning. “Haven’t I?”
Kasia twists around so quickly to glare at Diana that it takes Diana by surprise.
“No, Diana,” Kasia intones, her hands dropping into tight fists at her side. “You have not.”
With that, Kasia moves to walk away along the escarpment, but Diana reacts in time to reach out and grab hold of Kasia’s wrist, drawing her back.
Diana pulls Kasia in close. She keeps a loose hold around Kasia’s wrist and reaches up with her other hand, first to Kasia’s shoulder, and then her face, gently guiding Kasia into looking at her.
When their eyes meet, Diana smiles. “I love you, Kasia of Themyscira,” she says, earnest and open. “I love you with all of my heart, and I am so sorry for making you doubt me.”
All the tense rigidity seems to seep out of Kasia in relief, and she gazes up at Diana with a look of pure wonder in her eyes.
Then she rears back and punches Diana in the shoulder.
It’s not enough to hurt, and nor, Diana is sure, was it meant to.
Still, Diana opens her mouth to protest, if only in jest, before Kasia cuts her off with a scoff and says, “Honestly, you thought you had said it before?” Her incredulity evident, she continues, even as she remains encircled within Diana’s arms, “How could you possibly think that you had said it before? Was it such a small thing to you, that you didn’t even realize that we’d never said out loud that we love each other?”
Diana smiles and shakes her head. “I know I’ve thought it often enough. My love for you is an integral part of me, and has been for what feels like a long time, so it simply seemed as though I must have said it,” she says.
“Oh, you charmer,” Kasia replies with a laugh. “I love you, you charmer.”
Diana’s grin widens, and she leans in for a kiss. But before their mouths can touch, Kasia whispers, her breath falling softly onto Diana’s lips, “Tell me again.”
“I love you, Kasia,” Diana responds with ease, gazing deep into Kasia’s eyes.
Kasia’s smile could rival the sun, and Diana feels compelled to kiss her. Her kiss is slow, deep, and unhurried, as she tries to pour all of her emotions, her passion, into their embrace. Both of Diana’s hands drop to sit lightly on either side of Kasia’s waist, but her grip tightens when Kasia coaxes Diana’s mouth open with her tongue. Kasia’s palm comes to rest against Diana’s cheek, her other fingers scratching gently at the back of Diana’s neck. Diana nearly moans out loud, but manages to keep it in check.
They only pull apart when the sound of light giggles reaches them from somewhere further up the hill, away from the cliff. Diana doesn’t bother looking to see whom it is that has spotted them.
“I love you,” Diana says again, softly. “Let me take you home and show you just how much.”
Kasia swallows visibly and stares up at Diana with a look of palpable desire in her eyes.
She hesitates, looking slightly embarrassed. “I interrupted a meeting of yours,” she seems to have only just remembered. “With Artemis.”
“Artemis can wait,” Diana insists. An impatience is growing within her, and at Kasia’s nod, Diana immediately turns to begin walking away towards their shared room, pulling Kasia along behind her.
It’s after several long strides that Diana realizes that she is heading in the wrong direction. Without a word, she heads back the opposite way, with Kasia’s happy laughter echoing after.
It is nearly five years later when Steve Trevor’s airplane crashes into the ocean off the coast of Themyscira, forever altering the course of Diana’s life.
It is late afternoon, after her visit with Steve Trevor at the healing pools, when Diana finds Kasia on the beach. There is no remaining sign of the earlier battle with the German soldiers, and Kasia now stands still, staring out at the ocean.
She approaches quietly, and though she suspects that Kasia must sense her presence, Kasia doesn’t react at all as Diana comes up beside her.
Neither one says anything for a minute, before Diana speaks. “I thought you were the girl who looks up,” she says, her tone light. “But now you forego the sky, in favor of the sea?”
Kasia releases a sound—something between a laugh and a scoff, but wetter, and pained.
It is a long moment before Kasia replies, “I can see the sky’s reflection well enough.” Her voice comes out no louder than a strained whisper. “And if looking up has brought me here, then I must have been doing something very wrong.”
Something in Kasia’s bitter-sounding words strikes a nerve. “Do you mean that?” Diana demands. “Has this all been a mistake, for you?” She moves to place herself between Kasia and the water, forcing Kasia to meet her eyes.
Kasia does not shy away from Diana’s gaze, and as their eyes connect, Diana immediately forgets her own burgeoning hurt.
The pain in Kasia’s eyes is so profound, it makes Diana take an instinctive step backward.
Still, Kasia continues to stare at Diana, her eyes red-rimmed and raw, defiant.
“Are you not leaving me, then?”
At Kasia’s question, Diana is the one to break their eye contact, and she drags her gaze down to the sand between them.
“I…” she begins, after a long pause. “My mother has forbidden me to act.”
“Yes. And— And if—” Kasia tries to speak, but she has to stop as her voice catches and breaks.
When nothing more is said, Diana hazards a glance back up at Kasia. Her lover stands with her eyes squeezed shut, her right hand nearly clawing at her throat, as though it is too tight for any words to escape.
Diana has never felt more like a coward than she does when she tears her gaze away to look back at the sand.
Eventually, Kasia does speak again, though her voice now is even quieter and rougher than before. Diana struggles to even hear her above the sound of the ocean’s waves.
“And if…” Kasia begins again. “If I thought the Queen’s ruling would stop you, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”
Diana doesn’t know what to say to that. She wishes so badly for Kasia to understand—understand this burning sense of duty inside her, this need to do something, this calling of what feels like her destiny—but she suspects that Kasia does understand her, more than anyone else.
Even so, she has to try to explain. Kasia deserves so much more; but she deserves that, at least.
“He says that millions have been killed,” she says, her voice soft but urgent. “That millions more are dying. Men, women, children. Kasia, how can I—” She takes a step forward, one hand outstretched and entreating, but Kasia immediately steps backwards, wrapping her arms around her body as though to shield herself. Diana stops in her tracks; even when they have fought in the past, Kasia has never before drawn away from her.
All of the urgency seems to slide away, but Diana finishes, letting her arm drop to her side. “How can I stand by and do nothing? This can only mean that Ares has returned, and it is our sacred duty to stop him.”
“‘Our’ duty,” Kasia repeats. “Not yours alone. Why are you the one who has to go?”
Diana doesn’t say anything at first. But the words build up inside her, until she can no longer hold them in.
“You could come with me?” Diana whispers.
Kasia seems to curl in on herself.
“I am no warrior, Diana,” Kasia says after a stretch of silence, shaking her head. “Knowledge of the stars will not help you in any fight against the God of War. I would only be in your way, and I— I can’t go back there. I simply can’t.”
Diana closes her eyes and thinks back on all of the nights when Kasia’s sleep was disturbed by nightmares; nightmares of Man’s World. She nods.
She doesn’t know what else to say. But she opens her eyes to find Kasia staring at her. Kasia still has her arms wrapped around her torso, holding herself in, but there’s steel in her spine.
Diana takes time to drink in the sight of her. The pain in Kasia’s eyes is a dagger to Diana’s heart, but her beauty still takes Diana’s breath away. And the pain in Diana’s heart is worth it, for being able to watch Kasia while she still can.
Can she really do this? Not for the first time, Diana isn’t sure. Can she do what she knows she must, when it means leaving Kasia, leaving Themyscira, forever?
Silent tears start to fall steadily down Kasia’s face, but when Diana moves towards her, aching to comfort her, Kasia rapidly shakes her head and steps backwards again. “Don’t, please, I— ” Kasia implores. “I can’t. I can’t hold myself together if you touch me.”
She wipes messily at her face, and Diana needs to close her eyes in order to stop herself from stepping forward and simply pulling Kasia into her arms, regardless of Kasia’s own wishes.
It feels like a long time before either of them speaks again. Diana, almost lulled into a sense of calm by the crashing and receding sound of the sea, only opens her eyes again when Kasia eventually asks, her voice hard and tight, “Are you leaving right now? Today?”
Within this stretch of silence, Kasia seems to have moved from grief to anger.
Diana shakes her head. With guilt, she admits, “Possibly tonight; after midnight.”
Kasia’s hands tighten into fists at this news, and her jaw visibly clenches. A flash of a sneer crosses her face as she practically spits out, “And to think, I once found your sense of honor charming.”
“Kasia, please,” Diana entreats, even as she doesn’t know what she is asking.
“I need time to think,” Kasia interrupts. “Alone. Do not seek me out. I’ll come find you if— when I’m able to look at you without wanting to strike you.”
With that, Kasia turns on her heel and walks away.
At first, Diana does not know what to do.
After remaining on the beach on her own for some time, she heads to the infirmary to check in on those who were wounded in the battle.
She sits quietly by Antiope’s side for a long time. The general has lost so much blood… She remains unconscious, but Menalippe says they are hopeful that she will survive.
“I could really use your counsel, Aunt,” Diana whispers, as she holds one of Antiope’s hands in both of her own.
But Antiope does not wake.
After an early dinner, Diana goes to her living quarters, hoping that Kasia will know to find her there. Hours later, Kasia still has not returned, and Diana paces back and forth across their room. Eventually, after the sun has set, Diana goes to lie in bed, but she does not sleep.
Her thoughts whirl, a chaotic mix of love and anguish. She knows she cannot stay here; not after what the man said about the war, humanity tearing itself apart. But she knows equally well that it will break her heart.
It startles her, when a figure suddenly appears in the doorway.
“Kasia—” Diana begins to sit up, as Kasia strides silently across the room. She pushes Diana back and crawls into bed beside her.
“Just hold me,” Kasia murmurs.
Without hesitation, Diana envelops Kasia in a tight embrace. She kisses the top of Kasia’s head, nuzzled in beneath her jaw.
“I love you,” Diana whispers into Kasia’s soft hair. “I am so sorry.”
The only response is the feel of wet tears slipping down Kasia’s nose and falling to Diana’s chest.
They remain like that, legs entwined and clinging to each other, as they both drift off into sleep.
It is still dark when Kasia wakes Diana with a gentle nudge.
“It will be light soon,” Kasia says quietly, and it is explanation enough. If Diana is to leave, it should be now.
Still, Diana makes no move to get up right away.
Kasia is leaning up on an elbow so that she can look at Diana, and Diana reaches to stroke her fingers along the side of Kasia’s face.
“Could I have gotten this all wrong, Kasia?” she asks. “Maybe I don’t need to go?” She knows it is unfair of her to ask this of Kasia, but she cannot help it.
Kasia’s smile is aching and sad.
“I think we both know that you must,” she says. “You are the one best suited amongst us to take on this arduous task. And that inner drive you have to always help those in need is part of what I love about you.”
Kasia leans down, then, and brings her lips to Diana’s.
The kiss isn’t frantic, but there’s an urgency to it. A desperate plea for something to hold on to.
Kasia pulls back just slightly and whispers fervently, “You need to make sure this is worth it, Diana.” Her breath comes out in heated puffs against Diana’s lips. “Don’t waste time moping over me. Do whatever you must to defeat Ares and stop that war. Make sure our sacrifice is worth it. Promise me that.”
“I swear it.” Diana’s vow is quiet and solemn, but sincere.
Kasia nods once, satisfied, and then kisses Diana again. She cups Diana’s jaw in her hand, pressing their lips together firmly, before she moves to Diana’s side and pushes against her.
“Now go, my love,” Kasia says. “Go, before I think of a way to anchor you here.”
Reluctantly, Diana moves with Kasia’s push. She gets to her feet as Kasia moves to sit at the edge of the bed. Somehow, in the tangle of movement, they end up holding hands.
“I’m so sorry,” Diana says again. “I love you.”
“And I love you, but now you must go.”
When Diana makes no immediate move, Kasia is the one to let go of Diana’s hand, and she again pushes at Diana’s side. “Go, Diana,” she urges.
Diana takes a deep breath and moves to the doorway. She looks back, once, to see Kasia lying back in their bed, one arm flung over her eyes to block out the sight of Diana leaving.
She hurries back one last time, kisses Kasia on the forehead, and then leaves.
Outside the living quarters, she takes in another deep breath.
Now, she’s just in need of a sword. A God Killer.