The apartment was still when Diana returned, the kind of quiet that you notice only when it is in contrast with a hectic day. Her steps were heavy with fatigue as she entered. She detaches pieces of armor from herself, shedding them as she slogs to her bedroom door. The idea of her bed felt like the most tantalizing sirens song. Pushing the door open gently, Diana froze.

Her child was curled up on her bed, their small frame wrapped tightly in the thick blankets, trembling like a leaf caught in the wind. Tears streaked their cheeks, swollen and pink from crying, though they tried to blink away the evidence of their tears the moment they saw her. They sought her comfort in her absence, solace from their increasing night terrors, and found only her empty bed in response.

Diana’s heart stopped in a reaction the god of war himself could not pry from her. She crossed the room in an instant, her exhaustion forgotten as she took her sweetest child into her arms like a wounded animal “Oh, my darling,” she whispered, her voice soft and steady as she brushed damp hair away from their face. “Hush, hush now”