“Jae! Diana!” She shouts in surprise, falling back a step. She turns her head, and shouts to the others to hurry up and get over to them.
As Jae and Diana get to their feet, Zoi rushes over, followed closely by Neph and Kunz.
“Where WERE you two?! You had us worried half to death!” Zoi exclaims, while healing Diana’s gashed face.
“We’ll tell you later, sis…” Jae answers with a yawn.
“Wherever you were, it was somewhere that reeked,” Neph comments, wrinkling his nose.
Diana rolls her eyes. “Home sweet home…”
HLM grins. “Oh hell yeah!”
Jae looks speculatively at HLM.
“What?” she asks.
“Wonder if she’ll grow wings, too,” he asks Diana distractedly.
“Wings? Huh?”
“I dunno…but I’m not cleaning up the feathers when she molts…”
“What are you guys talking about…?”
Jae and Diana just grin tiredly at each other before going off to bathe and grab something to eat together.
HLM watches the two go with confusion in her eyes. “Wonder what that was all about…”
“They must be tired,” Kunz responds.
“Either that or very twisted, love,” Zoi comments, slipping an arm around the platinum haired man’s hips.
Neph smirks. “Well, already knew that.”
HLM ignores the bantering, deeply troubled for no reason she can determine. This keeps her away long after Neph is in the land of dreams.
That night, Diana lies awake, staring into the darkness.
She should be asleep, she’s sure tired enough, but her mind won’t rest.
“Mm…love…?” Jae murmurs, rolling over and pulling her close.
“Uh huh…?”
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you sleeping?”
“Just thinking, hon…what if Ed regains his mind, memory and powers? What if there’s another version of him, and he attacks us before we’re ready?” She bites her lip and sighs.
“We’ll just have to handle it if it comes up, and even if it does, you’ll still have me to lean on.”
Green eyes meet blue, and she smiles gently. “You’ll always have me, too."
Soothed by their eternal love for one another, they drift into restful sleep together, gladness in their hearts, and all too rare peace in their minds.