[Location:

Themyscira

Island of Healing

May 1937]

(POV Thara)

I sit on the edge of a cliff watching as the waves crash against the rocks below. I seem to find myself here very often nowadays. Just watching the water endlessly flowing is therapeutic. Just what I need in these troubling times.

I've been here on Themyscira for two weeks now. Aside from a broken heart, I was given a clean bill of health by Epione. So far all I've done is drink up the bright yellow sun's rays during the day, eat the meals they bring me although I've discovered I don't actually need to, and quietly watch the ocean at night like I am now.

What about sleep? Impossible, but not for a lack of trying mind you. It's because every time I close my eyes I'm back home. I might be glad if it weren't always covered in flame and littered with corpses. Val-Li, always there, waiting for me. Really now, even in death, he remains the bane of my existence.

Death. That's right. He's dead. They're all dead. I'm all that's left. There was always a rule saying inactive ships had to have their phantom drives repurposed, both because it would be dangerous to leave them unchecked for so long and because we had so few available. They have other uses besides space travel so none of the other ships were space ready at the time of the event. Dad very vocally disagreed with such decisions but the council's hubris led them to turn him down every time it was brought up. I guess he got the last laugh. Indeed it was his last laugh.

Sigh, although I'm still learning to control my enhanced senses I can still make out the sound of steps approaching me from behind. Considering how light and confident they are, I already know who it is, and I have mixed feelings about it. Remembering our meeting I feel like I should be blushing but I can't really find the motivation to have such a reaction right now.

"You're here again brooding around I see." The oh so lovely voice behind me says. Not how I would have put it but I guess it's not entirely inaccurate.

I turn to see her, knowing by now if I don't at least acknowledge her presence she'll start trying to annoy me and pick a fight. Long flowing black hair and gorgeous blue eyes greet me as I look into the face of Princess Diana of Themyscira. She is around the same age and height as me though a little taller, about 4'9 to 5'0.

She comes to sit beside me but still keeps a respectful distance between us. We sat in silence, something I didn't think would be possible considering our first meeting and how embarrassing it was for me. I couldn't help but think back to it while gazing at the beautiful full moon in the sky.

###

[Two weeks earlier]

Despair. Anger. Grief. Sorrow. More anger. I'm feeling so much right now as I continue to stare at the ship my idiot of a father sent me off on. To this backwater dump of a planet. From the few records I was granted access to, yet another ingenious idea by that moron, it appears this place was recorded as Midguad by the Asgardians. One of their interconnected realms or something. One warmed by a very young yellow sun. A paradise for any Kryptonian. If they weren't sent off alone against their will!

What the hell were they thinking!? Did they just think I would be fine with this!? Did they not stop to think about what I would have wanted!? How could they be so selfish!?

Apparently the core was going nuclear thanks to the ever so wise council's decision to ignore my father yet again and continue stip mining the planet. I don't get the specifics because I could not care enough to look further into the records left for me, but from what I was able to get was that the entire damn planet exploded! Taking everyone else with it!

I don't know who I'm more furious with, the mindless self-righteous council that damned our entire race, or my dunderheaded parents who didn't think it would be a good idea to build a bigger ship!

"Hey, are you just going to stand there all day staring?" an enchanting voice tried to break through my thoughts but I decided to ignore it. I'm still fuming and I'm sure I wouldn't mind taking it out on the first thing to annoy me on this dumb rock. Plus I'm not through going on about my entire halfwitted race.

"Hey! Are you listening to me!?" again she's trying on my nerves. Can you not tell I would prefer to be left alone? Are the inhabitants of this planet also as ignorant as my own? I wouldn't be surprised considering how similar we look.

"Don't think you can ignore me brat! Don't you know it's rude to ignore your betters." It seems my assumptions aren't that far from the truth. Ignorance is bliss after all.

"Leave. Now." I'm seriously not in the mood to deal with this lost child. I can tell from her voice that she's still young. Maybe if she were older I'd put my anger away for a moment since one should always respect their elders but I will do no such thing for another slow-witted child. I'm far too used to dealing with them on Krypton.

"Oh? So she speaks after all? And here I thought you were only capable of being a glorified statue. I'm impressed. Why don't you force me to leave?" is she trying to piss me off? I know from some of the records they described the Midguardians as foolish and primitive but you would think creatures capable of speech would develop some self-preservation instincts at least.

"Last chance. I'm warning you." I only thought it fair to give her another chance at survival. I'm sure she has at least enough sense to know it's better not to anger a solar-powered Kryptonian. The thought that she doesn't even know what a Kryptonian is crossing my mind but immediately gets buried in my blind rage after her next words.

"Oh? And what are you going to do if I don't? Run and cry to your mother?"

I'm going to kill her.

I turn and lunge at the soon to be dead child. I care not if she just doesn't know what she is doing. There will be no excuses. Peace was never an option.

I am left surprised however as instead of choosing to dodge my blow she decides to throw her own punch at my incoming fist. This child seriously has no self-preservation instincts. I might feel bad later but I'll deal with it at that time. For now, I have a child to educate.

But again I am left surprised. The blow I expected to completely flatten this annoying and admittedly pretty looking child was almost completely matched by this child. No, she even managed to push me back some. No doubt because of her technique as my punch was quite sloppy but it still packed the might of my yellow sun enhanced strength. I was under the impression that Midguardians were weak and fragile.

I knew I couldn't trust those old records.

"Oh? you pack quite the punch already for a non-amazonian child. I'm impressed. Your technique is sloppy though." she looks genuinely surprised but she still has that mocking and condescending tone. She really knows how to grate on your nerves. But that blow was enough to clear my head a bit, though it does nothing to appease my anger. If anything I only want to teach her a lesson even more.

Knowing this child might be a bit more difficult to deal with than anticipated I get into my basic klurkor stance my father taught me. I would use horu-kanu, a much more deadly martial art that targets the body's pressure points, but now that I'm a bit more clear-headed I know it's a bad idea to actually kill this child. I'm also not very good at it so the chance she is fatally injured would definitely increase. But she's still going to get a beating.

I once again lunge and lead with a punch. I can see her smugly ready to raise her arm to guard before her expression switches to minor shock as instead of following through with the punch I switch to a low kick to her shin. She's only barely able to raise her own leg to block and mitigate the damage but I'm already moving on only a little surprised myself she could block my blow. However, I've been trained not to get caught up every time something unexpected happens in a fight.

After rebalancing myself I strike with my elbow to her chest which again she is just able to block but gets pushed back a bit due to the force. Hmph! She doesn't look so smug now. She shakes her hand a little clearly feeling the difference in our strength now, then narrows her eyes at me while getting into her own stance. This time no mocking words accompany her as this time she takes the initiative. Moving at a speed far faster than I anticipated she unleashes a fury of punches and kicks that although with some effort on my part, I am able to block successfully.

We begin to get into a rhythm, trading blow for block back and forth. Our blows create small shockwaves as the air cracks under the pressure of the blows. She is far more skilled than I originally thought but I believe I have the edge, that is until she manages to grab ahold of my overextended arm and flip me over her shoulder on to the solid ground beneath us.

It didn't hurt very much but she did manage to knock the wind out of me. She then precedes to mount me before raising her fist to my face.

"Yield. This is your defeat." I can't help but be embarrassed by this situation. This child actually managed to defeat me, a Kryptonian in combat! I know I slacked on my training but I should still be better than a Midguardian child. No matter how strong she is. This is embarrassing and I won't take it.

Refusing to yield, using my hands that contain far more strength than she can imagine, I slam the ground bouncing us both in the air a bit much to her surprise. That surprise gives me enough time to plant my hands on the ground again and leverage a knee to her back, throwing her off of me.

We both manage to get up at around the same time. We're sweating a little but neither of us appears to be very tired.

"I won't give up that easily, girl." I declare to the girl before me. It no longer feels fitting to call her a child.

"This girl has a name you know? I am Princess Diana of Themyscria. Remember it" She spoke with pride that I couldn't help but respect. I am very similar as well. No matter how much I've shamed the name, I will continue to carry it with pride, as the last of house El that is my duty.

"Thara-El of House El. You would do well to remember it as well" I say before I once again lunge at Diana, still with the full intention to put her in her place.

###

[Present]

We continued to fight for hours before we tired each other out. Even with the sun fueling me I was unable to defeat her. In fact, once the sunset and the day turned to night I stopped recovering my near limitless stamina and eventually fell under her yet again. It was my defeat. And it was also a bit of a wake-up call. Although I know I'm strong, I'm nowhere near invincible, at least not yet. From the records, I know Kryptonians continue to grow the longer they are under the sun. It's like a muscle in that regard I guess. It will take a while for me to reach my full potential under the sun but until then and maybe even after then I'm still weak. Just like I was back on Krypton. Nothing has changed.

I want to change. I had been holding off on answering the question purposed to me not long after I was cleared by Epione. Maybe I was still holding out hope that they overreacted and sent me here prematurely and would maybe come for me one day. But two weeks in denial is far too much at this point. Maybe one day I'll take my ship back to Krypton's airspace and confirm things for myself but at least for now, I need to start moving forward.

"Diana. Tell the Queen I accept her offer, please." I ask Diana to do this for me. She's been accompanying me at least once a day since our fight. Sometimes she annoys me enough that I give in and fight her, either to a draw or my own defeat again. I've yet to win against her thus far but we aren't that far apart in skill. Something I intend to rectify by accepting their offer to stay.

Diana beams at me, clearly happy about my decision. I can't help but smile a very small smile at the sight. Things will be tough but perhaps they won't be all bad here.

"Of course! Welcome to the family, sister!"