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Zoë is still shaking when Artemis picks the pair of them up off the floor. Artemis is too, but she can’t feel anything but Zoë’s hand in hers, the curl of the other girl’s fingers in the fabric at her hip, the soft push of Zoë’s breath against her lips. She is pulsing with happiness, the energy thick between them, confessions of love and joy sticking in them before disappearing. Artemis presses her hand to Zoë’s chest and closes her eyes, feeling the beat of her heart beneath her palm.
To the side Apollo has been watching. When Artemis opens her eyes she looks at him and smiles.
He grins back at her. “Am I a great big brother or what?”
Artemis does not bother correcting him. “You are,” she breaths. If she were not afraid of Zoë slipping from her fingers, she would be hugging him right now. She feels as if neither words nor actions will truly describe her love for him in this moment. “Thank you, brother.”
Artemis turns back to Zoë, tears still drying on her face. “Are you ready to go home, my love?”
Zoë’s eyes light up, and, if possible, her heart rate quickens. “The girls,” she begins.
“The girls will be just as happy as I am to see you,” she replies. “Shall we?”
Zoë nods and pulls her close. Over Artemis’s shoulder she meets Apollo’s eyes. There are so many things she wants to say, but words fail her and then in a moment they are gone.
The forest is a different one than her last, but it smells exactly like Zoë remembers. All those months dreaming of it in Elysium are nothing compared to the real thing, and neither is the feeling of Artemis’s hand in her own. It almost doesn’t feel real, and Zoë is afraid to open her eyes and have it all disappear.
Against the warm skin of her flushed cheek, Artemis whispers, “Are you ready, brave one?”
Zoë nods. With a deep inhale she opens her eyes and looks upwards. Beyond to peaks off the trees the night sky is filled with stars. Zoë has to hold in a gasp, biting on her bottom lip to keep the joy from bubbling out. Oh how she missed the stars. She allows their presence to comfort her for a few moments before looking to Artemis. “Ready.”
Artemis pulls away from the embrace but maintains contact through their intertwined fingers. It seems she has transported them several meters from camp in order to give Zoë space and time to think. For this, she is thankful. Her excitement to see her Hunters again in marred only slightly by an irrational fear that they will not re-accept her. Through the trees she can her Alice’s laughter and the crackling of a fire. Her heart beat quickens.
“Remember to brace yourself, my dear,” Artemis begins, voice airy. “With both know how closely Marcella’s hugs resemble tackles.”
A small smile pulls at Zoë’s lips as they enter the clearing that holds camp. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she murmurs.
Artemis opens her mouth to annonouce their presence, but Darcy sees them first. She is on her feet in an instant, walking towards the pair hesitantly.
“Zoë?”
Her name turns heads. Kara gasps, Alice shoots to her feet, pulling Phoebe with her by the hand, and by the fire Thalia is frozen, log in hand.
Zoë looks nervous, grip tight in Artemis’s grasp as Darcy approaches them, apprehensive. “How?” She wonders quietly, like she isn’t quite sure that what she is seeing is actually happening.
“Apollo,” Artemis responds when Zoë doesn’t. Next to her the lieutenant is red in the face and breathless.
Darcy blinks at Artemis’s words but her eyes do not move from Zoë. “You’re back?”
Zoë nods. “I am back,” she confirms.
Zoë does not get a chance to further explain her sudden return to the living, as Darcy has wrapped her arms tightly around the lieutenant, pulling her into a joyful hug. Artemis releases Zoë’s hand so she can return the embrace, air rushing out of her in a loud gasp.
“Darcy,” Zoë says, though more in acknowledgement than in protest. For hundreds of years, raven-haired Darcy has been one of Zoë’s closest friends, and if there was anyone she missed almost as much as Artemis, it was her.
Darcy does not release her hold. She is crying, tears staining the cloth on Zoë’s shoulder, though the clothes that she died in have definitely seen worse. “I cannot believe you are alive,” she breaths. “I have missed you so much.”
Zoë returns the sentiment with just as much feeling, and as Darcy pulls away the other girl’s are upon her. Alice, always quick, manages to press a quick kiss to Zoë’s cheek before Marcella has tackled her in a hug.
Despite Artemis’s warning, Zoë stumbles back at the force of the embrace, catching a mouthful of Marcella’s dark afro. For such a reserved girl, Marcella’s hugs are anything but. She is nearly squeezing Zoë’s newly returned life out of her when Phoebe gives her a hard pat on the back. Soon enough, young Kara is pushing Marcella out of the way to latch onto their lieutenant. As the revolving door of hugs continues, Alice’s hand remains wrapped around Zoë’s.
To the side Artemis watches, heart in her throat. The crunch of boots on dry twigs announces Thalia’s presence beside her before the daughter of Zeus can even speak.
“So your brother pulled through?” Thalia comments, a smirk on her face.
Artemis raises a brow. “You knew?” she questions incredulously.
“He didn’t want to blindside everyone,” responds Thalia, hands shoved into her pockets. “All his idea though. Said he normally went to Zoë for advice on how to surprise you, but that wasn’t really an option this time...”
Artemis’s arms wrap around herself, one hand snaking up her neck to try and suppress the sob that wants to escape her throat. “Thank you, Thalia,” she whispers. She manages to look away from Zoë long enough to meet Thalia’s eyes, certain that her lover will not disappear with the arms of half a dozen hunters around her. “You are a fine Hunter, and a fine woman. Thank you, for being the lieutenant that I needed.”
Thalia just barely cracks a smile, but on her it looks like she is beaming. “Thank you, my lady.”
From the pile of embraces, Phoebe calls, “Hey, get over here you two!”
Thalia’s smile grows. “After you, my lady,” she said, polite and playful.
Artemis’s heart swells as she moves towards her girls. She is pulled into the hug by Alice, who has released Zoë’s hand. Artemis intertwines her fingers with her lieutenant’s and squeezes. Behind her Thalia’s feet shuffle their way towards the group and Phoebe reaches out to grab her.
Someone stumbles, and the whole group goes down in a heap, a quick mess of limbs and giggles. Artemis allows herself to be taken down with the bunch, pulling Zoë towards her through her the mess of women so that she lands on top of her. Pressed beneath Zoë, beneath her girls, Artemis is full of warmth. To her left, Alice begins to laugh, and soon everyone joins.
Above them, the moon is full, and once again, so are the Hunters.