Chapter Text
Tangled up together in the bed they now share, it feels like nothing could go wrong. They're both still warm and sated, basking in the red-and-gold glow of their love.
The night had been a long one, but it had been worth it. There had been months of secret meetings and planning under the cover of night. It all came to fruition tonight as he finally took her away to be his wife, a cool autumn breeze at their backs.
And she ran with him, as fast as she could.
"Are you... alright?" Hades asks.
Persephone responds, endlessly endeared by his awkward doting.
"Yes, lover," she laughs. "That was... wonderful."
He chuckles, the sound muffled against her neck.
"Yeah. Yeah, it was."
Suddenly, Persephone freezes in his arms.
Something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong. She can feel it in her soul, the part of her connected to the earth itself.
"Persephone? What's wrong?"
"She knows," she croaks out, her voice barely audible.
Everything is silent. The feeling in her chest worsens and she speaks with more conviction this time.
"She knows. She knows that I'm gone. And she's... not happy about it." She finally meets his gaze, finding every bit of apprehension and protection she expected to find there.
She tears her gaze away. The pit in her chest is becoming too much. Her eyes glaze over in horror when she realizes what it means.
"It's dying. Everything is... dying," she whispers, much to the alarm of the man in her arms.
"Wait. What do you mean, dying? What's happening, Seph?"
"My mother! She's- I have to go, I have to stop her."
Persephone tries to get up, but is drawn back by large hands at her waist.
"Whoa, hold on. Look at me. Look at me, Seph," he pleads. Hades waits until she finally does before he continues.
"We will handle this. Okay? I'm not gonna let you do this on your own."
Persephone sighs and closes the distance between them to gently rest her forehead against his. For just a moment, she let's herself believe that everything will be fine, that they'll get through this. For just a moment.
Then she gasps and her hand splays over her chest.
"It hurts..." She whispers.
"What- Persephone!"
She's vaguely aware of her husband's arms catching her and laying her down oh, so gently, before everything goes black.
__________________________________________
When Persephone wakes, the pain in her chest has subsided. Physically, she feels almost as if nothing happened.
However, she also feels a dark dread looming in the air.
She looks around and finds her lover, his head in his hands, sitting just a few feet away. She can't see his face, but his whole body screams of defeat.
"Lover?"
His head snaps up so fast, it might have hurt him if he wasn't immortal. He rushes to her side and takes her hand between his.
"Oh, you're awake," he sighs. It's less to her, more of a grateful exclamation to whatever forces are listening.
"How long was I..."
"Couple days."
"What- what happened?"
"Everything's alive again. At least for a few more weeks until it's properly winter. Back to the way it should be."
Persephone tries to sit up, but he tells her to lie back down, fusser that he is.
There's something in his face, though. Something that tells her there's a lot more than what he's said.
"What is it?" she asks, pulling him down to lay beside her. If she pretends enough, it really is like they were back to their wedding night and nothing ever happened.
Hades then does something so self-contradicting, it stuns her for a moment. With despair in his eyes and a voice choked with tears, he answers her.
"You get to stay with me."
She shakes her head, already in denial of something she doesn't even know yet.
"Why does that sound like a bad thing?"
He spits the words out, like he can't stand to form the sounds.
"Because it's only half the year. You're down here with me for six months, the other six, you... you go back."
She's reeling. Six months. Six. Months-
"You agreed to this?" she asks incredulously, pushing away from him.
He follows her. "It was the only way she'd stop! Lover, please-"
"I- I'll talk to her, she has to-"
"It's already been signed," he interrupts.
She slowly turns her head to look at him. Disbelief is painted across her face.
"And your br-"
"He witnessed it."
"And... and you swore?"
Hades nods. "We both did."
She looks down at the sheets, her eyes not really seeing.
"No. No, no-" Her voice cracks and with it, so does her tenuous hold on her emotions.
Persephone sobs and throws her arms around her husband. She cries into his chest and clings to him with all her might. He holds her back, paying no attention to the way his ribcage aches under her grip. He has to squeeze his eyes shut and clench his jaw on more than one occasion to keep his own pain at bay.
As he's still not sure she should be sitting up, he lays down and takes her with him, cradling her against his chest. Right when he thinks they might be like that for a while, her cries stop and she speaks again.
"No."
He sighs heavily. "I told you-"
"Even deals can be amended," she says as she props herself up on one elbow. "Maybe not soon, but... one day."
She looks down at him and presses her cheek to his.
"One day, you'll have me as long as you want, lover."