Work Text:
Challenge: 
comment_fic: Greek Myth, Hades/Persephone/any, it works, against all the odds, their relationship actually works for 
classics_lover
Challenge: daswaisenhaus: [#_1941] i will learn to be peaceful, but keep my knife at my side
He never doubted her role as his Queen. Their relationship had built over the years, into something fundamental, functional, every day they were together filled with love, trust and devotion, and at no point had he noticed any signs of her love for him wavering. Yet Hades knew that there was a part of her he could never satisfy, for he was Death, the Darkness, the Underworld, and no matter how much he wanted to forget when she was with him: Something in Persephone longed for sunshine, warmth and life.
With the years passing by he witnessed a change in his wife, as if she herself was fading. Not completely, just a bit as to change her behavior in the slightest of ways.
But with every passing year he felt the difference becoming more tangible, and though she denied any lack she might feel, Hades urged her to talk to him.
“I don’t want my Queen to be unhappy.”
“I’m not unhappy,” she reassured him and took his hand, entwined their fingers, gave him the smile he loved so much.
“But the part of you that belongs to the above is,” he stated, and she averted her eyes at this, her smile faltering just a bit – enough for him to notice. He knew her so well, even better than she knew herself it seemed.
“I’m going to think about it when I’m with Mother,” she said, seriously pondering on what he had said, and he loved her even more for it.
~~~~
When Persephone returned to him, she didn’t talk to him again about it; he didn't want to push, and so they just kept enjoying their existence as husband and wife. Hades continued to watch her intently though, but it seemed she had found a solution without his help: she was better, like her old self and complete again ... and he was satisfied.
But was he?
Something was still different though; he noticed a new warmth, a certain brightness in the very core of her being, and despite the fact he was simply happy that the lack in her was gone ... he grew a curiosity as to how she had done it.
“Won’t you finally tell me, my dear?” he asked one day. Hades didn't even have to specify; she knew exactly what he was referring to.
“I’d prefer not to, for it is quite a peculiar matter,” she evaded, but smiled at him and asked: “But aren’t you pleased with the results?”
“I am,” he gave in right away. “And yet I’d like to know everything that concerns my Queen.”
Persephone sighed softly, almost inaudibly, and took a moment to choose her words wisely. The moments of silence felt like an eternity to Hades.
“Let me start by saying that you were right. I tried to suppress that side of my heritage, its needs and requirements, and it grew more demanding with every passing year.”
Just as Hades had thought. He nodded and kept listening attentively, waiting for her to continue.
“I talked to a few Gods and Goddesses about it, and finally Aphrodite came up with a suggestion worth trying.” Persephone raised her eyes and held his gaze. “She proposed to feed this other side of me with Sun itself, with the purest of light so it would endure the darkness in me I’ve consciously chosen for myself.”
Hades knew where this was headed, and she had been right: It was indeed a peculiar matter. He kept his fist from clenching and his teeth from gritting, though the jealousy in him couldn’t be erased.
Helios …
“My love,” Persephone said with a soft and pleading voice. “Please understand that I’m just doing this so I can be yours completely. My consciousness belongs to you, please don’t punish me for a weakness I can’t be blamed for.”
His eyes softened and he took a deep breath. “Of course I won’t do that,” he reassured softly and kissed her hand. “It is just hard for me.”
“Don’t think it was an easy decision, but I did it for us.”
“And I believe you.”
Relief washed over Persephone. “So, it is settled?” she asked again, just to make sure.
“If this is what my Queen needs … I’ll oblige.”
~~~
Still Hades was glad she had chosen a Titan – not to imagine had it been the God Apollo who loved to brag and would have mocked Hades to no end, making things even worse. He never had to set eyes on Helios, and saying that Persephone didn’t mention him once was unnecessary.
And though it wasn’t easy knowing what his Queen did when she was with her mother, he trusted her ...
… almost hating himself for the weak moments when he had to fight the primal urge to destroy the Sun and go to war against Helios, just for Persephone’s sake. Should Helios ever do something other than what they agreed on, should he dare to hurt her, Hades would be ready to bring eternal darkness over the world.