It was cold. Too cold for a summer night. Persephone frowned as sat there under the oak tree, gazing at the distant figure. She had a shrewd suspicion as to who it was. He had made it his routine to watch her in the nights, when he thought no one was looking. She had no idea what he hoped to accomplish. It's not like he will be able to pull her down to the Underworld just by staring at her was it? She didn't know…. Honestly, his powers were not to be underestimated.

This was another reason why it confused her so much. Why would such a powerful great deity be interested in her? In the beginning, it had taken him a lot to convince her that he had not taken her for vengeance against Zeus or for political reasons. That he had taken her for….love. Of course she didn't believe him.

But there were instances she could not forget, no matter how hard she tried. Her mind was just that much uncooperative. The first time she saw him, in Olympus, when all gods had been vying for her attention and when Ares crossed his limits, the way he had stopped him. How that night he had come to her mother's fields in Etna, gifting her with a beautifully crafted black rose. How he cared only about her health after that disastrous venture into Tartarus though he had every right to be mad at her for fooling him and breaking order in one of the most dangerous places in existence. How he had begged her to eat those seeds….. the seeds which she had foolishly taken, the seeds which now condemned the earth to months of winter…

Hades cared about her. Loved…. She didn't know. But he definitely cared about her. And he respected her. He treated her as a person of her own. Not some precious possession that might get lost if not locked up. That was why she didn't hate him. She might not have forgiven him… but, well, everyone has done their share of mistakes. And as long as they felt true remorse… they can be forgiven. Seeing as his quota of mistakes was much less than those of his family, her family, he can be forgiven….but she won't.

She will not have history paint her as a weak maiden who accepted the injustices that happen to her and lied low. She will not be taken for a fool or a coward. She was Persephone…. Destroyer of light… and that meant power…. Something she will not abuse, but definitely cherish. She will show the world that no matter how complicated things might seem, how oppressed one might feel, one can always change things, make them feel right if they had enough will power.

When she was young, she was carefree, yes, but there was this feeling that she was missing something. Not the love of her life, she was too smart to think that, but something that will help her realize her full potential. Her mother always warned her not to get on the wrong side of the Olympians, that they were only trouble. But she always had a rebellious side to her. She did not bristle quietly like most deities did when Aphrodite passed snide remarks on her. She shot something witty back.

She did not bow down to Zeus when he was on one of his whimsical episodes, trying to prove his worth. She stood her stand. Even when Athena commented on how Kore can be nothing but a dreamy flower picking maiden, she trained hard one night on archery with the help of Artemis and prove her worth to the daughter of Metis and gained her respect in the process.

Once again when the Fates decided to throw another huge obstacle in her way, in the form of the Lord of the Dead, she did not lock herself up in a room and cry. She faced him and demanded her rights. And when it became obvious that he was not willing to let her go, she decided to change things her way. She made friends quickly and learned a lot about the Underworld. Though Hades preferred to see this as her natural pull toward the realm and think that she was actually giving in, she knew that the chances of going home if she learned more about her prison and her captives were better than if she were sulking.

When she was made queen, she claimed equal rights and had her say in the judgments. But that didn't mean she was warming up to the idea of being the queen. She refused to let a man go to Tartarus because he had killed the men who were trying to rape his daughter. She wanted the newly deceased to feel at least a little bit of comfort… and their strict formidable master was definitely not providing that.

When she heard that her mother had frozen half the world and killed thousands in the process, she will not deny that she was shocked. Scared even, but she made her mind up to reverse whatever destruction her mother had wreaked. She was the goddess of rebirth after all. She did not cower under the prospect of having to face hostile humans who had once been her close companions, who now hated and feared her for she was the Queen of the Underworld.

She only hoped that all of her deeds will not be forgotten or twisted by the muses. Persephone was not vain but she would like it if someone in the future looked upon her, was inspired by her. But of course, nothing shaped the way it actually is, in stories. One great example of that was the man standing in the glades right now. Persephone turned his direction and stared pointedly, silently willing him to walk out of his hiding. It was high time he realized that he was not all that inconspicuous, or so she liked to think.

If he was startled by the fact that she had actually noticed him, he didn't show it. He silently walked over to where she was seated and sat down next to her. "Are you making it cold? Truly I see no fancy in purposefully troubling oneself. Unless you are trying to create scope for being chivalrous by handing over your cloak or something" Persephone said. Hades only smiled and the temperature improved.

And when she saw him smile, she didn't feel like flying in the clouds or anything, but she did feel a little…. peaceful. And she realized that while her life was not one that had been taken straight from a fairytale, things could have been much worse. She realized that maybe, just maybe , Hades one of the few who actually have the ability to make her life infinitely better. And it was this thought that let her allow him wrap his arm around her shoulder as the watched they sun rise.