She had known it was coming. In truth, she should not have been surprised, because she knew from the moment Pit was laid into her arms unconscious with scorched stumps at his back what would eventually take place. The only thing unknown to her was how long it would take before Pit woke one day and found himself truly free. When his dark twin dipped him into the Rewind Spring, Palutena knew deep within herself that whatever it was that had stunted the growth of his wings had been reverted. He would fly one day, she had told herself, and yet when that day came, she was not ready.

A pair of angels serving as advisers stood alongside her as they pored over the large, unfurled roll of parchment hovering silently in the air. Upon the parchment were drawn thousands of lines, depicting the detailed layout of Overworld in the wake of Medusa and Hades' combined efforts to shatter the world of Man. Large swaths of land had been reduced to ash, cities left in disrepair. Both Hades and Medusa had struck Overworld with hammer blows that would be felt for years to come, and it was up to Palutena to aid humankind in recovering from the damage wrought upon them.

She stood with an arm curved around her waist whilst the other rested atop it, her chin perched upon the heel of her palm as she listened to the angels. The stark black lines upon the parchment shifted and faded and realigned themselves as the angels manipulated the map according to their suggestions. One of the more pressing issues was that of an impending famine, vast in its reach. Palutena realised that she would likely need Viridi's help in order to restore the fertility of the land, and she had no illusions about how difficult it would be to persuade the Goddess of Nature to do such a thing. Viridi still loathed humankind, and Palutena counted every day that her fellow Goddess did not unleash her own wrath upon them as a blessing.

"…Lady Palutena…"

The Goddess looked up from the parchment as she heard her name being called as though from a great distance. The angels looked up along with her as the voice – a familiar one – spoke her name once more, though with a little more volume.

"…Lady Palutena!"

Palutena recognised the voice as belonging to one angel in particular as that angel burst through the doors of the throne room. However, burst was perhaps the wrong way to express his entrance. It would have better to say he flew. Pit flew into the room.

"Lady Palutena!" the angel cried out, his voice erupting from his lips with unmistakeable joy. "Lady Palutena, look!"

The Goddess indeed looked – she had no choice but to. Pit soared around the throne room in a wide circle, dipping low as he stretched his arms out to either side of him and almost clipped the peak of Palutena's decorated seat. White wings flapped furiously to keep him aloft, barely strong enough to bear his weight, but to Pit that didn't matter.

"Pit, be careful!" she chided him as he flashed by overhead and the gust of wind that trailed in his wake shook the parchment held steady by her power. Fellow angels had begun to gather at the now wide open doors to the throne room, looking in to watch Pit almost crash to the ground in an attempt to land. He merely gathered his feet again and ran around the room and the Goddess, his body overflowing with excitement.

"Lady Palutena", he said, coming to a stop before her as she moved the parchment to one side out of possible harm's way, "did you see? I can fly!"

"I saw it, Pit. I saw it", she said. And that was all she could say, for the shock of it had driven every other word from her mind and left her speechless in its wake.

The angel grabbed her hands and sang with joy, beating his wings as he bounced on the balls of his feet. Stunned, Palutena stood motionless and silent as angels poured into the room to see what the commotion was about, and then to heartily congratulate Pit as the news came to light. He finally let go of her hands to show the growing audience the good news, making another circuit about the throne room with joyous passion.

The Goddess could only look on as he beat his little wings and his face shone with the purest of ecstasies. A cry of jubilation was lifted from the angels all about her, and though she eventually laughed and smiled, her heart would not sing along with them.