HADES LINGERED IN THE DOORWAY, LOOKING LIKE A LIVING GHOST.

He'd gone paler than death. Paler than I had ever seen him. As if he were in a dream.

"Persephone?" Hades whispered, his eyes moist, his gaze clouded with something distant, something miles away. There were such shadows in that haze, such darkness lingering behind it - a dangerous fire shimmering with the blazing feeling of loneliness.

The infant in my arms squirmed in the silks I'd swaddled her in, a tiny fist clenching and unclenching in her blankets.

I kissed the top of her warm head, leaning back. Afraid to wake her, I softly beckoned to her father who stood frozen in his own courtroom. I grinned at him, and the hopeless smile that tilted his lips broke my heart into a million pieces.

"Perse?" his voice was barely audible, as if daring not to believe this was real. "Is this... are you...? Lords," he breathed, spots of color blooming on his white cheeks. "I can't - I can't... this isn't-"

"Ssh," I said gently. "Come here, Polydegmon."

Because this - this was finally not a dream. This was not the silver face of my nightmares, the miserable grief of my dreams. This - this was real. He was real. He was alive, and he was real. He was the father of my child. My tiny little daughter who had spent the first two months of her life without the man who had loved her when she was but a seed inside of me, before she was even born. Before she was a rosebud that bloomed into this perfect, perfect infant sleeping peacefully in my arms.

Hecate pushed him forward with a sulky grin.

"She's back," Hecate pushed Hades forward with a sulky grin. "Go. Kiss her."

And then - and then he moved to me as if in a trance, daring not step too fast lest some part of this vanished into thin air. I could see him trying to be too excited - could see it in the tightness of his jaw, the vein throbbing in his temple - could see him carefully restrain the happiness he was holding back, because he moved like a dream, walked like a dream.

"How...?" Hades whispered, "Perse... please - please don't tell me you're leaving after-"

"No," I said softly, and it was then that I finally took hold of his cold, icy palm, gripping it hard enough to tell him it was real. "I love you. I want to stay with you. And my daughter - our daughter - she deserves to have her father in her life."

He glanced down at his feet, as if bowing his head - as if trying to say that he was not good enough for me and I was not good enough for him. I put a hand under his trembling chin, tilting it up to look in his eyes.

"Hecate..." he paused, unable to string his words together as he searched my eyes for an answer. "She - she said you brought back the spring to Olympus."

I nodded quietly, letting Zeus step forward.

"I gave Persephone a permanent position on the Council of Elders, Hades."

"What?"

Hera watched the two of us observe each other in the silence, before finally stepping in. She shot me another meaningful look, as Hades looked between the two of us in confusion.

"I... Perse, if you're on the Council - how are you going to..." his voice broke, "...going to stay?"

I sighed deeply, composing myself before I broke it to him.

"I shall have to return to Olympus for three months every year, Hades. To bring out the spring season and attend the annual meet of the Council. And the rest of the time... Hecate shall be my proxy for the remaining nine months I stay with you."

"Three months?" he whispered, alarmed. "Three months?"

I gulped, taking in a deep mouthful of air.

"Yes."

"For those three months every year, she lives as a guest in my home," Zeus interjected mildly. "Or wherever she pleases to stay," he shot Hera a look. "She stays till the spring season, and for the annual meet of the gods."

Hades was still staring at the ground in shock.

"I get to be your voice, Polydegmon," I whispered softly into his ear. "No more secret visitors in the night. No more sleepless weeks. There will always be a representative of yours in that room. No matter what wretched schemes our families cook up," I lowered my voice so only he could hear, "...they will never get away with hurting you again."

His eyes shot up, meeting mine in something that looked alive, something that looked like eagerness. And then a ghost of a smile was back on his lips. That silver smile I loved so much.

"Three months?" he asked, quiet.

"Three months."

"No more, no less?"

"No more, no less," I promised.

"So that means I get to have you to myself for the rest of the year?"

I chuckled at last, watching his grin grow wide as relief washed over me like a tide.

"Yes."

Behind us, the courtroom let out a whoop of cheer as Hades nodded at last, his gaze twinkling, blinking with something that looked like the end of loneliness. It was all I could do not to fling myself into his arms, if only I wasn't holding the fast asleep baby, blissfully unaware of her surroundings.

"Do you want to hold your daughter?"

Hades looked like he was about to burst into tears.

"It's just a baby, Hades. It won't bite." Zeus chuckled, patting his brother on the back. "Go on!" Hera gave him an understanding smile as I finally placed my tiny daughter into his trembling arms.

"Oh..." he moaned softly, a tear trickling down his cheek. His hands were shaking so bad until I steadied them with a quiet touch, watching the tiny baby fuss in her sleep as he cradled her in his arms. He held her like she was made of glass - as if she'd break into pieces. "Oh," he repeated, watching her suck on her little thumb. "Oh. Oh."

Thanatos eagerly craned his neck to watch my baby girl nestle further into his arms, her tiny hand coming to a rest on his palm, as if claiming it as her own. There were a few wisps of inky hair atop her head, tucked away into her blanket.

"Oh, Perse," Hades sobbed quietly. "Oh lord - she's fucking perfect."

"You might want to be careful with the cursing," I giggled into his ear, watching him tremble with a steady mix of surprise and excited elation. He seemed not to have heard, instead, his gaze was entirely transfixed on the angel sleeping in his arms, adoration written all over his face.

"Her name is Melinoe," Hera beamed, peering over my shoulder with pride in her eyes. "Has a very loud set of lungs, this one."

The birth had not been easy.

I had laboured an entire day, an entire night - screaming and passing out, jolting back into consciousness over and over again, wishing only for his quiet, calm presence at my side. And the blood. There was so much blood. Time and memory had lost themselves in a giant blur, but I'd never forget that night.

Melinoe.

Bringer of ghosts, of nightmares, of madness.

Hecate was going to love her.

Hades was rocking the sleeping baby in his arms, murmuring something that felt like a lot of whispered hellos to the blissfully asleep child, an unaware smile slowly rising on his lips. "Aren't you adorable?" the mighty ruler of the Underworld cooed, stroking her pink cheeks. I melted into a puddle of affection as she fussed about once again, then fell back asleep as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Did you just smile, little one? Perse, I think she smiled at me!"

"I think she broke him," Hera whispered in my ear. "Do you think she broke him?"

I rolled my eyes, trying my hardest not to grin. She fit so perfectly in his arms, like they were made just for her. Hands that would never let her fall. Never let a single tear fall from her eyes. Would always treat her like the princess she was.

"I've just fed her, so she'll be asleep awhile. Hecate, could you go tuck her in?"

The deity of witchcraft stepped forward with a flourish, trying her best not to let the delight show on her face. Thanatos and Charon trailed after her, eyes wide.

"Dibs on holding her first," Thanatos claimed, eyes wide, arms wide open, ready to hold her.

"Another day, old man," Charon cackled, whacking him with his crooked stick. "I want to hold her!"

"You're going to scare the poor thing before she even learns to speak," Hecate darkly muttered at the ferryman. "Give her to me," she reached out to hold Melinoe.

"But she just got here," my husband almost wailed. "Can we not wait? I want to hold her a little longer..."

"Hey," I gently put a hand on his arm. "This is her home now." He responded with eyes wider than a puppy, rocking his daughter. "We have plenty of time later."

A reluctant Hades finally handed over the peacefully sleeping baby to his friend, whose gaze immediately widened with something like affection the moment Melinoe was in her arms. Never had I seen her so delighted. The others trailed off after her as she took our daughter upstairs. Hades wistfully looked after them as the room cleared out at last, leaving only the two of us.

One moment, I was on the ground.

The next, he had swept me off my feet, twirling me about a full circle before my overflowing laughter begged him to set me down. Eyes twinkling, he kissed me again, leaving me breathless as my head swam with giddiness - because that old sparkle, that was back in his eyes. The man I knew and loved. Pure joy reflecting off them, a look reminiscent of many delightful, silver nights spent on the beach with him under the starry sky.

"I'm so proud of you," he breathed into my ear. "So proud."

"I know," I tipped back my head, laughing. "I know."

I took hold of his hand and his fingers immediately laced themselves around mine, locked tight. Quietly, I wiped off the tears gathering in his desolate eyes, before raising his palms to my lips and pressing a tender kiss against his skin.

"Perse," he asked hoarsely, "what - what changed your mind?" He glanced at the floor, unsure. "We both... we both agreed to stay away."

"We did," I answered. "We promised. Promised to not get too close. But," I paused, running my hand through the waves of his hair, feeling how it moved like silk between my fingers. "But... I'll never be good enough for you, and you'll never be good enough for me. We both deserve better than each other, but there is nothing in this world we deserve more than happiness. And I... I have tried to stay away. It's been nearly a year. I have tried so hard, god help me, Hades - but I can't, not anymore. Because it's you. It's always been you - and I won't have it any other way. So..." I took a deep breath. "I'm back. If you'll have me."

He looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

"If I'll have you?" he choked out. "I love you, Persephone."

And then his arms were around me, and his lips were on mine.

It felt so alien to me at first - the rush of such feeling, such high speed intensity flying in my veins the moment he touched me. My body had been a dead, sleeping thing these past months - and I had all but given up on experiencing any feeling again. And now, fire raced in my blood, a familiar flutter rising in my chest at his well known, affectionate touch. This touch. This feeling. This was what I wanted all day, every day - for the rest of my existence.

His lips were swollen, red rising in his warm cheeks when we finally broke apart.

I wanted to devour him.

Instead, I wordlessly held out those seven seeds.

I watched his face wilt from pure love to a picture of misery, guilt rising up his throat as it bobbed.

"You - you ate the fruit," he gasped, eyes transfixed on the seeds. "Perse... that pomegranate," Hades stammered. "It was - it was cursed."

For those who ate the fruit from Hecate's Sanctuary were bound to the Underworld forever.

He waited for my expression to change.

"You knew?" he asked, astounded.

I smiled, slow and deliberate.

"I tried to trick you into eating it-" Hades grit out, his voice thick. "I was trying to be a better man and I still tried to deceive you into slicing it open and eating it whole. I - I'm so sorry."

"You think I lived here this long and learned nothing?" I purred, pressing a dove's kiss on the corner of his tender, marbled lips. "Of course I knew it was cursed, Hades. And I still ate it." He groaned against my mouth, words streaming out in a whisper.

"I'm so sorry, Perse. I should have told-"

"I ate it, Hades," I drew back at last, nothing but genuine love lining my words. "I knew what it was, and I ate it anyway."

Because I had tried.

I had tried so hard.

But the truth of the matter was, we were simply made for each other. And being apart was being incomplete. No matter how bad we were for each other together, we were far worse apart.

Because being with him was a sin I did not want to repent.

Because something so wrong could simply not feel so good unless it really was good.

"Because I am yours, Hades. I am your blood, your soul, your heart. You and I are one. You and I are eternity. You and I... we are forever."

And we would be so, until the end of time.

Because Death wasn't just a lover.

Death was my fucking salvation.