The transition was smooth, but final. The world shifted around them as Clark activated the Speed Force in a controlled way, guiding the displacement with absolute precision. There was no impact and no violent rupture, only the clear sensation of crossing something that was not meant to be crossed lightly. Diana felt the weight of the moment before she even arrived.
When her feet touched the ground of Themyscira, she did not need to look around to know where she was.
It was there.
Not as a distant memory, nor as idealized longing. It was real. Present. The same place she had left to fulfill a mission that had already ended two years earlier.
Diana took a deep breath. The air felt too familiar. Not comfortable. Familiar.
Clark remained beside her, silent, attentive. There was no need for words. He knew that this moment was not his.
"For them…" Clark finally said, low, without shifting his gaze. "Two years have passed."
Diana nodded slowly.
"For us, months." He added. "Time runs differently here."
She closed her eyes for a moment. Two years. Not little. Not too much. Enough to change things. To heal some wounds. To create others.
"She will understand." Diana said. Not as absolute certainty, but as a choice.
Clark did not reply. He only confirmed with a slight nod and stayed at her side, keeping one step behind as they crossed the final boundary before the center of the island.
Hippolyta was already there when Diana stepped forward.
The Queen of the Amazons stood upright, her gaze firm, the weight of an invisible crown resting on her shoulders. For a moment, there was no reaction at all. No step forward. No word. Only silence.
Queen first.
Diana stopped before her and inclined her head slightly, respectful. Not submissive. Daughter.
"Mother."
Hippolyta held her gaze for a few seconds longer before speaking.
"You returned." Her voice was firm, controlled. "Later than you promised."
"I know." Diana replied. "But I completed the mission."
Hippolyta did not answer immediately. Her eyes moved over Diana with critical attention, evaluating not the body, but something deeper. What had changed. What had remained.
Only then did the queen finally step forward.
"The world of men still stands?" she asked.
"It does." Diana replied. "Not because of gods. Because of choices."
There was a brief silence. Then Hippolyta nodded, satisfied enough.
Only then did she shift her gaze.
Clark.
She recognized him immediately. Not as a stranger. Not as a threat. As someone who had crossed that boundary before and had not done so by force.
"The man who took my daughter." Hippolyta said, without harshness.
Clark inclined his head in respect, remaining in the background.
"With her permission." He replied. Nothing more.
Hippolyta held his gaze a moment longer than necessary. There was something about him that did not fully belong to the world. She sensed it, even without naming it.
"You brought her back." She concluded.
"When she asked." Clark said.
That was enough.
Hippolyta returned her attention to Diana.
"Two years." She said. "You left to face a god and returned as someone who chose when to come back."
"I needed to understand who I was away from here." Diana replied. "And who I am when I return."
The queen breathed deeply. Her posture shifted almost imperceptibly. The invisible crown seemed lighter.
Mother after.
"You were not banished." Hippolyta said. "You never were."
"I know." Diana replied.
"Then why did you delay?"
Diana held her mother's gaze.
"Because if I had returned earlier… I would have returned out of obligation." She said. "Now I return by choice."
Hippolyta remained silent for a few seconds. When she spoke again, her voice was different.
"You killed Ares." She said. "That was your mission."
"It was." Diana confirmed. "And it ended there."
"And what began after that?"
Diana hesitated just long enough to be honest.
"My life."
Hippolyta closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, the queen was no longer there.
The mother was.
She stepped forward and took her daughter's face in both hands, firm, real, as if she needed to confirm that Diana was truly there.
"You came back." She repeated, now without any armor in her voice.
Diana held her mother's wrists, breathing deeply.
"I said I would."
"You did." Hippolyta agreed. "But the world changes promises."
Clark took a discreet step back. It was not his moment.
Hippolyta noticed.
"Clark." She said, without harshness. "Stay."
He inclined his head again. "As you wish."
But Diana already understood what her mother meant.
She turned slightly.
"Clark… can you give me a moment?"
He did not hesitate.
"Of course."
He stepped away a few paces, out of reach of the conversation, but still there. Present. A silent guardian.
Hippolyta held her daughter's hands.
"You belong to two worlds now." She said. "And neither of them will let you be whole."
"I know." Diana replied. "But I am not lost between them."
"No." Her mother agreed. "You chose to walk between them."
Diana held her mother's hands a moment longer before answering. Her gaze did not waver, but there was something new there, something that had not existed when she left two years before.
"It was not a choice." Her voice came out firm, unhurried. "I thought it was, for a long time. I thought I had decided everything on my own. But it was not like that."
Hippolyta frowned slightly, attentive.
"Then what was it?"
"Destiny." Diana said, simply. There was no tragic weight in the word, no forced grandeur. Only acceptance. "I fought against it. Against the world of men, against the gods, against what they expected of me. But some things do not ask permission to happen."
She took a deep breath before continuing.
"And some people… don't either."
Hippolyta followed her daughter's gaze, even though Diana did not point. Clark was there, far enough not to hear, close enough not to disappear. He did not interfere. He did not impose. He simply remained.
The queen let out a short breath, almost a contained laugh.
"Men." She commented, with a trace of ancient irony. "Always thieves."
Diana raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"Thieves?"
"Yes." Hippolyta replied, keeping her calm tone. "They steal what we did not ask to give. Time, focus, entire paths. And even so… they make it seem like we were the ones who offered."
Diana let out a small smile despite herself.
"He did not steal anything." She said. "I continued being who I am."
"I know." Hippolyta nodded. "That is why I am still speaking to you without raising an army."
The two shared a brief, complicit silence, heavy with understanding between mother and daughter. There was no accusation there. No fear. Only the acknowledgment that the world had changed, and Diana had as well.
Hippolyta gently squeezed her daughter's hands before letting go.
"If it is destiny, then it is not for me to break it." She said. "But it is for me to know it better."
Diana understood before her mother finished.
"You want to speak with him."
"I want to observe." Hippolyta corrected. "Conversation comes later."
Diana turned, calling Clark with a simple gesture.
"Clark."
He approached without hurry, respectful. There was no defensive posture and no explicit authority. Only presence.
Hippolyta looked at him directly now, not as a queen in judgment, but as a mother evaluating someone who had become part of her daughter's life.
"You brought Diana back." She said.
"She asked." Clark replied.
"And do you intend to take her away whenever you wish?"
"When she wishes." He corrected, without harshness.
Hippolyta held his gaze for a few seconds, measuring not power, but intention. At last, she nodded.
"Then enter." She said. "Both of you."
Diana blinked, surprised. "Now?"
"Now." Hippolyta confirmed. "You returned after two years. You will not stand outside as a visitor."
She turned slightly, indicating the path without needing to explain anything further.
"There are things I need to hear from you, Diana." She continued. "And others I need to hear with you present."
Diana felt a silent relief settle in her chest. It was not full approval. It was not conflict. It was openness.
"Thank you." She said.
Hippolyta made a short gesture with her hand. "I am still your mother. Do not thank me for that."
Diana cast one last look at Clark before moving to her mother's side.
"Are you okay?" She asked, low.
"I am." He replied. "And you?"
"I am where I needed to be."
Clark nodded. There was nothing more to add.
The three moved forward together. Not as an army, nor as a procession. Just people who had something to say to one another, finally in the same place and the same time.
Hippolyta walked ahead. Diana at her side. Clark one step behind, attentive, without interfering.
It was not a judgment. It was not a challenge.
It was an invitation.
And for now, that was enough.