[ It's different from their last reunion back in the stasis unit which feels like a lifetime ago (more than an actual lifetime for Diana) and Steve knows why. It takes as little as one second of looking at Diana to know what's changed since he last saw her.
She has all her memories now, Steve can feel it from the way she looks like her entire body could crumple at any moment if she allowed it to. Steve has managed to discover something he hates more than the three days he waited for her to come home - seeing her like this.
He doesn't stride towards her like he normally would, as much as he wants to gather her up in his arms and tell her everything is okay or will be okay. He knows there are things that happened both here and back on Earth that she will see as not okay, starting with the villagers they saved that were gassed to death the very next day, and ending with his actions. ]
I'm sorry.
[ It's a whisper back, but it carries through the space between them. And from those words alone, she'll be able to figure out that he's known from the beginning of this - meeting again in space and being on this planet - his fate. What he did. What he doesn't regret, no matter how much hurt it caused Diana - he died fighting for what he believed in. He died knowing she'd carry on fighting for him and every other person she'd meet who reminded her of him. ]
I'm so sorry... [ The first apology was for hurting her with his sacrifice, the second is for lying to Diana about their memories being the same. He finally walks towards her, his hands reaching for her face like they always do in emotional moments, wanting to comfort her but not knowing how or what to say to make it better. ] I didn't know how to tell you, Diana...
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She has all her memories now, Steve can feel it from the way she looks like her entire body could crumple at any moment if she allowed it to. Steve has managed to discover something he hates more than the three days he waited for her to come home - seeing her like this.
He doesn't stride towards her like he normally would, as much as he wants to gather her up in his arms and tell her everything is okay or will be okay. He knows there are things that happened both here and back on Earth that she will see as not okay, starting with the villagers they saved that were gassed to death the very next day, and ending with his actions. ]
I'm sorry.
[ It's a whisper back, but it carries through the space between them. And from those words alone, she'll be able to figure out that he's known from the beginning of this - meeting again in space and being on this planet - his fate. What he did. What he doesn't regret, no matter how much hurt it caused Diana - he died fighting for what he believed in. He died knowing she'd carry on fighting for him and every other person she'd meet who reminded her of him. ]
I'm so sorry... [ The first apology was for hurting her with his sacrifice, the second is for lying to Diana about their memories being the same. He finally walks towards her, his hands reaching for her face like they always do in emotional moments, wanting to comfort her but not knowing how or what to say to make it better. ] I didn't know how to tell you, Diana...