From the month of March through the month of September were the times when Sana stayed with her mother in the world above, ensuring her role as the bearer of harvest and the goddess of spring. The flowers bloomed at its finest upon the goddess’ arrival, its withered leaves and petals coming back to life at her slight touch and warm care. The townspeople rejoiced over her return as Nayeon started tending to the harvest once more and food was being brought upon to the people of the village. 

However, with the incident over her daughter, Nayeon kept a closer watch over Sana more than ever. Not only were the nymphs a source of her protection, but her mother herself took it upon herself to keep her close. The two were never separated, not during the day nor during the night. Sana was no longer allowed to wander by herself on the fields, she was not allowed to roam the village without supervision, and even when performing her godly duties she was watched upon by many. Although a deal was made with Dahyun to never set foot on earth without warning, Nayeon couldn’t take the chance of another incident concerning her beloved daughter ever again. Even Jihyo herself, as busy as she might be, would constantly look over her daughter per Nayeon’s demand, to ensure that Dahyun didn’t do anything underhanded as visit Sana during the months she was destined to stay with her mother. 

On the second month Sana was with her, Nayeon found that her daughter seemed different than before they were separated. For the most part, the young goddess started paying great attention to the narcissus’ that bloomed right by the edge of the sea. Sana was the goddess of spring, and she treated each flower with equal care, therefore to see her spend greater time to this specific species of flower seemed quite out of place. Another thing was that the mother saw that her daughter had started singing more often. It wouldn’t have been quite noticeable as she often hummed when performing her duties, however even when at Olympus or when strolling around town, she sang with her beautiful, angelic voice. Nayeon concluded that she must’ve been very happy to be back home. 

Sana was indeed glad to have been back on earth, to be tending to the flowers once again, to be playing with the children in the village and to receive the warm, trivial conversations with the townspeople. The goddess had, after all, lived with this kind of world her whole life. But in the back of her mind, amidst all the happiness that lay in her path, she couldn’t help but think of the Underworld goddess trapped in her own world down below. How lonely she must feel right about now, Sana thought. 

“Isn’t there any way to prevent her from going back down there?” Nayeon was speaking to Jihyo as she remained seated on her throne while gifts from various humans pile up in front of her. 

Jihyo shook her head, “The situation is out of my hands. It is her obligation to go back, and you know such things could not be broken. On another hand, Sana will soon start looking for the fruit she tasted in the Underworld, and we would not be able to stop her from wanting to go.”

The mother could only sigh as she went about fiddling with the hem of her gown. “How is Dahyun? She hasn’t brought about any problems lately, has she?”

“She’s surprisingly doing very well. No problems had arisen on her end of the world and her work has been proceeding with great efficiency. Tzuyu even told me that she seemed less scary than before, which I cannot picture as of this moment.”

“Good,” Nayeon nodded. “It’s best she kept it that way and away from my daughter.”

~
“What’s happened to you? You seem like a changed woman,” Jeongyeon mentioned as traces of humming passed by Dahyun’s lips.

“What do you mean?” Dahyun was carefully arranging her House with the added decorations she got from the outside world. 

The sea goddess rolled her eyes. “For one thing, you’re humming which is an activity I’ve never heard you do, not in a million years I would expect for it to happen now. Another thing is your sudden obsession to make the Underworld a little less frightening, which is shocking especially since you’ve always thought that the morbidity of the place was the whole aesthetic of the Underworld. And lastly, you smile nowadays. Not just to those you knew but also to your helpers. The last time I saw you, you barely batted an eye for those who worked for you and now you’re glancing left and right to say hello to them. You have to admit, that’s a little outlandish.”

Dahyun shrugged as she placed a vase filled with narcissuses she had Tzuyu bring. “I guess some people just change, is all,” she said.

Jeongyeon shook her head, “For hundreds of years, you’ve been the same. What makes now so different?”

“I fell in love. It does strange things to you.”

“What do you know about love?”

“Certainly more than you,” the younger one scoffed. “As someone who jumps from woman to woman, you wouldn’t understand the emotions involved in something as fragile as love.”

“Who’s to say my relationships contained no love? I did love those that I was involved with, and so what if they’re multiple women at once? I loved them just the same.”

“No, you don’t. Because the woman you truly love lives on Olympus with Jihyo.”

Jeongyeon got up from her seat in defense, “What Nayeon and I had is over. The past has nothing to do with the life I lead right now.”

“Say that all you want, but I know deep down the heartbreak you experienced back then is a huge factor on the reason of your infidelity.”

The older goddess fumed in frustration for her inability to defend herself. Struggle as she might to find a retort, she couldn’t, for the Underworld goddess brought about some truth in her words. The betrayal Jeongyeon felt the day Nayeon held Sana in her arms to tell her face to face that the baby was Jihyo’s struck something deep inside her, causing the goddess of the sea to lock her heart up in a protective cage to prevent further pain. Not even the sea, which she loved so much, could heal the tear in her heart. 

Jeongyeon slowly sat back down and pondered silently on her own thoughts. She looked up at her sister who was now counting the days in the calendar she had hanging on the wall. She had September 22nd specifically marked with a shaky circle drawn around the number in light charcoal. Whatever awaited her on the first day of Fall must’ve been very special, because for the first time in a long while, Dahyun was keeping track of the days of the world, something that was unnecessary in the underground realm. Seeing this new Dahyun made her think back on what it was like to be in love. It had been so long that the goddess couldn’t even remember. 

~                                                                                                                  
On September 22nd, the goddess of the Underworld stood by the gate with her dog to await her long-missed wife. Although she didn’t mean to seem all needy for her, the fact was she was. Dahyun missed her greatly, and she had forgotten what it was like to be able to tolerate lonely days by herself in the Underworld. The goddess kept herself busy in the 6 months Sana was with her people, constantly awaiting her return and trying her best to do her job as efficiently as possible. It was an odd thing for the people in the Underworld for their queen to take any notice of them on things that weren’t precisely work related, therefore the helpers couldn’t put into perspective the sole reason why Dahyun was being all of a sudden utterly observant to their needs. 

Dahyun stood there with her arms folded, tapping her feet somewhat impatiently. She couldn’t comprehend why she suddenly couldn’t wait when she’d been waiting for 6 months. This was all still new to her, and she couldn’t help think how this one woman came to change her in such a short amount of time. Cerberus continued to lay by her right foot as she tapped with the other one, his slumber only interrupted by the sense of the angel as she came into view from the gates of the Underworld. 

Sana squinted as she approached the entrance and smiled when she saw the figure of the goddess with her dog on her feet. 

Seeing that smile on her face made Dahyun’s feet move on her own, and suddenly she was walking towards her as she continued to gaze in her eyes. Sana couldn’t help but stop on her tracks at this unexpected action. Dahyun smiled back as she wrapped her arms around her wife. 

“Don’t say anything, I know it’s weird of me,” Dahyun muttered. “But damn, you have no idea how much it here without you.”

The young one couldn’t resist a smile as she hugged her back. “I bet,” she said.

~
To ensure that her daughter arrived safely into the other world, Nayeon couldn’t resist watching over Sana’s back as she made her way to the gates of the Underworld. Not once had Nayeon ever stepped foot so close to this realm, however the surrounding areas were far more beautiful than she expected. What she thought would be a barren land of dead leaves and rotten soil lay a bed of various plant life including geraniums, dandelions, lillies, and of course narcissuses remained in front of the gate to be gazed upon by those that dared to enter it. 

Nayeon made sure to not gather the attention of Sana as she silently followed her. Not that she really expected for anything in particular to happen, but her daughter openly embracing the goddess that