The room was charged with tension, an electric current in the air. Wonder Woman had her arms crossed, her eyes piercing and unflinching, while Zatanna's fists were curled at her sides, her fingers shaking with barely contained emotion. I felt the pressure of their gazes, even though I was on the opposite side of the room, attempting to stay as impartial as possible.
It wasn't the first time this had occurred. The three of us had had many a conversation, fought together, and even laughed together after a difficult mission. But now, something had changed. Something had shifted between them between all of us.
"Diana, this is not helping anyone," Zatanna's tone was low, measured, but there was a bite to it. Her characteristic calm was evaporating, leaving the underlying raw frustration in full view. "You know where I stand with him. But I'm not attempting to shove you aside. I'm not attempting to step between you."
Wonder Woman's jaw clenched. "You're deceiving yourself if you believe that's all this is. I've seen the way you gaze at him. I understand what this is. You've been here for how long? A few weeks? A month? You don't even know him the way I do.
Zatanna stepped forward, her shoulders stiffening, defiance creeping into every word. "And you think you do? You think you know what's best for him? He's not some prize to be won, Diana. We're not fighting over him like children in the playground. This is real."
The words cut deep, and despite my attempts to keep calm, I couldn't ignore the pressure in my chest. It wasn't just about them anymore it was about me, too. My relationship with both of them had evolved in ways I hadn't expected, and now I found myself trapped in the middle of an emotional war that was becoming more complicated by the second.
"I never indicated that I know what's best for him," Wonder Woman snapped, her voice growing stronger. "But I've stood by his side since the day he came. I fought with him, shared with him, stood by him when nobody else was. I know him better than you ever will."
The words sliced through me like a knife. I wanted to speak, to cut off the runaway argument before it went any further, but I couldn't. My silence, my hesitation, only seemed to widen the gap between them.
Zatanna's face flushed, but she didn't retreat. "So, because you've known him longer, you have a right to claim him? To determine what's best for him?
I could sense the heat rising in my chest, a prickly mix of guilt and confusion churning inside me. I wasn't merely observing this I was part of it. My presence, my actions, my very existence had inadvertently sparked this. They weren't merely fighting for my attention now; they were fighting for something far deeper. Control, influence, power… but also something more vulnerable, something human: affection.
They were both so very powerful, beings capable of contending with the cosmic dangers of the universe, yet here, now, within this room, I witnessed them diminished to beings I had not anticipated: women who felt weak in the face of something so ephemeral and indefinite as love. I sensed their hearts, their wishes, their terrors, and the severe wounds both of them tried so desperately to conceal.
"I'm not trying to control him," Zatanna snarled. "I don't want to control him. But you" She breathed, steadying herself. "You have so much faith in him. You've constructed something with him. I understand, okay? But that doesn't mean I have to step back, does it?"
"Zatanna," I stepped forward, my voice soft but firm, trying to make my presence known. I didn't want to be the source of this turmoil. "This isn't about me. This is about us. All of us. And we need to stop fighting over things we can't control."
Both women looked at me, and I could see the blend of pain and yearning in their eyes. Wonder Woman's shoulders relaxed, but barely, her face more introspective. Zatanna, however, appeared to swallow hard, her eyes looking away from me, as if she couldn't bear to look at me at that moment.
"You're right," Wonder Woman whispered, but there was something shattered in her voice that I hadn't anticipated. "I know you're right, but that doesn't make this any easier. Zatanna. I've battled so long, and I thought I had him on my side. But now, I feel like I'm losing him. Not just as a partner, but as someone who. counts."
The weakness in her tone was raw, agonizing, and I could see the fissures in her normally unbreakable composure. Wonder Woman was powerful, sure, but human all the same. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of shame for having placed her here, particularly when I didn't even know myself what I felt.
Zatanna folded her arms, but her tone was less harsh now. "I never intended to hurt you, Diana. I just. I couldn't help how I feel. He's not like the people I've ever met before. He's powerful, of course, but that's not the reason why I care about him. He's different."
I knew the words were spoken to me, though I didn't utter them. I was the one who had unwittingly become the focus of their increasing tension, the one who had caused this schism by merely being. And yet, in spite of all of it, I didn't know how to fix it, how to mend the wounds that were festering between them.
No one said anything for a long time. The quiet hung there, heavy and heavy, before I finally broke the silence.
"I care about you both," I said softly. "But I don't want this to rip us apart. We're a team. We can be better than this. I don't want to have to choose between you.
Wonder Woman's eyes softened for an instant, and Zatanna's face eased, but neither of them was completely convinced. They both looked away, their inner struggle too great to be hushed so quickly.
"I know," Wonder Woman breathed. "But it doesn't make it any easier."
And in that instant, I knew that there were no simple answers. The ties we had bound together had become knotted, and the way ahead was obscure. We weren't battling only external enemies any longer. We were battling our own hearts, our feelings, and that was the greatest battle of all.
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**End of Chapter 28**