The dream was always the same:

She is walking along a deserted road, almost having to feel her way because of the thick darkness that envelops her. Her dark hair is matted and her clothes soaked through from the constant rain. The emotions surging through her are strange and unwelcome. Something close to fear was making her heart pound, as it never had before. And this makes her confused, her thoughts a maze of doubt and uncertainty. And then suddenly she sees it. A faint light, a warm glow that beckons her to come closer. But the closer she gets, the further away the light becomes. In her desperation to reach it, she begins running, falling and sliding on the wet earth beneath her feet.

She's almost there. The light is so close that she shivers from the warmth on her skin. There is a gate now between her and the source of the light.

But from where is it coming? She looks around her as she passes through the gate and it shuts without a sound behind her. Her eyes fall upon an object close to the ground that appears to be illuminated from within. With horror, she realizes it is a lone grave marker. As she reads the name softly to herself, a faceless figure emerges from a shadow to her right. In shock and disbelief, her legs give out beneath her and she falls helplessly to the ground...

Diana woke with a violent start, her breath coming fast and uneven. It felt as if someone had been there at the head of her bed slowly choking her and without warning just let go.

She got up, taking the comforter with her as she went. Wrapping up in it, she stepped out onto the small-bricked patio that was off her bedroom. Why did she continue to have this dream? Looking up at the sky, she thought how the vastness of it all had always had such a soothing effect on her.

Was it that it's immensity made a person's troubles and stress so insignificant in comparison? It had helped her put things into perspective many times, but now... She wasn't sure it could help the constant anxiety she was feeling.

What was more, she had no idea of its source.

The cool night air was refreshing and she breathed in in deeply. In another couple of days autumn would begin, though it would pretty much come and go without much notice here in Los Angeles. And then another year would begin.

It was hard to believe that she had been in California almost two years now. Even though she had enjoyed her work so far and got along well with Dale Hawthorn, her new boss, she had to admit that she was homesick.

And this didn't really surprise her much. What did surprise her was that she was not homesick so much for Paradise Island as she was for Washington DC and... Steve. In so many her coming to the states and to Washington in particular, had marked a new chapter in her life. For all the feminist ideals and the extensive education she received from her native home, she had learned life's real lessons here. Working alongside a man, a mortal at that! She had witnessed the cruelties of war, the wicked greed of humans, but also good things, like loyalty, compassion and love. The things she had been warned against were the very things she found the most intriguing.

She certainly had come to learn on her own that not all men were cut from the same cloth as her mother had insinuated time and time again. While she was empathetic to the struggles and hardships her mother and Queen had experienced at the hands of man, she did not agree with such a blanket judgment. Steve was not like that. He was the most caring, loyal and trustworthy person she had ever met.

A smile played upon her lips, as in her mind, she pictured Steve standing before her as he did the day they had said goodbye to each other two years ago. The look on his face had been unreadable and she would have given anything at that moment to have the power to read his mind. What had he been thinking? Had he felt anything when they embraced that final time and his lips had brushed her cheek? And then she remembered walking away wondering if she were making a huge mistake. But what could she have done?

All that time working together and never the slightest hint, never a mixed signal. She would even have appreciated one of those! Something that would have led her to believe he cared just a little. But, no, in the end there was nothing holding here there but unrequited... she was hesitant still to admit it.

Diana put a hand to her forehand, hoping to massage away the thoughts from her head once and for all. Some kind of closure would be nice. There had been that brief period after moving here, that work had been a sufficient distraction for her. The letters and phone calls between them had grown few and far between. Things were getting better and then the dreams began.

They puzzled her at first. She had never once dreamed of Steve before so it was odd for him to appear now and in such a way. And so often...

Absently, Diana turned her head to look through the patio door at the clock beside the bed. 2:42am... This is such nonsense, she thought. She stepped back inside and locked the door. Sleep was what she really needed at this point and she was determined to get some before her alarm rang at six.

As she put herself back to bed, her mind turned to her schedule for the day.

Slowly, she began drifting toward sleep, different images floating to and fro through her mind. And finally, the image she always saw at the end of her dream; the one she could not get out of her head. That grave marker inscribed with the name...

Steven Leonard Trevor, Jr.