Epilogue: December 25, 1991

The remnants of the Christmas party still lingered in the living room of the house. Diana sighed and wondered how it was possible for so many to come together and for everything to go off without the slightest hitch.

They had all come though. All four of her children, their spouses, and her seven grandchildren. Drusilla had managed to arrive too, and together they had enjoyed a glorious time of close intimacy.

Now they had all gone, and another Christmas was over.

She stopped in front of the mirror and looked herself over. Her black hair had acquired a few streaks of gray that she'd never bothered to touch up, but for the most part she looked little different from when she'd first come to America a half-century ago. The aging process might have become more accelerated for her, but it was still ten times slower than the average mortal. She could still wear her familiar costume as she did now, and still be easily regarded as the most beautiful woman in the world.

She quietly opened the bedroom door and saw that Steve was still lying awake in bed, his eyes focused on the television. She knew the day had been a struggle for him, as he’d tried to project nothing but good health and strength for the ones who meant so much to him. But all the while, Diana knew that it was the valiant effort of a soldier fighting a battle in a war that he knew he was going to lose anyway. It had been that way ever since Steve had first been diagnosed with cancer two years earlier. He had put up a long fight, but it had left him weakened considerably, and both of them knew that time was growing short for them.

"Hi," he turned his leathery face toward her.

"I hope I didn't bother you," she came over to the bed and sat down next to him.

"Not at all," Steve shook his head, "I was just watching the news. Gorbachev's resigned."

She looked at the set and lifted an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yep," Steve grinned, "That means that as of tonight, the Soviet Union officially ceased to exist."

"That’s wonderful," Diana looked at the set, "That’s the ultimate proof that the Cold War is really over for good."

"I'm so glad I lived to see this," he suddenly coughed, "I'm glad to know that all those years of struggling, all those years of fighting communism were worth it."

She squeezed his hand and looked down at him with concern, "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine," he whispered, "I never felt better. I've just been thinking a lot, that's all."

"I don't blame you," she said, "This has been a great day for us."

"Yes," her husband nodded, "A day for doing a lot of reflecting. To see how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family. And to also see how blessed our country is, for having won what turned out to be World War III after all. A war that never got hot, but it was still a war for the same principles of defending freedom."

"You’re right," Diana said as she squeezed his hand more tightly and looked for a moment at the televised replay of the last leader of the Soviet Union delivering his resignation speech. And then, a cut to the view of the Kremlin, as the hammer and sickle flag was lowered for the last time, to be replaced by the tricolor flag of Czarist Russia, that was once again the symbol of that nation.

"You know it occurred to me," Steve went on, "Our marriage has roughly encompassed the same period. And at times, it seems like it's been linked to the whole history of the Cold War. Starting with a renegade Nazi working for the Russians who tried to kill us one fine morning in New Mexico."

"I know," Diana smiled and began running her hand through his thinning white hair, "That was an incredible three week period. And all the things we didn't know back then. I never would have guessed that Klaus Fuchs was the one who'd been working for the Russians from inside the Manhattan Project. He seemed too quiet to be a spy."

"Yeah," he nodded, "And Alger Hiss always seemed too charming to be a traitor. If it hadn't been for the way he stonewalled us after those Iron Brigade files so conveniently disappeared, I never would have believed Whittaker Chambers."

She kept stroking his hair and looked down at him with an adoring expression, "We went through a lot of other wonderful things too. Four beautiful children. A lot more adventures not just with spies and terrorists, but domestic crime as well. Your promotion to four-star-general and two years as the best chief of staff the Air Force ever had. We made a very good team during the Cold War just like we did in World War II."

"Not that it wasn’t without its rough moments," he said matter-of-factly, "Vietnam. The fights we had over that dirty little war which led to our infamous two year separation and your going back to Paradise Island. Boy did the press love that."

A slightly pained expression came over Diana’s face as she heard the reference to the most difficult time of her life over the last fifty years.

"Hush," she said gently, "I don't want to remember the bad moments. I only want to remember all the love and joy you've given me these last forty-six years. What we've had, I cherish more than everything else I ever had for the previous 2500 years of my life. I'm glad I stayed here, and I'm glad that fighting the Cold War turned out to have been worth the effort. The world is a much safer place because we chose to stand up against Soviet tyranny. And I might not have liked the overall size of our arsenals from time to time, but the fact that we had a bomb made sure that there wasn’t another ground war like World War II was. The bomb ended up saving more lives than it killed."

"I'm glad you agree," he smiled thinly, enjoying every moment of feeling the gentle touch of her hand. "I'll be honest Diana. There were a lot of moments when I was afraid that I'd forced you to take part in something that went against your values."

"Nonsense," she said gently, "We might have bungled the fight a few times. McCarthyism and Vietnam were black spots in the cause. And you and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye on who was a better leader for the country. But anyone who thinks we were wrong to take a firm stance against the Russians in 1945 is a naive fool. I'm just as proud of what I did to help us win the Cold War as I am about what I did to help beat the Nazis. And I'm glad to see that for now, there's no other evil superpower out there to take the place of the Soviet Union. For the first time, I almost feel as if all the work I've done here is complete. And thanks be to the God you worship and the goddess I worship that I had you to lean on for support."

"I'm glad I made you happy," his voice dimmed, "I love you, Diana."

She leaned down and softly kissed him on the lips, "I love you, Steve."

The seventy-six year old retired general looked up at her and sighed, "If I were ten years younger, I'd ask you to climb in next to me, and we could celebrate the Birth of the Savior in our own way."

Wonder Woman smiled coyly, pulled back the sheets and climbed into the bed.

"It's never too late to try," she whispered teasingly, "Don't think you're too old for sex. Just remember you're talking to someone even older."

He managed to wrap his arms around her, "My beautiful angel," his voice dripped with love, "My Wonder Woman."

As he fumbled with her costume, she gently reached up and turned off the light.

It was the last night the two of them would ever share together. After making love to each other, the two of them would contentedly fall asleep in each other's arms. But only one of them would wake up.

When Diana awoke, it only took her seconds to realize what had happened. For a long time, she found herself unable to move from her bed, and unable to take her eyes off her husband. Never holding back her tears, but never giving into hysterics or a breakdown. All she needed to see was that her husband was now smiling peacefully, and reassuring her that he had now gone to a better place where there was no more suffering for anyone.

"Goodbye my dearest," Diana whispered, the tears streaming down her face as she kissed him one last time on the lips.

A week later, Diana, dressed totally in black, stood alongside with her family as an Honor Guard at Arlington National Cemetery laid her husband to rest in a military ceremony.

After the playing of Taps, the Honor Guard folded the colors of the American flag and presented them to her. She nodded in acknowledgment and took them.

Shortly afterwards, people took notice of the fact that Mrs. Trevor had quietly withdrawn from the public eye.

Indeed, the woman who had been renowned the world over as Wonder Woman, was never seen again by anyone who wasn't part of her family.

She had at long last chosen to return to Paradise Island forever, to resume her position as the heiress to the Amazon throne.

"It's over," she'd said when Hippolyte had greeted her with a tender embrace, "My work is done."

There were more than fifty centuries of life left for Diana, Princess and eventually Queen of the Amazons. But never again would she feel as happy and fulfilled as she had during the fifty years she'd spent in America.