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There was much they didn’t tell you about being a god. Of course, it’s not as though most mortals would have any reason to know, or most gods have any reason to tell. And if they did, they surely would have found certain things difficult to explain.
Such as the way you could be in so many places at once. Your physical form in one place, but your awareness, your consciousness, in many. It’s how even though Zatz was currently sitting perched on the roof of one of the temples dedicated to his wife, he could still feel himself far, far above, in the sky, just waiting for the turn of the Earth to give him the chance to shine. Yet, elsewhere, he knew he was shining, on the other side of the world. He both was and was not. It was… strange, and it hadn’t gotten much less strange with time.
He had felt it a little, when he was simply the Prince of Bats. Not as strongly as his father, of course, the God of Bats himself. He must have been able to feel himself spread across all bats, at all times. A million tugs at his consciousness, distractions that had never showed, especially not when attending to his son. Perhaps he’d simply had lots of practice, or, more likely, he simply didn’t know any other way to be.
Still, Zatz would be the last to complain. While he would have been happy to be able to take a spot in the sky alongside his parents, it was a gift that he did not have to be truly separated from the world and people that he loved. From the ones that he had fought and died for, with no regrets. From his beloved.
He shifted on the roof, stretching his legs out before curling them underneath himself, staring out at the horizon in quiet contemplation. A warm feeling curled in the back of his mind, thrumming softly, almost like a cat’s purr. Maya.
Zatz sent back a missive of his own — a brush of his mind like the stroke of his hand over her hair. He could feel her ripple of delight, and smiled to himself. No, he’d never complain. For now, he was never alone. He didn’t know why it was that their beings had been so inexorably knit together — if it was because of the circumstances of their deaths, or simply because they now mirrored each other in the heavens. It didn’t really matter. It simply was, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
To be able to feel his wife’s presence at all times, regardless of distance — to hear the echo of her emotions, her thoughts, to be able to respond, and to hear back — it felt right. He felt whole. It felt like home.
He suspected, just a bit, that she was more saturated into his being than he was in hers. It didn’t bother him, and he had never asked, for fear of upsetting her. It simply made sense. After all, any light he gave off came from her. They weren’t truly balanced, her power far greater than his own. It was a role he accepted with quiet pride, but he knew she would not see it quite the same way.
Zatz was so caught up in his musings that he hadn’t even noticed the warmth spread down his neck and over his back until he was enveloped in a pair of shining wings, each feather soft as down despite their appearance of molten gold. A figure he knew as intimately as his own pressed into his back, wrapping her arms around his waist and tucking her head against his shoulder.
“Kind of embarrassing for the Moon to have his head in the clouds, don’t you think?”
Zatz ignored the jab, smiling and nuzzling playfully into the feathers, just to feel her shiver. “Ah, you are magnificent.”
Maya huffed in pretend annoyance, pressing her nose into his neck. “You say that every day.”
“And every day it is true.”
Her quiet grumble was betrayed by the deep fondness he felt trickling from her side of the bond. He shared his amusement in return, which earned him a sharp nip to his shoulder, making him yelp. Smug satisfaction washed into the fondness, and he shook his head with a soft chuckle.
“You’re quiet today. Something on your mind?” She curled into a more comfortable position against him. He was glad that he’d subconsciously opted for more comfortable clothing, since it invited her to press closer, which was difficult to do when he was in full armor. Another perk of divinity was being able to change — or remove — one’s outfit with a mere thought. Convenient… particularly in the bedroom.
There was no real worry in Maya’s question — if he were in distress, she’d have been able to feel it, and would have been at his side in an instant. Just as he would have been at hers. But as much as they shared, some things, at least, were still private.
“I suppose I am just lost in my thoughts.”
“Lost in thought on top of one of my houses,” she noted, glancing down at the temple below them.
He knocked his head affectionately against hers. “Who said my thoughts were not about you?”
“What, worried that I have more temples than you do? All you have to do is get shinier, you know. You’re good at that, what with the hair and all.”
Maya’s tone was playful, and Zatz knew she was inviting him to play back. They did it often, a rapid back and forth where they delighted in being able to take whatever the other threw at them. But maybe it was his mood, maybe it was the dim light of the creeping twilight beginning the shroud the golden temple under his feet — his favorite time, their time, when the mortals — and their friends and family — could look up in the sky and see them both at once, just as they were always meant to be.
Whatever the reason, he simply turned and met her eyes over his shoulder, flooding their bond with as much love, admiration and gratitude as he could give. “Ah, mi amor. Don’t you know the moon only reflects the light of the sun? I only shine because you are here.”
Everything in Maya seemed to still as she gazed back at him. He waited in uncertain silence until she rose up on her knees, dismissing her wings in a shower of golden dust, and crawled around in front of him to curl up in his lap with a pleased hum. Zatz let out a surprised chuckle and wrapped his arms around her, allowing his own wings to form and envelop them both in a cocoon of softly shimmering silver.
His wife gazed up at the starry expanse before turning her eyes to meet his own. He was immediately met with her response to his flood from earlier — her feelings surged down the bond, warming his bones with the intensity of her love and devotion. If that hadn’t stolen his breath away, then what she said next certainly would have.
“Anyone who thinks that has obviously never seen you smile.”
Zatz gaped down at her. Maya watched him with a proudly amused expression, clearly enjoying having caught him off balance.
“Maya. Did you just — did you just sweet talk me?”
The pride washed away, and she fidgeted a little. “Hey, I can be romantic sometimes! It’s not that weird. It’s not like I’m ever going to be as sappy as you are.”
He laughed breathlessly, gentling her with a kiss to her forehead. “Ah, but I’m grateful. It’s not every day I get to hear such sweet nothings from my remarkable wife.”
She stopped bristling at the affection, and huffed. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it. And Zatz? It wasn’t just sweet nothings, okay? It’s true. Anyone who thinks you only shine because of me is an idiot.”
Before he could stop himself— “And what if I’m one of them?”
Maya frowned deeply, and reached up to tug his head down closer. “Okay, you listen to me. Do you think the Celestials would have made you a god just because of me? Do you think I would be with you if you weren’t my equal in every way? Zatz — you earned your place. You fought as hard as I did, and lost as much. And you never gave up, not on any of us. Especially not on me. So if we’re going to talk about shining, I would never have been put up there if it hadn’t been for you. So— so stop being an idiot about this, got it?”
Overwhelmed, Zatz smiled, a wavering, fragile thing, and gathered her close. “Got it,” he breathed into her hair, nuzzling against her temple. Perhaps he had been wrong. Perhaps he was indeed a part of her as much as she was a part of him. And though he had been content with the imbalance… the relief and gratitude he felt left his eyes weight and his throat tight. Maya snuggled into him, clearly sensing his disquiet, and allowed him to hold her in silence while he gathered himself.
“I hope she has your hair,” she said suddenly.
Zatz blinked, startled by the sudden change of topic, before laughing and placing a warm hand over her stomach. Inside he could feel the warm, pulsing spark that called out to him. New life — new divine life. An infant goddess.
“What did Chimi call it? A dove’s wing?” He tossed his head in a becoming way, just for good measure. His loving wife rolled her eyes at him.
“I think so. Something like that. Rico hated it.”
“He never had to worry. My heart already belonged to you.”
“There you are,” she teased, resting her hand over where his lay on her stomach.
Zatz turned his palm up to capture it. “What do you think she’ll be? Bird or bat?”
“I’m not just a bird,” Maya said, affronted. “Besides, what if she’s neither? She could be something entirely new.”
He leaned back, rocking enough so that she was resting more securely against his chest. “Ah, that she definitely will be, no matter what form she takes. After all, just look at who her mamá is.”
“And her papá,” Maya said firmly, pulling him down into a pointed kiss. After a moment the kiss softened, becoming a deeply intimate, serene thing. Two souls so deeply intertwined they could never separate, their adoration and pleasure vibrating back and forth between them until they both broke away with twin sighs of contentment.
“I love you, mi principe,” she whispered. She hadn’t needed to say it, and knew it. The fact that she had said it anyway had him leaning down and peppering her face with kisses until she laughed and shoved playfully at his chest.
“You are everything,” he proclaimed. Maya smiled and leaned back against him, watching as his starlit wings grew brighter as the last bit of light left the sky. The feeling she sent him then was little more than I told you so, and his response simply amounted to You were right, my love. As always.
She pulled his hands around to her belly, where their little spark seemed to be buzzing eagerly.
“Seems as though she’s fond of the night,” Zatz whispered, resting his cheek against his wife’s hair.
He felt more than saw her smile. “So am I.”