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CALLIOPE: In the weeks following the divorce announcement, Olympus was completely abuzz. Questions were asked, papers were written, theories were speculated, but none of them mattered to the people at the heart of this story. In fact, they were living rather happily.

Welcome, dear listeners, to Forged Bond.

There are many important players in our story, however we will once again be following Hera as she navigates the new landscape she finds herself in. Starting, as you might have expected, with her and Demeter.

DEMETER: …You came.

HERA: I did. I promised I would, didn’t I?

DEMETER: Yes, well, after how I treated you when we last spoke I didn’t think it would be a promise you would keep.

HERA: I know better than most what it’s like to have a relationship with Zeus blow up in my face. You need support now and I’m uniquely positioned to give it. (pause) How are you feeling?

DEMETER: Like a fucking idiot. You warned me. Even before I had started seeing Zeus, you had warned me. I heard what you had to say about him, I was your friend and I still… The first time was all him. He came and I just couldn’t say no, not after losing my daughter. I was so lonely and I wanted you to hurt the same way I did. But this time… The loneliness came back and I saw an opportunity. And then I fell for the very things you had warned me about to begin with. Kind words and soft smiles and sex and… And I thought he cared. Even after you told me what was coming, I still believed that he would marry me. I still believed that I could change him– that I had changed him. 

HERA: I don’t know that he’s capable of change. I don’t know that he wants to be. 

DEMETER: I’m sorry, Hera. For what I said, for what I did. I never should have, either time. And I never should’ve let people continue to speculate that Persephone was Zeus’s daughter– we hadn’t even been together at that time but I just… It made it feel real. Like he really cared about me. All I wanted was for someone to care about me.

HERA: You had a real shit way of asking for people to care about you.

DEMETER: (laughing slightly) I know.

HERA: You really hurt me.

DEMETER: I know that too.

HERA: I don’t know that I can forgive you for it.

DEMETER: I honestly don’t expect you to. The fact that you’re here at all is… I know it’s more than I deserve. 

HERA: Even if I can’t forgive you, you don’t deserve to suffer because of what Zeus did. He takes everything he wants and burns it to ash. Even if I’m still mad at you, I wish that hadn’t happened to you; no one deserves that. I wish you would’ve listened. I wish you hadn’t gotten involved with Zeus in the first place, that I hadn’t gotten involved with Zeus in the first place, but we can’t change the past. We can’t undo the pains that we’ve caused each other or that Zeus caused us. What we can do is move forward and try to heal. I don’t forgive you, but I’m not going to let you suffer alone. And maybe someday I’ll be able to forgive you because we worked to heal together instead of letting Zeus continue to pull us apart. 

DEMETER: Do you think we can fix this? Our friendship?

HERA: (fondly) There’s only one way to find out. Come on, I have a bottle of wine with your name on it.

CALLIOPE: We shall allow Hera and Demeter a moment in privacy to talk through their past troubles and shall instead move forward in time, returning to the beach with Hera and Poseidon. The waters are calm, gentle waves lapping at the sand with a joy to them that seems to mimic the expression on the sea god’s face. 

POSEIDON: I’ll never get sick of seeing you out here.

HERA: (teasing) Is that right? 

POSEIDON: You’re beautiful everywhere you go, but seeing you in the light of the sun, looking peaceful and happy in the sand… I’ll never tire of it. I’ll never stop being surprised that you’re here with me, on the beach, both of us away from Zeus and the scars he left behind. I’ll never stop feeling lucky to love you and to be loved by you.

HERA: I thought I’d be lucky enough to love someone who loved me so truly in return. Even at the start with Zeus, before it all went wrong, there was a distance there. But with you… It’s like you want to see every part of me. And for the first time in my life I trust someone to see every part of me. Seeing you here against the sand, smiling in a way that’s soft instead of the cocky mimicry of Zeus’s smile… It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful, inside and out, and I’m so lucky to love you. To be loved by you. To know that we love each other.

POSEIDON: (teasing) You just had to one up me, huh?

HERA: (laughing) I can’t help it, you bring it out in me. This… Happiness, pure and simple, just bubbles under my skin when I’m with you. It makes me feel so light and hopeful and almost makes me not want to leave.

POSEIDON: What if you didn’t?

HERA: Didn’t what?

POSEIDON: Didn’t leave. 

HERA: I… Really?

POSEIDON: I mean, why not? I’m sure you’re happy in the Underworld– happy anywhere that Zeus isn’t, really– but… But you could have a room here. A home here. The house I built on the beach could use a little fixing up, but we could do that together. We could live there together. It already has two bedrooms anyway if you don’t want to move right into each other’s space but… But it could be nice. A place for both of us, fixed up with both of us in mind, so we could stay together. (pause) If you want, of course. I know this is definitely rushing into things, I mean, it hasn’t been that long since we started seeing each other, but if you’re happy and I’m happy then why not try? Why keep leaving each other when all we want to do is stay?

HERA: You would really want that? With me?

POESIDON: You know I love you, Hera. Why wouldn’t I want that with you?

CALLIOPE: If you’ll allow me, dear listeners, I will take you through the thoughts running through Hera’s mind at this moment. 

HERA: (racing thoughts) What if he changes his mind? What if things go bad? What if it’s like with Zeus again? What if he doesn’t love me? What if I don’t love him? What if I break it all again? What if I get hurt again? What if I hurt him? What if we’re wrong? What if–

CALLIOPE: Her thoughts, however, were cut off by Poseidon’s hands in hers. There was a sadness in his eyes that was only undercut by the genuine love and reverence he held for Hera. He looked at her like he was seeing all of her, seeing all of her faults and her blessings, all of her mistakes and all of her pains. And he still loved her, you could see it in his eyes, in the way he squeezed her hands in the way he brought their foreheads together. In the way he whispered so sweetly.

POSEIDON: (softly) We don’t have to, Hera. If you don’t want to– if you never want to– that’s fine. But don’t think for a moment that you don’t make me as happy as I make you. That same happiness that bubbles beneath your skin burns underneath mine too. And if I can keep making you happy, that’s all I want to do. Whether we live together or not doesn’t matter as long as you’re happy.

HERA: I don’t know how anyone could think you’re like Zeus.

POSEIDON: I used to be.

HERA: In the same way every younger brother imitates their older brother. That was never you, not as you really are. You found yourself. You found me. If you’re sure about this, then so am I. I don’t want to leave your side, not unless I have to. And living on the beach– a place I was deprived of for so long… I want to watch the sunset over the water with you and know that everything will be okay. That you’ll still be here when I close my eyes. I want to write our names in the sand and watch it get washed away by the tides just so we can write them again. You make me happier than I’ve been in centuries and it may be rushing but I’m tired of waiting. If you’ll have me, then I’ll stay. I’ll help you fix up the house to make it our home. 

POSEIDON: Our home. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever had a home before.

HERA: I don’t know that I have either. But I can’t wait to build one with you.

CALLIOPE: There is one more conversation with Hera that needs to be shared today, as it will have a major impact on the next portion of our story. For the moment, Hera has returned to the Underworld where Aphrodite has come to visit.

HERA: Aph! It’s good to see you, I didn’t know you were stopping by.

APHRODITE: Sorry to barge in out of nowhere, Sephie told me you were packing?

HERA: Yeah, yeah I am. I’m moving to the beach with Poseidon; it’s a recent development, but it feels right for both of us. 

APHRODITE: Let me give you a hand!

HERA: Are you sure? I’m almost certain you didn’t come here just to help me pack and you’re a bit fidgety. Did something happen?

CALLIOPE: Hera put down the box she was working to fill up and grabbed Aphrodite’s hand, guiding her over to the bed so they could sit and chat. Aphrodite looked around the space in front of her, boxes of scattered belongings and memories that Hera was getting ready to move. 

APHRODITE: I’m so happy for you, Hera.

HERA: Thank you. It’s… It was unexpected, but I’m happy for me too. I have my daughter back, I have my life back. I have someone who loves me and cherishes me and who I want to keep happy for the rest of my life. 

APHRODITE: You deserve that, Hera. You always have.

HERA: But enough about me, what really brought you here today? It wouldn’t have something to do with my daughter, would it?

APHRODITE: I’m assuming she told you, right? 

HERA: Of course she did. I’m so happy for both of you, I know you’ll treat her well. You’ve always treated her well and to know that you love her… It’s all I’ve ever wanted for her. It’s all I’ve ever wanted for both of you– to love and be loved. 

APHRODITE: I wanted to ask you something. About Hephaestus– or, not about but relating to her.

HERA: Oh?

APHRODITE: I know I don’t need it, she’s her own person and honestly I’d still ask anyway, but… I’d like your permission to marry Hephaestus.

HERA: Really?

APHRODITE: It probably seems like it’s too soon, but… I don’t know, I just don’t want to waste any time. I always want to be with her, always want her to be with me, and I’ve gotten married for far less genuine reasons before so I figured maybe this time I’d get to do it because I want to. Because we want to. (pause) Or, at least, I hope she wants to. 

HERA: You really love her, don’t you?

APHRODITE: More than I ever thought possible.

HERA: It would be pretty hypocritical of me to tell you that you’re rushing to propose to my daughter when I’m also rushing to move in with Poseidon. I trust you to take care of her, Aph. And I trust her to take care of you. Of course you have my permission to ask Phae to marry you, I would never dream of trying to stop you.

APHRODITE: Well you wouldn’t have been able to stop me, you just wouldn’t have blessed the marriage which might make it illegitimate to some.

HERA: (laughing) Well lucky for you I will happily bless this marriage. (pause) Did you think that this would be where marrying Ares led?

APHRODITE; Never. I thought I’d get a platonic husband for a couple years until he fell in love or that we’d stay platonic spouses until the end of time. Meeting Phae as she truly is, getting to know her, falling in love with her… It never seemed like a possibility for me to fall in love. I’ve spent centuries creating love between others and never once found it for myself. I assumed it wasn’t for me, that I was aro or that I was just too busy. But Phae tore down every wall I had around my heart and made me feel love like I had never felt it before. (small laugh) That’s why I want to marry her already, I want to be able to make her feel like this forever. 

HERA: And I trust that you will. Do you have any ideas of how you’re going to do it? 

APHRODITE: Well, that was the other reason I’m here actually…

CALLIOPE: And that, dear listeners, is where we shall leave things for today. I’m sure you have ideas of where this is going and perhaps some of them are even correct, but that will have to wait until the next part of our tale unfolds. Until next time, and as always, thank you for listening.