Title: Through It All
Author: merfilly
Feedback address: merfilly@gmail.com
Date in Calendar: 3 December 2011
Fandom: DC Comics
Pairing: Diana/Dinah (Wonder Woman/Black Canary)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1394
Summary: In a world where Black Canary and her husband Larry Lance are killed when Dinah Laurel is young, Hippolyta steps in to raise the child as her own, giving Diana a companion her own age to grow with.
Spoilers: None, as this is a complete AU from any version of canon DC Comics has given us.
Warnings: Mentions of loss of parents and the effect it has on a child
Archive: Site
Advertisement: Part of the FSAC:DD11

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of various estates and DC Comics, as well as licensed to many companies, none of whom are me. This is written for fun, not profit.

Author's Notes: I use the fashioned-from-clay and prayed for origin for Diana, while the Dinah Laurel in this is crafted from bits and pieces of pre- and post- Crisis canon.

Beta: All my love for the work ilyena_sylph puts into making my works readable

Hippolyta looked solemnly at the men she had called teammates, comrades, and friends, before looking to the one that had been lover. His face was the one torn hardest by the decision being made here. She stepped to his side, reaching out to take the girl sleeping in his arms, letting her head find her shoulder, before looking at them all.

"She will be cared for, raised as I raise my own," she promised them. "The memory of her mother, and her father, will be known to her, so she understands the heroes they were."

"She's lost her whole world, Polly. I know she'll be safer with you," Wildcat managed to say, before stepping back to where Flash could rest a hand on his shoulder.

"We all know it," Green Lantern said. "Good-bye, Wonder Woman."

"Until we meet once more," Hippolyta answered, going to return to her island via the goddess-granted portal that closed behind her.

`~`~`~`~`

Dinah Laurel Lance woke in a fairy tale. Or, more properly, inside a living myth. She had heard tales of Paradise Island all her life, but had never thought to go there. After all, when her 'aunt' had said good-bye last time, she had said it would be for a very, very long time, because there was a Princess to raise on the island now.

That Princess was waiting for her when she woke, just a little older, and definitely taller, but then Dinah Laurel had never been tall for any age.

"Hi," the Princess said, smiling brightly. "Mother said I was to let you sleep yourself out, and then help you get ready for the day. I'm Diana."

Dinah Laurel sat up in the big bed slowly, looking all around, and then pulling her pink nightgown down over her knees, aware they were scuffed and still scabbed from her last game of dodgeball behind momma's...

The memory brought other ones, and she felt the tears welling up, tears she didn't want this other girl who was being nice to her to see. Momma and Daddy were gone forever, killed by the giant monster that had attacked outside the JSA museum.

"Oh no, did I make you cry?" Diana asked, making Dinah Laurel shake her head fiercely, crossing her arms around her knees and shoving her eyes into the sleeves of her gown to try and wipe away the tears. She looked up to see the Princess climbing onto the bed just before Diana's arms wrapped around her and held her shoulders. "Mother said tears are the gift of Demeter to us, to cleanse the soul from losses. I think it would be good for you to let them out, so your soul is clean," Diana suggested. "I won't say anything to anyone, if it bothers you."

That, and all the stress of being the little orphan the public could not know about, came to a head, and Dinah Laurel let the tears come, turning so that Diana held her properly.

The Princess didn't leave her all day, even when the tears stopped. While Diana did not understand 'death' in more than an academic sense, she did understand pain, and did not want her new friend to feel it alone.

`~`~`~`~`

Hippolyta looked in pride on her daughters, watching as they ran and wrestled with each other. They had grown slender and strong, though Dinah was not nearly as tall as any of the Amazons were. Her birth-mother had been petite, and it seemed the goddesses had created Dinah Laurel to be a testimony to her heroic mother in all ways.

The pair were close, sharing secrets and dreams in ways that Diana would have lacked, had the child grown up alone. It pleased Hippolyta, even if the tragedy that had begun this still stung the hearts of all who had known the Canary.

Down among the other Amazons practicing their skills, Dinah and Diana hardly noticed their queen, caught up in the joy of playing and learning skills that came so easily to them both. Diana had prayed with all her heart to share the gifts of her making with her adopted sister, and Athena had seen fit to heed those prayers. While Dinah was mortal born, so too had been all the Amazons once. With strength and grace, Dinah competed as heartily as her 'sister', proving herself to have the heart of an Amazon as well.

`~`~`~`~`

"Phillipa enjoys your company," Dinah said, stretching after an exhausting day of archery competition.

"I know." Diana settled her bow and quiver in their normal places before coming to do the same for Dinah's, who had abandoned them on the bed.

"Then why do you avoid her?"

Diana shrugged. "I have my reasons, Dinah."

That answer did nothing to still the curiosity in the younger girl. "I think she's pretty."

"She is. And gifted. And strong. But... I don't think my heart moves in the same way hers does, for the time shared." Diana smiled, then started stretching her own arms and back from the strain of the bow-work early. "In time, I think I will find someone to share company with."

"Aphrodite be kind to them!" Dinah teased, making both of them laugh and smile.

Diana thought the goddess of love and beauty already had been, and she could wait for Dinah to know it.

`~`~`~`~`

The competition for who would go to Man's World had been demanding. While all of them had worn the required domino masks, hoods, and uniforms, it was impossible to disguise that Dinah was one of the three final ones in the competition. Hippolyta watched the last exercise with her throat in knots, as she did not need the wisdom of Aphrodite to know it was likely her other daughter on one side, with only the third unknown to her.

In the obstacle course that had been set, with a ring of gold to procure within its labyrinthine design, the three remaining Amazons were tested on agility and their own instincts. Only one could win to the center, and that would require the luck of the goddesses in addition to skill, thus making the mission carry the weight of chosen fate.

Perhaps, when the ring was claimed by the smallest of them all, there was meaning in the loss of Black Canary, so that her daughter could return in time and provide the aid needed. In her relief that Diana had not been the one to be chosen in the final test, Hippolyta failed to see the look of longing cross her daughter's face. She was also intrigued by the third competitor, revealed to be one of the Bana-Mighdall, which also distracted her from seeing what was soon to come.

`~`~`~`~`

Diana slid a hand onto Dinah's shoulder, catching her as she was looking at the costume that had been designed for her, mixing the historic garb of an Amazon warrior with what she barely remembered her mother as wearing in her childhood.

"I'm going with you," Diana said clearly.

"Mother would forbid it!"

"I know." Diana's clear gaze was full of understanding that she was rebelling against the Queen's wishes. "Help me get her costume?"

"Why, Diana?" Dinah was more than willing to be sent back to a world she at least remembered somewhat.

"I believe that my place is there, with you," Diana told her. "We have always been together, and the need is great, after all."

Dinah bit her lip, then nodded. "I'll do it, for you. I just hope Mother understands in time." She reached up and covered Diana's hand with her own, a silent vow to Athena to guard her sister, unaware that Diana was making the same promise in her own heart.

`~`~`~`~`

"It's all so strange," Diana said softly.

Dinah let out a long sigh and nodded. "Nothing like I remembered."

"At least you found us an ally so swiftly?" Diana looked around the small room they were sharing.

"I... am surprised I remembered his name. But yes, I'm glad too." Dinah had been uneasy with the way the ex-boxer had looked at both of them, with so much emotion, before he gathered it in and took them off the streets. "He said he would help us establish identities too."

"As long as we are together," Diana said firmly.

"We can do anything," Dinah agreed.