Amazonian Awakening

Barrier

"To not do what you can to protect someone, that's cowardly."

― Jodi Lynn Anderson,

Kara stood up from her stool and walked towards the exit of the tent. Sweeping back the curtain, she emerged to the cheers of her sisters causing a blush to rise to her cheeks. With her head down she moved towards the weapons rack and handed her swords to Naomi.

"When did you start to carry two?" She asked, then looked at the handle of the sheathed sword and went speechless.

"Astra honored me by asking me to wield Aotpo in her stead," Kara responded, raising her eyes to those of her teacher. Then she whispered, "is Zyvesh angry with me?"

"Why would she be angry, Little One?" Naomi asked while biting the inside of her cheek, to stop herself from laughing.

"I--I kissed Diana, in front of everyone," Kara whispered even lower.

Naomi couldn't hold the laughter in, "she wasn't angry, she said we should add that maneuver to the training regime."

Kara blushed brightly and dropped her head, "oh Rao, I will never live this down."

Naomi selected two training swords from Kara's rack and compared the weights to Tarie and Aotpo. Satisfied, she handed the swords to Kara, "here, Little One." Kara took the swords and stepped back, swinging the swords in slow arcs, getting a feel for the weight and balance.

"These are perfect, Naomi," Kara said, smiling wickedly as she put the swords through their paces, "now I just have to beat her."

"If it doesn't work out in your favor, you can always kiss her again," Naomi laughed.

Kara's head dropped and she shuffled away, moving towards the center of the training grounds. Her head jerked up as the crowd started to cheer and she turned and watched Diana emerge from her tent. The Amazon princess caught the warrior's eyes and after running her tongue along her lower lip, smiled at Kara.

"She's embarrassed, Diana," Naomi said as Diana handed over her sword and shield. They were replaced with a practice sword, the one Diana had used before she left the island.

As she handled the sword, Diana looked at Kara, "Why? The kiss?"

"Yes, the kiss. Not because she beat you with it, but because it was in public view of everyone," Naomi said, pulling Diana's attention back to her.

Diana selected a practice shield, "so she cheated to win, but is more embarrassed because she kissed me in public."

"It was not cheating, your highness, she did what was necessary to win, as she has been taught," Naomi smirked, "the fact that you reacted with shock proves only one thing."

Diana looked the trainer in the eyes, "and what is that, Naomi?"

"That you have feelings for her as well," the larger woman smirked.

Diana's mouth dropped open and she turned to walk towards the practice field. She brought her hand up to her lips, smiling at the still warm feeling the kiss brought to her chest. "Is she good?"

"She is as good as me, Diana, and she is using two swords," Naomi answered honestly.

Diana stopped and looked back, "like Antiope?"

Naomi nodded, and watched the princess swallow, hard.

*********************

Gotham City

Bruce was squatting on the edge of a warehouse near the docks on the western bank of Gotham Harbor watching and waiting. In his hands, he was using a scanning device that Victor and his father had developed to read the energy waves that Steppenwolf had used to teleport during their earlier encounters.