Hades appeared in a corner of Persephone's room to visit her, as he always did whenever he could take a break from his work in the Underworld. He hadn't been able to visit her since last week and he was eager to see his beloved.

He noticed she was still in bed, even though it was eleven in the morning. She stirred in her sleep and turned to face him as she opened her eyes.

"Hades!" A smile illuminated her face, making his heart ache, but, as he knelt beside her, he felt something was wrong. Her face was paler than usual and he could see in her eyes that she was tired. She was buried under blankets, as if she were cold.

He frowned as he leaned to touch her face. It was burning.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" He asked, concerned.

She sent him a tired smile and leaned into his touch.

"I'm sick, my love. But don't worry about it, it's just a cold."

He returned her smile, but couldn't help but worry. Through the ages, he had seen thousands of people dying of minor things like influenza. Hades had to remind himself that it could easily be cured nowadays with medicine and that Persephone would surely get better.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked, still stroking her cheek.

"I would love to, but I wouldn't want you to catch it."

He chuckled

"Sweetheart, gods can't get sick." He said as he climbed under the covers and wrapped his arms around her.

"Right." She replied, finding herself silly. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, feeling warm and comfortable. She felt bad he had taken a few hours off to spend time with her, and the only thing she had the energy to do was sleeping. His presence did make her feel better and more relaxed, though. She sighed in contentment and she felt Hades kiss the top of her head and stroke her hair.

"Thank you for staying. You are so good to me." Persephone mumbled into his neck.

Hades gently took her face into his hands and pressed soft kisses all over her face before looking into her eyes, a small smirk on his lips.

"You know I would do anything for you, my love… I missed you." He added, before kissing her.

She returned his kiss, overwhelmed by how much she loved him and wondered briefly how everyone would react if they knew how caring the dreaded Lord of the Underworld could be.

It didn't take long before Persephone fell asleep, cuddled against her husband's chest. Hades just watched her sleep for a while, musing how cute she looked in her oversized hoodie. At some point, he had to go back to his work in the Underworld, no matter how much he wanted to spend the day watching over her.

When Persephone woke up, a few hours later, she couldn't help being a bit disappointed that Hades was gone. However, she was pleasantly surprised when she saw on her desk a beautiful crystal vase filled with deep red narcissus. She felt her heart leaping with joy at the attentive gesture and she got up to admire her gift. Her old white wooden desk felt out of place compared to the flowers' sheer perfection and the vase's brightness. Persephone picked up the small card placed beside the vase and smiled sweetly as she read it:

My dearest wife,

I hope you get better soon.

Love, Hades.

A special thank you to Ana88 and madame thome for reviewing the last chapter.

Wense