Talia had one last thing to do before she left for the base at Nanda Parbat.

She had to meet Udit and Aleama.

Damian had told her that the two had been living in Gotham ever since Udit had brought Mona to the Waynes. He also told her that they had gotten married and had a son named Raza who had turned three last month.

Talia's reason for meeting her most trusted warrior was to free him from the chains that still bound him to the League. And then she also had to clear the misconceptions between herself and Aleama.

She knew she had done wrong in ordering Udit to kill Aleama back then and she had to rectify it. So she asked Damian to take her to the Hakman family's current residence.

Talia had realized by then that the path to redemption was a tough one. The conversation with Tim had given her a fair idea of the obstacles ahead. Because even if Tim wasn't on good terms with her, he had never outright been an enemy either.

She had never done anything to directly hurt him. Hence for him to understand and accept her request had been slightly easier.

But with Aleama the case was different because she had ordered the woman to be killed. And Talia knew very well that making amends with her was going to be much harder as compared to Tim.

But as she had made up her mind to set things right, she knew she couldn't back off by then.

Damian stopped the car in front of a cozy little house at the end of the street. She opened the door and got out, eyes observing the place subtly.

The house looked well kept with a small garden and a hand-painted fence. Damian had stepped forward to ring the doorbell. Shortly after, the door opened revealing Aleama.

Seeing Damian, a smile graced her features, "Master Damian..."

But her voice trailed off as she saw the woman behind him and that smile faded just as instantly as it had lit up her features.

"Aleama, who's at the door?" Udit's unmistakable voice reached them and soon enough, he was there too with little Raza in his arms.

Both of them were shocked to see Talia but Udit was the one to react first as he stepped forward and opened the door wider, "Mistress, please don't wait outside."

A wave of hostility had washed over Aleama that could be felt by almost everyone present. But she didn't object as she stepped aside to let Talia and Damian enter. 

She knew even after everything Udit was devoted to the Demon Head and disrespecting her at the moment would be of no use. She didn't know of Talia's intentions to visit them but deep down she hoped it wouldn't be to take Udit back with her to the base.

Talia glanced at Damian and nodded her head in a silent gesture that he should leave. She wanted to talk to them on her own and thought it better for her son to return to the Manor.

He didn't go back but took Raza out to the garden and the little boy looked delighted to go with him. He had been standing beside Damian expectantly as if waiting for him to come with him.

It was clear to Talia that her son had kept visiting the family often and was on good terms with the three of them.

The same couldn't be said for her own self though. But she wanted to rectify that.

With both the boys outside, Talia knew it was time to let Udit and Aleama know why she had come to their place.

"You must be wondering why I am here," she spoke up, knowing that the two wouldn't initiate the conversation themselves, "and I can see that my presence must have worried you."

"Not at all," Udit replied, "in fact, we feel honored to have you as our guest."

The amount of respect Udit serenaded her with, even though she had put him through the toughest times of his life, was beyond compare. And knowing that fact about him made Talia feel twice worse for making the two go through a lot.

Her emerald eyes had flickered towards Aleama who was sitting still as a statue, with no readable expression on her face as she seemed to have willed herself to be unresponsive.

She knew her husband would treat Talia with the utmost respect and while she couldn't do the same, she had resorted to shutting herself out of the entire ordeal.

"I did not come here to be treated as a guest," Talia remarked, "I came to apologize."

Hazel eyes widened in shock, "apologize? But what for?"

Even Aleama had snapped out of her unresponsive state, surprise etched on her features.

"For everything I put you through."

Both of them were shocked to hear the Demon Head apologizing to them. Udit didn't know what to say but Aleama was the one to break the silence. "Are you referring to everything you put Udit through or am I included in this confession as well?"

"I should never have ordered you to be killed," Talia resumed, "and that too by Udit's hand when I knew how he felt for you. I have made many mistakes in the past but I want to rectify this one. I want to make amends with you two."

"Mistress, don't say that. Your commands were my duty to follow," Udit spoke up.

"You are my most trusted warrior, Udit, and the most valuable one to me as well. That's why I have decided to reward you fully for all your loyalty towards me," she knew she was making a compromising decision for her own self by saying, "you are free to leave the League of Assassins and stay with your family here. I will not call you back nor endanger any of you again."

It was a lot to take in for both of them and for a second they were frozen as if unable to process her words. However, Udit lowered his head in respect and spoke up, "I am grateful for your decision to set me free from the League but I will only accept it on one condition."

Her eyes flickered in uncertainty, "what condition?"

"If ever things get hard for you to battle on your own and you do not find another trustworthy warrior to count on, I will be the first person you will call back."

Talia's eyes trailed towards Aleama to observe her reaction to that statement but she didn't project any sign of approval or refusal.

Seeing there was no other way to make him agree, she nodded her head, "I value you a lot, Udit. I hope the time never comes for me to call you back again but if it does, I will respect your wish."

***

Dora found Tim at the rooftop and knowing that he always came up whenever he was doing some serious thinking, she quietly approached him then stood beside him. She didn't interrupt him but her gaze had drifted off towards the peaceful sky with stars dotted above.

From a height, the city looked tranquil at night. While in reality, Gotham was far from tranquil, be it the time of day or night.

Tim had sensed her presence too but didn't speak up just yet, letting the tranquil silence engulf them a while longer. He was looking up at the starry sky, eyes following a trail of white as a shooting star crossed above.

Dora watched him under the pale moonlight, the silvery gleam enveloping him akin to a halo. And at that moment, the only wish she had to make on that shooting star was for their family to stay happy and together forever.

Even though they were young, they had gone through some of the most trialing times of their lives. And the only thing that had kept them going till now was the love and trust they had for each other.

She hoped that their future would be bright and not tainted with any other darkness like that they had suffered from in the past.

She was shaken out of her thoughts as Tim's arms encircled her, his head lowering to gently kiss her cheek.

"You good?" She asked softly, leaning against him.

"Yeah," he replied and as she tilted her head to look at him, the moonlight dancing off his features seemed even more ethereal.

"Tim, everything's going to be alright," she assured him, brown eyes connecting with cerulean blue, "I know it."

He smiled, "everything is perfect, Dora. I couldn't ask for it to get better."

"Then what's the issue?"

"You know when we get something so good in our lives we naturally get scared of it being taken away," he spoke up in a slightly lower voice than usual, "that's all. I am very happy with you two. I just don't want this happiness to end."

She turned to face him, a soft smile playing upon her lips as she flung her arms around his neck, wrists crossing at the back. "But if you keep on worrying like this about the future, how would you live in the present?"

His hand gently cupped her face, "you're right..."

"And if you don't live in the present, all the happiness you have now would fade without the future having to do anything with it," as always, Dora had the right words to make him abandon his worries, "so all I ask from you is to stop worrying. Look around you, everything's fine and it's going to stay that way."

"I really hope so..."

"For once in your life, Timmy, get a little optimistic," she leaned closer, brushing her lips over his delicately, "I have to carry all the optimism for the two of us and it's about time you share some of it."

"Oh, I am optimistic."

She raised an eyebrow playfully, "really? Remind me of the times you've been full of optimism."

He thought for a while but found that she was right. His optimism level truly was quite low.

"See what I mean," she remarked, pinching his nose affectionately.

But a smile had creased his features as well as he replied, "starting from now, I will be the most optimistic person ever."

"Oh, don't humor me," she laughed but caught the spark in his eyes which meant the competitive streak in him had flared up, urging him not to back off from his statement at any cost by then.

"I'm dead serious."

She shook her head laughing, "and there you go again with the clearly not optimistic adjectives..."

"Hey!"

She had pulled away so he reached out for her again, engulfing her in a loving embrace, his head nestling in her neck. "Alright then, we'll see how long you can go being all optimistic."

"Challenge accepted."

***