Archive of Our Own

Lena had never really been good at relationships, of any type. Her family ones were a disaster at best considering that her remaining family members seemed to want her dead. Her friends were inexistent and her romantic life was a joke. Jack had been the only person she had seriously dated, mostly because he was the closest person to her and they had connected. Even when he came back there had been something familiar that had caused them to give in to old habits. And although Lena loved him she knew he wasn't the one. Despite all that, she had been devastated when he died, or rather when she killed him to save Supergirl. The hero that had become her friend against all odds. Something she couldn't have predicted. Lena had a few friends in the past but nothing too real. Nothing like her friendship with Supergirl, or Kara. The closest thing to that had been Jess but she worked for her so it felt different.

She had never expected to one day see Clark Kent walk into her office with her future best friend. She also hadn't expected her to be Supergirl but it seems the universe likes to play with her. They were supposed to be enemies yet they were the farthest thing from it. 

Although she would never admit it, Lena had fallen for her. Hard. In such a way that made her question her own judgment when it came to the hero. Because she knew that Kara would protect her with her life and Lena wouldn't hesitate to do the same.

Somehow all those interviews, lunches, conversations on her couch and rescue missions had made her feelings grow in a way that she could not explain. They had only known each other for nearly a year yet she saw Kara as her family. And not family like hers. No. Kara was her family. Because one can choose their family, right? And if there was anyone she wanted to have in hers, it was Kara Danvers.

There was only a problem with her feelings. Well, besides the likelihood that Kara does not feel the same way. They are not soulmates. 

Lena has known that for years. She knows that the woman she is meant to be with was someone she had met years ago at a restaurant in this very city. Someone she had only seen once and would likely never meet again.

She looked at her wrist as her thoughts drifted to the stranger. She wished that she had noticed it right away but unfortunately once she did Lena had already been on her way back to Metropolis. 

The mark on her arm had a strange effect on her. On one side she knew that she had a soulmate somewhere, but where? It was unlikely she could ever find them again. To be completely honest, Lena hadn't really been paying much attention that day. It had only been a week after Lex tried to kill Superman and ended up hurting a lot of people. She had others things in her mind and she only vaguely remembered the stranger that was her soulmate. 

Black hair and blue eyes. That's all she remembered about her. And even those details weren't so clear. To be fair, she truly hadn't thought that encounter would be important until she found herself in the car with her driver. That had been the only person she had spoken with in between not having a mark and having one. That's why she knew it was them.

She composed her watch that she kept covering her mark as Kara walked into her office, a bright smile on her face and holding two bags of takeout. 

After everything that had happened with the Daxamites and Kara's boyfriend, they had grown even closer. Helping each other deal with such events. So this had become even more frequent than before. 

"Kara. What did you bring this time?"

The blonde sat on the couch, still smiling at her as she made her way across the room to sit beside her. "Chinese for me and one of those horrible salads you love."

Lena smiled, shaking her head at the woman. "Not all of us can eat like you and still stay fit."

"I do work out, Lena. It isn't all alien DNA." The blonde argued, crossing her arms.

"Oh, I don't doubt it." Lena couldn't help raising her eyebrows teasingly at her best friend. It was just too easy to make her flustered. 

"I- how was your day?"

"Same as always. Meetings and paperwork. Anything interesting happened today?"

Kara shrugged, "I had an awkward conversation with my sister."

"Really? Do tell." She responded, focusing on eating her food as she waited for the other girl to speak.

"It was about... My soulmate."

"Oh." Lena didn't know what to think. Had Kara met them? Was it Mike or Mon-El or whatever his name was?

The blonde was fidgeting with her fingers, not even focusing on the food.

"Did you meet your soulmate?"

Kara shrugged, "I met them a while ago. I just hadn't told Alex about it. She finally saw my mark and asked me about it."

"Are you-"

The blonde looked up at her, "They're not a possibility."

And that's it on the subject as Kara started to eat before changing the focus from herself.

"Have you met yours?"

Lena blushed which was unusual for herself. Part of her saw Kara as her soulmate, not the random stranger from the restaurant she had gone to years before. "Yes, I have."

"Oh." 

There were some seconds of silence and Lena wanted to explain but it was rather ridiculous so instead, she focused on her food again.

"Was it Jack?"

The question caught her off guard as she looked back at her friend in surprise. "No. I loved him but he wasn't my soulmate."

Silence took over yet again as Kara seemed to be lost in her thoughts. "Mon-El?" She questioned.

Kara shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter, Lena. If the universe really knew who we are meant to be with they wouldn't have done this to me. They would have... I would have been matched to someone else."

Lena considered her words before frowning. "Do you not like your soulmate?"

"I- I already care for someone."

"Oh. Mon-El... Of course. I understand."

Kara looked at her curiously before smiling softly. "No, you don't."

She just stared, wondering what she was missing. "Is it James then?"

The blonde shook her head again.

"I'll admit, I'm lost."

"I thought you were a genius, Lena." She teased her before chuckling.

Lena frowned, unsure of who it could be.

"Winn?"

"Gross. Lena, come on, he's like a brother."

"Okay, I admit defeat. Who is it?"

Kara smiled, looking down before placing her food on the table and looking up at Lena. Her cheeks blushed as their eyes met.

She didn't have time to really take in what was happening because next thing she knew they were kissing and Lena's brain short-circuited. Although her lips didn't fail her and kissed the blonde back as intensely. 

"I-" she muttered as soon as Kara pulled away, her eyes still closed.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have just kissed you. Rao, and right after you told me you have a soulmate. I'm sorry. I should have asked."

"Kara." She whispered, placing her hand on Kara's tight. "It's fine."

Blue eyes filled with hope looked back at her. "Really?"

She nodded. "I care for you too." 

Somehow things seemed to be working out for her because she found herself in a relationship with Kara.

Things didn't really change between them, considering they had already been acting like a couple despite pretending they were only best friends. But now they were finally able to kiss each other, hold hands and actually speak about their feelings. It was also effortless. What Lena had with Jack had been nice but it had never been quite this easy. With Kara, she felt comfortable. Lena could be herself. She could show weakness and be vulnerable. She could be unsure and all she would get from Kara was reassurance and love. 

Sometimes she found herself forgetting they were not soulmates.

Normally Lena covered up her mark with makeup, not wanting to remind herself or Kara that they were not meant to be. And Kara, she either did the same or her mark was somewhere else on her body.

They had been taking things slowly, or at least slow when it came to being intimate. So Lena had never actually seen Kara without clothes.

That was until they were four months into their relationship.

"I love you, Lena." 

The words were whispered against her lips just before Kara moved her lips to her jawline and Lena didn't know how to react. Or what to focus on. They had yet to say those words to each other and now Kara had just said them so easily as if they had been doing it for years. As if it was normal and frequent for them to tell each other I love you. And of course, her lips were on her, causing her to barely be able to make sense of what had happened.

"Kara." She finally breathed out, barely audible for a human.

The blonde stopped and moved her head to look at Lena who still looked slightly shocked and breathless.

"I-"

"Oh, Rao. Did I- Was that not okay?"

Lena placed her hands on Kara's shoulders. "It's fine, Kara. I wasn't expecting you to say that it's all."

"Oh." Kara seemed to finally realize what she had said, cheeks turning pink as she did so. "I've been wanting to say it for a while, actually."

"You have?"

Kara nodded. "I love you. I have for some time."

The brunette tried her best to keep herself from tearing up because Kara just told her she loved her and her voice didn't waver. She looked as sure of it as if she had been stating any other undeniable fact. 

"I love you too." She let out, not allowing herself to overthink. Because she did love Kara. She had since before they had even kissed for the first time.

Minutes later they found themselves on Kara's bed and there were fewer clothes involved. And that's when she noticed it. The mark on Kara's back.

Her eyes widened and she immediately pulled away, shocked by it. 

"Lena?" Kara asked, reaching for her. "What's wrong?"

"I just... You-"

Kara looked at her with a confused expression, surely lost in what was happening.

Lena quickly made her way to the bathroom, not even bothering to cover herself as she was still in her underwear anyway.

"Lena? What's going on? You're worrying me." Kara spoke softly, knocking on the door of the bathroom but not even attempting to enter.

A minute later Lena came out, tears still noticeable on her eyes and cheeks which caused Kara to immediately hug her.

"What happened?" Kara questioned in a whisper, taking a step back from her.

"Remember when you told me about your soulmate?"

Kara nodded. "Is it the mark? I've told you, I love you not some stranger I never truly got to know."

"I know, Kara." She assured her, smiling.

"Did you... Work at your favorite restaurant by any chance?"

The blonde's eyes widened slightly before answering. "Noonan's? Yes, years ago. Why?"

Lena smiled. "Your planet. Krypton. You had a red sun, right?"

Kara nodded in response, her eyes scanning Lena's face as if looking for answers.

"This is going to sound strange and maybe... I might be wrong. But did you have black hair?"

"What?"

"When you worked at Noonan's."

"I- Lost a bet to Alex once. She wanted me to dye it bright red but we settled for black. How did you know?"

Lena kissed her, she could hardly believe what was happening.

"What was that for? Lena, what's going on?" Kara asked, still looking confused.

"Your mark. It's the first invention I have created."

Kara stared for a second before her eyes widened in realization. "You mean?"

The brunette smiled and nodded, moving her hand from her wrist where a small red sunset was tattooed to her skin. Before she hadn't really given it much thought. It was simply a landscape that happened to have red tones to it. Now she finally understood what it was.

With movements faster than any human the Super moved to hold her arm, looking at the image on her wrist with tears in her eyes. "It's Krypton."

Lena nodded. "It's beautiful."

"You're- It's you."

She chuckled, "I can't believe I was so moody then that I hardly even noticed you. I didn't even recognize you."

"So was I. After everything with Clark." Kara shrugged. "I'm glad I found you again." 

"I don't know how exactly this works but I'm happy you're my soulmate."

"So am I."

"I love you, Kara."

"And I love you."