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When Kara first arrived on Earth she was afraid she may forget all about Krypton. Her ship had been taken away the moment she arrived, so any technology and/or all the crystals her father stored for her were gone. She didn't even know what had happened to her ship, Kal El had ripped the lid off and immediately taken her to the Danvers house. She couldn't talk to Kal El, he had the worst broken Kryptonian she had ever heard. She knew he had a fortress in the Arctic but he had never offered to take her there, plus he very rarely came to visit her. he dumped her at the Danvers house and left her with strangers who's language she couldn't even understand.
Kara had it constantly drilled into her by Eliza and Jeremiah that she was not allowed to speak Kryptonian anymore. She had to pick up the English language really fast just to be able to communicate with her new family. Every time she accidentally slipped back into her native language her new foster parents would frown and give her the lecture about how she needed to keep her heritage a secret.
Alex, the Danvers daughter and Kara's new sister noticed that all of this was bothering Kara. She had not been a fan of her new sister, she had had no warning that she would suddenly have someone else in the house. She had to share her parents affection with this interloper, Kara didn't even know how to speak English. What was worse was that Eliza and Jeremiah had decided that Kara was going to be Alex's responsibility! It was Alex's job to make sure that Kara felt comfortable and didn't use her powers. Alex was beyond resentful about this, why was this new weird girl her problem? Kara did nothing but cry and act weird, Alex couldn't even bring her friends to the house anymore in case it was all to much for Kara or she slipped up and used her powers. But despite all this, Alex couldn't ignore the fact that she could hear Kara crying at night, they had been forced to share a room after all (another thing Alex resented Kara for!). But when she realized that the crying wasn't going to end any time soon she put aside her annoyance at Kara’s very presence in her house and asked her gently what was wrong. Kara had looked at Alex in surprise and suspicion since Alex never asked her anything. In fact the only time she even spoke to her was to say something bad or tell her she was doing something wrong. Kara had hesitated, and Alex could see the hesitation, she knew that that was most likely o her own making, so she gave Kara what she hoped was her kindest smile. Kara had taken a few moments, but decided she had nothing to left to lose. She decided to tell Alex that she was afraid that if she continued to be forced to repress her heritage she would forget her language and her very memories of Krypton. Alex’s had felt for Kara, she didn't even think about what all these rules and regulations were doing to Kara, she was only thirteen after all and had lost her family and her entire planet and culture. Alex decided to help Kara out, her first solution was to present Kara with a diary that she could write all her memories and thoughts in. This worked to begin with, up until Eliza saw Kara with the diary and asked what she was doing. Kara had hesitated but Eliza had looked at the book and noticed that Kara was writing in both English and Kryptonian about her life on Krypton. Eliza had sighed and immediately taken the diary away. She spent the next hour giving Kara a lecture on how she wasn't allowed to do that, if anyone found it they would all be in danger. The one mercy she gave was she told Kara she wouldn't destroy it, but she would have to give the diary to Kal El to take to the fortress. It had taken all of Kara's self restraint to not use her super speed to swipe the diary back! But she didn't want to have to deal with the after math of what that act of defiance would cause. Kara certainly hadn't been pleased when Kal El had turned up just to take the diary and give her the third degree on how she needed to keep their secret, she could ruin him! He didn't even ask her about how she was adjusting to her new life, when he first left her in Midvale she would have done anything for him to show up and take her away, but by this point she just wanted him to leave. She didn't recall him ever turning up again after that.
After the diary incident Kara was watched more closely and Alex had been chastised for being foolish enough to give Kara a diary. Her parent hadn't even acknowledged that she had finally started being nice to Kara. Kara's lap top was regularly checked for any secret diaries, she was only allowed a lap top because she had to have one for school. She wasn't allowed access to any social media, she couldn't understand why, did the Danvers really thin she would be dumb enough to update her Facebook status to 'Kara Danvers is an alien?' Or change her hometown to 'Krypton'?. Kara she even had the dullest phone that couldn't download any apps. Alex had been watching all of this and felt the limitations on Kara were far to harsh. She decided to speak up and protest on Kara's behalf to her mother, she told her that all that Kara wanted was to preserve her memories. Eliza wasn't sympathetic to Kara's plight, but she told Alex the same as she told Kara, that her Kryptonian life was over, it was best to embrace her new one. Kara can talk about Krypton with the family but that was is it. Eliza even considered removing all of Alex's social media to, just so Kara wouldn't feel like she was being singled out, but Alex had warned her mother that if she thought she was a angsty teen now she would be terrified by what would happen of she took away Alex's social media!
As time went on, Alex could see Kara becoming more and more withdrawn, she caught her reciting Kryptonian sentences to herself in their bedroom when she thought she was alone. She even began to tell Alex some stories so at least one other person would know if she herself forgot. Alex realized she couldn't take much more of this, she had been growing fond of Kara and certainly wasn't enjoying seeing the poor girl suffer.
Then one day everything changed! Alex had been tasked by Eliza with clearing out the garage. While she had been routing around and stopping to look at every old object she found she came across an old tape recorder. Alex had been about to throw it out when it hit her! This was the perfect solution to Kara’s problem. Excited, Alex had quickly put it aside and finished her task. Once she was done she went into town and found a shop that still sold old blank tapes. As soon as she got home she found and grabbed a moping Kara and told Eliza they were going to the beach. Eliza didn't bother to question it, she was just happy they were getting along and Alex had stopped trying to get Eliza to relax the rules on Kara. Kara however, was beyond surprised, she and Alex had been getting on better which was good of course, but Alex never took her out with her. But Kara really does love the beach so she got up and followed Alex out.
Once they had arrived at the beach Alex stopped with an excited look on her face (that was unnerving Kara) she produced the tape recorder. Kara just looked at it and then back up at Alex with a bewildered look on her face. Alex explained to Kara that it was essentially a primitive recording device and no one used them anymore. People had moved on to things like dicta phones now, but Eliza would notice one of those and Kara would have to store the recordings on a memory card and then her laptop. Alex demonstrated to Kara how the tape recorder worked and she watched as Kara’s face went from confused to ecstatic in seconds! Kara could record all her memories and her language and no one would ever find out!. She could even make translations in case she ever forget what something meant. To add to the joy, she and Alex now had a secret together, she threw her arms around Alex, it was their first ever hug. Alex had stiffened in shock at first but just as Kara began to pull away, worried that she had gone to far Alex had wrapped her arms around Kara. Alex couldn't deny that seeing Kara happy had made her happy to. Once they pulled away she told Kara that she will need to find a good hiding place for the tapes, somewhere Eliza and Jeremiah wouldn't accidentally stumble onto them, or if they went looking. Kara had frowned at that,where on Earth was she going to find a hiding place the Danvers couldn't find! But then Alex remembered the cave near the beach that she had found. She had never told anyone about it, not even her parents. but she suddenly felt like she really wanted to share this with Kara. The cave was to high up for water to get in and no one else ever went there as far as she knew. Alex had made a point of setting up little traps that would allow her to know if someone had found her secret hideaway, and so far those traps had never been triggered. She excitedly and a little shyly told Kara she would have to record and store her tapes there so Eliza and Jeremiah didn't catch her. Kara never though she could feel that happy again, that's when she and Alex really started to begin the journey to become true sisters. Not long after that they would both get in trouble for going flying and Jeremiah would be taken away. But the Danvers sister bond never wavered, it only became stronger.
16 years later....
Kara and her girlfriend Lena are having a movie night in Kara's loft. Lena is a bit chilly, so she goes to Kara’s closet to grab a hoody. As she reaches for one she drops it and when she goes to retrieve it she notices an old box labeled ‘memories’. Lena goes back to the couch and snuggles into Kara, they start the movie but Lena is restless. Kara notices and she pauses the movie. She asks what’s wrong but Lena hesitates, she didn’t want to seem intrusive. But this is Kara, she won’t think any less of Lena for asking. So she tells Kara she saw the box and she’s a bit intrigued. Realization dawns on Kara’s face and she gives Lena a sad smile. She gets up to go get the box gently shrugging off Lena’s protest that she didn’t have to and they could go back to watching the movie.
Kara returns to the settee with the box, she takes a breath and then removes the lid. Looking into the box Lena can see an old tape recorder inside and some cassettes. She gives Kara a curious but gentle look. Kara then tells Lena all about her fears of losing her memories of Krypton, of losing her very language and sense of self. She tells her about Eliza and Jeremiah's tough love tactics and how much of an ass Kal El was. She tells Lena about how her pod was taken the moment she landed and it wasn’t until she was an adult and at the DEO that she learned her mother had left her an AI! She even tells Lena the part where Kal El stole her diary and flew off with it. Lena is both crying and seething through Kara's story. Her heart is broken for Kara and her anger is roused at Kal El and even Eliza. Kara can see how worked up Lena is getting so she holds her hand and rubs soothing circles on the back with her thumb. That’s when she tells Lena about the solution Alex had come up with, how she had found the recorder and found a place Kara could record in secret. To this day Eliza and Kal El don’t know about the tapes. Lena feels a rush of love for Alex and makes a mental note to buy her her favorite scotch, or maybe design a new gun for her!
Kara then nervously asks if Lena would like to hear some of the tapes. Lena is shocked! She protests and reassures Kara that there is no need, these are Kara’s memories. But Kara just smiles warmly at Lena and tells her there is no one else (except maybe Alex) that she would want to share her memories of Krypton with. Lena is so moved she starts crying again and it takes Kara pulling her into her arms and sweetly talking to her for 10 minutes to get her to calm down. Once Lena is calm Kara puts on the first tape. They spend the rest of the evening listening to all the tapes, there is crying on both sides, lots of questions from Lena about Krypton, lots of laughs from Kara when she hears herself talking about the pranks she pulled on her father. A great sadness when she hears herself talk of her love for Astra and how she wished she could see her again. Lots of resentment towards Kal El and anger toward her parents for sending her away. Lena realizes that these aren’t just Kara’s memories, it was also a window into how she truly felt about everything that happened. Once the tapes have finished they both go to bed, emotionally drained from the evening. Lena is lying with her head on Kara’s chest when something occurs to her, she asks Kara if she ever got her diary back. Kara blinks like an owl and tells Lena that she never thought about it, not even when Kal El finally gave her permission to go to the fortress. Lena snuggles back downs and tiredly tells Kara she should think about retrieving it. She also tells her that if Kara wants to record again she will set up system so secure no one not even Brainy or Winn could hack it. Kara chuckles and holds Lena closer to her. She doesn’t need a super recording device to store her secret stories now, she had the best recording device snuggled into her chest and wrapped up in her arms. She’ll tell Lena all about her life on Krypton. Then one day when they get married and have kids (because Kara is totally planning on proposing, she even has the ring picked out) she will tell their children all about their heritage. Kara will never forget who she is now because Lena reminds her every single day.