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"Come onnnn," Kara begged. She twined her fingers into Alex's, and then gave her that small secret smirk that she always did after any move that required such delicacy. Alex couldn't help but grin back at her dumb alien, who was still stoked about being able to hold hands without snapping any of her fingers or knocking them out of joint. "Is that a yes? Do I see a yes?"
Alex gave in. Unless it was actually a safety issue--and sometimes even then--she always gave in to Kara.
"Of course I’ll stand up for you. And I guess I’ll shop. Seriously, though? You're starting wedding prep already? You're not getting married until next year."
"Eight months, Alex," Kara said. There was a hint of Supergirl steel to her voice. "That's a blink. "
Alex gave her a skeptical look. Back when they were kids, Kara had been deeply suspicious of the whole human wedding ritual. "Cheap and heathen," she'd said. 16 year old Alex had been pretty sure she should never have taught her the word 'heathen.' If she became bridezilla Alex was de-adopting her. But apparently human weddings were nearly identical to Daxamian ones--at least Daxamian royal weddings.
"Also, Rhea has been threatening to take over, so I have to show that I'm being proactive." Kara waved around a list on a strip of paper that suddenly drooped, revealing that it had another layer, and then another and another. Alex's accounting of how much time this would take suddenly shot up exponentially. "Her whole, build an alliance to create peace between our peoples schtick is hard enough to listen to when, well, there aren't any of my people anymore. Doing this with her would be awful. And letting her have free rein? No way."
"Taking ritual out of a child of Rao is like getting a sweet away from a baby, isn’t it?" Alex teased. For all that babies had weak muscles and were useless and helpless, if they wanted to hang on to something, good luck getting it away from them.
Kara grinned, her cheeks going pink. "I resemble that remark."
"I will neither confirm or deny such an implication."
But when Kara, assured in her victory over Alex’s free time, strode away, there was an odd set to her jaw, a fierceness, as if this wasn’t just a wedding, this was a battle that she intended to win. Alex was glad she’d agreed to do this with her. Regardless of her own concerns about the wedding, if Kara was worried at all, Alex wanted to be at her side.
#
Two days later they were already looking at venues. Kara stood on the balcony overlooking the long sweep of canyon and cliffs that led out to the sea. Outside National City was dry grey earth and small scrubby trees, but the sun was setting, casting it in a soft red light, and Alex knew what Kara was seeing. During the Black Mercy Alex hadn't had a lot of time to gaze out the window, but she'd seen similar views in the paintings, depicting parts of Krypton that weren't just the city. Kara’s eyes were dark, lips just a little parted, jaw relaxed, in a way that said that sad empty space inside her was raw again, the scarred over capillaries starting to bleed.
"Hey." Alex stepped in and caught her hand, palm to palm-- holy palmer's kiss. "Do you think this is it?"
Kara turned to her, startled. She'd done her hair up in a chignon which left the nape of her neck bare and the long column turned in a way that made Alex suddenly feel the urge to press her lips to it. But she wouldn't. The urge was familiar, she'd had similar ones all her life. The desire to touch the untouchable, as if maybe a touch like that, intimacy like that, was enough to bring her star-girl down to Earth. But bringing her down to Earth had involved a space ship and nearly dying. It wouldn't be so easy. And now, with this wedding, once more Kara would be separating herself from Alex, becoming the princess of the Refugees of Rao--a unification of the Daxamians and the Kryptonians--throwing her lot in with aliens. Maybe it was biased, but Alex felt betrayed that humanity wasn't enough for her.
"Oh, I don't know, I like it."
"I like it too," Alex said softly, keeping their palms pressed close. Kara gave one small darting look down to their joined hands and then lifted her head and smiled softly.
"I can give you the information and you can call back when you've checked your budget," the helpful guide said. "But, if I may offer one more opinion--" He flipped over his phone and showed them a shot.
It was of Kara and Alex, hands joined, Kara looking over in surprise, the tiger-dark sunset gloaming behind them.
"It's a lovely location, particularly for the two of you."
Alex startled, her heart shooting into a sprint, her mouth opening to deny it. Kara was marrying Mon-El, not her. It had to be a lovely location for the alliance of a princess and a prince, not a princess and a commoner . And . . . that was a pretty weird thought. Why couldn't she get her head on straight around Kara?
But Kara was smiling. "Thank you," she said, her voice warm and amused. "Can you send me that photo?"
"Of course!"
On their way out Alex was still panicking. "You didn't tell him he was confused--"
"That would be rude, Alex," Kara said. "He was nice. I didn't want to embarrass him."
That . . . was perfectly reasonable. Alex's pulse slowed and she shrugged deeper into her jacket. "Fine," she said and trailed Kara back out to her bike.
#
"Wait. How many things are there left to do?"
Once Alex had agreed to be Kara's buddy for the wedding planning nonsense, they had been doing a few things a week, and it was nice seeing Kara even more on top of sister night, but it had already been an intense four months of wedding planning and now there were still so many things to do. She'd thought it would be like three things. Venue, dress, cake. In the . . . twelve minutes . . . she'd thought about her own (cancelled) wedding, those were the key elements. Even the cake was sort of optional because she hadn't really wanted a reception. But there was no way Kara would come if there wasn't cake, so there had to be cake. And these days Alex was also pretty sure that there wouldn't be a dress. Also tuxes were dumb. If she was getting married, she'd probably go for her nicest leather jacket, slacks, boots, and that nice alien-blend underarmor shirt that made her look badass.
But this wasn't Alex's wedding. It wasn't even a normal wedding. They needed a venue that could hold the whole Daxamian refugee community, enough cake to feed an army, and Cat Grant had set up an appointment for Kara with a dress designer whose list was backed up for a decade and was chomping at the bit to get her hands on Kryptonian robe patterns. They needed a band that could learn traditional Kryptonian and Daxamian music. They needed a photographer and videographer who were alien friendly and wouldn't release any pics that showed people doing things not quite human. They needed caterers who could handle a crowd who could all eat their whole bodyweight in one sitting, and also who could source alien alcohol. The only normal things were the florist and the bridesmaids' dresses.
At least Alex had thought the florist was going to be normal.
There was just a . . . vibe Alex got when they walked in. The receptionist's mouth pinched down like a particularly ugly cat. Kara had been making fun of Alex's bike and its cornering ability on the way down the street. "So, what are you saying?" Alex had sassed her back. "Fine, he doesn't compare to Supergirl. So are you offering to let me ride you?"
The last part of the last sentence had come out just as Kara pushed open the door. Alex had hoped it was covered by the tinkle of the bell, but from the expression on the receptionist's face, she'd definitely heard it.
She went in to fetch the florist, and it took just a little longer than expected. Alex shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as they waited. Kara wasn't looking at the flower displays like she was supposed to be. She was watching Alex, and that just made Alex squirm more.
"Oh," the florist said. "I'm not sure if we can help you on that day . . ."
Then it was clear that her eyes had fallen on the budget. A greedy smile crossed her face. "Actually, we might be able to clear our schedule--"
"No," Kara said. "I don't want to use this florist."
Fuck . Alex knew what she was doing. She'd hoped Kara wouldn't pick up on what was happening. "Hey, your husband-to-be's mother suggested this place."
Both women in the room perked up, their body language suddenly relaxing. But Kara went stiff and tall and angry .
"Stop it, Alex. I told you I wouldn't pretend." She grabbed Alex's hand hard enough to make the bones creak. "I don't want any people like that involved in our wedding."
It felt like a pistolwhip to the back of the head. The women recoiled and Kara spun, dragging Alex from the shop.
"What the hell are you doing?" Alex snapped at her. Her face was hot and this was enough. Everywhere they went, it seemed, the venue, the cake, they were mistaken for a couple. And fine, it made sense. Why the fuck was Kara doing this with her and not her actual fiancé. But this was just--
"What am I doing? What are you doing? Reassuring them I'm marrying a man like that like you don't even care that they're-- they're a bunch of phobes ."
"Sure I care!" Alex snapped back. She was a little distracted by how the way Kara's lips twisted to spit 'phobes' was both vicious and comical. "But it's not my wedding. They're not going to fuck you over or kick you out or leave you in the lurch just to get one over on you. You don't need to borrow trouble."
"It's not borrowing trouble . It's not wanting horrible people involved in my wedding!"
"Yeah," Alex snorted. "Because they're so much worse than Daxamians. " Kara froze. Alex knew she'd struck too hard, but she was warmed up now and ready to scrap. "Is that why you aren't doing this with Mon-El? Is it some sort of Daxamian masculinity code that even being touched with the brush of wedding preparation immediately removes their manhood?"
Kara glanced away, her lips taut, a small huff escaping from her nose. "You're not far off."
Alex slumped. She hated getting angry at Kara, especially when Kara was too considerate to fight back. At least when they were younger, they could both be irrational. Dad had gotten them some foam swords and they could fight it out. Even with super-strength, foam could only do so much damage. Now Kara was so careful to restrain herself, both physically and emotionally. Alex tried, but she was a hot-head.
"I'm sorry," Alex said, looking away.
"I'm not using you to vet people," Kara said. Her fingertips traced gentle lines across the side of Alex's hand. "But people like that make me sick, and I'd rather not feel sick during this ceremony."
"Valid," Alex said.
They started back towards the bike as Alex scanned through her phone for other florists. She tried 'LGBT friendly' and got good results. National City was a big place. Kara was right. They didn't have to put up with people like that to get what they wanted.
"You're not wrong about Daxamians," Kara added. "But part of this is a way to deal with them."
Alex paused, letting Kara walk ahead and watched her. She'd been . . . different since the Daxamian royal family had shown up. More restrained, more careful. She'd been saying she was spending a lot of time with Mon-El but Alex hadn't actually seen them together. All of this was starting to worry her.
#
"You've been doing wedding stuff with Kara, I see," Maggie said, leaning on the bar, nursing a beer.
Alex checked herself quickly, realized that she still had flower petals stuck in her collar and her hair from their small battle at the last florist, and beat them off, grimacing. "Yeah." The date was getting closer and closer, and Alex still hadn’t figured out why Kara didn’t seem happy . She wasn't unhappy, but she was ‘hanging out with Alex while the fate of the world is in question’ happy, not ‘I’m getting married and everything’s wonderful’ happy. Alex wondered if it was the same happy she’d been while her engagement was falling apart. Maggie might know, but like hell she’d ask her.
Alex sighed as she went to get a beer from M'gann and take up the stool beside Maggie. They were still friends, even after their relationship had ended in the fire of weaponized intimacy. Alex had been scrambling for a reason she didn't want to get married anymore that didn’t involve saying-- I feel like the farther I get into this the more Kara is pulling away . And Maggie had seen right through her, as always, and lashed out, cutting to the bone. What is it really? You figured out I'm never going to measure up to your space princess? God, you're so young . You're still hung up on your first crush and you're going to be until she either lets you down easy or lets you feel her up.
It hadn't been what Alex wanted to hear.
And now Maggie was looking at her with that same slightly wry softness that she’d had when she'd sussed out that Alex was queer before Alex had. "How's it going?" she asked.
Alex really didn't want to think about the implication in that question. "I'm worried about her."
Maggie puffed out a long breath. "How many times am I going to have to say this? Talk to her ."
Alex scowled.
She wasn't wrong.
That was the real reason Alex had never had a future with Maggie. She couldn't bear being with someone so smug about being right all the time.
#
"It's so kind of you to invite me to be the officiant." Rhea whirled around the room, her robes flapping. Alex sat with her knees awkwardly together on the unexpectedly low set sofa holding an impossibly tiny china teacup and doing her best to not express her doubt. She'd been briefed ahead of time. Rhea was the only person on the planet who could in fact officiate. They were one week off from the ceremony and this, apparently, was the Daxamian ritual of ‘placating the officiant’ or something like that. "I'm so glad that there's no suspicion of bias here."
"Of course not," Kara said.
"And have you selected a suitable match floor?"
"Of course." Dance floor , Kara mouthed at Alex.
Alex wondered, and then wondered if she should have wondered this earlier, were Daxamian weddings really similar to human weddings? Why would that be the case? Why hadn't someone sat her down and spoke to her about what they entailed?
Alex secretly slipped out her phone and texted Maggie. What do you know about Daxamian weddings?
"And is this your second?" Rhea asked, leaning over the couch and massaging Alex's bicep in a rather suggestive way.
"Um," Kara was eyeing Rhea's hand in a way that suggested this was definitely not normal behavior for a 'second' whatever that was. "Yes." Then she mouthed something at Alex that she guessed was Maid of Honor , but honestly, her lipreading wasn't great and it also looked like I hate her .
"Well, well," said Rhea. "Now I'm hoping for a different result to the nzug , I’d love to get to know your pet a little better."
Kara did not translate nzug, and that was kind of the important one. What the hell Rhea was talking about? She didn't need Kara to explain the fact that Rhea wanted in her pants. Human traditions about bridesmaids were bad enough. Alex really didn’t need to know that the Maid of Honor, or ‘second’ or whatever, was traditionally the sex toy of the groom’s family, or whatever other horrible thing Daxamians did. But there was still something big she was missing, and she needed to know.
The only advice she had to take was Maggie's.
#
"What is going on, Kara?" Alex asked in the tiny shuttle on the way down from Rhea's cloaked ship. "Daxamian weddings aren't like human ones, are they?"
"There's a lot of overlap," Kara said, smiling in the way that meant she was Lying to Alex's Face and knew she was going to get caught.
" Why aren't you doing this with Mon-El? "
That was the real issue. Alex could handle a lot of things, she had handled a lot of things, but she didn't know if she could handle all of this affection from Kara as part of her wedding . Weddings were separations. You left your growth family and created a new one. And Alex-- Alex didn't want a separation. That was why she had cancelled her own. She didn't want Kara to leave. She didn't want things to change .
"He isn’t the one who agreed to stand up for me," Kara said.
And then she left.
#
It was five days of excuses and texts and Kara being like, I'm so sorry I'm busy with the wedding stuff . Alex had had enough . Maggie's advice was the worst. She knew how to keep Kara, it was to say nothing and just hold on with her teeth and fingernails.
And then it was the week of the wedding.
Then it was the day of the wedding and her Maid of Honor outfit arrived.
It was armor.
Then Maggie called.
"So, it turns out that Daxamians don't actually have wedding ceremonies," she said, all in a rush. "I'm so sorry it took me so long to find out."
"Then what is this!" Alex snapped.
"Well, apparently the nearest type of ceremony is a duel to the death between the heads of two opposing clans."
" What ?"
"Via . . . their trained animals. Tava . From the word for two."
". . . what."
Alex looked down at the armor. 'Second.' Okay. Goddammit. "You wouldn't think . . . an alien species might count as an animal?"
"Well, historically-- they have."
#
The venue was gorgeous and busy, flowers heaped upon flowers, the band warming up and trying out their Raoian instruments. Alex--irritated about being pleased by the fit and style of the armor--stormed in and up to James, who was in a tux, with a clipboard.
"Groom or bride?" he asked.
"This isn't a wedding!" Alex snapped. "Where's Kara!"
James's eyes went wide. "Um, back there, with Lucy and Lena."
Alex stormed through. "Out!" she shouted. Lucy gave her one look, made a face that looked way too much like repressed laughter, and then ushered a bewildered Lena out.
Then only Kara was there.
Kara.
Enrobed in white, royal Kryptonian robes, not wedding robes, robes of authority, robes that made her lifted chin and straight honey-brown hair into a bust of a goddess . . . Alex forgot what she was going to say.
Then Kara smiled. She tipped her head, her pretty eyes flicking up and down Alex's armored form. "You look nice," she said.
Strangled with the sudden clarity about exactly what she was going to say, Alex could only let out a yowl of a frustrated cat. " Kara ."
"Oh," Kara made an uncomfortable face. "You know." There was a hunch to her shoulders, a wariness to her stance, and Alex could read shame on her like a neon sign.
"The armor was kind of a tip-off!"
"You look nice in armor! That could have been my bridesmaid's theme."
Admittedly, both Lucy and Lena had been in formfitting black jumpers that were probably bulletproof just like the base layer for Alex's alien armor. But Alex was not going to be fooled anymore. "You're not getting married."
Kara hesitated.
"This isn't a wedding!" Alex wanted a clear explanation for once. "This is a duel!"
"I-- yes. It is."
"And I'm fighting for you."
". . . yes."
"And you didn't think to ask me if I'd mind dueling to the death for you?"
"I mean--" Kara offered another of those slight smiles that she knew made it impossible for Alex to be mad at her. "--I was pretty sure you'd say yes."
"Of course I'd say yes!" Alex yelped. "So why didn't you tell me?"
Kara sank. Finally, something she couldn’t talk her way around. “I’m sorry.”
“ Kara .” Alex didn’t want her to be sorry. She wanted to know why . She wanted to know why Kara didn’t trust her.
“It was . . . complicated. And my fault. You would have told me I was hot-headed and not careful enough. I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you every time we were together, but I just-- was embarrassed.”
Alex put her face in her hand. Kara being afraid to tell her important things was the last thing she wanted. “If you’re in danger you need to tell me. I’ll try not to scold you for it.”
“I thought I could handle it on my own.” Kara shook her head, laughing softly. “I thought I could handle my love life on my own.”
“What happened?” Alex asked. Sure, she hadn’t liked Mon-El much, but she always felt like she was smothering Kara by being so protective, so pushing her to have relationships, have friends, have a life was the little bit she could do to fix that.
Kara grimaced. "It wasn't working out. Honestly the whole, 'ah, here's my mom and my people, because oh yes, I'm a prince, I didn't mention that,' was no good. And then he was like, 'become my queen, and let’s colonize the rest of the universe. I'll present you with lots of slaves and stuff,' and I was just like, I don't think you're my future. And then he said, well, if you say no we'll subjugate Earth."
"What?" Alex said again in a strangled voice.
"Yeah." Kara shrugged helplessly. "I needed to figure out a way to make him not subjugate earth. So I challenged him to a duel.”
Alex was getting a headache.
"At first I thought I'd fight the duel myself," Kara said. "So I didn't want to tell you because I was pretty sure you wouldn’t let me. But then I found out that Daxamian nzug are different from Kryptonian ẓugiv and I needed a second, so I asked you to stand up for me--”
“Stand up?” Alex cut in. “Like, stand up and fight? Not stand up like Best Man.”
Kara grimaced. “I really was going to tell you, but then I found out more about nzug , and I didn't want to tell you, because I thought . . . you're thorough. You do research. And I was afraid you'd find out . . ."
"That this is a glorified dogfight?" Alex asked flatly. "That I'm your pet."
Kara sighed. "Yeah. That one.” Finally, she looked up again and met Alex’s eyes. Kara’s were blue and clear and so deeply sad. “I know sometimes you think you’re not as good as me, and I didn’t want you to think that I thought that too."
Alex had never really wondered if Kara thought that. It was just a given, a fact of the universe. In strength, in purity of heart, in objective value, Kara was better than her. "This is really inhumane."
"I know. And that’s why-- well, I’d already asked you. I tried to think of anyone else I could ask, but the whole concept is foul! If I ask a sapient creature, it’s the same as asking you, and if I ask a non-sapient creature, it’s pushing a lamb into the slaughter. I didn’t know how to fix this."
Alex rubbed her head. Then she sighed. "You're really not marrying Mon-El?"
"I'm really not marrying Mon-El," Kara said. There was a slight tinge of hope in her voice as if she liked this direction for the conversation better. "At least, if things go well."
Too many questions sparked in Alex's head at that. "What? What do you mean ‘if things go well’?"
If you win they'll leave earth."
"And if I lose?"
Kara squeezed Alex's shoulder. "You won't lose."
Alex glared at her.
Kara winced. "I become his slave and the Daxamians have free rein to subjugate earth."
Alex stared at her, flat. "That's not going to happen."
"I know," Kara said, smiling. She reached behind herself and then held something out to Alex. "For you."
It was a sword. It was a gorgeous sword, long and light, springy and cutting through the air like it slivered even those molecules in half. It was like a katana of damascus steel. Alex wanted it in her hand immediately. "You can't buy off my anger with pretty things," she said.
"I can't?" Kara waved the butt of the weapon around teasingly.
It was too much. Alex grabbed it. It felt good in her hand, well balanced, like it belonged there. The sheath snapped onto her belt. It hung in an excellent line down her leg. She might have lost time contemplating the sword with pleasure.
Kara laughed at her. "I used to wish you'd look at me the way you look at weapons."
What? Alex had so many questions, but asking any of them was likely to reveal her own feelings on the subject, so she shut them down. "I guess I'm going to fight then."
Alex turned to the door back into the venue. She'd take down whoever Mon El sent, and then, if she could see her way to it, she'd take him out too. She'd had enough of putting up with Kara's crappy boyfriends, and finally here was one crappy enough that beheading him wasn't actually out of line.
"Wait!" Kara reached out to her, and Alex paused. "That's all? That's all you need to know?"
Alex met her gaze and it was her turn to smile. "You know I'd die for you. Killing things for you is easy."
Kara caught her hands and clasped them. "Alex. I wanted you to know. On Krypton we don't have animals fight our duels for us. We fight for ourselves. And if we choose a second--a tavehd --having someone fight for you shares your status with them. So on Daxam you might be seen as a glorified animal, but on Krypton you are my equal. When you win, I will owe you an obligation. I may be one of too few Kryptonians to count, but I bind myself by Rao’s codes and I will give you whatever you ask."
Alex looked at the hands, holding hers so easily, and felt the hard thump of her heart at the words. Kara’s equal? Never. "I don't mind being your animal, Kara. I am just a lowly human, right?"
Kara huffed out a very annoyed breath. Then she jerked Alex in hard and kissed her, firmly, on the mouth. "You better not die for me, idiot. You're my tavehd . I love you."
The kiss rocked her. Alex didn't know what to do with it. She didn't really know what to do with any of this. Except . . . talk to her .
After. If she won the battle, she'd tell Kara how she felt. That was a promise.
#
Truth was, this duel was like a human wedding ceremony. The only real difference was that the ‘dance floor’ was in the center of the space, the chairs surrounding it on all four sides like a wrestling ring. The altar was to one side of the dance floor. Alex cracked her knuckles and took up her position on one side of the altar. Rhea gave her a once-over and a suggestive grin. Alex ignored it.
Then Mon-El appeared, dressed to the height of Daxamian fashion, the grin on his face as he looked at Alex the same one he always wore--the one that couldn’t tell the difference between a joke and a crime.
“Kara’s always been sentimental,” he said, cheery as ever. “I knew she’d pick you. Wait till you see my second.”
He beckoned, and a vast mountain of an alien strode in. The whole venue shook as he approached. Half the room gasped, the other half cheered. He was made of rock and twice Alex’s height. The room, divided into groom’s side and bride’s side, now seemed as partisan as a footie crowd.
Alex smiled with all her teeth. Oh fuck.
There was a procession too, and vows. Only these vows involved Kara and Mon-El clasping each other firmly by the forearm and swearing to the terms of the duel. If Kara’s tava won, the Daxamians would forfeit all right to Earth. If Mon-El’s tava won, Kara herself, and her role as the protector of Earth, would be forfeit. To distract herself from the imminent violence, Alex puzzled over the fact that the word for ‘second’ in Daxamian and Kryptonian-- tava and tavehd --were clearly related, and yet, she suspected, meant completely different things.
Then it was time for the duel. Winn had made banners and flags. “Go Alex!” all of the bride’s side shouted. It was now very clear--and very annoying--that the only one who had really been left in the dark was Alex. Well, fine. She needed to get this over with so she could go and yell at Kara some more for leaving her out of the loop. Maggie was also on the bride’s side. Alex hadn’t realized she was close enough to Kara to get an invitation. And then Rhea rang a fucking boxing bell , and Alex spun around, wheeled her sword out, and started to fight for her life.
For Kara’s too.
The dance floor was twenty square meters and without any obstacles or cover. That meant Alex needed to move move move. The best thing about fighting a larger opponent was that one of his steps was six of hers and she could dodge and shift right through his legs, drawing him back and forth across the floor. As she did, she started to realize that she knew this kind of alien. She’d never met one before, but she’d seen his rocky shape and in a picture somewhere. Where?
She glimpsed Maggie again and put it together. It was from that card game they played at the bar sometimes--an alien version of Risk which involved setting up a trading federation and taking over the galaxy. These rocky aliens were Blugul, and their most prized resource was boots. Because--
Because they had a literal Achilles Heel.
Alex grinned, rolled out of the way of a swinging rock fist, and set up a box-step. Her sword wouldn’t do more than scratch stone, but it would damage those fancy boots for sure. Step in, slice, step to the side, slice again. The back part of the boot falls out. Step back, The Blugul stomps. Duck under, spin sword around, and pop .
She felt the click as she hit the right spot with the pommel of her sword. The Blugul fell on his face, clutching at his ankle, making pained noises like a small avalanche. He wasn’t getting up until someone popped it back in. Alex pointed the tip of her sword at his nose.
“Yield?”
He grumbled something in Blugul, but the sudden depression that overtook the Daxamian side made it clear that, indeed, he’d said yield.
High on adrenaline, Alex spun, directing the tip of her sword at the whole Daxamian contingent. “Now!” she commanded. “By your oath, begone!”
There was enough reticence that the bride’s side rose up, standing shoulder to shoulder at Alex’s back, glaring down the Daxamians. Alex spotted Lucy pull a box from under her chair and start passing out the DEO’s new design of lead mist guns.
Mon-El balled his fists and stuck them on his hips. He glared at Kara. “I don’t know why you’re so hard to please!”
Kara rolled her eyes mightily. “ Just go ,” she told him.
And he, grouchily, jerked his head, indicating that his side should follow, and headed out.
Rhea patted Kara’s cheek. “I never liked you,” she said. “Distracting my son like that. But how much would you ask for your pretty tava? ”
“This isn’t Daxam,” Kara said. “My tavehd isn’t for sale.”
Rhea arched an eyebrow. “Oh, I’ve heard about this. Kryptonians are so charmingly barbaric. Might I stay and watch?”
“I would prefer if you left with the rest of your people,” Kara said, cold and dignified.
Rhea smiled, but she didn’t stay.
Again, Alex felt out of her depth. She’d grasped the Daxamian practice--it was ugly and cruel, just like the rest of Daxamian culture. But no matter how much she tried to learn about Kryptonian culture, it was always just a little more imbued with symbolism and secret meanings than she could understand. But she’d promised to tell Kara how she felt. Whatever else was going on, she would keep that promise.
“A good fight,” J’onn said, coming up beside her and taking her arm.
M’gann, it looked like, was resetting the Blugul’s ankle.
“Thanks,” Alex said to J’onn. She still didn’t quite know what was going on, but she resheathed her sword and let him lead her up to the altar.
Kara was there, a half-smile on her face, her eyes glistening a little. “Thank you for not drawing it out. I don’t know if I could have kept myself from interfering for much longer.”
“Hey,” Alex said softly. “Sometimes I get to be there for you.”
“You’ve always been there for me.” Kara dipped her head and then carefully lowered herself to her knees. She knelt in front of Alex, her head tipped down, her hair, dark against the white of her robes, becoming a curtain. Then she raised her hands, both of them, together, offering her wrists to Alex. “Since you offered your life for me, mine is now in your hands.”
Startled, Alex looked around for guidance on this.
“You have three choices,” said Clark, who Alex really hadn’t realized was there. He was looking fancy in Kryptonian robes too. “You may take her as your bondperson, you may reject her offering, or you may bind your fates.” He flashed his dumb farmboy smile. “We’re all kind of hoping you’ll pick the third one.”
J’onn handed her a set of bracelets, simple ones, Kryptonian style. To Alex they resembled nothing more than handcuffs. She suspected that in some fancy Kryptonian-symbolism way, that’s what they were.
“ No ,” Alex said. This was all nuts. “What is all of this? I don’t have the right to take any of this. What do you want?” she asked Kara.
Kara lifted her chin and glared at her. “I want you to ask me to do something for you . Okay? I keep asking you for everything, help me with wedding prep, hug me when I’m sad, fight to the death for me, but you never ask anything for yourself. The real reason I didn’t tell you I’d gotten us into this mess was because I wanted to find a way out of it, a way where you wouldn’t have to sacrifice for me. I don’t want you to sacrifice for me anymore.”
“It’s not a sacrifice if it’s for you,” Alex said.
Kara shook her head. “Not good enough. Ask me something. As anything of me. You are not my pet or my watchdog. You’re my tavehd . You are the second piece of my heart.”
Alex’s mind was blank. How could she think of a request that would be worthy of this formal obligation but wouldn’t force Kara give her more than she deserved? There was only one thought that kept passing through her mind, and it was absurd, but-- it was a request at least. “Tell me, what did you mean before? When you said you used to wish I’d look at you the way I look at weapons. Why-- why did you stop?”
Kara looked startled, then ducked her head, the corner of her mouth quirking up in a smile. “I stopped wishing that when I realized you do.” She lifted her chin, meeting Alex’s eyes. “Now I just wish you could see that I look at you the same way.”
The words hung in the air, for a moment as incomprehensible to Alex as the rippling of a stream or the winds across the desert. And then, finally, she understood them. She clicked one bracelet around her own wrist and then one on Kara’s. Kara’s eyes went wide. She clasped Alex’s hands. Alex tangled their fingers together and knew her grin must be the dumbest grin in the world, but also didn’t care. Then she dropped to her knees, pulled Kara close, and kissed her.
There might have been cheering. Alex couldn’t hear a thing. Kara was kissing her back, then breaking to gasp for breath, and grinning at her, eyes sparkling, maybe a little wet, and then leaning in to kiss her again.
They needed to talk. Alex wanted to talk. She wanted to spend hours tangled up on the couch with Kara, trying to put words around all her feelings. But they’d spent so much time organizing this party, and there were people everywhere, so Alex just held on to Kara’s hand, and patted Winn awkwardly as he cried on her shoulder. (Armor was useful to protect against many things. Emotions, unfortunately, weren’t one of them.)
Kara’s fingers stayed tangled tightly in hers, and Alex wondered if maybe it had been important all those years ago, just how hard Kara had worked to hold her hand. It was kind of absurd that Kara thought she didn’t give Alex anything. She’d given her so much: affection and purpose and revelation. She’d given Alex value for her life.
Even the Blugul offered his congratulations. M’gann translated for him. And really, what he said in a rumble that for a moment overwhelmed the noise of the band and the people and the commotion from the dueling floor--now being used as a dance floor--was Alex’s favorite.
“All good duels end in a wedding.”
Alex needed more data to evaluate this, but anecdotally at least, she agreed.
###