Chapter Text
Chapter One: The Stars
Kara Zor-El was 12 years old when her world exploded. Everything she’d ever known, everyone she knew, it was all gone. They were all gone. Before that though, Kara had been in line to be the next member of the Science Guild. She’d be the youngest member. She was so excited, and her parents so proud. Even her grandparents, Nyssa-El and Seg-El were proud of her. Kara could remember going out into the fields with Seg-El, taking only a telescope and a blanket.
They’d be out there for hours, discovering the stars and constellations. Kara would come home shivering, but she was always so happy… She sighed, as she thought about it now. She was 24 at this point, but it didn’t matter — everything still hurt. It probably always would.
By the time she’d gotten out of her pod, come to Earth, and been placed in the Danvers’ family care… he was fourteen. Physically. Technically though, she was meant to be older— like, sixty or something. The Phantom Zone had stopped her from aging, though. That was beside the point, though.
Kara was fifteen when she met Kenny Li, the boy from high school. He was a bit of a nerd, sure, and in the classes they shared, kids picked on him. But Kara liked him. She stood up for him also. So when he revealed the fact that he, too, enjoyed stargazing … well, Kara would have done anything for the teenager beforehand, but now? She was ride or die for Kenny Li.
They would spend long hours at night looking at the stars. Making small talk. Sometimes his mom would bring out hot chocolate (which wasn’t something you’d find on Krypton, but Kara LOVED it.) Even better were the times when Kenny would show Kara a new constellation. At first, when she first saw the stars… Kara had cried.
The stars here weren’t the same as on Krypton.
Now she felt well and truly lost. How was she meant to go on living, keeping Krypton alive, when everything was so very different? She even had powers on this planet. She’d had to become very leery about how strong she hugged people, how fast she ran… there were so many rules and restrictions!
Kara had been diagnosed with autism shortly after Kenny Li had died, and she’d been forced into some therapy after the time she and Alex (her adoptive sister) had almost gotten hit by a car. The therapy had helped. Glasses, too, that were lined with lead had helped. Jeremiah had been a good pseudo-father to her.
Flash forward nine years. Kara was now 24. Kenny was dead (like the rest of her people…) and so was Jeremiah. Her adoptive sister, Alex, is no longer her enemy, rather her best friend. And as for her love life, well, she’s dating the person who has made her happiest of the entire time she has been on Earth.
Lena Luthor.
Lena, who was currently walking up behind her on the balcony. Kara could hear her coming. Superpowers come with super hearing, she supposed. Lena wrapped her arms around Kara from behind.
“You look sad.” Lena noted. “Everything okay?”
Kara began to fidget. Drumming her fingers against the balcony’s edge. Humming, too. It was a Disney song, but Kara was not sure if Lena knew that. She wouldn’t put money on that thought, though. “I miss.” She stated inarticulately. Lena was patient though, and didn’t press. “Kenny Li, you know? He showed me the stars, and I couldn’t even meet up with him again before….” She trailed off.
“Hey.” Lena tugged her in, still behind Kara and nuzzling her girlfriend’s neck. Squeezing lightly to center Kara, she murmured, “It wasn’t your fault Kara. You know that.” She gently reminded her girlfriend. “Besides,” she added hesitantly. “You solved a murder after that. His murder. Got ‘em locked up too, if I remember accurately. Which,” she drawled out. “I usually do.”
Kara let out a shaky breath, raising a hand to fidget with her glasses. She took them off of her face, breathing on them and then wiping them with her shirt. They hadn’t been fogged up or anything, but she needed to do something with her hands. Anything to avoid this conversation.
Lena placed a careful hand on the blonde’s fabric covered arm. Kara was wearing the latest version of her Super Suit. One that Lena herself had designed. And yes, it had pants. Kara had been very happy about that.
“Listen to my heartbeat, darling.” Lena directed. Kara hurried to obey. She didn’t have a problem at all with someone else taking the steering wheel whenever she was having one of these moments. Her weak moments. A panic attack.
Lena never made her feel weak though. That’s like, the opposite of what Lena meant to Kara. No, Lena was her red sun. There was Rao’s light, and then there was Lena. Both made her stronger than she ever thought she’d be.
Kara leaned back against Lena’s front, and allowed her eyes to close. Let her hearing take the front seat to her head for now. Lena’s heart beat was steady. Calming. Kara could even hear as Lena breathed in and out, steadily, making sure that she could provide that comfort for Kara. She was doing it wonderfully.
Kara breathed in, then out in a series of long breaths. She was able to return to her normal breathing pattern within minutes of this exercise with Lena. “Thank you,” she murmured, turning around in Lena’s arms and giving her girlfriend a swift kiss. “I needed that. I needed you.” She admitted, unashamedly.
“You have me. Till the last star runs out.” Lena promised, returning the kiss.
“Till the last star runs out.” Kara echoed, smiling against Lena’s lips. She looked up at the night’s sky as she pulled back from the kiss. The stars shone brightly against the black of the sky. So no, the stars were not the same as on Krypton. But then again, Krypton was gone — a fact that Kara had come to accept throughout the years.
That didn’t mean the stars wouldn’t shine, even if they were different. Honestly, Kara mused, as long as there were shining stars — falling stars, sparkling in the night… there would be a place for love. And wherever love was, Lena was sure to follow.
Lena, Kara figured, was love.
She was Kara’s shooting star. Not a fallen star, but a rising one — Lena would outshine even Supergirl one day. Of this, Kara was sure. “Hey.” She stated quietly as she looked into Lena’s eyes, catching her attention easily.
“Yeah?”
“I love you.” The words are ripped from her throat, choked out as if she was about to start crying. “I love you until the last star runs out. I can’t ever stop thinking about you. I just… Really love you, you know? And I think, I think….” She has started to ramble, but Kara can’t bring herself to stop even when Lena’s eyes go wide.
“I think I want to marry you.” Kara blurted it out. Oh, Rao, she’d done it now. But her traitorous voice just wouldn’t shut up. “I want to marry you, and have your hand in mine for the rest of our lives, and I want to touch your face every time you cry because of some sad movie you put on, and couldn’t turn off.”
“I want to marry you, Lena Luthor. I have the bracelets. I have the rings, if that’s what you’d rather wear. But I want to marry you. So please,” Kara was sure she’d start crying if she had to continue much longer. Luckily, before she gets the chance to even fully ask the question, Lena has leaned in and is kissing her like her life depends on it.
“Is that a yes?” Kara whispered, her hand sinking into Lena’s hair.
“You haven’t asked me a question.” Lena’s voice is raspy, teasing, and Kara loves her for it.
“Marry me?” Kara asked, voice soft.
“Yeah.” Lena nodded, her eyes wide and full of tears. “Yeah.”
So yeah, maybe blurting things out isn't always such a bad idea. After all, it got Kara a fiancee.