Chapter Text
I have to see her.
Those were the words playing through Kara’s brain, every minute, every hour, every day since Lena had been gone.
It wasn’t as if they hadn’t been apart before. They had spent weeks without contacting each other because of one reason or the other. Then there was the awful, heart wrenching rift between them that made Kara feel like she could never have enough air in her lungs and that she was deprived of everything that made her feel alive.
Seeing Lena at her doorstep begging to be forgiven for the pain she caused and the decisions she had angrily made, was like being pulled up and out of an ocean. Oxygen finally rushed back into her body and gifted her with the pleasure of an inhale, followed by the sweetest exhale she had ever experienced.
Kara could breathe again and she knew by the breath that Lena released when she invited her into the apartment, that Lena felt the same way.
The events that followed consisted of Lena saving her life repeatedly as if she was the one who wore red and blue.
As if the weight and responsibility of the house of El stretched across her chest in a symbol recognized intergalactically.
Lena, the blonde realized, was her hero.
They had saved each other time and time again selflessly, risking everything including their lives just so that the other could be safe.
Love seemed to be an understatement.
The word itself fell short of truly describing what Lena means to her.
When Kara thinks of those that she loves, it’s the faces of her sister, her family and her friends that come to mind.
But Lena.
Lena feels like home.
Lena is the sun warming Kara’s bones, enveloping her in its effulgent power, bathing her in bright golden rays. She is the balm that soothes the pain of a thousand wounds littered across her body and mind, the very blood pumping into Kara’s heart.
Zhao.
The Kryptonian word flashes across her mind like lightning in the velvety darkness of night. It’s a word she heard her parents use in reference to one another and the translation is the true definition of just what Lena Luthor is to her.
It is every form of romantic love that has been written about in books, whispered against pillows, yearned for by millions across the universe. It’s every time a lover cries out in pleasure as they reach their peak and every story etched into the fabric of space and time.
Lena is in her bones, in her air, her mind and unequivocally in her heart.
Zhao.
Before she realizes it, she is soaring high in the sky. The steady rhythm of Lena’s heartbeat guiding her towards her destination. A confession of passionate, unconditional and eternal love ready to burst free from her lips.
-
Every night, it’s the same dream.
It’s Kara’s eyes boring into her like a drill. Seeing past all the walls Lena has built up around her heart and flaying her open, exposing all her most delicate and sensitive parts leaving Lena with no where to hide.
Kara stares at her, blue eyes filled with a longing that reaches inside Lena and pulls all her feelings to the surface.
She wakes before the words, I love you, spill out and either finally bring them closer together or tear them apart.
When Lena called Kara to tell her she was leaving National City, most of the conversation was held in a pained silence. Filled up with so many words they wanted to say but kept themselves from doing so. Kara’s voice broke at the mention of Ireland and how Lena had no answer for when she would return.
“Ok…” Kara had said, barely containing a sob. “See you soon.”
Kara didn’t wait for a response before she hung up and the devastation in her voice haunted Lena ever since. She was torn about her decision, but she needed closure for her own mind to rest and heal before she could be of any support to Kara.
So, she stuck to it and came to Ireland.
But her heart is still in National City.
Beating furiously and incessantly in the hands of a returned hero.
A few days later, Lena is brewing tea on the stove when she hears a whooshing sound that freezes her movements. The sound is followed by an unmistakable thud of boots against the ground that cause her to run out of her cottage and outside into the light of day, where Kara stands with a dizzying, captivating smile plastered on her face.
Lena is immediately breathless and has to remind herself that Kara came here to see her, so dying from lack of oxygen would be quite rude and she forces herself to breathe.
Kara stares at her the way she does in her dreams. Her oceanic gaze is piercing with intent and pins Lena to the spot as their eyes meet. The air becomes charged and heavy as they regard one another, and Lena decides to lighten the mood with a quip she has wanted to use since the day she found out that Kara was supergirl.
“So…” Lena begins, green eyes shining brightly with amusement and mischief. “I see you flew here…not on a bus this time?” She teases with a slight raise of an eyebrow.
Kara’s cheeks redden adorably, and a smile spread slowly across her lips. “No Miss Luthor. A bus wouldn’t be fitting this time around.”
“Oh? And why not?” Lena asks playfully.
“Because I needed to see you like I need my next breath.”
Lena heart begins to pound so loud that even she can hear it without any powers.
“I know that you came here to get the answers to all your questions from your childhood. I know that the last thing you need right now is me showing up bringing my problems and everything you left in National City with me…” Kara trails off and begins to move towards her, closing the small distance between them within a few steps. “But I need to tell you something and I couldn’t wait for you to come back Lena.”
Lena feels her body beginning to tremble. Their eyes are locked on each other’s and the world around them seems to fade away with the heat she feels radiating from Kara’s body and the sound of her own shaky breath as she finally says what she came to say.
“I belong to you. I want to be with you and I’m in love with you.”