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Stronger together. That was her motto. That was her family crest. She had always said they were stronger together. Then why did she look into his eyes now telling him they could not be together at all, let alone be strong?
“Mon-El… I don’t know what else to tell you. It will never work. We’re too different. We can’t be together.” Kara managed to say, looking very much like she hated admitting it. Her head fell, her eyes dropped. And when she looked back up into his eyes, Mon-El could tell hers were glistening with unshed tears.
Mon-El finally managed to open his mouth. “You’re sure it’s not because you’re from Krypton and I’m from Daxom?” he choked out.
“Yes… Mon-El it’s not about that.” Whipping off her glasses, Kara walked up to him and looked deep into his eyes. “We have to accept the truth. We can’t keep shielding our eyes from it just because we fear it. We have to accept what’s true, just like we did when we accepted Jesus Christ into our lives. Look, Mon-El… I have a feeling that God is telling me to break up with you. I’m not happy about it! Don’t get me wrong Mon-El… I love you. It just won’t work. No matter how much we try to shield our minds from the truth doesn’t mean it no longer exists. We shielded our eyes from Jesus, but that didn’t stop the truth from being what it is! I don’t want to admit it… any more than you do. But… God tells me…no.” Then, she finally let the tears fall.
Wow. As Mon-El watched as the love of his life struggled to maintain her poise, he realized something. Maybe she was right. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he had felt similar feelings coming to him from somewhere he couldn’t point out, on which it seemed they were coming from somewhere above, but he had ignored them, convincing himself that they were his own thoughts.
But that was only what he wanted to believe. They weren’t his own thoughts. Clearly, Kara was feeling them, too. She was feeling the same thing that he was; the dread that deep down, they were never meant to be, that they would never work out on a romantic level.
They had tried. But they had ultimately failed. It just wasn’t meant to be. And that was the truth. No matter how much they tried to run, the truth was still there. No matter how much they had denied Jesus, He had still been there.
Wow. That was really not how Mon-El had anticipated this conversation going. When Kara had told him she needed to talk to him and told him to come over to her loft, he was assuming it was about work stuff. But… obviously that assumption was very wrong.
Kara had rendered Mon-El speechless for a considerable amount of time. Dare he say anything? What could he say if he dared? She was right, that was clear. They loved each other… they both knew that. But Mon-El also knew that their love wasn’t enough, not in the long run. And when you believe in Jesus Christ, you learn that the long run is the only thing that matters.
Mon-El’s vision started to blur, and he knew he was on the edge of tears himself. Eventually, he managed to get his mouth to listen to him. “I know… that what you are saying is true. You’re right. We can’t run away from the truth, we can’t pretend it doesn’t exist, we can’t push it down to the bottom of a pit and hope it doesn’t crawl its way back up. That’s not logical. And it’s not healthy for us to hide it. I know… and maybe I’ve known all along, that this…” he paused briefly to gesture to him and Kara.
“…could never work. I… didn’t want to acknowledge it. But I know we have to.” He forced himself to look directly into Kara’s eyes. “No matter what happens, I love you. No matter what happens, I cherish you… and I hope we can at least be friends…” Mon-El then choked up, unable to finish his thought. Mon-El felt a single tear drip from his eye and run down his cheek.
“Hey, hey, hey! It’s okay, it’s okay!” Kara exclaimed, attempting to grab hold of Mon-El’s emotions before he could get too ahead of them. Not knowing what else to do, she held out her arms to her ex-boyfriend. “Come here.”
Mon-El went willingly into the arms of his ex-girlfriend, now allowing the tears to flow freely. Why, God? he thought. Why? Why must you take away my true love? Why can’t you just give us our fairytale ending? I promise I won’t ask for anything else God, I just want Kara back. Please, I just want Kara back. I don’t know what to do without her…
And yet, he was still in Kara’s arms. She hadn’t gone anywhere. Hadn’t moved. He was crying out to God to give Kara back, when she was right there, her arms wrapped around him. Kind of ironic when you think about it.
But Mon-El wasn’t talking about literally giving her back. He knew she was there; still felt her arms around him. He was really talking more about giving back his life with her. He wasn’t ready to give up his dream that someday, they would be together forever.
Mon-El had had such high hopes for the future. He had wanted to propose to and marry Kara. He had wanted kids, a family, a house. He had wanted to lay in bed with his wife at night and feel protected in her arms, just because she was there. He had wanted to go through all the struggles of parenting and raising kids, just because she was there. Now all of his hopes were dashed to the ground in an instant.
Why, God? Why would you do this to me?! I would think our love would be enough, that our love would prevail in the end!! Why must it be this way?! Surely there’s nothing we can’t conquer as long as we’re together! El mayarah, right? “Stronger together”? I don’t understand!
But that was where he lied. He understood all too clearly. He just would rather not understand. He knew that, maybe in the beginning their marriage would have been good, but in the long run, with their differences, it would have caused some major problems for them and could have even led to divorce.
Was that what this was about? Was God saving them from divorce? Was He ensuring they would never have to divorce since they didn’t get married? Was He stopping them from doing something stupid and dishonoring His word? Even if He was, that didn’t make this any easier. Not by a long shot. He wasn’t sure if he could give her up if he was given a choice… he just loved her too much.
Just then, Kara sniffed and Mon-El felt her grip weakening as she pulled away from him, then looked him in the eye, all traces of tears gone. “Alright. Mon-El, I know this isn’t going to be easy, but we can do it. I feel like we really should trust God on this one, so we will… won’t we?” Kara asked, looking straight into his eyes.
“Yeah… yes, of course we will. Of course…” Mon-El attempted to compose himself, wiping away the tears that had been rolling down his cheeks.
Kara nodded, seemingly satisfied. “And this doesn’t mean that we can’t still be friends. Of course… we’ll still be friends.”
Mon-El tried to nod. “Of course.”
Kara nodded again, but this time, even she was starting to waver. Mon-El could see it in her eyes. She was puzzled, confused, worried for the future. Her deep blue eyes always gave away what she was thinking. Mon-El had always been able to tell what she was thinking from the very beginning, as long as he stared into those blue eyes. But this time, she wasn’t thinking particularly comforting thoughts.
Suddenly, her expression changed to one of more certainty and confidence. “We need to pray.” she stated, bluntly, but clearly… confidently. Mon-El could not have agreed with her more, and he knew that Kara could tell that he agreed from his own eyes. He did not have to say anything.
Without waiting for any more signs, Kara reached out and grabbed Mon-El’s left hand with her right. He felt her fingers grasp in between his, and he grasped her back. Then Kara leaned in close to him, and bowed her head, eyes squeezed shut. Mon-El did the same. This was how they always prayed together. It had been since the first time they did pray, all those months ago, as they stood in Christ’s church, and asked Him for His salvation and forgiveness. They had been saved together, in much the same fashion they now approached Jesus today.
Kara started, her voice clear and firm. “Dear Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, we come to You today broken, confused, and afraid. We do not know how we might be able to go on living if we are not together as we had always thought we would be. You know our love for each other is real. We will not ask You why, Lord, as I’m sure we both already know the why. The question we come to You with today, is how?”
Kara paused briefly, and Mon-El recognized his cue to start talking. “How God? How do You expect us to live without each other? Even if we are still friends, it won’t be the same, You know that Lord. What do You expect us to do now? We won’t question Your plan, dear God, but at least let us know what comes next.”
Mon-El then stopped, and gave Kara their secret signal so that she would know what came next. She opened her mouth, and simultaneously, they both chimed in with, “Amen!” And then they were silent.
They stood there, hand in hand, heads bowed, eyes closed. The silence was louder than the street noise outside Kara’s window. It penetrated the walls of her loft and buried itself into their souls. And they waited. Listening… hoping… to hear the voice of Jesus. They did not hope to hear Him literally. If He spoke to their hearts it would be enough.
Simultaneously, they lifted their heads and looked up into each other’s eyes. They had felt it. They had felt Jesus. Mon-El did not know what he felt, but he and Kara obviously felt it at the same time. He stared into Kara’s eyes, trying to figure out if she knew what He had said. At first, she did not, but slowly, a dawn of understanding appeared in her eyes. Slowly, she released her grip and backed away from him, never once losing eye contact.
“Mon-El, it’s simple. We just need to hope. Be strong. El mayarah, right?” Kara stated, confidently, bravely.
“Stronger together.” Mon-El copied, realization dawning in his own eyes. It all made sense to him now. Even if they weren’t together as boyfriend and girlfriend didn’t mean they wouldn’t still be stronger together.
They would get through this, no matter how tough it was. They would move on. But the best part was, they weren’t alone. There weren’t just two of them. Mon-El could feel the presence of a third person in the room, but not in a creepy way like the average person might expect.
It was comforting, uplifting knowing that Jesus was there with them. They were not alone. Jesus would get them through this. He would get them through all awkwardness, all doubt, all pain, all confusion. “You don’t have to walk alone. I’m here.”
Mon-El almost jumped when he was sure he heard Jesus’ voice in the room. But he hadn’t, had he? He was just hearing Jesus in his heart, right? Regardless of where it came from, the impact His words had on him remained the same.
Mon-El’s vision started to get blurry again, but this time it was for a different reason. Mon-El looked back to Kara. “But we’re not alone, Kara. Jesus is here, He’s beside us, He’s walking alongside us. We will get through this. Jesus will get us through this! I realize now, I understand, more than ever.” Mon-El could not stop himself from saying if he wanted to, but of course, he didn’t want to. He knew his words came out sounding passionate, and that was perfectly fine with him.
Kara herself also seemed to be on the edge of tears, but Mon-El was pretty sure they were also for a different reason. “I realize, too.” When Mon-El looked into her eyes, he couldn’t be sure, but maybe Jesus had also spoken to Kara.
She approached him, and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “We will get through this. And no matter what, we’ll be together. Maybe not in quite the same way we originally had in mind, but maybe something better. As friends… siblings in Christ… as God’s children. I know… that’s something I never would have said a year ago, but when you meet the right person, your priorities really start to change, don’t they?…” Kara trailed off, chuckling slightly.
“Yeah,” Mon-El agreed, nodding, “I guess they do. There’s really one more thing I have to say. I know you’re busy and you should really get back to CatCo, but… I just need you to know that I still love you… buddy.”
Kara chuckled at the joke. “I still love you, pal.”