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Ruthye feels her heart pounding in her ears.
This is it. My chance to avenge my family's honor... and all the young girls who've been stolen from their homes.
In the distance, she hears Supergirl racing to save the trapped girls as debris falls all around them.
"Hah... you're a coward, girl. Killing someone so defenseless." Krem lies on the ground, injured and prone, and yet he smiles with sick delight.
"It does not matter Krem of the Yellow Hills, for you have slain my honorable family. You shall pay." Her words slipped out of her mouth, a script she prepared for this moment, however what should feel like victory sours. She shakes her head.
She swings the blade back ready to cut--
I will be quick, so Supergirl does not have to see.
Only to stop right between the junction of his chin and collarbone.
What is wrong with me?
Again, she tries.
"For my family!" She cries, desperate. She still sees her parents, the pie they were supposed to share, her brother just listening to music--how, in an instant, her entire world was ripped from her, and yet--
The blade never gets past its place on the Brigand's neck.
He sneers. "See? You're just a weak girl. Can't even finish the deed."
Faintly, she hears Supergirl having brought the young girls to safety. Then, she feels her gaze.
My last attempt.
Her sword kisses Krem's neck. She's so close, and yet as she takes a fortifying breath to finish the journey she started, Supergirl's yell brings her back.
She falters, her grip shifts on her blade.
"Supergirl, please," Ruthye's hand trembles, "I have to do this. Can't you see all the destruction he has caused? My family... all those young girls... He deserves it. If his death should haunt me, I am sure I can pay the price."
Supergirl reaches out her hand from her place in the wreckage, her expression pained, maybe even a bit disappointed.
"Ruthye... don't. Please. I know you think it'll make it better. It won't."
The blonde looks at her imploringly. "You've seen what this cycle of killing and destruction does to people---it corrupts." Her eyes lower. "I hope you never know what that burden feels like."
Ruthye closes her eyes, her mouth thins.
The blonde's fussing.
The snacks they shared.
The ridiculous bubbly space suit.
The story of a young girl and a dead world.
Krem of the Yellow Hills heaves noisily under her blade. Tears threaten to escape her eyes.
"Alright."
Her blade shifts away from the Brigand's neck. She steps aside.
Supergirl approaches then, her hand gently falling on Ruthye's shoulder before taking the sword.
She nods. "Thank you."
Ruthye runs. Behind her, she hears Supergirl and Krem conversing. For a moment, she wonders what will become of Krem of the Yellow Hills, when she hears a sudden squelch.
She turns.
The sword sticks out from his chest, tall and proud, no question as to how he died. Supergirl stands motionless, her head down.
Ruthye thought she should feel more frustrated about this. It was her sword--her family--but as she looks at Supergirl tired and a little relieved, all she can feel is a twinge of gratefulness.
Ah, I see.
Just like that, she feels her body lurch forward. She walks up to Supergirl, now looking so much more like Kara rather than the undefeatable hero that obliterated the Brigands just moments prior.
Ruthye wraps her arms around her in a tight embrace, her head buried into her side. "For what it's worth, I don't think of you like that at all." She says softly.
Supergirl slightly lifts her head in recognition and puts her arm around her. "Hm? Like what?"
"What you said--corrupt." Ruthye looks at her then. "You're anything but."
Kara starts. "Oh... that's not what I-" but the words quickly die in her mouth in the face of Ruthye's resolute stare.
Her eyes soften. "Alright. If you say so." And if Ruthye could sense the blonde's shoulders slightly loosening, she doesn't mention it. The younger girl pulls away slowly.
"And if there's any burden you'd want to share with me... just know I'd be honored to hold it with you."
Kara looks at her, eyes slightly widened. There they stood in silence, amongst the rubble of the Brigands' ship, a three-days journey now done.
Maybe she wasn't so alone after all.
"Well... you can save your dog now." Ruthye states awkwardly, gesturing to the antidote in the blonde's hands.
At that, Kara laughs lightly, some of the heaviness in her expression dissipates. "Yeah, yeah, I can."
Then, after a beat. "Thanks, Ruthye."
//
End.