Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kara longed for Lena and Lena longed for Kara. There is no doubt about that. Neither knew this fact about the other. Though many of their friends and family did know this about them. For as it often is, looking in from the outside, things are oh so much clearer.

But I must stress again – Kara longed for Lena and Lena longed for Kara.

My tale I will relate will make no sense if that is not clear to you from the start.

And speaking of my tale – it begins the evening of Monday December 20^th, 2021.

It was getting late, and everyone had already left the Tower for the night.

Lena was in her apartment, standing by the balcony doors, as she did most nights, as of late. She sighed as she made notice of the reflection of the glow of the small pre-lit Christmas tree that Kara had insisted she have in her living room. Tonight, she had already been standing there for some time and was beginning to – as she also did most nights – question why she was doing this.

She knew why really. She did this in the faint hope that Kara would notice her and stop in. And who knows, she would think, maybe this would result in something more rising between them…

But nevertheless, after years of flirting, and weeks of doing this routine of standing by the balcony doors – with nothing to show for it – she would wonder why? Why was she doing this…? But do it she did.

Kara, for her part was watching a recent episode of New Dawn, a supernatural drama she enjoyed. Now, she wouldn’t admit this to anyone – but I suppose it can be our secret – the real reason she ate up this drama was for one reason and one reason only – Lena. Well, her name, the actress’ name was Marlena Darvy, but she most certainly bore a striking resemblance to one Lena Luthor.

As the episode finished up and the credits began rolling, she exited it and turned off her tv.

She began to pace, as she often did lately when thinking of Lena.

She nervously moved over to her Christmas tree and adjusted the star atop it.

Eventually, she decided she would go flying. Hopefully, she thought, that would clear her mind.

She flew at a slow pace, circling National City, again and again and again.

She tried to let the cacophony of the city wash over her, letting the cacophony ring in her ears more to the tune of a symphony.

And then on about the 32^nd lap, she heard it.

Loud and clear. Familiar and yet also so unfamiliar.

“Jeju! Jeju!

Mum! Mum!”

Now tuning in to that specific voice, she heard the next part spoken, though she could tell that the person was trying to be quieter.

“Shit. I don’t know where everybody went.”

After a moment, the voice speaks again, “Fuck. I’m all out. I don’t know where or more likely when I am and have no way to get home.”

At this point in time Kara has flown in close enough she doesn’t need super-hearing to hear the loud exasperated sigh that came from the newcomer. Kara doesn’t seem to recognise them, but they are standing in the middle of the street, so first order of business, Kara thinks – bring them out from there.

Kara taps them on the shoulder.

They spin around to face Kara.

“Rao-I mean God! You scared me there Jej-”

But the stranger stops themselves before they can accidentally use the familial title on the yet-to-be-mother of theirs.

Kara can’t help it and jumps back herself.

She didn’t catch the almost use of the Kryptonese for “Mum,” but she did hear the use of Rao, and well, she also has eyes – the first thing she noticed when the person turned around was that they looked so much like her. Blonde hair of the same hue as hers held back in a ponytail. And really just overall – the shape of their face, their nose. They just, well, looked quite a bit like her, Kara thought.

Soon enough though, Kara composed herself.

“Hi! Let’s get you out of the street, okay?”

The visitor looked about, realising for the first time it seemed, perhaps, that why yes, they were in the middle of the street, and while this street didn’t seem too busy, best not to take any chances (especially as I’ve already taken more than my fair share of chances tonight, they thought).

The visitor allowed themselves to be guided to the sidewalk by Kara, and then just as they were about to walk away, Kara stopped them.

“Wait! Why were you in the middle of the street?”

And before either of them can say anything further – Kara’s earpiece begins going off, with Brainy speaking in her ear.

“Kara! Be careful! I received notice of a temporal anomaly and upon checking its location I’m seeing that you’re right near where it was.”

“Oh. Okay Brainy. I’ll proceed with caution. Thanks,” responds Kara.

Kara turns back towards the visitor, thankful to find that they didn’t leave.

“Ok, so who are you, and what year is it to you?” Kara asks.

The visitor smiles a small smile and lets out a small sigh before responding.

“Hi, I’m Layla, she/her pronouns, and well you might have already figured it out I guess…”

Layla sighs again.

“I’m from the year 2043.”

It takes Kara a good few seconds to get it together after getting the whole girl-from-the-future thing confirmed to her.

Finally, she looks down at her watch, sighs and says, “Well, would you mind coming with me to the Tower?”

“That’s fine,” Layla responds. After a second, she excitedly asks, “Can we fly there?”

“You can fly??”

“Yes,” Layla says, “Is that a problem? Can’t you fly, Supergirl?”

“Well, yes, I just didn’t know you could…” She trails off as Layla is already taking flight.

Kara gets in the air and catches up, and lo and behold, Layla is flying in the right direction for the Tower.

They land on the balcony of the Tower – the both of them with graceful landings.

“Thank Rao – at least those powers are still available to me,” Layla mutters.

 As they move into the common area, Kara says, “Ok, well, have a seat. It’s a bit late, but I’ll try to get some of the others here so we can figure out what to do with you.”

“I’m not some evil villain, you know? I just need a way to travel back to the future.”

“Sure,” Kara says absent-mindedly, while already busy texting some of the others.

Chapter Text

2043…

Layla Zor-El Luthor Danvers burst in the door to the large Luthor-Danvers home, alongside her friends Zoé, Nova, Elena, and Josiah.

“Merry Christmas!!” they all loudly proclaimed to those already inside.

The group of them had just finished their yearly Christmas carolling trip around town and were now ready for the annual Luthor-Danvers’ family and friends Christmas party.

After shedding their jackets and shoes, the group of friends all went their own ways in the large house, as each of them had been there many times before and were quite familiar with not only the house but the Christmas parties Lena and Kara held each year.

Layla immediately made her way to the long table where food was spread across all of it. She grabbed a plate and piled it high with potstickers, various charcuterie elements, holiday popcorns, cookies, and more. As she moved away from the food table, she found her cousin Esme Olsen-Danvers nearby. Though Esme was 11 years Layla’s senior, the cousins got along splendidly. However, the person beside Esme, Layla didn’t recognise. Though this person and her cousin seemed quite chummy…

“Hey Es!” Layla greeted her cousin.

Esme turned towards Layla.

“Hey Layla! I see you found the potstickers!” she said with a light laugh.

“Well, of course. It wouldn’t be a party without them,” Layla responded wryly.

“I tell ya, I’m pretty sure your Mum makes sure they’re here each year just for you and your Jeju.”

“Well…you may be right…” Layla says.

Finally, Layla gave in to her curiosity.

“So, who’s this beside you, Es? You two seem pretty close…”

Esme just laughed.

“Well, yes. Layla, this is Jamie. We’re dating.”

“You are? Nice, cuz!”

Finally, Jamie spoke up for themselves.

“Pleasure to meet you, Layla. Esme has been excitedly talking about this gathering for weeks now, and you’re one of the reasons for that.”

And then, over the course of the next second, Jamie looked around nervously, before looking to their girlfriend. Esme gave them a warm, affirmative nod, and they nervously added, “And my pronouns are they/them.”

And in response, Layla simply smiled before saying, “Thanks for sharing, Jamie. And if it helps at all, I don’t think you’ll find any issues regarding that here. Even Grandpa J’onn frequently volunteers at the Dreamer LGBTQ center.” She paused and sighed quickly. “Ok, well, I don’t mean to be trying to ‘prove,’ or whatever that we’re accepting. Hopefully you’ll stick around and learn that for yourself, eh?”

Jamie, though obviously still a bit nervous, nodded their head quickly.

“Alright, well, I’ll see you two around, eh?” Layla said.

“Yeah, Layla. Catch ya later,” Esme said.

Layla then moved towards the kitchen, finding a barstool and diving in further to her pile of food.

A few minutes later, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned around to see her cousin Ruby Arias behind her with a wide smile.

“Merry Christmas Layla!”

“Aww…thanks Rubs! How’s Metropolis doing?”

“It’s going alright. Though I’m glad for the break and to be here.”

Beside Ruby, someone cleared their throat and warmly looked questioningly at Ruby.

“Yes, sorry babe.”

Turning back to Layla, Ruby, smiling a gigawatt smile, said, “Layla, remember when I was here for Thanksgiving and Mom kept interrogating me about a relationship she thought I had, and I was all sheepish and blushing?”

Now Layla was smiling, too, as she remembered that memory fondly.

“Yeah, that was fun.”

Ruby scoffed.

“Yeah sure, Layla.

Anyway, she was right, I was in a relationship then, but it was very fresh, and we weren’t really labelling it yet, and well, she certainly wasn’t ready to meet Mom and everyone yet… But, well, Layla, meet Taylor – my girlfriend.”

“Nice to meet you, Layla,” Taylor said warmly.

“Nice to meet you, too, Taylor.”

The three of them chatted for a few minutes more before they went on to other parts of the party.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later, after everyone had had plenty to eat and much merriment had already been had, it was time for the moment that everyone looked forward to the most each year.

This was a tradition that Lena had begun years ago now, at one of the first Luthor-Danvers Christmas gatherings.

Informally, between each other in the know, they called it the slideshow, or the Christmas slideshow.

However, whenever newcomers were brought into the fold, it was always a struggle to properly prepare them for it beforehand. For example, over the past week Esme had struggled to prepare Jamie for this part of the festivities, struggled to explain what this tradition was, what it entailed, and what it required from them (though she stressed, only if they wanted to participate – they didn’t have to).

And so, Esme had essentially explained it throughout the entire past week – quite literally – starting and stopping her explanations whenever she would particularly struggle.

“Well, so…you know how my Aunt Lena is a witch, right?”

“Umm…well, it starts where we clear all the furniture from the living room.”

“You know how some families send out letters at Christmastime or the end of the year? Letters with pictures, or just letters detailing that family’s year?”

“So, well, everyone who wants to take part sits really close to Aunt Lena. And then Aunt Lena does a spell. The spell filters through our memories from the past year, recognising all those that have a really positive, happy association for us and ‘projects’ them, so to speak, in 3D in front of us all.”

Of course, Jamie was worried about how intrusive that sounded.

(“I mean, I’m sure it’s fine and I get that you trust her, but I don’t really know your Aunt Lena...” Jamie had said.)

“Ugh…it’s hard to explain!”

“It’s really a very interactive process.”

“It’s like you work with the magic.”

“Really, you can actually hide stuff you don’t want others to see on the screen.”

“Trust me, there have definitely been plenty of things that I’ve hidden from the spell over the years.”

“Hey, you think I’d be doing this if I had to show my family and friends everything from my past year? Even what we were up to the evening of our six-month anniversary?”

Jamie had definitely smiled at that.

In any case, the time had come for “the slideshow,” and everyone began to gather by the living room, with many helping to clear some more space, as well.

Layla stood to the side, lost somewhat in her thoughts.

She, like everyone else, always looked forward to this part of the party, but this year was different.

Over the years, Layla worked and continued to work at honing her witchcraft skills. Her Mum had even created a spellbook specifically for her, which Layla cherished and used for practicing.

After last year’s Christmas party though Layla had decided she wanted to lead the slideshow, casting the necessary spell.

Lena and Layla, with even some input from Kara, had discussed it thoroughly but in the end, Lena had said that she would help train Layla for that spell.

And so, beginning mid-January and into the rest of the year, Layla and Lena trained and trained. Trained to the point that they focused almost solely on practicing for this spell and hardly any others.

This was a very complex, delicate spell, and it had to be executed just so.

Her Mum approached her from behind.

“Hey sweetheart.”

“Hey Mum.”

“Are you ready for this?”

“Yes. I think so.”

Lena levelled her daughter with an intense look.

“I know you really want to do this. But I also don’t want you to strain yourself too much, especially on a night such as tonight.

I only want you to do it if you’re certain you’ve got it – okay?”

“Yes, Mum.”

“Alright. I’m going to go introduce it a little for our newcomers and let everyone know who’ll be doing the honours.”

“Mum! No one knows I’m doing it this year??” Layla exclaimed worriedly.

“No, dear, I didn’t find it necessary to let folks know beforehand.”

Layla sighs.

“Ok.”

Lena approaches the gathered group and gives a brief introduction of the activity/spell. She keeps it brief though, especially as even the newcomers probably had it at least somewhat explained to them already.

“…And doing the honours of the spellcasting tonight will be my daughter, Layla. Come here sweetheart.”

Layla put on a warm but brave façade and moved to stand beside her mother.

“Alright y’all, so it might take a little longer to get the show started than when Mum does it, but I’ve been practicing lots, so, well…everyone ready?”

Everyone nodded their heads and so Layla began the incantation for the spell.

Or at least she began with what she thought was the one for the appropriate spell.

Next thing she knew she found herself standing in the middle of a street.

She quickly called out for her Jeju and her Mum.

Hearing no response, she tried just a basic light spell (one she knew she wouldn’t mess up).

And well, a teeny, barely visible burst of light emanated from her hand…and then it was gone a second later.

“Shit. I don’t know where everybody went.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in 2043 at the Luthor-Danvers’…

Everyone watched as Layla simply disappeared right in front of them.

Jamie turned to Esme.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen, right?”

Esme, with wide eyes, said, “No. Definitely not.”

Lena, after worriedly discussing things with Kara some, moved back to face everyone.

“Okay, everyone. So, no, that wasn’t supposed to happen, but let’s remain calm. I’m going to do a spell to try to determine what Layla actually did, obviously there was an error in her spell.”

Lena went into the “zone,” as Kara put it whenever her wife spellcast, and soon enough what appeared to be an energy field surrounded where Layla had stood.

A few moments later, the energy field disappeared, and Lena couldn’t help herself – she stepped backward and let out a curse word.

Lena went back to Kara, and they talked briefly in hushed, worried tones before Kara said, “Alex, can you come here for a second?”

Alex approached the pair, and said, “Hey, what happened? Do you know where Layla is?”

Lena and Kara both frowned.

Lena though was the one who spoke, “Well sort of. I should have caught it sooner, but she cast a time travel spell. The real trouble is we don’t know exactly when she is.”

“Shit,” Alex said.

Kara didn’t even reprimand her for the language. Still frowning, she just said, “Yeah.”

“So,” Lena continued, “we were wondering if you wouldn’t mind closing down the party for us? We’re going to go to the study and work on finding her together.”

“Of course, you two.”

She turned to go back to the rest of the guests before turning back saying, “I’m really sorry this happened. I know how much you and Layla were practicing this for her.”

“Thanks Alex.”

And so, Lena and Kara head to the study, and Alex gives simple reassurances about Layla’s disappearance to the other family and friends.

Slowly but surely, everyone takes their leave, leaving only Alex and Kelly. Well, and Esme and Jamie are still there, Esme trying to subtly take her time getting ready to go.

Finally, when it’s just the four of them in the entryway, Esme turns to Alex, “Okay, Mom. I feel like you know more than you’re letting on. What happened to Layla?”

Alex looks like she’s ready to cry.

Of course, it’ll likely be hours before those tears fall, if they ever do, considering the type of person Alex is, but nevertheless…

She faces her daughter and says, “Esme let it go. Your aunts are taking care of getting her back.”

They argue briefly, but Alex doesn’t give in and eventually Esme and Jamie leave.

Shortly after, Alex and Kelly leave, as well, though not before Alex checks in on the Luthor-Danvers women again.

She reminds them that they should still get at least some sleep but doesn’t push it.

That night is a hard one for Lena and Kara.

They do eventually go to bed.

Sleep though – that’s another matter entirely.

They get little of it, but hey, Lena thinks that’s what coffee will be for tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Back in 2021…

Kara paces the length of the main room of the Tower nervously as she waits for the others to get there, all while throwing frequent furtive glances at the young time traveller – Layla.

Finally, she hears the elevator coming up and she stops and welcomes in J’onn, Alex, and Brainy. She had decided to let the others sleep, at least for now.

“Hey Kar, Brainy told us you might’ve found a time-traveller?” Alex says.

“Umm…yeah. She’s from 2043.”

“You know, I’m right here. You could ask me your questions,” Layla says, bringing the focus to where she sits.

Everyone looks at her and everyone immediately notices the uncanny resemblance. Kara had only noticed how much she looked like her, but everyone else notices how much she looks like both her parents.

Alex is the one who speaks next.

“Well…this is certainly interesting.

What’s your name?”

“Layla.”

“How old are you?”

“17.”

“And, well, who are your parents?” She adds in a murmur, “Though I think I might know…”

At this, Layla shifts in her seat uncomfortably. She’s never time travelled before, but she’s certainly seen many movies and other pieces of media regarding it, and she wants to tread carefully.

“Umm…let’s skip that question?” her voice raises an octave as what she wanted to be a statement turns into a question.

Alex just shakes her head.

“Fine.”

But Kara’s curiosity gets the better of her then.

“Ok, but who’s your Jeju? You were calling for her when I heard you.”

“Rao…” Layla lets out quietly. She sighs.

“Is it Lois? Do you call her Jeju?”

It’s wrong, but Layla almost wants to agree, just to throw Kara off her scent.

At the same time, she almost laughs at how oblivious her Jeju is. She’s always admired her for many reasons, not the least of which has been her intelligence and the way she uses it not only when working in superheroing with the (new) DEO, but at CatCo, as well.

But, well, sometimes that intelligence doesn’t exactly shine through, Layla supposes.

She looks to J’onn intently for a second.

She had been shielding her mind, something she had long practiced doing with magic, but now she decided to let her mind be read.

She said, while still looking at J’onn, “Well, I’ve never time travelled before and don’t want to mess anything up for any of us, so… J’onn would you mind reading my mind now?”

J’onn does so and tears come to his eyes as he sees through Layla the wondrous life he is yet to have.

As he finishes, Alex can’t help herself and yawns. It is awfully late after all.

“Ok,” J’onn says. “I’m certain she’s not a threat. For tonight, at least, she’ll need to stay with one of us, and then tomorrow we should regroup – all of us – and see about how we can send you back.”

“Can I stay with you…Kara?” Layla asks, pausing slightly before calling her Jeju by her name.

“Umm…sure.”

And so, everyone heads back to their respective homes for the night, with Layla heading to Kara’s with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Tuesday, December 21, 2021…

Kara walks out of her bedroom into the main area of her apartment to find Layla moving about the kitchen making banana chocolate chip pancakes.

“Mmmhhmm! Smells delicious!” Kara cries out.

Layla smiles at her.

“And these are my favourite, too!” Kara adds.

Layla quickly turns around before Kara can see the smirk she now sports on her face.

With her back turned, she asks, “So, who all else is going to be at the Tower today?”

“Well, Lena should be there along with Kelly and Nia. Oh, and Kelly might bring her and Alex’s daughter Esme, too.”

Then Kara’s eyes narrow.

“Wait. You don’t need me explaining who anyone is, do you? You know us all already, right?”

“Umm…I plead the fifth!” Layla says as she turns back to the stove.

“Hmph!” says Kara. She’s getting a bit tired of the restrictive nature of this time-travel business.

And frankly, so is Layla, but she’s too scared at the moment to act otherwise. But, she thinks, a littleinvestigating and a little prodding, probably wouldn’t hurt…

“So…you and Lena are friends, right?”

Kara responds immediately – “Oh, yes! Best friends.”

And then Layla says, without an ounce of subtlety – “And what do you think of Laura on New Dawn?”

Kara nearly chokes on her bite of pancake.

“Umm…what’s New Dawn?”

“Oh, you’re not familiar with the supernatural drama New Dawn?” Layla asks with a teasing lilt to her voice. She was drawing upon memories of how her Mum would tease her Jeju over the years that she had a crush on the actress from New Dawn.

“Aren’t you from the future? Like way into the future? You’re telling me that New Dawn is still airing?”

“Ah! So, you do know it.”

“Well, I may have seen an episode or two…” Kara reluctantly admits.

“So, again, what do you think of Laura on that show?”

Kara looks down and bites her lip.

“Well, she certainly carries herself with such elegance and her Irish accent is lovely…” Kara is still unsure where this line of questioning is going.

“Does she remind you of anyone? Anyone you know?”

Kara sighs.

“Well, fine. I don’t know why you’re asking, but yes, she reminds me of Lena.”

Layla smiles triumphantly.

And before anything further can occur, Kara’s phone goes off.

She answers it, “Kara here.”

“Hey Kar, it’s Alex. It looks like Lena may have found a lead.”

She pauses for a second before adding, “Where are you anyway? I thought you’d be here already.”

“Oh, umm…well, I slept in and then Layla made chocolate chip banana pancakes!”

Alex can’t help but laugh, knowing how Layla would have known to make those.

“But it’s great that Lena’s found a lead. We should be in soon.”

“Thanks, Kar. See you soon.”

Kara hangs up the phone to see breakfast has been mostly put away, with all the dishes already washed. Though she doesn’t see Layla.

She takes a few more bites before getting up to put her plate away, when Layla walks out all freshened up.

“C’mon slowpoke,” Layla says, “didn’t Alex say Lena found a lead?”

Kara laughs before her expression turns serious. “You know, edhyv, it’s impolite to listen in on others’ conversations.”

The reprimand throws Layla off guard. There is something so familiar in the tone that was used… She doesn’t even realise what she’s saying before she says, “Sorry Jeju. I won’t do it again.”

And there it was.

Once the words were out, there was no taking it back.

Both Kara and Layla’s eyes widened as they both stepped back slightly.

Layla recovered first, and unsure how to proceed, she moved to the couch and sat down.

Kara shakes her head, still unsure quite what to make of what just happened.

She decides to worry about it later for now.

She goes and gets ready.

Though after Alex’s call she had intended to use super-speed, her mind was elsewhere, and so she got ready at normal speed.

She comes back out to find Layla still sitting on the couch in the same position she’d left her in.

“Inah…” Kara slowly tests the word out.

She’s never really used it herself.

Sure, over the years she’s had it directed to her. Back on Krypton and when she found her parents again, but this is a whole other thing…

But nevertheless, she says the word and Layla immediately turns to look at her.

She responds in the same way she always would – “Yes, Jeju?” – though this time with a sad smile to her face, knowing this isn’t exactly her Jeju.

Kara shakes her head again, still somewhat in disbelief.

“Come here, inah.”

Layla slowly approaches Kara and then Kara, still somewhat uncertain, beckons her…her daughter, into a hug.

They hug, though Layla breaks it off first.

It feels wrong.

And she knows it’s not this Kara’s fault, but it just didn’t feel right.

Didn’t feel as warm, and loving, and intense, but in all the right ways – like hugs from her Jeju always felt.

Kara frowns, having not expected Layla to break it off, but simply nods her head and tries to move on.

“So, shall we head back to the Tower?”

“Sure,” Layla responds. “Can we fly there?”

Kara smiles a small smile.
“Sure.”

They arrive in good time, though still later than expected by Alex, due to the unexpected revelation.

“Where were you two? We were expecting you half an hour ago!”

“Sorry,” Layla says. “That was kind of my fault.”

She then looks intently at J’onn. She tries to mentally send him a message, not only telling him Kara knew she was her Jeju, but asking if she could go ahead, and essentially break cover with everyone.

J’onn sighs, but nods.

Layla looks back to Alex and says, “As I was saying Aunt Alex, that’s on me. I accidentally revealed to Jeju,” she indicates Kara, “that well, she’s my Jeju.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. It kinda broke her. Sorry.”

“Oh, honey. Come here.” And so, Layla gets wrapped up in a warm, tight hug from Alex. It’s weird, Layla thinks, as this hug from her Aunt Alex reminds her more of hugs from her Jeju, or sure, maybe from Aunt Kelly, but…everything seems off here.

Alex breaks the hug, and they head off to find Lena and the rest of the crew.

As soon as Layla steps into the lab and into Lena’s line of sight, Lena gasps.

She, like the others, clearly sees the lineage of Layla from both side of her family – clear as day.

“You must be Layla.”

“Yeah…that’s me. Hi Mum.”

A little later, after Lena has recovered and everyone has had lunch, everyone has gathered again.

“So, Layla, by what means did you get here? Do you know?” Lena asks her future daughter.

Layla turns sheepish.

“Well, I sort of know. I was trying to do a complicated spell, but I must have flubbed it, as well, I ended up here.”

“A spell, right,” she says it, the thought not having immediately occurred to her that Layla would have access to magic, but as her future daughter, she supposed it made sense.

Lena’s brow furrowed then, though as she considered how she hadn’t learned yet how to time-travel using her magic.

“What spell were you trying to do?”

“Well, as I say it’s kind of complicated…Mum – you – usually do it. It’s a tradition at our family and friends Christmas parties, but this year I was going to do it.

It’s a group aggregate memory retrieval spell combined with a projection spell.”

“Well…that does sound complicated. Can you write down what it was you were trying to do – the incantation and such?”

Layla nodded her head.

Nia went and grabbed pen and paper for Layla.

Upon giving it to the teen, Layla thanked her, “Thanks, Aunt Nia.”

Nia shook her head, still not used to this time-travel business.

And so, Layla got to writing and Lena got to searching through her mother’s spellbook and a few other books she’d found in the preceding months.

Once Layla was finished, she assisted Lena in searching, while the others would pop in and out checking in on them, all in between trips to CatCo and other superhero outings that came up.

After a few hours of working, Layla left and went to the kitchen, making her and Lena some tea. There was a fair selection of teas in the cupboard, but Layla was pretty sure that the gold blend of Barry’s Tea was her Mum’s favourite, even years before her Mum was her Mum.

She arrived back in the lab the two teacups in hand, depositing the one for Lena in front of her.

“Oh, thank you.”

Lena picked it up, a little uncertain whether it would be made the way she liked it, let alone with the right tea.

She took a sip and sighed contentedly.

“Thank you, dear. This is perfect,” Lena said softly to Layla.

“I’m glad.”

They continued working away until it got dark.

At 5:00pm, Nia popped her head into the lab.

“Hey, you two. Ready to call it quits for the day?”

Begrudgingly, the mother and daughter wrapped things up and put away the books they had been using.

Kara was waiting for Layla by the balcony of the Tower. Layla began approaching Kara to leave with her but stopped and went back to Lena.

Layla wrapped her Mum up in a warm and tight hug, saying, “See you tomorrow, Mum. Love you.”

“See you tomorrow, dear.”

Kara and Layla flew back to Kara’s apartment, and even once they got in the both of them stayed quiet.

Kara went to her room to get ready for bed, and Layla changed in the bathroom into the pjs that Kara had let her borrow the night before.

Layla left the bathroom and grabbed herself a glass of water.

She stood there, leaning against the island in the kitchen, taking occasional small sips of her water.

After a few minutes, Kara came out of her bedroom. She grabbed a glass of water of her own and stood a little beside Layla.

The both of them stood there – silently.

Finally, Kara looked up and over to Layla.

Slowly, she said, “Inah, did you enjoy your time with your…Mum today?”

Instantly, Layla grimaced, before quickly trying to replace it with a smile.

“Yeah. It was nice.”

But she couldn’t help herself and followed that with a heavy sigh.
“Sorry Jeju, I appreciate you’re trying. This is all just so weird.”

Kara simply nodded.

Layla gulped the rest of her water, set the glass in the sink, before heading to the couch to go to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The morning of Wednesday December 22^nd, 2021…

Unsure of how best to proceed, with the both of them feeling quite odd about all that was transpiring, Kara and Layla went about getting ready that morning quietly – the both of them in their own little worlds, of sorts.

Once ready, Layla waited for Kara by her large window.

Kara approached, when she was ready, and sighed.

“Well, let’s go to the Tower, though I’ll have to spend most of the day at CatCo again.”

Layla nodded.

“Ok, Jeju.”

And so, from that came a simple routine that they began following.

Kara would drop Layla off at the Tower before quickly leaving for CatCo. Layla would spend the day working with Lena looking through spells, looking for the appropriate ones and the appropriate spell to append to combine spells of their type. Nia would come in bearing food, reminding them to eat. They would work until around sunset. Shortly after, Kara would come by, staying close to the balcony. Layla would go to her, and they would return to Kara’s. There, Kara would say good night, and retreat to her bedroom. Layla would slowly sip at some water before going to bed.

And this went on Wednesday and Thursday, and well, Friday was to begin in a similar fashion, or so Kara thought.

Friday (December 24^th, 2021 – Christmas Eve!), Kara got up and got ready, as she had the past few days.

When she left her bedroom, entering the main area of her apartment, the first thing she noticed was that the Christmas tree, which she hadn’t felt like turning on the past few days, was lit.

The second thing she noticed was the sound of Christmas music playing from a phone on the counter.

She couldn’t help the smile that came to her face as she heard the sounds of Nat King Cole and Pentatonix.

She stood there for a moment, in the middle of the room, just appreciating the ambience, before she heard a door open, and she saw Layla emerge from the bathroom.

Layla was all smiles and wearing a Santa hat that Kara didn’t know where she had found.

But then, a shift occurred in Kara and she once again, stoically asked Layla – “Ready to go?”

Layla frowned but nodded her head.

They arrived at the Tower to find it all nicely decorated and with Christmas music playing.

Kara smiled again, as she stepped inside a little.

Layla went in and grabbed an angel-shaped cookie that was sitting on a platter in the centre of the room.

Lena came out of the lab when she saw Layla and made a beeline for Kara.

“Hey, Kara.”

“Oh, umm…hey Lena.”

Lena narrowed her eyes.

“Kara, what’s going on? It feels like you’ve been avoiding me. Essentially ever since Layla arrived…”

“No! Lena’s it’s…um…well…actually I’m hearing Cat calling my name… Talk later?” Kara’s response had grown more and more nervous-like, until she flew off as she finished speaking.

Lena just stood there and sighed.

Chapter Text

Back in 2043…

It was now Thursday December 24^th.

Kara and Lena had finally been able to pinpoint when Layla had landed.

Right now, they were just about to have a quick dinner at Alex and Kelly’s before leaving on their time trip.

They would typically get together with family on Christmas Day, and hopefully they still could, but they weren’t going to count on it. They were not practiced time travellers, and though they were hoping nothing went wrong, they knew that wasn’t guaranteed.

Alex and Kelly welcomed them at the door, letting them in.

“Hey, you two. Come on in.”

As they stepped into the home, Alex continued talking.

“We’re all so glad to hear that you pinpointed her location.”

Kara smiled at Alex before shooting a smile at her wife, as well.

“Well, you know Lena… I knew she was going to get it. I just wished I could have helped more.”

Lena turned to her wife and cupped her cheek and said in a sultry tone, “Oh, you helped plenty darling. Especially in the motivation department…”

She trailed off as she noticed Alex glaring at her and Kelly trying to supress a laugh.

“Leave that kind of talk at home, please,” Alex implored.

Kara and Lena both laughed.

“Sure, Alex,” Kara agreed.

“Hey, where are the kids?” Lena asked.

“Well, I think they’re in their rooms. Though I did remind them that you were coming soon and the ‘no funny-business in the house rule’.”

And right then they heard a loud crash. Kara was pretty sure it was coming from where she remembered Esme’s bedroom being.

Alex sighed.

“That’ll probably be another headboard we’ll have to replace.”

Lena was slightly lost.

“What exactly just happened?”

Kara decided to help her wife out.

“Well, I’m assuming a little, but I’m guessing that Esme and Jamie are getting a little…frisky…” she paused here, laughing a little at Alex’s expression. “Anyway, when I came in, she likely took in my powers, without realising, and well, crash.”

“Oh!” Lena began laughing a little herself.

“And” Alex said, “that’s why I’ve always asked for you to warn us when you’re going to visit while Esme’s here.” She added, muttering, “Obviously that still doesn’t always work…”

Alex and Kelly moved back to the kitchen, making final preparations for the night’s dishes.

And then, they all heard a door open followed by footsteps, and in walked Harper (Esme’s sister).

She stood in front of them and, somewhat more sheepishly than usual, after exchanging quick greetings, said, “Umm…would you mind not being so hard on Esme? Mom, this is only the fifth headboard that’s been broken.”

Alex responded immediately, “Harper, do you hear yourself? The fifth!” And then a thought occurred to her…

“Or should I say, ‘Esme, do you hear yourself?’”

“Harper” couldn’t help herself and she blushed a deep red.

But she wasn’t ready to give up the ruse quite yet. She called out – “Esme! Can you –”

But Alex knew her kids well. Though it had been a while since Esme had pulled this trick, she had done it before.

“No, no, no. Esme,” she said, pointing at the person in front of her who looked like Harper, “show yourself.”

“Fine.”

And so, “Harper” shifted back to her true form – Esme.

Kara and Lena were a little off to the side, talking between themselves.

“I didn’t remember that Harper could shapeshift,” Lena said.

“Yeah,” Kara said, “she doesn’t use her powers often as far as I know, but she is a Durlan.”

“Like President Marsdin was?” Lena asks, as she considers the one other Durlan she remembered.

“Right.”

“You know, Little Miss,” Alex continued to Esme, “you could get the new headboard for us yourself this time. You’re not a kid anymore.”

“And yet you still call me Little Miss,” Esme grumbled.

“Oh, I don’t know when you’ll ever outgrow that,” Alex returned.

Kelly then approached, “Esme, would you go get Jamie, Harper, and Kendra from your room and hers?”

“Sure, Ma.”

Esme went down the hall and knocked on her sister’s door.

“Harper! Kendra!” she said in a sing-song voice. “It’s time for dinner!” And in a lower voice she added, “And not the kind you’re having right now.” She couldn’t help the small chuckle that she let out at her own joke.

Then she went over to her own room to find Jamie, clothes back on them, sitting on her bed.

“Hey, love.”

“Hey, you,” Jamie responded. “How’d it go with your trick?”
“Meh, my mom saw right through it.”

“Aw, sorry.”

They embraced quickly, before Esme said, “Anyway, it’s basically dinner time.”

“Ok.”

They both shared a quick, but passionate kiss, before Esme pulled away.

“Later.”

And so, Esme and Jamie walked out to the dining room, followed not too long later by Harper and her girlfriend Kendra.

Proper greetings were exchanged between them all, and then they sat down to eat.

Dinner was a bit of a subdued affair. Everyone in varying degrees of nervousness for the Luthor-Danvers’ upcoming time-travel trip, and the hope of not only a generally successful trip for them, but the hope and excitement of seeing Layla again, hopefully on Christmas.

Following dinner, Kara and Lena quickly took their leave and went back home.

Once they got in, Lena put on her robes that she typically wore when she really needed to concentrate on her magic. Kara locked the front door and turned off some of the lights.

Kara approached Lena and Lena said, “Ready, darling?”

Kara took a deep breath.

“Yes.”

The two of them joined hands and Lena began chanting the incantation.

And then, while she said the last couple words the environment around them changed. It shifted and distorted itself, until when it resettled, they were in the middle of a street.

“Well,” Lena said, “I believe we should be in the National City of 2021 now. December 24^th, 2021.”

“What a different time this was…” Kara says.

“Yes, yes it was.”

“Well, where do you think we should head first?” Kara asks.

“We should definitely try the Tower, but let’s try your old apartment first,” Lena suggests.

“Okay.”

And off the two of them fly to Kara’s old apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While 2043 Lena and Kara are at the old apartment…

Lena and Layla are still at it trying as hard as they can to find the appropriate magic elements to send Layla back home.

At about 4:15pm though, Nia bursts in.

“Hey, you two! I know it’s not dark yet, but it is Christmas Eve! That’s enough work for tonight – let’s party!”

The mother and daughter look at each other. Layla gives in to Nia first though, and giver her Mum a wide smile. “C’mon! It is Christmas Eve! Like Aunt Nia said.”

Lena just shook her head and gave a light laugh.

“Okay, sweetheart. Let’s put things away for tonight.”

They wrap up and head out to the main area of the Tower to find other family and friends gathered – frolicking and making merry.

There’s music playing, cookies and other sweets out on a table, and even a small, decorated tree in a corner.

There’s even family and friends that Lena doesn’t see often.

There’s James.

Nia’s sister Maeve.

And wait, was that…Sam and Ruby??

Upon seeing Sam and Ruby there, Lena rushed over to greet her old friend and her daughter.

Time passed a little and before long, Kara arrived at the balcony, as she had the previous few days.

She lingered there a few moments, seemingly unwilling to join in the fun.

Layla finally noticed her and went to see her.

Lena noticed her going to Kara and followed not too far behind.

Layla reached Kara and gave her a tight hug. “Jeju! Come on! It’s Christmas Eve, we’re celebrating!”

Kara toyed with the end of her cape, nervous and uncertain as to how to proceed.

She looked down and didn’t really say anything. Her mouth open and closed, but no words came forth.

By that point Lena had made her way to her now, too.

She decided to begin by ignoring the way they left things earlier.

“Kara! Glad you’re here. Change your clothes if you’d like and join in the fun!”

Layla looked between her parents, or versions of her parents, and she could feel the tension rising in the air.

She didn’t exactly understand what the cause of the tension was, but she just hoped they could talk and figure it out.

So, she looked between them, nodded her head resolutely, and went back to the party.

With Layla gone now, and Kara still not saying anything, Lena took a more direct approach.

“Kara – what is going on? I know you’ve been avoiding me – you did so when I tried to talk to you about it this morning. I just don’t understand why. Does Layla being here – being our daughter – scare you that much, that much that you want nothing to do with me?”

Though Lena had started her interrogation strong and assertively, she finished with a tremble audible to her voice.

And this tremble was one that Kara heard.

And though she was having fears and worries brought forth, at least in part, due to Layla’s arrival, hearing the effect her actions were having on Lena worried her more.

She looked up, looking Lena in the eyes, taking a few steps forward, saying, “No! Lena, I swear, swear to Rao, that is the opposite of how I feel. I want…I want everything to do with you.” She said this tenderly and sincerely.

“Then what’s going on, Kara?”

And just then, with such unfortunate timing, came flying in Lena and Kara from 2043.

Lena and Kara from 2021 stepped back making room for the two newcomers, though the action was one mostly out of shock.

“Who are you?” Kara asked

Lena of 2043 rolled her eyes before sharing a look with her wife.

Lena of 2021 looked to Kara of 2021, “Oh come on. You don’t recognise them? Isn’t it kind of obvious?”

Kara of 2021 sighed. She supposed it was.

Down below, everyone had heard the arrival of the other time travellers and was paying attention to scene quite keenly.

One person more than the others though – “Mum! Jeju! You came!!!” Layla exclaimed as she flew up and rushed to envelop her parents in a hug.

“Of course, inah.” Kara of 2043 briefly looks out upon the crowd and smiles. “They kept good care of you, I hope?”

“Oh yeah. I stayed with past you, Jeju. And I worked with past you, Mum, to try to get home. But, well, we were really struggling.”

“Well, I’m glad we got here when we did. Harper and Esme will be glad to see you back. You gave Kendra and Jamie quite a scare, you know.”

Layla’s expression turned sad.

“I know. I’m still so sorry that I messed it up and ruined everyone’s night. I guess I was more nervous than I thought…”

“I know, sweetheart. We’ll talk about it when we get home.”

The three hugged once more, before Lena of 2043 drifted down to the main level.

“Okay, everyone. I want to thank those who have been keeping care of our dear Layla while she was here. We’re going to take our leave soon, but first, we will need to tweak your memories, so you don’t remember Layla.”

“Well, at least not yet” Kara added.

“Right. Because you, my dear,” Lena said, pointing to Layla, “have not even been born yet.”

J’onn approached Lena of 2043.

“Sorry…Lena…can you give us a better idea of what the spell you’ll do is? How exactly will it affect us?”

“Sure,” Lena of 2043 said. “It’s much more difficult to take memories away altogether, so I’ll just, well, blur the parts with Layla. For example,” she pointed back to Lena of 2021, “you were working on a project, trying to find a specific spell, but you just won’t remember what that spell was exactly, and you won’t remember having help from someone else.

Right after it takes effect, it may feel a bit actively confusing, a little dissonant, but given time it will seem like that was always the way it was.”

She looked around at everyone, trying to gain a sense of where they were at before she cast the spell.

“Does that sound okay?”

A chorus of affirmative answers rang out.

And so, she held her arms steadily in front of her and began the incantation. She appended an additional incantation to act as a delay, so that the spell wouldn’t take effect until after she, Kara of 2043, and Layla had left.

And then, she went back to Kara of 2043 and her daughter.

“Ready?”

The other two nodded.

And so, they joined hands and Lena spoke the incantation to travel back to 2043.

And as before, as she uttered the last couple words, the environment around them shifted and warped before they found themselves back in the living room of their family home.

They separated their hands and then went in for a hug together, the three of them.

When they separated again, Layla supersped around the room a couple times out of pure excitement, before stopping and just exclaiming happily, “Home! I’m home!”

Lena and Kara shared a look, simply happy their daughter was back home and that she was happy.

Chapter Text

In 2043, Christmas Day…

The Luthor-Danvers went to sleep the night prior – Christmas Eve – exhausted.

With all the excitement of the past few days, the three of them completely forgot about making sure all their presents to each other were under the tree.

But nevertheless, Christmas came, and Layla awoke (in her own bed!) and was so excited and merry for what the day might bring.

She got up and got coffee ready for her mothers before making some hot cocoa for herself.

She got herself a mug of the hot cocoa she’d made, grabbed her phone, and moved to sit on the couch with a good view of both the beautifully decorated and lit tree, but also down the hallway where her mothers would be coming from.

She sat there for a few moments, just quietly taking in the sights and happy to be back home, before she got out her phone and started texting family and friends Christmas greetings.

Apparently, her mums had neglected to let her Aunts Alex and Kelly, or well, anyone, know they’d gotten back safe last night, so it was a real surprise to Esme whom she’d texted first that she was back. Soon she received texts from Alex and Kelly, checking in on her, and already telling her that they would have to scold her mothers that Alex and Kelly hadn’t been told of the group’s arrival last night.

Layla just laughed and texted back a sorry on behalf of the three of them to her aunts.

Though there was still plenty of Christmas Day to take in and enjoy, and Layla was sure she would enjoy it, she sat there quietly for a moment again and thought to herself – “Oh, Rao, this most certainly will be a Christmas to remember.”

And as an afterthought, she added to herself, “And I guess, next year I’ll let Mum do the slideshow spell again.”
She sighed somewhat forlornly, before laughing a little, still in good spirits overall.

She lifted her mug of hot cocoa and gave a little toast to anyone and everyone, just for fun, as she whispered aloud, “Merry Christmas, everyone!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in 2021…

The spell Lena of 2043 had cast worked perfectly.

Although it did leave everyone a little groggy, and so they decided to call it quits on the party a little on the earlier side.

Just as Kara was heading to the balcony, intending to take off to her apartment, Lena approached her and stopped her.

“Hey.”

Kara turned around, a bright smile appearing.

“Hey you. What’s up?”

Lena turned sheepish.

“Well…um…Christmas has usually been a difficult time of year for me with difficult memories attached, but well, it’s been so nice this year spending it here with friends. I just don’t want it to end.”

Kara’s brow furrowed. She wasn’t sure where Lena was going with this.

Lena continued, though she said the next part quietly.

“Stay with me tonight?”

Kara of course, still heard her.

“Oh!”

She paused for a moment trying to consider the question.

But who was she kidding, her, Kara Danvers spending Christmas with her secret (or not-so-secret, depending on who you ask), crush Lena Luthor?

“Yes!”

Lena’s eyes widened.

“Yes?”

“Yes.”

And so, shortly after, they left together hand in hand.

When they got to Lena’s penthouse, as they were both pretty tired, they kept things simple, with the both of them keeping their interest in the other at least somewhat at bay.

Kara, in her excitement hadn’t stopped at hers to grab overnight things, so she rushed out to do so and came back in hardly a moment’s time.

They both got in bed, both determined to stay apart and sticking to their own side of the bed.

They fell fast asleep, sleeping soundly through the night.

Christmas morning, they awoke to find themselves curled into each other, with Kara acting as the big spoon.

Lena turned around and smiled at Kara.

“Good morning darling.”

Kara was blushing a light pink.

“G-good morning, Lena.”

“Merry Christmas.”

And then, Lena moved forward and gently placed a kiss to Kara’s cheek, before getting up out of bed.

Kara stayed there for a few minutes in shock. She knew it was just on her cheek, but Lena had kissed her!

They had never shied away from physical affection between the two friends, but they didn’t really enter kissing territory of any sort.

Even the physical affection they did do, such as hugs, they were typically (not always), initiated by Kara, not Lena.

What could this mean?

Eventually she got up and got going, getting showered and dressed.

She entered the kitchen of Lena’s penthouse to find Lena sitting on the couch in comfortable clothes, beside a small pre-lit Christmas tree, coffee in hand.

“Good morning, again,” Kara greeted.

“Good morning, darling.” Lena responded.

“Shall we exchange gifts?”

“Oh, um, sure.”

“Here,” Lena said as she handed Kara a small box, wrapped in red and white paper.

Kara opened it to find a necklace with a small emerald pendant.

“Oh, Lena! It’s beautiful! Thank you.”

“Thanks,” Lena responded. “But I’ve also cast an intense protection spell over it that works for the wearer. That way you can always be safe from magic users who may want to cause you harm.”

“Lena. This-this is…I don’t have the words. This is such a meaningful gift.”

Lena set her coffee down and faced Kara.

“I’m glad you like it. I wanted you to always have a piece of me, wherever you are… You mean a lot to me, you know…”

“Oh. Well, Lena…you mean a lot to me too!”

Lena took a deep breath.

There were perhaps better times to be doing this, she thought. No, she amended, there were definitely better times, but damn it, she was going to do it now.

“Kara, I know it’s Christmas, and now may not be the right time to do this, but I don’t think I can go another day, and certainly not another Christmas without telling you this.”

Kara knew this was important, whatever this was, so she set her own coffee down and leaned in a little.

“Kara, for quite some time, well, almost since we met, you have left a mark on me. You have challenged me, you have pushed me, and made me a better person. I hope to have done the same to you even a small fraction to the extent that you have for me. But in any case, well, I would really like change the way things are between us – hopefully for the better. Kara Zor-El Danvers, would you like to go on a date with me?”

“Oh! Oh, Lena Kieran Luthor, I would love to.”

Lena looked Kara in the eyes – “You would?”

“Yes!” Kara exclaimed before adding, “I’ve felt the same way for years, but I was worried you didn’t feel the same way.”

“Oh, Kara.” Lena laughed a short, light laugh. “Let’s just say I definitely feel the same way.”

~~~~~~~~

They spent the rest of that Christmas at the Tower, again with family and friends.

It was a delightful time for all.

~~~~~~~~

A few days later Kara and Lena had their first date. It was a veritable success.

And though Alex and others had their suspicions on the change regarding the two’s relationship, Lena and Kara were staying mum about it so far.

A few days after that, the 29^th of December, Kara asked Lena to be her girlfriend, and Lena said yes.

At the New Year’s Eve party at the Tower the next night, they let their friends know of the news.

A little while later, Monday January 10^th of the new year, to be precise, Kara and Lena were just finishing having dinner together at Lena’s penthouse.

Afterwards, they decided to just cuddle and talk on the couch for a bit.

They chatted about their respective works for a bit. The struggles and joys. But both looking at things somewhat optimistically, with it being the start of a new year.

And then a lull came over the conversation.

After about a minute, Lena said, softly, “Kara do you ever think about having kids?”

When Kara didn’t immediately respond, and, in fact, stopped running her hand through Lena’s hair, Lena tried to backtrack.

“You don’t have to answer. I know we’re still kind of new in this relationship thing, and…”

“I do.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, but to clarify – I think about it, but I don’t think I do want to have them.”

“Oh.”

“I guess you do?” Kara asked.

“Well…it’s complicated. I never did want kids, but in more recent years, I had sort of decided that as long as I was with the right person, maybe I could have kids…maybe it would work.”

She laughed somewhat sardonically.

“I mean, you know me and my baggage. It’s not like I really had any good role models in terms of parents or even specifically as a mother.”

“I see.”

“Do you mind sharing some why you don’t want them? You don’t have to.”

Kara sighed.

“No, it’s fine.”

She continued, “I’ve always liked kids, and I love hanging out and babysitting Esme, but well… You know how I’m technically older than Kal-El?”

“Yes…”

“Yeah, we were sent away from Krypton at about the same time, but he was a baby, and I was 12…”

She pauses for a moment, collecting herself.

“And before I left Krypton, the one thing I was tasked with, the one thing above anything else, was to protect and help Kal-El.”

She releases a deep breath.

“And then I get to Earth…and, well, I had failed.

He had grown up without me. Without my help. And there I was not only having failed already, but essentially, at that point, with myself essentially still being 12, I was helpless to help him with what was next for him on Earth.

I had completely and utterly failed.”

She sighs again and shakes her head.

“And part of me knows the situations are not exactly the same, but that’s what over the years, well, that’s the conclusion I’ve come to. It all goes back to my failure to protect a baby – the main and really only responsibility I had. If we had kids…if we did that, I’m just worried I would repeat my same mistakes over again.”

Kara’s face was wet with streaks of tears now.

She looks up and sees that Lena’s face is the same.

“Oh, darling.”

Lena sighs a deep sigh.

“I’m sorry you’ve been holding on to that for so long but I’m glad you’re letting it out now. You know, even after hearing about that – I don’t think you’re a failure. I think you’re extremely capable and even though life has given you so many obstacles, so much trauma, you have continued on, not because of those obstacles but in spite of them – nevertheless you came through.

Even though it didn’t happen as you expected, I think Kal-El is far better off because of lessons you’ve taught him over the years.”

Lena sighed once more.

“Have you talked to your parents about this?”

Kara just shook her head, no.

“Okay. Well, I understand you may have to work up to it, but that might be helpful at some point.”

Kara just quietly said, “Okay.”

They sat there in silence for a little longer.

“Thank you, Lena. Thank you for listening and for what you said. Thank you.”

“Of course, Kara. I am here for you.”

Then, Lena moved to get up.

“How about a little music?”

“Sure.”

Lena put on a playlist of hers as Kara got up.

They began by just listening to the song, and then Lena opened her arms to join them to Kara’s to dance.

And as Nat King Cole sang, the two women danced and danced.

“There's a smile on my face

For the whole human race

Why it's almost like being in love

All the music of life seems to be

Like a bell that is ringing for me

And from the way that I feel

When that bell starts to peal

I would swear I was falling, swear I was falling

Why it's almost like being in love”

~ FIN