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Kara let out a deep breath: ‘it’s done,’ she thought,
her secret was out there in the world and there was no turning back.
Relief washed all over her, thinking there was nothing more to hide, that she could finally just be herself now, no matter what.

“Keira, I have some questions to ask you—“
“You can call me Kara now. And… more questions? We literally just finished our interview.”
Cat sighed, exasperated, “Get used to this, you’re a celebrity now, you’ll never stop being asked questions.”

“Sorry, I’m a what?”
Kara was stunned. She had to admit she didn’t think about this consequence.
“Yes, I already hired my ex-bodyguard for you, he’s waiting for you in the elevator, and yes, I know you have super powers but he can make sure there’s no creeps in your personal space,” Cat continued saying as a matter of fact, “however, that was not what I wanted to tell you.”
Kara closed her mouth and let her boss ask her whatever she wanted to.
“When I wasn't here in National City, I never stopped keeping tabs on you and Supergirl, and you’ve both accomplished quite a lot, including expanding your friend group, which for years I feared would consist only of your sister, the IT guy and Mr. Olsen.” Kara wanted to remind Miss Grant of Winn’s name, but she knew better than to interrupt her, so she just chuckled.

“When I first returned after my Bhutan getaway, you were going through your first heartbreak, and suddenly Supergirl was everywhere, but she was alone.”
Kara gulped, not expecting their talk to take this turn: she could still feel the same heartbreak of that day if she closed her eyes.

It had never quite healed.

“And then a few months later, you weren’t alone anymore: you had your sister and Mr. J’onnz by your side as always,” she rolled her eyes, “And Guardian. You can definitely tell I didn’t pick that name, so bland… Then, a mysterious handsome man in red, and another gorgeous woman whose picture I would take to my plastic surgeon in case I ever needed another rhynoplasty.”
She went to look at her notes, “And then these two disappeared, and Supergirl was helping people all over the world, by herself, again. Then, Dreamer and Brainiac 5 joined you, and finally Sentinel and Guardian 2.0.And then we get to the Luthor/Nyxly face-off a few weeks ago, and besides the regulars, there’s the other Luthor, Ms. Rojas in a Catwoman cosplay, the IT guy in a mask and the same handsome man in red by your side. So…I want all the details.”

“You really took notes about me and my friends?”
“Focus, Keira! I’m the one asking questions.”
There was no way to dodge Cat’s claws, so Kara simply gave up: “You already know all of these people, I’m not sure where to begin.”
“Not all of them.” She tapped the pen on her notepad where the words ‘Man in Red’ and ‘Cover Girl’ were written in capital letters.

Kara felt like she was in the middle of a spotlight, trapped on a dark stage with no exit: “I think I need to rewind to a bit earlier to explain who they are—this is all off record, right?”
“You have my word,” Cat promised.
Kara started with a deep sigh, “His name was Mon-El, he crash-landed here shortly after we defeated Indigo and Non. He’s from Daxam, Krypton’s sister planet, well, rival planet.
I immediately took him under my wing to teach him how to live on Earth, and at first I wanted him to be a superhero like me, and have all of the same experiences I had but… that was a major failure, including that one disastrous day he worked here as an intern.
Truth is, he wasn’t like me, at all: he was selfish, arrogant, thoughtless—“
“And you fell in love with him.” Cat finished the sentence for her and Kara smiled sadly.
“Predictable, right? He then decided on his own, he wanted to be a superhero too. And we started dating and everything was just… absolutely perfect.” She closed her eyes for a few seconds, trying to feel that happiness once more.

“When his parents got here to bring him back to his planet, I found out the truth about his identity: he was actually the Prince of Daxam, the son of Queen Rhea and King Lar Gand.”
“Ugh, that… woman.” Cat held herself back from spitting venomous words about Kara’s ex almost mother-in-law.
“I broke up with him over that, not understanding why he did what he did, but then we went through a really weird adventure…one too crazy to explain. And I forgave him. And then I lived the best weeks of my life, until his mother showed up out of blue again.”

“That was when I returned, wasn’t it? When you told me that your boyfriend and your best friend were on that ship.”
Kara nodded, “You know what happened next…” She gathered the courage to talk about the invasion, “I sent him away for his safety, but for seven months I lived with the guilt of having killed him instead. But he wasn’t dead, he had just been through a wormhole that took him to the 31st century, where he lived for seven long years… One day, we found his ship that had been underwater for 12.000 years, but he wasn’t alone..”
“Cover Girl?”
“Saturn Girl,” she corrected, “Imra Ardeen. His wife.”
“Ouch.”
“And Brainiac 5. They’re part of a group Mon-El founded in my honor, the Legion of Superheroes.”
“A Legion of Superheroes? In your honor? My goodness, Keira, that is better than a Pulitzer.”
“It is incredible. He told me many stories about the future, what they’ve accomplished, and they’re really remarkable.”
“But that’s not how the story ends.”
“Well, at one point Imra and Mon-El took a… break? I’m not sure, but, uh, he told me he still had feelings for me.”

“The man who didn’t want to leave the planet still had feelings for his ex. Shocking.” Cat said, sarcastically pouring herself a drink, but then she glanced at Kara: her eyes were filled with tears, though she controlled herself enough to not let a single one drop.
Cat poured another glass for her.

Kara took a sip and then continued, “But he had to leave for the future to fight a horrible Coluan threat and Brainiac 5 stayed here for safety reasons. Winn went to the future with him.”
“Ah, that’s why he isn’t answering my calls anymore: my Wi-Fi connection could've really used his help. Anyway… I still don't understand why they were here a few weeks ago, what happened?”
Kara let out a bitter chuckle, “Mon-El and Winn came to help us face Nyxly and Lex: Mon-El told me that my speech made the history books.” Kara fidgeted nervously, “But when I asked him if he could come to my sister’s wedding, he said he’d be too occupied with Legion business, and he would never return... in this lifetime.”
Cat’s expression seemed to change into a somewhat sympathetic face, Kara could only look down at her hands on her lap: she knew they never had a chance, but hearing it out loud broke her heart in a million pieces.

Miss Grant finally interrupted the tense silence between them: “Let me ask you a question: in the future, are you still known as Kara Danvers?”
“From this very moment I shouldn’t be known as Kara Danvers anymore, right?”
“So you’re just known as Supergirl?”
She paused for a second: “Technically, no. I’m also known as Kara Zor-El.”
Cat changed into interview mode once again, “Let’s talk about her for a second. Who is she?”Kara bit the inside of her cheek before answering: “She…she is who I am first and foremost. She is a daughter, a niece, a cousin, a friend… a refugee. A survivor.”
“Why did I introduce the world to Supergirl, then?”
“Because…I think it’s easier to be her on Earth. It’s easier to be seen as a superhero, than a multitude of things in one woman only.”

“But do you still feel like Kara Zor-El?” Hearing her real name coming from Cat’s mouth felt really strange.
She tilted her head. “Not as much as I should,” Kara stated truthfully. “I’m usually split between being a good sister, friend, reporter and then being a great superhero. There’s not much room for her on this planet, right now, but I’m hoping that revealing my identity will make this easier, and rejoin these two parts into one.”
“But Keira, you just said that there’s more than two sides of yourself. It seems to me like you’re forgetting the most important one: when was the last time you truly felt like Kara Zor-El?”

Kara knew the answer, she knew it all too well, but at the same time she tried to suppress that memory whenever she’d end up thinking about all the what-if’s.
“Uhm, a little while before Mon-El left for the second time, we went on a mission to retrieve a rock that would’ve helped us defeat Reign. What seemed like a floating asteroid, was actually part of my home planet, the only city to remain intact: Argo City.” She couldn’t hide her smile, “I found out that my mother and my childhood best friend were still alive, and in that moment I felt a happiness I hadn’t known in years. And obviously,
Mon-El was with me… I felt free to be my truest self.”
Cat was slowly absorbing all the shocks, but once she processed the information, she jumped right back into her gossip loving mode: “Did something happen between you two, when you were—“
“No! NO! We were staying with my mom, we could’ve—I would’ve never!” Kara’s cheeks became red as tomatoes.
“I wasn’t implying anything physical. I know you and how you feel about these things.”
“Actually, I—“ She regretted opening her mouth, but sadly her brain had been too quick to remember all of the wonderful physical experiences she had shared with Mon-El.

“If you weren’t implying anything like that, then yes,” Kara continued, “something happened. That was when he told me he still had feelings for me, and it awakened all of my feelings at once, but the Earth was in danger again, so… we never got the chance to talk about us.”
“It seems like you have a lot to talk about.”
“Yeah, but I belong here and he belongs there, so… it was never going to work.”
“You never even tried to make it work, Keira.”
“What do you mean?” Her eyebrows went up, both confused and a little mad.
“Have you ever heard of long distance relationships?”
Kara started laughing, “We’re in two different centuries. Not countries.”
“And? Didn’t you just say that you called him to help you with Lex Luthor?”
“Yes, but time travel is much more complicated than that.”

Silence fell between the two women for what seemed like infinite minutes, until Cat spoke again: “Why are you holding onto Earth so desperately? I thought that I knew the answer to this, but apparently I do not.”
“Wait, what?”
“I thought that the Earth was all you had, your terrestrial life as Kara Danvers, your reporting career, but you have so much more. During our interview, you told me you came to this planet at thirteen years old: you had thirteen years of memories of your home, of your parents, of you being Kara Zor-El, but then you refuse to acknowledge that part of yourself for whatever reason.
You fell in love with the only man who knew you as the real you and knew your history, and probably lived similar experiences as you: do you think that’s a coincidence? You tell me you felt free to be yourself only around him and your family, and yet you completely shut Kara Zor-El out once you returned to Earth.
And then, this… mind-blowing organization of superheroes that is changing the universe in your name, and could use your help to make even greater impact.
You have so many opportunities to dive into, and yet you’re still here, holding onto this planet.”Kara felt her heart break: “Are you regretting offering me this job? Was all of this a mistake?”
“This is bigger than a job, this is about you.”
“I- I need to go now.” She got up from her seat and walked away as fast as she could.
“You can run but this conversation isn’t over. Sleep on it and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.” Cat’s voice reached her ears while the elevator doors closed in front of her. And her new bodyguard. Awkward.

Falling asleep was not an option that night. Kara couldn’t stop thinking about everything Cat had told her: had she always ignored all the opportunities she had?
For all these years, things had seemed either black and white in her brain, like Kara Danvers and Supergirl were the only two selves that mattered: two halves of her, perfectly separated until today. And yet, Cat said she was neither and both of those people at the same time.But also…It wasn’t that easy. It’s not like she could leave her entire life, her family and friends, even her new job! She couldn’t leave it all behind just to chase the dream of being Kara Zor-El somewhere else. On Argo City? In the 31st century? Would it even be worth it?

Kara lied down on her bed and let out a groan in frustration.
“I thought I was supposed to be free from this weight after tonight. I guess not.”
And then inevitably, her mind went to Mon-El and how Cat accused her of not even trying to save their relationship: Kara loved him, and always would, she was certain of that, but she also believed they had run out of chances to be happy together.

Apparently, though, there was still one tiny option she had never dared to think about… The two of them in the future, perhaps leading the Legion together.
Kara bit her lip nervously, she knew that thinking about all the what-ifs, especially those concerning Mon-El, would always end up hurting her, and yet she couldn’t stop fantasizing about them now.

The next morning, her alarm felt somewhat louder and more annoying than ever.
When her feet touched the floor, she could sense that that day would be different than usual: maybe because it was going to be her first official day as Editor in Chief, maybe because the world finally knew her secret, or maybe both.
Once she arrived at work, Kara noticed that the entire office was in a frenzy, reporters rushing in and out of the building, and she had absolutely no idea of the reason why.
“Hey, Harry-“ She stopped one of her colleagues on his way to the elevator, “What’s going on?”
“Miss Danvers, you didn’t see it?”
“Uhm, no?”

Perhaps Kara had forgotten to turn on the TV that morning or had been too afraid to hear what people were going to say about her. And since when did people call her Miss Danvers?
“Dreamer rescued thousands of people last night, when the Blue Seas was sinking. Everyone is out to get all the details of the accident, and especially, the saving.”
“Hang on, what?” Maybe she was supposed to drop by the Tower before CatCo, she wouldn’t have looked as lost as she was in that moment. “That’s—That’s incredible! Is Cat here yet?”
Harry nodded and looked over at the closed glass doors of the boss’ office.

“Keira, you’re here! Did you talk to your Superfriends?”
“Uh, no, but-“
“What do you mean “no”? What have you been doing all this time?”
“Uh—Sleeping, taking a shower, having breakfa--“
“Sleeping?!?--” Cat seemed to have smoke coming out of her ears.

This day is going so well already!
“—How many times do I have to tell you that as a reporter you can never sleep for too long? You’re always going to get your news too late. It was the middle of the night when Dreamer got to the cruise ship’s location with Brainiac 5, so this… is not an excuse.”
“I’m sorry, I just—”
“You’re lucky I sent most of the reporters on location to talk to the witnesses and survivors, we should be getting the first interviews any moment now. But you need to call Dreamer, right now.”

Kara texted Nia who replied immediately she was on her way to give Cat the exclusive she wanted. She read the first drafts of some interviews and chose the layout for the magazine, hoping Miss Grant wasn’t going to raise her eyebrow at her and regret her offering. Maybe she already had, considering how they ended their conversation the night before.

Dreamer’s saving was the only thing the city seemed to be talking about, and surprisingly, Kara felt relieved about it: she had told the world everything that needed to be said and she was more than happy to lend the spotlight to her friend. She was thankful there were no riots or folks storming Catco’s offices because of her reveal.
At least not yet.

Later that night, Kara went online and read every single article about the event, and one of the pages had a comment section;
normally, she wouldn’t have read any of those, but the one at the top grabbed her eye:
“Am I the only one who thinks this is all a stunt from Supergirl? She’s trying to divert the attention from her real identity and all the lies she’s told us!!! KARA DANVERS AKA SUPERGIRL MADE UP ALL OF HER ARTICLES!!! TAKE BACK HER PULITZER!!!”
Again, Kara tried to keep calm and not heat vision her phone, but seeing that comment’s 201 likes did nothing to help her nerves.

“Nia, hi!”
“What’s up?“ Nia quickly picked up her call, “Does Cat need more details? I feel like I’ve told the story a thousand times today and I honestly need a break.”
“No, no, she’s pretty satisfied. I just wanted to tell you something, uhm, ask for advice, I think.”
“Did the student become the master?” Nia fake gasped. “What’s this about?”
“I was going through some articles about you, and I read one commen-“
“Oh no.”
“It’s not about you! I promise!”
“Even worse! Kara, you don’t have to scroll through comments, ever! That’s like, the number one rule of the Internet.”
“I wasn’t scrolling, okay? But listen..”
Nia sighed, “Carry on.”

“There was this person saying that this was a stunt I set up to bring the attention away from me and my interview, and that I lied in all of my articles and that my Pulitzer should be taken away.”
“That is so absurd, you should pay it no mind.”
“I would but, it had like 200 likes, and I’m afraid more people are gonna agree and target me and everyone around me, or discredit your incredible work by calling it all fake. Should I release a statement?”
“Personally, I wouldn’t. But if you see it pick up the pace, maybe you could write a short one in the next issue.”
“Well, I hope I don’t have to. Thank you.”
“Anytime. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, today has just been…intense.”
“I think you’re just looking at what could potentially go wrong and sabotage your happiness, but believe me, now that you don’t have any secrets anymore, you can finally be free and be unstoppable.”
She inhaled sharply, “See, that’s the problem. I thought I could be that, I thought I’d feel light as a feather now, but I’ve never felt more vulnerable and scared. I’m starting to think this was a mistake, and I’ve put you all in danger because of my impulsiveness and I can’t- I can’t lose you, too!”
“Kara, hey, take a deep breath. Listen to me: we’re all grown-ups who can take care of ourselves and the people who need us. You don’t need to worry about us, okay? I know it’s easier said than done, but right now, you just focus on being you. Screw what Jeff from Nevada might think.”
That eased Kara’s mind and allowed her to chuckle,
“Okay.. I believe you. And thanks, again. Good night.”
“Good night.”
Kara closed every tab on her phone and ended up going through the pictures in her gallery: she focused on one photo James had recently sent her, with him and Winn by her side, taken during one of her first years as an assistant at Catco. Her first year as Supergirl, too.
Her eyes were bright and naïve, unknowing of how much more she was about to endure and lose.

Her thumb swiped to another picture, a selfie she’d taken at lunch one time, with Nia and William: Kara thought about the first time she met her in the elevator, and how she saw her old self in her, how Nia started as a blabbering reporter who she’d mentored and taken care of, and was now a phenomenal superhero in her own right. And then William.. She still couldn’t believe he was gone and the cruel way his life had been taken from him, but she knew he’d been brave until his very last breath: she remembered a story he’d told her about how he started writing, and yes, journalism might’ve been his calling, but there was no doubt, he was a hero as much as the other Superfriends who had their own shiny costumes.

Kara had built a community of heroic people around her who understood the struggles of this hard work, but somehow, she felt like the ultimate sacrifices were only hers to make. They never had to make a choice between their personal life and being a hero, like she had: Alex and Kelly were superheroes, and they never had to make a choice between that or starting a family, they just did both.
Brainy had been a fundamental hand in helping Dreamer to save the Blue Seas cruise ship: they were partners in life, and equal halves of a perfect team when it came to work, too. Then why couldn’t she do that? Why didn’t she get to have it all?
Her thoughts drifted to what Cat had told her: “I thought that the Earth was all you had, your terrestrial life as Kara Danvers, your reporting career, but you have so much more.. You have so many opportunities to dive into, and yet you’re still here, holding onto this planet.”
Was the Earth tying her down instead of allowing her to fly?
Was it time to let National City go?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It had been a few days since the talk with Cat, and every time Kara felt like her boss wanted to bring up the unfinished conversation, she rushed away telling Cat she was needed at the Tower. Now, it was a quiet Friday night and she was a dinner guest at the Danvers-Olsen’s, hoping she was doing a good job at keeping all her doubts and struggles out of her face.Esme was already in bed and the three women were sipping wine in the living room, catching up on whatever they hadn’t had the time to share at the Tower. “So, how’s Esme doing at school? Making friends?”

Kara asked the couple, with apparent calm, fearing somebody would’ve brought up the fact she had Supergirl’s last name.
Alex’s face lit up: “She’s great, all the kids adore her.”
“And the teachers, too!” Her wife continued.
“Although, something really weird happened yesterday: when I picked her up from school, I saw a strange lanky guy dressed in black who seemed to follow me, even after we got into our car.”
When she heard these words from her sister, Kara’s face turned as white as the walls, “What? Why didn’t you call?”
“Don’t worry, I made a detour to a different road, and he disappeared in no time. You know I could’ve also kicked his ass by myself, right?”
“I know you had everything under control, but I’m with Kara on this one, you should’ve told us.” Kelly added, while the reporter covered her mouth to suppress a groan.
“It was over before it even began! You both know I would’ve called immediately if I thought things were getting out of hand.”“This is my biggest fear coming true.” Kara couldn’t keep the words in anymore.
“Kara, don’t blame yourself for this-“Kelly caressed her shoulders, “you know your sister can be a little reckless, but it’s not like we don’t know what we can handle. We’re superheroes too, remember? We’re trained for this type of situation.”
Kara’s gaze couldn’t meet either pair of eyes, which prompted Alex to speak up: “Is there something you need to tell us?”“I wanted to tell you something, but now… I’m not so sure anymore. I can’t even handle the thought of something dangerous happening to you, or worse, Esme!”
“What’s wrong?” Alex’s concern grew at every word.
“I.. don’t even know where to start.” She took a deep breath. “Cat made me realize that I’ve been focusing so much on balancing being Supergirl and being Kara Danvers, that I completely shut out Kara Zor-El.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” The redhead was visibly confused at her sister’s words.
“These last few days I’ve been thinking a lot about this: when was the last time I prayed to Rao? When was the last time I brought up something about Krypton in a conversation? Why am I so afraid of seeing Argo City again? Why do I keep locking the person I was for the first decade of my life in a tiny corner?” Kara then continued,

“I became Kara Danvers to keep you all safe, and to feel as normal as I could on this planet, but now I just want to be me.” The frustration in her voice was palpable.
“After the interview, I talked to Cat about everything that happened to me while she was gone, including Mon-El and the Legion, and she said some things that gave me a perspective I didn’t have before.”
Alex seemed to frown at what her sister was revealing, but she didn’t say anything even when Kara opened up about Mon-El: “I know why he’s the only person I’ve ever been in love with: he’s the only one who made me feel like Kara Zor-El even on this planet, not only because he knew my world and the places of my childhood, but most importantly, because my self was whole in his eyes, with no distinctions between Kara and Supergirl. And that’s how I want to live, that’s how I want everybody to perceive me.
I can see that everyone here still sees me just as a superhero, or one degree closer to a celebrity, maybe.

I’m only my reputation, my image, my suit and cape, to them. How am I supposed to trust someone enough to let myself fall in love again? How do I know I’m just not another check in their bucket list? It’s just… Is that selfish?”“Wanting romantic love is not selfish, and you being a superhero doesn’t make you an exception.” Kelly reassured Kara, giving her a smile.“I’ve been having so many thoughts lately, trying to tell myself I’m okay where I am right now… But there is one place where I don’t have to choose one thing over the other. And before you say anything, I do love you and my Earth family, but it’s not the same as being with people who really understand you.”
At last, Alex finally spoke: “What are you thinking about?”

Kara could sense a hidden disappointment in her question.
“I’m.. I’m thinking about going to the 31st century.”
“How do you know it’s the right choice?” Kelly asked, trying to sound neutral enough to not upset either Kara or her wife.Kara chuckled, “I don’t. I don’t know if it’s the right place for everything to finally start making sense to me, but this is what my heart has been trying to tell me for years when I didn’t want to acknowledge it, and I want to listen to it now.”
“That’s a good enough answer for me. I trust you.” Kara and Kelly shared a smile, but Alex seemed lost in thought. “Please don’t be mad at me for saying this, but you already went to Argo with the idea of staying for a while, and even your family wasn’t enough to make you stay there. What happens if you and Mon-El don’t get back together? Would you still stay there?”
Kara’s faint smile disappeared: “Yeah,” she said after a few moments, “because this isn’t just about him. I want to help as many people as I can, and I think joining the Legion is the best way to do so. And if I endured a year of Mon-El and Imra here, I can face whatever happens there.” She chewed her bottom lip, hoping the conversation wouldn’t get much worse than that.“That’s a good enough answer for me.” Alex echoed her wife and finally hugged Kara.
“Are you mad at me?” Kara whispered while resting her head on her sister’s shoulder.
“I could never. Are you?”
“Of course not. I know you’re trying to look out for me.”
“Do you feel better about it now?”
“Yeah. Knowing you guys are okay and agree with this, I can leave without a weight on my chest.”Alex pulled back from the long hug to look at Kara right in the eyes: “All I want is for you to be happy, even if it means I won’t get to see you for… a while.”
“I’ll be back, I’ll come visit, I promise you. I still wanna see my niece grow up!”
“You better stay true to your word.”
“Always.”
“Sorry to interrupt this wonderful, emotional, sister moment but,” Kelly rightfully interrupted, “what’s going to happen at CatCo when you leave?”
“Oh, I already have my eye on a potential replacement. I’m not leaving without making sure everything is okay.”

Kara and William were sitting on opposite sides of a table, eating pastries as a reward after a long day of work, when she prompted him with a question: “You know, you’ve never told me how you started writing, what was that like?”
“I’m sure I’ve told you this story multiple times, I started as an intern, don’t you remember?”
“Yes, of course I remember that, but I mean like… when did you actually start writing? Not being a journalist.”
“Oh.” William smiled at the memory, “It’s a little silly, nothing extraordinary. So, as you know, I’m an only child but I have many cousins who I consider my siblings because we all grew up as a tight family. But my favorite has always been Riya. She’s five years older than me, and currently a journalist b—”
“Wait a second. Riya S. Dey is your cousin?!? How have I never made the connection? Oh my gosh, do you know how many of her articles and books I’ve read?”
“The one and only. But she’s extremely busy and I haven’t gotten to see her in a few years.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”“It’s okay, it means she’s actually living her dream. You know.. when we were kids we always used to play together at her house, but when I was ten or eleven, Riya was already too grown up to play with me: she had joined the school newspaper, which took a lot of her free time, but she didn’t want to upset me, because she knew how much I enjoyed her company.

Instead of sending me home, she’d give me fake article assignments, like “Write about the new scientific discovery from Doctor XYZ” or “Write about the disappearance of the old lady who lived down the block”. Completely made-up scenarios that developed my imagination, and eventually my passion for writing: at one point I began interviewing our neighbors, asking for their stories to make real articles, and finally I started signing up for every writing course at school.”
Kara was smiling from ear to ear. “William, that’s such an awesome story!”
“I’m happy you think so.”
When Kara shared her decision the rest of the group, they were incredibly surprised but also supportive of her.

Lena had not been there in person, because she’d gone back to Newfoundland with Andrea to find out more about her mom, but thankfully didn’t get mad at Kara’s choice.
Brainy admitted to her that a few years before, he wouldn’t have understood the reason behind it, but thanks to Nia, he now sympathized with Kara and knew how important following her heart was.

J’onn, being the inscrutable Martian he was, didn’t have many words to say, but joined the others in their support with a perhaps tearful smile.Nia, despite being really happy for Kara, was especially nervous.
“I don’t know how to do this without you,”she confessed to her mentor-turned-best-friend.
“Yes, you do. You probably don’t realize it yet, but you haven’t needed my help in a long time. You are extraordinary and National City is so lucky to have you. This planet is lucky to have you, Dreamer.”
“I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.” They hugged while holding back tears, because after all, it wasn’t time for goodbyes yet. Kara was waiting to meet the last person who would determine how soon she would be able to leave.

Kara reached out to Riya Dey that morning via e-mail, while also offering her condolences. She knew Riya was a busy woman and didn’t expect a reply for at least a week, but after two days, Riya cleared out her schedule and booked a flight for three days later to meet up.
The two women greeted each other at lunch and Kara couldn’t hide her admiration and excitement about finally seeing her in person. Riya was graceful and poised, but never looked stand-offish or uncomfortable with other people:
“I’ve heard so much about you, as well, so the pleasure is all mine, Miss Danvers. Kara? Supergirl?”
Kara couldn’t help but cringe at the name sticking out like a sore thumb in that situation. “Kara will work just fine.”
“So will Riya, then. Okay… I think I should start by asking two questions.”
“Go ahead.”
“First of all, why are you leaving? I obviously don’t need the details, but I’ll admit I was stunned reading your message. And second, why me?”
“Let’s just say, I’m taking a leap of faith in order to pursue a different career and hopefully, have a partner by my side in all of it.”

The brown-haired woman smirked and took a sip of water, “Those, my dear, are the best leaps you can take.”
“You think so?”
“Believe me, I know that firsthand.”
The undeniable curiosity in Kara’s eyes made Riya continue her story: “There was this boy I was in a relationship with, when I was sixteen or so. We were so deeply in love. But sadly, his family had to move away a year later: I was devastated I couldn’t be with him anymore. Destiny had other plans, though. A few years ago, I was at a fancy, boring party with a mass of annoying people, when a waiter suddenly asked me to follow him. Turns out, the chef recognized my name on the guest list and wanted to meet: it was him, Marcus.
After the dinner was over, I spent the whole night talking to him and catching up and we never lost touch again.” She raised her left hand where two sparkly rings were sitting, “He’s now my husband, but I’d be lying if I said that getting to where we are now was easy. I changed jobs, he changed jobs, but fortunately, his restaurant has different locations, so we’re never apart for too long.”
“Wow, that’s—that’s incredible.”
“The moral is, if the timing is right, everything will go the way it’s meant to go.”

Kara gave Riya a sad smile, hoping she would have the same luck. “As for the other question… I chose you because first of all, I love your style and I’m a huge fan of everything you have written, and second of all, the company already has the brains in Cat, so it needs a heart. Knowing you and the extreme care you put into your work, and how long you’ve been passionate about journalism, I couldn’t have picked a better person.”
The brunette seemed very pleased at her reply, “I can see you’re being honest and I appreciate that a lot. You have no idea of how many people were just saying nice things to my face, while stabbing me in the back. And I could really use a change of scenery to get out of all of that… I would love to accept your offer, Kara.”
“Oh my gosh, really? Yes! You’re gonna love Catco, I promise! Cat will love you, too.”
“I don’t know about that..”
“Did you graduate from Yale?”
“No.”
“Perfect. Like I said, she will love you.”

At the end of their lunch, Riya asked Kara for a favor.
“Do you think you can come with me to the graveyard? I’d really like to see him and I’d rather not do it by myself.”
“Of course.”
“I apologize if this is a strange request from someone you just met.”
“No, absolutely not, I’ll be there for you.”
“Thank you so much.”
As they walked through the glass door, Riya spoke again: “Whoever you’re going to meet at the other end of your journey, is extremely lucky to have you.”

The day of Kara’s departure had finally arrived: she decided to record a message for National City, because she knew the citizens would feel confused about her sudden disappearance, but instructed Miss Grant to not air it for a few days.
Her boss had definitely taken the decision better than everyone else and offered Kara her best ‘I’m always right’ expression.
Also, very surprisingly, Cat and Riya seemed to get along right away, which made Kara feel much more relieved about leaving her job. Maybe Riya had some sharp claws of her own. Kara invited Cat to the Farewell Party her family organized, and when she accepted, everything finally started feeling more real.

Before joining everyone else, Kara made a quick trip to the Fortress of Solitude and realized she hadn’t visited it in a minute: she decided to take in all her surroundings, admiring this little taste of home before leaving this century, but then she grabbed the item she had come in for, the Legion Ring Mon-El had gifted her.
Speaking of Mon-El, Kara had to admit that once she had arrived at the party at the Tower, she was overwhelmed by the memories of the second time she flew to Argo City… except he wasn’t by her side this time, but he would be at the destination.

J’onn had decided to be the one to take Kara to Argo, where she would say the last goodbye to her parents, before taking the big leap.
“Remember when you joined me on my trip to Mars? That singlehandedly… changed my life, and I have a feeling this will be the same for you. So I want to be a part of this expedition and be there for you, like you were for me, even if my role is much smaller,” he told her.

Kara kept asking Alex and Nia if everything was okay, if they needed her to stay, because anxiety was starting to take over her brain, despite knowing she had given this idea more thought than her decision to reveal her identity to the world.
“We’re going to be fine, and you are, too," Alex said, engulfing her in the first hug of the night.
Esme ran to her aunt, and Kara had to admit that saying goodbye to her niece would be the hardest part of the night.
“Hi Esme! Ugh, I’m going to miss your hugs so much.”
“I’m going to miss you so much, aunt Kara.” Her eyes were still closed, deeply focused into her embrace, but anyone could feel the emotion making her voice crack.
“Look at me, sweetheart. I’m coming back, okay? Maybe I’ll bring… a friend. And I’m definitely bringing you some presents. I could never leave you for too long. I pinky-promise you this.” Kara raised her finger, “As long as you promise me to not grow up too fast.”
Esme mirrored Kara: “Pinky-promise.”
She didn’t know how much she managed to console her niece, but Esme’s smile made her at least think she did a good job.

Kara caught the crowd’s attention, clearing her throat for her speech.

“Thank you so much for being here, it genuinely means the world to me. If you’re in this room tonight, it means your presence in my life has made me a better person, it means you’ve stuck with me through thick and thin, including... this. I was already bracing myself for the worst, getting ready to be called selfish and bad for taking this decision, but I should’ve known better, because I have the most incredible family here on Earth.Each one of you, at some point in their lives whether it was related to sentiments or professions, has had a pivotal moment, has chosen to take a new path and to discover it,” Kara turned to Cat for a second,
“to dive into unknown waters… And I thought I had already had that moment, too, when I chose to become Supergirl.
But the truth is, that was the natural progression of my path: I knew I was sent here to help people as much as I could, and this applies to my reporting career as well. It was all written in my stars since the beginning.

However, leaving what you consider safe, what you’ve always known, to go somewhere foreign, new, that’s the real scary part. This is the leap I’m taking, the pivotal moment that will, hopefully, change my life for the better, or at least… make it more balanced. I don’t know what awaits on the other side of this flight, but if it doesn’t work, at least I can say I tried.

Now, if you’ll allow me, I’d like to ask you all a favor. I already said it multiple times and I’ll repeat it once more: I am coming back. I don’t know when, how long it’s going to take but, I give you my word it’s the truth, so… In the meantime, while I’m not here, please, write down everything I’m missing. Every up and down, I want to know all about it and I don’t want to miss out on any event that occurs, however big or small it may be. Will you do this for me?”

Different voices were raised, all agreeing, except for one person who kept looking around: “This applies to you too, Miss Grant. Magazines and newspapers won’t be enough,” Kara pointed out.
“Okay, fine.” Cat rolled her eyes but Kara knew the request wasn’t really bothering her.
Satisfied, she smiled and surprised her mentor with a hug: despite the first awkward two seconds, Cat returned it. “Thank you, Cat,” Kara whispered as the first tears started falling, “I owe you so much. I owe you everything.”
The way she said “Thank you for acknowledging that,” made Kara chuckle, but then she continued, “I just want the best of the best for you, Keira, because no one is more deserving.” Cat pulled away. “I can’t wait to witness what you do with your life at your highest potential. And don’t forget to bring him back here, I need to meet the hot man who finally made Kara Danvers grow out of her teenage-like crushes.”

Nia was the second person to hug Kara, and by that point, the waterworks had already been turned on and just wouldn’t stop. “I’m so proud of you, Nia. You’re making the entire world better each day and I don’t say this just because I’m your friend, but because you’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met.”
“No, you are. But I’m not gonna start this argument right now because I can’t speak through my tears.”
“Good. Keep fighting with kindness in your heart, Nia. Don’t ever let anyone dim your light, even when the circumstances make it easier to become stone cold.”
“I won’t.”
“I’m going to miss you, Kara Zor-El.” Brainy gave Kara one of his extremely rare hugs.
“Me too, Brainy.”
“Tell the Legionnaires I said hi, and… tell Mon-El that I’m sorry, and I understand now.”
“What’s that for?”
“He’ll know.” Kara nodded quietly, “Anything else?”
“No, just that you’ll be an excellent Legionnaire.”
“Thank you so much, also for all the help you’ve given me and the other Superfriends in the last few years. And, remember to not be so hard on yourself all the time: you’re allowed to make mistakes, even if you’re going to hate it, being the 12th level intellect that you are.”
“I will keep that in mind.”

Kelly approached Kara next, and hugged her tightly.
“I’m so, so glad we’ve bonded so much this year, but this makes saying goodbye much harder,” the brunette said tearfully, still keeping a smile on her face.
Kara chuckled, “Well, good thing this isn’t goodbye then.”
“I’m so proud of you, I know how scary change can be, but I believe in you.”
“Thank you, that means the world coming from you.” The Kryptonian wiped away a tear and grabbed her hands, “I don’t say it often, but Kelly, you are my family, too. And you’ve always been, way before you put on that beautiful ring. I love you and I’m beyond happy Alex and Esme found you.”
“Oh, I love you too, Kara, and honestly, I’m the lucky one to have found them… By the way, Esme told me that you’re bringing a friend when you get back.” Kelly smirked at her sister-in-law and the latter corrected, “I said I might.”
“Mh-mh. Well, when you do, you have to warn him he’s getting a double shovel talk. Maybe triple. Esme can be very intimidating.”
They laughed together, and Kara nodded her head, “I’ll let him know.”

And at last, Alex moved closer to her sister, with her eyes already glassy, but a proud smile on her lips.
“Hey.” Kara gathered the courage to get through this conversation.
“Hey, you.”
“Did you already threaten Brainy to find a way to text each other through space and time?”
“Listen, I was kinder than you’d expect!”
“It’s kinda hard to believe it.”
“And by the way, he already told me how, but it’s not texting, it’s more like a phone call, but they can only be a few minutes long.”
“How does that work?”
“I’m not sure, but you need to be in the Legion cruiser, and so do I.”
“We’re lucky they left two, wait, three here? How many cruisers do exist?”
“Who knows at this point.” Alex and Kara started laughing and the tension seemed to fade away.

“Kara, I wanted to apologize, from all of us, but mostly me, for making you feel guilty about choosing yourself.”
“What? You got nothing to apologize for.”
“You literally started your speech tonight saying you expected us to call you selfish! As your family here, we should always encourage you to do the best for yourself, not as a favor for all of us.”
“I just--
didn’t want you to think I was ungrateful of the life you’ve all given me here.”
“You’ve proven to me that time and time again through the past two decades, it’s okay. Being a Danvers has given us both so many great things, and obviously Supergirl has and will always be the most powerful hero on Earth, but Kara Zor-El, you deserve space to breathe and thrive too.”
Kara sighed with relief as she went in for a hug: she never realized how badly she needed to hear those words from her sister, out of all people.

The tears kept flowing and flowing without either of them making a sound: “I do have a message for Mon-El, by the way.”
“Of course you do.” Kara wiped away the last tears on her cheeks.
“You need to tell him we’re still expecting a wedding gift from him, especially since we didn’t think he’d skip it. We, and I mean I, want the biggest, most stunning gift in the history of gifts, and bringing you back here to the 21st century doesn’t count.”
“That seems like a reasonable request.”
They looked at each other silently, until Alex grabbed Kara’s hands and said solemnly: “I managed to get my happy ending, now you go get yours.”
Kara wanted to believe that the best case scenario was the only possible scenario, but she still doubted her chances at finding happiness. “I don’t think it’ll be as easy as you make it sound.”
“It wasn’t easy for me either, you know, but I believe in you, and I know Mon-El better than you think. You guys are meant to be together.”

“Thank you Alex. For everything. You’re the best sister I could’ve asked for.”
“I can say the same about you. I love you more than words could ever say.”
“I love you, too. I’ll miss you so much.”
“I’ll miss you so much I’ll start writing in your journal as soon as I get home.”
“Good, I need every page to be full. All the pictures and videos, Esme’s drawings and homework, every single thing I’m missing.”
“Consider it done.”

Minutes later, everyone stepped outside to see Kara take off in her spaceship, heading to Argo with J’onn, and then to a new century that promised to change her life forever.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“What?!” both of Kara’s parents exclaimed, a stark contrast between their tones.Zor-El was stunned: the revelation must’ve seemed so sudden and uncharacteristic coming from his daughter, but what did he even know about her after all these years? He didn’t really have a right to object.On the other hand, Alura was ecstatic hearing that Kara was going to join the Legion to help people in the future, but she sensed that it wasn’t the only reason. She turned to her husband to explain further, all while Kara stood with a frozen smile before them:
“The Legion of Superheroes was founded by this amazing man who Kara brought here a couple of years ago, his name is Mon-El and he loves Kara very much.”Kara’s mouth fell open, “Mom!”
She had probably, or definitely, never seen her mother so excited and raving about someone who wasn’t her.
“Sorry, I meant they both love each other very
much.”
Zor-El’s brain was slowly but surely picking up on all the information, while Kara brought her palms to her face: she knew her mom liked Mon-El, but she assumed she had moved on from them like, well, everyone else in her life.“Why does his name sound so familiar?” was all her dad managed to say, which made Kara gulp.
“He was the Prince of Daxam.” She confessed, fearing his reaction.
“Oh.”
Both women stared at him expectantly, but after clearing his throat he spoke: “Well, if my wife is so impressed with him after a brief visit, how can I counter that?”
A smile slipped onto Kara’s lips. She was comforted by the fact that even her dad had moved on from Krypton’s old grudges against Daxam.“By the way… I don’t even know if we’ll… like, if he still- uhm, if we can... get back together… I’m not going to the 31st century simply because of him.”
“Of course you aren’t, Kara. You wouldn’t be you otherwise.” Kara felt a slight hint of judgement in her own mother’s words. “I feel like there’s a “but” coming.”
“But… don’t forget about your personal dreams, not what Supergirl is supposed to do.” Alura’s hands caressed the sides of her daughter’s face, “I also know what I’ve seen with my eyes, and Mon-El is probably waiting for you like you are for him, and he’s probably just as stubborn about his own feelings.”Everyone seemed to have such high hopes for their relationship but what if they never found each other again? What if the damage these years had done was irreversible?“Inah, I selfishly can’t wait for your return, but I know you’ll achieve great things and realize all your wishes while you’re in the 31st century. I just hope I’ll get to hug you again sooner rather than later and that I’ll meet this man you seem to love so much, too.”
Kara fidgeted with her sleeves, “I hope so too, dad.”“You make us prouder and prouder each day, Kara. We love you so much.” Alura said, engulfing her daughter in an emotional embrace, Zor-El joined them a second later, “I love you so much.”

Kara’s choked up goodbye was the last stop she had in the present: as she boarded the spaceship, she typed the coordinates for the Legion headquarters Brainy had given her.
He wasn’t 99.99% sure about their accuracy, but he mentioned it was a massive building with the Legion logo on its roof, so it was pretty unmistakable.It had all gone smoothly up to that point, and she certainly didn’t want a malfunction or a temporal wormhole to ruin her life now.
Again.In what seemed like the blink of an eye and the slowest minutes ever at the same time, the Kryptonian superhero looked down at the planet. Hovering above it, she knew that wasn’t her Earth anymore.A couple of seconds later, the ship rang a bell, signifying that Kara had entered the atmosphere and the coordinates were getting closer to the numbers Brainy had given her.
The realization suddenly hit: she was in the 31st century.Kara swallowed the lump forming in her throat, beads of cold sweat began sliding down her forehead.
The walls and glass windows looked closer than they were a moment earlier, like they intended to crush her: the whole spaceship seemed to be shrinking.
Kara had to get out of it as soon as possible, before her panic attack and claustrophobia worsened.
She started a mental countdown, hoping it coincided with the seconds left until landing, and surprisingly, it did.
As she whispered the number “zero”, the doors opened.Kara started walking out of the cruiser like she was in a trance, a stupor that immediately snapped off the moment she saw it.The skyscraper.
The symbol.
The comet.She instinctively looked down at the ring on her finger, and traced that same golden symbol with her other fingers, chuckling in disbelief.
Inhaling and exhaling, each step took her further and towards the door of the huge tower, until of course, something had to go wrong.As soon as Kara passed those sliding doors, sirens and alarms started blaring.
“I should’ve seen that coming”, she thought to herself, mentally facepalming at the dumb error.
Security guards gathered around, and she knew there was no point in fighting, she just had to hope that a familiar face recognized her as soon as possible.
They took her onto an elevator and eyed the glyph on her chest suspiciously: they weren’t going to take Supergirl to a cell, she hoped.
“Uhm, hi. You’re doing a wonderful job, but there’s been a mistake. I’m here to talk to the Legionnaires, I promise you they know me. Look! I have a ring, too!” Kara raised her hand and one of the guards grabbed it and scanned the ring with their watch.The man’s eyebrows raised at the sight of the watch. A code or a name, something didn’t seem to add up, so she clarified: “It was a gift. It was Mon-El who gave it to me, in case you were wondering, years ago.”
The guards started murmuring and then pressed another button.
Oh no.
Kara started praying to Rao they weren’t actually taking her to the prison cells after saying something wrong.
Then, finally, the elevator doors opened to what looked like the DEO debriefing room, except with tons of wires and technology that she hadn’t seen since she left Krypton. She sighed relieved, but she couldn’t see anyone she recognized yet.Everyone who turned towards her and the guards was probably expecting some troublemaker who wanted to visit the coolest building in town but, one by one, their eyes widened, and their mouths started opening in clear shock.
Kara could hear thousands of conversations beginning but no one dared to speak directly to her, so she took a step forward.But as she started talking-
“Supergirl? Is that you?”Until that moment, Kara didn’t know in what world she would’ve been grateful to hear that voice and see that face, but apparently now, this was that world.
“Imra! I’m so, so happy to see you!”Did the two of them ever hug before? No.
Did Kara need the guards to see that she wasn’t a lunatic? Yes.
Did she truly want to hug Imra? Actually, yes.
“What are you doing here?” is what she asked first and foremost, and Kara guessed it wasn’t going to be the only time that day.“It’s kind of a long story, but I promise, everything’s okay in the 21st century, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
Imra still seemed stunned at her sight, but she nodded and then told the guards that Kara was not a threat and they could go back to the entrance posts.“If you’re not looking for help for the 21st century, I assume you’ll be staying with us then.”
“Yeah.” Kara chewed on her lip, not knowing how she was going to take the news.
“How long?”
“Uhm, for a while, if you’ll have me.”
Imra looked inscrutable and Kara didn’t know how the gears worked inside of her brain. She questioned whether Imra was going to yell at her to get out, or politely tell her she needed to go home. Either way, Kara felt screwed.Saturn Girl turned around and faced the crowd, addressing it: “Everyone please welcome Supergirl to the Legion Headquarters, it is a great honor to have her here with us, in the 31st century.”
Kara had to admit she had never seen Imra like this, she seemed like a true leader, with regal manners, worthy of a prince.
Speaking of princes…While the Legionnaires queued in front of Supergirl to greet her, she couldn’t help but notice the absence of the two men she desperately wanted to see.Kara realized it was going to take a minute to memorize all of the new faces and names, including their superhero aliases and the even longer list of their abilities. A lot of them seemed really young too, barely eighteen, and she wondered what the criteria of admission to the Legion were.

Imra put her arm around a tall, beautiful girl whose skin was literally blue.
“Kara, I’m happy to introduce you to my wife, Shadow Lass, Tasmia Mallor.”
It seemed like a sort of strange deja-vù. The wife thing.
Except Imra wasn’t the one introduced, she wasn’t the wife, but she was introducing her wife.
Well, she was still a wife. Just to a different person. And Kara was really, really happy about it.
“Lovely to meet you, Tasmia.”“The pleasure is all mine. We’ve all heard such great things about you, we’re really excited to work by your side.”
The faintest blush appeared on her cheeks: Kara was used to compliments, she took them well, but compliments from another century? Those were not common, and she was grateful they all seemed so inspired by her.When Kara was done meeting the Legionnaires, Imra finally cleared up her doubts before she could ask. “They’re not here, they’re on a mission on Barvex, but they should be here soon.” She smiled knowingly, and, returning that smile, Kara could see a glimpse of the Imra she had gotten to know years earlier.
“How soon is soon?” Supergirl scratched her head, faking nonchalance, while she actually wanted to fidget anxiously with her sleeves again.
“Probably tonight. Do you mind if I show you around?”
“Not at all.”
Imra showed her around the room, explaining all the machinery and when it would be used. Right beneath the debriefing room was the armory, which was maybe quadruple in size compared to the DEO’s.
Then, a quite large medical bay, different training rooms, simulation rooms, and even classrooms, which caught Kara off guard.
“I know you’re wondering why we have classrooms, but we often take in people who despite being young, want to do good like the rest of us, and then we train them and help them become the best version of themselves.”
“That’s really honorable.” Kara’s heart grew in size, thinking about those teenagers who were probably just like her when she first arrived on Earth.“Here we have some apartments, I used to live here until I moved in with Tasmia,” Imra pointed at the doors, “That’s Mon-El’s, Winn used to live there, Ayla used to live next door, Dawnstar in here. Everybody moved out except for Mon-El. He says he prefers staying in the building in case of emergency.”
Kara huffed, “Typical.” She rolled her eyes but it sounded exactly like something she would’ve said.“I’ll give you the code to Dawnstar’s room. I’m sure she won’t mind you staying here.”
“Thank you, Imra.”
“Of course.”“By the way, being a leader really suits you.” Kara grinned, crossing her arms.
“Oh, thank you! But I’m in charge just temporarily, until Mon-El returns. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but I don’t know how Mon-El handles it all by himself every day.”
“By himself? That seems like a lot of responsibility for one person…”
“It is.”
“Did no one else step up and tell him that he should at least delegate some tasks to a couple of other members?”
“The ones closest to him did —me, Winn, Ayla and Tasmia, we were all up for it— but he doesn’t want to share the burden."Kara’s expression grew worried hearing this, but she couldn’t even blame Mon-El, because she did the exact same thing. That was why it had been so difficult to leave her friends.
“I’ll help him, then.”
“I’m sure he will be grateful, but don’t be surprised if he resists giving you harder tasks. If there has to be someone who he’s going to listen to, though, that would definitely be you.”“So, what do I do?”
“You can rest for now, I’ll let you know when they arrive.”
“Are you sure? I want to help.”
“There’s nothing to help with right now, I promise. Take a nap, get used to the new place, okay?”
Kara sighed and raised her hands in surrender, “Okay, fine!”Using the code, she entered the room, which seemed a little too pristine. It looked a lot like a fusion of the Legion cruiser interiors and a hotel suite, but she didn’t mind. Except she was definitely going to need help figuring out all the buttons and the wires and machines that didn’t even have a symbol on them. Finding the bed, Kara slipped under the covers and fell asleep.
When she woke up, Kara realized she had no way of telling how many hours had passed since she lay down: did they still use hours and minutes to calculate time in the 31st century? Were clocks still a thing?
Maybe she could’ve activated the virtual assistant with the sound of her voice.
“What time is it?” Kara said out loud and immediately regretted it, but then she heard knocking on her door.
Her heart pounded as she got up and stepped to the entrance.It definitely wasn’t someone tasked with telling people what time it was. It was…
“Winn! You’re here!”
“No, Kara, YOU ARE HERE!” He rightfully emphasized while welcoming her in a hug. “Did you just say ‘what time is it?’”
“Uh, yes. Do you still use watches?”
“Yes.”
“Great! I need one. Hi! I’m Kara!” She introduced herself to Ayla, who without doubt wasn’t expecting this kind of first interaction with the hero of 21st century Earth.
“I’m Ayla! It’s so good to finally meet you in person, you have no idea of how many times you’re brought up in conversation daily, either by Winn or Mary.”The little girl was hiding behind her mom, and Kara’s heart melted at the sight of her springy dark curls and her round cheeks: ”All good things I hope. Hi Mary, I’m so happy to meet you.” She crouched down to the child's height.
Winn whispered in his daughter’s ear, “Do you know who that is? That’s aunt Kara! The one from the stories I told you! With the incredible suit and cape that your daddy designed!”
It wouldn’t be Winn without a subtle praise for his work.Mary smiled but she still couldn't look Kara in the eye, “How old are you?” Kara continued.
“I’m six.” Mary's missing front teeth gave her a small lisp, officially making her the most adorable thing Kara’d seen that day.
“Oh wow, you’re the same age as my other niece, Esme! You’re such a grown up now. What do you like to do?”
“I like books and drawing.”
“I love books! Do you have a favorite?” That seemed to put Mary at ease, so much that she started listing many, many books and counting them on her fingers.
“I’m new here, so you’re gonna have to show me these stories, what do you think?” Mary grinned and nodded enthusiastically, as Kara stood straight again.“We have a lot to catch up on but-“
“We know, we know. He’s waiting for you upstairs. We’ll talk about everything tomorrow.”
Kara felt her own eyes pop wide open at the revelation and needed to apologize for cutting their conversation short, but even Ayla tilted her head towards the elevator and said “Go.”
Kara gave the couple one last apologetic look, before sprinting away to finally meet Mon-El.

She silently prayed to Rao for their first interaction in months to go well, telling herself that those worst case scenarios were totally absurd and impossible, and Mon-El wasn’t going to reprimand her for coming to the 31st century.The doors opened and much like earlier, the Legionnaires were scattered all over the place, but Kara’s eyes were only for Mon-El.
He stood rigidly in his suit with his arms crossed over his chest, but then, realizing the energy in the atmosphere had suddenly changed, he turned to the elevator doors.
Kara caught a flicker of something in his expression when their eyes met, but Mon-El’s face turned unreadable a second later.The room fell silent and Kara wondered if they could all hear how fast her heart was beating in that moment, or even how heavy her breath had become: she needed him to say something, before the ground swallowed her whole.
Mon-El only looked away from Kara when he realized how many people were expecting, quite literally, the reunion of the century, and prompted: “I think we should.. get out of here.”
“Good idea.”
“Follow me outside.” He took flight and headed outside to the balcony, waiting for Kara to follow suit.
As they soared through the sky, she wanted to ask so many questions, to look at whatever they were flying above, and stare at him at the same time to avoid missing one more second of the sight of him.
They landed just outside the chaos of the city, in an area that seemed to be untouched by advanced technology and innovation. A piece of the past, frozen in time: there were lampposts, benches, tables. It must’ve been an old park, with a beautiful view of the lit up buildings they left behind.They sat next to each other on one of the benches, looking at the cityscape. A safe amount of space between them.
Kara’s lips twisted to the side, realizing the unpleasant irony of having missed the sunset by mere minutes.
The vicious voices in the back of her mind croaked: “See, it’s too late.”
She shook herself to focus on the present.“I assume you have a lot of questions.” Kara spoke softly.
Mon-El replied earnestly, “Just one. Why?”
“I’ll answer that, but I need to ask you one first.”
And for the first time now, they were truly staring deeply into each other’s eyes.“Are you mad at me?”
Mon-El must have not expected such a question because a bittersweet laugh escaped his lips.
That single moment eased Kara’s mind, but she still felt like she needed to be cautious around him.
“No, I’m just… confused.”
“Yeah. I guess it is a quick turnaround.”
“So, are you gonna answer my one question?”
“Do you want the long answer or the short one?”
“It seems like we have plenty of time to catch up. So, the long answer.”“You’ll probably know by now I revealed my identity to the world and Cat made me editor-in-chief.”
His mouth opened slightly, “I- I did not know that second part. That’s incredible, Kara.”
She could feel her cheeks heating up, feeling suddenly like this moment had gotten more intimate than it was supposed to. “Thank you.”
“After Cat interviewed me, she grilled me with even more questions about things that weren’t meant to be televised. Well, mostly one thing. That’s you.”
Seeing Mon-El so taken aback she added, “I know. I wasn’t expecting it either.”
“What did she ask?”Kara interrupted their eye contact and sighed, “She wanted to know who you were and what happened… between us. And I told her everything.”
Mon-El nodded, looking down at his hands.
Kara continued explaining: “When I told her about the Legion, she asked me why I was still there holding onto Earth, when the 31st century was the solution to all the problems I’ve created for myself. She made me realize I’ve never made space for Kara Zor-El to live her best life, because I was always too focused on balancing Kara Danvers and Supergirl. So, I decided to come here, where I felt like I could feel free of the burden of my made-up identities while still helping the planet.”Kara tried holding back from telling Mon-El the whole truth: she still didn’t know how he felt about her but she needed to find her bravery again.
He had remained awfully quiet despite what she revealed. She felt him slip away from her. No. Not away.
She could see him holding back as well, trying to be almost too diplomatic and rational, like this was just another negotiation for the Legion. And she hated it.Kara finally took a deep breath and stopped tiptoeing around.
“Why didn’t you come back for the wedding?”Now it was Mon-El’s turn to take a deep breath. “You know I couldn’t do it.” His voice was stern, not a single trace of emotion behind it.
“Don’t give me the same vague response you gave me after the funeral. I want the long answer. The real one.”She tried looking for his eyes but they were still lost on the city beside them: Mon-El seemed to be calculating his words, deleting them and rewriting them again and again in his head.
“I was scared I was going to do something I would’ve regretted in the long run.”
Kara’s forehead crinkled in confusion, “What is that supposed to mean?”Mon-El’s walls started to come down, and the truth started spilling out: “I wanted to come back. I wanted to so bad I was doubting whether staying in the 31st century was even good for me anymore. And I knew that if I had stayed with you one more day, I was never going to leave you again.”
Kara felt lightheaded, but she couldn’t miss the way he gulped before saying more.
“But William had just died. You were in such a vulnerable state that just being in your presence felt selfish. I had no right to be the person consoling you after the man you loved just died. So, I left as quickly as I arrived, in a way that would stop me from starting to miss you… to miss us, together.”
And suddenly, it clicked.

He thought Kara was in love with William.She couldn’t handle the strength of her feelings in that moment.
The simultaneous frustration and relief kept her from speaking for several seconds:
“William was one of my best friends, but I wasn’t dating him. I wasn’t in love with him.”Mon-El quickly turned to Kara, trying to disguise how perplexed he was: “But I- I thought.. I didn’t mean to—”
“No, it’s okay, technically we did try dating.”
He scratched his cheek nervously, “And it didn’t work?”
“Uh, we went on a couple of dates, then I ended up in the Phantom Zone, and by the time I got back to National City, he was already seeing someone else.”
He blinked rapidly at the mention of the Phantom Zone, like he was trying to forget about it.
“Right… I just thought you were together because of what Winn said after he showed up in your time.”
Mon-El seemed genuinely embarrassed, but Kara was quick to reassure him. “We wouldn’t have worked out anyway. I was just trying to get over my fears.”
The breeze around them seemed to become colder, but it could’ve just been her imagination.
Kara’s tears began to prickle her eyes.
“You really hurt me when you said you were never coming back.”
Mon-El closed his, grimacing as if he’d just been stabbed by her words.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it. I was trying to put the Legion before anything else.”
He then dragged a hand across his face and turned to Kara again, “What would you have said if you had been in my place?”Kara felt trapped, as silence fell between them, because she knew she would’ve said the same thing.
“We need to stop telling ourselves we’re selfish.” She chuckled but there was no amusement behind her statement.
“I’m just trying to follow your example.”
“Mon-El, all of that… was crap. Look at our friends! They never thought that wanting to be with someone was irresponsible. They never made a choice. They save the world standing next to each other every day. But we convinced ourselves that being together was impossible.”
“It is.”
“It was. We’ve had to face the Daxamite invasion, time travelling wormholes, Worldkillers, multiple versions of Lex Luthor, but why shouldn’t we give ourselves a chance now?”
Mon-El smirked humorlessly while raking a hand through his hair, “You just listed some of the reasons why.”
“Can’t you see? We always defeated them!”

He finally stood up, exasperated: “I’m terrified of losing you forever! Okay? What if you get sick of being here? What if something happens and it tears us apart? What if you don’t love this version of me? What if one of us dies? What if what we told ourselves was right, all along?”Kara hadn’t seen Mon-El so distraught in years.
She stood up and put her hands on his, moving them between their chests afterward: she wanted to take all of his insecurities away and help him realize that nothing could ever break them apart again. “I’m scared, too."The wind picked up and it seemed to pull their capes towards the city, but if that was a sign, Kara decided to ignore it.
“If it’s what you need, we’ll relearn who we are day by day. Just don’t tell me to stay away from you because the Legion is what matters the most.”
Mon-El intertwined their fingers and rested his forehead on hers: he breathed in slowly and his voice rasped, “I don’t want you to stay away.”
“Then I won’t.”“Do you think we can start over?”
“I know we can.”
He pulled away from Kara, “In that case,” he extended his arm between them, “My name is Mon-El. I’m just a boy from Daxam.”
His cheeks got colorful and his smile brighter, Kara mirrored his action: “I’m Kara, I’m a girl from Krypton. I can’t believe we were planet neighbors and didn’t know.” She beamed at the man she loved, thinking about how far they’d come since they first met.
“I’ve been living here for a long time and I’ve never seen you in town, do you mind if I show you around?”
“Of course not.”There was a silent agreement between them to not fly this time, so they could take their time, walking side by side down the hill.
Under the starlight, Kara looked at Mon-El, finally feeling like the weight on her shoulders was starting to melt away.

“Have things changed since you came back here with Winn?”
“Yeah. I feel like Winn himself changed the Legion.”
“How so?”
Mon-El scratched his beard again, “His relationship with Ayla specifically did that: see, once we joined the group, we didn’t really have time to date people. Or at least, that’s what we told ourselves. But Winn and Ayla proved us wrong, and so more Legionnaires started giving love a chance.”Kara smiled widely and aww’ed, she could feel how happy her best friend had become since he had started his family. “But wait, what about you and Imra all those years ago?”
Mon-El bit his lip like he was expecting that exact reply.
“We weren’t as happy as you thought, Kara. Actually, I believe we were the main reason the other Legionnaires thought relationships were a terrible idea.” He chuckled, saying the last two words.
Kara chewed the inside of her cheek, “And are you happier now?”
He paused, his eyes bore into hers: a timid smile broke open over his lips, “I think I am.”

The silence between them didn’t feel uncomfortable, on the contrary, just enjoying each other’s presence quietly was enough.
Their arms were swinging dangerously close, their fingers threatened to touch, but they stubbornly kept them just out of reach.

All of a sudden, Kara felt a water drop on her cheek and realized the stars that were hovering above them just minutes earlier were now covered by dark clouds.
And then another drop, and another one, and so forth until they couldn’t tell single drops apart.
Mon-El didn't run to take cover, so Kara stood still too.
He glanced at the sky, and then back at her again: “It hasn’t rained in months.”
His voice was merely a whisper. Kara knew it wasn’t the weather that gave her goosebumps.She closed her eyes, and inevitably thought about when she stood in the rain to give Mon-El her last kiss.
Kara had no idea what the future held for them, but she knew that memory would forever cut deep into her core.
Mon-El’s hands reached for her cheeks, “Open your eyes.” His thumbs moved underneath them.
It was only in that moment that she realized that she was crying, and he was trying to stop those tears from falling.That was just a memory. He was there with her now and there was nothing to cry about anymore.“You okay?” His thumbs kept moving in soft brushes on her cheekbones, “Yeah, just…” She trailed off, “yeah.”
Mon-El nodded back, and when his hands left her skin, Kara mourned the loss of his touch and immediately needed more.

They spent the rest of the walk back home pretending the rain didn’t exist, chatting about everything, from the silliest things to important matters such as rivalries and crushes between Legionnaires, how Mon-El was hoping to bring back the concept of an all-you-can-eat restaurant, the latest rescues, and oh yeah, the fact that Kara’s dad was still alive.By the time they walked through the headquarters’ doors, the storm had cleared and their hair was dry but messily sticking to their foreheads: neither of them knew how many hours had passed, they just knew they didn’t want their night to end yet.
“Do you need a towel?” Mon-El asked once they reached the hallway between their apartments.
“You know what, I probably do.”Kara had already seen multiple towels in her bathroom, but she wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to see where Mon-El lived. Maybe he was doing that on purpose, too. She acknowledged how desperate that sounded.
Alex would’ve smacked her head.She followed him inside and was shocked by the sight, “Wow.”
Mon-El raised a brow, “That didn’t seem like a good ‘wow’.”
“It looks great, don’t get me wrong, but I would’ve never guessed somebody has been living here for years.”
The little apartment wasn’t that different from hers, both in looks and in emptiness.
“Woah, so I used to be too messy and now I’m too tidy?” He laughed shaking his head, “I can never win with you.”
“You jerk, I just mean there’s not a single personal item here! But maybe you are tidy and I simply can’t understand 31st century Minimalism yet.”
“Mmh yes, exactly. Let this jerk grab you a towel.”Kara tried coming up with more excuses to spend more time together but those few ideas seemed to toe the line between normal and creepy, and she didn’t want to risk ruining everything when things were still so fragile.“Thank you. For this, for tonight in general.”
“Of course, it’s been a while since I had a night like this. I hope you’ll enjoy this place.”
She patted her hair with the towel, needing to do something with her hands, “I think I already do.” Her cheeks were flushed, and she knew Mon-El could probably see them.“I’m really happy you’re here.”
Mon-El’s voice was suddenly an octave deeper and that was enough to make Kara sweat. “Me too.”
She needed to get out, she had already stayed longer than planned.
“Good night, Mon-El.”Kara headed towards her room, feeling the air buzz with electricity after their conversation, until she realized Mon-El didn’t say anything back.
She didn’t hear his door shut, either. Her heart was racing with urgency, like it needed to get out of her chest and into his hands.
Mon-El’s eyes were on her and she could feel their intensity coating her body.Kara dared to look back and found him standing, with his lips slightly parted, taking slow breaths.The caution they’d been wearing all day finally snapped like a rubber band, making them crash into one another: Kara literally sped into Mon-El’s room as his arms opened to welcome her. The impact made him stumble a few steps backwards, but in the moment their lips finally met, nothing else mattered.

It was powerful, it was desperate, it was as if this was their last night on Earth.
Mon-El picked Kara up and her legs circled his waist like a belt, her hands roamed up and down his back and she could feel he needed this just as much as she did. But when her back hit a wall, Kara remembered something and said “Wait.”
Mon-El moved his head and she instantly saw the lust in his eyes turn into something resembling worry.

“I just wanted to say that I really meant it when I told you that we could start all over.”
“I know.”
“And we can stop immediately if you think you’ll regret this.”
He responded to that with a crooked smile, then going for a kiss on her cheek, “I would never regret anything about you, especially-“ his voice got lower, “when it comes to kissing you, after I’ve been dying to do it for a decade.”
Kara grinned as chills travelled down her spine, Mon-El resumed kissing her leaving a trail of tender pecks on her neck.She smiled, not only because his beard on her skin tickled, but mostly because in that moment, Kara was more sure than ever about her choices. Her choice to go to the 31st century, her choice to give her relationship with Mon-El another chance; she felt confident in a way she wasn't sure she'd ever felt before.They stripped out of their suits laughing in-between kisses, with the goofiness one could only share with the person who knew them better than anyone else: it felt like no time had passed since they'd shared a bed, but they both felt the same nerves as their first time. Maybe they weren't starting over, but they were undoubtedly beginning a brand new chapter of their lives together.

Kara fell asleep listening to Mon-El's heartbeat, with her body sprawled over his: his hands were resting on her back, her hair was nearly entangled with the old necklace that now lay on his chest.Once Mon-El noticed she was stirring awake, he began kissing the crown of her head and caressing it. Kara rubbed her hand on her eye and slowly adjusted to the morning light, “Good morning.” She yawned.
“Good morning.”They both remained silent for a few seconds, trying to memorize this moment, trying to figure out how lucky they'd gotten to live this outside of their dreams.Kara raised her head and gave Mon-El a quick kiss, only interrupted by their uncontainable smiles, “How long have you been awake?”
“Not too long.”
“I can't believe you're the early bird in the relationship now.”
He laughed and she continued, “What other shocking changes am I gonna find out next?”
“Well, sorry to disappoint you, but that's probably the biggest one. Other than that, you haven't missed out on much.”“So I should still expect to find your socks all over the floor.” Kara twisted his necklace around her index finger.
“Correct.”
“Broken appliances?”
“I'm the expert on those here.”
“That's a nice way to say I'm probably going to break something in the next 24 hours.”

She realized how much she’d missed this part of their relationship, the bickering and teasing, the laughing and the eye-rolling.“Wanna know something else that hasn't changed?”
“Mh-mh.”
“I still love waking up next to you.”

It was incredible how even after all those years, most of them spent apart from each other, Mon-El just knew how to unleash a hurricane of butterflies in Kara's belly, with just a word, a touch, a kiss. "Me too."
She could feel those three words, the ones that had been buried and hidden in a deep corner of her heart, on the tip of her tongue. "It's too early," she thought: just looking at him with all the love she could muster would have to suffice for that moment.He got out of bed, but not before giving her his sweetest, slowest, most sensual good morning kiss.
"So, what's on today's schedule?"
"We don't have any pressing matters as of right now, it's just a few classes."

She moved to the edge of the bed, "Ooh! Are you the teacher?"
"Unfortunately, not today." He laughed at Kara's disappointed face, "Today's lessons should be Modern Technology, Fighting Techniques and Thanagarian History.
"That's fun, I guess."
"Speaking of technology, do you want me to teach you how to use our showers?"
"I don't know if you mean that in a literal or a sexy way, but my answer is yes in both instances."

Kara hurried after Mon-El into the bathroom. He shook his head and smiled at her excitement.
They knew the Legionnaires would mock them and roll their eyes if they ever saw them being all over each other like teenagers, so after their long and thorough “shower”, Kara and Mon-El tried to be as nonchalant and professional as possible. They needed to focus on work and not the past night's activities.While riding the elevator to the debriefing room, Kara suddenly remembered she had some things to tell him:
“I have two messages for you, from the 21st century. One is from Alex and Kelly and the other is from Brainy.”
“Uh-oh.”
“You're not in trouble, don't worry. Alex just wanted to say that you owe her and Kelly, but mostly her, the biggest, best wedding gift ever since they didn't expect you to skip it.”
“Okay, I'm on it.” He nodded confidently.

“And Brainy… he just said he was sorry, and that he understands now.”
She saw a glimpse of surprise in Mon-El’s gaze and his smile barely concealed the sadness beneath it.
His arm circled her shoulders and he kissed her temple: she didn't know what it all meant, but in that moment, she saw in his eyes those same three words she kept thinking about.The elevator doors opened, and a new chapter that almost resembled an entirely different life was awaiting Kara.