A/N: Hey, everyone. I know I've been lax on 'You Can't Go Home Again'. There's reason for that. I'll be covering for a storyliner at work as she has a baby, so... I'm swamped. But I haven't forgotten it. I will not leave it.

The story you'll find here is just a one-shot. Sometimes they just come along. Stories that refuse to be quiet, and beg to be told.

Hope it keeps you happy, until normal service resumes. As always, thanks for your phenomenal support and encouragement.

G.

Summary: Clark's final thoughts... as it all comes down. that simple, really...

The song lyrics are from 'My Immortal', by Evanescence.

"Until The Stars Die"

I'm so tired of being here

Suppressed by all my childish fears

And if you have to leave

I wish that you would just leave

Your presence still lingers here

And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much

That time cannot erase

When you cried

I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream

I'd fight away all of your fears

And I held your hand

Through all of these years

But you still have…

All of me

The sky was ripped apart.

The comforting fabric – the colour of hope and the host of a billion dreams – was painted in blood.

Light so bright, so fierce, so burning…

He forced himself to keep his eyes open, to sear this last, crushing memory into every part of his indomitable soul.

After this, there would be no more memories.

Nobody to carry them forward, for there was no future waiting.

This was the end of the world.

And he would face it as he had faced every other test these past two thousand plus years – with fortitude, with strength, with humility, and, held secure in the depths of his being, the memories of those he'd met along the way…

~*~*~*~*~

"That's it, son… just like that. Gently, gently now… don't hurt her."

"Ew, dad! Gross! Milk's supposed to come from the fridge, not Bessie!"

~*~*~*~*~

Had he always known that it would come to this?

Was this not his greatest fear?

That the power he'd been blessed with – the power that enabled him to help so many – would be the very force that dragged him to this day?

The last day.

~*~*~*~*~

"Honey, what's wrong? Please… tell me. I can't help you if you won't tell me."

"No."

"It's okay. Whatever it is, we can deal with it. But you have to trust me."

"She… she called me a freak! Was she right, mom? Is that what I am? A freak?"

"No… Oh, God, honey, no… You're beautiful… You're special…"

~*~*~*~*~

They're coming faster now, these flashes of pain from a distant past.

He was amazed he could still recall them.

Not just sound bites, or fleeting images, no… He remembered everything.

The way his mother smelled on a Sunday afternoon, after long hours in the kitchen – like cinnamon and home.

The rough texture of his father's hands as he hoisted him up onto his shoulders – so he could know what it's like to be a giant.

Hazy days of summer in a forgotten field, long washed away by the unforgiving seas…

~*~*~*~*~

"I can't believe you! You could not be more wrong!"

"What? Are you actually deluded enough to think that you're right about this?"

"I am right! Clark, tell her!"

"I think this is a stupid argument."

"See, Chlo? Clark agrees with me!"

"Ladies and gentleman, Pete Ross! The master of self-delusion!"

"Oh, why don't you go swallow a dictionary?"

"Why don't you go jump in the lake?"

"Guys, please! It's hot, and I'm tired! Can't we just end this?"

"No. Not until Chloe agrees that Coke is better than Pepsi!"

~*~*~*~*~

Two thousand years.

Two thousand years… and he could still be surprised.

To laugh, actually laugh on a day like this.

The ground beneath his crimson boots shuddered, a deep rumbling from the core of the dying planet that seemed to echo his laughter. The next minute it wrenched, and split, spewing ash and molten lava into the already tortured sky.

He took to the air – once a sanctuary, and now just a reminder of deeds long forgotten – and dreams long dead…

~*~*~*~*~

"You promised! You promised me that you loved me! Only me!"

"It was a child's promise, Lana… you know that. We've changed. Grown apart. Can't you…? Can't you just be happy for me?"

"No…"

~*~*~*~*~

That he could still feel pain was no surprise. Yet, still, he was grateful for it.

The chronicles of his life, contrary to the view held by those who used to teem the earth, were not coated in lustre and glory alone.

Yes, they called him saviour – for dubious reasons.

Yes, they called him hero – for the sacrifices he so willingly took as he faced their nightmares for them.

But it wasn't a life filled with Happily Ever Afters…

The crumbling mountains around him proved that there was no such thing.

There were times when he was called by other names:

Zealot.

Fraud.

Tyrant.

And, worst of all… Betrayer…

~*~*~*~*~

"You were wrong. After all these years… All the battles won and lost… The speeches. The posturing. The mask you never wore is finally slipping, and I see the real you. You were always, always afraid of me."

"That isn't true. The only fear I had, was that I wouldn't be able to save you!"

"I don't need you to save me!"

"Yes you do! Yes, you do! Please, don't do this! For the love of God, don't do this! I'm here! You have me! I'm on my knees! You win! Just don't… don't do this… For the love of God…"

"There is no God, Clark. There's only me…"

"Lex, please… No…"

"In the end… God is a bullet…"

~*~*~*~*~

The roar that punched from his throat seemed to silence the apocalypse raging around him. The earth stilled for brief flashes of eternity, and the heavens ceased their screaming coda.

It was pure anguish.

The sound of a life ripped asunder – split forever to drift across the nameless universe.

So many faces.

So many names that called their futile cries across the centuries…

Diana. Carter. Brescia. Landon. Tyler. Anuki-San. Qwazway. Bruce. Lobo. Hiro. Thobela. Oliver. Kem-L. Bart. Victor. Agamemnon. Martha. Jonathan. Ozymandias. Pete. Lana. Mxy. Chloe. Lex.

Heroes and villains all.

The tapestry of life, and the triumph of all that is humanity – it's treasures and tragedies… singing to him across the aeons.

He treasured the passion and the pain he'd known through each of them.

But there was one.

One face he saw now, as the blaze rose.

One voice he heard now, as the thunder crashed in.

One love…

Just one…

~*~*~*~*~

"Tell me one thing you know…"

"I know I love you. I know I always will."

"And I know you're full of it."

"You don't believe me?"

"I believe that you believe… but it doesn't work that way, Smallville. It can't."

"Yes it can. Even if it's never happened before, so what? We can be the first."

"Come on… the greatest love story ever told?"

"Why not?"

"Because that's asking too much. Even of you."

"Maybe… but it's not asking too much of you."

"Please..."

"You're Lois Lane… the one and only. Long after I'm gone, your name's going to echo into eternity."

"You've been reading too much poetry."

"And you haven't been reading enough."

"You think so?"

"Say it…"

"Say what?"

"Say the words."

"Why?"

"You know why…"

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. Because you knew it before I did. You felt it when I was numb, and saw it when I was blind. You knew… And you know now. So say it."

"I love you."

"For how long?"

"Always and forever."

"See? I told you."

"Your turn."

"I love you."

"For how long?"

"Until the stars die…"

~*~*~*~*~

Silence.

An infinity of silence.

The final flash, as the sun turned red, and collapsed, like the fading chords of a never-written song.

Silence.

The world ended, not with a bang…

But with silence.

Except…

Except for one last breath, issued from the lips of the one who gave more than any…

The last witness.

The last hero.

The last to feel his heart break.

A single whisper that, as promised, echoed into eternity…

Lois…

~fin~

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