Ding dong!
Kara springs out of her couch so fast that she gets to the doorbell before the delivery man even lifts his finger off of the buzzer. He jumps in utter surprise because suddenly, there was a blonde woman practically drooling over the box of pizza and containers of potstickers - whose face looked like it was about to crack from the face-splitting open-mouthed smile she had while staring at the pizza box - that he almost lets go of it.
He was outside of Kara's building, just ringing the doorbell and was about to buzz in and let her know that her pizza was here but she beat him to the punch.
In Kara's defense, it was pizza; why the hell would anyone waste any time walking when they had super speed to take her to her pizza in a split second? She grabs the food and drinks with both hands and resists the urge to open it and inhale everything in one go.
(Kara actually discovered on her first year on earth, that in fact, she actually can inhale large sums of food through her mouth.)
Instead, she quickly hands him the payment.
"Here's $20; keep the change. Thank you!"
She turns around and slams the door before he can even thank her. She turns to her left and right quickly, scanning if there was anyone in the hall. Finding no one, she bucked her knees and pushed herself off the ground with a whoosh, flying up the stairs and back to her apartment. It takes her less than a split second to get on her couch and start devouring her dinner.
Kara Danvers - wavy sunshine blonde hair, beautiful ocean blue eyes - scarfs down every last bit of pizza there was in that box; she doesn't miss some of the cheese and pepperoni stuck in the corners either. It wasn't the prettiest of sights, but no one was there to tell Kara to take it easy so she has no frickin' reason to. She'd been flying around National City and running up and down the CatCo building all day - this pizza and the ugly-eating that she's currently doing is well deserved and Kara would fight anyone who says otherwise.
She slurps all of her supersized slushie in one go before letting out a satisfied sigh, and smiling happily. She relaxes and enjoys her food euphoria for a few moments before she hears the familiar happy melody of her ringtone.
Follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road!
Follow the yellow brick, follow the yellow brick, follow the yellow brick road!
You're off to see the wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz!
Kara gets up and starts skipping to her room, still on a joyous high from her pizza, to grab her phone. It was Alex - must be another DEO job - and since she's just replenished her energy, she presses the green answer button right away.
"Heya, go for Kara!"
She mentally points out to herself how that rhymes while she taps her foot, smiling still.
"Wow, someone's chipper."
Alex sounds like her usual self, a little too cool to be bothered, but Kara knows how soft a marshmallow she is inside.
"Two words. Pizza. Potstickers. What's up?"
Kara pops her lips around the 'p' and rocks back and forth on the balls of her feet.
"Ah, that explains it." Alex chuckles and Kara can almost see Alex shaking her head at the other end. Her sister is nothing but predictable when it comes to food. "We just have an alien disguised as human here at the DEO, and while he hasn't done anything to harm anyone or damage property, we have him in confinement because he somehow knew where the DEO is and what we are. He also asked for you by name - Kara Zor-El."
"Really?" Kara mashes her lips together in thought. That's interesting; few beings know of her birth name. Who could that be? "Okay. Tell him I'll be there in two minutes."
"My mama told me when I was young
We are all born superstars
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir."
The alien sings, moving his body fluidly along to his own melody - his voice nothing short of an angelic tenor, his hands moving, twisting and twirling along in the air. "There's nothing wrong with loving who you are, she said, 'cause he made you perfect, babe."
Alex watches the alien through the glass doors of his cell and listens to him sing and hum - she'd kept the comms on because she wanted to interrogate him, but he wouldn't answer her questions and he insisted that he would only speak to her sister before completely ignoring her to sing. He (if it was a he) was sporting the face of an attractive man but painted with heavy, drag queen makeup - perfect winged eyeliner, sleek eyebrows, long lashes, and all the colors of the rainbow as eyeshadow - and had a milk chocolate complexion, and had purple-colored irises that seemed to glitter. He had on a glittery blazer that shone with the colors of the rainbow every time the light touched it, with pointy, padded shoulders, a matching bow tie, black dress shirt, black pants, and black shoes. His hair was beach blonde, styled in an undercut with a long wavy fringe.
Alex was torn between being pissed at the alien for ignoring her, being impressed at his vocal prowess and performance, being confused with his overall look, or greeting him a "Happy Pride" while pointing to herself and mouthing, "lesbian" because he was so damn adorably fruity, and his clothes were cute and flamboyant.
(She's still unsure what kind of Alien he is and the idea of the SOGIE spectrum might not even exist for him, but still, it's nice to be in the presence of a fellow gay.)
The alien gets to the chorus and belts it out, dancing along, just as Kara - puffed chest, chin held high - strides into the room.
"I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this waaaay!"
Kara stops at Alex's side and applauds the other alien's performance. His head snaps and he grins at her appearance.
"Beautiful song." Kara quips, keeping her face straight.
The alien bows and waves his hand with a flourish.
"Thank you." He straightens up and clasps his hands behind his back. "Kara Zor-El, we finally meet." He moves forward, closer to the glass.
"What do you want?" Kara's voice takes on a more serious, authoritative tone - her Supergirl voice. She crosses her arms. "How do you know who I am?"
The alien chuckles.
"Oh, from where I am, everyone knows who you are." He smiles. "And I-" He does a little tippity-tap dance with his feet, then twirls around, extending his arm to the side as he faces her again, before continuing. "- am here to help you."
Kara uncrosses her arms and lets them rest at her sides. She tilts her head to the side, trying to read the curious alien before her, before taking slow steps forward, closer to the cell. She doesn't trust this alien one bit, but he seems harmless enough after a quick scan of her x-ray vision; he was also in a DEO cell, so she wasn't so worried. Alex puts a hand on her shoulder, cautioning her, but she looks at her sister and smiles to let her know it's okay. She turns to the alien.
"Help me how? With what?" Kara stands before him now, just few feet between them. He stands at the same height as her, so they were eye to eye. He grins impishly.
"Well…" He starts, before breaking out into song once again. "And I see your true colors shining through; I see your true colors…" He holds the last note and lets the melody fade.
Kara's brow creases while Alex takes a step forward, clearly pissed off.
"Okay, Gene Kelly, we don't have the time for all this sing and dance. Spill it or I will make you." Alex's voice was calm, quiet, but cold and threatening.
The alien stares at her in shock, dramatically putting a hand over his heart.
"Oh, Gene Kelly? Really? You're comparing me to a white cisgendered straight man?"
He had the chutzpah to be the one offended when he was the one wasting their time and seemingly playing with them, and it made Alex's blood puts a hand on her arm, knowing that her sister is already angry. She takes a deep breath to calm herself but feels her eye twitch.
The alien feels the waves of annoyance off of the agent and tries to placate her
"Okay, Sis, I was just kidding. Y'all need to chill." He pops his tongue at the end of the sentence and it does nothing to lessen Alex's vexation, but he continues. "As I said, I am here to help Ms. Kara Zor-El here to find her true self." He smiles at them once again.
"Find my true self? What do you mean?" Kara asks him, brow furrowed in confusion once again.
The alien smirks, then too quick for even Kara to see, he phases through the glass doors of the cage and takes her hand, kissing the back of it. She widens her eyes in surprise and when she tries to retract her hand, she realizes that she's frozen in place from the neck down. Alex discovers herself in the same position.
"They call me the Pride Master." He straightens up and both the Danvers sisters' eyes follow him in alarm. "But you guys can call me Tod - we'll practically be one big gay family after all this."
And then, both of the sisters' worlds go black.
The warm rays of the sun filter through the windows and touch Kara's eyelids. She slowly opens her eyes, and everything is a blur. She feels disoriented. But a few second later, her vision starts to clear up. She realizes that she's on a huge bed, melting into the most comfortable mattress she's ever laid on, in an unfamiliar room. But something tells her that this was home, so she smiles and doesn't feel threatened or unsafe at all. All of a sudden, she feels a splitting migraine come on that seems like it's trying to break her skull into two.
She groans and puts both of her hands to her head. It eventually fades after a few moments.
She opens her eyes again to take in her surroundings.
The room she was in was spacious but homey, it put her at a level of ease that can only be rivaled by her own apartment and Eliza's house in midvale. The walls were painted a beautiful ivory, the furnitures seemed to all be antiques made of mahogany - the nightstand, the dresser, the bed frame, and the door - with accents of gold.
The room was beautiful, but looked and felt incredibly expensive - out of her pocket expensive. She wonders how she could have afforded a stay at this place, if she was on vacation. She doesn't even consider that this might actually be her own home.
Then, the smell of pancakes waft through the air and Kara finds herself closing her eyes and savoring the scent.
"Mmmm." She hums. "That smells delicious."
She finds herself slowly getting up and walking to the door barefoot. She then hears soft music playing and the voice of a woman humming along (a little off-key, but it was lovely, nonetheless). The sound makes her heart flutter and a warmth spreads across her chest and ripples to the tips of her toes and fingers. She smiles and lets her senses guide her to the source.
She reaches the kitchen, where she finds a woman with long hair that looks soft as silk and dark as the vast universe and just as beautiful. The woman was flipping pancakes while humming along to the first lines of "She Keeps Me Warm" by Mary Lambert.
"She says I smell like safety and home
I named both of her eyes forever and please don't go
I could be a morning sunrise all the time, all the time yeah
This could be good, this could be good..."
When the woman turns around, she sees alabaster skin, and piercing green eyes that she could lose herself in.
Kara realizes that she knows this woman: Lena Luthor.
Lena's eyes widen and she jumps in surprise, not hearing Kara approach at all.
Kara finds herself speaking without her brain sending the signals for her mouth to move.
"Te zrhemin." She says, still smiling warmly. "My wife."
Kara realizes that for some reason, she doesn't have control over her body. She feels like her subconscious has taken the wheel and her conscious is now in the backseat.
"Oh my God, Kara!" Lena exclaims, hand over heart. "You're-you're…" She stammers, eyes roaming all over Kara's body, before bursting out in laughter. "Oh, my darling…" She puts the pan and spatula down before rushing to grab Kara's face in her hands and crush their lips together in a sweet, firm kiss.
Lena leans back, laughing again.
"What is it?" Kara finds herself asking softly through a lazy smile. The kiss triggers sparks erupting at her nerve endings yet at the same time only starts a small fire at the pit of her stomach. It was a really good kiss.
She studies Lena's face, as if seeing it again for the first time. The woman was so breathtakingly beautiful that Kara thinks she's never seen anyone else look this good.
"Um, darling, you know I love seeing you like this…" Lena bites her lip then continues. "And I know Lexie is only two and she won't really care, but you shouldn't eat your breakfast butt naked." She smirks.
Kara only then realizes that there was a third, smaller person there with them. She turns to the direction of the child who just turned two, strapped to and sitting on her high chair. She was wearing a blue and red bib with the House of El crest on it, holding out her tiny hands towards Kara, opening and closing her palms, while blabbering, "Yeyu! Yeyu! Up!"
Lexie. She hears the name echo within her mind.
Alexandra. Her mind supplies her with the child's name. It means defender of mankind.
Alexandra Shara Luthor-Danvers.
Shara was a Kryptonian name; her wife had insisted on a Kryptonian second name because their daughter had half of Kara's genes. It was shortened from shahrrehth, which means hope.
Her daughter embodied both Lena and Kara's dreams; a protector and a symbol of hope.
Only then does the haze lift and everything sinks in with Kara.
Her wife.
Her daughter.
She is married to Lena Luthor and they have a human-kryptonian daughter.
And everything goes black once again.
Kara hears the soft melody of the cello's strings being plucked first, then the piano, then the sound of the violin resonates, giving the music a fuller, richer sound. She recognized this song - she loved listening to it before when she first came to earth because it calmed her.
Then she hears the crescendo, and she breathes in the music, goosebumps erupting on her skin.
She opens her eyes. There is no migraine this time, but a feeling of anxiety and excitement was over her - her hands tremble and she struggles to breathe. She feels a wetness on her cheek and she realizes that the difficulty in breathing was because she was crying softly.
She was in something that looked like a cross between a church and the hall on Krypton where the Jewel of Truth was contained. She was at a wedding.
Then she realizes, she's at her wedding.
She looks down at herself and sees that she's wearing a white wedding gown but designed after the formal wear on Krypton. She feels the traditional Kryptonian band on her forehead in lieu of a veil and the wedding bracelets on her wrists. She was already walking, slowly, still not in control of her body.
A deep voice speaks beside her.
"Are you ready?"
It was J'onn. Fresh tears stream down her face, and she nods, lip quivering. J'onn just smiles at her, holding back tears of his own.
"I love you as my own daughter, Kara." He chokes a little, and looks down, clearing his throat. A wave of affection for this man washes over her - he's been the steady hand that she needed to guide her, the understanding parental figure when she was lost and struggling to find herself.
And now, he's walking her to the altar and giving her away to her true love - the one person she was going to spend the rest of her life with. Kara puts her head against his shoulder, side-hugging him with one arm tightly. He returns the hug before speaking again.
"I am so happy for you, Kara, so happy that you found her - so happy for you both."
They reach the middle of the hall where the former president, Olivia Marsdin, stood as officiant of her wedding. The woman kindly smiled at her.
The hall was arranged differently; there was no aisle in the middle for the bride to walk on but instead arranged like a theater where the seats were in rows and Kara entered from the side.
Then the doors at the other end of the hall opened and Lena Luthor walks out, in the most beautiful traditional white wedding gown - the bodice was covered in beautiful white lace while the neckline plunged into a tasteful 'v' down her chest, the straps of the dress covered in beautiful swarovski crystals, with a ballgown skirt that made her look so regal and a long trail behind her - holding a wedding bouquet of white roses. Lena's hair was in a simple bun with a veil covering her face. She also had wedding bracelets that stood out against the dress, but it didn't diminish her perfection at all.
In fact, for Kara, seeing Lena with Kryptonian wedding bands made her heart both soar and ache.
Kara is bursting with happiness and she can't think of a more beautiful sight than Lena walking towards her, towards the middle of this hall, to marry her.
Marry her.
She and Lena Luthor were getting married, in the most beautiful combination of human and kryptonian traditions - a beautiful symbol of their union, the union of their cultures, and the future of humans and alienkind on earth.
Kara's heart swells and she worries her chest won't be able to contain it anymore.
Lena Luthor was her bride.
And there was no aisle because there were two brides for this wedding.
Lena stops just a few feet away from her - arm tucked into Winn, the man giving her away.
Her mind supplies her of the missing details; Winn and Lena bonding after many days and nights of collaborating on inventions for the DEO, on figuring out how alien technologies work, over game nights and sci-fi movies and shows, over a shared history of darkness in their families, of the worry that they, too, might share some of that darkness inside them.
It was perfect. Winn was like the brother Lena needed after Lex lost his mind and was locked away.
Kara almost doesn't hear the president begin the ceremony.
"We gather here today, not only to celebrate the love between two amazing, powerful women." Olivia begins, her voice carrying through the hall easily. "But also to celebrate the joining of two people of differing cultures, differing backgrounds - a human and a kryptonian." She looks at Kara and Lena, chuckling. "A Luthor and a Super."
Those in attendance join her, laughing quietly.
Kara and Lena laugh, too, looking at each other with so much love.
Olivia continues.
"Both equals, both heroes in their own right." Olivia looks at Lena with a warm smile and pauses to allow the statement to sink in. Kara watches Lena look to the former president and sniffle then wipe away tears.
"When something amazing like this happens - something so groundbreaking, something so special - it gives us all a glimpse of what is truly beautiful, truly profound, and truly sacred… Love... Love that cannot be tainted by hate or evil... Love that was forged and fortified in struggle, in adversity." Olivia pauses, turning to Kara, who holds her gaze with tear-filled eyes.
"Love… that gives birth to hope."
Kara smiles.
And before they could start her vows, the world once again goes black.
Kara hears the beat of the electronic bass and feels the vibrations ripple through her skin. She feels steady arms wrap around her waist from behind and a chin rest on her shoulder.
The embrace was soft and warm and it felt like everything Kara imagined home would feel like.
There is no migraine again this time, no nerves - just the feeling of unbridled, uninhibited elation.
She opens her eyes.
A huge crowd of thousands of people beautifully diverse - some carrying signs and streamers, some sporting feathers and covered in glitter, some in leather, some in denim, some in body paint - rainbows and different colored flags everywhere.
Everyone was wearing their pride on their chests, screaming in joy, dancing, singing.
Truth.
Freedom.
Love.
She hears laughter beside her ear and feels the vibration of the person's chest against her shoulder.
"This is so crazy!"
She turns her head; it was Lena.
Lena Luthor, glowing and radiant, smiling like a pyrokinetic display on a quiet starry night - blinding, bright, beautiful.
A laugh escapes Kara's throat, letting out the absolute joy that threatens to rip apart her chest at this moment.
She turns to press a kiss Lena on the cheek and allows her lips to linger there. She listens to the woman's heartbeat quickening, sees the blood rush to her cheeks.
They were on the LCorp Pride Float, Lena's arms still wrapped around her. It was their first year anniversary and it coincided with that year's National City's Pride Parade. Nothing could have been more perfect.
She leans further into the embrace as she remembers the line of one of her favorite books in her first years on earth, "And in this moment I swear… we are infinite."
She leans in close to Lena's ear to be heard over the loud music.
"Happy Pride, I Zhor." She greets Lena who beams back at her, truly happy.
"Happy Pride, my love." Lena whispers, then pecks Kara on her lips, sweet and chaste.
If perfect could be a feeling, this was it.
And once again, Kara's world goes black.
Kara hears the sound of laughter and it rouses her. She opens her eyes, only to close them back again.
The head-splitting migraine was back. She groans.
There was another groan beside her. It was Alex.
"Oh, hey! You gays are awake!"
The alien's face - Pride Master or Tod, whatever his name was - swims into focus. He was hovering above them as they lay on the floor, sporting an impish grin. They were back in the DEO holding cell, with Tod now on the wrong side of the cell with them.
The Danvers sisters scramble back in surprise.
"Ggaaaahhh!"
"Whaaaa!"
Tod puts up his hands in front of him and wiggles his fingers.
"Welcome back!" He exclaims. "How was it?" He clasps his hands together in excitement and curiosity. "Come on! Tell me!"
Alex speaks up first.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"
Kara just breathes in and out, still gathering her bearings. Tod straightens out his bow and clears his throat.
"Well, while I was rewatching Season 6 of Rupaul's Drag Race…" He puts his hand against the side of his face and mock whispers best season ever. "I sent you through an eye-opening journey through time and space."
Kara finds her voice.
"T-time and space?"
Tod twirls and dips, landing in the perfect half split, or death drop as they call it nowadays.
"TIIIME TRAAVEEELL~" He announces, voice high pitched.
A breath gets caught in Kara's throat. So she saw her future?
Tod snaps back up right and points a finger at Kara.
"YES GAWD! But well, technically they're still probable futures - nothing is every set in stone, you see. Time is volatile like that. Ask the Legends." Tod clasps his hands behind his back.
"But why?" Alex asks, still trying to digest what she saw.
Alex saw kids in her future - four of them actually - a six month old baby girl, four year old identical twin boys, and Ruby. Technically, three kids because Ruby was well into her late teenage years, then.
And Sam.
They were married and happy. Sam worked with Lena for LCorp as Lena got busier dividing her time between helping with the DEO and taking care of her own daughter.
Alex couldn't believe how happy she was; she kept wondering in all her flashbacks what she could have done in that lifetime to be given such a full life.
Tod watches her, watches the gears turning in her head.
"Truth, freedom, and love, siz." He smiles. "Embracing your truth with lead you to freedom, and freedom will eventually give way to love. And it also goes full circle, love leads to truth and truth leads to freedom."
Kara just tries to wrap her head around the fact that she found someone so perfectly matched for her, had a daughter who would share her world, her lineage, her history, and her blood - both things she never thought would be possible again.
"Anything's possible." Tod whispers, the statement directed at her. "All you have to do is believe."
The Danvers sisters just look at her like he has a second head. Tod rolls his eyes.
"Look, I showed you all that to make you realize that literally, all that's keeping you both from your happiness is yourselves." Tod looks them both straight in the eye. "I came here to help you see that you both need to love yourselves more and embrace your truths, so you can be free and vice versa, embrace your truth so you can be free and finally allow yourselves to find the love that was meant for you.
You know, 'if you can't love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love somebody else?" and all that."
Tod smiles softly then scrunches his nose in disgust, remembering something.
"Oh, yeah, and before it even occurs to you both to ask me, yes, I am related to Music Meister. He's one of my very annoying brothers."
It clicks for both Danvers sisters somewhat. They both mutter "oh".
"And while he did a great job making you realize that you also need to allow yourself to be saved…" He points a finger at Kara, speaking to her directly. "He also completely fucked up by putting Mon-El - ew, by the way - in the dream sequence instead of Lena."
Alex snaps to Kara, eyes wide, mouth agape, internally screaming "LENA?"
Kara catches her sister's gaze before averting her eyes and blushing furiously. Kara nods.
"Oh your baby sis is totally gaga for that Lady Lena, siz." Tod's holds his arm up and his wrist falls limp. "And you totally have the hots for Hot Momma Samantha." He winks and pops his tongue.
It was Kara's turn to look at Alex in disbelief.
Alex sputters, hands waving in the air trying to grab for whatever explanation she can find.
"She's a great person, okay! She's a great mom! And I love Ruby a lot, so…" Alex looks sheepish. "Ruby talked about her alot, okay, and the three of us kind of hang out a lot now, so…"
Tod laughs.
"Siz, why are you even explaining? This one hasn't even gone past her baby gay repression!" He points at Kara.
"HEY!" Kara pouts.
"I'm kidding, siz." He winks at her. "I know you were already aware that you might have feelings for her, but you definitely needed a nudge in the right direction. You don't have to trust me - I know you don't. But I'm not making any of this up. I just ferried you to points of your life in the future." He exhales. "What you saw, what you felt, they were all real. I didn't craft any of that."
Kara nods, still lost in her thoughts, still absorbing everything. Alex is already pulling out her phone to text Sam. Pride Master smiles at her before speaking to Kara again.
"She's amazing, Kara, and you would be lucky to have each other." He smiles warmly, sincerely at her and Kara believes him.
He looks at the watch suddenly on his arm.
"Oh! Look at that! I believe Ms. Luthor is just finishing up her work at LCorp right now…" He pauses for a beat, waiting for Kara to understand. When she doesn't, he sighs in frustration. "Like, right now would be a perfect time to go see her, y'know, cause she's free now?"
Kara gulps.
"R-right."
Tod winks at her then turns around and starts singing the chorus of Gloria Gaynor's song, "I'm Coming Out" while doing a side to side step dance. He then starts chanting "Miss Vanjie... Miss Vaaanjiee... Miss... Vaaanjiee," before disappearing.
And with that, she grabs a change of clothes that she keeps in the DEO and flies out, heading to LCorp.
Kara lands on an alley, a block away from LCorp and changes into her regular clothes - pants, button-up shirt and one of her favorite cardigans. She walks the rest of the way to LCorp.
Jess greets her warmly - she still considers it a huge success that she won the secretary over through her consistency and perseverance.
"Hey, Jess!" She greets her happily. Jess is in the middle of packing her things and getting ready to leave the office for the night.
"Hey, Kara! You're right on time; Ms. Luthor is just about to go home." The secretary winks at her. "Good luck."
Kara is surprised for a moment; how Jess knew what she came there to do was a mystery to her.
For Jess, the confession was written all over Kara's face.
Kara pushes the door to Lena's office open, slowly. Her heartbeat is thundering in her ears and she feels her hands tremble slightly.
She's not sure of what she's about to do.
She doesn't know if right now is the right time.
But maybe there is no right time.
Maybe there's just coming to terms with her personal truth.
Maybe there's freedom for her after this; she's felt so burdened for the past two years with Mon-El and losing what she thought was her last shot at happiness.
Maybe there's just loving herself enough, finally, to live her truth.
Maybe there's just love waiting for her at the end.
She could only hope.
But right now, for her, this was something she had to do.
"Lena?" She calls out, uncertainty in her voice.
"Kara?" Lena answers her, sounding both surprised and happy.
Kara enters the office fully and closes the door behind her. Lena was in the middle of the office, standing, wringing her hands. She looked as if she had been pacing for a while, thinking.
"I'm sorry for dropping here unannounced, all of a sudden." Kara looks down, fidgeting with her glasses.
"Oh, no, it's alright." Lena waves off the apology. "You know you're always welcome here." She exhales.
There was something about the way Lena says the statement that gives Kara a much-needed boost of confidence.
"I came here because I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Me too." The reply was instant, Lena not missing a beat. It surprised both of them - Kara with the fact that Lena wanted to see her, too, right at this moment, and Lena with the courage to actually try talking to Kara about the things that have been plaguing her thoughts recently.
Lena takes a step forward, the source of her sudden boldness unknown.
"I'm sorry, you should go first. I'll speak after you."
Kara thinks about arguing with Lena about it, giving way so her friend could say what she needed to say first, but decided that it's best if she got this out of the way now, while she had the courage to.
"I-I…" Kara stutters then clears her throat, fighting the nerves that are eating at her confidence. "I realized a few things tonight and… well, I realized that I wanted you to be a bigger part of my life…"
Lena's breath hitches and her heartbeat races. Kara hears both of it, making her pause.
"Go on." Lena sounds hopeful.
"I-I… think…" Kara swallows the lump in her throat, and pushes the words out of her mouth, almost coughing as she does. "I think I like you, Lena… as more than a friend."
Lena stares at her, slack-jawed, unresponsive.
The seconds tick by and Kara feels herself crumbling; waiting was agonizing and now it's taking all of her willpower to keep her feet planted and not bolt out of the balcony.
"Kara, I…" Lena starts, opening her mouth before closing it again, looking for the words.
Kara wishes the ground would swallow her right now.
"Okaywell-Ishouldget-" A string of jumbled words come out of Kara's mouth in a rush and she turns to leave.
A hand on her arm stops her.
"No! Don't!" Lena's eyes are wide, almost panicked. "I-I…" She starts then throws her hands up in the air in frustration. "Oh god, I'm no good at this."
Kara tries to smile kindly at her, while she feels her heart starting to break.
"It's okay if you don't li-"
Kara's words are cut off and her eyes are wide.
Lena grabbed her and pressed their lips together.
The kiss was everything Kara thought it would be from her visions of the future; but also so much more.
Because it was happening now. It was real.
But it was over too soon.
Lena pulls back, breathing hard.
"I'm sorry!" She squeaks. "I should have asked for permission, I-"
This time, it was Lena's words that are cut off.
Kara kisses her, a chastely pressing their lips together at first. Then she wraps her arms around Lena who just melts into her.
The anxiety seep out of both of them.
Then Lena, with a burst of courage, moves her lips against Kara's, slowly, languidly caressing.
It was Kara who pushes her tongue into Lena's mouth and Lena moans, deeply.
Kara feels the vibrations against her lips, against her chest.
They stay like that for a few minutes, exploring, caressing, touching.
For Kara it felt both new and familiar.
For Lena it felt like a dream come true.
But for both of them, they couldn't imagine how any of the kisses they've had before this one could have felt right, because this was how it should be - warm, thrilling, safe, explosive and calm - it was just perfect.
