Alex's first kiss was in twelfth grade, and it sucked. Her next kiss was at her high school graduation party, and she was drunk off her ass, and it sucked even worse. People say that the worse a kiss is, the further away you are from finding your soulmate. So Alex's first thought was obviously: they were both blondes, bye-bye blondes. No offence to Kara, obviously.
In Alex's world, you had a perfect partner. Every world did. Apparently. Kara said Kryptonian's didn't find them through kissing though – Kryptonian's found them through a long and painful build-up of respect, and once you corrected the obscene power imbalance, things quite literally clicked between you. There was a sound and everything, like a giant pop. It was why Kara stayed away from popcorn when it was being made. "I don't want to find out I'm their soulmate in a cinema, Alex!"
For humans, you kissed. Experimentation was quite literally a rule, or rather a social obligation, and it was seen as strange not to get around during your last few years of high school, unless you were high school heart-souls. Of course, there were the people who liked to arrange things between their children, etcetera, etcetera, but thankfully Eliza never got anything like that into her head when Alex showed no sign of ever finding someone. It was a legitimate concern, especially considering how Kara hadn't shown interest in humans either.
(And wasn't that disgusting – being soulmates with her sister? Ew…)
When she went to college though, Alex completely switched gears, gaining a new perspective. She kissed guys, and she hated each and every one of them, except when they were gay. Which was just plain disappointing. Until she just up and kissed a girl one day. Then it kind of made a lot more sense. But then she stopped, afraid of what it all meant. I'm gay was a dangerous phrase, where she was living. The week before she realised she even was gay, she'd watched with a creeping, crawling feeling of absolute disgust as the police arrested two homophobic bastards who'd tied their newly-out dormmate to the back of their truck and towed him up and down their street half a dozen times.
I'm gay was dangerous.
I'm not looking for any sort of relationship right now was less so.
After that, she became a bit…on the depressive side of things. She went to more parties, wasted all her cash on booze and skipped classes, grades dropping drastically. The DEO came into her life a month later, and Hank saved her.
Alex didn't have time for soulmates after that.
When Kara becomes Supergirl, things get a little bit twisted, and more hectic. And then, of course, 'the General' has to pop up, and he's got a device called Myriad that takes control of people's minds. Defeating him leaves a bitter note on Alex's tongue that she wants to drown in alcohol, which was why she was here, in the alien bar she'd discovered shortly before Kara had become a superhero.
"You're going to get ill and die if you drink that, human," someone says to her in a derogatory tone. Alex snorts and doesn't look up, despite registering the voice as familiar.
"Oh, I know, but it doesn't matter, as I grew up with an alien for a sister, and she gave me some hellish germs. I've got a pretty varied immune system." And with that, she downs the alien shot, and washes it down with a beer. "What's it to you, anyway? Worried for my safety?"
"No."
"Good, go away then."
"You're very rude."
"I'm actually not – I simply don't like people approaching me with nothing to say but, 'you're gonna die'." Alex doesn't look at the person, instead waiting for their reply…which takes a long time. Three shots, to be exact.
"My apologies."
Alex, feeling the pull of the alcohol, shrugs, shutting her eyes and resting her head on the bar, which is awesomely clean. "No biggie, we're cool. It's fine." But then there's an odd clanging-like sound and the person gasps, and then Alex is cracking her eye open-
"Holy shit," Alex sits up sharply, only to sway and nearly fall off her stool, if not for the Alura-body-double's quick thinking and reflexes. "You look just like her hologram."
"Hologram?" The woman is obviously confused, but Alex's eyes find her white streak of hair and her hand comes up to twirl in it.
"Alura's hologram doesn't have a white streak."
The other woman's eyes widen. "Alura has a hologram? You've seen it?" Alex's eyes stray back to the stranger's, and she opens her mouth to reply when another alien sits down beside her, elbowing her right into the woman.
Their lips connect, and everything is perfect. The stars are in perfect alignment, and the lights around them are at exactly the right level, and her lips are warm and soft and red, and there's a soft vibration, before Alex pulls away, eyes wide.
"You're my soulmate."
The other woman, who seemed to have experienced much the same thing, just nods, and Alex suddenly realises that clanging sound from before was the bell – the bell, the one Kara always talked about when Kryptonian's met their soulmate.
"You're from Krypton-" Alex starts, before the bartender raps the space beside them.
"Hey, what was that? Everyone in the bar can see it." Alex glances over at her, before she's sidetracked at the golden ring around them, dust that's slowly pushing outwards, fading.
"Humans know their soulmate by kisses, and then this happens," Alex suddenly smiles, eyes bright as she looked back to the other woman – the Kryptonian woman who looks so much like Kara's mother, it can't be coincidence. "Alex. My name is Alex."
"Astra," the other woman says, and Alex's eyes widen for a different reason.
"Kara's aunt? Oh my god, we've been trying to find you for ages."
Astra stares, "Kara? You know Kara?" Her hands grip Alex's arms as Alex nods, getting off her barstool and stumbling towards the door pulling Astra along with her.
"Of course I do – when she landed here, it was my family that took her in. When Non came out into the open-" she pushes the door open, stepping out into the evening air, "-we thought you might be dead. But you aren't and that's actually amazing."
Astra squeezes her hand lightly as they approach the street, hailing a cab. Once inside and on their way to their destination, they fall silent, and Alex just…stares at her soulmate.
"I found you."
Astra looks over at her, and a small smile lights up her face, and Alex thinks she's beautiful.
"And I found you."
Alex falls a little bit in love.