DISCLAIMER: Kara Zor-El, Zor-El, Jor-El, Lara, Alura Zor-El, J'onn Jon'zz, Kyle Rayner,
Kal-El, Superman, Supergirl, Clark Kent, Plastic Man, Diana, Bruce Wayne, and all other related characters used in this story (excepting Nara) are ©2004 by DC Comics Inc. and are used without permission for non-profit, fan-related entertainment purposes only. This original work of fiction is ©2004 by Gregory R. Lissandrello and may not be reproduced in any form, in part or as a whole, without the express permission of the author. Revision 2 is ©2006 by Gregory R. Lissandrello
My thanks to all who helped bring this character to life, both writers & artists. My thanks also go out to Dylan Clearbrook, DTO, Tesub Calle, Jfeer and everyone else that bandied ideas about our favorite blonde babe and her cousin back & forth with me. Many minds did indeed make light work. Lastly, I'd say thanks to Otto Binder, for creating her...and for Mr. Peter A. David, who, in six memorable issues, gave her a soul...
PRELUDE:
The god had watched the events unfold and had seen the emerald human struggle to end the universe...Almost succeeding, only to be stopped by his former friends.
In silence, the god watched as time (as the heroes knew it) came to an end.
All that was…was no more.
With the emerald armored madman removed from the picture, He watched as the Spectre helped channel primal energy into a young mortal that very shortly began to roil visibly with raw, universal power.
There was a pause…then the human exploded.
(No, just the energy was released. The god watched in surprise as the group of heroes shunted the youth into the realm of null reality a fraction of a second after the massive explosion took place…)
The Big Bang.
Thanks to the heroes in the null globe, some orphaned from a couple realities, time and reality itself began anew.
He shook his head in wonder. My, these mortals are resourceful…
And, more importantly, He noted, quite successful.
He watched in wonder as some of the remaining problems from their previous...Crisis…dissolved and were rectified. He suddenly realized that the timing was perfect.
Could he fix one more problem for one of his beloved daughters?
"Scheming again, my Husband?"
The two gentle hands on his shoulders were accompanied by a decidedly amused voice. He looked up at the golden spirit looking down at him, smiling and radiating good humor. He placed a hand over one of hers and nodded with a gentle smile.
"Very much so, Nara. It is long past time to right the wrong. We both know how sad she is. She has been SO patient; though it's clear to me she wants to be down there so BADLY. She hides it well, but..." He trailed off.
Nara quietly nodded. "She IS an explorer…She has a hunger for growth and knowledge that surpasses many of those up here...and she was no different in her last physical sojourn."
He remained silent, and parted time and space, focusing in on a battle scene in an antimatter universe.
Saw a slender girl, driven by fear and rage, attempting to stop the one who would destroy EVERYTHING that she held dear.
A distraction, and she turned.
Her opponent took advantage of this momentary distraction, and punctured her form with a lethal blast.
He sees his Favored Son, moments later, cradling her sagging form, in her last few seconds. His silent sobs were soon followed by a scream of rage and pain that shook two universes, as her soul headed home.
Time sped on and they watched the newly reformed Multiverse restart.
He was silent for a moment. "She was removed from physical existence by their Crisis, and from the collective conciousness by the later ripple centered around my last son."
Nara knelt next to him, resting a hand on his cheek.
She remained silent for a moment, gazing into his almost fluorescent blue eyes.
"It's not just that, is it? You are frustrated that you couldn't do anything to help the rest of them?"
He paused, rubbing his hands across his face, looking into his wife's gray eyes, and nodded sadly.
"Nara, how could I NOT? With all we can do...only one survived.
His ancestors lived in a hell...that we couldn't change."
He paused, gathering His thoughts.
"YES...in a few of the other universes, his people lived on…In their 'Phantom Zone', unfortunates were remade and reprogrammed to be like them, but here..." He trailed off.
Nara brushed her hand gently across her husband's cheek.
"Even such as WE have to obey the rules of existence." She chided Him gently.
"In this universe, the laws of love are much the same as in my home universe. Our power is tied to the love we GIVE others and that they give in turn back to us, but they have to recognize us first. Of their own free will. They chose not to. Instead, they chose to divest from themselves the ONLY things that would have helped us save them. THAT was their choice... THAT is why they died..." She paused. "As Kal found out in the past on HIS end, one being can only do so much. In the end, it needs a give and take to make something like that work."
He remained silent and waved his hand, silently commanding an image to appear before him. He watched as Bertron altered the course of a mighty planet in its' infancy; as the most famous house was allowed only ONE son as the end neared...
Nara watched as the birthing matrix was attached to a hyperdrive by servant droids... as the anguished but outwardly calm father tried to calm his frightened and enraged wife. Quakes shook the building, and he hurried over to a control panel. The toggle was pressed...and the rocket, with its' precious cargo, roared free to safety. Seconds before the end, he reached out, breaking his people's laws... professing his love and caressing his wife's cheek.
Nara looked at Him and could SWEAR she could hear His heart break...AGAIN. "Out of all those lives, this time, only ONE was saved?! To live in loneliness, deprived of the comfort and friendship of his own kind?!"
He paused a moment and waved his hand, flashing back to a pivotal point in the planet's history, staring at the panicked warrior who had changed so much in an instant. What was that old earth saying? For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost...He looked up at a worried Nara, and tried to smile reassuringly.
"In that past earth, others, even Kal himself, had learned much from her...About courage. About persistence. About compassion, wisdom, loyalty, and love.
She proved that TRUE strength comes from a strong heart backed by an open mind. It is one of the laws of existence that love like that is to be returned amplified, many-fold..."
He shook his head, discomfited.
"Not forgotten about. Not obliterated.
She deserved a full life, but was denied by a universe in upheaval..."
He stood up with a determined expression on His face.
"...And now, thanks to a universe in upheaval AGAIN, she will HAVE that chance she longs for."
He switched his attention to a solar system fifty light-years away from what would become earth.
He watched as a new star was born and planets formed around it. As time sped on, the sun swelled in size, obliterating its' three inner planets, and turned red.
He switched his gaze to the now third planet from the red giant and focused in on one of the reproductive councils on the largest continent. Gently, He 'nudged' them gently toward the desired outcome.
Success.
He watched with a smile as the proud family gained a younger son, to assist the older in the future. Then he checked on another family. A daughter. Good. All, again, as it should be.
He stood up, and then sent his being to where his daughter was just finishing up her 'pep talk'.
"...Although the name I'm most fond of is Kara."
Kara closed the communication with the brave girl, and then sighed sadly. She stared into space briefly, reminiscing on the time when she wore the colors that this girl now wore. Seconds later, she noticed a numbness in her hands.
Raising them to her face, she watched in shock as they slowly started to fade.
Could it be? she thought. Whispering a silent prayer under her breath, she looked down at the floor…
At the fine, glowing silver thread coming from her heel.
"K'aavacha..." she whispered, thunderstruck, her eyes filling with tears.
She heard a chuckle, and watched as He manifested with a smile.
She looked at him with excitement building.
"I-I'm going back? I'm going BACK!!"
He nodded in confirmation and smiled. "I had the opportunity. It was time to right the wrong." He sobered and held his hand up to slow the fading. "But I must tell you, my child, you will face great challenges again...Warped and shattered souls that will resist love and hope...as well as your own weaknesses and insecurities, as well."
Kara looked at him with bright excitement on her face. "Allfather, you know as well as I that that is a risk we all take when we choose to live...but that is the only way we can grow. Adversity is our business, after all." She paused for a moment, and then grinned. "Besides, worst case, that which kills us only makes us stronger...I should know."
He chuckled. He had always admired the pluck of her and her more famous cousin.
Must be in their genes…
"You will have to contend with the eventual pressures of three lives...Do you truly accept?"
"Do you even really need to ask that?" Kara said with amusement. She nodded, a bright smile and excitement dancing across her face.
He lowered his hand and watched as the fade returned, accelerating.
He sensed His wife standing by His side, a quiet smile on Her face.
"Then, go, child, with our blessings...and our love."
She was fading ever faster now, but her smile was still lighting up the room.
His daughter disappeared in a final flash, but not before they heard her last, enthusiastic words...
"Thank you, Lord Rao! Thank you, Mother Nara!!"
Rao smiled softly. "We'll meet again, my dear. Make us proud until then."
Nara squeezed Rao's hand and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I think she'll do well this time...What do you think?"
He gently brought her about to face Him, and then gently kissed her on the lips.
He hesitated a moment, a smile crossing his face. "Well, considering her disposition, her heritage...AND her beloved cousin...she'll do remarkably well, I think, as well as she did before."
They put an arm around each other, and he continued. "Come on, I believe we have the best seats in the house."
They both went back to observing the planet...