Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Smallville or of DC Comics.

Summary: Right after PARIAH, Clark finds closure over Alicia's death.

CLOSURE

He really wanted to go home and back up to his "fortress of solitude" after leaving the cemetery, but he also knew that his father would not allow it. He had remained up in the barn for two days now, sulking and guilt-ridden that he could barely even sleep.

It wasn't like he couldn't go without sleep, or food for that matter with his alien anatomy.

Clark just didn't care. He couldn't bring himself to care. Not now. Not when tragedy had struck again, only this it cut so deep like a kryptonite-made knife to his heart.

He wiped his eyes after parking his truck in front of the Talon. He didn't want to be here, but he also had important chores to take care of. Chores that he could not let his emotions get in the way of.

It was just….the Talon, where they walked into together, hand in hand, as a couple, happy though she was nervous to be back with other Smallville students who had heard of her psychotic episode with Clark and Lana, and that she was meteor-infected, thanks to Chloe and her Wall of Weird.

He didn't want to go in, but his mother needed those deliveries.

Reluctantly, Clark got out of the truck, gathered a heavy box effortlessly in his arms like it only weighed but a feather, and headed inside. He avoided all their stares, some who looked sympathetic because of his loss, and others who judged him for dating a "psychotic freak," and it took everything for him not to pull out the Red K and show them what it means to be a psychotic alien.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Clark placed his mother's deliveries on the counter and turned to leave after seeing his mother was no where in sight. She was probably in her office doing business. The moment he turned, she appeared.

Lana immediately froze up when their eyes met. He looked a bit startled as well, but that quickly vanished and was replaced by sadness and guilt.

That very look alone hurt her more than it could than any meteor freak could do to her physically. Despite that the two of them had not been on the best terms, Lana still cared deeply for Clark. She couldn't stand to see him like this.

"Hi." she managed.

"Hey." he greeted back nonchalantly. His gaze lowered for a second before he stared back up at her. "Could you tell my mother I brought her those deliveries like she asked?"

He made to move around her and start walking, only to be stopped when he felt Lana's hand reach for his arm.

"Clark?"

Hesitantly, he turned back to her just as she slowly dropped her hand. Her eyes lowered as she licked her lips before staring back up at him, concerned.

"I just….Are you okay?" she asked.

A moment passed when he didn't reply. He looked away from her again and shook his head sadly. "No, I'm not."

"Clark, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known…."

"It IS my fault, Lana." Clark said sternly. "Instead of investigating the matter, I instead went with what everyone was telling me." He stopped for a second, calming his emotions. "I hurt her. All she wanted was my trust, and even I doubted her."

A tear suddenly rolled down his cheek. Lana started feeling her eyes start to glisten herself. She had never seen Clark Kent cry, but from how Lois had described it to her, Clark had been an emotional wreck after finding Alicia dead in her family's barn, emotions that turned dark enough to almost kill the real culprit behind the attempts on hers and Jason's lives.

It was nothing compared to later. Lois drove Clark back to Alicia's home where his parents were also waiting as an ambulance prepared to take her body.

It had taken his father awhile to pry Clark off of Alicia.

"I'm sorry." he apologized. "I…..I have to go."

Clark Kent walked hurriedly out of the Talon, just as his mother made her way to the bar from the back. All Lana could do was watch him leave as she hugged herself, biting her bottom lip.

For a moment, Lana remembered a time before Jason Teague, when the farm boy she had been pining for was the mysterious Clark Kent, and how it was always his mystery and his bizarre excuses that forced her and other girls away.

Yet, just this once, Clark Kent had allowed someone into his heart. Truthfully into his heart.

Oh, Clark. Lana thought sadly. You really must have loved her.

Dinner had about been in silence with Jonathan and Martha watching their son eat quietly. They had decided to give Clark some space, let him deal with his emotions in his own way but to support him every step of the way like they always did.

After dinner, he had gone back up to the barn, claiming he needed get to his homework. Except, he had already finished his school assignments earlier. He didn't feel like doing them at first, but with graduation around the corner….graduation that she wouldn't be a be a part of…..

Clark rubbed his eyes after he splayed himself down on the couch, yet being careful not to cause himself to go through the floor.

Something caught the corner of his eye from the desk across from him. Slowly, he turned his head to the side to see her smiling back at him. A smile frozen forever in time within the picture frame she had given him when their relationship began with a dark turn.

It was her only picture he had kept, the others he had given back to her parents after she was sent to Belle Reeve.

He just stared at her picture, unmoving, perhaps hoping that at any moment that she would teleport from the picture frame before him, smiling at him.

With a heavy sigh, Clark turned his head back up towards the ceiling. "Rest. Just get some rest, Kent." he told himself. Perhaps a good night's sleep would help.

A good night's sleep, and a sweet dream of….her...?

"So, what's Smallville's star quarterback doing alone on a Saturday night?"

His ears perked, but his eyes didn't open. He wanted to see at first, but his mind just told him that it was just his imagination.

"You didn't answer my question."

He froze that moment he felt breath against his lips. Her breath.

His eyes flew open, and there she was hovering over him, smiling that sweet smile of hers.

Slowly, he pushed himself up as she backed away slightly with her hands behind her back.

Her long blonde hair splayed all around her shoulders, her brown eyes sparkling and the way how the pale moonlight illuminated her face, she was dressed in her snow white sweater, black and white checkered skirt and about knee high brown boots. She looked so beautiful…..

"Alicia!" he gasped.

Her smile widened. "I'm surprised you remember my name."

His breathing started to quicken as a smile formed on his lips, widening with each second. "I thought….I thought you were…."

That's when her expression became saddened, even her smile. "I am, Clark." She approached him. "But, I'm okay. Where I am now….I'm okay."

He stared at her confused, until his eyes went wide in realization. "I'm dreaming!"

She nodded. "It was kind of the only way I could ever see you again. Even if it's for one last time. For now."

"Alicia." he began, quickly moving towards her, taking both her hands in his. They felt so cool in his large hands, yet he feel a familiar warmth radiate from her skin. "I'm so sorry…."

"Shh." she pressed her finger against his lips. "It's okay, Clark.

"No, it's not." Tears filled his eyes as he took back her hand in his. "You died, Alicia. Everyone blamed you with the real killer sliding right by us and, and he…." He chocked back a sob before he continued. "I couldn't save you."

"You did save me, Clark." Alicia placed her hand against his cheek, gazing into his blue eyes. "You saved me from the monster I was long time ago. You believed in me when no one else would. Even when you started thinking I did attack Lana and Jason, you still believed in my innocence. You're my guiding light, Clark Kent, and if anything, I am so thankful that God sent you to me."

He just gazed at her silently as her thumb brushed away a tear from his eye.

"I came back because I want you to move on with your life. I want you to be happy."

"How can I be when you're not in it?"

She smiled again as she stroke his cheek. "I will always be with you, Clark, but this world needs you more than I do."

He stared at her, puzzled by her words. "Wh-What do you mean?"

She shook her head. "It's all I can tell you, Clark. The rest you have to find out for yourself." She gazed back up at him lovingly. His arms were locked around her waist, never wanting to let her go.

But she knew he had to. Her hands slid down from his face to his arms. "I have to go."

"No." he shook his head profusely. This time, he couldn't bring himself to fight against his tears any longer.

She was starting to cry as well. "It's okay." Her hands cupped his face again. "Everything is going to be okay, Clark. Be happy. For me, and for your parents and your friends."

Reluctantly, he nodded his head.

Alicia tipped herself up on her toes, and Clark met her lips in a tender kiss. A kiss that was slow, but it felt like it had ended too soon as Alicia started to pull away from him and into a brightening silver light behind her.

"I love you, Alicia." Clark declared.

Alicia smiled through her tears. "I love you too, Clark. I always have."

Their hands remained together until the very last second, and just like that, she was gone.

Clark bolted up from the couch. He quickly looked around the loft. He was alone.

It had been a dream after all.

The sunlight suddenly peaked through window of the loft, gracing the side of his face. It was morning already.

It was a whole new day, and for some reason just as he stared off to the world outside his "fortress," Clark never felt more alive than now.

He then walked over to his desk, taking up her picture.

"It was more than just a dream. I know it was." he told himself.

Alicia had come to him when he needed someone the most, despite his attempts at shrugging off every hand offering him help. He would miss her terribly and always remember her, but he had to move on. There were others out there that needed him, and though he considered his abilities and his true heritage a curse, he would do everything in his power and his will to make sure Alicia's fate never repeated itself.

She had become his guiding light.

Clark set her picture down, only to pause when he saw a note right in front of him.

Besides, I got to be the first girl on the entire planet to be Mrs. Clark Kent!

Fin