It was the day before her 12th birthday and Lena was lying awake in her room, it was a cold and sterile place, full of books and projects, engineering gadgets and computers. Only two things in there were of sentimental value, everything else made the large room look more like a laboratory or a school class room. There were no pictures adorning the shelves, no posters on the walls, not drawings or toys. There were a collection of items for appropriate activities for someone of her stature, Ballet shoes, a violin in its case, piano books, ballroom shoes and a fencing foil. The only two things Lena actually loved in the room was the Teddy that had come with her the first day at the Luthor mansion and the Chess board given to her by Lex, she was smart and liked to tinker, and she liked to read, but most of the books were expected reading not for fun, and although dancing was fun there was so much pressure to be perfect as there was in music. She was expected to excel in everything and the only place she could actually measure up was on the chess board. It had been a few years since anyone in the Luthor house had bested her at chess and she was very accomplished. It didn't matter how well she did with anything though it was never good enough she was always a disappointment.
It had been 3 weeks since Lionel had died and although he was quite often absent in her life, he at least provided a buffer against Lillian. Lionel and Lillian the mother and father that had adopted her, taken her in, gave her every material possession and lesson a woman of power and prestige would ever need. Paid for her private education and encouraged her advanced studies, although even though she had now skipped over 3 grades her marks were still not good enough. Now there was no buffer except Lex and he would be gone soon. Lena loved Lex, loved his mind and the way he challenged her, loved that he accepted her and made her feel welcome. She loved that he helped keep Lillian away from her, often by showing something new or calling for attention, providing a much needed distraction from Lena's short comings. Loved his sense of humour and how he would make up games or imagine things to help her feel safe or have fun in the mausoleum that they lived in. Lex had also skipped a few grades and would be off to college in September, meaning she would be alone in this house with Lillian. Of course he had already completed a double major at metropolis university, but because he was young and Lionel was ill he had stayed at home. Her room was as far away as it could be from Lillian' and there was very little reason they would ever cross paths but breakfast and dinner, gala's and charity events were mandatory. It should have come to no surprise really that it was Lex that was knocking on her door at 1130pm on the night before her 12th Birthday.
Lena was confused who would be coming to see her; she had been left alone for the most part since Lionel's death to work out what was going on and mourn. This had been one of the nights where she had been able to fight back the fear and tears that accompanied the thought of being alone in the house. She slowly made her way from the bed to the door to open it and see who was there. "Lena, can I come in? It's just me, Lex." Lena pulled open the door and smiled at the only ray of sunshine she had left in her life. He was holding ice-cream and two spoons he must have gotten from the kitchen. He nodded when the door was open and Lena gestured for him to enter. Once in the room Lex sat at the desk looking at Lena, "it's a big birthday tomorrow I wanted to come and celebrate before well things start happening" of course Lena knew that he was referring to the soul mate branding that happens on the 12th birthday, but with everything else going on she had assumed that Lex would have forgotten. Lex was the only one willing to explain to her what it meant, Lillian had told her that it was of no consequence to someone of her stature, that she was a Luthor and that if she was to marry it would be a match for the enhancement of the Luthor name not for love or other childish fantasies. Lillian had explained that Soul mates were for the poor and the uneducated to give them hope but as a Luther, a educated and powerful lineage such things as love and soul mates were irrelevant and beneath her.
"I didn't think anyone remembered" Lena said a little sheepishly but honestly to Lex looking at him with a lowered head through her upper lashes. Lex looked sad, he knew that being adopted had done as much damage as it had good for his little sister, but it pained him that she felt that she didn't matter, Lex loved Lena, she was so clever and her inventions were amazing, he remembered telling her to make them in pink and she would come back with something even more ingenious. He found it hard to praise her, he wanted to challenge her and with the role modelling he had this was his way to push her to better things which worked, his friend Clark had a different upbringing and would praise Lena, as would Macey, they did it so easy, but even the most basic of kindnesses seemed to get caught in his throat, but he believed that Lena knew he loved her and was proud of her. He would make sure he visited often when he left for college. Offering her the ice-cream and a small smile, "I wouldn't forget your birthday Lena, and it's a big one, the thing is, it kind of hurts Lena, I just well you know how mother will get if you make a fuss I wanted to help distract you a little". Lena smiled, she had been told the soul brand hurt by some of her friends in school. She didn't have a lot of friends and none that were real friends she supposed; after all they were all from the same societal background. Lex coming to help her with this was just like him, he was the only one left who truly cared for her.
They sat and ate ice-cream for a little while, and Lex was checking his watch frequently as it approached midnight he sat on the bed next to Lena. In a very uncharacteristic Luthor move, Lex pulled Lena into his arms and laid down cradling her in his arms. Lena's face was buried into his chest and his arms were wrapped tightly around her when the first wave of pain hit. Every letter that was appearing on this skin on her lower back was like being branded with a white hot poker, why was something that was supposed to point you towards your true love hurt so much it felt like you were dying. Lena let out a small yelp, Lex pulled her closer "shush Lena I have got you, breath through it, don't scream, don't cry, don't let mother know it's happening" Lex was speaking in a low and soothing tone, stroking her hair. The pain continued for every letter slowly scrolling across her lower back there were two maybe three words that were on her skin now, the pain was subsiding, it was uncomfortable and aching but the heat and pain was gone. It would appear that as soon as the last letter was finished the pain left almost as quickly as it arrived. Lena felt that the pain was somehow worth it as for the first time since her mother had died someone held her in their arms; Lena forgot what human connection felt like, with the exception of the poses when dancing.
As soon as her breathing returned to normal Lex had let her go, "I am proud of you Lena Luthor, you handled that with great dignity." For the first time in her life she felt proud to be a Luthor, her training lessons and abilities had finally earned praise from Lex, and he had called her a Luthor, of course she knew she wasn't, but she finally felt like on even if it's only in name. Lex dipped his head and made his way to the door, he didn't ask to see what was now on her skin, he didn't offer to read it, or offer to comfort her any further than he had already. He was just about to close the door when Lean whispered "thank you Lex", he smiled at her and nodded again before closing the door. Lena decided that she would try to read what was on her back, and moved from the bed into her on suite, she lifted her Pyjama top and twisted in the mirror. She was able to read upside down and backwards, and 4 different languages but she couldn't make out the words that were emblazoned in blue across her back. "Ighai im zhor", "Ighai" was written much bigger with two stars one either side, one faintly red the other yellow, the words were written in loopy writing almost like calligraphy with "im zhor" much smaller nestled under the "ha" of the first word. Lena had no idea what this meant; she went to her pad and wrote down what she had seen in the mirror.
Although she was excited at the prospect of their being someone for her to love and who would love her back it was getting late and the level of research needed to decipher the clues left by her soul mark would need time and a clear head. After Google had come up with 0 results for any of the words, she decided that it was best that she slept and came at it with fresh eyes in the morning. Maybe she was going to need to research different languages from around the globe, maybe whatever was written on her back was a obscure language, that her soul mate would be from a different country or someone who spoke a dead language, Lena loved learning new languages, she would revel in learning a new language so that she could communicate with her soul mate. She knew that getting her hopes up was a bad idea, that Lillian would never let her be with anyone that didn't have a strategic purpose or a political or power increase for the Luthor family, that the likelihood was she would be palmed off so some form of familial gain to one of the many boorish boys that frequented the charity events and other family occasions that she was paraded around. She couldn't help the thought that maybe if she met her soul mate in time she would be saved from this life. She had originally thought Lionel had saved her from the orphanage after her mother had died, and although she was grateful for being provided with all the things she had, she missed the love she remembered from her mother. The memories were faded now, but she remembers being in a place with warmth, laughter and touch, a stark contrast to the cold, sterile, dignified existence she now had. Lena fell asleep with the small hope that someone may be able to change the course her life was on.