DISCLAIMER: Characters in this story remain the property of DC Comics, Inc. Movie copyrights and trademarks are owned by Alexander & Ilya Salkind, Warner Bros. Pictures, and TriStar Pictures. The story contained herein is meant only for personal enjoyment and no money is being made from the story. No infringement is intended. I offer this fan fiction as a tribute to the creative teams involved in the actual production of both the movie and comic. However, I reserve the right to any original characters I create for the purpose of fan fiction story telling.
Kara Comes Of Age
Kal-El had flown to the Fortress Of Solitude in order to get away from his mankind protection duties for a while. The problem he had with living in Metropolis was that crime never seemed to take a rest so that between his crime fighting and reporter duties, he never had a moment of peace. The fortress was the only place on the planet that provided that for him. One of his favorite past - times while he was there was to review the crystals that Jor-El had placed into his crystal pod when he was jettisoned to earth as a child. This was how he learned about the traditions and culture of a race that was now extinct save for him and Kara's existence.
He had been reviewing some of the crystals that Kara had taken to earth with her. So far he seemed to be learning more about the social rituals of Krypton and how their traditions were carried out. One crystal showed how Kara, as a child, was baptized as the Princess of the House Of El. She was probably around 6 years old and was participating in the dressing ceremony headed by her mother. There was Alura changing her clothes to the burlap looking white gown that females under the age of 17 wore on Krypton. Later on, he found the crystal recording showing the dress ceremony of Kara during her coming of age, this time, she dressed herself in the white gown while Alura and Zor-El looked upon her with pride in their eyes. According to what he had watched, Kara was now officially one of the young leaders of Argo City. If Argo City had not exploded, she was in line to become the one of the city leaders and sit on the Elder Council because she was the only remaining member of the House of El in their location.
Kal-El was ready to turn in for the night and had just lowered the power within the fortress when he saw a bright pink glow emanating from one of Kara's crystals. Curiousity getting the better of him, he took the crystal out and inserted it into the viewer. A shot of pink light darted out of the crystal tip and filled the room with its color, blinding Kal-El for a moment. He needed a few minutes to adjust to the new color in the fortress. As he blinked to remove the glare, the familiar voice of Zor-El reached his ears. There standing before him were Alura and Zor-El. He knew it was a recording emanating from the crystal. He was sad that Kara was not there to witness this.
"Kal-El, if you are watching this, that means that Argo City has seen its destruction and Kara is now in your care. Therefore, there are a few things you need to know. " Zor-El seemed to be looking at him directly.
"This crystal was designed to glow on the day that Kara is to turn 18 by human years. Our research has shown that this is an important age for earthings and is part of their development process. Kryptonian age is calculated by a different formula and therefore, even though Kara is only 17 by our standards, she actually turns 18 within 2 Earth months." Zor-El continued.
"We would like Kara to experience this human tradition. We beg you to see to it that she has a debut party worthy of the Princess Of The House Of El. She will have plenty more to learn before actually becoming a human being such as you have become due to your exposure on earth. Assist her during this important first step." Alura explained.
"We trust that as her guardian, you will know how to do this and explain this tradition to her. Do not fail us Kal-El." Zor-El ended as the figures began to fade away.
"Oh great! Lois better know how to do this because I sure don't know what to do." he told himself as he set aside the crystal. He would deal with it in the morning.
**********
"But I don't want to have a party Kal-El! I don't even know what a debut is all about." Kara protested while she was seated in Kal-El's apartment in Metropolis. He had asked her to fly there after her classes in order to tell her what her parents had asked him to do.
"Kara, we have to do it. Your parent's want you to do it. We must honor it." he explained to her while he cleaned his glasses.
"I realize that. It is just that..."
"I've spoken to Lois and Lucy. They are more than happy to help us organize everything. The Lanes have volunteered to host the party at their house." he was not going to let Kara talk him out of this.
Somehow, her presence in his life had struck a caring cord within him that he could not explain. Just as Ethan took care of her, he too cared for her like the sister he never had. Over the months, she had come to blossom in front of him. But the fact that she refused to talk to him about what she saw during the demise of Argo City bothered him. He was sure that she needed to talk about it but chose to ignore it instead.
The door to the apartment opened. "Where's the debutante? We have a lot of work to do if we are doing this in a week. " Lois asked excitedly as she came into the room.
"A week?!" Kara looked at Kal-El with an incredulous look on her face. There as absolutely no way this was happening in a week's time.
"So, I talked to the press that prints invitations for our family occassions and I got them to agree to a rush print job for the debut. How many will we be needing?" She asked Kara. "Do we know if you will have a gown made or are you buying one off the rack?"
"I have no idea about anything you are asking me. " Kara hoped that these people knew what they were doing.
**********
"Will I be needing a tux?" Ethan asked her after she told him of the debut preparations.
"What's a tux?" she asked. They were cooking spaghetti in their small kitchen and were constantly bumping into each other.
"Formal menswear for parties like that." he explained.
"I dunno. I guess so." she replied as she held up the sauce laddle for him to taste.
"More salt." he brushed her cheek softly with his arm as he reached for the salt dispenser on the shelf.
"You don't seem excited about this." he told her.
"I am Ethan. It's just that..."
He looked at her when she suddenly went quiet.
"I wish my parents were here. Clark said this was a big deal among earth parents and their daughters. I just wish..." her voice cracked and she immediately dabbed the corners of her eyes to stop the tears.
Taking off the cooking gloves, he pulled her into his arms and just held her. "Let it out Linda. Cry if you want to."
**********
"So, I spoke to my mom and she says that we can use the car this week-end to find you the perfect gown. She already called her favorite botique and set up an appointment for us. What time should I pick you up?" Lucy told Linda as they sat down to lunch at the school cafeteria.
"Your dad won't be driving us?" Linda remembered that Mr. Lane drove them around the year before. Lucy was not allowed to drive at all.
"You kidding? I got my license last year after you left. I can drive wherever I want to now. It is kind of like flying for you." she whispered the last part to her friend.
"Oh. I see. So I could drive if I wanted to ?"
"Sure. After you take lessons and pass the test."
"I think I will fly instead. Human's do too much studying for my taste." Linda joked as she ate the mashed potatoes on her plate.
"Ditto. Will you be eating that?" Lucy agreed as she took the cupcake from Linda's lunch plate.
**********
Linda knocked on Dean's office door before she left for the day.
"Come in." Dean acknowledged.
"Hi Dean." Linda greeted him upon entering the room.
"Linda, come in." he beamed at her.
"I don't want to bother you. I just want to drop this off. I hope you can come. All my friends are invited. " she dropped the invitation on his desk.
He picked it up and opened the envelope. He looked up at her and smiled. "Got an escort yet?" he had a mischevious gleam in his eyes.
"Ethan." she replied.
"Got room for one more?" he asked hopefully.
"Nope. Just Ethan. Unless you want to get slugged again." she kidded him.
He pretended to laugh at what she said. His jaw hurt for over a month and he could only sip soup for 2 weeks after that punch Ethan gave him.
"See you there." he told her. He was not going to force the issue. At least not yet.
**********
Ethan had spent the whole week looking for the perfect gift for Linda. Whatever it was he gave her, it would have to be something she would treasure for the rest of their lives. What could it be?
"We've been walking for 4 hours now Ethan. Will you just pick something already." Jimmy complained as they rounded the mall for the 4th time that day.
"I don't know what to get her. What kind of gift can I give to Supergirl? " Ethan admitted.
"Fer crying out loud Ethan, what is it that women love the most?" Jimmy asked him to guess.
Ethan looked at him blankly.
"Jewelry." Jimmy pointed at the display window of Stylus Jewellers.
"I need something for an 18 year old. Something that looks uncommon and special." he told the female jewelry store attendant.
"We just got something in today." the woman left the room and came back with a closed jewerly box.
"If your aren't on too tight a budget, this heart shaped Ruby gemstone with a Topaz insert silver necklace would make a wonderful gift. " she continued her sales talk while the men looked at the necklace. Neither of the men actually understood what the woman was saying. The only thing that caught Ethan's attention were the colors of the stones.
"It looks expensive." Jimmy warned.
"Yeah. But Jimmy, look at the colors. It would actually mean something to her." Ethan hinted.
"Oh right..." he replied remembering that the colors in front of him were the standard colors of both Superman and Supergirl.
"Do you take cards?" Ethan asked the woman, dreading to hear the price.
**********
Linda spent the day of the party at the Lane's house. Mrs. Lane insisted on hiring a professional hair stylist and make up artist for her while Lucy and Lois helped her get dressed. Things were so hectic that she forgot to have lunch.
"Drop the sandwich!" Lois screamed when she saw Linda sneaking a snack in the kitchen.
"I haven't eaten all day Lois!" Linda protested bringing the sandwich to her mouth.
"Do you want to fit into the gown or not?" she grabbed the bread out of her hands and set it aside.
"Lois, this is me we are talking about." she tried to reason.
"I don't care. We will not risk you gaining even an inch before that dress is put on."
"Linda! Get up here. You can't eat with that make up on. You will ruin it! Wait till the party!" she heard Lucy hollering from upstairs.
Why were they more excited than she was?
"Coming Lucy." she dragged herself out of the kitchen and back up the stairs.
**********
Linda was finally ready for the party. She was wearing a light pink, off the shoulder formal gown that Mrs. Lane helped her pick out. Her shoulders were clearly defined even though she never exercised as she had a typical Kryptonian female body structure. Her hair was set in a bun and held up by a bejeweled butterfly clip that Lois had lent her for the occassion. If only her parents could see her now.
Her parents. She had been fighting the guilt that had been growing inside of her since Clark had told her about the party. It wasn't fair that they were no longer with her to enjoy this momentous occassion in her life. If it was so important, then they should have been there. They should have left Argo City with her. There was a knock on the door.
"Kara? Are you ready?" Kal-El asked.
"Come in Kal-El." she pulled a tissue out of the box and blotted the tears before it could make her masacara run.
"It's time." he told her, his jaw dropping as she stood up and turned to him.
"You look exquisite Kara. A beautiful living doll." he complimented her as he offered his arm to her so he could escort her downstairs.
"Thank you Kal-El. Is Ethan here yet?" she had not seen him since the day before because Mrs. Lane insisted she sleep at their house to save on travel and preparation time.
"He's downstairs waiting for us."
***********
"Ladies and gentlemen, students of the Midvale School of Girls, Principal Ed Danvers, it is my greatest pleasure to present to you, our debutante, Ms. Linda Lee, escorted by her cousin Clark Kent." she heard Mr. Lane introduce her while she and Kal-el waited for their cue to come down the stairs.
Ethan immediately looked up the steps from the corner step where he was standing. He was not sure if it was just his eyes but Linda seemed to have been spotlighted by an almost heavenly glow. She looked so happy as she walked down the stairs. Her beauty filled the room much to the envy of her classmates and others there. There was only one word to describe the beauty that emanated from within her that night -- ethereal.
She had her eyes locked upon him as she walked down the stairs. He was clean shaven and dressed in a rental tuxedo similar to Clark's. Where Clark looked like her respectable older brother, Ethan looked every bit the part of the young man who had captured a very special young lady's heart. Together, they looked very much like a youthful couple enjoying the love they shared together. Nothing else in the world existed for them except each other.
"Her official escort for the night..." Mr. Lane continued. "is Mr. Ethan Logan."
The room filled with applause as Ethan and Linda worked the room to welcome the guests.
"Linda, I have never seen you more beautiful than you do tonight." he breathed his words into her ear as they made their way to the debutante's table.
She squeezed his hand to let him know she heard what he said. The eyes that looked at him were filled with so much happiness that night. A far cry from the sadness that had existed just a week ago when she stood crying in their kitchen.
**********
"May I cut in?" Dean asked while Clark and Linda shared a slow dance.
"Of course. But remember, she has a boyfriend." Clark warned him.
"Clark!" Linda was officially embarassed.
"No worries." Dean assured him taking his place.
Linda glanced in Ethan's direction and looked at him in a way that told him to back off. The last thing she wanted was for the male egos to ruin her night.
"Happy birthday Linda." He tried to kiss her again on the cheek but this time she avoided him.
"Dean, you are a very good friend." she began to explain. "But I am with Ethan and I don't want to do anything to make him mad. He has accepted you as my friend. Please don't push it."
"But won't you even entertain the notion that you could love someone else?" he asked her as they danced towards the door leading to the pool where others from her school were dancing.
"I can't Dean. I'm sorry. You can't understand our relationship." she tried to let him down easy as they got closer to the pool.
"Then at least stop teasing me and give me a kiss." he lunged for her lips.
She pushed him away and turned to walk away from him. "Oh no you don't!" he grabbed her by the arm.
With a burst of strength, she broke free of his grip and walked into the at Linda's table saw what happened. Jimmy held Ethan back from approaching Dean. "Bad. idea." he warned.
"Let me handle this." Lucy told him. She got up and followed Linda who had gone up to the rooms. Lucy found her in her bedroom which they were using as the dressing room for the night.
"What happened back there?" she asked. Linda was sitting infront of the dresser table and staring at herself.
"Lucy, you were right. I made a mistake thinking Dean was just a friend. He wants more. Something that I can't give him." Linda turned toward her friend and starting letting her hair out of the bun.
"The party isn't over Linda. You can't change your clothes yet." She approached her and fixed up the hair again.
"I'm not in the mood anymore. Dean will be causing problems and Ethan will need to be restrained again." she complained.
"How about if I talk Dean into leaving the party?" Lucy suggested as she clipped the bun again.
"Isn't that rude?"
"The beauty of owning the house the party is held in is that I can send the troublemakers 's go. You can stay at the table while I sort this out." she told Linda.
Dean was dancing with a girl from Midvale School when Lucy found him. "Dean, a moment please?"
She led him away from the dance floor and to an area where Linda could see them from the table.
"You have to leave Dean. You upset Linda with your actions."
"Upset her? She upset me! That flirt!"
"Watch it Dean. You are on thin ice."
"Tell you friend I am not leaving and if her boyfriend doesn't like it, he can go jump in the lake." he started back to the dance floor.
"I'm warning you. Don't try to break them up." Lucy blocked his path.
"Who's gonna stop me from breaking them up?" Ethan sneered as he pushed Lucy aside.
Linda had heard enough. She decided that Kara needed to deal with Dean. Excusing herself from the table, she snuck into the bushes and set upward in flight. Kara rounded the sky over the Lane residence, picked out Dean from the crowd by sight and swooped down on him. Lifting him into the sky with her.
"What? Supergirl?" he asked in disbelief.
"Dean, why can't you take no for an answer. Linda already told you she did not want to get serious with you. Why not just take the friendship she offers?"
"Are you kidding? My parents own this town. There is no girl here that I can't have. " he bragged.
"Well, Linda has made it clear that you can't have her. So deal with it." Kara said irritatedly.
"That's what you say. But I can change her mind." he replied overconfidently.
"Look, leave Linda and Ethan alone. They are my friends and if you do anything to ruin their relationship..."
"Your friends? Since when? Nobody even knows who you are." he argued.
"Dean, just listen to me and back off. I won't be responsible for anything that happens next." Supergirl warned him.
"What will you do?" he goaded her.
"This!" she dropped him directly into the center of the swimming pool. Splashing water that thankfully did not wet too many guests.
Hearing the splash in the pool, everybody rushed out of the house.
"Where's Linda?" Clark asked after seeing Dean swimming to the steps of the pool. Lucy pointed upward to the sky to answer his question.
"Oh Kara." Clark muttered while holding back a laugh.
Indeed, Kara looked every bit of a woman already but she was still a child at heart. This would be a long growing up process for her. Clark decided he would have to talk to her about how she used her powers from now on.
**********
The party finally ended about 2 A.M. but Ethan and Linda had a small party of their own when they got back to their house. They were cuddling on the couch for a while before going up to their respective rooms. Linda was still very excited over the nights events and could not stop talking about it. Ethan had to produce the box that he had hidden in the pantry to make her keep quiet long enough for him to say what he needed to tell her.
"My gift has a personal meaning Linda. That's why I waited till now to give it to you." he told her producing the ribbon trimmed jewelry box.
"Ethan, you did not have to get my anything. You've done so much for me already." Linda tried to refuse the gift.
"Open it." he placed the box in her hands. And clasped her fingers over it.
Smiling brightly at him, she tore open the wrapper and fumbled with the box till she found the clasp that unlocked to open it. "It's wonderful!"
He took the necklace out of the box and clasped it around her neck. "It is just something to remember this night by." He explained as she let the hair that she held up settle back down.
"I love it Ethan. I think I can guess why you picked the color gemstones and setting. I will always treasure it. Now I will always be reminded that your heart is always at home, here with me." she told him contendly as she sank into his loving arms.
