Hey Guys! Sorry for the looooong wait in between chapters. I always tend to do that when a story is coming to an end. I'm evasive like that. I included a bit of the last chapter in the posts to jog your memory.
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Speechless, Martha approached still closer, noticing the redness of the other woman's eyes and the worry that creased her mouth. Her tongue darted out to whet her lips as she prepared to speak.

"My name is Lara Lor-Van of the planet Krypton. It is my dearest wish that this transmission is being viewed by the caretaker to which I have bequeathed my son, Kal El.." her voice broke momentarily and she hid her face behind the baby's head.

She paused a moment to collect herself. She rose her chin and regally tossed her long chestnut hair over one shoulder, steeling herself for her own words.

"If this signal is activating, I can only deduce that Kal El has traveled successfully and safely to planet Earth to which my husband, Jor El of Krypton and I sent him."

Transfixed, Martha took another step forward, and Lara seemed to notice her for the first time. The two mothers' gazes locked, each of them cradling a child...the same child, in her arms. Lara's eyes left Martha's face and fell upon the sleeping toddler.

"Is this my son?" her ethereally accented voice whispered in awe. "How much he has grown already..." she lifted her eyes once again to Martha. Taking in her trepidatious expression, she smiled gently. "And you...what are you called?"

Martha pursed her lips, wondering if perhaps she should bow or curtsy. "Martha...Martha Kent...of ....the planet...Earth." she fumbled. "How...I don't understand how this is possible..."

Lara looked over her shoulder at something out of Martha's view.

"I dare not take more time as this transmission must not exceed the chosen power barrier and thus endanger my...our son." she swallowed thickly. "I take this risk to say only this. With all the power and strength I possess, I charge you with the care of my only son. My planet is in the very last throws of her demise and the only means I have of preserving my child and the memory of my planet lies in your arms." Lara did not hide her face this time as tears of agony fell unchecked down her face.

"I have but one more instruction before I send my son on his journey into your life." she raised her left hand into view and held aloft a slender crystal that twinkled like an emerald against her skin. "If there should come a day where you are unable to fulfill the duty you have chosen to bear, should there be a time that you, as I, find yourself unable to protect this child I ask that this be given to those who would watch over him or to Kal El himself. I trust you understand the gravity of our joint circumstance and the fate that could befall this most special of children should he be delivered into evil hands..."

A loud rumble sounded behind her and Lara's eyes widened in fear. A forceful baritone rang in the distance. "Lara! It is time! Bring our son!"

Lara took one step back, her hand visibly shaking as she tucked the crystal into a pocket sewn to the blanket that was wrapped around the baby.

"Please do not fail in this task, dear sister." Lara cast another fearful glanced over her shoulder as the floor rocked so violently that she nearly lost her balance. "The hope of a race lies in your hands. On the pages of his life, he will record the final chapter of my planet's history. Protect him well. Guard him as you would your own blood, your own child. Raise him to be kind and true. And when he feels different and alone, be sure he knows he was loved above my own life." Her breath escaped in a sob. "I can offer you no reward other than the gratitude of a mother whose heart breaks at the loss of a chance to do these things herself..."

"Lara!" The voice came again and the gruffness was gone, replaced now by desperation.

Lara raised her eyes one final time to Martha's and nodded encouragingly, her bravery unwavering in these, her last moments of life.

"Farewell."

The transmission faded into blackness, leaving Martha once again alone in the barn, save for the child in her arms and the craft that had brought him to her. She strode with purpose across the room to the square of cloth that lay folded beside the ship. She rested Clark on her hip and with great care unraveled it, locating the hidden fold.

There she found the emerald cylinder that only moments ago had been clutched in the hand of her son's birth mother. A crushing wave of grief overtook her and Martha sank into the hay on the floor and sobbed, holding her son against her breast as she rocked back and forth, mourning for a woman who was no longer able to do so.

"I will watch over you with two pairs of eyes and hold you with two set of arms, you will be loved in the measure of two hearts. I promise this to you and to your mother. I will keep you safe and guard you with the last breath in my body."

Martha raised her hand and laid it upon the cool surface of the spacecraft. "This is my promise...and my legacy."

Bequest:
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy.

Bequest : Chapter Twenty Six - Bonding

The images faded, the young Martha Kent and the boy version of himself were lost from his sight. Clark was so consumed in the emotion of the scene that he played out before him, that he nearly neglected to investigate its origin.

He lifted his eyes and the tear surged and swelled, obscuring the view of her, a shimmering apparition and then, so much more. As he drew in a breath, he could almost imagine the scent of her, the comforting fragrance of a flower he'd never seen from a world he'd never known and yet...home.

Her form drew closer and reached for him, coming suddenly into focus as she wiped the tears from his eyes. Clark startled at the touch, in all of his years spent in this arctic citadel, he had never once felt his father's embrace, even in the moments where his heart had lain broken for the longing of it.

His trembling hand rose in wonder to cover the warm hand that lay on his cheek. Her hand flexed and wrapped around his fingers, and for a moment they stood without words, hands clasped tightly together fearing the fragile strands of this moment would fragment and break apart.

"How..." his voice came in a whisper.

Lara Zor-El drew her son into her embrace for the first time and her willowy frame shook with barely suppressed emotion. Her hand ran soothingly over his hair and her maternal instinct rocked them back and forth gently.

"I have transported you into my consciousness." The purpose of this crystal was to protect you in the event that there was no one left to care for you or you were unable to care for yourself. I never expected to find you here, a man, grown tall and strong...so much like your father." The tears in her voice mirrored those that spilled onto her cheeks.

Lara drew back and Clark straightened to his full height towering over his mother. "I don't understand."

"Your father had the foresight to oversee your travel and your education as you grew on this distant planet, so like our own and yet so different. I feared that your origin would be discovered and you may have fallen into the mercy of a people who did not understand to gift they had been given. I could bear giving you up for a chance to live..." her eyes filled with fresh tears at the memory. "But I could not bear the thought that we would send you from one unthinkable fate to another. This crystal was designed to bring you here to this place to remain, out of reach from the world to which we sent you."

Her eyes looked past him and Clark turned around to see himself laying on the floor of the fortress, the Mother crystal clutched in his still lifeless form.

Clark's eyes grew wide with fear as he turned to regard his mother. "Am I...dead?"

Lara laid her hand on his forearm, her eyes deep pools of unconditional love. "No, my son. You are simply...separated. This custom has been a part of our heritage for centuries, preserving the life source that one might live on...forever. Protected and safe." She smiled gently taking in his towering form. "I now see you do not require the protection I sought to provide as you are no longer a defenseless child. Martha Kent of the Planet Earth must have honored her vow."

A shadow crossed Clark's face at the mention of his adopted mother's name. And Lara's eyes filled with understanding. "And if you are here now...has she..."

Clark nodded, pursing his lips tightly. "Just this week." he murmured, the sorrow in his voice mirrored in the azure depths of his eyes.

Lara cupped her son's face in her hands and brushed a kiss across his forehead. "I am sorry, my knowledge of her is limited, but what I saw was a woman of great love and bravery. May Heaven watch over her soul and bless her for her deeds."

"How was it that I saw..." Clark fumbled to explain what he'd seen.

His birth mother smiled and clasped her hands together demurely. "All of the information stored in this crystal is now in your possession. I was not able to include as much as I wanted, the time was too short and your father had taken such great care to supply you with all the knowledge you would need to survive successfully on this planet. He was concerned for your physical safety and education" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and lowered her eyes. "My concern was always for the wellbeing of your heart." She paused to smooth the hair from his forehead. "I am troubled by it even now." Her eyes glittered with concern as she held his face between her hands. "Are you alone now, my precious son?"

Clark shook his head slowly, the rumor of a smile beginning to soften the lines of sorrow on his face. He patted his mother's hand. "No mother. I am not alone. There is a woman, Lois who I love very much." It was Clark's turn to pause now as he squeezed her hand gently. "We have a son."

Lara's eyes flew to his, growing into large joyous saucers at the news. "A son!" she gasped in astonishment. "A son..." her voice trailed off and tears of joy danced in her eyes. "I have not shed so many tears in one day since the day I sent you to this far away place. But these are tears I would gladly shed again to hear my son has become the father just as I'd always prayed." Her demure and collected facade melted beneath the glow of a woman just discovering she was a grandmother. She clasped both of his hands in hers nearly leaping with excitement. "You must bring him here at once! My eyes have ached for so long to see a grandson, and yet I never dreamed it would come to pass!"

Lara half-led, half-dragged Clark over to the entrance of the fortress and stood beside his still form.

"Go quickly, my Kal El, bring me my grandson and his mother, your wife."

Clark paused, halting their hurried procession A deep blush spread over his cheeks.

Lara tilted her head to one side and regarded him curiously.

"She...that is, Lois..." he stammered, licking his dry lips. "She is not ... my wife."

Lara raised an eyebrow in question, the concept foreign to her. An awkward silence stretched pregnantly between them.

After a moment, Lara's voice softly chased away the quiet. "The customs of your new home are far different than that of Krypton." her voice held the familiar chiding tone he had heard before on a farm in Kansas. "Perhaps children do not require their parents to be united on this planet..."

Clark grabbed her hand firmly, causing it to disappear into his. "Oh no! She will be my wife!" He ran out of steam at his birth mother's raised eyebrow. "... if she'll have me." he finished lamely. Clark exhaled softly, his attention shifting the part of him not receiving a good-natured evil eye from his mother. "How do I. -" Clark was unable to finish his sentence for in that moment he found himself laying on the snowy floor of the fortress. He looked around, seeking the woman who'd stood before him only seconds before.

"Mother?" his voice echoed hollowly off the cold and empty crystalline walls of the fortress. He tucked the crystal into his jacket pocket and lifted gingerly off the ground.

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The wood groaned slowly and rhythmically as Lois rocked back and forth. Her mind raced in juxtaposition to the laziness of the sound. Her hands were shaking, having reached out for Clark and being able to grasp only thin air.

She'd been awake all night, sitting on the floor of the attic. For once in her life completely at a loss for action. Clark was gone. The was crystal gone with him and she was left alone reliving his disappearance over again in her minds eye.

Pages of the will were scattered all around her. She had searched through every page, hoping for some kind of clue, some idea where Clark had gone. Her vain attempts at maintaining her calm crashed to the floor with the small box she'd thrown across the attic. She'd cried out in frustration, finding Clark's father's old coat, she'd wrapped herself in it and sank to the ground, burying her face in her knees as the tears of fear overcame her.

Not now. Not when we are just beginning...

Lois' exhausted sanity was not match for her lively imagination as it scurried to and fro with possibility after macabre possibility. When it came to Kryptonian technology, her limited knowledge caused her to be more fearful than her nature usually required.

Had he been taken away? Pulled through some kind of tear in the fabric of the universe? Would he be able to return to her? What if it had somehow done the unthinkable, removing him from the world completely...forever? What if he wasn't even...alive....?

Lois shook her head violently trying to untangle herself from the ever tightening cords of her vivid imagination, tightening the coast around her, she busied herself with picking up ever sheet of paper that had been inside the box. Maybe she had missed something. Some kind of explanation...

The tiniest sound from the direction of the window caused her head to snap up and drew her eyes to the glass that was even now growing pale with the morning light. Incredibly, on the other side of the surface, hovered the man she loved,. Their eyes locked, her's in total shock and surprise, His eyes drank her in, broadcasting a thousand emotions, but most powerfully, his love for her.

Lois breath escaped her in a sob and she launched herself to her feet, flinging open the window. She reached out and this time her hands closed around his warm, solid arms. With a cry, she pulled him toward her, her fingers wrapping around his shoulders, around his waist, holding him so desperately that she leaned precariously out the window.

Clark steadied her with his arms, holding her tightly against his chest. And she clung to him, the sound of her heartbeat thrumming in his ears.

"Where did you go?" she hiccupped between sobs. "You were gone... and the crystal was gone... and I thought-... that horrible light..."

"Shh...." Clark drew back and wiped the tears from her cheeks. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be stopped by Lois' lips covering his.

She clung to him with the same desperation that had consumed him on the floor of the barn. Her lips were fused to his, telling of her love in the way only a kiss could. He tasted her tears as they slid down her cheeks and he buried his hands in her hair, returning her declaration of love with one of his own.

"I love you.." he breathed between kisses, "I love you. I love you."

Lois threaded her fingers through his hair and rested her forehead against his.

"Please never do that again." she whispered breathlessly, her hands wrapping around his neck and shoulders, clinging to him tightly. "Please."

Clark eased Lois out of the window and into his arms. He cast a look around them and lowered their joined forms to the gravel of the lot beside the house. He held Lois' form all the more snugly against his chest.

"I won't." He promised, kissing the soft flesh of her temple. "I won't."

Lois was curiously silent, as he carried her gingerly across the expanse of the backyard. He held her steadily as he climbed the stairs up to the porch, Clark turned the knob of the back door and heard the daintiest of snores escape from the form folded so lovingly in his arms. He climbed the stairs to the second floor and gently laid Lois on his bed. She hardly stirred as he tucked his bathrobe more snuggly around her and laid the thick warm coverlet over her slumbering frame. Clark tucked away a wayward lock of hair that had found its way across her face.

He couldn't imagine the things she'd been thinking as he disappeared before her. Explanations and revelations would have to wait. Clark smiled softly. There would be answers to give and a question to ask when she awoke.

Down the hall, Clark heard Jason stirring. He fortunately had inherited his mother's ability to sleep through a hurricane and had missed the drama the night had held.

Clark rose from the bed and made his way silently to the door. The light of the morning had come to its full glory and its brilliance covered his bed. He could already feel the comforting warmth it would bring. The light flickered behind the thickness of the drapes, winking at him conspiritorially. Clark smiled and let the door slide closed, entrusting Lois to its protection. With that, he padded down the hall to make breakfast for his son.