The door to Kara's loft opens. Alex and Kara walk in. Kara looks drained.

"Kara, what happened out there?" Alex inquires in a concerned tone.

"I'm not entirely sure," Kara mutters as she makes her way to the couch and drops down. "After Jackson hit us with that telekinetic blast, Lena and I crashed through the wall pretty hard. I had a split second to grab her and turn to take the brunt of the blow. Is she alright?"

Alex sits down next to her sister and says, "She'll be fine. She got knocked cold, but her vitals were fine and she's not concussed. Brainy and Nia took her back to the DEO for rest and observation."

"Alex!", Kara exclaims, "We have to get to the DEO. I should be with her."

"Kara, calm down," Alex replies as she places a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Lena will be out for a little while. We'll head back there, but I wanted to bring you home to regroup first. You seemed really out of it."

"I thought Jackson just had telekinetic abilities," Kara remarks with a confused look on her face.

"As best we know that is all he has, why?", Alex questions.

"Because," Kara answers, "after the initial blast threw us through that wall I felt something more akin to a psychic wave invade my mind. Crashing through that wall didn't stun me... I was having a psychically induced fear vision."

"Are you sure?", Alex asks with a troubled looked on her face.

Kara, looks down at her left hand, and says, "I'm positive. It was like the first time I faced Psi. I felt like the world started to spin, I was losing control, and then..."

"What, sis?" Alex presses.

"Jackson was gone… and I saw all of you gathered around a body," Kara, tears beginning to form in her eyes, agonizingly describes. "I slowly made my way over... you all parted... and I saw Lena lying there... dead."

Alex gasps and places a hand over her mouth.

Kara, sobbing, continues, "I knelt down next to her, lifted her close to me, put my head against hers, and screamed. I felt like my heart had been ripped from my body, but... in my agony... I noticed an emerald band I had never seen before on her left ring finger. Then... I looked down at my own left hand... and there was a matching gold band on my finger, too."

"Oh, Kara," Alex says as she puts her arms around her grief stricken sister, "I can't imagine how horrible that must have been."

"Until J'onn jarred me out of it," Kara mumbles through her tears as she wipes her eyes, "I felt hollow, empty, like my world was shattered."

"But she's okay," Alex reassures her, "you both are."

"I know," Kara says as she begins to recompose herself, "I just... I've only ever felt that kind of pain and fear a few times before. When my parents put me in my pod… when I had to put Mon-El in that same pod to send him away… and when J'onn wiped your memories of me being Supergirl. And the rings... what?"

Alex looks compassionately at her sister. "Kara, for as long as we've been sisters you have been a stranger on a strange planet building a new life to replace the one that was ripped from you when Krypton exploded. You've worked so hard to build a life that represents the person you hoped you'd grow to be... a family, friends, a career... but for so long you've desperately sought the missing piece to the puzzle of your heart."

"Alex, please," Kara interjects, "when I revealed my secret to the world I assumed I was giving up any chance of finding someone to share my life with. Finding someone when I'm perpetually uncertain that they see me for anything besides my powers or my notoriety... it's just too hard."

Alex gives Kara an ironic grin. "Really?!? I can't begin to count the number of times over the last fews years you've told me how tired you are of being alone. You can't give up now, not when you're so close."

Kara is puzzled at Alex's declaration. "So close to what, Alex?"

Alex gets up from the couch and paces back-and-forth on the other side of the coffee table. "Kara, look at the choices and sacrifices you've made in your love life. First there was Kenny. You were both too young, but nevertheless cared deeply for each other. He made you your first fortress and you struggled with the choice of whether to stay with him in Midvale or venture out to National City, but eventually you knew you had to choose your future over young love."

Kara gets agitated. "What are you getting at?"

Alex ignores her. "Then there was James. You pined so long for a chance, agonized when Lucy came back into his life, and when the stars finally seemed to align you realized that your relationship was better served as good, trusted friends. And last there was your ultimate sacrifice with Mon-El. Just when it seemed you had found the person you were meant to be with you to had to make an impossible choice."

"Alex!", Kara bursts out vexingly.

Alex turns to face her. "My point is… look deep inside your heart. These relationships were all deeply important to you, but with each you made the choice to sacrifice your own happiness. You made the rational, responsible choices. Love is rarely rational and its blind emotion almost always clouds our better judgment. Your soulmate, the person you're truly meant to build a future with is the one you throw caution to the wind for. They're the one you'd choose to protect, but never let go of. You would sacrifice everyone and everything else in the world to be with them. Ask yourself, who can you truly not imagine a world without? What loss would cripple your soul so much that life would feel hollow, empty, incomplete... and fill your heart with so much grief and pain that you'd have to scream to release the agony?"

Kara looks at her left ring finger again and mumbles emotionally, "Lena...".

Alex makes her way back to the sofa, sits down, and places a hand on her sister's leg. "Kara… when Edge tried to frame and kill her to get vengeance you refused to save the city if it meant sacrificing her, when Edge poisoned her you risked your secret to save her life."

Kara tries to deflect incredulously, "I had to save Lena, but I couldn't drop the chemicals they would have poisoned National City's water supply…. and… I would have flown anyone in Lena's condition for medical attention."

Alex argues. "I'll give you the plane was a nearly impossible situation, but when Lena's coffee was poisoned you didn't change your clothes and fly her to a hospital, out of pure instinct you flew her straight to me in your work clothes. The whole world could have seen that."

Kara closes her eyes and inhales deely as she considers the truth of Alex's observation.

Alex continues. "Let's look at this from her perspective, she bought CatCo… for you. When Mercy and Otis seeded the atmosphere with Kryptonite she built the Kryptonite protection suit and helped Brainy clean the air despite her deep conflict with Supergirl. She adamantly defended you when Lex and Lockwood had nearly the entire nation convinced you attacked the White House…".

Kara with her eyes still closed, exhales, and begs Alex, "Please… don't…".

Alex looks sorrowfully at Kara. "And when Lex was defeated she made the ultimate sacrifice and killed her own brother…for you."

Kara opens her eyes and begins to sob.

Alex grabs her hand. "You stole Lex's journals from a military installation for her, when the two of you fell out because of your secret you were both emotionally crushed and heartbroken, when you were lost in the Phantom Zone and Phantoms invaded National City she was prepared to let the world fall into darkness to save you, and when we finally brought you home you told her that the only reason we were able to bring you back was because she was on the team."

"Alex...", Kara says trembling.

"You were right," Alex insists, "you and Lena are two sides of the same coin. You are joined by more than just friendship. You are soulmates. What was it that William's spirit said? She is your beacon... the light that guides your heart and soul home when you're lost and alone. The rings... they are the symbol of the connection that binds you together. No matter how strained or painful your relationship ever got, deep down neither of you ever gave up on the other. Whether consciously or subconsciously your souls healed not only themselves, but each others', too. I've watched you two together for so many years. The glances, the words, the loving embraces, the depth of your loyalty, support, compassion, and comfort for each other. You love her, maybe more than you ever truly understood, and more completely than you ever loved anyone."

"I know," Kara, her eyes pointed to the floor, utters as she struggles with her feelings, "somehow... I've always known. Alex, I can't imagine a world, a future, a life without her."

Alex gives her a comforting smile, lifts her chin up, and wipes away her tears. "Then we should get back to the DEO so you can be there when she wakes up."