Only Time Will Tell

by louloucn

As Lionel Luthor summons Lex to take his rightful place as the next one in line to take over the Luthor empire, as Lex begins to remember events of the past and the tragic loss of Lana years ago, and wonders if she may still be alive.

2. Part II A Sense of Destiny

Title: Only time can tell

Feedback: Yes please.

Summary: As Lionel Luthor summons Lex to take his rightful place as the next one in line to take over the Luthor empire, Lex struggles with his emotional well being as he begins to remember events of the past and the tragic loss of Lana years ago, and wonders if the love of his life may still be alive.

Spoilers: Everything that happened in the first season of Smallville. (after the tornado came, Clark did save Lana but Lionel did not become blind. Whitney's still gone, Clark and Chloe never finished their date, and everything else is the same, got it?)

Pairing: obviously Lex/Lana but as for the other couples, you'll just have to wait and see okay?

Rating: mostly PG-13 but with a little NC-17 mixed in.

Disclaimer: I don't own Lex or Lana or any of the characters in Smallville. I just write this stuff for fun.

Note: This story was inspired by the question of what movie would you put Lex and Lana. I pondered that question and then came up with a great idea. A decided homage of sorts to the film Waking the Dead, this is a fanfic adaptation of the story if it happened in the Smallville world. Of course it can't be a dead on remake of the tale so I had to change some things and take out other things, but the basic storyline is there and as you can see, I think that what happens to the Fielding and Sarah, the main characters of Waking the Dead, can also apply to Lex and Lana.

I will also borrow some dialogue that was used in the movie too. Credit goes to Scott Spencer who wrote the novel that the movie was based on as well as Robert Dillon, who wrote the screenplay. Also, like the movie, I will write in stage directions just because I find my mind works like that. Like a director. Like a storyboard. I think it would give you, as a reader, a better idea of what I'm seeing.

****

Part II- A Sense of Destiny

Lex stood, simmering in anger as who stood before him was none other than his estranged father. Although he had not seen him in public in a couple of months, he still looked the same. A little paler and maybe physically weak, but his calculating mind made up for all of that. Looking at his menacing face sunk him into reality fast: this man was never going to die.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Lionel asked in a slightly taunting tone.

"Happy isn't exactly the word I would use." Lex answered with a scowl. "CLAUDIA!"

"Sir.." Claudia tried to answer.

"Did I specifically tell you never to let him into this office, nevertheless this building?"

"I tried sir, but he wouldn't leave. He just barged right in and told me to fetch you." Claudia explained. "I'm sorry sir."

"Maybe you should hire new help if you didn't want me here… I mean she didn't put up much of a fight." Lionel suggested, as he took another sip of his brandy.

"Sir am I…" Claudia said fearfully.

"No Claudia." Lex said calmly. "Just leave us please."

She quietly obliged as she quickly scurried out of the office, closing the double doors behind her.

"Now can you get to your point quickly before I call security." Lex threatened. "I don't have all day to play your games."

"Is that any way to treat your father?" Lionel asked as he stood up from the leather chair, leaving both the glass and the cigar on the table as he walked around the desk. "It has been awhile since we've seen each other."

"Actually we haven't been face to face alone in years and I happened to have liked our arrangement since then." Lex clarified. It would have been impossible to complete avoid his father since they were in direct competition with each other but other than public functions in which they would have happen to be attending together, they hadn't spoken to one another, let alone be in a room with just the two of them. "Just TELL me what you want and get the fuck out."

"Let me just clarify to you, my foolish son, that it was I who permitted you to have maintained this charade. Don't think for one second that this so called vow of silence that you had for me all of these years would have lasted one second without me allowing it."

"I guess you should win 'Father of the Year' dad. I mean I really learned my lesson this time." Lex replied as he rolled his eyes. "So have you come to lecture me because you miss it so much or is there is an actual purpose to your visit."

"I've come to save you son." Lionel exclaimed.

"Save me? Oh give me a break!"

"What have you been doing with your life these past few years? Floundering about with your company, wasting your natural born abilities to lead…"

"I am leading…I am leading my company into the future and burying Luthorcorp into the ground." Lex replied firmly.

"Ha…like I ever considered your little enterprise an actual threat. So you've been able to catch up to Luthorcorp in sales in these last couple of years, so what? It'll be your company that sinks before Luthorcorp even moves an inch. What is Lexcorp but a little flight of fancy. Luthorcorp is a legacy."

" Luthorcorp is a legacy", Lex repeated in a mocking tone. "etc, etc, etc. Like you haven't told me this a billion times since the day I came into this world. So having it ingrained in my brain isn't pain enough?"

"I guess it isn't enough if you are still piddling away doing god knows what."

"So I am a failure." Lex replied. "Nothing I haven't heard before. So if we're done with the father-son encouragement, I hav…" as he started to walk around Lionel towards his desk.

"I'm NOT finished yet." Lionel said abruptly as he extended out his arm to block Lex's way.

"Okay, I've let you indulge yourself with that little diatribe of yours, but don't you ever touch me again!" Lex exclaimed as his face drew close to Lionel's so that there could be no mistake in what he was saying. "Tell me what you want and leave."

"Temper, temper Lex." Lionel said calmly, unfazed by Lex's threats. "You never could control that temper of yours could you? If you could only calm down for one second, then you'd realize I've come bearing good news."

"Good news?" Lex asked in disbelief. "Since when do you bring good news?"

"Since I've decided it was time for you to take responsibility for your life and end this farce. Playtime's over Lex. It's time for you live up to your namesake and take your place as the CEO of Luthorcorp."

"What?" Lex exclaimed, obviously in shock. " Unbelievable…so let me get this straight…you come here telling me how big a loser I've become and how I've been wasting my life all of these years and all of this, mind you, because you wanted me to, of course. And now you want me to take over Luthorcorp."

"Precisely. As for wasting your life, I knew you needed some time to live out your childish fancies but enough is enough. It's time for you to get back to reality. As much as you would like to hide from it, as much as you would like to pretend otherwise, your blood says you are a Luthor through and through. Not only that, but you are my son. That means that sooner or later you must take your place as head of Luthorcorp. It's your birthright."

"So you are just going to hand it over to me like that? On a silver platter?"

"Well maybe not that easily. I will have to make you remember what it means to be a Luthor but other than that, Luthorcorp is yours."

"What if I don't want it?" Lex asked.

"What if you don't want it?" Lionel repeated, not quite believing what he was hearing. "I spoonfeed you your future and you spit it out? Don't be an even bigger fool than I believe Lex. You may despise me but you are my flesh and blood so all that is mine is yours. And even if I can't convince you paternally, as a businessman, no man would be silly enough to refuse."

"Maybe I am that thoughtless father." Lex assured him. "The offer may have took me by surprise, nonetheless the answer's still the same: No thanks."

"Lex, if you think that this is a request, it's not." Lionel said sternly. "I just thought that I should at first appeal to you in good will. But if that's not going to cut it, then fine. You want it that way, fine."

"So are you leaving now?" Lex said absently as he sat at his desk, head down in the papers that laid on his table, hoping his father would leave quickly.

"This is not over Lex. Not by a longshot. You know me well enough to realize that I always get what I want, don't you worry. But let me leave you with this." Lionel replied, as opened the double doors to leave. "Can you really walk away from your destiny?"

As Lionel walked out of Lex's office, the words still lingered in the air and Lex couldn't help but think about them. He looked back at the papers and realized there was no way he could go back to looking at them. Instead, he turned his chair around towards the window and began to stare blankly at the snow that was still falling to the ground.

Screen begins to blur as it fades to black.

****

2006

screen fades in slowly as it refocuses back to reveal the light of a candle. The camera pans out widely to reveal Lana, dressed in a simple black cocktail dress, in darkly lit room, her face lit up by the aura of the candles that surrounded the room. As the camera pans further out, one can see that Lex is dressed in his usual suit with a crisp white shirt with no tie.

"So what do you think?" Lana asked him as she sat back in her chair and smiled.

"It certainly does live up to its name." Lex replied honestly as he looked around the restaurant. An eclectic assortment of people filled the candle lit restaurant. In the entrance way, there was a small candy store that greeted customers with a message that this was not your typical restaurant. The open kitchen was placed beside the candy store , as the cooks and stoves could be clearly seen from where any of the tables were situated. There was no escaping the aromas of the kitchen or the sizzling of the skillets. And last but not least, in the corner, there was a tiny stage, where there was a guy strumming on his guitar, completely entranced by his own music.

"Yeah. I found Gypsy a month after I moved to Metropolis." Lana explained. "A friend of mine just took me here and it just blew me away. It's quaint, intimate and despite its strange surrounding, it feels homey. It also helps that the food is great here."

"So what would you like to order folks?" the waiter asked.

"Umm…could I have a small salad with a raspberry vinegrette and pumpkin ravioli with mushrooms please?" Lana said as she scanned through the menu.

"And I have the same salad and the pink salmon. And could you get your finest bottle of white wine. Thank you."

"Coming right up." The waiter replied, as she took the menus away.

"So tell me Lana." Lex asked mischievously as if the question had been burning on his mind ever since she left him that afternoon. "What was the real reason for you to just pack up and leave for Europe? If I remember clearly, when I said bye to you, you said 'I see you later'. Then when I came to Clark the next day, he told me you had disappeared."

"You remember that?" Lana asked. "God, you have a better memory than I do… so you want to know why I just left Smallville for Europe no less?" As she continued her story with a nervous chuckle, Lex couldn't help but smile. She was beautiful under any light but in the darkness, where her face was lit up by candlelight, her beauty became the focal point of the whole room. He sat there quietly while he listened intently to her story. "Well, it's pretty simple actually. I remember being at Clark's party, talking to everyone and you what people usually say. "Have a nice summer", "Hope to keep in touch", "What are you doing after high school" etc, blah, blah blah. The basic, generic stuff. As you know, I was planning on going to the University of Metropolis with Clark, Chloe and Pete. We had planned it all out about how great it was going to be just to be on our own together. Anyways, while I was talking everybody, it just seemed that despite the monotonous, cliché things people kept telling me, everyone seemed to have some kind of idea about what they wanted to be doing in life after high school. Okay, I know that most of those things people say never truly pan out and people change their minds, well maybe not Chloe cuz she's going to be a reporter no matter what but other than her…anyways, when I was sitting up in my room that night, I just felt like I needed to find myself."

"You could have found yourself at college." Lex stated, "I mean that's where most people find themselves."

"Yeah, that's true, but I really needed to do this on my own. If I had gone to college, I would be with Clark, Chloe and Pete, and despite how much I love them, I needed to be alone to know who I was and who I could be. I mean, after Whitney left, the next two years of high school were kind of a blur. What did I really do in those years? I went to school, worked at the Talon and had this unresolved relationship with Clark that never did pan out."

"I remember that." Lex said with a laugh. "I kept telling him to pursue you, to just flat out go after you, but despite all of my advice, he kept stalling and running away from you. I mean he was always THIS close and then he'd chicken out. Sometimes I wonder why he didn't just listen to me? I mean, if I was him, and you were right there in front of me, I would have just grabbed you and kiss…well you get my drift."

"Why didn't he listen to you?" Lana asked with a chuckle, clearly amused by Lex's confession. "Instead, we kept dancing around each other forever and I got so tired of that so I told him to ask Chloe out but of course, being Clark, he messed that up too. And then we all decided to become friends, which was the best thing. But other than that drama, nothing was happening in my life. And if I went to college, nothing would happen still. You know how much I love talking about traveling and museums and all those things I would learn in books about them."

"Yeah, I remember." Lex reminisced with a smile. "We'd be sipping on coffees at the Talon and then you would talk about this painting you had seen in a book somewhere and how you dreamt about seeing for real. You would always have this look on your face where you'd be so content but you didn't know if you could ever make your dreams come true."

"When I was thinking about all the things I have been missing from the world that night in my room, I just thought that if I didn't leave now, I might never will. So I told Nell that night about my plans, and of course she freaked. But despite her worries, I assured her that I would be okay and when that didn't worked, I told her I was 18 and there was no stopping me!" Lana said with a laugh.

"I'm sure that went over well." Lex laughed as he imagined the chaos that must have transpired that night.

"Yeah, real well. But I did it. I packed my bags, took all the money that I had saved up for college and the little extra that I had for safe keeping and left. And Nell, despite all of her protestations, did drive me to Metropolis to the airport and there I waited until there was a free flight to somewhere to Europe and I took it."

"Where did you end up?" Lex asked.

"Paris." Lana said with a smile. "I mean you told me about it and I was always amazed but you were right. You really can't describe unless you go for yourself."

"I'm really glad that you went for yourself." Lex admitted, for whatever was making her smile so widely couldn't have been less than wonderful. " I mean we all missed you and wondered where you were travelling next but we were still all happy for you."

"Thanks." Lana answered. "I mean, I took a year to travel around Europe and then I went to school the next year in Paris. I mean my French still sucked but at least by the end of it, I could parler en Français. By the end of it, two years had passed by and I though maybe it was time to come home."

"So, the real question is," Lex said as he leaned closer to her from across the table, "did you find yourself? Did you find your destiny?"

"I think so." Lana smiled as she leaned in closer to him. "I realized that after all that is said and done, I was supposed to be helping people. I was in college in France when I met this girl who was really involved in child rights activism. When she asked me if I was interested, I had to tell her that I didn't know much about the subject. But after awhile, we got close and she somehow got me involved. I mean, going to those conferences and traveling with her to places where children were in such poverty and needed our help so badly, gave my life purpose, you know? I mean, I never thought about how much good that I could give to anyone but when doing that, I really felt like not only am I helping that child but I was helping me, you know?"

"That's great Lana." Lex said with admiration. "I'm so happy for you."

"What about you Lex? What is your destiny?" Lana asked him with a twinkle in her eye.

"To rule the world I guess." Lex answered in a teasing, mocking tone.

"Lex, you might be thinking that you're kidding about it but I know enough about you to know that you're not really joking about it."

"So you're not offended by it? I mean, here you are talking about saving the children, doing good in the world and when you look at me, I'm going off about trying to become the most powerful person on the planet and you don't flinch a muscle."

"That's because I know you mean it. Even when I was that little girl in high school and you were my so-called boss and I thought you were so mysterious, I always knew that you aspired to be great. And I accept that. Even before we met, before I found you skinny-dipping with that girl in your pool that day,"

"You just had to hold that over my again didn't you?" Lex answered as he shook his head.

"Always." Lana laughed teasingly. "before all of that, our fates have been cast. I mean, I don't have to ask if you even believe in destiny because I know you do. And you know well enough that we can't change it. We just follow our respective paths and live our lives. It's the only way to live."

"You're amazing, you know that right?" Lex said simply as he reached over the table to take her hand, eyeing her lips.

"I do occasionally." Lana teased as she held on tightly to his fingers. "But seriously, even though you are destined to become the most powerful person on the planet, remember: Ambition is the ice on the lake of emotion."

"Smart girl. So what great philosopher, philanthropist came up with that one?" Lex asked as he leaned in closer towards her lips. Although he didn't want to rush it, he could literally feel the heat that came off their bodies.

"I did." She whispered, as she leaned in and kissed him, igniting the flame between them.

****

As they walked hand in hand towards her apartment door, silence filled the air. Although they had been talking incessantly during their whole date, the moment that Lex had parked his Porsche and helped her out of the car, they could barely utter one word to each other. Although they both felt that they needed to end this awkward silence however the fact was it was it was nearing the end of the date and however silly the rationale was, maybe if there were no words said, maybe the date could last a little longer.

"So…what did you think of our first date?" Lex said finally as they stood in front of her door.

"Hmm..it was okay…" Lana said nonchanlantly as she turned around to face him without letting go of his hand.

"Only okay?" Lex said surprisingly. "I must be losing my touch."

"Yeah, that Lex Luthor charm isn't as hyped up as you think." Lana teased. "I mean you see woman after woman, conquest after conquest, and I guess after awhile the moves becomes rusty."

"You sure do know how to hurt a guy's ego." Lex said, pretending to be hurt.

"Well how about you? What did you think of our first date?" Lana said with a smile.

"Okay," Lex, mocking her last comment. "well maybe I'm lying. Maybe it was great. Stupendous, maybe even unforgettable. And maybe," Lex started to talk more slowly, as he pulled her closer to him. "I'm hoping for a second date, sometime when I get back from my business trip?" his eyes started to widen, hoping to get some sympathy.

"You must be reading my mind cuz I was thinking the exact same thing." Lana said, smiling even wider this time, matching Lex's as well. "You know, I thought that both of us going on a date might have been awkward but it wasn't. It's been perfect." Her voice grew soft and quiet as she gently touched his cheek with her hand.

Their foreheads touched as they stood there in silence and slowly got closer to kiss. As they kissed, Lex ran his fingers through her long wavy hair as she touched his cheek and held the back of his head. The kiss felt as if it would last forever until Lex slowly pulled away.

"Can I come up?" Lex whispered, as their foreheads touched once more. As he whispered, Lana's grasp on his dark coat became tighter and she began to shiver.

"I don't know….it might be too soon." Lana whispered back, still holding onto his coat.

"You could think of it as two old friends saying goodbye until the next time we meet." Lex offered as he looked into her eyes.

"Yeah, you would like that wouldn't you?" Lana answered back. "But as much as it pains me to say, it's just our first date. We'll have all the time in the world."

"Alright." Lex said with a sigh. "I won't pressure you." As he continued to whisper into her ear, he noticed her pulling him closer to her as she would sigh quietly. "Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend, but is captived, and proves weak or untrue. yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain."

"Donne…"Lana said breathlessly, as she held onto his coat even tighter and began to finger his white shirt collar. "whisper to me some more…" she sighed as she kissed his cheek and nibbled on his ear.

"Take me to you, imprison me," Lex whispered as his lips got closer to her ear, and then kissed her forehead. "for I, Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, nor even chaste, except you ravish me. Is that good?"

"Real good." Lana sighed, as she kissed him softly on the lips. "And that's why I think I should go in." she whispered further as she gave him small kisses all over his face. "Cuz if I don't go in right now, I don't think I'll ever want to move from this spot ever again. And that will be bad since people are starting to look at us funny when they go into the video store." Lana remarked as she look over his shoulder at the smiling people who would stare before going into the store.

"Who cares what they think?" Lex whispered, clearly unfazed by their spectators.

"Well you don't but I do…it comes with living under a video store." Lana said with a small laugh as she began to pull away from him. "Sooner or later, they'll all come back and I'm going to have to face them, not you." As she walked to her door, he still held onto her hand. "Come on Lex…"

"Just one more," Lex whispered as he pulled her back to him. "I mean I won't be able to see you for a whole month." As she got closer to him again, he held her face and kissed her passionately.

"Lex…"Lana said between kisses. "I have to go…." She finally pulled away from him and stood by her door. "I'll see when you come home okay?"

"Remember about our date okay?" Lex said as she unlocked her door.

"I'll remember." Lana whispered as she took one more look at him. "Bye." She whispered softly as she closed the door.

Lex stood staring her door for awhile, his heart still beating fast from her kisses. He didn't know how, he didn't know why but he couldn't stop standing there and he just couldn't stop grinning. The night was even better than he could have ever imagined it. And now it was a little hard to tear away. Eventually, after he found his footing, he began to walk slowly backwards towards his car. He sighed heavily as took one more look at her apartment and walked around to the driver's side to unlock the car door. As he was about to put his car key to unlock the door, suddenly he heard Lana's voice.

"LEX!" she called out loudly, as she peered out her window.

"Lana?" Lex asked, clearly puzzled by her calls.

"Come upstairs Lex." Lana said simply. as he walked closer to the building, she revealed a set of keys in her palm. Once he got close enough, she smiled widely as she threw her keys for him to catch.

With his quick reflexes, he caught the keys with ease and ran as fast as he could to her door to unlock it.

Fade to black.

****

2016

As the screen fades in again, there is a close-up shot of a pair of keys between someone's fingers. Screen cuts to Lex as you can see clearly that he is the one holding them as he stares intensely at them.

Although Lex had just come home from work, the words that his father had said still resonated in his ears. Not only that but he was thinking of Lana again. He had tried to bury her away from his mind, and tried to go on with his life, but only recently did has he started to think about her once more. At first, he would remember bits and pieces but now it was going a little too far. Just the fact that he was just sitting in his kitchen, staring at his keys must mean something bad. Get ahold of yourself Lex! He told himself as he tried to shake his thoughts away. Maybe it was getting a little too warm in here. It was like he was slowly being suffocated by the heat, by something. All he knew was that he needed to get out of here and fast.

The cold air outside hit him quickly as he stepped outside of his highrise apartment. The snow was still falling down but it felt unusual cold for a November night. He buttoned his long dark coat up and folded his arms to keep warm. As he began to walk the streets, the people who passed him by became a total blur to him as he thought of his father offer and then of Lana. Was this his destiny? Was this the way his life was supposed to be? Confused, discontent and without her? He should have cherished every moment that he had with her, let every minute they had together last as long as it possibly could. I have to let her go, Lex thought himself, as cupped his gloved hands over his face to keep warm. I have to stop thinking about her. All the logical reasons that he could think of began to swim in his head as he turned the corner to the long alleyway beside the church. If he could only focus, maybe things will get back to being relatively normal.

However something he heard in the air startled him and made him stop right on the spot.

Lex…

It's probably the wind.

You're my lover, Lex.

Just the wind.

We will never be apart…

Please, let it be the wind.

Lex, come back to me.

The voices started to come to him all at once. At first he just wanted the voices to go away. His eyes were closed so tightly, hoping the pain would just end. Losing her the first time was hard enough but hearing her voice again was breaking his heart again, but he couldn't help himself. He had to answer back.

"Lana…"He whispered ever so softly as he looked around him as the snow fell down. "Lana…"

Lex….

"Lana…where are you?" he whispered again as he opened his eyes. But once they were open, the only sound that could be heard was the wind blowing softly around him.

****

2006

As Lana rolled over in the bed, her eyes began to squint open as she saw a blurry looking Lex sitting on the side of her bed zipping his pants up.

"Lex.." she mumbled softly, as she sat up to wrap her arms around him. "Do you have to go right now?"

"Well good morning sleepyhead." Lex replied as he rubbed affectionately her arms. "Yeah, I have to go. My flight leaves at 1 and I have to some things to do so…" as he talked he began to turn around to face her.

"Don't kiss me!" Lana said unexpectedly as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"What do you mean, 'don't kiss you'?" Lex said with confusion.

"Morning breath!" Lana said in a muffled voice under her hand. "wait…" she jumped out of her bed and straight to her bathroom and quickly started to brush her teeth.

"You're such a funny girl sometimes." Lex laughed as he followed the adorable creature wearing a pink butterfly tank top and pyjama pants to the bathroom while buttoning the last buttons on his shirt.

"Well," Lana replied as she spit out the toothpaste into the sink and began to rinse her mouth. "I'd rather kiss you goodbye with a fresh breath than with that nasty taste I had in my mouth before. See?" she said as she walked out of the bathroom and wrapped her arms immediately around his neck. "Isn't this a whole lot better?"

and then she kissed him.

"Mmm.." Lex replied with a smile. "You're right. You're always right" as he bent down closer to kiss her again. As their kisses began to deepen, Lana slowly began to pull away, as their foreheads touched again. "Don't forget about our date okay?" she whispered.

"Never." Lex replied as he held on to her for dear life.

Screen blurs as the camera moves to the right and fades to black.

****

2016

As screen moves to the right, silence is replaced by fumbled footsteps and Lex's mumblings.

Lex stumbled through the darkness as he searched for the lightswitch. He hadn't been in this closet for some time and for some reason he couldn't remember where it was. As he started to move his hand across the wall, finally he stumbled on the switch and the light started to illuminate the closet.

He wasn't sure why he was looking around in here or why he had the impulse to look for it. It was just something he felt like he need to do. Using the stool left in there, he stepped up and searched for the box which must have been hidden amongst the junk that he kept buried away on the shelves. As he ransacked the shelves, finally, amongst the dust, he had found it.

He sat down on the closet floor quickly as he blew off the dust from on top of the small box and ran his fingers gently over the carvings on top of it. It was an old wooden box that belonged to Lana. She kept her diary, her letters and personal thoughts in it. But this was also where he had left her letters to him as well. His hands trembled as he slowly opened the box.

He remembered the first anniversary they had together. A year of being together. And amongst the things she had given him was a packet of letters tied up in a bow.

-What is this?

-My letters to you.

-What do you mean? When did you have time to write me letters?

-Remember that month when you went on your business trip after our first date?

-Yeah.

-Well I never told you at the time, but I wrote you a letter every single day you were gone.

-Why didn't you tell me about it?

-Well because it was a silly girly thing to do. I was never going to send them to you. I just needed to put my thoughts into words, that's all. And I thought if it didn't work out between us, I would just burn them and then you would never have to know about them. But of course, we lasted and now…I want you to read them. I mean, despite its sappyness, it still shows you how much I love you…

He searched through the letters until he found one letter that was addressed to him. His hands held it so carefully as he read her delicate writing.

Dear Lex,

I don't know where you are right now. The last time you called was when you were in Rome, but you haven't called since. These nights when I am missing you like there's no tomorrow, I wish that I had kept something of you to remember you by. Something sweet and that smells of you.

Then I think about how we met. While you were growing up to be among the wealthy and privileged, I was a farmgirl in Smallville. It was a wonder that we had even met the first time around, the second time around was a miracle. Of all the places your father would have sent you, he sent you to Smallville. And although I thought at first you were arrogant and confidant, instead you became a wonderful friend who understood me like no one else could.

Nevertheless, when I left Smallville, I thought that I would never see you again. And then one day, God sent you back to me, and the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew. I think we both knew. We knew that fate had brought us back together and nothing would tear us apart. We may be separated by oceans, by land and by those who will try to pull us away from each other, but we will never be apart.

So, take your things and yourself and come back to me. I need you, I need you, I need you.

Your girl,

Lana

As Lex read the last words of her letter, he began to pull his knees closer to him as bent down his head between his knees. While he closed his eyes, he wondered silently if he could shut his eyes tightly enough, maybe the pain would go away and she'd be by his side again. He shut his eyes even tight as his eyes watered. Wrapping his arms tightly around his knees, the only comfort he could find was from his gentle rocking and the soft ticking of a clock nearby.

To be continued.