Chapter 21

Through the campaign, Harmony had done her best to remain neutral, but she felt the strain of her divided loyalties. She could also feel the break of her cousin's friendship with her fiancé. This, too, wore at her. She worked, went to her classes, and tried to avoid Lex and Jonathan when possible.

One day, Clark called Harmony and asked her to come to the barn.

"I need to talk to you about what happened the day Jor-El brought me back to life," Clark said when Harmony arrived. He looked upset.

Harmony sat down on Clark's couch and didn't say anything, but simply looked up at him. She nodded, hoping he'd take it as an encouragement to continue.

"I was shot," Clark spoke softly, almost as if he were speaking to a tape recorder. "I was dead. Jor-El decided to bring me back to life. Actually, I think I asked him to. But, when he did, he gave me back my abilities."

"You have your abilities back?" Harmony gasped. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Harm," Clark pulled a chair over to sit next to her. "You just seemed so busy. I didn't want to worry you."

Harmony sighed, shaking her head. "We'll get to that another day. I have a feeling there's more to this story than you have your abilities back, isn't there?"

Clark grimaced. "Yeah, there is. There was apparently a catch to bringing me back to life."

"A catch?" Harmony looked skeptical.

Clark took a deep breath, sighed, and took another deep breath, but still didn't speak.

"That bad, is it?" Harmony asked carefully. She was afraid to hear Clark's answer.

"Eventually, it's going to cost me someone close to me," Clark looked directly at Harmony. "I don't know who, and I don't know when. A life for a life, that's what Jor-El said. And he won't take mine back."

Harmony stared. She couldn't think. She knew her mouth had fallen open, but she felt detached from herself.

"Harm? I'm kinda scared here. What do I do? I've told my parents, and they say just to keep living. They're not going to let Jor-El destroy their lives," Clark continued to talk, but Harmony wasn't sure that she heard him. "Harmony? Are you listening?"

Harmony blinked. "Sorry, Little Cuz. My brain is still trying to remember how to formulate complete sentences. That's quite a pill to swallow there."

"So what do I do?"

"What your parents said," Harmony answered firmly, determined to at least pretend to get a hold of herself. "Don't let Jor-El destroy you. Just live."

"And Lana? I wanna tell her, but I don't know how."

Harmony shook her head. "God, Clark, I can't help you on that one. You have to do what you think is best. I really don't know. You got screwed a little. You're one-of-a-kind, Little Cousin. No examples to follow. Do what your heart tells you. That's all I can say. I really wish I could be of more help, but I honestly can't. All I can say is that so far, the friends you've told have fared pretty well with the knowledge. But ultimately, it's up to you."

Clark sighed. "Thanks, Harm."

The day of the vote announcement, Harmony was running late to Jonathan's party, so she was still at Lex's mansion when Lana arrived.

She knew Jonathan had won the election, so she was about to stop in to see Lex before going on to the Talon. As she rounded the corner to Lex's office, she saw Lana push through the double doors. She stood quietly next to the closed door, but was unable to hear the words, so she carefully eased them open, in time to see Lex lean forward and kiss Lana.

"You son of a bitch," Harmony hissed softly, leaving the door cracked as she whirled and ran to the door. She angrily wiped her tears away, yanking her coat on. "Why does this keep happening?"

Outside, she leapt into her new truck and pushed through the speed limit. When she got to the party, she found herself quickly feeling much better. The fervor of the place got to her.

"Uncle J!" She had to yell over the din. She grinned at her ecstatic uncle, throwing her arms around him. "Congratulations, Senator!"

Jonathan grinned back. "Thanks, Harmony. We can finally all get back to normal."

Harmony laughed, choosing to enjoy the mood of the place and forget about the scene at the mansion. "What's normal?"

Beside Jonathan, Martha laughed too. "It's good to see you smile again, Harmony," she said gently, hugging the younger woman.

"Well, there's certainly plenty to be happy about here," Harmony looked around in awe. "Lois really went all out for this."

"It is great, isn't it?" Martha smiled again.

Just then, Harmony saw Clark. "Excuse me, Auntie Em. I have a neglected cousin I have to tend to. Clark!" she hurried over to him.

"Harmony," Clark smiled warmly. "I've missed you."

Harmony hugged Clark. "Yeah, we'll get to that later, Little Cuz. Anyway, so, this is great!"

Just then, Clark furrowed his brow.

"What's wrong?" Harmony asked.

"Something's missing," he said, almost to himself, turning to hurry up the stairs to the apartment above the Talon. Harmony stared for a moment, then quickly followed.

"Lois!" Harmony heard Clark shout, just before all the lights went out.

"Clark!" Harmony called, staying at the top of the stairs, uncertain what was wrong. "Is everything ok?"

"Harmony, stay back!" Clark called. "Lois has been electrocuted."

Harmony quickly returned back down to the party, where she whispered to Martha that Lois had had an accident and needed an ambulance. Soon, Lois, awake and jabbering about not needing any medical assistance, was being loaded into an ambulance to spend some time at Smallville Medical.

Harmony was relieved that the spunky young woman was unhurt, but intrigued as to how she'd had the accident to begin with. She turned to Clark. "How did you know?" She asked him. "What did you mean when you said 'Something's missing'?"

Clark opened his mouth, but before he could answer, Chloe rushed over, pushing past Harmony to stand in front of Clark. She was in near panic. "I can't find her. I've looked everywhere, but she's gone."

Clark's head snapped up, eyes frantically searching. Harmony knew that look. She grabbed his hand, hitched up her skirt, and sprinted as best she could in her heels for the alley behind the Talon. Chloe was not far behind. "Go," she shoved him as soon as they rounded the corner. In a flash, he was gone.

"How did you-" Chloe stammered, pointing first at the crowd, then at the direction where Clark had just vanished.

"He's my cousin, Chloe," Harmony answered matter-of-factly. "I've known about his abilities since he was 5. I can read his face better than the mirror can."

Chloe grinned. "That must come in handy."

"Let's just say he can't play poker," Harmony grinned back. "Now, what's going on?"

"Apparently, Clark's lived this day before," Chloe answered carefully. She studied Harmony's face.

"What?" Harmony stared, leaning back against a wall, squinting her eyes at Chloe.

"Do you remember when Clark came back from the dead?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, Jor-El said that in exchange for Clark's life, he was eventually going to take the life of someone close to Clark," Harmony was slowly figuring out where Chloe was headed with the question. She straightened up. "Oh, my god. Lana."

"Wait, it gets better," Chloe held up a hand. "Let's go back inside."

Inside the Talon, they found a quiet table in the corner. Chloe continued. "Back to the beginning. The first time around, apparently, Clark told Lana everything and then asked her to marry him. She said yes, so of course she was wearing his ring when she came to this party. But some time during this party, she got a call from Lex, so she went to the mansion to find out what was going on."

Harmony shook her head. "Lex. Always Lex, isn't it?"

Chloe looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"That explains why when I left, she was in his office," Harmony answered. "He was kissing her."

"Uh oh," Chloe sat up straight.

"Sorry, Chloe," Harmony waved her hand in the air. "Continue."

"Well, not sure what happened at the mansion, but I guess after Lana left, Lex chased after her, distracted her so she didn't see a bus coming, and the bus smashed into Lana's car," Chloe rushed through the narrative, but still couldn't finish before the tears began to well up. "The first time around, Lex caused Lana to die."

Harmony gasped. "Oh, no. No, no, no."

Chloe took a breath and continued. "Clark went to the Fortress and demanded to know how he could bring Lana back. Jor-El turned back the clock. This time, Clark didn't tell Lana the truth, didn't ask her to marry him, and they broke up. But, he told me about the first time around and I was supposed to stay with her. I got distracted for, like, a second, and she was gone. She must have gotten that call from Lex."

Harmony sat back. "What can we do?"

"I guess we just have to wait for Clark to get back and tell us that Lana's ok," Chloe carefully wiped her eyes. "This time, he knew it was coming. He should be able to stop the bus from hitting her, if she makes it that far."

"Let's just go talk to my uncle," Harmony said. "It'll distract us from worrying about Lana."

Just then, Clark came in. "She's ok," he said, but he didn't look particularly happy.

"You ok?" Harmony asked.

"Lana is, and that's all that matters," Clark answered, carefully avoiding Harmony's question.

Harmony nodded, hoping Clark would talk to her when he was ready. She glanced over at Chloe. "Was, uh, was Lex with her?" she felt her stomach knot up, unsure if she wanted to hear Clark's answer.

Clark nodded. "Yeah," he whispered. "Yeah, he was."

"Was he the cause of the near-fatal accident this time, too?" Chloe asked. Harmony could hear that she was trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

Clark nodded again, then changed the subject. "Hey, where are my parents?" He turned away before either of them could answer.

Chloe and Harmony looked around. "Jonathan's gone," they both said at the same time, locking eyes. Slowly, Harmony looked toward Clark, where he was just climbing into his car with his mother. The blue Kent truck was missing.

"Oh, no," Chloe's eyes were filled with fear. "You don't think-"

"Trying not to," Harmony was struggling to suppress her own fear, but she could feel a knot building in her stomach.

The two women wrestled their way through the crowd to the parking lot to Chloe's VW Bug, which was closer to where they were standing, only to find that somehow it had gotten boxed in by the legions of Kent supporters.

"Where's your truck?" Chloe asked.

"On the other side," Harmony's voice was strained as she hurried toward the black 4x4. Having parked some distance from the large crowd of vehicles, the truck was still clear when they reached it. This also meant it took longer for her to get to it.

Quickly, they climbed in, and Harmony revved the engine. "Maybe we're wrong," She looked hopefully over at Chloe as they sped down the road. She prayed for a miracle.

When they reached the snow-covered Kent farm, Clark and Martha were just pulling up in front of the barn. Harmony stopped her truck behind Clark's smaller car, and she could see Clark and Martha reach Jonathan just as he collapsed, clutching his chest.

"NO!" She screamed. "Uncle Jonathan! No! Please, no."

She fell from the truck. Stumbling across the gravel, she tripped into the beams of Clark's small blue car, already sobbing. There, on a pile of hay bales, Jonathan Kent looked first into the face of his son, then his wife, and took his last breath. He died that cold winter night in the arms of his family.

Harmony fell to her knees. Her heart snapped. "It's too soon," she murmured to the gravel below, echoing Martha's own words, who sat cradling her husband's head. "Please come back, Uncle J. Please come back." Her whispered pleas floated away on a soft, frozen breeze. She sobbed into her hand, knelt in the snowy gravel at midnight. "Please, please. Please get up."

The day of the funeral, Harmony awoke still in disbelief. A house maid helped her dress. Lex had sent a driver to pick her up from the Kent farm, and, numb from shock, she had complied. Harmony didn't sleep that night, or the next. When she was told the date of the funeral, she forced herself to get a little bit of sleep the night before, but only with the help of a sleeping aid. Still, she'd cried herself to sleep.

Lex came in to her room. "You ready to go?" he asked softly, but he stood awkwardly by the door. "I have a driver waiting to take you to the farm. I thought you might want to go to the funeral with Clark and Martha."

Harmony looked at the mirror, then down at the shawl in her hand. She tossed it onto a chair, opting for a coat of deep coal black. But she couldn't stand up. "I can't feel my heart," she whispered.

Finally, she pulled herself to her feet, picked up her coat, and walked to where Lex stood, but she felt like a zombie. She looked into Lex's eyes for a moment, then gently touched his cheek, stroking his face with her fingers. "I'm losing everyone I love because of her," she whispered as she placed a soft kiss on his lips.

Lex looked at her puzzled, but she shushed him with a finger to his lips. She turned and walked away with a sad, tearful smile.

When the driver dropped Harmony off, Clark and Martha were just coming out of the house. Without saying a word, she wrapped her arms around Martha. Then she buried her face in Clark's chest. Hard as she tried, she couldn't quite contain the sobs, and her body shook. Clark tightened his grip on his older cousin. Then, Martha joined her, and Clark held them both in his arms as together, the three remaining Kents mourned in private the loss of their patriarch.

At the funeral, it was Clark's turn to lose all feeling. Harmony could see that he could feel nothing, neither cold, nor Lana's touch, nor the gentle condolences of those around him; nothing but the painful agony of his father's death. Her heart broke again and again as she watched his unmoving face, wishing to see even one tear. Ever the superhero, aren't you, Little Cuz? She thought to herself.

She couldn't blame him, though. The procession had been silent and short. Clark and his mother had stayed close together as they led most of the town of Smallville to the freshly-dug grave of Kansas' newly-elected senator. She was sure that everyone was looking to him to take his father's place as Smallville's conscience. That meant being a rock. But she was also sure that that kind of pressure would eventually break him. But she didn't know what to do.

She looked instead at the headstone. The sight of Jonathan Kent's name on that stone was almost more than Harmony could bear. So, she looked again at the beautiful, simple casket that was slowly lowering her wonderful, headstrong, stubborn, loving uncle into the ground forever. This time, she didn't stop the tears. She bowed her head and let them come.

Finally, as everyone started to turn away, she looked one last time. "Goodbye, Uncle J," she whispered, stirring up a fresh batch of sorrow. "I love you."

When the crowd thinned, she turned away, and saw Lex, removed from everyone else, but at the funeral all the same. He stood with his head down, and when he looked up, he locked eyes with Harmony, but didn't say anything. Rather, Harmony simply stepped through the falling snow to his side, linked her arm through his, and softly murmured,

"Take me home, Lex."