ch
1
Clark opened his eyes and tried to get over disorienting
feeling he was having. He blinked his eyes again before feeling a
weight in his hand. He carefully opened it to reveal a lump of coal.
That's when it hit him like a ton of bricks. Jor-el had somehow
sent him back in time. He had no idea how that was even possible and
he didn't have time to think about it as he heard footsteps coming
up the steps to the loft.
Clark quickly stuffed the piece of coal in his pocket as he stood up and faced Lana. As soon as he saw her, he immediately got the awful image of her bloody body as it lay among what was left of her SVU. Clark blinked rapidly to try and force the awful image away. That was not going to happen. Lana was here and alive and she was going to stay that way.
"Um, Clark are you okay?" Lana asked looking at the strange expression on Clark's face.
Clark didn't realize just how long he had
been staring at Lana with his mouth slightly agape. He shook his head
slightly to get himself out of his tragic reverie. He rushed over to
her pulling her into as tight of an embrace as he dared. Lana looked
up at Clark confused as she wrapped her arms around his back.
After
several long moments Clark finally let go of Lana and stepped back a
little to give her some breathing room. Lana looked up at him very
confused about what was going on. "Clark, what's going on? Are
you okay? You're acting a little strange."
Clark gave her a funny little smile as he reached out and rubbed her arms, reassuring himself again that this was actually real. "Yeah, I'm okay. I've just had a really strange dream."
Lana looked up at him still uncertain of his odd behavior, but decided to let it drop for the moment. "So, I brought my gloves and scarf like you wanted me to. What have you got planned?"
Clark's small smile instantly turned serious as he stepped away from Lana and looked out over the farm. This was how it had all happened in the first place, there was no way he could do this again. He was going to have to lie to her again. He hating lying, he was so sick and tired of it. Things had been so simple for a time, but now they were back to the same old routine. He had no other choice and just hoped she would accept whatever he could come up with in the next two seconds. He turned back to face her as he spoke. "Uh… I thought we'd just spend the day together."
"Yeah, I pretty much figured that part out" Lana answered. "I was curious about the 'day you will never forget' part."
"Oh, yeah…" Clark trailed off as he tried to come up with something. "I'd just thought we could go ice skating out on Crater Lake." Clark tried to smile to make his pitiful excuse for a cover-up go over more smoothly. His face fell as he could tell that Lana was having no part of it.
"I can tell when you're lying, Clark." Lana countered. Clark could see that she was visibly angry at him, but he didn't know what to do.
"I didn't think what we needed right now was a mystery date. I don't think I can take this anymore. Goodbye, Clark." Lana turned and walked out of the barn as Clark stood there.
What
hurts the most
Is being so close
And watching you walk away
And
having so much to say
Ten years later….
Clark sat behind his desk looking over the latest edition of the Daily Planet. He had just finished the last story he had been working on it and had already handed it over to Perry to be edited and printed. He was now leisurely looking over the rest of the paper. He normally didn't pay any attention to the wedding announcements but this one caught his eye. There were two reasons for that. One was the size of the ad – It was huge, taking up a good portion of the page. The other was the names and the accompanying picture.
Luthor announces wedding engagement.
Clark stared at the picture and he couldn't believe his eyes. He saw Lana standing next to his one-time friend Lex Luthor. He looked at Lana's face. The joy on her face was very evident in the picture. Clark had moved on with his life. He had moved away from Smallville to Metropolis and had started his career. But, looking at this picture brought his mind –if not his body- back to another time. He had wanted to see Lana to look at him like that and for a short time she had, but with all that he carried around every day he it hadn't worked out. He had lost touch with her after leaving home, and hadn't spoken to her in several years.
In a way, he wasn't surprised as much as the initial shock wore off at seeing the picture of them together. He had driven Lana away. He knew she would end up with someone else one day. But… Lex. He knew more now about Lex than he had in those times. Since, he had made his first appearance as Superman – Lex had been against him fully, putting him in a tight spot more than once. He had proof of some of it but couldn't reveal it without revealing himself.
How could Lana be with him if she knew what he was like? He knew Lana was big on honesty and highly doubted that Lex was completely honest with her about his business dealings. He didn't want to try and start anything up with her, but felt it was important to let her know just what exactly she was getting into with this marriage.
