A/N: Enjoy this fluffy chapter, because things get a bit rocky from here on out ;)
Time flew for Oliver and Kara, and it was now their final night in Corto Maltese together. They lived the past three days to the fullest, making the most of every moment. It mattered not what they did together, whether they swam in the ocean, made love in the bedroom or just sat together on the porch in silence and watched the sunset, they thoroughly enjoyed every second with one another. For these past three days, it felt as if life was perfect.
Even up until this point on their final night together, they both avoided the conversation of what would happen once their time here came to an end.
All reason and logic told them that they were simply infatuated with one another. That they were just two strangers finding intense but temporary pleasure in one another. But when they weren't having spectacular, unforgettable sex, they felt as if they were starting to develop feelings for each other, beginning to form a very real and intimate bond. The more time they spent together, the more they wondered if perhaps there could be something more meaningful between them.
They lived in different cities, but in neighbouring states, so seeing each other regularly would still be possible. The long-distance nature of a future relationship was by far the easiest obstacle to overcome. It was everything else, everything that they'd kept hidden that was the most unsettling. The dire secrets planting the thought that they could never be anything more than what they were right now.
For Oliver, he knew that couldn't be with her for the same reasons that he couldn't be with anyone else. The mission.
He returned to Star City with the goal of saving it. He had tried to do it without the hood at first, but it wasn't enough. It would never be enough. Star City needed a vigilante, someone who wasn't part of the very system that was causing it to decay. It needed him. But that came at a cost, and that cost was any chance of a normal life. Perhaps Kara was best off being a fling here on Corto Maltese. Simply a fond memory that he'd reminisce about until the day he dies.
For Kara, the fact that she's a Kryptonian and Superman's cousin could only be hid for so long. It took every fiber of her being to make sure that she didn't hurt Oliver in bed, but as always, it was only a matter of time before she'd lose control and hurt him. The fact that Clark and Lois found a way to make their relationship work was the only ray of light that gave Kara hope that something could work between her and Oliver. But even then, she too had a mission.
Clark, Alex and Eliza had dissuaded her from using her powers up until this point, but she wanted to be a hero too. The world could definitely use more heroes, and Clark needed someone to take some weight off of his shoulders. As much as they didn't want her to, with Clark telling her countless times about the risks and sacrifices that come with being a hero, those were sacrifices she was willing to make. And if one of those sacrifices was to never see Oliver Queen ever again after tonight, then so be it.
With the sun having set, her and Oliver laid down outside his hut on the sand, stargazing. Due to little light pollution, the clear sky was littered with celestial bodies.
"I haven't seen a sky like this since I was a child," said Kara.
"I never did until I was 24," replied Oliver.
"When you got to the island?" she asked.
"Yeah. As weird as this may sound, I sometimes miss being there."
"What do you miss?" she asked.
"Being away from everything. No expectations, no weight on my shoulders. Sometimes, I just felt… free. And I occasionally feel the same here. It's probably one of the reasons why I still haven't gone home yet."
"If you could just stay here forever, would you?"
"As much as I'd like to, I can't. I have… a lot of things to do when I get home. Things that I can't run away from or avoid like how I did in the past. The island changed me."
"For better or for worse?"
Oliver contemplated for several seconds before replying honestly. "I don't know. I left a part of myself there that I don't think I'll ever get back. It's like I'm tethered to a place that… Not that I don't belong there, but that I simply can't be there anymore. Do you know what that feels like?"
Kara looked closer at the stars, singling out the constellation where Krypton used to be. On this sky, she could even make out Rao.
"Yeah… I do," she replied.
"To where?" he asked.
"Home," replied Kara, ambiguously. Oliver could sense from the sorrow in her voice that it was an emotionally distressing topic for her, so he didn't press further on what she meant. He laid in silence with her for several minutes.
"This is a lovely view," he said, before turning and perching himself up on arm to look at Kara, "But as not as lovely as this one."
Kara blushed. "Stop it," she said, turning her head away.
"I mean it," replied Oliver. The full moon provided enough light for him to see all of her elegant beauty clearly. The glowing blonde hair, the shy smile, her exquisite body, all of which had become his weakness in the past few days. "I'm not sure I've ever seen one better. I don't even think it can get better."
"Not even me without my clothes on?" asked Kara.
"Not even," replied Oliver. He shifted his body closer to hers, bringing his lips to her neck, "Although… that would still be a great bonus," he whispered, as he began kissing.
Kara's body became flushed with heat once again, increasing more and more as his hand gently trailed down her abdomen, sliding under her shorts. He began stroking, causing her breathing to hasten and her heart rate to increase.
"Right here on the beach?" she asked, as she caught her breath in between Oliver's caresses.
"Nobody's going to interrupt us," he replied.
"I know, but your bed is pretty comfortable."
"As you wish," he said, as he sprung up and lifted her off the ground bridal-style, giggling with her as he carried her to his bedroom.
