No copyright infringement intended.
Note: The word "kamati" was randomly invented by me. Should it cause offence in any way in any language, that was not intentional and I apologize.
Why do you care?
„Who am I?" This question had been haunting Lena Luthor for almost as long as she could remember. Of course she knew who she was in terms of being a Luthor but that did not provide her with any real comfort.
Who would she have become had her family not died and had she not been adopted by the Luthor clan? She probably wouldn't be standing here in her exclusive office as the CEO of a multimillion dollar company. But she would also not have had to endure all the pain she'd gone though for being a Luthor. And yet, she was grateful for it all because had she never become a Luthor, she would never have met Kara – her best friend and the person she felt most connected to in the world.
The thought of the Kryptonian made her smile and she sighed, voicing her previous question in a slightly different way, "Who would I be?"
"Lena?" came a soft voice from behind her and she spun around, utterly surprised to find Kara standing in the doorway.
"Kara", she said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
Her friend's face fell slightly before Kara said slowly, "Well, I've come to pick you up, right? We were going to have dinner at that new place downtown."
Lena's heart sank. She had completely forgotten, having been so caught up in the thoughts the discovery of the photo in her hand had occasioned.
"Oh god, Kara, I'm so sorry!" she said, moving towards her friend. "I totally forgot. There was so much on my mind and I got distracted and I …"
But Kara, sensing Lena's mounting distress, embraced her quickly, silencing her desperate attempt at an explanation.
"Hey, it's ok. We don't have to go tonight. Don't worry."
Lena was so grateful for Kara's understanding and even more for the familiar and much cherished feeling of warmth the embrace of this special person always brought her. The two women stood in silence for a while and Kara could sense that Lena was fighting another internal battle.
Wanting to help her friend, Kara asked gently while stroking Lena's back, "You wanna tell me what happened?"
Lena remained silent for a while longer, thinking. She wanted nothing more than to pour her heart and soul out to Kara but her deep-seated fear of letting that last wall around her innermost emotions and thought down prevented her from acting on her impulse. Kara, however, took matters out of Lena's hands when she released her slowly and fixed her with a kind look, searching the Luthor's eyes for the answer she could not articulate. And Kara saw a mixture of fear, pain and internal turmoil in her friend's green orbs. She then put a hand on Lena's cheek and immediately felt the Luthor lean into the touch.
Kara smiled softly, "Come on", she said, taking Lena by the hand and leading her to the sofa. "Sit and relax. I'll make us some tea, ok?"
Still unable to respond, Lena nodded and sat down as Kara released her hand and made her way out of the office. Once the Kryptonian had left the room, Lena's hand instinctively went back to her cheek that Kara had touched moments ago. Her heart was still beating fast, recalling her friend's touch and that special look full of concern, compassion and love that only Kara ever gave her. The realization that Kara still cared so much about her despite everything that had happened between them brought tears to Lena's eyes. Suddenly she felt such a powerful surge of emotion that she couldn't stifle a sob. Instantly, Kara reappeared in the room, sat down next to Lena and took her hands in hers.
"Hey, what happened?" she asked, seeing a few tears rolling down Lena's cheeks.
Then Kara noticed the photo in her friend's hand. It showed her and Lena at one of their game nights. They were smiling brightly with their arms around each other. Kara remembered that night. It had been so much fun and Lena and her as a team had been unbeatable. She thought she understood why Lena had been so emotional this whole time and wanted to reassure her friend. So Kara started caressing both of Lena's hands and, just as she wanted to say something, the Luthor spoke so quietly that it would have escaped Kara if it hadn't been for her super hearing.
"Why do you care so much, Kara? About me? After everything?"
Kara felt Lena's entire body tense and shake very slightly. She understood where this question came from given all the events that had almost ruined their friendship. But Kara also had her answer ready.
"Because you are my best friend and I love you", she said firmly but softly.
At these words Lena's head snapped up. She was searching Kara's eyes for any sign of dishonesty but all she saw there was love. And this made Lena's last remaining wall crumble to dust.
"Kara", she sobbed and hugged the Kryptonian tightly.
Kara held her, closing her eyes and smiling. She could sense that Lena might just finally be ready to believe that Kara truly cared about her.
It took several minutes for Lena to calm down and Kara waited patiently.
When Lena pulled back she wiped her eyes and asked, "Why, though, Kara?" And, seeing Kara's confused look, Lena clarified, "I mean, how can you still love me after everything that happened?"
"Oh Lena", Kara said, taking her friend's hands again. "I never stopped loving you and caring about you."
Lena could only stare, "But … but how is this possible? After what happened between us? After what I did to you?"
Kara sighed and smiled thoughtfully, "You just said it, Lena. After what happened between us. There was fault on both sides. We both hurt each other … deeply."
Hit by painful memories, Kara averted her eyes and this time it was Lena who could sense her friend's distress. She gave Kara's hands a reassuring squeeze.
"On Krypton", Kara said, looking at Lena again while playing with their now intertwined fingers, "we have something called kamati."
"Kamati?" Lena asked, unable to identify the meaning of the term. "What does that mean, Kara?"
"It is very similar to what you know as soulmate", Kara said after a longer silence.
Lena stared and only barely managed to stifle a sharp intake of breath before smiling and saying, "That's beautiful."
Kara gave Lena a smile in return and whispered, "Yes, it is."
The two friends sat in silence with their fingers still intertwined, each lost in her own thoughts. But after a while Lena's mind was reeling from all the questions racing through it.
So she ventured, "I'm not sure I understand, Kara. Why are you telling me about kamati?"
To her surprise she saw tears in her friend's eyes when Kara turned to face her.
"Kara, honey, you ok? I … I'm sorry, I …"
"Lena", Kara interrupted gently, "It's not you. I'm fine. I was just thinking …"
When the Kryptonian fell silent again, Lena prompted her carefully, "About what?"
Kara smiled a bit sadly, "About Krypton and the day my mother told me about the kamati."
Lena didn't know what to say to console her friend who was so obviously in pain. So she followed her instinct and embraced Kara, pouring all her love into the hug and holding her tight. After a while Kara disentangled herself from Lena and got up, extending her hand to the Luthor. Lena was confused for a moment but then took her friend's hand and was immediately pulled to her feet.
"Come with me", Kara said and gently pulled Lena with her towards the balcony.
When they stepped out into the warm night they leaned onto the banisters and overlooked the city which was spread out beneath them. Lena heard Kara exhale and looked over at her friend. Kara was gazing up at the stars and had a faraway look in her eyes again. She gave the Kryptonian's hand a reassuring squeeze to convey that she understood Kara's pain.
"Lena", Kara started, still looking at the night sky, "when my mother told me the legend of the kamati when I was a little child I was utterly fascinated by it. Ever since then I have been looking for the truth behind this legend in my own life but was unsuccessful … until the day I met you."
Kara now turned to Lena and her blue eyes reflected the purest kind of love Lena had ever seen. The Luthor was so moved that she was utterly lost for words.
When she finally recovered, she asked shyly, "Oh, Kara. I don't know what to say. Do you really mean to say that you see me as a soulmate?
When Kara didn't answer right way, Lena's heart sank and she averted her eyes and wanted to pull her hand out of Kara's grasp in embarrassment. But Kara didn't let her go.
"Lena, look at me, please?" Kara whispered and the Luthor complied, half afraid and half hopeful. "You, Lena Luthor, are most definitely a soulmate for me. You have always been and I'm sorry it took our separation and the experience of … of watching you die during the crisis to fully realize how much you mean to me. I felt incomplete without you … and so terribly lost."
While Kara had been speaking, her eyes never left Lena's and now both of them had happy tears running down their cheeks.
"Kara", Lena choked, "I'm speechless. This is so much more than I could ever have dared to dream … ever since the day you walked into my office. Before I met you, Kara, I was convinced that I would always be alone because of my name, that nobody would ever trust or like, let alone love me. But you proved me wrong and brought so much more light into my life than I could ever have imagined. Because of you I learned to trust and believe in love again. And now you tell me that you see me as your soulmate and, Kara, I … I'm so unbelievably happy. I can't even begin to tell you, … my kamati.
When Lena called her 'kamati', Kara couldn't hold back and threw herself at Lena, holding onto her.
"Thank you so much, Lena!" Kara sobbed, still holding on tightly to Lena. "I didn't dare to dream that you would feel the same. Now I finally know that the legend of the kamati can really come true."
Lena rubbed Kara's back and whispered, smiling to herself, "I'm so happy I have made you happy."
They did not know how long they had stood there reveling in the comfort of each others' embrace but when they broke apart they realized that the city far below them had become entirely quiet. Kara and Lena smiled at each other and, although neither dared to say it, both felt a new sense of connectedness to the other.
The End.