Flying in Superman's arms is not something Sakura ever considered a possibility. She does not like it because she's not comfortable with him. Everything about the two of them is stilted and disjointed. But she does it because she has to. She has to know what Kal did to the Fortress. She has to see his last bit of wickedness. She needs this one iota of closeness to him before she accepts that she has lost her husband for good. She supposes that getting a note from him had brought up things that she thought she was in the process of successfully burying but Kal had a way of unearthing things that were better left dead and gone.

Surprisingly Superman does not bother to attempt further conversation between them for which Sakura is silently grateful because her mind is going a mile a minute.

The temperature drops the closer they get to the Fortress. The cold doesn't bother her; chakra assures this. In a way, it invigorates her and raises her excitement for what is to come.

Superman stops a distance away from the crystal palace.

"Why are we landing here?" Sakura tosses a confused look Superman's way.

"This is as close as I can get." Sakura doesn't understand immediately, so she just stares. "The Fortress…threw me out somehow."

Sakura shakes her head slowly. "That makes no sense."

"I know!" The outburst makes Sakura blink slowly before she asks calmly, "Why did you bring me here if we can't go inside?"

"Because I wondered if it was possible if you could."

Sakura pauses, turns her head, and looks at the Fortress before nodding her head. Sakura has no idea how Kal managed to lock his body out, but she doesn't doubt that he had.

"I'll try." Without further ado, Sakura starts walking towards the Fortress of Solitude. Her mind doesn't note that nothing impedes her approach until she reaches the entrance.

Superman watches astounded as Sakura-El takes one step and then another closer and closer to his Fortress. There is no barrier for her, and while this is what Superman wanted, he suddenly feels the need to stop her progress. This could be a trap she concocted with her husband just in case Superman showed up here with her. And while Sakura-El seemed like an innocent woman who merely loved her husband, people did crazy things for the one they loved.

He shouts her name, but Superman doesn't even see her twitch in response. Either she couldn't hear him because of the barrier, or she is a great actress. Clark feels his heart begin to pound as he debates whether or not to leave and get help or stay and wait. Things can go horribly wrong any second-especially since the author doesn't know whether or not she prefers evil Superman to good Superman in this story. Just that piece of information alone sets Clark on edge. But he doesn't go for backup. He wants to trust Sakura-El. He is trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. He doesn't think of why (because he hurt her) that is. Instead, he stands and waits for her return.

When Sakura reaches the door, she freezes momentarily. The doors to the Fortress are not easy to get inside. In fact, only someone with super strength could do so. Sakura can easily open the doors, but Clark doesn't know that, and it isn't something she wants to tell him. She doesn't trust him to know what she can and can't do. She hadn't even said anything to Kal in the beginning, and even then he hadn't wanted her to tell anyone else. He wanted her to appear perfectly innocent so that his enemies would underestimate her importance. It was for her safety, and somehow she knew that if Clark knew, then soon the entire Justice League would know—and that wouldn't be good. It would call into question a lot of things. For instance, there will be those that question how deep into Kal's organization her fingertips dipped in. No one knew that nor did they know what she had become for Kal.

She was his showpiece wife. She was the good cop to his bad one. He showcased his ideas to her for approval. She was also his—well, Kal called Sakura a lot of things. Mostly he called her beautiful in English as well as Kryptonian. Sakura had learned to respond to both. But the thing he called her almost as frequently as that was his Little Assassin. After she had dispatched those minions that tried to kill Kal in her home, she had started a long hard campaign for Kal to allow her to watch his back. He had persisted in his nonsense about him not wanting her to get her hands dirty, and for the most part, she listened to him. But when Sakura saw a threat coming that posed too much of a threat to Kal she merely took care of it. She had taken pains to hide it, but Kal wasn't stupid. He knew what she was doing, and he didn't stop her. She assumed that meant it was okay.

But Kal had to know she would need to show her abilities to get in. He would know what type of danger it would put her in. He would have a plan in place for this. He wouldn't leave her unprotected.

Sakura closes her eyes and bows her head for a moment forcing herself to relax and trust her husband as she had always done.

Superman realizes a moment too late that even if Sakura-El could reach the Fortress, she couldn't get in. As his brain formulates that thought, she pushes open the doors with her bare hands. At first, he just refuses to understand. She couldn't have possibly opened the doors by herself. The strength required of such a feat is not inconsequential. That can only mean one thing.

She is superhuman.

How did this information go unknown for so long? Or is it known and no one had thought to tell him assuming he'd just know? No, that isn't something, at the very least, that Batman would do. No one could have known. But if that is the case, then what does anyone know of Sakura-El, beloved wife of the Dictator?

With a tight feeling in his gut, he realizes that the answer is, 'Nothing.'

For Sakura, walking into the Fortress is akin to coming home. A knot that she hasn't been aware of in her chest unravels as she takes step after step inside. Her footsteps become lighter as she goes and checks on Kryptonian animals Kal kept. After she is assured of their general health, Sakura muses on the past. She spent a lot of time in the Fortress with Kal doing any number of things like plotting, planning, and making love.

The deeper she goes inside, the more she feels like at any second, she will turn a corner, and he will be there with an arrogantly sexy smirk on his face. He'd take her in his arms and tell her-

Slowly she makes her way into the room where the central computers were. Before she can issue any commands, the computer speaks, "Welcome home Sakura-El."

Sakura's reply is immediate, "Thank you, Computer."

"You are very welcome. How may I assist you today?"

The happiness that started to flourish in Sakura's chest dims. She isn't there to relive fond memories. She isn't there because she is coming home. She is there to figure out what Kal had done and why and then she will leave this place probably never to return.

Sakura closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Computer, can you tell me why Superman may no longer enter the Fortress?"

There is a pause. "Is your inquiry about protocol 625.12?"

"Yes, computer."

There is another pause before Sakura hears, "Initializing…."

And then Sakura blinks once. She blinks twice, and then there he is standing before her as if he had never left her side. His lips are quirked slightly as he says, "Welcome home, Beautiful."

Sakura gasps, and then tears filled her eyes as she cries out, "Kal!"