Ava could tell there was something off about Sara from the moment she'd come back on the ship.
She seemed lost in her thoughts, not fully present.
Ava didn't know how to approach the subject, since she didn't really know what'd happened in Star City or why Sara had gone there in the first place.
Ava was worried. That was putting it lightly. She knew that it probably wasn't easy to be back there after her friend died in the crisis. She just wanted to be there for Sara, but she didn't quite know how.
She sat on the bed and watched as Sara silently changed into her pajamas. She'd been quiet ever since they returned to their quarters.
"Sara?" Ava asked, voice quiet and a little tentative.
Sara's eyes darted up to her. "Y-yeah?"
Ava frowned at the slight shakiness in Sara's voice. It only worried her more.
"Is- is everything okay? You've been acting... weird ever since you came back and I'm worried about you." She decided to be upfront about this, hoping that it would help Sara be open about how she was feeling.
A soft look overcame Sara's features and tears filled her eyes.
Ava's heart clenched. "Honey, what's going on?" She asked, more worried as she stood up to walk over to her girlfriend.
Sara shook her head and sniffed, overwhelmed by emotions. "I-it... my..." she stumbled over her words, heart racing in her chest.
Ava frowned more and took Sara's hand. "Come here." She whispered and pulled Sara in by her hand to wrap her arms around her.
She could feel Sara's shaky breathing against her neck as she held her. "I'm here, love. It's okay." She said, trying to ignore her own worries.
"I-I know. It's... it's more than okay." Sara got out, tears falling down her cheeks.
Ava felt more confused now. She pulled away slightly to look into Sara's eyes. "What..." she trailed off and sighed. "I'm lost." She admitted.
Sara choked out a soft sob. "M-my dad... he's back." She said before going to hide her face in Ava's neck again.
Ava's eyes widened. "W-what?" She asked, furrowing her brows. She didn't know how that was possible.
"I-I don't know h-how but... after the crisis, he was okay. He was at Ollie's funeral."
Ava slowly led Sara over to their bed and sat down with her on it, still holding her close.
"That's- that's amazing, Sara!" She said, smiling. She felt so happy for her girlfriend.
Sara deserved to have her father back. Ava had held Sara through countless of grieving her father's death. She knew that it hurt her deeply and that she would've never fully gotten over it, so she was so happy that Sara had a second chance with Quentin.
Sara cried quietly. "I-I know. I... I thought that maybe for some reason it was temporary, so I went to Star City to visit him. H-he was still alive... he's alive." She was still in disbelief herself.
"He was so confused at first because I just... couldn't stop crying when I saw him," she chuckled tearfully. "He might've remembered what h-happened in the other timeline, but I don't know. It's all kind of confusing, honestly."
She was overwhelmed with emotion. She was so grateful that her father was alive. There were so many things she'd regretted not being able to do with him in the previous timeline, things she was hoping she'd get a chance to do now. One of the main things being,
"He said he wanted to meet you." She said after a moment of trying to calm herself down.
Feeling Ava's strong arms around her was enough to help Sara relax. She could feel herself curling into Ava's embrace, their bodies fitting perfectly like they always had.
She didn't notice until now that Ava had somehow moved them up the bed to where they were laying down at the top of it with Sara practically on top of Ava.
"H-he did?" Ava asked, a little breathless at the thought.
Meeting the parents together had never been an option after Ava found out about her origins. It felt odd to introduce her fake parents to Sara as her girlfriend, especially since she wasn't close to them.
But now that it could happen, Ava was struck with a lot of excitement but also a wave of anxiety. What if Quentin didn't think she was good enough for Sara?
"Yeah!" Sara smiled. "I told him all about you and he wants to meet the person who, and I quote, 'makes his daughter happy'." She beamed at the memory.
She never thought she'd get the chance for her father to meet Ava, and she was absolutely ecstatic at the prospect that it could actually happen.
"That's great, love." Ava said, smiling. She was happy about it, but she couldn't deny how anxious it made her feel.
Sara nodded but frowned slightly when she noticed that something was off about Ava. "What is it?" She had to ask.
Ava frowned. "It's just..." she sighed and bit her lip, "what if he doesn't like me? O-or doesn't think I'm good enough for you?" She said, surprised by how weak her voice sounded.
She couldn't deny how insecure she was, especially about her origins.
Sara frowned too. "He won't think that." She said and pulled away slightly so she could look into Ava's eyes.
"He's going to love you. I mean, what's not to love, right?" She said, hoping to make Ava smile.
Ava did, if only slightly. "B-but what if he asks about my past? What if he wants to meet my parents? I don't want to lie to him about... about my origins, but what if- what if he doesn't want a clone dating his daughter." She voiced her worries.
She knew that he would probably ask her things about herself that weren't just work related and she'd have to either come up with a lie or tell him the truth.
"What if he wants you to be with someone who's unique? S-someone who's not one of a million?" She rambled, frowning more at the thought.
"Baby," Sara gently cut in, noticing that Ava was spiraling. "He won't think that. You being a clone doesn't change how amazing of a person you are. He knows that you're there for me when I have nightmares, that you've been with me through my darkest moments and still didn't give up on me."
She smiled and gently took Ava's hand, "he's just happy that I have someone who's good for me, someone who I want to spend the rest of my life with. Please believe me, Aves."
Ava nodded, feeling reassured by that. She'd been getting better at processing her origins, but it still flared up when she least expected it. She felt less nervous now, like she could actually do this.
She smiled when Sara said that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with her. Ava felt the same. She wanted this, forever.
"Okay... okay, you're probably right." She conceded.
"Mhm. I am." Sara kissed Ava's cheek. "And... and it would mean the world to me if you got to meet him." She added in a softer voice. This was something she'd always wanted.
"I'd love to." Ava said, smiling now.
Sara beamed, "really?"
"Yeah." Ava said, "I really want to."
She found herself getting giddy at the idea. Meeting one's partner's parent was a huge deal, at least it was to Ava.
It made her happy that she and Sara were continuing to have milestones like this.
"Perfect!" Sara leaned in to kiss Ava's lips before she pulled away and grabbed her phone from the nightstand.
"When do you want to?" She asked, going to Quentin's contact information.
"Um... how about tomorrow?" Ava suggested.
Sara looked over at her, barely able to contain her excitement. "Tomorrow? You really want to?"
Ava couldn't help but grin. Sara's excitement was definitely contagious. "Absolutely." She said.
Sara smiled even more and let out a little giggle as she looked down at her phone and texted Quentin, asking if tomorrow would work for him.
Ava had never seen Sara so giddy.
The captain was practically radiating happiness and Ava would do anything to see that rare smile Sara had right now. She almost looked younger, in a way - like a weight had been lifted off of her.
Ava supposed that maybe getting her father back healed something inside Sara. That maybe this was exactly what she needed.
Sara sent the messages before looking up at Ava. She noticed that her girlfriend was just staring at her with a soft look in her eyes.
"What?" She asked, not quite sure why she was looking at her like that.
Ava smiled and shook her head. "Nothing. I just really love you." She said, making Sara's smile only grow.
"I love you too." Sara said as she laid back down in Ava's arms and started rambling about her time with Quentin.
They stayed up almost all night, talking about Quentin and how excited they both were for the next day, and Ava found that she couldn't stop smiling at the pure joy on Sara's face.
Yep, this was exactly what they needed.
