Though the wind was howling and a storm was building out to sea, Lena and Kara went for one last walk along the beach. They had passed the lighthouse, continuing across the rocks and around the bend to a long, white, sandy beach on the other side. Lena explained that the village was where it was an not here due to treacherous rocks hidden beneath the waves.
Lena had said it was best for Kara, Alex and Sara to leave Luthorsport on the Friday morning train, reaching Dublin around lunchtime which would allow them to catch the afternoon ferry to Wales if it was running, or giving them time in case it was cancelled due to bad weather or war issues, and still give them a day to navigate the trains back to London. Kara, Alex and Sara had seen the reason in this, though Kara secretly wished to stay until Sunday afternoon and fly back at the last possible moment.
In the morning, Kara, Alex, Lena and Sara had gone for one last walk to the shops for some last-minute supplies and a final walk out along the pier. After lunch, and seeing that the weather had worsened, Alex and Sara had opted to stay back at the hotel, while Kara and Lena rugged up and ventured out, the ever-faithful Caoimhe going along with her mistress and new best friend.
The wind whipped their faces, and threatened to blow them over. They talked and laughed as though this was completely normal and nothing was going to change. Kara wished they could walk on forever. Out here, on this damp and windy island on the edge of Europe, all of her worries had blown away. She only had to look after those who were right here, a task that was easy enough. Alex was quite recovered and very much herself again, more so than she had been for months, and Kara realised that though they shared a flat in London, she had been missing 'her' Alex. Sara had allowed herself to grieve for Laurel, and let the Danvers sisters take care of her for a couple of days. And Lena was always there, shadowed by Caoimhe, supplying them with books and games and food and drinks and anything and everything they could possibly need. Not to mention her company and friendship, which Kara in particular had come to cherish and depend upon.
"If we go any further, we won't get back until well after dark," Lena said, coming to a stop.
"I can alway fly us back," Kara suggested with a grin.
Lena looked apprehensive. "How about we start walking, but if it gets too dark or starts to rain, I might let you do that. But you'd have to carry Caoimhe as well."
"You'd hold Caoimhe, and I'd hold you," Kara said, turning around. She tried to tuck lose strands of hair behind her ears, but within second they were flying about her face again. She had no idea how Lena's hat and hair stayed put, when hers had long since all but fallen out of her braids, and she hadn't even bothered with a hat. "It is very pretty here, though," Kara said, looking back along the beach, the lighthouse up ahead effectively marking the halfway distance between the deserted beach they now stood on and the hotel.
"If you think dark, stormy clouds, howling winds, and crashing waves are pretty, then I really wouldn't recommend coming all this way on the two and a half days of summer we get, with perfect blue skies and enticing clear, green water."
"I think it's always beautiful," Kara said.
Lena looked around, trying to see the corner of the world she knew all too well through Kara's eyes. The mist coming off the waves, the silver patches out to sea where the sun was forcing its way through the clouds, Caoimhe trotting along with her happy, wagging tail, the beach all to themselves, the lighthouse as a symbol of safety up ahead, despite the fact that it was Lex's corruption of it which had brought the Danverses here for so long in the first place. Lena looked at Kara, her cheeks flushed with cold, her hair a mess, the borrowed houndstooth coat, her red woollen scarf. This time tomorrow, Kara would be in Dublin or somewhere on a ferry. She'd be gone, and Lena would still be here. Lena swallowed and forced the thought aside. Right now, Kara was here on the beach in Luthorsport. Right now, they still had a long walk ahead of them, and later a feast to look forward to. Lena wished the beach was longer, the town further away, the night and the storm not racing them back to the hotel.
"It would be nice to stop the world," Kara said. "Just - just for this afternoon. Let the afternoon go on forever."
"You read my mind," Lena said.
Kara took Lena by the arm. "I don't want you to blow away."
"Shouldn't I be the one afraid of that?" Lena asked, "Since you blew in in the first place?"
Kara chuckled. "We will come back," she said. "I'll come back. I promise."
"I'm not worth it," Lena mumbled, the words coming out of her mouth before she could stop them..
"Don't you say that," Kara said. "Don't you dare. You are worth so much, Lena."
"You sound like my accountant."
"I don't mean like that," Kara said. "I mean - you're a good person, Lena. I will tell you that a hundred times, a million times if that what it takes for you to believe it too."
"But you still have to leave," Lena said, blinking back tears.
"I don't want to," Kara confessed, hanging onto Lena's arm. "But I will come back. You have my word."
…
Alex had planned to spend the afternoon packing their things and tidying up the room, but once she started, she realised that there wasn't actually much there to pack. She laid out the clothes she and Kara would wear to dinner at Lena's house, and what they'd wear tomorrow to travel in, which left very little to pack. So, she finished one of the books Lena had leant her, and put it with the clothes she'd change into later to remind her to return it.
Alex had considered going with Lena and Kara, but there was something else she wanted to do. She didn't want to leave Luthorsport any more than Kara did. They were safe here, life was comfortable and easy with her sister and friends new and old, and quite decent food. The more Alex thought about it, she realised that she'd needed this to remind her exactly what they were fighting for. Alex caught her reflection in the small mirror. She looked well. There was colour in her cheeks, her hair was soft and shiny, her eyes bright. She looked down at her hands, the scars still evident, as they were on her legs. Reminders that both she and Kara were vulnerable.
Enough procrastination. Alex quickly brushed her hair, threw the hairbrush onto the bed, and crossed the hallway to Sara's room. She knocked on the door. "Just me."
"There's not really anyone else it could be," Sara said.
Alex took that as an invitation to enter, her stomach tightening a little.
Sara was standing at the window looking out to sea, her arms folded across her chest.
"Are you all right?" Alex asked.
"I'm fine," Sara said, but her voice cracked.
"Are you sure?" Alex asked gently, her eyes falling on the bottle of whisky on the bedside table.
Sara turned around and saw where Alex was looking. "I haven't had any this afternoon."
"I wouldn't blame you if you had," Alex said, noticing that Sara's eyes were red and puffy.
Sara sighed. "I thought you could only cry over someone so much. Turns out I was wrong."
Alex closed the door behind her. "I'm sorry. But she was your sister, so…"
"I really hate that past tense."
"Sorry," Alex said, wishing she was better at comforting Sara. Kara always seemed to know what to say, and had been excellent at consoling her.
A look passed over Sara's face and she wiped her eyes. "I only have one glass," she said, picking up the bottle.
"We're going out for dinner."
"Ah huh," Sara said, opening the bottle and pouring a glass. She downed in all at once, then topped it up and handed it to Alex. "I get why you want to stay."
Alex took the glass and sipped at the drink, the warmth from the alcohol heating her insides. "We have to go though."
Sara stood awfully close to Alex. "Are we making a habit of this?" she asked.
"Twice isn't a habit," Alex said, finishing the drink, hoping for more courage. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and wondered if Sara could hear it too.
"It's starting to look like a habit," Sara said with a wry smile.
"It's not - I - "
Sara leant in and kissed Alex on the neck, placing her hand on Alex's back.
"…Not sure of the law here…" Alex breathed, leaning into Sara's hands.
"Well," Sara said between planting kisses on Alex's neck, "They weren't handing out pamphlets at immigration, so I'm going to guess it's the same as it is the other side of the ditch."
"I don't think that's how law works."
"You're talking to the wrong person if you think I care," Sara said.
Alex placed the glass on the bedside table. Sara grabbed the bottle and took a swig, while getting her other hand up the inside of Alex's blouse.
"We're going out for dinner," Alex said, protesting weakly, though being this way with Sara was exactly what she wanted. Alex just wished she knew how Sara did what she did with her hands.
Sara put the bottle down and looked at Alex. "I am very glad you're not dead."
"You don't need me for…this," Alex said awkwardly. Sara had a notorious reputation, and was rumoured to have intimate knowledge of at least two members of royalty, a fair percentage of commissioned officers, the same of those with real influence in Whitehall, a good deal of high society, plus a generous amount of movers and shakers in the lower classes, and wasn't concerned about the gender of her lovers. Alex knew that a lot of this was hyperbole and gross exaggeration, but there was also an element of truth to it.
"I'm not going to hide what I want," Sara said, pressing herself closer to Alex. "Not when I don't have to."
"You never hide what I want. Not when it's - this."
"I have to be somewhat subtle. That's hiding enough for me."
"You could be normal," Alex mumbled, as Sara guided them onto the bed. "Married, all that."
"I'm not normal," Sara breathed, her lips tracing Alex's jawbone.
"You can pretend."
Sara scoffed. "It would be just that though. Pretence."
"I can't," Alex confessed, as Sara unbuttoned her blouse with one hand while running the other up Alex's leg. "I can't pretend. I - "
"I know," Sara said. "But right now isn't a great time for this discussion."
"There never is time."
"Exactly." Sara lowered herself onto Alex and kissed her on the lips.
Alex kissed Sara back. She was desperate and Sara was here and more than consenting. They could never make anything work in the long term, but for now they were quite enough.
Sara unbuttoned her dress, then rolled down Alex's stockings and looked at the scars on her legs.
"It's not pretty," Alex said, helping Sara out of the sleeves of her dress.
Sara pulled her dress off over her head, revealing the scars on her arms. Alex stared at her lacy undergarments. "Don't let anyone tell you that. You're beautiful."
Alex sat up and wrapped her arms around Sara, pressing their lips together. She felt a shiver run through her body, and pressed herself as close to Sara as she could. If they had to go back, if they had to face the war and the real world again, Alex was at least going to make this afternoon last.
…
Lena had invited Kara, Alex and Sara to have their final dinner in Luthorsport at her house. Though they didn't have proper evening wear, they all bathed and made themselves as presentable as possible. Lena was happy to have any excuse to put on something a little bit nicer than she usually wore around town, including diamond earring and a bit of make-up. She also saw to it that the good crockery and silverware was brought out for the occasion.
Kara, Alex and Sara were quite wind-blown after the walk from the hotel up to Lena's house, and were grateful for the warm fire and warming drinks Lena served upon their arrival, and a cheerful jazz record playing on the gramophone set the mood. The soup course of chicken soup with dumplings was soon served, followed by roast lamb with all the trimmings, and plenty of alcohol to wash everything down. Hot apple cake, generously spiced with cinnamon and vanilla was served for dessert, along with lashings of cream. The meal concluded with coffee and chocolates, then Lena brought the Irish whisky out, and they continued drinking and laughing and telling stories, no one wanting the evening to end.
It was after eleven o'clock when Alex finally made the call that they should head back to the hotel. It was to be an early start, and she and Kara had quite gotten used to lazy mornings. The candles on the table candelabras were burning low, as was the fire. Caoimhe was asleep under the table, and Aine had retired some hours ago, having quietly told Lena she'd clean up in the morning.
Alex and Sara fiddled with their outwear and giggled like schoolgirls in the hallway, Sara stealing kisses when she thought no one was watching, and Kara lingered in the dining room with Lena.
"Thank-you," she said.
"You're quite welcome," Lena smiled, feeling warm from all the good company, food and drink. "I've rarely played hostess, but if this is what all dinners are like, then I must say I quite enjoy the role."
Kara smiled in return. "I am so full, and Aine is an amazing cook. Please tell her I said that. But I - I don't just mean for tonight."
"I know," Lena said.
Kara wrapped her arms around Lena. "Thank-you."
"I am going to see you in the morning," Lena said, not nearly ready to say goodbye. She felt safe and secure in Kara's embrace.
"I know," Kara said, deciding to hold Lena for a moment longer, though she knew Alex and Sara were waiting. "But really, thank-you." There was so much more she wished she could say, and hoped Lena understood what she was really trying to convey when she offered her thanks.
"I'll see you in the morning," Lena smiled, though tears pricked her eyes.
Kara reluctantly let go of Lena and looked at her, promising herself she would remember exactly how Lena looked right now in the soft light, her earrings glittering, a few strands of hair coming loose. "I'll see you then," Kara said.