Earth: 21st Century - 2018
She watched from a distance as Lena stepped off the elevator and made her way across the room with quick sure steps until she was face to face with Sam. Astra could easily hear the soft, "Sam, you're home." That Lena breathed out as she embraced her friend and Sam's equally soft, "Yeah, I'm home." As she hugged Lena back. The affection the two women felt for each other was clearly evident and it warmed Astra's heart to know that her daughter had people in her life who loved her and cared about her as much as Lena and Alex did. And to know that Kara and Sam were close, to know that they had found their way to each other on this alien planet, the last children of Krypton and the House of Ze, together as they should be, well that meant everything to her.
Astra had been so focused on watching Kara, Sam, and Lena that she hadn't noticed the return of Alex's heart beat or the addison of a new one until an ear piercing squeal of, "Mommy!" rang out through the cavernous space of the DEO mere seconds before a young girl with long dark hair streaked with blue came running full force towards Sam. Lena barely had time to get out of the way before the child was crashing into Sam.
"Hey Rubes." Sam said softly as she wrapped her arms around her daughter carefully. With Ruby tucked under her chin Sam took a deep breath, as if filling all of her senses with her daughter's presence, and then whispered. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Ruby replied, her voice thick with emotion and her dark eyes glassy with tears.
Sam looked over the top of Ruby's head to Alex and smiled after mouthing the words thank you. Alex blushed a little as she returned the smile and gave Sam a simple nod of her head in acknowledgement.
She felt intrusive, as if she were watching an intimate scene between a family not meant for the eyes of strangers, but Astra couldn't help herself. She found it hard to have Sam out of her sight, as if the young woman would disappear if she couldn't see her. A part of Astra was still afraid she would wake up to find this a dream. Any moment now she would wake up in her cell aboard Fort Rozz and all of her anger and grief would be there rotting inside her again. But this wasn't a dream, she was standing there watching her daughter and her granddaughter, and it was a moment she shouldn't be spying on, but she couldn't turn away. Ruby was just as beautiful as Sam, and Astra could pinpoint every feature, every characteristic the girl had inherited from her, from her parents, even her grandparents.
Astra watched the four women and young girl closely and wondered how Sam and Alex couldn't see the way the looked at each other, or how they missed the way Ruby's eyes lit up when looking between them, as if the only thing in the world she wanted now that her mother was home was for her moms to be a couple. Astra smiled when Lena slipped her hand into Kara's, at least those two seemed to have figured it out.
"Tia." Imra said softly as she approached. "Why aren't you down there with your family?"
Astra turned away from the scene blow to look at the young woman now standing beside her. Then she returned her attention to the family below them, because that's what they were, a family. "I may be Kara's aunt and Samantha's mother, but family… I'm not sure I'm…"
Before Astra could even finish her sentence she could feel the piercing gaze of El blue eyes on her and Kara's gaze made her stop speaking. She watched as Kara let go of Lena's hand before launching herself into the air. Still in her Supergirl uniform Kara was truly a sight to behold floating there at eye level mere feet away. She could almost feel Imra smirking beside her.
"I don't think she liked what you were about to say." Imra said with amusement.
Kara crossed her arms over her chest. "I didn't." She confirmed. Then she let her arms fall to her sides as she floated closer. "Aunt Astra, you have always been my family. Even when we weren't on the same side, you were still my family, nothing could ever change that."
"Little one," Astra sighed softly and smiled warmly at her niece. Her gaze remained locked with Kara's as Kara floated over the railing to stand beside her. "What I meant is that you've built a family of your own here and I…"
"And you are apart of that family." Kara said firmly. "I can't speak for Sam, your relationship with her is up to the two of you. But I've lost you to many times in the past to lose you again."
Astra had to look away from the pure heartfelt emotions in Kara's eyes. After everything she had done, had planned on doing, everything she had put Kara through, her niece was willing to accept her back into her life with open arms and forgiveness Astra wasn't sure she was ready to accept. Turning from Kara had brought her gaze back to Sam who was now looking up at her. They looked into each other's eyes for several long moments before the corner of Sam's lips ticked into a bit of a smile before she finally looked away. Ruby had said something Astra had missed and both Sam and Alex nodded. Sam hugged Lena once more, whispering to her to hug Kara for her, and then Sam, Alex and Ruby made their way out of the DEO.
"Sam just needs time." Kara said softly as she watched her cousin leave for home. "She's been through a lot, more than anyone should ever have too."
Astra nodded. She understood. "I didn't come here expecting to have a relationship with her. I just wanted to see her, to see with my own eyes that she was alive."
"Well, she is." Kara said with a smile full of the hope she was known for. "And now you have a chance to get to know her, to form some kind of a relationship with her." Kara smirked in a way that reminded Astra of Alura and it made Astra raise an eyebrow as Kara spoke again. "If you're brave enough to stick around and try that is."
"Child." Astra huffed as she crossed her arms. "Are you calling me a coward?"
"Bravery is being afraid but doing it anyway." Kara replied.
Astra promised to stay, but told Kara that she would not push Sam into anything. If Sam wanted to see Astra then Astra would agree to meeting with her. Over the following days since Sam's return Astra helped with making repairs to the ship. She knew that Mon-El had some regrets when it came to his former relationship with Kara, that he felt awful about how he'd treated her, and he'd wanted to apologize and make amends, so she stepped in to help Brainy while he tried to repair his friendship with Kara. Helping with ship repairs also gave her a chance to spend some one on one time with Lena. It was as clear as a data crystal that Kara and Lena loved each other as if the Genesis chamber had literally created them for one another. So Astra wanted to get to know Lena, to understand the person who owned her niece's heart, whose own heart belonged to Kara and her son.
Astra watched as Lena easily manipulated a piece of technology more advanced than anything she would have seen before like it was a child's toy, and then smiled as she leaned back against the wall out of Lena's way. "It's evident that you're passion and skills are geared towards science and technology, Lena. If you were Kryptonian I could easily see you unseating Jor as the Minister of the Science Guild." Astra smirked at the thought. "Actually I'd have enjoyed seeing that."
Lena looked up from what she was doing to look at Astra and smiled. "Kara thinks you and her uncle didn't like each other much. She just has no idea why."
"We didn't." Astra admitted. "Jor always found the fact that Lara and I were, lets just say very close, in school a bit bothersome."
Lena understood the smile on Astra's face was one of remembering very fond memories, and she wondered if Kara knew that her aunts had dated in high school. She smiled in a way that told Astra she understood what she was saying and then went back to what she was doing as she said, "Science and tech have always been my thing. I was never meant to run the family company, though I was educated in how to do so nonetheless. Lex was meant to run the company. I just had to not be a total embarrassment."
"It must have been difficult for you when you suddenly found yourself thrust into the leadership of the whole company." Astra said gently as she moved across the room to take a seat near Lena.
"It was, for a lot of different reasons." Lena nodded. "I'm a woman, I'm fairly young, and I had a completely different direction I wanted to take the company in. My father ran Luthor Corp to fuel his greed, my brother ended up using it to fuel his madness, his vendetta against Superman."
"Selfish men with selfish agendas." Astra cut in. "We had plenty of those on Krypton and look where it ended us."
"I want L Corp to be a force for good." Lena said with a look of determination in her dark yet bright eyes. "I want to use our resources to help the world, not further it along in it's path of destruction, and I don't see why that has to be something that hurts our bottomline."
Astra smiled warmly at the younger woman. "My dear, it is all you want it to be and more. In my time, L Corp is a beacon of hope. Luthor is a name people trust. It's your legacy that remains, and every other Luthor of this time is a footnote in history."
Lena blinked, her mouth slightly agape. Then she says, "Should you be telling me this?"
"Probably not." Astra said with a shrug. "But I see the way you look at Kara, and the way she looks at you. You're family Lena, and if telling you that all of the hardships you'll face are worth it in the long run, than I don't see the harm in it."
"Thank you." Lena said softly. "The next time I'm faced with a boardroom full of old white men who long for the days of my father's leadership, knowing this may just make it easier to face."
After she would finish her work on the ship Lena would often invite Astra to join her and Kara for dinner. At first Astra felt odd about it, as she still struggled with accepting Kara's forgiveness, and would make excuses about staying aboard the ship for Imra or one of her boys, but Lena wasn't one to accept the same excuse twice. It was a strange mix of emotions sitting at the dinner table with Kara and her family, she would often be flooded with memories of meals shared with her parents and Alura, and later with Alura and a small Kara. Allowing those memories to flood her mind and heart were bittersweet for Astra, but making new ones was a gift she cherished.
"Kara, darling, look." Lena said suddenly with a playful smirk while tearing up bits of bread and dipping them in salt and peppered oil before offering the small bits to Andrew.
"What?" Kara said, her bright blue eyes darting around to find what Lena wanted her to see.
Lena glanced over at Astra and said, "A Kryptonian willingly eating a vegetable without making a face like a pouty three year old."
Astra laughed, nearly choking on the bite of garlic roasted brussel sprout she'd just been eating. Reaching for her glass of wine she took a sip to wash down the food and then wiped her mouth with Lena's linen napkin before asking, "Does she still hate vegetables?"
Lena raised a perfect eyebrow at her beloved's aunt and asked in reply, "Still?"
"Oh yes." Astra nodded. "Kara loathed eating vegetables as a child. As far as she was concerned anything leafy and green was the enemy. Alura would have to threaten to withhold her dessert or to cancel an activity to get her to eat them."
Kara huffed and pouted. "Daddy never forced me to eat anything green and leafy."
"That's because he was hiding it in those silly constructs of his." Astra informed her niece. She then went on to explain to Kara that one of her favorite childhood dishes, which her father would make for her, was all plant based and she never knew it.
Kara gasped, slapping her hand to her chest as if stuck by something painful. "My childhood has been tainted!"
Again Astra laughed, which made Lena, Kara and even Andrew laugh. Rao how she had missed this. She could hear Alura in Kara's laugh and while it made her long for her sister, it also reminded her of what it felt like to be loved by her family.
The next time Astra saw Sam it was at the DEO as the young woman was slipping out of the medical lab. Concern instantly flooded the older Kryptonian who was there to speak with J'onn about ship repairs. Changing directions Astra walked over to the tall brunette with the House of Ze features. "Sam?" Astra called out. "Is everything alright? Are you ok?"
Sam hadn't really been able to work out how she felt about suddenly finding out her birth mother was not only alive but here for her to interact with. Her feelings about her parents, all of them, were complicated. She did her best to give Astra a warm, reassuring smile as she replied. "I'm fine. Alex and Lena are just being overly cautious and extremely protective."
Astra visibly relaxed at hearing that Sam was fine. She returned the young woman's warm smile as she said, "They love you. They just want to make sure you're alright."
"I know." Sam said with a nod. "It's the only reason I agreed to come in and get poked and prodded."
A long awkward silence fell between the two women after that. Neither of them knew what to say to the other. Astra didn't want to push, and Sam just wasn't sure about anything. Honestly she was still processing the fact that Kara was her cousin, and she knew Kara, cared about Kara. Astra was a complete and total stranger, a ghost, a figure from the countless stories Kara had told her while she was recovering. Then her enhanced hearing picked up on Alex saying something about running more tests and before Sam could stop herself she looked at Astra and asked, "Wanna get out of here? Grab a coffee or lunch or something?"
Astra's surprise flickered across her face before she managed to regain control of her expressions and nod. "Yes, I'd like that." They used superspeed to get to Sam's SUV and once Sam had pulled out of the parking garage and onto the street Astra felt the need to explain, "I promised to limit the use of my powers while I'm here. I make Agent Danvers nervous."
Sam chuckled softly. "A lot of things make Alex nervous when it comes to Kara. It's part of her natural protectiveness."
Before she could stop herself Astra said, "I don't think her protectiveness is limited to just Kara."
Sam shot Astra a look before focusing on the road once more.
Since returning to National City Sam had been leery of venturing out into public. A part of her was afraid someone might recognize her as Reign and she'd cause a panic. Alex, Lena, Kara and even Ruby tried to convince her otherwise. Ruby even told her that she hadn't known she was Reign until she'd watched her take her mask off. So if Ruby couldn't tell Sam Arias and Reign were one in the same, how would some random person on the street? But Sam was still afraid, and probably would be for awhile. So they got sandwiches and coffee from a Starbucks drive through and then Sam took them to a lesser known part of the park where they could sit and talk or not if they didn't want to talk.
Astra smiled softly when she realized where they were. This part of the park was tucked away in a corner near the harbor where the only sign of life other than wildlife were an occasional tugboat or a random barge. There was some benches which she and Sam made their way to, but they were old and weather beaten, nothing like the new ones in the park proper. Behind them was a steep slope covered in plants, wild flowers, and trees that you weren't quite sure how they managed to stay put. In front of them on the opposite side of the path was a low break wall made of large mismatched broken blocks of concrete. "I didn't spend much time taking in my surroundings the last time I was here in this time, so all I know of National City if from the future. It's a bit stranger to see this place before it becomes a bit more developed."
"Kara told me that in the future you're a superhero, like her." Sam said softly as she looked at the woman sat beside her.
"I'm not sure hero is the right word." Astra said as she took the lid off her coffee before taking a sip. "My team, my students, they're heroes. I'm just someone trying to make up for a lot of past mistakes."
Sam nodded. She understood what that felt like, the guilt that comes with the truth of her actions. Virus or no virus, Sam did horrible things as Reign and blaming it all on what was done to her, well, that didn't ease Sam's guilt. "Do you ever feel like it'll be enough someday?"
"If you ask my girls they'll tell you I've more than made up for my actions." Astra answered. "But, I'm not so easily satisfied. I'm not sure I'll ever feel as if I've done enough."
"Your girls?" Sam replied. "You mean Imra?"
Astra smiled and nodded. "And her younger sister, yes. They were just small children when their home was destroyed in a galactic war that steam rolled over countless innocent planets. They came to Earth alone, frightened, their parents dead, their world gone. I was alone, everything I loved lost to me either when Krypton fell or to the past. They needed someone to keep them safe and I needed a purpose, so we kind of landed in each other orbits."
"Imra seems really nice." Sam commented before sipping her coffee.
"Imra was always the more soft spoken, level headed of the two." Astra replied with a look of love on her face that would be familiar to any mother. "Preya was the more boisterous one. She was often getting into things that would require rescuing of some sort."
Sam smiled and relaxed a little as she watched Astra react with such pride and love for the two abandon children she'd taken in and cared for. "She must have come as a surprise then, given how different she must have been to a Kryptonian child."
Astra crinkled her forehead and nose as she looked at Sam with a look that said she didn't understand. "How so?"
"Well, the way Kara explains it, children on Krypton were raised to be, well, I guess inquisitive but perfectly well behaved." Sam replied.
Astra barked out a laugh that nearly made her spill her coffee. "Let me tell you about well behaved Kryptonian children, dear one. Let's start with the time Kara and her best friend Thara reprogrammed their teacher's Klex to recite unflattering limericks about the queen of Daxam rather than sounding the chime that normally ended a lesson."
"Kara did that?" Sam replied with surprise and snort of amusement.
"Kara was a good child, but hardly a flawless one." Astra replied. "Children were allowed to be children on Krypton. They played, and got into mischief, just as Earth children do." She laughed softly. "Rao knows Alura and I got into our fair share of trouble. We nearly drove a young tutor from Xan City mad because we had him convinced there was only one of us, and that the other must have been a figment of his imagination. Our parents were less than amused when they discovered what was going on."
Sam had been raised as an only child so she didn't have the experience of sharing a life and memories with a sibling, but that didn't stop her from seeing how bittersweet remembering Alura was to Astra. She could see the guilt along with the sorrow in Astra's eyes that the warmth of her smile just couldn't hide. Letting Sam see this very human side of her made it easier for Sam to open up to Astra about her own childhood the next time they met for coffee and sandwiches on the weather worn benches in the out of the way space in the park.
Meeting up became a regular thing and with each hour spent together in the park both women could feel something forming between them. Astra had been heartbroken and angry when she heard that Patricia had thrown Sam out when Sam had become pregnant. The woman had made a pact with Rao to care for his lost child when she'd found Sam and taken her in. A vow to always care for her, to protect her, and be there for her, and what does this woman do? She throws Sam to the wolves when she needed her most? Sam actually had to talk Astra out of flying to this woman's homestead and letting her know just how displeased she was over the treatment of her child. Something in Astra's reaction, her pure and heartfelt need to want to protect Sam even if that meant protecting her from past hurts, helped Sam to make a decision.
Astra had a warm smile on her lips as she made her way to their spot in the park to meet Sam for lunch. It was a bit unusual for them to meet on a Saturday, but Sam had been so busy at L Corp the last week and half and Astra had been caught up in the final repairs to the ship that they hadn't been able to meet. As she grew closer to their spot Astra's smile widened at the sight of Sam sitting there waiting, but then she caught sight of who sat beside Sam and Astra's heart skipped a beat and she faltered in her stride for a moment.
Sam noticed the look on Ruby's face and it made her turn to see what Ruby was looking at. She smiled at the sight of Astra and stood up to greet the older woman. She could see by the look on Astra's face that the woman was surprised. "I hope you don't mind." Sam said as she closed some of the distance between herself and her birth mother. "I thought you might like to meet your granddaughter."
For several seconds Astra's lips moved before works finally passed over them. She had longed to meet her granddaughter but she didn't want to wish for to much. She and Sam were just starting to build a relationship, and she didn't want to put any kind of stress or expectation on that. "Of course I don't mind." Astra finally managed to say just as the three of them entered each other's space. Astra looked at Ruby with awe and her heart fluttered as she smiled. "I would very much like to meet my granddaughter."
Ruby smiled, a little unsurely but very sweetly. Sam had explained things to her but it was still pretty weird. "Hi." She greeted as she looked up at Astra. "I'm Ruby."
"It is very nice to meet you Ruby." Astra replied.
The two hit it off so well that Ruby asked Astra to come over for dinner so they could keep talking. Astra was unsure but Sam agreed with Ruby, that she would love it if Astra came over for dinner. Ruby was absolutely enthralled by Astra's stories of Krypton. Even commenting that she knew more than Kara! Astra laughed, "Well of course I do. I am much older than Kara and lived much more of my life on Krypton."
Ruby's face lit up as she remembered something and jumped from the sofa after grabbing hold of Astra's hand. "I have to show you something."
Astra gladly and with a found chuckle allowed Ruby to pull her back to Sam's home office.
"Kara painted this for my Mom." Ruby explained as she pulled Astra over to a painting on the wall.
Astra gasped softly at the landscape depicted in the painting. While they had spent most of their time in Argo City, at least once a year she, Alura and their parents would venture to an old ancestral home beyond the city limits, tucked into the red and orange cliffs of the desert. Astra reached out as if to touch a memory. "This was our favorite place on all of Krypton, mine and Alura's." Astra's heart ached with loss. She missed her sister so much. But then she smiled and looked at Ruby and said, "We would play for hours in the sands, climbing the cliffs, that when we finally came inside we were covered head to toe in red dust."
When the ship was finally repaired and ready to make the trip back to their time, Astra found it hard to want to go. She felt like she had just arrived and hadn't had nearly enough time with Kara, or Sam, or the new family she was quickly becoming a part of, despite it having been several weeks. She knew that they all needed to get back, that she needed to get back, she couldn't stay in this time. Her life was in the 31st century with her Legionnaires, with Imra and Preya, but apart of her heart was here too.
"You should stay longer, Tia." Imra said as she watched Astra move around the bridge of the ship. "Spend more time with them. When you're ready you can use your ring to come back."
"I've been gone too long as it is, Immy." Astra protested. "I need to go back and make sure Garth hasn't done anything stupid, and that Charles hasn't gone mad trying to keep the peace."
"We'll head back." Imra reassured. "We'll look out for everyone. You just got to start spending time with your granddaughter, now's not the time for you to go."
Astra hestated. A little more time with them, that's all she wanted, just a little more time. "Are you sure?"
Imra nodded. "If anything goes wrong enough that we need you we'll signal you or come back for you. I promise."
Pulling Imra into her arms Astra hugged her tightly. "Thank you."
She got what she wanted. Astra got to be a part of Sam's and Kara's family for a little while longer. But all good things must come to an end. There was trouble back home and when Preya came out of a ring created temporal transport Astra knew it was bad. Kara wanted to come help but Astra told her that her place was here, that Supergirl and Kara Danvers were needed here and now. She would be fine, she promised. She said her goodbyes, and accepted reassurances that it was ok for her to go.
"Mother." Sam called out just as Astra was preparing to leave.
Astra's heart swelled and her eyes burned as she turned to face Sam. She'd never called her that before. "Yes Samra?"
"Come back to visit when you can?" Sam asked.
"I will." Astra replied. "I promise." Then she moved back to where Sam and Kara stood. She took off her ring and held it out to them. "If either of you ever need me. Use this."
Sam took the ring while Kara nodded and replied. "We will. And if you ever need us…"
"You know where to find us." Sam finished.
Astra reached up and caressed their faces. "My girls. May Rao's light bless and keep you warm until we see each other again."
As soon as Astra stepped into the command center of the Legion's HQ a cheer of relief went up. "The General's back!"
"Oh thank goodness." Chuck sighed with relief.
"What's going on?" Astra demanded. "Is it the Lanterns again? It better not be the Rao damned Lanterns again."
"Thanagarians this time" Mon-El reported.
Astra growled. "Damnit, how many times do we have to clip those lossy birds' wings. Give me five minutes and I want to know everything."
Astra went to her quarters to change out of her jeans and blouse and into her uniform. As soon as she stepped into the room Astra felt a sudden head rush like nothing she had ever experienced before. Time was catching up to her. Her trip back in time had indeed caused some changes. When she opened her eyes they settled on a painting that hung over her sofa and she smiled. It was the desert painting from Sam's home office, a gift from her daughter left for her in Lena Luthor's private vault. Astra smiled a moment longer and then went to get her uniform. War birds first, nostalgia later. The General and her Legion had some tail feathers to kick.