Chapter 6

First Things Second

Friday night - Lana's house

Little more than an hour later, they were ready. Lana had hastily dug out a couple of boxes of winter clothes before finding a suitable outfit. Her heaviest winter parka was still in the closet near the front door and she made sure she had a pair of gloves in the pockets before draping a wool scarf over the shoulders of the parka.

Clark had returned to Metropolis to pick up two items he was going to need tonight. As much as is possiblehe thought, I am going to return Lana's memory of that day to her. Then he flew to a local power plant to pick up his last item of the evening. Not having flown in anything other than the Superman costume for so long, Clark had forgotten what flying could do to regular clothes and so, he had to return to his hotel to change into something that wasn't ruined. He then climbed into his Audi and drove over to Lana's to avoid messing up this outfit.

Clark raced into Lana's kitchen minutes before she came down the stairs. He had to smile when he saw just how much her outfit resembled the one she had worn on that fateful day roughly nineteen years ago.

Something else hadn't changed in nineteen years, either. His heart was racing along just as before. I'm not a kid anymore, he thought, you'd think I could handle this after all I've been through in my two careers.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yes. Where exactly are we going?"

"First, we need to go to the Kawatche caves. From there, we have someplace else to go."

"Umm, Clark?" Lana asked, "You do know the caves are now a state park, don't you?"

"Really? Oh no…do you have any idea when they close for the night?"

"Something like seven or eight o'clock."

"Well then," Clark said, "we'll just have to find something to do to kill some time until, oh say, nine o'clock."

Seeing a golden opportunity, Lana was not shy about seizing it. "Now that I know about your abilities, you could tell me the truth about all the things I've wondered about over the years."

Shrugging his shoulders, Clark said, "Sure. Now that the big secrets are coming out, the smaller ones should be relatively easy. Tell me what you want to know."

They settled back down at the kitchen table as Lana asked about a laundry list of improbable saves, starting with the tornado. After they had explored every incident Lana could recall, Clark went further and filled her in on things she didn't even suspect, like stacking the jocks' trucks at the Homecoming Dance freshman year and racing to an airport hundreds of miles away in a desperate attempt at getting Ryan some help for his brain tumor.

By the time they were ready to leave for the caves, Lana had laughed, to see the mischievous boy that had been inside Clark, and cried at the man of character he had been becoming even then. She collected her coat from the closet and Clark held it for her as she slipped her arms inside.

Stepping out into the night, and feeling goofy wearing her warmest winter clothes in the middle of May, Lana caught a look at Clark's Audi and her first thought was, Whose car is that and why is she here? Not seeing any other cars in her driveway and knowing Clark had driven back from his hotel, Lana caught on quickly and asked, "This is yours? What ever happened to pickup trucks? The only reason I own a truck is that it reminds me of you and you go off to the big city and buy an Audi!"

"Sorry, Lana. I have changed a little bit since I left town, but I didn't mean to ruin your image of me."

"No, no, don't worry about it. This is a nice car, I'm just surprised." Looking from her truck to his car, she asked, "So which one are we going to take?"

Clark responded by scooping her up in his arms and super-speeding to the caves. Setting her down, he said, "Neither. We really don't want to leave a car outside in the parking lot after closing time. It might make people suspicious."

Trying to rake her hair back into some semblance of order with her fingertips, Lana said, "I know you're fast, but that was ridiculous." As they headed for the once-hidden room in the back, Lana asked, "I've always meant to ask you, Clark, when did this room appear? It wasn't always here was it?"

"No," he replied, "it was waiting here for me."

Looking back at Clark, she said, in an absolute deadpan manner, "For you."

"I've rehearsed this like a thousand times," said a nervous Clark. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the octagonal key, saying, "What I'm about to show you may change the way you feel about me."

Trying to reassure the man that she was more and more sure she was still in love with, Lana said, "Clark, whatever it is, it's okay."

Clark placed the key into the slot. A golden light shot up from the table and wind started whipping their hair around. Lana looked around in wonder as Clark said, It's okay." Then, offering her his hand, he asked, "Do you trust me?"

Lana instantly placed her hand in his and, as he stepped close to her, they were sent along a coruscating blue and white tube, somewhat akin to a wormhole, that shot them from Smallville to the arctic in seconds.

Finding herself in a blue-white palace made of ice and crystal. Lana involuntarily gasped, "Oh my God!" at the beauty of the place and the wonder of getting there so quickly.

She turned to Clark, looking for any possible explanation, except for the one she received.

"Once, you asked me if I believed in life on other planets," Clark said. "Then, later, you told me you thought a spaceship had landed during the first meteor shower and you questioned whether an alien had been living amongst us all this time." Taking a deep breath, he said, "You have no idea how ironic those questions were."

Fighting to quell the case of nerves he was experiencing, Clark struggled to get the next words out past the rising gorge in his throat. "I'm from a planet called Krypton." There, I've said it, it's out there and I can't take it back. I can't believe how much this is like the last time.

Lana stepped forward to try and ease the fear that was plain to see on his face. She stroked his cheek and said, "And yet, you look like everyone else."

Clark's reply was to once again pick Lana up. Only this time, he launched them into the air and soared toward the top of the immense Fortress of Solitude. Lana enjoyed her first flight, gleefully whipping her head around like a kid in a candy store.

Clark finally landed them on an icy outcrop near the top of the Fortress. "That was amazing, Clark," she said. "All those abilities, all this time, and no one knew."

"There were so many days I wanted to tell you."

"Why today, when you've resisted telling me for so long?"

"I want you to know who I really am," Clark said. "You knew once upon a time and I think it's time for you to know again."

"'Once upon a time,'" Lana said, "isn't that how all good fairy tales start?"

"I don't know if it'll be a fairy tale this time, Lana, but I'll settle for happily ever after."

He then reached into his pocket, pulled out a large lump of coal, placed it in his hand, and squeezed. As he squeezed, a white-hot glow shot from his clenched fist and Lana could feel some heat from where she was standing. When the glow died away, Clark opened his hand, blew away the remaining coal dust, and showed her a glittering, already-faceted diamond.

Next, he pulled a plain gold band, with a four-prong setting, from his pocket, a ring that had been in his possession for nineteen years. He heated the prongs of the setting with his heat vision and carefully set the stone onto the ring. The gold cooled in no time in the arctic air and Clark showed it to her.

"At this point, 19-plus years ago, I dropped to one knee and asked you to marry me."

"Really? What did I say?" And was I as blown away as I am right now? Did I want to beat him over the head for being such a secretive jerk all this time, while at the same time wanting to tackle him on the spot and have my way with him?

"I told you that I didn't want you to tell me right away. I knew I had just thrown a whole lot of stuff at you in a short amount of time. To expect you to sort through all of it so quickly wouldn't have been fair, or realistic."

Then they froze, both of them mesmerized by the diamond solitaire being held between them by Clark.

"I won't repeat that proposal just yet. After all, I'm still in love with a nineteen-year-old Lana. Who knows how long we'll be able to tolerate each other at this age?" Putting the diamond ring in his pocket, Clark said, "Besides, there's more you need to learn about me, things that might change your mind, things other than what bad habits I've picked up over the years."

Ignoring his last sentence, for the time being, Lana focused on what she had been wanting to hear for more years than she cared to remember. Love! Clark said he's in love with me. Sure, he's still stuck on the younger me, but it's a start. Collecting her thoughts and trying to control the huge smile now dominating her face, Lana said, "Clark, you've just told me you're from another planet! What else could you possibly have to tell that would top that? Are you a secret cross-dresser or something?"

Clark's smile now matched the one Lana was wearing. "No, nothing like that," he said, "but it is serious…deathly so, you might say. Anyway, back to our day, election day.

"After I proposed, we returned to Smallville through the portal in the caves. I left you at your SUV at the farm and gave you some time alone to think. I never learned what you did the rest of the day, but the next thing I did was tell my parents I had finally told you everything…just before I proposed marriage."

Lana rubbed her nose and asked, "Before you tell me their reactions, and I really want to know how they reacted, do you think we could use that portal and return home? I'm getting kind of cold here."

"As you wish." He shrugged his shoulders and gave a sheepish grin. "Sometimes I forget other people are susceptible to the elements."

In a matter of seconds, they went from the top of the Fortress of Solitude, to the floor, to the Kawatche caves, finally ending up on Lana's porch. Spying a porch swing out of the corner of his eye, Clark led Lana over, and as they sat down together, Clark continued his story.

"Mom was proud of me for finally telling you. Dad wanted to be sure I knew what I was doing, but once he was sure, they were both very happy. After that, I went to visit Chloe and I told her the same stuff. That was the first time, and the last time, I ever saw Chloe Sullivan truly speechless. Normally, she was just searching the thesaurus in her brain for the perfect six-syllable word."

"I miss Chloe," Lana said sadly.

"Me too."

"She was unique. She found her passion in life earlier than the rest of us and pursued it with single-minded devotion."

"Well," Clark said, "I found my passion in life fairly early, too."

"What? Journalism? I don't remember you being very deep into that during school."

"Not Journalism, Lana…you," Clark said as he put his arm around her and pulled her close.

Lana leaned her head against his shoulder and everything felt…right. All was the way it should be. Clark began to push the swing back and forth, ever so slightly, with his feet.

"Now, where was I?" Clark asked.

"Chloe."

"Oh yes, Chloe…after leaving the Planet, I came back home and got ready for the watch party. You were going to meet me at the Talon, but showed up at the farm a little bit early instead, saying you came to meet me at the farm because there would be a crowd at the Talon.

"I asked if I looked any different to you and you said I looked like the same handsome guy you'd always known. Not knowing how to take that, I wanted to know if that meant you were saying yes or you were letting me down easy.

"You said, and this is an exact quote, 'As in, yes, Clark, I'll marry you.' You pulled the ring out of your coat pocket and I slipped it on your finger." Clark's face held a faraway expression as he relived that memory. "It was, without exception, the happiest moment of my life. Everything I had ever wanted had come to pass."

"It sounds wonderful, Clark."

"It was. After that, we made our way to the Talon for the party. When my parents finally showed up, the four of us talked and they were happy to have you as a future member of the family. Seconds later, we learned Dad's victory was official. That was the high point for the entire Kent family.

"Then, I was pulled away by Lois for a photo op. You apparently got a call from Lex and went to his house to see how he was taking the defeat. The next thing I know, I was getting a call from you on my cell phone. You were driving down Route 40 just before Loeb Bridge."

The gentle motion of the swing was soothing and threatened to put Lana to sleep after a very long and exciting day. She struggled into a more upright position, blinking her eyes rapidly to try and stay awake.

"You okay, Lana?"

"Yes. Please continue."

"You were scared because Lex was able to tell that you knew my secret, and you were running from him. Right about that time, you noticed he was chasing you. After that, I heard you scream and then came the sickening sound of crunching metal and shattering glass.

"I panicked and ran full-speed to the crash site, reaching it only moments after your SUV came to rest. On the ground, having been thrown from the vehicle, was my love, my life…and you were already dead. My life was dead. Dad was headed back to the farm for something, but stopped when he saw the wreck. He pulled me off your body and held me tight, desperately trying to console me. The best day of my life had been changed into the worst in a matter of moments."

Thoughts of sleep long gone, Lana was hurting just from having listened to Clark's recitation of that evening's events . The pain evident on his face this long after the fact only served to reinforce to her the horror he must have felt. How would I have felt had Clark been the one dead on the pavement? Lana wondered. What steps would I have taken to have him back safe and sound? Would there be any price too great?

Drained, Clark stared blankly at the porch as Lana wrapped both of her arms around him and cried for the both of them.

As Lana's tears drew to a close, Clark said, "The next day I went to the Fortress of Solitude and demanded the chance to save you, to fix what had gone wrong. Chloe thought I should have gone back in time, told you everything, and saved you from the accident."

"Why didn't you, Clark? We could have been together all this time. Our oldest kids would be in high school…"

"I thought of that, but the thought that dominated my mind was this: Lex knew that you knew my secret, and he wasn't the kind of guy to take no for an answer. You would have been in constant danger. The only way I could see to keep you safe was to not tell you my secrets. If that meant losing you, that was a fair trade off for me."

"Clark Kent, you can be a noble, self-sacrificing ass sometimes! But knowing what I know now, I forgive you…as long as you promise to never do that again."