Stars and Water

Chapter32

The wind was cold as it whipped Maria's body and it was hard for her to catch her breath. Her fear left her and she was filled with a strange expectant calm. There was nothing she could do but fall and she had a long ways to go.

Time seemed to stop as her thoughts sped around her mind. She wondered how long it would take to hit the ocean. She decided to spend her last moments in prayer and looked out at the beauty that surrounded her and found herself filled with love for this earth and everyone in it.

She prayed to God to take care of Clark and her calm disappeared as she worried about how he would handle her death. She hoped he would never find out she died to protect his secret. He would feel bad enough already that he hadn't saved her, she knew how hard he always was on himself. Sadness filled her at the thought of never seeing Clark again and she called out his name in a sob as she broke down and cried for all she would miss in this world.

Clark focused all his will on speed and was shocked and thrilled when he found out just how fast he could go. He passed a military jet going Mach 5 like it was standing still and soon he spotted Lex's plane. He adjusted his direction and swooped towards the aircraft. Clark noticed that a door was open and the plane seemed unstable. He wondered what Lex had done. Had he thrown Maria from the plane? Clark looked down and saw, far below him, two bodies spinning in freefall. Then he heard Maria cry out his name and his heart felt like it froze in his chest when he realized one of the bodies was hers.

Clark flew to her with all the speed he dared, not wanting to overshoot her he slowed down when he approached. He noticed the other body was Lex and passed by his limp form on his way to Maria.

Maria covered her face in her hands and curled herself up around her pain as she grieved. She missed Clark already; she missed him so much she could almost feel his arms around her and hear his voice comforting her.

"Shhh, Maria. It's okay, you're safe now." Clark murmured, close to tears himself, "Don't cry sweetheart. I've got you, you're safe." And he gently pulled her close to his chest and tucked her head against his neck, soothing her with his voice and hands. Clark kissed her forehead and tried to get her to move her hands and open her eyes. "Maria look at me, open your eyes, you're safe."

Maria slowly moved her hands down as Clark's arms stayed there and Clark's voice continued. Was she unconscious? Was this a dream or was the drug Lex had injected her with making her hallucinate? Either way it was Clark and she could never resist him for long. Maria looked into his loving eyes and saw the tears brimming there. She frowned a little and touched his cheek.

"Please don't cry for me Clark," she whispered and then she looked around and gasped as she realized they were no longer falling, they were slowly rising. "You're really here!" she exclaimed as joy flooded into her, "you're flying!" and hope replaced the despair she had felt only moments before. "My God Clark, when did you learn to fly?"

Clark grinned at her, "A few minutes ago, when I saw that you were over the ocean."

She grabbed him and held on tight, "Are you sure we won't fall?" Now that she knew she could live the fear of falling came back and made her swallow hard.

Clark laughed, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing," and he spun in the air a bit to show her he meant it. When he turned he caught sight of Lex. Part of him wanted to leave him to his fate. Okay, a large part of him wanted to leave him to his fate.

Maria saw the direction of his gaze and gasped at the sight of Lex falling rapidly towards the sea. They could let him die. Do nothing and all their problems with him would be over. It wasn't wrong to just look away was it? It wouldn't be murder, exactly. Clark wouldn't be killing him; he could just choose not to save him. Maria looked at Clark's face and knew he was wrestling with this dilemma. She kept silent, this was his choice and she would accept whatever decision he made.

Clark sighed heavily and swooped down to Lex, grabbing his limp body by the coat collar and slowly stopping his descent so as not to rip the garment off him. Looking around he found what he was looking for and altered his course accordingly. Sometimes it sucked being the good guy, he thought as he saved Lex once again. Maria shuddered at the nearness of Lex but when she saw where Clark was heading her face eased into a grin. Oh, but her Clark Kent was not only good he was smart, she thought happily.

Lex woke up face down on the sand and wondered how on earth he got that way. The last thing he remembered was diving to grab Maria. If he fell he'd be dead so where was he, and how did he get here? Lex sat up and studied his surroundings. He saw ocean, sand, coconut palms, and nothing else as far as he could see in all directions. Oh shit, not again, he thought.

To be continued…

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