I wake up a little early the next morning, deciding to go through with a joke I thought I'd pull once. After getting dressed, I shift into an otter and head to Pa's room. Good. He's doing "Clark work". I sneak up on him, then, grinning, I pounce and land square in his lap.

"Good morning to you too!"

My grin widens.

"[Good morning Pa!]"

He reaches down. What is he going to do? He's tickling me!

"[S-Stop it!]"

I'm laughing. It feels so...I can't think of the right word. But it makes me laugh. It takes a while before I can pull myself together enough to shift back into a girl.

"I have a new bragging right today. I got to tickle an otter."

I hear a Neener-neener tone in his voice with the last sentence. I smile.

"Well, you gave said otter her first tickle. Now you have even more of a bragging right. Just don't let it go to your head."

He spreads his fingers across his chest.

"Who, me? Ma and Pa wouldn't put up with that."

I laugh again.

"Unless there's another person in the room." "Nope, just me and my [daughter.]"

I can't help but smile. I love hearing Pa speak Otter.

"So what are you working on?" "Well...I actually found this."

I look at the computer screen.

"Oh."

I don't know what to say at the sight that meets my eyes. Someone made a website memorial for my [brother.]

"W-Who made this and when?" "I don't know. But I thought you'd like to see it."

I nod as I tentatively touch my fingers to my [brother's] image.

"[Hi. It's Nori. Your sister. I miss you...But I'm glad I'm not the only one who does. Swim strong, my brother.]"

When Pa asks me what I said, I tell him. He smiles.

"You're good with words."

I shrug my shoulders.

"What can I say? It runs in my family."

His smile widens giving me a good feeling that stays with me all the way to work.

"Hey Nori. Check out who made the front page."

Jimmy hands me a copy of today's newspaper. I grin. My first front page byline. Though, technically, I made the front page twice. Of course, I can't tell Jimmy that...I hear a thump. I flinch. What was that? I look around.

Oh. It was just somebody setting down some paper. I guess with hearing (and memories) like mine, I was expecting something else. I feel a hand on my shoulder. Who's that?

I feel a little anxious as I whirl around. It's not anybody I know. Those ice-blue eyes of his...Who is this guy? I guess Lois recognizes him.

"Hi Bruce."

Is it just me or does she seem...embarrassed?

"Hi, yourself, Lois. And Hello..."

Who is he...Oh. He wants my name.

"Nori Kent. Junior reporter." "Ah. Bruce Wayne. Owner of the Daily Planet.*"

Pa smiles.

"Bruce! What brings you here from Gotham?"

I thought he wasn't from around here.

"Just checking on my paper." "You sure you weren't checking on someone else?"

Yeah, like me perhaps? I nervously put my hand to where...Bruce touched me. How does Pa know him? Maybe I should ask later. I'm not sure what to do. I look at my desk. There's nothing on it. Safe? I think I can trust Bruce. Pa knows him. But the...seriousness in his ice-blue eyes...I'm not sure what to think about it. I'm not sure what to think about Bruce period. What does he know about me? I start to feel anxious again. My breathing speeds up a little. Pa whispers to me in a voice only I can hear.

"It's O.K Nori. He's a friend."

I nod and whisper back.

"There's such seriousness in his eyes. What does he know about me?"

He whispers that he'll tell me later. I nod and look at my desk again. There's a piece of paper on it. When I get there, I realize it's a note. I read it in my head.

"Nori,
I think I saw you flinch when Ron** set the papers down. Do you want to talk about it?
Jimmy
P.S. Feel free to talk to me any time."

I smile and grab another piece of paper.

"Jimmy,
So that's who set down the papers. Yeah, I flinched. It startled me a little bit. When do you want to talk?
Nori"

Jimmy's away from his desk, so I put the note down on it. Though it's not long before I get another note from him. I read this one in my head too.

"Nori,
How's lunch sound to you? I'll tag along with you and Clark.
Jimmy"

I see him and nod.

Soon, Jimmy, Pa, and I are at some coffee shop. I don't know why but I wasn't feeling very hungry.

"So you wanted to talk."

Jimmy nods. I pull out a copy I grabbed of the article about my time in court and hand it to him.

"Despite my I.Q, I'm not very good at talking about stuff like this."

He skims through the article.

"Nori...I..." "I know. The first time I called Clark Pa was the day after that. I don't know what else to say." "You've been through this?" "Jimmy...That's just scratching the surface."

I nibble my muffin, feeling kind of nervous. What's he going to say?

"I'll be your friend if you want."

I smile.

"I'd like that. I'll be your friend too."

Later, when we head out, I notice something wrong. It's my old house on fire...and there's a kid inside. Before I know it, Ottergirl's on the scene. I manage to get the kid out...But now I'm trapped!

Clark's P.O.V

I covered for Nori, but now Superman's at the scene. Nori's old house is on fire. The officer looks at me.

"Superman! Thank goodness you're here. There's a kid...No, wait, I got a new report coming in. The kid made it out. But there's still someone in there. Some hero..."

Officer Scott tells me the news.

"Oh yeah. Here we go. It's the new one. What's her name?"

No.

"Ottergirl."

Nori!

*This is canon, FYI.
**Ron Troupe, Daily Planet staff member (he's in the comics too)