October 28, 2017

It had been a hell of a week. She had started in San Diego and had furtively hoped that it would be quiet, uneventful week. But instead of one where she could take it easy and stick to Nora's schedule while going unnoticed, her hand had been forced and she had done the opposite of that. And she had been so good on Sunday, too. She had gone to the social events and posed as Nora, while the actual Nora was too horrified to take control of the situation herself. Kara could hardly blame her.

She wondered how she had arrived at this point. Was it something that she had done? Was it some other unknown, sinister force who had yet to be discovered and was actually responsible for all of these strange body snatching episodes? Who was it and why were they doing this? Lives were disrupted and Boston never seemed to know what it was in for during one of those weeks. Kara had only been present for three of those weeks so far, but even in that short span of time, she had already seen so much: she had done her best to reign in an out of control and incredibly powerful Wonder Woman; she saved Lois Lane from being stuck on billboard when no other help came; she fought the Green Lantern who had been responsible for Lois' placement on that billboard; and last but not least, to close out the week, she had gone toe to toe with Jean Grey, a powerful mutant unknown to her but of particular importance to Nora. Though they hadn't actually fought, it had been a surprisingly emotional confrontation that had left her exhausted.

Kara hoped that the video she had created for Nora would be enough. It would have to do, at least for now, and she thought that she had done the best she could to explain the events of the week. More carefully, she had also left Nora with a bit of an oral history of Kara Zor-El and her life thus far. Previous conversations with friends of Nora's had suggested that she start to read comic books to learn more, but sometimes their canonical histories were a tad over exaggerated. Unfortunately, Kara had enough time to do the research that she had hoped to gather for Nora, but she had given her a short list of topics that might interest her and keep her curiosity satiated, at least until next time.

But those were the efforts that she had gone to for Nora. Kara, on the other hand, was still feeling lost. Her grasp on this world still tenuous and tentative; she had so many questions and they had all gone unanswered, and she had a feeling that they would remain that way for the time being. And as important as it was for her to explain all of this to her human counterpart to the best of her ability, this was suddenly her life too, whether either of them liked it or not. Both women had their own responsibilities, and while Kara was willing to step aside so that Nora could go to work without any issue, she didn't want to spend her, Kara time, after Nora's work days cooped up in an apartment or hanging out at some bar or restaurant. She craved a life of her own.

If it was explained to her, she thought Nora might at least a little bit understanding. But she wasn't sure how the human would react to the idea that Kara do her thing in her off hours. Save innocent civilians, fend off the bad guys who needed fighting, or even just go for a quiet, relaxing night flight among the stars. It would all take some getting used to, and even that couldn't happen until Kara figured out exactly what she wanted.

As she crawled into bed, she ran through a mental checklist to ensure that everything was where it needed to be. The video was on Nora's computer, along with a text file that contained more notes for her to review. She had even left her an actual checklist of things to look out for, any changes that she might experience that she should keep an eye on. DId she tire as easily? When was the last time she had received a paper cut or accidentally cut herself with a knife? How had those injuries healed? What happened if she had a few beers?

Kara burrowed under the covers to stay warm. Nora's room seemed draftier than the rest of the apartment, but perhaps she just preferred it that way. She sighed at the thought; she was taking so much care to get things ready for this human who may or may not have been receptive to her at all, she wasn't sure yet, and yet there was so little that she had done for herself with the time that she'd had this week. And in a few hours, she would slip off to wherever it was that she went to only to wake up a few weeks later.

“Next time,” she whispered to herself. Next time, she would try to figure out her purpose. Her existence on this Earth had been filled with so many false starts and resets and second and third and fourth chances. And while she was thankful for the opportunity to hit the reset button when so many others couldn't, having to do so often came at the price of something else having gone terribly, terribly wrong, and usually at her hands. Was that what had happened here? Or was she fortunate enough to be able to wipe the slate clean once again?

She rolled over onto her other side and sighed into the pillow. “Last Daughter of Krypton,” she grumbled. It was an immense weight and one that she couldn't shake, even after all these years. She didn't know what happened in the afterlife, whether that was the afterlife as it stood on Earth or what the afterlife looked for Kryptonians, but she hoped that she was making her parents proud. One of these days, she would get it right.