Survivors

Chapter 7: Taking a Chance

Kal El's eyes closed and his breathing evened out just as Kara finished the lullaby, one of her favorites. Aunt Astra would save it for the few times she had a fever and whenever she suspected Kara was feeling alone, isolated, the times her mother and father were away on important business. Despite the extended family around her, Kara always wished she had a sibling. She knew some parents on Krypton had two children and though it was not common, her mother was a twin and she suspected her parents would have been offered the option.

For the most part, Kara shrugged it off and found ways to entertain herself, singing, art, studying law, her lessons which she excelled at. Though she loved the beauty and elegance of science, the girl felt drawn to follow her mother's footsteps and enter the field of law. Her mother had been her example all her life, perhaps because Kara had more interaction with her. Her father was a kind man, and she loved him, but only her mother seemed to show any real affection. Her mother and Aunt Astra.

Watching her mother, the few times she saw her work, had instilled a strong sense of justice in the girl. Right and wrong seemed clear cut. You followed the law or you were punished. There were no grey areas.

Then her life slowly changed and though the girl didn't recognize it at the time, it was falling apart, as was the planet around her. Aunt Astra disappeared. She had seen her only once when she called her with the spy beacon and her mother had found them together. Kara left as her mother instructed and she never heard from or saw her aunt again.

Then the strain began showing more on her mother's face. Kara had assumed it was her work, but her father also showed changes. While he did not smile as much as before, he was always with mother when Kara laid down at night, which was unusual. He kissed her forehead each night as her mother had always done. He held her more often when he saw her, though he had been away longer hours during the day. She was also told to spend her days taking care of her newborn baby cousin while her parents were at work, even having her take a leave of absence from her lessons.

This made absolutely no sense, as education was everything in her family. Kara did not question though. She, as always, did what she was told. Instead of learning about planets and species and quantum physics, she was learning how to change diapers, feed a baby, burp the child for Rao's sake. Kara did not ask questions.

Now she wished she had. Since that fateful day when she had been woken from bed and sent from her home, her ideas of justice had changed dramatically. Right and wrong did not matter as much anymore. She still believed in justice and had it been just her, she may have starved to death before ever stealing. Having a baby depending on you for life changed things. Right and wrong did not matter, her honor did not matter. All that mattered was keeping Kal El alive, whatever it took.

Now things had changed again. It was no longer just the two of them fighting to stay alive, hiding, running, stealing. Another had entered Kara's life. When she had run out of land to travel, she had been found by an angel sent by Rao. Alex was not only kind to her but she actually enjoyed herself around the girl. For brief moments she wasn't stricken by near paralyzing anxiety and fear. She wasn't hearing the destruction of Krypton in the back of her mind, or the times she woke up in the pod surrounded by nothing but darkness before falling back asleep. Instead she could focus on the beauty of this new planet, that she had not had time to appreciate before.

But the anxiety was still there, only stifled. Kara knew this could not last forever. She had to find a better way, a better place to raise Kal El, away from other humans. She knew not all were like Alex just as she knew that the longer she spent around Alex, the more danger the girl would be in.

Lying back, with Kal El safely tucked into her side, so he would be safe in the event her eyes decided to...do whatever they had done when she had a nightmare or was frightened by a large monster, Kara tried to rest. If she could have four hours of uninterrupted sleep, sleep with no nightmares, the girl believed she could figure out her next move.