Back To Krypton

Chapter 10

The information crystals turned out to be the most boring things on the planet. They had started out as a group, all huddled around in a circle to hear what is on each one. They all started out hungry for information, but it turns out that a lot of it is much more boring than they originally thought it would be.

The group gradually dwindled down to just Kara, Lena and little Esme.

Esme clings to every last word that comes out of Kara's mouth, her brain vying for as much knowledge as it can get. Lena is in the same boat, Esme perched on her lap with her godmother's arms around her waist, she silently takes in every bit of information She can.

Kara is lounging back in her chair. By this point, the translating has become fairly easy and she is able to make quick notes on anything she finds useful. To be completely honest, there isn't a whole lot of information that will be helpful to the mission, but they have time to kill, she finds it interesting anyway and two of her favourite people are enjoying listening to her talk so they must find it interesting too.

They spend hours that way, Lena and Esme snuggled in one chair and Kara in another, notebook firmly in hand. She only stops when they run out of crystals and by that time her hand is aching, and Esme is still clambering for more, so she promises to tell her more stories and information about Krypton in the future with a kiss to her forehead.

When they pass the little gem back to her parents she is already half asleep, proving to them that she had kept herself awake just to hear her aunt bless her with knowledge. It reminds Kara of her aunt once more.

It surprises her how much she thinks of her. She had expected that she would be on edge being on the same planet as her parents but somehow, being here with her aunt haunts her much more, and forces her to remember the good times that all lead back to the memory of her death.

She worries about it a lot more than she will admit, how it is all affecting her emotionally. The last thing she wants is for the team to treat her with fragility like she will shatter at any moment. She won't let herself become a liability.

The only one who seems to notice anything is amiss is Lena, around the others she can pretend, she can smile and laugh and nod her head, but around Lena, it's harder. She spends the majority of her day with her, and at night when it's dark and everyone else is asleep, it feels like Lena can sense whenever she is in her head because she shuffles across the bed and holds her, keeping her pieces pressed together like she's the glue keeping her whole.

The odd thing is that they never speak of it. Maybe it is out of pity or compassion. She doesn't know, but she is grateful.

The clock is ticking though, she will have to address it sooner or later, it would be unfair of her to burden Lena with it without at least giving her answers, explaining why she is forced to hold together the woman who is supposed to be strong.

She forgets all of her worries when Lena looks over to her with a lopsided grin and beckons her to the kitchen. Her feet take her there before her mind can catch up with what she is doing.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Lena leans back against the counter. "I thought we could sort through the food here and decide what we are going to take with us and see how much we can reasonably carry."

With a nod, Kara gets to work. She places a few things aside to get them through the rest of their stay but is already weighing up her options for what is best to take. There are several things that would have been perfect if they were lighter, like the grain which would be great for keeping them full for a long time and providing them with lots of nutrients.