Second Chances: Supergirl

Chapter 23

When Kara and Astra arrived at the Tower, they found Lena waiting for them, since Kara had texted Lena ahead of time to meet them at the Tower, since she wanted her girlfriend to meet her aunt, since meeting Astra was as close as Lena would get to meeting her parents until they found Argo and she wanted them to get along.

"Aunt Astra, meet Lena Luthor." Kara said when they landed and Lena held out her hand to Astra.

"It's nice to meet you. Kara's told me so much about you." Lena said.

"And I've heard so much about your family in my study of this planet." Astra said coldly, only to have Kara glare at her.

"Lena is nothing like her family. Even Kal has admitted that." Kara told her.

"Kara, it's okay." Lena said, understanding why Kara's aunt might not like her.

"No Lena, it's not. You're not the one with any kind of criminal record on any planet." Kara said, since while she loved her aunt, she loved Lena more.

"Kara, this Lena, she's more than just a friend to you isn't she." Astra said, realizing that she'd overstepped.

"No, she's not. And you already knew that, didn't you?" Kara asked, since her aunt had said she'd been keeping tabs on Kara ever since she'd found out she was alive.

"I have." Astra said.

"Then you'll know that Lena is nothing like the rest of her family, since if she was, I wouldn't be with her right now." Kara said as she wrapped her arm around Lena's waist securely to make it clear to Astra that if she wanted to be a part of her niece's life, she'd have to learn to like Lena.

"You said that Kal knows about this?" Astra asked.

"I'm not sure if he knows that Lena and I are together, but he knows that Lena is not like her family." Kara said.

"Kara, I just want to make sure that your feelings aren't clouding your judgment." Astra said.

"It's never been clearer." Kara argued, right as Alex entered the Tower with Krypto in tow, since Kara had asked Alex to pick her dog up and bring him to the Tower, since she wanted Krypto to see Aunt Astra, but he also hadn't met Lena yet and she wanted to make sure he liked her.

"Is that Krypto?" Astra asked, since like Kara, she'd thought that her niece's beloved pet had been lost to the stars years ago. She could still remember how devastated Kara had been about that and she'd nearly used the military guild to have Zor-El arrested for it until her sister talked her down.

"Yeah. The pod he was in crashed on Earth a few nights ago and I found him. We're keeping his powers suppressed until I'm able to teach him how to use them, since his hearing is sensitive enough without adding superhearing to it." Kara said and Astra nodded as Alex let Krypto off his leash and the puppy ran towards Kara, who quickly picked him up.

"Hey boy, I've got some people here for you to see. First off, you remember Aunt Astra don't you?" Kara asked the puppy as she turned the dog to see Astra, who smiled, especially after Krypto barked at her and looked at her expectantly, since when Kara was little, whenever Astra had come to visit her, she'd always bring the dog a treat and he was expecting one now.

"Sorry boy, I didn't know you were here, so I didn't bring you anything." Astra said as she tried to rub Krypto's head, only for the pup to growl at her.

"I don't think he's going to let you rub him until you give him a treat." Kara said with a smile.

"Got you covered." Alex said as she handed Astra one of Krypto's dog treats, which she gave to the dog, who then let her pet him easily.

"And now, even more importantly, this is Lena. She's someone very important to me and I hope you like her, because you're going to be seeing a lot of her." Kara said as Lena took a tentative step towards the dog and she reached out and to her relief, Krypto let her pet him without a second thought and he actually jumped out of Kara's arms and into her's so he could begin licking her.

"Well, it looks like she passed the Krypto test." Alex said with a smile, since it was clear that Krypto already loved Lena, which was a good sign, since dogs were very good judges of character.

"And that has earned her a chance with me." Astra said and Kara smiled, especially as she watched Lena cuddle with her dog.

"Don't worry Krypto, once you get that collar off, I'm gonna start working on making indestructible dog toys for you that won't break with your strength." Lena said and Krypto barked happily, since the one word he'd understood of that was toys and toys were good.

"Well, while Lena makes friends with my dog, can we talk? Privately?" Kara asked and Astra nodded as she let Kara lead her into the lab, with Alex and Lena giving them some privacy.

"You're really okay with me liking other women? I know how Krypton felt about it." Kara said.

"Kara, all I care about is that you're happy. I spent years being unhappy trapped in a loveless marriage with a man I despise. I don't want that for you. Earth may be primitive in many ways, but this is one area where they are much more superior compared to Krypton." Astra said.

"I wonder if mom and dad would feel the same way if they were here right now?" Kara asked, though she knew she'd find out what her mother thought eventually.

"I don't know Kara. I hope that they'd love you regardless, but they did agree with many of Krypton's older ideals." Astra said.

"Honestly, sometimes it felt like you were more of a parent to me than either of them were." Kara said truthfully, since while she loved both her mother and father, sometimes she'd felt like Astra was the real parent to her.

"They did their best, but I won't deny that I always thought of you as more of a daughter than just my niece." Astra admitted.

"I wish that you'd gotten the chance to have a child of your own. You would've made an amazing mother." Kara said.

"I wish I had gotten my chance." Astra said as Kara noticed a certain look of regret on her face.

"What is it?" Kara asked her.

"I did have a child, Kara. A daughter." Astra said, much to Kara's shock.

"What, how?" Kara asked, since she didn't know that she had another cousin.

"Non. he didn't want kids, so he handed our baby off after it was created before I could even hold her in my arms. He thought I wouldn't find out, but I know it was him. He took everything from me." Astra said.

"And I promise he will pay for everything he's done." Kara said as she wrapped her arms around her aunt and let her cry into her shoulder.