Stop the World (Supergirl)

Chapter 9

Though the wind was howling and a storm was building out to sea, Lena and Kara went for one last walk along the beach. They had passed the lighthouse, continuing across the rocks and around the bend to a long, white, sandy beach on the other side. Lena explained that the village was where it was an not here due to treacherous rocks hidden beneath the waves.

Lena had said it was best for Kara, Alex and Sara to leave Luthorsport on the Friday morning train, reaching Dublin around lunchtime which would allow them to catch the afternoon ferry to Wales if it was running, or giving them time in case it was cancelled due to bad weather or war issues, and still give them a day to navigate the trains back to London. Kara, Alex and Sara had seen the reason in this, though Kara secretly wished to stay until Sunday afternoon and fly back at the last possible moment.

In the morning, Kara, Alex, Lena and Sara had gone for one last walk to the shops for some last-minute supplies and a final walk out along the pier. After lunch, and seeing that the weather had worsened, Alex and Sara had opted to stay back at the hotel, while Kara and Lena rugged up and ventured out, the ever-faithful Caoimhe going along with her mistress and new best friend.

The wind whipped their faces, and threatened to blow them over. They talked and laughed as though this was completely normal and nothing was going to change. Kara wished they could walk on forever. Out here, on this damp and windy island on the edge of Europe, all of her worries had blown away. She only had to look after those who were right here, a task that was easy enough. Alex was quite recovered and very much herself again, more so than she had been for months, and Kara realised that though they shared a flat in London, she had been missing 'her' Alex. Sara had allowed herself to grieve for Laurel, and let the Danvers sisters take care of her for a couple of days. And Lena was always there, shadowed by Caoimhe, supplying them with books and games and food and drinks and anything and everything they could possibly need. Not to mention her company and friendship, which Kara in particular had come to cherish and depend upon.

"If we go any further, we won't get back until well after dark," Lena said, coming to a stop.

"I can alway fly us back," Kara suggested with a grin.

Lena looked apprehensive. "How about we start walking, but if it gets too dark or starts to rain, I might let you do that. But you'd have to carry Caoimhe as well."

"You'd hold Caoimhe, and I'd hold you," Kara said, turning around. She tried to tuck lose strands of hair behind her ears, but within second they were flying about her face again. She had no idea how Lena's hat and hair stayed put, when hers had long since all but fallen out of her braids, and she hadn't even bothered with a hat. "It is very pretty here, though," Kara said, looking back along the beach, the lighthouse up ahead effectively marking the halfway distance between the deserted beach they now stood on and the hotel.

"If you think dark, stormy clouds, howling winds, and crashing waves are pretty, then I really wouldn't recommend coming all this way on the two and a half days of summer we get, with perfect blue skies and enticing clear, green water."

"I think it's always beautiful," Kara said.

Lena looked around, trying to see the corner of the world she knew all too well through Kara's eyes. The mist coming off the waves, the silver patches out to sea where the sun was forcing its way through the clouds, Caoimhe trotting along with her happy, wagging tail, the beach all to themselves, the lighthouse as a symbol of safety up ahead, despite the fact that it was Lex's corruption of it which had brought the Danverses here for so long in the first place. Lena looked at Kara, her cheeks flushed with cold, her hair a mess, the borrowed houndstooth coat, her red woollen scarf. This time tomorrow, Kara would be in Dublin or somewhere on a ferry. She'd be gone, and Lena would still be here. Lena swallowed and forced the thought aside. Right now, Kara was here on the beach in Luthorsport. Right now, they still had a long walk ahead of them, and later a feast to look forward to. Lena wished the beach was longer, the town further away, the night and the storm not racing them back to the hotel.