Tales of Emerald Steel

I'm Kara, your mother

Kara wouldn't have needed her super hearing to know where her daughter, Astra, had gone. Because the sound of her sword striking against a trash can could probably be heard in all the blocks.

And getting closer, someone with ordinary ears would also have heard her cries. Desperate, enraged, despaired cries. Cries that pierced through the Kryptonian's heart like the arrows Oliver would normally have in his quivers right now. If he hadn't spent them all in their fight in National City, leaving him to fight those shadowy demons barehanded. Leading him to end up on the table on the central platform of the Arrow Bunker, were had given his last breath a mere minutes ago.

Seeing him like that had felt like a slap in Kara's face, as all the important moments she had shared with the emerald archer had come back, flooding her mind.

The first thing she remembered had been their meeting, the strange, girly excitation she had felt when she had seen this handsome broad-shouldered man staying there, his commanding voice almost startling her.

She had also remembered the panicked she had felt when she had seen him propelled in the air by a dominator. The seemingly over the top joy she had felt when he had said that his earth, the place where he lived, could need a Supergirl.

Or the hope she had felt when she learned that their Nazi doppelgangers were married. The relief she had felt when he had shouted to Earth-X's further to stand down, appearing with Overgirl, and arrow on her neck.

The little disappointment to leave his side when she had returned to Earth-38, and the excitement to see him on that very same earth when he and Barry arrived before the whole Monitor and John Deegan. The joy she had felt when he had hugged her after it.

But most hurtful of all, the angry and disappointed look he had given her when she had walked out of that conference room before the Crisis had begun. The unsure voice he had tried to use to comfort their daughter as she cried from the rejection Kara had given her.

The very same daughter she was trying to find. She didn't know how she was supposed to do this. She had told her own daughter to stay away from her, to avoid eye contact with her because she had the very same, beautiful, green eyes that had haunted her all those years. And now, only after Astra's father's death was she trying to make up for it? She really was just a coward.

"What do you want?!" snapped the young woman before Kara had even walked into the alley where Astra was venting her emotions out.

"To see if you're okay"

At that, Astra laughed. But not a bright laugh, only a very, very bitter one. "Am I okay? What do you think!? My father just died in front of my eyes! My father, who has always been close to me, just died! And while Evelyn is trying to comfort Mia, who only ever had him, I'm being a coward in a back alley, destroying stuff! So no, I'm not, okay. I'm so, so fucking far from okay"

Kara was startled by Astra rent, the rage in her eyes troubling her to the deepest part of her mind. As she was about to try to say something, her daughter continued on

"And do you know the worst part of it? Huh? It's that while my oldest sister is trying her best to stay strong for Mia, I can't! Right now, I such a mess that I can't even think properly! And while Mia has Evelyn, I have no one! No one! Because my own mother," she said, her tongue full of venom as she said the last word "my mother, who has always been there for me in the future, told me to stay away from her! I can't go to my father! I can't go to William! I can't go to aunt Alex! Or aunt Thea! I can't even go to uncle Roy! So right now, I don't..."

Her voice broke and her sword slipped through her fingers, clattering on the ground as the Nth metal blade touched the ground "I can't... I can't take it. I always thought that he would survive! That Monitor guy said that he would survive! But he was mistaken! So now, me, Alura, Tommy, William, Mia, Evelyn, we're all orphans!"

"No, you're not. I'm here."

"You're here? Since when? You clearly didn't want anything to do with us, with me, the last time I checked!"

"Astra, I-"

"Do you know what it feels like? To be rejected? By your mom? When we somehow arrived at this time, the first thing Dad did was to give each of us a hug! Even Mia, when she was distraught by Zoé's death and didn't want it! But you, one the first things you did when you learned who I was was to tell me to stay away. You rejected me! My own mother!" she screamed, now full-on crying as she leaned on a wall, slowly sinking to the ground.

"Astra, I'm"

"What? Sorry? It's too late for that! He's dead! And you don't want anything to do with me! So if you're really sorry, go back to the bunker, and ask Sara to come! She was always like an aunt to me, maybe then I'll feel loved!"

"No, I'm your mother, I want to help you," said Kara, walking toward her

"I don't want your help! Stay away from me! Don't talk to me! What are you-" she said before Kara pulled her in a hug "No! Let me go! I don't want your hug!"

"I'm sorry Astra!" said Kara, feeling tears sting her eyes as her daughter tried to escape her grasp "I'm so sorry for how I reacted! I'm so sorry!"

"I don't... I... I-I..." tried to say Astra before she finally gave in, hugging her mother back.

Both of them cried, the emotional toll of the battle finally setting in both women. The loss had been great, and the future battle wouldn't be any better, but now, at least, they would be together. Mother and daughter.

Now, all Kara could do was try to make up for Oliver's daughters. All of them. And she would, no matter what.