Lightyears

[saladfingers]

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Chapter III: Kinship
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Pushing a tree branch out of his way, Kal-El stepped towards the source of the sound. His eyes landed on a silhouette of a person hunched over a gravestone. The shadowy figure created a stark contrast against the numerous white tombstones across the dark muddy earth of the cemetery. He felt like he was watching the ending of a sad movie, where the protagonist is left alone. Ironic how the movie he had in mind seemed to be about his life. He stared at the distance. And maybe about that person’s life, too.

He tried to search his soul for dark emotions. He wanted to feel some elation at the grief of one of this world’s inhabitants. Any cruelty they suffer would act as a much needed compensation for his loss. But as he moved much closer and as the sobbing grew louder, he found himself feeling the exact opposite. It was insane, but he felt like he shared this person’s pain.

All of a sudden the person turned to face him. As she spun around, the silver light from the moon danced around her. She appeared to glow, making the atmosphere around her almost ethereal. The stranger suddenly lifted her head and her eyes met with Kal-El’s. Hazel eyes stared back at him – unshed tears making them sparkle in the moonlight. His heart began to beat furiously against his chest, and he had to force himself to look away. What is going on? Why was he feeling so strange? This is ridiculous!

With his face turned away, he watched from the corner of his eyes as the girl hurriedly wiped her tears, sniffed, then looked at him with a surprised and confused expression. When she cleared her throat he was forced to look back at her. His heart leaped to his throat. Beautiful…

“Uh…”

“You’re here to visit your family’s grave?” she spoke in a melodious voice. Kal-El found himself discreetly biting the sides of his cheek to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. This girl had to be a dream!

“Huh? What?” He tried to remember her question, his mind was in chaos. Oh right. She asked about his family. Well, they had no grave, not here, not anywhere. Maybe this was a good place to pretend. “Well, yes you could say that.”

The girl nodded and smiled before returning to look at the headstones in front of her. Kal-El continued to stare at her, enthralled by her beauty. A soft breeze blew between them. The scent of her breath and the sound of her shallow breathing were whisked to his direction. He froze. Damn. He had to break this spell she unknowingly had on him. He had to say something, anything.

“Uh..What are you doing here?” He bit his tongue as soon as the question left his lips. What else could she be doing here? Within his 18 years of existence, he never felt more stupid than at that moment. He lightly shook his head, mumbling under his breath. This girl was capable of turning him to a blabbering idiot without even trying!

She watched him silently scold himself and offered him an amused smile. He looked so lost, so out-of-place. Just like her. Plus, he looked cute! Gorgeous even. She silently reprimanded herself, she shouldn’t be giggling like a school girl in front of her parent’s grave. Must be in gloomy mood, must be in…” her silent chanting was cut off when she stole a glance at his direction. This guy is absolutely beautiful.

“My parents,” She pointed at the headstones, her feet shifting a bit at the freshly dug earth. “I’m visiting my parents. They died during the recent meteor shower in Metropolis.”

“…Oh…I’m sorry.” And he meant it. Something in him stirred at her confession. He wanted to do something. Anything to take away the deep sadness reflected in her eyes. What’s gotten into him?

“Don’t be, you weren’t there so you couldn’t have done anything,” she replied in a whisper, a small smile on her face as she touched his arm briefly.

He allowed himself to smile back, relishing the brief skin contact they shared. Who is this girl? They haven’t even known each other for more than 5 minutes yet she’s capable of awakening such powerful emotions in him. His smile faltered when her words finally sunk in. Meteor shower. Metropolis. He was there! While the whole city was screaming and running for their lives, he had been watching unmoving, doing nothing to help. At that time he felt like that they deserved it. Every errant glass shard that pierced through their skin, every fallen concrete that crushed their bodies, every scream …. was justice for his people. So he watched them die. Finding some temporary comfort in their distress.

“I was,” he replied just as softly. He was there alright, grabbing another man’s neck and trying to choke him to death. Suddenly, he became painfully aware of the traces of blood still in his hands, his dirty clothes and his disheveled appearance. He knew it was impossible but he thought he could smell the stench of blood around him. The blood of his parents, the blood of his people and most importantly the blood of those he almost killed. The smell clung to him like a second skin. He was stained.

“Excuse me?”

“The meteor shower……I was there when it hit,” he explained, his voice filled with remorse. The meteor shower from his planet’s explosion killer her parents. The meteor shower that followed them here. He was the one who decided to land here. He brought this tragedy upon her. No… He indirectly killed her parents! “And I think I brought it here. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry!” With that he turned to leave, not looking back.

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“About time you returned!” A voice spoke behind him, jarring Kal-El out of his musings.

“Barrett,” he said as he walked past him and leaned on the tree.

“Geez…man where the heck have you been? Ren has been driving me crazy asking me where you went off to!”

“I’m sorry,” was his non-committal reply. Of course in truth he wasn’t sorry that he chose to walk off that night. He had met an angel. “I was with…” Oh. He didn’t know her name. Well, maybe that was for the better. He should never see her again. Surely she wouldn’t be thrilled hanging around with her parent’s murderer. Then again maybe he was truly sorry. Sorry that she had to meet him.

“With yourself,” Barrett finished for him. “And it should remain that way. Ren suggested that we limit our contact with humans.”

“I know that,” he barked out as he pushed himself off of his leaning position and glared at Barrett.

“Hey, don’t kill the messenger,” Barrett held both his hands up dramatically as if in surrender. “The sun’s about to rise, we have to go. We can’t afford being spotted.”

“Where are the others?”

“Ren found us a home. Some abandoned cave across a corn field. They went on ahead so we better hurry if we want to catch up with them.”

“Where?” Kal-El asked again, not really in the mood to travel.

“Somewhere in a town called.. uh… What was that again? Smell..Uh.. Oh right. Smallville! Come on!” Barrett said excitedly as he pulled Kal-El to his feet. Within seconds they both disappeared in a blur.

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“Lana, are you alright dear?” Nell walked over to her niece who was staring out her window. “You’ve been up here all day.”

“Oh. Hi Aunt Nell,” Lana replied as she scooted towards the edge of the sofa to make room for her Aunt. “I was just thinking.”

“I know, but don’t you think you should go out some?” she suggested, thinking that it was her parent’s death that had Lana in deep thought. After her niece came home from her visit to the cemetery she had been acting strange. “I made some pastries. Why don’t you come down and have a bite?”

Lana smiled guiltily. She knew that her Aunt must be trying to cheer her up. But she wasn’t depressed. She was actually….happy. Was she betraying her parents’ memories by not thinking about them? She felt like the only way she could properly grieve for them was if she thought of them constantly, reminiscing the life she had them. But she couldn’t help it. For the first time since their death, she allowed other thoughts to occupy her mind. Thoughts of someone, of him. She smiled. “Oh okay, I’ll join you in a bit.”

“Alright, just come down when you’re ready. Then I’ll help you unpack.”

“Thanks Aunt Nell,” she answered with a smile. She looked across the room when she heard the door close. This will be her new room. The only furniture was a medium-sized bed and the sofa she was sitting on. It was bare. Much like her life now. She was lost, her life empty.

She was thankful that her Aunt Nell decided to take her in. At least she still had someone who cared about her. She was given a second chance and she didn’t intend to waste it. She looked at the room once again, a determined look on her face, the word bare taking on a new meaning – it was like a clean slate, an opportunity to start over. Metropolis held so much bad memories. She need an escape. And Smallville was the perfect place to start anew, the perfect place to make new memories. She just hoped she would find somebody to create those memories with. Somebody to help her find her place in this new town, to be her steady ground.

What she didn’t know was that somebody was wishing the exact same thing. But it shall be by Fate’s decision alone if their paths should cross again.

TBC

A/N: This is my first romance fic. Para nang nasasagwaan ako hahaha. From here on in magiging medyo sappy siya.

[hidenori]

nakakatawa.. sa ganong grief na nararamdaman nya.. so extreme naisip pa nya na maganda si Lana?! hello?!

[saladfingers]

^ Ganun talaga! Hello?! Hehe, kahit naman nadedepress ka hindi naman nashushut down yung senses mo, so na-aapreciate mo parin yung physical aspects ng ibang tao. Ako nga, nung libing ng lola ko, napansin ko pa na cute yung driver ng van eh nyahahaha

[saladfingers]

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Chapter IV
Dawn
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Lana impatiently drummed her fingers on the dashboard as she waited for Nell to get back. It was her first day at Smallville High and she didn’t want to be late, but Nell decided to pass by The Beanery to deliver some pastries. She was surprised to see how much her aunt’s baking skills had improved, but that was before she discovered that it was their neighbor Martha Kent who prepared everything. She hadn’t met her yet, but her aunt filled her in on some things about the Kents. She knew Jonathan from her mother’s stories, he dated Nell way back. And quite frankly, she feels like her aunt still has some lingering feelings for that man. And the reason Nell volunteered to pose as Martha’s personal delivery woman, confused her. Oh well, to each his own.

“What’s taking her so long?” Lana mumbled as she stepped out of the car. She crossed the streets and walked towards The Beanery, Smallville's only coffee shop. This town sure holds true to its name. Small town indeed! She had expected it to be quite different from Metropolis but not like this – no malls, no movie house, no nothing. It seems her social life will need to undergo a major overhaul. Good thing is, the townspeople seemed friendly, very welcoming. Maybe fitting in won’t prove to be a difficult task after all.

“Ahh!” Lana jumped as she felt scalding liquid soak her blouse and nearly burn the skin on her chest.

“Oh shit! I’m sorry!” An equally coffee-soaked girl apologized. She alternated from wiping her blouse and frantically trying to dry Lana’s, the crushed coffee cup and the sopping tabloid in her other hand. “I’m really sorry! I was too busy reading the papers.”

“It’s okay. I guess I wasn’t paying attention either,” Lana smiled warmly, amused by the blonde girl’s flushed face.

“I intended to grab some coffee to get me going, but I guess spilling it on myself works waaaay better than drinking it,” the girl said as she pulled out a box of tissue from her sling bag and handed some to Lana. “I’m definitely wide awake!”

They both shared a laugh as they sat down. “I haven’t seen you here before. New to this town?”

“Yeah, I’m from Metropolis but I’m staying with my aunt now,” Lana answered, leaving out the details about her parent’s death. She just didn’t feel comfortable disclosing that bit of information to strangers.

“Well, that’s great. But I'm quite puzzled why you would trade a life in the big city for little old Smallville,” she said. “Oh, how rude of me. I spilt coffee on you and I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Chloe Sullivan.”

“Lana,” she replied as she reached her hand to shake Chloe’s outstretched one. “Lana Lang.”

“Well, Miss Lang I hate to end our wonderful meeting but I have to run. You know, school,” Chloe stated with a smile as she stood up and went for the door, but stopped as she thought of something. “You don’t happen to be attending Smallville High, do you?”

“Yes, actually, I do. It’s my senior year. But I’m waiting for my aunt. She’s driving me there.”

“But you’re gonna be late,” Chloe countered, as she pointed at the wall clock hanging inside the coffee shop. “Hey how about coming with me instead? My car’s outside. Go tell your aunt that you’ve changed carpools and I’ll meet you outside.”

“Will do. Thanks!” Lana answered excitedly. Her smile fading as she took a sniff of herself.

Chloe took notice, “Then we could drop by The Torch office and grab some shirts. We can’t be smelling coffee on the first day of school, can we?”

“You read my mind,” Lana smiled.

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“Damn those Luthors!”

On reflex, Lana slammed her laptop shut and looked around with a frightened look on her face. Chloe had asked her to keep her company in the Torch office. And since she had nowhere to go during lunch break, she agreed, grabbing the opportunity to type her homework as well. But she didn’t count on getting scared out of her skin every minute.

“Sorry, just got carried away,” Chloe said as she saw Lana’s reaction. She slumped to her desk across Lana and brought down the thick envelope of papers with a soft thud.

“Sucks to be the editor, huh?” Lana stated as soon as she calmed down. Not even more than a whole day with this girl and Lana has already found herself close to experiencing a heart attack. Chloe’s definition of a first day school tour was snooping around school files and ambushing random students for interviews. It also didn’t help that she was wearing a shirt with the words “The Torch: Keeping the fire of the Truth burning” in red print all across the front. Most of her classmates had mistakenly thought that she was a new Torch reporter. And they fled from her like she was a leper. She should’ve kept her own shirt on, the stink of coffee was better than this. But of course she didn’t want to embarrass Chloe, so she just kept quiet. Besides, Chloe looked so proud wearing hers.

“Only when dealing with the Luthors,” Chloe answered resignedly, skimming through the various documents on her desk. Suddenly, she snapped her head up and looked straight at Lana, “Hey, you mentioned earlier that you’ve just recently moved from Metropolis, right?”

“Uhm… yes,” Lana answered cautiously, not sure where this was headed.

“Great! So you know about the meteor shower!”

“I..uh..I really don’t feel like talking about it,” she answered uncomfortably, holding her breath as she braced herself for the questions she knew would follow.

“What? Why?”

Bingo. Predictable Chloe, never one to pass up a chance to dig deeper. “My parents died during the incident,” was her short reply, lowering her gaze to her folded hands on her lap. Everything was still too fresh in her mind that tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She held it in of course. Like she always does.

“Oh… I’m sorry,” Chloe was quick to reply despite her initial shock. She wasn’t expecting Lana’s answer. “I didn’t know. Forget I asked.”

"Too late. The memories have resurfaced," was Lana’s first thought but chose to reply differently, “It’s okay, I think it’s better this way. Talking about it might help me accept the reality that they’re really gone.”

“Yeah, I think so too,” was Chloe’s quiet reply.

Lana watched Chloe shift in her seat uncomfortably, knowing full well that she was itching to ask her about the meteor shower but kept silent thinking that the subject bothered her. It did, but being on the receiving end of everybody’s pity is the last thing she needed. She didn’t want to be treated like a fragile china doll. “It was like watching a movie.”

“Hmm?”

“The meteor shower. It was just like in the movies - buildings falling down around you, people screaming…. and dying. Until now, I still can’t believe it actually happened,” Lana stated before falling silent.

“I can imagine. I saw the ruins, I drove there as soon as I heard. Smart move, huh? Blame the reporter in me.”

“So…you didn’t notice anything unusual during the meteor shower? Or maybe after?” Inquired Chloe after a few minutes of silence.

“Like what?”

Lana’s brows furrowed in confusion as she watched Chloe pull her chair next to where she sat then warily looked at the office’s open door, as if making sure that nobody was listening in on their conversation. Satisfied with her quick inspection of the surroundings, Chloe continued, “Okay, this will sound really weird, but I’m not making this up and—”

“What is it?” Lana cut in, now deeply intrigued because of Chloe’s sudden strange behavior.

“I saw a spaceship.”

Silence.

“Are you—are you sure?” Lana asked after a full minute of speechlessness.

“Of course I am! I saw it with my own eyes!”

Lana’s mind was reeling. “I don’t—”

“Believe me?” Chloe finished for her. “I know. Most people would probably react the same way, that’s why I’ve been breaking my back trying to get hold of evidences. But those damn Luthors has me stuck in a dead-end!”

“Luthors? What do you mean?”

“Well, after I recovered from my shock from seeing the ship I went back to my car. I thought of hauling the thing in, but my car was too small so I decided to drive back here to get a larger truck. And when I got back the ship was gone! Vanished into thin air, just like that.”

“And how can you be so sure that the Luthors are responsible for the ship’s disappearance?”

Chloe looked at her like she was seeing her for the first time, “C’mon Lana! Who else is capable of hiding a spaceship in a matter of 6 hours! I was only gone 6 hours! And when I asked people from around the site where I saw the spaceship, they kept telling me the same thing. They saw nothing. It’s either they’re telling the truth or Lex Luthor threatened them to silence. I’m thinking the latter.”

“So what are you going to do next? Dealing with the Luthors is dangerous,” Lana said as she paced around the room, with all the information she just learned, she just couldn’t stay put. It was all too much! Who were to guess that her first day in Smallville would be this eventful! “This is crazy.”

“I know!” Chloe nodded her head, her frustration with the Luthors sidetracked by her excitement. “Imagine having aliens walking amongst us! Crazy stuff indeed.”

“To see is to believe, Chloe,” countered Lana, still unwilling to readily accept everything.

“Well, I’ve seen the spaceship. Who knows, you might’ve even already talked to one without realizing it.”

“Yeah right.”

“I mean, I might be an alien. You haven’t known me long enough to prove otherwise.”

“Very unlikely. You appearance doesn’t exactly scream extraterrestrial to me.”

“Oh c’mon, Lana. You’re so stuck in that E.T film era! You can’t really believe all aliens sport that ugly big head and wrinkly skin, do you? I mean, what if they looked just like us? Or how about if they were extremely gorgeous?” Chloe added the last part with a wink.

“Then I’d have second thoughts reporting it to NASA, I’d keep the hunk to myself,” Lana answered playfully. Chloe’s enthusiasm was a near palpable thing, she can’t help but share the feeling. But of course she never really believed that her own words held any truth.

Only time will tell.

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“You want us to live in this ugly bat cave?!” Barrett leapt to his feet, eyes ablaze. Never one for sugarcoating statements, he found Ren’s suggestion infuriating. “I know you said caves, but I thought that was some kind of code or something! I didn’t know you were serious. You’re a nutcase, old man!”

“Barrett, if you’ll let me explain—”

Not willing to be appeased, Barrett stomped his foot on the ground, letting out a gasp as his foot sank knee-deep into the floor. He obviously misjudged his strength. “Shit!”

Kal-El managed a chuckle as he watched Ren help Barrett pull his foot out, his leg covered with the sticky mud. All of them had their own share of mishaps in regards with their new found abilities. He had accidentally uprooted a tree as he reached to grab on its branch. Ira and Ren found themselves in the middle of nowhere when both tried their speed, not knowing how to control it yet. Maybe Ren was right, temporary isolation is the best remedy to these disasters they keep finding themselves in. They can’t have people witnessing them trying out their abilities, especially in their learning stage. Besides, it’s better to observe these people from afar and learn than by mingling with them and risk getting discovered. Even with the short time he spent on this planet, he knew that these people detest anything unfamiliar or different. And their race is the very definition of different.

“All you do is whine, you’re such a baby,” Ira scoffed, obviously referring to Barrett. She laughed and stuck her tongue at him as she watched him desperately trying to wipe off the mud. “Serves you right, you pig!”

Kal-El just shook his head at their banter. Although, he really can’t blame Ira for getting pissed. What Barrett did was pretty underhanded. The guy was assigned to bring them clothing and quite predictably he brought Ira a rather…skimpy attire.

“The straps of this top aren’t even thicker than a hair strand! And this skirt looks more like sleeves to me!” Ira continued as she angrily poked at Barrett’s chest. “Next time I get to grab the clothes, I’m getting you a table cloth. Nothing more!”

“Hey will you stop the jabbing! Geez…I was thoughtful enough to bring you a dress and I don’t even get a thank you. Next time I won’t even bother. You’ll just have to share a shirt with me,” Barrett said with hands behind his head in a manner of ultimate relaxation, a smug grin plastered on his face.

Not waiting to hear Ira’s retort, Kal-El ventured out of the caves. He didn’t want to get caught between those two. Besides, he was satisfied with the black shirt and jeans Barrett brought for him. They’re definitely more comfortable than the thick robes they used to wear. He paused to look at his reflection as he passed by a pool of stagnant water on the ground. Definitely better.

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A heavy metal door slid open with a clank, the noise overpowered by the sound of approaching footsteps. The room fell into complete silence as its sole occupant stopped in front of the nearby wall where the light-switch was located. Within seconds the entire room was flooded with bright light. The man squinted and covered his eyes with his arm, not because of the illumination created by the numerous bulbs that hung on the wall, but solely from the reflected light that bounced off the silver surface of something that occupied the center of the vast floor area.

Slowly he lowered his arm, his lips stretching into a menacing grin.

A silver space ship stood in the middle of the room.

TBC