By Shawn V. (SilvrWingd@aol.com)
Summary: Clark returns to Lois from New Krypton, but in a form neither of them would ever have expected.
Author's note: Okay, this is my second fanfic. It starts on New Krypton, and is set a little while after Clark goes to NK. He's been there for about a month. I stuck with the "Clark's on a story about Superman's leaving" that they say in L&C, but I'm afraid that my story doesn't mesh with all the stuff H.G. Wells says in Soul Mates, about all souls being from the same place. I really hope you enjoy it! Here are the symbols I use: ::telepathic speech:: *emphasis* //thoughts\\
***
Clark sat in the royal chamber. He was lonely. Lois, the love of his life, was on Earth, and he had had to leave her behind to go rule New Krypton with Lady Zara. He wished that he hadn't been married to Zara at birth, but what was done was done, so he didn't harbor any grudges. Besides, he wasn't really betraying Lois. The only thing he did with Zara was talk. They discussed ways of ruling so that everyone had better lives. Sometimes they just made small talk. They were friends. But they did not act like the married couple the rulers of New Krypton were supposed to be. Still, only a few of the Kryptonians minded that. They figured that, as long as they were good rulers together, it didn't matter what they did or didn't do in bed.
One day, Clark received an urgent message. It was from an anonymous criminal. It read that there was going to be an explosion in a school unless the bomber was given the Kryptonian equivalent of 17 million dollars. The bomb would be in a chamber filled with deadly gas, so no one would dare to try and defuse it, even if they knew how. It was likely that no one would know how, anyways. New Krypton had few terrorists, and the government wasn't used to dealing with them and their primitive bombs, even though what was poor technology not worth learning about to the Kryptonians could still kill people. Many people. In this case, children.
Now Clark found himself in a terrible situation. The Kryptonian government didn't have anywhere near 17 million dollars for extortion. But a school! That would kill all those children! The bomber had warned that if the people in the school were told of the bomb, he would detonate it immediately, killing them all anyway. It was a school full of hostages. And Clark and Zara had to come up with a solution before the school day ended, which was the bomber's deadline.
Clark thought long and hard. Then he came to a decision. He, of all the Kryptonians, knew the most about bombs from his work as Superman. He would most likely know how to defuse this one. So he would go and try to save those children. He knew that, if he mentioned his plan, he would not be allowed to go, so he could tell only his two most trustworthy friends.
"Please inform Lady Zara and Lt. Ching that I desire their presence," he said to a servant.
A few minutes later, the pair entered. "What is it, Kal?" asked Zara.
He told them of his plan. They started to protest, but then realized that it was what needed to be done. =
"But what of the monarchy?" inquired Ching.
"You will rule in my stead, in the likelihood that I never return, Ching. I have written it on a royal decree." He handed Ching a scroll. "Now, I must go, before time runs out."
Clark went to the school building that was to be bombed. He figured that since the bomb was in a chamber filled with toxic gas, it had to be an airtight room, away from the classrooms. He went down to the basement. He noted the sign on a door that said "KEEP OUT," and went in quickly, shutting the door behind him so that no gas could leak out.
He spotted the bomb, and made his way over to it. The gas was beginning to take effect, but didn't dare let his dizziness and nausea stop him. He squinted to see the bomb, as his vision was beginning to blur. It was familiar to him. Simple to defuse, if one knew how. He grabbed the two cords that would defuse the bomb if pulled out. As the room faded to blackness, he yanked the cords out with the thought, "For all the children of Krypton and for the children Lois and I will never have!" Then all was dark and silent, but triumphant.
The bell rang that afternoon and all the children left. Each one was alive and well and had no idea what had almost happened to them. Now Zara and Ching could tell the story of what had happened to the Council of Elders, and then to the general public. On this day, the name Kal-El became a legend. He was a symbol of morality, mercy, kindness, love, and self- sacrifice. All the children whose lives were saved conducted a service for the ruler at their school. Thousands attended it.
Now Zara and Ching had a more difficult task. They had to return to Earth and tell Lois of her true love's death. They decided that only Zara should go, since they couldn't both leave New Krypton at the same time in this period of planet-wide mourning. So Zara began the journey.
***
Meanwhile in Metropolis, Lois had sensed something. It was a gut-wrenching feeling as if part of her had been ripped out. Somehow she knew at once exactly what had happened on New Krypton. Clark was dead.
She was at work, and she walked over to Perry and informed him that she was taking a sick day and was going to go home.
"Honey, are you alright?" he asked, worried. Lois never took a sick day! Plus, she looked dead. Literally. She was ghost white. Her face showed no expression.
"I'm going home now," she repeated, and left. She drove, machine-like, all the way home and let herself in. She went into the bathroom and started the water running for a bath. She went to the medicine cabinent and took out a sharp razor. All without expression.
***
Clark fuzzed into conciousness. He was alive? How could that be? The gas had--. Then he looked around. He wasn't in the school. He wasn't even on New Krypton. He was in a place that was very familiar. A place that he had longed to be in for so long. Unbelieveable. He was somehow in Lois' apartment! He looked around for her. His x-ray vision wasn't working, so he looked around the normal way. He didn't care about the powers not working, he wanted to see Lois! He searched the apartment, then stuck his head in the bathroom. Ooops! She was taking a bath. She was so intent on shaving that she didn't even see him. He was about to leave,for modesty's sakes, although he REALLY needed to see her and talk to her, but he realized she wasn't shaving. She was about to slash her wrists!
"Lois, don't!!" he cried.
Her head snapped up and the formerly lifeless look on her face drained away. "Clark, you're--"
"home," he finished.
"But you're dead!"
"How did you --"
"I felt it. I knew right away. I still know!"
"But then... That means..."
"That you're a ghost!"
"But I feel real!" He banged his hand on the sink to show his point. He felt real, but he realized that he *had* died. "Strange, I mean I know that I died, but here I am, apparently alive..."
Then something in Lois head snapped back into place and she realized that she was naked. "Go away and let me get dressed," she said.
Clark was startled for a second, but left. He went into the living room, happy at how calm Lois was. He wondered how long the shock would last.When it wore off, Clark knew that "calm" would not describe Lois Lane.
A minute later she walked into the room. She reached out hesitantly to touch Clark, and, finding that she could, threw herself into his arms and started sobbing uncontrollably. He held her comfortingly. He whispered reassurances in her ear and stroked her back soothingly. "It's all right, Lois. I'm here. Everything's all right now." Soon her sobs lessened, and gradually stopped. She looked up at him, red-eyed, and said what she had been wishing she could tell him for a long time.
"I love you, Clark."
"I love you, too, Lois. Nothing else matters now that we're together again." He leaned over and kissed her tenderly, lovingly, just how he had been waiting for what seemed like forever to do.
She reveled in the kiss, not ever wanting to break away from him. In that one kiss, they managed to convey their love, eternal and undying, for each other.
Then the doorbell rang. Sadly, Lois and Clark walked over to answer it. It was Jimmy. Jimmy looked at Lois' tear- stained face and asked if she was all right. He didn't seem to see Clark.
"Yes, I am, now."
"The Chief sent me over here to sheck on you. You sure you're all right?" He looked at her doubtfully.
"Yes, Clark's taking care of me."
"CK's here?! Can I talk to him? Where is he?"
"You don't see him?" She exchanged a startled look with Clark.
"No, I --" he began, but broke off when he saw Lois glance at what apeared to be nothing. //Uh oh. She's seeing things. She think's CK is here, but he's been gone on that Superman story for ever so long!\\
Lois took a deep breath. "Clark is here," she said, gesturing at the space beside her.
//Oh no! I was right! She thinks he's here!\\
But before Jimmy could say or do anything, Lois spoke to the empty space beside her. "Clark, can you try to, I don't know, become apparent to Jimmy or something?"
Clark shrugged. "I'll try." He concentrated on becoming visible to Jimmy. He thought "I want Jimmy to see me. I really want Jimmy to see me." Suddenly, Jimmy paled.
"You see me?" Clark asked.
Jimmy heard Clark's voice as if it came from far away. He saw Clark, too. But he also saw *through* him! "Y-yes," he stammered. "Sort of."
"What do you mean, sort of?" Lois demanded.
His voice shook. "Well, he's there but not totally. Lois, I can see right through him!" he exclaimed in shock.
That answered the ghost question!
"Jimmy, it's okay. Don't be scared," said Clark. Jimmy calmed down sufficiently enough to ask what had happened.
"Clark died, Jimmy. And somehow --" She was unable to finish. She looked at Clark, and they decided silently to tell Jimmy everything. So Lois began to explain. She told Jimmy that Clark was Superman, and told the whole story of his death, which she somehow knew. She had felt it.
After the story was done, Jimmy seemed amazingly calm. "You're going to tell the Chief about this, right?"
"Yes," Clark said. "We'll tell everyone who deserves to know, but right now we need to talk to my parents."
"Of course! I'll leave, and I'll tell Perry you're okay, Lois."
"Thank you, Jimmy."
With one last rather disbelieving glance at Clark, Jimmy left.
"Now we have to get to my parents. I don't know if I can still fly. My x-ray vision wasn't working." He tried to fly and found himself lifting off the floor. He smiled, relieved
"Let's go," said Lois. He picked her up and they flew superspeed to Smallville, Kansas.
They landed on the Kents' doorstep. Lois knocked, and Martha opened thedoor. "Lois! How'd you get here? Come in!" Then she blinked and stared hard at where Clark was. He concentrated on being visible, and she began to see him more clearly. "Clark?" she gasped.
"Mom, I died on New Krypton. I'm a ghost."
Martha reached out to touch his hand, and hesitated. Clark grasped her hand, willing himself to be solid to her, just in case he wouldn't have been. When their hands touched, Martha gave a small cry of relief and hugged him, tears rolling down her face.
Jonathan came over to see what all the commotion was about, assessed the situation, and quietly accepted it. That didn't escape Lois' attention, and she added one more item to the list of reasons she respected and loved her would-be father-in-law.
They all went inside, and Lois once again related the whole story, from Clark's heroic sacrifice to her near- suicide to his appearance as a ghost. Martha and Jonathan decided to come to Metropolis for moral support as Lois and Clark told all their friends this strange tale.
Suddenly, Clark heard a voice in his head. It wasn't his superhearing. It was Zara's thoughts! She was coming to Earth to tell Lois of his death. He sent her a telepathic message. ::She knows, Zara.::
::Kal?!!::
::Yes.::
::Then it did happen!::
::What?::
::I'll explain when I get there. We're entering your atmosphere now.::
Clark relayed the message to his family. His parents and his soul mate."She'll be here in a few minutes."
Sure enough, less than ten minutes later, Zara knocked on the door. She came in and greeted Lois, Clark, and Clark's parents. Then she launched into a long explanation of what was happening.
"Kryptonians, as you know, differ greatly from Earthlings. This difference, however, is not only in biological structure. In fact, most of the differences between Kryptonians and Earthlings are mental. Some are metaphysical. Kryptonians are more intelligent. We have more capacity to obtain knowledge. We can communicate telepathically. Perhaps sometime in the future, our telepathy will develop into extra sensory powers.
"But the difference that we are dealing with here is in souls. Of course, souls are basically the same no matter what galaxy they are in, but Kryptonians souls have slightly different properties. You see, a Kryptonian soul is in halves. Each Kryptonian has half of their own soul and half of the soul of their intended. There is a drive to find the other half of your soul, but it is not always strong. Most people never find their sould mate.
"When the drive is strong enough to bring two people together, it is very hard to separate them permanently. I have never heard of it being done. This 'no separation' rule counts death as a separation. As long as one is alive, the other has a sort of semi-existance. After all, half ofhim or her still exists in their soul mate!
"Sometimes, a person's soul mate is not Kryptonian. This is *extremely* rare. Perhaps one or two cases have occurred. In this instance, usually the couple never joins up. The pull just isn't strong enough to reach across the galaxies.
"You two are obviously a special case. The sheer power of your love brought you together. My opinion is that many seeming chances or even lucky breaks were not left to fate at all. The reason Kal's ship left Krypton just in time, the reason it landed where it did, the reason certain people found it, the reason Kal chose to go to Metropolis of all the cities in the world, all these things that seemed random were in fact not random. They were forced by the power that pulled you together. A power that strong, a *love* that strong cannot be severed by death or anything else."
The four sat in a stunned silence. Finally, Lois asked, "Why would a non-Kryptonian have a Kryptonian soul?"
"We don't know, Lois," Zara replied. "It has happened once or twice, but the intendeds never met. This is totally unprecedented."
"Mom, Dad, Zara, do you mind if Lois and I take a walk? I think we need to talk privately."
"Go ahead, son," said Jonathan.
"We understand," added Martha.
Lois and Clark stood up.
"I really should be going now anyways," said Zara. She, Martha, and Jonathan stood up too.
Lois walked over to Zara and hugged her. "Thank you, Zara."
"Anytime, Lois. I've become quite fond of both you and Kal. You're both wonderful people who truly deserve each other." Lois and Zara smiled at each other.
Clark walked over and gave Zara a hug when she and Lois broke apart. Then he stepped back, put his hands on her shoulders, and said, "I'm sure you and Ching will be good for New Krypton. Rule wisely, and I wish you the best of fortune in the future."
"Kal, I'm glad that, although you had to die, you finally got to come back to where you belong. Goodbye, Kal."
Lois, Clark, and Zara walked out the door. Zara disappeared. Lois grinned at the "Beam me up, Scotty" trick that the Kryptonians had the technology to do. She turned to Clark. "What's on your mind?"
"How are we ever going to get married now?!" he said in an exasperated tone of voice. They erupted into laughter.
"It's worse than Lex's clones, anmesia, and delusions put together!" Lois exclaimed. "But we'll manage. We always do. Cuz we were meant to be together!"
"True, true. This must be just one more of those little wedding details we have to work out."
"And once we get through this, we're home free! What else could happen?"
Clark covered her mouth with his hand in mock alarm "Shhhhh! Don't saythat, or little green men from Mars will come in their spaceships, having landed on Earth for the sole purpose of separating us!"
Lois giggled. "Or big evil sorcerer thugs will come and turn me into a toad!"
"Or Tony Curtis will come along and convince Perry to send you to the New York branch of the Planet and keep me here."
"Or Bill Murray will jump out of the bushes with his Ghostbusters and blast you into oblivion!"
"We just never get a break, do we?" sighed Clark.
"Well, that's just life when you're Lois and Clark!"
Clark smiled and shook his head. "C'mon, Lois, let's go back inside." So they did.
THE END
Tell me what you think!! As always, comments are welcome, no matter how long it's been since I wrote this thing. :) And yes, there is a sequel,called The Ghost and Kirshner.
(ghostarr.txt)