“Want you close,…as close as you’ll have me, and then closer.” I can’t stop reading this fic by @coffeeshib so I need to draw something from it https://archiveofourown.org/works/26564755! 😭❤️
Okay, looks like all people are whining about boycotting Mulan because the actress portrays Mulan is supporting the China government on the political disagreement in Hong Kong. First off, the actress's political stand and view have got nothing to do with the movie. And I do not think that the studio will ask and interview everyone who they support before they hire them to work for the movie. That is the actress or crew's personal perspective and they can have their own opinion. Does she promote such political view in the movie? No, so be fair. Politic is politic, don't infiltrate and mix politic into everything.
ReignCorp AU “thieves and princesses”: Sam is Prince Zor-El’s bastard daughter, who has vowed to take revenge on him for having rejected her and her mother Selena, a poor peasant, to marry Duchess Alura years ago. Sam trains her whole life to take revenge on her father. However, when her father dies before she can take revenge, she decides to do it on her half-sister instead, Kara. Kara is popular, loved by everyone and with many friends. Sam, who changes her name to Reign so as not to be recognized when she infiltrates the palace as the new royal guard, wants to steal everything from her. She immediately notices that Kara’s best friend, Princess Lena, harbors deeper feelings than friendship for her without Kara noticing. Determined to steal everything Kara has and should have been hers, Sam decides to start with Lena, starting a stealthy seduction game with the black-haired woman. But everything starts to get complicated when she starts falling in love with Lena. Will her desire for revenge be stronger than her desire for Lena?
Lena and Kara see each in Alex wedding after months of radio silence. Kara is single but Lena tells her she is dating Sam.
Kara nearly trips on her way down the aisle when she catches sight of clear green eyes and ruby red lips. Alex-- Alex hadn’t mentioned inviting Lena, let alone Lena RSVP’ing. What-- How-- why??
Lena holds her gaze as though unaware that she should be reacting-- glaring, gasping, even an arched brow to say “what are you going to do about it?” Her features remain a perfect pleasant smile, without a single trace of hidden antipathy.
As Kara passes, the woman standing next to Lena leans forward to whisper in her ear. After a staccatoed moment, Kara realizes it’s Sam. Lena’s smile broadens into something utterly genuine, her focus broken, and the sight of it nearly blinds Kara right where she stands.
Kara quickens the last few steps until she pulls past. Suddenly she can breathe again, and she struggles not to show her exertion as the processional shifts to the bridal march. Kelly and Alex appear at the far end of the aisle and walk down together, each clasping a bouquet of flowers in one hand and their free hands tangled together.
Her sister is all smiles and giggles, and it’s almost enough to take Kara’s focus away from the unassuming presence in the third row. The ceremony takes her the rest of the way, allowing Kara’s mind to zero in on the officiant’s-- James’-- speech. She trades Alex’s ring for her flowers at the correct moment, and is ready to hand them off again before Alex even turns towards her.
Everything’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine…
But then the recessional plays, and Kara has to walk past Lena again, only this time Lena’s attention is on the brides. She doesn’t even register Kara walking past at the head of the bridal party, and Kara is left feeling-- off kilter.
Maid of Honor duties are no challenge to a maiden with superpowers, so the rest of the night is spent mingling and steadfastly avoiding both Lena and Sam. She spots Ruby in Lena’s lap at one point during dinner: seeing Lena’s arms wrapped loosely around the teenager shoots an arrow into Kara’s heart, and makes her ache.
Ache for what, Kara isn’t prepared to guess.
The avoidance goes well, all the way until Kara goes to refresh Alex’s drink and nearly smacks into Lena at the open bar.
“Lena!” she chirps.
Lena blinks, the first and only indication of surprise all evening until her features spread again into that same pleasant smile. “Kara, hi.”
“Hey-- I mean, hi. How-- How are you? You look-- you look... great. Amazing.”
“Thank you. I’m glad I was able to come.”
“How’s Metropolis been treating you?”
The question scalds its way up Kara’s throat. Seeing Lena leave National City had left her in ruins-- despite how hard they’d tried, after Kara’s secret came out, things hadn’t ever returned to normal. Lena never said as much, but it didn’t take much to make the connection between the move and the lack of anchor to keep Lena in National City.
“Good,” Lena sighs. She smiles again, this time with a warmth that reaches her eyes. “Really good, actually. Sam’s been taking good care of me.”
“Yeah?”
Lena nods. Suddenly, it’s their turn to order: Lena orders two white wines. The bartender is too swift for his own good. Before Kara can say another word, Lena turns to leave with two goblets in hand. “You should come say hi when you have the chance. I know Ruby would love to see you.”
“Yeah,” Kara replies reflexively. “Of cour--”
Lena’s already gone, another body slipping in to occupy the space she’d just vacated. Gritting her jaw against the tears pulling at the corners of her mouth, Kara orders Alex’s gin and tonic, and does her best not to let the exchange shatter what remains of her heart.
She doesn’t piece it together until later, when the entire room is on the dance floor. Ruby asks to share the slow dance, and Kara accepts if only to distract herself from how much she wishes it were someone else swaying in her arms. She devotes her attention to Ruby, who proceeds to regale her with updates from Metropolis, until a glint of gold at Ruby’s neckline catches Kara’s attention.
“Is that…?”
Ruby looks down, and her entire face lights up. “The L-Corp logo. Yeah! It is. I asked mom for it last birthday. I had one of Supergirl’s symbol for a few years, but I’ve had a new hero for a while now.”
“It--” Kara clears her throat. “It’s lovely.”
Ruby beams. “Thanks.” They fall into a comfortable silence, and in the quiet, Ruby’s chin turns towards the woman in question. Kara follows her line of sight, and finds Lena held close in Sam’s arms-- so close they could kiss. Then they do.
The gates of Kara’s heart gape at the tender exchange, and the silent words that pass between them in the moments that follow. Then, as Lena’s head rests against Sam’s cheek, Kara feels those gates close, and lock away the final hope that somehow, someway, things could be different.
“They’re really happy,” Ruby says, ignorant of the turmoil that finds sudden peace in Kara’s chest.
Yay prompt party!! (: Post S5, Lena goes to visit Sam (more like Sam persuades her to visit them after one phone call detailing all the horrible things that have happened, and by persuade I mean threaten) in Metropolis, and at Sam's front door is immediately engulfed in the biggest, warmest hug EVER. Sam convinces her to leave NC, even if just for a while, to heal herself. She stays with them, they've missed each other, and even Ruby can see those fond gazes!! Reigncorp endgame!! Ruby ships it!!
It starts with a smile, and then the warmest hug Lena can ever remember receiving-- Kara's included. The multitude of bodies helps: Ruby somehow slots perfectly into an embrace of three, her arms just as bracing as her mother's.
Lena doesn't know if Sam heard something in her voice that last phone call they'd shared. It had been a routine check in that had somehow ended in an invite to visit. Perhaps it had been the readiness with which Lena accepted that gave Sam cause to worry, and resulted in the length of their welcoming hug.
"I've missed you," Ruby mutters into Lena's ribs.
Or maybe she simply had people who missed her when she was gone.
---
The evening ends with a dark television screen with Ruby asleep in her lap on one side, and Sam's fingers tangled with hers on the other. Lena lingers in a comfortable place between sleeping and waking, feeling floaty yet aware of the gentle fingers combing through her hair.
"What happened?" Sam asks, so softly Lena almost misses it.
The flash of hurt that follows zaps Lena out of her weightless euphoria and slams her back into a body filled with anguish.
"Shit." Of course Sam notices the change. Lena's not as good at pretending as she used to be. "I'm sorry..."
"It's fine. Well-- it's not." It feels good to confess it, even if it's not to the one she wants to say it to. Her world is only just tumbling back on its axis, but Lena feels relief to give voice to the truth of what she hid from Kara.
Maybe it would have hurt Kara more if she'd withheld her forgiveness rather than--
No. She doesn't want to hurt anyone. Not anymore.
"You know you can talk to me, right?"
Lena closes her eyes. "No. I can't."
Not about this. Not when her own failures-- failures of morality and her very identity-- stab deeper than any of Kara's secrets, any of her rebuffs. She couldn't stand for Sam to know the truth of her.
Silence envelops them in the dark, as warm and soft as a blanket. Shame gnaws at Lena; she doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve to have warmth and love when she had been so willing to--
"Stop it."
Blinking, Lena turns towards Sam. "Stop what?"
Sam gazes back at her. "You know what."
Lena doesn't know if Sam is entirely certain what's going through her brain, or if she's just reacting to the tension that's creeped back into her shoulders and spine. Either way, the scold is effective enough and no less true for not knowing. Lena knows.
"Yeah."
"Why don't you stay?"
"Sam..."
"I'm not talking forever," Sam says, hunching to set her chin on Lena's shoulder. "Just a few weeks to R&R. You know you can stay with us as long as you like."
Lena hesitates.
"If you think I can't handle your workload for a few weeks then I have some big news for you about what happened the year you went off to play media mogul, missy."
What little resolve Lena has cracks. Her back relaxes, and she lets her head rest against her friend's.
"Okay. I'll stay."
---
Lena's vacation comes with pancakes and a squeal from Ruby. School's out for summer vacation, so while Sam picks up the slack at LuthorCorp (even the very name grates on Lena's nerves, like part of herself erodes away with every logo and ad she sees), Lena loses herself in the city with Ruby. Musicals and museums and festivals mark their days, even a hike that leaves Lena embarrassingly winded and yet more invigorated than even the strictest of yoga classes.
She only turns her cell off when Kara starts texting her: first one here, another there, but soon ratcheting up to notes that read like a diary.
It goes from tentative check-ins, to news, to notes that feel like Kara's emotions are bubbling up and out through her fingers.
It should feel weird texting you like this so soon, reads one. But this is the most normal I've felt in a long time.
Kara might feel normal, but Lena feels foreign. So she turns her phone off entirely and refocuses on Ruby, and on Sam when her friend returns home from a long day at work. She helps Ruby with a thousand piece puzzle, and piece that clicks into place grounds her to reality in a way nothing has since the anti-matter wave hit, as though each one pulls a molecule back into place.
Sam gathers more of those molecules together, and molds them into a shape resembling a Lena that Lena recognizes, an echo of who she used to be... when the world was a known entity of empirical fact and the only questions she had turned her gaze outward.
With Sam, she feels not quite whole, but close to it.
With Sam, she can forget she ever stumbled at all.
---
It all ends with an evening spent in the backyard, grilling burgers and hot dogs to pair with pedestrian potato chips and something called ambrosia salad that is neither salad nor ambrosia. The watermelon agrees better with Lena: she munches it as Ruby chows down on the ambrosia, happily taking Lena's portion off her hands.
They eat in relative quiet, none of them really feeling the need to break it. The sun is warm but not too hot on Lena's skin, and it lulls her back to that in between place of nearly dozing.
"You should stay forever."
Lena pries her eyes open, and finds Ruby gazing at her solemnly.
"Rubes..."
"You can't pretend you're not happy here!" Ruby exclaims, voice lifting. "And mom wants you to stay too! Right, mom?"
Expecting Sam to be the voice of reason, Lena is surprised to see her friend give an equivocating shrug.
"I certainly wouldn't object," Sam admits. Her voice is low, and her gaze glimmers with deeper meaning.
It reminds Lena of those early days when they first met, before the company pulled them from each other's orbits.
Lena sighs. "I have responsibilities in National City."
"But you can do those here!"
"No, I can't. There's--"
Finally, Lena feels the burden of knowing Kara's secret. Not just in the risk it carries, but the responsibility it brings. Now that she knows, she can never walk away. Walking away from Supergirl means walking away from hope, from help, from compassion... all the things Lena needs to rebuild in herself.
"I've been trusted with a very special project in National City. I'll be starting as soon as I get back tomorrow."
Ruby senses her battle lost with gracious defeat. Her shoulders slump, but she doesn't issue the blame or angry recourse Lena expects.
"But I could certainly make more time to come visit."
Brightening, Ruby grins. "Yeah?"
Lena smiles. "Yeah."
---
The night ends with Sam's tangling with hers before Lena can go back inside.
"Did you mean it?"
"About visiting? 'Course."
"Ruby has an honors class camping trip next month," Sam informs her. Her fingers gently close on Lena's. "It's been a while since we had time for... just the two of us."
Lena knows Sam doesn't mean girls' night. She means skin on skin and quiet moments like the one they shared Lena's first night here. She means... love.
Slowly, firmly, Lena pulls Sam closer.
She leans in and tilts her head just so to place a simple kiss on Sam's lips.
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