Wish I wasn't so tired these days... but Carol, this was just absolutely fabulous!
They sat in the Colorado Rockies, insulated from the world around them, for a very long time.
...
They stayed there, Clark's arms around Lois, for what seemed like forever.
I love how they sit in their own little cocoon of peace and togetherness, inside which Lois is wrapped in the cocoon of Clark's arms. Lovely. So wonderfully warm, serene and peaceful.
And then...
Neither spoke for the longest time and then, out of nowhere, a white glow enveloped them.
Jor-El and Lara stood over the ship that would soon carry the tiny baby to earth.
It is perfect that Jor-El and Lara should appear to them then and there.
And Clark saw them die. And for the first time
he broke down.
"That was harder than I thought it would be," he finally said, his voice muffled by her hair and choked with emotion.
"What was?"
"Seeing them die. I mean I knew intellectually that they had died when the planet exploded; Mom had told me that, but seeing it..." His voice broke. "I can see from here where I listened to my adopted parents' heartbeats fade out. And now... to see the planet that had my birth parents on it explode..."
Tears he didn't know he still had flowed from his eyes.
And finally Lois was able to be there for Clark and comfort him when he needed her:
Lois turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around him. After all the comfort he'd offered her when her dad moved out, when her parents died and after putting aside her charges of infidelity based on miscommunications and misunderstandings to comfort and reassure her in the face of a near rape, the least she could do was try to be there for him.
I'm so glad she can do this for him.
He began to shake and she shifted some more, pulling his head towards her and cradling him against her.
How long he wept in her arms, she didn't know, but, if he could promise he'd never leave her and mean it, she could hold him as long as it took.
I love how she's cradling him, but I wish that she could say that she is committed to this relationship, too, just as Clark is.
You describe Clark's loneliness when growing up so heartbreakingly. I was particularly moved by this:
There had been no one that he could turn to when fears of being dissected like a frog had permeated his dreams and, often, his waking moments. No one who would understand why he – who was never sick and never missed an assignment – was suddenly ill when it was time to do frog dissections in high school biology and refused to make up the assignment, leaving the only imperfection on his transcript.
Maybe this instinctive fear or being rejected, turned into a freak or even literally or figuratively "dissected" was the reason why he didn't tell Lois about his powers as soon as they were married.
He didn't know how long it was before his tears were finally spent. He didn't know when or how but he found himself held by Lois, his head cradled in her arms, her hand stroking his hair gently. What had he done to deserve this woman? Out of all the women in the world, why was she the one for him? Tonight, of all nights – when she had been so violated, she had put aside years of perceived betrayal; when she had just begun to accept that perhaps this really could work, that he wouldn't leave the minute he felt he could be free without breaking his promise to help take care of Lucy while she was in the system and get the two of them through college; when she'd only begun to come to terms with the abandonment by her parents in her early years. Tonight, she had put that aside and was comforting him instead of allowing him to comfort and care for her.
This was so completely beautiful! He is so grateful to her! How he loves her.
And finally she can say it:
"I'm here, Clark. I'm not leaving. We can do this together. We're stronger together than we are alone. I'm so sorry for ever doubting you. I'm sorry for not being there for you when you needed me. I *do* believe you; that you won't ever leave me; that you'd never cheat on me. I do believe that you love me like you've always said. I'm here, Clark..."
Yes! She is committed to their relationship, too. She believes in him, and she won't leave him. Finally!
He freed one hand and reached out to brush a stray tear from her cheek. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I know it's nothing I've done in this lifetime."
Lois suddenly giggled.
"What?"
She immediately looked contrite. "I'm sorry. I just had visions of Maria and Captain Von Trapp in that gazebo in 'Sound of Music'. You know 'I must have done something good' and all that."
This was sweet and funny! I can hear Julie Andrews singing!
"So basically, you're too polite for your own good?" Lois didn't look at him as she said it.
He sighed. "Probably. Jimmy said something along those lines too.
Good that she said it, and he admitted it. I figure he won't be so hopelessly polite around Mayson from now on, if she tries to spend every lunch with him.
Lois took a deep breath before saying anything. "To be perfectly honest, if you had stopped having lunch with her or whatever, I probably would have thought that you'd taken it more underground or that you'd broken up and either there was someone else or you were looking for someone else.
I'm glad that Lois admitted this...
I'm sorry for not trusting you more and I'm sorry for not talking to you. Aunt Louise told me I should.
And I'm really glad she told him this!
"I'm so sorry."
"I know and so am I, but..." she took a deep breath. "...I think we need to move past that if we can and quit apologizing to each other – know that we're both sorry, we're both forgiven and move on."
"I can do that if you can."
"I can."
"I'm glad."
Good! Great!
I'm very glad that they resolved to communicate, to really talk to each other for at least a few minutes every day, from now on.
I'm glad Clark asked Lois why Lucy was so much more carefree than she was herself. I liked Lois's answer:
"Maybe because she's the younger sister. I tried to shield her from as much as I could. She wasn't the one who Mom yelled at for spilling milk all over the kitchen or who cleaned up after Mom threw up all over the place or helped Mom get into bed. She wasn't the one who saw Dad kiss girlfriends goodbye from time to time or those kinds of things.
Sniffle. But Lois had to do all that.
I love this observation of Clark's:
"And she had you, too."
Lois looked at him puzzled.
"Both of your parents left you, repeatedly. I've gathered that much, so nothing in your past showed you that someone could stay. But Lucy... Lucy had you. You promised her you'd never be separated and you did whatever it took, including marrying me, to make sure that didn't happen. *You* never left her."
That's true! What a great sister Lois has been!
When he spoke, his voice was husky. "It's been way too long since I told you how beautiful you are."
She looked at the ground and blushed again.
When Clark said this, I realized how much I wanted them to be together for real.
He rested his hand along the side of her face, his fingers tangled in her hair, his thumb rubbing her cheekbone. "There's nothing I'd like more than to kiss you right now..."
She jerked back, her eyes wide as he continued.
"...but I know that you're not ready for that, not after what happened tonight and there's still no way I would ever push you for more than you're ready for."
She relaxed visibly. "I know and I'm sorry I pulled away like that."
But Lois isn't ready. I understand that, too.
Her eyes flashed suddenly. "I want to take him down, Clark. Not only did he attack me, but now he's taken this from us too."
Clark contemplated mentioning that they wouldn't be here like this if it hadn't been for the slimeball, but couldn't bring himself to even suggest there was a remote possibility that they should be anything resembling grateful.
I like Clark's observation. Paul has really helped Lois and Clark get closer than they have ever been.
"I guess I probably need to file a formal complaint. It's probably too late to go to the police and there's probably not any evidence because he didn't succeed."
"We could still go to the police anyway so it's on the record. I'll tell what I saw and you tell what happened and let them investigate if they think there's enough evidence or whatever, but at least you've put it on the record so it's not just a verbal thing, you know? If you report a crime that wasn't actually committed, that's a crime in and of itself so it should lend at least some credibility to the claim.
Yes, please, do go to the police!
"I think we go to Bill Henderson. I've worked with him a couple of times and he's a stand up guy. There's too big a chance that the campus cops could be pressured by the University."
She nodded. "That makes sense. I've talked to him a couple of times and I know Jimmy's worked with him too. Perry speaks highly of him. So our first stop is Inspector Henderson's office."
Yes! Bill Henderson!
"You'll have to file a complaint with Dr. Snodgrass."
"Have I ever mentioned that I don't like him? I've interviewed him a couple of times for different things and he creeps me out."
"Do you think he'll sweep it under the rug?"
She thought about that for a minute as she continued to pace around the blanket. "I think it's highly possible, maybe even probable, that they'll ignore it or claim I'm making it up or something."
"Paul will deny it, of course."
"Or he'll try to turn it onto me." Lois wrapped her arms around herself. "He'll try to make it look like it was something I wanted and that you attacked him for something I wanted."
Gaaah! Dr. Snodgrass! Now you've given me another person to dislike!
"I'll tape it. I'll tape the conversation with Dr. Snodgrass and if he tries to cover it up, we have it on tape."
Yes!!! (And maybe she'll discover something else on that tape recorder!)
I'm so glad that Lois is determined to stop Paul, so that he never gets to rape another woman again. And I love how Lois has begun to trust Clark, and how they are building a foundation of love together!
Ann
