Thanks to those who gave me feedback.
And thanks to rkn for betaing again.
Here's part 18.
A Box of Swiss Chocolates
The next day was no better. Once again, Kiley woke up and saw Larry’s portrait next to her bed. All his wonderful features and qualities looked back at her. But she could never see those wonderful features in person again. Or listen to his wonderful voice and the way he teased her, encouraged her and shared his wonderful chocolates. Not to mention his kisses.
She turned away from the painting to get dressed. Why should she bother looking at something she could no longer have, anyway? Not unless she wanted to betray her parents by telling him about Superwoman, anyway, that is. Superwoman! That other identity made things so complicated. Still, she also now knew getting rid of her wasn’t the answer, either. So what was the answer? Her eyes welled up with tears again.
She tried to wipe her eyes away as she headed downstairs. Kiley couldn’t remember the last time she had cried so much. Crying was for the weak. That’s what she’d always thought, anyway. But the tears continued to run down her face.
Just as she was finishing breakfast, her super hearing clicked on to a radio nearby. She sighed and quickly turned on her own radio to listen more closely.
“…Earthquake in Japan hit two hours ago,” the announcer was saying. “Thousands have already lost their lives in the turmoil…”
Oh, no. This was a huge disaster. Superwoman was going to have to make an appearance. Otherwise, thousands more would lose their lives. Not to mention homes, workplaces, and everything that makes up a life. Kiley needed to shape up; no matter how low she was feeling right now. People depended on Superwoman and expected her to hold her head in a crisis.
She wiped her tears from her eyes one more time, forcing herself to think of the people who needed her. Washing her face, she tried to make herself look more presentable. Then she spun into her Superwoman costume, took a deep breath, and flew out the window.
When she arrived, she noticed Dad was already there. Of course he was. She had forgotten that they all helped out at international disasters like this one. Thomas should probably be along shortly as well. And she did appreciate the help. It was just that she wasn’t sure that she wanted to see her family today. They had really hurt her last night.
Still…she presented herself to the emergency workers, and asked in Japanese where she could be the most help. They explained about a bridge about a mile away that needed to be held up. Superwoman quickly got to work.
Thomas showed up within a few minutes to help her with the bridge. They worked together, knowing exactly how they needed to support the bridge with the help of X-ray vision and past experience. She smiled at him when they finished; it was nice to work with her brother.
Then she noticed a group of about twenty people drowning because another bridge had clasped. Kiley quickly dove into the river and picked several out. Placing them in what looked like a safe place, she then dove back in to pick up more of the victims. Ten minutes later, all of the people were out of the water. She hoped it wasn’t too late for them. She quickly X-rayed their lungs, and to her relief, they were all fine.
Behind her, she suddenly heard her Dad’s voice. “Superwoman! Hold this house up! There’s a girl trapped underneath it.” She nodded, although she didn’t really want to help her father right now. But she certainly wasn’t going to let a girl die because she was a little angry at her father.
So Kiley held the house up, although she deliberately did not look at her father as she did so. She noticed he didn’t look at her, either as he prepared to go in after the child. A minute later, Dad came out holding a child. His face crumpled as he noticed girl’s heart had stopped.
Kiley slammed the house down. What was the point of doing that if the child was already dead? Dad attempted CPR on the girl with no result. This was when she noticed how far the strain between her and her father had reached. If they had been on the same wavelength, as they usually were, Kiley would have assisted in the CPR. Or if that wasn’t possible, at least prepared a good spot to get started. And after it didn’t work, she and Dad would have shared a look of despair and understanding. They shared no such look now.
Three hours many buildings, bridges, and victims later, the Superhero family was told the Japanese emergency workers could handle it from here. They told them all the work, especially the lives they saved was appreciated. But all Kiley could think about was what didn’t work. The lives they could not save. And the tension she felt with her father. Despite the fact that he had hurt her last night, and she was still a little angry at him, she missed Dad.
As she was flying home, she noticed her father up ahead. He looked just as unhappy as she was. Maybe she should try to talk to him again. Superwoman dashed off to catch up to him. “Hi, Dad” she greeted him nervously, a few seconds later.
“Hi, Kiley,” Superman replied just as nervously. He tried to run his fingers through his hair for a second, before realizing that he had gel in his hair right now.
Superwoman smiled at that. They really were so much alike. “Rough day, huh?” she commented, trying to find common ground.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “It’s always so hard.” He shared a look with her; then looked toward Metropolis without even realizing it.
Superwoman sighed, knowing Dad was thinking of the comfort he could find in Mom’s arms. She wished she had that. And she could, if she was ever able to tell Larry about her other identity. Right now, all she had was her painting. The paintings helped, but they weren’t the same thing.
“Dad,” she began slowly. Was it really a good idea to bring this up right now? “I’d really like to have someone to talk to when I get home. Like you do.” Superwoman drifted gradually through the clouds as she tried to reconnect with her father.
Superman sighed as continued to drift through the clouds as well. “You can talk to me anytime you want, sweetie. And your mother as well. Not to mention Grandma and Grandpa. Or Thomas.”
“I know that, Dad. And I appreciate it. But Dad, you know there’s a difference between talking to one of us, or Grandma and Grandpa about difficult rescues, and talking to Mom.” She looked at her father intently. Could she make him understand how important it was to talk to Larry?
Superman looked at his daughter just as intently. “Yes, I do know that. And someday, you’ll find someone to share that with, I’m sure.”
Superwoman sighed, understanding his message. Larry was not that person, no matter what she thought. She supposed it was too much to ask Dad to change his mind about Larry this quickly, especially with what she knew of Lex Luthor. Briefly, she imagined Dad in cage made of Kryptonite, withering in pain.
But she still wished Dad were more open to the possibility of Larry being a good man. She sighed, remembering how much it upset Larry to be treated like his uncle. Why couldn’t he be given the benefit of doubt? “Bye, Dad. See you later,” she commented, flying off. So much for that reconciliation attempt.
When Kiley arrived at home, she quickly spun back into her regular clothes. What was she going to do now? The images of people bleeding and dying filled her mind, especially that little girl she and Dad hadn’t been able to save. The look on her father’s face as she flew off the last time also flashed through her memory. And Larry yelling “Why, Kiley, why?” as she left him for what seemed to be the last time was also prominent.
For the third time today, Kiley burst into tears. Ten minutes later, she cleared herself up. She was NOT going to spend all of her time crying from now on. She needed to be stronger than that. Looking at her art studio, she nodded determinedly. Painting was all she had right now.
So Kiley began two paintings. It was something she almost never did, but her emotions on both situations were so extreme. One was about the earthquake in Japan. She painted all the turmoil of people losing their homes and businesses. And the despair as they watched their loved ones die. And those little children that could not be saved, even with CPR.
The other was about the situation her family was in right now. The distancing, the tension, and the lack of closeness that they had always shared.
How could she solve this problem? Because it was all her fault. If it were not for her dating Larry, their family would be just as close as they had ever been. She remembered the last happy Kent family dinner they had had, without any secrets to get in the way. It was over two months ago.
Still, even if that was the case, she could not stop loving Larry. He was a wonderful guy, even if no one else believed her.
She painted her conflicting feelings and her guilt about being the catalyst for this family problem as well.
Several hours later, Kiley stopped for supper. She made herself a grilled cheese sandwich and poured some milk to go with it. Looking at the milk, she sighed. Would she ever laugh with the rest of their family as her mother poured everyone’s milk for another Kent family dinner? Would she ever be at ease with them ever again?
She picked up one of the mint chocolate candies Larry had given her. This, to her, showed how well she new Larry. He offered to show her his bakery, and the inside of his business world, because he knew she loved chocolate. He let her make the chocolate candies, because he knew they were her favorite kind. Larry even let her pick which kind of filling she wanted, so she DID know what she was going to get in her box of chocolates. How could a man like that be anything like his uncle?
Kiley took a bit of the chocolate. Mmmm they tasted good. Too bad they were all she had now. There was no way she would be able to go back to the Choco Bean now. There were too many memories there.
************************************************************************
The rest of the week was no better for Kiley. She painted her feelings on her canvases, which did help, but not that much. Everywhere she went, there was a reminder of Larry and how much she loved him or a reminder of her family and how much she wanted to reconnect with them.
When she put on her Superwoman costume, she would be reminded of how happy Dad was when she first told him she wanted to create another super identity. And all the work they had done together as Superman and Superwoman in Metropolis.
Of course, the Superwoman costume was also a sign of the big secret that she had been keeping from Larry. The secret that had driven them apart.
When she ate her meals, she was reminded of happy Kent family dinners again. And romantic dinners Larry had also cooked for her, especially when Kiley tried to make something more complicated. Larry and her father both cooked amazing meals. She wondered if they would ever find out how much they had in common.
When she talked to reporters as Superwoman, she was reminded of her parents and how much they loved being reporters. Instead of annoying her as they always had, reporters made her sad.
There was an advertisement for a new upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie in theaters. Of course, that made Kiley think of all the fun they had watching the first one, and all the kisses they shared.
On Friday, she went to a children’s go-cart race which proceeds went to charity. The parents cheering for the children reminded her of how her parents had always supported and encouraged her.
A young boy tugged on her cape. “Superwoman?” he said uncertainly.
She turned around and tried to look cheerfully at the boy, even though she felt anything but cheerful these days. Then she gasped. The child looked very similar to the pictures Larry had shown her of him as a child.
“Um, well,” the boy continued. “I wanted to know if you’d be in a picture with me. My Mom will take it.”
Superwoman blinked, trying desperately to get rid of the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. She wondered if a child of Larry’s would look anything like this boy. Then she forced herself to smile. “Sure,” she answered. She followed the boy over to his go-cart and posed right next to it with him.
After she flew home that night, Kiley continued to work on her paintings. The one about the earthquake in Japan was almost done. It had really helped her work through her emotions, although she wished she had Larry to talk to as well.
But the other one still needed a lot of work. She was in the process of painting a picture of a typical “Kent family dinner.” Only the table had been broken, with Mom and Dad on one side, Thomas and Alice on another, and her in the middle, because she felt like she was caught in the middle between wanting to fix things with her parents, and wanting to defend Larry.
