Chapter 63 - Arriving in Midvale

For Kara and Alura the drive to Midvale was a long and boring one, even though there wasn't much traffic on the way out of National City, and the roads to Midvale were also clear, but the trip still took 3 hours. This usually wouldn't bore Kara or Alura, because previously they had always found ways to entertain themselves, although, admittedly, Kara has only ever driven up to Midvale alone with Alura on 2 occasions, as usually Alex comes with them. It is just a bit unfortunate that for the next week, Alex couldn't take any time off from the DEO, although Kara is pretty sure that her sister wanted to stay in National City anyway, and spend some more time with Sam and Ruby over the next week. So, either way, this is only the third time that Kara and Alura are driving up to Midvale alone, and this time there seems to be something in the air, between the mother and daughter, that has stopped them talking, or having fun with each other as they drive. Kara isn't completely blind to it, and she has a good idea what the problem is, Lena. The lack of Lena to be more precise. Kara knows that both she and Alura have grown very attached to Lena over the last few months, and Alura has become even more attached and clingy to Lena since the assassination attempt on the CEO's life a few days ago. In fact, Kara is pretty sure that Alura might have a little bit of separation anxiety when Lena isn't around, and after what her daughter has been through in regards to her own person health, and everything to do with Lena, she doesn't blame her.

Throughout Kara and Alura's drive up to Midvale, Kara has tried to lift the boredom from the car, attempting all the things she usually does to keep Alura, and herself, entertained. Kara began by turning on the radio, and trying to find some music that she and Alura could listen to, and potentially do some karaoke, but Alura really wasn't in to it. Kara tried to encourage Alura to sing along to the songs with her, belting her own heart out, just to try and get Alura to join her, but Alura's response was to only kind of half-heartedly sing along, mostly mumbling the words. Kara was determined though, so she continued to try and get Alura to join her in some karaoke for the next 20 minutes, finding some of Alura's favourite songs, which she has previously sang with Kara, but still, Kara got the same lack of response from her daughter. Kara even went as far as to bring out the Disney songs, which she and Alura absolutely LOVE to sing along to when they are watching their favourite Disney movies, but Alura still didn't seem to care. So, eventually, after a good half an hour of trying to get Alura to sing along, Kara gave up, turning the music all the way down. Kara didn't turn the music off, because due to her failure to entertain Alura, by getting her to sing with her, she was feeling some anxiety creeping up into her. Kara just began to feel very anxious that she hadn't been able to amuse or entertain Alura at all, and they were only about 50 minutes into their 3-hour car ride. Kara knew that it would certainly be a very, very, long car ride to Midvale, and those three hours would feel like an eternity, if she didn't find something to entertain Alura with.

After Kara's failed attempts at karaoke, she decided to wait a while before she attempted something else, which gave her some time to think as to what she could try next. However, as Kara was thinking, she could feel her anxiousness turn into anxiety, as Alura remained quiet in the back of the car. Kara even looked in the rear-view mirror, and saw that Alura was just sitting in her seat solemnly, looking out the window. Kara just absolutely hated it, and she so desperately wanted to do something. So, that is when Kara turned to another idea, they would play a game. The game that Kara came up with was the classic game of eye spy, which she knows that Alura has loved playing in the past. The mother and daughter then began playing their game, with Kara going first, and getting Alura to try and guess something that Kara has spotted 'with her little eye'. However, right as they began their game, Kara could immediately tell that Alura just wasn't into it, as she wasn't really making any proper guesses, and even went as far as to guess things that didn't start with the correct letter. Obviously, Kara is aware that 5-year-olds would sometimes do things like that, and forget the rules of the game, and the letter the word started with, but Kara knows that her daughter isn't a typical 5-year-old, as she is very, very smart for her age. So, Kara knew that Alura not guessing correctly, was just another sign that showed her that her daughter wasn't into the game at all. As a result of this, after about 10 minutes of teeth pulingly trying to get Alura to guess, Kara gave up, and told Alura what she saw. Alura's response was just to hum in acknowledgement, and then she didn't even make an attempt to have a go herself. As a result of this Kara once more just let the quietness of the car take over, with her anxiety and anxiousness growing again.

About 2 painstaking hours (for Kara) into their drive, Kara saw that there was a nice little road-side diner coming up, and she herself was feeling a bit hungry, even if it wasn't dinner time yet, and she knew that Eliza would be making the two of them a nice meal for dinner tonight. However, Kara decided that they might as well pull into the diner, and maybe they could have a snack, and stretch their legs a bit, just to have a break from the long car ride, and try and put a stop to the boredom in the car. Then also admittedly, Kara did have a plan to cover up her own anxiousness and anxiety by eating a bunch of ice cream, or something of the sort, even if it wasn't the most emotionally healthy thing to do.

Kara and Alura eventually pulled into the diner, and Kara parked the car right outside, letting Alura know they would be going in, to have a break from their long road trip. Kara and Alura then went inside, and Kara ordered them both a milkshake each, some pancakes for herself, and hot fudge for Alura. Once the food and drinks arrived, Kara was once more disappointed at Alura's lack of a reaction. Alura just really didn't seem interested in either her milkshake or her hot fudge, despite Kara knowing that they are two of her daughter's favourite things.

Kara sighed.

"Alura, honey, what's the matter?" Kara asked, looking across the booth at her daughter, who was just sitting there, twiddling her straw about in her milkshake.

Alura looked up at Kara, a sad look on her face.

"Nothing." Alura replied.

"Alura." Kara said, in a slightly stern tone, "I know something is the matter. You can talk to me, as maybe I can help make it better?"

Alura looked at Kara for a moment, before then scrunching her eyebrows and sighing.

"I wish we'd stayed at home." Alura finally said.

"What? Why?" Kara asked, surprised.

"'Cause that's where momma is." Alura replied, nodding her head.

Kara sighed to herself in response to hearing that explanation from Alura.

"Alura, I know you love Lena, and you miss her a lot when she isn't with us, and you are very attached to her, but it is okay not to be with her for a time." Kara said, gently.

"No!" Alura suddenly snapped at Kara, "Something could happen to her! Then.... we'll lose her again!!! And we will be too far away to say goodbye!"

Kara's eyes went wide in response to that, before a look of sympathy appeared on her face. Kara then got out from her side of the booth and slipped into the other side next to Alura. "Alura," Kara said, wrapping an arm around her daughter, "Nothing bad is going to happen to Lena while we are not there." "But it happened before!! How do you know it won't happen again!?!" Alura snapped again, tears appearing in her eyes.

Kara looked at her daughter and sighed once more.

"Look, Alura, you're right, I can't say for sure that something bad won't ever happen to Lena again, but you know what you also have to remember?" Kara said, "You have to remember that no matter all the bad things that have happened to Lena, she has still kept fighting, she always comes back. It is going to take a whole lot more than just a few bad people to take Lena away from us. And I promise to you, that I am not ever going to let anything happen to your momma ever again. I will do everything in my power to prevent that." Alura continued to cry for a few more seconds, hiding her head in Kara's chest.

"Promise?" Alura eventually asked,s with a sniffle.

"Yes, I promise." Kara replied, placing a kiss on the top of Alura's head, "Everything will be okay, and you can't worry about things like that, as it will just make you feel unhappy and upset all the time."