Power Girl
The Waynes and the Kents
An Easter Sunday story
by Andrew Troy Keller and Starsky Hutch 76
Kara Zor-L (Power Girl) reminisces over her first Easter with the Wayne family and realizes how far she’s come since then.
***
March 26, 1978:
Inside a brownstone building in Gotham City, the meeting of a group of super-heroes known as the Justice Society of America was about to adjourn early, for it was Easter Sunday, and they all wished to be with their families. All except for one — Kara Zor-L, also known as Power Girl, one of the last survivors of the doomed planet Krypton.
Instead, she went up to the roof, looked up into the sky, and shed a tear for her beloved parents Zor-L and Allura In-Z, who had been on Krypton when it exploded.
“Power Girl, are you OK?” asked a concerned Huntress, who had followed Power Girl up to the roof. “You seem to be a little down.”
Taking a deep breath, Kara looked at her and answered, “I miss them, Huntress. I was only a baby when I last saw them — when I last really saw them. And I miss them.”
“I think I know how you feel, Power Girl,” said the understanding Huntress, whose real name was Helena Wayne, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. “I lost my mother to the grim reaper two years ago, and I’ve missed her every day since then.”
“Well, Huntress, there’s the difference between you and me,” said Kara, looking once again into the sky. “Your parents were still on Earth. Mine were on Krypton — when it exploded.”
The Huntress took a deep breath, stopping herself from saying anything she’d regret, and simply placed a gentle hand on Power Girl’s shoulder, trying to be as understanding as she could. “Look, Kara,” she said, using her Kryptonian name, “I’m going to Wayne Manor to spend Easter Sunday with Dick and Alfred and my Dad. Why don’t you come with me?”
“Oh, no,” said a reluctant Kara. “I really don’t want to be a burden to you, Huntress.”
“Don’t be silly, Kara,” said a smiling Huntress. “I insist. Besides, you should never spend Easter alone.”
After a short pause, Kara said, “You’re right, Helena. Besides, I should think of Superman and the JSA as my family now.”
“Now you’re getting the message,” said the Huntress, smiling. “Come on. If we get there, we’ll be in time for the carving of the ham.”
The Huntress walked over to the roof door, and Power Girl looked into the sky yet again and said, “Guess what, Mom and Dad — I’m going to spend Easter Sunday with my new family. But I’ll be thinking of you — always.”
Turning away, she joined the Huntress, and the two stepped back inside the JSA Headquarters in order to be present for the adjournment of that day’s meeting.
***
April 3, 1988:
“It’s hard to believe that was ten years ago,” Kara Zor-L said to Helena Wayne, reflecting back on their first Easter together at Wayne Manor.
“I know what you mean,” the Huntress said.
“It meant a lot to me,” Kara said. “My head was in a lot of turmoil back then. “It’s not exactly easy finding out your whole world was an illusion.”
“It still hurts, doesn’t it?” Helena remarked.
“Well, of course it does,” Kara said. “Not only did I lose my parents, but I found out that all of my memories of them were–” She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the far-off look in her eyes and realized her friend was also thinking of her own parents. It was less than a year after that first Easter Sunday of theirs that Helena’s father Bruce Wayne was killed.
Helena’s gaze drifted to the window, and Kara saw what she was looking at. Outside, Helena’s young charge Sonia Alcana was assisting little Mary Kent in the annual Wayne Manor Easter Egg Hunt. Clark Kent and Lois Lane Kent looked on proudly as Mary tottered across the green grass like a drunken sailor, carrying a colorful Easter egg to place it in the basket Sonia held.
The Easter Egg Hunt had been a regular tradition in Gotham City for over fifty years, since the grounds had first been opened to the city’s orphans by their fellow orphan, Bruce Wayne. Dick Grayson and Helena Wayne both made sure the tradition continued every year now that he was gone.
“How’s Sonia holding up?” Kara asked of the twelve-year-old girl Helena had taken in last Fall and was in the process of adopting.
“As well as can be expected,” Helena asked. “She’s had more happen to her than any girl her age should be expected to endure.” (*)
[(*) Editor’s note: See DC Universe: Fear the Dark, Chapter 6: Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite.]
A smile crossed Kara’s face as she caught the lovestruck look Sonia gave Cal Kent when he walked up to look at the eggs his little sister had gathered. “I’d say she’s starting to recover.”
“Well, she’s getting to that age,” Helena said. “And Cal’s a good looking boy. Better yet, he doesn’t know he’s good looking, which is always a plus.”
“Definitely a plus,” Kara agreed.
“Speaking of cute guys who don’t know how cute they are, when are you and Dick finally going to set a date?” Helena asked.
“How do you know we haven’t already eloped?” Kara teased.
“You didn’t!” Huntress exclaimed.
“No, we didn’t,” Kara said, grinning. “But we ought to. Seems like there’s always some sort of crisis going on that makes it impossible to pin down any date. We want everyone to be there, but it seems impossible considering the sideline most of our friends and family have gone into. I’m beginning to wonder if we’re always going to just live together.”
“Well, it works for Wesley and Dian,” Helena said.
“Maybe so,” Kara said, “but Dick’s a little more old-fashioned than Wes about things like that. And in a way, so am I.”
“You?” Helena said, raising an eyebrow.
“Just because I have strong beliefs when it comes to the equality of women doesn’t mean I don’t want to be married,” Kara said with a sigh. “I was raised to believe in that institution. Or at least I thought I was.”
Helena reached over and gave her friend’s hands a squeeze. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll make that walk down the aisle eventually. Even if you don’t, I know you’ll always be together.”
“I know,” Kara said with a smile. “I know.” She watched as her still-youthful-looking fiancé walked up to the Kents. “And when you consider our lifestyle, that’s really saying something.”
The End
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