The next morning, after breakfast, Damian and Colin headed back to Gotham in a Wayne Enterprises limo, sent by Damian’s father. Damian took some of the boutique clothes back with him, though he still left Lara with a nice selection of fancy dresses, as well as some more casual (though still very fashionable) girl clothes.

Lara waved as they left, though she would be seeing them again, later that night. It was a Saturday after all, she had another one of her weekly sessions with Damian that night. She wondered what they would be learning this week, as she had certainly made significant progress in the intervening days. Maybe Damian would teach her more ballet? Lara grinned at the thought.

However this wasn’t the main thought occupying Lara’s mind at that moment. After all, this was her big day. The day she had been waiting for for years: The day she made her debut as a Superhero. Granted, she was only going to be a sidekick to start off, but it was still unimaginably exciting for the young girl. Especially seeing how she would be appearing to the public as a girl! All of these thoughts and more were rushing through her head, as she got ready to leave with her father.

The night before, Clark had flown over to Kansas to pick up Lara’s Supergirl costume, which Martha had just finished. He had then flown it up to the Fortress of Solitude, at the North Pole, where it had spent the night being exposed to the energies radiated from various Kryptonian crystals. This would strengthen the material so that it wouldn’t be torn to shreds while Lara wore it on the job as a superhero.

Eventually, Lara and Clark were ready to leave. They were both wearing civilian clothes. Lara had thought about wearing some of her new girl clothes, but decided it would be better to wait a little before going out in public as Lara the civilian. Instead, she wore a fairly gender-neutral hoodie and jeans, along with her regular glasses and baseball cap, which she still liked to wear even as a girl.

After waving goodbye to Lois, the father-daughter duo made their way down to the street and headed for the nearby teleporter pod. Normally, when making a trip to the Fortress of Solitude, Clark would simply fly there. Being able to shoot through low-orbit at hypersonic speed meant that the Man of Steel could make it there in a matter of minutes. However, while Lara had shown some impressive flying skills recently, Clark wasn’t quite sure if she was ready to zoom into the stratosphere at Mach 10.

When they reached the phone booth that housed the pod, Clark smiled at his daughter as he picked the receiver. “Hey Lara,” he said, “I’ve got a surprise for you.” He then spoke into the receiver. “Superman - A01, Lara Kent - C01.”

Lara gave a little squeal of excitement. She was back in the “C” category! No longer would she need to be labeled as “miscellaneous”, or be forced to use her deadname when teleporting. It was a small thing, but it meant so much to the young girl. Lara hugged her dad tightly as they vanished in a flash of light.

Moments later, Lara opened her eyes and found herself in a small ice cave. Even with a little Kryptonian invulnerability to protect her from the elements, she had to admit it was freezing cold here. She looked around the cavern and saw nothing but her smiling dad and the teleporter pod wedged into the icy floor. “This… isn’t the entire fortress, right dad?” She asked with a little concern. This was her first visit after all and she hoped it wouldn’t be this big a let down.

“No no, this is just a spot for the pod.” He said with a chuckle, taking her hand and leading her out of the cave. “See, the defenses of the fortress are too strong to teleport directly in. We had to set this up a bit outside it.” At the mouth of the cave, Lara was greeted by an impressive sight; across a small expanse of frozen tundra was a massive crystalline structure. An entire mountain of glittering crystals and stone practically glowing in the sunlight. The Fortress of Solitude!

Clark smiled at his daughter, who stared at the Fortress with her jaw hanging open. “Miss Kent,” he said, dramatically, “Welcome to the Fortress of Solitude! What do you think?”

“It’s beautiful…” said Lara. She then smiled up at her dad. “Is there heating inside?” she asked, trying to stop herself from shaking.

Clark chuckled and held the young girl's hand as they flew across the icy wasteland towards the Fortress. As they got closer, Lara noticed a large metal door in the side of the crystalline wall. Lying at the foot of the door was a plain regular-sized doormat.

The young Supergirl watched with interest, as her father lifted up the doormat, and brushed away at the snow underneath, revealing a stainless-steel object which lay under a few inches of snow. “You’ll like this bit.” Clark said to Lara, as he pulled on the metal.

Clark kept pulling as he floated straight up, revealing the metal object to be the ring of an enormous key, as big as a lamppost. Lara watched her father fly halfway up the door and lift open a hatch, revealing a giant keyhole, before slotting the key into the hole, and turning it. Going by the way her dad had held the key, and the noise it made while it unlocked the door, Lara estimated that it must have weighed several tons.

As the large door began to slowly open, Clark landed gently on the ground next to Lara, and returned the key to its hiding place. “It’s an extra layer of security that I installed myself.” he explained to his daughter. “Lifting that key all the way up there isn’t something most people can do. Fortunately, for us, it’s a breeze!”

The door had now opened to reveal… a second smaller door. Although this one had a more unique appearance; it seemed smoother and more neatly designed than the last one, which looked like it was welded together from scrap metal.

Clark placed his hand upon the door and spoke in a language that Lara recognized as Kryptonian. She had never heard her dad speak the language before, but she sometimes heard Kara use it when she spoke of Krypton. Kara probably spoke it better than Clark, who had had to learn to speak the tongue from old historical archives.

As her father spoke, Lara picked up on a few words; “Kal-el” and “Jor-El”. Those were her dad’s Kryptonian name and his biological father’s name, respectively. Lara had always found it strange to know that her biological grandparents, who she had never had the chance to meet, were aliens from a distant, now all-but-extinct planet.

Suddenly, Clark paused and looked at Lara, before turning back to the door and saying, “Lara-El.”

Lara felt her spirits rise even higher hearing her true name in Kryptonian fashion. A light on the door turned green, accepting Clark’s statement, however it didn’t open just yet. Instead another small panel opened up on the door. From out of the panel, came a robotic arm with a spherical crystal on the end,

“Wow. Lots of security.” Lara said with another shiver, “How many more are there, dad?”

Clark put a hand on her shoulder. “Just a quick DNA scan to go now, sweetie. Put your hand next to mine.” He placed his hand on the crystal and Lara followed suit.

There was a series of strange, disconcerting noises that seemed to originate from the crystal, prompting Lara to look up to her dad for reassurance. Clark smiled back at her. “It’s okay,” he said, “It’s just taking a little longer to check that you are who I said you were. It probably wasn’t expecting you to have some human DNA as well as Kryptonian.”

Lara gave a sigh of relief. For a second, she had been worried that the machine wasn’t going to accept her as a girl. It felt good to know that that wasn’t the case.

The door eventually opened, revealing a long corridor with walls of shimmering crystal. Father and daughter began making their way along the surprisingly warm corridor, grateful to be out of the arctic winds. When they got to the end, and stepped out into a wide open cavern, Lara’s jaw dropped.

She had been expecting something similar to the Watchtower, or possibly the Batcave, only maybe with more bright colours. But this was completely different. Sunlight shone through the crystalline walls and ceiling, creating all kinds of beautiful colours and patterns throughout the main concourse. Almost everything, even the computers and machinery over in one of the corners, were made of shimmering crystal.

“It’s so beautiful… but… how?” Lara couldn’t help but ask, staring at the seemingly naturally occurring crystal furniture.

Clark shrugged with a smile “Kryptonian science. This entire fortress was grown from just a small handful of crystals that were in the ship that brought me to Earth.” Clark looked around the fortress. “Even after all these years, I’m still amazed by the wonders of Krypton’s technology. This is just a tiny remnant of what Krypton was.”

Clark paused, realising he was monologuing, and smiled at Lara. “Come on, sweetheart.” he said, offering her his hand. “I’ll give you the grand tour!”

---

Lara hung on her dad’s every word as they flew around the fortress together, and he gave her a history lesson on both his life as Superman, and the history of Krypton. She was fascinated by how much information there was to find on the computers concerning the dead planet, although most of it was in Kryptonian, which Lara couldn’t speak (yet).

Clark had an entire wing of the Fortress dedicated to souvenirs that he had collected over the years. They included a variety of objects, such as one of Metallo’s cybernetic arms, a dented fragment of Lex Luthor’s power armor, as well as a crumpled-up revolver from one of the first crimes ever foiled by Superman.

But Lara’s favourite part of the tour was the gigantic statue of her Kryptonian grandparents; Jor-El and Lara-El. She had, at first, been amazed at how much Jor-El resembled her dad, but then she noticed Lara-El. The woman depicted by the statue radiated beauty and strength, and Lara felt proud to have her as a namesake. She hoped that she could, one day, grow up to be as beautiful and strong as her grandmother.

“So, Lara!” said Clark, once they had finished the tour. “What do you think?”

“I love it here!” cheered Lara. “When I’m Supergirl, how often will I be able to come here?”

Clark smiled. He loved how much more enthusiastic and cheerful Lara had become. He was so proud and happy for his little girl. “Well, I come here once or twice a week.” he said “But that’s just me by myself. If you’re gonna be with me…” He paused, before suddenly snapping to attention. “Oh! That reminds me!”

He rushed over to a nearby console and pressed a few buttons. The wall behind the console slid open to reveal a set of mannequins.

Lara noticed several different outfits for her father, each with its own unique colour scheme, as well as similar outfits for Kara and Conner. Then her eyes fell upon a smaller mannequin, and she let out a tiny gasp of joy.

The mannequin wore a sleeveless dress bearing the colours and emblem of the House of El. The bodice was sky-blue, with the family emblem on the chest, and a gold belt separated it from a red skirt. Attached to the shoulders, was the red cape that Lara had been wearing as part of her makeshift outfit. Finally, to finish the look, the outfit also included matching blue tights, red flats and a pair of large red bracelets.

“Oh wow! It’s… I love it so much!” She flew over to the mannequin and hovered around it, admiring it from every possible angle. It had a lot of similarities to the makeshift outfit, but it also had so much more to it. The fabric was finer and sturdy, reinforced by the light and energy of the Kryptonian crystals. Lara’s eyes lingered on the bracelets and she gently ran a finger over the glistening red metal, “These are really cool! Just like an Amazon!”

Clark laughed and joined his daughter standing next to the displayed outfit. “I’m glad you like them. They actually were a gift from Diana. She wanted to offer her support any way she could.”

Lara was overcome with happiness and euphoria. She literally flew into her dad’s arms and hugged him tightly.

Clark grinned. “Do you wanna see something really cool?” He set his daughter down gently in front of the display case. “Stand there and match the mannequin’s pose. Then close your eyes and imagine yourself in the costume.”

Lara did what she was told. She looked at the mannequin, standing with hands on hips and legs apart; a classic superhero pose. She copied the pose, closed her eyes, and visualised herself in full Supergirl garb.

All of a sudden, she felt a strange tingling sensation all over her body, accompanied by a zapping sound not too dissimilar from a teleportation effect. She opened her eyes and saw that the mannequin was now wearing a hoodie, jeans and sneakers, along with a baseball cap and glasses. In fact… they looked a lot like her clothes… Lara looked down at her attire, and shrieked with joy.

She was now wearing the outfit that had, until a few seconds ago, been worn by the mannequin. The dress, tights, flats, cape and bracelets had all, somehow, made their way onto Lara, and she looked incredible!

Lara began to float into the air, spinning as she admired her brand new outfit. She looked at her father, who was grinning from ear-to-ear at his daughter’s reaction. She tried to say something, but all that came out was... “Wha-? How? THITH ITH GREAT!”

“Kryptonian technology.” explained Clark. “It’s a neat little trick, but it only works with these mannequins. So, I take it you like your new costume?”

“I love it, dad!” She let out a little squeal of joy and flew a few loops in the air. Feeling rather dizzy, she stopped in midair, albeit upside-down. “What the…Am I faster than before?”

Clark came over and helped turn herself right side up. “That’s right. Between the fabric and the crystal energy, the suite stores a little extra power that you can pull from. Just enough power that you don’t run out of juice at night until your powers are fully developed.”

Wanting to get in on the fun, the Man of Steel matched the pose of his own mannequin, and in his own flash of light, he too was dressed in his trademark bright blue, red and gold. He grinned at Lara. “Wanna test out your new suit?”

As soon as they were outside, Lara shot off into the sky with her father. Now that she had her own super-suit, she could fly as high and fast as she liked, without her clothes catching fire from the friction. The extra energy from the suit also gave her an edge, and she laughed gleefully, as she heard the faint pop of her very first sonic boom.

She looked back to check if her dad was still following her. She smiled when she saw him, but then gasped when she noticed how high they had flown. The Earth spread out below them, but Lara could make out the curvature of the horizon. They were in the freakin’ stratosphere!

Being up so high, with less ozone to filter sunlight, Lara felt stronger and more energetic than ever. This, combined with her new look and the euphoria it gave her, Lara felt more excited than ever to take on the role of Supergirl.

Clark flew up beside her and held her hand. “It’s beautiful up here. Isn’t it?” Lara couldn’t find the words to respond, so she simply smiled and nodded.

“We still have a few hours before your big debut.” said Clark, looking at his watch. “Do you want to grab lunch somewhere? I’ve got a few places in mind...”

Lara thought about this. It would be nice to get some food before the conference, as well as just sit and have a chat with her dad for a little while. But being up in low-orbit wasn’t an everyday experience for Lara, and she wanted to make the most of it.

“Oh! By the way,” added Clark, “While we’re up here, the air’s so thin that there’s practically no resistance. At our top speed, we could do two full orbits before we’d need to head back to Metropolis.”

Lara’s eyes went wide as she processed this information, and grinned broadly when she realised what Clark meant; They could literally fly anywhere in the world, have lunch, and still have plenty of time to make it back to Metropolis in time for Lara’s big moment.

“So,” said Clark, with a sly grin. “Where do you want to go? I’ll race ya!”

---

The father-daughter duo flew together across the sky for the next half-hour. Clark challenged Lara by gradually increasing his speed as they flew, and seeing if she could keep up. He was impressed to see her still flying comfortably by his side, even when they overtook the International Space Station, which passed by about a mile above them. Lara waved as it passed, and Clark wondered if anyone onboard had seen them. It wouldn’t matter too much if they did. If anything, it would make it easier to introduce Lara as the new Supergirl later that afternoon.

As they flew, they noticed the sun seemed to have moved significantly across the sky. Lara looked back, nervously. How long had they been flying for?

“Don’t worry, sweetheart.” said Clark, reassuringly. “It’s not evening yet. We’ve just flown over a few time zones. It’s only about 11 o’clock back home.”

“Oh right!” said Lara, grinning sheepishly. “Of course, I knew that.” She looked down at the Earth below. “Where are we now?”

“From the look of it...” said Clark, examining the planet below. “It looks like we’re just above Paris, which would make it approximately 5 in the afternoon. Cafés shouldn’t be too busy at the moment.” He smiled at Lara. “So, sweetie! How do you feel about French pastries for brunch? Just don’t tell your mom.”

Lara nodded excitedly at the idea of fancy sugary treats. She was also excited to see all the fancy landmarks she had learned about at school. She had been doing okay in her French lessons, so it would be great practice too to talk with the local speakers. The only person she could normally practice with was Damian, who spoke several languages. But Damian was… well, Damian. Practicing with him often resulted in a lot of tutting and condescending remarks.

They began to make their descent. This proved to be harder than Lara had expected. She thought it would just be a simple matter of letting gravity take over, but after a few seconds of falling, she began to spin wildly out of control. She leveled out and tried to descend in a more controlled manner. This also proved difficult, as it would’ve taken her all day to reach the ground from this height at her usual speed.

Clark flew up beside his daughter. “Don’t want to rush you, Lara. But if you want to make a quick descent, you’re gonna want to fly straight down.”

Lara gulped as she looked down at the city below them, about 50,000 feet between it and her. The idea of flying straight down at speed did not appeal to Lara. One miscalculation and she would risk smashing into the ground like a meteor, which would not make for a good first appearance as Supergirl.

Lara began hugging her forearms nervously. She was starting to feel a little unprepared for her role as a hero. How could she possibly live up to her family’s legacy if she couldn’t even do something as simple as fly straight down?

Lara then felt her dad’s hand on her chin and looked up to see him smiling warmly at her. “Oh, sweetheart…” he said, softley. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. You’re already way ahead of me when I was your age. It’s only natural to need a little help from time to time. Here. Let me help you.”

Clark held his daughter in his arms, as he began to fly down. He flew in a large spiral, which made their descent go at a more manageable speed; not too fast as to risk an accident, but also not too slow as to take all afternoon. After a minute of flying, the Eiffel Tower came into view.

Lara couldn’t believe her eyes. The tower she had seen so many times in photographs was standing right in front of her, only a few miles below. “It’s so amazing!” she said. “I’ve always wanted to see it for real!”.

“Actually,” said Clark. “We did come here before as tourists, years ago. You, your mother and I came here for a vacation. But you were barely two, so it’s only natural that you don’t remember.”

“Wait, what?” said Lara. “How come you never told me? Didn’t you take any photos?”

Clark grinned awkwardly. “Don’t tell this to anyone, but we kinda came here in secret.” he said in a hushed tone. “I was helping Bruce track down some supervillains, and I figured “Why not treat you and your mom to a vacation?”. So Bruce flew you and Lois here in the Bat-Wing, and we all had a secret family vacation in Paris.”

Lara let out a small sigh and smiled looking out over the city. “Of course it was Uncle Bruce. Well I doubt we had a view of Paris like this on that trip!” Though she was able to fly on her own again, she let her dad continue to carry her, so that she could admire the view. It wasn’t long before they were flying low over the rooftops and she could get a much more distinct view of everything.

It was only then that Lara came to a chilling realization; up till now she had only been out as a girl to friends and family. Any moment now she would be seen as a girl by strangers for the first time! At least she hoped they’d see her as a girl.

The irrational panicking part of her young brain imagined someone yelling “Look! Up in the sky! Why is that boy wearing a dress?!” Of course she knew that wasn’t realistic, especially not with dad beside her, but the paranoid thoughts still got to her.

The moment of truth came when some of the locals started to spot them. Lara could see the Parisians pointing, calling up to them, some even cheering for Superman. Sure Lara had seen celebrations of her father before, but never from this angle. She blushed and nervously waved down at a group of kids roughly her own age that seemed especially excited to see them. Maybe this would go better than she thought.

“Dad… does this happen everywhere you go?” She asked quietly as if afraid the people cheering 10 stories below them might hear the question.

He gave her a rather sheepish smile that truly spoke of the temperament of the Man of Steel “Pretty much yeah. I’d say you’ll get used to it, but it still surprises me every now and then. Honestly I think that’s a good thing. Better to not want the adoration too much. It can give a hero a big head.”

Lara nodded. “Like Booster Gold?” She said, having heard plenty of stories about that particular hero’s ego.

Clark stifled a laugh, “Now sweetie, you shouldn’t say things like that. Booster hasn’t been like that in years. You’d understand if you met him outside of hero work. He’s actually very humble in real life, I think Ted really helps to keep him grounded.”

Lara giggled thinking about the happily married heroes, especially since they reminded her of another couple consisting of a Blue Beetle and a time traveling goofball; Conner’s old teammates, Bart Allen and Jaime Reyes, AKA Impulse and Blue Beetle III. She was just starting to question if Blue Beetles had a type, when she noticed they were flying away from the parts of the city best known by tourists.

Lara was about to question this, but then Clark swooped down and they landed neatly in a quiet street, in front of a small café. In the cafe's window was a large photograph, which depicted Clark posing in front of the café alongside a man who was grinning broadly. Above the photo was a sign which read “Repas offert pour Superman!” Underneath was a translation in English; “Free meal for Superman!”

Suddenly, the front door flew open and a short middle-aged man, with a moustache, came rushing out to greet them. Lara recognized him as the man from the photo, and guessed that he was the owner of the café.

“Ah, Monsieur Superman!¹Ah, Mr. Superman !” he said, shaking Clark’s hand. “C’est toujours un plaisir de vous voir ici !²It's always a pleasure to see you here !”

The man spoke French, which Lara struggled to understand. Hearing the language being spoken so quick and naturally, felt very different from her French lessons at school. She looked up at her dad, who gave the man a humble smile.

“Heureux de toi voir aussi, Vincent!³It's good to see you too, Vincent!” replied Clark, also speaking French which surprised Lara. “Comment vont les affaires?⁴How's business ?”

“Merveilleusement bien, comme toujours!⁵Incredibly great, as always !” cheered Vincent. “Et tout ça grâce à notre sponsor!⁶And all thanks to our sponsor !”

Seeing her dad conversing in French made more sense, the more Lara thought about it. Superman was a hero to the entire world, so it would make sense if he could communicate with everyone he saved. Though Lara had to wonder; How many languages did her father speak?

Suddenly, Vincent turned to look at Lara, as if he had only just noticed her. “Ah! Et qui c’est, ça?⁷Oh, and who's this ?” he said to Clark. “C’est une amie à toi? Une fan peut-être?⁸Is this a friend of yours? Or maybe it's a fan?”

“Uhh… Bonjour…?” said Lara, nervously. “Je suis...?”

“Oh, effectivement, c’est un fan que j’ai rencontré à Metropolis.⁹Oh, she's a fan of mine I met in Metropolis.” Explained Clark. “Elle a gagné un concours et son prix était une journée entière avec moi. Je lui fais donc visiter des endroits que j’ai sauvé et je me suis dit qu’on pourrait grignoter un peu ici.¹⁰She won a contest, and her prize was a whole day with me! And so, I am showing her some places I helped to save and thought we could eat a bit there.”

“Okay!” Thought Lara. “That was impressive even by dad’s standards.” She was now beginning to wonder if super-multilingualism was a power that Clark had never mentioned before.

“Ce sera un honneur de faire découvrir la cuisine française à l’une de vos fans alors!¹¹It will be an honor to show what French cuisine is like to one of your fans then!” Said Vincent, gesturing Clark at Lara to a nearby table.

“Merci, Vincent!” said Clark, as the short man made his way back into the café to prepare for his first customers of the day.

As they sat down, Lara looked at her father, quizzically. “How come you know French so well?”

Clark grinned, and leaned in close so they wouldn’t be overheard. “Well Lara, when you’re an international superhero, and a journalist working around the world, it helps to speak more than just English. I also know Spanish and a little Mandarin. And those are just the human languages…”

“Wow!” remarked Lara. “So what were you and that guy talking about? You were both talking so fast, I couldn’t follow.”

“Oh, Vincent and I go way back!” said Clark. “Years ago, I stopped a robbery at this café. It was just another day for me, but it meant the world to Vincent. He’d only just opened this place and things weren’t exactly going his way.”

“How come?” asked Lara, who always enjoyed stories of her father's superhero work.

“The café wasn’t making the money he’d been hoping for. If those robbers had been successful… Well, that would probably have been it for him.”

“Good thing you saved him.” said Lara, “I guess you showing up also helped improve business? Is that why he offers you free meals?”

Clark smiled. “Yes, but there’s more to it than that, sweetie. After I saved his café, Vincent began using the money he made to help those less fortunate than himself; donating to charities, organizing events, and providing food for the homeless. He tells me it’s his way of saying thank you; passing on the good deed that I did for him. This café isn’t just popular because of me. It’s because Vincent felt inspired to be a good person, and channeled his success and good fortune into kindness!”

“Whoa!” muttered Lara “That’s great!”

“I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.” chuckled Clark. “Last time I was here, Vincent told me that one of the robbers came back… as a customer!”

“What!?” said Lara. “Oh no! What did he do?!”

Clark smiled. “Well, he said his first impulse was to kick him out, but then he remembered all the kind things that he had done for his community. He wanted to extend that kindness, even to the man who had wronged him. They started talking, and he found out that guy had just been released on good behaviour and was looking for work. The reason he had tried to rob Vincent in the first place was because he believed he had nowhere else to turn, but he had since seen that he was wrong and had only come to apologise.”

“Apologise?” repeated Lara, “Really? What happened then?”

“See for yourself.” said Clark, pointing through the café window.

Lara gazed through, and saw Vincent talking to a slightly younger looking man behind the counter. She stared at them as she slowly connected the dots in her head. She turned back to face Clark. “No way!” she gasped, a bewildered smile forming on her face. “Vincent gave him a job?!”

“Indeed, he did!” Clark smiled. “Because Vincent is a hero! Just like you and me. I believe that everyone on this Earth has a bit of heroism inside of them. They just need a little inspiration for it to show. That’s what being a superhero is all about, Lara. It’s not just saving people and looking cool, it’s about inspiring everyone to be a good person, and reminding them that there is always hope in the world!”

“Inspiring people…” Lara repeated to herself as she took in the importance of her dad’s words. “I really want to do that… It’s why I want everyone to know I’m a trans girl, as well as Supergirl. Yeah, I want to rescue people, fight bad guys and all the rest, but… I knew I could do so much good even without that.” she paused and put her hand to the shield on her chest, “Our crest… it means hope right? And hope can mean a lot of different things…”

“You want to give hope to other kids like you.” said Clark. “Other trans kids, I mean. Kids who might not be as fortunate as you.”

“Yeah! That’s right.” said Lara. “I’ve got it way better than most trans kids, so it’s only fair I do what I can to give them hope.”

By this point, Clark was beaming with fatherly pride at his daughter. Lara could have sworn she saw tears of pride in his eyes. “That’s wonderful to hear you say that, sweetheart.” the Man of Steel said, softley. “You are going to be brilliant as Supergirl.”

Lara stood up, walked around the table and hugged her father. She was glad that the street they were on was fairly quiet, and there weren’t any crowds gathering to watch this strange girl hugging Superman.

That made Lara realise something. “Hey, dad?” she asked. “When you introduced me to Vincent, did you tell him who I was?”

Clark smiled. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I figured you probably wouldn’t want to spoil your big debut to anyone. I told him that you were a fan of mine from Metropolis, and that you’d won a contest to spend the day with your favourite superhero.”

“My favourite superhero?” Lara grinned, as she mimed looking around the area. “Where? You didn’t tell me that Aunt Diana was gonna meet us here?”

“You watch it, young lady!” laughed Clark. “Or I’ll ask Vincent to make you some of his special “Kryptonite-Ratatouille”!”

They both laughed at this and Vincent came back out to them with menus. “Est-ce que votre invitée voudra quelque chose, Monsieur?¹²Anything special that you or your young guest want today, sir?”

Clark looked over the menu and smiled, “Vincent, je sais parfaitement que tout ce que tu fais est merveilleux! Mon amie a un attrait tout particulier pour les desserts, alors nous prendrons quatres desserts de votre choix !¹³Vincent, I know everything you make is amazing! My friend here has an impressive sweet tooth, so we'll take any four desserts that you'd recommend!”

The owner nodded and smiled, “Tout à fait, je comprends. Un florilège de pâtisserie pour cette jeune fille. Je reviens à vous tout de suite! Thomas, Jérôme!¹⁴Of course, I understand. A nice variety for the young lady to try. I'll be right back! Thomas, Jérôme!” He turned away from the table and called an order to a young blonde boy helping behind the counter.

Lara smiled at her father, “I think I understood most of that conversation. You asked for four desserts and he called me a girl!”

“Very good!” said Clark. “Your French is pretty good for your age. Maybe we should come here more often?”

---

A few minutes later, the young boy, addressed as Thomas, approached the table with a large tray of pastries. It probably made sense that the ex-con (Jérôme, according to Clark) didn’t serve them. He would feel a little awkward serving the guy who had ended his short criminal career.

Besides, it seemed that Thomas had happily volunteered for the task. He greeted them both with a bright smile and set the table. “Bonjour monsieur, et mademoiselle! Mon père recommandé pour vous ces quatres desserts que voici...” He placed four amazing looking desserts onto the table, naming each as he went. “Gâteau Nantais, Religieuse, Chouquettes et Mille-Feuille.¹⁵Good morning Sir, and Miss! My father recommends these four desserts... Gâteau Nantais, Religieuse, Chouquettes et Mille-Feuille”

Despite not understanding everything he said, Lara could tell the boy was moving with more dignity and flair than one of his age normally would. He turned his full attention towards Lara. “Ce sont tous d’excellents choix, mais je ne peux résister à vous offrir mon favori...¹⁶All of them are excellent, but I simply couldn't bear it if the pretty young lady left, without trying my personal favourite…” With a last flourish he placed one last much larger plate in front of her. “Un délicieux Paris-Brest!¹⁷Our finest Paris-Brest!”

Thomas folded the now-empty tray under his arm and smiled up at his customers. “Si Monsieur Superman et sa ravissante amie ont besoin de quoi que ce soit, demandez simplement à me voir, Thomas, et je viendrais à vous sur-le-champ!¹⁸If Mister Superman or his pretty friend need anything else, please just ask for Thomas, and I'll be right back to assist!” He gave a little bow, and possibly a small wink at Lara before stepping away from the table.

Lara found herself blushing, not sure if what she saw had really just happened. A cute boy had just complimented her, winked at her and given her an extra dessert, all on her very first day out publicly as a girl! No amount of free cake could equal the euphoria she felt in that moment!

As Lara tried to stammer out a thank you, Clark gently tapped the boy on the shoulder, “Un instant, Thomas. Est-ce que je peux te dire un petit mot ?¹⁹One moment, Thomas. May I have a word with you?” He turned to speak to Lara, “I just want to have a brief word with Thomas. Don’t wait for me to start eating, sweetie.”

As Lara happily dug in, Clark got up and guided the boy away from the table, before speaking again.

“Dis-moi…” The Man of Steel began, “Tu la trouves ravissante, Thomas ?²⁰So... You think she's cute, Thomas?”

The boy nodded, wondering where this conversation was heading.

“Je peux te dire un secret?²¹Want to know a secret?” Superman asked, leaning in to whisper without waiting for a response, “C’est ma fille.²²She's my daughter.”

Thomas froze as he processed this information. He had flirted with Superman’s daughter, right in front of Superman, himself! He grinned nervously up at the Man of Steel…

Superman didn’t seem angry. In fact, he was still smiling, and looked to be in a good mood. But there was a new edge to his voice and a sharpness in his eyes, “Je sais que tu es un bon garçon, donc donne-lui le respect qu’elle mérite, d’accord ?²³You're a good kid, Thomas. I'd appreciate it if you show Lara the respect she deserves. Can you do that?”

“Oui monsieur!²⁴Yes, sir!” said Thomas. He knew Superman was a good guy, and would never do anything bad to him. But showing disrespect to one of the world’s greatest superheroes would have been a bad look for him. “Je suis désolé, je ne pensais pas à mal...²⁵I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…”

“C’est pas grave, c’est pardonné!²⁶It's okay! Apology accepted!” Superman said, cheerfully strolling back to the table. “Vos desserts sentent toujours aussi bon! Merci beaucoup!²⁷The food smells great, Thomas! Thank you!” He called back.

Thomas smiled and nodded at Superman and his daughter, before heading back inside the café. It was only once he was back inside that the young boy stopped to think. “Attends... Depuis quand est-ce que Superman a une fille?²⁸Wait! Since when did Superman have a daughter?”

---

Before long they had finished their meals and said their goodbyes to Vincent, Thomas, and even Jérôme. Lara made sure to comment, with some help from Clark, that the Paris-Brest was her favorite and thanked Thomas for it. With that the pair took their leave, Clark gently carrying Lara for the sake of appearances as they flew up into the bright blue sky.

Once they were high enough, Clark let go to let Lara fly on her own. “How are you feeling, Lara?”

Lara was practically buzzing, partially due to the large amount of sugary treats she had just had for her lunch, but also with excitement for what they had planned for that afternoon.

“Excited!” she giggled, to answer her father's question. “Is it okay if I fly back down there quickly?”

Clark frowned. “Down to the streets?” he looked down at the café. Thomas was clearing the table, while Jérôme swept the floor. “Hmmm… I suppose it should be okay if it’s just for a second. Everyone’s going to see you as Supergirl soon anyway. Just be quick and…”

“THANKS, DAD!!” cheered Lara, as she flew out of his arms and down towards the street, flying in the same spiral pattern that Clark had demonstrated earlier. Within a few seconds, she arrived down on the street outside the café where she floated a few feet off of the ground.

“Thomas! Jérôme!” she called out to get the attention of the two cleaners.

Jérôme dropped his broom as his jaw fell open. “Attends… la fille sait voler?!²⁹Wait, the girl can fly too?!” he shrieked.

Thomas clapped and cheered when he saw Lara. “Je le savais!³⁰I knew it!” he said, climbing up on the table, and grinning broadly. “Tu es incroyable, Supergirl!³¹You're incredible, Supergirl!”

Lara giggled gleefully, and did a little mid-air spin, putting on a small show for her fans. “Merci! Merci!” She called out, trying to recall some more French words to show her appreciation. It was at that point, when she made eye-contact with the cute French boy, that she remembered another French custom she had learned about at school...

Before she had even had time to think about it, Lara flew right up to Thomas, and kissed the boy on the cheek!

Thomas froze on the spot. Lara flew back slightly, having surprised herself even more. She looked over at Jérôme, who was still gasping at her, even more bewildered than before.

“Uumm....” said Lara, blushing, “Thanks for the food! See you ‘round, Thomas!” And with that, Lara sped off, up into the sky.

Thomas stood on the table, still frozen on the spot, with his cheeks bright red. Eventually, he came to his senses and, grinning like an idiot, he leapt off of the table and ran into the café. “PAPA! PAPA!³²DAD! DAD!” he yelled. “SUPERGIRL VIENS DE ME FAIRE UN BISOU!!! La fille qui était là, en fait c’était pas une fan de Superman! C’était Supergirl! Pas la toute grande, une autre! Superman a une fille, et elle m’a fait UN BISOU!!!³³I JUST GOT KISSED BY SUPERGIRL!!! The girl that was there, she wasn't a fan of superman! it was supergirl! But not the big tall supergirl, another one! Superman has a daughter, and she KISSED ME!!!”

Vincent raised an eyebrow, not understanding a single word of his son’s rambling. “Du calme, Thomas! Qu’est-ce que tu racontes, alors ce serait sa fille? Je le connais depuis longtemps, et il ne m’a jamais parlé d’une fille.” He paused. “Il m’ a dit avoir un fils, d’à peu près ton âge, mais...³⁴Slow down, Thomas! What do you mean she's his daughter? I've known him for a long time and he's never mentioned having a daughter. He has mentioned having a son, about your age. But…”

Thomas pinched his chin, thinking to himself, trying to understand.

Vincent pondered the situation as well. Then, a possible answer came to him like a spark. “Cette fille avait à peu près ton âge, n’est-ce pas? Superman n’a jamais parlé d’elle auparavant, mais il a bien dit avoir un fils...³⁵This girl was about your age, right ? Superman has never mentioned her before, but he has mentioned having a son...” He smiled at the visibly-confused boy staring up at him. “...et maintenant, il vient nous voir avec une fille, du même âge que son fils. Qu’est-ce que tu crois que ça veut dire?³⁶...And now he appears with a daughter, the same age as his son. What do you think this means?”

Thomas’s eyes went wide as a wild idea formed in his mind. “Oh mon dieu, tu veux dire… QU’ELLE EST UN CLONE ?!³⁷Oh my god, you mean... She's a clone ?!”

Thomas beamed up at his father with such excitement, that Vincent didn’t even bother to correct him. Time would surely prove Thomas wrong, but for the time being, the idea of the boy thinking that his new friend was a clone was too funny for Vincent to say anything.