“So… You kissed Thomas.” Clark said it as a statement, not a question as they flew together, back through the stratosphere towards Metropolis.

“It was just on the cheek!” squeaked Lara, who hadn’t stopped grinning or blushing since leaving Paris. “I… I don’t know why I did it! He was just… being so nice to me!”

Clark couldn’t help but laugh at how flustered his daughter was getting over this. He had listened briefly in on Thomas and Vincent as he had flown away, and was pleased to hear that Lara’s little display of affection hadn’t caused too much embarrassment.

As they flew, Clark tried to change the subject for Lara’s sake. “You ready for your big debut, sweetie?”

She took a deep breath, “Ready as I’ll ever be. Seeing everyone in Paris cheer for us helps… Do we know who is going to be there today?”

“Well, the Press, for starters.” said Clark. “Lois is gonna try to be at the front with Jimmy Olsen.”

Lara grinned and nodded. She had been practicing several interview questions with Lois over the past few days. (It was technically cheating to rehearse an interview like this, but Lois had shushed Lara when she brought this up.) She was glad to know that both of her parents would be there for her.

“Kara’s also going to be making her debut as Power Girl, so she’s gonna be there with Donna.” Clark continued, listing the various attendees on his fingers. “Diana and Bruce said they’d be there too. Though Bruce is coming as “Bruce Wayne” not Batman.”

Lara smiled when she heard this. Whenever Uncle Bruce was out in public as himself, he always adopted a fun-loving, playboy persona. He always claimed it was only to prevent people from suspecting that he was Batman, but most people who knew him personally could tell that he enjoyed pretending to be a billionaire idiot.

“Will Damian be there too?” Lara asked, as Metropolis appeared below them.

Clark nodded. Sometimes, Bruce would be accompanied by a family member to events such as these. This was partially for publicity, but also to try and keep him out of trouble. At least, that’s what Dick Grayson had told Lara, when he’d dropped Damian off at school one time.

Once they were above Metropolis, Clark and Lara began their descent, with Lara following her father's downward spiral maneuver. As they got closer to the ground, Lara noticed the large crowd which had gathered around the amphitheatre at the Metropolis Memorial Park. Kara’s press conference had just started.

As they approached the city, father and daughter focused their super hearing to see how far along into the event things were. They were greeted by a familiar voice, “HELLLLOOOOO METROPOLIS!!!!”

The crowd answered with a loud cheer and Clark laughed at the enthusiasm that Bruce was giving off today. The billionaire was in top form for his role of MC. Once the crowd had quieted down, Bruce continued, “Good to know I still get that reception outside of Gotham! I’m gonna need for you to keep that going for me alright? You all know me! You all love me! Although, I’m not the star of the event today! I, Bruce Wayne, Prince of Gotham, Sexiest man a-”

“Baba!” said a familiar sounding voice, cutting Bruce off to prevent any further embarrassment. Damian was either there on stage with Bruce, or somewhere backstage with a microphone. Either way, he took the job of keeping his dad in check as seriously as he took everything else.

“Right right.” Bruce straightened his tie and continued with a little more modesty, “I’m only here in my role as patron of the Justice League of America!

By this point, Lara and Clark had covertly landed on the ground covertly behind the amphitheatre. Once they were backstage, Clark directed Lara to a lounge where she could wait for her big moment.

“You all good, sweetie?” Clark asked as they approached the door to the lounge.

Lara nodded hesitantly. Her nerves were going haywire and her mind kept circling back to the cafe with Thomas. Why couldn’t she focus?!

When they reached the door, Clark knelt down in front of his daughter. Lara knew he could see she was nervous, and she knew he was about to make another speech.

Clark spoke softly. "You remember the story I told you about Jerome? The ex-robber who came back to Vincent’s place.”

Lara nodded, wondering where this speech was going.

Her father continued. “I said that Vincent was a hero for giving Jerome a second chance. But that doesn't mean not hiring him would have been a bad action. Had Vincent kicked him out, it would have been completely understandable.”

Lara blinked in surprise. She hadn’t expected this.

“People don't have any obligation to be heroes. Just like you don't have the obligation to come out if you don't want to. But remember that whatever your decision is, I'll be here to support you, okay ?"

As Clark finished his speech, Lara hugged him tightly. “Thanks, dad!” she whispered. “I needed to hear that. I think I’m ready.”

Clark smiled. “This is an incredibly brave thing you’re doing, Lara. “I’m so proud of you!” He stood up. “I need to be onstage for Kara now, sweetheart. So I’m gonna have to leave you here. Is that ok?”

Lara nodded, and Clark gave his little girl another hug. “Good luck, sweetie!” he whispered, “Diana will come and get you when we’re ready.”

The Man of Steel then straightened up, gave his daughter a smile and a nod, before flying off down the corridor.

---

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country at Titans Tower, San Francisco, Conner Kent was struggling to hold in his excitement. He knew today was the big day for his little sister! And he wanted to surprise the other Titans with the news. He had it all planned out...

Step one: Get up before Tim and Steph. Easy! When those two slept at all, they slept deep.

Step two: Put the news report on TV and hide the remote so that Tim couldn’t change the channel. Easy, the remote was already hidden in the oven! No one would ever think to look there.

Step three: Make breakfast for them to keep them in the kitchen watching TV. … Well, no plan is perfect. The trash was full of burnt waffles, but he had made coffee and poured them all cereal! The plan would work and Tim and Steph would be so surprised!

---

Considerably closer to Metropolis, the Grayson-West family was getting ready for lunch together in their house in suburban Bludhaven. Considering the family consisted of two adult children, two actual children, an alien and a woman pregnant with twins, it was not surprising that lunch was tater tots and dinosaur chicken nuggets.

“Daddy, do we have to watch the news?” Mar’i, the young daughter of Dick Grayson and his wife Starfire, pouted a little, “Me and Jake want to watch cartoons instead!” She held up her two year old brother, hoping his cuteness would help her case for cartoons with lunch.

“Yes sweetie.” Said Dick, “Grandpa Bruce and your Uncle Damian are going to be on TV. You love seeing Grandpa out of costume.” He ruffled his daughter’s hair as he carried the platters of food to the table.

Already seated around it was Dick’s wife Koriand'r, his husband Wally West (AKA The Flash) and Wally’s pregnant wife Artemis (who was also Kor’i’s girlfriend). It was an interesting family they had built here, but none of them would ever change a thing about it.

“Hey sweetie!” Kor’i got up from her seat and helped Mari into her chair and little Jake into his highchair. “Bruce is just starting. Any idea what the announcement is?”

“No clue.” Dick shrugged. “Something about Supergirl was all Damian would tell me… Kori, what is that?” He pointed to her drink, a bottle of mustard with a bendy straw in it. “You know the rule.”

She sighed and got up and walked to a cabinet. “If you’re going to drink condiments pour them in a glass.”

“That’s right. It sets a horrible example for Wally.” He smirked, catching his husband about to put a straw in a bottle of barbeque sauce.

“Oh well. Just this once.” Dick grabbed a bottle of ketchup and his own straw.

“How is it, that I’m the pregnant one, but I’m still the one with the least strange eating habits?” Artemis asked of the room, as Mari giggled at the adults' antics.

---

Back over in Paris, Vincent’s café had become unusually busy, even for a Saturday evening. This was chiefly due to Superman’s appearance, which had caused a large crowd of fans to turn up after the Man of Steel had left. Both Vincent and Thomas were happy with this. For Vincent, it meant more business and exposure, and for Thomas, it meant he got to brag about the fact that he had served brunch to the world’s most famous superhero. He made sure to not say too much about the girl that had accompanied him; Superman had been quite clear that her identity was to be kept a secret.

Thomas had just finished recounting the story to a group of kids his age, when one of them spoke up. “Hé, t’as entendu la nouvelle? Superman va faire une annonce aujourd’hui à Metropolis ! Y’a des gens qui disent qu’il va présenter un nouveau superhéro...¹Hey, did you hear? Superman's gonna be making some big announcement today in Metropolis! Some people are saying he might be introducing a new hero!”

This got Thomas’s attention. He had a pretty good idea who this potential new hero could be. He looked over to his father at the counter. “Hé papa, tu peux allumer la télé? Apparemment Superman va passer aux infos !²Hey Dad! Could you turn the TV on? I think Superman is gonna be on the news!”

---

Upon entering the lounge, the first thing Lara saw was a large flatscreen TV showing a live feed of the stage. She saw Uncle Bruce and Damian onstage. Bruce was wearing a fancy business suit, and Damian was wearing a black blazer over a white shirt, with matching black pants. The young Robin did not look particularly happy to be wearing such a basic semi-formal outfit.

Lara also saw Diana and Donna standing behind Bruce in full superhero getup. Lara was glad they were there. She felt much safer about coming out to a big audience, when she had two Amazon princesses to support her.

As Lara watched the screen, she heard the crowd outside cheer, which was closely followed by her father appearing onstage on the TV screen (There was an apparent delay of a few seconds.)

Two women were sitting on a couch watching the screen. It took Lara a moment to recognize them. The younger woman was Cassandra Cain, Damian’s big sister, wearing a black hoodie with jeans, with a bowl of popcorn on her lap.

However, Lara had barely registered Cass’s presence, as she was too distracted by the woman sitting next to her; It was Kara, wearing a wildly different outfit from her old Supergirl costume. Her new outfit consisted of a white sleeveless unitard, with blue patterned stripes down the sides. She also wore a red cape and a golden belt, similar to her previous look, along with blue bracelets and boots. The bracelets may have been inspired by the ones worn by the Amazons, who were pretty much a second family to Kara.

As soon as Lara entered the room, Kara turned and smiled at her. “Princess! You look amazing!” She flew across the room and pulled Lara into a hug.

Lara was so taken distracted by Kara’s new look, as well as her own nerves, that she had completely forgotten that none of them had seen her new outfit yet.

“Thanks!” She said, “You look amazing too!” Lara paused when she noticed something about Kara’s new costume. She pointed to her cousin’s chest, “No emblem?”

Kara nodded, “I wanted something different, something that would let me stand as a hero outside of your dad’s shadow. I toyed with having a hole in the costume where the “S” would have been, but… let’s just say it showed more skin than I would have wanted.”

Lara looked down at the emblem on her own costume. “Dad always says that it isn’t an “eth”... I mean… an “S!” Great. Of all the times for her lisp to return…

“It means hope. I know, Princess.” said Kara, smiling. “It doesn’t mean I’ve given up on hope, or anything. I wanted to show people that, sometimes, you can be a great hero, without a badge or an emblem.” She playfully nudged Lara. “Plus, “Power Girl” doesn’t even have an “S” in it. Imagine how that would’ve looked!”

Lara giggled. “Still wouldn’t have looked as dumb as having a hole in your costume to show off your…”

“Watch your mouth, young lady!” laughed Kara, pulling the young girl into a hug.

It was at this moment, that Lara noticed Cassandra watching them, smiling. Lara felt a small panic begin to form in her chest. She hadn’t come out to Cassandra, yet! They hadn’t seen each other since last week, and they’d barely said a word to each other.

However, Cassandra didn’t actually seem to be concerned about anything. She just waved to the two Kryptonians ladies from her seat. When she noticed Lara staring, she simply said, “Hi Lara.”

Still fretting, Lara nervously flouted over to her, “Hi Cass… I’m sure you have a lot of questions about this. You see-”

The older girl held up a hand to stop her and shook her head. “No. Already knew.”

This stopped the young Supergirl in her tracks. She knew?! How could that be? As she thought about it, Lara realised that Cassandra had addressed her by her name and was backstage at her big coming-out event. “Oh… yeah I guess you do know already.” Said Lara, relieved “Did Damian tell you?”

This actually made the daughter of Batman smirk a little. “Knew before that. Annoyed Damian that I knew before him.”

“You… you knew before he told you!?” Lara had not expected this. “But how?! I barely knew it myself when we last saw each other!”

Cass gave a little shrug, “Saw…” she paused for a second, thinking how best to convey what she saw in words, “How you carried yourself before the dancing... Then saw you after…” She paused, apparently trying to find the right words.

It was at this point that Lara remembered what Damian had told her about his big sister. How she sometimes struggled with verbal communication and language. She waited patiently for Cass to continue.

The black-haired girl circled her face with an open hand, which Lara recognised as the ASL sign meaning “Beautiful”. Lara felt herself blush when she understood what Cassandra meant.

Cass then found some more words and started speaking again. “Different. Happy. Knew just by looking. I’m happy. Proud of you.”

“Whoa...!” breathed Lara. “You could tell just by looking? Was I really that obvious?”

“Don’t worry, Princess.” said Kara. “Cass here is gifted when it comes to reading people’s body language. Her observation skills are almost superhuman!”

Cass smiled. “Knew it was a secret. Never told Damian, or dad.”

Lara smiled, glad that someone like Cass was on her side.

“If you want to dance more, I can teach you.” Cass said with a smile. “Ballet is important to me.”

“That would be great!” said Lara. “I’m actually coming over to Gotham tonight, for another training session with Damian. Maybe you could join us.”

Cass didn't answer right away. She stared off into the middle-distance, in deep thought. “Better idea.” she said eventually. “Talk to Damian later.”

Right on cue, the door opened and Damian entered the room, followed closely by his father.

“You’re up, Power Girl!” said Bruce, giving Kara a thumbs up.

“Alrighty then.” said Kara, standing up and adjusting her costume. “How do I look?”

Lara grinned and gave her cousin two thumbs-up. Bruce and Cass each gave a nod of approval. Damian put a finger to his chin as he examined Kara’s outfit, critically. “Tt,” he remarked, “Flamboyant and ostentatious. But I suppose that’s considered a good look in Metropolis.”

Kara laughed and ruffled Damian’s hair, making him scowl at her. “Hey, at least I’m trying to stand out.” said Kara, as she flew towards the door.

Before leaving, Kara looked back, and said “Good luck, Lara!” Then she headed out through the door, heading for the stage.

Damian pouted. “I knew wearing this was a mistake.” he said, while everyone else tried to stop smirking at Kara’s comment.

Bruce sat down next to Cass, and smiled at Lara. “I picked his outfit for him.” he whispered to the girls. “Didn’t want Damian upstaging anyone with one of his fashion statements.”

Damian huffed, apparently hearing what his dad said, and sat down next to Lara. He perked up when he noticed Lara’s new outfit. “Aha! Now that’s a better costume!” he remarked, scanning her up and down. “Far less derivative than the last one, and it shows off your femininity and elegance, as well as your power and strength!”

Lara smiled. “Thanks, Damian. That means a lot.”

Suddenly, they heard the audience cheering for Kara a few seconds before Power Girl appeared on the screen. She flew out over the crowd and did a little spin in the air so everyone could see her new look from every side before landing back at the podium. “Good morning Metropolis! Well? What do you think of the new me!” She called out and got a loud cheer in response.

“Looks like they like her!” Lara smiled at Damian, but paused, noticing the sound had cut out for a moment and Donna was suddenly glaring daggers at someone in the crowd. “Wait, what was that?”

Damian chuckled “They must have had to censor someone in the crowd. I wonder what they said.”

Lara took a deep breath. She hadn’t considered hecklers in the crowd. Damian saw this and put a hand on her shoulder, “Hey, they’re going to love you Lara. People like that idiot aren’t worth the time.”

Onscreen, Kara smirked in the direction of the heckler. “Is that what you think? Well, me and my good friend Wonder Girl have something to say to that…”

Donna walked up behind Kara, who turned to look at her. The two superheroines began making out onstage to thunderous applause. Even Cass started clapping.

Lara couldn’t help but laugh at this extreme reaction “Oh wow! I wish I could respond to idiots with that!” Thinking of kissing brought her mind back to her impetuous action in Paris… “Hey wait.” She said, interrupting that thought with a new one, “Were Kara and Donna even out as a couple publicly?”

“Well if they weren’t, they are now!” Damian said, nodding his approval of the women’s actions. “Me and Colin did something similar at Baba’s last gala. Some bigoted oil tycoon showed up uninvited, knowing that it would reflect badly on Baba if he was turned away. Luckily, my habibi and I scared him off, simply by being as romantic as possible with each other, whenever he looked our way.”

Cass gave a small chuckle, “Harper started it.”

Damian shrugged. “Maybe so, but Me and Colin kept it going for longer.”

Brushing aside the mental image of Colin and Damian making out in order to scare a rich homophobe, Lara instead focused on what Cass had just said. “Who’s Harper?”

“Harper Row; my sister’s girlfriend.” said Damian, “Also known as Bluebird of The Outsiders.”

“Partner, Damian. Not girlfriend.” Cass corrected him, not sounding mad but her tone was firm.

Damian quickly backtracked, “I’m sorry! It just slipped out!”

Lara was a bit confused, especially since Damian rarely apologized that quickly. “Um… what’s the difference?” She asked, not sure how else to say it.

“Harper is non-binary,” Cassandra explained. She thought how best to explain it and decided to sign with Damian translating.

“Harper still uses she/her pronouns but she doesn’t identify as female. That’s why she prefers to be seen as Cass’s partner rather than her girlfriend.”

Cassandra nodded in thanks to her little brother. “She calls us “date-mates”” Her cheeks actually turned a little pink.

“That’s cute!” Lara giggled, adding this information to her growing knowledge of LGBTQ+ scociety, “But I thought non-binary people used they/them.”

Damian took it over here, “Oh, many do. But there’s no wrong way of doing it. Some still use he/him or she/her. Others use totally different terms like ze/zir, or whatever feels right to them.”

Lara nodded slowly, “I’m not sure I understand, but I love it! Do you think I could meet Harper?”

Cassandra nodded, “Sure! Maybe later today.” She signed something to Damian, who nodded in agreement.

“Still up for training tonight, Lara?” Damian asked. “Me and Cass have just had an idea.”

“Totally!” said Lara, “What’s this idea?”

She paused hearing another loud round of applause from outside and checked the screen, seeing Kara step back from the podium to stand with Donna holding hands.

“We can talk later.” Said Damian. “I think it’s your turn now.”

To help drive that point home, Wonder Woman walked into the room. “We’re ready for you, Lara!”

Diana stopped when she saw Lara in her new outfit. “Great Gaia! You look amazing, my dear!” She held out her hand. “Are you ready for your big moment?”

Lara had been caught off guard by the sudden realization that it was now time for her debut. It had snuck up on her! She wasn’t ready yet! She couldn’t-

“Supergirl.” The train of panicked thoughts stopped hearing Diana’s gentle voice address her that way. She looked again at her hero who still had her hand extended out. “You are ready, Lara.” It was a statement of fact, and hearing Wonder Woman say it with such confidence, Lara now believed it… She gave one last smile at Damian and Cassandra, before taking Diana’s hand and following her.

“I just wanted to tell you how proud we all are of you for doing this, Lara.” She spoke softly. They were still behind the curtains but they were so close that Lara could hear her father now answering questions from the crowd.

They were just in time to hear, “Superman! How is your younger son doing? Will the young Superboy be making his debut any time soon?”

Lara smiled a little at the awkward cough her father gave at the irony of the question.

“Oh, Well my second born is doing very well. As for your second question… I… yes and no…” Clark looked off stage and saw Diana give him the thumbs up.

“I think it’s better that we move on to the second big announcement of the day. Ladies, gentlemen, and others! I am proud, not just as Superman, but as a father, to present to you… Supergirl!”

He stepped back from the podium and the crowd applauded, but not as loudly as for Kara. There seemed to be a little muttering of confusion among the cheers. Still those people were cheering for her! Lara took one last deep breath to steal her nerves and flew out onto the stage.

Once the crowd got a good look at her, the cheers grew louder. She could even make out a few comments about how cute she looked. Lara caught her mother’s eye in the front row, next to a slightly perplexed looking Jimmy Olsen. Lois was glowing with pride for her little girl!

Emulating Kara and wanting to vent some of her euphoric energy, Lara flew a lap over the crowd, waving to several people as she went. By the time she landed back on the stage, Lara was grinning from ear-to-ear. The crowd quietened down as she approached the podium.

Lara cleared her throat. “Thanks, Dad! Hi everybody!” She smiled sweetly, just like she had practiced, and the crowd cheered.

She continued her rehearsed speech. “So, as my dad said, I’m the new Supergirl, and me and my dad are gonna be working together, in the fight for truth, justice and the American way!”

The crowd applauded this, and Lara looked over at Clark, who nodded approvingly. They made eye-contact, and Lara was moved to see the sheer pride and joy in her father's eyes. They filled her with euphoria, confidence and determination.

Lara looked out across the crowd. Reporters were waiting with notepads and dictaphones, and dozens of news cameras were set up behind them. Lara locked eyes with Lois, in the front row. Though she didn’t say anything, Lara could read Lois’s expression. “Go on, Princess! You can do this! I believe in you…”

Lara smiled, and spoke into the mic. “One more thing, before everyone starts asking questions. I have something to say...”

There was a brief curious murmur, that rippled through the crowd, as the new Supergirl took a deep breath.

“I... am a trans girl. I was assigned male at birth, but I am a girl, and my pronouns are She/Her.”

Lara looked out at a sea of shocked faces. “Any questions?”
________________________________________________________________
Across the country, at Titans Tower, It had taken Conner longer than he thought to get his partners out of bed. Steph had gotten up grumbling eventually, but Tim had refused to get up, resulting in Conner carrying his small boyfriend, still wrapped in his blankets, and putting him down on the sofa. They were both thankful for the coffee and confused by the surprise breakfast of soaked luke warm cereal. Conner turned up the volume on the TV.

Luckily, the press conference had gotten to Kara’s appearance before Tim and Steph could start asking questions. All three approved of her name and costume, and cheered the kiss.

“Was that what you wanted to show us, Kon?” asked Steph, as Kara finished her speech. “You’ve been pretty excited about something for the past week.”

“Not exactly…” Conner smirked, as he watched the screen. He noticed that Wonder Woman had slipped backstage, presumably going to fetch Lara.

Tim, who was snuggled between his boyfriend and girlfriend, suddenly spoke up. “I think I know what’s going on here.” he said, sipping his coffee.

“Oh really?” said Stephanie, putting an arm around Tim. “Care to enlighten us, Birdboy?”

Tim smiled. “Kon’s been talking with the Metropolis Kents almost every day for the past week.” He gazed up, giving Conner a smug look. “They’re gonna be unveiling the new Superboy, aren’t they? There’ve been rumors all over social media.”

On the TV screen, they watched Clark speak at the podium. “I am proud, not just as Superman, but as a father, to present to you…”

“I knew it!” said Tim, confidently. “Here we go!”
“Supergirl!” cheered Clark.
“Wait...WHAT?!” said Tim and Steph in unison, as Lara flew out onto the stage.

Conner tried his best not to laugh, as he watched his two SOs slowly piece things together.

When Lara finally made her announcement, Steph leaped to her feet with excitement, and Tim dropped his coffee. “Oh my god!” they both shrieked.

“No flippin’ way!” Steph cried out. They both turned as one to look at Conner who was beaming with pride as he watched his little sister on the TV. “How long did you know?”

Conner chuckled, “She came out at the Smallville family dinner last week. She goes by Lara now.”

“This is amazing!” Tim was now fully awake and stood up. “Kon, Steph, wake up the team! They need to see this! I’ll start making us a full breakfast for everyone!”

Both Conner and Steph kissed Tim on the cheeks and ran off to the other bedrooms. Tim began heating the oven, as he prepared various breakfast ingredients. It wasn’t long before the kitchen was filled with smoke and the smell of melting plastic.

---

Over in Bludhaven, the reactions of the Grayson-West family were a little different. It took Dick, Kor’i, Wally and Artemis a moment to recognize the new Supergirl when she first flew onstage.

As Lara landed on the stage, and the camera was able to focus on her face, Mar’i sat up excitedly. “It’s Jon!” she cried, before looking confused. “Wait...Did they say “Supergirl?””

The adults all exchanged a look. One-by-one, they figured out what was going on, and were quickly confirmed when Lara announced her identity to the crowd.

Kor’i gave a squeal of delight. “Oh, how wonderful! She looks so cute!”

Wally was already checking social media, scrolling through his phone at a speed that only he could read, while Artemis cheered, “You go, girl!” at the screen.

Dick leant over to his daughter, who was still staring at the TV with a perplexed expression. “Hey Starshine, are you following this okay?”

Mar’i looked up at her dad, quizzically. “I think so… How come Jon’s a girl now?”

At that moment, Dick felt his phone vibrate. He checked it and saw a text from Damian, which simply read, “Her name is Lara.”

Dick smiled at Mar'i. “I guess she just feels more comfortable as a girl.” He chose his words carefully so as not to confuse the 5 year old. “Oh, and I just got a text from your Uncle Dami. He says that her new name is Lara.”

Mari’s eyes lit up as she grinned. “That’s a way better name!”

“Soopa girl!” giggled Jake, from his high chair.

Dick smiled at his kids, and made a mental note to try and arrange a time for them to meet their newest hero.

---

Back in Vincent’s café, the TV was tuned into the MHNN (Metahuman News Network), an international news network which primarily focused on news relating to the Superhero community. It was the only news channel to broadcast the Metropolis press conference to other countries as it happened.

As the press conference went on, the atmosphere among the customers had changed drastically. The debut of Power Girl had gotten everybody’s attention, especially after she had locked lips with Wonder Girl for the whole world to see. Now everyone was watching intently, as Superman began to announce the second debut of the day.

Vincent, Thomas and Jérôme all exchanged a smile, as they had a pretty good idea as to who would be appearing onstage. Sure enough, Thomas smiled as he recognized the cute girl flying onto the stage; the same girl that had kissed him earlier that day.

However, the other customers all seemed perplexed by the new Supergirl. “Je savais pas qu’il avait une fille?³I didn't know he had a daughter?” said one of the boys that Thomas had been chatting to.

“Moi non plus.” said another, “Mais sur tous les forums j’ai lu qu’il avait un autre fils qui allait être le nouveau Superboy. Est-ce qu’ils se seraient trompés?”⁴Me neither. But all the online forums say he had another son who was gonna be the new Superboy. Did they get it wrong?”

Thomas had to admit, even he was a little confused by this. His dad had definitely heard the Man of Steel talk about his younger son before. Had Superman lied to them? Or was Thomas’s clone theory actually true?

They got their answer when the Girl of Steel made her big announcement, and Thomas read the French subtitles; “Je suis une fille trans⁵I am a trans girl”

Upon hearing this, quite a few customers gasped, others started muttering to each other, and a few of them gave small cheers. Thomas looked up at Vincent, who was sitting next to him. “Papa?” he said, “Qu’es-ce que ça veut dire être une “fille trans”⁶(What does she mean by "trans girl"??”

Vincent pondered over his response. “Et bien, en fait…⁷Well, son...” he began, thinking how best to explain it to the young boy. “Lorsqu’une personne est “trans”, cela signifie que son corps ne va pas correctement avec son genre. Une fille trans, c’est une fille née dans un corps comme un garçon, mais ça marche aussi dans l’autre sens. Un garçon trans, c’est un garçon né dans un corps comme une fille.⁸"trans" means someone who is born with a body that doesn't match their gender. A trans girl is a girl born in a boy's body, but it also works the other way around; trans boys are boys with girl's bodies.”

“Euh…⁹Huh...” said Thomas, looking at the young Supergirl on the screen, before his eyes went wide with realisation. “Oh! Alors ça veut dire que quand superman parlait de son fils, en fait c’était...?!¹⁰Oh! So when Superman used to talk about his son, it was actually...?!”

Vincent nodded and chuckled. “Superman semble avoir réalisé son erreur, et l’a accepté comme sa fille.¹¹It looks like Superman has realized his mistake, and accepted her as his daughter”

Thomas smiled as he gazed up at the screen. "Content pour elle! Elle est super jolie, et elle m’a même fait un bisou! Tu te souviens?¹²Good for her! She's still cute. She even kissed me! Remember?”

Vincent smiled and ruffled his son's hair, before standing up and going back to serve his customers.

---

“Any questions?” asked Lara.

The crowd of journalists at the front of the crowd all started asking questions at once. Lara could barely make any of them out. She had anticipated a big reaction, but it was still a little overwhelming.

Luckily, her dad stepped in at that moment to calm the crowd down. “Okay folks! My daughter’s only gonna be answering a few questions here today, but I’ll be taking over after her.” Clark smiled at Lara, who gave a little thank you nod.

The journalists all sat down, yet kept their hands in the air. All except for Lois, who had stayed seated the whole time, with one hand raised calmly in the air. Naturally, Clark chose her for the first question.

“Hi Supergirl!” said Lois, cheerily. “Lois Lane - Daily Planet. First off, I just wanna say congratulations! You go, girl!”

Lara smiled at her mom’s comment. She loved how, even in full-journalist mode, she was still as supportive as ever. “Thanks M- Miss Lane!” She caught herself, managing to disguise her slip up as a nervous stammer.

Lois held up a recorder. “I want to ask, seeing how you’re possibly the world’s youngest openly-trans superhero. Is there anything you’d like to say to other kids out there who might be watching?”

This was an easy question, and one Lara had anticipated, thanks to Lois helping her rehearse for the conference over the past week. Lara stared down at the emblem on her chest, remembering the conversation she had had with her father while they were in Paris.

“I guess you could say that, giving people hope is a big part of being a hero.” said Lara, gesturing to the emblem. “That’s what this symbol means; Hope.” Lara looked up at Clark, who nodded encouragingly.

She continued her speech. “When I first told my dad that I was a girl, I was worried. I didn’t know what to expect or what would happen, and it was a really scary time for me.” She looked out towards the cameras at the back of the crowd, wondering how many kids like her would see this. “But I’m incredibly lucky to have an amazing family and friends to support me, and I know that not all trans kids have that. So I just wanna say; To anyone out there who is, or might be, trans, whether you’re out to anyone or not; I completely support you! I promise to do whatever I can to make the world a better place for people like us!”

Once again, the crowd started making noise. Only this time, they were clapping for Lara’s speech. With her super-hearing, Lara could hear people cheering all over the city, presumably from people watching her on TV.

“Next question!” said Clark, once the clapping had died down, pointing to a blonde woman in a black business outfit in the front row.

“Hi.” said the woman, holding up her own recorder, “Vicki Vale - Gotham Gazette. Are you planning to be a fully-fledged hero, or is this more of a hero-in-training/sidekick situation, like with Robin and Batman?”

Lara suppressed a smirk, as she heard a noise from backstage, which sounded like Damian scoffing angrily at being called a “hero-in-training”. She was happy to answer a more straightforward question, though she couldn’t help noticing that Vale had not shown much of a reaction to Lara’s coming out, aside from clapping politely.

“For now, I’m basically gonna be my dad’s sidekick.” answered Lara. “He’s gonna show me the basics of being a superhero. I’m also gonna be training with other heroes in the Justice League.”

Vale raised an eyebrow. “Could you possibly give us a little more info? Maybe tell who you’ll be training with, and where?”

Lara stammered a little, unsure of exactly how much she was allowed to say. Luckily, her dad took over for her.

“I’m afraid that’s a private matter, Miss Vale.” said Clark, leaning over to the microphone. “We have time for one more question.”

A curly-haired man sitting a few seats away from Vale stood up. “Uh, hi,” he said, awkwardly. “Alexander Knox - Gotham Globe. I just wanna ask, have you fully transitioned, or is there still more to do? Will you be using any metahuman methods to help you? Maybe some kind of Kryptonian hormone therapy?”

A few people in the crowd turned to stare at Knox, who grinned nervously. A few seats away, Vale rolled her eyes.

Lara blinked in confusion. “Uhhh… I haven’t… I mean, I don’t…”

Once again, Clark came to his daughter’s rescue. “I’m afraid that is a personal matter, Mr. Knox.” said Clark, with the slightest hint of annoyance in his voice. He then looked at Lara. “Do you wanna stop there, sweetie?”

Lara nodded. Knox’s question had caught her off-guard, and she was in need of some rest, away from the prying eyes of the media.

The Man of Steel smiled as he addressed the crowd. “That’s all from Supergirl for today folks! I’ll stick around to answer any further questions.” He gestured to Lara. “People of Metropolis, Let’s give it up for my daughter”

The crowd clapped and cheered for Lara, who blushed and smiled as she waved to everyone. After a quick hug with her dad, which resulted in a chorus of “Aawwws!” from a few people in the crowd, Lara levitated into the air and flew backstage.

Diana was waiting for her with her arms outstretched and a warm smile. Lara flew straight into a hug from the Amazon princess.

“Congratulations, Lara!” said Diana proudly. “You were amazing!”

“Thanks!” squeaked Lara, giddy with happiness and excitement. “Is everyone else still here?”

“Of course!” said Diana, as she led the young girl down the hall, back to the lounge.

As they entered, Lara was welcomed by a loud applause from Kara, Donna, Bruce, Cassandra and Damian.

After everyone had had a chance to congratulate, hug and/or high-five the new Supergirl, Lara lay down on the sofa and let out a long sigh of relief.

She had done it. She was out to the world as Supergirl, had an entire community of friends and family who loved and supported her, and best of all, would soon be heading over to Gotham for ballet practice with her best friends.

Suffice it to say, this had been a pretty good Saturday.