Lara watched with a mixture of excitement and curiosity as Laurence pulled out a thin, flat wrapped parcel. “This is just a small thing we put together.” He said, handing her the gift. “Thought this’d be a good simple one to start with, before your main present. It was Izzy’s idea.”

 

Lara weighed the gift curiously. It was very light, and not just by Kryptonian standards. She carefully tore away the paper to find that it contained a framed photograph. Lara remembered when this photo had been taken, almost a year ago, just after she had started 7th Grade at Reeve-West. She smiled at the memory. “Our first group project!” She said excitedly, before she paused and took another look at the image. 

 

Lara remembered having her photo taken that day. She remembered grinning awkwardly along with her newfound school friends, as they hung out at the Kents’ apartment after school. What she definitely did NOT remember, was wearing a sky-blue summer dress at the time!

 

But there she was in the photo! Sitting between her two schoolmates on the end of her bed, wearing one of her favorite dresses and smiling happily. It was like looking into an alternate universe where Lara had always been able to live as her true self! Any regular person would simply see a photo of a cheerful young girl in 7th grade, spending time with her friends.

 

Lara’s gaze darted between her friends and the photo, as she slowly put the pieces together. She remembered all the times she had worn that dress around the apartment, and all the pictures that Lois had taken to replace the old “boy photos” in the family album. Izzy and Laurence had evidently gotten ahold of one of those pictures and edited Lara into the old group project photo.

 

“It took us a while to find a good picture of you in the dress,” said Laurence. “I mean… You look great in all of them, but we had to find one that would fit nicely with the old photo, y’know?”

 

Izzy smiled a little awkwardly, not sure from her friend’s initial reaction if she liked the gift or not. “I hope you like it, Lara. We talked to your parents for weeks to try and find a good picture for us to edit your new look into!”

 

“You… you added me to our old picture?” Lara asked, her voice cracking and her eyes starting to fill with happy tears.

 

“You were always in the photo Lara, Izzy just made it the real you.” Laurence answered for Izzy as they were left a bit speechless by how much Lara appreciated the gift. Lara rushed forward to hug the pair of them, unable to put her thanks into words.

 

“Now for gift number two...” Laurence said, clearing his throat once Lara had let him go. He pulled a small narrow box out of his jacket pocket. His wrapping job was sloppy and uneven, clearly done himself. “Happy birthday, Lara.”

 

Lara carefully pulled away the tape and paper. She could tell what the gift was just by looking at the box. “A pen?” Granted, Laurence’s parents owned a stationary company. But even so, this gift felt a little underwhelming.

 

“Open it.” Laurence insisted, watching Lara’s face for her reaction.

 

Trusting her friend, Lara opened the box. Inside was the sort of pen she had expected, a high class expensive one, the kind the Daily Planet gave to employees as retirement gifts. But this one was special, not only customized in trans flag colors, but engraved. Lara picked it up gently and read the words, “Property of Lara Ella Kent”, written in gold cursive. Lara was liking this gift more and more. “Oh, That’s really sweet. Thank you!” 

 

“Glad you like it.” Laurence smiled. “Talking with your parents I thought it might be… useful.”

 

“Useful?” Lara asked before turning to see that Lois and Clark had entered the room carrying a small stack of papers, unwrapped but decorated with a big red bow stuck on top.

 

“We have one last surprise for you, sweetheart!” Lois grinned. “Your friends here were a great help in keeping this under wraps…” She placed the paper stack down on the table in front of Lara, allowing her to read what was on them.

 

“Application for… for legal change of name?” Lara read aloud, her voice cracking as the realization hit her.  “Wait…” she gasped, looking up at her parents’ proud smiles. “Does… Does this mean… I’d be Lara everywhere?!” Her voice shook as she spoke.

 

“Everywhere, princess.” Clark confirmed, speaking softly. “Your school ID, medical records, even your birth certificate will all have your real name the moment that these forms are filled out, filed and approved!” 

 

The process of a legal name change for minors in their state had once been much more complicated than this. But with gradual influence from Queen Consolidated and the Wayne Foundation, along with media campaigning from journalists like Lois and Clark, the process had been steadily streamlined and made more accessible in recent years.

 

Lara’s mind rushed as she tried to process what was happening. She was in real danger of floating up to the apartment ceiling in her overwhelming happiness if she wasn’t careful. She once again looked down at the pen Laurence had given to her, now understanding its significance. The pen wasn’t just a sentimental keepsake, but the final tool for the day she officially became the name engraved on the side!

 

She had to let out at least some of the joy rising inside her! “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!” Lara cried out, rushing to hug everyone in the room, holding back even more happy tears as she went. 

 

She made sure to hug her dad with her full strength, since he was the only person in the room who could withstand it, thus giving Lara the chance to exert some extra love and happiness. Lois was next, as mother and daughter held onto each other for almost a full minute. If Lara had to ease off on the force of the embrace, she could at least make up for it by giving her mom an extra-long one. Finally, when it came to Izzy and Laurence, Lara was able to give them both a more reserved but still enthusiastic squeeze, until she found her voice again. “You guys were helping all this time?!”

 

Izzy answered first. “Heh… yeah. Sorry we haven’t spoken much these last few weeks. This was a tough gift to organize, let alone keep it a secret.”

 

“But still, we managed it!” Laurence said, proudly. “A few late nights of study, and a couple of favors called in make all the difference!”

 

Lara finally cracked, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks as she hugged both of her friends a little tighter. She then made sure to let them both go before she got too carried away.

“We’ve already filled out most of the important parts, sweetie.” Lois explained, holding up the fancy pen that Laurence had gifted her. She grinned as Lara practically skipped over to the table where the documents lay. “Whenever you’re ready, Lara…”

 

Lara felt a flutter of joy at the sound of her name. She had gotten pretty used to hearing people refer to her as such, but now that it was about to officially become her legal name, she was happier than ever to hear it being spoken.

 

She quickly scanned the papers on the table, trying her best to concentrate through her own excitement. She only felt a little disheartened to see that her deadname was included among the various pieces of required information. Her parents had mercifully saved her some trouble by printing it out in all the appropriate blank spaces, bar one that required Lara to write out her old signature one final time.

 

Lara took a deep breath, and with a few quick strokes of the pen, it was done. She was finally free of the name that had never truly been hers. Her deadname was now truly gone. Strange, how such an important moment had been accomplished with such a mundane act. It almost felt… anticlimactic.

 

She perked up a little when she saw that the rest of the papers had multiple spaces for Lara to print and sign her new name in all its glory. She happily got to work filling out the remaining spaces, taking her time to speak her name out loud as she wrote out the last signature, “Lara… Ella… Kent!”

 

And with one final click of the pen, it was done! Granted, the documents would still have to be submitted and filed by a lawyer before anything went into effect. But as far as Lara was concerned, it was now official! 

 

She held the papers aloft, showing them off to her guests as they all cheered and clapped for (the now officially named) Lara Ella Kent! Clark wiped a proud tear from his eye as he beamed at his daughter, and Lois was once again taking pictures for the family album.

 

Once the cheering and pictures were done, Lois and Clark hugged Lara tightly before collecting the papers and taking them into the other room. They had to be given one final look-through before they were sent off to be processed, but as far as Lara was concerned, everything was now set in stone. She was now officially the girl she had always been destined to become!

 

Lara sighed contentedly, returning her attention back to her friends, “Were you two really planning this the entire time?” She asked, now able to process the information a little easier now she had calmed down a little.

 

Izzy nodded and smiled apologetically at her friend. “Sorry, it meant we haven’t been talking as much this summer. You know how bad we both are at keeping secrets!” Laurence shot Izzy a dirty look, but she ignored him. “We didn’t wanna blow the surprise early.”

 

Lara smiled and, before she could stop herself, kissed both Izzy and Laurence on the cheek in thanks. “You guys are the best friends a girl could have! Thank you so much!”

 

Laurence looked ready to say something, cheeks very pink from the unexpected kiss, but was suddenly interrupted by a noise from the balcony. 

 

Shazam had returned once again, setting Colin and Damian down as he waved to the people inside! “Hey, we’re back!” Billy cheered as he opened the door into the apartment. “Hope you guys didn’t have too much fun while we were gone!”

 

Lara was about to launch into a wild and joyful retelling of all that had occurred, when she suddenly noticed something odd. “Colin..? What are you wearing?” The young redhead was clearly dressed in different clothes from when he had left, with his hoodie and baggy pants having been swapped for a stylish jacket and designer jeans!

 

“Long story…” Colin said, a little embarrassed and trying ineffectually to not draw attention to himself.

 

“Oh that?” Damian cut in quickly, “Just a small inconvenience that happened while we were out flying. Luckily we found a clothes store, and I took the liberty of buying Colin some fresh garments. Doesn’t he look handsome?”

 

“Damian, please!” Colin rolled his eyes at Damian. “So my clothes got a little dirty. Let’s not make a huge deal out of it.”

 

Laurence and Izzy looked puzzled. “How would you get your clothes dirty if you were up in the air?” Izzy asked. 

 

“Did he drop you too?” Laurence added, wondering just how often Shazam let kids fall out of the sky.

 

“I’d rather not talk about it…” Colin said, giving Lara a look to signal that he desperately needed a change of subject. Lara had an idea as to why her friend was being elusive, and his expression all but confirmed it; Colin must have accidentally transformed in mid-flight and torn his clothes to shreds. Something about being so high up probably triggered an instinctive transformation, like the one he’d had lifting all those heavy weights at the gym.

 

Lara looked over at Shazam, who she now noticed was smiling a little too wide, as if he was trying to conceal the shock of having just watched a young teen transform into a massive hairy flying beast. Lara wondered if Billy had known about Colin’s powers before this moment.

 

Deciding it was best to distract everyone from this topic before it got too embarrassing, Lara suddenly remembered what she had been so excited about before Colin and Damian had returned. “It seems we both have fun stories to tell.” She chuckled, sitting Colin and Damian down on the couch so she could fill them in on what had occurred. “You boys won’t believe what happened while you were out!”

________________________________________________________________

 

Over the next hour or so, the party continued at a much more reasonable pace, now that everyone had had a turn flying around the city. Billy stuck around for about 10 more minutes to hear Lara tell everyone about her new legal name. Shazam, along with Colin and Damian, congratulated Lara with perfect enthusiasm. Colin seemed especially pleased for Lara, telling her how inspiring it was that she had come so far in such a short amount of time.

 

Soon afterwards, Billy had to head back to Fawcett City. After one more quick round of selfies with the kids, Shazam leapt from the balcony and flew off dramatically into the night, sending a small bolt of lightning into the air for additional flair.

 

Having already had quite an evening of excitement, the kids all agreed it was time to sit down with pizza, ice cream and a movie. The only problem was deciding which movie to watch…

 

Despite already living in a world of superheroes, and now being one herself, Lara had always been a huge fan of the Marvel superheroes. Some people just found it strange that anyone would be interested in watching the fictional Avengers or X-Men when they already had the Justice League or the Titans in real life. 

 

But Lara had been a fan of the comics, games, shows and movies for as long as she could remember, ever since Clark had first read his old Captain America comics to her as a toddler. Unlike some other naysayers, Lara found that being a part of the real-life superhero community added a few extra layers of enjoyment to her viewing experience.

 

The Kents had a fairly extensive collection of movies, particularly when it came to the MCEU (Marvel Comics Extended Universe), which included several of Lara’s favorite heroic adventures, team-ups and crossovers. Movies such as “Secret Wars”, “Avengers vs X-Men”, “Future Foundation” and “Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows” were suggested as potential entertainment to help wind-down from the day’s excitement.

 

In the end, Lara decided on which movie to watch. One hour later, the kids were nestled in front of the TV, watching Spider-Man swing around the city with his wife and daughter; Spinneret and Spiderling. Lara loved being able to secretly relate to the characters in her favorite movies in such a unique way, and watching the young hero, Spiderling, become a hero like her parents before her certainly meant a lot to Lara. As was said before; there were additional layers to Lara’s enjoyment of the movie.

 

As the movie went on, the kids chatted about their favorite characters, what they had thought about previous movies, and where they thought the future of the MCEU was headed. Colin and Lara mostly shared headcanons about various characters they saw as trans, but were soon overshadowed by Damian and Laurence comparing and debating their predictions for future movies. 

 

Deciding not to get too involved in the boys’ discussion, Lara looked over at Izzy, who lay on the floor doodling in a worn sketchbook she often carried with her. 

 

Izzy had been quite a talented young artist for longer than Lara had known her. She had always received top marks in art class, and had even drawn quite a few short cartoons for the school paper. In fact, it was Izzy’s art that had led to her becoming friends with Laurence and Lara in the first place. She was no stranger to drawing Superman and various other heroes, which of course led to discussions with the school’s resident Superman fanboy and the kid who was secretly Supergirl.

 

Lara peeked over her friend’s shoulder to get a look at what she had drawn. At first, it appeared as though Izzy had been attempting a short comic strip of the flight with Shazam she had been on. Billy and Laurence were both drawn in a fun caricatured manner, with Laurence mid scream and clinging to Shazam, but she had apparently gotten stuck when it came to depicting herself. Lara could just see the space where Izzy would eventually be added, an obvious hole in the picture.

Lara peeked a little further, and saw that Izzy had seemingly moved on to a different project. The opposite page featured two small sketches of some more familiar figures; a boy and a girl. The boy wore a baggy hoodie, baseball cap and glasses, whereas the girl wore a pretty spring dress.

Lara blinked in surprise as she recognized the people in the sketches. The “boy” was her own pre-transition self, and the girl was her wearing the dress she had worn the day she had come out to her school friends! Izzy had illustrated Lara’s journey of becoming her true self!

 

Lara couldn’t stop herself from grinning. Normally, she didn’t care to be reminded of her old life as a quiet and shy boy. But when she looked at the little sketch of the quiet shy boy turning into a beautiful happy girl, it reminded her of just how incredible her journey had been!

 

“Whoa, Izzy!” Lara gasped, making her friend jump. “That looks amazing!”

“Oh, hey!” Izzy stammered, hastily sitting up to face Lara. “Yeah, I was just doing some warm-up sketches. Nothing too big or detailed… Just kinda practicing some new ideas, y’know?” She grinned nervously.

 

“Warm-up sketches? What for?” Lara asked, her interest piqued.

 

Izzy chewed the end of her pencil. “I… Well, I’ve kind of been thinking about a new look… For myself…” She looked nervously at Lara. “That’s not weird, is it?”

 

“Of course not.” Lara replied, feeling a small twinge of excitement. Was Izzy about to open up to her? Was this confirmation of her theory? “We all need a change now and then. What were you thinking of?”

 

“I… I don’t know…” Izzy admitted, staring at the page with the caricature before answering, “It’s just… I don’t always like to draw myself… as myself. Does that make any sense? It’s like the person I’m drawing… isn’t the real me.”

 

That absolutely made sense to Lara. She could tell Izzy meant much more than just looking for a new hairstyle, or something. This was starting to sound all too familiar indeed for the young trans girl.

 

“I get it, Izzy. I totally get it.” She put a hand on her friend’s and was going to say more… Right before Laurence started loudly complaining to Damian about how badly the Spider-Man movies had adapted Ben Reilly. Lara had her own feelings about what the movies had done to the Scarlet Spider, but now wasn’t the time. “Want to talk about this somewhere… quieter?”

 

“Yes please,” Izzy said with a sigh, before adding, “Can Colin come too? It’s not like the dorks are going to notice us gone.”

 

Colin heard his name and seemed to immediately know what this meant. “Yeah, no problem!” His instincts as the elder trans kid had kicked in. He exchanged a brief understanding look with Lara, which was all he needed. There could very well be an imminent egg-cracking, and his guidance was required.

 

The three of them got up from the sofa quietly, trying not to draw the attention of the other two as they made their way to Lara’s bedroom, as Damian and Laurence continued debating their movie ideas.

 

On the way, Lara noticed her mother working away in her study. Clark had been called away to deal with some “work business”, but he had promised to return before Lara went to bed. With the kids occupied with their movie, Lois had decided to catch up on some proofreading. 

 

Lara quickly poked her head through the door to inform Lois that they were just heading to her room for a quick chat, and to knock if anyone was wanted. Lois smiled and nodded, promising to also keep an ear open for Damian and Laurence’s discussion in case things got out of hand. The kids were old enough to not require too much supervision, but it was always wise to take some precautions with boys like Damian.

 

Once they had entered her bedroom, Lara closed the door behind her so that she and Colin could chat more privately with Izzy. She then gestured for Colin and Izzy to each take a seat. Izzy sat in Lara’s desk chair, and Colin flopped down on a small beanbag over by the bookshelf, where Lara kept her extensive comic collection. 

 

“So…” Lara said, perching herself on the end of her bed. “You wanted to talk to both me and Colin about this… dilemma you're having?” She was sure to choose her words carefully. Even if she were 99.99% sure she knew what her friend wanted to talk about, she didn’t want to push Izzy into saying or doing anything she wouldn’t want to.

 

“I’m happy to help, Izzy!” Colin said with a cheesy grin. “I know we’ve only just met tonight, but I’m told my natural charisma makes me a great people-person. Right, Lara?” 

 

That got a small giggle out of Izzy. Colin had meant it as a joke, but that had actually been a good icebreaker. Izzy seemed a little calmer now, as she gently swung her legs back and forth on the chair.

 

“Soooo…” Izzy began, after taking a deep breath. “I guess you two might have figured it out by now, but… I’ve kind of been questioning some stuff.” She looked up at the pair of them. “Stuff like the whole… Y’know… “being trans” thing…”

 

Lara almost breathed a sigh of relief. There were still tons of questions to be asked and a whole bunch of different ways this conversation could go, for better or for worse. But this at least still partially confirmed Lara’s theory about Izzy’s recent distant behavior.

 

Izzy took another deep breath. “I’m not even sure if “trans” is the right word for what I’ve been feeling lately… about gender and stuff like that.” She looked over at Lara. “I guess you’ve always known I’m not that into a lot of girl stuff, right?” 

 

She gestured down at her own outfit, which consisted of a grey blouse, denim jeans and sneakers; an unusually simple look for Izzy. Lara hadn’t really paid much attention to her friend’s attire that evening, partially due to all the day’s many exciting surprises, but also because the outfit almost seemed meticulously designed to not be noticed.

 

Izzy continued, “The girliest things I ever wear are just things to make my parents happy… And the school uniform,” She let out a dramatic sigh with something more like her old energy, “I know you’re excited to wear your girl’s uniform next year, Lara. But I could honestly be happy to never wear mine again. It gets so boring!... But I digress…”

 

Izzy got up from the seat and began pacing the room and moving her hands as she spoke. “I guess I’ve felt… a bit off as a girl for a long time. I thought it was just my parents at first. They like the idea of me being all pretty pink in bows and laces. I’ve tried finding my own way to be a girl, but nothing felt quite right.”

 

Lara looked over at Colin, who was nodding along with an impression of sincere understanding. He knew how it felt to have unwanted femininity forced upon him, and could tell Izzy felt at least a small degree of that same discomfort.

 

Izzy shook her head to clear her thoughts. “When Lara came out, something clicked in my head of what those feelings might mean. Especially when she told me about you.” She said, turning her attention to Colin.

 

“It gave me a lot to think about... I thought, maybe I could be a boy? I tried on the most masculine clothes I could find. Mostly just a baggy shirt, jeans and a cap to hide my hair.” Izzy let out another sigh. “It didn’t work… It was different, but still not right… I just don’t know what I am…” She sat back down in the chair with a loud sigh, both exhausted from having let it all out, and dejected from still not having a solution for her dysphoria.

 

Colin cleared his throat. “Well Izzy, not everyone is going to fit neatly into the same boxes when trying to find a gender that suits them.” He gestured to himself. “Sure! Some trans guys, like me, would go berserk if they ever had to wear a dress again. But my mom’s friend Ed is trans, and he can still rock a dress and enjoy it too. Heck, Look at Damian! He’s AMAB and uses he/him pronouns, but I’ve never known a boy like him to ever look so good in a ballgown!”

 

Lara, knowing Colin could gush about Damian’s cutest looks for hours once he got started, tried to cut in, making a mental note to ask him about “his mom’s friend Ed” later. “Not to mention, there are way more options than just boys or girls.”

 

“What do you mean?” Izzy asked, curiously raising her head.

 

“Well, like Colin said, some folks don't always fit neatly into boxes. Some people feel labels like “boy” or “girl” don’t really work for them.” Lara thought about Tim Drake, Harper Row, and all the other various stories she had heard of gender-non-conforming people who laughed in the face of binary gender.

 

“Really?” Izzy was now sitting up at attention. “What other labels are there?”

“Well, there’s agender, bigender, demigender, and genderfluid, just to name a few.” Colin said. “They all basically fall under the umbrella term, “non-binary”. Heard of it?”

 

“Non-binary?” Izzy repeated. “Isn’t that kind of extreme for me? I don’t know if I wanna go full genderless here! Don’t they all have weird hairstyles, with shaved sides and hair dye, and all those piercings?”

 

Lara tried her best not to laugh at that description. She had just been thinking of Harper Row after all. “Well… I mean, some of them do do that, but it’s not a requirement at all. Nothing about it is as rigid or extreme as that. That’s kind of the point, a non-binary person doesn’t normally fit into those same old male/female boxes. Some don’t even have their own box. There’s no wrong way to be non-binary.” 

 

“No wrong way…” Izzy repeated to herself as she considered what her friend was saying.

 

“Tell you what,” Colin said in a tone that reminded Lara of when she had first come out to him. “You said you tried some masculine looks that didn’t work for you right? How would you feel if you used a few different pronouns? Just to try how they sound?”

 

“I… suppose I could give that a try…” Izzy admitted, a little nervous that this might be the first step towards an answer, or even a new beginning. “Maybe I could be a they/them for now?”

 

Lara smiled and tested it out for her friend. “This is Izzy, they’re my best friend, and I’ll be happy to support them on their journey.” She was warmed by the small smile on her friend’s face.

 

“Oh, don’t put them on a pedestal like that, Lara!” Colin chuckled, continuing the game. “Or else they’ll have to fight Damian for the privilege of being your bestie!”

 

Izzy’s smile grew just a little wider. “Actually, y’know what? I think I like the sound of this… Certainly better than she/her at least.”

 

“Want us to keep using they/them for now, Izzy?” Lara asked, “If it doesn’t feel right, you can change to anything else you might want to try at any time.”

 

Izzy was silent for a moment before nodding their head. “Yeah… Yeah, I think I’ll give it a try… They/them…” 

 

“Welcome to team trans then, Izzy!” Lara beamed, walking over and hugging her friend. “Stay as long as you want, change as many times as you need to figure out what’s right for you.”

 

At that moment there was a knock on the door and Lois’s voice called in. “Is everything ok in there, kids?” She called, “Only we might have a geek storm brewing in the living room, and we could use help calming it down.”

 

Lara focused her hearing and could hear Laurence and Damian fiercely debating about theories for the plot of the next Young Avengers movie. “Yeah… we should probably do something about that… You ready, Izzy?”

 

“As I’ll ever be.” They said with a sigh, smiling in thanks to their friends and holding the door open for them both. Izzy had taken the first important step towards self-discovery today. There would be much more that they would need to do before they were ready to be their true self. But that could come later. With the help of their friends, they would have all the time in the world to learn who they were. 

________________________________________________________________

 

By the time Lara, Colin and Izzy had reentered the living room and distracted Damian and Laurence from their debate, the sun had almost completely set outside. It was getting late; soon Lara’s friends would be heading home. 

 

There was just enough time for Izzy to tell Laurence and Damian about their new pronouns, which the boys both accepted with warm enthusiasm. Laurence took the news that he was now the most cis person in the friend group relatively well, and Damian offered his services as a fashionista, should Izzy ever require his expert advice.

 

Soon enough, Laurence’s Uncle Mike returned to take him and Izzy home. Farewells were made, as Lara made sure to thank the pair of them once more for their amazing gifts and company. From the reveal of Laurence’s not-so-secret crush, to Izzy’s egg-cracking, to the legal name change, the kids had seemingly done the impossible and outdone Shazam himself in making sure Lara Kent’s 12th birthday would be one to remember.

 

Shortly after Laurence and Izzy had left, there was another buzz from the apartment intercom as Alfred Pennyworth arrived to take Damian and Colin back to Gotham. Lara had been hoping to talk more about the boys’ incident with Shazam, but perhaps it was for the best. Accidental transformations like that were probably a little embarrassing for Colin to talk about. Besides, Damian seemed a little too interested in discussing Lara’s apparent feelings for Laurence, so it was probably a good thing that Alfred had interrupted them.

 

Now that all her guests had left, Lara finally slumped down on the sofa to fully take in all that had happened. It was almost too much to process!

 

Putting aside the two exciting revelations from Izzy and Laurence, Lara found herself almost floating off the cushions with excitement at the fact that she was now officially going to be known as Lara Ella Kent to everyone, and that she would be returning to school in September as a girl! Of course, she understood there may be some naysayers, but she had dealt with worse as Supergirl. And besides, she already had friends she could always depend on to support her.

 

Not to mention that Lara also had a trip to Themyscira coming soon! The chance to see the beautiful island paradise that was home to the Amazons was something Lara had never expected in her life. Now she would be spending an entire month there, training with the Amazon warriors, and living a life of luxury!

 

On top of all that, Lara also remembered what Doctor October had said to her the day before about how she would be able to start puberty blockers in the near future. The first major step forward on her journey of medically transitioning would be coming up very soon! So many incredible things were happening all at once! It was a little overwhelming to her excitable young mind.

 

“Lara? You alright, hun?”

 

Lara snapped back to reality upon hearing her father’s voice. She hadn’t even noticed him flying in through the window. Though he was still wearing his Superman outfit, he had seemingly finished his hero business for the night, as he sat down on the sofa next to Lara.

 

“Oh hey, Dad!” Lara said, sitting up to make space for Clark and trying to get her thoughts back on track. “How was the.. Y’know…” She gestured to her father’s attire. “Emergency work shift.”

 

“Oh, standard stuff…” Clark said with a smug grin. “Passenger plane having some engine trouble over Boston. Just needed a little help getting down safely. No biggie.”

 

“Glad that’s all. Thought it might be Parasite again or something like that.” Lara muttered, her hands a little jittery with excess energy. 

 

Clark put a gentle arm around his daughter’s shoulder. “I heard a lot of what you were talking about as I flew home, Princess. A lot has been changing for you recently. Even if it’s all good change, it can take some time to adjust to, right?”

 

Lara wondered for a moment if her dad was also a secret telepath on top of all his other powers. His assumption was so on the nose! “Yeah... My name, the blockers, friends coming out, my longest trip away from home. It’s everything I wanted and it’s happening so fast!” The young hero was a bundle of emotions. Nervous, excited, anxious, but mostly she was so happy she wasn’t sure what to do next! 

 

Lois, having overheard the conversation as she’d entered the room, came over to the pair and got down to hug her daughter and husband. “We can go at any pace you need to, Lara. We will love you and support you through anything you need. You know that, right?”

 

Lara smiled as she felt both Lois and Clark’s arms around her. “I love you both so much!” She said softly, sinking into the safe and secure arms of her mother and father.

 

“We love you too sweetie!” Lois said with a chuckle as an idea came to her. “It’s getting close to your bedtime dear… But it is your birthday. Why don’t you and dad go out for a quick flight to burn some of this extra energy off?” 

 

Lara loved that idea! She nodded and rushed off to her room to put on her proper uniform. Once Supergirl was ready to head out, she kissed her mom and thanked her before taking off into the night sky with her dad.

 

Metropolis was relatively quiet that night, which suited Lara perfectly. Flying through the clear summer night, watching the city shine below her as she soared through the air with her father. It was just what she needed to help clear her head.

 

Supergirl kept on flying until the moon was high in the sky, and the neon clock on top of the WayneTech tower showed that it was almost midnight. Lara had been flying for longer than she had thought, and she was now finally starting to feel tired. Agreeing that it was time to head home for bed, Lara allowed herself to be carried home by her dad.

Lara Ella Kent drifted peacefully off to sleep in her father’s arms, watching the stars and city lights sparkle in the warm summer night. She truly couldn’t have asked for a better ending to what had certainly been the best birthday she’d ever had! All of the excitement that the future had in store for her didn’t matter at that moment. All that mattered was that Lara was happy and content, and she most certainly was on that night.