Chapter Chapter Thirty: Superman

The turbolift doors behind the six Imperial Guards opened with a hiss. Kale Naberrie stepped onto the platform, clad in his black suit with the El family crest on his chest. The guards responded instinctively with their force pikes, but Kale simply waved his hand. With a nudge of the Force, the six guards flew off the platform, colliding with bone-crunching speed against support pillars before falling into the depths below.

He helped Mara to her feet. "Are you all right?" he asked.

Mara nodded. "I didn't do this," she said.

"I believe you." He leaned over and kissed her. Then he stepped onto the platform proper where Leia stood facing the Emperor. A few meters away he saw Vader sitting on the floor, cradling a stump for his arm.

"Nice job, cousin," Kale said.

"Thank you," Leia said with obvious relief.

The two walked side-by-side toward the Emperor.

"General Han Solo of the Alliance to Restore the Republic is currently in control of your little toy laser," Kale said. "I believe he has now destroyed ten of your ships, including every super star destroyer in orbit. And as you might guess, General Zod and Non are no longer with us."

"No matter, General Solo's control will be short lived," the Emperor said with cool calm.

"I have ensured nothing will enter the laser complex short of heavy explosives," Kale said. "And if you detonate high explosives, the hypermatter chamber of the laser itself will explode and take a third of Coruscant with it."

"Palpatine, you are under arrest," Leia said. "For high treason against the Galactic Republic and for crimes against sentients."

"I have played this game before, Princess Leia," Palpatine said. "I do not care to play it again."

He removed a lightsaber from underneath his robe. When he lit it, the blade was a scintillating green color.

Kale held out his hand, and the saber flew from the stunned Palpatine's hands to his. Kale promptly deactivated it and handed it to Leia. "I don't think so," Kale said.

Suddenly the Emperor started laughing. His cackle echoed through the chambers. He paused only long enough to howl, "Padmé!"

Kale felt a suddenly stirring in the Force, as if a bolt of darkness struck like lightning beside him. He turned just in time to see the green point of the lightsaber in Leia's hands activate and flash toward him. The tip penetrated his suit and twelve centimeters into his side before he backed away from Leia, stunned.

Her expression had changed, as if she wore a mask of rage that belonged to someone else entirely. "Meet Darth Devia," Palpatine cackled. "My new apprentice."

"Leia," Kale whispered.

"She no longer answers to that name, Kale," Vader said from the opposite side of the floor. "She is not who she thought she was."

"No one can withstand the power of the Dark Side," Palpatine said. He snapped his fingers, and a green-toned shield sprang up around Kale. "Not even you."

Kale knew without needing to test the theory that the shielding contained Krytonite radiation. He could feel the weakening effects on his body just standing within it. Beyond the field, Leia stood with an expression of contempt while the Emperor laughed.

"Foolish boy," the Emperor said. "For all your strength and power, your mind still failed before the might of the Dark Side. Everything has transpired as I have foreseen. Let your pitiful band fire the laser—the power will be diverted in moments, and they will all die. Your fleet will still be destroyed, and now your faithful cousin has betrayed you."

He looked up into the shadows and with a pull of the Force called down a large mechanical device shaped faintly like a gun. "I used this on your fellow Kryptonians. It will shoot a nanodroid into your heart with Kryptonite, enough to kill you. And yes, young Kale, you will die."

"No!" Mara screamed. She ran at Leia and the Emperor, somehow holding Darth Vader's lightsaber.

"Destroy her," the Emperor ordered Leia.

"Yes, My Master," Leia said in a deep voice at once alien and familiar. With a sneer, she launched herself into a spinning kick and planted a foot on Mara's chin before the other woman could react.

Mara went sprawling, but then quickly rolled back into a fighting stance, her lightsaber held in a competent hand.

"Shall we wait for your friend to die first?" Palpatine asked kindly to Kale, "or should we kill you first to make her suffer?"

"You should be sure your plan works before you do anything," Kale said calmly.

Mara was a trained assassin and an expert fighter. However, she was a year out of training. Moreover, Leia was a trained Jedi in full control of the Force. The fight was not even remotely fair.

After a vicious kick that sent Mara sprawling on the floor, Leia easily Force-pulled the red saber from Mara's numb fingers and sauntered over, leering. "Was the whelp worth it?"

"Was Han?" Mara asked, looking up and wiping away the blood running from her nose.

Leia laughed. "I hope he does survive the superlaser. I'll have lots of fun with him before I kill him."

"I'm sorry, Leia," Mara said.

The princess snorted. "Sorry? For what?"

"For not trying to save you before they destroyed your soul."

Snarling, Leia pulled her saber back to strike and thrust forward. The blade did not penetrate Mara Jade, however.

It penetrated the black-armored chest of Darth Vader. "What is this?" Leia demanded, backing away in surprise.

"Bail," Vader whispered.

Leia blinked and then froze, her body trembling. The saber deactivated and fell to the ground as Vader fell to his knees. "What is going on here?" she asked, confused.

"You did not ever truly turn, my daughter," Vader said weakly. "And so the Emperor used a Sith technique to create a new persona within your mind. Your mother's name was the activation code." His legs pulled out from under him as he lowered further to floor. "But I made sure that your father's name would deactivate it. The father you loved."

Slowly he leaned back, to rest suddenly in Mara Jade's arms. Leia knelt down beside him. "You tried to warn me. The creature said, 'She was not who she thought she was.'"

"The Noghri repeated me literally, then," Vader said. "I meant for him to say 'You', but the Noghri do not speak Basic well." She heard a faint, mechanical chuckle that seemed odd coming from beneath the mask. "I am sorry, my daughter, for the pain I caused you. For the pain I caused your mother. I loved her very much. Force willing, I pray that I see her again."

"Father…" Leia whispered, surprised by the moisture in her eyes.

"Force be with you, my beautiful little Leia," Darth Vader whispered before the mechanical hiss of his respirator ended, and Anakin Skywalker died.

"Just as I had foreseen," Kale Naberrie said from across the floor.

The Emperor spun around, his face etched in lines of rage. "No matter," he snarled. "Your death will be enough."

Kale lifted a hand, his fingers splayed out, and then he closed them together into a fist.

The odd projectile weapon suddenly crumpled in on itself, crushed into a mere portion of its previous size. The Emperor backed away, clearly startled.

"I am not like Zod, Ursa or Non," Kale said, still calm. "Nor am I like Master Yoda. I am a Kryptonian Jedi. The galaxy has never seen my like before." He looked up and, with a wave of his hand, the shield blinked out of existence. "Your days of tyranny are at an end, Emperor. If the Empire surrenders now, you will be allowed to live the rest of your life in isolation."

"The Empire's resources even now far surpass those of the Rebellion," the Emperor snarled. "Surrendering would be foolish."

"But you would be alive."

"You still don't understand, do you boy?" Palpatine said as he raised his pale hands. "No one can withstand the power of the Dark Side!"

Leia and Mara both crouched down, knowing what to expect. Kale stood calmly as the Emperor called upon the power of the Force and unleashed a maelstrom of blue lightning. The power struck Kale like a blow and pushed him back, but only a few meters.

Kale set his shoulders, and again began walking inexorably toward the Emperor. Palpatine's maniacal grin turned to a grimace as he slowly began to retreat before Kale's unstoppable approach. The younger man moved faster, shouldering aside the Force lightning as if it were merely a heavy door to be pushed open.

"Impossible!" the Emperor shouted even as he continued to spray lightning.

Across the floor, Mara grabbed Leia's hand. "We have to get to the turbolift!"

Leia turned, confused. "What?"

"This tower reaches to the upper stratosphere," Mara said. "If that canopy breaks, we'll be killed! We need to get to the turbolift."

Leia nodded and then looked down. "Not without my father."

Mara looked from Vader to Leia, and then to the battle. "Okay, but we need to hurry!"

By the throne, the Emperor called upon all the power of the Force and thrust it with all his skill and mastery at Kale. The energy produced would have killed even the most powerful Jedi Master. With twenty years of additional study since their last meeting, not even Yoda or Mace Windu could have withstood the onslaught.

It was not enough.

With a grunt at the effort, Kale stepped close enough to shunt the Emperor's glowing hands aside. Flashes of lightning filled the upper reaches of the throne room. Behind him, Kale sensed Mara and Leia dragging Vader's body into the turbolift.

The time had come.

He reached out his right hand and grabbed the Emperor by the throat. With the Force as much as his physical strength, he and the Emperor lifted off the throne room floor. Kale looked past the Emperor and with a moment of concentration the transparisteel window shattered like glass. With the exception of a pocket of air caught in a bubble of Force energy around them, everything within the throne room not bolted down flew out into the un-breathable thin air of Coruscant's upper stratosphere.

Kale ignored the cold as he drifted out of the tower. The rest of the planet-wide cityscape stretched out as a panorama around them, while in a ring below them burned the destroyed area where the Rebel strike had hit. Kale could see the edge of the impact area where a ring of fire still burned.

"I could help you complete your training!" the Emperor said suddenly. "I am the most learned Force user in this galaxy. Together, we could rule the Galaxy!"

"I don't want to rule the Galaxy," Kale said. "And more importantly, I don't want you to rule the galaxy."

"Then we won't rule!" Palpatine said, his voice increasing with pitch the further they flew from the palace tower. "We could retreat to any planet of your choosing. I could teach you all the ways of the Force, not just the Dark Side. I am a master of both."

"I don't want to be a master of the Force," Kale said. "And I know you aren't. You are a tool of the Dark Side. Nothing more."

"Don't be a fool, boy!" Palpatine said, sounding both contemptuous and pleading at once. It was a skill he had, Kale noted. "There is so much I could teach you!"

Kale let go of the Emperor, but kept him suspended with the Force. "There is only one thing I want of you, Palpatine."

"What?" Palpatine said, begging.

"I want you to look down."

Palpatine looked down. He saw a black concave surface almost a kilometer in diameter directly below him. The six component beams of the superlaser were assuming a green glow.

The Emperor looked back up, his face pulled back in a rictus grimace of terror. "No, you can't do this to me!"

"I will do nothing," Kale said as he slowly drifted back. "I will not drop you, Palpatine. I will not kill you. I just won't save you. You are going to die by your own weapon. And I promise, the galaxy will not miss you."

Below, the component beams sent their shafts of green energy toward the central targeting area, into which the main emitter fired.

"Nooooo!" Palpatine howled until a beam of energy as thick as a corvette seared through the air he once occupied. Even the molecules making up the body of Emperor Palpatine ceased to exist.

When the beam passed on its way to destroy another Imperial star destroyer, Kale let the pull of air into the column of vacuum caused by the laser's passage pull him forward a little. He removed the com from his pocket. "Han, this is Kale. Congratulations, your last shot killed the Emperor."

"No kidding," Han's voice came. "Well good for me."

"You might want your people to blow the locks and get out. I don't like superlasers."

"Me neither, kid. We'll be out in a bit."

~~Last Son~~

~~Last Son~~

Panicked Imperial guards, soldiers, stormtroopers and civilian staff avoided the two women and the black-suited body like the plague. Eventually, Mara found a hoversled and they were able to load Vader's body on it. They walked calmly through the halls of the palace amid the confused and angry screams. Eventually, they came to a line of storm troopers standing guard over one of the breaches Han's people caused. The breach led into a landing bay.

The stormtroopers' officer stopped them both, and then noticed the suit on the gurney. "What is happening here…?" he asked, suddenly not so sure of himself.

"This is my father," Leia told the officer. "Your Emperor is dead. I am taking the body of my father to be cremated according to the rites of his people. Please stand aside."

Behind the young lieutenant, the stormtroopers turned and stared in shock as they too heard the announcement. One of the troopers, a sergeant by his red shoulder plate, removed his helmet. "My name is Solis Parata, Princess," he said. "I was in the docking bay when you and your comrades escaped. Lord Vader spoke kindly to me afterward." He looked back at the lieutenant and the other soldiers as if daring them to stop him, and when no such dare came, nodded. "I will escort you to a shuttle."

"Thank you, Sergeant," Leia said.

Parata nodded wordlessly and led them without protest or obstacle through the line of soldiers into the docking bay beyond. There were several shuttles waiting; Parata led them to the nearest.

When they arrived, the stormtrooper looked down at Vader, and then snapped to attention and saluted. "He was the bravest leader of men I ever served with," he said. "Whatever else could be said, good or ill, he will always be that to me." He nodded to Mara and Leia, slipped his helmet back on, and returned to his post.

Leia's com beeped at her as she and Mara settled into the cockpit after securing the body. "Leia?" Han's voice said.

"This is Leia. Are you alright?"

She heard a deep sigh. "I am now," Han said. "Kale said the Emperor was dead. We're vacating the superlaser now and will make our way to the rendezvous for transport off the planet. How are you two?"

"We've secured a shuttle and are heading out."

"Great. I'll see you on Freedom's Hammer, assuming she's still there."

The shuttle emerged from the hangar bay in time for an incredibly loud rumble to reverberate against the transparisteel canopy of the shuttle. Leia and Mara both turned to see, and both fell intensely quiet.

"He is a god, isn't he?" Leia whispered after a few awe-struck beats of her heart.

"No, he's just Kale," Mara whispered. "My Kale."

In the distance, a cylinder of black a kilometer in diameter and nearly ten kilometers tall slowly rose like a thrusting sword over the cityscape of the city. It was an impossible pillar of black that should not have been able to rise as swiftly as it did. There was no backwash of thrusters; there was no radioactive wave of energy. There was no means of propulsion visible at all from where they sat.

But both Leia and Mara knew that if they had Kale's eyes, they could see that directly underneath the base of the cylinder, directly below the hypermatter reactor, a single speck of life was the sole source of propulsion.

In orbit around the planet, under the command of Captain Pellaeon of the Chimaera, who because of the destruction of the super star destroyers was the senior fleet officer still living, the Imperial Fleet began to reform for a final thrust against the still massively out-numbered rebel fleet. There was, after all, no place to retreat to, and they could not allow the Alliance to remain in control of Imperial Center.

Ackbar in turn ordered the Fleet to begin departure procedures, since he knew that even with the superlaser supporting them, the Rebel Fleet could not withstand a full Imperial assault.

Both fleets' sensors detected the massive object rising from the surface at the same time. At first both sides feared it was another superdestroyer, but then they realized it was the super laser itself. Although they would never know it, on the command decks of their respective ships, both Captain Pellaeon and Admiral Ackbar, at the very same moment, exclaimed, "By the Force!"

Though human eyes could not see it, the thousands of active scans coming from all the ships in orbit around the planet let there be no mistake on who and what was lifting the massive superlaser through the atmosphere and into space. The laser itself came to rest directly between the fleets three hundred thousand kilometers from the surface.

Suddenly a voice boomed through both fleets. Communications officers looked for a signal, but they would never find one, since the Force was beyond energy signals. "The Emperor is dead. Darth Vader is dead. This battle has been won. All Alliance forces will be allowed to withdraw unmolested from Coruscant, or I will use this big gun as a club and personally beat every Imperial to death with it."

To demonstrate, the superlaser cylinder suddenly swung down, slamming into the fore of a star destroyer that had come too close. The enter destroyer flipped down and around from the blow, colliding with another half a kilometer behind it.

Pellaeon shuddered, genuinely afraid for the first time since the Clone Wars. "This is Captain Pellaeon to all Imperial forces. We will allow the rebels to withdraw."

He expected at least some objections, but there were none.

So, in the hour it took to evacuate all rebel agents from the surface and from the defense platforms, the Imperial fleet waited and the massive superlaser hovered like a bat under the control of Kale Naberrie. Finally, the Rebel ships left the gravitational well of the planet and soared into space, save for a single Imperial shuttle.

With a gigantic show of power, Kale began swinging the superlaser around and around until at last when he let it go the laser zoomed through space at near luminal speed. It flew toward Platoril, one of the barren inner planets of the Coruscant System. He did not dare throw it at the sun, since the amount of hypermatter within it could destroy the star itself.

The Imperial sensors scanned Kale as he flew to the Imperial shuttle and boarded through the airlock, and moments later it, too, was gone. The Second Battle of Coruscant was over.

~~Last Son~~

~~Last Son~~

"I never knew Naboo was so beautiful," Leia said.

"It was a blessing in more ways than one that Ben brought me here and placed me with the Naberrie family," Kale said.

The two stood before a marker that stood in the middle of a large lot of land occupied only by blue-green Naboo grass . Houses stood on either side, but this one lot remained empty. A bunch of violet flowers grew in a circle before the marker.

"This is where you grew up?" Leia asked.

"This is where my childhood died," Kale said. "This was the Naberrie Estate."

Leia nodded and took Kale's hand in hers. "Thank you for showing me."

Kale turned to her, smiled, and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "They are your family too. As am I."

Behind them, Han and Mara stood by the hovercar, waiting. "The ceremony will be soon," Leia said.

"Then we should go," Kale said.

They joined their loves, and as the sun approached the horizon, the four flew toward the center of Theed. They were met by Queen Kylantha herself and a large, somber delegation of Naboo royalty.

"Princess Leia," the Queen said with a bow. She turned and bowed to Kale. "Prince Kale."

Mara and Han both raised brows, but Kale shrugged. "The Naberrie family was made nobility after Padmé Amidala served as queen," he said softly. He bowed to the Queen. "Majesty."

"You put us at an awkward position with your request," she said.

"The Empire will not attack Naboo," Kale said with certainty.

"How can you be so sure?" the Queen asked.

"Because I will be here," he said.

Evidently it was enough. The Queen nodded, turned, and began a slow procession through the streets of the city. Leia walked directly behind her, with Kale and the others behind him. A few meters in front of the queen, floating on a repulsor sled, rested the body of an old, pale-skinned Jedi. He wore the full raiment of a Jedi knight, and on his chest, between his folded hands, the sun glinted off the cylinder of a lightsaber. There was no sign of the armor, and those limbs lost in life were replaced with realistic ceramic in death. He looked whole, content and at peace.

It was the third such procession the Naboo had ever seen in the past twenty five years, but it was the first for a man not born on Naboo soil.

People lined the streets in absolute silence, watching intently and trying to get a glimpse of the Jedi who passed by. There were whispers among the crowd that this was the husband of their beloved Queen Amidala; that this was Anakin Skywalker, the hero of the Trade Federation Conflict. This was the boy who saved their world, come home at last to be with the woman he loved.

They reached a bier in an open park near the palace. Rising from the center of the park was a statue of the most popular queen the planet had ever seen. The statue showed her in the formal regalia of office, but between the overly formalized garments, Kale could see Leia's cheeks in the statue's face, the turn of her chin; the shape of her ears. Others noticed as well, including the queen.

"This was your mother, Princess," Kylantha said. "Queen Amidala, known to friends and family as Padmé Naberrie."

Leia grimaced when she heard her mother's name, but the Dark Side personality the Emperor had implanted seemed to be gone. She looked up and did not bother to hide the moisture in her eyes.

"It's time," Kale said from behind her. "Do you want help?"

Leia shook her head. "He was my father."

Leia stepped past the queen to the hoversled. She nodded to the Royal Naboo guards who served as attendants, and reached for the Force. Anakin Skywalker's body lifted gently from the platform and floated through the air toward the bier. The people watched enthralled at this show of Force power, and many did not breathe until the body came to a rest at the top of the bier.

She walked slowly toward the head of the bier, standing between her father, and the statue of her mother. To the west, the sun grazed the horizon, sending sparks of brilliant oranges, reds and vermilions through the Naboo sky. Leia bowed her head. "I forgive you, father," she whispered to the Force.

A wall of shadow began to sweep across the city as the sun sank further below the horizon. The people of Naboo waited in perfect silence, with the exception of a lone baby who wailed before the mother hushed it. At last the sun set.

Leia removed her lightsaber and lit it. Its blue glow was the only light in the otherwise darkened park. The whole of Theed, for this hour, went without any lights.

Leia stepped forward, lowered the saber to the wood, and touched the blade to the kindling. A tongue of flame appeared after a moment, and then quickly encircled the whole bier, following the trail of accelerant. Leia stepped back and watched as the flames rose higher and higher, until finally they engulfed the figure at the top.

She felt an arm around her shoulders and looked up to see Han smiling down at her, dashing in his formal Alliance dress uniform. "I love you," he said.

"I know," Leia said. "I love you too."

They turned and walked toward Kale, Mara and the delegation. As they did so, though, something moved Leia to turn back to where she had been. She saw a flickering blue glow—and from the glow emerged a figure of a striking young man with long, curling hair. Serious blue eyes smoldered with emotions so strong he had difficulty containing them. Yet, he smiled at her, and she knew the emotions this apparition felt were not of the Dark Side.

He turned, and Leia felt her heart stop as another glow appeared, stepping from the statue itself. It was a woman of such refined elegance and beauty she took Leia's breath away. She dared not take her eyes away from what she saw, but she still reached for and clung to Han's hands.

"What is it, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Her father," Kale said. "She can see him." Kylantha and the delegation stared at him a moment, then followed Kale's gaze.

Kale smiled at them and reached out a hand, grasping the Force with a power at once subtle and irresistible. The Force responded, and to the startled gasps of everyone there, two shimmering figures of beauty appeared between the sparkling flames of the bier, and the statue.

The people of Naboo watched with tears in their eyes as the Hero of Naboo fell to his knees before their most beloved queen, holding her hand to his lips in a silent plea. There were gasps and cries as she also knelt down, and gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a loving embrace.

Together, the two stood and turned, holding hands, toward Leia. They raised their hands to her, and Leia responded in kind, tears streaming openly down her cheeks. Then, together, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala Skywalker turned and stepped into the statue, fading at last from view.

"Goodbye," Leia whispered.

~~Last Son~~

~~Last Son~~

The war was not over, of course. Though the victory was resounding and world after world joined the Alliance following the deaths of the Empire's leaders, the sheer size and might of the Empire was too much to simply sweep away. However, the tide had inexorably turned. With the Jedi Princess and her Warrior Husband leading their forces, the Alliance to Restore the Republic began a genuine sweep across the galaxy, gathering Forces and allies, until ten months later, the Alliance returned to Coruscant with a force a hundred times stronger than the Imperial defenders, and returned the Alliance to Coruscant.

Kale watched it all on the holonet, with Mara at his side.

The decision for Kale to stay on Naboo mystified his friends and appalled Mon Mothma, but truly there was no other viable alternative in Kale's eyes.

"I am too powerful," he explained to the Alliance Advisory Council, including Leia. "I am a weapon that should not be wielded lightly. This is a war that the people of this galaxy must fight for themselves and win for themselves. If I win it for you, it will cheapen all the sacrifices you have already made."

"That is an easy statement to make from someone who cannot be killed," Mon Mothma said cooly.

Kale stared at her for a long minute until the leader of the Alliance dropped her gaze. "Mon, please don't ever make the mistake of thinking that because I cannot die I have not suffered. I have suffered as much as anyone in this fleet. But Mon, I also know that I could make others suffer even more. I have personally killed hundreds of thousands of Imperials through destroying their ships or fighting them directly. No more. I will not do that again. If I cross that line of fighting your wars for you, then you all will have more to fear from me than anything the Empire could give you."

He stepped forward and placed his insignia on the table in front of Mothma. "If the Galaxy ever faces a threat that not even you can face, then I will be there to save lives. But I will not fight in this war any more."

With that, Kale turned and left the Alliance.

The following week, in a quiet ceremony attended by his cousin and her newly wedded husband, Kale and Mara were wed. Mara wore a white shimmersilk veil over her flaming red hair, and a white dress that gleamed like pearl under the blue Naboo skies. The lake country rested majestically beyond the terrace where they wed.

"I love you, Mara Naberrie," he said as they kissed.

"And I love you, Kale Naberrie," she said back. "And I will spend the rest of my life proving to you how much."

~~Last Son~~

~~Last Son~~

Time passed and the tides of history rolled on. Leia and Kyle Katarn founded a new Jedi Order and established a new High Council. At first there was only the two of them, but in time others joined them and the ranks of the New Jedi Order increased. Six years after the formation of the New Republic, Leia was elected the High Chancellor. She served two terms and was considered the most successful to hold the office.

There were struggles and conflicts, to be sure. Kale watched them with detached interest. He turned his attention to his home planet, using his power to help the planet recover from years of Imperial occupation. In time, he was appointed as the Prime Minister, though he served only one term.

After trying for five years, while Kale was serving as a council person for Theed City and his cousin Leia was campaigning for the position of High Chancellor, Mara delivered their first child.

"Jor-El Naberrie," Mara said as she introduced Kale to his son in the Medcenter for the first time.

Enchanted, Kale held the child in his arms, looking with the eyes of both a Kryptonian and a Jedi. He saw a perfectly healthy child with a human body created with highly dense cells.

"It appears Kryptonian genes are dominant," the Naboo doctor confirmed. "If I remember what your parents told me about you, I must say that I wish you and your wife every happiness, and a great deal of luck."

The doctor dismissed himself, leaving the happy family snuggled together on Mara's bed. Two years later, Jor-El's sister Karia was born, again with the dominate Kryptonian physiology.

Things were not always perfect, of course, but when he was around his wife and children, Kale was content. He had his family, and a home to be proud of. It was a dream come true, and he loved everyone moment of it.

~ fin ~

A/N: Thanks everyone for reading again. The story of Kale Naberrie continues in Children of the Red Sun, which is complete and already available in my stories. Thank you for reading.