Token
Lana had been quite a normal little girl, all things considered.
"All things" being, of course, the fact that she had seen her parents die in a horrific ball of flame, that her aunt occasionally hung around with the Luthors, and, naturally, that she lived in Smallville.
Still, she was bright and emotional, and cared less about things like decorum and composure than Nell would have liked. She threw temper tantrums in department stores, flirted shamelessly with grown men from the age of four, and absolutely refused to wear the color pink. She read books far beyond her age group and decided to be a detective when she grew up.
Nell didn't quite know what to do.
**
For her tenth birthday, her aunt gave her a velvet box. Lana's face fell, because such a package meant it was jewelry, and she really couldn't care less about that sort of frivolous ornamentation. She had been hoping for more mysteries to read, and she was getting girly jewelry instead.
When she opened it and saw the green stone, her only thought was that it was not, at the very least, pink.
"Thanks, Nell," she smiled, bright and fake, and jumped up to go brush her horse. She loved horses, and she selfishly loved being wealthy enough to own them. They were so powerful and huge, and knowing they could break her in half if they ever felt the urge made working with them an even bigger thrill. Horses didn't have to be polite. Horses didn't have to wear any clothes. Horses didn't have to deal with dolls and other girls who wanted to play princesses all the time-
"Wait, Lana. This necklace is special. I had it specially made for you."
Lana sighed as she sat back down. Horses didn't have aunts.
"Do you recognize that rock?"
Lana rolled her eyes. To be frank, Lana wasn't a very nice little girl, though she certainly had her reasons. "No. Should I?"
"It's a meteor rock."
Lana tapped her foot on the floor, planning another way to escape. I want to go show my necklace to my horse, Nell. And then, Oh, Nell, I dropped it in the hay and just can't find it! Or, I was riding in the woods and the chain must have broken-
"It's from the meteor that killed your parents, Lana."
Her foot stilled and her throat closed up. "What?"
Nell only nodded gravely.
Lana stood up, dropping the box to the floor. "What?! That is so disgusting! You saved a piece?"
"Honey, listen-"
"I mean, if they had gotten shot, would you save the bullets and make me a set of earrings? You're sick, do you know that?"
"No, Lana, you don't understand. That meteor changed your life in a tragic way, but now it can be something else to you. Don't you see? It has already brought so much bad luck, there can only be good luck left."
Lana just looked at her in horror. "Stay away from me, Aunt Nell. And keep your necklace of death, too."
**
After a few days of not speaking to her aunt, Lana found the velvet box on her dresser. In a rage, she stormed downstairs with it in her hand. "I don't want this anywhere near me! Keep it out of my room!"
Nell turned away from the sink and looked at her calmly. "I wish you would listen to me. Of course you can do whatever you want, but think of what you're giving up."
"The chance to be a morbid freak?"
"No, the chance to have a tangible connection to your parents."
"How could I even explain it to people?" She ripped the necklace out of its resting place, holding the ends apart. "'Look, I'm wearing a deadly weapon which turned me into an orphan! Isn't it *pretty*?'" She pretended to put it on, wrapping it around her neck which was flushed with her anger. "'Miss my parents? Please! Would I wear this if I missed my-'"
She stopped suddenly, tilting her head almost as if she was listening to something.
"Lana, just forget I ever gave it to you. I'm sorry that it upset you so much." Hearing no response, Nell turned to face her once more, and found that Lana had latched the chain, and was examining the stone resting against her throat. "Lana?"
Lana bent down to pick up the box which was still resting on the floor. She brushed off the dust as she headed for the stairs.
"Lana, where are you going?"
"To clean my room," a faint voice replied.
**
When school started that fall, Lana wore her favorite sweater on the first day, even though the rose of her outfit didn't really match the green of her necklace. Her teachers seemed surprised when they met her- they had heard stories about the dynamo that was Lana Lang, and this demure, quietly intelligent little girl didn't seem to match the description.
At recess, she played on the swings with some other girls in her class. "You have a horse? I love horses!"
"I know," Lana sighed. "Aren't they pretty? My aunt lets me put ribbons in their manes!"
Across the playground, Pete poked Clark and laughed at him. "Quit staring, dorkhead! It's just Lana!"
Clark shook his head. "She looks like a princess."
**
Lana turned fifteen two weeks ago. She is in the stables, brushing her horse, losing herself in the rhythm of the strokes.
Later, she will not be able to remember what, exactly, startled him. But with no warning we rears up, whinnying, and in the confined area of the stable Lana knows all too well how easily he could hurt himself and her-
It's a rush the likes of which she hardly even remembers feeling, her heart pounds in her chest, and it's that feeling again- like a forgotten name on the tip of her tongue, a familiar smell she can't quite identify. Perhaps even a song her mother used to sing, and she's so close, so close...
The memory throbs as she sits down in the hay. Lana remembers being different, she just doesn't remember why. She has a suspicion that the world is dark, and somewhere along the way she just forgot to notice and stopped seeing shadows. Objectively, she knows the world is not safe, but there must have been a time when she felt the danger.
She knows it might be important, but her head is aching, so she lets it go. She tosses her hair and soothes her horse, and everything is going to be fine.