All And Nothing

Earth

When Kara had just arrived on Earth, waking from her long sleep, she was covered in flowers. They bloomed from her knees, her elbow, and there was a small flower on her hip. She didn't understand, but the first person she saw on Earth was Kal-El. Well, he said he was Kal-El, but he was all grown up. On this planet, he was known as Superman. He didn't need her protection anymore, so Kara was left without a duty. Kal-El found her a family to grow up with, the Danvers. Kara liked the Danvers, especially her big sister, Alex. She was nice, but Kara still felt very different. Well, she did, until she heard Alex's explanation about the flowers growing on her body.

"Everyone here on Earth has a soulmate, the person you are supposed to be with in the future. When your soulmate gets hurt, flowers grow on your body in the place where they get their bruise or cut or wounded. Like this one." Alex pointed at a cluster of daisies on her wrist. "I think my soulmate sprained their wrist. As you can see, your soulmate must be a bit clumsy."

Kara stared at the pretty flowers as a warm feeling spread through her body. Someone on this planet was here for her.

Alex stared at the flowers, looking concerned.

"What's wrong?" Kara asked, worried already.

"The flowers that grow on your body have meaning. Mine are daisies. They stand for hope and innocence. But you're growing red poppies. They stand for comforting. Your soulmate is hurt, not just physically."

Kara felt very anxious, but at least that meant she had a soulmate.

Alex kept explaining.

"When the wounds heal but leave a scar, the flowers fade and look like tattoos. Do you know what tattoos are?"

Kara didn't know, they weren't a thing back on Krypton, so she listened to Alex explain and looked at Alex's tattoos. She was impressed with these connections on earth, but this didn't mean she felt at home on earth. As she grew up, she watched the flowers on her body change their shape, size, and colour. At thirteen years old, the flowers were poppies. When she was sixteen, the flower had changed to Asters. Alex was the person she trusted most, so she was the person she asked.
"Hey, Alex, why do the flowers keep changing?" she asked, gesturing to the blooming on her elbows.

Alex looked up from her calculus homework.
"The flowers are symbols. The ones you have now, asters, they stand for patience. But it's up to you and your soulmate to figure out what the true meaning is and how to use it in life." Alex watched as Kara sat down on her bed, rubbing her elbows. "You do realise you don't have to worry about any of this yet, right? You're not even eighteen yet, you will have plenty of time to obsess over romance when we are out of high school." When Kara didn't stop looking so down, Alex lifted herself up. She wrapped an arm around Kara. "What's got you so worried?"
"My soulmate won't have any flowers on their skin. What if they start thinking they're alone?! I don't know how all of this looks on their end. I'm concerned that they won't try to find me because they think I don't exist..." Kara rested her head on Alex's shoulder.

"I'm sure they won't think you don't exist. As far as I've heard, there's no record of anyone ever not having a match on Earth. Even if you're not from Earth, you still count. And who knows, maybe they'll think you're extremely careful."

"Yeah... They might realise I'm indestructible." They both laughed, and Kara pushed the issue out of her mind.

As they got older, most of Kara's flowers faded into tattoos. She did still get them, just a lot less and when she did there were more in the same place, therefore the wound was more serious. As her soulmate grew up, she seemed to get hurt pointedly. Alex's blooming was getting more severe at the age of fourteen, but faded quickly and the flowers became hyacinths.

When Kara got to the age of twenty four, she started looking for her soulmate. She had some help. The flowers kept blooming in very obvious patterns. When Alex started a new job she could identify them. Gunshot. Bomb shrapnel. Multiple bruisings patterned like she was being shot while wearing a bulletproof vest. Kara grew more and more concerned, wondering about the possible jobs of her soulmate. Eventually, she just gave up. No one should be able to get hurt like that. It was too worrying, dangerous.

The dating culture that existed on Krypton was not there on Earth because of the way you could find your soulmate. However, a much crazier way of finding each other was invented. If you did think you had found them, well, you hurt yourself. On a spot that you could see. It was truly messed up to be honest, and some people were too desperate to be with their partner, they constantly got hurt. Not that everyone cared about love. Lots of Alex's friends liked to sleep around, make out with others and have other sorts of fun. They craved physical intimacy so much that they would settle for someone random, regardless of who they are and if they have anything in common. But these things would change as they got older.

When Alex and Kara moved to Central City, and Kara started working for Cat Grant, she learnt about the media side of the concept. People would pay money to show their bruises or flowers online for a certain amount of time so that their soulmate could see it. It generally didn't work very well since you would have to have a completely unique scar to stand out, but everyone wanted to be loved. And capitalism will make money off of anything, love included. Cat Grant, Kara's boss, had made a habit out of commenting on Kara's flowers. She seemed quite interested in the odd injuries that Kara's soulmate kept acquiring.

"Now Kerrah, how is it possible that your soulmate keeps getting shot?" she'd say.

If Kara knew she wouldn't still be alone, but she loved her job so she put up with the commentary. She was only happy that her soulmate hadn't been a media hit since she didn't have any flowers. But everything could change.