Superstar swooped down from the sky and directly towards the burning building. Without pausing to take in the scene, she burst through a window and smoke poured out into the blue sky behind her. She had been saving Eastern City now for five years, since a chemical accident in her former laboratory had led to her incredible powers. She had never once hesitated on an urgent call, and today was certainly no exception.

The smoke billowed into her face and she thought back to the day of her accident. Before she was Superstar, she was simply Sally. A girl from the south who had big dreams and an intellect to match. She had studied all her life to be a chemist and after years of studying, she was finally a doctor. Sally had been offered several positions around the country related to chemistry, but she had eventually settled in Eastern City. The job had amazing benefits, steady hours, and was far enough away from home that she felt free. It certainly didn’t hurt that the city itself was beautiful and bursting with things to do. She spent her days in a laboratory, studying chemical properties of different experimental medications and researching new chemical reactions while she spent her nights living her life and making friendships that would last forever. It was always strange to Superstar when memories of her days as just plain old Sally arose, how starkly they contrasted with the events of her every day life as a hero. The morning of her accident was completely ordinary and average, much like the rest of her life had been before that. She had been focused on a particular chemical reaction, and after days and days of research, determined that the chemicals were unlikely to react in a dangerous way. She couldn’t have been more wrong. When mixed, the chemicals turned into thick purple vapors, reaching out from their beaker and entering directly into Sally’s nostrils and eyes. Sally’s vision went dark and she collapsed to the floor. She was rushed immediately to the hospital, where she was determined to be completely and fully healthy. It wasn’t until that night, sleeping peacefully in her bed, that Sally’s body chemistry began to change.

From then on, life was forever changed in the most drastic and exciting way. Sally developed the ability to fly, skin that healed at an extremely accelerated rate, and strength beyond human comprehension. Not sure what to do with her newfound abilities, Sally decided that the best course of action was the help the people of her city, the city she had come to love so much. She spent hours sewing the perfect hero outfit for herself - a purple cape that flapped as she flew, a black tight-fitting body suit that wouldn’t get in the way of her rescue missions, and a purple mask to go across her eyes and protect her identity. Instead of being a Sally, the researcher, Superstar was born and Sally was reserved for her nightlife with her friends. Sally’s friends had noticed a change in her, noting that she seemed more confident and satisfied with herself, but not a single one knew about her physical changes and her double life.

Superstar was perhaps the most surprised that she was able to keep her secret from her girlfriend, Leah. Sally and Leah began seeing each other about a year ago after meeting through mutual friends while out drinking at a bar. Sally remembered the exact moment she laid eyes on Leah for the first time. Her long, black hair created a wave around her tiny frame, her brown eyes were so dark that Sally could get lost for hours, and her smile was so bright that the entire bar and both lit up and melted away around her. The two were inseparable from that moment on. During the day when Sally became Superstar, Leah was busy at her job as a lawyer, and often without her phone in the courthouse. During the nights when Sally became Superstar, she would claim a chemical emergency and act as if she were off to the laboratory before charging out to save her city.

Withdrawing herself from her memories of the past, Superstar brought her attention back to the smoke filled room ahead of her. Flapping her arms with incredible speed and strength, Supergirl cleared the room of the smoke entirely. She saw a woman laying unconscious, black hair fanned all around her. Superstar felt a lump catch in her throat as she realized how familiar that black hair was. Rushing to the woman as fast as she could, she gingerly flipped her body over, and found herself to be correct - it was Leah. Superstar glanced around her and realized that through the smoke and her clouded mind, she hadn’t realized she was standing in Leah’s office at all.

“Leah,” she shouted, brushing the hair back from Leah’s face. Leah sputtered and coughed, but didn’t open her eyes. Superstar jumped to her feet, holding Leah in her arms, and flew through the broken window she had just come in. Flying gracefully towards the earth’s surface, Leah’s eyes fluttered open as Superstar landed.

“Thank you, Superstar, the door was too hot, I couldn’t get out. I couldn’t breathe…” Leah trailed off, tears beginning to flow down her face.

“Are you hurt?” Superstar said, concerned filling her eyes as she searched Leah’s body, looking for any signs of injury. Leah shook her head and Superstar felt her breath come a little easier.

“The ambulances will be here soon, just wait here for them,” Superstar instructed, running her hand across Leah’s face tenderly. Superstar jumped to her feet once more, bracing herself to take flight

“Wait!” Shouted Leah and Superstar knelt back down to meet her gaze. “I can’t thank you enough,” she continued and pulled a tiny box from her pocket. Opening the box, she revealed a stunning diamond ring with a gold band. “I’m proposing to my girlfriend this weekend and when I was trapped up there, not able to breathe, I thought I would never get the chance to tell her how much she means to me. Never get the chance to tell her that I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I can’t thank you enough.” Leah’s warm, dark eyes met Superstar’s as tears welled up in the hero’s eyes. Leah first looked puzzled at the tears, and then had a dawning realization. Slowly, she lifted her hands up and gingerly removed Superstar’s mask from her eyes.

“Sally?” Leah said, voice barely above a whisper. Sally looked down at her hands, tears now flowing freely. She had so badly wanted to spend her life with Leah and now feared that she had jeopardized this with her lies about her true identity. Through blurred vision, Sally saw Leah reach for her hands. Squeezing tightly, Leah kissed each hand gently.

“So,” she continued as Sally finally found the strength to meet Leah’s eyes, “will you? Marry me, I mean?” Sally’s mouth broke out in a grin so wide she felt like her face would crack.

“Yes!” She said, kissing Leah firmly on the lips and laughing with pure joy. The women embraced and held each other tightly before Sally pulled back and returned her mask to its proper place over her eyes. Sally closed the ring box in Leah’s hands telling Leah to keep it safe.

“But first,” she said, as she took her stance for flight once more, “I’ve got a building to save!” And with that, she took flight, leaving Leah on the ground watching her fiancé fly above her, feeling like the luckiest person in the world.