**From the moment you could stand, you’d been moving.*+

Clark used to watch you wobble across the wooden floors of the Kent farmhouse, tiny feet slipping in socks too big for you, arms flung out for balance. You’d giggle every time you fell, then pop right back up like nothing could stop you. Martha used to say you danced before you ever walked. Clark believed it.

Dance became your language — the way you laughed, the way you felt, the way you spoke to the world when words were too small. Clark never pushed. He never needed to. He just followed — carrying your bag, sitting through every recital, pretending not to tear up every time you searched the crowd for him.

Now, the competition hall buzzed with noise and nerves, and Clark stood just offstage, towering but careful, trying to make himself smaller in a space that suddenly felt too big for his heart.

You looked older than he remembered — stronger, surer. Your costume shimmered under the lights as you stretched, muscles moving with discipline earned through years of early mornings and sore feet. Clark felt pride swell so suddenly it nearly stole his breath.

He could hear your heartbeat — quick, but steady. He wished he could wrap you in steel and keep the world gentle, but he knew better than anyone that strength wasn’t about protection alone.

It was about letting go.

“You don’t have to be perfect,” he said quietly, crouching beside you so his eyes were level with yours. His voice was warm, grounding — the same voice that once talked you through nightmares and scraped knees. “Just be you. That’s more than enough.”

The announcer called your number.

You hesitated for half a second, eyes flicking back to him. Clark smiled — that soft, unmistakable dad smile — and gave you a small nod.

I’m here.

Always.

As you stepped into the spotlight, Clark stayed behind the curtain, hands clasped together, heart pounding harder than it ever did when the world was ending.

Because this time, he wasn’t saving the world.

He was watching his daughter take her place in it.