Title: What the Universe Had Always Known

Author: Chesarae

E-mail: [email protected]

Category: Michael & Maria

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Michael�s thoughts of Home (set after Departure).

Disclaimer: I, in no way, own or take credit for Roswell, its characters, or its settings. Those belong to Melinda Metz, Jason Katims, and the UPN.

He lay there deep in thought. Now what? Now-- what was he to do? Yes, they had their mission. It was no longer to go home, but to save the life of his best friend�s son. A son who would have a chance to make his own future. Max had always been his best friend, his brother in all the true meanings of the word. This was of course important, but there was something even more important to his heart.

His Heart--that was exactly it. She was his heart. The center of his universe. Of course, he wouldn�t admit that to anyone other than her. The outside world must see the stone cold exterior of his castle walls, from the rock hard, un-impenetrable bricks and lurking moss, all the way to the thorny overgrowth. But how could he maintain that? Every time he saw her, every aching time, his insides would puddle into clay--clay for her hands to mold. And mold him she did.

How could he have ever refused her presence, her vibrant rainbow? In her, there was every color. Violet was the stirring of her passion. Blue was the first shimmer of her flame. Indigo was the depth of her understanding. Green was the color of her soul when it sparkled. Yellow was the first hint of recognition. Orange was the warning. And Red, red was the expanse of all that was.

Her eyes told him everything. There, he could see her. He could see her dreams, her wants, and her needs. She dreamed of being a singer. She wanted her childhood back. She needed him. In her eyes he could see himself the way she saw him; that was the biggest prize of all. She saw him not as a failure or a bother, but as a hero. She saw him as her savior, her Home. And he too, new that feeling. Had it not been that long ago that he had made that realization as well? He had long been denying it, but last night had brought admittance. With her, he was Home.

He could still smell her on the sheets beneath him. That smell, of summer and sunshine. Like honey, it was overpowering to all the senses. It bloomed upon him like a desert rose---- with its petals unfolding to the twinkling night sky.

Her hair was like the strands of the universe. It bound one side to another. Golden light would spread from the tips of his fingers to the insides of his soul. It would surround them when they needed each other most, and when they would become one.

Her smile was all that he was. Her smile was the essence that made Him. One quick flash and he was a goner. A full, laughing beam, and he was already there. And her lips? They were fresh and ripe like the sticky, sweet fullness of stawberries. A lightening bolt could be sent from those lips, but that was only the sign of the brewing storm.

Her soul was His soul. Her rainbow had meshed with his whirl-wind, and brought upon an everlasting peace. The threads were woven tightly in a shimmering knit. Even the sharpest blade could never pose a threat. Because--- they were home. They were two halves that had once been whole, crafted as a single bronzed creation, and that were now, once again united. A meld had been forced.

What was he to do? He was going to help his best friend. He was going to protect his two sisters. He was going to cherish his friends, for they were priceless. He was going to remember the Boy, a true friend, who had lost his own flame, all in their sake. He was going to live---- because he was finally inside the one place he had always wanted to be. He was inside Maria�s soul.

Above him, the midnight glow of the Heavens grew as the stars twinkled in rejoice----for another soul had been completed. Waves crashed amongst the oceans and the sands blew. The winds hollered and the moon beckoned. And the trees whispered as they listened to the age-old melodies of the flittering pixies. The universe rejoiced because what it had always known had finally been found--- Only thru Maria was there Michael.........

--The End