Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me, but to the writers and
producers of Roswell
Spoilers: After Chant Down Babylon, changes happening where Max is
successfully rescued,
and Michael was the one who broke up
with Maria.
***
What lies behind us,
And what lies before us
Are tiny matters compared to
What lies within us.
-
Ralph Waldo Emerson
***
Maia watched over Ava, her blonde hair straighter than she
remembered, but her eyes still as blue as the sky. She never imagined how good it would feel to watch over her again,
be a mother again. Maia felt like she
would explode when Ava gently lifted Zander, her grandchild into her arms.
It was hard at first, knowing that Ava didn’t remember her,
but she understood it. Maia didn’t look
like this in true form; she’d taken on the image of an older woman to keep
Khivar from suspecting that it was truly she, Andaria. Andaria thought it was clever to use the
name Maia. It meant mother, but Khivar
would never have thought about that.
~~~
“Uh,” Tess moaned.
“What happened?”
Tess felt like someone had dropped an anvil on her
head. She lightly rubbed her temple in
hopes of pushing away the pain. The
light caress of a woman’s hand startled her and Tess opened her eyes to see
Maia hovering over her.
“Let me help you,” Maia whispered. The older woman pressed the palms of her hands against the sides
of Tess’ head. “Just close your eyes
and let the pain float away.”
Tess felt herself automatically close her eyes and let her
mind go. There was warmth that flowed
from the palms of Maia’s hands into her mind.
It was like a salve to her hurting psyche.
When Tess felt Maia’s hands depart from her, it was like
waking up from a refreshing sleep.
Staring at the older woman, Tess furrowed her brow. She still hadn’t wrapped her mind around who
the woman was.
Maia seemed to read her mind and smiled. “You’ll find out soon. But now, you must go to your new home. I will meet you there in an hour. All will be explained because time is
running out,” she whispered conspiratorially.
Tess shook her head.
“What about Zander? You said he
couldn’t come to Tel Edrei?”
Maia nodded. “I have
someone here that will look after him while I’m gone. Don’t worry. Everything’s
been worked out my child.”
Tess felt unsettled.
It was like she knew that everything had been planned out and that there
was more to this woman than meets the eye.
Tess swallowed hard and walked over to Zander. “Mommy will be back soon.
I will come back for you,” she promised her son.
The 13-month old child looked up at her and smiled
reassuringly. A peace emanated from
him. Tess stroked his dark brown hair
and gently placed a kiss on the crown of his head.
“He knows everything will be fine and wants you to be safe,”
Maia said knowingly. “And I want you to
know that he’s in good hands.”
Tess looked over her shoulder at Maia, who stared down
lovingly at Zander. “How do you know
that?” questioned Tess. “You’ve only
just met my son.”
Maia stood up, straightening her posture until her eyes were
square with Tess. “Your son is stronger
than you know and more aware of his surroundings than anyone understands Ava.”
Tess debated whether she would press further in this line of
questioning. She knew Zander had
powers, like his father and mother, but what Tess didn’t know was whether they
would be stronger, or different than Tess or Max’s. Tess felt Maia’s hand squeeze her shoulder gently. “You should be on your way. I must settle Zander in for the night before
coming to you.”
Tess was about to protest when Zander stood up slowly in his
playpen and reached up to Maia. It was
as if he knew what Maia was saying and trusted her. Tess took this as a cue to leave. Though she still was hesitant at leaving her son, something she’d
never done. “I’ll trust you Maia,” Tess
said calmly. “But if anything happens
to him, I will hunt you down.”
Maia stared at her seriously and then the corners of her
eyes crinkled and her face broke into a smile.
“Ava, I promise, if anything happens to him, I’ll hurt myself!”
Somehow that promise made her feel slightly more
secure. Tess tried to peer into her
mind, but there was a wall in between her and Maia’s secrets. Maia walked away to settle Zander in for the
night, and if she knew Tess was trying to read her mind, she didn’t give that
away.
~ * ~
Tess waited anxiously in her living room, pacing back and
forth. She had developed a
routine. She would pace back and forth ten
times before looking out her window.
The household was not fully staffed. Tess had been so focused on her child’s
caretaker that she hadn’t even thought about kitchen staff or maids. It wasn’t the lifestyle she’d grown
accustomed to living on Earth.
“Would you like anything to sustain you, Your
Highness?” The tall butler stood in the
foyer, his face remained contorted as it had the first time she’d met him.
“No Medgio,” Tess dismissed, her gaze focused on the stone
path leading up to her house.
“Is Your Highness expecting someone?” Medgio inquired.
Tess looked over at her butler. He wasn’t unfriendly, as much as he looked it, but Medgio
couldn’t be trusted. Tess couldn’t take
the chance he reported back to Khivar on her every move. “No,” she lied.
Medgio nodded once and turned on his heel and left the room.
~ * ~
It seemed like hours had passed and there was no sign of Maia. Tess was getting anxious and irritable. Medgio seemed to be checking up on her ever so often and it was getting on Tess’ nerves.
“Your Highness?” Medgio called.
Tess turned around and glared. “Would you stop checking up on me?” she yelled.
Medgio’s expression remained unchanged. He didn’t even flinch at Tess’
outburst. Tess closed her eyes and went
back to staring out the window, praying that her point had been made.
“Your Highness?”
Tess clenched her teeth and smiled politely. “What is it?” growled Tess.
“It is getting late and you need to follow me,” he stated.
Tess turned around to dismiss him, but he had moved forward
and was now only a few feet away from her.
She thought it odd, but Tess hid her surprise. “I want to be alone!” demanded Tess.
“Please follow me,” Medgio stated, a little more forcefully.
Tess frowned as he turned on his heel and began to make his
way into the foyer and down a hallway.
She stood there in the living room for a moment, unsure that following
him was the wisest idea, but Tess didn’t know what else to do. After a few minutes, Tess walked stepped up
into the foyer and down the hallway she’d seen the older man disappear
down. At the end of the hallway was a
door, as she pushed it forward, it swung open to reveal a large kitchen. It had a sterile look to it. “Hello?” Tess called.
There were two doors, one to her left and one to her
right. Just as Tess was about to enter
the door to her left, Medgio suddenly appeared. Tess jumped a little, startled by his sudden presence. “What is it?” Tess demanded. She folded her arms across her chest and
glared at the older man. “I’m not
moving until you tell me exactly where you’re taking me.”
The corner of Medgio’s lip lifted a bit, into what seemed to
be a smile. He turned his back to her
and said, “This way, Your Highness.”
Medgio was walking towards a solid wall that had a few
shelves of glassware and china sitting on it.
Tess frowned. Where could they
go?
Suddenly Medigo disappeared into the wall. Tess couldn’t believe her eyes. He’d just walked through the wall. As Tess approached the wall, she stretched
out her arm and touched the surface of the wall. It was solid. Tess shook
her head. Had she just imagined it?
Then unexpectedly, Medgio’s head appeared through the
wall. “This way Your Highness,” he
commanded. Then he disappeared again.
Tess stood pondering the situation. The wall seemed solid enough, and yet she
had seen Medgio walk right through it.
Tess took a deep breath and with her arms in front of her, walked
forcefully towards the wall.
Surprisingly Tess didn’t find her face pressed against the
wall. The solid mass in front of her
seemed to phase out and allow her passage into a bright white cave. It almost reminded Tess of the Granolith
chamber, except there were chairs and a few hints of color in the almost all
white room. Charts of stars and
constellations, galaxies she’d never seen before where hung on the wall.
Tess blinked a few times, trying to adjust her eyes to the
stark intensity of the light. “What is
this place?” she said out loud to herself.
“It’s a safe haven my daughter,” a familiar voice echoed.
Tess turned around and found an older version of herself,
staring back at her. The fair-haired
woman stood in a cream-colored gown, her hair swept up and hanging down in
tendrils before her. Her eyes were as
deep as the sea, with a brooding intensity within. Furrowing her brow, Tess tried to place her face. She’d seen this woman before. “Do I know you?” she whispered. Tess had this nagging feeling that she was
close to this woman.
The mystery woman nodded slowly, long flowing arms
outstretched before her. Tess was
pulled to her, like metal to a magnet.
She stopped inches away from the stranger. “Who are you?” Tess asked breathlessly.
The woman looked upon her with kind eyes that seemed filled
with memories. “I’m Andaria,” she
whispered, almost in tears. She reached
out and captured a lock of hair in between two of her fingers. “You’re as beautiful as I remember.”
Her hand caressed her face and as Tess closed her eyes a
flood of memories filled her mind. A
woman dressed in pale silver walking behind a golden-haired woman dressed in
white. The woman in white wore a crown
and sat down on a red velvet chair. The
woman in pale silver knelt before her.
Suddenly the images changed. The
woman in silver now walked along the sand, her blonde hair flowing in the
wind. She was reaching for someone,
calling someone. A little girl was
swept up into the woman’s arms and swung around. They laughed mercilessly.
Tess swallowed.
“Mom?”
~~~
Liz aimlessly stumbled into The Crashdown. Michael and Isabel made sure she’d gotten
home. They kept asking her if she’d be
okay. What kind of question was that?
Her head throbbed.
She couldn’t believe how wrong everything was. Max was dying and she was the reason? It was something she couldn’t accept. They were wrong.
As Liz climbed up the stairs into the loft above the café,
she thought of all the adventures, pains, and trials that she and Max had gone
through to get to that point - that one perfect night.
They’d been in Las Vegas on a long weekend. Max had driven them to one of the most
spectacular hotels in the city and made such a big deal over her. When they’d arrived, Max had had champagne,
strawberries and chocolate waiting for them.
She couldn’t have imagined anything more romantic. The room was lined with candles and there
was a heart shaped Jacuzzi in the room.
As the memories filled her mind, Liz felt like she was
drowning. She felt like she couldn’t
breath. When she fell onto the floor,
tucking her head between her knees, trying not to faint; Liz squeezed her eyes
shut, thinking that maybe it would stop her from seeing Max’s face and feeling
the touch of his lips on her body. It
didn’t.
Oh God, why is this happening? Liz asked in
desperation. What had she done so
irreparably wrong to deserve such pain?
All she had wanted was Max.
As the pain of reality sunk in, Liz choked out a loud
laugh. This had the taste of a bad soap
opera. “How pathetic!” she mumbled to
herself.
“What’s pathetic?” a voice asked.
Liz jerked her head up and was startled to see Kyle standing
at the top of the stairs. “What do you
want?” she asked miserably, wiping the streams of salty tears from her cheeks.
She didn’t look up. Liz
didn’t want to hear an, ‘I told you so’ from Kyle, especially from Kyle. “Can you just leave me alone?” she sobbed.
Liz heard him slide down beside her. She looked over at him, waiting to see a
smug look on his face. “Nope. Can’t do that,” he said nonchalantly. “My dad told me never to leave a crying girl
by herself. You might just get lucky.”
Liz looked at him disgustingly. “Your dad never said anything like that!”
He looked at her and shrugged. “You’re right, but it sounded good?”
Liz rolled her eyes and let out a strangled laugh. “You’re such a dork!”
Kyle smiled. “Well,
that’s what friends are for, right?” He
dug into his jacket pocket and pulled up a wrinkled tissue. “Hasn’t been used, I promise!”
Liz laughed and then remembered the events of the past two
weeks. “Oh Kyle, everything’s so messed
up!”
The light-brown haired boy looked empathetically at
her. “What’s messed up Liz? You guys have been disappearing a lot lately
and I didn’t know what was happening?”
Liz looked up at Kyle and thought about how to explain the
horrible mess to him. As she opened her
mouth to put thought to words, Liz felt herself choke on the well of tears that
surged forward. Shaking her head, Liz
buried her head into Kyle’s shoulder.
She felt his strong arm pull her into him and she welcomed
the warm embrace.
~~~
Isabel walked into the Evans’ residence wearily. She didn’t want to even think about the
argument that would ensue after forgetting to pick Jesse up. Before entering her parents’ house, Isabel
took a deep breath and sighed. You
can do this. You’ve been through worse
right?
The pep talk she gave to herself didn’t quite do the
trick. Isabel walked slowly into the
Evans’ kitchen, waiting for the barrage of questions from her husband. But there were none. Instead the questions came from her parents.
“Isabel, where have you been? Jesse’s been worried sick!” Mrs. Evans chided, with her father
standing intently behind her.
Isabel swallowed and ran her hand around her neck trying to massage
it free of the tension. “I’ve been
looking for Max,” Isabel lied. “He’s
still out there you know!”
Isabel could feel Jesse’s gaze upon her, but she couldn’t
handle it right now. Not while she had
to continue to lie to her parents.
Isabel imagined how much easier it would be if they knew, but she
remembered the last time she felt compelled to tell her mother. Max wouldn’t allow it. But Max wasn’t there.
As she teased with the idea of telling her parents, Isabel
was reminded of her father’s reaction to all the mystery and secrecy
surrounding Max the last time. Though
telling her mother might have been all right, she knew her father wasn’t the
same story. And because of her father,
Isabel reminded herself, it’s never going to work, telling Mom.
Isabel sighed. “I’m
really tried Mom. Could we talk about
this tomorrow?”
Mr. and Mrs. Evans’ looked at each other and shook their
heads disdainfully. “We can,”
Mr. Evans stated. “But I don’t think
Jesse should have to.”
Isabel followed her parents as they walked out of the
kitchen and back to their room. Turning
back to Jesse, who hadn’t said a word since she’d come back into the kitchen,
Isabel bit her lip and apologized, “I’m sorry Jesse. Max was really bad tonight and we weren’t sure if he was going to
make it. I’m really sorry.”
Jesse stared right through her. “You know I thought that maybe you needed me here, to support
you, ya know?” He shook his head. “Who knew you’d run to Michael the first
chance you get!”
The accusation stung.
There was some truth to his words, but what right did he have to judge
her? She’d done the best she could
under the circumstances. Max was sick
and that was her main priority. Michael
had nothing to do with it.
Isabel bit back her anger.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what
you want me to say,” she sighed exasperatedly.
“I am trying to save my brother here…”
The words seemed to choke in her throat. She couldn’t get them out. “I just am…trying to do the best I can,” she
sobbed. “God, can’t you understand that! I don’t need you to be jealous right
now! I need you to help me!” Isabel looked up at him, pleading for some
understanding. She sank down into one
of the kitchen chairs.
Jesse’s hardened face seemed to soften. He moved towards her, kneeling before
her. “I know you’re having a hard time
with this,” he whispered. “I just want
you to let me in. I can help Isabel. For Pete’s sake, I’ve been trying to help
you and love you since the day I met you.”
Isabel closed her eyes and thanked God that he didn’t hate
her or hold any of this against her. It
was her biggest fear: Would she have to
choose between her brother and her husband?
But Jesse put that fear to rest with his butterfly kisses. Isabel felt herself being led to her
bedroom. She was so tired. She and Michael had so much to do and so
little time to do it in.
~~~
Michael had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. His body was worn from the stress and the tension of the night’s events. First, with Max and Liz and then Jesse’s return.
He’d been ready for Jesse’s return when Isabel told him, but
then Max’s close call and the high drama of the evening; it made Michael forget
about Jesse. Michael had felt closer to
Isabel than he’d ever felt before, but by evidence of tonight, it wasn’t
exactly the same for Isabel. Or so he
thought.
Michael never had dreams.
He couldn’t recall having one dream when he grew up. Of course it could’ve been due to Hank and
his drinking. Michael grew up sleeping
with one eye open. That was until he
had those dreams of destiny.
But that night, Michael felt himself drift and dream. The images he dreamt, Michael had seen
before. It was of the desert and the
alien symbols. But there was something
different this time.
The dream seemed to blur as Isabel appeared. The desert turned into rocky crags and the
sky was green. He stood in a blue
armor, military medals pinned over his heart.
Michael/Rath peered over some hillside where there were clouds of fire
and flashes of light. He could hear
screams from men dying as he turned his back on the images.
Behind him, Isabel/Vilandra stood, her hair was long and
blonde again, but swept up in a crown of curls. She looked magnificent, regal and innocent. He smiled as she approached him.
“Vilandra,” he could hear himself speak. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Isabel/Vilandra wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed
him. When she pulled away, there was a
certain glint in her eye. “Rath
darling,” she said breathlessly. “I
have something to tell you.”
He frowned. “What is
it?” he asked.
She pulled out of his arms and turned her back to him. “I’m in love with someone else.”
The words stung. His
betrothed, his beloved – betrayed him?
Michael already knew the story, but to see the images, the memories
return, it filled his heart with anger and pain.
“To whom?” The play
continued on as Michael struggled to awaken from the images.
“I'm sorry. He loves me. I know you’re only marrying
me because you’re my brother’s second in command. His servant. You’re doing
this because he told you to.”
Michael/Rath growled at the accusation. “You don’t know what you’re saying. This man, he doesn't love you Vilandra!”
Michael/Rath watched as Isabel/Vilandra ignored his
testimony of truth. She was in the
distance before he reached the end of his cry, to far to hear the truth. “I love you! I will always love you.”
Awaking with a start, Michael swallowed as his alarm clock
sounded with a loud shrieking moan. He hit
the top of the irritating machine and fell back into his pillow. What was he supposed to do now?