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.
****
The tragic
mistake is to assume
That any
treasure, object, or person
Must be
possessed to be loved.
-
Ethel Sabin Smith
****
The move happened fairly quickly and smoothly. Jesse had already been in New York a couple
of weeks getting everything settled.
This afforded Isabel a little more time to say goodbye. It took a week for Max to come around, but
finally he admitted that it might be right for her. “Maybe moving would be the best thing,” Max hedged. “Maybe.
I don’t know. It just seems like
we’re supposed to do something here.
You know?”
Isabel nodded. They
had met in the park, and were sitting on a picnic table. “I think we found it Max. I mean, we know who we are,” Isabel entwined
her fingers into Max’s. “But we’ve
chosen a different life. I think our
parents would have liked us to come back and reign, but from the sounds of
Antar, that wouldn’t be possible.
There’s no throne to go back to.
We aren’t wanted there, except for our heads. We have no reason to go back, and we have so many reasons to
stay, right? There is no destiny?”
“You weren’t meant for Tess and me for Michael?”
Max peered into her eyes.
“Is that more of a question than a statement?” He rubbed his face. Max
was tired and he was losing his sister.
“Isabel don’t go if you just feel like you owe it to Jesse. I doubted Michael when he freaked out on
Jesse, accusing him of trying to keep you from us. But after this, well, I’m getting the feeling that he might be
right…”
Isabel grimaced.
“When did you start believing Michael’s paranoia? Max, Jesse got an amazing job offer and
that’s that. There’s nothing sinister
about it. End of story.”
She pulled away and hopped off the table. “I love you guys, but you’re not running my
life anymore. You can’t force me to
stay this time,” Isabel accused softly.
“You’re not a king and I’m not royalty.
We’re ‘humans’ with normal lives and it’s time to forget it all.”
Isabel looked at the somber would-be-king. She knew it sounded harsh, but it was the
truth. Each one of them had in one way
or another turned away from the duty they left back on Antar. They wanted to forget the far away tales of
intrigue, betrayal, passion and love.
Who wanted destiny?
“That’s not true Isabel,” Max protested.
Isabel raised her left eyebrow questioningly. “Max, who are you kidding? How many times have I heard you say that you
don’t believe in destiny? Or that you make
your own destiny?” Isabel scoffed. “You
wanted to be with Liz. You got that
now. Michael wanted to be with
Maria. And I, in the end, found someone
who loved me too.”
Max shook his head.
“It’s different with Liz.”
“Max you gave up a whole planet, a whole kingdom, family,
for her.”
“It doesn’t mean, well, I, uh…” Max stuttered, unable to
deny the accusation. “Fine! Yes!
I admit it.”
Isabel rubbed his back, speaking soothing words. “Max I’m not judging you. I understand, not completely, but I
understand.” Isabel kissed her
brother’s head. “And I am doing the
same thing. I’m finding a life beyond
all this alien stuff. I can move on and
live a normal life like I never dreamed I could. I think I can leave it behind.”
Max looked at Isabel.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” he said slowly, “but do you really love
him? I mean, is it real love or is it
just because he’s the first man who ever asked you to marry him?”
Max swallowed and continued on. “I just don’t understand what you see in him. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like the guy, but he just doesn’t seem
right for you.”
Isabel’s eyes narrowed.
“And Liz is the right person for you?
How dare you?” Isabel lashed out.
“How dare you question my motives?
We’ve been through hell and back because of your ‘love’ for
her. We’ve taken stupid chances. People died because of your love for
Liz. And I’m tired of it Max.”
He slipped off the picnic table and looked Isabel in the
eye. “You know it wasn’t like that.”
Isabel shook her head.
“I know that if we never became friends with any of them, they would
never have been hurt. I know that if
you had left everything alone, Alex wouldn’t be dead. If you just wouldn’t have fallen for her…” she whispered.
Max was taken aback.
She’d never said anything like that before. She’d never accused him of being the reason for Alex’s
death. “Isabel!” Max exclaimed. “You know that wasn’t my fault.”
Isabel shook in despair.
“I know,” she apologized. “Max,
how can I stay? I can’t accept the
possibility that Jesse might be next…and this time, I might be the
reason.”
Max wrapped Isabel in his arms. “I’m sorry Izzy. I
just…well, I just can’t imagine living here without my sister,” Max
admitted. “I’m sorry.”
Isabel pulled away slightly and looked at her brother. “Max, I love you. I always will. And I’ll
be back,” she said hesitantly. “You’ll
see. I won’t be gone forever. And if
you need anything, I’ll be down in a flash!”
“Likewise,” Max replied.
“Hey, like I told Michael, ‘we’ll have the holidays’.”
Max nodded.
“Right. And I’ll be over to
visit, right?”
“Definitely,” Isabel smiled, a tear rolling down her
cheek. “You’d better!”
They both laughed.
“I’ll miss you Isabel.”
“I’ll miss you too Max.”
And that was the last time Isabel saw Max before she left.
~~~
Michael refused to say goodbye. He thought he’d done that Friday night.
‘What if you could convince her to stay?’ a voice inside
questioned.
“How could I do that?
She already said she was in love with Jesse,” Michael said to himself as
he padded around his apartment. He
grabbed a tropical punch Snapple out of his fridge.
‘Maybe she’s lying.
Maybe she’s lying to herself and needs you to make her see that you were
meant to be?’ it retorted.
Michael took a swig out of the bottle and sat down on the
couch. “She wouldn’t do that! I mean, I practically told her I wanted to
be with her!” he mumbled.
‘Well, maybe after 2 years of watching you suck face with
Maria, she had a hard time believing it?’ the voice spat.
“Shut up!” Michael grumbled and turned the television on.
‘You know you want to see her. You know you have to find out!’ the voice sang mockingly.
Michael shook his head and turned up the volume on the
remote control.
~~~
Jesse had come back that last week to bring Izzy back to
their new home. He’d been
excited. Isabel couldn’t deny how much
this move meant to him. In fact things
seemed to be back to normal, if there was such a thing in their
lives. Isabel felt connected to Jesse
again, the way she had the day she’d promised to love, honor and cherish him
till the day they died. And she would.
Isabel made her rounds that day, first stopping at the
Crashdown and saying goodbye to Liz, Maria and Max. She looked for Michael at his apartment, but by his schedule, he
had to work that day. Finally she
stopped at home to bid adieu to her parents, who were somber, yet
approving. “Take good care of yourself
Izzy,” Mr. Evans said gruffly, hugging her so tight that Isabel thought she’d
stopped breathing for a second.
“I will Daddy,” Isabel sniffed.
As she turned to her mother who was quietly sobbing, Isabel
felt herself well up. “Oh, mom! I’m going to miss you so much!” Isabel wrapped her arms around her mother of
14 years. “I will write and send
pictures and phone!”
The two Evan’s women babbled on for another 20 minutes,
saying their farewells. “Okay, that’s
enough girls,” Mr. Evans chided. “They
have to get going before they miss their flight.”
Mrs. Evans wiped her nose with the mound of Kleenx in her
hand. “Have you said goodbye to the
boys?” she asked.
Isabel began fidgeting.
“Well, I’ve settled things with Max, and we said our goodbyes…” Isabel’s
voice trailed off.
“Apparently Michael hasn’t been by,” Jesse sighed. “I told her that he was probably busy with
his work and couldn’t get away.”
Mr. Evans and Jesse seemed to be looking at each other
intently. Then, Mr. Evans’s head jerked
upwards and he rubbed his hands together.
“Well, you can give him a call from the airport. You’ve got a plane to catch.”
Jesse shuffled her out the door and Isabel gave her Mom and
Dad one last hug goodbye. “See you at
Christmas!” Mrs. Evans called.
Isabel felt such emptiness as she drove away from her home
for the last time.
~~~
Jesse nuzzled against Isabel’s neck as they waited for the
call to the gate. “Honey, are you going
to be okay?”
Isabel nodded. “I’ll
be fine Jesse. I just need a little
time to adjust to living in another place,” she reassured. “I love you.”
Jesse felt himself melt under her brown eyes. He loved this woman with all of his heart. “I love you too,” Jesse whispered into her
ear and she giggled her response.
As he wrapped his arms around her, Jesse felt like he had
the greatest treasure in the world; to think he could lose it terrified
him. “Isabel, you do know that this is
the best thing for us?” Jesse asked.
“You trust me, don’t you?”
There was a moment of silence before she replied. “I know that are doing this to keep me
safe. And I trust that,” Isabel
whispered. “But I need you to know that
just because I am far away from Michael and Max, doesn’t mean that I will be
safe. Those who want to hurt me or
imprison me won’t be stopped by a change of address.”
Jesse swallowed. “I
know Isabel. But I promise, you will
be safe.”
The statement seemed to disturb Isabel. “How can you promise that?” Isabel
questioned.
Jesse regretted opening his mouth. There were things he’d put in place to keep her safe. ”I just will.”
With that, Jesse changed the subject. “So Max is really okay with this?” Jesse
inquired.
Isabel crossed her legs on the uncomfortable airport waiting
chair. “I think so.”
Jesse didn’t quite believe it. He’d had such a hold on Isabel for so long that Jesse was
frightened in an instant, her brother could take her away from him. “I can’t believe it. I understand why he was so upset. I mean, if I were him, I don’t think I could
imagine losing something so precious as you.”
Isabel smiled and caressed his cheek. “You can’t lose me Jesse.”
Jesse smiled and kissed her forehead. “You promise?” Jesse teased, wrapping his arms around her.
“I promise.”
Jesse clung to that. In the past he once believed that there was a forever, but in one moment, his life had been shattered. Then came Isabel. She healed his wounds and made him believe again. There were many things he was confident in, but her undying love was one of the few fears that still remained.
Was she his forever?