Fan Fic and More

Part 36

To Ava’s dismay, the more she tried to block Kyle out, the closer the connection seemed to become. The more she tried to push him away, the more in tune with him she felt. It was driving her absolutely crazy. She realized now that it had to have worked the same way for him, his immediate refusal of their connection had resulted in his being practically bombarded with it. Now the same thing was happening to her.

A part of her wanted to just give into it, drop everything right now and go find Kyle and throw herself into his arms, damning the consequences. But there would be consequences. And she didn’t know if she could deal with them.

It wasn’t just Kyle who was affecting her decision, either. Phantoms from the past had been on the edges of her mind for the past few weeks, now, and one or both of them was always close enough at hand to make her doubt anything that she had been feeling. She’d tried to push Tess and Zan out of her mind, but they would only retreat to the edges of her psyche, waiting to attack and make themselves prominent whenever they deemed worthy.

Her double had been taunting her for months now. First it was only in order to convince her that she could never be accepted into the group, if only because they had hated Tess herself so much… There had been other things, too. Ava could never be Zac’s real mother. She could never be Michael’s real sister. And she would never, ever have any claim on Kyle Valenti.

Zan’s assaults were more subtle, and they weren’t anything different than what she’d gotten from him when he was alive—she belonged to him, whether she liked it or not. It didn’t matter that he had never particularly wanted her, that wasn’t the point. He owned her, he always had and he always would, it was as simple as that.

Of course she knew that these were just her own doubts and reservations personified, she even knew that she couldn’t trust them, but that didn’t make them any less effective. She knew, really, that Zan had never felt ownership over her, he hadn’t cared that much. Still, she’d been told for two lifetimes that that was how it truly was, that she belonged to Zanathan, with him, for eternity, no matter how she felt about it. And as the saying goes, if you hear something enough times, you begin to believe it. Ava didn’t even know when she’d started believing it, whether it had been in this life or in the other… it didn’t matter, really, the damage was done. Even now, as she was contemplating her connection to Kyle, she felt guilty about Zan. She had been connected to Zan, but it had never been anything as powerful as this, and she felt as if she should have wanted it to be.

Isabel had said something once about how she’d been told that connections manifest themselves differently between different people, but her words had been vague at the time. Ava had considered asking her about it, but Isabel had been fairly preoccupied with Alex the last few days. Liz had told her that they’d been to see Jesse, Isabel’s ex-husband, and that they’d been almost inseparable since the visit. Not that they’d kept their distance from each other beforehand, but the way Liz had said it made it sound like Isabel could hardly stand to let Alex out of her sight of late, and Alex was welcoming the attention. Liz had laughingly called it the newlywed stage.

Ava was glad for them, especially Isabel. She remembered Isabel’s panic when she’d caught sight of Jesse only a matter of weeks ago, and she knew that having that finally resolved must have been a huge relief for her friend.

And yes, a small part of her was jealous. This new family of hers, it was almost complete. Alex and Isabel were finally getting the chance to love each other uninhibitedly, Michael and Maria were planning their wedding, and after all these years, there was still no question about Max and Liz’s love for each other. Still, starting something with Kyle, just because it was convenient, just because they were the odd men out… that wasn’t fair to him.

What about fair to you? a small voice in the back of her mind asked. Her own, of course. She was still blocking out Kyle’s powers.

She’d been sitting trying to read the same page for the last twenty minutes, but her thoughts were constantly drowning out the words on the page. Finally she shut the book, tossing it aside for the moment. It had been a quiet night. Kyle had started this mental tirade himself when he’d called earlier, saying that he was taking Alexander to the new Disney film while Liz and Max were on their date, and inviting herself and Zac along. She hadn’t been surprised when he’d called, she’d known he would before he had decided to himself. Zac had pleaded with her to come with, but she’d apologized to him, saying that she had a lot of paperwork she had to catch up on. That alone proved how little she trusted herself around Kyle at the moment, as she was passing up time with her child in order to avoid him. She was a terrible person. Or a terrible mother, at least.

Zac had blatantly scowled at Kyle when he’d come to pick him up, but he’d been wanting so badly to see the movie that he’d seen it fit to overlook who his chaperon was, if only for the night. Ava still didn’t know what it was that Zac was holding against Kyle. She’d tried asking him, but she’d only come up with the same answers—why should he be friendly to Kyle? Kyle had never done anything to deserve his friendliness.

Just thinking of the small feud that was building between the two made Ava sigh. Kyle had been able to keep his temper with Zac so far, but he was losing patience, Ava knew, especially as Kyle had no idea what terrible offense he’d committed, either.

Ava glanced at the clock and realized that they should be home pretty soon. And it was then that she heard shouting out in the hallway.

*************

Kyle jabbed at the button on the elevator. It had been a long night following a longer week, and he just wanted it to be over. Against his better judgment, he’d dropped Alex off first, since it’d been a kind of late movie and the kid had been practically falling asleep. Without his nephew there as a buffer, though, things were starting to turn ugly fast. This whole night had been a mistake.

After his pep-talk from Alex the elder, everything had seemed amazingly simple. Of course Ava loved him. It was so obvious… And all he’d have to do was conveniently cross paths with her at some point and get her to admit it for herself.

Things had not turned out that way. See, the thing was, in order to get Ava to admit that she was madly in love with him, he had to get her in a room alone for more than a few seconds… which Ava had gone out of her way to make sure that never happened. Everytime he’d even glimpsed Ava this past week, that’s all it had been… she was always rushing to and fro, she’d even missed the Friday night dinner.

It was driving Kyle insane. Even more than that, though, it was driving Kyle desperate. Which was what had lead to his current situation, stuck in an elevator with a bored, annoyed Zac Spencer. He’d thought maybe, just maybe, he’d get her to agree to the movie. It was a Disney flick with two kids… safe territory… And that would be a no.

And meanwhile he was surrounded by three—yes, three—sickeningly lovey-dovey couples at home… Alex and Isabel had been the worst lately, they’d come back from Jesse’s flirting constantly and connected at the hip… or… lip, rather.

A man stepped off the elevator the floor below Ava’s, leaving Kyle and Zac alone, and as the door closed again, Kyle punched the 10 button a couple more times for good measure.

“You’re gonna break that,” Zac said suddenly, in a not-that-I-care-but-you-suck kind of voice that only a ten or eleven-year-old boy can pull off.

Kyle rolled his eyes and bit back a frustrated growl. “I’m not gonna break the elevator, Zac,” he said, looking anywhere but at the kid. If he looked at him, he’d strangle him, it was as simple as that.

“Whatever,” Zac mumbled, as the doors opened and he strode off onto the hall towards his door.

Kyle watched the sandy-colored head flounce down the hallway, each step bringing back one of Zac’s complaints from earlier that night… Why’d they get popcorn if there wasn’t any hot sauce?’ He didn’t want Sprite, he wanted Root Beer. No, the peanut M&M’s. Who cares that he let Kyle pay for the plain ones first? They’d played polite for Alex, but Zac’s intention was clear: make Kyle’s night a living hell.

When Zac got to the door, Kyle just shook his head, starting to turn away from him. “You know, I should be getting back. Tell your mom hi.”

Zac stared at him in disbelief. “You’re not even gonna see if I get in safe? Real responsible,” he said sarcastically.

Kyle flung a hand towards the door. “You’re here, alright? You’re right in front of the door, I know you can unlock it.”

“Yeah, what if my mom’s not here? You’re gonna leave me all by myself?” Zac challenged.

Kyle ran a hand through his hair. “Gimme a break!” he all but shouted, turning away from Zac and then bearing down on him again. “What the hell do you want from me, Zac? What did I do? I was just trying to do something nice, you know? But do I get a ‘Gee, Kyle, thanks for the movie?’ No, I get harassed all night long.”

“You didn’t do this for me,” Zac flung back automatically. “You just wanted to see if you could hit on my mom.”

Kyle glanced towards the apartment door again. “Is that what this is? Is this about your mom? You want me to back off or something? Well, I’m sorry but it’s not gonna happen, buddy. I’m in love with Ava. Alright? I’m not gonna just give up because you’ve decided you’re gonna be a little punk about it.”

Zac didn’t flinch at Kyle’s words, he just scoffed. “You can’t love her.”

That comment stopped Kyle in his tracks. “What?” he asked, staring at Zac, as if that would make his meaning clear.

“She loved you, you know that? And you’ll never forgive her.” Zac was looking at Kyle in unconcealed disgust, but for the life of him, Kyle could not make sense of his words.

“Zac, what are you talking about? If anything, it’s your mom that has to forgive me, not the other way around.” Kyle could feel his confusion overtaking his frustration, especially as he was reminded all of a sudden that Zac was a kid. With that thought in mind, he felt as if he should take control of the situation, until Zac’s answer all but knocked him off his feet.

“I’m not talking about Ava!” Zac burst out. “My mother, Tess. You hate her, you’ll never forgive her, and she loved you! You’re the only one she ever loved!”

The hallways was silent for a moment after Zac’s eruption, but as Kyle’s shock faded, it was overshadowed by the same cold denial that Kyle had associated with Tess for years. He gave a low, mirthless laugh. “Zac, I don’t know where you got an idea like that… but Tess never loved me. Tess never loved anyone.”

The door opened slowly, revealing a worried expression on Ava’s face, but it hardly merited a glance from either of the individuals in the hall.

“She did too!” Zac argued. “She loved me. She tried to protect me. And she loved you, too. The whole trip, that’s all she would talk about… That nobody mattered anymore, except for you. That she’d never be able to make it up to her.”

Kyle lifted an eyebrow. “Zac, what trip? What are you talking about? Tess died when you were only a baby… there’s no way you could remember her.”

Ava moved into the hallway, then, to stand next to Zac and pull an arm around him. Her eyes met Kyle’s as if she were finally piecing something together. “He does though, Kyle. He remembers everything. That’s how he found me. He remembered me. He remembered Tess.”

Kyle moved his gaze to Ava’s face, and suddenly he didn’t even know what to do with himself. “But how’s that possible, Ava? He was only a baby…”

Zac leaned against Ava heavily, as if relieved that she was taking over the conversation. She lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug. “It’s his gift, Kyle. He gets it from me. Well, Tess, of course.” She looked down at Zac and brushed his bangs out of his eyes, lovingly. “Memory…” she looked back at Kyle with a sad smile. “It can be a very powerful thing.”

Kyle was shell-shocked. His first thought was that there Tess went again, pulling his past up to haunt him in the form of a ten-year-old boy… But Zac’s words were finally beginning to penetrate. He slowly turned to look at Zac again. “The trip you were talking about… that was when she brought you back to Earth, right?” Zac turned wary eyes to Kyle and nodded slowly. “And she… she really said all those things…” Again, Zac nodded.

Kyle started backwards then, stumbling slightly. “I… I should go… I’m sorry… I should go…”

Ava gave Zac a gentle push towards the apartment, and followed after Kyle, suddenly worried about him, too. “Kyle?” she called after him, where he was standing waiting for the elevator. “Kyle? Are you okay?” she asked, touching his shoulder, concern for him overpowering her need to stay aloof.

Kyle turned desolated eyes to her. “Was he really telling the truth? About remembering all that?”

Ava sighed. “Kyle, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that Zac would never lie about Tess. He knows that she did terrible things, but…” she shrugged, helplessly. “She was his mother.”

“Ava, do you have any idea what this means? Do you have any idea how much I’ve let myself hate her all these years? And all because I thought…” he shook his head, hardly able to find the words.

“This doesn’t mean that she didn’t do horrible things, Kyle. She almost killed Alex, and she did kill a whole team of scientists, all because she was ‘protecting’ Zachary.”

“Listen, I know what she did, alright?” Kyle snapped. Part of him knew he might be hurting her, but he didn‘t know how to care about that at the moment. He had other things to worry about. “I know who she was. But I didn’t know that she… I thought she didn’t care about me… I didn’t know that she…”

“That she loved you,” Ava finished for him finally. “Of course she did, Kyle. You made her feel human.”

That last sentence made his head snap up to look at her, and suddenly there were tears in Ava’s eyes. He’d started out the night intent on winning Ava over, so why did he suddenly feel like he’d lost her all over again? Before he could even process what had happened here, the elevator came, and Ava blinked quickly. “Goodbye, Kyle.” There was a strange sadness in her voice that Kyle couldn’t begin to refute, even if he’d wanted to.

Minutes before, he’d stepped off this same elevator frustrated and confused. Now, as he stepped back on, he was simply torn. Through Zac’s admission, he’d finally been given a chance to make peace with Tess’ memory, something he had never believed to even be possible. As the elevator doors drew closed between himself and Ava, though, he got the sickening feeling that she would be the price he paid.

Part 37

Kyle took a deep breath of cold night air. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten to the roof of the apartment building, or even why that was where he’d ended up, all he knew was that he couldn’t go back to the apartment after that. He couldn’t deal with the possibility of seeing someone, of being asked what was wrong and then having to try to explain himself.

He needed to be alone, needed time to think, to sort things out for himself.

But he didn’t even know what it was he was trying to sort out. So, Tess had loved him. It shouldn’t matter now, should it? Because it wasn’t Tess he cared about. If there was anything he’d been trying to prove over the last few months, it was that.

But why had he been trying so hard to prove it? Why couldn’t it just be?

He didn’t hear the door from the stairwell opening, or the figures approaching him until they were right behind him, and then he jumped, spinning around to see Liz and Maria. “Sheesh, what are you guys doing up here?”

Maria half-turned towards to Liz as who gave Kyle a half-smile. “Ava called… she wanted to make sure you got home. She sounded kind of worried…” Liz trailed off, as if hoping he’d fill them in.

Kyle was too busy going over the implications of what she’d said to get the hint, though. Ava had called? She’d been worried about him? Even in the state he was in, the thought sent a thrill through him. Not that he should be surprised. Even after that sad look he’d left her with, Ava was nothing if not considerate of the people around her. She would have done the same for anybody.

“How did you guys find me?” he asked at last.

Liz smiled again, more amusement in her eyes this time. “Ava kind of had an idea of where you might be, too.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow at that, but before he could even think about it Maria was in front of him. “Okay, so spill, Valenti. What’s going on between you two? Things have always been kind of weird, but lately you guys are both walking around like your miserable and neither of you will talk about it.”

Kyle shrugged gruffly. “Yeah, well, there’s not much to it, really. Zac hates me and I make Ava miserable. What’s there to talk about?” But even as he was saying it he realized that Ava must have intended this when she’d called, she’d wanted him to talk to somebody about this. Before he’d even fully formed the thought something like an affirmation brushed against his mind. He tried to grab hold of it, but it was gone so quickly it almost could have been his imagination. She was still holding back.

“Well for starters you could explain what you just said,” Maria quipped, folding her arms across her chest. “What do you mean you’re making Ava miserable?”

Kyle shrugged again, less angrily this time. If this was what Ava wanted then he’d do it, not that it would help much. “Everything I do is wrong…” he shook his head as said it, though, and ran a hand through his hair. “No, that’s not it. She thinks that I’m in love with someone else.”

Maria and Liz exchanged a surprised look at that. “Who?” Liz asked. “She’s not still upset about Sara, is she?”

Kyle winced and shook his head. “Don’t remind me about Sara…” he sighed.

“Well… who then?”

Kyle looked at them like they were both daft. “Who? Who do you think? Tess,” he spat out, spinning away from them slightly.

Again his friends exchanged a worried look, and then Maria laughed. “But you were never in love with Tess.”

“Yes, yes I was!” he shouted, turning back to them sharply. “Okay? I’ve said it. Are you happy now? I fell in love with Tess, the heartless, back-stabbing murderer, Tess. And because I fell for the wrong girl twelve years ago, Zac hates me and the woman I’m falling in love with now won’t believe a word I say.”

Maria and Liz watched his admission with wide eyes. Even if Liz had suspected as much, the fact that it was still affecting Kyle this much surprised her. Suddenly a dozen questions came to mind, but she decided to take it one thing at a time. “What do you mean Zac hates you, Kyle? Why would he think that you loving Tess is a bad thing?”

Kyle sighed, kicking at the wall as he looked down at the city bright below him. “Because I hated her, too. I hated what she did to us… He’s mad at me because I couldn’t forgive her… Because all I’ve ever said around him is that she was a terrible person, that she did bad things…”

“Well that’s pretty much true,” Maria said hesitantly, shrugging.

“But she was still his mother,” Liz said, starting to understand. And then she frowned at Kyle. “You keep saying things in past tense, Kyle. You hated her, you couldn’t forgive her… what’s changed?”

Kyle sighed. “That’s the problem. Nothing should have changed. He said that she loved me. That I was the only person that Tess was really sorry for hurting.”

“How could he know that, Kyle?” Liz asked gently.

Kyle shrugged again. “Czechoslovakian genes. He can remember her. He actually remembers Tess. And now I don’t even know what I’m feeling,” he mumbled the last part.

“What do you mean you don’t know what you’re feeling?” Maria asked, her turn to play questioner. “You can’t be saying that any of this is changing your feelings for Ava.”

“No, of course not,” he snapped, answering her statement like it was a question. “But I don’t know… It’s like all of a sudden I can’t even find that part of me that hated Tess. All of a sudden I’m okay with her just because she loved me…” he trailed off, shaking his head, and finally turning to look Maria and Liz in the face. “And I’m relieved. After all of that, I’m relieved. I mean, that’s stupid, isn’t it? That I can forgive her and let it go just because I found out that she loved me?”

They’d been watching him with sympathetic looks, but now that he’d given them a chance to speak Liz shook her head. “It’s not stupid at all, Kyle. You have to think about it. What was it that you were holding against Tess all this time in the first place?”

Kyle gave her an incredulous look. “The same things everybody held against her? The fact that everything she said was a lie? Or that she betrayed our trust? Or Alex?”

Liz shook her head, though. She wasn’t buying it. “Kyle, this isn’t about Tess. It’s about the fact that you were positive that somebody you loved, somebody you really cared about was so inhuman they didn’t even think twice about using you. That’s why you’re relieved, Kyle. Because now that you know that you weren’t wrong to care about her. You know you can trust yourself again.”

Kyle wanted to argue, wanted to prove her wrong, but he couldn’t. After racking his brain for some sort of flaw to her observations, he gave up, just stared down at the concrete floor. If she was right… if that was what this was… then maybe he still had a chance.

“Now all we need to do is get Ava to trust you,” Maria smiled, as she saw that Kyle was accepting Liz’s assessment of things.

Kyle groaned at that, rubbing at his face tiredly. “That’s hopeless. She won’t even talk to me. She doesn’t want to hear my explanations about anything. She’s so damn sure that nothing between us has anything to do with her, that it’s all been about Tess…”

“Well, it has been about Tess in part,” Liz started…

Kyle glared at her. “No, it hasn’t! I swear it, Liz. I love Ava. Just her.”

Liz shook her head. “That wasn’t what I meant at all, Kyle. I just mean that before, you couldn’t move on with Ava because you still had issues to deal with about Tess. But if you’re letting go of Tess, then she won’t be the one stopping you from being with Ava.”

“Yeah… So the thing that’s really stopping you and Ava from being together is… you and Ava,” Maria summed up.

“Yeah, but why won’t she listen to me? Why won’t she just hear me out? She’s even blocking out our connection,” he said, then froze, as if he’d said too much.

Maria glanced at Liz and then to Kyle. “You guys have a connection? As in… a Czechoslovakian connection?”

“Well, yeah, we did, until she totally cut me off,” Kyle said, resigned to pacing in front of them.

“Have you guys even kissed?” Maria asked, confused.

“Not even close.”

“Then how is there a connection? And more importantly, why didn’t we know about it?” she demanded.

Kyle stopped his movements and turned towards them again. “I don’t know, alright? I don’t know how or why it happened, none of it makes sense.”

Liz glanced at Maria, biting her lip, and then said simply, “You’ve got to talk to her, Kyle. You guys can’t go on like this.”

Kyle shrugged, helplessly. “Well, I’m open to suggestions.”

Liz and Maria shared one more glance before Liz nodded. “Leave it to us.”

*************

Isabel kicked her shoes off and rolled her shoulders, when she got home the next day. She rolled her eyes as she realized that she was smiling, almost giggling. The past few days she’d been feeling absolutely silly, almost giddy. She was sure that if Alex hadn’t been feeling pretty happy himself she would have driven him mad by this point. So far everyone had written off her unusually good moods as a result of having finally gotten a chance to put Jesse behind her and start to move on with Alex, but she’d have to curb her actions soon, or they’d start getting suspicious.

She and Alex had decided to keep their impromptu engagement to themselves for the time being. They didn’t want to steal Michael and Maria’s thunder, first of all, but basically it was because they didn’t plan on getting married anytime soon, especially as Alex insisted that he at least be on his way to being able to support Isabel before they got married, and that would take some time. Isabel didn’t mind the wait, though, and she had a feeling it would do them some good to just enjoy being together for a little while. They were still too busy making up for lost time to make another drastic change in their lives.

And it wouldn’t be forever, maybe a few years. Alex had already signed up to take the GED and some basic computer-formatting classes at a local community college, and he’d been researching some of the less conventional computer companies that had been sprouting up here and there, the kind that was more interested in talent than a degree. He’d even considered calling up Macintosh and listing off problems and inefficiencies that Liz’s laptop had, but he wasn’t really into Mac’s, and he was pretty confident that he had more than a good shot at either taking over a smaller company or starting his own.

Isabel was shaken out of her reflections when there was a light knock on her door and it was inched open.

“You decent?” Alex grinned at her as he poked his head in.

“Why, you have a problem with that?” she smiled back.

She noticed his grin widen slightly, but he rolled his eyes at her, then opened the door wider. She blushed when Liz came into view beside him, obviously enjoying the banter between the two. Her sister-in-law looked tired, as if it had been a long week and she was now looking to enjoy herself a bit.

“What-what do you guys want?” Isabel asked, as she tried to regain her composure. She watched as Liz shot Alex a look of anticipation, and she also turned to look at Alex, frowning.

At her look, Alex shook his head slightly, and Isabel let out a small breath. She’d thought for a minute that maybe Liz had found out their secret somehow, not that that would be bad, but they’d agreed… She smiled apologetically at Alex then, and he shrugged it off, nodding towards Liz.

“Liz and I had a proposition to make,” he grinned.

Liz nodded, suppressed excitement in her eyes. “I’ve been talking to Alex about the things he told us when he got back… how we were pretty much being watched over, you know?”

Isabel nodded, the idea of “guardian aliens” still strange to even think about, but if that’s what had been keeping them from living in fear for so many years, then she was grateful to them.

“Well, Alex and I were thinking of what we wanted to do for Michael and Maria’s wedding…”

“We wanted to surprise her, do something really special, something she’d never forget,” Alex cut in, and she saw that he had the same excited look in his eyes. What had gotten into them?

“We asked Max first—well, I asked Max first—”

“Because she can’t do anything without asking Max,” Alex grinned.

Liz rolled her eyes but ignored him “—because I wanted to hear his opinion first, and he actually thought it was a good idea. That it was time, you know… for all of us…”

“And that’s where you come in,” Alex finished, finally.

Isabel shook her head, mystified. “Where I come in? What are you guys talking about? Time for what?”

Alex and Liz gave each other one last look before finally giving in and letting her know what was up. “There’s only one thing that we could think of that could really make the day really perfect for her…” Alex said softly, and he was watching her carefully.

“Because if there’s one person that a girl really wants at her wedding it’s—”

“Her mother,” Isabel broke in, gasping, and suddenly there were tears in her eyes.

Alex came towards her then, and wrapped an arm around her. “And then we were thinking how unfair it would be to the rest of our parents to only bring Amy up.”

Isabel pulled away from him sharply, staring at him, not even daring to believe that she’d heard him correctly. “Are you serious?”

Liz stepped forward and gave Isabel a quick hug. This was a big thing for all of them, but Maria and Isabel had both been particularly close with their mothers. “We know you’ve been checking in on all of them… but it’s time, Isabel. It’s time we got them back. We deserve that.”

Isabel collapsed against Alex’s chest, nodding towards Liz, since she’d been rendered completely incapable of speech. She laughed through the tears that were falling down her face and held onto Alex tighter. If her week got any better she’d probably explode.

There was a light knock on the doorframe and Max came into the room, smiling at his near-hysterical his sister. “So I guess they told you, huh?” he asked, smiling at Liz for a moment and wrapping an arm around her naturally before turning his attention back to his Isabel. “Think you could dream walk a couple people for us, Iz?”

She nodded again, smiling radiantly. She pulled away from Alex and hugged her brother tightly for a moment. “Thank you,” she whispered. Not for asking her to do this so much as allowing it. She knew they were doing it for Maria, technically, but see her parents… To actually be able to talk to her mom… Max seemed to understand and squeezed her back.

She glanced at the digital clock on her nightstand and pouted. It was only a little after six. “It’ll be hours until any of them are asleep. How could you guys just drop this on me and then expect me to be able to wait four or five hours before actually doing it?” she demanded, looking from Max to Alex especially.

Alex just laughed at her and pulled her back into a hug. “Easy there, Princess.” But he couldn’t blame her for being excited, they all were. Actually, he was a little more nervous than excited himself, as his parents were in for the surprise of their life. He had no idea how they were going to react to the fact that their son wasn’t actually dead, but at least he knew one thing—it was long overdue.

Part 38

“You sure you don’t want me to get you something? Like water or something? I can leave you alone, too, if you want… I don’t want to distract you if—”

“Alex, would you please shut up?”

His mouth snapped shut, but he frowned at her for an explanation. She smiled at him in apology. “Alex, no offense, but you are distracting me. I mean, as if I wasn’t already nervous enough.”

A look of understanding, followed closely by a wince at his own stupidity crossed Alex’s face, and he settled himself on the bed next to Isabel. “Sorry, Iz. Sorry. From here on out I’m the strong, stable type, at your service. No more babbling. I’ll just sit here quietly and—”

“Alex!” She clamped a hand across his mouth, glaring at him in an amused way.

He pulled her hand away and smiled bashfully at her. “Sorry.”

Isabel took a deep breath, and before he knew what had happened her eyes were sad. “Alex, what if they won’t come?”

He laughed lightly, brushing he hair away from her face. “Are you kidding? How could they not come?”

Isabel shrugged miserably. “What if they decide that it’s too dangerous being with us? That it’s just safer if they stay away?”

Alex knew that she wasn’t talking about the parents in general, she was specifically talking about her own parents. “Isabel, there’s no way that your parents would give up even half a chance to see you again,” he said, framing her face with his hands and forcing her to look at him, to see that he was absolutely positive that what he was saying was true. “You know your parents must be missing you more than you can possibly imagine, right?”

Isabel hesitated. She knew that he was right, but part of her was still nervous. “What if they just think it’s a dream? What if they don’t even believe it?”

Alex grinned. “You think that when all the parents get the same message in their dream that they’re just going to dismiss it?”

Isabel felt herself smile. Okay, so it sounded ridiculous. Then she frowned, her concern shifting to Alex. “What about your parents? Do you want to visit them tonight anyway? We wouldn’t talk to them, but I could show you them, just so you can see them again.”

Alex hesitated, but finally shook his head. “No, they’ve waited this long to see me, it’s almost unfair for me to see them first.”

“And you really think this is the best way? To not tell anyone about you until they’re here?”

Alex nodded. “If only for Mom’s sake. It would kill her to just hear that I was alive and then have to wait to come to see if it was really true. Besides, I don’t think they know anything.”

“You don’t think Valenti would have told them some time?”

“Isabel, have you met my parents?” Alex grinned. “They would not deal with the idea that their son was “killed” by aliens very well. It’d be better if they had thought it was a car accident this whole time.”

“Alex! How can you say that? Don’t you think they deserve to know the truth?”

He nodded. “Sure I do, but not until after they find out that I’m still alive. If they’d heard what you guys thought was the truth before this then they’d probably have phoned the government ranting about aliens and brought this all down on your heads in the name of justice.” He sighed. “They’re not bad people, they’re just really conservative sometimes. This whole thing is going to scare them to death. It’ll be a while before they come to terms with it, but it’ll be okay.”

“And you don’t want me to tell anyone? Even the Parkers or the Sheriff and Amy?”

“Do you really think that they’d be able to keep it from my parents for the two months before the wedding? Valenti would insist on telling them, you know that.”

“Won’t they get suspicious that we’re insisting that they come too?”

Alex shook his head. “Why would they? They were like second parents to Maria. Or third parents, at least,” he smiled. “Granted, Jeff and Nancy ranked a little higher.”

“Granted,” she smiled, but Alex’s smile had been replaced by a vague stare. “What?” she asked.

Alex shrugged as he looked back at her. “Just kind of funny, don’t you think?” he mused.

“What’s that?”

He grinned. “For the first time since I’ve met you, it’s my existence that’s a secret, not yours.”

She laughed, and Alex glanced at the clock, yawning. “I think it’s about time you get this show on the road, don’t you?”

Isabel blinked, surprised. She’d almost forgotten the original subject. And she wasn’t nervous anymore. Somehow just by talking to her Alex had brought out the logical side of her and made her forget her own worries. In a rush of affection she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek.

He laughed. “What was that for?”

“For reminding me why I love you.”

“Um… okay…” he said, hugging her back and laughing uncertainly.

She pulled back, smiling at him. “Never mind. I’m ready now.”

“You sure?”

She nodded. With Alex here with her, she could face anything.

*************

Diane Evans walked quickly through the house. She was looking for something, but she wasn’t quite sure what. She was sure that once she saw it, she would remember. She would remember and everything would be alright again.

For some reason, though, the house was much larger than it usually seemed. She’d been walking down the hall for minutes now, and she hadn’t gotten to the next room, even.

“Mom?”

Diane jumped, and turned. There, standing in the darkness of the hallway was… No, it couldn’t be. “Isabel?”

Isabel nodded, smiling through glistening eyes. “It’s me, Mom.”

Diane rushed to her daughter, hugging her tightly and dissolving into tears. “It is you, isn’t it?” she asked, pulling back enough to cup her daughters face and touch her hair. She looked older, and she had her natural blonde hair back, long again, just like it used to be. “You’re really here?”

Isabel smiled sadly at her mother and shook her head, though, wiping away a stray tear of her own. “No, Mom, I’m not. This is just a dream… but it really is me. This is my power, dreamwalking.”

Diane shook her head. “I don’t understand, honey. How can I possibly know that this is really you if you’re saying it’s a dream?”

Isabel bit her lip, thinking. “What if I brought Dad? Then in the morning you’ll both remember it. I promise you that it’s real, Mom.”

Diane wasn’t sure what was going on or what she was supposed to be feeling right now, but she nodded in amazement. “Do what you have to do, honey.”

Isabel paused, concentrating, and then after a moment a bewildered Phillip appeared next to the two of them. He looked at the two of them, confused. “I was just at the office… what happened? Isabel? Is that you?”

Again Isabel’s eyes filled up with tears, and she nodded, going to him and hugging him. “It’s me, Dad. It’s so good to see you.” She pulled away. “To see both of you.”

“I can’t believe it’s you…” Phillip looked at his daughter earnestly. “How did you get here? Where’s Max? Are you all safe?”

Isabel held a hand up, laughing lightly. For the moment she ignored the heart-bursting joy running through her. She came here for a reason. “Let’s take it one thing at a time. This is the dreamplane, Dad. I’ve been watching you and Mom here ever since we left, but this is the first time that I’ve been allowed to talk to you… It’s a long story, as you can imagine.”

Her parents exchanged a worried look. “Why have you come now, then?”

“Has something happened? Are you alright?”

Isabel couldn’t hold it in any longer, though. She smiled brilliantly at them. “Much more than alright. Things are so wonderful now… We’ve been safe this whole time. We had to be careful for the first few years, and we still watch ourselves, of course, but we’ve been safe, and that’s all that matters.”

Diane closed her eyes, and Isabel could feel the relief coursing through her. It really was all that mattered.

“Listen, I don’t have much time… I would love to talk with you all night, but this is taking a lot of energy, and this isn’t my only call tonight.”

Phillip nodded. “So long as… you promise to come back and see us again, Isabel.” His voice was almost breaking. Isabel had never seen him like this before.

She smiled at them mischievously then. “Actually, that’s why I came to see you. We were hoping… We were all hoping that you and the other parents would be willing to come to Michael and Maria’s wedding in two months. On the twenty-second of June.”

Her parents stared. Diane found her voice first, though falteringly. “You… you mean we can see you again… in person?”

Isabel nodded, hugging her again. “All of us. Nothing has happened in so long that we finally just decided that we really needed to be able to see you all again.”

Isabel quickly explained to them where they were, and that above all else, they were to make sure that the parents staggered their departures if they would come, which her parents insisted they would.

“Also… Maria would really love it if the Whitmans were there,” she said in a rush, deciding firmly to respect Alex’s wishes and keep his return a secret.

Her father hesitated, though. “That won’t be easy…”

“Dad, they have to be there. Please. It’s really important.”

He shared a look with her mother and nodded. “We’ll do what we can.”

Isabel nodded and gave them each a hug before pulling away again. “I have to go now, but I want you to know how much I love you both. Max sends his love, too. We can’t wait to see you.”

She pulled out of the dream as quickly as possible, making sure to put her father back in his own dream again also. She knew that they would have wanted to say goodbye to her, but she couldn’t hear it from them. She’d had enough goodbyes for a lifetime.

Alex was there waiting for her, and he wiped the stray tears away from her face. “How’d it go?”

Isabel took a breath to steady her breathing and smiled at him. “Good. I think it was good.”

*************

“Knock, knock.”

Zac looked up from his homework to see his mom standing in his doorway.

“Hey, honey.”

Zac sat up on his bed, but wrinkled his nose at the serious look on Ava’s face. “Is this about the other day?” he asked, dreading the answer.

Ava laughed lightly at his expression, and came to sit next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Zachary, why didn’t you tell me about any of this? About… Tess?”

Zac shrugged his shoulders, not looking up at her. “Alex says that she makes you sad. He knows those kinds of things… I didn’t want to make you sad.”

“Aw, honey… you can always talk to me about Tess, alright? I won’t ever try to take her away from you in any way.”

Zac nodded, still staring at his own lap. “I know that, too…” he started, staring intently at the floor in front of him. “Are you mad at me because of Kyle?”

She sighed, pulling him a little closer. “No, honey, I’m not mad at you. I do think you need to think about it, though. You need to be able to see things from his point of view.”

Zac snorted. “Why. What’s to know?”

Ava bit her lip. Part of her was hurting to even want to say this, but Zac needed to hear it. “Zac, Kyle didn’t hate Tess. Even now he doesn’t hate her, really.”

He stared at her. “Of course he does. He says it all the time.”

Ava shook her head, holding Zac’s gaze now that she had it. “No, he doesn’t, Zachary. He doesn’t.” She took a deep breath. “He misses her. He misses her even more than he realized.”

“You really think that?”

She knew that her answer would help to decide whether or not Zac gave Kyle another chance, and she nodded solemnly. “I really do.”

Finally he sighed. “I don’t understand.”

Ava smiled sadly, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. “I don’t think he understood until the other day, either. It’s just complicated.”

“But how can love both you and her?”

She brushed the thought off with a thin laugh. “He doesn’t love me, honey.”

“Alex says he does.”

Ava paused at that. “You talk to Alex about a lot of things, don’t you?” she teased, instead of answering him.

He simply shrugged. “He knows those kinds of things,” he repeated quietly.

She sighed. “Kyle cares about me. I know that. But… it’s complicated.”

Zac nodded. “A lot of things are complicated, aren’t they, Mom?” he asked, in an almost sad voice.

Ava had the feeling that he was talking about a lot more than her and Kyle. Maybe he was still thinking about Tess, or maybe he was thinking about Alex, his half-brother, or Max… She pulled him closer, kissing the top of his head.

“Too complicated,” she agreed.

Part 39

“Hey sleepyhead.”

Isabel blinked her eyes a few times, and frowned. “What’s going on? Why am I in your room? And what time is it?”

Alex laughed. “One question at a time, Izzy. It’s about… eleven. I brought you in here earlier, just so I could keep a closer eye on you while I was getting some studying in…” he trailed off, motioning to the stack of books on his desk.

Isabel sat up straight. “It’s eleven already?” she demanded, sitting up quickly, but wincing as she went. She felt like she’d been hit over the head with a sledgehammer. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but it still hurt.

“Well, that’s what you get when you do three cross-country, multi-person dreamwalks in one night,” Alex quipped, handing her aspirin, though he couldn’t really remember if it would do her any good or not.

Isabel rolled her eyes, though she’d said the same thing to him as she was finally falling asleep the night before. “I couldn’t help it, Alex…”

“You could have waited to do The Parkers’ or the Valentis’ until tonight. But no, no, you had to do it all in one blow and wear yourself out,” he said, grinning at her so she wouldn’t take him seriously. Then his smirk fell to a more genuine, almost reminiscent smile. “How are they, anyhow? You didn’t say much before conking out last night.”

Isabel frowned. “I do not ‘conk,’” she said haughtily, focusing her meager healing powers on the pounding in her head with limited success. “But they’re good. Really, good, Alex. Except…”

“Except what?” Alex asked, concern growing on his face.

Isabel sighed. “All the parents said the same thing, Alex. They’re worried about whether or not your parents will come… For them seeing Maria getting married would be too much of a reminder of what they never got with you. What they still think they’ll never have.”

Alex didn’t seem overly worried. “Did you tell the Sheriff and the others to say that Maria specifically asked for them to be there?”

Isabel nodded. “Still, it might be difficult…”

Alex shook his head. “Believe me, I know my parents. Maria was like a daughter to them. They’d never turn her down.”

Isabel watched him, wondering how much of what he was saying was real confidence and how much was pure bravado. Part of her wanted to argue with him, tell him that after eleven years they may have changed, but something made her hold her tongue. “You’re right. You know your parents better than anyone…” Really all they could do from this point was hope, though, and trust her parents and the Sheriff to convince them. Suddenly she was laughing. Alex raised an eyebrow in question, and she shook her head, smiling. “You should have seen the look on Amy Deluca’s face…”

*************

Liz rubbed at her eyes tiredly. It had been a long night. She and Max had been waiting up as Isabel contacted first her own parents, then Liz’s, then finally the Sheriff and Amy. She’d been trying not to think about her own parents until it got closer to the wedding. After all this time, just the idea of them was enough to almost make her cry from missing them. Isabel had offered to take her into the dream herself, but Liz was glad that she hadn’t. Isabel had called in sick and had been sleeping most of the day because she’d been so drained of energy in the morning.

Liz wasn’t surprised when Isabel said that she’d found Jim and Amy together—that they seem to have gotten married a few years after the rest of them had left Roswell. She also wasn’t surprised that Isabel wasn’t surprised by the fact. She’d been almost sure that her sister-in-law had been keeping tabs on the parents back home, but now she knew it.

She was bursting to tell Maria the news, but thankfully she was also too tired to care about the fact that she wouldn’t have a chance to.

“Liz, babe, wake up. We’re on a mission here.”

Liz laughed as Maria shook her lightly. “You’re right, you’re right. Okay. You ready to do this?”

Maria nodded solemnly, and she almost laughed again. She really was looking forward to this. She loved seeing Maria in performance mode.

“Now, follow my lead,” Maria reminded her. “And we’re going to get the response we’re hoping for we need to get her to believe it, so just sell it, Liz. Really do it like you mean it.”

“Yeah, I know, it’s only like the fifth time you’ve said it,” Liz smiled, teasing her friend.

Maria rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. “Yeah, well, this is important. You sure Max’ll keep the boys busy long enough?”

Liz nodded. “Yeah, he’s taking Zac and Alex to the zoo.” She smiled affectionately as she thought of her husband. “You should have seen him this morning, he was so nervous. It’s his first real chance to spend a whole day with Zac…”

Maria gave Liz a quick hug. “You’re okay with that, yeah?”

Liz shrugged, nodding. “Yeah. I’m actually excited for him. I mean, I don’t think Zac really wants Max as a father-figure, but… at least they can be friends.”

Maria nodded. “Unfortunately I don’t know if the same is possible for Kyle and Zac. At least not for a while.”

Liz shook her head. “Zac’s a good kid. He’ll come around eventually. I’m more worried about Ava giving Kyle another chance than Zac right now.”

Maria gave Liz’s shoulders another squeeze, and turned to the door in front of them. “Which brings us to our mission. Now let’s go. If we stay out here any longer she’ll catch us.”

Liz nodded. “Okay. On three.”

*************

Someone was knocking on the door frantically. Ava jumped up to answer it, sure to check through the peephole first. She was surprised to see a worried looking Liz and Maria standing in the hallway of her apartment building.

She pulled the door open as quickly as possible. They weren’t in a panic, so there was no worry that something had happened to Zac or anyone, but she still wanted to know what was going on.

Before she could even say hello to them Liz and Maria barreled into the room, Maria grabbing her into a hug. “Oh, Ava, I hope you’re all right. Kyle wouldn’t tell us a thing but we know that you guys had a fight or something and we just want you to know that we are here for you.”

“Absolutely. Just, anything you need, we’re here for you.”

Ava pulled out of Maria’s arms, puzzled. “I don’t understand. Kyle and I didn’t fight… He had an argument with Zac… is he alright? He was really upset when he left.”

Liz and Maria exchanged an obviously confused look. “But the way he was talking…”

“He sounded worried that you wouldn’t forgive him for something…” Maria cut in.

“He wouldn’t tell us anything. But the way he was talking, I swear, Ava, I don’t even know what he did but I can’t believe that he’d hurt you so much.”

“I mean, at least he’s feeling sorry for it, and he really is, but if you want our back on this, you have it. No questions asked.

Ava was shaking her head frantically, trying to get them to listen. “No, he hasn’t done anything. He hasn’t hurt me… I mean, not on purpose…”

Maria shook her head. “He really thinks he has, Ava.”

Ava shook her head, sadly. “He must have been talking about… someone else. It wasn’t me.”

Liz gave her a quick hug, with Maria following on cue. “No, he was definitely talking about you, Ava. He said that neither you or Zac would ever forgive him now,” Liz said, praying that the minor stretches of truth wouldn’t do any harm. “He’s really broken up right now. He won’t talk to anyone.”

Ava pulled away from them both, feeling a little sick. “Oh my god, I have to talk to him. I need to fix this.”

She couldn’t handle this anymore. It had to end, one way or another. Letting things run their course was just making the situation worse on everyone, and she didn’t have the strength to deal with it anymore.

She didn’t want him hurting over her anymore. It wasn’t worth it.

With hardly a goodbye to her friends, Ava grabbed her jacket and purse and left to find to Kyle, leaving Maria and Liz standing in her apartment, watching as she left.

As soon as the door closed, Liz sighed in exhaustion, rubbing her face with her hands. “I really hope that was the right thing to do.”

Maria gave her another, longer hug. “What’s meant to be is meant to be, Lizzie. It’s out of our hands now.”

Liz nodded. “I just hope it goes well.”

*************

“Um… Mr. Valenti’s in the formatting room… He’s helping with the cover design and they usually don’t like being disturbed in there…”

Ava tried her best not to roll her eyes in frustration. The twenty-something intern was just doing her job, after all. “I appreciate that… Jessica… I really do, but this is important. Could you please just tell Mr. Valenti that Ava Spencer is here to see him.”

Jessica bit her lip. “I don’t think they’ll allow—”

“Ava?”

Ava spun as she heard Kyle’s voice. He stack of files in his arm and was staring at her with something akin to shock. She felt relief, surprise, and a fine strand of hope running through him. She opened her mouth to say something, to explain why she was there, but now that she was facing him she couldn’t speak.

Kyle didn’t seem to mind, though. Hardly taking his eyes off of her, he set the files on Jessica’s desk. “Jessica, I’m taking my lunch break. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

“But… the cover design… Mr. Jefferson won’t be happy about this…” Jessica tried, but it was useless, he hardly heard her.

Ava swallowed as Kyle motioned towards the direction of the elevators, resting his hand lightly on her back as he led her out of the office.

“I can’t believe you’re here.”

“Is this… is this a bad time?” Ava asked, when she could find her voice.

“No. No, absolutely not,” Kyle said quickly, but she could tell he was lying.

Ava stopped walking, turned toward him. “Kyle, if that meeting back there is important I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“Ava, I don’t care if this gets me fired. I need to talk to you.”

Ava nodded, “Is there… is there somewhere we can be alone?”

Kyle grinned at her crookedly. “I seem to have a thing for rooftops lately,” he said, as the elevator door dinged open in front of them. “Shall we?”

AN: Mood music for this chapter is Vertical Horizon's "Finding Me" and "Give You Back," and also "Phobic" by Plumb. If you're interested you can find the complete soundtrack to Persistence of Memory on my author's thread at DAS, here.


Part 40

While they were in the elevator, Kyle concentrated all his energy on just breathing, just standing still. They were the sole occupants of the car for the last few floors, but Ava wouldn’t look at him, and Kyle could hardly keep his thoughts straight. He scrambled his brain looking for some old scrap of Buddhist wisdom to get him through this, but there was nothing… He was suddenly struck by the realization that while he knew Ava pretty much inside and out by now, he’d hardly ever talked to her at all. Things between them would take time… but as they stepped out into the open air overlooking the city, he wasn’t too worried. She was here, and that meant that this could work.

Or, not.

“Kyle, I think we need to end this.”

Her words broke the silence so abruptly that it took a minute for him to process what she’d said. He turned sharply, staring at her in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? End this? Ava, we’ve never started anything!”

She nodded, passively. “I know. And I intend to keep it that way.”

“You intend to keep it that way?” he repeated, staring at her incredulously. “That’s what you came all the way here to tell me? That I’m never gonna have a shot at you so I should just give up now?”

She stiffened at his harsh tone, surprised when tears came to her eyes. Hadn’t she prepared for this? Hadn’t she known that this would hurt? It was exactly why she’d been putting it off for so long.

She swallowed tightly, turning away from him slightly. “I came here because Liz and Maria said that you were afraid that you’d hurt me the other day. I wanted to tell you that you didn’t. I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m not your problem anymore, Kyle.”

“My problem?” He was surprised that the amount of incredulity in his voice could actually go up. He shook his head, staring at the woman before him in disbelief, but before he could find his voice she’d turned again.

“What happened the other day just proved that this can never happen. I can’t be what you want me to be… Kyle, I’ve got… I’ve got a job and a son, and you have your own life that’s just—”

He threw up a hand to stop her. “Wait, wait, what? First of all, I don’t want you to be anything at all, and secondly, if you’re going to just walk out on this, at least have the decency say the real reason you’re doing it.”

He watched as her mouth fell open, but was a little surprised when she straightened and all but glared at him.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” she demanded, hands on hips.

“What does it mean? It means I want you to admit that you’re afraid of being in a relationship, Ava. You’re so damn scared of yourself and the people you care about that you run away from anybody who gets within a ten-foot radius of actually figuring you out. You’re so busy deciding how other people see you that you don’t even see yourself, and you know what, Ava, I’m sick of it. I’m sick of trying to convince you that you and me, we’re both good people. And we’d have a real good shot at happily ever after if you’d just give me another chance.”

She shook her head, folding her arms across her chest. “If you’re so sick of it all, why don’t you just give up? I know you want to.”

“No, you want me to, Ava! You’ve been trying to get me to give up on you practically since we started this.”

“We didn’t start anything, Kyle,” she reminded him quietly, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at him.

“All right, fine. Since I started this, alright? Me, this is my fault. Are you happy now? And you can blame me all you want, but whether or not you want to admit it, we’ve got a connection here, and you can push me away as long as you want to, but it’s still gonna be there. I’m still gonna be here. I’m not giving up on you, Ava. I’m not giving up on us.”

Ava stared at him, shaking her head in disbelief. “That’s what I’m trying to say. There is no us, you stubborn fool.”

“Oh so I’m the stubborn one. Right. That’s why I had to get Maria and Liz to practically trick you into coming to see me.”

Ava’s mouth fell open. “So that was all a set-up.” She shook her head again. She was surprised that she wasn’t surprised at it. She wasn’t angry, either. She was just tired of it all. “I guess they’d have to side with you, wouldn’t they? You’re like family to them.”

Kyle suppressed a groan. “Ava, they’re not on anybody’s side. They just want us to be happy. Both of us.”

Ava swallowed thickly, but she shook her head. “This can never work, Kyle. I mean a few months ago you couldn’t stand the sight of me… you hated me, Kyle.” He was about to speak but she held a hand up, stopping him. “I know that you didn’t mean it, and it wasn’t your fault, but you still felt it. And since then your feelings towards me have changed so much, so fast… I just… I just don’t know if I can trust them.”

Kyle was all but gaping at her by the time she finished, and the look in his eyes tore her heart out. “Ava… I… I would never hurt you…” he faltered.

Ava shook her head, swiping irritably at the tears that had come to her eyes. “Dammit, Kyle, I know that. It’s not even that… But how can I possibly believe that this is really what you want? How can I even believe that you know what you want? Because you know what? You keep talking about this great, powerful connection between us, but you keep forgetting one thing. You didn’t want it, Kyle. You never did.”

She started towards the stairwell, but he caught her by the arm. “Yeah, maybe I didn’t want it at first, but things have changed.”

“Oh come on, Kyle—”

“No, Ava, think about it. Think about how much my life has changed since I came to New York. I mean, you have no idea what it was like for me to see Alex that morning, when he got back.” Kyle shook his head, not quite sure how to express himself. “I mean Isabel and Liz and Maria… everybody knows that it was great for them, you know, because they loved him, but for me… for me it was like this huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, you know? Because for eleven years I’d been telling myself that if I’d been strong enough, if I’d seen through her… I could’ve saved him… gotten him to Max, something…”

Ava felt it as the recently vanquished guilt wash over him again, as sharply as it had ever been. “Kyle…” she started, but there was nothing she could say, and he went on.

“I’d been holding on to that guilt like it was my lifeline or something. Like it was going to save me… even though it couldn’t save him, you know? But even that wasn’t the thing that had stuck with me the most since leaving Roswell. It wasn’t even close.”

Ava sucked in a breath and bit down on her lip, bracing herself for what she knew was coming. Reluctance was pouring off of Kyle, and she forced herself to school her expression as he watched her carefully.

“All this time, all the places we’ve been and lived… all the years that have gone by… I’ve never been able to get away from Tess. I almost wished that I had had some kind of connection with her… that I could have felt it when she died, because no matter how long she’d been gone I could’ve sworn that somehow she was gonna show up and screw up my whole life again. But the thing that I really hated about it was that there was still a piece of me that really wanted her to.”

Ava had never expected to hear that, and she turned to him sharply, something in her mind reeling. She’d been right this whole time. He was—

“And no, it’s not because I was in love with her,” he cut into her thoughts. “I mean… it had nothing to do with that. I didn’t want her anymore,” he said, waiting for Ava to look him in the eyes and see it for herself. “I hadn’t wanted her for a long time, Ava.”

She nodded, accepting saying that, but waited for him to continue.

He took a deep breath. “Really all I wanted from her… all I wanted to hear… is exactly what Zac told me the other day.” Kyle laughed in a strange way, shaking his head. “Sounds kind of dumb, but that was it. All I wanted was for her to tell me that she regretted hurting me. That it actually… mattered to her at all. I really didn’t think that it did.” He thought back to Liz’s words. “I needed to trust myself again…” he mused, verifying it to himself this time. He shook himself though, and turned back to her. “Ava, you’ve got to understand… all these years I’ve been going from one town to another and from one woman to the next, but all I’ve ever my whole life was to love one woman, spend the rest of my life with her. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted.”

Ava’s resolve was weakening, and she knew it. She wasn’t even sure what she was fighting anymore, but some shivering part of her refused to give in. “Kyle… I don’t know that I’m that woman.”

He stared at her, amazed that she was still arguing with him. “Well I do.” He advanced on her, stopping himself before he got too close. “You have to know how right this is, Ava. I mean, somebody up there’s got to have wanted this to happen,” he said, gesturing towards the sky. “Think about it. We’re in a city where two people can live in the same building their entire lives and never even meet. Think about how amazing it is that we even found each other.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she jumped in. “This whole thing has been a string of accidents and coincidences.”

“The connection wasn’t a coincidence, Ava. There’s no way it could have been.”

She shook her head, choking on her emotions again. “It was a fluke, Kyle. That’s all it was.”

“No. No, that’s not possible. You don’t believe that.”

“Yes, I do! You have to choose a connection, they don’t just happen. And it makes sense. Kyle, you were so angry that day. Your powers were out of control, isn’t that what you’ve said? And you were so mad that you wanted me to feel how angry you were, how much you hated me…” her voice faltered and her tears started again. She rubbed them away quickly, clearing her throat. “How much you hated her…” Her voice was quieter now, almost wooden. “That’s why we’re connected, Kyle. It’s the only thing that makes sense.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Just accidents, Kyle. That’s all it is.”

Kyle just shook his head, though. “Ava, connections are different between different people. They have to be. And I think that with us, the connection had to happen at the beginning. If it hadn’t neither one of us would have ever been smart enough to figure out that we’re perfect for each other. If this connection hadn’t happened to us, if it hadn’t happened right when it did, sneaking up on both of us, it never would have happened, because we were both too closed off and suspicious to have ever made it ourselves. This connection wasn’t an accident, Ava. It was my saving grace. It can be yours too, you’ve just got to trust it.”

“Kyle, stop it! Just stop it. I’m trying to give you a way out here, just take it,” Ava said, her voice shrill with desperation. “I’m not going to be that woman who goes searching after debts that weren’t hers in the first place. You don’t owe me anything.”

He shook his head, bewildered. “Debts? Ava, what are you even talking about? What are you so afraid of? I already told you, I’m not giving up on this, and we’re not leaving this rooftop before you tell me why the hell you’re still fighting this.”

“Kyle don’t you get it?” Ava demanded, her voice having fallen to a broken sob. “If we hadn’t been forced together, if we hadn’t been pushed at each other by circumstance… none of this would ever have happened. You could have found someone else, you wouldn’t feel obligated to me or feel guilt towards me… you could have just gone on with your life, found some other path and been happy.”

Kyle stared at her, dumbfounded for a moment, simply shaking his head. The silent, disbelieving way he stared at her sent a chill down her back. And then suddenly, without any warning, he was laughing. The rattled sound surprised her so much that she rocked back, taking a step away from him.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, completely confused by his demeanor.

Shaking his head, Kyle’s incredulous look was now lightened by merriment. “Ava, that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” She frowned in confusion and he went on. “You basically just said that if I’d never met you, I never would have fallen in love with you.”

“B-but it’s true!” she stammered, but she knew suddenly that it was useless. The look on Kyle’s face told her that.

“Of course it’s true,” he said, smiling. She was amazed at the fact that there was absolutely no reproach in his words. Instead, he spoke to her gently, as if he were explaining something to a child. He weighed his next words carefully, measured them out for her slowly. “But that’s only if I’d never met you.” He shook his head, and touched her face, tilting her face up so she was looking in his eyes. “Ava, the moment I met you, though, I was doomed.” She winced at his choice of words. Doomed. But he paid no mind. “It would have happened no matter what the circumstances were.”

But she was shaking her head, pulling away from him. “No. No, that’s not true. There was her,” she said, not able to say her double’s name again. “You loved her, you can’t pretend that you didn’t.” She wanted him to deny it. It would have made things easier, to blame it all on her, to make her the reason they couldn’t be together.

He nodded, though, consenting to her. “I know. I did. But that was a long time ago, Ava, I swear. And I would give anything to say that I had met you first, that she was nothing to me. Not for me, though. As far as I’m concerned, the fact that Tess was once in my life means nothing to me now, no more than any other woman I’ve ever met. But I wish for your sake that I’d met you first. Just the idea that you might feel like you have to live up to her… or that I’d even want you to… that kills me, Ava.”

Ava felt a single tear fall then, but even more strongly than that, she felt Kyle fighting his impulse to wipe it away, fighting to give her space.

She wanted so badly to believe him…

Then do, he whispered in her mind, and she gasped. Believe me, Ava, I swear it’s the truth…

She didn’t bother asking him how he’d finally broken through her blocks. She knew that she’d let him through, finally. She’d missed him. She’d hardly had him and she’d missed him terribly.

“I’m just… I’m scared, Kyle,” she finally managed. “I don’t… really know how to do all this…” she gestured between the two of them haltingly. “I’m just… scared.” She was all but sobbing now, and suddenly Kyle was there, forgetting about his attempts to give her space and brushing her tears aside as they fell.

“Ava…” he started, desperately. “Ava, don’t you think I’m scared too?” She shook her head, and he laughed softly, almost amazed at her. “Ava, I’ve never been as scared or excited or worried or… anything as I have these past few months. Since I met you… Ava, I can barely think straight.”

She laughed shakily. “That doesn’t sound like a good thing…”

He shook his head, smiling. A new, light-headed feeling was filling him, making dizzy. Relief. She was giving in. “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he promised, brushing the hair away from her face.

He was so close to her. He hadn’t been this close to her in… well, ever, really.

Ava lifted one hand and pressed it to the hand on her cheek, closing her eyes briefly as she tried to catch her breath. “I just… I don’t want to be alone anymore, Kyle. I don’t want to keep fighting this…”

He shook his head, drifting closer and closer to her. “Ava, if I just… I just…”

Finally he met her lips with his own. He kissed her slowly, lingering at every angle until she was kissing him back, their connection suddenly leaping to life. He could hardly see the images or sense the feelings that were tearing through him, though. He felt like he’d never kissed a woman in his life.

When they pulled apart they were both gasping, lightly out of breath. Kyle leaned his forehead so that it touched hers, and closed his eyes humbly, almost in prayer. “Ava, I love you. I don’t know if you’re ready to hear that or not, but it’s true. No matter what happens, it’s you and me now. From here on out… What do you say?”

“Kyle…”

“Please, Ava…”

She was afraid to move, to break out of the moment, falling back into the trap of her old demons, but if only for that kiss alone, she now knew with all her being that this wasn’t about Tess or Zan, or anyone else. They couldn’t hold her back any longer. She thought over the last few weeks, months, running away from Kyle in order to “protect” him, and she couldn’t help but be amazed. Even after all of the pain, the jeopardy she’d put him through, here he was, literally holding his breath for her.

Finally, she nodded, trembling. “From here on out.”

complete warm fuzzy feelings in my tummy. ava and kyle make a great couple. i'm glad they are working out their issuses.

Awesome parts! Wonderful! I love the way Kyle and Ava were working through things, and I really liked Kyle's little dissertation to Ava about her being his saving grace:

Kyle just shook his head, though. “Ava, connections are different between different people. They have to be. And I think that with us, the connection had to happen at the beginning. If it hadn’t neither one of us would have ever been smart enough to figure out that we’re perfect for each other. If this connection hadn’t happened to us, if it hadn’t happened right when it did, sneaking up on both of us, it never would have happened, because we were both too closed off and suspicious to have ever made it ourselves. This connection wasn’t an accident, Ava. It was my saving grace. It can be yours too, you’ve just got to trust it.”

Great chapters!

Here's the last two parts. Thanks for the feedback! :D


Part 41

“Mom, you should have come with us. It was a lot different than the L.A. zoo, and I wasn’t afraid of the bears at all like last time.”

Liz shared an amused smile with Max before swooping down to pick up Alex with a grunt, kissing him on the cheek. “Well, honey, you’re a lot bigger than you were the last time you went to the zoo, you know?”

Alex nodded. “I know. I could tell the difference.”

Liz laughed and set her son down. “So how did Zac like the zoo?”

“Well he’d been there before, but I think he liked it a lot. What do you think, Daddy.”

Max nodded seriously. “I think he liked it. Actually, Zac was a lot of help because he knew where some of the exhibits were that we couldn’t find.”

Alex nodded in agreement.

“So how was your day?” Max asked with a bit of a smile in his eyes. “Think you and Maria accomplished your mission?”

Liz shrugged miserably. “I have no idea. We’re waiting for word, but Kyle hasn’t even come home yet.”

Max flashed a grin. “Well, that might be because he’s still over at Ava’s.”

Liz couldn’t help but break into a smile at that. The way Max had said it, there was no way that it was a bad thing. “He is?”

Max nodded, laughing. “I don’t know if we’ll ever get him back. They looked like they were enjoying each other’s company, didn’t they, Alex?”

Alex thought about it for a moment. “They were talking a lot. I think they were nervous… but happy.”

Liz almost squealed at the news, reaching out impulsively to hug both her husband and her son. It had been a risk to force Kyle and Ava to talk to each other, but if Alex thought they seemed happy, then they probably were happy. Somehow luck had been on their side and things had turned out well. “I’m so excited. I’ll have to tell Maria. She’ll try to take all the credit, but—” She cut herself off as she realized something. “Wait. How did Zac take it seeing them together?”

Max wasn’t hesitant to answer, though. “Not too bad, actually. He was asking me about Kyle a bit today… kind of like a back-up check. I think he wants to give him a chance.”

“He wants his mom to be happy,” Alexander added quietly. “He’ll do anything.”

Liz looked at him, surprised and more than a little touched on behalf of her friend. That Zac at his age was so concerned about Ava… well it really shouldn’t have surprised her, judging by the two people that were standing in front of her, but it did. “Well that’s very sweet of him.”

Alex nodded, a little embarrassed that maybe he’d said too much, and he excused himself to his room quickly.

“It’s amazing watching them together,” Max said, as he watched Alex run off. “They even act like brothers. Kind of reminded me of Michael and myself.”

Liz smiled warmly, nodding. The comparison fit just perfectly. Zac was impetuous and defensive where Alex was patient and thoughtful. Also like Michael, though, Zac was just a really good person under his rough edges.

“So things with Zac went okay?” she verified, threading her arms around Max’s neck.

“Definitely okay,” he agreed. “Better than I’d expected.”

“Well you always did sell yourself short,” she teased. “And he’s asking you about Kyle? Sounds like he trusts you, values your opinion,” she pressed on, smiling.

“Something like that,” Max smiled, looking for all the world like a man reprieved. “I don’t know why he would…”

At that, Liz shook her head, sad and a little mystified. Sometimes Max still concentrated too much on the mistakes he’d made in his life. He still didn’t let himself see what a wonderful person he was. “Max, from what I understand about Zac’s powers, he can access memories from before he even knew what a memory was. He can remember Tess, he can remember all of us from back when he was just a baby. That means he can remember you, too.” She let her hand wander up to stroke his face. “Max, I know that you’ve been afraid of what Zac must have thought of you for abandoning him all those years ago, but he knows that you didn’t. You did it all to protect him. He knows that. He remembers it.”

“So your saying that I should get over it.”

Liz shook her head. “I’m just saying that you need to let it go, Max. Just think about it. You were eighteen, not even out of high school. Maybe Zac’s life hasn’t been perfect up to this point, but if you think about it, we didn’t have much to offer him, either. But now you two have a chance to really mean something for each other. I just don’t want you to spoil it by worrying too much about things that happened in the past, things you can never change.”

Max cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Speaking of things that I can’t change… are you really okay with this?” he asked, searching her face for any sign of forced feelings. “Me spending more time with Zac, getting to know him better? Because I do want to get to know him. But if it ever hurt you, or Alex…”

Liz held two fingers over his lips, shushing him. “Max, stop.” She shook her head and sighed, looking directly at him, so that he would know that she really meant what she was saying. “I’m really happy that Zac is in our lives now. Our lives,” she repeated, firmly. “He’s part of our family now. He and Ava both are.”

“But that’s not—” he tried to interrupt, but she shook her head.

“Max, listen to me. I love every single part of you,” she said slowly, emphasizing each word. “And Zac… Zac is your son. He is a part of you. A part that was missing for a long time. I know I haven’t really been able to say it, but I want you to know that I’m really glad that he’s back in your life.”

And as Max kissed her, opening their connection, she felt the gratitude pouring off of him. She knew that he had never as much as hoped that she would feel that way, but she was taking her own advice here. They couldn’t afford to let the past taint the future. In the end it just wasn’t worth it.

*************

Kyle glanced in the direction Ava had gone to answer the phone, idly wishing her back. He fumbled for something to say to the boy sitting across from him, but he couldn’t think of a thing. Funnily enough, though, he got the feeling that Zac was doing the exact same thing. Kyle was smart enough not to hold a petty grudge against a ten-year-old, so even though Zac hadn’t apologized for the things that he’d said to Kyle the other day, he was obviously a little embarrassed about it. Besides, Kyle had a feeling that Zac had needed to say it as much as Kyle had needed to hear it. It had been a good step. Kyle just didn’t know what the next one was, which was why it surprised him when Zac spoke up.

“So are you gonna like… marry my mom now or something?”

The question was so sudden that Kyle almost jumped. When he processed what Zac had asked, he swallowed, considering. The two of them had been more than civil to each other since Max had dropped Zac off, but Kyle still had a feeling that one misstep could land them right back where they were before, so he decided to just be honest. “Well, maybe eventually. If she’ll let me.”

Zac nodded somberly, and then shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s okay, I guess.”

Kyle struggled to keep his face straight, as the boy’s answer brought an involuntary smile to his face. He cleared his throat. “Does… that mean that I have your permission to be with her, then?”

Zac gave him an evaluative look, and then shrugged again. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Kyle allowed a corner of his mouth to raise up as he met Zac’s look with a bit of a tease. “Your blessing, even?”

Zac rolled his eyes. “Don’t push it,” he smirked.

Kyle’s grin broke loose, and he almost laughed in relief. How in one day he’d managed to get both Ava and Zac to give him a second chance was utterly beyond him. “So, uh, what changed your mind about me?”

Zac scuffed his sneakers against each other, watching them as he answered. “I talked to Uncle Max about you today, at the zoo.”

Kyle hadn’t been expecting that at all. “Oh, really? What’d he say?”

Zac shrugged. “He said he kind of hated you for a while.”

Kyle almost choked on the air in surprise. “He did, did he?” he asked sharply.

Zac nodded, looking at his shoes again. “Said he didn’t like that he had to trust you at first, because you used to date Aunt Liz, and he didn’t really think that you would be dependable. But then he said that he got to know you… and you were a good guy. He said maybe I should give you a chance. And Alex and Mom think so too… so I’m giving you a chance.” He forced his legs to stop kicking and looked over at Kyle. The look was still somewhat guarded, but Kyle knew he was trying, and gave him an encouraging look, so Zac went on. “Listen… both my moms have loved you. Maybe my real mom didn’t really deserve all the things that she wanted, but Ava does. And I guess she wants you,” he finished dubiously, as if he wasn’t sure why she would want Kyle.

Kyle didn’t blame him, though. He wasn’t really sure why Ava would want him, either. “So… we’ll try this out?” he asked, holding his hand out hopefully. “Truce?”

Zac eyed him again, as if he were making a weighty decision, and finally shook Kyle’s hand, nodding. “Truce.”

“Well that’s certainly nice to see.”

Kyle and Zac both turned to see Ava reenter the room, smiling. Zac pulled his hand back in embarrassment, but gave his mom a half-smile as she came to sit next to him, tousling his hair. “It’s about bedtime, don’t you think, Zac?”

Zac sighed dramatically, but cut his act short as he glanced at Kyle suspiciously. “He’s not staying over, is he?”

“No!” Ava said quickly, blushing.

“Yeah, this is a little, uh… new for sleepovers,” Kyle said, not quite escaping a flush himself.

“Actually that was Maria on the phone, asking if Kyle was still here.”

“She took fifteen minutes to ask you if Kyle was here?” Zac asked, skeptically.

“Well, she was… asking about my day.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “What she means to say is that she was getting the scoop. You’re Aunt Maria is a total gossip.”

Ava laughed softly, shaking her head dismissively. “So Zac? Bed?”

Zac shrugged, resigned. “Yeah, I guess. Goodnight Mom, Kyle,” he said, nodding to them each before leaving the room.

Ava watched his retreating figure, then turned back to Kyle, showing her bewilderment. “Okay… how did that happen?”

Kyle laughed. “Honestly? I have no idea. But that’s a good kid you‘ve got there.”

“He is,” she agreed.

He stood up, stretching. “So that was Maria, huh? What’d you tell her?”

Ava blushed again. “Just that yes, you were still here, and that we’d been spending the day talking and getting to know each other.”

“One of the best days I’ve ever had in my life,” Kyle acknowledged, wrapping her in a quick hug and kissing her forehead.

“Me too,” she admitted, leaning into him.

“So, uh… you sure about that not spending the night thing?” he teased, but Ava stiffened slightly.

“Kyle, I need to take things slowly. This is all so new to me—”

He hushed her, placing two fingers over her lips. “Ava, Ava, I was kidding. We’ve got all the time in the world, okay?”

In response she kissed his fingers and smiled. “Okay.”

He smiled back at her. Damn, did it feel good to share a smile with her. “Listen, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” he said, not wanting to leave, but knowing that he’d have to get into the office early tomorrow to try and make up for leaving the way he had. “After work I’ll take you out someplace. We’ll have a bona-fide date, how does that sound?”

She smiled graciously. “That sounds good.”

He grinned, then kissed her lightly, breathing her in for a moment. I love you, he whispered in her mind, and he could feel the smile that it brought to her lips. Finally he pulled away, leaving her one last peck on the tip of her nose. “Goodnight, beautiful.”

As he was headed towards the door she called after him, though. “Kyle?”

He turned back. Ava gave him a half-smile, and the open look in her eyes almost took his breath away. “I love you, too.”

When he got back to his apartment twenty minutes later, he was still smiling.

Epilogue

Isabel kept in contact with her mother, and she was assured that the six parents “in the know”—the Parkers, the Valentis, and the Evans themselves had met about it, and they’d all agreed. Amy and Jim were to leave first, and later Phillip and Diane, and lastly the Parkers and the Whitmans together, as Nancy and Gloria had gotten especially close over the years.

The groups took different routes and different modes of transportation. Jim and Amy went by car, not because they couldn’t have afforded something more convenient, but rather because Amy had been so impatient to leave that she decided she’d much prefer leaving earlier and getting there slowly than having to wait and getting there in a matter of hours. Not that either of them knew what to expect on a cross-country road trip with two small children.

Phillip and Diane opted on slower transportation, also, traveling mostly by train, wanting to use the time in between to prepare themselves for the moment of reunion that they’d all been waiting for, as if anything could prepare them for that.

Of course, Nancy and Jeff would have left as soon as possible themselves, but they knew that it was something the Whitmans were almost wishing were over already. So far as Gloria and Charles knew, Maria and the others had contacted their parents out of the blue and asked for them to come to New York for her wedding, and she’d asked specifically for the Whitmans to be there. Nancy explained that while they’d looked forward to seeing Alex’s old friends, Gloria was worried about the old wounds it would open up. It had taken all of Isabel’s strength not to tell them about Alex then and there, but she couldn’t break her promise to him.

By the Friday before the wedding, all eight parents were in New York, and by seven-thirty that evening, they were also all standing in front of the door to Max and Liz’s apartment. When the knock on the door came, Maria begged Liz not to answer, sure that it was some kind of salesmen or proselyte. She was so busy ignoring Liz’s argument that it might be someone important that she didn’t notice Alex slipping out of sight, or the nervous way that Isabel watched him leave. The whole room had been full of nervous energy anyway, with Maria the edgiest of the bunch. These last few days Isabel had been a blessing and a curse in one, so while everything was pretty much smooth sailing, they had checked and double-checked every detail until Maria was wishing that she’d settled for a civil ceremony.

As the eight older adults and two small children poured into the already-crowded apartment, the sudden noise in the room was overwhelming, and above the rest of the commotion was the distinct sound of Maria Deluca screaming in surprise and delight. Isabel watched the reunions surrounding her, Jeff and Nancy crushing Liz, Jim and Kyle wrapped in a bear-hug, Amy and Maria embracing and talking a mile a minute, before her own mother was bearing down on her. She caught sight of her Dad on the other side of the room with Max, who had seemingly pulled a camcorder out of nowhere.

Diane Evans pulled her in close, and both of them were sobbing. “My baby. I was almost afraid it wasn’t true.”

Isabel shook her head, and was about to offer comfort to her mother when her eyes caught hold of Charles and Gloria Whitman, standing closely together in the middle of all this beautiful chaos, looking incredibly alone and lost. Her heart came to her throat, but just as she was about to pull away from her mother and move towards them, she heard a ridiculously loud and not-surprised sounding voice behind her. “Now honestly! You leave a room for five seconds…”

Alex’s parents both startled at the sound of the strangely familiar voice, and slowly the room fell silent, as all of the parents, and the Whitmans in particular stared at the advancing figure of a man they knew to be dead. Gloria’s hand flew to her mouth, and Charles stared helplessly. Despite his brash entrance, Alex was as speechless as the rest of them as he watched his mother virtually crumbling before him and his father watching on in shock.

It was Jim that finally spoke, albeit haltingly. “Alex? Alex Whitman? What is this?”

Liz stepped forward, clearing her throat softly. “Isabel may have… left something out when she contacted you all,” she said softly, speaking to all the parents but with her eyes glued to Charles and Gloria, like everyone else.

Finally Charles cleared his throat against the few sparse tears that were falling down his face. “Alex? Is that… is that you?”

Half of Alex’s face lifted in a dumb smile, as he stepped forward, and before he knew what to do with himself, his mother had fallen into him, breaking into loose sobs as she clung to him. “Mom, Dad…” he said, his voice close to breaking. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for the way I left you…” And as Charles Whitman wrapped his arms around his son and his sobbing wife, Alex laughed shakily. “Man, have I got a story to tell you…”

*************

“She’s the most adorable thing in the world,” Isabel sighed as she held Maria and Kyle’s tiny sister, Clara Valenti, after the ceremony.

“She is,” Ava agreed, reaching up to touch the baby’s face, tracing her finger lightly down a chubby, petal-soft cheek.

“You know, that looks awfully good on you,” a voice said, making the two women turn.

Alex had momentarily disengaged himself from his parents and was walking towards Isabel, gawking obviously at her. Isabel blushed at the compliment. “What does?” she asked, confused. He’d been seeing her in this dress all day, after all.

He came up behind her, wrapping one arm around her middle and touching Clara’s hair lightly with his free hand. “Motherhood,” he said simply.

“Alex!” she yelped, her blush turning crimson, and she turned, pulling away from him and upsetting the baby in the process. “You’ve got to marry me first, genius,” she laughed, bouncing Clara a little in apology.

Isabel wasn’t the only one blushing, and Ava quietly excused herself from the openly-teasing couple, retreating to a bench underneath a tree. She took a deep, cleansing breath as she watched the small crowd of people spread around the garden area. She caught sight of Zac and Alex, playing chaperone to three-year old Ben Valenti as he chased the ducks on the lawn, and she couldn’t help but smile. Zac still had a long road ahead of him, but he’d come a long way, too. When they’d first met he’d been a shy, quiet child, unsure of anything, and now he wasn’t afraid to share his opinions, good or bad. If anything, he was too opinionated. But he was a good kid, and she knew that he had a beautiful heart. When it came down to it, that was all that really mattered. She was amazed at how far he had come. How far they had all come.

Standing with the bride and groom were Max and Liz. The four of them were unspeakably closer now than they had been when she’d first met them so many years ago, and she had envied them even then. It amazed her that now, if she wanted to, she could go straight up to that little group and she wouldn’t even be an intrusion, she would instead be welcomed into the conversation. She would have never believed it of any of them except Liz, but now she had a brother, a sister-in-law and good friends.

Jim and Amy Valenti had been surprisingly open to getting to know her, as had the other parents. Even more proof that the surprise of the parents had been planned long in advance, and that all of them but the Whitmans had had a nice idea of what they were going to find here. Alex’s parents were still in a bit of a daze about their son, of course, but there was no doubt that underneath their confusion was pure, unadulterated joy.

“Hey, pretty lady.”

Ava looked up from her musings and smiled as Kyle came to sit by her. She snuggled into his side. “Hey.”

“Been a great day, don’t you think?”

She smiled. “Yeah. It’s been wonderful. Absolutely perfect. The whole ceremony was beautiful. Maria was practically glowing she looked so happy.”

“You’re right. I’ve honestly never seen her so happy.”

“Michael looked happy too. He also looked… relieved for some reason. Why was that?” Ava asked, frowning.

Kyle laughed. “Well, that could be because he’s just happy to get it over with, but I think it had more to do with Amy Deluca not killing him. Personally, I’m kind of surprised that the Amy didn’t fly in the minute she heard about all this, just to kill Michael for not marrying Maria sooner.” Kyle pulled a face. “Is there something weird about the fact that your sort-of brother just married my sister-in-law?”

“Please, Kyle,” Ava laughed, but the glee in her eyes didn’t last long.

“Not that I’d let that stop me,” he grinned, but he knew that she wasn’t in a joking mood right at the moment. He watched her with a soft, probing look. “What are you thinking?”

Ava took a deep breath, analyzing the heavy feeling that had been on her most of the afternoon. It wasn’t sadness, not by a long shot, but it was affecting her in a similar way. Her heart was full, and it was a feeling she didn’t think she would ever get used to. “I was just thinking about my life. About how much it’s changed. When I came back to New York, I thought that had been a transformation. I’d gone from street urchin to MoMA curator… I thought that I had learned and grown so much…”

He took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers, and she felt the soft amazement he felt over having that privilege. “But?” he asked, softly.

She turned to him, as if it would help him understand more to be looking her in the face. “But really I was the same person inside. I may have learned more as far as books and facts went, but I hadn’t learned a single thing about life or love or any of that in all those years. Not until I found Zac and everyone else. Not until I found you. I was running so far from my past, from my memories, that I hadn’t really been living, Kyle. And all this…” she gestured at the scene before them, so many friendly, smiling faces, and so much love among them. “I can’t believe that this is what I was missing.”

Without a word, Kyle pulled her into his arms. She didn’t need their connection to know that he understood. He’d experienced almost the exact same thing, after all. How foolish she’d been to try to keep them apart. They’d been meant for this.

Ava rested her head on his shoulder, content. She knew now that her struggle against her past had been more than just a trial, it had been a test. A test of letting go. After all, there were things so much stronger than memory to live for. There was truth and knowledge, family and friendship. There was strength, and beauty, and joy. And above all else, surrounding her from every side, there was love.


The End.

loved it. and I thought I feedback on this somewhere. i'll do it here as well. so true as well too. there are more things than memory to live for. something to definitly remember. I am glad the parents got to come. the reunion scene was wanderful. and kyle and ava and liz max zac and alex very well done. as was all the characters.