Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but I just want to point out that the people who do own them seriously abused them after the first season!
Author's Note: Hey guys, this is my first fan fic so tell me what you think! It's just a fluff piece on my favorite dreamer couple!
A Valediction
Midnight once again and there she sat like she did every night. With her journal in her lap, a pen in her hand, and tears in her eyes, she stared up at the night sky from her balcony, praying to the stars to return him to her. It had been two years since that fateful night when she last saw the love of her life. It was still painful for her to even think about; however that day would haunt her for the rest of her life…
It had been a night much like this one. She sat in her rusty, yet comfortable lawn chair furiously recording the days events when she heard someone coming up her ladder. She already knew who it was so when the head of the person popped up over the ledge she simply smiled.
"Hey Max," she replied cheerfully not looking up. When no reply came, she lifted her gaze from her journal only to be confronted with his tear streaked face and painful eyes. She was out of the chair in a matter of seconds and by his side.
"What's wrong," she asked, praying it wasn't what she thought it was.
"We're leaving," was his reply, stated in a quiet, painful whisper that stabbed her with reality.
"You mean," she replied as her finger pointed upwards toward the sky. She lifted it a little higher as the tears streaked down her face.
He nodded and in an instant his arms wrapped around her, holding on to her as if his life depended upon it. He buried his face into her hair and breathed in the familiar sent that always helped to sooth his nerves.
"Why," she asked, still not comprehending.
He pulled back from her and brushed her hair from her face.
"We have one shot to find out who we are and where we're from. This is it. We have no choice," he stated through shallow breaths. "The ship leaves in the morning, but – but," he gazed hard and deep into her eyes making her hold her breath. "I don't, no I can't leave you," he stated before his lips melted over hers in a breathtaking, passionate kiss.
The kiss was both mind-blowing and painful for her because this could be their last. As if reading her mind, he pulled away immediately and looked in her eyes.
"I promise, no I swear on my life that I will come back to you. Liz, my life is you. It began the day I healed you. From that day on, you've my life worth living; you've made me human. Everything I do, everything I feel is all because of you. Whether I die tomorrow or a hundred years from now, my destiny is the same. It's you, Liz. I love you," he whispered with an intense look in his eyes.
She smiled and replied, "I love you too," before returning to their breathtakingly passionate kiss. It felt so right, his lips on hers. It's where they belonged. It's where he belonged, with her on Earth.
With that thought, he pulled away again, but slower this time. His eyes never left hers as he reached into his pocket and proceeded to pull out a piece of paper.
"Liz, do you remember in Lit class when Mr. Brown was talking about that English poet John Donne?" he asked while shifting her more comfortably in his lap.
She looked up at him, focusing more on memorizing his face than what he was saying.
"Sure," she replied.
He smiled down at her and continued.
"Well, I was looking at his stuff earlier and I found this poem that he wrote to his wife. You see he was going on this trip for a really long time and neither him nor his wife wanted him to go. So he wrote her this poem to tell her how he felt. Let me read it to you," he stated as he unfolded the piece of paper and began.
"A Valdiction: Forbidding Mourning"
By: John Donne
As virtuous men pass mildly away,
And whisper to their souls to go,
Whilst some of their sad fiends do say
The breath goes now, and some say, No;
So let us melt, and make no noise,
No tear – floods, nor sigh – tempests move;
"Twere profanation of our joys
To tell the laity our love.
Moving of th' earth brings harm and fears,
Men reckon what it did and meant;
But trepidation of the spheres,
Though greater far, is innocent.
Dull sublunary lovers' love
(Whose soul is sense) cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
Those things which elemented it.
But we by a love so much refined
That our selves know not what it is,
Inter – assured of the mind,
Careless, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.
Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to airy thinness beat.
If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two;
Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if th' other do.
And though it in the center sit,
Yet when the other far doth roam,
It leans and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.
Such wilt thou be to me, who must,
Like th' other foot, obliquely run;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end where I begun.
As he finished, his arms wrapped around her tighter as the tears streamed down her face. She looked up at him with a loving, yet confused look on her face.
"I don't understand, Max," she replied as her arms hugged him tighter. She didn't want to let him go.
"Don't you see, our love is like what the poem says. We've always known that our relationship is different. Well, our love it transcends definition. And this journey that I'm taking is like a big circle because of our love. It begins and ends in the exact same place: with you. My life began with you and it will end with you. Do you get it now?" he asked smiling down at her.
She nodded and leaned in for a kiss, this one being a softer, gentler kiss that defined who they were. He pulled back just enough to lean his forehead on hers, a movement that had come to define their more tender moments. It was then that he reached into his pocket again for the second time that night and produced a small velvet box.
"Liz," he asked, looking into her eyes. "I know we're both really young and I know we're different species and I know that I'm about to leave and…"
She hushed him by touching her index finger to his lips. He stopped and looked at her.
She smiled and stated, "Max, just ask me."
And with that, he did.
"Liz, will you wait for me? I promise you I'm going to come back to you. I don't know when but I will. Until then, will you wait for me? When I do, we'll have the wedding of your dreams and we can start the rest of our lives together. I just really need to hear you say this before I leave," he replied, a pleading look in his eyes.
She smiled through her tears and nodded.
"Yes, I'll wait for you and when you come back we'll get married," she replied.
With that said he picked her up and twirled her around. Then he placed her back on her feet and overwhelmed her with another mind-blowing kiss, this time only briefly stopping for air before continuing.
When the sun started to appear over the horizon, they knew the time had come. He gently lifted her off of his lap and placed on the chair as he went to get up. She then stood up as well, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his forehead down to hers. He kissed her gently, a final good-bye.
Pulling back, he whispered, "I love you."
She nodded and replied, "I promise I'll wait for you."
He leaned in for one more soft kiss and then left. She sat there on her lawn chair for hours staring at the place she had last seen him.
Tears streamed down her face as the memory ended. It had been two years and still no sign of Max. Was he alive? Was he safe? Did he still love her? Had he found someone else? All these thoughts flooded her mind each day as she went through the motions waiting for him to return.
It was about time to go to bed when she heard someone coming up the ladder. With hope in her eyes, she glanced down at the diamond ring on her finger and then back at the approaching stranger. His head popped up over the ledge with a smile on his face. In seconds, he was engulfed in her warm embrace. No words were needed. They were back in each other's arms where they belonged. The circle was complete.