The next thing she knew, they were descending down upon the majestic mountain range that stood upon the midwest of North America. She would never get used to that, teleporting. She would never get used to it, nor ever stop loving it. It was summer up here in the Northern Hemisphere, but some of the peeks still had some snow on them. Peter set them down on a limb of a towering fur tree. Claire shivered a little. Even though it was summertime, it was still the Rocky Mountains.
"Here," said Peter, taking off his own coat and wrapping it around hers.
She smiled as she snuggled closer to him. The world was deadly quite out here away from civilization, and at this hour. As the stars faded, and the sky turned grey, she saw a raving fly across the sky, cawing as it went.
Peter watched as the eastern horizon began to lighten.
"Here it comes," he whispered.
This was one of the greatest places to watch the sunrise he knew of. The Grand Canyon was another one, which was only a few hundred miles from where they were now. Then again though, they were better dressed for this climate. The two of them sat in still silence, watching intently, as the sun warmed up the world, slowly painting the Rocky Mountain range. Within a few minutes, Claire suddenly realized that they were cuddled together, her head nuzzled against his shoulder. But, how right it felt there. After a few more minutes, she lifted her head, and turned to smile at him. She was looking at him a little differently than she had been back in Sidney, a short while ago. It was because she finally got to see his face completely. Those big, gentle brown eyes. He was also somewhat surprised, because he had just realized that she now had dark hair.
For several moments, the two of them just enjoyed looking at each other. But at the same time, deep down, the two of them couldn't deny the awkwardness and tension between them.
It was once again Peter who spoke first.
"Your hair.."
Claire rolled those sweet, adorable eyes of hers grinning to herself.
"I was wondering when you would say something about it."
"Hey, it was dark."
"So, what do you think?"
He brushed his hand through her dark locks.
"It… It's different," he smiled. "You're still as beautiful as ever, Claire. I… still can't believe.."
Once again, the girl found herself blushing.
"Well, you don't look so bad yourself… for 120 years old." She stuck out her tongue at him.
"Hey, I'm 115, thank you very much."
They both shared a moment of humor.
"Well, what do you say we both get out of this tree, and go have some breakfast, I'm starving."
Claire gave him a look.
"Actually, I just had dinner a couple of hours ago. This globetrotting really messes with your natural clock, huh?"
Peter shrugged.
"You get used to it… sort of."
"Well, you can buy me a coffee, I guess."
A short time later, at a little café near the interstate:
"So, how many powers do you think you have now?"
"Hmm, if I had to guess, I'd say about 5 or 6 hundred." He smiled. "Come to think of it, that's why I'm kinda glad Marie never took me to the mansion. Heck, I probably still have powers I haven't explored."
"Well, I'm glad that power is in your hands."
Peter looked away.
"Sometimes I wonder. Did I tell you I've met a couple of other empaths? One of them… I had to fight. I ended up…"
He put his fork down, and Claire put a hand on his.
"Hey."
Peter looked up, and sighed
"It doesn't matter now."
After a brief silence, Claire tried to change the subject a little.
"You know, even after all these years, it still seems kinda hard being.. you know, different." She rolled her eyes as she said the last. "Even when I was married, for all those years, I still sort of felt alone." She looked away sadly. "I miss so many people." She looked back at Peter, "When we were flying back there, it made me think, I couldn't help but think of… it reminded me of.."
"Nathan. I know. I think of him every single time I fly, or see someone else flying. That was the first power I ever used, you know." He smiled a little. "I just wish he would have lived long enough to see us all get to come out of the closet…so to speak."
Claire had been very sad and serious up until just now, as she recalled her deceased father, but with this last comment, she snickered and rolled her eyes.
"Oh my gosh, Peter, you're so bad. I can't believe you said it like that."
"Well, that's pretty much how it was," he said, smiling.
Claire decided to play along. "Yeah, I guess we were just born that way." She stuck out her tongue.
"And you say I'M bad, Claire."
She had a mischievous grin on her face.
He looked up at her, smiling, but becoming quieter, more serious.
"Look, there's one more place I want to show you, after we leave here."
"Ok."
After Peter paid the bill, they walked outside, and Peter had Claire hold onto him, which she did, hoping he wouldn't notice her trembling. A moment later, they were back in the mountains, high up on a ledge.
The view was simply breathtaking. Even more so than where they had watched the sun rise.
"Claire, this is where I took Marie, to propose to her, it's also where I took my son, Brad, to tell him about mutants. Claire, you told me about how lonely you felt, even when you got married and had a family. Well, I felt the same way. I loved Marie, with all my heart, or so I thought. When I first met her, I could how lonely she was, because of her power."
"Yeah, I remember you telling me about her, and thinking how terrible it must be to never be able to even shake hands with another human being. It was like a harmful version of your power."
Peter grinned for a moment. "You know, it's funny, she told me she was once in a relationship with a man who could heal like you. She said he was the only one she'd been able to hold, or to kiss. But she still knew she was hurting him, every time. And then she met me, and for the first time, she could be close to someone, hold me, kiss me, without ever having to cause me pain, make me pass out. You see, I grew close to her, not because I pitied her, but because I knew she needed me. She appreciated me just being there. For that reason alone, just because she was able to be physical with someone for a change, I was her hero."
Claire's expression changed significantly, and she could feel a stirring deep inside her, as she heard Peter say this.
Peter just looked out among the mountains and smiled for a moment.
"But as much as I felt connected to her, and felt so needed and appreciated, there was still something missing."
Claire knew exactly where he was going with this, and she was trying so hard to suppress grinning.
He turned to face her now.
"Claire, from the moment we bumped into each other at your school.." she couldn't help but giggle at just how literally it had happened. He smiled back at her.
"Up until then, I had felt lost, not just socially, but it was like I had no sense of purpose in the world." He put his hands on her shoulders. "Then I looked into those beautiful, sweet blue eyes. I saw hidden pain there, but more than that, I saw someone with a very special destiny. Someone with the power to change the world."
She looked away and smirked bitterly.
"Sure, I've really changed the world…"
Peter became very serious.
"Hey," he said, lifting her chin to face him. "You know, the last time I met you, you were teaching kids at a highschool in London. Now, who's to say one of those wouldn't go on to help end world hunger, or, or find the cure for aids?"
He reached down and took her hands in his.
"I know you've changed my life, Claire."
At that moment, she suddenly hardened a little.
"Peter, how can we..? Nathan, he's"
Peter let go of her hands.
"What Claire? What related to us? Because we're not supposed to!"
He turned away for a moment, towards the mountains.
"You know, I am sick and tired of always just doing what I'm supposed to do. What about us? What about what we want? You look at me, and tell me you haven't felt the same way, Claire."
Claire stood there, staring into his eyes, fighting back tears.
"You're right. I do have feelings for you, Peter. I always did." She looked up at him with that irresistible, sweet, sad smile. "You made me feel like I finally had a place in the world, too," Then, she looked away, out off the ledge, and sighed as she added, "but we've gone our separate ways. Peter, we both got married."
"Yeah Claire, we did. Like I said, I really loved Marie, and Greg was a great man. But if you were to look deep down inside, we both know that our hearts would have preferred each other in a second. And all because 'we're not supposed to!' I don't buy that, especially from you, Claire."
Claire did not respond for a very long time; instead, she just stood there, for a very long time, taking it all in.
"You wanna know something, this is probably the first time since Greg died, hm, before Greg died, that I have really felt alive."
Then she grinned, more than she had at all in the past few hours.
"There you go again, you've swooped in and rescued me, from all the monotony, the loneliness."
She shook her head, still grinning.
"You always manage to be the hero."
Then, after a moment, she became a little more serious. Peter knew this look; it was the expression she had when resolving to take action.
"You know what, you're right, Peter. I mean… why should we be forced to live out our lives, forever… as we watch those around us, fade away, and we just keep forcing ourselves to stay separated, alone? Besides, if we hadn't ever met… I probably would have been.. Well, let's say, I would have been having another kind of homecoming."
"-and I would have died that night, without your power. You know that, Claire. And yet, here we are. Because we met, I now know that there is someone in the world who not only needs me, but who really understands me, and it is because of her, that I am alive and well, a hundred years later, still thinking of her."
Claire smiled with that look, the look that only a woman totally smitten, gives a man when she truly surrenders to her feelings for him.
"And she hasn't stopped thinking of you, Peter."
She stepped in closer to be near him.
"Let's give this a try, then. After all, why not? After a lifetime of waiting, we deserve what we really wanted, all along."
She grinned a sly, mischievous smirk.
"Besides, no ones left around to tell us it's wrong anymore."
Though her expression was filled with mischief, Peter in all his empathy, could clearly see the bitter sarcasm, the hurt, as she said this. He held her close, letting his own pain and loss, mesh with hers, as they were finally able to let themselves go, after all this time.
After awhile, another thought came to him, and even as the sentence began to leave his lips, he realized he probably shouldn't have said it.
"We won't be able to have kids."
She looked up at him, seriously.
"I know. But like we said, we've both already had a chance to have families; we both have wonderful, beautiful children. We had the normal, married life." She smirked again, "well, normal for us… But I am tired of normal. I am ready for wonderful. I'm ready for us."
"Me too, Claire."
As he held her in his arms and took her into a hot, passionate kiss, he literally swept her off her feet, as they rose into the early morning sky.
