Title: King's Opening
Rating: PG-13/R
Category: M/L, M/M, Ky/I
Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell and I never have. Don't sue me, I'm just a poor college student, you wouldn't get anything anyway.
Summary: Part One of the Battlefield Antar series. The group is summoned to Antar after a year roaming the US in their battered VW van.
Chapter 31 - Epilogue
The transport slowed to a stop in the courtyard of Skyview Castle. Maria squeezed Liz's hand excitedly. Liz smiled serenely and glanced over at Isabel. Isabel was smiling, but was oddly pale. She appeared to be nervous about something.
Liz shrugged inwardly. Isabel had said that she thought she was falling for Kyle. Maybe she was nervous about seeing him again. She sympathized with Isabel but it couldn't put a damper on the serene and happy smile on her face. She was going to see Max again. Alive and whole and all hers.
Max, Michael, Kyle, Liam, and Erik stood a few feet away from the transport's doors. Max was grinning like a loon. His Liz was with him again. Liam and Erik were smiling happily, excited despite being well used to post-battle reunions. Kyle was smiling nervously. He knew his relationship with Isabel was on odd footing, and that Nikolai had seemed to be interested too. Would Izzy have turned to him while Kyle was gone?
Michael was still worried about all the things he'd seen, the things Maria would see through him. He knew the first thing Maria would do when she jumped out of that transport would be to kiss him, to connect to him. He didn't know how she would react to what she might see.
The door of the transport slowly opened. Nikolai stepped out first and shook each man's hand and thumped them on the back. While he did that, Tristan stepped out of the transport. He immediately turned back towards the door and offered his hand to Christiana, who stepped down carefully and gave Tristan a grateful smile before running into her brother's arms.
Serena jumped down and ran to her husband. Tristan stayed by the door, offering each woman a hand down.
Maria and Liz stood behind Isabel and watched her hesitate before stepping down, gratefully holding onto Tristan's hand.
"She's got it bad," whispered Maria as she stepped forward.
"Sure does," Liz agreed.
They stepped down at the same time, and the three women stood frozen staring at their men. Then all six were moving at once.
Max and Liz buried their faces in each other's shoulders.
"You saved me, Liz, you saved me."
"I was so worried, so scared. God, Max, when I saw him again..."
"It's all right, it's all right," he chanted softly, kissing her hair, breathing in the smell of her shampoo. They hugged each other tightly, never wanting to let go.
"I love you," they said.
Maria launched herself into Michael's arms. He held her up off the ground and spun her around. She laughed like she hadn't laughed in years before fusing her lips to his.
This is it, Michael thought distantly. Now she'll see the Michael-soldier and she'll pull away and never want to touch me again.
Maria saw vague images of war, felt Michael's terror and felt his desperate courage. She felt his insecurity. She loved him even more. She ended the kiss slowly and looked deep into Michael's tortured eyes.
"I love you, Michael Guerin. I always will."
Michael broke out into the biggest grin he'd ever grinned. Maria still loved him and all was right in his world. Whatever that world was called.
Isabel and Kyle took slow, tentative steps towards one another. The sounds of Serena, Liam, and the rest talking faded away. They didn't see Michael and Maria spinning or Max and Liz holding each other. All they saw was each other.
"I was worried," Isabel said softly.
"I'm fine," Kyle said just as softly.
They inched closer to each other.
"I missed you."
"Missed you, too, Princess." With his words, Kyle reached out to stroke Isabel's cheek. She pressed her cheek into his hand and gazed into his eyes. They stood frozen like that for long seconds, and then suddenly they were kissing. Isabel's hands were in Kyle's hair and his were framing her cheeks and they were kissing. And they were happy.
Fifteen minutes later, the group was assembled in the main conference room of the castle.
"Welcome to Skyview Castle," Liam said graciously. "Hopefully your current stay here will not be very long, because we hope to move into the palace as soon as possible!"
The group smiled at Liam's bravado. The meeting commenced, and they discussed everything from room assignments to staff hiring to when and where Max should give a speech announcing the victory.
"At the risk of sounding like a certain blonde-haired bimbo we all know and hate," Isabel began, "what do we do now, Max?"
The royal six managed to smile at the Tess reference. Max glanced at Liam before replying.
"We wait. The army needs a few more days to regroup, plus we don't want to act rashly. We need to plan. Skyview was a golden opportunity, and we hope that by taking advantage of it more will appear."
Later, Max and Liz stood on their private balcony watching the sun set.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Liz asked softly.
"Mmm-hmm," Max replied, looking at Liz. "Beautiful."
A/N – Well that's it. King's Opening is finished! Woo-hoo! Thanks to everyone who's left feedback, especially DragonEmpress, StardustDreamer, fairysk8r, Lilac Stardust, Marilyne, and Katie. You guys are awesome! Don't forget to be on the lookout for the next story in the series, which I still have to figure out a name for. Don't worry, I'll make sure that the summary says it's part 2 of Battlefield Antar and sequel to this one.