Title: Destiny's Amends, Chapter Three
Spoilers: Up through "A Roswell Christmas Carol"
Synopsis: Mostly Isabel POV about life post-Destiny. Specifically the story deals with her identification of issues that have arisen and what, if anything, she can do about them.
Author's Note: Thank you so much to all of you who sent me feedback so far...you guys are awesome!
As Liz wiped the counter down later that day she realized she was looking forward to becoming friends with Isabel. She grinned as she remembered sitting in Biology earlier, thinking over the whole situation. She had the terrible thought that Isabel might just be working up to asking her about Kyle or Max. But then Liz had realized that although she didn't know everything about Isabel one thing she knew well enough was that Isabel was always one to speak her mind.
Maria was glad to see Liz smiling again. She was the only one who knew why Liz was so sad all the time. Maria looked over at the pass-through window and smiled at Michael, happy to see him working so hard. Maria knew how difficult it had been for Michael to approach Max and Isabel's dad with the request for help in gaining his independent status. Ever since he had won his freedom Michael had taken his job very seriously and was fiercely proud of his ability to support himself.
She had to fight back the feelings of selfishness that arose whenever she thought about what Liz had done. A part of her was glad that Liz had sacrificed everything, because it meant that Michael was alive. Well that sounded stupid but Maria didn't know how else to think about it. In the future Liz had altered Michael had died in the year 2014. The logical part of Maria's brain reminded her that the future that lay before all of them now was not necessarily going to be better. The illogical part of her brain just hummed with happiness because she was near Michael. Unfortunately for her Liz's plight and her subsequent revelation of the future that had been planned forced Maria to think about things. Mostly she thought about general things like you would if you heard about the future like "I want to spend more time with my friends", or "I guess Algebra has no purpose in the real world after all." But there was one thing that really had Maria's brain working in overdrive. She couldn't stop thinking about it, and she didn't want to ask Liz about it because it would seem pretty selfish. Well actually it was selfish, Maria admitted to herself.
The one question that burned in her brain day and night was simply: Where had she been when Michael died? Why hadn't she been there with him? She remembered what the fortuneteller had told her about her relationship with Michael. But she found it impossible to believe that things had deteriorated so much between them that she had exited his life completely before he died. So that left her wondering what could have happened to her, and the thoughts that answered her were too horrible to contemplate for long.
Liz telling Maria about the future had made Maria want to run into Michael's arms and stay there forever, never letting him out of her sight. But she knew he still felt like he had to protect her. So she comforted herself with the reminder that Liz's sacrifice had changed the future for everyone. Maria couldn't help but feel like a new hope had been born within her. She knew she would end up with Michael again. It was just a matter of time.
As Michael concentrated on flipping burgers he knew how ridiculous it was to feel so proud of his work. But then he would look up at Maria and see the same look of pride reflected in her face and he felt better about himself than he ever had. He would never admit it to anyone, but he felt like he lived his life to make Maria glad she knew him. He still wasn't convinced it was safe to be together but as long as he had her in his life he knew things would be okay.
Another thing he would never admit to is how he felt about the whole Liz/Max thing. Michael knew something was up. He didn't believe for a second that Liz had slept with Kyle. Michael and Liz shared a secret that no one-including Maria and Max-knew about...Michael had read Liz's journal. Back in the beginning of this whole fiasco Michael had "borrowed" Liz's journal to see if she was having thoughts of turning them in. And what he had read had humbled him. Liz had just assumed she would do anything for them, it wasn't even a question. What's more she saw the potential for them to be friends-all of them-and not just because of Max. But it was because of what she wrote about Max that Michael knew she hadn't slept with Kyle. The way she described how Max made her feel and how she felt about him had an enormous impact on Michael, in fact it changed his life.
Reading about and then witnessing the love between Max and Liz made Michael long for something he thought he'd given up on long ago. He had spent most of his life searching for the home he never had. But then Liz was shot and the whole world changed. Sure there were negatives like the FBI and Skins, but there were so many positives. Michael had friends, a job, a home of his own, and he had opened himself up to love. The shooting and the events that followed had given them more questions, yes, but more answers than even Michael had dared to hope for.
He returned to his grilling and reflected on the most likely reason there was more to the Kyle/Liz saga than was public knowledge: Maria wasn't talking about it. That fact prompted his curiosity more than any of his mushy musings, he acknowledged.
But he wasn't going to look into it. When the "Royal Four's" destinies had been revealed Liz had walked away, and Max would have gone after her if Michael hadn't stopped him. And the only reason he stopped Max was because of the courage it had taken Liz to let go. Michael knew perhaps better than Max even how Liz felt about Max, and he knew that if she felt like this was the right thing to do he should help her.
Michael had told Maria he believed in creating his own destiny, and yet they all acted like things were set in stone. It was this lack of knowledge that kept them stagnant. When Max had gone to the conference without him, Michael had secretly hoped they wouldn't be going to their home planet anytime soon.
They all needed more information and more time. But as Michael watched Maria take an order he knew there would never be enough time for him to ready himself to leave her forever.
Maria walked over to hand in her order and caught Michael watching her. She would have called him on it but just then a busload of tourists pulled up. She sighed and grabbed an extra order pad.
"Liz, it's about to get crazy," Maria announced, jostling Liz out of her reverie. She looked in the direction Maria was pointing and gave a matching sigh of her own. It was going to be a long night, but at least she had something to look forward to later.
Isabel stood outside of Max's door, unsure of what to do. Did she ask for a ride to the Crashdown? Should she just casually announce she was going there and see how he reacted? She still hadn't decided when the door opened. Max was predictably surprised to see his sister hovering in the hallway.
"Um, what's up Isabel? Do you need to talk to me or something?"
Isabel recovered quickly and schooled her features to remain impassive.
"Uh no. I was just going to tell you that I'm headed over to the Crashdown in case I get any calls."
Before Max could respond Isabel continued.
"Oh, did you need the jeep? If you want to drop me off or something..." she trailed off, knowing she sounded like she was hiding something.
"Actually I was already going to make a trip to the Crashdown. I told Michael I'd pick him up after his shift."
"Doesn't he have plans with Maria?"
At that Max smiled.
"No. I guess Maria's mom wants to have some quality bonding time so Michael's left without plans, unless of course he wants to bond too."
They both laughed at that image.
"So will you give me a ride over, then?" Isabel asked.
"Sure. Just let me grab my jacket."
As they got into the jeep Max turned to Isabel.
"You know, this might be a good time for us to talk."
Isabel hurried to cut him off.
"I know we need to, Max, but I'm just not ready, okay? I need more time to process everything."
"Iz, this is important."
Isabel sighed. In truth she had been surprised he had held off for this long.
"Okay, okay. But I'm not agreeing to talk if I'm uncomfortable with any aspect of our topic."
"Fair enough."
Isabel surprised herself and Max by starting the conversation.
"Okay. I guess the right thing to say first is that I owe you an apology."
"What for?"
"I should have realized sooner that Lani and Rath were up to no good."
"Iz..."
"No, let me finish. It startled me to see them, obviously, but it blew me away when I talked to Lani about being Vilandra. Because she had no problem being Vilandra, and I wondered if I was supposed to be okay with it too, instead of being horrified at the thought of acting like Congresswoman Whitaker said I did."
"But that's just it, Iz, and it's something that hit me and I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. Congresswoman Whitaker is who gave you this information. All of us are so hungry for information about who we are and where we're from that we believe anything from anyone. We've really been acting naïve about everything and we need to be more careful about processing the information we get."
Isabel just sat there, dumbstruck. She had never even considered that the Congresswoman had lied.
"You're right, Max. I never thought about that. I just accepted it as truth, no questions asked. We need to tell Michael and Tess, too."
As they pulled up to the Crashdown a thought hit Max.
"Is there a special reason you wanted to come here, Isabel?"
Well here goes nothing, Isabel thought.
"Yeah, I'm meeting Liz. We're going out tonight."
Spoilers: Up through "A Roswell Christmas Carol"
Synopsis: Mostly Isabel POV about life post-Destiny. Specifically the story deals with her identification of issues that have arisen and what, if anything, she can do about them.
Author's Note: Thank you so much to all of you who sent me feedback so far...you guys are awesome!
As Liz wiped the counter down later that day she realized she was looking forward to becoming friends with Isabel. She grinned as she remembered sitting in Biology earlier, thinking over the whole situation. She had the terrible thought that Isabel might just be working up to asking her about Kyle or Max. But then Liz had realized that although she didn't know everything about Isabel one thing she knew well enough was that Isabel was always one to speak her mind.
Maria was glad to see Liz smiling again. She was the only one who knew why Liz was so sad all the time. Maria looked over at the pass-through window and smiled at Michael, happy to see him working so hard. Maria knew how difficult it had been for Michael to approach Max and Isabel's dad with the request for help in gaining his independent status. Ever since he had won his freedom Michael had taken his job very seriously and was fiercely proud of his ability to support himself.
She had to fight back the feelings of selfishness that arose whenever she thought about what Liz had done. A part of her was glad that Liz had sacrificed everything, because it meant that Michael was alive. Well that sounded stupid but Maria didn't know how else to think about it. In the future Liz had altered Michael had died in the year 2014. The logical part of Maria's brain reminded her that the future that lay before all of them now was not necessarily going to be better. The illogical part of her brain just hummed with happiness because she was near Michael. Unfortunately for her Liz's plight and her subsequent revelation of the future that had been planned forced Maria to think about things. Mostly she thought about general things like you would if you heard about the future like "I want to spend more time with my friends", or "I guess Algebra has no purpose in the real world after all." But there was one thing that really had Maria's brain working in overdrive. She couldn't stop thinking about it, and she didn't want to ask Liz about it because it would seem pretty selfish. Well actually it was selfish, Maria admitted to herself.
The one question that burned in her brain day and night was simply: Where had she been when Michael died? Why hadn't she been there with him? She remembered what the fortuneteller had told her about her relationship with Michael. But she found it impossible to believe that things had deteriorated so much between them that she had exited his life completely before he died. So that left her wondering what could have happened to her, and the thoughts that answered her were too horrible to contemplate for long.
Liz telling Maria about the future had made Maria want to run into Michael's arms and stay there forever, never letting him out of her sight. But she knew he still felt like he had to protect her. So she comforted herself with the reminder that Liz's sacrifice had changed the future for everyone. Maria couldn't help but feel like a new hope had been born within her. She knew she would end up with Michael again. It was just a matter of time.
As Michael concentrated on flipping burgers he knew how ridiculous it was to feel so proud of his work. But then he would look up at Maria and see the same look of pride reflected in her face and he felt better about himself than he ever had. He would never admit it to anyone, but he felt like he lived his life to make Maria glad she knew him. He still wasn't convinced it was safe to be together but as long as he had her in his life he knew things would be okay.
Another thing he would never admit to is how he felt about the whole Liz/Max thing. Michael knew something was up. He didn't believe for a second that Liz had slept with Kyle. Michael and Liz shared a secret that no one-including Maria and Max-knew about...Michael had read Liz's journal. Back in the beginning of this whole fiasco Michael had "borrowed" Liz's journal to see if she was having thoughts of turning them in. And what he had read had humbled him. Liz had just assumed she would do anything for them, it wasn't even a question. What's more she saw the potential for them to be friends-all of them-and not just because of Max. But it was because of what she wrote about Max that Michael knew she hadn't slept with Kyle. The way she described how Max made her feel and how she felt about him had an enormous impact on Michael, in fact it changed his life.
Reading about and then witnessing the love between Max and Liz made Michael long for something he thought he'd given up on long ago. He had spent most of his life searching for the home he never had. But then Liz was shot and the whole world changed. Sure there were negatives like the FBI and Skins, but there were so many positives. Michael had friends, a job, a home of his own, and he had opened himself up to love. The shooting and the events that followed had given them more questions, yes, but more answers than even Michael had dared to hope for.
He returned to his grilling and reflected on the most likely reason there was more to the Kyle/Liz saga than was public knowledge: Maria wasn't talking about it. That fact prompted his curiosity more than any of his mushy musings, he acknowledged.
But he wasn't going to look into it. When the "Royal Four's" destinies had been revealed Liz had walked away, and Max would have gone after her if Michael hadn't stopped him. And the only reason he stopped Max was because of the courage it had taken Liz to let go. Michael knew perhaps better than Max even how Liz felt about Max, and he knew that if she felt like this was the right thing to do he should help her.
Michael had told Maria he believed in creating his own destiny, and yet they all acted like things were set in stone. It was this lack of knowledge that kept them stagnant. When Max had gone to the conference without him, Michael had secretly hoped they wouldn't be going to their home planet anytime soon.
They all needed more information and more time. But as Michael watched Maria take an order he knew there would never be enough time for him to ready himself to leave her forever.
Maria walked over to hand in her order and caught Michael watching her. She would have called him on it but just then a busload of tourists pulled up. She sighed and grabbed an extra order pad.
"Liz, it's about to get crazy," Maria announced, jostling Liz out of her reverie. She looked in the direction Maria was pointing and gave a matching sigh of her own. It was going to be a long night, but at least she had something to look forward to later.
Isabel stood outside of Max's door, unsure of what to do. Did she ask for a ride to the Crashdown? Should she just casually announce she was going there and see how he reacted? She still hadn't decided when the door opened. Max was predictably surprised to see his sister hovering in the hallway.
"Um, what's up Isabel? Do you need to talk to me or something?"
Isabel recovered quickly and schooled her features to remain impassive.
"Uh no. I was just going to tell you that I'm headed over to the Crashdown in case I get any calls."
Before Max could respond Isabel continued.
"Oh, did you need the jeep? If you want to drop me off or something..." she trailed off, knowing she sounded like she was hiding something.
"Actually I was already going to make a trip to the Crashdown. I told Michael I'd pick him up after his shift."
"Doesn't he have plans with Maria?"
At that Max smiled.
"No. I guess Maria's mom wants to have some quality bonding time so Michael's left without plans, unless of course he wants to bond too."
They both laughed at that image.
"So will you give me a ride over, then?" Isabel asked.
"Sure. Just let me grab my jacket."
As they got into the jeep Max turned to Isabel.
"You know, this might be a good time for us to talk."
Isabel hurried to cut him off.
"I know we need to, Max, but I'm just not ready, okay? I need more time to process everything."
"Iz, this is important."
Isabel sighed. In truth she had been surprised he had held off for this long.
"Okay, okay. But I'm not agreeing to talk if I'm uncomfortable with any aspect of our topic."
"Fair enough."
Isabel surprised herself and Max by starting the conversation.
"Okay. I guess the right thing to say first is that I owe you an apology."
"What for?"
"I should have realized sooner that Lani and Rath were up to no good."
"Iz..."
"No, let me finish. It startled me to see them, obviously, but it blew me away when I talked to Lani about being Vilandra. Because she had no problem being Vilandra, and I wondered if I was supposed to be okay with it too, instead of being horrified at the thought of acting like Congresswoman Whitaker said I did."
"But that's just it, Iz, and it's something that hit me and I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. Congresswoman Whitaker is who gave you this information. All of us are so hungry for information about who we are and where we're from that we believe anything from anyone. We've really been acting naïve about everything and we need to be more careful about processing the information we get."
Isabel just sat there, dumbstruck. She had never even considered that the Congresswoman had lied.
"You're right, Max. I never thought about that. I just accepted it as truth, no questions asked. We need to tell Michael and Tess, too."
As they pulled up to the Crashdown a thought hit Max.
"Is there a special reason you wanted to come here, Isabel?"
Well here goes nothing, Isabel thought.
"Yeah, I'm meeting Liz. We're going out tonight."