Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-Men movie characters.
Title: Unforgivable Sinners
By: Cmdr. Gabe E.
Note: This fanfiction occurs entirely in the X-Men movie-verse . Characters' unspoken thoughts are enclosed in .
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Whoa!!! Some reviewers want Stryker dead, while the others want to know about his relationship with Yuriko in the past O.O!!! (Eheheh...too bad I can't kill Stryker off, since he's really one of the major players in this fanfic .!). Well, here's Chap 43 =D! I hope you all like it =D! Once again, I'm sorry if my updates have been rather slow lately x.x! I'm starting school again and I've been busy with lots of offline shtuff too x.x!
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Chapter 43: Reset
She looked at him with horror as she took a step back, her hands slowly slipping away from his suit. She could feel her lips shaking as she continued to stare at him. Then she slowly walked backwards towards the door. She had to get out of the room, before...
Stryker walked towards her and gently grabbed her shoulders. "Don't go...Please." He said with a pleading tone in his voice. "Don't leave me. I need you. I need you now more than ever." His begging eyes looked at her, pleading for her to stay.
Yuriko quickly pulled her shoulders away from his hands. Feeling his touch sent shivers up her spine. She didn't like how Stryker was acting at the moment. She had never seen him act this way before.
"What do you want from me?!" She asked with an irritated tone in her voice.
He stepped towards her and slowly reached out to touch her arm. "I just want you to stay." He said softly. "I want you to stay and talk to me. Please. Just talk to me. That's all I'm asking from you, Yuriko. I just want to talk."
"There is nothing to talk about, William!" She shouted. "We have nothing to talk about." She said firmly. She took another step away from him and felt her back against the door. She was now trapped between him and freedom. "Just let me go." She said softly.
Then he gently wrapped his hand around her arm. "Yuriko, please...Try to understand. This is my last night as me." He emphasized the word 'me'. "This is my last night as the man who's standing right in front of you." He could feel his voice shaking as he talked to her. He wanted her to stay. He wanted her to hear him out. "I will never be this way again, Yuriko. And I want you to know me as who I am now right now. I want you to remember me this way."
Yuriko gritted her teeth as she angrily stared back at him. "I suggest you find another person, William." She said monotonously. She didn't want to fall into another one of his sympathy traps. "Because I already know you all too well. There is nothing more I need to know."
"But there is!" He said imposingly. He gripped her arm tighter. "You still don't know me. You still don't know who I am." He said as he pointed to himself. "I just want you to know me, Yuriko. Please. Just this one night. Then after this, do to me as you please. Hurt me, kill me, I don't care. All I'm asking, is for you to know me better."
Yuriko looked into his eyes. She didn't want to admit it, but she could see the sincerity in them. His eyes and the expression on his face, reminded her so much of the young Stryker she saw in her vision. He reminded her so much of the Stryker she had lost together with her past. And perhaps that young man has come back. He has finally come back after being away for so long. And it was about time that he did, because a part of her, did want to know who he was.
Stryker gently unwrapped his hand from her arm, and moved it back down on his side. And he stood there as his eyes continued to stare at her, waiting for an answer. If she decided to leave, then he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. If that were going to be her decision, then he would respect that.
The moment of silence between them seemed to last forever as they stared into each other's eyes. They looked like two chess players anticipating each other's next move. Yuriko still didn't know what to do. She knew Stryker was telling the truth. She felt no deception in each and every word that he had spoken. She could feel the sincerity in his voice. But she didn't want to give in to him. Because once she knew the man he was now, once she gets to know him better, she might get hurt once he goes away. She might get hurt if he disappears the way he did many, many years ago.
Stryker couldn't stand the silence any longer. He had to know her answer. "You don't even have to forgive me. I know you will never forgive me for the things I had done. But please talk to me --- anything --- you don't even have to like me, just ---."
"You're right." Yuriko said coldly. "I will never forgive you. I can never forgive you for what you did to me, and the others." Then she paused and took a step towards him. "But if you really aren't the Stryker I knew, if you really are a different person...then prove it. Tell me who you are now." She said as she looked into his eyes. She had given in to his request. She didn't want to appear weak, but a part of her wanted to know who he was. When she looked into his eyes, she saw the young Stryker there. He was still there and she wanted him back. She wanted to see him again.
Stryker felt his entire body relax as he heard her words. She was going to give him a chance. She was going to talk to him. But what would he say to her now? Who was he? He felt as if he had only lived for the past two days. Were two days enough to tell him who he really was?
He breathed in and looked away. He still didn't know what to say to her. Then he looked at her again. Yes...he would introduce himself to her. He would introduce himself to her as if they've just met. He wanted to start from the beginning.
"Hi." He said softly as a humble smile curled up his lips. His eyes looked at Yuriko as if it was their very first time to see her face. He looked at her with so much virginity, as if they hadn't known each other for the past fourteen years. He wanted to meet her and look at her and talk to her for the very first time.
"I would like to introduce myself to you." He breathed in and stood up straight like a proud gentleman who wanted to impress a new female acquaintance. "My name...is William Stryker." He had to start with his name. He hated saying it as much as he hated hearing it from her lips because it reminded him so much of the man he used to be. But every introduction had to start with a name...and whether he liked it or not, that was his.
"I know my name sounds familiar to your ears, and my face looks familiar to your eyes." He said, as he looked deep into hers. "But I believe this is the first time...that we've ever truly met." Tonight was the night when he was going to be the William Stryker she never knew. And he wanted her to be the Yuriko Oyama he had never met.
Yuriko looked breathless as she stared at Stryker. He was right...his face really did look familiar to her. But it didn't remind her of the William Stryker who had hurt her for more than a decade. His face reminded her of the young and vibrant William Stryker in her vision. He reminded her of the boy who used to laugh with her...the young man who used to be her friend. And the more she looked at him, the more she saw the young Stryker who she thought had been long gone.
Stryker knew he sounded stupid, introducing himself to her as if she didn't know who he was, but he couldn't think of the right things to say about himself. But this was his only chance to talk to Yuriko as a new person and he didn't want to waste any more precious time. He had to make use of this one last night to tell her as much as he can about himself, as the man he was now.
He clenched his fists and breathed in, then he stared deeply into her eyes. "I apologize if I won't be able to say much about myself. But I will try...I will try to tell you as much as I can about me, so that you'd get to know me better. Then perhaps we can be friends, yes?" Oh great. Now he was starting to talk like Kurt. But then, Kurt was one of the people he had met in the past two days, and that would be enough to say that Kurt had somehow affected his life. Spending those few minutes with the blue man had made him realize the true importance of friendship, trust and generosity.
Yuriko narrowed her eyes as she looked at him curiously. The more he talked, the more she wanted to know about him. Now she was the one drawn to his mystery...the strange side of him that she feared was now the one drawing her to him.
"Then who are you, William?" She asked softly.
"I am..." He still didn't know what to say. His eyes looked empty as he stared at her. Then he looked away and pursed his lips. He seemed deep in thought. Then he exhaled and looked back at her again. He was determined to tell her who he was. "I am a man who likes peanut butter." Then his eyes opened wide when he realized what he had just said. Talk about sounding dumb. Well at least it was one of those things that he was sure about himself.
Yuriko arched an eyebrow as she looked back at him. She couldn't believe what he was saying. Who was she talking to? A seven year-old boy? He had forced her to stay with him to talk about peanut butter?
He saw the look on Yuriko's face and he knew that he had to say something else before Yuriko thought that he was not worth knowing. "But I like eating it off the spoon...unlike Rogue who eats it with bread." Then he cringed after he realized that he was still talking about peanut butter. He had to think of something else.
"And I hate teleporting..." He added. "I like Mr. Wagner, but teleporting...makes me feel sick, so...so I don't like it. And uh," He ran his fingers through his hair. What else could he say? "And um, I like long car rides. And I really hate it when you read a story and the hero dies in the end. Because it's unfair, you know. You read it and in the end, it's just a sad ending. Then you regret reading it in the first place." He forced a smile on his lips as he looked at her.
Then he remembered his encounter with Jones. "And I think that the world's best philosophers are children. Because they see things not as they are, but what they could be. And um, I hate stitches because they really hurt." He said with a smile as he pointed at his forehead.
Yuriko couldn't believe what she was seeing. The man in front of her really looked so much like the Stryker in her vision. He reminded her so much of him...the smile, the innocence, especially the smile. Has he really come back? Was she able to bring back one of the people from her past that she thought was long gone?
"I also know..." He looked at her and sighed. "That you can't always have what you want. That life isn't as perfect as you want it to be. Things can't always come out the way you expect them to. But that doesn't mean that we have to stop living. Because we have to live. It's the only way that we can try to make things right." He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "And that's who I am. That's the man I am. All that. Nothing more, nothing less."
She looked at him and stared deeply into his eyes. She knew who he was. He was the friend she had lost. And he truly has come back. She stepped towards him and her eyes wandered at his face. He looked so old, but she could still see the man she saw in her vision. He was still there underneath the layers of time that have withered his face.
Stryker's eyes opened wide with surprise when he saw Yuriko move closer to him. She was practically right in front of his face. And there was something different in the way she was looking at him right now. He had never seen that look in her eyes before. For the very first time, she looked at him without any hint of contempt and anger. She looked at him as if he wasn't the man who had hurt her for the past fourteen years. This time, she looked at him as if he was a dear friend.
A happy sigh escaped from Yuriko's lips as she looked at his face. She couldn't believe that after all those years, the young William Stryker from her past had finally returned. Logan was wrong when he told her that she could never bring the past back, because she was able to bring an old friend back. And he was standing right in front of her right now, looking at her with those same, innocent, blue eyes she had seen in her vision.
She didn't want to show it, but she couldn't wait to know him again. She wanted to rediscover the young man who used to be her friend. She wanted to rediscover the William Stryker she thought she had lost. She wanted to know him as she had known him before in her past. And she was determined to spend as much time with him as she could, before the sun comes up and takes him away from her again.
She stepped away from him and grinned. "And my name is Yuriko Oyama." She said with a smile on her face. If Stryker wanted to start from the beginning, then she would start from the beginning too. She extended her hand towards him for a handshake. "It's nice to meet you, William." She said softly. "Welcome back."
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Title: Unforgivable Sinners
By: Cmdr. Gabe E.
Note: This fanfiction occurs entirely in the X-Men movie-verse . Characters' unspoken thoughts are enclosed in .
= = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Whoa!!! Some reviewers want Stryker dead, while the others want to know about his relationship with Yuriko in the past O.O!!! (Eheheh...too bad I can't kill Stryker off, since he's really one of the major players in this fanfic .!). Well, here's Chap 43 =D! I hope you all like it =D! Once again, I'm sorry if my updates have been rather slow lately x.x! I'm starting school again and I've been busy with lots of offline shtuff too x.x!
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Chapter 43: Reset
She looked at him with horror as she took a step back, her hands slowly slipping away from his suit. She could feel her lips shaking as she continued to stare at him. Then she slowly walked backwards towards the door. She had to get out of the room, before...
Stryker walked towards her and gently grabbed her shoulders. "Don't go...Please." He said with a pleading tone in his voice. "Don't leave me. I need you. I need you now more than ever." His begging eyes looked at her, pleading for her to stay.
Yuriko quickly pulled her shoulders away from his hands. Feeling his touch sent shivers up her spine. She didn't like how Stryker was acting at the moment. She had never seen him act this way before.
"What do you want from me?!" She asked with an irritated tone in her voice.
He stepped towards her and slowly reached out to touch her arm. "I just want you to stay." He said softly. "I want you to stay and talk to me. Please. Just talk to me. That's all I'm asking from you, Yuriko. I just want to talk."
"There is nothing to talk about, William!" She shouted. "We have nothing to talk about." She said firmly. She took another step away from him and felt her back against the door. She was now trapped between him and freedom. "Just let me go." She said softly.
Then he gently wrapped his hand around her arm. "Yuriko, please...Try to understand. This is my last night as me." He emphasized the word 'me'. "This is my last night as the man who's standing right in front of you." He could feel his voice shaking as he talked to her. He wanted her to stay. He wanted her to hear him out. "I will never be this way again, Yuriko. And I want you to know me as who I am now right now. I want you to remember me this way."
Yuriko gritted her teeth as she angrily stared back at him. "I suggest you find another person, William." She said monotonously. She didn't want to fall into another one of his sympathy traps. "Because I already know you all too well. There is nothing more I need to know."
"But there is!" He said imposingly. He gripped her arm tighter. "You still don't know me. You still don't know who I am." He said as he pointed to himself. "I just want you to know me, Yuriko. Please. Just this one night. Then after this, do to me as you please. Hurt me, kill me, I don't care. All I'm asking, is for you to know me better."
Yuriko looked into his eyes. She didn't want to admit it, but she could see the sincerity in them. His eyes and the expression on his face, reminded her so much of the young Stryker she saw in her vision. He reminded her so much of the Stryker she had lost together with her past. And perhaps that young man has come back. He has finally come back after being away for so long. And it was about time that he did, because a part of her, did want to know who he was.
Stryker gently unwrapped his hand from her arm, and moved it back down on his side. And he stood there as his eyes continued to stare at her, waiting for an answer. If she decided to leave, then he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. If that were going to be her decision, then he would respect that.
The moment of silence between them seemed to last forever as they stared into each other's eyes. They looked like two chess players anticipating each other's next move. Yuriko still didn't know what to do. She knew Stryker was telling the truth. She felt no deception in each and every word that he had spoken. She could feel the sincerity in his voice. But she didn't want to give in to him. Because once she knew the man he was now, once she gets to know him better, she might get hurt once he goes away. She might get hurt if he disappears the way he did many, many years ago.
Stryker couldn't stand the silence any longer. He had to know her answer. "You don't even have to forgive me. I know you will never forgive me for the things I had done. But please talk to me --- anything --- you don't even have to like me, just ---."
"You're right." Yuriko said coldly. "I will never forgive you. I can never forgive you for what you did to me, and the others." Then she paused and took a step towards him. "But if you really aren't the Stryker I knew, if you really are a different person...then prove it. Tell me who you are now." She said as she looked into his eyes. She had given in to his request. She didn't want to appear weak, but a part of her wanted to know who he was. When she looked into his eyes, she saw the young Stryker there. He was still there and she wanted him back. She wanted to see him again.
Stryker felt his entire body relax as he heard her words. She was going to give him a chance. She was going to talk to him. But what would he say to her now? Who was he? He felt as if he had only lived for the past two days. Were two days enough to tell him who he really was?
He breathed in and looked away. He still didn't know what to say to her. Then he looked at her again. Yes...he would introduce himself to her. He would introduce himself to her as if they've just met. He wanted to start from the beginning.
"Hi." He said softly as a humble smile curled up his lips. His eyes looked at Yuriko as if it was their very first time to see her face. He looked at her with so much virginity, as if they hadn't known each other for the past fourteen years. He wanted to meet her and look at her and talk to her for the very first time.
"I would like to introduce myself to you." He breathed in and stood up straight like a proud gentleman who wanted to impress a new female acquaintance. "My name...is William Stryker." He had to start with his name. He hated saying it as much as he hated hearing it from her lips because it reminded him so much of the man he used to be. But every introduction had to start with a name...and whether he liked it or not, that was his.
"I know my name sounds familiar to your ears, and my face looks familiar to your eyes." He said, as he looked deep into hers. "But I believe this is the first time...that we've ever truly met." Tonight was the night when he was going to be the William Stryker she never knew. And he wanted her to be the Yuriko Oyama he had never met.
Yuriko looked breathless as she stared at Stryker. He was right...his face really did look familiar to her. But it didn't remind her of the William Stryker who had hurt her for more than a decade. His face reminded her of the young and vibrant William Stryker in her vision. He reminded her of the boy who used to laugh with her...the young man who used to be her friend. And the more she looked at him, the more she saw the young Stryker who she thought had been long gone.
Stryker knew he sounded stupid, introducing himself to her as if she didn't know who he was, but he couldn't think of the right things to say about himself. But this was his only chance to talk to Yuriko as a new person and he didn't want to waste any more precious time. He had to make use of this one last night to tell her as much as he can about himself, as the man he was now.
He clenched his fists and breathed in, then he stared deeply into her eyes. "I apologize if I won't be able to say much about myself. But I will try...I will try to tell you as much as I can about me, so that you'd get to know me better. Then perhaps we can be friends, yes?" Oh great. Now he was starting to talk like Kurt. But then, Kurt was one of the people he had met in the past two days, and that would be enough to say that Kurt had somehow affected his life. Spending those few minutes with the blue man had made him realize the true importance of friendship, trust and generosity.
Yuriko narrowed her eyes as she looked at him curiously. The more he talked, the more she wanted to know about him. Now she was the one drawn to his mystery...the strange side of him that she feared was now the one drawing her to him.
"Then who are you, William?" She asked softly.
"I am..." He still didn't know what to say. His eyes looked empty as he stared at her. Then he looked away and pursed his lips. He seemed deep in thought. Then he exhaled and looked back at her again. He was determined to tell her who he was. "I am a man who likes peanut butter." Then his eyes opened wide when he realized what he had just said. Talk about sounding dumb. Well at least it was one of those things that he was sure about himself.
Yuriko arched an eyebrow as she looked back at him. She couldn't believe what he was saying. Who was she talking to? A seven year-old boy? He had forced her to stay with him to talk about peanut butter?
He saw the look on Yuriko's face and he knew that he had to say something else before Yuriko thought that he was not worth knowing. "But I like eating it off the spoon...unlike Rogue who eats it with bread." Then he cringed after he realized that he was still talking about peanut butter. He had to think of something else.
"And I hate teleporting..." He added. "I like Mr. Wagner, but teleporting...makes me feel sick, so...so I don't like it. And uh," He ran his fingers through his hair. What else could he say? "And um, I like long car rides. And I really hate it when you read a story and the hero dies in the end. Because it's unfair, you know. You read it and in the end, it's just a sad ending. Then you regret reading it in the first place." He forced a smile on his lips as he looked at her.
Then he remembered his encounter with Jones. "And I think that the world's best philosophers are children. Because they see things not as they are, but what they could be. And um, I hate stitches because they really hurt." He said with a smile as he pointed at his forehead.
Yuriko couldn't believe what she was seeing. The man in front of her really looked so much like the Stryker in her vision. He reminded her so much of him...the smile, the innocence, especially the smile. Has he really come back? Was she able to bring back one of the people from her past that she thought was long gone?
"I also know..." He looked at her and sighed. "That you can't always have what you want. That life isn't as perfect as you want it to be. Things can't always come out the way you expect them to. But that doesn't mean that we have to stop living. Because we have to live. It's the only way that we can try to make things right." He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "And that's who I am. That's the man I am. All that. Nothing more, nothing less."
She looked at him and stared deeply into his eyes. She knew who he was. He was the friend she had lost. And he truly has come back. She stepped towards him and her eyes wandered at his face. He looked so old, but she could still see the man she saw in her vision. He was still there underneath the layers of time that have withered his face.
Stryker's eyes opened wide with surprise when he saw Yuriko move closer to him. She was practically right in front of his face. And there was something different in the way she was looking at him right now. He had never seen that look in her eyes before. For the very first time, she looked at him without any hint of contempt and anger. She looked at him as if he wasn't the man who had hurt her for the past fourteen years. This time, she looked at him as if he was a dear friend.
A happy sigh escaped from Yuriko's lips as she looked at his face. She couldn't believe that after all those years, the young William Stryker from her past had finally returned. Logan was wrong when he told her that she could never bring the past back, because she was able to bring an old friend back. And he was standing right in front of her right now, looking at her with those same, innocent, blue eyes she had seen in her vision.
She didn't want to show it, but she couldn't wait to know him again. She wanted to rediscover the young man who used to be her friend. She wanted to rediscover the William Stryker she thought she had lost. She wanted to know him as she had known him before in her past. And she was determined to spend as much time with him as she could, before the sun comes up and takes him away from her again.
She stepped away from him and grinned. "And my name is Yuriko Oyama." She said with a smile on her face. If Stryker wanted to start from the beginning, then she would start from the beginning too. She extended her hand towards him for a handshake. "It's nice to meet you, William." She said softly. "Welcome back."
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