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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Chapter 52: Last Goodbye
She had made her decision and she would never falter. She took him with her and they traveled to the mansion so that she could regain her past, and that's what she was going to do. And yet, something unexpected happened...she was reunited with a very old friend, and now she was going to lose him again. Why couldn't she have everything she wanted for a change? Why couldn't she have everything without losing something?
Stryker stepped towards her, trapping her between him and the kitchen counter. Then he moved his hand to her face and gently ran his fingers down her cheek. He looked deep into her eyes, trying to see if there was still a part of her that would listen to him...a part of her that still wanted to run away with him. But he found none. She was like wall without any holes, a glass without any cracks, a building with a strong foundation.
"You're right." He whispered as he gently caressed her cheek. "I'm just a pebble in your path." He said firmly. "And now you've decided to kick me off the road to clear it of any obstacles." He gasped and tightened his jaw as he tried to hold back his tears.
Yuriko's tears continued to flow down her cheeks as his words sank deep into her being. She couldn't deny the truth behind what he had just said. He had finally come back to her, but she just pushed him away...she kicked the pebble of the road and it landed on a patch of grass where it couldn't make its way back to her. And tomorrow, once they both regain their memories, he truly will be lost forever, never to find the path back to her side ever again. He will once again fade into distant memory as he had done before.
He moved his face closer to hers while his hand remained on her cheek. "But now, while you still haven't reached the end of your road. I beg you..." He could feel his voice shaking. "...to go back to where you had kicked me off your path, and I want you to pick me up, and take me with you until the end. I know it's going to hurt to see you cross the finish line without me, but at least I get to see you through it all. You could at least give me that privilege...to be with you while I'm still like this."
Quick breaths escaped from Yuriko's lips as she tried to hold back her tears. His face was now only inches away from hers as she looked back into his sad, blue eyes. He looked like he was still waiting for her to reconsider. He stared at her, still looking for a glimmer of hope that she would change her mind about tomorrow. But she just stood there, staring back at him with cold, blank eyes. She would never falter.
Then she reached out and gently ran her fingers from the bridge of his nose, down to his lips and then to his bearded chin. But before she let him go, she wanted to touch his face again and remember him as he was now. This was the last time she was ever going to see him this close. This was the last time she was going to stare into the youthful eyes of the old friend she once had and she wanted to remember everything.
Then Yuriko's eyes suddenly opened wide with shock as she caught sight of Logan standing in the kitchen's doorway. How long had he been there?
Stryker furrowed his eyebrows when he saw the surprised look in Yuriko's eyes. Then he looked behind him and saw Logan standing in the doorway. He looked at Yuriko again and felt his heart torn from his chest when he saw the way she was looking at Logan. She looked at Logan as if he was her savior. She looked at Logan as if he wasn't even there, standing in between the two of them. In that moment, she looked as if the only thing she could see was Logan. And as for him, he was just a transparent ghost to her now...someone who she would rather forget.
Yuriko quickly pushed Stryker aside then she ran towards Logan. "Logan!" She cried out. She yearned for nothing but to feel herself so close to him again.
Then she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. She held him so close as if she didn't want to let him go. She held him as if she hadn't been with him for an entire lifetime. She missed him so much and she didn't want to be away from him again. Then she felt his arms wrap around her, holding her firmly but gently against him. And she realized how truly comfortable, how safe and warm she felt in his arms...those same arms that held her so close in her vision.
In a way, Logan had saved her again. His arrival had saved her from Stryker. His arrival had saved her from her own self-doubts and her own fears. Being in his arms again assured her that the decision she had made was the right one. Because even after she regains her past, Logan will still be there by her side. He was still going to be there to comfort her and help her live a new life, because he understood her. He was the only person in the world who could ever understand her, for they were the same. Both of them were carved out of the same tree and plucked from the same vine. They were meant to be together, right from the beginning, until the very end...until the time when they would be the only ones left standing. Yes, she belonged with him and he belonged with her.
Stryker's eyes were filled with hopelessness and suffering as he watched the two of them in each other's arms. He clenched his fists and tightened his jaw as he held back his own tears. He could still feel how Yuriko had pushed him away in order to run into Logan's arms. He could still see how he faded from her eyes when she saw Logan standing by the doorway. It's like she had forgotten everything they had been through that night, the brief friendship they had, when she saw Logan. Then he breathed in and looked away. To see them like that would only cause him so much pain. And what hurt more was the fact that he almost had Yuriko. He almost had her, but then she slipped away. But it didn't end there...she also pushed him aside like an unwanted thing.
"She doesn't need you anymore, Stryker." Logan said coldly as he looked at the older man. "And your words are the last thing she needs." His arms remained wrapped around Yuriko. He wanted to protect her from Stryker. "She has her own mind and she can make her own decisions. She's not yours anymore and she will never be again."
Logan's eyes angrily looked at him. His words hit Stryker hard, digging and etching each of their syllables deep into the old man's soul. "She doesn't need you whispering into her ear so that she could move and talk like the wind-up doll that you want her to be. She doesn't need the devil's advocate breathing down her neck, telling her what to do." He said through clenched teeth.
Yuriko moved her head to the side and saw Stryker from the corner of her eye. He was helplessly leaning against the kitchen counter like a warrior who had fallen in battle. He looked like he was in so much pain and she could feel it. She could see the sadness in his eyes and the hopeless look on his face. He had accepted his defeat and she knew it. He just remained standing there, looking at her as he accepted each and every one of Logan's words. And they hit him hard like bullets blazing in a battlefield.
She could see him trying to hold back his tears as he listened to those words...as he listened to each and every one of them. But he didn't walk away...he didn't run away like a cowardly soldier who wanted to die in the safety of his own camp. Stryker preferred to stay in the battlefield and face those bullets head on. He wanted to stay there and look at her for as long as he could, even if she was in the arms of his nemesis.
"If you ever even 'think' of controlling her again, then I swear I'll kill you." Logan said, his voice shaking with so much anger. "And when that happens, no one will be able to stop me...not her, or the professor, or anyone. Not even God...for God has no right to intrude in the fights of us devils." His eyes continued to pierce through Stryker's soul as he talked. "And I will make you suffer." He said firmly. "I will." He spoke as if his words had been etched on stone.
Yuriko looked up to Logan and saw the anger in his eyes as he glared at Stryker. "Logan, let's go." She said softly. Her eyes continued to stare at Logan's face. And as she looked at him, she noticed a hint of intense jealousy in his enraged eyes. He looked at Stryker as if Stryker had stolen something from him...had used something of his without his permission. "Logan, please. Let's just go. I'm...I'm tired." She said with a pleading tone in her voice. She wanted to rest. She just wanted to get everything over with.
In a way, she also wanted to escape from Stryker. She didn't want to see his face or talk to him again, because she knew that none of it would matter in the near future. She wanted to forget ever spending the night with him. She wanted to forget how she laughed with him and the way he smiled at her and how he caught her right when she was about to fall.
In fact, she wanted to forget that they were once good friends. After all, that past was gone. And even if he was there right now, at that moment, looking at her, wishing that he could stay, he would soon go away as he had done before. And once he leaves, this time, he won't be coming back.
Logan threw Stryker one last angry stare, then he looked down at Yuriko. His eyes looked at her lovingly as he stared at her face. He could see the tear stains on her smooth cheeks that were proof that she had just cried. And seeing her like that brought a pang of pain in his heart. He wished he could have been there sooner so that he could have saved her from those tears. Why did he always arrive after the pain had been dealt?
"Okay. We'll go." He said firmly as he looked at her. "You can stay with me in my room tonight." Then he glanced at Stryker, his eyes suddenly filled with fury. "I don't think you'll be safe if you spend the night with that monster."
Yuriko suddenly had the urge to look back. She suddenly felt the need to look behind her and see Stryker's face again...to see him again for the last time. But she had made a decision to never look at him as long as he was his current self. She wouldn't even dare glance at him. Because if she did, she would only be fooling and hurting herself...she would be looking at something she could never have. After all, she would inevitably see him again in the near future once all of this was over. Though the next time they meet, he would be a different person. Gone would be the friend she knew.
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