Title: Unforgivable Sinners 2 : The Past Never Forgets

The sequel to Unforgivable Sinners. Yuriko, Stryker and Logan's pasts are soon to be revealed. Where will this journey to the past take them? How will it end once they rediscover themselves? Will they hold on to the past, or move on to a new future?

Note: This fanfiction occurs entirely in the X-Men movie-verse =). 'nuff said =)!

Chapter 54: The Night of Reckoning

A gentle smile curled up Logan's lips as he looked at Yuriko's sleeping form in his arms. She looked so safe and so content, sleeping like that. Her face was void of any worries and her cheeks were finally free from tears. She was sleeping as if she had never felt pain in her life...as if the world had never made her suffer. He was really glad that they were together again. He really missed her in the short while that they were apart. He wished that he could have stayed with her during the entire night, but he did need some time alone to think about Jean. He wanted to free himself from the pain of Jean's passing. He wanted to face the pain and finally let Jean go. He had to let her go.

And when he was alone, he couldn't help but reflect on why Jean had to die that way. He wanted to ask her the reasons why she did what she did. There could have been another way. They could have done something else to save everyone. Even he could have done something if he thought fast enough and hard enough. But why Jean? Why so soon? Why? So many questions, and yet he couldn't seem to answer any one of them. Because Jean was the only one who could...she was the only one who held the answers.

But he did realize one thing...and that one thing was more important than any of the answers to his questions. He realized that the kind of love that Jean had for all of them, was the kind of love that he also felt towards his friends, his teammates, his family and for her, for Yuriko. And he would gladly risk his life...no...he would 'give' his life, like Jean did, in order to protect them...to make sure that none of them would ever get hurt. To make sure that none of them would ever have to suffer through anything. And what that time comes, then perhaps he would know what Jean's answers were.

He made his way up the stairs to the second floor of the mansion and walked down the hallway to his room. He stopped in front of his door and slowly reached out to open it, while still keeping Yuriko undisturbed in his arms. Then he gently pushed the door open with his foot and entered. His room really wasn't that big. It was suited for one person alone, unlike the other rooms in the mansion that were big enough for two people. It also wasn't decorated. He wanted to keep it plain and simple.

It was actually the room that was first given to him when he initially wandered into the school with Rogue. He didn't really expect that it would truly become his room from that day on. He thought he would leave the school after a week and return to being the nameless wanderer that he was. But now, he was still there...two years later and still staying in that same room. The mansion had truly become his home. Despite the fact that he was a nomad before...a man who lived wherever his feet took him, he knew that he would never find another place like the school. It was the only place in the world where he felt he truly belonged...the only place where he could truly be himself.

He walked to his bed and gently laid Yuriko on it. He laid her on her back, with her head comfortably resting on his pillow. He could barely see anything in the dark, but the dim light of the moon shone through the window, illuminating his room with its faint rays of paleness. Its light touched Yuriko's face, emphasizing the curves of her face and tracing the contours of her oriental features.

Logan kneeled beside his bed and crossed his arms in front of him, as he looked at her face...her peaceful, sleeping face. He really couldn't deny how beautiful she was...how captivating she was to his eyes. But it just wasn't her beauty that enthralled him. It was her spirit, her words, her beliefs and her drive to live a new life that made him care for her more than he should have. And then there was also that feeling of familiarity.

He gently reached out and ran his fingers down her cheek. He still couldn't understand why the feeling of her skin against his fingers felt so familiar, as if his fingers had touched her and felt her countless of times before. He still couldn't understand why his eyes looked at her as if they had been looking at her for decades...as if they knew each and everyone of her expressions. Even her voice sounded so familiar to him. Even when he wasn't with her, he could still hear her voice echoing at the back of his mind.

"Who are you, Yuriko?" He whispered as he gently caressed her cheek.

He was somewhat surprised that he was caressing her like that. He was the kind of man who could never be gentle and subtle...not even to his closest friends like Rogue and Ororo. And yet now, he was gently caressing Yuriko. He was touching her so gently, his fingers lightly brushing against her skin as if she would break if he touched her harder.

"Who are you?" He asked again in a whisper. He had to know who she was. He had to know if she was ever in his life, if she were ever a part of his life...his past.

He didn't want to think about his past anymore, but there was something about Yuriko that made him want to remember. When they were together that night, by the basketball court and the swimming pool, there were times when she looked at him as if she had known him her entire life...as if she knew more about him than any of his closest friends.

At times, she even seemed like she could read his mind just by looking at him. It's like she knew his every move, knew his every facial expression as if she'd seen him and been with him for an entire lifetime. No one's ever looked at him in that way before. In her eyes he was like a book that she had read before...and she knew every chapter, every page, and yet not every word. At first he tried to ignore it, but even her touch made him feel the same way. Everything about her, even her voice, made him feel the same way.

"Do you know who I am?" He asked gently, still caressing her cheek. "Do you know who I was?" He traced his finger gently over her face, tracing every contour, every curve. He ran his finger gently over her eyebrows, down to the bridge of her nose, then gently over her lips and her chin.

And now, he found himself in Yuriko's shoes. Like her, he too was now pondering about his past. He too wanted answers about who he was and what he used to be and the kind of life that he had lived. But most of all, he wanted to know who she was. He wanted to know who Yuriko was before Stryker had twisted her being. He wanted to know her more than he wanted to know himself. He wanted to know who she was in his life.

Yuriko slowly opened her eyes and saw Logan's face just inches away from hers. The pale light of the moon that seeped into his room dimly illuminated the upper part of his face, causing Yuriko to see his strong, brown eyes looking at her. The gentle, caring look in his eyes seemed to have lulled her into a daze. They made her want to look back into them, stare into them. His eyes alone held her so close to him as if he wanted to look at her that way forever. And she could still feel the sensation of his touch on her lips and on her chin as if he was still running his fingers on the outline of her face.

The dimness of the room and the quietness of the night within the four walls of Logan's room made her feel as if they were the only two people in the world...as if they were the only entities in the world. She could neither see the moon nor the stars nor the lush surroundings that encircled the estate. The only thing she could see was Logan. And right now, Logan was the only one she needed. His presence was the only thing she wanted. And she would rather be with him than be with anyone else.

She saw a gentle smile spread on his lips and felt relieved to see a hint of happiness on his face. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel sad about tomorrow. She didn't want him to feel sad for the path that she had chosen. All throughout the day, she had been in so many instances that had made her doubt her own decision. Even Stryker had made her question her desire to retrieve the past that she had forgotten. And Logan too, had told her to forget everything and live a new life as he did. But it was her life, and her choice, and she knew that it was for the best.

She smiled back at him, a soft and humble smile that reflected both happiness and a hint of sadness. No...not sadness. She should never be sad for herself.

/"Don't be sad, Yuriko."/ She thought to herself as she stared back into his eyes. /"You will finally have what you've always wanted...what you've always longed for. You will finally know who you truly are. Why fear yourself? You should be happy, Yuriko. Please...be happy."/. But she still couldn't deny the lingering fear in her heart.

Then She reached out and gently cupped his cheek with her hand. It's like she wanted to hold on to him...hold on to the present and feel it for as long as she could. She could feel the stubble on his solid jaw gently brushing against her palm and her fingers, the same way that they did in her vision, when they held each other and kissed each other as if they would spend the rest of their lives together.

"Don't look at me like that." She said softly as she looked back at him.

Logan's eyebrows slightly furrowed. "What do you mean?" He asked.

The gentle smile on Yuriko's face lingered as she gently brushed her thumb against his cheek. "You're looking at me as if I'm going to leave tomorrow. You're looking at me as if I'm going to disappear soon." She breathed in and exhaled, still lying on her side on the bed, with her head still resting comfortably on Logan's pillow.

Logan knew what she was talking about. Despite his effort to hide his fear and sadness behind his smile, he could still feel it inside of him. He could feel the fear in his gut, eating away his entire being. He didn't know why, but being with Yuriko that night made 'him' fear her past. It was her past, not his, and yet he feared it as if it was his own. The more time he spent with her, the more he didn't want her to uncover it...the more he wanted it to stay hidden, concealed and buried together with his.

But deep inside he knew why he feared Yuriko's past. Because somehow he knew that he was a part of it...that he played a big part in it. He knew that if she uncovered her past, she too would uncover the man he used to be. She would rediscover the animal that Stryker once knew. She would see his past sins and see what he didn't want her to see. And once she wakes up from her past...once she wakes up to the present, he might lose her. She might shun him for the monster he once was, and he couldn't bare that. Because he wasn't that monster anymore. He wasn't an animal anymore.

"I'm not going to go anywhere, Logan." She whispered as she looked into his eyes. "I'm not going to disappear. After the procedure tomorrow, I'm still going to be me. I'm still going to be Yuriko. And I'm going to be more of myself than I ever was. I'm finally going to be complete." She forced a wider smile on her lips. She wanted to show him that she was happy for her decision...that she had no doubts whatsoever.

"I know." He said softly. He could still feel her hand on his cheek. "I just don't want to lose you." He couldn't believe the words he had just spoken.

He never was expressive with his feelings. But he was compelled to tell her how he truly felt at the moment. In those seven words, in those seven simple words, he was able to tell her how he truly felt for her. He was able to sum up his feelings for her. And what he felt for her was more than love. It was something deeper...something more profound, more eternal...something that had transcended an entire lifetime. And now that Yuriko was only a sleep away from the procedure, he realized that he truly wouldn't be able to live without her. He realized that he needed her by his side. She felt like the long lost missing piece to his puzzle and he didn't want to feel incomplete again.

"You'll never lose me." She said, looking deep into his eyes. "It took me a more than decade to be where I am right now, Logan. It took me fourteen, long, painful, torturous years to find my place in this world...and this is where I'm going to stay."

And she truly did want to stay. She wanted to stay there in the mansion, with Logan and the others. She wanted nothing more but to live the rest of her life by their side, fighting for peace between humans and mutants...fighting against people like Stryker and mutants like Magneto whose hearts were consumed by anger, rage and hate.

"I will stay here for as long as you want me to stay. I'll stay for as long as they want me to stay." Her voice was filled with hope, encouragement and optimism. "I promise you that, Logan. I'll never leave until the day you let me go."

She gently pressed her hand firmly against Logan's cheek, affirming him of the truth behind her words. And yet, her own doubts lingered at the back of her mind. Would she really be able to keep her promise to him? Would she really be able to stay after she remembers everything? What if her past uncovers more bitter memories than sweet ones? Would she run? Run away from everything that reminded her of that past? Run away from Logan and Stryker and herself? Run away until she was a new person?

"I don't want to let you go." He whispered softly. "I'll never let you go."