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Chapter 80: A sudden change of mind

Yuriko quickly sat up on the mattress as Logan pulled away from her. She knew she had snapped a mental string in his mind. She knew she had crossed the boundaries of safety. Logan hated his past, and she forced it upon him. So it was primarily her fault that there was an invisible barrier between them again. And at the moment, they looked at each other as if they were two people who belonged to two different worlds.

"I'm sorry, Logan." She said softly. She wanted him back. She didn't mean for any of this indifference to happen. "I shouldn't have told you about ---"

Logan gritted his teeth, and then he orally lashed out at her. "You know what?!" He asked angrily. All the care and concern in his eyes have suddenly disappeared. He looked like a ticking bomb that had just exploded. "If you want to set that mad man free, then fine! Do it!" He spat out. "But don't come crawling back to me when he starts to hurt you ---" He pointed at her. "--- or anyone again!!!" He shouted. There was no regret or doubt in his voice. If Yuriko wanted to set Stryker free, then that's what she should do. She didn't have to fill his mind with nonsense about his past.

Then he pursed his lips and moved his arms back down to his sides. His chest heaved up and down as he breathed, while he looked at her, waiting for her reaction. Then he suddenly felt a pang of guilt when he realized what he had just done.

He just snapped at her, as if she was his enemy. And she didn't deserve to be talked to like that. After all, she was just taking refuge in him. He was the only one she had and he snapped at her. He wasn't even angry at Yuriko --- the anger that he was feeling at the moment was actually directed towards Stryker, not her. It was just that he couldn't contain that anger any longer, and he ended up lashing it out on her.

He was about to apologize for his actions, when Yuriko suddenly stood up from the mattress. There was determination in her face, and coldness in her eyes.

She looked at him uncaringly, and then she slowly nodded her head. "I will set him free." She said firmly. "You're right, James. I will set that 'mad man' free." She couldn't believe she had just called him by his first name. "I've made up my mind and I realized that it's the right thing to do." Then she gasped and slowly walked towards him.

"But don't expect me to crawl back to you ---" She said as she walked towards him. Then she stopped right in front of him. Her eyes looked deeply into his. The warmth in her eyes and in her face was slowly returning. "--- because I'll never leave you in the first place." A soft smile curled up her lips, then she reached out and gently cupped his cheeks. "Do you know how long it took me to find you again? Do you know how long it took to be where I am right now? Why would you think I'd ever leave? I may forgive William for what he'd done to us, Logan...but that doesn't mean that I'll go with him. I want to stay here, with you...for as long as time will let me." She said softly. Then she breathed in and whispered. "For as long as you'd let me."

Logan couldn't hide the baffled look on his face as he stared into her eyes. He was glad that they were 'together' again, but he also couldn't help but wonder about the past that he had with her, and Stryker. He knew he should forget about his past altogether, but the more he looked at Yuriko, and the more he heard her talk about her past, the more he wanted to know. He felt drawn to it...He was mystified by it. It taunted him. Yuriko's past was like the matador's red flag to the raging bull inside him.

"So please...let this be my final act towards William." She said with a pleading tone in her voice. "After this, he'll be gone in my life forever. Then it will just be you and me again." She said with a sad smile. "Just like it was meant to be from the beginning."

/"Liar."/ She thought to herself.

She lied and she knew it. She wanted to deny the fact that she would forget the blue-eyed, brown-haired young man she had spent almost twenty years of her life with. But she knew she could never forget him. She could never forget her William. How could she, after knowing what he was once to her? She didn't want to tell Logan, but she still didn't know what would happen after she lets William go. She didn't know if she would really be able to get William out of her life forever.

William was like her 'prodigal friend'. He had gone astray in his life, due to the death of his beloved wife. He killed himself, which caused the death of the young man she used to know --- he killed the young Stryker that she used to have. And now, that good friend of hers has come back to life, when she thought that he had been long dead. Would she be able to forget about him now that he had come back to her?

A faint smile curled up Logan's lips, and then he gently placed her hands on top of hers. "Then do it. I'm not going to stop you. If you think that this is the right thing to do...Then go. Go to him." He nudged his head towards the door. "Go, Yuriko." He said gruffly. He still didn't fully agree to this, but he had no choice. The decision was in Yuriko's hands, and he wanted her to have a free mind of her own.

"Go before I change my mind." He said firmly.

A wide smile spread across Yuriko's lips, and then she gently pulled her hands away from his cheeks. "Thank you, Logan." She said softly. "You can also think of this as a favor for the younger brother you once had. If he were here right now, I know he'd thank you." The smile on her face continued to linger as she looked at him.

Logan knew that Yuriko was referring to William Stryker. He knew she said that to make him feel better about her decision, but the thought of it still stung him. He still couldn't accept the fact that William was once a dear friend of his...and perhaps he never will. After all, the past was now dead. And Stryker was nothing but an enemy to him now. He was unlike Yuriko...because Yuriko still held on to her past with Stryker...and that gave her the guts to forgive the man who had tortured her for years.

She stepped away from him, and was about to storm out of the room, when the door suddenly swung open. Both of their eyes darted to the figure standing in the doorway.

It was Rogue. She was covered with sweat and her eyes were wide open in fear. She looked like she had just seen a ghost. Some strands of her hair clung on her sweaty forehead and her shoulders and chest heaved up and down as she tried to catch his breath. She was still in her sleeping gown, giving Logan and Yuriko a good hint that whatever it was that she saw, she saw it as soon as she got out of bed.

Logan quickly walked towards her. There was worry in his face. "Rogue! What's wrong?" He stopped right in front of her and quickly placed his hands on her cheeks. He felt like a big brother who was checking his younger sister for a fever. But this was no fever. He could see so much fear in her eyes, and her lips were pale. She looked like someone who had just been through some kind of traumatic experience.

Rogue's lips shook as she stared back into Logan's eyes. She didn't know how to tell him, and she also wasn't sure how he was going to react. "It's Stryker." She gasped.

Yuriko's eyes opened wide when she heard him speak his name. She quickly walked towards the two as her heart started to pound in her chest. She stood beside them and had a closer view of Rogue's face. There was immense terror in her eyes. And she couldn't help but wonder if Rogue's horrified state had anything to do with Stryker.

Logan's face was suddenly filled with fury. "What did he do to you?!" He shouted angrily. His eyes burned with so much fiery passion. His hands pressed harder against Rogue's cheeks. He felt as if his chest was going to explode. Then gritted his teeth and looked at Yuriko from the corner of his eye. He knew that bastard, Stryker, would never change. Or maybe Stryker had reverted to his former mutant-hating self sooner than they had expected.

"He didn't do anything to me!" Rogue shouted as she looked intensely into Logan's eyes. She really wanted him to listen to her at the moment. She wanted him to pay attention to her, since she still didn't know how to describe what she just saw.

Logan furrowed her eyebrows and looked at her. There was confusion in his eyes. "What? Then why are you ---"

"Something's wrong with him, Logan." She said, gasping. She could feel her own voice shaking as she talked between her quick breaths.

Yuriko could feel her heart pounding harder in her chest as she listened to Rogue's words. It was pounding so hard, that it felt like it was going to burst out of her. What did Rogue mean when she said that something was wrong with Stryker? Stryker was fine when she left him in the kitchen last night. Of course he was down-hearted when she left with Logan, but that wasn't reason enough for him to not be fine today.

He should be fine. He should be...But deep inside, she had a feeling that he wasn't. The horrified look in Rogue's face was proof of that. And as Yuriko stood there, waiting for Rogue to say more about Stryker, she suddenly had the urge to ask about it herself.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked firmly as she looked at the young woman. Yuriko could feel her own fear churning in her stomach. She feared what Rogue was about to say next, because she knew that whatever it was, wasn't going to be good.

Rogue turned her head to look at Yuriko. She could see the budding fear in her new friend's eyes. Despite the fact that Yuriko hated Stryker, Rogue could see the pure concern in Yuriko...And seeing her like that made the situation more difficult for Rogue. She wasn't sure how she should break the news to her. Should she tell it to her directly? Should she describe everything in detail, or just let her see it for herself? She knew it would be best if she just told her everything instead. It would lessen the shock...rather than for Yuriko to not know anything about the horror that she was about to see.

"I saw Stryker in the bathroom..." She gasped. Then she swallowed and breathed in again. She was thinking of the right words to say, and how to say them. "He was in the bathtub. And --- and he was laying there...with his eyes open, as if he couldn't see anything. And he wasn't moving. He looked dead, but --- but he wasn't."

Yuriko felt her entire body shivering as she listened to Rogue's words. She couldn't stop her hands and her crimson lips from shaking. And her widened, shocked eyes never moved away from Rogue's face. She looked at the young woman, as if she couldn't believe the words that departed from her mouth. She was looking at Rogue as if Rogue was a bad dream that she wanted to wake up from. Yuriko wanted to cover her ears and pretend that none of this was happening for real...She didn't want to hear any more of it. She wanted to escape from the world, but this was reality. This was for real.

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