Destiny Realized

- Author: Sensue (Website: www(dot)sensue(dot)net/)
- Summary: What if destiny was realized instantly? During "Tess, Lies, and Videotape."
- Pairing: T/M, M/I. (DESTINY)
- Warning: Do not read this story if you want a Liz/Max or Michael/Maria 'shipper or if you hate Tess and/or Tess/Max or Michael/Isabel. I don't want hate mail. (I'm entitled to my opinions.)
- Disclaimer: I don't own them…If I did, I'd be nicer to Tess.
- Rating: TV-14 - Thoughts (Italic)

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Tess Harding stood outside the Crashdown Café, staring through the glass windows at the group of laughing friends sitting at the counter. Her eyes filled with unshed tears; in the ten years that she'd lived posing as a normal human, she'd never had a group of friends for long. Nasedo never let them stay in one place long enough to make friends.

Now here she was, standing outside, looking in and wishing that she belonged. She dreamed about this moment from the first time she awoke in the pod chamber, the moment when she'd finally be with her family; her love. She was so close to him, she could practically feel his arms around her.

He turned in his chair, facing the window. Tess gasped, her heart beat double-time; For a second, she thought that he'd been staring at her. That the bright eyes and wide smile on his face were for her.

Instead, he'd been staring at the waitress—Liz Parker, wasn't it?-- as she practically danced around him with a tray of drinks in her hand. Her 'new' friend Isabel sat next to her brother, rolling her eyes at their antics.

'What ifs?' flew threw her mind, the emotional control that she thought she had escaping her. Fears that they wouldn't recognize her or know who she really was made her shiver. Nasedo's voice sounded in her head, his lectures that she wasn't human and that human emotions made her weak forced those thoughts away.

Straightening her red blouse and holding her head high, Tess walked through the doors as if she belonged there; as if she owned the place, as they say.

The waitress was still hanging around Isabel and her brother/her love, Maxwell Evans. That was his name now; she knew that before they had arrived in Roswell. Nasedo had kept track of them all. What she truly didn't understand was why now? Why did she have to wait so long to be with them? Why did she wake up alone? Why did he leave her there alone with only Nasedo to protect her?

Her 'protector' posed as her father or uncle the entire length of her childhood. He taught her everything that she knew; everything that she had accomplished. But never—not once—did he ever show a single human emotion towards her that wasn't an act; he was never a father to her. A father was supposed to love his daughter and that was something that he was incapable of. A father never left his daughter alone for weeks to months at a time while he spied on their enemies and sabotaged them.

She pushed past Liz Parker to take a seat in a stool next to Isabel, smiling and greeting her warmly with a typical teenaged, "Hey."

Tess didn't even hear Isabel's response. Maxwell Evans was staring at her. Staring at her so hard, she nearly gasped at the intensity.

Heart pounding in her ears, she couldn't stop herself from thinking, 'Could he possibly remember me? Does he know who I am?'

He smiled at her, a strange smile that she couldn't help but replicate. Their eyes were still locked together for what seemed like an eternity. Time, space, and past memories came crashing down on Tess like an unstoppable flood. She held her breath, waiting to see if he felt the same.

Tess didn't even notice that everyone was staring at them, silently questioning what was happening, as her love walked over to her. Suddenly, Max stood right in front of her; he had a surprised look on his face, as if he really didn't understand how he had moved.

Gently, Max brushed the hair from her face with his fingers; his eyes had yet to leave hers as he traced her face. "I know your face…" he whispered, "my love…" Holding her face with both hands, he leaned towards her and rightfully claimed her lips with his.

Tears that she'd kept hidden since she first discovered that she was without him, streamed down her face. Tess whispered back, "I love you." He pulled away from her slowly, his hands still on her face wiped away her tears before placing a kiss on her forehead and whispering back that she was his only love, for all time. "You are my destiny."

Pulling him back towards her, she initiated the next kiss. A longer, more passionate one that left them both gasping for air. She wanted nothing more than to make love to him over and over until there were no more barriers between them. Until their souls were as bound together as their hearts were.

"I remember you," Max repeated, his voice breathless, "I know your face…My wife."

"Max! What the hell are you doing!" Isabel shouted at her brother, in complete shock at what he was doing. "Have you lost your mind?"

Max, struggling to maintain his composure, forced himself to look away from Tess for a moment to answer her, "No, Isabel. I remember…I remember everything. Don't you? Isabel?" He looked pasted her to his 'brother', "Do you, Michael?"

Isabel answered first, "Remember what, Max?"

"Our lives…Zan, Rath, Vilandra…Ava—my queen," her name was spoken with a quiet reverence.

Isabel stood staring at Max in shock, closing her eyes as he spoke trying to get a hold of a memory that seemed a hairs-breath away. Her eyes flew open, "Oh, my god! Max! Tess—she's—she's your wife. You were together—back home. I remember," Isabel smiled, "Max, I remember your wedding. I remember how happy our mother was. I remember dancing with Rath…" her voice trailed off, her eyes flying towards Michael.

Michael had been silently watching the activity around him. Liz and Maria's mouths flew open, making noises but not able to actually speak in objection to Max 'making out' with a blonde girl they had never met right in front of them. It never occurred to him to object at the kiss. He had known—somehow—that Max was supposed to kiss her; to be with her. At the mention of past, the name 'Vilandra' made him flush with joy. The vision of him and Isabel making love on the cliffs flew into his head; their kisses, their passion, and most of all, their son—his smiling face as his father spun him around in the air and played with him.

Michael couldn't get the words out; it was as if there was a rock lodged in his throat. "Vilandra… Your name was Vilandra. We—Isabel—we were going to be married, but the war…" He ran a hand across his face, "the war…Max, I think there was a war."

Liz had been staring at them in complete horror. It had taken several attempts on her part, but she finally spoke, "Your wife? Max, she's your wife? Oh, god." Putting a hand on her mouth, Liz ran up the stair to her bedroom; The door slammed with a huge bang.

Maria looked as if a train had run her down multiple times, "Michael? You and Isabel? I—I thought that she was your sister?" She made a squeaking sound, and not waiting for an answer, escaped up to Liz's room for comfort.

The four stood in a square in the middle of the restaurant; Not caring if anyone saw them. Their eyes locked together as the memories of their past lives came to light and their destinies were discovered.

Tess blinked, the vision of her and Max together in the desert, among the others, made her flush.

She didn't hear anything besides the thundering of her hearbeat. She didn't know what to say or how to answer their questions. The words that she'd been practicing since childhood now not seeming appropriate.

The words flew from her mouth—the moment that she said them, she wanted to slap herself. "What? Do I have something in my teeth?"

The End

- AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you are blinking back tears of frustration or possibly anger...yes, you got it right. The entire thing was Tess's daydream. (A 'vision... among others'.)

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