Comprehension
By 4square4ever of the xsorbit4 rebelfic board.
Disclaimer: I take no credit in this story it was created by 4square4ever, who does not own Roswell.
This takes place after 6 months after Departure, but nothing in season 3 has happened yet. This is for all of us that just want to scream at those left behind for how they are characterizing Tess.
(It's a dreary day in Roswell; it looks like it could rain any minute though it doesn't. Sitting in a both in the back of the Crashdown are Isabel, Michael, Max and Kyle. The Crashdown is empty except for them Liz and Maria get are working but seeing as there are no customers they come over to sit down, smiling and happy. They are the only ones. Kyle looks stricken. He's had the same look on hi face eve since he found out that Tess had mind-warped him. Isabel's eyes are puffy like she has been crying, which she has, every night since Tess left. Michael has withdrawn, he had trusted Tess and he had been betrayed sending him back into the isolated person he was before. Max looked angry; he hadn't smiled in 6 moths. Liz and Maria don't notice that anything is wrong they just sit down and start talking. The door opens and in walks Brody. It is obvious that there is something on his mind. He walks over to the both and begins to talk)
BRODY: You are the Royal Four...
MICHAEL: What!
MAX: Larek what do you want.
LREK/BRODY: I come bearing a message from Queen Ava
LIZ: Why would we want anything form that bitch.
LAREK/BRODY: Because she sacrificed everything for…
ISABEL: (interrupting) But she killed Alex, she betrayed us.
LAREK/BRODY: So, what is one life compared to 5 planets of people. If you really knew her you would know that she didn't want to, that it was a mistake. She thought he could handle the mind-warp he couldn't. Think about what she had to be going through having killed someone she carted about, trusted, and she knew you cared about too. She couldn't even talk to you about it because she knew that you wouldn't have been able to forgive her for it
MAX: (interrupting) Why should we have…
LAREK/BRODY: (continuing) She's a very caring person, but she's also a Queen. And as a queen she knows that her people come first. You three seem to have forgotten that. Worlds rest on your shoulders. You used to send thousands of people to there deaths at a single command, not because you wanted to, but to protect millions more.
LIZ: (interrupting) But...
LAREK/BRODY: (still going on, he's on a role) And lets talk about forgiveness. In your past lives, Vilondra sold you to the enemy. She betrayed you and caused the death of everyone you loved. And don't fool yourself Lonnie; it wasn't because you loved Kivar. He was in love with you, but you did it for power, because you were the oldest and thought you should be queen. You were planning on screwing Kivar over and ruling with Rath by your side. Because you did truly love Rath, you just loved power more. You caused the deaths of millions of people with your betrayal, they forgave you before they died yet you all find it impossible to forgive her for the accidental death of one person. No matter who he was; he was only one person.
MARIA: His death was shouldn't have happened, it was pointless. Just because Tess was jealous of Liz...
LAREK/BRODY: (This time he interrupts her) Pointless, POINTLESS. She controlled him, and she will always have to live with that; however his death was far from pointless. With his translation the queen could come home. She stopped the war, Kivar believes you three to be dead, and the executions have stopped. Oh that's right you didn't know, she didn't tell you. A little bit of knowledge Ava gained while Nikolas was raping her mind. For every day the Royal Four remained alive on Earth one thousand of your citizens died. Sort of an incentive to get you back to Antar where he could kill you. Think on that. One thousand people a day for fifty-five years. You had to go home to stop the truly pointless deaths. Never mistake that. She loved Zan, in the past and present, though I can't understand why she continues to do so. But she didn't use your friend just so she could take him away from the competition. Besides you've seen her, eventually Zan would have come to realize just how much better than his pathetic human soul mate she was. Body and Personality.
MAX: (interrupting) Hey
LIZ: (interrupting) That slut is…
LAREK/BRODY: (continuing) But I digress. I came here to speak to one person. Kyle I have a message for you from Ava.
(He sets a disc on the table, presses a botton and a holagram of Tess apears. It starts a messafe.)
TESS: (speaking from the disk) Kyle, I hope you will listen I truly mean what I say. I'm sorry; I never meant to hurt you. I should never have used you to dispose of Alex's body, and I should have told you. Putting the mind warp on you hurt me more than you will ever know. I was just so scared, I didn't know what to do, and I had to get home my people needed me. I would do anything for them, they rely on us, their royalty to protect them and we were failing them. I thought the mind-warp would work, that Alex could come back and he would be fine with no memory of what I made him do. I was wrong and when I tried to fix it I destroyed his mind. Isabel if your there, I'm sorry. I know how much you cared about him. Kyle the months I spent living in your home being part of your family were the best memories I have from my time on Earth. I will cherish them always. I love you as my brother and tell Jim that he was the father I always wished I had. You became my family, and I hope that someday you will be able to forgive me for what I put you through. I love you.
(The disc ends)
KYLE: (quietly) Oh my God (he then just sits there staring at where the hologram of Tess had been.) Is she okay?
LAREK/BRODY: Do not worry about her, the Queen will be fine, and her son will eventually take over the rule of the planets
MICHEAL: See she did betray us, why else would she still be alive and…
MAX: And she told us about a deal Nacedo made with Kivar, that she would come back pregnant and deliver the rest of us to him…
LIZ: The bitch betrayed them and lied what else do you need to know…
LAREK/BRODY: (interrupting) After all I've said you still persist to believe that she has betrayed you. Talk about senselessness, Kivar will never hurt her. He absolutely adores her. And her son will always be safe because he is hers.
KYLE: But I thought Kivar loved Vilondra?
LAREK/BRODY: Oh he does, but he loves Ava more. She is his darling little sister; he will forgive her everything and give her anything. He practically raised her. One of the reasons this war started in the first place was because he was jealous of Zan and the time and love Ava gave to him. Vilondra, ever the opportunist, recognized this and played off of it. Using his jealousy to blind him, she told him that Ava was in pain, that Zan abused her and that he would never let her go. Not that he wouldn't have attacked otherwise. Kivar loves Ava but he is a greedy, power hungry bastard and he always wanted the thrown. Vilondra just dangled the carrot in front of his face. Made it to good to refuse, and gave him a reason to kill the husband of his sister. The only reason Ava died in the last war was because she dove in front of the power surge aimed for Zan, the power surge that Vilondra shot at him. That is why Lonnie died, Kivar was so incised about Ava's death that he just shot at her and killed her before he realized what he was doing.
ISABEL: I refuse to believe it, I love Max, and I could never betray him
MICHEAL: (Same time) Why did she do it.
LAREK/BRODY: Vilondra was insane. She really didn't realize what she was doing. She had always wanted the thrown, but she did love Zan and knew he would be a good king. But something happened; Rath and Lonnie had a child. But it died. No one knows how. Vilondra couldn't take it; she had to blame someone so she blamed Zan, the healer, who couldn't save her son. She hid it well, but in the last moments of the Royal Four she went off, exposed her twisted look at the world. Vilondra, don't be too hard on yourself, you were insane with grief. You betrayed them and part of you knew it was wrong, but you were not in control of yourself.
MAX: If that's true why did Tess tell us about the deal, why would she admit to something like that if it wasn't fact.
LAREK/BRODY: You're a fool. What would you do if the person you have loved shows absolutely no faith in you? Doesn't even give you a chance to explain what had happened, just accuses and goes back to his "soul mate." She was hurting Zan, and she wanted you to hurt too. Was she just supposed to stand there and let you condemn her? She was/is a queen, she has her pride. She lashed out the only way she could. By telling you she had planned it all, that she had betrayed you. And from the way you were all acting it worked.
ISABEL: Is she okay?
LAREK/BRODY: She's fine. Kivar might be a sick bastard but he will never harm her, or her son. She will stop the torture, manipulate Kivar into treating the people fairly and when Kivar dies her son will take the thrown. The royal lineage will be preserved and the people will be safe. That is all she lives for now. She no longer has the love of her King, but she will protect her people. She is a true Queen, and she will make right what her family has wronged. Zan take joy in this, you may have loved her, but you also chose well. Not many people can go through what she has and remain unselfish enough to truly rule. The Queen you choose is true royalty.
KYLE: Will she ever come back?
LAREK/BRODY: She can't, everything depends on Kivar believing the other three are dead and that she is loyal only to him. Do not worry, she has her son and knowing that you all will live will be her reward.
MICHEAL: What would have happened if we had gone back with her on the Granolith?
LAREK/BRODY: If you had gone with her and arrived as the Royal Four in the Granolith you would be ruling the planet and Kivar would have been destroyed. The Granolith amplifies your powers, together you could have destroyed all those against you by just thinking. If you had focused on destroying all those who would oppose you they would have disintegrated in their beds. No longer a threat. As it was Ava was able to mark them and implant loyalty to herself and her son in their minds. They will no longer be able to harm her or him.
MAX: (Who had been quite as all this was revealed, you could see the tears and pain in his eyes) What is my son's name.
LAREK/BRODY: Zanrek Kael Alexie Riordan. After the man she loved, the man she feels is her brother, and the friend she destroyed. For remembrance. In our language it means, King, Warrior, and Protector of the people. Riordan is your family surname Zan. I must leave, this body grows weak. I will not visit again there is too much risk of discovery.
MAX: Thank you Larek. Tell her I lover her, that I am sorry that I did not believe her and ask her to visit my dreams. You truly are a great friend
ISABEL: Thank you for telling us the truth, and for telling me my past. I will always feel guilty about my past, but I now have a reason at least.
MICHEAL: We will always be here if she needs us. And tell her I am sorry about my assumptions.
KYLE: Tell her I forgiver her, that I lover her, and that I hope I will see her again someday. Tell my nephew that he is a very lucky boy to have a mother like Tess.
LAREK/BRODY: I will good bye
(He turns around and walks out the door)
MARIA: Well that was odd
LIZ: We can't possibly believe him
MAX: Why not, what does he have to lie about? Nothing that's what.
ISABEL: He was telling the truth, I scanned his mind he told no falsehood.
MICHEAL: We wronged her, and we have to face the consequences.
LIZ: So where does this leave us Max?
MAX: There no longer is an "us", I forsook the love of my past life and if I am truthful this one as well when you came to me with the story of Tess's betrayal. My love for her was to new and I didn't want to believe. But it was true and I most now deal with the fact that I will probably never hold her again, While If I had just believed in her I could be with my family right now, in a place I was meant to be.
MARIA: Michael what about us?
MICHEAL: Maria I will always care about you, but I think it will be best if we end it. I thin it is time that the "I know an alien club" came to an end.
KYLE: What do you mean?
ISABEL: This. You see Tess taught me something before she left. I can't control what person sees, but I can manipulate memories, you will no longer remember us as anything more than people you had relationships with and then bad break ups with.
LIZ: You can't do this, I love you Max.
MAX: I will always care for you but it's over
(Isabel closes her eyes and focuses; Michael puts a hand on her shoulder supplying her with extra power. Liz and Maria blink slowly get up from the table and leave, all they think about the aliens is that it's too bad the boys fell in love with other girls)
KYLE: I don't mean to be rude, but why do I still remember.
MAX: It would be wrong of us to take the memories of your sister from you.
MICHAEL: Besides we trust both you and your father.
ISABEL: You have nothing to gain by telling our secret, and you have no emotional connection to us besides being family. You are safe.
MAX: They might have told someone, especially since we just broke up with them.
KYLE: Thank you for your trust
MICHAEL: So what do we do now Max?
MAX: We go one with our lives, keeping our secret and hoping that one day we can go back home.
(Fade out to black. A picture comes up of a blond woman holding a brown haired blue eyed boy, obviously her son. The child is laughing and we see hope for the future.)
The End