Part Three

Maria was just finishing the last lyric to her new song, To the Moon to My Heart. She set aside her work and rose from her seat at her piano. All of a sudden, she felt it again. Maria looked all around. "Oh no, it’s brewing, the storm," She thought. She felt something else though; it was a very familiar feeling. It had been a long time, but never, never could she mistake that feeling. "Michael?" She voiced aloud.

Michael had been anxious to get out of the cab. He was in a stir. Max, Liz, and Isabel proceeded to get out as well. They paid the cab and told them they’d pay him double his rate if he’d wait for them, so he agreed. They walked up to the house, and with a great moment of hesitation, Max knocked on the wooden, red door.

"Oh, no," Maria softly voiced again. The doorbell, it was ringing. This was the moment, the moment she had been waiting for, for the past almost sixteen years. She laid an unsteady hand to the base of her throat, where her pulse beat like thunder. She reached forward, ever so slowly. She turned the knob........ The door crept open....... Her past, it all came rushing forward like lightening. On her front doorstep stood Max, Liz, Isabel, and ... ......Michael.

Sky and Lennie had been watching with rapt attention. "Lennie," Sky said, "She opened the door." Lennie turned her attention first to Sky and then back to the scene before them. This was the moment of truth. This is where her best friend’s future lay. She prayed for God to watch over them. "Please God, oh please," Lennie chanted over and over.

Michael could only stare, and Isabel, she looked on with foreboding uneasiness. She too, could feel the storm. She, however, had the advantage of knowing it’s direction. Or maybe for her, it was the disadvantage. She knew.

In a blinding flash, the moment was gone. Liz spoke up, "Maria, oh, you don’t know how good it is to see you! I’ve missed you so. We all have."

Maria stuttered, "How, how did you find me?" "Shear Luck!" Max stated with a smile. "Yes," Isabel confirmed, while Michael cast a downwards glance. "Well, come in, come in," Maria ushered.

They all filed in and settled in Maria’s colorful, cozy living room. Liz and Isabel took the love seat and Maria sat in her usual chair, while Max settled by Michael on the sofa. "So," Maria began, "What brought you all here?" Liz answered, "We’re on vacation actually. We wanted to get away for a while. You know the routine." "Yeah," Maria replied, "I think I remember it. Dashing off here and there, taking a breath every ten million miles, or so." Liz smiled at the ‘Maria-ish‘ spark. "It wasn’t all like that," Michael spoke up with the slightest hint of malice in his voice. First, Maria’s eyes flashed question, then recognition, and finally they flashed fire, hot, flaming fire. "It wasn’t was it?" She spit out, "Tell me then what was it like? Was it all fun and games? Did you enjoy toying with people? Saying I love you too much, and then saying I can’t love you enough?" Michael’s eyes lit at this, and he jumped to his feet. They were playing fire to fire. "So," Michael responded, "It speaks." "Of course, I do, you selfish, arrogant......" Maria caught herself and expelled a long, deep breath. "How dare you come here anyway!" She continued, "How dare you put another foot forward into my life!" "How dare I!" Michael bellowed, "How Dare I? How about, how dare you! How dare you keep the fact that I have a daughter away from me! How could you Maria? You’ve always known, more than anyone, what family means to me. You know where my loyalties lay." "It wasn’t your loyalty that I was looking for Michael." Maria stated.

Sky and Lennie had gotten out of the car the moment the front door had shut. They wanted to hear what was going on. They stood just outside the door. To their benefit, the door hadn’t closed all the way; it was cracked just enough for them to get a straight view to the center of the living room. They could hear the angry voices from within. Sky looked up to Lennie and said, "Did you just hear that, Lennie. She didn’t deny it." "It’s gonna be okay, Sky; you’ll see." Lennie answered as she cupped Sky’s cheek in her palm. "But would it really?" Lennie thought as she glanced back towards the room.

"How did you....., I mean, how do you know?" Maria stated as she realized her slip. "Easy," Michael answered, "We met a girl at The Red Roof whose mother’s best friend’s name was Liz. It all fell out from there." Maria clutched her face in her hands. She had known it. It was whirling in the air.

"I didn’t keep it from you to hurt you, Michael. I..., it was just that, you said you couldn’t love me Michael. What could you expect me to have done? My heart had been torn away, only to suddenly be given back to me. I was torn, but with the knowledge of what you had given me, I was put back together. I couldn’t afford to lose my heart again." Michael was captivated by the smoothness of his name on her tongue. Breaking his trance, he said, "I didn’t know....."

Sky could not believe her ears. This man, Michael Guerin, was indeed her father. He was the man she had been waiting on her whole life, but this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. He was supposed to come sweeping in from the stars like a bright light, rescuing her from emptiness and saving her mother from an eternity away from that one last piece of her heart, himself. Lennie grasped Sky’s cold hands. With her face a chilling, arctic blue, Sky gasped, letting free her horror.

All heads turned toward the strangled sound. The door slowly swung open and revealed Lennie and Sky. "Oh no," Maria voiced, "Sky, baby, it’s okay. Please don’t be afraid." Sky glanced towards Michael and their gazes locked. "I have his eyes," Sky thought. Michael was amazed by the sudden warmth that enveloped him as he stood staring at his daughter. Sky looked sideways at Lennie for support. Lennie nodded, and with that Sky took a step forward, and another, and another until she had brought herself into the living room. Lennie remained by her side.

"So," Sky spoke up, "You’re him, Michael, my father?" "Yeah," Michael replied, "I guess I am." There was a silence before Michael again spoke, "Do you know who I am, I mean really?" "Yeah," Sky replied, "I know, but I’ve never really grasped the whole; I’ve been waiting for you." Michael stole a warning glance at Lennie, and Sky picked up. "Lennie," Sky said motioning in Lennie’s direction, "knows all my secrets." At this, Lennie felt a burning spark of unconditional love and trust.

Michael nodded his head in understanding. His daughter was worth trusting a stranger, besides the girl had won his daughter, so he knew that she must be something special. Michael felt a pull at his heart. "Had I known Sky..." He stumbled with tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes like liquid hot crystals. "No," Sky began, starting to shake herself, "But you didn’t know." "I’m sorry, so sorry baby. If I had known I would have held you tight. I would have rocked you to sleep at night. If only... I had known, I would have been there to kiss away the tears that melted down your sweet, ivory face. I would have caressed your beautiful, molten hair and made sure that there would never have been any monsters in your closet," Michael faded off. Sky looked up into her father’s face, for the first time truly seeing and learning what it was like to know a father’s love. This was what she needed. With her face wet with glistening tears, Sky smiled. She turned to Lennie letting her know that everything was going to be okay and freed her hands. Michael saw the want, no, the need. He felt it to, like a band around his heart, squeezing. He opened his arms. Sky looked up once again, and she knew that she was on the verge of finding home. She ran to him.

Michael wrapped Sky within the house of his strong, capable arms. It was like finding home. It was so much more. Sky wept, and Michael wept. Their tears mingled and a warm, bluish glow spread from them, expanding throughout the room.

Max, Liz, Isabel, and Maria, who had all remained quiet throughout this other-worldly experience, and even Lennie, felt a liquid tranquilness run through their bodies as the light encompassed them. It was like being wrapped inside a rainbow. There was so much emotion swirling about. In uncertain clarity, it was like standing in the very center of a storm, where reality could no longer be separated from oneness.

Then as sudden as it had appeared, the light faded. Within those few, precious moments, Sky had shared all of her memories with her father, and Michael had, in turn, shared himself with his daughter. Sky collapsed spent with exhaustion, but this time, for the first time in her life, her Daddy was there to catch her. With this new knowledge, Sky drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

"Maria," Michael said catching her eyes, "What you have given me ......" Maria, no longer harboring any resentment, nodded. She smoothed her hands through Michael’s hair in a soothing motion. Michael smiled, at peace for the first time in his entire life. "I know," Maria stated.

Max watched his best friend. He had never seen Michael like this. It was at this exact moment that he realized that his sister’s life was about to come crashing down all around her. With this, Max figured that they wouldn’t be needing the cab, so he went to go pay the driver off. Liz watched her best friends as well, this was right. This was what should have been all those years ago. Then she looked at Isabel, and comprehension set in. For one, his world had been found; for the other, her world had been lost. Lennie watched as well, Sky had found what she had been needing. "Will Sky still need me?" Lennie thought. Sky and Maria, they had always been the one constant in her life.

When Sky tossed slightly, Michael asked Maria, "Where’s her room?" "I’ll show you," Maria answered as she motioned upstairs. Michael easily lifted Sky into his arms and followed after Maria.

Isabel watched Michael carry his precious charge up the stairs and away from her life. She had always known. Why had she fooled herself? She had wanted to believe that he could love her like no-one had. It seemed that no-one ever would. What about Jace? No, Michael would never turn his back on him. She need not worry there. But her life? Where was she? Isabel took one last look at Michael’s retreating back. She had lost him. But hadn’t she always known? She had never had him. Had not she seen it every time he had looked her in the eyes. His eyes had reflected those of someone else. Only through Maria was there Michael.

Well, what’cha think? What She Needed is finished, but this story isn’t. I feel the need to continue. I want to explore Sky and Michael’s relationship. Plus, I think Isabel is in need of a little love. So I think, a sequel is due.......