Title: And Then I Knew
Author: Courtney
Email: MsDawCreek@aol.com
Rating: PG
Classification: Michael/Maria, Michael's POV
Summary: Post-ep for The Balance; Michael realizes what has been right
in front of him all along.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Distribution: Sure, just tell me.
Author's Note: After seeing The Balance and the way that Michael looked
at Maria after he woke up I just couldn't NOT write this! I'm so giddy from
this episode, lol.
I felt alone. I felt helpless and scared and nothing seemed familiar
or safe to me. I had nothing to hold on to, nothing to tie me to this world
but also nothing to push me forward into the next. I've never felt so isolated
in all my life.
And then it happened. Suddenly, they were all there. Isabel, Max,
Alex, Liz . . . everyone was around me, holding out their hands to welcome
me back into the life I had left. I wasn't alone anymore. I had so many people
that wanted me, needed me . . . but one was missing.
I looked around frantically until I found her. She was there, of course.
She had never left. I was the one who ran away. She stayed, waited . . .
She waited for me.
I pulled her to me and kissed her without giving my actions a second
thought. I didn't need to think with her. I only needed to feel. It's a feeling
I never want to let go of.
When I opened my eyes in that cave, she was all I saw. There seemed
to be a swarm of people around me, hugging me and telling me how glad they
were that I was okay. I was grateful, grateful to my friends for helping
me and for missing me and for guiding me back to the place I belonged. But,
even that couldn't distract me from the one sight that my eyes refused to
leave. Her. Maria.
I wanted the rest of them to go away. All I wanted was the wrap her
up in my arms and kiss her again. I never wanted to stop kissing her for
as long as I lived. Her face, her body, everything about her . . . it was
home. She was what I'd been looking for all along.
I couldn't get rid of the rest of them, of course, so I just ended
up waiting. I kept my eyes trained on her, never letting her out of my sight,
but I let the others fawn over me for a while. I let most of my attention
rest with them while they made sure that I was okay, that nothing was seriously
wrong with me and that I was really back to my so-called normal self. In
the end they were all satisfied that I would live to see tomorrow so eventually
we all left the cave and headed back to Roswell together. Max and Maria had
both driven so the six of us had to split up to get home.
I think Isabel and Max wanted me to ride back with them, but I just
couldn't. I wasn't ready to let Maria out of my sight just yet. Thankfully,
I was able to convince them that it would be easier for them to drop off
Alex and Liz and for Maria to drop me off on her way home. I climbed into
the car as she started the car.
She turned to me as the Jeep pulled away in front of us and suddenly
I lost all coherent thought. I wanted her. I needed her. And then it all
became so clear that it was hard to believe I had taken so long to realize
it before.
"I love you," I said. She just stared back at me and I was actually
shocked that those words had come from my lips. But then it all clicked.
It was all true. I *did* love her. "Say something."
She smiled at me then, a smile that sent my heart soaring, and said
softly, "Ditto." And then I knew. I could never run from her again.
* * * * *
The End