Pullman Ranch, outside Roswell, New Mexico

[izzyalienqueen]

Isabel drove the car to the end of road and parked. "Come on," she told Wyatt. "It's just a bit of a hike into the hills there."

[For the boyfriend, and potentially massive amounts of slowplay.]

Comments

[blessed_twice]

Wyatt kissed the top of her head. "Do you wish you'd been there until the end?" he asked.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Maybe. Okay, no. I guess I'm glad I wasn't. Not when I see how much it's effected them," she admitted. "They're doing okay now. But it was hard on them. Is hard on them still. And me being there? Well, it would have added a few extra complications."

[blessed_twice]

"I'm glad you weren't," Wyatt said. "I guess that's selfish, but I wouldn't have wanted you to get hurt."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It's a little late to wish that," Isabel said quietly. "I wasn't afraid of the dark before I went there."

She pulled away and looked around the chamber, lit only by the light from the flashlight and the fading light from the door. "Can we go outside? It'll be easier to explain."

[blessed_twice]

"Sure," Wyatt said. "But I can help with the light at least." He threw up one hand, and three golden lights appeared above them, bathing the room with their glow.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Thanks." Taking Wyatt's hand, Isabel led them out of the pod chamber and slowly started to walk down the path towards the car. "Hopefully this is going to make sense. I'm trying to avoid having teal deer turn up outside their native habit." It was a weak attempt at humor, but it helped relax her just a little. "Kivar was the one that had taken power after we were killed. He attempted to rule while the royalist forces did what the could to stop him. It was pretty much a stalemate for almost sixty years. But then Tess returned to Antar, with the Granolith and with Max's son."

"The Granolith is, was, so many things. But mostly, it was symbol of royal power. Possessing it, and Max's son, suddenly gave Kivar more legitimacy then he'd had since the war started." She knew she was skipping over lots of backstory. But really, most of it was meaningless now. "The other thing to know about Kivar is that he was obsessed with Vilandra, that's who I was before. So when he heard that we'd returned, he decided that another way to increase his hold on the throne would be to take a royal wife."

[blessed_twice]

Wyatt tensed. "This guy better be dead," he said. "Because if he's not, I'm going to make sure he is."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"They're not one hundred percent sure. He disappeared with Zan, Max's son, when things were getting really bad. But no one's heard from him. So more then likely he's dead." Isabel has done a pretty good job of convincing herself he was dead, because otherwise she wasn't sure she'd be able to leave her room.

[blessed_twice]

"He's not ever going to hurt you again," Wyatt said. "I promise you that."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She wanted to believe that. "We'd been on planet about five months. I was leading a raid. I don't know what went wrong. All I know is that I woke up in the dark. Or at least that's what I thought."

They reached the car and Isabel stopped, pulling a blanket out of back of the car and spreading it over one of the large, flat rocks that marked the start of the trail. "Or at least that's what I thought," she said as she took a seat on the blanket, relishing the open sky. "He had a way of getting into your head, of making you see what he wanted you to see. I was there for weeks. Sometimes alone. Sometimes with people from Fandom. He used warped versions of the people I trusted to get me to give up."

"Eventually I did."

[blessed_twice]

"I wish I'd been there," Wyatt said, settling beside her, wrapping his arms around her. He wasn't sure what else he could say.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"You're here now." Which was all that mattered to Isabel. She wasn't clinging. It was just holding on tightly. "I didn't mean to dump all this on you. I just wanted to show you something about where I came from. I didn't realize it would bring it all back."

[blessed_twice]

"I don't mind," he said honestly, stroking her hair. "I'm just glad you're here and safe now."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I got a lucky break." She'd never asked where else she could have wound up when she went through the rift, but somehow, she had a feeling it would have been a lot harder to get back to Fandom. "So you can understand why I've had my fill of destiny. Being normal sounds really appealing now."

[blessed_twice]

Wyatt nodded. "I get that," he said, then added teasingly, "That mean you don't want me to orb you anywhere now? Rather take long flights with layovers and lost luggage and cramped seats and crying babies?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Let me clarify," Isabel said with a laugh. "I've had enough of my destiny. Yours? Well, I told you, I've got your back."

[blessed_twice]

"I like it when you have my front, too," Wyatt said with a sly grin. If it helped get Isabel's mind off other things, well, that was his intent.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"So do I," she smiled, recognizing the attempt at distraction. "Maybe later I'll show you how much." For now Isabel was content to sit quietly and think about how much better things were now.

"You know? I have this sudden urge to thank Umbridge for being such a bitch."

[blessed_twice]

"Because I wouldn't have had to heal your eyes if she wasn't?" Wyatt said.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Yup," Isabel nodded. "If you hadn't healed my eyes, I wouldn't have taken you to dinner and we wouldn't have gotten to really know one another."

[blessed_twice]

"Maybe we should send her a thank you note," Wyatt said. "Wherever she is. Bet she'd love that."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"She'd probably try to hex us. So I'll pass. This," she said, gesturing at the darkening sky that loomed large overhead, "is much nicer. It seems bigger here then it does in Fandom."

[blessed_twice]

"And a lot less light pollution," Wyatt agreed. "Makes it a lot easier to see the stars."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Doesn't it? As soon as I was able to drive I used to head out into the desert and just look for hours," Isabel replied, automatically trying to pick out constellations as more stars appeared.

"I think I was looking for answers. For where home was. The thing I've realized, hell, even before we went to Antar, is that home is here, with the people I love."

[blessed_twice]

"Yeah," Wyatt said, nodding. "I guess it's kinda like finally meeting my parents didn't make the whole world change into some perfect place like I thought it would when I was a kid."