This story features the X-Men and other related characters, which are copyrighted by Marvel Entertainment/Marvel Comics Group and are used without permission. The use of these characters in this story is not intended to infringe on that copyright. No profit is being made on this work, it's written solely for entertainment purposes. This work is copyright of me and may not be used for commercial purposes.
It's All In Your Head: Part Twenty Five
by sevenall
It was 2 am. Most of the guests had walked, staggered or been carried to the north wing. The rest had scattered all over the grounds. Some had wandered off to check the security, some to kiss. A minority had managed a combination. Others were skinny-dipping by the boat-house or playing tag in the garden. With charged weapons. Elizabeth, walking bare-foot through the tall grass, had successfully avoided them all.
It was a warm night. The sky was clear and the summer stars were shining along with the new moon. She had been born on such a night. Her father had brought her and Brian to the window, so that the very first thing they saw would be the stars, their heritage and home. But Otherworld would never be home to her, as it had been to him and perhaps to Brian. She belonged to this Earth, to this timeline.
Once she had saved this world by giving up her own life. It had been an honest sacrifice, because she hadn't known resurrection was only seconds away. Her soul had been one of those who sealed the gate to reality. Later she had passed through a mystical crystal in a desperate attempt to alter the future. The passages had taken their toll on her. In each of them, she had left something of her own behind. She didn't think she could go through another one and still retain the mindset that made her Elizabeth Braddock. And being Elizabeth Braddock was a good thing. She wouldn't want to be anyone else. The cancer was an unfortunate way to go, that was all; she had no other regrets.
She stood still for a moment, breathing deeply. The cool night air was sweetened with the fragrance of roses and lilacs and the grass was soft under her feet. Starlight met her eyes as she looked up and seemed to pierce her to her very soul.
And it seemed to her, all of a sudden, that the universe was closing in on her, or she herself was growing taller, because the stars did not seem so distant now, the sky not so vast. Far away worlds and solar system were all within her grasp. She only had to reach out her hand, and it would touch the heavens and beyond.