fandomtownies | The Park [after sunset]

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The Park [after sunset]

Anakin was in a fantastic mood this evening.

This had absolutely nothing to do with alum who may or may not be arriving tomorrow.

He was out in the park with a ball and hyperactive, flying vampire puppy.

You might have to look twice. Anakin Skywalker was actually laughing.

Creepy.

Cannonball - Damien Rice

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"Anakin," Isabel said, holding out a hand to Vladdie. "How are you?"

Vladdie was halfway to Isabel when he spotted something Very Exciting in the grass.

It was a bug. Sigh.

"Fine," Anakin said, shooting the puppy an amused look.

"I'm crushed. I lose to a bug," she laughed. "Maybe I need to sprout the alien antennae after all."

"Rory's coming down tomorrow?"

Vladdie rolled onto his back, batting something only he could see.

Anakin chuckled. "Yes, she comes to town sometime in the late morning, I think," he said. "And Aeryn and John and Jaye will all be in town, too."

Brilliant diversion, Skywalker.

As far as diversions went, it didn't. But Isabel just smiled, glad to see him happy. "It'll be good to see them all. It's weird without them around."

"I'd say quiet, but that's not true," Anakin said, "but different."

"Not a bad different. Just different," she agreed.

"So I've had some news." Isabel was pretty sure her news wouldn't trigger a lecture. Hopefully.

"What kind of news?" Anakin asked, tossing the ball.

Vladdie went zipping after it.

"Good news for a change," Isabel said simply. "Max and Michael are back in Roswell. The whole save the planet thing is over and done with."

"They're all right?" Anakin asked, skipping to the important part first. "All of their limbs still attached?"

"Physically yeah. The usual I've been living in a war zone bumps and bruises but nothing some TLC by their girlfriends won't cure." Which was a thought that alternately made her want to roll her eyes at the sheer schmoopiness that was Max and Liz or hug them for being so devoted to one another. "Mentally? Well, you know how that goes. It's going to take some time."

"Always does," Anakin said, "especially in a retreat." He cocked an eyebrow up. "Unless they were returning covered in glory?"

"It was more of a strategic withdrawal," Isabel shrugged. "Two generations of warfare did a lot of damage to the planet. The weirdness that sent me back was only the beginning. It was getting to the point that the planet was going to be uninhabitable, so they got as many people off as they could and settled on other planets in the system that were sympathetic to the problem."

She looked across the park, remembering the stories Max had told her. "It was hard. And it took two years. Them coming back now, just a few weeks after telling me to stay, is just more of the weirdness."

"Time fluxes can be hard on relationships," Anakin said. "You're not the person people remember, no matter how similar you might look. I left Fandom for twenty years and came back four days later in this timeline. It can give you whiplash. Tell their girlfriends to be patient."

He gave Isabel a small smile. "You already learned that lesson, I think."

"I can't imagine how you coped," she told him honestly. "Six months was enough to make me twitch, you're right. But the Max and Liz? Michael and Maria? As much as I mock them, they've got the whole soulmate thing going. It'll take time. Max will emo, Liz will give him long looks. They'll go days without speaking, trying to be noble. Michael and Maria will fight like cats and dogs." Some things never change.

"But in the end, it'll work out for them."

"And how about for you?" Anakin asked.

"I don't know. At this point? I think I'm going to just think about college applications," Isabel shrugged. While slightly ominous and intimidating, they at least made sense.

"I always wanted a normal life. Now it looks like I'm going to get it. Or at least as normal as life can be given the friends I've made here."

Anakin waved Vladdie's ball back to his hand and threw it again. "So you'll be giving up the alien-fu, then?" he asked. "That doesn't generally count as normal on this planet."

He shrugged. "Not that I've ever been particularly enamored with normal anyway. I always wanted to be the best."

"Yeah, that's the one thing. Going back to hiding what I am is going to suck," she admitted, frowning at the thought. "I've gotten spoiled here. But short of heading off to your world, or someplace like Bridge's or Ronan's I don't think I have much choice, not unless I want to wind up as a lab rat somewhere."

"Maybe normal isn't the right word. Maybe the word I'm looking for is happy."

"I've never found hiding who I was to make me very happy," Anakin said quietly, "but I'm hardly the person to come to if you're looking for happily-ever-afters."

Isabel smiled wryly. "You're probably right. Fortunately though this little bird's got some time before she has to leave the nest. I'm sure I'll figure something out. I guess the important thing is that I do have the chance. I'm going to enjoy taking it."

"What about you?" she asked. "Is this it for you? Will I becoming back for my fiftieth class reunion and say There's Professor Skywalker. I remember trying to hit him with a pillow once. And look, his cane is all glittery!"

Anakin nodded. "Fandom's home now. Luke and Jaina are here, and even when they leave I don't want to go back to my galaxy. I'm a complication they don't need. Staying here and teaching students how to think is no small thing."

"No it's not," she agreed. "This is a good place for you. And it's sure as hell never boring." It also wasn't that far from New England.

"That's very true," Anakin said. "I can already see myself boring student five years down the road. 'You think this is bad? I remember zombies and dinosaurs!'"

"And the random changing into animals, the weetiny children, and the fish people," Isabel laughed.

She tipped her head to the side and studied him for a moment. "We're good?" she asked, remembering the last time they'd talked.

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