FAINT CHIRPING OF birds, golden rays of sunshine, and dewdrops over green grass all signify a new inning. A beautiful morning indeed tells in various beautiful ways that everyday of our life is a new beginning.

That hope is still present even in the darkest of times.

The brunette watched her wild tendrils of red energy glide across the bare ground and lift the large stones off the ground. Just as she did so, she hovered in the air and helped Erik and Jean reconstruct the school once again.

It had been two weeks since they defeated En Sabah Nur. As soon as they had rushed Charles to the hospital to have his wounds treated, Eleanor brought her children with her and rented a hotel room nearby, immediately crashing on the bed. She was still obviously a human being and saving the world from a megalomaniac mutant was no easy thing to do. She needed to regain her strength again. She still had to face a lot of problems after all.

Just like how was she going to tell her children that Charles wasn't their real father? And where do she and Erik go from now? Were they just going to pick up things where they left off like nothing happened?

Because honestly speaking, Eleanor was still hurt that Erik had married another woman. Just because she still loved him doesn't mean she will forget everything else and easily take him back. She wasn't just a thing he could just take whenever he wished. If he truly loved her, he'll do everything to keep her.

Within thirty minutes, they have finished building the whole school and the loud cheers of the students below her filled her heart to the brim. The school was where their hope was restored and seeing it rebuilt again really brought them joy.

Eleanor shared a glance at Erik who was just meters away from her, nodding. They still had a lot to talk about, but first she will still have to settle things with her children and then with Charles.

Entering her twins' bedroom, she swallowed the lump in her throat and felt her heart drop to her stomach. It was as if she could feel her soul was beginning to separate from her own body because of her anxiety. Charles was inside already, handing them two snow globes. She watched Ana shake it rapidly and marvel at how the little artificial snowflakes swirl around.

"Thank you, daddy!" Anastasia hugged Charles tightly, kissing his cheek. "I love you!"

Charles eagerly returned the affection Ana was showering him. Yes, he may not be their real father, but he cared so much for them as well. Eleanor cleared her throat and all the three people across her turned their heads with wide smiles in their lips.

"Mommy!"

Nathan and Ana ran up to her, wrapping their arms on her waist. They greeted her with eager pecks on her cheek and both of them brought her to the bed where she sat down, looking at them with a smile. "Mom, why are you sad?" asked Nathan who immediately sensed something was wrong.

At this, Charles wheeled forward beside them, adjusting once to get their attention. Eleanor wasn't going to lie. Charles looked a bit odd without his hair. Perhaps, it was because she had gotten used to running her hands on it that it felt different without it. "There's something your mum and I have to tell you two."

"I don't like that tone, dad. Whenever you do that, there's something wrong." Anastasia voiced out her thoughts, squinting her eyes.

Charles glanced at Eleanor, reaching out to hold her hand. The brunette accepted it and gave his hand a little squeeze. "Your dad, Charles -- "

"-- isn't our real dad, right? It's Erik." suddenly interjected Nathan, his right eye twitching. "Yeah, I know. I figured it out myself just yesterday, mom."

Eleanor blinked twice. "What?"

Nathan sighed, turning to Anastasia. "You acted differently when Erik was around. Dad over here did as well. I also sensed Erik's emotions. It was just so... strong."

"What? What are you talking about, Nate?" Anastasia reacted before finally realizing what her brother had just said. "No, wait, that-that isn't true. Tell me, that isn't true, mommy! How was that..." She blinked, struggling to breathe. "Our dad is right over here!"

Anastasia panicked just as Eleanor had expected. "You-you mean to tell me and Nathan that our real dad is him?" She emphasized, referring to Erik.

"Ana..."

"No! My father is a professor in this school! An inspiring figure, not a fugitive!" Anastasia then screamed in anger, her eyes burning with tears. Eleanor sensed her daughter's anguish and tried to console her, but was pushed away. "No! Don't touch me! This isn't true!" And with that, her little girl ran out of their room, crying.

"Ana! Ana!" Eleanor stood up abruptly, running after her daughter. "No, wait!"

"Ana!" Charles followed them behind, wheeling as fast as he could.

Eleanor watched Anastasia propel herself up in the air and land on the ground floor, swiftly opening the front door. "Anastasia!" she shouted, using her own powers too to get to her.

Her daughter ran fast across the field and even passed by Erik who was standing outside of the school building. "Eleanor, what's going..." he started to speak, but the brunette just pushed him aside.

"If it's not yet obvious, our daughter's upset!" She yelled, still continuing to chase Anastasia. This caused Erik to run with her to catch the distressed young girl. They both saw Anastasia pulled the gates of the school open and rush outside.

That's when she heard the loud honks of a car across the road.

"Anastasia!"

The young girl stopped in her tracks and was stunned to see the fast vehicle approaching her. Eleanor was about to telekinetically push away the car from her daughter, but Erik was already in the middle of the road. He scooped her up and turned around just as he used his magnetism to divert the car's direction. It swerved to the side and Eleanor stopped the car's tires in order to stop it from crash into a tree.

She immediately caught up to the two, her eyes frantic and wide. "Ana! Ana! Is she okay?" She demanded, checking up on her daughter.

Anastasia was quiet, her head was laid on Erik's shoulder as if shielding herself from the shame. Erik carefully passed her to Eleanor and the kid latched on to her. "I'm sor -- " Her little girl started to speak, but was cut off by an angry driver.

"What the hell, man? Didn't you teach your kid not to cross a road? What? Is she dumb or something?"

"She was just upset. She didn't -- "

"What kind of stupid parents are you? You're neglectful of your kid! I almost crashed on to that tree, you fuckers! I cannot honestly believe..."

The driver continued to angrily rant at them, cursing them and specifically her daughter. "Sir, may we settle this peacefully?" Eleanor tried, but the man was still pissed off to the point that he slammed his door shut to confront them.

Anastasia jumped, startled by this and in retaliation, Erik used his power to open the car door and strike the driver's back, causing him to stumble forward.

"What the fuck? How did you..." The driver then paused, now staring at Erik as if he had finally seen him. "You're-You're him! You're the one who -- "

"Yes... I am him." Erik growled, narrowing his eyes. "now drive away before I do anything else that I will surely not regret."

Eleanor wasn't supposed to find that randomly hot, but she did. Stop it! You have no time for this! She thought to herself. The driver rushed to get inside his vehicle and immediately drove away in fear. Erik turned his attention to them both once more, his hand reaching out to brush Anastasia's brown hair back. He was worried not only for Ana, but for her as well. He didn't even utter a word and instead just raised his eyebrow.

The woman nodded, rubbing their daughter's back to soothe her. She had already expected that Anastasia was going to react badly to the revelation.

"Ana? Ana?" Charles' voice was heard behind them and not even five seconds later, Anastasia got down from Eleanor's arms, jumping to Charles to embrace him.

"You're still my dad," she cried. "And no one can change that." the young girl laid her head on Charles' shoulder, wrapping his arms around his neck tight to emphasize her point.

Eleanor felt Erik's hand cover her shoulder and she grabbed it, holding it tight with hers. She could feel her daughter's devastation and it was overwhelming. Anastasia had a deep paternal connection with Charles and it was heartbreaking to severe it. Of course, they didn't have to, but they knew everything was going to change now.

Charles could only stared at them both, helplessly. Eleanor knew he could feel Ana's heavy heart as well as his eyes brimmed with tears. "Your father is a great man. He's not what you think he is -- "

"I know what he is."

Eleanor felt her eyes water at the scene in front of her that she spun around and laid her head on Erik's chest for support. His arms wrapped around her and he placed a kiss on her temple, comforting her.

Soon, she'll understand. He seemed to say even though no words came out of his mouth.

The brunette could only help her daughter would because even she herself doesn't understand anything anymore. Everything was slowly falling apart and she couldn't help think that it might be her fault.

━━━━━━━━

"WE HAVE TO take it slow with her."

Eleanor heard Erik say beside her, causing her to sigh. She, Charles, and Erik were inside the twins' bedroom, tucking in Anastasia who was now asleep after crying for an hour. The brunette wiped her daughter's tear-stained cheeks, whispering a soft sorry to her.

"As if that wasn't already obvious enough." Charles mumbled. Eleanor tilted her head towards her still fiancé, blinking twice. She felt Charles' anger pushing through and abruptly stood up before everything went out of hand.

She only saw Erik raise his eyebrow as if challenging Charles to speak further.

"I'm sorry, Erik. We all know if you didn't leave Eleanor, we all won't be in this situation."

"Charles!" Eleanor hissed, catching his attention. "Really? In here?"

The professor pursed his lips tight, but it was evident he still wanted to argue. The brunette sighed, rubbing her temples in circles. "Charles, can we talk alone?" She said as she left the room, walking fast to enter their bedroom.

Not even long after, she heard the soft whirring and she turned around, facing him. "You really had to argue, huh?"

Charles didn't speak.

Eleanor sighed, sitting down on their bed. She let her right hand feel the texture of the sheets. "We need to talk about us as well."

"We should." he pursed his lips. "I'm really sorry -- "

"What are you sorry for, Charles?" She twisted the engagement ring out of her ring finger, staring at it. "Look, before I even came into the picture, you already had Valerie. You loved her first and I can see it in your eyes right now that you still do. I saw it when your eyes landed on her in the lab."

He started to protest, but Eleanor finally revealed everything that she always knew in his mind. "You always think of her, Charles. I know. I hear them. Whenever Hank mentions her, your eyes would light up and you're just so happy. I know that you have a picture of her in your office drawer and you would look at it often because you miss her."

Charles' eyes darted down to the floor as if he was guilty of his action. There was no point in hiding it now. "I love her. I really do."

"And I still do love him. Funny, isn't it? The heart never forgets who it loved the most." Eleanor sadly smiled and brushed her hair back. "We always knew something was going to come up. We always hoped that they would return to us after they left, but because they didn't, we let ourselves believe that this will work between us." She raised the ring to her eye level.

She released a another sigh as if it finally removed the burden inside her chest. "Maybe our relationship worked in another life, but not in this time anymore."

"We almost made it."

Almost. The word rang in Eleanor's head. Almost. The most painful word out there. They almost got married, they almost loved, they almost made it. It just wasn't enough. Because truthfully, no matter how much they did love each other, there was still someone else that fully occupied their hearts.

"We almost did."

Eleanor rolled the ring between her fingers, feeling the diamond. "I did love you, Charles. I did. You'll always be special to me." The woman then leant forward, placing a hand on his cheek. "And I will always be forever grateful for what you have done for me and my children... but this," she carefully opened his palm and let the ring settle in his hand. "belongs to Valerie. You should marry her."

The two stayed silent for a while, just slowly but surely taking in everything that was happening. They have been together for ten years and though, they didn't wholeheartedly loved one another, there was trust and care that really built their relationship in all those years.

"I mean, it's long due anyway." Eleanor sniffed, shrugging casually.

Charles shook his head, chortling. "And you? What will you do now?"

"Have a drink... because I seriously fucking need eight or nine glasses right now."

And so thirty minutes later after she had settled everything about Nathan and Ana with Charles, the brunette found herself sitting at the edge of the roof with a glass of Vodka in her hands. It had been her fifth and the alcohol was already somehow getting to her head now.

The pale crescent moon shone like a silvery claw in the night sky. Eleanor looked up at the blanket of stars that stretched to infinity. She smiled, her mind creating beautiful words.

"Even in the velvet dark, there is the light of the stars, perhaps a promise that even when we yearn for the light of the sun, there will be those stars to bring hope of the dawn." She softly mumbled to herself and just as she shut her eyes, she sensed the presence of the person she wanted to talk with the most.

"You can come closer, Erik. I won't push you to your death."

A heartbeat later. "Something tells me you'll do it otherwise."

Eleanor laughed.

"It's cold out here, you know." Erik noted, and not even a second later, the woman felt a warm jacket wrap around her shoulders. It shielded her from the freezing cold and she held it tight to herself. It smelled like him, musky and all that. Eleanor smirked. Erik did always have the best colognes. They smelled like his best characteristics. Strong, unyielding...

"It took me a long time, but I made it or so I thought." she suddenly started talking just as the cold breeze that blew around reminded her the nights she and Erik would spend on the roof of her old house. She glanced once at the glass of alcohol in her hand, gaining courage to say her words as the man she loved finally sat beside her. "I went on with my life and tried to forget the pain you gave me when you left that day. I forced myself to forget it because our children needed me as their mother and I didn't wnat them to see how heartbroken I was."

"I exhausted myself in teaching these students and spending time with Charles, hoping I could fill my time with reality that there's a life that I need to catch up on."

"I convinced myself that you were never coming back, you know, day by day slowly. Even though your reason for leaving me was so fucked up, I still believed it. I still believed you were doing it for me because you loved me." Eleanor turned her head to Erik with a forlorn smile on her lips. He only listened to her and reached out to hold her hand.

She gladly accepted it, giving it a squeeze. Eleanor wanted to pour her heart out first before telling him where they should go from now.

"I then worked on to stop showing everyone that I was so torn. I tried everything I could. I said yes to Charles' marriage proposal five years ago because I believed that I'll fall in love with him, just like I did with you. Well, we both believed that, not only me."

"It took me fucking years to master pretending your name didn't hurt. I tried so hard to forget you and I thought I did. I was okay. I was fucking okay." Tears started to form in her eyes and she wiped them away. "One day, I just woke up and I felt fucking okay. I was supposed to be fine already..."

She sniffed. "Damn, I was supposed to be fine, but then I saw you again, and I'm back to square one."

"It took me years -- fucking years to forget everything, but it only took a day to bring every sting of your goodbye. It only took one moment of being with you to remind me that I never truly forgot you." She shook her head, brushing her hair back.

"It took... It took me years to forget you, Erik. And you know what? It only took me a second -- just a second to remember everything." She said. "Because that's what you always do to me. When it comes to you, I always lose myself. I lose all rationality, all logic gone." She snapped her fingers. "Just like that."

Erik beside her stared at her now fully, his eyes searching for the deep depths of her soul as he always did. She bit her lip. "And now I'm terrified..." She looked down. "I'm terrified because I had come to the conclusion that despite what you did to me, despite of the pain and the hurt you gave me, I still love you. After all these years, I still love you. I still fucking do."

She shrugged. "And I don't know if I'm just stupid or just hopelessly in love." She removed her hand from his and grabbed the half-full glass of Vodka, imbibing it in one shot.

"Fuck!" Eleanor cursed loudly as she set the glass aside. "I miss you. I missed you so much." She cried, no longer having control once again over the words coming out of her mouth. She swayed once, a clear sign she was half inebriated. "I miss you here." She pointed to her temple and then to her heart. "Then, here."

"I just miss you inside me..." She then paused in her little effusion, blinking. "I miss you inside of me... I missed feeling you inside of me." Eleanor furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait, those sentences sounded so wrong in many ways. Why did I keep on repeating them? What the fuck?" She laughed, breaking out from her trance.

The brunette couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her. It sounded better when she constructed it inside her head. She slapped her hand to her forehead. "Shit!"

"I think you've already had too much of this." Erik glanced down at the bottle of Vodka, smirking evilly. "Or you're just stating something you did really miss."

"Fuck you."

"Oh, you will." Erik smirked even further before sighing. "Alcohol makes us admit what we really want... especially those what we can't tell when we're clearheaded."

"That... I won't disagree."

"So, I was right?"

"In what?"

He wet his lips. "You wanting us to..."

Eleanor blinked twice before understanding what he meant. He had a devilish grin and she punched his shoulder. "You're an asshole, really! I hate you."

The two broke into fits of laughter, enjoying the atmosphere between them. This is what Eleanor missed. The lightness, the large amount of trust, the care, the love they had with each other... because before they were even lovers, they were friends. They had established that first before anything else.

The woman didn't even know whether her tears were because of her happiness or sadness. Perhaps, they were a mixture.

"Here, I pour out my heart to you and all you've done is this." She mumbled, pushing him away. "Did you even hear what I was saying? Did my words mean to you? Did it even register to you?"

Erik immediately grasped her hand and placed his index finger under her chin, turning her to face him. "I heard everything. I feel the same. Never did a day pass by that you didn't cross my mind. I always thought how you were doing, if you were alright, if you went back to teaching... you were always in my mind."

"But, you had a wife..."

"Magda was... what happened between us was unexpected. It wasn't supposed to happen, but when it did, I took responsibility of my actions. I'm sorry for that. I know you're hurt because of it. I left to protect you, but then I engaged myself with another woman."

Eleanor released a sigh, looking at her feet that was dangling over the edge. "Well, I'm quite proud you didn't run away from her. At least, your daughter knew you as her father." She said. "Did Magda know about me?"

"She did. I told her about you. She understood."

"And did you..." Eleanor swallowed. "love her?"

Erik looked at the dark sky. "I did care for her, trusted her with my life, but there's only one who I always thought of..." He tilted his head towards her as he finally said. "You."

The brunette pursed her lips, and for the first time in a while, she reached out to his hand and laid her head on his shoulder. It was then she knew they were always going to go back to each other. That even if circumstances and time separate them, they'd always find a way back to one another.

"So, where do we go from here now, Eleanor?"

"I want us to take it slow. We can't just push this all of a sudden. Anastasia's still devastated. Nathan feels the same too though he doesn't say it." She explained, carefully. "You also need time to grieve properly for the family you lost and I need to recover too from the heartache you gave me, you idiot."

He nodded.

"You still have to earn my forgiveness, Erik. Don't think I'm just letting this all go. I'm not so prove that you're worthy of it."

"We'll do it your way this time."

Eleanor chuckled. "Fucking yes."

The couple spent the entire evening watching the stars in the evening sky. They laughed, smiled, teased each other... just like how they would always do when they're alone. Everything was just perfect.

Because from now on, nothing, nothing could separate them apart again.

Unless death comes along...