Eternity: Far Longer Than Forever

Disclaimer: I only own a few original characters in this story. All references that you recognize from the X-Men belong to Marvel and Stan Lee. I'm just playing in their sandbox for a little while. I promise to return everything to its proper place when I am finished, and not to leave the characters too badly damaged.

Summary: A look into the relationship between Empress Lilandra and Charles Xavier…and their stories before they met, and exploring why they were destined to be together.

Timeline: Takes place in the 90's X-Men Animated Series, which is loosely based on the comics, but not completely canon. There were some differences in the animated series – although not many, I'll grant. This story takes place mainly immediately after the series finale "Graduation Day", although there will be flashbacks and references to both The Phoenix Saga, and Dark Phoenix Saga, as well as earlier events in both Charles' and Lilandra's lives before they met.

Rating: M for sexual situations...this is my first attempt at a full on romance including sexual encounters.

Pairings: Professor X / Lilandra, Cyclops / Jean, hints of Gambit / Rogue

Author's Note: Most of Professor X's back story will come from the comics and the animated series – if there's a conflict, I'll probably go with the animated series since that's the setting of this particular story. Most of Lilandra's story will come from my own imagination, with the exception of a few things that were explicitly mentioned in the comics or series. This is a truly "get inside their heads" type story, so don't expect a ton of action, although some romance is just about guarenteed.

Note for chapter 1: A lot of this chapter is taken from the episode "Graduation Day", although I did alter it slightly for my own purposes – mostly regarding when something was said so as to make the story "fit" better with what I had in mind.

"Far longer than forever

I'll hold you in my heart

It's almost like you're here with me

Although we're far apart."

- 'Far Longer Than Forever' by Liz Callaway

Chapter One: A Cry for Help

Aerie, the Shi'ar home world, the Royal Palace…

Lilandra, Empress-Majestrix of the Shi'ar, was uneasy and she didn't know the cause of it. For once, everything in her empire was calm and under control. There was no unrest or rebellion, so she should have been taking the time to relax. True, there were pressures and responsibilities upon her every single day that she sat on the throne, but recently they had all been normal, ordinary problems – nothing that required frantic debates with her councilors, no all-night Council sessions or negotiations, and no need to send the Imperial Guard out to deal with a problem.

Lilandra wished she knew why she was so uneasy. She hadn't been working any harder than normal of late, so it wasn't a figment of her imagination caused by stress or lack of sleep. For the first time since she claimed the throne, she was on relatively good terms with the leaders and people of the Kree and the Skrull empires, both of which had a long history of conflict with the Shi'ar and each other. She was psychic, so her uneasiness could be a sign that something was looming on the horizon that could impact her empire greatly – although her powers ranged more towards empathic and telepathic projection and reception, and not precognition or clairvoyance.

For a moment, she wondered if it could have something to do with Charles, although she dismissed that thought almost as quickly as it occurred. He had been silent of late, but she was used to that. She had once told him, quite truthfully, that as Empress of the Shi'ar, part of her would always be alone, for the Empress needed to be able to make difficult decisions, even if they went against what she felt in her heart. Their telepathic bond was powerful enough to allow them to speak mentally, even across galaxies, although they rarely did so. For the sake of both of their hearts, until the day their duties could be put aside and they could be together, they had agreed to use the bond only in times of greatest need. If he needed her, however, he would not hesitate to contact her.

Perhaps she merely was tired from the daily responsibilities that her rank and title required of her. Her entire life had been one of sacrifice, not privilege as some might believe, what with her having been born a princess. She had dedicated her whole life, even before becoming Empress, to her people, keeping nothing for herself except her bond with Charles. For a brief time she had hoped that he would join her on Aerie, but he felt that his responsibilities to his students had to come before the desires of his heart, just as she knew that her royal duties had to come before her desires.

The last time we spoke, Charles did ask if I would consider coming to see him. It is much easier for me to go to him than it is for him to come to me. Maybe I should consider it. Of course, the moment I did, a new situation would erupt and I wouldn't be able to stay. Of course, that was a depressing thought which only added to her somewhat gloomy mood. And of course, there are other things to consider…the consequences if I was discovered for one.

Lilandra sighed as she left her throne room where she had just finished working with her secretaries on some minor imperial business that she had been putting off while she dealt with more immediate concerns. She tried to do everything that she possibly could for her people – her care and devotion to them were the reason that they were so loyal to her, even after the lies that her brother had spread in his madness. Over the last few years, those lies had been overcome when her people had realized that she would give them everything that she possessed, and then push herself far beyond her limits to give them even more. For that, she was one of the most beloved Empresses of recent times.

She had barely taken two steps from the throne room, her Imperial bodyguard Gladiator following behind her at his customary distance, when she was hit by a psychic cry that was so powerful the shock of it drove her to her knees. A jumble of images and feelings crashed over her with no clear order to them. All she could do was ride it out and then try to make sense of it.

"Empress!" Gladiator cried, leaping to her side.

Pain, fear, regret, love, hope, pride, peace…it made no sense. There was a flash of a man's face, twisted with madness…fear! Something…small, electronic…pain! Another face she didn't recognize, although she had the sense that she did know him…old, chiseled, with snowy hair and hard blue eyes…regret, friendship. Then…faces that she recognized…pride, hope, love…Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Beast, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, and Wolverine…the X-Men!

Peace…

"Empress, what is it? Are we under attack?" her bodyguard pressed.

It was a valid question, because Lilandra was a powerful psychic, as her bond with Charles Xavier had proven. Having a telepathic bond with someone didn't automatically mean that you could contact them from anywhere, and especially not from across a galaxy. Yet, between Charles' powers and her own, that was exactly what they were able to do. Clairvoyant or not, if her people were under attack and dying, there was a good chance that she would sense their pain and "hear" their cries.

"N-no, Gladiator," Lilandra managed to say as he helped her back to her feet. She was still trying to sort through the chaos of images in her mind. The only way that she could have received those images was through her bond with Charles, but he was normally so clear and articulate when he spoke to her.

Then, from the depths of the jumble of images, a faint, whispered cry.

Lilandra …help…me.

"Charles…" she breathed. Without hesitating she turned to Gladiator. "Go! Have my star cruiser ready for launch by the time I reach it. We must get to Earth as quickly as we can. There is no time to waste."

Gladiator, normally so stoic when it came to expressing himself, cast a briefly concerned look her way, before he nodded. "I hear and obey, my Empress." Using his powers, he launched himself down the corridors, flying towards the hanger as she followed in his wake. Fortunately, the royal star cruiser, Lilandra's personal craft, was kept prepared and ready to launch at a moment's notice. Things could change so quickly in an Empire the size of hers, that her crew knew there would be times when she could give them almost no warning.

Charles? I'm coming, Charles. Please, hold on. She wasn't sure if her response reached him or not. Usually once he had made a connection with her, he clung to it so they could speak, and it usually required her complete focus and a meditative state to maintain. This time, however, something was very wrong. That message…it was as if he knew his time was limited, and his voice had been so weak…

One moment she was in the corridor of the palace, the next she was standing on the bridge of her cruiser, and they were lifting away from Aerie. "Set the fastest course for Earth," she ordered the navigator. "The X-Men…" and Charles, she thought to herself, "are in need of me. We must get there as soon as possible. Engage engines to full power."

"Yes, Empress. Course is set," the woman replied calmly. "Engaging engines for the planet Earth." The last time she had made this journey it had been a time of great fear and sorrow, which had made the trip seem to take forever. She had gone to Earth knowing that she would have to break the hearts of the people who were her friends, but not having any other choice. Now, if her fears were right, she would be going to break their hearts again…but this time, perhaps she could offer them some hope. She wouldn't know for sure until they got there.

At the fastest speed that her star cruiser was capable of, it would take only a few minutes for them to reach the vortex that separated her galaxy from Earth's and head into it. Lilandra sat on her throne, eyes closed to help her focus, trying to contact Charles, but something was very wrong.

Normally, she could sense the bond dimly, in the back of her mind, like a weak energy cell on low power, radiating constant heat. Although they rarely used their bond, she could still sense it and draw comfort from it. But now, it pulsed oddly, weakly. It almost felt as if something about it – or the other half of it, namely Charles – was fractured or fragmented.

Charles…speak to me. Touch me and draw on my strength for your own, she called out to him, using their bond. If he was able to respond, she knew that he would not hesitate to respond to that request. It was almost like a code between them, since it hearkened back to the first time that they had met, when she had been fleeing from her brother.

And yet, she received no response from him. That scared her more than the fact that he had called out to her for help in the first place. What could possibly be so wrong that his X-Men couldn't protect him from it?

"Empress, we've reached the other side of the wormhole. Arrival on Earth is coming up."

"Have the medical bay standing ready, and prepare to send me down as soon as we are within range of the X-Men's headquarters," she ordered. She reached into a small compartment in the arm of her throne and removed the communication cell that she wore around her wrist whenever she left her ship. Although she was psychic, she disliked using her powers to communicate with her people via telepathy. She preferred that only Charles receive the benefit of her gifts.

Almost on impulse, as she watched Earth's blue-green colors swirl into view on the forward screen, she reached back into the compartment and removed a small device. It was a neural stimulator – she always had one nearby, for they were especially useful when she was in a situation where she could not afford rest or sleep. She didn't know why she felt the need to bring it, but something was telling her that she would need it.

"My Empress, I will accompany you," Gladiator said as he watched her.

"No. I will be perfectly safe among the X-Men, who are our friends and allies. You will wait here, and I will call for you if I need your aid," she ordered. Gladiator was the most loyal and fiercest of all of her Imperial Guard, but his overprotective attitude could often become stifling. He forgot, at times, that she had once been Grand Admiral of her brother's war fleet, fighting in battles any time D'Ken asked it of her.

"Empress, we are in range," the navigator said. "Medical is standing by. Initiating transport now."

The bridge of her ship faded away in a flare of white light, only to be replaced by a sterile, cold, metal room. Years of practice allowed her to set aside the minor disorientation from the transport as she took in the scene.

The X-Men stood between her and the bed on which Charles lay. There was not a single dry eye among them, and she knew all of them by sight. She owed them her life and her throne – they had given her the world and everything she had could be traced to them. If not for them, her brother would have killed her. If not for their trust in Charles and their willingness to believe her solely at his word, their world would have been lost.

In a slightly different way, they all cared about Charles as much as she did – to them, he was father, mentor, and friend, while to her he was a lover, a piece of her heart, mind, and soul. They did not seem surprised to see her there; rather they seemed to have expected her arrival.

But it was Charles who held her attention. He had not changed much since the last time she had seen him, almost two of their Earth years before. His face was still handsome, although at the moment he looked much more haggard than she remembered. His eyes were closed, as if he was sleeping, but his face was oddly slack, although peaceful. The primitive medical displays around the bed, however, were echoing with an odd tone – and although she was not a healer or surgeon, she knew enough, when combined with the tears in their eyes, to know they believed that he was dead.

She knew differently however. At the moment, he might not breathe, but their bond was still intact. Charles' mind was still fighting, still trying to cling to life. If he had been truly dead, beyond all help, their bond would have broken – and that was a sensation that she would never mistake for any other. Something about their bond was giving him strength, although he was not consciously reaching for it. However, as long as his body did not breathe, he was slipping further and further away.

The sorrow – and the faint hope on the faces of the X-Men when they had seen her arrive – tugged at her soul, and their thoughts were so obvious that it took no effort at all to understand what had happened. She barely had to reach out and touch their minds with her psychic powers to see it as if it was happening in front of her.

For the last several weeks, their governing body had been debating the idea of a Containment Act designed to restrict the movement and rights of mutants, like Charles and his X-Men, along with all of the other mutants in the country. One of the leading proponents of the project was a man named Gyrich, a long-time enemy of the X-Men, who had been doing everything he possibly could to get them arrested or destroyed.

Charles, of course, had been opposing the pending bill as fervently as Gyrich had been trumpeting it. The hard weeks had been draining him, for he was not a young man any longer, and between his duties to his students, his responsibilities as the X-Men's mentor, and now this campaign, he had been on the verge of collapse to begin with. It had all come to a head when they had met for a debate at the government building where the vote would be held.

"I have seen what these monsters can do. Don't be fooled by bleeding-heart mutant appeasers! We are at war! The human race must take measures to survive! We must ratify the Mutant Containment Bill!" Gyrich's words were inflammatory and angry, designed to rile up the listeners.

"Containment, Mr. Gyrich? Your precious bill speaks of taking innocent American citizens," Charles paused to cough, before he resumed his speech, "and treating them like prisoners of war. There has been much strife between mutants and traditional Homo Sapien humans, with mutants usually the victims." He directed his comments to the audience. "Mr. Gyrich's 'terrorists' were actually heroes, risking their lives to save hundreds of innocent humans."

"They aren't like us! They don't want rights! They want to destroy us!"

"Mutants are human beings!" Charles coughed again, the strain showing clearly on his face, as he forced himself to continue. "They wish only equal protection under the law, to be accepted as…"

"I've always wondered why you're such a mutant lover, Xavier. Xavier, the great peacemaker, friend of poor, misunderstood mutants. Could Charles Xavier be a stinking mutant himself?" The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device that he aimed at Charles and activated. The energy from the device hit Charles before he could react and when it did…

Lilandra pulled back from her psychic touch on their minds, her own mind still ringing with the sound of Charles' scream. Only long years of patience in ruling her own empire allowed her to keep her face passive, despite the rage building up inside her.

How she loved this man…his passion, which was hidden by a veneer of calm and control, his kindness, his wisdom, and his integrity! Though she didn't know if he fully understood the strength – or meaning – of their bond, she did know that her heart was his to command if he chose and she could not not help him. Gyrich had done something unforgivable, not only by Earth laws, but by the laws of her Empire, even though he didn't realize the grave error he had made.

The device that Gyrich had used on her beloved had been designed specifically to incapacitate him – to disrupt and confuse his neural patterns. But unless the man had gone completely mad and no longer cared, he had not taken into account what would happen to someone when such a device was used on them. The mind was extremely sensitive to disruption, and had Charles not been a powerful, highly trained telepath, with a determined, disciplined mind, he would have died immediately. But his mind had fought back long enough for his X-Men to get him under life support.

Beast had done everything he could, but they had not had any hope of Charles living through the night until Jean had realized that magnetic energy – such as the kind wielded by Magneto – could enhance Charles' fractured brainwaves and temporarily restore his ability to control his conscious and subconscious mind. That ability was what had allowed Charles to reach out in desperation to her, as he had known subconsciously that she was the only one who might stand a chance to save his life.

She moved towards the bed, and the X-Men parted before her. She sat on the edge of it, and almost without thinking about it, placed the neural stimulator on his brow and activated it with the control on her wrist band. "Oh, my poor Charles…" she breathed as she carefully adjusted the power.

"You're too late, Lilandra," said a gruff, accented voice from her right.

"For human science, yes," she replied frankly. As soon as she had the stimulator calibrated and powered up, she felt their bond beginning to stabilize. Not only would the stimulator help to focus his mental patterns, for a temporary amount of time it would function as a life support system with the settings she had programmed into it. She never used that feature for herself, but these stimulators had been designed originally to provide field treatment in battle for badly injured fighters, until an evacuation unit or a healer could reach them. Over the years, another benefit – serving as a stimulus without the need for chemicals or drugs – had been discovered, and she found them extremely useful during situations when she could not afford to take the time to rest. One stimulator would serve to help her stay awake and focused for up to three days before her body simply couldn't take it any more and was required to rest.

However, she had to be careful with it. It was designed for short-term use only, and because Charles had never used one, she couldn't set it on the highest settings – the power had to remain low, or she could do more damage than good. No matter how disciplined his mind was, with his mind and body as weak as they currently were, he couldn't tolerate the highest settings.

She glanced up at the man who had spoken. She had never met him before, but she knew him immediately from Charles' memories and descriptions. His name was Magnus, though he called himself Magneto because of his ability to control magnetic fields and metal. He was the X-Men's chief enemy…and one of Charles' dearest friends. "But you were correct in assuming that we Shi'ar have techniques beyond your comprehension, which will be of use," Lilandra continued.

The sudden hope on their faces as she spoke was almost too much to bear, for there was an aspect to this that she had not mentioned. Their tears stopped and they all caught their breaths as one. "Then he will survive?" Beast asked.

She had almost been hoping that he wouldn't ask that question. She didn't want to have to share the bad news with them. "Yes, but only under Shi'ar care." There was incomprehension on their faces before she continued, spelling it out for them as simply as she could. "I must take him back to my home world. There is very little I can do here, and not much more on my ship."

The hope on their faces was immediately replaced by sorrow again. She forced herself to continue. "I know you cannot bear to see him go, but it is the only way." She leaned down and gently kissed his brow so they could absorb her words without her watching them.

The neural stimulator was doing its job, as he opened his eyes in response to her lips on his skin. He registered her presence, before he looked around and saw his X-men. I seem to have…quite the audience. Lilandra…I knew…you would come. He managed a weak smile.

I would always come if you needed me, Charles. But now you must come with me to Aerie. It is the only way to save your life, she told him over their bond as she caressed his cheek.

Together at last…he replied softly, for her "ears" only.

Jubilee sniffled. "Can he ever come back?"

"I do not know, little one," she replied softly. "But if he responds well to the treatment, and if the damage wasn't completely irreversible, it may be possible. If not, I may still be able to bring him back for brief visits. I will need the weapon that did this to him, so that we may structure the treatment around the exact effects of the device."

"I have prepared it for you," Beast replied, handing her a small object that she recognized after seeing it in their memories. "I'm afraid it was broken when Gyrich was being arrested and he dropped it."

"That matters not, for my technicians will be able to repair it." She could feel the bond weakening again. The damage that Charles had suffered had been extreme, and the neural stimulator was having difficulty keeping up with the cascading effects. She didn't dare increase the power further. "I'm sorry, X-Men. We must leave if he is to survive."

They all nodded in understanding. One by one they stepped up to the bed and gently touched one of his hands – or in the case of Jean and Jubilee, kissed his cheek.

She smiled, in what she hoped was comforting to them, before she activated her communicator. "Lilandra to Captain Jubér. Initiate transport of myself and Xavier to the medical bay."

"Initiating transport…now, Empress," he repeated from the small communication cell she wore. The light filled her vision again, and as it cleared, she was in the infirmary, with Charles lying on a bed next to her. Immediately, the healer and his assistants began analyzing his condition so they could begin treating him, although most of the work would have to be done once they reached Aerie.

As they worked, she stood beside the bed, unwilling to leave his side, and they did not dare ask her to. She was their Empress, and this was her beloved – she would not leave his side until she was sure that he was out of danger. Without comment, they worked around her, connecting him to a more advanced system of life support than was available on Earth, although they did not actually initiate the system while he was breathing on his own, which he was doing at the moment, thanks to the neural stimulator.

She should have given the order to return to Aerie, but she wanted to wait and make sure that the healers didn't need anything further from the X-Men before she gave that order. It was true that they would be better able to treat him on her world, but she had only a second-hand understanding of what had happened. If they went back to Aerie, they would not be in communication range with Earth, and if it turned out that the healers needed more information, they would have to send another ship, or reverse course in order to get it.

"His mental patterns have been badly disrupted…stabilize his life signs until we get him back to the throne world, in case the neural stimulator fails. Be ready to put him on life support at a moment's notice," the chief healer finally said after studying the computer readouts. He turned to her and bowed swiftly. "Empress, do you know what caused this?"

She handed him the device Beast had given her, with a brief explanation while the assistant healers worked to stabilize her beloved. "According to the X-Men, it was broken in the chaos after the attack." She felt the bond flickering again, and noticed that Charles' eyelids had slid shut again, and his breathing was faint.

"Charles?" Closing her eyes, she reached out with her powers, trying to stabilize his mind, which was deteriorating further, and attempting to give him something to hold onto. Stay with me, my love.

She felt him respond, hesitantly, but continued to encourage him until she felt she had him firmly wrapped in the link. She didn't know how long she could hold on to him, since her powers had never been tested in this fashion, and to her knowledge, neither had the kind of telepathic bond that they had.

"Now this is odd…" the healer murmured softly. "How very interesting…" He tapped several commands into the computer and studied the readouts. Lilandra could hear him muttering to himself, but paid no attention to what he was saying. All of her focus was on Charles. It seemed with each moment that she sent psychic energy to him, he seemed to reach out to her further, but she couldn't tell if he was actually improving or just responding to the psychic stimulus. Telepathy was as natural to him as it was to her – not using it would be like he was missing a sense.

"Majestrix?" the healer moved to stand beside her shoulder. "Majestrix, can you hear me?"

She nodded and withdrew some of her focus so that she could concentrate on him.

"Empress, the neural stimulator alone is not enough to stop the disruptor's effects from accelerating," the healer, Brith'ta, said softly when she opened her eyes again to look at the man she loved. "But something very interesting happened just now. He seemed to respond to some type of stimulus, yet we have not administered any treatment. Were you in contact with him psychically?"

Outside of Gladiator and her two most trusted advisors Araki and Oracle, the only people who knew about the link that she and Charles shared were his X-Men. But even they did not know the truth about the link. They believed it was simply due to the fact that they were both powerful telepaths, and yet it was so much more. It was not something that she had chosen to announce to the empire because of certain political complications that would arise – accusations of favoritism, rumors of inability to produce an heir, and interference in a world that had been part of a long understood, but never official, treaty between the Shi'ar, Kree, and Skrulls, among others. It was a risk that, until now, she was not willing to take, and it was yet another reason why she had been unable to remain on Earth with Charles.

She was reluctant to disclose the truth now, but the healer seemed to sense her hesitation. With a signal he sent his assistants out of the room, waiting until they were gone before he went to the computer and ordered the room sealed shut. Without regard for the fact that she was the Empress, he fixed her with a very pointed look. "Empress, my loyalty is to you, but as a healer my first loyalty must come to my patient. You have asked me to care for him, but I cannot as long as I do not have all the information."

"I must have your oath that this information will not leave this room," Lilandra replied first.

"You have it, by the sacred ancestors of the Shi'ar," Brith'ta said, swearing the most formal oath a Shi'ar could make.

"Charles and I share the lidhje shpirt," Lilandra spoke the ancient name with all the solemnity it deserved. It was the first time she had acknowledged the truth of the bond out loud, although she had known it for what it was from the moment it had formed. But to speak it aloud…to name it for what it was…the ramifications were too crucial to the state of the empire. But for Charles, for his life, she would call it by what it was and admit it to her empire and the universe if she must.

Brith'ta narrowed his eyes for a moment, as he recognized the phrase. "The lidhje shpirt? But that has always been nothing more than a legend."

Lilandra nodded. "It is not. At any time, we can speak to each other, even when we are a galaxy apart."

The healer's eyes widened at that news. "Such strength of the lidhje shpirt is unheard of, save in the oldest legends and writings."

"And the consequences for the Empire could be severe if this became public knowledge without the proper rituals being observed," Lilandra replied. "Only three of my most trusted advisors know of the link save you, and Charles' students, of which there are only a handful. But none of them understand the full impact of what this means. There has not been the opportunity to disclose the full truth."

"But that does explain the readings…if the ancient writings are correct, the link is holding the two of you together. When you use your psychic powers…" Brith'ta stopped speaking for a moment and looked thoughtful. "I would not have expected this…but perhaps…"

"Perhaps what?" Lilandra demanded.

"Until we know more about this device and what it was designed to do, the best thing – the only thing we can do is keep him alive. But the damage is severe, Majestrix. I do not know if artificial means alone are enough. Your bond with him may be the only thing that can save him until we can devise a treatment. Keep his mind active and focused. The more he can focus, the longer we can keep him alive and functioning while we get him to somewhere we can treat him."

Lilandra's eyes widened slightly at that news. She had known that what had happened to Charles was dangerous, but even she had not comprehended the severity. As Empress, she had been unable to specialize in any one field. Instead, she had been trained in a great many, so that if she had ever been called upon to rule, she would at least know enough to understand the advice given to her by her councilors. "I understand. I need to stay in psychic contact with him."

"Not entirely, Empress. I am only theorizing…but if you could enter a rapport with him as you were doing before, I can take more detailed readings of the effects and see if it actually is helping him the way I noticed earlier, or if it is only going to work on a temporary basis like the neural stimulator."

Lilandra nodded and turned back to Charles. He was so still and quiet, but the bond between them was still active enough to tell her that she was holding him back, keeping him away from the edge of death that was trying to devour him. Closing her eyes, she reached out to him again. Charles, you must stay with me. Take as much of my strength as you need, my love.

What she was offering was exceedingly dangerous. If Charles' mind fragmented much further and she was still linked this closely to him, he could pull her into death along with him, leaving her people without a ruler, for she had not yet birthed or named an heir. With her brother and her sister both dead, no one remained to continue her family's legacy – an unbroken line going back to the very beginning of the Shi'ar Empire. If she died, her empire would fall into chaos or be set upon by the Kree or the Skrulls.

Lilandra…no…your people…

She had given her life for her people and while his protest would normally be enough to deter her from this course, right now she couldn't care; not while he lay so close to death. Right now, you are my main concern. Stay with me. My strength, my heart, my soul is yours if you need it.

She could feel him starting to pull away, and she knew that he did so out of love. He knew very well what this might cost her, and he didn't want to chance it. But in his weakened state, he was no match for her. Had he been stronger, she might have had a fight on her hands, but at the moment, she easily pulled him back to her and refused to let go. Charles, you must stay with me. Think, remember, ask me questions…anything to keep your mind functioning.

He was silent for a moment before he replied. Help me…message…my X-Men.

She understood. His children, his X-Men, had been first in his heart for a long time. They were the reason that he had chosen not to go with her after they had saved the universe from the M'Kraan Crystal and her brother's madness. He had made a commitment to them and had not wanted to abandon it simply because he had fallen in love with her. She had understood, because it was her duty to her people that had kept her from remaining with him. I am with you, Charles. My strength and powers will enhance yours.

She pulled back just enough to speak to the chief healer. "Healer Brith'ta, open a visual communication to the X-Men please. Charles would like to speak to them using his telepathy, but he would like to see them."

He nodded and walked over to the console, sending the signal to the X-Men, who had received a Shi'ar communication device along with several other pieces of Shi'ar technology as symbols of their informal alliance and with her thanks for what they had done for her. The screen came on and she could see them all clustered together. She moved to stand at Charles' side, holding his hand to provide a physical link that would enhance their psychic one.

"Professor!" Jubilee cried.

Although he was too weak to speak, Charles could still use his telepathy, as long as Lilandra used her powers to enhance it. Her strength would feed him, so that he could broadcast his mental voice into their minds.

"Charles has something that he would like to tell each of you before we depart," Lilandra told them before she turned her attention back to Charles and focused all of her energy on acting as both an energy supply and a telepathic enhancer.

"Thank you, Lilandra. We're ready," Jean said, despite the tears on her face.

Charles felt like he was drifting in a haze. It was so hard to concentrate…something was pulling at his mind, almost as if it was urging him to let go…to take the peace that he had craved for so long. But on the other side, Lilandra's bright, stubborn spirit clung to him, channeling psychic energy to him, refusing to let him go. The sight of his X-Men on the viewscreen, although his vision was somewhat blurred, gave him something else to focus on.

He had loved and sheltered his X-Men for so long…he understood why he had to go with Lilandra, but he didn't want to leave them without letting them know just what they had meant to him. It was the least he could do for them, since he didn't know if he would ever see them again.

My X-Men…I am grateful to have this chance to say goodbye. Although Magnus was not one of his X-Men, he addressed his old friend first. He regretted that their beliefs and ideologies had kept them apart for so long. If only he had been able to help Magneto overcome the trauma he had suffered in the camps, he would have made a valuable ally.

Magnus, old friend. We have so long been at odds, yet I have always considered you one of my truest friends, for you do not shy from the truth, no matter how painful it may be.

"Your idealism was certainly strong enough to counter my realism, Charles," the older man replied, and for once his normally hard eyes were soft.

Just…do not forget about hope. Hope brings light…to the darkness. 'Darkness cannot dispel darkness…only light can do that. Hate cannot dispel…hate, only love can do that.'Charles told him, before he turned his attention to his X-Men. Morph…it is good to see you home. In facing your fears…you have proven yourself…truly an X-Man.

The shape-shifting mutant nodded and stepped back slightly, although he remained within view of the screen.

Gambit…how often must the scoundrel prove himself a hero before he believes it himself?

"Gambit do not know, Professor. He will t'ink about it." The Cajun thief stepped back as well so that Jubilee could step forward. He gently rested his hands on her shoulders to support her.

Jubilee…you are the future. When I look at your face…I see hope. The youngest member of the X-Men covered her streaming eyes and choked back a sob. She had been like a daughter to him – bold, courageous…at times rebellious and defiant, but always strong and caring.

Storm, my beautiful Storm. Mighty as a hurricane, but gentle as a summer rain. You honor me with your friendship. The African beauty nodded gracefully, her tears pooling in her eyes to run down her cheeks in flowing ripples.

Wolverine…loner, you have found a family. Wolverine lowered his mask in order to look him in the 'face', with Logan's eyes. Wild savage…you have found dignity. Cynic, you have found faith.

Rogue, unable to touch, yet look around. She did so before she turned back to look at him. You will find you have touched us all.

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to muster the strength to continue for the three people who had known him the longest out of his students. There was so much that he wanted to say to them, but he didn't have the time or the strength. He could feel Lilandra channeling more strength to him, but it was losing its effectiveness.

Lilandra's "voice" came to him, distantly, but clearly. Keep going, Charles. This is helping. Your mental patterns are stabilizing. Stay focused.

He opened his eyes with an effort, determined to speak what he must. Jean's red hair was a beacon, even to his tired, blurry vision. Jean, first in my heart. Your courage has allowed you to see things no other human has, yet remain the same innocent child I met so very long ago. What she had experienced, both as Phoenix and Dark Phoenix, showed a power that he would never have expected when he had first met her. He only hoped that she could always retain that innocence and purity – for it was such a large part of who she was.

Hank…"The friends thou hast through adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel."

Now for the last, and possibly the hardest. Scott…were I your father, I would say no truer son could ever be. I am proud…proud of all of you…my X-Men.

"We'll miss you, Professor! Please get well and come back to us!" Jubilee cried. The others echoed her sentiments.

We'll see, my children. If not in body, my spirit will remain among you where it was always meant to be. Farewell…

The darkness beckoned, and this time he didn't fight it, content to know that he had had the chance to let the ones he loved best know how he felt. He pulled back and fell into it.

"Empress…Empress, please pull back," the healer was saying in her ear as he cautiously touched her shoulder to refocus her attention.

Lilandra disentangled some of her mind and powers from Charles, only to feel the drain on her energy hit her right between the eyes. She blinked somewhat dazedly as she tried to focus on Brith'ta. "Is he - ?"

"Whatever you did, it helped. His mental patterns are more focused, but it will still take more therapy and treatment to reverse the damage. We were able to stabilize him further and we should be able to return to the home world without you needing to enhance his strength further."

She nodded, understanding. "Contact the bridge. Tell Captain Jubér to make best speed back to Aerie." As the healer looked away, she turned to the view screen where the X-Men were still waiting. "I am sorry, my friends, but we must leave. He will have the best of care, and I will send word to you as soon as we know anything more."

"We heard what the doctor said, Lilandra," Jean said. "At least we know that we could help him in this way, by being here so he could say good-bye. If that helped him at all, that is enough."

"You will always have my friendship and alliance, X-Men. So long as I am Empress, your names, and Charles', will be honored in the Empire," Lilandra said.

"Empress, when Charles is more coherent, will you tell him something from me?" Beast asked. As she nodded, he smiled, a fanged smile, and spoke softly. 'That though the radiance which was once so bright be now forever taken from my sight. Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower, we will grieve not; rather find strength in what remains behind.'"

"I will pass on the message, Beast, although I do not know what it means," Lilandra promised.

"Charles will know," he replied simply.

"Farewell, X-Men. I shall be in touch," she promised as she felt the ship suddenly accelerate. In seconds, they were out of communication range.

"Empress, please sit," the healer hurried up to her. "You have exhausted yourself." He offered her a chair, and she took it gratefully, still holding onto Charles' hand.

"He is stable for now, Empress," Brith'ta said. "You do not need to continue to support him."

"I am not. I am simply holding his hand for the comfort it brings me," she replied softly. She reached up with her free hand and stroked her beloved's brow, careful not to disturb the neural stimulator, which was still pulsing with its soft glow. "I am sorry that this had to happen to you Charles, but I am not sorry that I am finally getting to bring you home with me." She leaned down to kiss him gently. "I love you, Charles Xavier."

I love you, Lilandra. His eyes opened, very slowly. I am so tired…

"I know, Charles," she said softly. "It's all right. Just rest. We'll be back on Aerie soon, and we'll be able to help you more there." She continued to gently stroke his brow until his blue eyes fluttered closed again and he exhaled softly, slipping lightly into an exhausted slumber.

"Empress…"

She turned to face Brith'ta. "Yes?"

"We'll be arriving at Aerie soon, and we'll see to it that he is transferred over to the care of your personal healers. Right now, the foremost issue that we have is keeping him alive and maintaining his neural network."

"He's still in danger," she stated, as she glanced down at him.

"Quite serious danger, yes, my Empress," the healer agreed. "We can keep him alive and breathing, and his body functioning without a problem, but until we've had time to analyze the device that was used to disrupt his neural paths, the most important thing we have to do is find a way to keep the disruption from spreading further. His mind has already seriously deteriorated. I am unsure what the Earth people did to check the initial spread – from what I can tell, he should have died within moments of being struck by the energy from that device."

"Charles is a powerful telepath, with an extremely disciplined mind," Lilandra said quietly.

The healer shook his head. "That wouldn't have been enough. Our brief analysis shows that the damage should have been compounded the more he tried to resist or block the effects. But something slowed the progress of the deterioration. However, it was only slowed, not stopped, and in the areas that were damaged, the damage was severe."

"We have techniques that can help to heal a damaged mind," Lilandra said. "They were used to try to help my mother after Cal'syee…" she trailed off as the healer shook his head again.

"I remember that, Empress, but I am afraid that those techniques would be of little use. Your mother's mind was damaged, but her neural paths were intact. In the case of your mik shpirt, his core neural patterns have been completely disrupted. Given time, we may be able to adapt some therapies and treatments to help him reestablish those paths."

"How long can you keep him stable?" Lilandra asked.

"That is unknown. The neural stimulator did help, but as you know, it is not designed for long-term use, nor was it designed to reverse or treat this kind of injury. Being in mental contact with you also helped, but I don't know if either of those things together or separate would be enough – and you do not have the strength, even with the aid of the lidhje to stay in constant rapport with him for as long as it takes to devise a treatment, nor could I permit it, even if you were willing to make the attempt."

"Majestrix?" Gladiator said over the inter-ship communication system. "We are coming up on Aerie."

"Thank you, Gladiator," she replied before she turned back to Charles. "Right now there is nothing pressing demanding my attention, healer. I will be remaining with him, and if I must be in psychic rapport with him to keep his mind stable and to help stave off the deterioration I will do so. A neural stimulator of my own, along with the lidhje shpirt, and Charles' own powers should allow me to maintain several days of rapport."

"Empress…that could be dangerous. We do not know what that could do to you, nor if the rapport would lose its effectiveness over such a long period of use. If the rapport can keep him away from the very edge of death, it might be wisest for you to use your rapport only if he suddenly slips into critical condition."

Lilandra could see his point, but she did not want to leave Charles' side for any reason other than a crisis that could only be solved by her authority, spoken from her own lips. Araki and Oracle could be trusted to act without her eyes on them every moment, and if any such emergency should arise, they would notify her immediately.

As she had noted before receiving Charles' cry for help, most of the matters that she dealt with were things that quite honestly could be handled by her secretaries or her advisors. She had simply gotten into the habit of handling them herself during the first few tumultuous months of her rule, when she was still trying to combat the lies that her brother had spread about her. Putting her personal touch on every single matter that had arisen had been a political maneuver that was designed to show her people that she was capable of ruling an empire the size of the one controlled by the Shi'ar, and also to prove that she was not what her brother had claimed she was.

"Majestrix, we have arrived on Aerie. The ship has docked, and we are awaiting your orders," Captain Jubér's voice said. "Councilors Araki and Oracle are also requesting an audience with you at your earliest convenience."

Lilandra sighed, her exhaustion suddenly seeming to be tripled. She had not had time to notify Araki and Oracle that she was departing Aerie, so they had probably been frantic with worry. All she wanted was to stay with Charles. "Captain, inform my councilors that they can meet me in my private audience chamber immediately. I will join them there momentarily."

"Yes, Empress."

"Contact the palace healers and order them to prepare a place for Charles," she replied. "Then have them contact Brith'ta to consult about what will be needed to transfer him from the ship to the palace."

"I hear and obey, Empress." Jubér closed the channel so that he could begin seeing to her orders.

She looked back down at Charles. The neural stimulator was still blinking, emitting the steady glow that signified its lowest setting. She leaned down and kissed him again, gently. She could tell by the feeling of their bond in the back of her mind that the intensive bout of telepathic communication with his students had done some good, for she hadn't felt him slipping away from her again yet.

Once again, her kiss seemed to have done the trick. His eyes opened again. She hadn't wanted to wake him when he needed to sleep in order to heal, but she also hadn't wanted him to wake in the hands of strangers and have her not there to comfort him. Lilandra?

Despite her own exhaustion, she reached out to him over the bond. It's all right, Charles. I'm here. We've made it back to Aerie, to my home. I must go and attend to some state business, as much as I want to stay with you. My personal healers will be attending you, and they'll see to it that you are taken from my ship and made comfortable. I will come back to you just as soon as I may.

She could see his understanding and his acceptance, and it made her heart weep. He was so generous! What he was going through must be terribly frightening to someone who prided himself on his control and poise, and yet he was putting his faith completely in her and in people he'd never met. All right. I trust you…

Go back to sleep, Charles. I won't be far away. If you need me, call out to me and I will come. She picked up one of his hands and squeezed it gently, before she kissed him again. Sleep, Charles. It will help you heal.

Despite his weakness, he managed a small nod before he drifted off again. Her sense of him through their bond remained strong, and she sighed as she released his hand and rose to her own feet. She was still somewhat drained from using her powers so strenuously, but it was no worse than it had been when they had been on opposite sides of the galaxy and she'd contacted him.

She headed for the doors, which were still sealed from Brith'ta's earlier command, but she was able to override them from the control panel on the wall. Just before she stepped through, she turned back and looked at Charles sleeping so quietly on the bed. She caught Brith'ta's gaze and he nodded reassuringly at her. "He'll be in the best of hands, Empress. I won't leave him until you're able to return."

"I thank you, healer."

Chapter Notes:

1) 'Darkness cannot defeat darkness, only light can do that...' - quote from Martin Luther King Jr.
2) 'The friends thou hast...' quote ascribed to Polonius, from Hamlet
3) 'That though the radiance which was once so bright...' quoted from poem by William Wordsworth

**All the words that are supposedly "Shi'ar" are in fact translations from English into Albanian (albeit probably very poor ones, since I used an internet translator). At this time, I am not going to reveal the meanings, but I will in future chapters.**Don't forget to leave me a review! More coming soon!