What we have is immortal.
A century has passed since those words had first passed through Raven’s lips. She’s a woman who is as close as one can be to immortality without actually attaining the status. Her powers decelerate her aging. She’s not sure what her time limit is, but it’s certainly expanded far past others. Raven had sat with her beauty intact while the love of her life grew older every day. Irene was beautiful still, no matter how old she had become. Raven would have taken anyone to the gallows who implied otherwise. Even when soft lines cut through the folds of her face, Irene had been resplendent in the eyes of the mutant who had taken her as a wife.
What we have is immortal, and yet, Irene was not.
Gone. Irene was gone. She had known she was going to die and hadn’t told Raven when. She had advised her wife that one day, when the time came, there would be a nation to burn to the ground if they refused to bring her back to life. Raven knows now that Krakoa is that nation. She knows now that Irene saw the Dawn of X before Moira Mactaggert ever whispered the idea into the ear of Charles Xavier. It had come to pass as Irene had feared: they refused to resurrect a precog because Moira feared her. Moira feared Irene due to the promises she and Raven had made in a lifetime come and gone. Moira Mactaggert — the woman with ten lives — was terrified of Raven’s wife. What she should have feared is the utter ferocity that would fill Raven in her pursuit to have Irene returned to her.
It hadn’t been easy. In the end, it had taken lies and deceit. Raven had played dirty because that was the only way to win. She had earned having Irene back in her arms. She vowed never to let her go… right up until the day S.H.I.E.L.D. took her. In all honesty, Raven’s unsure as to how Irene didn’t see it coming. Had she? Had she and chosen to go along with it to further some ends? Raven fears that may be the truth but has yet to ask. There will be time when her wife is well to get the full truth.
What we have is immortal.
Yellow eyes stay trained on Irene as she rests. A recent council meeting has had Raven pulled away from their quarters, but she wasted no time after to return to her wife. She’ll sit akin to a sentry as long as she needs to until something changes. It’s hard to say if it’s been hours or minutes until that time comes. When Irene stirs, Raven moves to sit beside her.
“My love.” Raven knows that Irene’s silence is better than the shaking and sweating that had occurred last time she was resurrected. “What can I do for you?”
“Nothing.” The one word answer was not bitter or sad, but soft instead. Raven had already done so much for her. This part of the healing process wasn’t one she could share with anyone, not even her wife. “All I need is you by my side, and some time. At least I know I can always count on one of those things.”
She leaned into Raven’s touch and did her best to allow he body to relax. They didn’t have time to spare, not right now. But this moment was worth savoring.
“I’m sorry they did not let you stay when they killed me. I know it’s what you would have wanted.” She smiled sadly for a split second, and then placed one of her hands on top of Raven’s. “But I wouldn’t have wanted you to see that. I’d rather you only remember me as I am now.”