"It's good to see you again, Wanda."
Rose Lai stood in the courtyard of her rebuilt hall, arms open in welcome. She looked better than she had weeks ago—the shadows beneath her eyes had faded, her posture less burdened. Leadership suited her, Wanda thought. Or perhaps Rose was simply good at hiding the weight.
Wanda crossed the distance between them and embraced her friend warmly. "It hasn't been that long, Rose."
"Long enough that I've missed your company." Rose pulled back, smiling, then looked down at the two girls flanking Wanda. "Hello, Merlin. Illyana. Still attached to Wanda's side, I see?"
Merlin puffed out her cheeks indignantly. "We're not that clingy."
Illyana giggled, ruining any attempt at dignity.
Rose's smile widened. "Of course not." She gestured toward the hall's entrance. "I've prepared dinner for us. Some of the other clan leaders will be joining—they're eager to meet you properly."
"They're here already?" Wanda felt a flutter of nervousness. Meeting clan leaders felt official. Permanent. Like putting down roots she wasn't sure she could keep.
"They'll arrive soon." Rose's expression sobered slightly. "My mother left deep scars across Dathomir. The damage wasn't just physical—it was political, social, spiritual. I'm trying to repair what I can. Rebuild trust. Show the clans that we can be better than what Zalem made us."
"I heard some weren't happy about the changes."
Rose's laugh was bitter. "An understatement. Some of the old guard—those who benefited from my mother's reign—they fought me every step. Couldn't accept that their power was built on cruelty and blood."
"Are they still causing problems?"
"They fled." Rose's jaw tightened. "Took what resources they could carry and vanished into the wilderness. Probably gathering followers, plotting their return." She shook her head. "Let them. They'll find I'm not as forgiving as they hope."
They'd moved to a balcony overlooking Dathomir's crimson landscape. The twin suns hung low, painting everything in shades of rust and gold. Merlin and Illyana leaned against the railing, staring out at the twisted spires in the distance.
"Do you think they'll attack?" Wanda asked quietly.
"Eventually." Rose's voice held certainty. "People like that never stay quiet for long. They'll wait until they think I'm weak, vulnerable. Then they'll strike." She glanced at Wanda. "But not yet. They know I'm still too strong, too well-supported."
"It's just a matter of time."
"Everything is." Rose fell silent for a moment, then: "I heard you had an unexpected visitor."
Wanda nodded. "Asajj Ventress. A Nightsister who was taken from Dathomir as an infant. She's Illyana's cousin."
"Where is she now?"
"Somewhere on the planet. Training, probably." Wanda's hands tightened on the railing. "Her arrival... it complicated things. Made me realize something I've been avoiding."
Rose turned to face her fully. "What?"
Wanda took a breath. "That my time here might be coming to an end."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
Merlin's head whipped around. "What?"
"Are you—" Illyana's voice cracked. "Are you leaving?"
"Not yet." Wanda knelt, bringing herself to eye level with the girls. "But eventually, yes. I have responsibilities I've been neglecting. Duties I can't ignore forever."
"What responsibilities?" Rose asked, concern creasing her brow.
Wanda stood slowly. "When Asajj arrived, the Nightsisters performed a healing ritual. The Waters of Life. During the ceremony, her memories became... accessible. I saw her entire life." She paused. "I saw her fighting my brother. My team. The Avengers. She's tried to kill them multiple times."
Rose's eyes widened. "She's an enemy?"
"More complicated than that. But yes, fundamentally." Wanda stared out at the horizon. "Seeing those memories reminded me that while I've been here, safe and hidden, my family has been fighting a war. Without me."
"But you didn't know they were alive," Rose protested. "You thought you'd lost everything."
"I did. And maybe that was an excuse to stay here, to hide, to pretend I could have a normal life." Wanda's magic flickered around her fingers—scarlet energy responding to emotional turmoil. "But ignorance doesn't erase responsibility."
"What changed?" Rose pressed.
Wanda's eyes flashed red for just an instant. "Asajj mentioned another enemy. Someone I thought I'd killed on Earth." The name came out like poison. "Ultron."
Rose frowned. "Who?"
Merlin and Illyana exchanged glances. They'd heard that name before, in Wanda's nightmares.
"I never told you about him," Wanda said quietly. "About what happened before I came here." She turned, leaned against the railing, face tilted toward the darkening sky. "On Earth, before I joined the Avenger, my brother and I met someone who called himself Ultron. An artificial intelligence housed in a body of metal and circuits. He said he wanted to save our world."
"Save it from what?" Rose asked.
"From itself. From us." Wanda's laugh was hollow. "He was designed by one of the Avengers—Tony Stark—to be a peacekeeping program. Protection for the entire planet. But something went wrong. Ultron looked at humanity and decided we were the problem. That the only way to achieve peace was to eliminate the source of conflict."
"Eliminate..." Rose's face paled. "You mean—"
"Extinction." Wanda's voice was flat. "He wanted to drop a city from the sky. Use it as a meteor, enhanced with vibranium—a special metal—to trigger a global extinction event. Kill everyone. Start over."
"By all the spirits," Rose breathed.
"Pietro and I helped him at first." The confession tasted like ash. "We were young, stupid, angry at Tony Stark and the Avengers. Ultron promised us revenge. Said he'd help us kill the 'heroes' who'd destroyed our country. We believed him."
Wanda's hands clenched into fists. "Until I saw his true plan. The city falling. Billions dying. And I realized we'd been tools for a madman—or mad machine, I suppose."
"What did you do?" Merlin whispered.
"We switched sides. Fought with the Avengers instead of against them. Stopped Ultron's plan." Wanda's eyes burned brighter. "I destroyed him myself. Tore his last body apart from the inside out. Watched him die."
"But he's back," Rose said.
"Yes." The single word carried infinite weight. "According to Asajj's memories, Ultron has returned. He's waging war across this entire galaxy. And my team—my family—has been fighting him while I've been here. Playing house. Pretending I could escape my past."
"You saved Dathomir," Rose said fiercely. "You stopped my mother. Without you, everyone here would be dead or enslaved."
"I know." Wanda's voice cracked. "But that doesn't change what I am. I'm an Avenger. And my place is with them, fighting the threats that need to be stopped. Not hiding on a distant planet because I'm scared of facing my failures."
"Then leave." Rose said it simply, without judgment. "If you feel so strongly about it, why are you still here?"
Wanda looked down at Merlin and Illyana. Both girls stared up at her with wide, terrified eyes. She reached out, pulled them close, wrapped her arms around their small bodies.
"Isn't it obvious?" she whispered. "How can I leave them?"
Rose's expression softened. "What now?"
Wanda held the girls tighter. They buried their faces against her, small hands gripping her clothes like lifelines. "I have to go," she said, the words coming out choked. "But not yet. Not until I'm ready. Not until they're ready."
"You'll leave eventually," Rose said quietly.
"Yes." Wanda pressed her cheek against Merlin's head. "I have to. Pietro is out there, probably doing something reckless without me to watch his back. The team needs me. The galaxy needs every defender it can get against Ultron." She closed her eyes. "I can't ignore that forever."
Merlin made a small, broken sound.
"Shh." Wanda stroked her hair. "Not today. Not tomorrow. But soon."
"How soon?" Illyana's voice was tiny.
"I don't know, sweetling. I need to figure out how to get off-planet first. I don't exactly know how to pilot a spaceship."
"We could teach you," Rose offered.
"Maybe." Wanda managed a weak smile. "Or maybe I'll find another way. The important thing is—"
Laughter erupted from somewhere in the hall behind them. Multiple voices, boisterous and warm. The clan leaders had arrived.
Rose straightened, schooling her features into a welcoming expression. "That's our cue. Come—let's introduce you properly. No politics tonight. Just friends sharing a meal."
Wanda nodded, but didn't immediately move. She looked down at Merlin and Illyana one more time, memorizing their faces in the fading light.
Soon, she would have to leave them.
But not tonight.
Tonight, she could still pretend this was home. That she belonged here. That she could build a life on Dathomir and forget the war raging across the stars.
It was a beautiful lie.
And for a few more hours, Wanda let herself believe it.
The laughter grew louder as Rose led them inside, and Wanda followed, girls clinging to her hands, toward whatever future awaited them all.