Roswell Fanatics

Author: Polarchica516
Rating: TEEN ( Will be raised later)
Summary: Takes place as soon as Max returns from LA. Nothing is changed before that episode except that Michael did not sleep with Maria before he left Earth. ENJOY!
Feedback: Please! I need it if I want to continue!
Disclaimer: The author of this fan fiction does not own any aspect of Roswell. Those rights belong to Melinda Metz, Jason Katims, WB, UPN, 20th Century Fox, etc. Disclaimer added by moderator.

Prologue
Liz
A catalyst is supposed to start a change of events. It never says whether or not they are good are bad. But things happen--things that are so horrible and devastatingly painful or so happy and joyous--but either way sometimes you think that it’s not real.
I guess if you look at it from the big point of view, the real catalyst was the crash in 1947 and the secondary catalyst was Max healing me. When Tess came, damage was caused. But it could be fixed. I could have stood by Max, no matter what destiny he had. The real damage was caused by me changing the future. And well, I guess that, that catalyst started it all.
____

Michael
I hate Max Evans. He’s my brother and my king and blah blah blah. But King or no King, Max Evans ruined by life. He left me to go to his perfect home with Isabel, exposed our secret by healing Liz, and most importantly, stole the girl I’ve loved ever since I was 7--Liz Parker.
The doorbell ringing shocked me and I dropped the journal. Yeah, go ahead and laugh it up--Michael, the stonewall, Guerin with a journal. I mumbled some incoherent words and came to the door and standing at my door was Liz Parker.


CHAPTER 1

Liz
I have no idea what I am doing here. I got in my car and somehow ended up at Michael Guerin’s apartment. What if he’s not home? I realize my hands are shaking I am so nervous--but why?
I’m about to leave when he answers the door and all breath escapes my lungs. Michael is wearing a gray wife beater that brings out his gray eyes. Oh my god his eyes are so beautiful and not to mention the why is shirt accentuates his well developed muscles under his shirt. I realize I must have been drooling and look up startled.
“Michael, I have to talk to you.”
He says nothing and moves aside and lets me in. I hear the soft click of him closing the door. He stands before me with his arms crossed and growls. “What do you want Parker?”
“I, uh,” I must look like such an idiot. “I should leave.”
I go to walk past him and he grabs my arm softly. I feel the electric charge run through my entire body and I let out a surprised gasp. Michael’s eyes soften and he whispers, “Please, don’t go.”
I reluctantly watch him let go of me. “I need someone to talk to.”
“Why me? You have Maria and…Max.”
“Maria left this morning for New York. She got a deal with Arista Records. Isn’t that great?” I try to plaster a smile on my face, ignoring the fact that my friend is half across the country. The tears begin to collect in my eyes so I quickly change the subject. “And Max and I aren’t speaking right now.”
Michael and I stand in a silence. “I know,” he says. “I saw the two of you. You did the right thing by leaving him. He…he--he didn’t deserve you Liz.”

Michael

I cannot believe I just said that. I’ve been hiding my feeling for years now--suppressing the emotion and I almost let it slip with one sentence.
“I realized something this morning, Michael. I was thinking about everything and I was thinking about everything that has happened to me--Tess, Alex, Max, and my adventures with the four of you.” My shoes were really interesting until now. I heard her choked sob and I quickly reached out to her. Now she and I were sitting on the couch with my arm supporting her. I tried to ignore how warm she was and now perfectly she fit with me. And then I made the biggest mistake--I looked into her eyes.
Liz has the most beautiful eyes. What makes them beautiful is when I look into them….I realize that Liz doesn’t pity me like everyone else. Liz sees me for who I am and who I want to be. Not the loose cannon who messes up all the missions or the whipping boy for that jackass Hank. And yet, she sees all these things in me and a part of me believes that she could love me.
“Every time that something bad happened, Michael, Maria would comfort me and tell me that I should get out of this alien mess. And Max would just tell me that everything would be OK and that….we could make it through this together. But ever since you read my journal, I always wanted to run to you. Because Michael, one look in your eyes and they said more than either Maria or Max could. You are my steady rock here in Roswell and I just wanted you to know that.”
My heart was racing. I wanted to hold her and never let go and tell her that she was my rock too. That she was my only rock and always will be.
“Liz,” I asked, almost not trusting my voice. “Why are you telling me this?”
She turned to look at me with a sad expression look on her face. “Because I need your help.”
I stood up and clenched my fist ready to protect my Angel if anyone dare come near her. “From who? Is Khivar on Earth?”
“No,” she said and laughed. “From myself.”
And then she stood up and raised her hand and in a blink of an eye my television exploded in a loud crunching noise. Could Liz had done that?
I turned to look at her with shock in my eyes. She had a terrified look on her face. “I don’t know where they come from and I don’t know how to control them. So I need your help. I want you to train me, Michael.”

Chapter 2

Liz
I don’t know how long we both stood there. Michael would look at me and than the television and than repeat the process religiously. Instantly, I wondered if we were afraid of me. I was even of afraid of myself, of my capabilities, of the unknowns. “Michael,” I pleaded. “Please say something.”
He looked at me and shook his head. My heart dropped. Was he saying no? “I’m the last person you should be coming to for help, Parker. I’m barely in control of my powers. What makes you think I can help you with yours?”
I suddenly wanted to hold Michael because I knew he was thinking of Pierce--how Michael, for some reason, thought he was a killer. “Because we can help each other. Michael, I don’t want to hurt anybody. When I hit the television, I was aiming for the radio. And in case, you didn’t notice, the radio is about 10 feet away.”
Michael sunk to the couch and rubbed his face with his hands. “When did you first use them?”
I knew this was coming. I knew it. “Last week.”
“WHAT?!”
Taking a step back, I begin to explain. “It was simple things. I did it without noticing. I made the bath water cold when it was hot; broke a couple cups; nothing major. By time I figured it out, I was so scared. I couldn’t tell Maria because I was now the species that she wanted to run from and Max….”
Michael’s head sprung up. “What did he say?”
“I couldn’t tell him, Michael. He is already out there looking for his son. He didn’t need this to top it off. And I know Max, he would have tried to figure out where they came from. And….”
“And what Liz?”
I took a deep breath and took the seat next to him and sat down. “Whenever I was near him, they would act up. Glasses would shatter everywhere and my skin would start to..I don’t know how to describe it. This green light would start running up and down my body. It was really scary. That was right before Max left for LA so I did not see him much after that. It wasn’t a problem.”
“No,” Michael said. “There is something else you are not telling me, Liz. I know it.”
I hung my head and choked back a sob. “If Max found out, I thought maybe we would use me to find his son.”

Michael

At that moment, I wanted to find Max wherever he was and punch his lights out. Liz had been suffering for a week and she couldn’t tell her “soul mate” because she thought that Max would use her to find his son. And the sad thing was that I could picture Max doing that.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I didn’t know I had said it. I must have whispered it because Liz leaned in closely to hear me. I turned to face her and we were so close. Her sweet lips were so close and I could just lean in and…..
“Because, Michael, I was afraid of what you would think of me.” Her reply was breathy and her breath tickled my lips. I twined my hands into her silky hair and leaned my forehead against hers.
“You, Liz Parker, will always be the girl who you were when you were seven. I, uh, never told you this but when I was being driven to one of my foster homes, we passed the Crashdown and I saw you standing at the front. I had been driven to about five homes by that time and I had never liked any of them. But the minute I saw you, Liz, I knew that no matter what home they put me in that you--the beautiful girl in front of the Crashdown was my home. I would dream about you at night, think about you during the day, and I just couldn’t stop.”
“Michael,” she whispered, blushing. She looked so beautiful when she blushed. I smiled and continued.
“Than I found Max and Isabel and when we found out what we all were--where we were from--I would pray that you were like us too so I wouldn’t have to hide from you so I could be me and you would love me. When you walked out that bus when you were eight and Max saw you, he turned to me and told me that you were the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and I wanted to tell him that you were mine. But Max had so much to offer you--the future, everything. And I was the screw-up who got into fights and would probably amount to nothing. So I had to let you go and let Max be Max and win the girl.”
Liz had tears in her eyes and she was sporting a brilliant smile. “So, I am ecstatically joyous that you have powers because now you are like me.”
Chapter 3

Liz

Michael Guerin loved me. If you have ever had someone tell you they love you than you know how I feel. It’s like floating on cloud nine and being able to do anything. The Skins could have attacked right now and I would still be the happiest girl on Earth.
I wanted him to kiss me and I wanted to kiss him. I wrapped by arms around his neck and scooted closer. “I don’t need to be like you to love you Michael. I was human and I loved you and now, I’m…” I chuckled. “Whatever I am, and I still love you.”
Michael closed his eyes and I swear I saw tears in his eyes. “Michael, I’m going to kiss you.”
Michael lazily nodded and his gaze dropped to my lips. “I won’t stop you so if this is what you want….”
Before he could finish the sentence I was pressing my soft lips to his rough ones. He pulled me closer and rested his hand on the small of my back. His hand felt so warm and I began to run my hands up and down and back. At the first contact of our tongues, we both moaned softly. Finally we pulled apart and Michael sighed. “I love you Liz.”
“I love you too Michael.”

Michael

I don’t know how long we have been sleeping. After we kissed some more--OK, a LOT more, we started to watch television and we both fell asleep. I woke up to Liz’s small hands resting on my chest clutching to my shirt, her head nestled on my shoulder and her legs huddled underneath her. And let me tell you, the most beautiful thing in the world is waking up next to Liz Parker.
Her eyes finally fluttered open and she smiled at me. “Good morning, beautiful,” I managed to say.
“Hey,” and she leaned up to give me a light kiss on the cheek. “Good Morning to you too.” She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and yawned. “What time is it?”
I looked over at my beaten up alarm clock. “It’s almost three in the morning. We’ve been sleeping for about 5 hours.”
“How long have you been awake?” She asked.
I blushed--can you believe it? Michael Guerin is actually blushing. “I was actually admiring how beautiful you look when you sleep.”
She laughed and glanced towards the kitchen. “Do you think we could find something to eat? I’m kind of hungry.”
I jumped up immediately. Boy, can you say whipped? I went to the kitchen and used my powers to heat up pans to make scrambled eggs and bacon. I was focusing solely on not burning the house down when Liz came in with something behind her back.
I turned around and smiled at her. “What do you have?”
She sat down on the couch and regarded me with a serious expression. “I found this under your bed.”
I turned off the stove and turned around. “Liz,” I said pleading, “please give that back to me.”
Yep, you guessed it. In her hand was my journal. “Why do you have one, Michael?”
I shuffled by feet and stared at the ground. “It makes me feel closer to you. When I write, I can picture you on your balcony doing the same thing and it makes me feel closer to you.”
Liz walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me and I rested by chin on her head. “Michael,” she said. “That is the most romantic thing I have ever heard.”
I looked down at her in surprise. She laughed seeing my expression. “Kinda stalkerish but I mean, it’s the thought right?” She joked and I laughed.
I held her tighter. “You are absolutely amazing.”
Suddenly, she pulled back from me; I immediately missed her warmth. “Michael, breakfast or dinner--whatever--can wait. We have to talk. I have questions and you probably have some too. I think we should get it all out in the open now before….everything hit’s the fan.”
“OK, let’s sit down.” It is never ever EVER good when chicks want to talk. I’m doomed.


Chapter 4

Liz

“So,” I said, fiddling with my hands. It’s a surprise Michael doesn’t love me for my conversation skills I thought to myself. I looked up at him and smiled softly and asked what had been on my mind since he told me how he felt.
“Why didn’t you save me that day at the Crashdown?”
Michael ran a hand through his hair. “When you got shot, I was so scared that I would lose you. I was not sure of my powers than--I could have hurt you even more if I had tried. By the time, I figured out that I loved you enough to risk it Max had gone up to you. I would take that day back any day of the year.”
I reached over and grabbed his hand. “It’s OK, Michael. So now it’s your turn, Michael. Ask me anything.”
Michael stared into my eyes and took a deep breath. “Why did you tell Max that you slept with Kyle?”
I really was not expecting that one. “Michael, that is a really loaded question.”
He didn’t seem to care so I began my story. “Future Max--a version of Max from 14 years into the future--came to me the night before I staged the whole thing.”
“How did you know he wasn’t a skin?”
“He knew things, things about me and Max. Things only Max would know. He told me that in fourteen years the world ends. The Skins come to Earth and you guys battled. But since Max and I were together, Tess left, and without her the Four Square wasn’t complete. So you and Isabel died and Max came back to warn me.
I tried to get Max to fall out of love with me but he wouldn’t let go so I had to stage the thing with Kyle.”
Michael’s face was blank and I was waiting for a reaction. “Were you and Max--y’know--married?” he asked, his eyes sad.
“Yes, Michael. But a lot has changed in this timeline. Max is a different person and I’m with you. I guess if it weren’t for Max, we wouldn’t be together.”
Michael scoffed. “Well that is awfully ironic.”
“Yeah, it is. I changed a lot that night, Michael. You are the one thing I don’t regret about it.”
Michael’s eyes grew worried and concerned. “What else did you change?”
“Well obviously, Tess and Max never y’know were together so no baby. Isabel wasn’t engaged to Jesse. There’s us.”
“Wait; how could Isabel not have been engaged to Jesse?”
I looked down and tried to hold in the guilt, the pain, the absolute terror of what I had done to my best friend.
“In that timeline, Alex was supposed to be alive. I killed Alex.”

Michael

I did not count on this being her answer. I had known Alex’s death had torn her up inside--she had shut herself down. I wanted to constantly tell her that it would be OK. But now I really knew why she was so upset.
“NO,” I told her. “Alex’s death is not your fault. Tess killed him not you. You saved us before we left the planet because you figured her game out. If anything, you did Alex proud.”
Tears were streaming down her face now and I gently wiped them away with my thumb, “You did the right thing by changing the future, Liz. You saved the Earth.”
She nodded, “Yeah I know. Michael, I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“Liz,” I began. She cut me off by putting her finger to my lips.
“I’m fine now. Yeah, there’s a part of me that may never heal because of Alex’s death. But I don’t want to open that wound again, Michael. Someday I will just not now.”
“Ok,” I agreed. “So it’s your turn to ask a question.”
She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Why did you really stay on Earth that day?”
“For you. To keep you safe. I couldn’t leave you here by yourself. I couldn’t leave you period.”
She looked surprised. “But you said that you stayed for Maria.”
I shook by head passionately. “No, Maria always puts words in my mouth. I couldn’t tell her the truth. I don’t love Maria, Liz. She was there and she was the closest to love that anyone had felt for me. And after her father left her, I knew how much it would hurt her when I left her. It’s a good thing she left for me. So Liz, what about Max?”
“It’s actually really simple,” she took a deep breath and crinkled her nose. “Max was every girl’s dream man. Handsome, knight in shining armor, always saving me from impending doom, and always telling me how meant to be we were. The thing about Max is that if he wants something bad enough, he can keep pretending in his head that everything is alright. I have to admit, at Prom, I gave Max a whole speech about how we should stop pushing something that is not there.”
“I didn’t know that. Me and Max weren’t talking much than.”
She nodded mutely. “I was actually stupid enough to try to take it back and tell him that I wanted it to work and I went to go find him. There he was on a bench, making out with Tess on my Prom Night.”
“Oh my god, Liz. I never knew any of this. How could he do that to you?” Hot rage ran through my veins.
“Ever since than, things changed. He slept with Tess and than the whole baby thing. And yet through it all, Max claimed he loved me. And he does but he loves the girl he saved in the Crashdown that day--not the person I’ve changed into because of him.”
I intertwined my fingers with hers. “You have been through so much because of us. You are the strongest person I have ever met.”
She smiled embarrassed and glanced at the clock. “I should probably get home.”
I frowned, “I don’t want you to leave, Liz. But I know you have too.”
She leaned forward and put her forehead against mine. “Yeah. I love you.” and she placed a gentle kiss on my lips. I watched her get up and walk towards the door. Suddenly, she turned around. “Michael, tomorrow, what are we?”
I smiled. “We, Liz Parker, are the happiest couple in all of Roswell, New Mexico. And your loving , devilishly handsome boyfriend, will pick you up at 4 and we’ll go to the quarry to practice those powers of yours.”
Liz chuckled and her face turned very serious. “They calm down around you Michael.”
“We’ll figure that out tomorrow.” And she turned and left.
I hope so, I thought.

Chapter 5

Michael

About two hours later, I was still sitting where I was when Liz had left. I pinched myself repeatedly thinking it could all be a dream. I was about to go take a shower when the one and only Maxwell Evans enters my apartment with a scowl on his face.
“What do you want Maxwell? It better be important.” I said crossing my arms. I was not in the mood for him right now.
“Liz is missing.”
Now that caught my attention. “What do you mean she’s missing? What you tried calling her?” I began to hyperventilate. If anything happened to Liz….
“Yeah but she hasn’t been home all night.”
I sat on the couch relieved. Liz was safe. She had been with me. Now I had to deal with El Presidente. “I’m sure she’s fine Maxwell. Besides, what are you doing trying to call Liz in the middle of the night.”
Max’s eyes lit like a Christmas tree and he pulled out a stack of papers from his dust ridden jacket. He shoved them in my face. “When I was in LA, I found a base and the ship was there but the key wouldn’t work.”
“So?” I did not get it at all.
“Cal faxed me this earlier.”
“Wait? Cal the shape shifter?”
“Yeah and he said that I used the key wrong but the ship was moved to a base in Georgia.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What does this have to do with Liz?”
“I am going to Georgia tomorrow and I want Liz to come with me.”

Liz
As soon as I got home, my answering machine was beeping. Hoping it was Michael, I quickly ran to it and pressed the buttons.
“Hey Liz. This is Max. I’ve been trying call you all day. I found a base in Georgia and I know it’s a long shot but I’m going. And I want you to come with me. I want you to be a part of this with me. I’ve made mistakes but I’m gonna make it right this time. I promise.”
The nerve of Max Evans ceased to amaze me. He wanted me to go have across the country to find a base with a ship in it.!! I don’t know that he was smoking--maybe alien crack or something but he must be insane if he thought I would actually go with him! I was shaking with anger and I felt the familiar heat pass through my body. Before I knew it the mirror next to me shattered making glass fly everywhere. I ducked immediately and when I looked up I realized my arm was throbbing. A piece of glass must have hit me before I…..wait!
Oh my mother of snickers! I had put up a shield! A green radiant bubble surrounding me and the glass fell neatly around it. I wasn’t even thinking and I had protected myself. I closed my eyes to calm down and I felt the shield dissipate around me. I suddenly had an idea. I put my hand over my wound and pulled the glass out.
Breathe in, breathe out. If I calmed down, maybe I could control my powers enough to heal myself. It was worth a shot. I focused and could feel my head spinning. I felt my arm heat up and suddenly the pain was gone.
I didn’t have enough time to celebrate because I heard footsteps coming down the hall. My parents! Not only had I snuck in at four in the morning but I’m sure that the sound of shattering glass must of alerted them. They couldn’t see me! The mirror was damaged and the cut that was once on my arm had left a spot of blood on the carpet. How was I going to explain a blood stain without any wound?
I watched in fear as the door opened and I opened my mouth to explain but before I could speak my dad smiled at me.
“I’m glad to see your OK, the neighbors next door are fighting again and I think they broke a glass.”
“Dad?” I was confused. He was looking straight at me and at the glass and the blood. How could be just not see it? And than it dawned on me. I had mind warped my father.

Chapter 6

Michael

I was about give Max a big piece of my mind about how I felt about him dragging Liz across to Georgia to find his kid when I felt like I was punched. I looked up to see Max had had the same reaction too and he was kneeling on the ground. “What was that?” I asked when it passed.
Max shook his head. “I don’t know, Michael. It felt like power--raw power. It must have been really strong if we could feel it.”
A sense of dread almost hurt as much as the power surge. “Do you think it’s Khivar?” I knew me and Max were thinking the same thing. After a year of almost no activity and it was almost about to go hell.
Max shrugged heavily. “I has to be. It was really strong so he must be on Earth.”
As scary as the thought was of impending war and battle, a thought so terrifying gripped me suddenly. “Liz.”
No! My mind screamed. Liz is OK--she has to be. I glanced at Max to find he had the same panicked look on his face as I did. He grabbed his keys out of his pocket, “Let’s go” and we both left.
As we were speeding down the road as fast as possible, we did not talk. Me and Max always butt heads but whenever Liz was involved, we worked together because we were working for the same thing. As soon as we got in front of her house, I jumped out of the car and climbed up to her balcony.
“Liz!” I shouted. “Liz!”
“Look, Michael,” Max said from behind me.
The room was a mess. The mirror was broken, some walls were charred, but no Liz. Oh god, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I followed Max into her room.
“No,” I managed to say. “This is NOT what it looks like. Liz is OK, she’s just hiding somewhere.” I couldn’t lose Liz…she was my everything.
I kneeled down and began to sort through the glass. Underneath it was blood. “Oh god, Maxwell.” I reached down and touched the blood and than the flashes ripped through me.

FLASH
Liz exploding the mirror and her anger at hearing Max’s message.
FLASH
Liz realizing she had thrown up a shield
FLASH
Liz’s pride at controlling her powers and healing herself
FLASH
Fear at knowing her parents were about to come in
FLASH
Absolute terror that if they knew the truth they would reject her
FLASH
Her disgust at herself for mind warping her father
FLASH
Grabbing her keys and climbing out the window

She’s safe. Oh thank god, she’s safe. Than the realized that Liz had caused the power surge…how could be that strong?
“I know where she is, Max.”

Liz (still Ch. 6)

I had to leave. I can’t believe I mind warped my father. Of all the powers, I had to get, I had to get the power that killed my best friend. What if I hadn’t mind warped it? With my powers so out of control, I could have killed him? I pulled the car over, leaped out, and began to vomit.
I wiped my mouth off with my hand and looked up. I was at the Pod Chamber. The Pod Chamber had answers to my questions. The Pod Chamber was were it could all be explained to me. I hiked up to the place where I remembered the entrance being.
“I demand that you open up!” I yelled. “I know that I need an alien to open this damn door but I need answers! NOW!” I was so worked up and so emotional with my hands waving in the air that I didn’t even know I had moved my arms until the moment my hand passed a certain spot on the wall, a familiar silver hand print appeared on the door.
I gasped. How could I have opened that door? Only the four of them could. I slowly and cautiously walked in. I stared blankly at the pods in front of me. And than it hit me! The Granolith! I frantically begin to look around the room for any secret doors. I began to feel a humming in the back of my mind. It was like a sudden awareness of energy--energy right next to me.
Suddenly, a door opened and than I saw black.


Ch. 7

Michael
Max glared at me, “So where is she? How do you know where she is? Is she OK?”
Now I realized why I never should have opened my mouth. Reason number one: how do I explain how she isn’t here, the glass, and everything if Max doesn’t know she has powers; reason number two: I don’t even know how I got flashes without contact with the person and I did not feel like trying to figure it out; reason number three: Liz needed my help and Max was only going to make it worse.
“Yeah, Maxwell, she’s fine. Don’t ask how I know.” I did NOT need this right now.
Maxwell clenched his fists and his face turned red--sure signs that I was pushing his buttons. “I have a right! She’s my girlfriend, Michael! I can’t just leave her out there with Khivar.”
I bunched my fists up and bit my bottom lip to say something I’ll regret later. Max started pacing and than he stopped. “What if Khivar has my son?”
Than I went off. “YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS? ALL YOU CAN WORRY ABOUT IS YOUR SON?? IF YOU REALLY LOVED LIZ, THAN THAT WOULDN’T MATTER RIGHT NOW!”
Max got in my face. “I do love, Liz, Michael. You wouldn’t know love if it hit you right in the face.”
Shows what he knows. “I know, MAXWELL, that love is not promising Liz a fairytale when all you can give her is short visits and broken promises. I know love isn’t claiming that Liz is your soul mate and than kissing another girl at her Prom. And I KNOW that Liz is NOT sleeping with Tess just because you feel alone. You want Liz to go across the country for you like it will solve everything! But it won’t! Liz needs more--Liz deserves more than being second best to your son. You have no idea half the things Liz has done for you. And believe it or not Max, I’ve known what love was way before you have.”
“How dare you speak to me like that Michael? You’re my second--your not the king, Michael! I am! I have a planet to protect and to rule. You don’t understand half the things I go through.”
I sighed. “No, Max, I don’t. But I know that you gave up Liz. So you want me to bow to you, my King, can how about this?” I gave him the finger and before he could come out of his shock, I left out the window, used my powers to start his car, and sped off to the Pod Chamber.

Liz (still Ch. 7)

I can’t really describe where I was. It was beautiful--there were constellations all around me and the dark abyss of space was amazing. But it really was not space because instead of feeling the emptiness of space--I felt the energy of the stars. It was than that I heard a voice say, “Ryannna.”
“Who is there? Hello?”
“I am here child,” and standing before me was Max and Isabel’s mother. She was beautiful. “I am so glad that you have found your calling, Ryanna.”
“My calling? What calling? My destructive powers?”
“Ryanna, your powers are finally developed and will be under control now--but you have to understand why they are--why you are.”
I shook my head. “No, my name is Liz and how do you know me?”
“My name is Aurora, child. Please calm down as I tell my story. It will answer all of your questions. On my planet of Antar, there were five very important people on my planet: Rathos, the commanding military leader; Zandroz, the king; Vilandra, his sister; Avaleana, a governess; and Ryanna, the keeper of the granolith. The five of them had been friends since they were small children. As they got older, Ryanna became a very beautiful women and all the men on Antar wanted her as their wife. But Rathos was completely smitten with her and her with him. You were madly in love and by the time you were 19 in Earth years you decided to get married. However, Zandroz loved you too and Zandroz was a very spoiled king and even though he was best friends with Rathos, he wanted to keep him away from Ryanna.
Zandroz was engaged to Avaleana for political reasons and Vilandra was engaged to Khivar our ally in the impending war.”
“Khivar? But isn’t he evil.”
Aurora chuckled. “Ah, I see you did not lose your curiosity. You will see. Zandroz’s advances towards you were futile; no one could tear from Rathos. So Zandroz did the only thing he could do to break the two of you up--use his Royal status. He declared a royal order that Rathos be betrothed to Vilandra. Vilandra was very upset because now she could not marry Khivar and Rathos and you were devastated. It was than that we all realized that Zandroz could no longer be king--he had given up his own sister for his selfish reasons.
Khivar, Vilandra, Rathos, and you arranged a revolution to get him off the thrown. But Avaleana stood by his side because all she wanted as to be queen. When you and the revolutionaries attacked the palace, Zandroz had Khivar and Vilandra cornered, in an attempt to kill Khivar, Zandroz sent a blast at him but Vilandra jumped in from of him and she died. Khivar was just so upset that in a rage, he killed Zan. Avaleana vowed revenge on you because it was because of you that all this started so she planted a bomb in the palace but something went wrong and it went off with you, Rathos, and Avaleana in the palace.
We had prepared hybrids of the five of you before any of this happened. We had not counted on Zandroz and Avaleana turning on their people. The way it works is immediately after the five of you die, your essences were sent somewhere safe to Earth.”
“But I’m human. So I cannot be Ryanna.”
“But you can, you see the Granolith is very important to our Planet. It is the heart of our planet and you, Ryanna were blessed to protect it. You had to be kept under very high security so we did not send you with the others. We implanted you in a human women and let you grow as a human. The minute your powers would be developed, other aliens could sense you--the bad kind.”
The sad thing about all this is that I believed her. It explained my birth, my childhood, my undying love for Michael and his for me, Max’s infatuation with me, everything.
I hung my head and whispered. “Well than you should have told me sooner, because Avaleana used the granolith to return to our planet.”
“No, my child, that is not the granolith. That was a transportation device called the Gonrock.”
“Why are you telling me this now? I heard you tell all of them their destiny when we were at the cave!”
“No, Ryanna, we were able to put in some adjustments after we sent you to protect all of you from Avaleana. If Avaleana was holding a communicator, than she could not tell you all that I did just now because than Avaleana would know the key was on Earth.”
It all made sense. “So where is the granolith? And why do you speak so ill of our son?”
“Because I am not Max’s mother, I am Rathos’ mother and the granolith. Yes, Zandroz’s mother did record that one.”
“But you look so alike.”
“It’s a default human form.”
“And my child, the granolith is inside of you.”
Now I was confused. “What? How?”
“The granolith is your unborn child Liz. When you conceive a child, you are giving life to the heart of our planet. I must go now. My energy is weak.”
My heart broke. I had known for a mere while and I felt so connected with her. And I wanted answers. How was my future child a heart of a far way planet? “Goodbye, I will take good care of your son.”
She smiled gently at me. “You always did.” And she disappeared and I started to fall. And than the images came.

Ch. 8
Michael
I was about half way to the Pod Chamber when I saw a bright green light shoot up from the Pod Chamber. “Holy mother of snickers.” What was that? What that Liz? Was she OK?
I stepped on the gas and when I finally reached the Pod Chamber the light had died down. I ran as fast as I could to the entrance and waved my hand over the spot and burst in as soon as the door opened.
The sight of Liz laying on the floor made my blood run cold. I ran over to her and cradled her in my lap. “Liz!” I shouted frantically. “You have to wake up. I need you, OK?”
I shook her some and finally her eyes opened. “Michael, what happened? How did you get here?”
I just held her tightly and peppered light kisses on her face. “You’re OK, Thank God your OK.”
“Why wouldn’t I be, Michael?” She gazed up at me questionably.
“Me and Max felt this surge of power and we thought that it was Khivar but it was you, Liz, when you broke the mirror and threw up the shield.”
She laughed bitterly, “And healed myself and mind warped my father.”
“You didn’t mean to, Angel. You didn’t know.”
I watched Liz lift herself up. “It won’t happen again, I have them under control now.”
Confusion flooded my senses. “What? How?”
“Your mother told me so and than I experienced all these flashes like I was living that life again and I know how why I’m so important.”
“Liz? What are you talking about? Did you hit your head?”
She hit my arm lightly and giggled. “No, silly. Kiss me.”
“What? You are speaking jibberish and you want me to kiss you?” I asked in disbelief
She smiled up at me and batted her eyes. “Are you refusing?”
I leaned in to kiss her and the moment my lips touched hers, I felt everything she had felt, heard everything, and understood everything.
“Oh my god,” I rasped when we pulled apart. “My mother….”
“Yes, Michael,” she took my hand in her tiny one and smiled. “Your mother. See, you do have a family.”
My mother, my family, they were alive and they existed. I felt tears stinging my eyes and I gratefully gazed down at Liz. She had made all of this possible. “No matter who my mother is, you are my family. I love you so much, Liz. Our love transcends time and space.”
She chuckled, “I bet every girl wants to hear that.”
I regarded her seriously. “But you are the only girl who will ever hear it from me. But Liz, now you are in more danger than we both realized. The enemies will be able to sense you and with that light that was coming from this place, there is no doubt that you are in danger.”
“What light?”
“There was a green light shooting from this place. It must have been from my mother. The Planet of Antar will know now that you’ve been found.”
She looked down with sorrow. “So will Avaleana, I mean Tess. I have to be careful now and so do you, Michael. We don’t know how long we have before Avaleana and Max realize what’s going on. The two of them are dangerous.”
I was hoping she wouldn’t bring it up. Max Evans was my king and my brother, but he had hurt me and Liz in that past life but trying to tear us apart. “We’ll have to go to Isabel for backup.”
And than Liz said something that shocked me. “And Khivar too.”

Liz

I waited for his answer. He finally slowly nodded. “But I want to go to Izzy first. I trust her more…way more than Khivar.”
I agreed and smiled. “She’ll be happy to know that she wasn’t the one who caused the downfall of Antar.”
“Yeah she will. She’ll be bouncing off the walls. I’ll call her when I get home and see the fastest she can come down from New York--she went up with Jesse this week. But until than, I’m going to take you home so you can rest.”
I reluctantly nodded. I was kind of tired. “OK, Michael. Did you ride your motorcycle cuz I brought my car.”
“Actually, I may have stolen Max’s car and drove it here.” I itched my neckt in a nervous gesture. I did not want to drive in Max’s car right now. Truth be told, I never wanted to see Max Evans again. I had an idea and I smiled deviously. “We could always leave it here and take my car.”
He laughed, “I like the way you think, Parker. I’ve corrupted you already.”
We left the pod chamber hand in hand and went to my car and as soon as I turned on the engine. Michael turned to me. “Liz, I thought that I had almost lost you today and you have no idea how absolutely terrified I was. So, I need you to promise me that you will be careful. You can’t go near Max without somebody else around and do not go searching for Khivar without me. I just found you Liz and I couldn’t take it if I lost you.”
I turned to face him. I have never loved Michael as much as I did now. “I promise, Michael. I almost lost myself for a moment too but I’m back now and no one, even Max is going to tear us apart. Now lets go home.”


Chapter 9

Michael

When we got to her house, we just sat in the car for a while, basking in each other’s nearness . I wish I could keep her here forever so no one would touch her but me. “I’m staying on your balcony tonight, Liz.”
She gave me a small smile. “I know. You’d be too far away if you were at your apartment and I guess I’m a bit scared, too.”
I moved around so that I was facing her and cupped her face with my hand. She leaned into my hand and sighed. “ I won’t let anyone hurt you, Liz. Even Max.”
“What are we going to do about Max, Michael?” she asked in a small voice.
“I told you that he won’t get near you without me there.”
She shook her head and frowned. “It’s not me I’m worried about.”
“Oh.” I had never thought about that.
“I have a theory. I think that history is doomed to repeat itself. Or at least with Max anyway. He’ll snap eventually and when he does, it won’t be good. The human side of Max is suppressing the Zandroz part of him. But lately, ever since Tess came to town, the Zandroz part of him is coming out very slowly.”
My Liz is so smart. But I understood what she was saying. “When Max hit me to get the orb, I knew that something was off.”
Liz’s jaw clenched. “He shouldn’t have hit you. Especially after Hank, Michael.”
“Shh, I know. But the things he’s done, he’s not the same Max anymore, Liz. Which is why--”
Liz rolled her eyes. “I should stay away from him I know. But so should you. I don’t want to lose you either Michael. C’mon let’s go inside. Good thing tomorrow is Saturday or we’d get no sleep. It’s almost five in the morning.”
We left the car and she told me to wait on the balcony while she went to check on her parents. She came back and mumbled, “They left about ten minutes ago to get a head start to Clover, they are staying there for a couple of days. I’m gonna get my pajamas on and than I’ll come out and we can sleep.” While I had left I had used my powers to clean her room for her; the mirror was back in place and no more charred walls but I guess she didn’t notice.
“I’ll get a sleeping bag, Liz.”
“NO!” she almost shouted. “I just…I just need you to hold me, OK? Just like before, Michael. Can you do that?”
“Yeah, Liz. Anything.”

Liz

I woke up at 3 in the afternoon and Michael was still sleeping. So I slipped some clothes on and headed downstairs to help with the Crashdown. The place was already filled so I put on my uniform. I almost laughed at the irony that I spent years working here with these stupid antennae on my head when I may actually had once had them. I must have been laughing out loud because Jose poked is head in from the stove and asked what I was laughing about.
“Nothing,” I replied. “Thanks for taking over Michael’s shift. He’s sleeping in this morning.”
Jose poked his head out again. “NO problem, chica. Maybe you should get your butt out there. Angry customers ahead.”
I laughed and headed out. And there sitting in his usual booth as the one and only: Sean Deluca.
I reluctantly walked over and plastered on my Crashdown smile. “Hey Sean, what brings you back to Roswell?”
“Parker?” he asked surprised. “I didn’t recognize you--you look different.”
“Oh,” I must have ALIEN tattooed across my forehead now. “So what would you like?”
I took his order and leaned over to replaces his ketchup when I heard Sean gasp. “What?” I asked alarmed.
“I didn’t know you got a tattoo, Parker. I like it.”
“Tattoo? What are you talking about Sean?”
“You have a swirl thingy on your neck.”
I frantically grabbed the napkin dispenser and pulled by hair back. And there it was: it was that symbol on that necklace that Riverdog gave us and next to it was a dagger. Maybe I shouldn’t have joked about that whole ALIEN tattoo, huh?


Chapter 10

Michael

I called Isabel as soon as I woke up. I didn’t want to tell her everything--I didn’t know how much Liz wanted me to tell. Isabel said she could be down in about a week. I dressed quickly and went downstairs. Liz was in the backroom looking in the mirror.
I snuck up behind her and wrapped my arms around her middle. “You like beautiful.” She smiled but than she turned around and her gaze was full of worry. “Look Michael.”
She pulled her hair up and I saw a tattoo. “What is that?”
“I must have gotten it when I developed my powers. I mean it’s one thing to have a beacon of energy going to all aliens but having a tattoo? Isn’t that a bit obvious?”
She was right. How could I protect her if she was practically screaming she was an alien. I could just lock her in my apartment forever but I doubt she would go for that. “When did you notice it?”
“I didn’t--Sean did.”
“What? Sean, felony, Deluca.”
She nodded.
“Sean, “I want to get in Liz’s pants”, Deluca?”
She laughed and blushed. “He did not, Michael. He just noticed it, he just got back in town a couple days ago.”
“So you think that it’s just coincidence that he shows up right about the time you begin to figure out you were Ryanna?” I quipped. “Cause it’s not very likely.”
“I’ll be careful. I’m in a public place, Michael.”
Liz could be so stubborn sometimes. So I kissed her went to the stove to cook hamburgers.

Liz
I was on my break, in the backroom, when Sean poked his head in. “Parker, you decent? I want to talk to you.”
“uh, OK. What is it Sean?” I asked as soon as he entered.
He paced and frowned at me. “We do not have much time, so I have to get this out. There’s something you don’t know about Khivar.”
Michael was right. Sean was an evil alien! I immediately threw my shield up and grinded out, “What do you want?”
“I’m on your side, I promise. I’m an Antarian Protector. I was sent to Roswell to keep an eye on the Guardian. I did not know it was you until I saw the mark. You have to listen to me.”
I backed up and kept my shield up. “OK, talk.”
“Khivar isn’t who you think he is. Something went wrong with the pods, the Khivar incarnate we sent was defected so we sent another one like we did you, as a human form. He was put in a human female and grew up as a human.”
“Where is he now?” I asked. I put my shield down. Something told me I could trust him but I still kept my distance.
“He’s dead. Avaleana got to him before he could fully develop.”
I was confused. “Tess? How did Tess get to him?”
“I came to town a week ago to find him and than find you. But I found out that Khivar has been dead for about a year now.”
My whole world started to spin. Isabel and Khivar were together--they were in love. Isabel only loved one other person her entire love and Tess killed him. Alex….Alex was Khivar

“Oh my god….NO! There is some mistake, Alex was human!” I could not believe this. But it made sense, completing one piece in the puzzle of this whole mess.
Sean smirked. “So were you.”
“Why didn’t his powers come out when mine did?”
“When Max healed you it speeded up the process. When Tess began to mind warp him, it would slowly bring Khivar out. But when it finally began to you, Tess sensed it and killed him before he could remember.”
“Oh god,” and I sunk to the floor sobs racking my body. Alex was Khivar, Alex was Khivar, tell me this isn’t happening.
Sean turned to leave. “I’ll contact you later. I’ll find you.”
I watched him and immediately ran up to find Michael. “MICHAEL! MICHAEL!”
He emerged from the inventory closet and I ran into this arms. “What is it, Liz? Did someone hurt you?”
I willed my mind to show him what I now knew. His face turned a pale white in shock. “Oh my god, Liz. Are you OK?”
I nodded mutely. “I’m OK, just…I’m just…You should call Isabel.”
“I already did, Liz. She said she’d be down in a week.”
“NO, we need to finish this know. We need to find the defected Khivar now, Michael, and than we’ll deal with Max. I need this over with.”
Even though I told him to leave, he held me until I stopped crying. Alex, I’ll get her for you. I promise.

Chapter 11

Michael
Isabel said she could be down in a day. Me and Liz both knew that when she did come that the three of us would have to come up with a plan. It was Liz’s idea to go to the quarry to practice our powers and see if we could find any new ones.
We went through simple things first, small blasts things like that. I tried to mind warp but I just got a migraine so I convinced Liz to give it up.
Liz came up next to me and said, “Let’s try blasting again.”
“What? Why? I’ve blasted half the quarry!” She giggled and stood next to a large rock.
“Go ahead, blast it!”
Panic ran through me. “No, Liz. You are too close to it, you have to move.”
I knew why she was doing this. She wanted to control my powers more than I already was and to get over my fear of hurting people. I watched with dread as she shook her head. “Please, Liz. I don’t want to hurt me.”
“You won’t, Michael, I promise.”
The one of thing that I really loved about Liz was that she could make me believe in myself. Even when I didn’t. “Ok,” I said. “But if I tell you to move, I want you to move, OK?”
She nodded. “Now close your eyes, Michael. And picture the rock.”
I did so and took deep breaths. “Michael, I want to focus on the energy of the rock.”
I pictured the rock and pictured it exploding. “Ok, now Michael, I want you to really concentrate the energy you have inside of you and force it to the rock.” I could feel the power building. I put my hand out in front of me. “Now, Michael. I want you to draw your energy to meet the rocks energy and when you do, blast it.”
I released the energy and hurt a big explosion. My eyes flew open to see Liz with a shield around her body. And than I realized I had exploded the rock! “I did it!”
I had been able to tell the difference between Liz and the rock! I did it! Liz ran up to me and hugged me and kissed my lips. “That was great, Michael! I knew you could do it!”

Liz
An hour later, we had managed to find a way to put a shield up around another person instead of ourselves. And that progressed to being able to put a shield up about someone when they weren’t near us and the person putting up the shield wasn’t it. We were tired and spent. So Michael dropped me off and when I went into my room, Isabel was sitting there.
“Hey, I thought you weren’t going to be here until tomorrow.”
She smiled at me, “Yeah I know but I got an early flight and Michael wasn’t at his apartment so I came here.” I couldn’t tell her the truth without Michael here. I couldn’t. “Liz?”
“Yeah?”
“How come I could feel you before you got into the room?”
I sat down. “Isabel, there’s something I have to tell you and you may not believe me but it’s true. Isabel, you didn’t cause Antar’s downfall.”
She was silent so I continued, “Max was.”
I sat down next to her on my bed and smiled weakly. “I know you probably are in shock right now and have no idea what I’m talking about so I want to show you.”
“Show me?”
“Yes, Isabel. Show you what has happened in the past couple of days than you’ll understand.”
Before she could say anything, I began to send her images.
FLASH
Me and Michael admitting our feeling for each other; our love for each other
FLASH
My powers and how out of control they are; mind warping my father
FLASH
Michael’s mom’s message at the Pod Chamber
FLASH
Sean telling me about Alex

When opened my eyes, she was crying openly. My heart went out to her. “Izzy? Are you going to be OK?”
She sniffled. “Yes, I think. I believe you, Liz, and Michael’s mother.”
“I, uh, I’m really sorry about having to tell you about Max and Alex, Izzy.”
“I know but he’s by brother, but you’re right, Max isn’t Max anymore. How are we gonna deal with Max?”
She did not want to talk about Alex and I understood--I did not want to talk about it either. “Max isn’t our first priority right now. Khivar is. I want him out of our lives and I think I know just the way to do it.”

Michael

Liz called me and told me her and Isabel were coming over my apartment. I thought Isabel wasn’t coming until tomorrow but I reminded myself to ask Liz about that when she came. I tried to clean up my apartment but with no avail when Liz and Isabel walked in.
Isabel looked at me and smiled widely, “Liz told me everything, Michael. I’m happy for you two.”
“Oh, what about Max?”
Her eyes lost a bit of her light. “I know…it’s hard but we have to do what we have to do.”
Now I was confused. “Do what?”
“To kill Khivar and Tess and we have a plan to get it done.” Liz spoke up.
“What is it?”
“We use Max to find Khivar.” I could see Isabel and Liz’s pain in using Max, no matter how evil he was. “All we have to do is tell him that Khivar has his son.”
“And you guys expect Max to just run into Khivar’s hands?”
“No, that’s why we need back up.”
Isabel stared at me to gauge my reaction, “We find the dupes and make them help us.”
“What makes you think that they will help us? They hate us.”
I watched Liz’s eyes light up a bit and that’s when I knew, that only meant another theory. “I think that the dupes hate Max, not us, and they had the right idea the whole time. Rath and Lonnie hated Zan because they knew about their past lives. That’s why they tried to kill Max and Tess to finally get rid of them but we interfered because we didn’t know any better.”
I did not like this plan, Lonnie and Rath were unpredictable. “Why do you think this will work?”
“Because they want to get rid of Tess and Max. We may have not made a decision about what we are going to do about Max, but we want Tess gone and I’m sure they want Khivar gone too.”
“Say this works,” I relented rubbing my face in frustration. “How do we get in touch with them?”
“Liz is going to dream walk them because they’ll recognize her as the Guardian besides, if they recognize her that way, than Rath will want to help,” Isabel reasoned.
“Why Rath?”
Liz shot Isabel a warning look but Isabel answered me anyway, “If Rath remembers his past life than he remembers Ryanna and the love he had for her. He’ll trust her and Lonnie will too.”
“And me and Ava are already close,” I piped in.
“How can we trust Ava, I mean, she’s still Avaleana?” I didn’t want Liz going near her if she was.
“I think that Ava was defected…that’s why she’s sane and y’know not all evil.”
“But I go with you when you dream walk the dupes. If something does wrong, I want to be there. Look, Isabel, I want to talk to Liz and I’ll call you later. Are you staying with your parents?”
Isabel nodded. “Yeah, Michael.” Isabel said her goodbyes and left.
I turned to Liz. “Please sit down.” She looked at me confused but did it anyway. Concern was written on her face, “Don’t worry, Liz, nothing is wrong.”
She let out a breath and I began, “I was thinking last night about us and how all this happening hasn’t let you and me spend just some free time together.”
“Michael,” she interrupted. “I know that we won’t have a normal relationship and I accept that. Is this what this is about?”
“No, Liz, it’s just that--god, I don’t know how to say this. Elizabeth Parker, would you go out on a date with me?”

Liz
It amazed me that we were in quite possibly a war between us and Khivar, Tess, and Max, and that Michael actually wanted us to go out on a date. I mean, I wanted to, I did. But I did not expect him to say that.
“Yes, of course, I would love to go on a date with you Michael. But may I ask why you are asking me this now?”
I never realized how much Michael has smiled lately but it didn’t matter how many times he did it, it was the most beautiful things I’ve never seen. Michael leaned forward and my hands in his. “I know that with Max….”
I ferociously shook my head, “No, Michael. You never have to compare what we have to what me and Max had! Those are two totally different things. What is we have is special and really meant to be. I cannot stress that enough to you Michael.”
“I know Liz, but I want to do this for you. I want to take you out on a date, to a restaurant, and to show everyone that we are together. You deserve to have some normal aspects of a relationship. Once we contact the dupes, all hell is going to break lose so we need all the time we can get before that happens.”
“When should I meet you, Michael?”
He grinned, “Tomorrow at 8. This will be the best night of our lives.”

Ch. 12A

Liz
I couldn’t wait until I’d meet Michael. I only had two hours left to go. We hadn’t heard from Isabel because her parents had dragged her off to a couple family dinners and bondings. I had gotten ready early in case I needed to change anything. And for the first time, I felt normal. I wasn’t a guardian of a Granolith and I was definitely not alien. Well, kind-of alien, I thought as I ran my hand through my hair and used my powers to make it wavy. Well, it just so happens that the minute that I actually began to pretend that I was normal--all hell broke lose.
My door burst open and Isabel came him, disheveled, with Michael not far behind her. And Michael was carrying Sean’s bloodied body.
All air escaped my lungs. “Oh my god, what happened?”
“He came to my apartment like this and told me to bring him to you,” Michael explained. Sean mumbled something and I went into action mode.
“Michael, put him on the bed.”
Sean made a groaning noise as Michael put him down. I rushed to Sean’s side and as soon as I sat down next to him, he grabbed my arm--his eyes were wild and his words were desperate. “You are running out of my time, Ryanna.”
“Who did this to you, Sean? You have to tell me.” I watched in horror as he convulsed and he clutched his chest. I instinctively went to put my hands over his body to heal him when he stopped me. “What are you doing?”
“It’s too late, Ryanna. You’ll need your energy to get him.”
“Get who?” I knew I was grasping for straws here but Sean kept being all cryptic.
“Khivar,” he sputtered out.
“Is that who did this to you, Sean? You have to tell me.”
“Yes,” he managed to squeak out and his breathe became seriously labored. “And…”
“And who? There was someone else?”
“Yes--Avaleana. Please be careful,” and his eyes gazed upward and his breathing stopped. Isabel’s eyes were tearing and Michael was looking at me in concern.
I swiped by hand over Sean’s body making him disappear and I turned to them. “We don’t have as much time as we thought. We have to contact the dupes tonight.”

Ch. 12B
Liz
I was sitting cross-legged on the floor with Michael’s hand in mine about to contact the dupes. “Isabel,” I reminded her, “if anything goes wrong, I want you to get us out, OK?”
Isabel nodded and I could tell she was still shaken by Sean’s death. A causality in the war. A war that we had to finish as soon as possible.
I closed my eyes and pictured Ava, Lonnie, and Rath in my head and began to call their energy. A small humming began to start in the back of my mind and when I opened my eyes, I was in a dank, cold area that looked like a underground sewage compartment. I frantically looked around for Michael and laughed when I found him in a heap on the floor. Apparently, he didn’t get quite as a nice fall as I did.
He brushed himself off and sneered at me, “Watch it, Parker.”
“Watch it, Guerin or I’ll leave you here.”
Before Michael could make a witty comeback, I saw Ava, Lonnie, and Rath standing across from us with shocked looks on their faces. It amazed me how much Rath looked like Michael, just without those piercing and the multiple tattoos.
Michael pulled me closer to him. We were hoping they would recognize my energy but just in case we were both ready to defend ourselves. Finally, Ava spoke, “I knew it was you all along, Cornball, I just didn’t wanna jinx ya or nothing.”
Lonnie stood frozen in her places, “This ain’t possible. Nasedo told us you was dead.”
WHAT? Instead of asking what she meant, I figured small baby steps would work best in this situation. “So I take it you know who I am.”
“Knew all along, Cornball,” Ava said and began to walk over to me. Michael stepped in front of me in a protective manner and Ava threw her hands up in mock surrender. “Cool, it Mikey Boy. I ain’t gonna hurt yo girl.”
Michael still did not move so I stepped around him and embraced Ava. Lonnie simply nodded at me and I turned to look at Rath. He held my gaze for a split second and simply said, “I thought you were dead, Ry.”
It was than that I realized that Rath was like Michael in that they both shut themselves down to the people around them. And Rath didn’t have me to bring that out of him. I smiled at him and said, “But I’m not. And what’s this about me being dead? Did Nasedo know about me?”
“The first time we saw Nasedo, he told us you was dead.”
I turned to Michael, “Why would he do that?”
Lonnie explained, “He was working for da wrong side, him and that Tess bird the whole time so we lost contact with him after we found out but we really did think you were dead.”
I nodded sadly, “Nasedo is dead--he’s been dead for a while now but Tess is still alive and fully evil and Max…..he isn’t who he used to be.”
“So why are you here, Ry?” Rath whispered.
“Because, this is a war. We need Tess and the defected Khivar dead now.”
Lonnie’s eyes turned cold, “I want Max dead too.”
I stood tall and retorted, “You want Zandroz dead but we want Max alive. Let’s just figure out Khivar and Tess first.”
I told them about our plan and why we needed them for backup. “And we were also hoping you knew where Khivar was,” Michael added.
Lonnie nodded, “Wez do, we have been keeping a eye on him for a while, but wez aint never seen the guy. But how do we get Max to find him?”
“Ava can mind warp him and make him think that Khivar sent him a message saying that he has his son and make sure, Ava, to give enough clues to where he is but don’t make it too obvious.”
Ava agreed. “How soon do you want us in Roswell?”
“As soon as possible.”
“We can be down my tomorrow morning. We can work some alien mojo for ya, Ry, and get there real soon.”
I nodded, “Me and Michael should get going now. When you arrive in Roswell go to Michael’s apartment, I don’t want Max knowing that you’re in Roswell.”
I began to pull out of the connection, when I felt Rath’s eyes on me. “Be careful, Liz.” I nodded at him and left the dream plane.


Ch. 13

Michael
The minute I came to, Isabel was pounding us with questions. “Isabel! Cool it! I’m tired and so is Liz, we can talk about this tomorrow when the Ava, Lonnie, and Rath come.” I sent her a warning look--I knew Liz wasn’t up to answering all sorts of questions. Liz had bags under eyes from the stress of the last two hours and she was getting a bit pale, probably from dreaming walking and pulling extra people into it.
“Isabel,” Liz said weakly. “Can we please talk about this tomorrow?”
Isabel took in Liz’s appearance and nodded. “Sure, keep in touch OK?”
When she left I turned to Liz. “You need to sleep, Liz. You’re tired and drained out--you can’t overexert yourself like that Liz--it’s dangerous.”
She looked up and me and smiled weakly. “OK, Michael but can you stay with me please?” I wouldn’t have let her sleep any other way.
We had fallen asleep soon after on the floor and when I woke in the middle of the night, Liz was no where to be seen. I immediately panicked and began to look out the window, and let out a sigh of relief when I saw her on the balcony with a blanket around her.
I came out to the balcony. “You aren’t writing in your journal?”
Liz didn’t even move. “No, Michael. It’s not even my journal anymore.” Her voice was dead and defeated.
I went to her side and pulled her to me so her head rested on my shoulder. She sighed and relaxed and I realized she had been crying. My heart lurched and I pulled her closer. “Liz what’s wrong?”
Liz sniffled, “I can’t write in my journal anymore because I’m not Liz Parker. I’m not that person at all. Liz Parker would not have Sean laying dead in her bedroom and Liz Parker wouldn’t shatter mirrors and dream walk people. Liz Parker and Ryanna are two different people, Michael and I don’t know which one I am.”
Her body began to shake with sobs. I wiped her tears off with my hands and gazed into her eyes. “You are who you are. There are not any clear cut answers here Liz. No, you aren’t just Liz Parker anymore, you’re Ryanna too--and her essence is in you.”
Liz stood up abruptly, “No, Michael, you don’t understand. I didn’t smash that mirror, Ryanna did! Every time my powers act up around Max, it’s not because of them being out of the control. It’s because Ryanna recognizes Zandroz as the dominant part in Max and reacts to it. She keeps trying to get out and I don’t know how to stop her.”
Oh god. Now I knew why she was so upset. “Ryanna wants to kill Zandroz, doesn’t she?”
She nodded. “She’s so angry with what he did to her--and us in that past life, Michael. I can’t imagine the things that Zandroz did to make her feel that way and when I think of it that way, I think maybe that Zandroz should pay for what he’s done. Ryanna keeps trying to show me something and these memories keep popping up in my head….they are like flashes. I get bits and pieces but I’m not getting the whole picture.”
I could feel her pain and frustration coming off in waves. Liz shouldn’t have to go through this, I thought. I stood up and wrapped her in my arms. “Does Ryanna recognize me?”
She nodded, “Yeah. That’s what makes her so angry.”
“Why?”
“Because Zandroz killed Rathos, Michael. They thought he died in an explosion but he didn’t. He was dead before Zandroz confronted Khivar and Vila

“But he won’t. This will all be over soon, Liz. Maybe Lonnie, Ava, and Rath can help us figure Ryanna out, OK? But until than I want you to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.”
I led her back into her room and laid her on the bed and I climbed into the bed with her. I felt her begin to relax and her eyes began to shut. Before she did sleep, she mumbled, “Zandroz did something worse, Michael, than kill Rathos. She’s trying to show me what it is.”
“Shhh, Liz. Go to sleep. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I stayed up and watched her sleep. All I could think about was what Zandroz could have done that was worse than killing the love of Ryanna’s life. I almost did not want to know.

Michael

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to waking up next to Liz. It’s the best way to start the day, if I say so myself. Shee was still sleeping when I woke up, so I rolled up and kissed her. Her eyes popped open. “Morning, Liz.”
“Good morning, Michael. I’m gonna shower and get dressed so we can head over your place to meet the dupes.” I was about to get up when I pulled her back down and began to kiss her senseless.
An hour later, we were ready to head over to his apartment. In the car, I called Isabel to tell her to meet us there. “So, I guess I’ll have to take a rain check on that date huh?”
I meant it as a joke but Liz’s eyes went downcast and she frowned. “Liz, I’m so sorry about that. It didn’t plan on having Sean dropping by.”
Liz’s eyes flashed with anger. “Tess did not have to kill him--that was unnecessary.”
“Do you want to kill Tess, Liz?” I asked cautiously. I did not want to upset her but I needed to know who we wanted to come out of this little invasion alive.
She thought for a moment and I could tell it was about Alex and Sean. “Yes, Michael, I want her out of our lives forever.”
“Is that you or Ryanna who wants that Liz, because I thought you said that you did not want Ryanna thinking for you.”
“No, Michael, I want Tess dead and even if Ryanna didn’t, I would still want it.”
The rest of the car ride was silent.

Ch. 14

Liz
The dupes were already there when we arrived and so was Isabel. We got to work quickly, devising a plan. Ava said that she already had sent Max the message of Khivar and that she made it look like Khivar had a lot of lackeys so Max would want to take Michael along for backup. “So, how do we handle Max?”
“While Maxie boy and Mikey are goin to see Khivar, the rest of us will follow behind yas. When me and Lonnie have a clear shot of Khivar, we’ll take it and once he’s down, Rath is gonna take Max out and when he’s unconscious, Isabel will take Max to the holding place. The rest of us will stay there and get rid of Tess because I know that psycho has got to be there.”
Ava’s plan would work, I knew it would. “What about me?”
“You and Rath will wait for the signal and than take out the lackeys and guards. It’s that simple.”
Michael’s phone rang and he went to pick it up. ‘Max’ he mouthed to us as he talked to him. “Max wants me to meet him at the Crashdown and I’m pretty it’s about Khivar.”
“Take Isabel and Lonnie with you, Michael, just in case.” I was not about to let him go alone. He agreed and the three of them left and said they’d be back soon.
Ava went to go take a nap before we went. Hopefully, Max would want to go as soon as possible to Khivar and Michael would call us and Isabel and Lonnie would pick me, Rath, and Ava up and we’d tail them. Ironically, Khivar was stationed in a nearby factory just out of town so it would not take long to get there.
I was going over the plan in my head when Rath put a hand on my shoulder and said softly, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Uh, sure,” I said.
He looked nervous. “I have a couple things I want to say but I want to say them and if you talk, I won’t be able to get this out. You see, me, Lonnie, and Ava somehow were born with our memories intact. At first they were fuzzy but by the time they were clear, we knew that we had to find Ryanna’s incarnate. I always knew that there was something bigger out there for me and that thing was you, Liz, the hope that someday I would find you and I would know you were safe. When Nasedo told us you were dead, I lost that sense of purpose. I thought that I had let you down. So I vowed revenge on Zandroz for even killing us the first time. That’s why I killed Zan. But now I’ve found you and I’m happy you’re safe and I want you to know that I love you. That time we kissed before, I had never felt so happy in my life, Liz. But you’re with Mikey and I’m cool with that but if he hurts you, I will have to kill him.” He chuckled and I realized how much his laugh sounded like Michaels.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah.”
“What did Zandroz do, besides kill you, to make Ryanna so angry?”
He turned pale, “You don’t know?”
And than my cell phone rang. “Hello?”
“Liz, it’s Michael. Max wants to go now, I’m gonna buy some time for us--I ordered take-out for the road.”
Sounds like Michael, “OK, Iz and Lonnie are coming soon?”
“Yeah. Liz, I want you to be careful OK? I love you.”
“I love you too, Michael.” I glanced at Rath. “I think I’ll be OK, I have faith in the people around me.”

Michael

I knew that the factory was close by but if I had to sit here with Maxwell any later, I’d kill myself. He was playing this depressing music--Sarah McLachan or something like that. And he was singing. This has to be a living hell--maybe this is how Zandroz killed us all, by singing us to death.
He finally turned the music off. “Michael, are we clear on the plan?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Max, we go in the back door and find Khivar but we cannot let ourselves be seen because than Khivar might harm your son.”
“Yeah. I can’t believe that I’m going to get my son back, Michael. I never thought I’d find my family.”
My heart sank because I knew what his next words would be. “Than I can apologize to Liz and we can be a family. Everything will go back to the way it was.”
“Liz won’t take you back,” I gritted through my teeth to stop talking after I said that. If I continued than Max would have me walking to the factory.
His eyes flashed with anger. “Yes, she will. She has too, I don’t know what I’d do without her, Michael.”
He really did love her, I realized. I almost pitied the guy. “Don’t you think she deserves to be normal, Max? She’ll never have that with you.” I was hoping I could convince Max to leave Liz alone but I knew it would not work so I had to try.
“She needs to be with me Michael. I know she does.”
“You have no idea what Liz needs, Max. If you did, you’d leave her alone.” I knew I should not have said it but it came out, I swear.
“What’s with this sudden interest in Liz, Michael? I thought you didn’t trust her.”
The only way this plan would work is if Max didn’t kill me so I lied that only way I could. “I don’t, Max. It’d be best if we just let all the human ties go.” The words felt like venom in my mouth. I noticed in the rearview mirror that Lonnie’s car was behind us.
I watched Max’s face carefully to gauge his reaction. If Ava and Liz did this right, Max would supposed to be seeing a deserted road. He must have too because he just kept driving. And than it suddenly occurred to me how much of Max was actually left. Max cared about Liz enough to want her to be happy and Zandroz didn’t even care about that.
Zandroz was going down.
Liz
I watched as Max’s car pulled behind the factory. We waited until Max and Michael were inside the factory. Lonnie and Ava began to head out to the front to take out the guards and Isabel, Rath, and I began to make our way to the back where Max and Michael went in.
I used my powers to open the door because knowing Max, he had probably locked it. As soon as we were in, Isabel told us to be careful and went to the car where she would wait until Ava brought Max’s body out to her.
“Liz,” Rath said and pointed towards the direction the noises were coming from. He grabbed my hand and we began to walk. That’s when we saw them. Michael and Max were being dragged in my a couple of guards and were dropped to the floor. We had managed to hid behind a stack of boxes.
“Where’s Khivar?” I asked.
“He should be here soon, Liz. He probably just got word that theyz here. Lonnie and Ava should be here soon.”
I scanned the area and it looked like the main compartment of a factory only completely empty except for a couple tables. “Where’s Tess?”
Rath shrugged, “Dunno, Liz. If she’s even here.”
“She has to be, Rath.”
He turned to me. “I want you to be careful around her, Liz. I knowz youz got beef with her but please be careful.”
I nodded. Suddenly a window shattered in the highest part of the ceiling. That was it. The signal but where were Lonnie and Ava?
The door slammed open and Lonnie and Ava walked in. They immediately dusted the guards holding Michael and Max.
Max immediately put up a shield because to him , Ava and Lonnie were dangerous. I couldn’t blame him.

Michael

As soon as Lonnie and Ava came in, Max put a shield up around the two of us. The thought was sweet and all, but now it was time for Maxie boy to pay for what’s he’s done. I was about to knock Max unconscious when a voice said, “Vilandra and Avaleana. What a surprise.”

Ch. 15

Liz
I almost fainted when I saw Khivar. Because standing in front of Michael and Max was the one and only: Nasedo. Rath put his hand over my mouth to keep myself from gasping loudly. Nasedo called out, “Ryanna, I know you are here. I can feel your energy from miles away.”
I didn’t move. “That’s OK, Ryanna. Or do I have to start killing people to make you come out.” I knew he would do it too but I stepped out from behind the boxes and Rath followed. We ran over to where Lonnie and Ava were.
Nasedo raised my eyebrow and began to walk towards us. “I see that you have found each other. I guess the family that sticks together, dies together. You cannot hurt me, I have guards everywhere. You won’t make it out of here alive.”
“Oh really?” Ava challenged. “Cuz if you call those dust piles all over this place guards than I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”
“Liz, what are you doing here?” I turned to see Max staring at me with wide eyes.
“Max, I’ll explain later but this is for your own good.”
His expression was confused, “For what, Liz?” Out of nowhere, Michael put his hand over Max’s head, making Max faint.
“Ava, go!” I shouted. She took Max’s body and left. Khivar went to go attack him but I put a shield up around them. I boldly stepped closer to Khivar, “Don’t even think about it. So how is that you faked your death?”
“I had to if I wanted to if I wanted to work like this. Max would ask too many questions. Speaking of Max, where is our little king off to?”
“That is none of your business, Khivar,” I growled. “I ask the questions here not you. Why did you kill Sean?”
He smirked. Bad idea to piss me off, I thought, and I flung him back a couple meters with a flick of my wrist. He wasn’t smiling anymore, in fact, Khivar looked pretty damn scared. “Was it because he was in the way or was it because you enjoy killing, you sick bastard?” I flung him back again and this time he hit the wall with a loud thud.
In the corner of my eye, I saw Lonnie, Rath, and Michael standing close by. I towered over Khivar’s slumped body. “TELL ME!”
He just laughed. “I would never tell you. In that past life, Khivar was stupid by not raising up to Max and taking over Antar himself without all of you to control him. He had visions and I see them.”
Suddenly, I briefly saw an energy ball pass my head and Khivar was a pile of charred dust when I turned back around to face me. I looked questionably at Lonnie, Rath, and Michael to find out which one had killed him. They all had blank stares. They hadn’t killed him. Than who did?
I was suddenly flung back and I fell into a heap of Lonnie, Rath, and Michael. When I composed myself, I heard, “He always did talk too much.”
And standing in front of me was Tess.

Ch. 16

Liz
My hands itched with unreleased energy. “Tess.”
She smiled at me with menace. “Liz, so nice to see you. I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Hatred ran through me, “Yes, I remember. You were blasting off into space with Max’s child alone because Max found out you murdered my best friend. Speaking of, where’s the evil child anyway? I see you’ve gained a couple ten pounds because of him.”
“Don’t you ever speak about my child!” Her eyes were burning with anger and her hands kept unclenching.
I stood up defiantly. “Why what happened to it? Did he realize he was a child of a murderous whore and run away? Cuz that’s what I would do.”
“He’s dead! Khivar killed him because he was completely human!”
I almost felt bad for her. Suddenly Ryanna tried to surface and send me a flash. What was she trying to tell me?
I realized that Michael was standing next to me and Lonnie and Rath were behind me, all tense waiting for one of us to make a move.
“Well, Tess, this is me pretending I care,” I retorted sarcastically.
She narrowed her eyes at me, “You know what Alex’s last words were, Liz? Something along the lines of “please, please, please don’t kill me”.”
My hands were heating up at a rapid pace.
“But you know what, Liz? No matter how much he begged to me to save him, I killed him anyway and guess what Liz, I enjoyed it. So much, just as much as I enjoyed taking Max away from you. Killing comes to easily to me, I don’t know why. It’s as simple as this.”
Than the next five seconds happened in slow motion. I watched in horror as she raised her hand in Michael’s direction. But before I could put a shield up around him, Rath pushed past me and jumped in front of Michael. Rath’s body convulsed with energy and than he fell to the ground.
I immediately ran to him. “Rath! NO, you can’t do this to me. You have to stay with me.” He faintly nodded. I tried to heal him but it wasn’t working--it was too late. Tears began to fall from my eyes. He reached up and touched my cheek.
“The heart of the Antar….” he stuttered. “Is inside of you, protect it at all times.”
“The heart of the Antar?”
He placed his hands on my stomach. “When you were killed, you were pregnant with Rathos’ child. The heart of Antar…..”
All air rushed from my lungs. “NO!” I shouted as Rath’s body went limp.
That’s what Ryanna was trying to show me. And than the flashes came.
FLASH
Watching as Michael died in front of me
FLASH
Zandroz turning to me and telling me to be his queen
FLASH
Me telling Zandroz that I was pregnant and that he could not force to me to give him a heir
FLASH
Zandroz getting angry at me for being pregnant, for not loving him
FLASH
Zandroz raising his hand and sending an energy ball at me in the heat of his anger
FLASH
Complete darkness

Zandroz had killed Ryanna. Oh god! And than I felt Ryanna keep trying to push up and than I felt myself falling.


Michael
Tess had killed Rath. Oh god. I looked over at Liz leaning over Rath’s body and I could tell my her sobs he was dying and although, I could not hear what they were talking about, I knew it was upsetting Liz. Tess had a smug smile on her face and I sent a blast towards her sending her against the nearest wall.
Tess really was a cold hearted killer. She looked up and was about to blast me back when her gaze darted past to me something behind me and her eyes suddenly filled with raw fear. “Ryanna,” she whispered trembling.
I turned around to see Liz behind me. But it wasn’t Liz. Liz stood a bit taller and her eyes were completely black. It was Ryanna. Seeing Rath die must have pushed Ryanna to the surface. Ryanna gazed and me and than said in a tight voice, “Michael, let me handle this. Do not interfere.”
I stepped back and ran to Ava and Lonnie who were sobbing by Rath’s dead body. I watched as Tess stood up on shaky legs. “It’s you, how is that possible?”
Ryanna smiled a cold smile, “That’s right, b*tch, I’m back.”
“You don’t scare me,” Tess said. I almost laughed, I could lie better than that.
“Really, Avaleana? So tell me how does it feel to still be beaten by me? It always upset you that Zandroz loved me even though you tried to get him to stop. And even in this life time, he loved Liz more than you.”
“Stop it!” Tess shouted. “I’ve had enough of you.”
Ryanna laughed. “What are you going to do, kill me? I’m already dead but I have some unfinished business to do here first. You’ve killed too many people Avaleana and ruined too many lives. Now, it your turn.”
The room lit up and I covered my eyes and when I opened them, Tess was lying on the floor dead. The room was silent until Ryanna turned around.
“Take me to Zandroz.”

Ch. 17

Michael
None of us talked on the way to the Pod Chamber where Isabel had taken Max. Ava and Lonnie were still sniffling every now and than over Rath. We got to the Pod Chamber and I told Ava and Lonnie to stay in the car just in case, Max escaped.
Me and Ryanna walked up the entrance but before she could open it, I turned to her. “Is Liz OK?”
Ryanna smiled softly, “Yes, she is fine.”
She waved her hand over the entrance and the stone door opened. Isabel stood there and Max was sitting in a shield/ cave of energy we had set up before so we could not get up. Isabel ran to me and wrapped her arms around me, “Thank god you’re OK, Michael. Is Khivar dead?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “So is Tess but we lost Rath, Iz.” A sudden wave of grief washed over me. I realized that Liz wasn’t next to me anymore but standing in front of Max’s unconscious form. Ryanna sent a small zap of energy onto Max to wake him up.
“Liz?” Max asked. “What happened?” He was groggy and probably confused as hell right now. I wondered what Ryanna would do with him. I knew that she wanted him dead but Liz didn’t.
“She’s dead,” was all Ryanna said. “Tess, as you call her, is dead.”
“Liz? What are you talking about?”
“Tess is dead. I killed her and your son is dead. Khivar killed him and Khivar is dead as well.”
“Liz? Has something happened to you?”
“Don’t you get it, Max? Tess is dead and your son is dead so I suggest that you listen to me before you end up dead too.”
Neither me or Isabel interfered. Ryanna needed to face Max and we both knew it.
“Why would you kill me? You love me.” His voice was pleading and full of confusion.
“No, Max, Liz never loved you just like I never loved Zandroz. Zandroz killed the man I loved a long time ago.”
Max had tears in his eyes. “What do you mean you don’t love me?”
“How many times does she have to say it, Max? Liz does not love you, admit it to yourself. She NEVER truly loved you.”
I expected Max to break down into a pathetic heap on the floor but instead Max stood up with sudden confidence. And then I saw his eyes--they were black. Zandroz was now among us. Max, the human part, was holding on to Liz to keep him going and now Zandroz had taken over.
“Ryanna,” Zandroz spit out hatefully.
“Zandroz,” Ryanna said. “I told we should talk.”
Zandroz grinned arrogantly, “Are you ready to admit your feeling for me, yet Ryanna? I was wondering how long you were going to play pretend with Rathos before you realized that you loved me too.”
“Do not speak his name, Zandroz. You do not deserve to speak his name.”
“Don’t I? I killed him--does that count as a reason to speak his name?”
Ryanna went to send a life-threatening blast at Zandroz but I pulled her back before it left her hands. Ryanna pushed me away. “I told you not to interfere.”
“Liz doesn’t want Max dead. You know that.” I don’t care if Ryanna was Liz in a way. Liz could never forgive herself if Max was dead because of her.
Ryanna’s eyes burned fury. “Do you even know what he did?”
“No, Liz said that you kept trying to show her but…”
Ryanna pointed at Zandroz. “Zandroz, tell him what you did to me!”
Zandroz smirked. “TELL HIM!” Ryanna shouted.
Zandroz remained silent. “Ok, Zandroz, you want to play it that way, than I’ll tell Michael. After you died, Zandroz turned to me and told me that this was my last chance to come to him--to be with him. I told him that I loved Rathos and I would never do anything to betray him. So, Zandroz,” Ryanna spat with venom. “Tried to connect with me to mind warp me into loving him and in the process, found out I was pregnant with Rathos’ child.”
Ryanna looked at me with tears in her eyes. “I was only a full moon away from giving birth and I was just beginning to show. Me and Rathos had picked out a name the night before: we were going to name in Ryanos. Zandroz KNEW how much I loved my unborn child and now it was the only piece of Rathos I had left in me.”
I could not believe this. That’s what my mom meant when she said the heart of Antar was inside of her. Our child was inside of her. “So,” Ryanna continued. “Zandroz was so upset that I was having Rathos’ child and that I was not with him, that he snapped. And he killed me and killed my child in the process. You were not there, Michael, so do not tell that I need to think rationally or anything like that. He killed OUR child. He needs to pay.”
“Is that true, Zandroz?” I asked him. He didn’t answer me. “I said is that TRUE?”
Zandroz laughed. “You weren’t good enough for her. You were my second--a lowly commander and you gave her child! She was MINE, Rathos, MINE!”
Zandroz sent a blast at me but Ryanna threw a shield up around me and the blast bounced off me and went back to Zandroz. I watched in satisfaction and horror as Zandroz began to scream in pain and than fell to the ground.
“Max,” Isabel squeaked from behind me. “Max!”
I turned to Ryanna and she smiled at me. “Thank you, Michael. Take care of her and may you two have everything I did not get to have with Rathos.” Liz’s eyes turned back to brown and Liz looked up at me, “Michael?”
And she passed out.

Ch. 18a

Michael
I gently picked Liz up and cradled her in my arms and walked her out to the jeep. With the help of Lonnie and Ava, Isabel managed to carry Max’s body of the pod chamber. Max still had a pulse but we did not know what would happen know. On the way back to my apartment, Isabel turned to me and asked, “Michael, what’s going to happen now?”
I looked worriedly at Liz in my arms--stonic and cold and I kept telling myself that she would wake up but with all that energy that it must have taken to give Ryanna full control, I wasn’t sure. I looked at Ava and Lonnie who had lost their brother in a way and looked lost. I finally, managed to look at Max.
“I don’t know, Izzy. I just don’t know.”
When we got to my apartment, I immediately laid Liz down on my bed and than helped Isabel bring Max in and put in on the couch.
I went back to my room and closed the door softly. I placed Liz’s hand in mine and began to talk, “I know that you probably can’t hear me but I’m gonna talk to you anyway, OK? I really don’t know what to do now. I’m not sure if you’re going to make it, Liz. Ryanna used a lot of energy in your body and I don’t know if you can recover from that.”
I used the back of my hand to wipe off the tears on my face. “I just want you to know that I love you and no one wants you back more than I do. Because, I need you, Liz. You are the only person that I have ever needed my entire life. I don’t need Max or Isabel or anyone but you, Liz. I don’t know what’s going to happen to Max either. On one side, he’s still Max and the human side of him--the good side is innocent but Zandroz is just so evil and….I know what he did to Ryanna. We were going to have son, Liz. He would have your eyes and your smile and he would have my nose and my black hair. And when I think of it that way, than I don’t know if I can ever look at Max again without thinking that we could have had that if it weren’t for him.
But, Liz, I need you to wake up because I cannot do this without you.”
I heard a soft knock on the door. I quickly wiped my face off to remove any evidence of my breakdown and said, “Come on.”
Isabel came in and sat next to me. “Is she OK?”
“I don’t know Iz. I want her to be but I just don’t know.”
We were both silent for a moment and then I asked, “Is Max OK?”
“I don’t know if it’s Max on that couch or if it’s Zandroz,” she said, sounding frustrated. “The thing that bugs me Michael, is that Max must have been so far down to the bottom to have let Zandroz surface. What kind of sister am I to let him do that?”
“Isabel, this isn’t your fault and you know that.”
“Yeah, Michael. I know but I can’t help feel that way. Ryanna was right. Zandroz did horrible things but he’s still my brother and I forgive him. I forgive Max not Zandroz but it’s going to OK with me and Max now.”
“I can’t. I know that Max didn’t do those things but…”
Isabel nodded, “It’s different for you, I know that.”
“What are Ava and Lonnie gonna do now?”
Isabel smiled. “They are thinking of staying in Roswell permanently. They have nothing to go back to in New York. And I think that Rath would want them to watch over Liz.”
I nodded sadly, “Rath would have wanted that.”
Isabel stood up and brushed off her pants. “I should check on Max. I’ll, uh, check on you guys later. You should sleep, Michael.”
And she left. I climbed into the bed with Liz and wrapped my arms around her body. “Goodnight Liz,” and I fell into a fitful sleep.

Ch. 18b

Michael
Ava and Lonnie were in the room when I woke up. I was in a middle of a dream when they tapped me on the shoulder. Thinking it was danger, I immediately put my shield up around me and Liz.
When I finally opened my eyes, I saw Ava and Lonnie with amused looks on their faces. I put the shield down and rubbed my eyes. “And you woke me why?”
They chuckled. Lonnie shrugged, “Cuz, Mickey Boy, we felt like getting blasted on our butts by yas.”
I scratched my head in embarrassment, “Sorry about that. So what do you guys want?”
“Group meeting,” Ava said. “It’s kind of important.”
I glanced at Liz, not wanting to leave her side. My gesture must not have been missed either Lonnie or Ava. “We’ll be done soon.”
I kissed Liz on the forehead and went into my living area. Isabel was already sitting there, waiting for us. I sat down and waited for this meeting to begin. “So what is this about?”
Lonnie and Ava exchanged looks. “We want to stay in Roswell for good.”
I know that Isabel had mentioned that but I did not think they would actually go through with it. “But New York is your home.”
“Ryanna and Rath was our home. And now with Rath gone, all we got left is Ryanna. And you guys so I was thinking that we could stay here for a while until we got our own apartment.”
I was truly touched. I had never had a family before, not really. And now with Lonnie and Ava staying, maybe it could actually happen.
“What are you gonna do about school?” Isabel asked.
“We’ll figure something out. With our learning abilities, testing out of classes should be no problem so we can graduate with youz guyz this summer. I was thinking of taking Tess’s identity seeing as see ain’t coming back and Lonnie can pass as your long lost sister, seeing as youz adopted and all.”
It looked like they had everything figured out. “You can stay here as long as you want. I’m sure Liz can get you guys jobs at the Crashdown.”
“That’s another reason we want to stay,” Lonnie added. “We gotta keep an eye on Liz--I doubt that Tess and Khivar were the last of our problems.”
Isabel asked softly, “How we even know that she’s gonna wake up?”
“Don’t say that,” I snapped her. “Liz is going to wake up, Iz.”
“What about Max?” Lonnie asked.
“He’s at my apartment, Michael,” Isabel said.
“No, he’s not.” And standing at my door was Max Evans.
Isabel immediately ran over to him to hug him. I noticed that Ava and Lonnie stood in front of my bed room door to protect Liz. After Isabel finally let go of Max, I gaped at him.
“How much do you remember?” I asked.
Max’s eyes turned sad, “Everything. I was never really gone, just trapped--I guess.”
“What about Zandroz?” Lonnie asked.
Max smiled, “He’s dead.”
“But wouldn’t you be dead too?” I asked confused.
“NO, I wouldn’t. When you killed him he had taken total control so you only killed him not me.”
I noted his cuts and bruises from when he had been blasted. “Why don’t you heal those?”
Max regarded me seriously. “I can’t.”
“Why not? Are you’re powers still recuperating?” Isabel asked.
Max shook his head. “By killing Zandroz in his total form, all parts of him were taken out of my body.”
“What do you mean, Maxwell?”
“I’m human, Michael, there’s no alien inside of me anymore. I’m completely human.”

Ch. 19

Liz
I cannot really describe where I was. It was, in a way, like a small room painted white. “Ryanna?”
I immediately ran into Rath’s arms. “I thought you were dead,” I managed to say with tears streaming down my cheeks. His eyes turned sad and he looked down at me.
“Liz, I am dead, that’s why you have to get out of here now.”
“What are you talking about? I’m I dead?” Oh god, I did not want to die.
“No, Liz, you’re not but you will be soon if you don’t figure out a way to get out of here.”
“Than why are you here?”
“Because I’m gonna help you get out. Liz, you cannot die, you have to stronger than this. Ryanna took a lot of energy out of you.”
“So how am I going to get out?”
“I’m going to try to give you some of my energy to make you wake up.”
I nodded, “Thank you for everything. For saving Michael’s life--for saving me now.”
Rath kissed my forehead. “No problem, princess. Now, I need you to focus on me.”
I closed my eyes and pictured Rath in my head. “OK.” Then, I could feel energy coursing through my body and I looked in Rath’s eyes--they looked so much like Michael’s.
“Goodbye, Liz.” I heard Rath say and than all the whiteness was gone.

My eyes snapped open and my breath came in out in short gasps. “Rath…” I mumbled. I suddenly became alert of my surroundings--I was in Michael’s bedroom. “Rath? No, he can’t really be dead, it was just a dream.”
I got up out of the bed and opened the door. Five faces turned to gap at me with shocked looks on their faces. Michael ran up to me and held me tightly and he was crying. “How long was I out?” I asked.
“One day,” was Michael’s strangled reply. “And let me tell you, it was the longest day of my life.” I hugged Michael back tightly. He pulled apart from me slightly and framed my face with his hands. “Don’t ever leave me again, OK?”
I laughed and nodded. Michael finally let me go and Ava and Lonnie smiled at me.
“Good to see ya, Cornball,” Ava said.
“Yeah,” Lonnie said, “I thought you wouldn’t make it.”
“Where’s Rath?” I asked. I watched in horror as everybody looked away from me. “He’s really gone?”
Ava nodded. “You don’t remember?”
“Yeah, I remember everything but I was dying and Rath saved me. I know that doesn’t make any sense but….”
“You saw him?” Isabel asked incredulously.
“Yeah, in this white place and he gave me his energy so I could live and…”
“Shh,” Michael whispered. “It’s OK.” He held me closer. “What was the last thing you remember?”
“Zandroz shooting at you and then…Oh my god! Is Max, OK?”
Isabel nodded, “He’s fine but he’s different now.”
“Different how? We killed Zandroz, didn’t we?”
“That’s why he’s different. Since we killed him when Zandroz was fully surfaced we managed to not kill Max--just Zandroz. The only thing left is Max so now he’s human.”
“Oh, god,” I gasped. “Is he OK with that? I mean…”
Michael scowled. “Seeing as his alien part as a psycho, I think he’s dealing just fine.”

Michael
Believe me, I was happy that Zandroz was dead and that Max was finally back. A part of me was happy that I had Max back--the good Max--but another part of me knew I could not forgive Max. I know that Max did not do all those things but when I looked at Max, I saw Zandroz.
Liz could forgive Max because that was the could of person she was. Liz could give somebody a second chance and not think twice about it. Her heart was made of gold but mine wasn’t.
Liz was sleeping because she was still exhausted and I stayed at the apartment while Lonnie and Ava were going shopping for what they would need to stay in Roswell. I was watching TV when Liz came out of the room and sat down next to me. I put my arm around her shoulders and smiled.
She was sipping her tea quietly when she said, “Don’t you want to know what it was like?”
Actually, I did but I didn’t know if she wanted to talk about it or not. “Yes.”
She scooted over so that her head was resting on my shoulders and she intertwined her fingers with mine. “When Ryanna saw Rath getting killed by Tess, she freaked. All I could feel was her pain and anger, Michael, it’s unbelievable that someone can be in so much pain. That’s when I found out about…her pregnancy and after Tess was killed and we went to see Max. When I saw Max, I honestly wanted to kill him. It wasn’t really Max I wanted to kill but you know what I mean. I was reliving that Ryanna had lived. I felt her dying, and I felt that as she died, she could actually feel her child dying inside of her too. No one should have to go through that. Zandroz deserved to die.
When she left my body, I realized how much energy she took out of me to surface completely and I was already weak from keeping up a mind warp on Max for fifteen minutes. And I couldn’t wake up and I knew that I was dying. And than I saw Rath and he told me that I couldn’t die. He saved my life, Michael. I think that I was actually literally seconds away from death.”
“So where is Ryanna now?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but her essence is still within me but her actual mind isn’t.”
“I don’t want her to come out again. It’s too big of a risk for your health. You have no idea how I scared I was when I thought you were gone.”
Liz looked up at me. “I did. I heard you Michael, when you were talking to me but I couldn’t talk back. Did you mean all those things that you said about Max?”
I knew this was coming. “Yes. I forgive Max but everything I see him, I see…..our child.”
She smiled sadly at me, “I do too, Michael but I’m trying really hard to try to be around Max and not….hate him.”
“We asked about you--when he was here earlier. He’s worried about you.”
“I know he is.”
“I don’t want you going near him without someone there. I still don’t trust him and it will take me a while to but please, just bear with me until then.”
She nodded and suddenly a huge smile broke out on her face. “I believe that you owe me a date, Michael Guerin. And I don’t intend to let you get out of it. Get dressed because we are going out.”
I must admit, her happiness was contagious. “OK, but are you sure that you’re up to it?”
Liz stood up and put her hands on her hips. “We, Michael Guerin, happen to have a love that transcends all time and space. And yet, WE, have not gone on a date yet. Does that not strike you as odd?”
And later that night, we went to the movies and had dinner at the Crashdown. I had never seen Liz smile as much as she did that night and that’s when I made up my mind. I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that she stayed happy or die trying.

Ch. 20
***Four Months Later***
Liz
Dear Journal,
I know that I haven’t written in a long time but I thought that’d I’d fill you in on what has happened. Today, we helped Ava and Lonnie move into an apartment not too far from the Crashdown. They had no problem fitting into Roswell. They passed testing to they could be seniors like Michael, Max, and I and were able to fake emancipation papers to tie up loose ends. Having Lonnie, Ava, and Michael living together was very comical to watch. Turns out that Ava was a total neat freak so Michael had to clean out the whole apartment. He turned his living room into a couple of beds where they could sleep.
Michael’s apartment became a second home to me. My parents ended up liking Michael a lot and would let me go over just about anytime I wanted. Michael and I grew closer if possible and Ava, Lonnie, and I became best friends. None of us had talked to Max except in school. It ended up that Max needed more time to adjust than we did to what had happened. Michael had been really applying himself to his school work and got a scholarship to an art school near, Columbia, where me, Lonnie, and Ava were going too.
Oh! And Kyle was going too. Turns out Ava and him started dating and the two of them were happy and oh so nauseating. It’s hard to imagine Ava and Kyle talking baby talk to each other and it’s even stranger to be there while they do it.
Isabel got pregnant a couple months after her and Jesse got married. Me, Lonnie, and Ava were bridesmaids. Max went to the wedding too but stayed in the background a bit. Him and Isabel had grown closer since the whole fiasco with Zandroz.
We are about to graduate--in a week exactly--and Max called me a couple days ago to meet him at the Crashdown so we could talk.

Max was sitting in a booth by the window and for the first time in four months, I really took a good look at him. He looked tired and had bags under his eyes. “Hey,” I said as I approached his booth.
He smiled at me, “Hey, Liz.”
“So what do you want to talk about, Max?”
Max fiddled with his hands. “I, uh, I’m leaving after graduation to go to Massachusetts with Isabel and Jesse. So I knew that I had to give you space, but I wanted to talk to you before I left.”
“Oh. So how are you doing?”
“Not good. I still get nightmares of what Zandroz did--of what I did. Look, Liz, I wanted to apologize for everything that I did.”
Anger ran through me. “No, Max, it wasn’t you-it was Zandroz. Zandroz screwed us all even you.”
“Yeah, I know. I tried to patch things up with my parents but I can’t tell them why I really did all those things. So it’s hard. But I need to tell you that I’m happy for you and Michael--you two are really meant to be together.”
His eyes turned sad. I realized that maybe we should have killed Max. All he had know was memories of what Zandroz had done to haunt him and knowing Max, he was probably suffering ten fold of what all of us were.
“Maybe we can be friends,” I offered.
He smiled through his tears. “Yeah, I would like that. I’ll keep in touch with you.”
Than he left. I walked home defeated. I felt so bad for Max--he was going through all kinds of crap and none of us had bothered to ask him how he was doing. Guilt ripped through me. I opened Michael’s apartment door and I gasped.

Michael
I knew she would love it. I had lit the whole room with candles and had white roses everywhere--her favorite flowers. I even cleaned up the place and cooked dinner. She smiled at me radiantly, “What is all this for, Michael?”
“Well I thought that we could have a graduation celebration of our own.” She stared at the tux I was wearing and I chuckled, “What can I say, I blew out all the stops for you.”
“Michael, I’m not dressed up.”
I walked over to her and used to powers to put her in a burgundy dress with her hair wavy. “You look beautiful,” and I kissed her forehead. “Now sit down and let’s eat.”
We ate and had pleasant conversation. When we were done, I looked at her and cleared my throat. “I was thinking about the whole college situation and I called around and I got us an apartment. It’s right in the middle of both our colleges so it’s not too far away.”
Her eyes lit up and she embraced me tightly, “This is wonderful, Michael. We got to see each other everyday!”
I held her and pulled apart. “Well there is one more thing that I think we should talk about.”
She sat back down and grinned. “What is it?”
“I love you and I know that we’ve only been together almost five months but I can’t picture myself living without you. You make me happy and that’s something that only you can do. Because of you, you gave me a family. You, Lonnie, and Ava….it’s all complete now. But there is one thing that’s missing.”
I bent down on one knee and kneeled in front of her. “Elizabeth Parker, will you marry me?” I pulled out the solitaire diamond ring.
Her hands went up to cover her mouth and tears began to form in her eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”
I grinned, “Well that’s easy. Say yes.”
She sniffled and kissed me on the lips. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
I spun her around. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said.

Epilogue
Liz
We got married that summer before we went to college. It was a beautiful wedding and I’ve never been happier. Me, Michael, Lonnie, Ava, and Kyle all graduated from college. Two years before we graduated, Ava and Kyle got married and Lonnie finally got married to some guy she met in college. It was during Ava and Kyle’s wedding that Michael and I announced that I was pregnant.
Nine months later, Ryan Alexander-Rath Guerin was born.
If you had asked me that day that Max healed me, if this is what I saw my future as being, I could have died laughing. But now, it all fits and it feels right. So, in the end, it doesn’t really matter why or how this all started. All that matters is that love can bring you to places that may surprise you and to places you never thought you’d be.