Max helped Liz to her feet. He saw Isabel and Alex move away to give them a little privacy. Kyle was already across the chamber talking to Tess.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern. She was rubbing her eyes, clearly trying to refocus after the brightness that had filled the transformation chamber when Michael and Tess had destroyed Danala. Max gently stroked his hand across her eyes, healing the damage that had been done.

Liz blinked up at him. A radiant smile burst across her face. "I am now." She threw her arms around his neck. "I couldn�t get to you, Max. I was so worried that you were going to do something to Tess that you�d regret." She eyed him seriously. "I�ve never seen you that angry, Max. I was scared you were going to do something crazy."

Max remembered how he had been more than willing to die if it meant being with Liz again. He didn�t think he had better let her in on that little piece of information.

"And jumping in front of a bullet wasn�t crazy?" Max asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Liz looked momentarily embarrassed, but her eyes were glinting with a hint of anger. "I had no choice. I was not going to lose you again. I don�t care if you don�t remember it, Max. You are mine and I will do anything to protect you. You couldn�t explain what compelled you to heal me when I was shot the first time, and I didn�t think before doing what I did. I would die for you," she said fiercely.

Max gazed down at her in amazement, his heart swelling with so much love for her that it nearly brought him to his knees. She didn�t know that he had his memory back! She didn�t care if he ever got it back. She would die for him. What had he ever done to deserve her?

"You know why I did it, Liz." Max whispered, pulling her against him. She shivered as he spoke into her ear. "I was you. If I die tomorrow, or fifty years from now, my destiny will be the same. It�s you."

Liz pulled back, and stared up at him, her mouth parted slightly in shock. "It will always be you."

"Max!" He silenced her with a kiss. Her silky hair fell across his hands as he brought them up to cradle her beloved face.

The connection was instantaneous. He saw directly into her soul, saw her as a little girl, saw the first time she realized she loved him, saw the entire story that was Liz.

She broke the kiss, then pulled his head down so that their foreheads were touching. "I love you. My Max."

"Always." He kissed her again.

It took a moment for him to realize that someone was clearing their throat. Max brought his head up, pulling Liz close to his side. Isabel was standing there, looking a little disconcerted.

"I don�t want to interrupt, guys, but I seriously think Michael is going to blow a gasket if you don�t get over there, Jaxon."

Jennetta! Max started with guilt. How could he have forgotten about his sister?

Grabbing Liz by the hand, he hurried across the chamber. He called over his shoulder to his other sister. "By the way, Iz. It�s Max, if you don�t mind."

"What!" He heard Isabel shriek. He knew that he was going to pay for that later.

Michael and Maria were standing near Jennetta�s pod, hopeless expressions on both of their faces. Michael had his arm around Maria�s shoulders. Max could tell that he was only holding it together for Maria�s sake. She was clearly on the verge of a breakdown.

Maria turned her stricken face to Max. "What are we going to do, Max? My baby is going to be one of those zombies. If that witch Danala wasn�t gone, I�d kill her myself."

"Your baby?" Alex and Isabel had come up beside them. Max had no idea to where Tess and Kyle had disappeared. Alex was staring at Maria in shock. "I think we missed that little tidbit."

"It�s a long story," Max said. "Suffice it to say for now that�s it true. Jennetta is Michael and Maria�s child." He looked at Michael warily. "How did you find out?"

Michael frowned slightly. "Not from where I should have apparently. Did you know about this too, Maxwell?"

Max grimaced. "Er�I sort of found out when I tried to heal Maria earlier."

Michael sighed in annoyance. "Why am I not surprised? I found a green orb near that Santa Anna Hot Spring," Michael explained. "When I touched it I got a bunch of flashes. All my memories for when we were on Illyria came back." He paused, looking pensive. "It was like they were stored in there or something."

Max felt dawning realization. "That was what I put in your bag before I threw you into the portal to come back." He grimaced again. " I saw Tarsus fiddling with them before we came to get you to come back to Earth. I didn�t know what they were when I stole them from Tarsus. I thought that you guys might be able to use them to open the portal so that I could come home. I gave one to you too, Maria." Max closed his eyes, anger burning through his veins as he realized that Tarsus had tricked him again. "Tarsus must have wanted me to take them. He just pretended that he didn�t."

"Hold it!" Isabel interrupted. "Let�s back up. Michael doesn�t seem to be the only one with his memory back. Max, how?"

Michael�s head jerked at that news. His eyes lit up with hope. "Is it true?" Maria didn�t react at all. She had moved directly in front of Jennetta�s pod and was tracing the little girl�s face through the transparent organic material.

"It came back when I healed Liz," Max explained. "The connection was so strong, it must have bumped everything back where it belonged."

"Return to where it all began�" Isabel was muttering under her breath. "Of course! That�s what Mother meant when she contacted me the first time."

"What?" Max asked, confused.

"Mother contacted me. It was how we knew that we had to go to Stonehenge to bring you back," Isabel explained. "We thought it was you at first, but then I was able to contact her later too." Isabel suddenly looked upset. "Make the sacrifice." She looked at Michael in horror. "You don�t think she meant Jennetta? That we had to sacrifice her to get Max back?"

Michael�s mouth compressed into a thin line. "That is one sacrifice that I will not be making."

They all stared at each other uncomfortably. Max had no idea what to do. All he knew was that they couldn�t bring Jennetta out of the pod until the cleansing was complete. It would kill her. He didn�t know nearly enough about how the whole process worked, as it had never been successful on him. He had been brainwashed, but not cleansed.

"Isabel!" Michael exclaimed suddenly "Didn�t you talk to your mother by using the stones in the Henge?"

"Yeah, so?" Isabel said.

"I used the stone walls here to tap into enough energy to destroy Danala. You might be able to do it to contact your mother," Michael said. "You can ask her if there�s any way to reverse the cleansing."

"We already know of a way," Maria said quietly.

Everyone whirled to stare at her.

"What do you mean, Maria?" Liz asked.

"Think, Michael. How did your cleansing get reversed?" Maria�s face was expressionless. Max watched all the colour drain from his best friend�s face.

"The portal." He turned to Max suddenly. "Where are the orbs? We have to go back to Illyria."

"That won�t be necessary."

Max felt Liz�s hand tense in his. A new voice had entered the conversation.

"Eddie!" Max glanced at Isabel uncomfortably. He was pretty sure that by now Eddie had some inkling of the truth about them, but it was still weird to see the Native American man staring at them all standing as they were in front of a bunch of pods.

"What are you doing here?" Michael demanded suspiciously. Max saw that he had moved to stand in front of Jennetta�s pod protectively. Alex put his arm around Isabel in a similar fashion.

Eddie just grinned, rolling his eyes. "You�d think that by now you�d know that things are never as they appear."

Max felt his heart stop as Eddie�s hand came up and began to glow.

Part 42

Kyle approached Tess cautiously while everyone seemed to be getting their bearings back after the big "Bye-bye Danala" fireworks display.

She was watching Michael and Maria as they ran their hands over Jennetta�s pod, clearly trying to figure out how they were going to save her. Kyle stood quietly beside her, waiting for her to speak.

"It�s my fault. My brother is going to lose his daughter because of me. How could I have been so stupid, Kyle?" Tess finally asked, her tone sad.

"You did the right thing in the end," Kyle said quietly.

She turned on him, her blue eyes flashing. "Try telling that to that little girl!" she snapped, whirling on her heel and running down the stone corridor that led out of the transformation chamber. Kyle was on her heels instantly.

He caught her arm just as she was about to escape out the stone doorway that led into the main passage. "You have no right to do this, Tess."

She was trying to wrench away from him, but his words stopped her. "Do what?" she asked, sounding confused.

"Run."

Tess eyed him for a moment, blanching, then her expression became panicked. Her eyes were darting all over the place, seemingly anywhere but his face.

"Tess! You owe it to them to help fix this mess!" Kyle yelled.

She flinched. "No one wants me here anyway, Kyle," she finally said quietly.

"And what am I?" he demanded. "Oh, I forgot. I�m just a pointless human." He paused, saw Tess�s eyes widen at his tone. "I know I might not be anyone important to you, but I want you here." Kyle could feel bitterness drifting into his voice. He did his best to suppress it. "And Michael trusted you enough to ask you to help him get rid of the Wicked Witch of Dernia."

"He wasn�t thinking," Tess said stubbornly. "As soon as he remembers that I let Danala pod Jennetta, he�s going to flip out on me." She paused, tears filling her eyes. "And Max is going to hate me for sure. For what he thought I did to Liz�for even letting Danala get near her."

Kyle felt like he had been belted in the stomach. "It always comes back to Max doesn�t it," he finally managed to say, keeping his voice steady with all his willpower. For the first time in his entire life he felt like crying over a girl. Even when Liz had dumped him it hadn�t been this bad. And he and Tess had never even kissed.

You are one hell of chump, Valenti, he thought to himself. "To hell with it," he muttered to himself. He let go of Tess�s arm, then turned away to head back to join the others. "If you want to go, go. If you can�t put your faith in anyone, then you don�t deserve them anyway."

"Kyle�" He could hear some note of pity in Tess�s voice. It made him want to throw up.

"Just go." He walked away from her. He had his back to her, but he could tell she hadn�t moved.

"Kyle!" The tone of her voice was completely different. She sounded caught off guard. Kyle whirled in time to see Eddie walking swiftly past him. He didn�t even look at Kyle.

"What the�"

Tess had run up to join him.

"What is he doing here?" she asked, sounding frightened.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Why do I have the feeling it can�t be good?" He started after Eddie at a fast clip.

"Kyle!" Tess yelled again.

Kyle sighed, then turned. "Can I help you?" he asked sarcastically.

Tess was biting her lip, clearly undecided. Kyle felt his thoughts drifting to one of his many fantasies about kissing those lips�

Oh for�Don�t you have any self-respect, you moron? Kyle asked himself. "Have you gotten over yourself yet?" he asked instead, being far meaner than he intended.

After all, it wasn�t her fault that she didn�t love him, that she loved Mr. Perfect, Max Evans. She had tried to get over it, but the ease with which she had re-embraced her destiny when Danala asked her to - well, it was pretty clear that she was never going to get over Max.

And hey, who could blame her? He was a saint - a bloody, fricking saint - one that Kyle even admired if he told himself the truth.

"I�m coming," she finally said, hurrying past him.

They arrived just in time to see Eddie raising his hand.

Kyle and Tess exchanged looks of horror. The native man had his back to them, but it was clear that he intended harm to their six friends, all of whom were huddled around Jennetta�s pod.

Kyle saw Max thrusting Liz behind him, saw Michael raising his own hand, but it was going to be too late.

And then the most unbelievable thing happened. Eddie began to shapeshift.

Isabel seemed to realize what was happening at the exact same time as Kyle, because she launched herself at Michael, forcing him to put his own hand down�it had just started to glow.

When the bright light of his transformation had dispersed, in Eddie�s place stood a young man with dark hair. He was shaking his head as though clearing it.

Kyle grabbed Tess�s hand, and began to move closer cautiously. They were still too far away to hear what was happening.

But there was no way they could miss Maria�s shriek of joy. "Ren!" She pushed Michael aside, throwing herself at the new alien among them. She began to rain kisses all over his face. "Thank God! Thank God!"

Ren looked slightly uncomfortable, but he was laughing. "Please, Maria! I�m not used to�" But Michael had already grabbed Maria by the waist and was hauling her off of the newcomer. He did not look pleased.

The alien called Ren, whom apparently Maria knew, turned to Max, bowing at the waist. "Your highness."

Max was frowning. "Where�s the real Eddie?" he demanded, clearly understanding something here that was beyond the rest of them.

Kyle and Tess had joined the group near the pod by now, so Kyle could see the shapeshifter�s face clearly. Ren looked sad for a moment. "I�m afraid he�s dead."

Kyle heard Liz gasp. "Poor Eddie!"

"Tarsus?" Max asked, his tone furious. When Ren nodded, he demanded. "When?"

"Last summer," Ren replied.

"Jesus," Kyle heard Michael mutter.

"When did you get here?" Maria asked, interrupting the conversation. "Are you here to help us with Jennetta?"

Ren�s eyes took in the pod. They were gleaming strangely. "In a manner of speaking," he replied.

Wonderful, thought Kyle, more alien double-speak. Half the time he didn�t know why they even bothered to speak English. It wasn�t like he ever understood half of what came out of their mouths.

"Who sent you?" Max asked.

"Your mother," Ren replied. "I followed you through the portal when you followed Jennetta. You didn�t think she would let you go unprotected, did you?"

"But where were you?" Liz asked. "We didn�t see you."

Ren eyed her, amused. Liz shifted uncomfortably. Max put his arm around her reassuringly. "So this is Liz?" Ren asked. "She is as lovely as I was led to believe." He could see that Liz looked embarrassed, and tried to ease it. "I apologize, your highness." Kyle raised an eyebrow at that. Liz eyes widened. Max had a half-smile on his face, as though he wasn�t surprised. "I awoke before the rest of you. The force of the explosion after a journey through the portal is not nearly as harmful for me as it is for you. I shapeshifted so that I blended with the stones in the Ring and followed you all when you awoke."

"Who cares about any of this?" Maria demanded, interrupting yet again. "What are we going to do about our daughter?"

"I�m afraid that there is very little that can be done other than to wait," Ren told her. He didn�t sound the least bit upset.

"What?" Maria shrieked. "I won�t just let my baby be turned into a pod person!" Kyle grimaced. That had been piercing. He could see Michael�s nostrils flaring, as though he was trying very hard to hold onto his temper.

"Fear not, my lady," Ren said soothingly. "Everything has turned out just as it ought. It is all coming to be as it was meant to�as it was written in the stars."

"Are you telling me that my child is meant to be a zombie?" Maria shrieked again. She rounded on Michael. "I won�t have it, Michael! I mean it! I�ll kill her first! My daughter is not going to be like Danala and all those freakish Dernians!"

Ren had advanced. He touched Maria�s shoulder. She whirled, her face a mask of grief and rage. "Why did you even save her if this was what was going to happen anyway?" she yelled at him.

"My lady, please! You misunderstand! Jennetta is not being cleansed!" Ren told her pleadingly.

Michael clamped his hand over Maria�s mouth, effectively shutting her up, although she continued to struggle against him. Kyle could see that she was quickly becoming hysterical.

Max had finally stepped up as well. "I suggest that you do tell us what is going on then, Ren." He eyed Maria with concern. She seemed to calm down slightly at the look Max gave her. Kyle frowned, wondering if alien voodoo had anything to do with it.

"The salvation of our planet," Ren replied seriously.

Part 43

"Is it possible for Czechoslovakians to give straight answers?" Liz heard Kyle mutter to Alex. Alex snorted.

Ren turned his dark eyes on Kyle. Kyle smirked, trying to look innocent. "I will try and explain."

"It better be quickly," Kyle replied, indicating Maria. "She looks like she�s about to explode." She was still struggling against Michael�s grip.

"Jennetta is undergoing a transformation, but not the one you think," Ren told them. "These are not cleansing pods." He turned to Michael. "Are these the pods Tarsus used to cleanse you?"

After Michael nodded, Ren frowned. "I don�t understand how that was possible. These pods were meant for incubation, not cleansing." He pointed at the four dark pods sitting nearby. "Those were meant for Jaxon, Mirana, Tristandor, and Sabrya. They are dark because the four of you matured naturally and therefore never had cause to use them."

Liz could feel Max tense beside her. "What do you mean we �matured naturally�?" he asked.

Ren appeared to be deep in thought. "The history is vague, but from what I understand, the four of you were never meant to grow up human." He paused, clearly trying to straighten something out in his own mind. "My father was sent with you, and was supposed to allow you break free naturally from your infancy pods, and then re-pod you for complete maturation. But the Crash changed all that. My father and Silesa managed to hide both sets of pods before they were captured. As you have probably determined from these tunnels, our people have been to Earth many times before, and my father and his companion knew it well, but not well enough to avoid detection for long. The Crash was impossible to mask. By the time my father managed to escape from the government, Silesa had been killed, and Jaxon, Mirana, and Tristandor had already broken free of their pods and were gone."

Liz felt a stab of shock. "His father?" she asked Max under her breath, although she had a good idea who Ren�s father had to be. Max squeezed her hand, acknowledging that he had thought of the same thing.

"Who is your father?" he asked. It was clear that everyone else was fine with Max taking control of this situation. It was what he did best.

Ren�s expression darkened. "My father was Laren -the one you knew as Nasedo."

Liz heard Tess gasp. "Knew? You don�t mean he�s dead too?" Liz glanced at the blonde, who looked to be on the verge of tears. Although he had likely not been much of a father, he was the only family Tess had ever known. Liz was surprised that Kyle made no move to comfort her. In the end Michael went and put his arm around her, dragging Maria along with him.

Maria was half in a daze anyway and didn�t seem to mind. She didn�t really seem to be taking any of the conversation in. She just kept her eyes glued on Jennetta, clearly looking for confirmation that her daughter still lived.

Tess glanced at Michael in confusion at first, but her face smoothed and she seemed to light up from within.

"Danala�s first act upon arriving on the Earth was to kill my father. Tarsus contacted her immediately after he assumed the old man River Dog�s form, which helped him in his plan to get close to you, by imitating someone you trusted. Danala came and tracked my father to the Special Unit, where you had sent him, and killed him," Ren told them stiffly.

"Nasedo warned us that there were beings searching for us," Max admitted. Liz could feel the guilt emanating from her boyfriend in waves. "I decided to activate the orbs anyway."

Michael looked upset too, but was more angry when he interjected, "It wasn�t your fault, Maxwell. Nasedo had the responsibility to tell us why it was so dangerous. Instead he abandoned us. Going to the Special Unit was a mistake. We should have left town." Michael glared at Ren challengingly. "Nasedo should have made us!"

Liz eyed Ren worriedly. He had his lips pressed together, angry that his father was being disparaged, but his tone was even as he explained. "My father was programmed to obey Jaxon at all costs - even if it turned out to detrimental to the four of you."

Liz couldn�t help herself. "Why?" she asked. "Wouldn�t it have made more sense for Nasedo to be the one in charge? At least until Max and the other three were old enough, and experienced enough to assume leadership?"

Ren smiled at her sadly. "Again no one counted on the Crash. My father�s main function was to protect the pods, and repod the four when they broke free. All the memories they needed to rule and to return to Illyria were programmed into the second set of pods. My father was never supposed to have to make any decisions. The problem was that, although Milena trusted my father, Hamor, Jaxon and Mirana�s stepfather, did not trust him completely. He had already been a turn-coat once you see."

And Liz understood. "So Hamor made it so that it would be physically impossible for Nasedo to betray them."

"Indeed. We all make mistakes," Ren said quietly. "Mine was not to recognize earlier that my father had taken the true path, that cleansing was wrong and made the Dernians weak. Hamor�s was not to see that my father could be trusted."

"But this still doesn�t tell us what is going on with Jennetta," Michael inserted impatiently. "So she�s in some sort of incubation? How long does it last? What does it mean?"

"It is supposed to last the same time as the original podding," Ren replied, eyeing Jennetta�s pod, a worried expression on his face. "That is to say several months."

"But we were in our original pods for almost forty years!" Isabel exclaimed. She had obviously been listening closely to Ren, but this was the first time she had spoken. Liz knew that hearing about anything alien was hard for Isabel. She had always been the one who wanted nothing to do with her alien heritage. She liked being a human.

Ren looked blank. "We have never been able to figure out what went wrong. Lucianus determined that it must have had something to do with space travel, and time changes, and all the things that are so hard to control in the infiniteness of space. Perhaps even the trauma of the Crash caused them to fail - or at least delayed them. They are organic after all."

"Which brings to mind another little question," Alex muttered. Everyone turned to look at him. He reddened slightly. "Sorry, keeping it shut over here."

"No, Alex, we�re all a part of this now," Max said quietly. "What is it?"

Alex swallowed, but spoke up. "Well, I mean, why were you guys sent in a ship in the first place? How dumb was that, what with all the portals that everyone seems to be able to open all the time. It must have taken a really long time to get here. What was the point?" Alex seemed to be on a roll now. "Which also begs the question, what is up with all the indiscrepancies in time anyway? When you guys were gone," He indicated Michael and Maria, "It was like one hour here, but clearly a lot longer on Illyria." He nodded towards the pod. "Jennetta being the prime evidence of that."

"But Max was gone so much longer - close to a year on Earth," Liz added. "But when he came back he hadn�t aged by three hundred years."

They all turned back to Ren. The shapeshifter sighed. "This is a bit complicated." When they all still looked interested, he continued, "Briefly then - you were sent on a ship because only Jaxon and Mirana have ever had the gift of opening the portal. It is - and always has been - activated through the Waylandian Ring, and only the true heirs of Ilyria, called the Blue Prince or Blue Lady - depending on sex - and the White Prince or White Lady, can activate it."

"And they couldn�t activate it because they were already dead," Kyle finished. He smirked at Max. Liz wanted to smack him. Kyle did not seem very inclined to be kind to Max since he had been back, and Liz was sure that it had everything to do with Tess. She sighed.

"That still doesn�t explain the time differences," Max said, ignoring Kyle.

Ren nodded, continuing, "It didn�t really matter one way or the other. Our lifetimes are so much longer that most of the people you knew in your first lifetimes would still have been around when you returned. The four would have lived for hundreds of years had their lives not been cut short violently. Your father was killed in much the same way. He was very young when he died, barely fifty years old, another victim of the conflict between my people and the Illyrians."

"Sort of like Chewbacca," Liz heard Alex say to himself. Again they all turned to stare at him. He held up his hands defensively. "Hey! Don�t blame me! Chewie was like three hundred years old in Star Wars!" Isabel rolled her eyes. "He was!" Alex exclaimed.

"And Yoda was over eight hundred," Kyle added. He smirked at Max again. "Apparently you guys are sort of like little green men after all."

"Kyle!" Liz glared at him. Liz glanced at Max. He actually looked amused, which seemed to annoy Kyle even more.

Liz noticed Tess watching the whole exchange, a strange look on her face.

"Anyway�" Michael began motioning with his hands for them to speed it up. "What you�re saying is that Jenny could be stuck in this thing," he tapped the pod, "for fifty years?"

Ren just shook his head. "It cannot be speculated. I still cannot figure out how Tarsus managed to cleanse you in one of them, Tristandor."

Liz could see Max�s face frowning pensively. "He must have altered them somehow."

"What do you mean?" Ren asked, seeming intrigued.

"When Michael was cleansed Tarsus had to make him go in a bunch of times, but when he tried to cleanse me it only took once," Max elaborated. "He told me at the time that it was because he was having some problems with the cleansing pods. He thought they had been damaged in the Crash. He obviously didn�t know that they weren�t cleansing pods at all. In the end he must have modified them somehow."

"Which could also explain why Michael�s cleansing was reversed with the journey through the portal. His cleansing was faulty to begin with," Maria spoke up. Everyone turned to stare at her. She had been quiet for so long Liz was sure that she had gone into a state of advanced shock.

"It makes sense." Ren nodded.

"I just have one question," Maria continued.

Ren looked at her. "Yes, my lady?"

"How old were Michael and the others supposed to be when they emerged from their second podding?"

Ren grimaced. "Older," he said non-committally.

"How old?" Maria demanded in a fierce voice.

"The age they were when they were killed." Ren swallowed, looking uncomfortable. "Jaxon, Mirana, and Tristandor were all 21. Sabrya was 19."

"But Jennetta was never supposed to exist," Michael said. "How old is she going to be?" Liz could hear a note of fury beginning to creep back into his voice.

Ren licked his licks, clearly not eager to answer. "She was supposed to exist," he finally said cryptically.

Michael was breathing deeply. Liz could feel Max tensing up, preparing to stop Michael from attacking the shapeshifter, which he seemed on the verge of doing. Yet Michael�s voice was disturbingly calm when he said, "We�ll get into that later. I want to know how many years my daughter is going to lose."

Ren closed his eyes. Liz could tell that he was upset. Finally he spoke. "A random age was programmed." He swallowed again, and then spat out the horrible truth. "Jennetta will be 21 years old when she emerges from the pod."

Part 44

Max rubbed his eyes as he guided the Jeep down the highway. His mind was whirling with all the information Ren had provided over the last couple of hours. He knew that he would be mulling it over for days.

He had not absorbed the horror of the announcement Ren had made about Jennetta�s future. His little sister was losing her childhood. Michael and Maria were losing the joy of watching their daughter grow up. They had already lost so much. The unfairness of it was like a physical pain to Max.

And there was absolutely nothing any of them could do. It certainly wasn�t like they hadn�t tried to get Ren to give them some sort of hope that the process could be halted.

Maria had been the first to react to the news. Her eyes had rolled up in her head, and she had fainted from the impact of her grief. Michael barely managed to catch her before she hit the floor. Liz left Max�s side, rushing to Maria.

Michael let Liz take Maria in her arms, letting her talk soothingly to her best friend. The rage in his voice was barely controlled as he asked, "Why? Why is this happening to my daughter?"

"It�s her destiny," Ren replied, obviously dismayed that they were upset, but clearly a little confused as to why they were all so upset.

"Not that word! Please! Anything but that word!" Tess shrieked from where she stood, near the maturation pod that might have originally been the one meant for her.

Michael pressed his lips together. "How can this be her destiny?" he demanded. "She wasn�t supposed to exist! I was supposed to be with Isabel, not Maria. How can my half-human daughter be the �salvation of out planet,� as you so eloquently called her a while ago?"

Max blinked, staring at Michael. This was not the act-first, think about consequences later, Michael to whom he was accustomed. The whole ordeal he and Maria had endured together had matured him in a way that made him almost unrecognizable to Max.

The old Michael probably would have beaten Ren into a bloody pulp by now.

Maybe something good had come of this whole catastrophe, although Max almost missed the old Michael. It would mean that none of this had ever happened. He would not have wished the tragedy his best friend had endured on anyone.

"It was a safety clause," Ren explained. "Although the Crash was not anticipated, it was determined that something might go wrong. If any of you were to die on the journey, or during the maturation process, it was decided that the remaining three would be allowed to live out their lives on Earth. The Four were only capable of uniting the two factions as a unit." He glanced significantly at Jennetta. "And yet a ruler would still be needed." He paused, continuing wryly, "It was hoped that at least one of the remaining four would produce a child - one that could be taken to Illyria and proclaimed the unifier."

"That still doesn�t explain anything about Jennetta," Alex said. "How could it have been known that she would be born? And how could any child born on Earth be a unifier? It wouldn�t be half-Dernian/half-Illyrian, which seems to be what you have all decided is the answer to all the problems."

"The legend," Ren explained. "It was always assumed that the Chosen One would be half-Illyrian/half-Dernian, because it was known that it would be a child of mixed blood. The annals never specified what specific conditions were attached to being the Chosen One, only that it would be a child of two heritages. No one counted on the fact that it would be half-human." He paused again. "Except for Lucianus, which is why he insisted that a fifth pod be sent."

"What?" Isabel asked the question they were all thinking. "What on Earth are you talking about? What do humans have to do with any of this?"

Ren raised an eyebrow. "You cannot tell me that you have not all wondered why everyone on Earth looks exactly like everyone on Illyria? Or why Earth was chosen as your destination in the first place, your highness?"

Michael and Max exchanged looks. "Well, I guess I haven�t," Max finally replied, feeling a little sheepish.

Ren looked perplexed that they were all so dense. "Earth was an Illyrian colony."

"So the X-Files are true!" Alex exclaimed. "I knew it!" When everyone turned to glare at him, he reddened. "Er - sorry."

"The portal was created specifically for that reason," Ren explained. "Our explorers came here many thousands of years ago - so long ago that the Dernians as a faction did not even exist yet - to build the Ring that would receive the portal that only the true heirs could open. It was hoped that travel between the two worlds would be frequent and beneficial to both planets, but something needed to be done to overcome the problem of time loss that results from space travel. Stonehenge, as the Ring on Earth has been called, was meant to receive the portal so that the energy from the stones could absorb the lost time." He paused again, looking pained. "Unfortunately the humans were so unadvanced at that stage, the whole project was deemed worthless and Illyria abandoned the plan."

"That still doesn�t explain why Illyrians look like humans," Liz put in from where she was still holding Maria. Maria was no longer unconscious, although she looked slightly dazed. Max could tell that she was listening to what was going on around her though.

Ren shrugged. "It was why Earth was chosen. The Illyrian genetic make-up is so similar, it was determined that it was the best planet with which to make contact. Dernians are of course shapeshifters, but our genetics are very closely linked as well. Illyrians used to have the ability, but have lost it over the millenia from lack of use." He looked at Liz, Alex, Maria and Kyle significantly. "Even humans have the ability. They have many aspects of their brains that they do not access. It is the great tragedy of the species as a whole." Ren glanced at Jennetta. "But Lucianus knew that humans would still have a role to play in our history."

"Nasedo told me something similar - about the untapped reaches of the human mind I mean," Michael told Max. He looked at Jennetta, floating peacefully in her pod. A deep despair seemed to come over him. Max clenched his jaw. His own sadness was growing. "Jenny - or any other child born to any of us - has always been doomed then."

"Who is Lucianus?" Liz asked.

"Lucianus is the beginning and the end," Ren replied evasively.

"In English please." It was Kyle who had spoken up at this point. He was shaking his head. "I mean, can�t they ever just spit it out?" Max eyed him for a minute, concerned. Kyle had been behaving strangely ever since he had returned to the transformation chamber with Tess. He looked like he was about to snap at any moment.

" I don�t really know how to put it into words. Lucianus is the power of the Ring in Illyrian form," Ren explained, shaking his head. "That�s not really right though either."

"He isn�t�God?" Liz asked quietly. Max felt his heart stop. He stared at Liz. The expression on her face was unreadable.

"No. Not exactly. He is not the Creator," Ren replied, scratching his neck. "He is energy, maybe a small part of the Creator."

"Why is he on Illyria?" Max managed to ask.

"Is he not everywhere?" Ren shot back. He clearly wanted to change the subject, it being one with which he was uncomfortable. Max had realized that Ren�s manner of being in control of a situation was by knowing about every little in and out of the story. Things he did not understand, he preferred to ignore and just accept.

"Anyway, Tristandor, I must disagree with you that Jennetta is doomed," Ren told Michael.

Max felt an overwhelming sense of relief sweep through the transformation chamber. "Then the transformation can be stopped?" Maria asked, as Liz helped her to her feet.

"No." Ren stared at her. "What I meant was that she is to be the Chosen One, the saviour of our people. She will know all of this when she emerges from the pod. She will be ready to take her place on the throne of Illyria. She will unify the people and bring peace to the planet."

"But she�s only a little girl," Maria said. "She�s my baby. I barely know her." Max saw the tears welling in her eyes. Michael reached out, pulling her into his arms. Max felt a flash of pain from Liz�s direction, and knew that she was grieving for her friend.

Liz came and took his hand, looking for comfort, frustrated that she could do nothing to help Maria and Michael.

"But what of us?" Max asked. "If Jennetta is to sit on the throne, are none of us needed anymore?" He realized that he didn�t care one way or the other. He had absolutely no intention of returning to Illyria, come hell or high water. But he was curious to know how they could be replaced so easily.

"I don�t know." Ren frowned slightly. "I only know that Lucianus foresaw that Jennetta would be the one."

"It might be nice for Lucianus to pop in right about now," Alex muttered. Isabel pinched him warningly. "Again, sorry. Frustration being vocalized in unnecessary angst."

Max and Liz were both watching Michael and Maria with concern. The despair that surrounded them was almost suffocating.

"Michael," Max finally said, trying to find out what his friend wanted them to do.

There was silence for a moment. And then, "I think we need to be alone with her for a while, Maxwell."

Ren interjected. "I cannot leave her. I am her bodyguard."

Max intervened firmly. "You can leave her for one night," he told the shapeshifter.

"But Tarsus is likely trying to find a way through the portal," Ren argued. "He will know that Danala has been destroyed."

"One night," Max repeated. Ren scowled, but finally nodded his head.

"Yes, your highness."

And, so, they had all left, Max telling Michael that they would be back first thing in the morning.

Now, Liz was quiet beside him in the passenger seat, although her hand was resting on his leg as though she couldn�t stand not to have some sort of physical contact with him. He was glad, because he felt exactly the same way.

In the back seat Isabel had fallen asleep with her head on Alex�s shoulder. Alex was staring off into the pitch black desert night, silent, as they all had been since they had left the reservation. Kyle, Tess, and Ren were following in the Mustang.

"How can things ever go back to normal after this, Max?" Liz asked him quietly, shattering the unnatural stillness that had permeated the car.

"They can�t, Liz." Max picked up the hand that was resting on his leg, bringing her palm to his lips. "But as long as we�re all together, somehow we�ll work it out."

Liz was quiet for a moment longer and then she said, "I want you to promise me that if you ever leave again, that if you ever decide you have to go back there, that you�ll take me with you."

"Liz�"

"I mean it. I know that you would never break a promise to me. It�s why you didn�t promise that you�d be back the first time you left. You didn�t know for sure that you�d be able to come back." Max turned his head, looking at her lovingly, before he turned his eyes back to the road. "So I�m not getting out of this car until you promise me."

The lights of the city were appearing ahead of them. Max felt his heart swell.

His home. Roswell was his home. Earth was his home.

It was where he had found Liz, his true love, the one person in the universe who completed him.

He would never leave it again.

"I�m not going anywhere," he told Liz firmly.

"Max! That�s not a promise!" Liz�s voice was rising.

Max smiled slightly to himself. If Liz Parker was anything, she was stubborn. "I promise that I will never leave you again." He turned to look at her. "I swear it. And if that means that you have to come across the universe with me, well, I guess that�s what will happen."

But I�m not going anywhere, Max thought to himself. And neither is Jennetta, if I have anything to say about it.

Part 45

"Michael?" Maria�s voice was soft as she spoke. She wasn�t sure whether or not he was asleep.

They had not spoken a word since the others left a couple of hours before. Michael had simply backed up into one of the stone walls near Jennetta�s pod, sliding to the floor, without saying a word.

It was like he had given up. His expression was completely blank as he continued to stare at Jennetta in her pod. Maria went to sit beside him. She jumped when he had put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her up close to his side.

And that was how they had sat, both reluctant to take their eyes off their daughter, in case they missed something that would help them to stop whatever was happening to her.

"Hmmmm?"

"Can you see anything happening?"

This was what Maria had been looking for for the past few minutes; any sign that Jennetta was changing physically in any way. But she didn�t look any different. The only thing was that her face had lost the animation that had been such a large part of who she was. She did not look to be in any sort of pain; only serene and oblivious to what was going on around her.

"No," Michael replied gruffly.

"I wonder how long it will be before she starts to change." Maria shivered at the thought of it, the thought that her daughter was going to start maturing until she was actually older than Maria herself.

It was just wrong - on every level.

Maria knew that she had not been very strong up to this point. She had become nearly hysterical when Ren first told them there was nothing they could do to stop what was happening to Jennetta. And then she had fainted�

She, Maria Deluca, had fainted. What was up with that?

"I don�t know," Michael told her. "I would guess it would be soon if the pods are working right. If they aren�t�well, it could be years."

They were quiet for a while longer. It was not an uncomfortable silence, but there was something underlying that had to be addressed. Maria didn�t know if this was the right time to do it, but she didn�t know if she could stand to have any sort of conflict between her and Michael. Not now.

It was ironic really. Her entire relationship with Michael over the two years that they had been together, off and on, revolved around conflict. It was one of the things she loved most about him - that he nearly drove her crazy on a regular basis. He challenged her.

And, yet now, the last thing in the world she wanted to do was fight with him.

But if that was going to stop they were definitely going to have to master the art of communication.

Max and Liz had done it. They didn�t even have to talk and they were in perfect sync. But the bond that existed between those two was not something that Maria could ever hope to approximate. What Max and Liz had was not normal. It was something apart. Those two were in many ways, quite literally, one soul divided into two bodies - to the point that Maria did not think that they could live without each other. She was still convinced that the only reason that Liz had survived their separation while Max was on Illyria was because she somehow knew that he would come back to her someday.

Maria often complained to Michael that he should be more like Max. But that wasn�t what she wanted, really. All she wanted was the chance to be with him, the chance to share something with him.

And Jennetta had been that chance.

But now that chance was gone and it was all up to Maria again. She could not depend that their daughter would bind him to her. For all they knew, Jennetta would leave when she came out of her pod. They couldn�t read the future.

Maria could not depend on him staying around because he loved their daughter. She was going to have to do it herself.

It was scary.

"Michael?"

"What, Maria?" His tone was not annoyed, just exhausted. Maybe this wasn�t the time.

"Why didn�t you tell me about Jennetta when you found out?" She couldn�t stop the words from tumbling from her mouth. She flinched, feeling him stiffen beside her. She couldn�t look at him.

"Why didn�t you?" Michael finally asked, not answering her question.

"Michael! Why can�t you just answer me?" Maria demanded, shocked by the intensity of the fury that coursed through her. She knew that it wasn�t anger at Michael. It was anger about the unfairness of the entire situation in which they found themselves. And yet she couldn�t control herself. "You always shut me out! Would you even be here if it wasn�t for Jennetta?"

Maria pulled away from him, keeping her back to him. She tried to control the tears that threatened to pour from her eyes.

Michael didn�t say anything for a long time. Maria wondered if he actually had gone to sleep.

So help me, if he�s asleep�

Maria jumped at the sound of his voice. "Maria, I want you to tell me why you didn�t tell me." His tone was urgent.

"Why?" Maria demanded, jumping to her feet and whirling on him.

Michael stared up at her, his expression unreadable. "Because I�m guessing it was for the same reason that I couldn�t tell you."

Maria froze. Finally she whispered, "I think I knew that she wasn�t going to be ours for good." Maria paused, horrified. But it was true, somehow, deep down, she had known that they were going to lose her.

And more than she couldn�t bear that for herself, she couldn�t bear it for Michael. She couldn�t bear the thought of the pain she knew that he would feel.

Michael climbed unsteadily to his feet. His eyes were bright. Maria realized that it was with tears.

"Me too." He continued to stare at her, until she couldn�t stand it anymore. She threw herself against his chest and sobbed out her grief at the fact that while their daughter would live, she would never be theirs.

Jennetta belonged to her planet. Just like Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess had always belonged to Illyria.

The Royal Four had escaped their destiny, but only because they were sacrificing something even greater than themselves. They were sacrificing their future, in the form of a small child, one who would not be small for much longer.

"We�re� going to have to�to give her up, Michael," Maria finally managed to say after she had cried herself dry, hiccuping twice before she could get it out.

"I know."

There was another long silence.

"Why us?" Maria asked eventually.

"Because we�re the ones who would know how big a sacrifice it is," Michael replied, sounding more sure than Maria had ever heard him. "Max and Liz�they would be devastated, but for them, giving each other up would be even worse. They�ve had to do it once already. They made their sacrifice."

"But us?"

Michael pulled back, looked steadily at her face. "Be honest, Maria. If you knew that we could keep her forever, but the price was that we could never be together, would you do it?"

"Yes," Maria said without hesitation.

Michael smiled weakly. "Me too."

Michael sank back against the wall, bringing Maria down with him. "You know," Maria said after a while, "I don�t think it�s about Liz and I making sacrifices at all."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked, sounding angry. "You both have given up just as much as me and Max."

"Well, duh. I mean, I know that, but I don�t think your people particularly care about us," Maria replied. "I think it�s all about you and the other three sacrificing. I mean, think about it. Max gave up Liz by going back to Illyria. You�re giving up Jennetta. Tess gave up her dream of Max, and destiny, and family. And Isabel gave up her mother." She paused, thinking hard. "You all made the ultimate sacrifice to save your planet. Your sacrifices resulted in Jennetta - the Chosen One."

"Hmmmm." Michael snorted. "Nice planet I come from. I�m damn glad I never have to go back."

"But think about it Michael. If it�s true, then maybe we won�t have lost Jennetta forever. Max got Liz back, Isabel has regained some sort of contact with her mother and has Mrs. Evans, and Tess has us to replace her family." Maria could feel herself beginning to get excited. "Maybe we just have to be willing to make the sacrifice, but in the end it won�t happen!"

Michael pulled her more tightly against him. He rested his chin on top of her head. Maria felt her eyes drift back to her little girl, so quiet and yet so peaceful in her pod. She knew that Michael was looking at her too. "I hope so," he finally muttered.

Part 46

West Roswell High, New Mexico - February 2002 - Six Months later

Liz hurried down the empty corridor, already tardy for AP English. She and Alex had left campus for lunch at Senor Chow�s, because Alex had a coupon that expired that day, but their waitress had been so slow, in the end their idea of a leisurely meal had flown out the window. They had practically wolfed down their food, but they were still late.

"See that your dad never hires that girl at the Crashdown," Alex ordered as he had rushed away from her on his way to Computer Programming.

Liz had almost reached her class when an arm suddenly reached out from a nearby doorway, grabbing her and hauling her into a vacant classroom. Liz barely had time to gasp before Max�s lips were on hers.

As was always the case, all thoughts of being responsible instantly flew out of Liz�s mind. Max�s warmth, his scent, infiltrated her senses, making her dizzy.

The flashes began almost immediately.

In the past, flashes had been solitary events, either brought on by great stress or interesting circumstances - if you could qualify finding a "damn orb," as Maria had dubbed them, an interesting circumstance. But now they were as natural as breathing.

When Max and Liz�s commitment solidified, the flashes had became a normal part of every moment they spent together. They heightened the connection that existed between them and Liz would not have traded them for a million dollars. She knew Max inside and out because of them - not only who Max Evans was, but also who Jaxon Falconer, King of Illyria had been, for those memories were still intact as well.

Liz also loved that Max knew everything there was to know about her. It had been scary at first, to have yourself be so naked and vulnerable to another person, but in the end she would have it no other way.

Plus, it was darn fun seeing some of the dirty thoughts Max had about her.

Liz finally pulled away, scolding jokingly, "I�m sorry, sir, but I have a boyfriend, and I don�t think he would be very happy to find me in here with you. You really must learn not to accost young ladies." She knew the smile on her face in no way matched her tone, but she couldn�t help it. She had no control of her happiness where Max was concerned. When she was with him, she was happy. When she wasn�t with him, she was happy that she soon would be. That was all there was to it.

Max gazed at her with hooded eyes. "Don�t you know about my reputation, miss?" he asked teasingly. "I�m honouring you with my presence. You should be grateful! Your boyfriend would more than understand. I mean, I am the famous Max Evans."

Liz smirked at him. Max was referring to the infamous photos of them that Pam Troy - aka Danala - had posted on the Internet all those months ago. Max had still been missing during that little horror show, but he had definitely heard about it.

Oh, had he heard. Only several days after he set foot back in West Roswell as a matter of fact, which had been two days after they had destroyed Danala, and Jennetta went into the pod. Max had not wanted to leave his little sister, but Liz had finally convinced him that it was up to Michael and Maria to look after Jennetta. It was the way they wanted it and they all had to respect it. They would help as much as the pair wanted them to, but it had to be Michael and Maria�s decision.

Liz reminded him that not only was he half a year behind his classmates in school, because of his months on Illyria, he had also been flunking most of his classes when he had been at school. This, of course, had all been part of his anti-Max act, but obviously no teacher was going to accept that excuse. And, so, Max Evans had spent most of the last six months desperately trying to catch up on almost a year�s worth of school work, on top of his senior year work, hoping that he would still be able to graduate with his class.

Unfortunately, Max was too darn honest to use his scanning ability to make his task a little easier, but then that was one of the things Liz loved about him. But it did mean that he was often exhausted.

It didn�t help that he insisted on returning to work at the UFO Museum, and that he also drove out to the Transformation Chamber at least once a day to check on Jennetta and Ren, the latter having set up camp within the chamber to guard the precious one housed there. And this was on top of his shifts looking after Jennetta anyway.

And then there was the fall-out from Max�s return from the dead�and those infamous pictures.

Max had entered the school on that first day encircled protectively by Isabel, Alex, Tess and, of course, Liz. Liz had even convinced Kyle to meet them at the front doors, although he had been strangely missing in action during the two days since they had defeated Danala.

People were thrilled to see Max. Before the anti-Max routine, he had been very popular. Sure he had been quiet and mysterious, but everyone knew that he was just about the nicest guy in the world. That sort of thing could not be hidden. Which was why the anti-Max behaviour had been so shocking and extreme.

They had all read the headlines in the newspaper, had seen it on the news: MIRACLE RETURN OF PRESUMED DEAD LOCAL TEENAGER. The papers in Albuquerque had picked up the story. Liz was shocked to even see a report of the story on a network newscast a few days later, it clearly having been of enough human interest for Peter Jennings to talk about it.

Everyone was looking for miracles it seemed.

The sheriff had done his best to shield the Evanses from the brunt of the publicity, but they were forced to endure it for several days.

And then, when the kids at West Roswell finally started to simmer down about Max�s miraculous return, they started to notice that not only was Max Evans back from the dead, but clearly so was his relationship with Liz Parker.

It was their own fault really. Max and Liz barely managed to keep their hands off of each other half the time. They had spent so much time apart, and had not really been together and half-way safe since the time before Tess appeared in Roswell almost two years before. They couldn�t help it. And it was noticed immediately.

And certain people took it to mean something that they shouldn�t. Mainly people who had known Pam Troy.

Liz still hadn�t found her journal. Tess had searched Danala�s belongings, which were stored in the Pod Chamber, but the book of the history of Max and Liz had not been among them.

Liz remembered the exact moment Max first heard that practically the entire school had seen those pictures.

They had all been sitting in the quad eating their lunch about two weeks after D-Day, as Alex had taken to calling that horrible event, it being short for Danala Day. No one thought it was very funny, but they couldn�t exactly go around talking about it openly otherwise. Destroy Evil Alien Day had just not seemed appropriate somehow.

A routine had begun, with everyone sharing the job of sitting with Jennetta because, although they wanted to, Michael and Maria determined that they could not keep her a secret, look after her, and lead semi-normal lives to keep that secret at the same time, and, thus, had had to delegate. Clearly Ren was always there, but no one wanted Jenny to be alone when she first came out of the pod.

Alex and Isabel were on duty and, therefore, were not sitting with them, but the rest of the gang was there, including Michael and Maria. Even Kyle had deigned to join them, although his distance was increasing with every day. Liz knew that it had everything to do with Tess, but she had no idea what to do to help that situation.

It had been equally clear to Liz that Tess didn�t know what to do about the awkwardness between the two of them either, and so chose to ignore it. This resulted in Kyle being even more hurt and pulling away from the whole group.

Because, as Kyle had told Liz when she had confronted him about it, Tess didn�t have anyone else. Kyle would survive without the group, but Tess wouldn�t. After he told her that, Liz went over to Max�s and cried on his chest about how sad she felt for her friend. Max stroked her hair and told her that it would all work out if it was meant to. Just look at them. But Liz still felt completely helpless.

And so, the grouping on that particular day was strange. Tension was in the air. Michael had been grumpy for days, and while no one blamed him, it was still hard to deal with. Maria was no longer Maria. She was quiet, and sad, and barely spoke at all. Tess was chattering, trying to erase the unnatural silence, and Kyle was staring everywhere but at Tess. Max and Liz were holding hands, both upset at what their friends had become.

They were all jerked from their respective funks when Sandy Snell and Julie Lucas - two of Pam Troy�s lackeys if Liz remembered correctly, although it was hard to because Pam had always failed to keep friends for very long - had come marching up to them. They looked frightened, but determined as well.

"What did you do to Pam? Everyone�s been treating you like gold just because you disappeared, Max Evans, but we don�t care!" Sandy said, her voice dripping with venom. "I know you did something to her, and that your crazy group of friends helped you!" she stated, staring straight at Max.

Liz felt Max flinch. Pam Troy was another problem that had yet to be resolved. They had no idea what Danala had done to the girl when she had assumed her form. They had already determined that the Pam Max had dated was the real Pam. Although they were fairly sure Michael and Tess�s evil sister had murdered her, they had no idea where her body was. And they also had no idea what to do if Pam�s body was ever found.

The sheriff had helped them, but they all felt terrible having to tell the Troys that Pam had run away. And, yet, there was little else they could do. Liz knew that while Max had despised her, his guilt over Pam�s fate was yet another burden added to the heavy load he already carried.

"What the hell are you talking about, Snell? Get lost!" Kyle sneered, trying to rid themselves of her and Julie. But Liz felt her heart go out to Pam�s friends despite herself.

She certainly had hated Pam, having been her victim once upon a time, but no one deserved the end Danala had likely visited on her.

Sandy flinched, clearly slightly intimidated by Kyle and his social status. She knew that he could ruin her, but Liz had to admire her backbone, if not her next words, when she continued, addressing Max, "I mean, I think you thought Pam was responsible for those pictures, and now that you and Liz are back together, you wanted to get rid of her."

Liz felt Max tense up even more. "What pictures?" he asked Liz under his breath.

But Michael spoke up at this point. "You�re crazy, woman! Who the hell would �take care� of someone over something like that?"

Sandy stared at him. "I didn�t think you had killed her or anything�just that you made her run-away somehow." Her eyes widened and she looked terrified. "Did you kill her?"

Michael snorted, rising and getting ready to leave. "I don�t have time for these high school dramas." He pulled Maria to her feet. Maria eyed Max sympathetically before they left.

"We�ll be with Jenny!" she called to Liz as they disappeared.

"We�re sorry," Liz finally said gently. "We don�t know where Pam is."

Sandy�s eyes filled with tears. Julie took her by the arm, pulling her away. "I�m sorry," Julie told them. "She�s just really upset."

"I didn�t know Pam Troy had any real friends," Tess said after the foursome of she, Kyle, Liz, and Max had sat for several moments in uncomfortable silence.

"I guess everyone has someone who cares about them," Liz replied, squeezing Max�s hand. She could feel his curiosity about those pictures that Sandy had mentioned, but also his guilt over Pam. She knew exactly what he was thinking. If he wasn�t who he was, innocent people wouldn�t be getting hurt.

River Dog. Eddie. Pam. Even Nasedo, and Silesa and her mate, who had died protecting him, and Isabel, and Michael, and Tess. Liz knew that he carried the weight of their sacrifice around with him constantly.

That was just Max.

And that was when the rumours started again. They were all sure that Sandy was responsible. Liz had to tell Max all about the web-site. He was horrified at first, that their privacy had been violated in that way. He had also been aware of the danger of Liz�s journal�s still missing status. But eventually he started to see the humour in the situation, and even started to tease Liz about it, because it still made her blush.

But as Max had told her finally: "I don�t care if people see how much I love you, Liz. I mean, they can see it when I look at you. They�re probably assuming that we do that stuff anyway."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Liz asked, reddening just thinking about it.

"I have other things to think about," Max replied, pulling her to him and showing her exactly what he was thinking about.

After that, things began to slowly return to normal, despite all the questions they still had.

They had exhausted Ren�s knowledge about what was happening to Jennetta. The transformation had begun. It was Max who first noticed the difference, he being the one who still knew her the best. It was slow, but she was definitely maturing.

She looked about thirteen at the present stage. It was disturbing, and unnatural, but it was still Jennetta. And with every passing day she looked more like Maria. Her colouring was still all Michael, but her face was almost an exact replica of her mother�s.

Maria cried when Isabel pointed it out.

The other major concern was Tarsus. Max knew him, and knew that he would not take Danala�s destruction lightly. Their fear of his return had calmed down slightly when Ren reminded them that only Isabel and Max could open the portals.

"He got here the first time," Max replied darkly. "And so did Danala�and I know that Izzy didn�t bring them."

"Tarsus followed you on a ship the first time. He was on Earth for decades, searching for you. He only found you when you activated the orb the first time," Ren had explained.

"And Danala?" Liz inquired, knowing exactly what Max was thinking.

Ren frowned at that. "Hmmmm." He clearly had no clue about Danala�s presence on Earth.

And, so, they left it at that�.but they worried.

Now, as Liz threw her arms around Max�s neck and kissed him again, all these worries interfered again.

Max pulled back slightly, bringing his forehead to rest against hers. "What�s wrong, Liz?"

Liz sighed, bringing her hand up to touch his face lovingly. "The usual."

Max took her hand, smiling weakly. "I take it by that you mean the English test you are presently missing?" Liz eyed him seriously, knowing that he was just trying to cheer her up. He was so strong and always worrying about everyone else before himself.

But clearly right now he wanted to forget their problems. She would let him�for now.

"I guess I better go," she replied reluctantly.

"Hmmmm." Max brought her hand to his lips, kissing her palm lightly. "I�ll only let you go if you promise to accompany me on a lovely carriage ride out to the desert later this afternoon, milady."

Welcome back problems, Liz reflected ruefully. She and Max were on the evening shift with Jenny.

"You have a deal, your highness," Liz replied with false cheer.

As Max walked Liz to her class, they both paused when they noticed Tess at the far end of the corridor staring into a classroom.

She must have felt their presence because she turned, saw them, and then whirled, running outside through the double-doors nearby.

"What was that all about?" Liz asked worriedly.

Max sighed. "I guess I�d better go see." He pulled her in for one last kiss. "I�ll see you later."

Liz watched him walk away, feeling the combination of complete happiness that being with Max engendered within her, and sadness that nothing could ever be just normal.

It never would be again.

Part 47

Max paused briefly outside the doors of the school, surprised to see that Tess hadn�t run very far. She was sitting on a bench on the front lawn, staring off into space, a sad look on her pretty face.

He knew that whatever was upsetting her was not about him and Liz. Liz had told him that Tess had accepted that he would not be with her long ago. It was why Liz had somehow known during the whole time that it looked like Tess was betraying them that she was not. All the stuff with Danala had been a momentary back-step�something Tess had not been able to resist for a time, that feeling of being important, of being needed.

Tess had not had that feeling for a long while - had not had it since it had become clear that Max was never going to fall in love with her, that she was never going to be the "bride", that all that she had ever been raised to be was not going to come about. Danala had given it back to her briefly, but she had managed, in the end, to see it for the lie it was.

Max knew that Tess had never been in love with him - and that now she knew it too.

And so this had to be about Kyle.

Max didn�t know what to make of Kyle half the time. He didn�t know what had gone down between Kyle and Tess on the day Danala had been destroyed, but whatever it was, it had not been good. He knew that Kyle was trust-worthy and loyal, but Max also knew that it was not to him. Kyle cared about Liz, and Maria, and Alex - and even Michael and Isabel, having bonded with them during the period when Max had been on Illyria - but he only tolerated Max.

Max knew that Kyle was grateful that he had once saved his life, but that didn�t mean that they would ever be friends. Kyle had some gripe with him that it was unlikely would ever disappear. And Max couldn�t blame him. If he had been dating someone like Liz, only to find out that she had a soulmate about to enter her life - well, hell, he would have been pissed too.

And, yet, somehow Max knew that none of this was about Liz either. It was about Tess.

It was Tess that Kyle loved - or so Liz had told him anyway. From the way Max had seen Kyle behave around Tess since his memory had returned, he had trouble believing it.

He had even told Liz so. She just smiled affectionately at him, clearly thinking he was an idiot.

"Max, how did you behave around me before I knew the truth about you?" she asked, raising a delicate eyebrow at him,

Max felt confused. "I don�t know. I guess I sort of stayed away from you," he finally replied, having no idea what she was talking about. Of course, that was not entirely true. He hadn�t approached her, well, except in Bio lab, but he had certainly not stayed away. Michael used to joke that they should have a reserved table at the Crashdown because Max always wanted to go there to ogle the waitresses.

"But you loved me?" Liz asked.

"Of course. You know that."

They were on Liz�s balcony, curled up together on the chaise lounge. She had sat up as soon as they had begun this conversation though and was staring down at him incredulously.

"So then why did you stay away from me?" Liz inquired mischievously.

"To keep you safe," Max replied instantly, sure that was the right answer.

Liz just grinned. "Sorry. Wrong." She leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on his lips to make him feel better, and although he was slightly distracted, he still felt a twinge of annoyance.

Max frowned at her. "I am not wrong. I think I know what was going through my own mind!" he replied, knowing he sounded miffed.

Liz just continued to smile tolerantly. "But no one knew anything about your Czech status then, Max. And you and I were barely friends. We were just school buddies. Why would you have to keep me safe?"

Max opened his mouth to reply, but then frowned, remembering suddenly exactly why he used to stay away from Liz.

"I didn�t think that someone like you could ever be interested in someone like me," he finally said quietly, looking up at Liz. He and Liz had gone through so much together since then, he had almost forgotten what it was like to be that boy - madly in love with someone he was sure he was never going to have in his life. Liz had been smart, and popular, and so breathtakingly beautiful, and dating the captain of the football and basketball teams. He had been a nobody. That wasn�t even bringing into account his other-worldly origins, which should have been the biggest obstacle of all. "And so I didn�t even try. I just wanted to keep the dream alive by not doing anything about it," he continued, feeling a little sad for that boy he had been.

It had sucked.

Liz�s eyes were shining down at him. "You were so dumb." She gently touched his face. His heart swelled at the love he saw in her gaze as she leaned down again, her silky, dark hair falling around them like a curtain. "I was born to be yours, and you were born to be mine," she whispered, kissing him nearly senseless.

But that conversation had come back to him later, and he knew now exactly what Liz had been getting at. Kyle was distancing himself from Tess because he loved her, and he was sure that she would never feel the same way. The hurt was too much to deal with and so he stayed away.

And, yet, the look on Tess�s face now told Max that Kyle had nothing to worry about.

Max had glanced into the classroom Tess had been staring into as he had chased after her. It didn�t take a rocket scientist to figure out what had upset her.

It was a study hall. The teacher was busy marking at her desk and was virtually ignoring what the students were doing.

But of course the teacher was not what had interested Tess. Kyle was in there, surrounded by three cheerleaders, all giggling, one of them actually on his lap.

And, yet, although Kyle had been laughing, Max had seen the distance on his face. He was not happy.

Max realized that Tess had become aware of his presence. She did not try to flee though. She was just gazing at him, her expression blank.

Max walked over slowly, indicating the seat beside her. "Mind if I join you?"

Tess pursed her lips momentarily, but nodded. "No." She looked away. "I take it Liz sent you." She paused. "I don�t know why that girl is so nice to me. I almost killed her."

Max touched her shoulder lightly. She turned to look at him, her face still unreadable. "But you didn�t. And she didn�t send me."

A flash of surprise crossed Tess�s face before she managed to suppress it. Max didn�t blame her. He and Tess were not on bad terms, but it had taken him a while to get over the rage he had felt at her when he thought that she had murdered Liz.

He would have killed her then - and painfully too.

And, so, he had left her alone, and she had kept her distance from him. She and Michael were extremely close now, and she and Isabel were getting back to the friendship they had shared when they had first met. Maria was preoccupied with other things, but Tess and Alex had developed a fairly close friendship as well. Max thought it was because Alex remembered how it felt to be an outsider, way back when they had all been lying to him at the beginning of their sophomore year. That had affected Alex far more deeply than he let on, Max knew. He was the most loyal of them all, and would die for any of them, and that was probably what had hurt him the most. That he had not been trusted. So now that Alex knew that Tess was not out to hurt Liz, or claim Max, he identified with her and had befriended her.

Everyone could see that Tess was no longer interested in Max. Max wondered why Kyle couldn�t.

"Tell me how I can help you, Tess," Max said now, feeling for all the world like he would do anything to make her happy. He didn�t like to see anyone as miserable as Tess currently was. They still had a bond through the Four Square and he could feel her emotions quite clearly, even though she was trying to mask them.

"I don�t know what you�re talking about," she snapped suddenly, getting to her feet.

"I saw Kyle with those girls," Max interjected smoothly. She halted in mid-step. She had been poised to run away, but she collapsed back on the bench instead. Her mask fell away and her misery was suddenly plain.

Max remained quiet, waiting for her to open up.

Tess bit her lip, trying to control her tears. "He hates me," she finally said quietly.

Max wondered why it was always the two people most closely involved in a situation that could not see what was directly in front of their faces. "I don�t think so, Tess," he replied gently.

But she didn�t answer, just kept staring off into space. "Do you know what I said to him the first time he told me that he loved me, Max?" Max just shook his head. Tess turned to eye him. "I told him I didn�t care. I told him that to his face, as cruelly as I possibly could. I wanted to hurt him, Max." Tears were falling in earnest now. She was not sobbing, just silently crying. "I wanted to hurt him, even though I felt the same way. He�s the only person who has ever accepted me exactly as I am. But I was so scared, and so stupid that I trusted Danala, and I chose to hurt him rather than face the way I felt about him." She paused, shaking her head. "I wanted to hurt the one person I loved more than anyone, Max. What kind of person does that make me?"

"I think it makes you human, Tess," Max replied quietly. She jerked in surprise. "I know that you�ve always wanted to go home, that you never wanted to accept what we are. But it�s the truth, Tess. No matter where we come from, the fact that we can love the way we do, it makes us human." Tess was staring at him, a strange expression on her face. "I once told Liz that loving her made me human. I think we both know that you never loved me�it was loving Kyle that made you human. And there�s one part of being in love that really sucks, Tess." Max smiled sympathetically at her. "Sometimes it really, really hurts."

Tess rolled her eyes, a bit of her spirit coming back. "That I know," she said. She sobered again very quickly, looking sad. "But I�ve heard that old phrase, Max: there�s a thin line between love and hate. I think Kyle has crossed it." She shook her head again. "I know that he thinks that I�m in love with you, and I don�t know how to show him that I�m not. I always run away, Max. But I�m sick of running."

Max put his arm around her comfortingly. "While I disagree with you, if Kyle has crossed that line, well, then you�ll just have to pull him back over to the other side."

Tess was stiff in his embrace for a moment, but relaxed suddenly, sighing. Max had a flash of the affection he�d had for her when she had been Sabrya, and he had been Jaxon. He had never been in love with her, but he had loved her, more like brother and sister than anything else. Their marriage had been meant to end the disastrous conflict that divided their planet. It had been meant for good and it had been good. It just had not been meant to be.

"Tess, I once gave up on love," Max told her after they had sat in companionable silence for a while. "I didn�t tell Liz, or anyone, what was going on with Tarsus and it led to all that we�ve gone through since. If I had trusted people who loved me, maybe we could have stopped it all before it started." He squeezed her gently. "We�ve already figured out that you, me, Izzy, and Michael are stronger as a unit. I know that I�m stronger with Liz by my side. I think that if you love Kyle, you�re going to have to tell him�but not just that�you�re going to have to let him in. You can�t keep any part of yourself separate, or it will never work."

Tess was gazing up at him, looking amused. "Max, you do realize that you�re a guy don�t you?" she giggled. "You sound exactly like a girl. Guy aren�t supposed to want to let people in."

Max felt himself reddening, but he grinned. "Well, if we�re a matched pair, I guess you�re the guy then, since you�re the one who has trouble expressing her emotions."

Tess stared at him in open-mouthed shock for a moment, but suddenly burst into peals of laughter. She threw her arms around him, hugging him affectionately. "I know that Liz knows how lucky she is," Tess told him, still laughing. "But I�m going to make sure that she never forgets it."

Max was laughing too, but he pulled back and stared at Tess hard. "You�re lucky too, Tess. Kyle is a good guy. I think we all take him for granted a bit. He deserves to be happy, and you need to talk to him - sooner rather than later."

Tess sobered again, nodded. "I know. It�s just scary, Max."

Max raised an eyebrow at her. "What�s scarier, Tess, talking to him or losing him?"

"The second," Tess replied seriously. She smiled at him again. "Thank you, Jaxon."

"Thank you, Sabrya." Tess hugged him again.

Neither of them noticed that the bell had rung, or that Kyle Valenti was standing at the entrance to the school, a girl on each arm. He had been standing there for quite a while, and had witnessed at least two hugs between Tess Harding and Max Evans.

He didn�t react. He just shook off the cheerleaders and stalked to his Mustang, pulling out of the parking lot with a squeal of tires.

Part 48

Kyle glanced at his watch, swearing as he sped the Mustang down the highway. After seeing Max and Tess together he had gone to the gym to work off some of his frustration. Time had slipped away from him, and he was now definitely going to be late for his Jennetta baby-sitting duty.

He wasn�t quite sure how he had ended up on the rotation again. He had been doing his best to distance himself from everyone since Tess basically started ignoring him for the last few months, but Liz refused to let him drift away. She would just call him up, tell him when he was scheduled for the week, and had so much faith in him, he couldn�t bear to disappoint her by not showing up.

Liz impressed the hell out of him. He had always known that she was special, but over the past few months, the way she held them all together�it was incredible. It was too hard to let go of Liz too. And if it meant having to see Tess to keep her in his life, well, he had thought that he would be able to handle it.

And, despite himself, Kyle wanted to give Michael and Maria a hand. It wasn�t their fault that Tess wanted nothing to do with him.

At least Liz had stopped asking him if he had talked to Tess. He did his utmost to avoid talking to Tess. It was just too painful. And Tess certainly made no effort to talk to him, although he did find her staring at him an awful lot. He had no idea what she was thinking when she did that, but she didn�t ever turn away when he looked back.

It was weird. It was like she didn�t want him, but she didn�t want anyone else to have him either. Did she know that, just by looking him, she could drive him crazy for weeks, wondering what she had been thinking, whether she had been feeling sorry for him, or whether she was just comparing him to her beloved Max and finding all his shortcomings.

Just like Liz had done.

He�d had enough. It was time to cut the ties. This was definately the last evening he was spending in a room buried deep under the desert floor playing cards with Ren and Alex. He had to move on.He wanted to be a normal teen-age jock again. He wanted to have fun, and go to the prom with some hot babe, and not wonder if the alien kid had hatched yet.

He wanted "normal," dammit!

He wanted to stop dreaming about icy blue eyes, glossy pink lips, and masses of curly blonde hair. He wanted to get the image of Tess laughing and throwing her arms around Saint Max out of his head.

Did the girl have no self respect? Max was more than taken. He was damn-well practically married to Liz. Not that Max had looked too upset to have Tess almost in his lap earlier that day.

Damn him.

Kyle swore again as he turned the wheel sharply, cutting across the desert. He knew his dad would be pissed if he could see how he was driving, but Kyle didn�t give a crap. He wanted to get to the transformation chamber, do his duty, and then get back home.

He slammed on the brakes near the entrance to the tunnels. He could see the jeep parked nearby. They were careful not to come by way of the reservation anymore. The chamber was deep enough into the desert to be virtually impossible to find for anyone who wasn�t looking for it, but the last thing they needed was someone stumbling across it because they wondered where a bunch of teenagers kept disappearing to.

Kyle wondered briefly why they couldn�t be going out into the desert to drink illegally like normal kids.

He sighed, climbed out of his, car and rummaged around in the trunk for the flashlight he carried there now. He was in the tunnel moments later, used to the ten-foot drop by now. He usually only used the ladder Max had brought out when he left.

Switching on the flashlight, Kyle yelped when Ren�s face appeared in the beam.

"Holy Crap! You scared the hell out of me!" He kept the beam trained on the shape-shifter�s face. "What are doing here? And why are all the lights out?"

"I was leaving," Ren explained patiently, his expression blank as usual. "I turned off the lights right before you nearly jumped on my head."

Wise guy.

Kyle had grown to like Ren in spite of his general state of serenity and his complete lack of sense of humour. At least he let Kyle beat him at poker once in a while. He was damn good at poker, what with that stony expression. But the guy�s poker-face could get tiring.

"Why didn�t you turn on the lights?" Ren was asking, raising an eyebrow, clearly not at all upset by the fact that Kyle was still shining his flashlight directly in his eyes.

Ironically, several weeks after Jennetta had gone into the pod, it had been Kyle who had figured out how to power up the compound.

It was by accident actually. He had just been finishing up a shift with Michael.

He liked being on Jennetta duty with Michael. He brooded and left Kyle alone. Maria had a tendency to get all weepy and Liz would never shut up about Tess, about how great she was, about how much she liked her. Isabel usually just did her homework, while Alex seemed to think that Kyle liked being his sounding board for all the new songs for his stupid band. Max was just Max - irritating on every level - always perfectly pleasant, and nice, and quiet, and Kyle never had any clue what Evans was really thinking�irritating.

But Tess was the worst. They would sit in stony silence, neither speaking to each other, only to Ren. And she stared at him with that blank look of hers.

It sucked.

It sucked because it always made him remember how much fun they used to have with each other during the months that Max had been on Illyria, when they had become friends. They were both outsiders, both trying to fit into a group that had shared a secret for so long, that newcomers were sometimes left out in the cold. They always used to laugh about how annoying all the others were, and had bonded over their mutual outsiderness. They had bonded in not wanting to admit how much they wanted to be accepted�to belong.

Yup. It sucked. It didn�t help that he was madly in love with her, but the transformation chamber ordeal usually made him sadder about the loss of her friendship than about the loss of something that had never been.

Yet, he couldn�t make the first move. He just couldn�t do it anymore. A guy had to have some pride.

And so they sat in silence on the rare occasions they were scheduled together.

Anyway, on the day in question, he and Michael had been covering the entrance with some scrub brush from the desert, when Kyle tripped on a small rock and went smashing into the large boulder that covered most of the hole in the desert floor.

He put out his hands to stop his fall and when he took his hand away, a silver hand-print was shining up at him.

Michael came up behind him. "What the�" He stared at the hand-print, then stared at Kyle. "How the hell did you do that?"

Kyle blinked, staring at his hand, suddenly remembering when he had opened the doorway into the transformation chamber on D-Day. He had totally forgotten with all the other crap that had gone down that day. "I have no frigging clue."

Michael set his palm against the hand-print. They both started when a bright light suddenly shone out from within the hole. "Jeez," Michael breathed.

Moments later they heard Max calling up from within the tunnel, where he had been on his way to join Liz for their shift. "What�s going on up there?"

"What�s going on down there?" Michael demanded

"All the symbols on the walls are shining," Max called back. His dark head appeared out of the hole a moment later. "What did you guys do?"

"Kyle did it," Michael replied, looking at him suspiciously.

Max also looked at Kyle questioningly. "You were able to activate the hand-print, Kyle?"

Kyle felt himself getting his dander up just at the sound of Max�s "leader" voice. "Yeah, so?"

Max�s eyes narrowed. "Liz can do it too - at least at the entrance to the chamber." He glanced at Michael. "We always suspected it. Now I guess we know for sure." Michael was just shaking his head.

"Know what?" Kyle demanded, looking from one to the other in annoyance. "Stop speaking in alien and tell me what the hell�s going on."

"Maxwell changed you," Michael finally ground out, scratching his head. "When he healed you."

"We always knew that something was up with Liz, with the flashes and stuff." Max sounded a little disappointed as he continued, "We just thought it was a special connection between the two of us."

"It was the healing," Michael finished.

Kyle felt sweat break out on his forehead. He was part alien? He was going to have to talk in indecipherable Czech speak! "Maria can�t do it? Alex?" Kyle asked desperately.

Both Max and Michael just shook their heads. Michael�s expression began to look interested, like he thought maybe Kyle�s head was going to explode. Max just looked guilty.

Kyle, meanwhile, felt like he was suffocating. He was trapped! He was always going to be connected to these people.

He would never be able to escape her.

"Kyle, are you okay?" Max asked, sounding upset.

Kyle forced himself to take deep breaths. There was no way he wanted Max to see how disturbed he was. He was not in the mood for a bonding session with the heart�s desire of his heart�s desire.

It always came back to Tess.

"I�m fine," he snapped. He pointed down into the hole. "Shouldn�t we check out what else has been turned on?"

Max and Michael exchanged glances again, but had followed him willingly.

It turned out that an awful lot had been "turned on."

A glowing trail of silver hand-prints shone out from the stone walls, disappearing into the distance in both directions. The many carved symbols were lit up as well, creating a perfectly pleasant glow that made flashlights no longer necessary.

Max put his hand against the closest hand-print. None of them were surprised to see the wall swing out.

Michael tried the next one. Another door-way. There were rooms everywhere. And they all looked like they had been lived in once upon a time.

And it was again reinforced to Kyle that aliens had been among them for a long time.

In the months since the "lights had been turned on," most of them had explored the compound extensively. But here were still hundreds of rooms that none of them had seen. The tunnels seemed never-ending.

The only person who didn�t ever touch another silver hand-print was Kyle. He wanted nothing to do with any powers. He was human and he planned to stay human.

"I�ve told you," he snapped at Ren now. "I don�t do the lights here."

Ren just raised an eyebrow. "They�re waiting for you." He nodded down the corridor.

"I thought you were on duty tonight," Kyle called after the shape-shifter, as he began to climb the ladder to the surface.

Ren glanced down at him. "I am always on duty," he replied simply. "The king insisted that I come up for some air."

Kyle smirked. "You are looking a little peaked Renny, old boy." The shape-shifter just stared at him.

Kyle sighed. No sense of humour. It seemed to be a Czechoslovakian characteristic. Max and Michael had crappy senses of humour too. He was glad that his had not been damaged in the transfiguration.

He kept his flashlight trained on the floor as he hurried down the tunnel. He wondered if anyone was ever going to bother to dust.

A good ten minutes later he reached the entrance to the transformation chamber. It, of course, looked exactly like the rest of the walls, but he had been there often enough that he knew where to stop.

This was the one place that he had no choice but to use a little alien voodoo, as Maria called it. He waved his hand over the wall, then scowled as the entrance hand-print flashed out at him.

"Bloody Czechs," he muttered to himself, glancing at his watch again. "Only four hours. You can do four hours, Valenti - and then it�s over."

It was as the wall slid away that Kyle came face to face with Tess.

She blinked. "Kyle."

Kyle groaned to himself. He was absolutely sure the schedule had said "Alex."

"Tess," he managed to mumble.

She started to babble. If he hadn�t heard it himself, he wouldn�t have believed it. Tess Harding was babbling. She had not said word one to him in four months and now she was babbling. He would never understand women.

"I was just�I mean, Alex had to practice with the Whits�he couldn�t put them off again�.so I thought�you know, that I would help him out. So that�s why I�m here�you know, to help Alex out?"

Kyle stared at her, doing his best to keep his expression blank. "Then why are you coming out of the chamber?"

Tess whitened. "Er, well, Max and Liz are in there. I just came in and�well, they�re sort of busy�so I thought I would come and look for you�since I knew you were coming and all." She trailed off lamely.

"Busy" meant that Max and Liz were likely making out, since the two of them couldn�t seem to keep their hands off of each other. The idea of them making out under Jennetta�s pod grossed him out a little, but hey different strokes - it wasn�t like the two of them were ever normal when they were together.

What annoyed him was that this was why Tess was upset -upset enough that she hadn�t even interrupted. She had just fled. Kyle didn�t blame her. Even after literally throwing herself at Max today, he had still gone back to Liz.

"Sorry about that," he muttered, looking at the floor. He might think she was deluding herself, but he didn�t enjoy the fact that she was always hurt by how little chance she had with Max.

"You�re sorry about what?" Tess asked, sounding confused.

"You know�about Max and Liz."

"You�re sorry that Max and Liz are fiddling with the orbs?"

"Is that what they�re calling it these days?" Kyle smirked.

Tess just blinked at him. "Huh?"

Kyle eyed her for a minute. Tess wasn�t usually this dense. "Never mind." He shrugged in the direction of the tunnels. "Wanna go for a walk?"

What the hell are you doing you idiot? a voice in the back of his head was screaming at him. He ignored it. He just wanted to make her feel better.

Idiot.

Shut-up, he told the voice.

Tess smiled at him. Kyle was surprised at the warmth he saw. "Okay."

"We�ll be back soon you horn-dogs!" Kyle bellowed over his shoulder as they exited the corridor into the transformation chamber.

He ignored the weird look Tess gave him.

***

Max and Liz stared at each other as Kyle�s yell drifted into their ears.

"What the heck is he talking about?" Liz asked. Sure they were holding hands while eavesdropping as Tess made her move, only having done so after Liz and Max had practically pushed her out to meet him, but "horn-dogs?"

"One track mind," Max sighed, rolling his eyes. He slid his arm around her waist, planting a light kiss on her temple.

Liz shivered, smiled at him. "Speaking of one track minds�"

She pulled away from him, going back to the stone table nearby. She stared down at the orbs she and Max had been examining when Tess came in a few minutes before. Ren was convinced that these purple ones that Michael had uncovered in one of the compound�s other chambers were communication orbs - but real ones this time. The original blue orbs had possessed the capability to store one message, but if these orbs could be made to function, contact might be re-established with Illyria.

Liz picked up the nearest orb, tracing the symbol on it thoughtfully. It looked like a shooting star. "Do you think she�ll get up the nerve to tell her how he feels?" she asked Max as he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. Liz leaned back against his chest, bringing the orb up to eye-level.

"Staring at it isn�t going to make it tell you how to work it, Liz," Max told her affectionately.

"Hmmmm." Liz sighed, placing it back on the table. She wasn�t sure why she wanted them to be able to contact Illyria so badly. It was just a weird feeling she had - that they had better be in contact with Max�s home planet soon. That something terrible was happening there.

Liz suppressed the shiver that wanted to erupt. She turned in Max� s arms, and couldn�t resist kissing him lightly before asking again, "Well? I really want them to be happy, Max. Kyle has just been so distant. I worry about him. He needs Tess."

Max pulled her against his chest. "I do too, Liz. But I just don�t know. It�s been six months. It might be too late."

"It�s never too late for love," Liz insisted. "I would wait for you forever."

Max pushed a stray hair behind her ear. "Thank God," he replied seriously. He bent his head to kiss her again, but they both jerked when a piercing squeal suddenly filled the chamber.

"What the�" Max was frantically looking around the chamber, trying to identify where the noise was coming from. Liz was not surprised when he thrust her behind him. Always over-protective.

And yet, that noise�it sounded like something was dying.

"I think it�s coming from the pod, Max!" Liz exclaimed. He turned to stare at her.

"Jennetta!" They both said at the same time.

Something was horribly wrong.

Part 49

Kyle and Tess wandered down the stone corridor in silence. Neither had said anything since they left the transformation chamber, but it was not an uncomfortable silence. For the first time since their argument the day Jennetta had gone into the pod, Tess actually felt comfortable in Kyle�s presence.

He had definitely seemed concerned about her when he asked her to walk with him. It was helping her to work up the nerve to talk to him about how she felt.

Now if only she could spit it out!

"I�m sorry about what you saw, Tess," Kyle said abruptly, just as Tess had opened her mouth to speak. She blinked.

He must be talking about the cheerleaders from earlier today, Tess reflected. She wondered how he had known that she saw him with Lisa Talbot on his lap in study hall.

"Oh, well�" she said quietly.

"I don�t know what you expect though," Kyle continued, sounding upset. "You know how they feel about each other. Max is never going to feel for you what he feels for Liz, no matter how hard you throw yourself at him."

Tess stopped in her tracks. "What on Earth are you talking about?" He couldn�t still think that she was in love with Max? Was he insane? "Kyle�"

But Kyle wasn�t listening to her. Tess realized that he too had stopped, but that he was staring at the wall, a perplexed expression on his face. "What the�" He turned to look at her. "Look at this!"

Tess frowned, wanting to set him straight about Max, but the insistent expression on his face made her go look at the whatever he was tracing with his index finger. "What?" she demanded.

She couldn�t see anything. All she saw was Kyle�s hand tracing a blank wall. "What, Kyle? There�s nothing there."

Kyle whipped his head around, staring at her. "You can�t see it? I don�t understand. It�s so clear!"

"What is it?" Tess demanded, peering more closely. Still nothing.

"It�s a window, Tess!" Kyle exclaimed, tapping on something he could obviously see clearly but she couldn�t see at all. "It�s a small window." Kyle was standing about two inches from the wall at this point, his noise almost pressed against the wall. "There are a bunch of bookcases in there!"

Tess wondered if he was going crazy. She pushed him aside, tracing her hand over the spot he had been looking. All she felt was solid rock.

Kyle was standing further back now, scanning the whole wall. "There�s got to be a way in there." He began to run his hands over the walls. Tess stared at him for a moment, shrugged, and started to do the same.

A silver hand-print suddenly popped out of the wall under Kyle�s hand. "Aha!" He sounded triumphant. "Would you care to do the honours?" he asked, gesturing towards the wall.

Tess sighed, realizing that there was apparently no way Kyle was going to listen to her when there was a mystery to solve. Men! She stepped forward, placing her hand firmly against the hand-print.

Nothing happened.

Tess frowned. She lifted her hand, replaced it carefully on the hand-print. Again nothing.

"I don�t understand," Tess said, looking back at Kyle. He was scowling in annoyance.

"Here. Let me try." Just as Kyle moved to put his hand on the familiar insignia, a piercing noise erupted from the direction from which they had come. "What�s that?" Kyle demanded, momentarily distracted from his discovery.

Tess threw her hands over her ears. "I think it�s coming from the transformation chamber. We better get back there!" she yelled at him. The noise was reaching a crescendo, too loud to talk over comfortably.

She saw Kyle glance at the hand-print once more. He pressed his lips together, then nodded. "Lead on!"

***

"Max! What�s going on?" Liz shrieked at her boyfriend. They had both bolted for the pod once they realized that the piercing noise was coming from Jennetta�s incubator. The noise was becoming more and more high-pitched, causing Liz to throw her hands over her ears. Max was doing the same. Apparently he couldn�t hear her question because he didn�t even look at her.

Liz forced her hands down, and began to run them over the pod. Everything seemed normal. She stared in at Jennetta. Michael and Maria�s daughter�s expression was the same as it had been for months - serene and unaware.

And then she felt it. A tear in the organic material that made up the pod. It was small, but it was there. Liz could feel a thin thread of gooey liquid sliding over her hand as she tried to plug the hole.

"Max!" Liz yelled, causing him to whip around to stare at her. He had been running his own hands over the far side of the pod. "There�s a hole!"

Max was at her side in an instant. Liz grabbed his hand, showing him exactly where the tear was. She watched his hand begin to glow as he tried to mold the molecules that composed the pod to repair the hole.

The high-pitched squeal stopped abruptly as the pod closed under Max�s hand.

Liz sighed with relief. "Max! What just happened?"

Max was still running his hands over the pod, clearly searching for other tears. "I have no idea. I think that was an alarm of some sort - to let us know that something was wrong."

Liz felt a frisson of fear descend her spine. She traced Jennetta�s face through the transparent pod. Was the pod damaged after all? What was going to happen to Jennetta if something happened to the pod before the transformation was complete?

Tess and Kyle came barreling into the chamber moments later. "What the hell happened?" Kyle demanded breathlessly.

"Something�s wrong with the pod," Max replied evenly. "Liz, can you and Kyle go find Ren? I don�t want to leave in case I need to fix it again."

Liz didn�t have to be asked twice. She was out of the transformation chamber in a flash, Kyle on her heels.

She was not at all surprised to find Ren sprinting down the corridor towards them several minutes later.

"What happened?" The shape-shifter demanded, grabbing Liz by the shoulders so that she wouldn�t fall when they practically ran into each other. Liz had never heard the stoic Ren sound so upset.

"The pod is leaking!" Liz explained, as they hurried back in the direction from which they had just come. "Max fixed it, but I don�t know if it�s going to hold."

Ren took off at a dead run, leaving her and Kyle far behind. They both stumbled to a halt, breathing heavily. Even Kyle, who was in excellent shape, had no chance of keeping up with Jennetta�s bodyguard.

"Is she going to be okay, Liz?" Kyle asked, as they hurried back down the corridor. He sounded kind of weird. Liz turned to look at him. His expression was unreadable, but Liz thought she saw a flash of frustration pass over it.

"I don�t know," Liz replied, feeling scared again. What on Earth were they going to tell Maria and Michael if something happened to Jennetta?

Maria! She had to call Maria!

Liz stopped abruptly, knowing that she should go back to the surface to call Maria on her cell phone. And, yet, she was torn. She didn�t want to call and worry her friend if Jennetta was going to be okay.

Kyle stopped, and stared back at her. "Liz?"

Liz�s decision was made for her when Max appeared suddenly, a worried look on his face. He came up to Liz directly, pulling her into his arms. He looked incredibly exhausted. Liz could feel his heart beating a mile a minute where he had pressed her up against his chest.

"Max! What�s happening?" Liz demanded, pulling back.

"Sorry," Max said, releasing her. "I just really needed to do that. I almost had a heart attack back there."

"What�s going on Evans?" Kyle asked.

"The pod is starting to decompose," Max replied tiredly, rubbing his eyes wearily.

Liz gasped. "But the transformation is nowhere near being complete!" she exclaimed.

"Isn�t that a good thing?" Kyle interjected. "The kid�s like only thirteen or fourteen right now. If we can pull her out, Michael and Maria can still have some time with her while she�s growing up."

Max just shook his head. "Ren says that if she comes out of the pod before the transformation is complete�" He trailed off, clearly not wanting to say it.

"She�ll die," Liz finished for him, feeling the wave of sadness that had passed through Max.

Max took her hand. "We need to go get them, Liz - in person. Tess and Ren are there to keep the pod going as long as possible�or at least until we can get Michael and Maria back here."

Liz felt a pang of horror. How was she going to tell her best friend that her daughter was going to die?

Part 50

When destiny calls you, you must be strong

I may not be with you, but you�ve got to hold on�

Phil Collins

Kyle rubbed his temples in frustration. He was leaning against the stone wall of the corridor where Max and Liz had left him several minutes before.

He had no idea what to do.

An hour ago he had known exactly what he was going to do. He was coming to sit through his last shift of pod-watching, and then he was going back to his normal life. He was going to forget about aliens, and planets in the midst of civil wars, and chosen ones in pods, and blondes with lips that looked just too damn kissable.

And now he had that same blonde actually speaking to him again, he had the kid in the pod likely on the verge of death, and he had an extra-terrestrial library that might actually be a figment of his imagination.

He was trapped. Again.

Why the hell did he actually have to have a conscience? It was all his dad�s fault - him and his stupid ideas of loyalty and commitment to a cause.

Why couldn�t Kyle just have inherited his dad�s keen fashion sense?

Kyle sighed. He knew now that he wasn�t going anywhere. He was irreversibly stuck.

The least he could do was go satisfy his curiosity. If he wasn�t going to regain his freedom, well, he could at least prove to himself - and Tess - that he wasn�t bonkers.

He had seen the way she looked at him when he was staring through that window�the window that was completely invisible to her. She thought he was crazy.

He was definitely crazy, but not for the reason she thought. He was crazy in love with her, and wasn�t going to be able to distance himself from her again.

And so maybe he could get some information for her.

Kyle took off down the corridor, back towards the transformation chamber. As he passed the spot where the entrance to that room was, he wondered if he should go see if Jennetta was okay. But then, there wasn�t anything he could do if she wasn�t. It was better for him to find out what was in that room.

Maybe there was even something that would be able to help them save Michael and Maria�s daughter.

He kept going.

It took longer than he expected to get back to the spot where the window was, still as plain as day to him. He must have been too preoccupied to actually be in Tess� presence to realize how far they had walked together before they had stumbled across it.

The hand-print he had managed to reveal still shone out from the wall, not having faded back into obscurity yet.

Kyle stared at it for a moment. It seemed unlikely that it was going to work for him. If Tess, a full-fledged hybrid, hadn�t been able to open it, why would he, only an alien by proxy, be able to?

And, yet, somehow he knew that he could.

He narrowed his eyes, lifting his hand and placing it squarely on the hand-print.

The wall slid away without a sound.

Kyle swallowed. It was point of no return time here. If he stepped through this doorway, he was committed. Whether he and Tess ever worked out or not, he would have made his choice.

He took a deep breath. There was really no choice to be made. Kyle entered the room, his eyes wide.

***

The ride back to the alien desert compound was deadly silent.

Michael and Maria were in the back-seat of the Jeep, both staring out the windows into the black desert night. Neither had said anything since Max and Liz found them having dinner at Maria�s mom�s house., surprisingly with the sheriff as a guest. They had been playing "normal" teenagers tonight, and even seemed to be having a good time.

Until Max and Liz came to the door. One look at Liz�s stricken face and Maria seemed to know what they were there to tell them. She grabbed Michael�s hand and hauled him out the door without a word. The sheriff and Amy Deluca stared after them, perplexed. Liz managed to come up with an excuse that Alex was sick but, although Mrs. Deluca seemed to buy it, the sheriff looked even more suspicious.

They were now so entangled in a web of lies with their parents, Max just shrugged and followed Liz out to the Jeep, where their friends were waiting impatiently.

Now Max glanced at Michael and Maria worriedly in the rear-view mirror.

Michael�s lips were pressed tightly together. He looked like he was about to explode. Maria, on the other hand, was as white as a sheet. She had not fallen into her usual hysterics when they were alone. Instead, she just clammed up, refusing to say a word until she knew for sure that there was no hope. It was more worrisome than any crazy Maria hysteria would have been.

They both looked like they had given up - like they were resigned that their daughter was truly lost to them this time. And it almost killed Max that he couldn�t tell them differently.

He felt Liz take his hand. He knew that she could feel how upset he was. He knew it because he could feel how sad she was. Their emotions were so heightened by the tragedy about to take place, the connection between them seemed more intense then ever. Just being with her made him feel better.

And, yet, his little sister was dying.

Max glanced in the rear-view mirror again. He saw that Alex and Izzy, in Alex�s parent�s car, were still close behind them. Liz had called them on her cell phone. It had seemed crucial that they should all be at the transformation chamber if this truly was the end for Jennetta.

The little girl - not so little anymore - had become such a huge part of all of their lives. They had barely known her - even Max had really only known her for little over a week before she had gone into the pod - but the imprint she had left on their lives would never be duplicated.

She was the living representation of everything great that the bond between three humans and three aliens could create. She was the miraculous result of a day which seemed so long ago now; of a day that a secret had been revealed and had opened up a whole new world for them all - a world of new horizons for the humans, a world of acceptance for the aliens. If Max and Liz had not connected through near-tragedy two and half years ago, none of them would be where they were now.

They were bonded - a unit. They were on the verge of saving a whole divided planet.

And they were about to lose the saviour of that planet. Even worse, they were about to lose the symbol of what a bond of friendship and love could create.

It was too much to bear.

Max felt a wave of pain hit him. Liz squeezed his hand as she felt it too.

God - they couldn�t lose her. It was just unfair. Not after all they had been through.

The silence of despair in the Jeep remained unbroken.

***

Kyle stared around the room, barely breathing. There were shelves everywhere, extending back into the stone chamber as far as his eyes could see. And they were all full to bursting�with books and scrolls and things he didn�t recognize at all.

He moved forward slowly, barely noticed the wall sliding shut behind him. He picked up a volume on the nearest shelf, blinked at the strange material from which the book was made. It was some sort of silvery metal, and felt cool to the touch.

Kyle flipped open the cover, staring down at the strange markings on the pages, which were made of the same hard metallic stuff. He frowned, wishing for once that he did understand Czechoslovakian. He put the book back on the shelf where he found it, sneezing as it stirred up a thick cloud of dust.

And then he saw them. Footprints on the floor, leading down one of the aisles.

This place had obviously been closed for years if the dust everywhere was any sort of indication. Those footprints could have been there for years, undisturbed in the stillness of the subterranean library.

But somehow Kyle knew that they had not been there for years.

He followed them slowly, swiping his hand across shining hand-prints here and there on the shelves. These activated the lights in the room as he proceeded. He could feel excitement building within him. It seemed impossible that there wouldn�t be some sort of answer in this treasure trove of alien information - there had to be something here that could help Jennetta!

As quickly as his hope came, it deflated. It would take millennia to sift through all the crap in here. How on Earth was anyone supposed to zero in on the exact volume that might be able to help them?

Kyle continued to follow the footprints, at least determined to find out what whoever had been here had been looking for.

When he stumbled across it, he found that he was strangely unsurprised.

At the end of the long aisle between book-shelves sat a table - and upon the table was a brown leather book that looked entirely out of place in this chamber full of alien lore on alien paper.

It could only be one thing. And when Kyle picked it up, and flipped open to the first page, it was confirmed.

September 23rd. Journal entry one. I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. After that, things got really weird....

***

Isabel sat tensely beside Alex in his parents� Volvo, her hands clenched in her lap. She could feel Alex glancing worriedly at her every few minutes or so, but if she looked back she knew that the sympathetic expression on his face would cause her to burst into tears.

Something was wrong. She had known it all day. And it was something beyond Jennetta.

She should have felt relief when Liz had called her to tell her that the pod was decomposing. It should have been the answer for why she had felt like she was about to jump out of her skin all day, but instead Isabel had just become even more on edge�like Jennetta was only the beginning.

It was something else. Something bigger. Something inherently more terrible.

Isabel heaved a sigh of relief as Alex finally took a sharp right, following Max and the others in the Jeep across the moon-lit desert. She grimaced slightly at the familiar bumps, but kept her thoughts inward.

What the heck was the matter with her? What was wrong?

Alex pulled the car to a stop near the big boulder guarding the entrance to the compound. He reached over, and stroked her neck. "Isabel. She�s going to be okay."

Of course Alex thought this was about Jennetta. What else could it be about? And yet Isabel had never bonded with Jennetta the way the others had. In the short time she had known the little girl, briefly her sister and then not, she had been insanely jealous of her - hating her for having Max�s love, for replacing her as his sister, for being the sister he remembered, the sister he loved.

She and Max had been gradually working their relationship back to the closeness they had shared before the anti-Max episode, which had led to the whole Illyria catastrophe. Isabel knew that Max�s guilt over how he had treated her, how he had hated her, was intense. Isabel�s guilt over her poor treatment of Jennetta had been just as deep. She had blamed a situation on the little girl that had been nothing about her, and she had never had the chance to make it up to the kid before she was podded.

And, yet, this was not what troubled Isabel either. It was something else, something just beyond her reach�

Isabel smiled weakly at Alex now, then opened the door and climbed out. She could already see Michael�s spiky head disappearing down the hole. Max was swiping his hand over the silver hand-print, turning the lights on at the entrance. Liz and Maria were standing nearby, Liz with her arm around her best friend.

When it happened it was as sudden as it had been the last time. One minute Isabel was standing near the car, completely fine, the next she felt like her head was about to explode.

This time Alex didn�t catch her when she collapsed, although she caught a glimpse of his horrified face before her eyes rolled up into her head.

Flash*

*Mirana!*

Flash*

*I NEED YOU!*

Flash*

*Mirana!*

As quickly as the flashes came, they were gone. Isabel opened her eyes. She realized that she was cradled in Alex�s arms, that Michael had come back out of the compound, and that Max, and Maria, and Liz were all staring down at her in terror.

Max fell to his knees beside Isabel and Alex, pushing her hair out of her face. "Izzy! What happened? Are you okay?"

Isabel nodded, pushing herself away from Alex, who grunted in annoyance, but didn�t even bother to try and stop her from climbing to her feet. He knew better by now, but he did keep his hands firmly on her arms as she rose unsteadily.

"Was it your mother again?" Liz asked, her face concerned, but excitement beginning to enter her eyes. Isabel saw Maria perk up as well.

Isabel shook her head. She stared at Michael who was staring back at her.

"No." She paused, not sure if she was right, not sure if she should get their hopes up. She decided she had no choice. "I�I think it was Jennetta!"

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