�Ava wants me to go with her to New York. We�ll be back in a couple of days.� He informed them.
�Why are you going to New York? What�s there?� Tess asked.

�Zan�s body is there. She wants me to bring him back to life. I said I�d try, but I don�t know if I�ll be able to.� Max responded. The girls looked at him like he was crazy.
�But Max, do you know who this is you�re talking about? Zan, he�s like the other king. If you heal him, he might fight for the thrown.� Tess said. She didn�t know if it was such a good idea for Max to go to New York.

�I know what the consequences could be. But I also know what it would be like if you were in Ava�s shoes. I know that I would want Zan to bring me back to life. He�s apart of me and because of that, I know that this is what he wants�We�re leaving in the morning.� Max said. They decided that Ava would spend that night at Tess� apartment, since she was the only one with extra room.

�What was Zan like?� Tess asked Ava. They were sitting on the couch facing each other.

�A lot like Max. Strong, stubborn, sensitive.� Ava remembered as she told Tess.

�Did he love you like you love him?� Tess wondered.

�Yeah, he did. We were tight, real tight. But it was always like he was waiting for someone else to come along. Kinda like Liz with you and Max. But he was always loyal to me. He�d never look at other girls, not like Rath did. He always made sure I was safe. Livin in the slums wasn�t always safe at night, so sometimes he�d lie with me till I fell asleep. I loved him for that.� Ava had a dreamy look on her face. Tess smiled at her; glad that Ava had at least had someone with her while she�d grown up. Now, it seemed that Ava was so alone. Tess didn�t blame Ava for asking Max to bring Zan back.

�Did you two ever�you know�go all the way?� Tess asked, unsure if it was too personal a question. Ava didn�t mind at all.

�Oh yeah. I even got pregnant, twice. But the both times the baby died. They couldn�t survive on this world.� Ava informed her.

�That must have been devastating. How did Zan handle it? Did he want the babies?� Tess asked in shock.

�He tried to heal the babies, but the atmosphere is just too harsh for their tiny bodies. We cried for a while after they died, but eventually, we got over it. I think it really hurt him to know that he could never be a father on this earth. He was always sort of a family man.� Ava said. �How bout you? You done the deed?�

�Yeah. But I never got pregnant. I don�t think I ever want to either. At least not on Earth.� Tess shuddered at the thought of going through the death of her own child. Ava looked around, uncomfortable. She didn�t like remembering those dark days. She tried desperately to change the subject.

�Hey, I can�t believe Isabel and Michael aren�t together. You�d think that after every thing they�ve gone through, they�d get the idea that they�re meant for each other. How can they resist the urge for each other?� Ava asked in dismay.

�I don�t know. They�ve just always thought of each other as great friends, not husband and wife. I think they�re kind of sickened at the idea. But Rath and Lonnie seemed to get it on quite a lot when I saw them last.� Tess remarked. Ava giggled at the memory.

�Yeah. I still remember the first time they kissed. It was Lonnie�s 8th birthday and Rath gave her a kiss as a present. He kissed her smack on the lips. She liked it so much that she asked for another one. They fell in love right there and have never been apart since. Heh heh, it was funny because all these grown ups who saw Rath and Lonnie making out at age 9 were so grossed out.� Ava laughed along with Tess. Tess tried as hard as she could to picture two 9 year olds making out in the slums of New York, but she just couldn�t get it into her head.

�What about you and Zan? When did you two fall in love?� Tess asked.

�Well, after Lonnie and Rath fell in love, they were inseparable. That kind of forced Zan and me to play together. I didn�t mind because he was my best friend next to Lonnie anyway. But we didn�t really LOVE each other when we were kids. It happened when we were around 12 years old. Zan had a love for healing animals. And I had a love for watching him heal animals. So almost every day, we would go to the outskirts of the city and look for road kill. Zan would heal the road kill, but sometimes, the animal was so beaten and battered that he couldn�t do it by himself. So I would let my power run through his and that way, the power was twice as strong. One day, we were trying to get across this busy highway. Zan had run across and I was running after him. I was almost to the other side when I got hit with a car going full speed. The car never stopped, he kept going. Zan carried me behind a big sign at the side of the road and there he healed me. He was so scared that I had died that he used all his power in him to bring me back. That�s when we fell in love. If he hadn�t been there, I�d be dead now.� Ava explained. �How did Max fall for you? Last time I was here, he was all goo goo for Liz.�

�It kind of happened all so suddenly, with out warning. About three weeks after you left here, Max was confronted by the future me. I wa�� Tess was interrupted by Ava�s confusion.

�What do you mean, the future you?�

�She was me 7 years in the future. Max said that she said that she�d been sent to Antar alone, pregnant with Max�s child. Kivar had taken her child away to raise him by himself and sent her to be a slave in the minefields. She told Max that she had done some very horrible things that caused the end of the world. He said that she had forced Alex to decode the alien book and eventually, the mindwarp she�d used killed him. She didn�t know what to do, so she made it seem like Alex had a car accident. But Liz figured out that it was her who had killed Alex. And all this while, she and Max had gotten very close and she�d gotten pregnant with Max�s child. But then she got sent away and because of that, it caused the end of the world. She told Max that he had to confront me about all that she had said. So he did. He asked me if I�d been planning anything for decoding the book. I told him that I had gotten an idea that might work. That we could get someone to decode it for us. He told me everything she�d said and that changed my mind. He told me that before she left, she touched him. She gave him all his memories. He remembers every single thing in both lives. From then on, we�ve just been getting closer. It took a while, but he finally realized his place was with me.� Tess explained.
�And now you�re gettin hitched.� Ava smiled.
�Yeah, now we�re getting hitched.� Tess glowed with happiness. �I really hope Zan will come back to you. I�m sure that if he does, he�ll realize how much you really mean to him.� Tess said with hope in her voice.
�Let�s hope.� Ava said.
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