Summary: Sequel to "Out of the Woods." I highly recommend reading it before trying this one. It is archived at the Fanfic.net. Basically, Max is gone, and the others have no idea whether they will ever see him again.

Category: Everyone but with a strong M/L slant.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story. The characters and concept belong to Jason Katims and Melinda Metz. Tarsus of Dernia and all Illyrian characters belong to me. Lyrics by Sarah McLachlan, Phil Collins, Amanda Marshall, Garth Brooks, Frozen Ghost.

I will remember you.
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by,
Weep not for the memory.

Remember the good times that we had,
Let them slip away from us when things got bad.
Clearly I first saw you, smiling in the sun,
Want to feel your warmth upon me
I wanna be the one.

I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by,
Weep not for the memory.

I'm so tired, I can't sleep.
Standing on the edge of something much too deep.
It's funny how we feel so much
But cannot say the words
We are screaming inside but we can't be heard.

I will remember you.
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by,
Weep not for the memory.

So afraid to love you.
More afraid to lose.
Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose.
Where once there was a darkness,
A deep and endless night,
You gave me everything you had,
Oh, you gave me life.

I will remember you.
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by,
Weep not for the memory.

Weep not for the memory.

Sarah McLachlan

Prologue - Dreams

* Max *

He remembered her only when he was asleep.

It was then that she haunted him.

Dark hair, dark eyes, a beautiful face with perfect features, gazing at him with love in every look.

And then her name would come to him like a gift.

Liz.

Visions of her were his only comfort in a world that had gone mad.

Flash*

Young Liz on the playground playing with Maria - the first time he had ever seen her.

Flash*

Liz bent over her biology book, her dark hair hiding her face, until she absent-mindedly tucked it behind her ear, revealing her profile in deep concentration.

Flash*

Liz in the Crashdown, laughing with Maria, her alien antenna head-band bouncing as they clung to each other giggling.

Flash*

Liz staring up at him in shock after he had saved her - the day that he had put his heart - in fact his entire existence - on the line to preserve a life more precious to him then his own.

Flash* Flash* Flash*

She was everywhere.

"I really don't think you should leave."

"I don't care."

"You were the one person I really wanted to talk to."

"Do you still think that's a good idea?"

"Max, I didn't come here for permission. I came for the pendant."

"I guess these are the things we do when we feel a certain way about someone."

"How is it that I can be the happiest I've ever been in my whole life and the saddest at the same time?"

"You made me a part of this Max."

"And what if I believe you tonight?"

"I know I'm supposed to be, but I guess I'll just have to put myself in your hands."

"I love you."

Liz.

"Jaxon! Wake up!"

Jaxon Falconer, King of Illyria, Blue Prince sat up blinking.

He shook his head, blinked at his second-in-command, Tarsus of Dernia.

"What's going on?" He asked groggily. His mind was searching frantically for something that had been there only moments before.

Not something - someone.

"Your parents.." Tarsus replied, his lips pressed together in annoyance. "They've attacked the Citadel."

Jaxon's mind snapped to full consciousness. "Get my sword."

She was gone.

Part 1

How can I just let you walk away from me
Just let you leave without a trace
When I stand here taking every breath
For you.
You're the only one, who really knew me at all.

How can you just walk away from me
When all I can do is watch you leave
Cause we shared the laughter and the pain
And even shed the tears,
You're the only one who really knew me at all.

So take a look at me now,
Well, there's just an empty space
And there's nothing here to remind me,
Just the memory of your face.
Well, take a look at me now
There's just an empty space
And you coming back to me is against the odds
And that's what I've got to face.

I wish I could make you turn around
Turn around and see me cry
There's so much I need to say to you
So many reasons why.
You're the only one who really knew me at all.

Now take a look at me now
Cause there's just an empty space,
But to wait for you is all I can do
And that's what I've got to face.

Take a good look at me now
Cause I'll still be standing here
And you coming back to me is against all odds
It's the chance I've got to take.

Phil Collins

September 5, 2001 - Roswell, New Mexico

Journal Entry 98

I'm Liz Parker and nine months ago I died.

Or at least that's what it feels like.

When you left Max - my life just ended.
Oh, I go through the motions. I have kept my promise to you. I am strong. I am a rock. I am everyone else's shoulder to cry on.

I refuse to cry.

Max! Where are you???

I am trying so hard to be strong but it just gets harder and harder every day.

I feel so alone. I miss you so much.

Everyone misses you. It's like we've all gone to sleep waiting for you to come back, even though Michael keeps telling Izzy that its not going to happen.

You'd think that he'd be the one who'd want you back the most, since its all his fault in the first place.

I know that the way I feel about Michael is completely irrational, but I can't help it. I try to hide my anger, but I think that Maria knows and I'm almost sure that Isabel is beginning to suspect too.

Liz Parker looked up abruptly from her journal when the telephone in her bedroom began to ring. She sighed, glanced down at the leather-bound book on her lap.

She knew that if she stopped writing now, she might not come back to it. It seemed impossible to believe but it was the first time she had picked up her journal since the week after Max Evans had disappeared.

After he had left, she had read if from cover to cover, reliving every wonderful, heartbreaking moment of their entire relationship. Then she had returned it to its hiding place behind the brick in her bedroom wall and had ignored it.

She had known that trying to write in it would have been too much. She was always at her most emotional and open with her journal. She had a promise to keep to Max - emotional meant weak.

Liz had finally given in today. She had needed something to turn to since her friends were off limits.

She couldn't turn to any of the others. If she had started with them, the floodgates would have opened and that would have been the end of her resolve.

She knew that they were all worried about her, wanted her to open up. But she had to be there for THEM.

She had promised.

After the third ring, Liz finally gave in. She laid aside her journal, climbed in through her bedroom window, picked up the phone.

"Hello?" She knew it had to be one of four people: Isabel, Alex, Tess or Kyle. No one else ever called her anymore. Everyone else at school thought she was weird.

Liz didn't mind. All of her friends were now considered weird too.

"Hi Liz." It was Isabel. Liz blinked. Her friend sounded uncharacteristically cheerful, totally unlike the morbid Isabel Evans who had haunted Roswell since Max had left. Liz had once heard Kyle's old football buddy Paulie mutter to someone as he had passed Liz and Isabel in the hallway, "Just looking at her makes me depressed."

There was no question that Isabel had taken her brother's "death" hard. For that was what everyone in Roswell thought had happened to Max Evans - that he had fallen into a freezing cold river on the Father's Camping trip the previous January and had drowned.

Although Max's body had never been found, no one had any reason to doubt it. Max's parents and Sheriff Valenti were the strongest supporters of the story. Only ten people knew the real reason that Max Evans had disappeared.

"What's going on Iz?" Liz demanded, her heart suddenly beating faster.

"Just get over here now." Isabel told her cryptically. "Something has happened. Don't worry! It's nothing bad."

Liz bit her lip, trying not to hope. Hope was a luxury they could not afford. "Is it about Max?" She finally managed to ask.

"It's complicated. Just hurry." Before Liz could ask another question, Isabel had slammed the phone down in her ear.

Liz stared at the receiver in her hand, shook her head in annoyance. She finally replaced it on the telephone and went to grab her car-keys off the bedside table.

She paused briefly, glanced lovingly at the picture of Max that sat beside her bed. It was the candid shot of him reading that Maria had snapped almost two years ago. She went through the ritual that had become her habit every time she left her bedroom. Liz brought her fingers to her lips, kissed them and touched Max's pensive face. "I love you Max - forever."

Part 2

Isabel Evans paced the length of her parent's living room, unable to sit still.

She couldn't believe that she had actually been able to get through the day. She had looked for Liz everywhere at school, but she had been nowhere to be found.

It had all started with the thing with Maria. Kyle had come to get her for that. He had come running into her fourth period English class, had ignored the teacher completely, had grabbed Isabel by the arm, barely giving her enough time to grab her book bag off the floor next to her desk. As they ran out of the room Isabel could her Mrs. Jenkins yelling after both of them: "Mr. Valenti! Miss Evans! You get back here right now!"

Needless to say, they had ignored her.

Isabel had been shocked to see Michael hovering near the entrance to the second-floor girl's washroom, a look of terror on his face. She had not seen Michael in close to three weeks. He and Maria had taken off on Michael's new motorcycle the night before school had started and they hadn't seen either of them since.

"What's going on?" She demanded.

"Iz, please." Michael just looked at her with pleading eyes. Isabel shot a questioning glance at Kyle. He shrugged.

"I found him like this. He asked me to get you."

Michael looked towards the girl's room door again. It was clear that he was too upset to talk. Isabel turned to Kyle again. "Go find Tess and Liz." She instructed him, realizing that someone needed to take control of the situation.

Isabel briefly placed a comforting hand on Michael's arm. "Is it Maria?" She asked.

Michael could only nod.

How upset her brother was only reinforced to Isabel how much Michael had come to depend on Maria over the last few months. Although neither of them could really remember anything of their stay on their home planet of Illyria, they were both still clearly dealing with some sort of trauma.

Isabel pushed open the girl's room door to a horrifying - but all too common - sight.

Maria Deluca was retching into one of the sinks. Isabel quickly hurried to her side, stroked her back comfortingly, pulling Maria's still long hair back from her face. She had not cut it since her return to Earth, although she had had to tell everyone it was extensions. "Are you okay Maria?" Isabel asked when Maria seemed to be breathing evenly again.

Her friend looked up, met Isabel's eyes in the mirror. "I've been better." She managed to say before she was bent over the sink again in agony.

This had happened so many times since Maria and Michael's return from Illyria, Isabel knew that they just had to wait it out.

Finally, Isabel was able to grab a paper towel, wet it and place it on Maria's forehead. She led the smaller girl to a couch set up in the lounge area of the girl's room, gently forced Maria down on it.

Maria leaned back against the wall, closed her eyes. "Just another bout of the friendly alien flu." She managed to joke weakly.

Isabel pressed her lips together. Maria was dealing with this far better then the rest of them.

But then, Maria had long ago accepted what the rest of them were still coming to terms with.

Maria was dying.

Now as Isabel waited for Liz, she reflected on what they had managed to find out since Maria and Michael had returned the previous winter.

The fevers had begun a couple of weeks after they had all returned to town from Frasier Woods. Maria had fainted at work in the Crashdown one day, frightening Michael and Liz half out their wits.

And then the throwing up had begun...and the pains in her chest and her stomach.

They had been unable to take Maria to a local doctor. They didn't want any of it to get out to the already too nosy residents of Roswell.

The Sheriff had arranged an appointment in Albuquerque.

There had been absolutely no medical reason for Maria's illness. And yet, it continued to get worse. Maria's mom was convinced that it was cancer, but visits to ten different doctors all over New Mexico had turned up nothing.

It was Alex who had finally guessed what was wrong. "I think that Maria's body is breaking down from the stress of the trip to and from Illyria." He told Isabel one night as they lay on their backs on the hood of the Jeep, both staring up at the millions of stars shining down. Their hands had been clasped between them. Alex stroked the back of her fingers gently as he spoke.

Isabel had been unable to take her eyes away from the "V" constellation that sheltered her world of origin - that sheltered her beloved brother. She had been thinking about Max when Alex's voice had broken into her thoughts - about how much they missed him, about whether he was still alive.

She turned her head, looked at her boyfriend. "What?"

"There's no other explanation." Alex replied, sitting up and staring down at her. "The stress was too much for her body to take."

Isabel frowned in thought. "But why is Michael okay?" She asked finally. "I mean, he was human when he came back."

"Yeah, but he was ALIEN when he went." Alex replied. "And Michael is physically strong - his human body can probably deal with the one trip it took through the portal. But Maria's not strong - and her body had two trips."

"Are you telling me that her body isn't going to recover?" Isabel demanded, feeling tears beginning to well in her eyes. If so, how were they going to tell Liz? Her friend would never survive the news.

No one was fooled by Liz's imitation of Michael's stone-wall. She was lost without Max. If she lost Maria too... It didn't even bear contemplation.

Not to mention, I love Maria. Isabel reflected. She's like the only bright ray of light left in our morbid group.

It was true. Maria was the glue that held them all together these days. Constantly cheerful, never complaining about her physical condition, always ready with a snappy comeback in true Deluca fashion.

Isabel knew that love of Maria was the only force that kept Liz from physically attacking Michael. Liz's anger at and blame of Michael for Max's disappearance grew deeper every day. It was on the verge of exploding.

And just as every day Liz's anger grew, Michael's guilt practically buried him.

But love of Maria kept them all bonded. Michael went on for her. Liz survived for her.

Tess had finally shown up in the girl's room just as the bell was about to ring for lunch. "What's going on?" She asked. Her face whitened when she saw Maria. "Oh no, not again."

"Listen Tess, we need to get her out of here." Isabel told her friend. "No one can see her like this."

Tess swallowed, nodded. She sat down on the couch, pulled one of Maria's arms over her shoulders. Isabel did the same on the other. The managed to carry her to the door, where Michael was waiting to take her in his arms. Kyle hurried down the hallway ahead of them all. He would be the hall monitor if anyone tried to interfere. Kyle was the only one left with any sort of influence on the other students, even though he hung out with a group that everyone else considered creepy. It was those perfect spiral passes of his that did it.

Five minutes later Michael had gently deposited Maria on the back-seat of the jeep, climbed in beside her, pulling her head down on his shoulder. She fell asleep almost immediately.

And it was then that Isabel had the flash.

She heard Alex yell her name as though from a great distance, "ISABEL!"

She felt herself fall into her boyfriend's arms.

It hurt like hell. It felt like a thousand hammers all slamming into her skull at the same time.

*FLASH

"Mirana! The time has come." She recognized the voice - but then she didn't.

*FLASH

"Go to where it all began."

*FLASH

"Your greatest wish will be fulfilled."

*FLASH

"Make the sacrifice and all will be well."

*FLASH

"Use your dreams."

And then a face appeared in her mind - a face so familiar and beloved that it brought tears to Isabel's eyes.

The vision ended as suddenly as it had appeared. Isabel blinked, opened her eyes. Alex was staring down at her in terror, his face as white as chalk. Tess and Kyle were hovering over her.

Michael was yelling from the jeep, "Is she all right?"

"I'm okay." She managed to croak, as Alex helped her to her feet.

And then a smile broke across her face. She couldn't help it.

"I saw him! I saw Max!"

They all stared at her.

They were all still staring at her now as she paced. She had refused to tell them anymore since her outburst, insisting that Liz had to be there.

Michael was seated on the couch, Maria curled up next to him. Her eyes were closed, but Isabel knew she was awake. The pasty colour of her skin was worrisome, but she seemed to be holding her own for the moment.

Kyle was leaning against the wall looking tired. He kept glancing at Tess, trying to pretend that he wasn't. By now they all knew that Kyle was in love with the pretty blonde - well, everyone except Tess. She treated him like a brother.

Alex was watching Isabel with concern. He had kept asking her if she was okay, until Isabel finally snapped at him. He wasn't hurt though. He knew she didn't really mean it. He just continued to watch her quietly, his silent support like a balm to Isabel's soul.

"She's here!" Tess told them, turning away from the window where she had been scanning the street for Liz's arrival.

"Finally!" Michael muttered. Isabel thought briefly that it was weird that Michael was actually eager to see Liz, what with all the glaring she treated him to. But Michael almost seemed to revel in it - it helped him to wallow in his own guilt.

The doorbell rang a moment later. Isabel practically sprinted to answer it, grabbed Liz by the arm and hauled her in to join the others.

Liz came to an abrupt stop in the doorway to the living room. She was staring at Michael and Maria. Isabel saw her friend's gaze darken. "You're back." Liz said tightly.

"Yup." Michael replied. Liz's back stiffened.

"Is Maria okay?" She asked evenly.

"Not so good." Michael replied in a monotone.

Maria opened her eyes, grinned weakly. "Um, I can still speak for myself you know. The alien cooties haven't stolen my ability to communicate."

Liz hesitated briefly, seemed to make an internal decision. She went to sit beside Maria on the couch.

Liz turned to Isabel. "So what's up Iz?" Isabel could see the glimmer of hope on Liz's face. She couldn't wait to see that hope increase.

"I had a flash." Isabel announced. "And I think that Max sent it to me."

Part 3

Liz felt her eyes widen. "What...what do you mean?" She managed to choke out, her heart in her throat.

"Just what I said. Today at school I had some sort of weird flash." Isabel replied. "And Max was in it."

"But how do you know that he sent it to you?" Liz asked, suppressing the hope that was building. Don't do this to yourself Liz, she ordered herself. Stay calm, rational. You know you're only going to be disappointed.

Isabel's brows drew together. "Well, I don't know for sure." She finally conceded. Liz could see that she was beginning to get upset. "I thought...I mean..."

Alex stood up quickly, went to place his hand on his girlfriend's shoulder comfortingly. "Why don't you just tell us what you saw?" He suggested, making the most commonsensical suggestion, as usual.

Liz eyed Michael out of the corner of her eye. She could see that he was leaning forward, listening to Isabel intently. His arm was around Maria's shoulder, supporting her. Liz could not bear to look at Maria. One look at her best friend when she had entered the Evans's living room had upset her enough to have the foundations of her stone wall shake.

Strong - she had to be strong.

"Well," Isabel searched her memory. "The voice was really familiar. I don't think it was Max's exactly, but I definitely knew it." Alex nodded encouragingly. "It called me "Mirana." I think that's my name on Illyria."

Maria's eyes suddenly snapped open. "Tristandor!"

"What?" Michael asked, perplexed. They were all staring at her in confusion.

"That's YOUR name Michael. It just like came to me." Maria's brow was furrowed. "I distinctly remember Max calling you that."

Michael and Maria had very few memories of their time on Illyria. They had all virtually disappeared after the first few days back on Earth. Liz knew that such a giant loss of memory was upsetting to Maria because, although it had only been about an hour on Earth, the time the two of them had spent on the other planet had been close to a year in Illyrian time.

To not have any recollection of that much of your life, especially such a significant part, must be terrifying.

"So you guys WERE with Max then?" Tess demanded. All the information they had managed to glean from Michael and Maria had been confusing to say the least. Michael knew that Max had given himself up to the rebels on his planet so that Michael could be returned to Earth in his advanced human form, but he had no actual recollection of Max on Illyria.

Maria was still frowning, clearly searching her memory. "Definitely."

Michael was beginning to nod. "Yeah. Jaxon."

Liz began to feel impatient. "Okay, so back to your flashes Izzy." She felt a pang of guilt when Maria shot her a hurt look. Sorry, she mouthed to her friend. Maria smiled understandingly, closed her eyes again and leaned back against Michael.

"Well the voice told me that I had to go back to where it all began, make the sacrifice and my greatest wish would be granted." Isabel finished. She shook her head ruefully. "I just realized that I have no idea what any of it means."

"Is that it?" Tess asked, clearly unimpressed.

Isabel scowled at her. "Yes, Tess, that's it." She smacked a hand to her forehead. "Oh wait! The voice also told me to use my dreams."

Dreams.

Liz certainly knew about dreams.

Max Evans had been haunting hers.

If she didn't know for certain that Max's powers did not include the capability to dreamwalk...Well, she had at one point thought that he might be trying to communicate with her that way.

But there had never been any new information in her dreams - just bittersweet memories of her time with Max.

The healing. The excitement and revelation of the advancement of their relationship. Their first kiss. Max taking a step back. The blind date fiasco. The crash/ flash incident that had resulted in the discovery of the first orb. The whole Tess/white room/destiny catastrophe. The nine months apart when she had run away to England and Max had shut all his friends out of his life on the evil shapeshifter Tarsus of Dernia's orders. Max telling her he loved her, to be strong, disappearing in a beam of light, never to be seen again...

She relived it all every night in her dreams.

"Liz, are you okay?" Isabel demanded suddenly.

Liz shook her head, refocused on her friends. "Uh, yeah, sorry. Just zoned out there for a minute." She saw Alex and Isabel exchange a concerned look. Great Liz! Just another indication to further their belief that you are about to lose it. "So, using your dreams. What do you think it means?" She asked quickly, hoping to deflect everyone's attention away from her mental state.

"Dreamwalking?" Kyle suggested from the corner, speaking up for the first time. Liz glanced at him. Her ex-boyfriend looked tired. She knew that he had been juggling football, school and worrying about Liz for a long time now, not to mention struggling to hide his feelings for Tess, who was totally oblivious. Kyle had been such a rock to all of them. He deserved a little happiness. Liz wondered if Tess was ever going to open her eyes.

Liz knew that Tess's lack of interest in Kyle had nothing to do with Max anymore. She had finally given up on that. She had sought out Liz a few weeks after Max's disappearance to tell her that she had come to a decision.

Liz had been surprised to see the curly-haired blonde enter the Crashdown alone one Saturday when Liz was closing up. While there was very little tension between them anymore, they never actually sought each other out. It was too weird.

"Hi Tess. Is something wrong?" Liz had asked immediately, sure that something disastrous must have happened for Tess to be there.

"Um, no." Tess looked mildly uncomfortable. She sauntered up to the counter, taking a seat. "I need to talk to you Liz."

"Okay." Liz had been perplexed, but interested.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to do everything in my power to get Max back here." Tess told her abruptly. Her face was blank. Liz felt her stomach clench. Was Tess still going to try and get Max back for herself? She had thought that that was over.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking." She continued, beginning to fiddle with a straw. "I was really upset when I found out that Tarsus of Dernia told Max that I was insignificant on our planet." Despite herself, Liz felt her heart going out to her former nemesis. She knew how important Tess's "destiny" had been to her. It had been the defining principle of her existence. "But Kyle told me something last week that made a lot of sense. He said that maybe it wasn't a bad thing not to have my whole life mapped out in front of me."

Tess paused, was clearly waiting for Liz to say something. "Uh huh." Liz said dumbly, not at all sure where the other girl was headed with all this.

"Anyway, I realized he was right. I don't love Max. I never loved Max. I don't want to be with Max." She smiled shyly at Liz. "And now I don't have to be."

Liz blinked. "Okay?" She finally said, unable to quite believe what she was hearing.

"I do care about him though and I think that he belongs here. I think if this has shown me anything its that all four of us are insignificant on our home planet now. Max's life is here. He should be where he feels at home. And Liz, I know for a fact that the only place Max has ever felt truly at home was with you. You were the only one who was able to get through to him when he was acting like a jerk. You're everything to him."

Liz had felt tears welling up in her eyes. She had quickly blinked them away. She had held her resolve this long - no tears. "That's great. I mean, that's good. Thanks Tess."

Tess had smiled, hopped off the stool as though a thousand pound weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "Yeah, well, I know I told you once that I wished we could be friends. I know you probably didn't believe me, and I don't think I really meant it at the time," she added wryly, "But I do mean it this time."

Liz had just nodded. Tess had not said anything more. She had left, leaving a dumbfounded, but pleased, Liz behind.

As Liz glanced at Tess now, she hoped that the other girl would eventually find her own Max. If it wasn't going to be Kyle, then hopefully someone else would make her heart sing the way that Max did Liz's.

Liz tuned back into the conversation that was milling around her. "No, I don't think its dreamwalking." Isabel was saying. "Remember I tried to dreamwalk Max right after he left. All I got was a big blank space. I think the range is too far."

"Maybe someone is going to try and come dreamwalk you?" Tess supplied.

"Maybe..." Isabel trailed off. "It couldn't be Max, could it?" She suddenly looked at Alex and Liz. "Ohmigosh!"

"What?" Alex demanded. Liz was equally confused.

"I totally forgot! What an idiot I am!" Isabel continued to berate herself.

"Isabel, what?" Michael practically yelled from the couch.

Isabel continued to stare at Alex and Liz in turn. "Think you guys. Remember back, right before Max took off. He locked us up in the cave!"

Liz's eyes widened. She stared at Isabel, then turned to stare at Tess. "Max created an illusion! He made us see that wall there, when it wasn't. Tess! He had your power!"

"Okay, explanation please?" Kyle said sarcastically.

"Right before Max went and podded himself to save Michael, he locked me, Izzy and Liz up in a cave." Alex explained. Liz wondered why none of them had never gone over this before. "Anyway, he did it by creating an illusion of a wall that wasn't there. We could feel it and everything. Isabel managed to make it disappear, but it was definitely a Tess-power type thing."

"We figured that all of you have the capability to perform each other's powers if you really concentrate." Liz inserted. "It would make sense that as the leader Max would be the most powerful, and thus would be the one who found it the easiest to develop his latent abilities."

"So then him dreamwalking US is a distinct possibility!" Isabel finished.

"So Max is trying to communicate with us?" Liz could hear the note of hope that was developing in Michael's voice. Yeah, you had better hope he is! She thought bitterly, since its your fault to begin with. She pushed the reflection aside. The irrationality of her hatred for Michael - it frightened her sometimes.

"Okay, so basically we all keep our dreams available for a little visit from above." Alex instructed them. "He seems to be trying to make his way back to us. I think Izzy was right. It now seems likely that her flash was from Max."

"What about that part "return to where it all began and make the sacrifice?" Maria asked quietly from the couch. "What the heck does that mean?"

They all exchanged looks. "No clue." Alex finally replied.

"Me either." Said Kyle.

Isabel was frowning again. "I feel like I know..." She clenched her fists in frustration. "It's like the memory is right on the edge of my mind and I can't get at it." She glanced at Michael and Tess. "Do you guys know?"

Tess just shook her head, but Michael replied, "It sounds familiar to me too. I guess we'll just have to keep our minds open - maybe Maxwell can tell us if he can get into someone's dream."

God, I hope its mine, Liz thought to herself. What she wouldn't give to be able to talk to Max again, to feel his arms wrapped around her, to caress his lips with her own - even if it was just in a dream.

Alex suddenly stretched his arms above his head, faked a yawn. "I'm suddenly feeling an overwhelming urge to go take a nap." He joked. Isabel and Tess laughed. Kyle did too. Michael even snickered. They were clearly all getting a little giddy with the possibility that they didn't have to give up on Max yet.

Although Liz knew that none of them really ever would.

She glanced at her watch. It was only seven o'clock, she realized, disappointed. Hours before bed-time yet.

"Yeah, I could use a nap too." Maria put in. The others sobered immediately. They all knew that Maria was not joking. The fact that she mentioned it meant that she really needed one.

Suddenly the world didn't seem quite as rosy anymore.

Michael quietly stood up, pulled Maria into his arms.

"I CAN walk you big doofus." Maria told him, sounding slightly annoyed. "I'm not a complete invalid yet."

"Humour me." Michael replied, then proceeded to ignore her irritated muttering. "So, first one to hear from Max, call right away."

Isabel nodded in agreement. "Yeah, even if it's three in the morning."

"What if we don't hear from him?" Tess asked in a small voice.

"Then we try and figure out the message on our own." Alex decided. "Let's all meet for lunch tomorrow in any case. We'll probably all have some fresh ideas after a good night's sleep."

Michael quickly said his good-byes and carried a still protesting Maria out the door. "Liz, call me!" She managed to yell before the door slammed on them.

Kyle and Tess had clearly arrived together for they were the next to leave. Kyle came and put his arm around Liz and squeezed gently first. "Hang in there Parker." Tess smiled at her and followed him out of the room.

Alex settled back on the couch. He was clearly going to be hanging around with Isabel for a while.

Liz suddenly felt like a third wheel. Everyone was paired up. Even Kyle and Tess hung out with each other more then with anyone else, even if there was nothing going on.

It made Liz miss Max even more.

"Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow." She finally said, feeling awkward. Isabel was still looking at her with concern.

"Are you sure you're okay Liz?" She asked.

"Sure." Liz replied. She needed out of there now.

The stone wall was cracking.

"Bye guys!" Liz practically sprinted to the door. She didn't stop her crazy dash until she was seated in the front seat of her parent's car.

Liz clutched the steering wheel, stared straight ahead.

"Max. Please. Let it be me." She whispered aloud.

Maria stared out the window of Isabel's jeep, which they had borrowed. Michael had left his motorcycle at school because Maria had been too weak to hold on. She watched the desert fly past as Michael sped towards the Reservation.

"Michael, slow down. Getting ourselves killed on the way there isn't going to help anything." She told him automatically for the tenth time. She knew he was worried and that he was freaking out internally about her little visit from the alien flu earlier in the day. It saddened her that he couldn't seem to get used to it.

She had.

"It's fine Maria." He snapped, but she could tell that he did let up on the gas.

"Are you okay?" Maria asked quietly, knowing that he was not. He had seemed to be briefly in a better mood after the summit with their friends about the possibility that Max was trying to contact them. He had sobered fairly quickly once they had been alone together though.

"Yup." Michael replied.

But she knew that he wasn't. She knew that he was torturing himself with guilt, with the fact that he considered himself to be responsible for the loss of Max, for Liz's frozen state and Isabel's grief. And for the biggest thing of all - the fact that she was dying.

No matter how hard she tried to convince him that while he had made a mistake, it had not been his fault. Tarsus of Dernia had played on Michael's greatest weakness, his desire for a family. He had known that Michael would leap before looking. There was no way that Michael could have known that it had all been an elaborate ruse to trap Max.

And yet he blamed himself.

It was the one down-side to the return of Michael's humanity, and consequentially his emotions, when they returned to Earth. Guilt was not the most fun emotion to have as a perpetual companion.

Yet the love that Michael showered on her now - she couldn't help but think that it had been all worth it.

Their joint trip to Michael's home world had bonded them. Although they recalled very little and could not figure out why not, they knew that something significant had occurred between them there.

Michael's stone wall did not exist anymore. He seemed to have turned over a new leaf in that department. Maria now knew how much he loved and depended on her, because even though he was still Michael and didn't say it aloud very often, he showed her in a thousand different ways.

The way he held her gently when they fell asleep together on the couch in his apartment because she was too weak to move.

The way he tried to get along with her mother. He had actually come to dinner with Amy last night and had actually held a conversation with Maria's mom. It had amazed and touched her. Michael had once told her that he "didn't do parents." Well, he did now - for her.

The way he spent hours upon hours practicing with his powers. He ignored his most powerful ability - the ability to kill with a sweep of his hand. Rather he concentrated on the tiny inherent ability he possessed to heal. While Max's gift had been natural, for Michael it was like cutting the lawn with scissors...but he kept at it - for her, to try and save her.

That's where they had gone on their recent road-trip. They had spent three weeks camping out under the stars in the desert, Michael laying his hands upon her again and again, exhausting himself to the point that she thought he might be killing himself.

Nothing had happened but she had known better then to try and stop him.

But Michael had only stopped when Maria had told him that she needed to check on Liz. It had been useless, but he had been willing to kill himself in an attempt to save her.

"Okay, spaceboy, where are we going?" Maria asked now. Although she trusted him implicitly, the fact that Michael was becoming more tense as they drove away from Roswell was beginning to worry her.

"To where it all began." Michael told her curtly.

Maria sighed. "And that would be?" She prompted, frustrated that even now getting information out of Michael was like extracting teeth. She smiled slightly to herself, remembered a conversation they had once had when Tess had first come to Roswell.

"What happened to partners? What happened to an even exchange of information?" Maria had asked.

"I lied." Michael had replied, clearly unimpressed.

But those days were long over. She just had to ask the right questions.

Michael never lied to her now.

"The crash site." He replied as though it was the most obvious answer in the world.

I'm standing on the edge of time,
Playing out a reckless pantomime,
And every day's another wrong to rectify.
I dream about a stranger's touch,
And voices in my head I cannot hush,
And every night's a hunger I can't satisfy...

It's the secret that I keep,
It's the ache that makes me weak,
And I know I'm in too deep,
I'm gonna drown.
It's the emptiness I fear,
Baby, please don't leave me here,
'Cause I'm lost inside a dream,
It's out of bounds.

I close my eyes and its so real,
All at once I know just what I feel,
And baby it's the kind of rush that terrifies.
I am weak, I am wrong,
Everyday I swear that I'll be strong,
There's a bond between us that I can't deny.

It's the secret that I keep,
It's the ache that makes me weak,
And I know I'm in too deep,
I'm gonna drown.
It's the emptiness I fear,
Baby, please don't leave me here,
'Cause I'm lost inside a dream,
It's out of bounds.

Amanda Marshall

Liz flopped down wearily on her bed, stared up at the ceiling. She had managed to make it past her parents without being treated to the third degree, but just barely.

Just like everyone else, they were sure that she was close to losing her mind.

No one believed that someone who never cried was just strong.

She was stone, she was ice. She would not cry.

Liz flicked on the radio, sighed, wished that she could fall asleep right then. She KNEW that Max was waiting for her.

Unfortunately, she wasn't at all sleepy.

Oh, she was tired - in the way that she always felt tired since Max had left, but she wasn't sleepy.

And being logical Liz, she also knew that the harder she tried to fall asleep, the more impossible it would become.

So she thought instead.

"Go to where it all began...your greatest wish will be fulfilled...make the sacrifice...What the heck are you trying to tell us Max?" Liz muttered to herself as she stared at the picture of him that sat on her bed-side table. "And why did you go to Isabel and not me?"

Logical Liz knew that if it was Max who was contacting them, Isabel was the most logical choice. She was his sister, bonded to him by alien blood. She had control over her own mind in ways that the rest of them could not even imagine - in ways that Isabel was still unaware of...her entire gift revolved around access in and out of minds.

But it still hurt.

"Okay, focus Liz." She ordered herself. "To where it all began...hmmmm..."

And then she knew.

She sat up on her bed like a bolt of lightening had gone through her. She jumped up, sprinted through her door, down the hallway and past her father who was coming out of his bedroom.

"Lizzie! What the heck..."

"Be back in a sec Dad!" She called over her shoulder. "I just forgot my bio book in the restaurant."

Liz was down the back stairs and through the break room in two minutes flat.

And then she stopped. She carefully pushed open the door into the dining room.

It was dark. Agnes had obviously finished cleaning up - or had ignored doing so altogether which was more likely - and the Crashdown was closed for the night.

Liz took a deep breath, pushed through the swinging door.

A thousand memories assailed her now that she had opened herself to them.

"Max Evans is staring at you again."

"I can't imagine what you must be thinking right now."

"Ummm...I'll have an alien blast."

"Well, how 'bout it Evans? Have you ever been in love?" "No."

"Now you sound like Isabel!"

"I look at you and I know you're the person I'm supposed to be with. I've always known it."

Liz held her breath, walked forward, stared down at the spot where it had all begun.

"You're okay now."

Liz could still feel Max's hands on her, could still see him staring down at her intently, intense concentration on his face.

Liz pressed her lips together. She closed her eyes, called out with her entire soul.

MAX! Where are you??

The Citadel, Illyria

Jaxon Falconer sat on the stone floor in the cell, his forehead resting on his knees, his arms wrapped around his legs in an attempt to stay warm. He wasn't asleep, but he was in that state that lies somewhere between slumber and awareness.

* MAX! Where are you? *

His head snapped up. Jaxon stared around the cell.

There was no one there.

"Liz?"

Now, where did that come from? He asked himself, annoyed.

Tarsus was right. He WAS going crazy.

Jaxon, lowered his head back to his knees.

It didn't matter anyway - insanity was unimportant.

It might even help.

No man needed a sound mind where he was headed.

"Liz?" It was no more than a whisper, but the voice was so familiar, to Liz it sounded like Max was standing right in front of her yelling in her face.

Her eyes snapped open.

She was alone.

"Max!"

There was no answer.

Part 5

Michael pulled the jeep to the side of the highway, switched off the ignition.

He glanced at Maria in the seat next to him. She had fallen asleep again...the circles under her eyes were enormous, emphasizing the delicacy of her bone structure. The gentle rise and fall of her chest assured him that she was still with him.

Michael didn't know how much longer that would be the case.

Which only made the necessity of bringing Maxwell back to them even more desperate.

The spearing guilt to which he was now so accustomed came like a welcome friend.

For while Michael Guerin now reveled in his humanity - recognized it for the gift it was - the best part was the determination that negative emotion provided...

He would not rest until his brother came home.

Michael regretted doing it, but he reached out and gently shook Maria awake. He watched her eyelashes flutter."Just five more minutes mom." She muttered.

"Wake up." Michael snapped, knowing that annoying Maria was the best way to give her a shot of adrenaline - and there was no question she needed it.

Her eyes snapped open. "Are we there?" She asked, frowning at him.

"Yup." Michael swung out of the jeep, hurried around to the passenger side and lifted her out.

Maria looked around warily. "It's really dark out there Michael. Are you sure this is what Isabel's vision meant?"

"What else could it have been?" Michael demanded.

"I just don't understand why you didn't mention this to the others before." Maria was looking at him with concern.

It humbled him. She was ALWAYS worried about him.

When he was the one responsible for the fact that she was dying.

"I just had a feeling." Michael replied shortly. He grabbed a flashlight out of the emergency compartment in the back of the car, then took Maria's hand. "C'mon."

"Did you have a feeling that I had to be with you?" Maria asked quietly as they picked their way over the rocky terrain of the former ranch.

Michael paused, pulled her into his arms. He felt her relax instantly. "I always want you with me." He told her truthfully.

Maria pulled back, grinned up at him. "Okay then bub. Let's get on with this. I need my beauty sleep. I didn't quite make it through the whole school day today. If I miss one more class, I can kiss graduation in May good-bye."

Michael swallowed. He suppressed the thought that if they didn't get Max back - the only one with any chance of healing Maria - it was unlikely that she would live until May.

They continued to walk in silence.

Maria was the one to stop them the next time. Michael looked back at her with concern. "Are you okay?"

She didn't reply. She had her head thrown back, her long strawberry blonde hair trailing down her back.

"Maria?" Michael snapped, worried, being more abrupt then he meant to be.

"Michael - can't you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

And then the vision was upon him. Michael stumbled into Maria, knocked her to the ground. The last thing he noticed was her wide-eyed gaze, still staring at the stars.

*Flash

Max was staring at him, his dark eyes unreadable. In his hands he held a red orb - the symbol was different to that on the blue orbs that had caused all the trouble in the first place though...Michael recognized it...but its meaning was just beyond his reach...

*Flash

Maria was across from him. She was wearing a long, white, flowing gown and her long hair was blowing out behind her. She was reaching out for something just beyond his field of vision.

*Flash

Michael could feel himself stepping forward. He looked up...above him towered immense, standing stones...they looked as solid as the day is long...and yet he knew that he was afraid...

*Flash

Young Michael, Max and Isabel joined hands...walked across the desert together...

"MICHAEL!"

Maria's voice finally shattered into his consciousness.

He shook his head, realized that he was still sprawled on top of her. He quickly rolled away. He was not surprised when she reached out and grabbed him.

Michael pulled her close to his side. They were both breathing heavily.

"Did you see that?" Maria finally whispered, after what seemed like eons.

"Yeah." Michael replied. He didn't know what else to say.

"What did it mean?" Maria asked, sounding peculiar. Michael turned his head, glanced at her. She was staring up at the stars again...her expression unreadable.

"I don't know."

Maria sat up, began to climb to her feet. Michael quickly jumped to his, helped her.
"I need to go home." She told him, still in that same quiet way - it was unnatural...and a little freaky.

"Okay." Michael told her.

They started back. When she stumbled, Michael ignored her protests, swung her up into his arms, held her high against his chest.

"Just shut up and rest."

She did.

And that's when Michael knew that the end was drawing near.

Isabel sat curled up on the couch in the Evans' living room, her head on Alex's shoulder.
They were both pretending to watch the news, but she knew that Alex's thoughts were drifting along the same lines as hers.

What did my vision mean? Isabel asked herself, for what felt like the ten millionth time. Where did it all begin? What is the sacrifice?

She kept coming back to one idea...

For Isabel, life had begun the night that Diane and Phillip Evans had found she and Max on the side of the road...

Was that what Max meant? Was she supposed to go there?

She wouldn't mind. A visit to a place that symbolized a feeling of security to her would not be misplaced at this time. It would remind her of a time when Max and she were just free to be part of a family, completely unaware that their real parents had destined them for so much more. They had been free to let the Evans' love them. Sure they had had weird powers and had had to be careful that no one found out, but they had been just Max and Isabel Evans then.

But nothing would ever be that way again.

Isabel worried about her parents.

They had been nothing but supportive since Isabel had told them the truth of her and Max's origins. She was sure that they might have taken it harder if they hadn't been mourning her brother so intensely these past months...for longer than that in fact. The Max that had disappeared on the Father's Camping Trip had been THEIR Max, but they had not known that for themselves. To Isabel's mom and dad, Max had still been the anti-Max - the rebellious, disdainful teenage nightmare they had been forced to endure for several months...they had been victims of the act Max had been forced to perpetuate by Tarsus of Dernia.

Isabel knew that her mom was gradually beginning to recover. She and Izzy were closer then ever, now that there was no longer any secrets between them. While Diane would never completely get over losing her son, her connection to Isabel had always been stronger - mainly because Max had always kept himself slightly guarded around her.

But her dad - he had lost his beloved son, not once, but twice...first in spirit, and then in fact. Phillip Evans had become a shadow of his former self.

This fact was reinforced to Isabel when her parents poked their heads into the room a few minutes later. "Hey honey! Hi Alex."

"Hi Mom. Did you guys have a good time at the movies?" Isabel asked, frowning with concern at the strained expression on her father's face. He seemed sort of out of it, as usual.

Isabel felt Alex squeeze her hand. He knew how much she worried about both her parents and how they were handling Max's disappearance.

"It was fine." Diane replied, sounding tired. "We're heading up to bed now sweetie. Can I get you anything before I go?" Isabel's dad still had not said a word. He gradually began to make his way to the stairs, plodding as though he was exhausted.

"No, thanks Mom. I'll just see you in the morning."

"All right. Goodnight then. Don't stay too late Alex."

"I won't Mrs. Evans. Good night." Alex replied. Isabel could hear the concern in his voice.

When Isabel's mother was out of ear-shot, he turned to her. "Your dad is like still totally losing it huh?" Isabel just shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Alex sighed. "I think maybe you should Iz."

Isabel scowled at him. "I really don't want to fight with you about this Alex. We have other things to worry about right now."

Alex looked away, seemed a little frustrated. "Fine. Did you come up with anything?"

Isabel was relieved that he was letting her change the subject. If she dwelled on how much her parents missed Max...well, it would make her think about how much SHE missed him.

And then the hope that had been growing within her would flicker out...

She couldn't allow that. They didn't have time for that. Liz was gradually beginning to lose it, Maria was almost gone....and Michael - he was going to kill himself with guilt.

They needed Max.

"Not really." Isabel replied. "The only thing I came up with was the place where my mom and dad found us on the side of the road?"

Alex shook his head. "That just doesn't sound right, does it?" He looked down at the floor. "But wait...what about the pod chamber? I mean, that's where you were born right?"

Isabel's head snapped around to stare at him. "That's it!" Isabel threw herself at him, began raining delirious kisses all over his face. "You're a genius!"

Alex kissed her back. "Too bad I'm not a genius more often." He managed to reply. He was laughing.

Isabel jumped off the couch, pulled him up after her. "Let's go."

Alex followed, but asked, "Shouldn't we call the others?"

"I want to go by myself first - make sure we're right." Isabel replied. She stopped in the front hall, groaned when she noticed that her car keys were missing. "Darn! I forgot I lent the jeep to Michael." She grabbed his hand, pulled him back in the direction they had come from.

Isabel paused at the stairs, called up. "Mom! I'm taking your car to drive Alex home."

"Okay sweetie. Don't be long." Mrs. Evans' voice filtered back.

They were on the road five minutes later.

Liz was seated on the floor of the Crashdown, her back against the counter, staring at the spot where Max had healed her two years before.

She had been there for almost an hour, calling out to him with her mind...willing him to answer her again.

She had started to wonder if she was going crazy - it wouldn't surprise her at all.

Liz took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried once more.

MAX! CAN YOU HEAR ME?

MAX! PLEASE!

Nothing. Only silence.

Liz was suddenly unbelievably weary.

Missing Max was so tiring...it was like an ache, one that became bigger and bigger every day. There was no relief either. It wouldn't go away - ever.

Or at least not until she was able to hold him in her arms.

She let herself curl up on the floor, in the exact spot she and Max had made their first connection. She realized that it was actually a bit morbid, but she didn't care. It made her feel close to him.

I really should call Isabel, Liz reflected to herself. I should tell her what I thought happened.

But Liz didn't really believe it anymore. It had all been a figment of her imagination.

Max was gone. He was never coming back. She was just going to have to begin to accept it. She knew that she could live a fairly productive life without him. There were other rewarding things in life besides love.

She could become the brilliant molecular biologist she had always wanted to be...

It didn't make her feel better. If anything, the emptiness in her soul grew bigger.

None of it would mean anything without Max.

Liz was shocked when a tear began a slow journey down her cheek.

NO! NO! NO!

STRONG! I HAVE TO BE STRONG! I PROMISED!

She squeezed her eyes shut, willed the tears to stop.

It was no use.

The release of that one tear was like opening the gates to a floodway. Within moments she was sobbing...

She wept for Isabel, who lived without the brother that she had loved more than her perfect life...Isabel Evans had only ever wanted to be normal, to be human - but she had been willing to give it up for Max, if he had wanted her too.

She wept for Maria - for her best friend, who was dying...if Max was there, he could heal her...Liz just somehow knew it.

She wept for Alex, Kyle, Tess...all of whom were nothing but loyal friends, all of whom didn't know what to do to help her or Isabel or Maria or Michael.

She wept for Mr.and Mrs. Evans, who were confused and distraught...and had lost a son without ever having a chance to really know him.

Yes, she even wept for Michael...although she was still furious with him, she knew deep down that his own guilt was probably even worse then her hatred.

And, lastly, Liz cried for herself...for the empty life that stretched out before her without her soulmate, her best friend, her other half...

She cried herself to sleep on the spot where Max Evans had saved her life - where her life had truly begun...

And that was when the dream came...

Liz blinked her eyes, sat up, stared around her in amazement.

She KNEW that she had fallen asleep on the floor of the Crashdown - but she certainly was not there now.

She was sitting in a field of yellow grass, her eyes just above the level of the tops, which were waving in the breeze...

Above her towered an immense stone. It threw a shadow across the entire area.

Liz slowly climbed to her feet, looked around, felt her heart beating a mile a minute. The standing stone was not alone. It was one of many that stood in the field of gold, surrounding her, dwarfing her.

It was a stone circle.

Liz did not have time to examine what this could mean. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a flash of movement...

She slowly turned her head.

It was then that she knew she was dreaming.

For standing not ten feet from her, under one of the gigantic, towering stones, his beloved eyes wide with shock, was Max Evans.

Liz stared back at him, could not seem to form a word.

She saw Max swallow, open his mouth to speak.

"It's you."

Part 7

Jaxon stared at the vision before him, unsure what to say.

She had haunted his dreams for so long...He even knew her name.

Liz.

A plain, sensible name - but somehow like music to his ears.

But this dream was different. In all the past dreams of her it had been as though he was observing the action, watching events that had been, that would be, that were...Events that had happened in another lifetime to someone that she called Max.

This time was different. She was there staring at him, her dark eyes wide with some unnamed emotion - clearly seeing him, just as he was seeing her. Her long dark hair was streaming behind her in the breeze, her delicate form dwarfed by one of the gate-markers.

Jaxon licked his lips, spoke. "It's you."

She blinked, frowned slightly. "Don't you know who I am?" She asked in a small voice.

He could tell that his next answer was very important - that one wrong word might shatter her - and for some reason that was the last thing under the Illyrian sky he wanted to do.

"You're Liz." He replied carefully. He was eyeing her with concern. She was slowly making her way towards him through the waving grass, her eyes not leaving his face. He saw her face light up with pleasure, but also with concern.

"I am." She stopped about an arm's-length away from him. He wondered why it felt inherently wrong that she should do so. "And who are you?" She asked quietly, clearly willing him to give her the answer he wanted.

At least he knew THIS answer. "I'm Jaxon Falconer, Blue Prince, High King of Illyria." He replied. He hoped it didn't sound too arrogant. Tarsus was always telling him to behave like the king he was, but it had always made him uncomfortable to push his status on others.

Jaxon was disappointed when her face darkened, her eyes suddenly filled with tears. "No, who are you really?" She asked almost desperately.

His eyes narrowed. He didn't understand what she wanted - but whatever it was, he wanted to give it to her. "Who do you think I am?" Jaxon asked cautiously, not wanting her to lose it. He was unused to dealing with emotion in beings. His people were not a demonstrative group. Emotion was considered weak. He had always thought so.

Yet for some reason it did not seem weak in her. It actually seemed to him that she was brave to reveal so much to him in just a look, a sentence.

It was clear that she trusted him.

Liz had tilted her head. She was staring at him, clearly trying to come to a decision. "You're Max Evans." She finally told him, biting her lip.

He didn't hear her right away. Jaxon was staring at that lip. At both of them actually. He was horrified when he realized that he wanted very much to kiss them. He shook his head. "I have heard that name before." He told her quickly, trying to suppress the image that suddenly appeared in his mind. It was like a flash of memory...but he knew that is was not HIS memory...

"I better go." It was as though he was saying it in the vision, but then again, it was not him.

"Why?" Liz asked, her eyes wide with questions.

"'Cause if I don't go right now, things are going to change."

"Change how?"

Jaxon shook his head again, stared at her. She was directly in front of him now. He could tell that she wanted to touch him. He was shocked to realize that he wanted her to as well.

"Are you okay?" She asked him instead, clutching her hands in front of her, as if trying to control them.

"Yes. Why are you here? Did my parents send you?"

She looked sad. "You really don't remember me do you?"

Jaxon decided to be honest with her. "I don't - I know that I have seen you before." He didn't tell her that it had been in his dreams. She would think he was crazy.

Of course, I AM having a conversation with her IN my dreams, so maybe I am insane, he reflected wryly.

"Do you remember anyone?" She asked, clearly trying to get past her disappointment. "What about Isabel, or Michael..." She took a deep breath. "Or Tess?" She asked in a small voice.

"No. I'm sorry."

Liz did not look sad anymore, but rather thoughtful, like she was trying to work out a puzzle. "Wait! What about Tristandor...or Mirana?" She asked suddenly.

Max scowled, suddenly annoyed. "My sister and her no-good husband. How do you know them? Did they send you here?"

She blinked at him, surprised at his tone, although she did not appear frightened. Had he used that voice on any of his people, they would have been out of his presence in a split second.

He forced himself to calm down. He didn't know why, but he knew that she was not there to betray him. Somehow he just knew. "How do you know them?" He asked again, in a more civil tone.

"Mirana - she is Isabel where I come from - is one of my best friends. And Michael, er Tristandor, is YOUR best friend and is my other best friend's boyfriend." Her eyes narrowed slightly, "Although little good he's ever done you." She muttered to herself.

"Tristandor is NO friend of mine." He told her firmly. "Why are you here? And what is a boyfriend?" Jaxon asked, images of his sister suddenly filtering through his mind. The only memories he had of her were bad ones. She was a tyrant and a shrill-voiced witch...one who had always been jealous of he and had conspired with her husband and his parents to try and steal his throne.

He refocused on her, saw that she was smiling sadly. "A boyfriend is like a partner, I guess....less then a husband, but more than a friend."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" He asked her, then clamped his lips shut. Now where did that come from?

"I do." She replied, still smiling, although she had tears in her eyes. "Max is my boyfriend."

He was not at all surprised to hear this. "But you said that I am Max."

"You are." She had unclenched her hands. One was reaching up. It touched his face lovingly. "You are mine."

"But I am not Max...I am Jaxon." He managed to croak. He almost gave into an irresistible urge to turn his head, to kiss her palm. But he was NOT who she thought he was...she had made a mistake. He could not take advantage of her like that.

"You are both Max AND Jaxon." She replied firmly. "They've suppressed the real you somehow, have made you forget -but I know who you are."

Jaxon stumbled backwards a step. He had to get away from her. He could not think clearly when she was so close to him. "Who are they?"

Her beautiful face clouded. "Tarsus of Dernia - and his leader, although we never did know who HE was." She told him.

Jaxon's felt his stomach clench. "I am his leader. Tarsus is my right hand. He is above reproach." He told her stiffly.

She just looked at him. He could tell that she thought that she was right, but she was not going to argue with him. "We better leave it alone." Liz finally said. "I don't know how long I can stay...there is so much to say Max! You have to help me figure out how to get you back."

"Back where?" He asked, letting her change the subject.

"Back home, where you belong. With Isabel, and your parents, and Michael....and me." She was looking around at the stone circle suddenly, her eyes wide with curiosity. "Where are we?"

"We are in the Waylandian Ring." Jaxon replied, suddenly realizing how peculiar it was. "I'm not sure why." He admitted sheepishly.

"But we're on Illyria?"

"Yes, of course, where else would we be?" Liz suddenly looked suspicious.

"How long have you lived on Illyria Max...er Jaxon?"

"My entire life of course."

Liz sighed, shook her head. "So they've not only made you forget, they've also planted false memories."

"What do you mean?"

"It's too complicated to go into now." Liz turned back to him, smiled lovingly. "I just want you to know that we are going to figure out a way to get you home."

"Why?" Jaxon was confused. He WAS home.

"Because I love you - we all do." Liz replied, touching his face again. His breath caught in his throat.

He was staring at her lips again. He had never kissed anyone before - but why did this all seem so familiar? He could feel his head beginning to lower. Liz's gaze was hypnotic...he seemed to have absolutely no control over his behavior.

All he knew is that his lips needed to be on hers...

"Max..."she sighed, their mouths only a breath away from each other.

And suddenly he felt like he had been kicked in the stomach...The last image he had of her was of her eyes widening in panic....she was reaching for him..."MAX!" She screamed.

She was gone...

Jaxon opened his eyes. He was not at all surprised to see that he actually WAS being kicked in the stomach...by one of his guards. He was lying sprawled on the hard stone floor of his cell.

"Get up you traitor! Your parents are ready to see you know..." The guard kicked him once more for good measure, then left him a moment's peace to get ready.

Jaxon sat up, scrubbed his hand across his eyes.

He remembered everything.

Who was she? Why had she been sent to tell him all these lies - to haunt him?

He climbed unsteadily to his feet, shook his head. His jaw set.

It was his parents - it had to be...they were trying to control him by using his dreams. He swiped a hand through his hair, straightened the tunic he had been wearing for the last week - ever since his parents had captured the Citadel...and him.

He would face them - and they would not know that they had FINALLY gotten to him. She meant nothing. It was all a ruse to wrench him from his true friends, back into their evil clutches.

While his mind was telling him all this, his heart was beating a mile a minute - as though HE was somehow wrong in all this. He pushed the feeling aside.

For this was the worse part of all...these dreams had reawakened something within him that he had thought he had long hidden, buried, done away with...

He was beginning to feel again.

Jaxon erased the admission from his mind. He straightened his spine, walked to the open door of the cell. He glared at the guards waiting for him. When he spoke, his tone was arrogant.

"Take me to my parents."

"Lizzie. Wake up honey."

Liz slowly opened her eyes, stared up at her father in confusion. "Dad?" She sat up groggily. "What's going on?"

"You fell asleep on the floor sweetie." Liz could see the concern on her father's face. "You were gone so long I came to check on you."

Liz blinked, stared down at the floor. It had all been a dream...

But she also knew that it had been more than that...She had been with Max.

She had to get away from her father...had to call Isabel, had to try and understand what it had all meant.

"Oh, I guess I was tired." Liz replied lamely. There was really no logical explanation for why she would have fallen asleep on the floor of the restaurant, so she didn't even bother trying to make one up. "I guess I'd better head up to bed."

Mr. Parker was not going to let her off the hook so easily. "Liz, are you okay honey? I know that you're still having a hard time dealing with Max's death..." He trailed off, clearly hoping that she would open up to him.

Liz shut her eyes, took a deep breath. "I'm fine Dad, really. I'm just tired." She just could not get into this with her dad right now. She needed to go think about what had happened in her dream before she forgot any of it. "I'm just going to go to bed." She opened her eyes, tried not to look her father in the eyes.

She heard him sigh sadly. "Okay honey. Sweet dreams."

Liz could not resist. She gave Mr. Parker a quick hug. "I love you Dad."

"I love you too honey."

Liz sprinted up the stairs to her family's apartment and was in her room only a couple of minutes later. She grabbed the phone, misdialed Isabel's number twice before she finally managed to control her shaking hands enough to hit the right numbers.

The phone rang five times before Isabel's answering machine picked up.

"Izzy! Where are you?" Liz muttered to herself.

She tried Alex, Maria and even Michael. No answer at any of their homes. Liz could feel herself getting panicky...she had to tell someone!

Should she try Kyle or Tess? No, it was better to get it all down on paper before she forgot...

Liz leaped off the bed, hurried to her journal's hiding spot. Her heart stopped when she saw the brick sitting on her bureau...

She smacked her hand against her forehead. She had left it sitting on the chaise on her balcony - she had been writing in it when Isabel had called her earlier that day to tell her about her vision.

Liz hurried out her bedroom window, stopped abruptly. She stared at her favorite seat in horror.

Her journal was gone.

Isabel climbed the steep slope to the entrance to the pod chamber, her heart in her throat. Alex was slightly ahead of her, leading the way with a flashlight.

Isabel had not been back to her birthplace since the day she, Max, Michael and Tess had found out the truth about themselves by using the orbs, almost two years ago.

She hated it there.

Isabel had very few memories of the time between her emergence from her pod and being picked up by the side of the road by the Evans. When Max had first found the chamber, she had had a flash of her first moments of life - but since then, nothing more had returned. She knew that Michael and Max both remembered a lot more.

She suspected that it had something to do with the fact that they had both WANTED to remember, while that had been the last thing on Earth she had wanted to do. Isabel had been horrified when first faced with the absolute truth that she was not human...the pods had revolted her more than she expected and she had wanted nothing more than to get away from them. Max had had to chase her halfway back to the car before she would stop that day, Isabel recalled wryly, feeling a pang of affection for her brother, that for once was not mixed with sadness.

When they had returned to the chamber to heal Nasedo and to use the orbs, Isabel had managed to block out the disturbing sight of the pods. She had been eager to hear her mother, which had overshadowed her disgust.

The whole destiny fiasco, followed swiftly by Max and Michael's encounter with Tarsus and consequent jerky behavior had given Isabel excuse enough not to reflect on something that disturbed her.

But there was no avoiding it this time.

She was glad that Alex was with her. He was the only one who truly understood how hard her origins were for her to deal with...the idea that she had been engineered...she despised it. Max and Michael had been too wrapped up in their own issues surrounding their heritage - Max torn between his humanity and his otherness, Michael ready and eager to embrace his alien side - to help Isabel deal with her own.

So she had turned to Alex.

Which had made it doubly difficult when they had broken up last year during the anti-Max, spaced-out Michael era.

Isabel was breathing hard when she finally joined Alex on the ridge. "I really need to hit the gym more often." She joked to mask her nervousness.

Alex was not fooled though. He was staring at the wall, his expression grim. He turned to glance at her worriedly. "Are you sure you want to do this Iz?"

"I have to Alex." He set his jaw, moved aside so that she could activate the entrance.

Isabel waved her hand across the stone wall, watched the silver handprint emerge as if by magic. She placed her palm on the imprint, stepped back as the stone slid away.

Taking a deep breath, Isabel ducked under the overhang and entered the room in which she had been born.

Alex was right behind her. He shone the flashlight across the pods, an interested expression on his face. She remembered that this was the first time he had been there. "They look different from the one Tarsus had Max use to ready himself for the journey to Illyria." He commented.

Isabel nodded. "They served different purposes I guess. These ones were to transform us to humans. The other ones were to turn us back." She shuddered at the thought.

Alex came and put his arm around her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. Listen Alex, being here reminded me of something I've been thinking about lately." Alex squeezed her, encouraging her to continue. "Don't you think it was weird that even after Max and Michael were transformed to return to Illyria, they looked like humans?" She turned to stare at the pods again. "Why?"

Alex shook his head. "I don't know Iz."

"Do you think that our people LOOK like humans?" Isabel asked him, voicing her own suspicions. "I mean, the fact that there is life on at least two planets in the universe, makes it likely that there is life on more...maybe we were sent to Earth for the reason that we looked like humans?"

Alex did not look convinced. "But Liz told me that when you and the others healed Nasedo, he shifted slightly into one of those typical alien forms...you know, the ones everyone sees in the UFO museum? With the big head and eyes..."

Isabel frowned. "Yeah...well, it was just a thought."

"So what are we looking for?" Alex asked, flashing his light across the pods and stone walls again.

Isabel shrugged, moved away from him as she examined the pods more closely. "I have no idea..."

And suddenly the vision was upon her...She threw her hands up to her head...It felt like someone had her head in a vise and was gradually tightening it...

*Flash

"Make the sacrifice."

*Flash

"Mirana - you are the key!"

*Flash

"Use the gate."

*Flash

A stone circle, Max's face, Michael's face, Tess' face, her own face....Liz's face, Alex's face, Maria's, Kyle's....they all whipped across her mind like a slide-show....the stone circle, Max's face, the stone circle, Max's face...

"Isabel! IZZY!"

Isabel blinked, stared at Alex. He was grasping her by the shoulders, staring at her in fright. "Izzy! What happened? Did you get another flash?"

Isabel nodded mechanically. She frowned slightly, shook her head to clear it.

"Are you okay?" Alex demanded. He sounded angry. He was clearly upset about the fact that these visions were not consequence free. Her head was still killing her.

"Yeah...Alex, please...I'm okay. It doesn't matter." Isabel tried to remember exactly what she had seen.

"The hell it doesn't!" Alex practically yelled. "What the hell is Max doing- using you as some sort of interstellar post-office? It's clearly hurting you. Why can't any of this ever just be normal?"

Isabel stared at him. "Alex! Calm down." She ran her hands up his arms comfortingly. "I'm fine." She paused. Alex was still muttering to himself. "Alex! I need you here...just stop it! I'm okay." She waited until his attention was completely focused on her again.

"Sorry." He finally said, still upset, but at least he was listening.

She smiled at him. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that you wanted me to stick around." She teased him, trying to cajole a smile out of him.

He was having none of it. "Don't even joke about that Isabel." Alex replied seriously, his eyes dark. He took a deep breath. "Fine. So what did you see?"

Isabel stared at him a moment longer, made sure that he had reemerged from his momentary flip-out. "It's not Max who's communicating with me." She eventually told him.

"What do you mean it's not Max?" Alex demanded. He sounded disappointed, but there was a weird edge to his voice as well.

"I mean, it's about Max - about how to get him back - but it's not him sending the messages..." Isabel explained.

Alex scowled. "Well, all I can say is, he's damn lucky it's not. When we got him back, I was planning on asking him how his trip was and then kicking his butt right back there for hurting you."

Isabel rolled her eyes. She wondered if Michael had been giving her boyfriend lessons in protective-guy obnoxiousness. "Alex, could you please stop being ridiculous? You know that Max would never intentionally hurt me - any of us. If last winter taught me anything, its that my brother was willing to do anything to protect us." Isabel felt a moment's sadness at the thought of the loneliness Max had had to endure during his bad-ass act, when he had had to alienate everyone he loved in the world in order to save them. "Anyway," She continued. "It wasn't Max."

"Well, then who was it?" Alex asked, sounding a bit embarrassed about his outburst.

Isabel sighed. "I don't know. I didn't really understand any of it. All I saw was everyone's faces mixed in with Max's...and a stone circle." She wrinkled her nose in thought. "And they told me to make the sacrifice again...whatever the heck that means."

"Maybe the others will have some ideas." Alex suggested.

Isabel glanced at her watch, saw that it was well past midnight. Although she had been the one who had insisted that everyone contact everyone else if something happened, she realized now that it was probably best to wait for morning. Liz and Maria were both exhausted and needed their sleep, and she just couldn't face Michael right then...his guilty face was seriously beginning to depress her, forgetting that before that day she had been the most somber of them all. "Maybe. I think you and I should go home to bed and think about it a bit first though. We can tell them tomorrow at school."

Alex understood her reasoning immediately. "Okay. I guess we better head home then." He took her hand, squeezed gently. "We're making progress here Iz. We are going to bring Max home."

Isabel smiled at him, felt tears of hope filling her eyes. She glanced at the pods again, wondered which one had been the progenitor of her wonderful, selfless, much missed brother.

They were going to find him and bring him home.

She swore it would be so - even if it was the last thing she ever did, Isabel would see her brother again.

Liz felt the tears on her cheeks when she awoke the next morning. Sunlight was streaming through her bedroom window. She sighed, curled up under her covers and thought.

She was ecstatically happy and unbearably sad at the same time. But most of all she was disappointed...she had not had another dreamy visit from her boyfriend - or his Illyrian double either.

Her happiness stemmed from the fact that she had found Max. She knew that he was alive and safe - and the sadness came from the fact that he did not remember who he was.

He did not remember her.

And now her journal had disappeared.

Liz had never managed to talk to anyone last night. She had fallen asleep with the phone on her lap after the tenth time she had called Isabel, only to get the machine.

It was annoying, but she would see them all at lunch. It had actually worked out for the best. She had a lot to do before she told them what she had learned.

Liz had already decided that she was skipping classes that morning. She had to go to the library. Something was nagging at the back of her mind about the dream she had had...

For some reason, she thought that she knew exactly where to look for the answer to all their questions.

Because now that she knew that Max was alive, Liz was going to bring him home.

Even if she died trying.

Part 9

Alex stared down at his lunch, an expression of distaste on his face. "They call this pizza? It looks like..." He paused. "Well, I don't know what, but definitely not something I want to be putting into my mouth."

Michael, who was seated beside him, grabbed the slice, pulled a bottle of Tabasco out of his pocket, and dumped the entire contents onto it. "There. Problem solved."

"Contrary to what you might think Michael, Tabasco is not the solution to every culinary disaster." Maria commented, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

Isabel couldn't help but giggle at the look on Alex's face. He was staring at the pizza that Michael had deposited back in front of him, horror apparent. "Um, you can keep it."

"Thanks." Michael made a big show of taking a bite. "Mmmmm....delicious."

Isabel and Maria exchanged looks, both laughed. Alex was scowling at them all.

For one precious moment, everything was normal. It hadn't been like this for so long - not since before Tess came into their lives, Isabel realized. She knew that Michael was actually putting on a bit of a show for Maria's benefit, but it was still nice.

It was too bad that Liz wasn't there yet...

Or Max.

She sobered instantly. "Where are the others?" She asked Maria abruptly.

Maria looked at her quickly. Isabel was pleased to note that her friend actually looked a bit better today. She had colour in her cheeks and the circles under her eyes were not quite as large. "Liz left me a message in the office saying she was going to be a bit late. I have no idea where Tess and Kyle are."

Isabel scanned the courtyard impatiently. She had thought about her latest vision all night and was no closer to deciphering it than she had been when she had dropped Alex off at home. She needed everyone else to start thinking about it too.

She groaned when she suddenly caught sight of possibly the most annoying person on campus headed in their direction.

"Don't look now, but the black widow is on her way over." Isabel muttered to the others.

Maria turned around, scowled. "What is that girl's problem?" She asked, her nose wrinkling again at the sight of Pam Troy, Max's erstwhile ex-girlfriend.

"I think the proper question would be, what ISN'T that girl's problem." Alex replied in a lecturing tone.

Pam was being followed by two or three of her minions. Isabel put on her best ice-queen expression. They had to get rid of them before Liz showed up. Her friend did not need to deal with her arch-enemy on top of everything else.

"Well, if it isn't four of the seven dweebs." Pam said in a tone dripping with venom as she finally came to a stop next to them. Her lackeys giggled. Isabel turned burning eyes on them. They immediately stopped laughing. One of them actually looked frightened.

Isabel was pleased.

"What do you want Troy?" Alex asked in a tone of long-suffering.

"I want to know where little Lizzie Parker is." Pam replied, sneering at him.

"Why?" Maria demanded, sounding suspicious - rightfully so in Isabel's point of view.

"Oh, you'll know soon enough." Pam replied in what she probably thought sounded like a mysterious tone, but rather it sounded like an irritating whine.

"Beat it Troy." Isabel's eyes shifted to Kyle, who had come up behind Pam. The expression on his face was annoyed, but Isabel could see real signs of fury underneath the surface.

Pam scowled at him but obeyed. She knew that of the whole group of Liz's friends, only Kyle was the one she had to be concerned with socially. At one time Isabel would have been able to ruin her socially too, but since Max's disappearance she had not bothered to continue the farce of popularity.

It hadn't seemed important anymore.

"Have any of you seen Liz?" Kyle asked when Pam was out of ear-shot. His tone was instantly panicked.

"She wasn't in school this morning." Maria replied. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Everything." Kyle replied, turning to scan the crowd of students for Liz.

Isabel caught sight of her friend before the rest of them did. Liz was hurrying in their direction, her head lowered, her long dark hair shielding her face. She had a large book in her arms.

It was then that Isabel began to hear the whispering. As the student body caught sight of Liz, they all began to turn and stare at her. Someone even pointed. "What the heck?" Isabel heard Alex mutter.

Isabel became even more concerned when two jocks suddenly stepped in front of Liz. "Hey Parker! Didn't know you had it in you." Isabel could hear one of them say.

Liz looked up, blinked at him. A slightly perplexed smile appeared on her pretty face. "What do you mean Tom?"

Kyle shook his head. "Damn!" He hurried in Liz's direction, grabbed her by the arm and escorted her to the table, shoving Tom and his crony as he passed them. "You're dead at practice today." He told them. Isabel knew that Kyle could make their lives hell. He was the captain of the team and he ran the football practices with the coach.

Liz came and sat beside Isabel, plunking her book on the table in front of her. Isabel could not see the title as it was upside down. "What's going on guys?'"

The rest of them all looked to Kyle for an explanation. He looked upset that he was obviously going to have to be the one to tell her.

"Ummmm..." To Isabel it appeared that Kyle was actually wringing his hands.

"Spill it Valenti!" This was from Michael, who looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

"Well, someone plastered posters all over school with a web-site address on them." Kyle began explaining slowly. "So I went to check it out."

"And?" Maria waved her hand in front of her encouraging Kyle to continue.

"Well, the site was about Max." Kyle swallowed. "It was basically full of a whole bunch of pictures of Max and Liz together...ummm...doing stuff."

Isabel felt her breath catch in her throat. "What kind of stuff?" She asked, although she already knew.

Kyle turned to stare at her. "I think you know Isabel."

Isabel turned to Liz. Her friend's face had gone white. Liz's hands were clutching the side of the table, the knuckles turning white as Isabel watched in fascination.

"And that's not all...Liz's journal is posted on the site." Kyle continued.

Liz wondered if she was going to pass out.

She really, really felt like she was. All of her
friends looked horrified, but they had no idea how bad
this really was.

Only one other person at the table knew. Liz turned
to stare at Michael. His face was chalk white and he
looked like he wanted to throw up. He met her gaze,
his pupils dilated with a combination of horror and
terror.

Liz finally managed to open her mouth to speak. "Was
my whole journal on there Kyle?" She asked, having to
try twice before the words had any sort of coherence.

Kyle shrugged. "How should I know? It was just a whole
lot of stuff about Max." He looked embarrassed. "I
tried not to read too much of it Liz. I mean, its
private."

Liz stumbled to her feet. "Alex, we need to get this
off the web NOW...immediately, if not sooner."

"Liz, do you really think you should look at it?"
Maria asked with concern as Liz moved to drag Alex off
to the computer room. "Alex can do it himself."

Liz exchanged another look with Michael. While she
was majorly humiliated that there seemed to be nookie
pictures of she and Max on the site, that was not her
main concern. The potentially explosive secrets that
had been revealed....

And even if they hadn't...well, the person who had the
journal knew...and that was bad enough.

She couldn't decide whether to tell the others or not.
Tess and Izzy would seriously, and rightfully, freak
if they found out.

No, it was best to keep it between she and Michael
until they knew how bad it was.

"It's okay Maria. I need to see it." Liz replied.

Liz practically sprinted across the quad, Alex close
behind her. She ignored all the staring eyes, the
catcalls from a couple of asses on the football
team...

None of it mattered. Her friends' lives were
potentially in danger here.

Alex and Liz slammed into the computer room. A couple
of students already there snapped around to stare at
them. One snickered. Liz knew what site she must be
looking at.

It was only then that Liz realized that Michael had
accompanied them. He glared at the three sophomores
and two freshman. "Out." He commanded in his most
threatening tone. Liz was pleased that none even
commented. They all grabbed their stuff and made a
break for it. Michael's bad-ass reputation did come in
handy sometimes, Liz reflected wryly.

She slid into the seat in front of the console where
the giggler had been sitting.

Her heart stopped. She closed her eyes briefly, took
a deep breath.

Well, there was no denying that it was her. There she
was kissing Max passionately, an expression of bliss
on her face.

She even recognized where it was. It was the night
that they had been in Michael's apartment, their
impulse to be together almost completely out of
control. It was the same night they had discovered
the orb that had started the whole mess in the first
place.

Liz quickly used the mouse to click to the next
picture. It was even worse. Max had his shirt off
and she was running her hand down his chest. The
expression on his face...

She felt tears fill her eyes. She remembered exactly
what he had said to her...

"I can't do it to you." She had told him sadly.

"I'm glowing everywhere." He had replied. "My toes,
my heart. You can't see it because its on the
inside."

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph." Alex stuttered from behind
her. "I think I'm going blind."

Liz felt hysterical laughter about to erupt. "How? I
mean where on Earth did these pictures come from?" She
demanded.

"Liz, we can figure that out later. Get to the
journal." Michael commanded. Liz felt annoyed. How
dare he order her around when this was all his fault
in the first place?

But she knew that he was right. She quickly clicked
to the home page.

Giant letters screamed off the computer.

THE SECRET LIFE OF LIZ PARKER.

In smaller letters it continued.

Mild-mannered school girl by day, sizzling sex-pot by
night....
That's our Lady Liz.
Here it all is...in black and white...in her own
words.

Liz paused, glanced back at Michael. "Are you ready
for this?" She asked quietly.

He nodded, his jaw set. She clicked on the mouse.

The next screen came up.

Journal Entry 4

The tough thing about following your heart is what
people forget to mention, that sometimes your heart
takes you to places you shouldn't be....

Liz quickly scanned the rest of the entry. Nothing
incriminating there, although it was making her
stomach clench just seeing her private thoughts on
public display. It was making her feel ill to realize
that a large portion of the student body had been
privy to those thoughts.

Journal Entry 18

Have you ever had a moment when you're with the one
person in the world you want to be with? And the wind
is blowing through your hair and the song that just
describes your entire soul happens to come on and then
the person you happen to want to be with happens to
love the same song and suddenly you realize you’re
listening to it together.

Liz swallowed, didn't even give herself a chance to
remember that perfect moment. It would make her think
about how much she missed Max, about what she had
found out last night...now wasn't the time.

Click.

Journal Entry 34

Lately I've been having these feelings, like I'm
changing, inside, and part of me doesn't want to
change, part of me always wants to be my mom's little
girl, but the thing is these feelings are strong,
dangerous, undeniable...it's like I have no choice,
it's like chemical...

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Michael
demanded. He was reading over her shoulder.

"Er - never mind." Liz replied. She swiveled around,
sighed with relief. "None of it's what we thought."
She told him.

"What did you guys think was on here?" Alex asked
suspiciously. "I would have thought that what was
there was enough to make you crawl under your bed for
a year." He nudged Liz out of her chair, began to
type away, clearly trying to get rid of the site.

Liz and Michael exchanged another look. "Um...I used
my journal to talk about some Czech stuff." Liz
replied finally, realized that everyone had a right to
know now.

The fact that her journal was still out there
somewhere - in God knew who's hands...everyone NEEDED
to know.

Alex turned around. "What! Liz were you crazy? What
were you thinking?" She saw the look of terror that
crossed her best friend's face. She knew exactly what
was going through his mind....Isabel was now in great
danger.

"Can it Whitman." Michael inserted. "What's done is
done. Liz had a right to write whatever she wanted."

Liz pressed her lips together. She did not want
Michael standing up for her...she hated him...but she
couldn't help but feel a bit thankful.

She knew that it had been stupid...that she should
have burned the thing after Michael had stolen it the
first time...

She should have gotten rid of it when Max had
disappeared...but it had been her only reminder of
him, besides a few photographs. To burn it - it would
have been like erasing her entire relationship with
her soulmate.

"Can you get rid of it?" Liz asked Alex in a small
voice.

"Yeah, it's pretty amateur actually." Her friend
replied. "I just need to get into the
site-builder..."

"Don't you need a password?" Michael asked, looking
impressed as Alex’s hands flew across the keyboard.

"Nah, I can get around that." Alex replied. As Liz
watched tensely, the screen flashed several times -
and the journal entry in front of them disappeared.

"Please tell me its gone?" Isabel walked into the
computer room with Tess. Tess' face looked concerned.

"Are you okay?" She asked Liz. Liz reflected briefly
on how surreal it was that she and Tess were actually
friends.

"Yeah, thanks. Alex took care of it." Liz replied.

"Where's Maria?" Michael demanded, glancing behind the
two girls who had just entered.

Isabel's face, which had been showing her relief,
darkened. "Kyle took her home. She wasn't feeling
well." Liz saw Michael clench his fists at his side,
felt her own stomach drop.

"We need to figure out who was behind this." Alex
announced as he stood up. "We have to get that
journal back."

"Why?" Tess asked. "I mean, I heard some of the girls
talking in the hall. It sounds to me like the
pictures were sort of bad, but that the journal was
actually kind of romantic." She smiled at Liz sadly.
"You're like even more of a tragic heroine to them now
than you were before."

"I'm pleased to report that there were no sex
fantasies, if that's what you mean." Liz replied,
blushing slightly. She saw Isabel grimace.

"Please, I may be ill. This is my brother we're
talking about here."

Liz realized that they had to tell them. "My journal
wasn't just about my relationship with Max. It was
also about Max in general...I mean, what he was...IS!"
Liz quickly amended, upset that she had used the past
tense to refer to her boyfriend. "What he is..."

"His Czech status?" Isabel blanched. "Oh my God. And
us too?" She indicated Michael and Tess. Tess looked
like she couldn't speak.

Liz felt terrible. She nodded. "I am so sorry Isabel
- all of you."

Isabel sat on a chair quickly. She looked faint. "I
can't breathe."

Alex hurried to her side, began to stroke her back
comfortingly. "It's okay. We're going to get it back
Iz."

"I need to think about something else." Isabel
announced abruptly "I CANNOT think about this right
now." Alex exchanged a worried glance with Liz. She
shrugged.

Isabel was reaching into her book bag. She pulled out
the large book that Liz had been carrying when she had
come to lunch. Liz had not even remembered that she
had left it behind.

Izzy flipped it over so that the title was visible to
them all. It was entitled BRITISH HERITAGE SITES.

"What is this all about?" She looked at Alex
significantly. "It's what I saw in my vision Alex."

"What the hell?" Michael yelled. "That's what I saw
in MY vision!"

He was staring at the picture on the cover in shock.
It was of the most famous tourist sites in all of
Great Britain. It was Stonehenge.

"YOUR vision?" Alex demanded. "Were you planning on
telling us about that in this century, or the next?"

"I saw it too." Liz said quietly. "That's why I wasn't
in school this morning. I had to check up on
something. Max called it the Waylandian Ring."

"Ummm, and might I inquire when he called it that?"
Alex asked, shaking his head wearily. Liz understood
how he was feeling. They were not being very open
about what was going on with each of them.

"I never got a chance to tell you guys." Liz
continued. "I saw Max last night. In a dream."

"He dreamwalked you?" Isabel sounded ecstatic.

Liz shook her head. "No. I think he was just as
surprised to be there as I was." She shut her eyes
briefly, felt again the pain of the meeting - but also
the hope that had remained with her ever since. "He
doesn't remember who he is." She told them sadly.

"What do you mean?" Michael demanded.

"Just what I said...they've brainwashed him or
something. He doesn't remember anything about his
time on Earth. He really thinks that he's Jaxon
Falconer."

"He IS Jaxon Falconer." Michael replied. Liz narrowed
her eyes. Not in her book was Max EVER going to be
Jaxon Falconer.

He was Max. Her Max.

"You know what I mean." Liz told him, barely keeping
her irritation out of her voice. "Anyway, the point
is, we were in what he called the Waylandian Ring."

Isabel was shaking her head. "Who cares about that
right now? How did he look?"

"He looked fine. He looked exactly like he looked
when he left." Liz replied, a slight smile on her
face.

He had looked beautiful to her.

"I don't understand." Tess said. "We've figured out
already that time moves differently on Illyria. I
mean, Michael and Maria were only gone for an hour but
for them it was like they were gone for a year.
Shouldn't Max be like three hundred years old by now?"

Liz just shook her head. "I have no idea. He looked
exactly the same. Yeah, he looked older, but only
because he's almost a year older than the last time we
saw him."

Michael was scowling. "So what does Stonehenge have to
do with any of this?" He inquired testily, clearly
wanting to get back on track with the mystery at hand.

"I'll tell you." Liz replied, annoyed with him again.
Couldn't he just let them be happy for two minutes
that Max was healthy and alive? She took the book
away from Isabel, flipped through to the entry on the
famous ancient site. She began to read aloud.

"England's most famous stone circle is found several
miles from the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire. It is
now generally acknowledged that the famous stones were
carried to the site from Northern Wales by an ancient
people, although for what purpose is unclear.
Mysteries and legend surround the stone circle. It is
known that the circle was a holy site for the ancient
Druids, that it might have been an astronomical
observatory and that it is found at the intersection
of several lay-lines..."

"What's a lay-line?" Tess interrupted.

"It's like a line of energy that is supposed to cross
the island. There are supposed to be thousands of
them." Liz explained. "They're invisible but they are
said to have great power. Stone circles are generally
believed to be built on the spots where several cross
because the Druids and others used them to channel the
power from the lay-lines."

"Sounds like a bunch of hocus-pocus nonsense to me."
Michael grumbled.

"Yeah, and aliens among us sounded like a bunch of
hocus-pocus nonsense to me!" Alex replied
sarcastically.

Liz ignored them both, continued to read. "One of the
biggest mysteries surrounding the circle is how the
stones were transported from Wales to Wiltshire. The
people who lived at the time it was built did not have
the technology to do so, although some historians
argue that they might have moved them by water."

"So?" Michael asked, clearly getting impatient.

"Will you shush!" Liz snapped. Michael blinked at
her. She turned back to the others. "This is what's
important...get this..." she explained. "Some less
reputable sources argue that the only explanation lies
in the stars."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Michael
demanded.

Liz rolled her eyes. She turned to Isabel hopefully.

Isabel's face was shining with excitement. She was
clutching Alex's hand tightly. She turned to Michael.
"Don't you get it? They think that it was built by
aliens! Oh my God! Liz! Do you realize what this
means?"

Liz smiled at her. "I do. It means that we know how
to bring Max home."

Part 11

The Citadel, Illyria

Jaxon stalked down the corridor to the throne room, his back straight, his expression blank. He was determined to show no fear.

He had not seen his parents in two years - not since the day they had sent assassins to murder him in his bed. He had barely escaped with his life. If it had not been for Tarsus...he would have surely perished.

Jaxon wondered if Mirana and Tristandor would be there as well. The thought of seeing them was disturbing. Once his closest companions, their betrayal had hurt even more than that of his parents.

He hoped that they were not there. He did not know if he would be able to keep his composure if he saw his twin sister. Mirana had been his confidante and strength while he had grown into his leadership role after their father's death. Their father had been gone only a few short months after their emergence from their pods. They had only ever had each other and their mother. While they had loved their stepfather Hamor when their mother had married him, he had still been an outsider, one who had taken their mother from their little circle. They had become even closer then.

It had been the marriage to Tristandor that had been the turning point in their relationship. Tristandor had come to the Citadel with professions of friendship and loyalty...but, in the end, he had convinced Jaxon's parents and sister to turn on him.

Liz had spoken of them. She had told him that Mirana, or Isabel as Liz called her, was Liz's best friend...that she was working to bring him "home." She had told him that Tristandor - Michael - was HIS best friend.

It was these lies that had convinced Jaxon that Liz was not who she claimed to be. She was working for his parents - there was no question.

He could not trust her. She was a figment of his imagination, or an illusion created to trick him.

Jaxon's thoughts were interrupted when one of his guards grabbed him roughly by the elbow, forcing him to stop walking.

"You will bow to the Queen Dowager when you enter." The guard instructed.

Jaxon narrowed his eyes at the guard. "I am her king." He replied evenly. "I bow to no one."

"You are a traitor." The guard replied, his fury evident in his eyes. "And you will bow - or I will make you sorry you did not."

Jaxon stared at him, refused to look away first. He knew that he was ragged and dirty, but he was still this man's king.

The other man's gaze faltered first. Jaxon saw him swallow convulsively. Jaxon wondered if he was frightened.

Fright was an unacceptable emotion on Illyria. The guard would do his best to hide it if he was afraid.

Jaxon knew that his parents' people had not yet undergone the cleansing. While they had accepted the danger of emotions to progress, they had not the courage to do away with them entirely.

Not like Tarsus and his followers - Jaxon's true subjects.

The guard was motioning to the page standing near the great doors. Jaxon could see that the page was gazing at him in awe. He scowled at him. The page quickly looked away, threw the doors wide.

Jaxon swallowed, shook the guard's hand off his arm. He strode forward, his head high.

The doors closed quietly behind him. Jaxon realized belatedly that his guard had not followed him.

The great room was empty save for the two figures at the far end who were staring at him wide-eyed.

"Jaxon." One of them spoke, moved forward.

He clenched his fists, set his jaw.

It was his mother.

Milena Falconer was as lovely as ever, her hair still golden blonde despite her advancing years, although Jaxon knew that she had been very young when she had borne he and Mirana. She was gazing at him with dark eyes that were the exact shade of his own, but her delicate features had been inherited by his sister.

Jaxon's father, or rather step-father, although he was the only father Jaxon had ever known, stayed where he was, watching his wife closely.

He was clearly as uncomfortable as Jaxon himself.

"Mother." Jaxon replied evenly. He saw her face light up. She had always been hopeless at controlling her emotions. She had also been against the cleansing of the people from the very beginning. Jaxon knew that it was unlikely that she would ever go through the process herself.

"My son." She was breathing deeply, was now standing directly in front of him. He met her gaze steadily. Her eyes shadowed slightly. "They have not treated you kindly." She commented quietly, taking in the bruises on his face. She looked angry for a moment. "But then they do not understand." Her eyes seemed to be devouring his face. It was making him supremely uncomfortable. She was acting as though she had not seen him in decades, not simply the year or so it had been. "It has been so long." She finally said, her voice shaking.

"Not long enough." He snapped back. Her face remained serene, but her eyes flashed with hurt. "Where are the other betrayers? Where are my sister and her cursed husband?"

His mother blinked at him. "Mirana and Tristandor have been gone for a long time my son."

"Dead?" He demanded. He knew that he should be pleased, but his heart pounded in dread instead, waiting for her reply.

"No." Milena replied. "They are alive, but they are not well. They miss you."

Jaxon pressed his lips together. "They betrayed me." Milena's eyes glistened. She blinked quickly. Any evidence that she had been on the verge of tears quickly disappeared.

"My son, you have been greatly deceived." She replied finally. "Your sister did not betray you. She is even now searching for you." She paused clearly weighing what to tell him. "We are going to help you return to her...to many who love you, to many whom you love. The fate of our people depends on it..."

"I love no one." He interrupted. "It is weak..." Jaxon was cut off when the doors behind him were thrown open. His mother's gaze snapped beyond him in annoyance.

"We are not to be disturbed." Her face settled into lines of affection at the sight that greeted her, however. "You should not be here Jennetta." Jaxon turned and watched as a small girl bounded into the room, her light brown hair bouncing across her shoulders.

She screeched to an abrupt halt at the sight of him. "Is it Jaxon? Has he come?" She asked excitedly. "I heard the servants talking Mama."

Jaxon turned back to his mother perplexed. "Who is this child?" He included his step-father in the question. Hamor had been quietly observing up until this point. Now he spoke.

"Your mother and I were blessed by the stars Jaxon. It has been almost two years since Jennetta was conceived. She emerged from her birthing pod nine months ago." He paused briefly, exchanged a loaded glance with Jaxon's mother. "She is your sister."

He did not know what to say. He wondered why he had not been informed. Tarsus' agents should have uncovered this information months ago. It was vital news.

There was another heir to the throne.

Jennetta was eyeing him, clearly unsure what was transpiring. "You do not know of me?" She finally asked, her childish voice sounding highly insulted.

Jaxon did not know what to say to her. He did not want to include an innocent child in the battle with his parents - but she was a threat to him. "I did not." He finally admitted. "But I am most pleased to learn of you now."

Jennetta's face lit up. "Now we must simply find Tristandor and Mirana and Sabrya and our family will be complete. Well, and of course Liz and Maria and..."

Liz. Jaxon felt his heart stop.

Milena had grabbed Jennetta, had placed a hand over her mouth. "That's quite enough my darling. Where did you pick up such nonsense?"

Jaxon could see Jennetta's eyes darkening as she prepared to try and escape his mother's grasp, but it was not really registering.

The name Liz kept repeating itself over and over in his mind.

"Who are these people...who is this Liz?" Jaxon finally managed to force the words out. He had not believed that it would turn out to be quite so easy to confront his mother about having sent Liz to torment him, but the opening was too convenient to ignore.

Right Jaxon, a small voice in the back of his mind said sarcastically. That's why you want to know about her.

He suppressed the voice.

"She's to be your wife." Jennetta had managed to wiggle out of Milena's grasp. She was across the room where her mother could not easily grab her.

Jaxon turned back to stare at his mother. Milena's eyes were closed in annoyance.

"Jennetta, who has been spreading such falsehoods?" Hamor demanded urgently.

"Lucianus told me." Jennetta replied, sticking her nose in the air. If Jaxon did not currently feel like he had just had the air kicked out of his lungs by her last announcement, he might have laughed at the expression of glee on her face. She was clearly thrilled that she had the knowledge that all the rest of them wanted.

She reminded him of someone actually...for a brief moment a mischievous glint in her eye brought to mind another face - one he could not place.

Hamor was shaking his head in irritation. "Lucianus is mad my darling. You know better than to listen to him."

Jennetta's face became mutinous. "Lucianus is not mad papa. He would never lie to me."

"Be that as it may, you know better than to comment on affairs you know nothing about. You may leave." Jaxon could see that Milena was upset.

Jennetta briefly looked as though she was going to argue, but one glance at the stern expression on Hamor's face seemed to change her mind.
"Goodbye Jaxon. I will see you again soon." She tossed her hair and flounced out of the room.

Jaxon watched her go. He had absolutely no idea what to say.

Liz was to be his wife. The idea was strangely appealing, although he KNEW that she worked for THEM.

"Jaxon?" Milena was gazing up at him in concern.

"Mother, please, I just need to know what is going on here." Jaxon felt like he was drowning - as though everything he knew to be true was suddenly in question. "I need to know everything." Milena glanced at Hamor again. His stepfather shrugged, nodded.

"We would like to help you Jaxon, but it is difficult to know where to start."

Jaxon knew that they were going to lie to him, but for some reason he wanted to hear the lies...to hear the story from them and not Tarsus. He needed to hear it so that he could make a final judgment on his own...

And he knew just where to start.

"Mother, this might seem like a strange question." Jaxon finally began. "But I need to hear the answer. How long has it been since we last saw each other?"

Milena bit her lip, glanced again at Hamor. "My darling, this might be difficult for you to understand - or accept..." Jaxon held his breath. Somehow he knew what was coming, but he needed to hear it.

"It has been a lifetime since I last laid eyes on you."