Authors notes: First of all I'm really sorry for not posting part 3 sooner. Easter break is coming up here in Sweden so I will have more time to write then. So expect to read more from me soon.

And second: Thank you so much for all the rewiews I've got. It makes me happy to see that you appreciate my writing. (Please don't stop)!

…"She would have loved to meet everyone and to be with all of her friends. Couldn't I've been the one to go instead?"

"I think it's harder to be left behind," a very familiar voice suddenly said.

"Maria?" Michael asked and turned around…

Twists and turns

And there she was. She was standing there right in front of him. As beautiful as he remembered with her golden eyes, her shiny long hair and her radiant smile.

He reached out to touch her as if to see if she was real, but his hand just went right through her.

"I'm not real," Maria said when he looked confused at her. "Unless you count ghosts as real?" she added and smiled.

"But…but…" was all Michael managed to get out. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"I've missed you spaceboy," Maria said.

"I've missed you too," Michael said. He wanted to take her in his arms and feel her close to him, but he couldn't. She was a ghost and that meant that he would just touch air if he tried.

"I've watched you Michael," Maria said. "I've seen you waste your life ever since I died. And it has been eating me up to see that you don't even smile anymore."

"What do you mean you've seen me?" Michael asked suspiciously.

"I can't tell you so much about it, but I came to a place where I now live. It's not on another planet or something like that, it's sort of in another time. I don't know how to explain it to you, but…"

"But that's not important," Michael finished for her. "What's important is that you're happy there."

"I can't say I'm happy Michael. Not after seeing you so defeated," Maria said, worry in her voice.

"I'm fine," Michael protested, although he knew it was a waste. Maria knew him.

"Michael stop it," Maria said. "I was let back here to save a lost soul. Your soul."

"But Maria there's no use. I'll always be lost without you," Michael said and tried to touch her, just to remember she wasn't real.

He sighed and scratched his forehead.

"But Michael I'm always with you. No matter where we are, remember that okay?" Maria said and looked him in the eyes. "And you have wonderful friends who love you very much. I've seen you around them. You have to let them help you."

"I know that they are great, it's just that being around them, especially Liz and Alex, makes me think about you."

"But you can't push them away because of that. It's not fair to you and it's not fair to them," Maria said. "How do you think they feel? They lost a friend too. And poor Kyle, he lost his dad."

"I know," Michael agreed. "It's not fair for anyone to loose someone they love. It's just that you are the one that taught me to love. You're the one who opened my heart and learned me to let people into it," Michael said, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"But just because I opened it doesn't mean that it has to close when I'm gone," Maria said, also crying. Apparently ghosts can cry, Michael thought.

"Michael, at first I couldn't stop crying when I died and got to the place. And I still cry, believe me, but I've realized that there's nothing I can do about it. Life takes unexpected turns and you have to deal with it even if it is a cruel one."

"But why Maria?" Michael said. "Why turn, when you can continue to go the same path that you already know and love?"

"I don't know Michael," Maria answered. "I don't know…"

"I'm worried about him Liz," Isabel said to her friend. Kyle and Tess were dancing and Alex and Max were away mingling with old friends.

"I know," Liz said. "We all do. It's been five years and he hasn't even made a sign of taking a hold of his life."

"He loved her so much," Isabel said, remembering all the love between Michael and their lost friend.

"We all loved her. And we still do," Liz said and looked out on the dance floor. "And poor Kyle. He lost his friends and his father."

"It's awful," Isabel agreed. "I can't stop thinking about if the car had never been hit. Then we would all live happily ever after. Right?"

"I don't know Iz," Liz said. "Something always seems to get in the way of happiness…"

"So Kyle. Is it good to see everybody again?" Tess asked as she looked up at him.

"It's great!" Kyle answered. "Although it feels weird without Maria. I know it's been five years, but since I haven't met any of you guys either, it hasn't really sunk in yet."

"Yeah. It kind of gets a new feel without Maria around," Tess said. "I mean we were never best friends or anything, but in the end we got pretty close and I had started to really like her when…"

"When she died," Kyle ended for her.

"Yeah," Tess said and looked down again. "Maybe we should talk about something happier," she added.

"Actually it feels good to let it out of my system," Kyle said. "I haven't really had anyone to talk to about the accident."

"That must have been really hard on you," Tess said and touched his arms in comfort. She felt how she got all tingly inside when she touched his skin that gently. But she couldn't think about that right now.

"Loosing your father and friend at the same time must be so hard," she said. She knew it was just empty talk, but maybe that's what Kyle needed.

"It was. It is. At first I tried to escape the pain by moving away, but when that didn't help I had a period of depression. I didn't talk to anyone, didn't eat properly. All I did was stare at the TV and play football."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," Tess said, feeling a sting of guilt.

"How could you have? I didn't even tell you where I went at first."

"But still…" Tess started.

"Don't finish that sentence," Kyle said and put a finger on her lips to silence her.

He looked at the table where Michael now had joined Isabel and Liz. He looked different…happy.

Tess followed his gaze and wondered what that was all about…

Liz looked up when Michael sat down at the table. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Michael nodded. He leaned in and whispered to the two girls opposite to him. "She's back! Maria's back…"

TBC…   Please tell me what you think!