I'm sorry guys, but it seems that a lot of confusion was going around after the last chapter. Michael and Tess are NOT going to be together, as anything remotely romantic. As for the rest…the story will unfold (promise! ) ) and answers will be had forall questions.For those of you who don't particularly like Kyle and Tess as an item, try to remember that in this story-their relationship is developing differently. There wasn't all that time, like in the series, where they developed and grew like family. From the very beginning of my story Tess and Kyle were drawn to each other. Although I am borrowing these characters, and much about the series itself, this will tell a whole new story. Please be patient with me and try and read it like that; as something new. New characters will be introduced, which will explain more, and things may not be what you think...but if I said any more right now, I'd give away my story! ) Thank you so much for your honesty, it really means a lot. I hope you guys keep reading and reviewing! ANW

Chapter 12

Everyone was silent after hearing Tess and Michael saying those strange names. Maria's jaw dropped completely open, and was looking at them like they'd lost their minds. Three seconds later, Max grabbed Michael by the shoulder and shook him.

"Michael, Michael are you ok?" Max asked him.

Kyle was doing the same thing to Tess since Tess was nearest to him. Tess and Michael both shook their heads, as if clearing their vision.

Tess looked back at Michael, and then at Max. Softly, and very slowly she said "Max,…Michael…is my brother…"

Michael, who was staring at Tess, looked away from her and put his hand on his forehead. He was trying to process what he had just seen. It was his dream, but in total clarity. He assumed Tess saw the same thing he just did, and he could not believe these implications. Tess was his sister? He finally found someone he could really call his family? "I'm having a really hard time thinking straight right now…" Michael mumbled.

Tess was now staring a hole into the wall, and had a tear falling down one cheek. Maria looked at Michael and saw that his eyes were misting over as well. She reached across the table and gently touched his arm. "Michael what did you just see?" she asked him.

"I…" he looked over at Tess, looking unsure if he should say. He felt an instant connection to her, and wanted to consider her feelings before saying anything further.

"…I mean, we…we saw…our birth."

Tess wiped her eyes, as now more tears were falling. "I had a dream last night…and when I woke up I couldn't remember all of it. It was mostly vague, except for knowing our planet's name is Antar, and I remember babies crying. After I woke up this morning, the dream was so vague, that I didn't even remember that I had it until what just happened." Tess said.

Michael looked around him at all the stupefied faces and took a deep breath. After letting it out he said, "I had the same dream this morning, right before getting up for work. I was remembering the same things as Tess had on the way to work this morning. When I got here though, I also forgot about it until our hands touched. That's when I felt pulled into the dream again."

"Me too..." Tess said.

Michael suddenly turned to Max and said "How long were we out Maxwell?"

"Maybe only three seconds passed before I touched your shoulder. Why, how long did it seem?" Max replied.

"It felt like I lived that dream…maybe 20 minutes? Tess?" Michael asked Tess for confirmation.

"Yeah Michael…that's about right." She replied.

"What did you see?" Isabel asked Tess and Michael.

Tess took a deep breath, and realized suddenly that she could read Michael's thoughts!

"Michael!- Can you hear me?" Tess asked in her head as she reached out with her mind.

"Tess…is that you?" Michael replied mentally.

"Oh my gosh Michael, I can't believe we can do this!" Tess said excitedly through their mental link. Tess and Michael were staring at each other, during this time, and had changing expressions. Of course they were also silent.

"Tess, I can't believe it…this is so weird! I guess maybe this is part of being brother and sister?" Michael asked.

"Maybe, I know about as much as you do right now. I think I might know how to show everyone, at the same time, our dream. Max can connect with Liz, so I don't see why the humans wouldn't be able to join in with all of us…you know, in one big connection." Tess replied.

"Guys?" Isabel asked both Tess and Michael.

"Helloooo?" Max and Kyle were now waving hands in front of Tess and Michael's faces.

"Sorry everyone" Tess said looking embarrassed. "We just got sort of caught up"

"Caught up in what?" Liz asked.

"Yeah, what were you guys doing? That was totally weird" Maria exclaimed.

"Weird was just the word I used…" Michael replied.

"Used for what? What happened?" Alex said now getting excited and anxious at the same time.

"Apparently, for our new connection." Tess said.

"Wait, wait, wait." Maria stated. "What new connection…" Maria couldn't yet put her mind around Tess being Michael's sister….much less them having a connection to each other!

Michael lowered his voice and leaned close to the table "We can speak telepathically Maria…in our heads."

"Ok, this is getting a little too deep. We need to go somewhere we can be alone to discuss this further…" Max said while his eyes darted around the room.

"Not to mention we still have to hear the dream!" Isabel stated quietly but impatiently.

"That's just what we were thinking" Michael said to the group.

"The break room is free right now" Liz said. "My dad is on the grill for another half hour, and my mom is at a friends house for the day."

"Great, because I need somewhere to process all of this without looking completely psychotic." Kyle said.

Everyone gave nervous laughs at that, and various exclamations of agreement. They slid or stood up out of their seats, and made their way to the break room. Once inside Michael and Tess explained to them Tess' idea of trying to form a link between them all so Tess and Michael could not just tell them the dream, but actually show it to them. They all agreed, and joined hands. The four aliens first reached out to one another to form the initial link. One by one they pulled the humans into it too. At first it wouldn't work. Isabel was trying to pull in Kyle, who was to her left, and it wouldn't work. Then as Alex squeezed her hand, from her left, she tried him next and he slid right in. Tess was on the other side of Kyle so Tess then tried Kyle and he slid in without a problem then. Since all that were left was Liz and Maria, Max pulled Liz in and Michael pulled Maria in. No one wondered why at first Isabel couldn't pull in Kyle. They all just assumed she was stressing out to much, and Alex helped her to relax enough to form the connection. As soon as everyone was in, Michael and Tess made their special link. Once this was accomplished within the connection, unbidden and without warning, the dream began.

-Recap of the dream with the missing parts added-

Tess and Michael were holding hands, up against the back wall in a dimly lit room. The temperature was again, about 60 degrees, like their last dream; the air still hazy with a kind of spicy, sweet smoke. Their eyes were drawn to the woman in front of them as she screamed. She was again laying down on a slightly inclined surface. Around the woman were the two other figures, who were assisting her with giving birth. This time the dream was very clear to Tess & Michael. They were taking in every detail as the scene in front of them unfolded. Her first baby, a boy, was born and handed to the woman on her left. As the woman was just sighing from the last push she gave, she let out another scream, and the other person in the room, a man, said "Another?" The woman, holding the crying baby boy, blew on what looked like an incense burner and instructed the woman in labor to breathe in deeply-that it would help give her strength to push again. After another scream and much effort, the second child was born and handed to the now calm and smiling woman. The second baby had a golden sheen on her head that could be seen through the haze.

The man said, "Andrina…this baby is female…what will we do?"

The woman waved her hand over her daughter, and the evidence of just being born was wiped away. Then she replied, "I will name her Sihra (pronounced Seerha), because she will be "my light".

The man continued, "Andrina, my love, you know we will have to send her to Kentwaisis, she can't stay here on Antar…it is the law…" he said as the baby girl was crying.

"Shh, shhh" Andrina cooed to the restless baby in her arms "All will be worked out Jameus…for this day has been foretold…many years ago."

Jameus took their other baby, a son, out of the other woman's hands, cleaned him in the same way, and sent the woman out of the room. "Andrina, what are you saying?"

"I have known this day would be coming for a long time now. The wise woman Bethsheta told me on her deathbed of its coming. She told me I'd give birth to twins, whose births would lead the way to redemption for our people."

"How can this be?" Jameus asked.

"The prophecy has been given, but the road ahead is unmarked. We will have to use our greatest judgment and raise our son in the best way we can. Unfortunately we will have to watch our daughter grow from afar..."

"You mean send her away to Kentwaisis?" Jameus asked.

"No, I have made arrangements for her to live with Mayverna and Lyatso. They agreed, long ago, to take her when the time arrived…she will be well taken care of." Andrina breathed in her daughter's fresh scent, and kissed the top of her golden head. "Please call them Jameus, the sooner the be-eh-ter" she said with a catch in her throat. "Even though I have known this day would come, I don't want to let her go!"

Andrina cried silent tears as she rocked her baby and Jameus, after handing Andrina the other baby, left the room.

Andrina leaned over her new baby boy and said, "I will name you Jaiseti which means great strength…I fear you will need all the strength you have for the road ahead." She hugged both of her children to her breast and cried more silent tears, knowing this was probably the last time she'd hold both of her children in her arms at the same time.

Suddenly Andrina was standing right in front of Michael and Tess. She was dressed in a flowing white gown, which was slightly iridescent. Her blue eyes were a clear blue and her soft brown hair fell in long waves. "My special children, Sihra and Jaiseti, you have lived before. You were chosen to fulfill a very important journey. Your destiny was interrupted when your enemies killed you on that horrible day, but our technology has allowed us to clone you. Evil may gain a foot by devious devices, but fate will always triumph! We on Antar are all essentially human, just with advanced capabilities, so we have sent you to earth to grow and mature. Your guardians, Mayverna and Layatso, were sent with you to protect you as you grow. Trust them for while you grew here, they kept you safe my daughter, and taught you well my son. As of now you have seen only your beginning. Please do not be frightened, all will be revealed to you in due time. Love each other, and protect each other, for you are family. Two others of the royal family have been sent with you as well who are also extremely important for our redemption to come to pass. Each one of you has been seeded with dreams that will awaken your past and help you learn what you will need to know. You also have special talents, that will develop, that will aid you on this great journey. As each of the four of you find out more, through your dreams, you will soon know what you have been born to do. Before we sent you to earth we deliberated about how best to teach you of your past and the prophecies. This dream technology proved to be the safest, most effective, way of letting you learn who you are. Our enemies continue to look for you, and without any physical evidence of who you are, this hopefully will aid in protecting your identities. On your 2nd earth year, you will look approximately 7 years old. Now your dreams will begin in full force. Spend as much time with each other as you can, and while you are together, your essences will have a chance to mingle with your dreams…giving you knowledge that will help you on your journey. You, my daughter and son, must be within 4 mekatis, a distance of 6 earth miles, of each other in order to awaken your dreams to their fullest capacity. I'm sure you will have no problem with being near each other, because I know as you learned to speak, you felt your familial connection almost instantly to each other. I pray that that connection has made you very close, and has helped you feel loved, since I can't be there to care for you. I leave you with one last instruction my children. Upon waking each morning, wet your hands and join them with each other. This will allow your dreams to replay in your heads as often as you want to better aid you with retaining what you saw. After joining hands once, the dream will be able to be replayed as many times as you would like. Somehow the conductive property of water, and your connection to each other, helps the dream to solidify in your essences. You will also be able to share your dreams with your fellow court members by connecting to each other. Don't worry, in time you will know how to do this too" She said with a smile. "On your 11th earth year, you will look approximately 16 years old, and will now be ready to return home. All will have been revealed to you by this time, and all that will be left to do is to walk through the door of fate. You may, around this time, be treated with a low regard as being 'too young' on the planet you are on now, but never forget who you are. You are Antarian Royalty…at least you will be when you return. The means to get here will also be revealed to you in due time. Have patience my children and faith in each other. The strength of four combined will forever bind you. I know I will see you some day and I pray this time comes with much haste. We did not think redemption would come at the cost it has, but are strengthened daily by the hope of your return. I love you with all that is in me, and long to have you with me again, so I can once more hold my children in my arms…

With that last statement Andrina put her hand over her heart, and she winked out of sight.