Chapter Twenty-one

Liz and Dawn walked into Angel's office to find only Angel there. He was pacing around the room talking into his phone.

"No no-one's found her yet. She could be anywhere in this massive building. I mean, if you don't want to be found your not going to…….." Angel cut off his conversation when he turned to see Liz and Dawn in the doorway. " Cancel that. She's here. Call everyone else and get them back here too. See you soon Wesley."

Angel closed over his phone and put his hands into the pockets of his jacket, obviously unsure as to what to do next. Dawn looked at him with amusement. He could deal with gypsy curses, prophesies, slayers and demons, but faced with an upset teenager and he was hopeless.

"Why don't we sit down. It's gonna take a bit until everyone gets back here, and it'll be easier to wait so you only have to explain this once."

"Good idea." Liz replied quietly, crossing the room and sinking into the couches.

- - - - - - - - - -

When everyone had finally made his or her way back to Angel's office, Liz looked around the assembled group and realised that what Dawn had told her was true. With her friends around her, she could get through this. They had all learned to cope so well with everything life had thrown at them so far. They could cope with this too as long as they stayed together. They were a group, a team, and running away from them when she needed them most wasn't the greatest idea. They weren't going to think less of her somehow because of where she came from. How could they, when half of them didn't come from the simplest of places themselves?

"There's no easy way to explain all this. It's all so complicated."

"Just start from the beginning and we'll work out what it means once your finished." Wesley soothed.

"I guess it all starts not in Roswell but here, in L.A." Liz turned her head to face Angel. "When Cordelia had Jasmine, it wasn't the only baby she was carrying. I guess you could say we were twins, but it's more like we're the two sides of the same coin. Jasmine was the demon and I was the human. That's why I'm already fully-grown.

Because Jasmine was, and therefore so am I. But Jasmine knew that I would see her real face, and she couldn't risk that I would be hurt. We had no idea what the link between us would mean. So she figured it would be safer to get me out of the way. Somewhere I could be safe." At that, she turned her head towards Maria, who was sitting beside her on the couch as support. "She chose Roswell."

"Ok. So that explains why you have memories of us. What it doesn't explain is why you didn't remember them until recently, or how Liz Parker's memories came into existence." Gunn reasoned.

"I would have thought the answer to that was simple. Jasmine used the same spell to create Liz Parker that you used to give Connor his new life." Liz turned now to face Max. "And this is where my story changes to Roswell. I became Liz Parker, the everyday teenage girl. And then I was shot in my parent's café and suddenly I wasn't normal anymore. A random accident, except it wasn't quite so random." Liz's eyes turned to Wesley. "Jasmine was right to worry about the link between us. When you killed Jasmine, the link between us meant you would have killed me too." Her eyes shifted back to Max. "If it wasn't for Max, I'd be dead."

"Wow chica. And there was me thinking that I was the wackier one out of the two of us! But what does this all mean, I mean, why are your memories coming back to you now?"

"Well Jasmine's powers were linked to me through Cordelia, so even with Jasmine dead the spell still held. It wasn't until Cordelia died that my memories started coming back. And I think it might be more than that. Cordelia was more than just a friend, she was your link to the Powers that Be. With her gone, the Powers need a new link. And I'm Cordelia's daughter. That makes me next in line for the title. I'm Vision Girl."

"Wow. I guess they really did a number on you, huh?" Buffy stated. "I mean, a lot's happened to me over the years, but it's always been in little bits. I can't imagine having to deal with everything your dealing with all at once. The existence of vampires, demons, slayers, your origins and visions too! Right now I'd probably be looking for something or someone to beat up!"

"That's what makes you the slayer pet." Spike joked. "When your pissed, confused or generally just cranky – you go kill something."

"Liz?" Tess knelt down in front of her. "You may not want to hear this from me now but I kinda understand what you're going through. And I think that I have some advice of yours that you need reminded of. When I was still on that crazy destiny kick, even though you'd all decided it was a stupid idea long before me, you said that 'no-ones destiny is written in stone. Everyone has choices, and the decisions you make effect your fate. You make your own destiny.' So now it's your turn, and it's completely up to you what you want to do about this."

"Thanks Tess. I talked to Dawn earlier and she made me realise that too, but it's good to know that you're all behind me on this."

"Of course we're behind you!" Alex replied. "We always will be Liz, you know that!"

"Look maybe we should go somewhere. Just the eight of us, you know?" Michael suggested. "Somewhere we can talk this over with Liz. Decide on what she wants to do next."

"That might be a good idea." Gunn piped up. " You can use my office if you want."

"Thanks." Max replied. " Just give us directions and we'll make our own way. Give you lot a chance to think this through too."

"Ok it's simple you go across the hall, up the stairs, turn left…….."

Only two chapters left to go...