Chapter 36
Michael and Liz pulled apart wide-eyed in shock, had they really just seen all of that from a kiss? Was this a dream? Had they really kissed? Liz held onto Michael tightly struggling to absorb everything that had happened "that was … different" Michael finally said feeling overwhelmed by the vision he had seen of him sending Catherine away, "we knew that we weren't going to win the war didn't we?" Liz asked looking at him, "Which is why we told them to leave, we knew that we weren't going to win but we decided to stay and fight to give them a chance to get away"
"Were we always this unselfish?" Michael said with a small smile
"Michael, we have to know the rest … or do we?" Liz asked him, "I mean are we still the same people? We have so many problems at the moment with everything; do we really need to know how we died and what happened afterwards? Is it worth putting ourselves through the pain of having to sit and watch and know that we can't interfere?" Liz said as she brought them back over to the cliff top and gently placed there feet back onto solid ground. "I honestly don't know" Michael said thoughtfully, "Things are different now, because we have made them different" he said taking her hands and bringing them up to their faces; both of them locked their eyes onto her engagement ring, which seemed to sparkle in the moonlight, "I can't marry him … not yet … not while I feel like this" Liz said as her eyes filled with tears though she didn't take her eyes off Max's ring, "if this had happened before we found out about everything then I would have been jumping for joy and been the happiness girl alive, but it didn't and I can't pretend, not to him and obviously not to you, I can't pretend that everything is alright just the same as I couldn't do when I was alive before"
"What do you mean?" Michael asked her
"You remember the flashes you picked up off me? About the commitment ceremony and everything? I spent the whole time looking for you and wanting your reassurance, to know that you wouldn't leave me, and to know that we wouldn't be separated but we were, just as we were afraid of"
"I know" Michael said with a sigh
"We have to go back though, I have to see him … explain" Liz said looking fearful
"Now?" Michael asked not wanting to
"What else can I do? I have to do something, things are far too screwed up, I mean you are my brother, we hear each other and feel each other and yet I don't see you as a brother not at the moment, because I am far too confused I don't know what I am feeling, you know I don't" Liz said looking Michael straight in the eye, "We can't do anything to change it though, this is how it is Liz there is nothing we can do, you have Max and I have Maria …"
"I KNOW" Liz shouted before taking a deep breath and saying in a calmer voice, "I know, don't worry brother I will do nothing to hurt you or Maria, I want my niece to be happy"
"So what do we do?" Michael asked her in confusion
"I don't know about you but I am going" Liz said making a decision but masking it to stop Michael seeing what she was planning, she moved closer to him and Michael dropped her hands, Liz in turn reached for him and hugged him tightly wondering if this was the last time she would get to do this again, * I love you Michael * she said as she pulled away and went to kiss him on the cheek but he moved at the last moment so her lips landed on his for the briefest second, as Liz pulled away she smiled sadly before turning around and walking away so he couldn't see the tears that had began to fall.
* Liz? * she heard Michael call in her head as she slowly put the mind block up then she heard him call her name before starting to walk after her just as she disappeared into thin air.
Michael stopped walking, * where have you gone Liz? * fearful that he had lost her, he couldn't find her or sense her, she was gone. Michael suddenly became scared just like he had been when he was a child, scared that he had lost Liz forever that she wouldn't come back to him or the others, he was panicking but told himself to calm down, he tried to think rationally 'she would go back to the others' he thought as he took one last look around him and disappear back to his friends and family and hopefully Liz.
Liz didn't know why she had chosen to come to the compound, but for some reason she felt safe here. She had decided to come here after her talk with Michael to calm down, she knew that she had to face the others and him at some point but she wasn't ready to do that yet, it was too hard; she didn't know if she would ever be able to face Michael again … not until these feelings had disappeared it hurt far too much to put any of them through that.
As she walked slowly through the burnt out shell of the compound, watching carefully incase any parts of the building were likely to collapse. As Liz walked through the maze of corridors she took the opportunity to look in rooms that she hadn't been able to go into the past couple of times she was there. Liz reached one particular door, which looked oddly familiar, and as she walked through it, she realised that she had somehow stumbled into Catherine and Ava's living quarters. A lump formed in Liz's throat but no tears followed, instead of being burnt to ashes this place looked as though the flames handed touched it at all. Liz went and sat down on the sofa that was in there and as she did, a thick book came floating off the shelf on the opposite wall and landed beside her. Liz drew her legs up off the floor and brought them to her chest. Then she moved the book that was beside her pulling it towards her as she opened it and turned to the first page; she quickly realised that it wasn't just any ordinary book but that it was a photo album, her mother's photo album. Liz slowly turned to the next page and saw a picture of her mother and someone who she guessed was her father on their wedding day, both of them looked happy and were smiling at each other; it made her wonder if they were now back together. As Liz went further through the book she saw that there were also pictures of the home planet which her mother had somehow managed to bring here, as she turned the pages Liz saw pictures of Hanos and Rath when they were little smiling with their arms around each other, on another page were the two of them again with Ash and Ava and on the last page were a picture of Hanos and Rath at some sort of celebrations, wearing long robes of bright, beautiful colours dancing together, looking into each other's eyes as they had done tonight and Liz wondered if they had felt the same way that she and Michael had felt tonight. With a sigh full of confusion and tiredness Liz turned away from the book and started staring at the wall, somehow feeling closer to her mother and her past life just sitting there.
It was now 2am and the six teens were still sitting in the Crashdown waiting to see if their two friends or in Alex and Ava's case brother and sister and in Max and Maria's case soul mates would reappear. Kyle and Ava were sitting in a booth with his arm around her, Ava had her head lightly on his shoulder as she dozed and Kyle had rested his head on top of hers. Alex sat opposite him and had his arm around Isobel who was copying Ava. Maria and Max had moved to the bar stools and sat down talking quietly as not to distract the dozing teens. A thin white light suddenly appeared in the room waking the sleeping teens up with a start, the white light disappeared and in the middle of the room stood Michael, "Is Liz here?" he asked.