With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's a time to change, hey, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey
Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And there did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there
Now that she's back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey
She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo
Reminds me that there's a room to grow, hey, hey
Now that she's back in the atmosphere
I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol' Jane
Told a story about a man who was too afraid to fly so he never did land
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back to the Milky Way
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind
Was it everything you wanted to find
And there did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there
Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance, five-hour phone
conversation,
The best soy latte that you ever had... and me
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back toward the Milky Way
Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?
And did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And did you fall for a shooting star, fall for a shooting star
And are you lonely looking for yourself out there?
Part 3
"We have to tell them, Max! We can't just have them wake up one morning and find us gone! Do you know how much that would kill them? Especially Mom!" Isabel yelled at Max.
"What do you want me to do? Just go up to them and say 'Hey, Mom. What's up, Dad? Oh, just wanted to tell you Isabel and I are aliens. We're leaving for a planet where I'm a king and Iz is a princess who's married to Michael.' Would that work for you?" Max said sarcastically.
"Yes!" Isabel said before she really thought about it. "Max."
"I know how you're feeling, Iz. We owe them our lives. They taught us how to trust, how to be human. But don't you think that we might put them in danger?"
Isabel didn't say anything. She stood by her vanity and looked at her reflection. She looked around her room. She said sadly, "Look at this, Max. Don't you see how much they love us? We were nobody to them but they stopped and made us their children. How lucky were we? We have all this because of them. We could have ended up like Michael with Hank as a father, but we didn't because they stopped to pick us up."
Max just sighed deeply and rested his head on his hands. "Don't you think I've thought about that? I want to tell them too but…"
"Then let's, Max. We are going to be leaving and we may never be back again. Please," Isabel begged.
Max's eyes were drawn to a picture that was on Isabel's nightstand. It was a family picture of them at Disneyland. He had been so excited to finally meet Mickey. He was nine. His mom years later had told him how happy she had been just to hear him laugh. He knew Isabel was right. "Okay, Isabel. We'll tell them."
"Are you serious?" Isabel was shocked. She didn't really think Max would agree.
"Yeah. Let's go now," Max didn't want to wait. He knew that if he hesitated, he would lose his nerve. Thoughts of insecurity ran through him. 'Will they accept us? What will they think?' These thoughts were not new. He was thinking the same thing when he had told Liz the truth. He only hoped that they could be as accepting as she was.
Liz. 'Thinking about her again,' he mentally teased himself. He knew he was 'going out' with Tess. However, that didn't say much. After their brief kiss at the prom, they hadn't done much. Mostly memory retrieval was what they did on their 'dates.'
'Why do you do this to yourself, Max?' he silently berated himself. 'Try. She was your wife.' He and Isabel walked down to the living room. 'Then why do you love Liz still?' the question played over in his mind as Isabel went to get their parents.
Philip and Diane walked in. By the look on their children's faces, they knew something was wrong. "What's going on?" Philip asked.
Isabel cast a nervous look at Max. "You tell them, Max," she said, not wanting to be the one who said it.
'Once again it's me,' Max thought. He looked at the only parents he knew and said, "Mom, Dad. Isabel and I have something to tell you."
~*~*~*~*Liz's balcony~*~*~*~*~*
Dear Journal,
I have been writing in you consistently for a while now. I have shared all my secrets with you, even the incident with Future Max. Now I have something else to say.
Max is leaving. He's really going away and I don't know if he's ever coming back. He is going back to his home planet (I know that sounds ridiculous!) and I wonder now if I should tell him the truth.
Michael said earlier today that he was going to stay here on Earth with Maria. When he said that, part of me wished it was Max who said that and I was the reason he was staying. Then Tess spoke. She mentioned their Destiny again.
I wonder, what will happen now that Michael isn't going? He is a vital part to their four-square power. How do I tell them that without revealing the truth? There's that word again: truth. It's what I ache to tell so very much. Thank goodness for Maria or else I would have exploded from keeping it all inside.
I realize now that if Max leaves, I won't have him. That scares me. I will have to move on, something I'm not sure if I'm ready to do. I love him. That I am sure of. Forever. But I don't think I could be alone forever. But that's how I'm feeling right now, alone. If only…
Liz
As Liz finished writing in her journal, she heard someone climbing up her ladder. Looking around desperately for something heavy, she just found a flowerpot and held it above her head, waiting for the perpetrator. Instead, she saw Max's familiar head coming up.
"Max," her voice betrayed her surprise at his presence.
"Hey, Liz. I hope you don't mind that I came over without calling," he said, eyeing the pot.
"No, not at all."
"Thanks. Umm…are you going to put that down?"
Liz realized that her arms were still stretched over her head. "Oh," she said sheepishly and put the flowerpot back down. "So?"
Max looked around and realized that he hadn't been up in the balcony for a while. "I just told my parents the truth," he said bluntly.
Liz immediately understood. "Oh, Max. How did they take it?"
"Pretty well, considering… well, you know. My mom wasn't that surprised for some reason but my dad thought we were high on some drugs or something. It took a little demonstration for him to believe me and Isabel," Max answered.
Liz knew that there was more that Max wasn't saying. "And?"
"And… they didn't take well to the fact that we were leaving. My mom started crying and my dad got pretty…I don't know. I just know they weren't happy," Max said with a troubled look.
"Max, they aren't angry with you, I don't think. They're just probably angry that you have to leave so soon. I mean, they accepted the fact that you're an alien, right?" Liz said, trying to make him feel better.
"Yeah, but I still feel so guilty," Max grumbled.
"That's because you're Max. You feel like you are responsible for everything. Maybe that just goes to prove that you really are a king," Liz told him. She went and sat down on her lawn chair. Max went and sat down on the other one so that they were facing each other.
"Could we not talk about me being king and all that?" Max asked, getting tired of all the weight he was feeling on his shoulders right now.
Liz felt sorry for him but knew that she had to go on. "Max, there's something I need to ask you. Don't you think that you should have Michael go along with you guys back home?"
"Why? I would have thought that you would want him and Maria…"
"I do…I mean, I don't…" Liz stammered. She took a deep breath and began again. "Do you remember the book that Tess had?" Max nodded his head. "Well, in it, there was this square where you and Tess made up one half and Isabel and Michael made up the other half…"
"Liz, I remember. What are you trying to say?" Max asked impatiently. Liz was not making the most sense to him. Why was she bringing up these memories?
"If you're going back to Antar and to fight the Skins, you'll need Michael to defeat them," Liz said in a hurry.
"How do you know, Liz?" Max asked suspiciously.
"I – I just do."
Max stared past Liz into the sky for a minute. "Like you just know how the Granolith is so powerful, right?"
Liz could see that Max was pained that she wouldn't – couldn't – trust him. She didn't dare look him in the eyes. "Max, I want to tell you, I do. But, I can't," she beseeched him, hoping that he would understand.
"Why, Liz? Who is this person that you're keeping safe? Is he really so important that it's worth all this?" Max asked angrily.
'Yes. You,' Liz thought miserably. Instead, she just looked down at the ground.
"Fine, Liz. I won't ask you again. But I'm not going to ask Michael to change his mind. If he wants to stay here, it's his choice," Max told her. "We'll just find some way to deal without him on Antar."
Liz's tears began to fall without her really knowing the exact reason why. "Please, Max. You can't. You need him, you all do. You have no idea how strong the Skins are…"
"And you do?" Max interrupted. "If you want Michael to come with us, you're going to have to convince him yourself."
Liz was torn. Maria needed Michael, but so did Max, Isabel, and Tess. She would have to find a way to get Maria to help her. She looked at Max and asked the dreaded question, "When are you leaving?"
Max's stomach flipped nervously as he said, "In a week."
"A week? That soon!" Liz exclaimed.
"Yeah."
Liz scanned the sky until she found the 'V' constellation. "So that's where you'll be from no on."
Max followed her gaze and he looked at it too. "Yeah. God, Liz, I don't know what to do."
Liz's head snapped at his confession. "What do you mean, Max?"
"What if this is some trap I'm leading us into? What if I'm not the king that they need? I could end up making it worse for all the people? I just … I'm just a kid," Max's voice sounded lost.
Liz stared at him for a moment, trying to sort out her thoughts. When she spoke, her voice was clear and strong. "You're wrong, Max. You are not just a kid. You are so much more than that. I see the king in you, you must have been a wonderful one, one that was compassionate and cared for his people, or else they would never go through so much trouble to save you. And I know you're scared, Max, but that's natural. But you need to try and save your people. I will always support your decisions, Max. Even from here."
Max looked down from the sky to Liz. Her eyes shone and he saw truth and faith in them. "Thank you," he said softly, for lack of better words.
"You're welcome," Liz answered back. Then trying to change the topic she asked, "So, you still didn't really answer my question why you're here. I mean, shouldn't you have gone to…"
"Oh," Max said, embarrassed. "You mean Tess. I was going to but decided that she wouldn't really be able to understand what my parents were thinking and I knew that…"
"I would," Liz finished.
"Yeah. So, what were you thinking when I told you I was an alien?" Max asked curiously.
Liz tried to remember exactly. "I think part of me knew. You know, how could I not with you healing me and all? But part of me didn't want to believe that you were different."
"So you were scared?" Max knew it.
"No!" Liz shot out. She looked at Max earnestly. "No, I wasn't. I was… shocked, but not scared. How could I have been? You were Max and that was all that I cared about. So what were you thinking when you told me?"
"I was kind of hoping you wouldn't run away screaming," Max smiled.
"It's a good thing you weren't the one who told Maria then," Liz joked.
Max chuckled along with her. "Me too."
As their laughter faded, Max knew that he had to go. He could stay forever like this with Liz and that scared him. He stood up and Liz followed. "Are you going?"
"Yeah. Isabel's going to kill me if I don't get back soon. Besides, I think my parents will have calmed down by now."
Liz nodded and walked him to the fire escape. "Okay. Bye."
Max swung his legs over and started climbing down. "Bye, Liz."
Before Max's head disappeared over the edge, Liz called out to him. "Max?"
Max stopped where he was and looked at Liz. "Yeah?"
Liz hesitated for a minute before saying, "I'm sure your parents are going to be fine with your whole alien status. Just … give them a little time. They still love you," she finished lamely.
'And you?' Max wanted to ask before he bit back his tongue. "Thanks, Liz," he said before climbing down.
Thanks for all the feedback!! I just wanted to thank you guys for it and I have a question. Not too many people left FB for chapter 2, so did it just suck or was it too boring or what? I hope this part was better but I'm not too sure. Tell me what you think, even if it's bad!