If We Never Met

~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz shifted uncomfortably in the passenger's seat of the jeep as Max drove on in angered silence. Whenever she glanced over, she would find him in the same exact position – hands so tight on the wheel that his knuckles were turning fierce shades of white; lips set in a furious frown and dark eyes that refused to show anything but rage.

"Max," Liz said, and just the way she said his name made him realize she didn't want him to be upset.

"He shouldn't be doing any of this without at least telling me. He can't go back and change our entire lives. He can't stop me from healing you, Liz!" The last sentence stumbled out of his mouth accompanied by a small sob. He attempted to regain his composure, shaking his head.

"When Maria called me, she said something about another plan. She wouldn't have let that happen."

"But Michael would have!" he stormed in response.

Liz sat back in confusion. "Future Maria told him there was no other way."

"No other way than to let you die at sixteen? When I could have saved you? Should have saved you? That is not an option. It never was. I will never trust Michael after this."

"Please, Max. They found another way."

"Do we even know what that way is?"

She sighed. "No. Maria didn't have time to explain that … but if that was absolutely the only way, we couldn't not do it, Max."

Max winced at her words, pounding the steering wheel. Liz jumped. "You've given so much. Liz, you're brave. What you did with Kyle to fool me. I can't believe you never told me…. I love you. And I won't let anything happen to you. That includes keeping your past safe too."

Liz smiled to herself and slipped her hand over his shoulder. Max leaned down and kissed it before returning this eyes to the road. They would reach the area where the granolith was contained in a matter of minutes. The entire fate of the world revolved around Liz Parker. Again. But it was up to her friends to determine that fate.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Mud clumped along the rock, slippery from the night's rainfall. The sun had yet to rise as darkness remained still and settled with the sprinkling of rain. The couple quickly made their way below surface. As they continued lower and lower, Maria's jeans grew wet and caked with mud, but she didn't complain. Just before they reached the entrance, she took on the last few rocks down to the bottom too quickly. Catching her ankle in between a crevice, her entire body twisted and fell into the sludge.

"Maria!" Michael hollered from directly behind her, reacting instantaneously. His arms jutted out, catching the delicate body of his girlfriend. He hauled her up to her feet within a second's time and turned her to face him. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

She shook her head with a slight smile, feeling the warmth of Michael's actions ignite a fire in her that could chase the frigid rain away. Lightning flashed in the distance, illuminating each of their faces at the exact moment they made eye contact. Maria's eyes filled with passion and Michael's with fear.

"If you go and stop the gunman…."

"I'll be all right," Maria promised as she stood on the tips of her toes and pecked her lips along his cheekbone.

"If you go," he continued as if unaffected by her promise, "you'll save Liz's life, and you'll protect Isabel, Max, and I … but we'll never have a reason to start this."

And Maria didn't have to hear him say it. When he said "this" she knew he was talking about their relationship. She had always realized that he never regretted falling in love, despite all the wisecracks about the fearless Michael Guerin helpless to stop it. All the time, he never wanted to stop it, even though a relationship was more work than he wanted sometimes. They had been given something special. To be able to go back and change … to go and do things differently, and Michael had just given Maria the entire world with a beaming rainbow as gift wrap by saying that he didn't want it to be any different than how it ended up where they were now.

"Michael. I know that we'll find a way back together. Secret to keep or not, I will see you."

"No," he said with a violent shake of his head. His breath caught in his throat and the look on his face was one of fright. "I'm too stubborn. At least I was back then. It won't work. You won't push like you did when we were forced together with the stupid secret."

"Stonewall," Maria muttered, staring at his chest. Deeply buried beneath the optimism brimming throughout her body, she knew Michael was right. Without that secret, they would never find themselves together to push each other's buttons. It was the key that led the entire group of teenagers to find each other, and without it, fate would not be so kind in pointing them in the right direction.

"We have to hurry, Michael."

He nodded slowly with closed eyes as he leaned in and kissed the skin in front of her ear. She relished in the warm sensation of his breath against her. He pulled away, and they both opened their eyes. Running one hand through his hair, he grabbed her arm with the other and took the lead to the granolith.

~*~*~*~*~*~

She tapped her foot, her impatience brought on by the nervous fear energizing her body. She gripped relentlessly at the sleeves of her black sweater. Just as she was about to step out from behind one of the walls, she heard the voices. Quickly she pushed herself back into hiding.

"Now you're just going to call the police office and alert them about a man and a gun at the Crashdown, right?"

"Calm down, Michael. That's all I'm going to do. I'll find a pay phone just as soon as I get there. I'll have a half an hour before Liz is actually supposed to be shot…. So do I just disintegrate and then get put back together after I fly through time or something?"

"How do I know?"

"This is a time for comfort, Michael," she told him bluntly.

And the Maria in hiding rolled her eyes, stifling a laugh, remembering the last moments with her Michael in 2011.

***********

"So when I go in that thing and it breaks me up into itty bitty pieces, it will put me back together, right?" she asked doubtfully.

"I've never been in it before, Maria."

"Do you remember our little talk on the whole need-for-comfort thing, space boy?"

"It will put you back together, Maria. Max used it before."

"I can't believe we're doing this. I can't believe that if this works I won't be your wife, Michael. And I can't believe that we actually want this to work."

"Come here." He snatched her up into his arms as if she was about to run away from him. She was running away … to save the world. "You know. I think keeping you and the baby is worth the rest of earth."

She smiled into his shoulder as he rested his chin above her head. A mere minute earlier she was convincing herself of all the confidence inside of her. Now, seconds later and tears were pumping themselves out her light emerald eyes so swiftly that she was afraid her body would run dry soon. "And to think I'll never see Skylar again. And soon you won't. Soon our daughter won't even exist, Michael."

"I wish I could believe this is for the best. Gawd, Maria." His tears were falling just as fast. "I know it is, but…."

"It just isn't fair."

He didn't respond. He simply clung to her in their final moments. "You're going to leave just as soon as I go, right?" He still refused to answer. "Michael. Tell me you're going to pick up Skylar and get out of town. You promised!" She pulled back.

"Yeah," he sniffled. He wiped his cheeks, chastising himself for not being strong for the pixie girl in front of him. "I'll get her from Alex and Isabel's. We'll all get out of town." He gave her his promise, although it wouldn't be much longer until it didn't matter at all.

"In case this doesn't work. In case I can't make this work, what about Max?"

"I'll come up with something. They aren't going to kill him until he goes back to Antar. And he won't do that until he has me and Isabel too."

"Okay. Okay." She flung herself back into his arms and they embraced for the long moments afterwards that seemed to slip all too quickly from their grasps. They let the images flash in both of their minds. All the memories merged with galaxies of stars and Maria's rings of Saturn. The couple remained fused together as one until she told him it was time and broke away. Michael had struggled with himself, almost shouting out that he wouldn't let her go. But as horrible as it felt, it was the only way, and so he collapsed to his knees as she entered the granolith.

"I am so sorry," he uttered.

And then she was gone. And he was alone.

***********

She opened her eyes again, and she could feel her entire face was again wet with tears. Her younger self had been struggling with her own goodbye with her nineteen year-old space boy.

And for as much struggling to halt the inevitable, the Maria from the future heard the young woman's voice straining as she paced across the chamber towards the granolith.

"Goodbye, Michael," was whispered – both girls in unison.

A metallic flash overwhelmed the room for a brief second and a massive whooshing sound vibrated against the uneven walls. With a deep breath, she prepared herself to step out of the hiding space to speak with the remaining and utterly crushed Michael. But her own voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Oh my gawd! Alex!"

The twenty-nine year old peeked around the corner, still hidden from herself. Two new bodies were now in the room.

Before Maria had a chance to leave, the granolith had sent out a vibrant shock wave as an older Alex Whitman and Isabel Evans were spit out onto the ground. After realizing Maria still remained, Michael rushed over to her. She enfolded him in her dainty arms. Alex brought himself to his feet and helped Isabel do the same.

Maria broke from Michael's arms once again and ran to him, squealing his name in childhood delight.

"Calm down. You act as if you haven't seen me in months." Suddenly he seemed to realize his words. This Maria hadn't seen him in months. This Maria knew one of her best friends to be dead and was now seeing him alive and well before her. He hugged her back.

Michael glanced over at Isabel, her hair now short and dark. She had a different expression than the usual ice princess glare on her face, and given the circumstances, now would have been the time to be the ice princess. She always grew distant and edgy when worry overwhelmed her. But now, despite the massive obstacle standing in their threatening wake, she had a lighter, softer appearance. It was almost like she was content. When he saw her grab Alex's hand, it became clear. This was the result of opening up to Alex Whitman – she had finally let herself accept the love that had been waiting so long for her.

"What's going on, Alex?" Michael asked, wanting to get to the direct point.

"We came back to bring you and your Max back to our time."

"What?"

"Alex!" a voice from behind the wall screamed out. "What's going on?" Damn that threat of spontaneously combusting. She just wanted to go out there and talk with them face to face, but because her younger version stood among the group, she was stuck behind that dingy greenish black wall.

"Ah. Now that would be the Maria from the future?" Alex spoke loud enough for her to hear, needing to clarify.

"What about this Maria here, going back to the day Liz was shot?" Michael asked.

"There's no need anymore."

"You came up with another solution?" Maria blurted out, still attached to her sorely-missed friend. Before he had a chance to answer, the shrill scream of his name again filled the air. Everyone spun around to find Max and Liz standing at the opening of the room, Liz frozen in disbelief.

"Is it really you?" Max asked, gently pushing Liz forward and closer to their friends.

"In the flesh," he grinned wildly and Liz escaped her momentary paralysis, flying over to him and Maria. Michael gave Maria a sideways glance and she shot him a look right back, a look that silently explained that she had to tell Liz what had been going on.

"So I'm assuming everyone knows about what's going on?" Alex asked the Maria from 2011.

"Yeah, I know what you told me, but I figured, what the hell. It wasn't going to matter anyway," she called from her position behind the wall, a mere three yards from the group. So what if Michael was the only person who was to know she had come back from the future and practically everybody had ended up finding out. Alex should know just as well as anyone, nothing ever went according to plan.

"What's the plan?" Michael stated again, impatiently.

"Right, sorry." Alex pulled himself away from Liz and Maria with a gentle smile but continued holding Isabel's hand. "We don't have to change the past to fix the future. Now we need to go back to 2011."

Isabel cut in. "Alex worked twenty-four seven on calculations for the granolith, and he finally figured out a way to get the granolith of this time, of 2001, to advance itself enough to transport me or Michael or Max. Because we were advanced due to our powers, we couldn't before. But Alex figured it out." She squeezed his hand proudly.

"Okay, so now what are we going to do with that?" questioned Maria, who had circled her arms around Michael's waist again. Liz and Max listened intently, trying to catch themselves up on the situation. Before Alex or Isabel could respond, another metallic flash exploded in the room as everyone flinched. Suddenly, Tess Harding lay flat on the floor beside them. She immediately began picking herself up as Liz gasped and pushed herself further into Max.

"What is she doing here?" Max shouted angrily, and a surprised Tess displayed a hurt look as she stood upright.

"That would be part of the plan," Alex muttered.

"Well, if this isn't quite the reunion," Maria exasperated, rolling her eyes.

"But Max sent her back to Antar," Liz whispered, visibly shaken.

"He did. But Isabel and I went back to when Max was just about to send her back. We need her now."

Tess approached the group. "Just why do you need me?" Her cheeks her flushed red. Her secret had been exposed just moments earlier.

"We know we need all four of us to make a complete unit. We can defeat Kivar if all four of us are together and we have a little help from the element called surprise." Isabel spoke quickly. "We couldn't do it before because Max was captured, and Michael … he's been caught too."

"Oh gawd," future Maria moaned. The other grabbed her Michael's hands, squeezing much too tightly not to be noticed.

"He didn't get out of town, did he?" she called out to them, her voice upset and shaken, terrified. "He went back to get Max."

Isabel stared down at the black of her leather pants that she was wearing, the sensation of tears stinging the back of her eyes. Alex answered her, "Yeah. He tried." They could all hear as she slid to the ground behind the wall. She had pulled her knees up to her chest, rocking herself to keep the bad news out.

"So let's get this plan moving," Michael blurted out.

"Tess and I will go first. You and Max follow."

"The granolith can't take more than two people at a time," Alex explained before Isabel continued.

"I investigated a few places, read a few tabloids. We managed to figure out where Kivar landed last week. A little spot right outside of Roswell. It's really secluded. He came to earth planning to surprise us. But when we're there waiting for him, he'll be the one in for a shock."

"So we're going back to the day he came to kill him." Max felt relief riding over him. Liz didn't have to die. Their present lives didn't have to change. The only time that was going to be changed was the course of four days from 2011, and then their future selves would get back to normalcy as well.

Isabel nodded with a bright smile. Tess, who had remained silent for the most part, stood with her hands uncomfortably crossed over her chest. Seeing Alex there and alive scared her, rendering her practically speechless. She didn't bother even looking at Liz, a silent hatred still raging inside of her, for Liz had won Max without even trying.

And there the four aliens stood. Tess from their past. Isabel from their future. Michael and Max from their present. All four knew this was an important battle. If able to surprise Kivar, they would have a decent chance, and if they were to succeed, their home planet would have a chance to prosper as well – safe from the wretchedness they were about to fight.

Max stepped up to Alex with Liz still by his side. "When this is finished, she'll go back to the past and still be sent to Antar?"

Alex nodded. "She'll go back." Maria smiled despite the intensity. Soon, after Kivar was killed, they could focus themselves to get their own Alex back. But sending Tess back to Antar was what just had to be done for the time.

"Let's go," Isabel called over to Tess, trying to hide any contempt for her that was dancing about in her gleaming eyes. To just see her again after so many years, she wanted to fight her, to kill her herself for doing what she did to Alex. He might have been alive and well now, but it was no thanks to Tess. She knew they had to unite in order to defeat Kivar. It was no time to divide and ruin everything. Tess stepped over to her and they walked up to the granolith.

"Be careful, Isabel."
She turned back and blew Alex a kiss, catching everyone a little off guard, but in a surprisingly good way.

As the two entered, the now familiar flash covered everyone and everything. And the chamber now contained two people less. Alex's shoulders visibly sunk down. "You guys should wait a minute, then go."

"How will we know how to defeat him? I mean, he's Kivar."

"He might be evil, Max, but he's no more powerful than you are, especially since Isabel's powers have advanced so much over the past ten years. You guys have the advantage. All four of you together and him unknowing to that fact. He thinks you don't have Tess. And he thinks you don't know he's there."

Max turned back to look at Liz. "This is so dangerous," she breathed.

"I'd do something a million times more dangerous so you would still be here with me in the end."

"Thanks for fighting for me." She melted into him.

Michael looked down at Maria. "What if you don't come back?" she whispered.

"Now you know what it feels like. Not fun, huh?" he mumbled with a smirk. "I'll be back and everything will be the way it should be, all right?"

She nodded and squeezed his back in a fierce hug. Both he and Max pulled away and uniformly walked to the granolith. Turning back, they saw the two girls hugging each other in comfort, looking on as their boyfriends prepared to enter the future and fight their lifetime enemy, meeting face to face for the first time. It was the first time that Michael realized completely that his life was just as perfect as he wanted it to be. He would come back to Maria DeLuca. He promised himself.

Max waved to Liz with one of his secret smiles that only Liz could ever decipher. He then turned to Michael and whispered, "If Alex and Isabel hadn't have come back with this plan, you were really going to go through with killing Liz?"

"Maria came up with another plan."

"But you were going to?"

"Maxwell, this isn't the time."

"We might not get another time."

"Listen to me. I did not want to do that. I would have given my life for Liz. I finally figured out that I would do that for anyone I consider family. The six of us – we are family, Max. I understand at least that much finally. But this was the fate of the world. I thought there was no other way."

Max nodded slowly with a clenched jaw. He patted him on the back as they both stepped away from the world they knew, leaving Alex, Liz, and the two Maria's to wait in the chamber.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"When is he supposed to get here?" Michael asked, eager to get their problem solved and back home.

"Any minute. He'll come out through those hills right over there. We'll be able to see a cloud of smoke once he hits the ground."

"So Tess, you're going to mind warp him so he won't see us when we start to attack?" Isabel questioned while peeking out from the bushes, not bothering to face her. Max hadn't spoken a single word to her and didn't intend on doing so at all.

"Isabel, I said I would. But you know who this is. It probably won't work."

"Who cares if it works. It'll confuse him enough to give us another step ahead," Michael put in as he too kept watch. Suddenly the smoke streak appeared accompanied with a loud clap similar to thunder.

"He's here," Isabel muttered the obvious.

Within minutes, a middle-aged man emerged from the valley of two hills, dressed in normal blue jeans and a green polo shirt. Kivar had not wasted anytime in shifting into human form. He walked calmly through the barren field as the pod squad fought to keep their breathing controlled.

"I don't think it'll work," Tess whispered.

"It has to," Isabel snapped back. "He'll be so shocked that all four of us are here waiting. And if we all use all we have in us, we'll do it."

Max and Michael looked at each other, wondering where the burst of optimism in Isabel Evans was hiding all those years. Isabel spoke again, "Now Tess. Mind warp him. Now."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"How do we know if they defeat him?" Liz asked.

"Maria and I will disappear, going back since it was our time that was changed.

"And Max and Michael?"

"They have to go to the granolith and return here to your time," future Maria explained.

"It's been an hour already," the younger Maria said, leaning against one of the inner walls.

"It'll take time…."

"I still can't believe all of this is happening," Liz began. "I can't believe how much we've been able to change with this thing." She gestured up at the granolith.

"It's kind of scary, huh?" Alex quipped with a slight smile. Liz and Maria nodded.

"Alex, you saved the world."

"No, Liz. I didn't. Isabel, Michael, and Max are saving it."

"Well, you saved us then," Maria deducted. "If you didn't figure this out, I wouldn't get to keep have my space boy and you guys wouldn't have your own huggable Czechoslovakians. The six of us together. That's the world to me. So Alex, you saved my world."

Alex nodded humbly, stuffing his hands into his pockets, seeing Liz nod in agreement.

"So, my older, yet still no-less-stunning self, I'm sure, you're still there right?" Maria called across the room.

"Yes, your even-more-stunning-at-twenty-nine self is still here," she replied with a small giggle.

"So tell me this. Does Michael ever cut his hair?"

Liz and Alex burst into laughter.

"The short and spiky style has returned," she answered dramatically.

Maria squealed in exaggerated happiness. She had missed those wild spikes, no matter how much she had complained about them when they surfaced on his head every day over two years ago.

"Man, this is so much better than seeing that flaky Madame Vivian. So what else can you tell me about the lovely Michael Geurin?"

"Not much else. It's too dangerous to know so much of your future."

"Ah, come on," Maria begged, but before there was time for a reply she heard the woman behind the wall shout out.

"It's happening!"

"What? What's happening?"

Alex walked away from them, feeling a tingling sensation vibrating through his own body. A grin fell onto his face as he turned back to Maria and Liz. "They did it. We're going home." He was beginning to fade.

"Wait, Alex! What about getting you back in our time? How do we go back to expose Tess now without any certain calculations?" Liz explained in a frenzy, knowing that time was running out.

He merely smiled back. "Wait three years. It's how it should be."

Liz and Maria, who were both now standing, watched him sadly. He walked behind the wall to be with the future Maria. Soon, there was only silence. The two girls crept over to the wall.

"No, Maria. Let me check," Liz stated, not wanting the two Maria's to come into contact.

Quickly, the brunette peered around the corner, but found no one. They were alone.

"They're gone."

Maria let her breath out. "Now we just have to wait."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Michael, are you all right?"

"I can't breathe. At least not well," he gasped, clutching his chest as the two hobbled up to the granolith. Max had sent Tess back to her own time only moments before

"I'm sorry. I can't do anything. I can't heal you," Max replied, grasping at his own aching arm. They both displayed minor cuts and newly forming bruises, but other than that, on the outside they appeared to be fine.

"It feels like all my ribs are cracked or something."

"Don't bend over like that. Maybe we can do something when we get back."

Kivar had undeniably been surprised. He was quickly ambushed by four teenage hybrids. His mind was immediately jumbled, and he knew he was being mind warped. Despite the ease with which he shook Tess' mind distortion off, he had given them plenty of time to circle him, and soon all four were shooting bursts of energy into his human form. Glowing hot sparks and flashes of white light spewed everywhere.

The evil man fought back, although blinded by the onslaught of flowing pain and flashes around him. He lifted his arm and aimed in front of him. A sharp bolt of energy sped out, slamming into Michael's chest, causing him to fly back into the parched desert sand beneath him. Flashes joggled his mind, images of Maria. Singing. Sleeping. Dancing. Smiling … at him. He shot his arm back out, determined not to let Kivar have a chance to break out of the tirade. Even though the tortured throbbing throughout his torso kept him on the ground, he was no less powerful.

Kivar reached out again, sending unimaginable pain through Max's arm. He hollered out but he too refused to let his defense down. He could show no mercy for this evil that stood in front of him, wreaking havoc on another world, killing Liz. He could not stop the anger, and that anger flowed into the energy he was exerting. The body form Kivar had taken was now shouting out in torment. He stumbled forward and grabbed Isabel's short locks of hair, wrenching her down to her knees and causing a scream to erupt from her throat. She grabbed onto his legs and within seconds, lightning bolts circled around his body, and the body jolted. Isabel let go and crawled back towards Max.

"What did you do?"

"Something you all will be able to do in ten years," she breathed, referring to the advanced power she had just assaulted Kivar with.

The body in the center of the four's circle had now collapsed into the sand, making inhumane shouts. Kivar had been tricked by the ones he had come to outsmart and kill.

"You think this is the end?" he growled through the grunts of pain. "You can't be more wrong!" The breathing became weak, and the body began to wither in front of their eyes.

Isabel shrieked as Kivar shriveled until it was unclear that a human body had ever been lying there. "We did it!" she cried in joy. "Oh gawd, we did it, guys!"

"Now we have to get to the granolith?" Max asked through gritted teeth as he clutched his arm.

"Send Tess back to her time, and then go back." She hugged Max before they both hovered over Michael, who was still on the ground but struggling to stand up. Max immediately put his hand to his chest, preparing to make a connection and heal his wearied friend.

"I don't think it will work, Max," Isabel informed him. "Not when it was an alien who did that to him. His ribs aren't broken, they just feel as if they have been."

He looked cautiously over to his sister, who gestured him back in the direction of the chamber. "Hurry and get home. Everything's worked out and nothing had to change, Max. Can you believe we can actually go back to normal now?" Max smiled slightly and nodded, pulling Michael to his feet.

"Thanks," Michael grumbled roughly.

"Go with them, Tess."

"You're sending me back, aren't you?"

"Where else do you think you can go? Don't worry. You won't be on earth much longer."

"You think you're banishing me? I want to go back to our home. It's where we all belong. You might have killed Kivar now, but what about when you and Michael reach 2011, huh? What are you going to do then?"

"The same exact thing now that we know it works," Max replied sharply.

"Kivar was right. This can't be the end. He had followers, you know."

"We'll deal with it," Michael breathed, annoyed by her incessant words.

Tess pulled her arms across her chest, angered. "I'm so glad that I don't have to live in this horrid life anymore. Trying to knock reason into a bunch of teenagers' heads that something more important is out there for them."

"Shut up, Tess," All three called to her as they proceeded to the chamber.

"I'm going to see if Alex is back and check on everyone. You guys can get her back to her time?" Isabel asked.

"Yeah, we've got it. Goodbye, Iz." Max smiled over at his sister as she began to walk away from them.

And now Michael and Max stood directly before the granolith. Alone.

Ten years away, their girlfriends – a feisty sprite and a doe-eyed brunette – stood in the same exact chamber.

Without hesitation, the men stepped into it and let it take them back to their own time, their own lives, their own loves.

Within moments, the flash threw itself against all the walls and the girls knew something was happening. They gripped at each other's arms, waiting for the light to fade and their boyfriends to emerge. When they did, they rushed to them, kneeling down beside them.

"Are you all right?" Liz asked, bring her face down to the floor to meet Max's. He smiled eager at the face and pushed himself up onto his knees, immediately dragging her slender form into his arms.

"I am now that I'm here and you are too."

Maria listened to Michael's labored breathing as she helped him to his knees. "Michael. What's wrong? Why are you breathing like that? Are you hurt?" Alarm presented itself in her voice more clearly than any other emotion could in that moment.

Michael looked off into space, mentally examining his pain only to find it had disappeared. His breathing still remained from seconds earlier when the pain was engulfing him. He looked to Max, who seemed to longer feel the pain from his shoulder either. He glanced at the granolith and grunted gratefully. By being sent back in time, their injuries had dissipated. No wonder Kivar wanted that damn thing back on Antar with him. It probably possessed more powers than they would ever discover. And it had been responsible for saving their lives.

"Michael? Hello? Are you okay?"

He finally turned back to the glowing face of Maria, feeling a sinking sensation when he noticed the fear bouncing around in the emerald of her eyes.

"Yeah. I'm okay. I'm really good." He took her into his arms and ran his hand through her hair, smelling the sweet strawberry scent.

"Is everything else okay?" she asked hesitantly.

"Everything else is perfect."

"Good. You don't know how relieved I am, having you back here with me."

Michael took his hand from her hair and searched around in his pocket. His mind had drifted back to what the future Maria implied about his imminent marital status. Producing a ring, he swiftly shoved it up in front of Maria's face to see.

"What is it?"

"One of those promise rings…. Actually it's one of mine, but until I get it resized for you…. I mean, if you wanna wear it, I guess." He gazed nervously back at her face only to find absolutely the widest smile he had ever seen on her face.

"Of course I'll wear it. Thank you, thank you. Thank you a million times over, space boy." Tears sprinkled her fair cheeks as she accepted the ring. She looked back at him expectantly.

"Thank you, Maria. For everything that you are and for making me want to be here. For making life worth it, you know? And now we know whatever our future's gonna bring, it'll bring us together. I can't ask for more than that."

She fell back into his arms, glancing over to Liz, who was still attached firmly to Max. The two best friends grinned at each other. Maybe luck was smiling down on them. Maybe it was fate. Either way, Liz was with Max, Isabel would be reunited with Alex in time as well as the rest of them, and Michael and Maria were going stronger than ever. Life was how it should be.

Michael was right. They were together. All of them. They had found family in friends. They had found love in each other. And they were together. A life lived without ever meeting was completely unimaginable. This was their path and they found themselves firmly and happily planted on it, never willing to stray from it. Everything was how it should be.

The End.