Sacrifice
A Sequel to Quietly into the Night
Conventional Couples
Rating: PG-13

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"What the hell is this Valenti?" shouted Michael.
"I believe this is commonly known as Maria, your wife, idiot."
"Don't be angry Michael, I couldn't stay away from you," said Maria.
"Where's Beth, please tell me you didn't bring the baby too?" said Michael rubbing his face with his hand.
"No, she's with my mom and Jim. She's safe."
"But how could you leave her like that? Explain it to me Maria, cause I sure as hell don't understand!"
"Because Maria needed her husband, that's why," said Liz coming around the corner to where Michael, Kyle and Maria stood.

"Liz? Chica, is it really you?" whispered Maria. She pulled away from Michael and took several steps towards Liz and halted.
"Maria, what is it sweetie?" asked Liz.
"I thought you were dead. I believed you were dead. Max never stopped believing that you were alive, but I did," she said through the tears. "Oh Liz, I was the worst kind of friend."
"No Maria. You had no reason to believe I was alive. I understand that. You saw what we were up against just before you left, you had no reason to think that I survived."
"But you did, you did," sobbed Maria. "And I just left you here. Oh God Liz, what have I done?"
"Maria, snap out of it," said Liz. "I did what I had to do to survive, and you did what you had to do. There isn't anything wrong with that, and there sure as hell isn't anything to be ashamed of. Now get over yourself, and stop crying, you're getting my only set of clothes all soggy."

They all laughed and Liz hugged Maria tightly.
"Girlfriend, it is so good to see you," said Maria. "Max tried, but was no good when it came to discussing hairstyles. Now tell me what's going on."
"Later," said Michael taking Maria by the arm and pulling her down the tunnel. "We have a few things to talk about first."
"Why does everybody I meet on this stupid planet seem so obsessed with dragging me around by the arm?"
"Maybe because you need a keeper," growled Michael. "Damn it Maria, I don't get you. We left you at home because it wasn't safe, and because we just had a baby!"
"Right, and our baby needs two parents Michael Guerin, and I'm not going back without you."
"Yeah, well you got it part right; you're not going back at all. None of us are. We're stuck here."

"What do you suppose they're doing back there?" asked Isabelle.
"My guess; they're killing each other," answered Kyle.
"Shouldn't we do something?" asked Saranara.
"Get in between a Michael-Maria fight?" asked Isabelle. "I'd rather go face to face with Kivar.
"I don't understand," said Saranara.
"Trust us, you don't want to," said Kyle reaching over to take her hand. "Michael and Maria had to be dragged kicking and screaming into love, and every once in a while, they forget that they are the best thing that ever happened to each other."
"Oh," said Saranara, her face indicating that she still didn't understand.
"Don't worry, spend a couple of hours with them, and it will make perfect sense," said Max. They all looked up as the objects of their discussion enter the room.
"Is, ah, everything ok?" asked Max.
"Not really," said Michael, but as my wife was quick to point out, we're stronger together."
"Than apart," the others finished.

"What do you mean?" asked Jereon as he and his sister exchanged puzzled glances.
"Well, this may be hard for you to wrap your small little mind around," said Isabelle. "But we've found that when we work together as a group, we are stronger."
"Have no fear Princess," said Jereon. "I believe I understand, you can combine your powers to fight whatever forces you come against."
"And that's one wrong for the Antarian," said Isabelle in a nasty voice. "Yeah, we can use our powers together, but it's love that makes us stronger. But I'm sure you wouldn't know anything about that."
"And how would you know anything about me, Princess," snapped Jereon. "I know plenty about love. What makes you think you're the only one to know about such emotions?"
"Know about such emotions!" shouted Isabelle incredulously. "Have you listened to yourself speak? You sound like a walking talking dictionary."

The others moved across the room to give Isabelle and Jereon some privacy as they argued.
"Are they always like that?" asked Maria.
"Pretty much," answered Michael.
"Weird. I don't get how two people can argue like that all the time." Max, Liz and Kyle exploded with laughter. The noise caused Kam and Lexie to wake up from their naps.
"Auntie Maria," shouted Lexie running across the room. "You came to visit us. Did you bring the baby with you?"
"Hey hey there Lexie Bear," said Maria scooping the girl into a hug. "No, I left the baby with Grandma Jim and Grandpa Amy."
"Oh," said Lexie, her lower lip trembling a bit. "That's ok though, cause I gots some things to show you. This is Kam, he's my brother, and this is my mommy," she said pulling Liz to her. "And this is my bear, Mommy maded her for me afore Kam and I was borned.
"Hi Kam," said Maria. "I'm your Auntie Maria."
"I know," said the boy. "Lexie showed me all about you." Maria turned to Liz and mouthed the word showed.
"I'll explain later," said Liz.
"Well, I'll tell you what, let's take a look in my bag and see what I may have in there," said Maria. She opened the backpack and pulled out a bag of chocolate chip cookies.
"Cool," she said. "I wasn't sure if they'd make the trip, but they did."
"What are them?" asked Kam.
"Those is cookies," said Lexie importantly as Maria reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of the treats for the children. They took the treats and scampered across the room to eat the cookies.

"I don't suppose you have anything in that bag for me?" asked Liz, paraphrasing from The Wizard of Oz.
"Yeah, actually, I do," said Maria removing a necklace from her neck. She slid something off the chain and handed it to Liz. "I found them tucked into Lexie's blanket when we came back," said Maria. "I couldn't show Max, so I figured I'd save them for Lexie when the time was right."
"Oh," said Liz softly. "I didn't think I'd ever see them again." She slid her engagement ring and wedding band onto her finger and smiled. "That feels wonderful," she said smiling.

Max looked over the reunion between his wife and her best friend and smiled. "What do you think they're talking about over there?" he asked.
"I don't know, but it looks like Maria brought food with her," said Michael. "Lets go steal some before they eat it all."
"Maria cooks?" asked Kyle. "Now there's a scary thought."
"Yeah, it kind of was at first," admitted Michael. "But now, she's a pretty decent cook. Better than me anyhow." Max, Kyle, Michael and Saranara went to join Maria and Liz. Max noticed right away that Liz was wearing her wedding band again.
"Where did you get that?" he asked. "I saw that you weren't wearing it, but I figured Kivar took it. I didn't want to ask you for fear it would upset you."
"I had a friend keeping it safe for me," said Liz. "But I'm really glad to be wearing it again. The group spent some time reminiscing over old memories, and creating new ones with their new friends as well. They talked for several hours, unaware of the passage of time, until Naloch slipped in through the tunnels.
"We've been betrayed," he said. "Kivar's guardsmen are on their way here. We have to run!"