[b]True Colors[/b]

[i]Chapter 5[/I]

"Twenty… twenty-one… twenty-two… twenty-three…" Max sighed. This didn't work. He was hoping that working out would get his mind of a certain Liz Parker for awhile, but he couldn't stop thinking about her. He had made his homework about an hour ago, praying that the difficult math problems would distract him. He had gotten behind because of his trip to New York, but the holidays were round the corner, and he'd have plenty of time to catch up then.

Working out had been his last resort, but obviously, that wasn't helping either. He couldn't help thinking about the words he had said to her, about her rescuing him, or about the whole coming-back-from-the-future thing. He was still confused about that, and he hoped she could explain things to him. Michael had only told him the story in broad outlines; he didn't know all the details.

Max smiled when he thought back to Michael's visit. They were becoming closer again. He had hated to see them grow apart, and to distrust each other. Now, they were back on the track to become best friends once more. The radio station announced a new song. He was pretty sure this was one of Liz's favorites. He almost turned the volume up, when he reminded himself that his parents and Isabel were most certainly sleeping.

He sighed again. Liz… He wanted to tell her he knew that she didn't sleep with Kyle, and why, but he promised Michael he wouldn't. He would have to wait until Michael had carried out his plan. When that had worked, he could tell her that he loved her, and maybe they could get back together again. Getting back together was a big possibility. After all, Michael had told him that Liz still loved him. It was what Maria had said. He hoped she was right, and that Liz still cared for him, after everything he had said and done. He'd treated her horribly, told her he did no longer trust her, and even gave her the pocketknife back. He prayed she would forgive him…

He'd loved Liz his whole life. From the moment he saw her, till now. Even when he thought she'd slept with Kyle he had loved her. He had tried to suppress his feelings for her, and tried to be mean to her, to hate her for what she'd done to him. He should have known that it was impossible for him to fall out of love with her. He had tried that, several years ago, when Isabel, Michael and he had made the pact to never tell anyone about their secret.

He had known back then, that he could never be with Liz. So he had tried to fall out of love with her. He had pictured her, covered in zits, picking in her nose, saying mean things to him, but nothing worked. Somehow his imaginations always ended with him kissing her, and caused him to fall even more in love with Liz.

He hadn't planned to kiss her the night after she'd gotten arrested. He just went to her to check if she was okay. That was what he kept telling himself when he walked down in the alley. Perhaps he had secretly hoped for a little goodnight kiss, but he hadn't even dared to expect the kiss they had shared that night. It had been amazing to finally kiss the girl he'd been pining about for ten years. Words to describe it failed him. It had been downright wonderful. And surprisingly, the kiss didn't lessened his longing for her, but only enkindled it.

Maybe, he thought, maybe it [i]would[/i] be better to stay apart. Liz would be safe that way, and when he'd have to go back to his planet it wouldn't be so hard to leave her. It would still be hard, there was no doubt about that, but it wouldn't be so difficult as it would be knowing that Liz loved him back.

He sighed once more. He seemed to find himself doing that pretty often lately. His musing about things had tired him out, and he decided that it might be wise to catch some Z's before professing his undying love for Liz. That is, if he didn't want her to run away screaming when she laid her eyes on him. Maybe he'd dream about her tonight… He closed his eyes and fell asleep right away.

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

"Mum! Mummy! Can Lonnie and I go out and play?" Zan eagerly asked his mother. His mother's face may looked old, but her eyes twinkled and showed her love for her son.

"Zan, sweety…" she smiled, and chucked his chin. "How many times do I have to tell you to call me mother? You're going to be a king."

She lifted him carefully from the ground and twirled him around. "Now, tell me, do kings call their mothers 'mummy'?"

Zan looked to the ground, clearly embarrassed and looking truly sorry. "Forgive me, mother. It won't happen again, I promise." He glanced up from under his eyelashes to see if his mother would be angry with him. Joah would have been, he was sure of that. Joah was always mad at him and Lonnie, forbidding them everything they wanted to do.

His mother just smiled, though. "It's okay, honey. If you want to play outside you'll have to find Joah, okay?"

Zan sighed. "But mother, I and Lonnie…" "Lonnie and I," his mother corrected him.

"Lonnie and I," Zan continued, "we don't like Joah. He's always teasing us and he never allows us to do anything."

"He isn't doing that to be mean, Zan. He is just trying to protect you and Lonnie," his mother told him. Zan pouted. "Please mother?" he begged his mother, but she kept ground.


"No Zanier. You know very well that Joah has to come along to protect you both. You will not leave this castle on your own." his mother sternly replied. "It's too dangerous, Zan," her voice softened. "You know that."

"I know, mother," Zan sighed. "I just wish he wouldn't have to come with us."

"So do I," his mother said. "So do I."

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

Review, review, review please? I live for reviews… [smile]