[b]True Colors[/b]

[i]Chapter 8[/i]

"So… Does anyone want something to drink?" Liz asked, playing the perfect hostess. Ava shook her head, still softly giggling.

It had been a long time since she'd felt so good. She thought back on Avandra's times with Ailiana and Namra. She remembered how much fun it had been to gossip with them about the soldiers guarding the palace, or to seduce one of them. There had been times when they'd discussed more serious subjects, such as religion and life, but somehow they'd always ended up talking about Namra's favorite subject: boys.

"You don't happen to have a Snapple, do you?" Michael asked.

Liz shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she replied. "Maybe down in the restaurant." She walked to the front door, intending to go down and get some for Michael.

"Liz!" Michael called after her. "You don't have to…"

"I want to," Liz said over her shoulder. "If you want a Snapple, then I'll get one." And she continued her way down.

"But…" Michael started to say, and it was Ava who cut him of this time.

"No use, Michael," she said smiling. "Once Liz has taken something in her head, there's nothing that can make her change her mind and talk her out of it."

Michael reluctantly agreed with her, not at all pleased with his sister being stubborn. He already had to cope with a cocky girlfriend, and now he also had a pig-headed sister…

What did he do to deserve this?

He smiled though, knowing that he was all too happy about having a sister.

Ava and he waited in a comfortable silence until Liz returned with a Snapple.

"Shouldn't we call the others?" Liz asked. "They also need to know that Tess isn't to be trusted."

She hesitated, then continued. "And about me being… different."

Michael nodded and reached out to grab the phone, but Ava stopped him.

"I don't think we should call them just yet," she resisted.

Michael gave her a puzzled look. "Why not?" he wanted to know.

Ava put the phone back in it's holder and answered him, her voice insisting. "We'd better wait until Serena is here to help me train Liz's powers."

"But what about Tess?" Michael asked defiantly. "What if she tries to kill Liz again?"

Ava shook her head. "She won't kill Liz. Khivar wants her, so Tess won't kill her."

"Oh, Khivar only [i]wants[/i] her? Why didn't you say that at once? There's nothing to worry about if he only [i]wants[/i] her." Michael sarcastically reacted.

Ava wasn't surprised by his defensive behavior when it came to Liz. She'd actually expected this, and that's why she was certain he would agree with her plan.

"Michael, nothing will happen to Liz until Khivar gets here. Nicholas and the other skins are afraid of the possible reprisals by you, Max and Isabel," she said. "They know you're stronger than they are. When Khivar arrives, however, he'll bring reinforcements with him, and they will be in the majority. You won't stand a chance then, unless Liz has retrieved all her earlier powers."

Liz hadn't said anything during the whole conversation, but decided now was the right time to speak up.

"If we're stronger than Nicholas and the others, then why don't we attack them right away?" she asked.

Michael nodded his agreement, but Ava shook her head once again.

"We don't have the exact locations of where they're hidden. The only thing we know is their number, and their strength. If we'd kill Tess or let slip to her that we know about her betrayal, Nicholas and his men could easily kidnap Liz. Desperate needs lead to desperate deeds. Nicholas would do it, even when it would mean his downfall. He would be killed by Khivar anyway, when he'd find out that his mission has failed. Tess cannot and must not find out. She mustn't." Ava insisted.

Liz nodded, understanding. "But we can tell the others, right?" she wondered out loud.

"No," Ava answered. "You cannot tell anyone, not even Max. When you would, you'd get back together again."

Ava winced inside when she saw Liz's sad look, but knew she had to continue. She wouldn't take the chance that something would happen to Liz. She didn't want to be held responsible for her death once more.

"You [i][b]can't[/b][/i] be together for now. Tess will notice it when Max chooses to deny his so-called destiny. She gets jealous very easily and I cannot stand in for her actions when she does. At least, I know that Avandra used to get jealous easily," she said, a wave of guilt hitting her.

Liz seemed to notice, and softly squeezed Ava's hand. Ava gratefully smiled at her, and was concerned when Liz didn't smile back at her, but instead looked absent-minded in the distance.

"It won't be hard to keep Max away," Liz said softly. "I've pretended to sleep with Kyle, in order to get him to turn away from me. It worked."

She looked up at Michael, smiling a little. Michael knew better, though. Her eyes weren't smiling along, but expressed all the sadness she was feeling at the moment.

Michael shook his head. "That will no longer work," he said, feeling sorry for his sister, knowing she'd have to do something even more painful than she'd already done. "Maria told me about Max's little visit from the future."

When he saw the look of betrayal on her face, he quickly defended his girlfriend.

"I had to squeeze it out of her, though. She didn't want to tell me at first, but I kept insisting."

After another fast glance at Liz he continued.

"I told Max this night. I managed to convince him to not go to you. That's why I came to you tonight. I wanted to make you see that you and he [i]had[/i] to be together. You don't belong apart."

He sighed, knowing that Liz had to held up the whole charade a little longer.

"What do you mean with a 'little visit from the future'?" Ava curiously asked, having listened to their conversation with growing interest.

"Max used the Granolith to travel through time," Liz answered her. "He came back to me, a few weeks ago, from fourteen years in the future. He needed me to help him fall out of love with me."

Ava looked confused. "He needed [i]you[/i] to help [i]him[/i] fall out of love with [i]you[/i]?" she said, while trying to comprehend what was being said.

When Liz nodded she asked, still not completely understanding: "Why?"

Liz sighed. "I'm not even sure if it's still true," she responded, "but he said that because of me and him being together, Tess would leave. According to him, they had been created as a four-squad, and when Tess left, they were no longer strong enough to fight the skins. The world would come to an end, all because of us." Liz sighed once more. "I no longer know what to believe and what not to believe."

Ava absently patted Liz on the back, obviously deeply immersed in thoughts.

"As far as I know," she began, "is the Granolith not able of enabling time-travel. Serena mentioned once to me that time-travel isn't possible at all."

Ava had heard about it from Lonnie and Rath, who knew it from Nicholas that Khivar was doing research about time-travel. So she had asked Serena about it, worried that time-travel indeed was possible, and Khivar would be able to get that power. Serena had calmed her down and told her that such a thing could never be possible.

She looked down at Liz, who was now being held by Michael. "If what you said was true, and Max did come back, wouldn't he have gone back to stop Tess from leaving? And besides, she already was on Khivar's side long before. Max was bound to know that fourteen years in the future, now wasn't he?"

She stared at both Michael and Liz, expecting some sort of answer or reaction, but when she got none, she continued.

"Max will come back to Liz, won't he?" she asked, this time not really expecting a reaction. "You'll have to stop him from doing that, Michael," she said. "Think of anything that could help." Then turning her gaze at Liz, she said: "In the meantime, we'll try and find out if this whole occurrence wasn't just one big mindwarp. It is a possibility, but if Tess was able to make you believe this, she must be even stronger than I feared…"

Ava gestured to Liz's bedroom. "C'mon," she said, "let's go in there while Michael thinks of a way to deceive Max."

"Wait!" Michael called at them. "You aren't leaving me here to think about a way to get Loverboy fall out of with Liz, are you? That's just imp… wait! Liz! Please? I'm your brother for Christ's sake! Liz!"

Liz stood up and followed Ava, ignoring Michael's protests laughingly, despite the seriousness of the moment.

It was very obvious that Michael had spent [I]way[/I] too much time with Maria…