Once again, no A/N…

Barely managed to write this part, but I just had to do it for all my faithful bumpers (you know who you are [smile]), even though I have very little time… So, this part is dedicated to you guys…

Ahum…

Enjoy… [wink]

I know I promised Max and Liz would meet again in this part, but they don't…

[img]http://images.deviantart.com/emoticons/icon_boo.gif[/img]

Wait! Wait!

I made this part *dodges another tomato* extra long so *ouch!* it would *splash!* make up for that!

*wipes the tomato juice off of her head*

Phew.


Okay, so here it goes…  Chapter 11!!!

Hope ya all like it… [img]http://images.deviantart.com/emoticons/icon_juggle.gif [/img]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[b]True Colors[/b]

[i]Chapter 11[/i]

Ailiana let out a deep breath of relief. That went well. She had lost the soldiers without any problem. Okay. What should she do next? She wasn't going to escape out of the palace, no way! She wasn't going to leave Iria behind. Iria was like a mother to her, and she loved her more than anyone else. Iria was all that Ailiana had, and she planned on keeping it.

Shooting a glance in the hallway in front of her, she saw a few servants scrub the floors. A plan waved itself in her mind, and a few minutes later she went looking for some sort of official room or an important man in the palace.

An hour later, she was sure she'd strolled through this hall twice before. She lent back into the wall and let herself slowly slide down. She was desperate. The castle was a labyrinth, a maze of little hallways and passages, stairs and balconies. She put her head in her hands, and was thinking of a possible next move when she suddenly felt an arm on her back. She stood up, alarmed and fearing that she was discovered.

She stood eye to eye with a short maid. Her eyes were a shade of bright blue, and shone with friendliness.

"Are you okay?" she asked, obviously worried.

"Yeah…" Ailina surprised replied, not used to this kind of attention by anyone besides Iria.

"I'm Namra," the girl told her. "What's your name?"

Ailiana blinked once. She couldn't tell Namra her real name.

"I'm Lana," she quickly decided, and smiled shyly at Namra, ashamed of lying to her so soon already.

"Nice to meet you, Lana," Namra said.

"The pleasure is all mine," Ailiana responded, but the second she said it, she realized that it was far too polite for a servant girl. "My Lady," she said, hoping that Namra would think she was joking.

"Ah…" Namra answered, her blue eyes sparkling, "I'm glad that you recognized me in my disguise…" she laughingly said and winked at Ailiana.

Ailiana laughed back at her, and made up her mind. She decided she could trust this girl. Not with her secret, but she could ask her where she could find someone who would help her getting a job at the palace.

"I'm kinda lost," she let Namra know. "I was actually hoping someone would have a job opening here, but I got lost…" she trailed off, looking at Namra intently.

"You are?" Namra asked her. "What a coincidence! I was just on my way to Khivar to ask him for a replacement for Olivia." A sadness covered Namra's eyes, and when she spoke again, her grief was clearly noticeable in her voice. "She passed away last night…"

"I'm sorry," Ailiana softly said, but Namra shook her head.

"It was better this way," she replied. "Olivia was old, and she didn't suffer too much."

She wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes away, and smiled weakly at Ailiana.

"I'm sure that Lady Avandra will let you take Olivia's place. She's very nice, you know… Not as cruel as Khivar is…"

She took Ailiana by the hand. "C'mon, I'll show you to her, okay?" Ailiana nodded, and eagerly followed Namra, happy to have made a new friend so soon.

When they arrived at Avandra's room, Namra tapped softly at her door. "My lady?" she asked.

"Come in!" Ailiana heard a female voice call.

She timidly followed Namra into the room, and stared her eyes out at the beautifully decorated room.

"Namra, you're back soon!" a soft and friendly voice said. "Was Khivar that willing to provide me of a new maid?" she asked curiously.

"No my lady," Namra answered her. "I found this girl in the hallway, and she told me that she was looking for a job."

Namra pushed Ailiana in front of her. "C'mon, introduce yourself!" she hissed.

Ailiana looked back at Namra hesitantly, and then looked at the woman in front of her. Girl, really. She appeared to be just a few years older than she and Namra. She had bouncy blonde curls, and big blue eyes that were scrutinizing her intensely.

"Eh…" Ailiana began, "I'm Lana…" she introduced herself.

"Just Lana?" Avandra asked, amusement visible in her smile.

"Just Lana," Ailiana confirmed.

Avandra smiled. "Do you have any experience?" she asked.

Ailiana shook her head remorsefully. "I can learn, though," she quickly added.

Avandra nodded, and seemed deep in thought for a few moments.  "I like you…" she said, pondering. "We have to do something about your appearance, though," she continued, looking distastefully at Ailiana's dirty clothes and muddy face.

Namra enthusiastically nodded along, and looked mischievously at Avandra. "Are you thinking what I am thinking?" she asked, a naughty sparkle in her eyes.

Avandra shot a look at Ailiandra and then looked back at Namra. "If it is what I think you're thinking…" she answered in an ominous tone.

Ailiandra's looks switched back and forth between Namra and Avandra. She didn't like the sound of this. She didn't like it at all…

Namra gave a squeal of delight. "Makeover!" she exclaimed as she grabbed a mirror of a closet. She smiled at Ailiandra and showed her the mirror.

 "The before picture…" she said as she held it in front of her. "Keep it in mind!" she whispered in Ailiandra's ear as she took the mirror away.

Ailiandra looked helplessly at Avandra, only to find her picking out a new dress, shoes and taking a pair of scissors out of a drawer.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, panicking, "What are you going to do? Guys?"

She swallowed as she saw Avandra approaching her with the scissors. The anticipation of having them tangled in her hair sent a shiver down her spine. She didn't want this. The last time her hear had been cut had been horrible…

She couldn't sit still, and Iria had cut her in her ear instead of her hear. Ailiandra had screamed fire and murder, and even after Iria had healed her ear, she had kept screaming. Her hair hadn't been cut ever since…

She gave Namra a scared look, and when she saw her smiling encouragingly back at her, she sighed, closed her eyes and quickly said a prayer. When the scissors raked through her hair she stiffened, but when nothing happened she started to relax again. Maybe this makeover thing wasn't so bad after all…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael quickly ascended the stairs, walked through the Parker's residence and opened his sister's door without knocking. He was startled when he saw Liz glowing again. What should he do now? Ava had left this morning for Seattle, something about a meeting with Serena, who would be arriving soon. They had kept contact by dream-walking each other and Ava would welcome Serena and take her back to Roswell, so she could help Liz training her newfound powers.

So here he was. No Ava to help him this time.

He remembered what Ava had told him, about never [I]ever [/I] disturbing the Awakening. He sighed and pondered over his dilemma. Should he go back and tell Max that Liz wasn't ready to see him yet? He was sure that Max wouldn't take 'no' as an answer. Should he touch Liz, then?

No.

He couldn't risk anything if it concerned his little sister. He sighed. He'd better leave to face Loverboy, then…

He opened the door, intending to leave when the glow slowly faded away and he heard Liz softly speak.

"Michael?"

Her voice sounded confused, and hoarse from the dryness in her throat.

"Hey sleepyhead!" he greeted her. "How do you feel?"

"Better," Liz answered, "a little bit tired, that's all." She sat up in her bed, and he walked over to her in order to put her cushion a little bit higher.

"What did you see?" he curiously asked her.

Liz shook her head, probably to sort things out. "I escaped out of Khivar's dungeons, and this girl, Namra, helped me when I was lost…" she smiled, remembering how kind Namra had been. "She brought me to lady Avandra and they were about to…" she paused and shivered at the mere thought of it.

"What?" Michael asked worriedly.

"They were about to… to give me a makeover…" Liz said, her voice filled with angst.

"That's all?" Michael asked relieved, and he visibly relaxed.

Liz looked at him, her eyes wide. "That's all?" she asked in disbelief. "That's [I]all[/I]? Hello!" she exclaimed, her hand hovering in front of his face. "They were about to give me a [I]makeover[/I]! You should have seen Namra grinning at me…" She shivered once again.

"Namra…" Michael whispered, staring at a point in the distance. Liz nodded.

"Do you remember her?" she asked curiously.

Michael frowned and closed his eyes. Namra sounded so familiar. An image of Maria appeared in front of his eyes. He shook his head. No. This wasn't Namra; this was Maria. He wanted to know who [I]Namra[/I] was. The image of Maria altered a little: Maria's eyes became more blue, her hair longer and some of her features changed slightly.

'Namra,' Michael thought, his heart flooding over from all the love he felt for this girl. Somehow he just knew that he had loved her in his past life. He thought back on what Ava had said. "The Council chose to send your partners along, so you'd be stronger."

Namra had been his partner in that life, he was sure of that. Would that mean that she had also been sent Earth?

Again, he heard Ava's voice in his head. "Don't be afraid to feel, Michael." He smiled. He no longer feared to feel, and the image of Maria appeared in front of his eyes once more. 'Maria,' he thought happily. 'Maria.'

A slap on his head shook him out of his reverie.

"Ouch!" he yelled, and for the second time that day, he faked pain. "That hurts, you know?"

Liz laughed teasingly. "Aw… Poor boy," she imitated Maria's earlier behavior.

She pouted her lips and smacked them several times.

"Want me to kiss the pain away?" she asked him, suggestively raising her eyebrows.

She managed to keep a straight face all the time, but when Michael's face turned at least five different shades of red, she couldn't stifle her laughter any longer.

"Very funny," Michael mumbled. "Just you wait, Lizzie Lizard… Ava happened to give me some very valuable information about you before she left…"

Liz's laughter slowly subdued to giggles as she expectantly looked up at him.

"What did she say?" she curiously asked.

Michael bended forward, pretending to whisper it in her ear, but at the same time, his hands reached for her sides.

"She said…" he whispered, but stopped to shoot anxious looks around the room.

"She said," he continued, and yet again he inserted another long pause to check the room.

"What?" Liz exclaimed impatiently. "What did she say?"

Michael grinned ominously at her before continuing his sentence. "She said that you," he smiled, pointing at her, "were very, very ticklish…" he darkly whispered in her ear.

Liz looked at him, her eyes opened wide in fear.

"You wouldn't," she softly whispered. Michael diminished the distance that kept his hands separated from her sides. He smirked at her.

"You don't know me that well, after all, now do you?" he asked her before launching himself on her.

The last few minutes of their interaction didn't went unnoticed, though. A certain very good-looking, very handsome young man, with [I]very[/I] soulful eyes witnessed everything…

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reviews please? Pretty please with Jason on top? [img]http://images.deviantart.com/emoticons/icon_bye.gif[/img]