CHAPTER 11 (Memories, Betty and a house)

Two days after the sweat fiasco, Max walked into his living room to find Maria sitting on the couch, staring out the window. He had found her doing it a lot over the past two days. He wasn't quiet sure what was wrong. He got from Alex, that her and Michael had gotten back together but then broke up again. It wasn't clear why or who did it but Max was intent on finding out. If Michael had hurt his baby sister then he'd pay.

"Maria?"

Maria glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Max. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Shrugging, Max walked over and sat next to her. "Nothing much, I just wanted to talk to you." Maria nodded. "So, ah…Alex said that you and Michael were back together?"

"Well we're not so you can keep your lecture about it being wrong to yourself." She snapped.

Max sighed. "I'm sorry Ria," Maria looked at him confused. "It's just, I know that he made you happy." He said and she smiled. "I can beat him up for you."

Laughing, she patted his cheek. "No need big bro, I was the one to end it, but thanks anyway."

"Why? Why'd you end it?"

She pursed her lips together. "I just can't deal with a relationship right now, I need sometime to think about things." Max nodded in understanding and Maria sighed. "You ever think of mom and dad?" she asked.

"Yeah, all the time, why?"

"Remember when mom was so close to finding out about us?" Max nodded at the memory. There had been a fire in there kitchen and Max used his powers to put it out, and then poured water on it to cover what he had just done, only it was grease fire so water would have had no effect. Diane Evans became suspicious after that. "I wish that we could have told her before…" she trailed off.

Max nodded. "Me too, I know how much you wanted to, but we couldn't risk it."

"I know, I just miss them so much," she said in a whisper. Max hugged her close knowing that whatever had happened with Michael, combined with Alex had been the reason this was brought up. "I miss being able to talk to mom."

"You can talk to me," Max said rubbing her back in a comforting manner.

"I know," she said nodding. "Max, do you blame me?" she asked quietly. Max pulled back.

"What? Maria I never blamed you, it wasn't your fault."

Maria shook her head. "I was there Max, I saw everything, I could have saved them." She said starting to cry. Max was in shock. This was the first time he had ever seen his sister cry over anything. She never even cried at there parents funeral, she had remained a stone wall, but it was made obvious to him that she had been keeping these feelings in for way to long.

"Shhh, it's ok sweetie, shhh," he said trying to sooth her. "Maria, the accident wasn't your fault and there was no way you could have healed them, we don't even think that you can do that."

"I should have learnt," she yelled. "I should have learnt to heal, I should have saved them. If I had been better at using my powers, than they would still be here."

Max just hugged her close not knowing what to say. He never blamed Maria, that thought had ever even crossed his mind.

FLASHBACK

"Max sweetie, me and your father are taking Maria out to get some new clothes ok. We'll be back soon." Max nodded unconsciously as he continued to play the play station.

Rolling her eyes, Maria said, "He's not listening."

As they drove down Main St, Philip turned his head slightly to look at his daughter from the drivers seat. "Do you know what kind of clothes you want honey?"

Maria nodded. "Yeah, just some pants and tops. I saw these great new suede pants that I want to try on." Philip laughed when his daughter started raving on about clothes, one of her favourite pastimes. The car came to a stop outside the mall. "Maria, why don't you head in and start, while your mother and I park the car. We'll be there in a sec." Smiling at them, Maria hopped out and headed for the doors.

3 seconds later she turned around when she heard a loud crash just a few hundred meters a head. Maria started to worry so she ran up the street. As she had gotten closer she started to slow down, already seeing the sliver ford smashed in on one side. She looked around as people were crowding around the accident and vaguely heard as someone called an ambulance from their cell phone. She neared the accident numbly and then screamed when she saw her mother's bloodied hair hang out the side of the car. She ran up to the car, pulling away from the person who had tried to hold her back. As she got closer, she saw that her mother's car door was smashed in, as was the front of the car. She walked over to her father's door and opened it.

"Dad?" she said shaking him a little. "Dad wake up." She said a little louder.

"Maria sweetie, I think you should step away." She heard a voice say from behind. She looked over her shoulder at Sheriff Valenti.

"No, I have to stay with them." She said turning back to her father.

The sheriff stood back, not knowing what to do and idly watched as Maria placed her small hands over Phillips chest. She closed her eyes and after a few seconds, she pulled back in frustration. "Maria, there's nothing you can do. Come on, let's go."

Maria nodded numbly as the Sheriff pulled her back and the ambulance officers tended to her parents bodies.

END FLASHBACK

The police had told them that as they were pulling into an empty space, a speeding car had failed to slow down and had hit them side on, and as the car rebounded off the hit, it had smashed, head first into a near by parked car. Diane and Philip Evans were named dead on the scene.

Maria pulled out of Max's arms and wiped at her eyes. "You know, I probably started the whole Valenti looking in on us thing, I mean, I tried to heal our parents right in front of him." She laughed bitterly.

Shaking his head, Max held her hand in his. "No Maria, he probably thought that you were trying to feel a heart beat or something, it's normal." He said, then as an afterthought added, "I think."

Maria smiled sadly at him then took a deep breath. "I'm going to go find Alex, I need to speak to him about something." Max nodded.

"Ok, but don't you want to talk about Mom and Dad some more?" Maria shook her head.

"Maybe later, not now ok." She said hoping that Max would understand. She had already cried in front of him, she didn't want to break down, not yet anyway.

Smiling, Max stood and hugged her. "Ok, I'm here whenever you need me."

"Ok," she said as she grabbed her coat by the door, "I'll see you later." Max waved at her as she left then headed to the hall closet, there was something important he had to find, something that may help ease his sisters pain.

*~*~*~*

Alex opened his door and moved out of the way as Maria entered. "We need to talk." He nodded as they walked into his bedroom. Alex motioned for her to sit on hid bead while he sat on the desk chair opposite her. "What do you think it meant?" she asked, not wanting to beat around the bush. Alex smiled at her bluntness.

"I'm not sure, did you even recognise the girl?" Maria shook her head. "I mean, she just seemed so familiar, like we know her."

"Yeah, I got that too." She nodded. "Destiny, when we hugged she said it was our destiny, that we were meant to be together. And I don't know about you, but that feels sort of…" she trailed of trying to find the right word.

"Wrong?" Alex chimed in and she nodded. Alex sighed with relief, so she felt it too. "Well then, what did she mean? We can't be together, it would be like incest or something."

Maria laughed, "Yep, sure would." A silence overcame them as they sat and mulled over what the girl had told them. Maria looked up to find Alex staring at her. When they locked eyes, something passed through her and she shivered. Suddenly she had a vision of them lying in a pool of sheets, holding each other close.

FLASH

Maria laid her head on Alex's chest and drew lazy circles on his skin. "That was amazing," she whispered.

He nodded. "I'll have to agree with you my love, it certainly has never been like that before." They both laughed softly. "I love you Ziera,"

She glanced into his eyes and a look of hesitancy flashed over her face but quickly covered it before he noticed. "Love you too Treyan."

END FLASH 

She snapped out of it when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Maria, Maria you ok?" Alex asked shaking her slightly. Maria shook her head clear then nodded.

"Yeah I'm fine, just spaced out for a second I guess." Alex looked unsure. Maria smiled at him. "Really I'm fine. Look, I ah…have to go and do something but I'll see you in school tomorrow ok?" She didn't wait for an answer and walked out of the room leaving a puzzled Alex to wonder.

As Maria left his house, she stopped off at the park and sat on a near by bench. "What the hell was that?"

*~*~*~*

The next day at school, Michael stood in the cooking rooms trying to mix the batter in the bowl. As Maria passed the room, she let a small smile cross over her face at his look of concentration. She took in his appearance; he had flour in his hair, batter all over his apron but still managed to look as sexy as hell. She walked into the room and stood in front of him. "What are you doing?"

Michael's head shot up at her voice. He hadn't heard her enter, in fact, her hadn't heard from her in two days. "What are you doing here?" he cursed himself for his tone. He hadn't wanted to sound that cold but he was still angry with her.

She flinched at his question but stayed anyway. She knew he was angry with her and she couldn't blame him. But she had hoped that they could at least be friends. "I saw you in here and you look like you need help." She shrugged. Michael shook his head.

"I don't need your help."

"Michael, I know hat your angry with me but can't we just talk like friends or whatever?" she snapped.

Michael slammed to bowl on the table. "No we can't. You broke up with me Maria, AGAIN." He yelled as he ran a hand through his hair. Maria tried not to laugh when she saw that he had only managed to add some batter to it. "We can't just be friends Maria, because that's not what I want."

"Well what do you want?" she asked softly. Michael looked into her eyes.

"You, but since that isn't going to happen, I would like it if you'd just leave me alone." He picked up his bowl and turned his back on her. Maria sighed and stood next to him. "What are you doing?"

Maria took the bowl out of his hands. "Helping you. So I take it this is supposed to be cake mix?" she asked then started to mix it. Staring into the bowl she raised an eyebrow. "I didn't even know you could get this many lumps in a cake mix." She said in wonder.

Michael glared at her and grabbed the bowl back. "Go away." He growled. Maria shook her head and grabbed one side of the bowl back. "Maria I mean it, go away. I don't need your help." Michael pulled on the bowl as Maria decided to let it go. They both watched as the bowl flipped, spilling its contents all over the floor. "Now look at what you did. I have to make this cake or I fail this course and they'll make me do it again, just leave me alone Maria."

Maria opened her mouth to apologise but at Michael's glare thought better of it and left. She ran into Max in the hall. "Hey Maria," he noticed her sad look. "What's wrong?"

"I screwed up again, don't worry about it." Max nodded ad decided to let it go. She'd tell him when she was ready. "Hey could you meet me in the park later? I need to show you something." Maria nodded and Max continued down the hall. Maria sighed, she hated that Michael was so angry with her. As she headed to her locker she got an idea. Grabbing her jacket she headed out to her car.

*~*~*~*

Michael groaned as he walked to his locker. Today was just not his day. He'd fought with Maria, burnt his cake to a crisp and just received a detention for falling asleep in Maths. When he opened his locker he gasped. Reaching inside, he pulled out the note that was resting on top of a perfectly iced chocolate cake, topped with strawberries. He opened the paper.

I'm sorry

-Maria.

He smiled as he shut his locker door. She was making an effort and that meant that there was still a chance for them. He headed for his cooking class. 20 mins later, Michael walked out, a smile on his face. He turned a corner and crashed into Maria. "Hey."

"Hey," she replied as she walked beside him. "So did you get it?" Michael nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. "And? Well what did you get? You got an A didn't you?"

Michael shook his head. "No actually, I failed I got an F." Maria halted in the middle of the corridor, mouth open in shock. Michael too stopped and looked at her, a small smile set on his face.

"What do you mean you failed? How could you have failed? That cake was a work of art. I handmade it and everything, even put friggin strawberries on it!" she yelled gaining the attention of a few students walking past. "Did you drop it before you handed it in? I put Betty Crocker to shame. I don't understand it." She continued to ramble. Michael grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly to gain her attention.

"I didn't hand yours in." he said then flushed a little. "I kept it." Maria stared at him in shock as he turned and left her standing in the halls alone. A smile crept up on her face as she too headed out the door.

'Maybe I should rethink this 'break up' thing,' she thought as she headed for her car. She had to meet Max at the park.

*~*~*~*

Maria found Max sitting on a wooden bench and took a seat nest to him. "Hey," she said wrapping her jacket around herself tighter. "What did you want me to meet you here for?"

Opening his jacket, Max gave Maria a little toy house. "Remember when Mom gave that to you?" Maria nodded. "You hadn't liked living with them at the start but then she gave you that and told you that whenever you thought about home, just to hold onto the house and it'll take you there because it was magic."

Maria laughed softly. "Yeah, but then when I held onto it all I thought about was her and our house. She hugged me and said that no matter what happens, she'll always love us and be there when we needed her. That was the first time I thought that she may have suspected that we were different, and I was so shocked because she still loved me anyway."

"Hold onto the box and tell me what you see." Max said. Maria looked at him like he was crazy but did it anyway. She held onto it and squeezed her eyes shut. Opening them a second later, she smiled. "What did you see?"

"I saw Mom that night she and Dad picked us up. She hugged us and told us that we were going to live with them."

Max smiled. "Well, whenever you're feeling sad about Mom and Dad, just hold onto the house and it'll take you to them. They loved us Maria and they wouldn't want you blaming yourself for there death. It wasn't your fault and you couldn't possibly have saved them, ok?" Maria bowed her head but Max wasn't having any of that. He wasn't going o let his sister blame herself for something she couldn't control. He lifted her chin with his fingers. "Maria, it wasn't your fault."

Maria tried to hold back a sob. "It wasn't my fault," she whispered. Max nodded and hugged her to him tightly. "I miss them Max, I miss them so much."

"I know I do too. But we have each other ok. And as long as we stick together, we'll be fine. You, me and Alex." Maria stiffened at Alex's name but Max didn't seem to notice. "Feel better?"

Maria nodded. "Thanks Max, I forgot I even still had it." Max squeezed her shoulder.

"I'm glad I could help. Just remember that I'll always be here if you want to talk Maria. I'm your brother and I love you. I won't leave you." Maria nodded and buried her head further in his chest. They had each other and that's all that mattered.

Tbc