Disclaimer: You know the drill…the characters aren't mine. A lot of stuff in the beginning is taken from End of the World. God knows THAT'S not mine. Anything that makes sense and makes it all better, now that's mine. Seriously, Roswell and all characters belong to Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox etc. I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: PG-13 – possibly to R

Chapter Twenty-Four – Memories

The group reassembled at Alex's house, where his computer was busy printing out page after page of the other destiny book. Alex grabbed a stack of pages from the printer and threw himself down on his bed and began to read, comparing the new pages to the translation of the original destiny book.
"What's it say?" asked Kyle.
"A lot," replied Alex, absentmindedly.
"Well, no duh," said Maria, her voice filled with scorn. "We can see that by the amount of paper, but what does it say?"
"Maria, give him a break," said Isabelle. "He just started looking at it."
"I'm sorry," said Maria. "I just want to know what happened back there."
"We all do, Maria," said Alex. "But just chill out. We'll figure it out eventually.

Maria sat down on a chair next to Alex's desk, and reached over in the corner and picked up his guitar. Idly, she began to pluck the stings, and a soft haunting melody filled Alex's bedroom.
"What's that?" asked Isabelle, her face pale.
"I don't know?" answered Maria. "Do you like it?"
"No, I don't think I do," admitted Isabelle. "It's giving me a really funny feeling in my chest."

Across the room, a voice began to sing, a strange lilting accompaniment to the eerie tune Maria played. Liz turned towards the sound, surprised to see the sweet, albeit, strange words coming from Ava. Liz closed her eyes, and allowed the combination of Ava's voice and Maria's music to sweep over her. The music seemed to fill soul, the same way the sound from the granolith did. She relaxed even more, and tried to make sense of the words Ava was singing.

Isabelle stood abruptly, crossed the room and pulled the guitar out of Maria's hands.
"Stop it!" she cried, the tears streaming down her face. "Just stop it!"
"Isabelle, what is it?" asked Alex as he leapt from the bed. He wrapped his arms around Isabelle and held her tightly. "What's wrong? What is it?"
"That song. It – I, I just couldn't listen to it," whispered Isabelle, shaking uncontrollably.
"Why?" asked Alex.
"Because that's the song that was playing the day we died," said Ava, flatly. "It was the anthem of the Royal House of Antar."


"Trouble at twelve o'clock," said Max, pointing to Tess, who had just walked in the door of the now crowded pancake house.
"Just follow my lead," whispered Max, as Tess approached.
"Hey, Tess," said Max, sliding over in the booth to make room for her. "What are you doing here?"
"I was headed to the video store down the street, when I saw you and Michael in side, so I decided to come in," said Tess.
"I'm glad you did," said Max, smiling warmly. His gaze took in her tousled blond curls, the blue crochet top she wore over a white tank top and the short blue denim mini skirt she wore. "You look great today."
"Thanks Max," said Tess, running her fingers through her hair. "You are just so sweet. Aren't you going to say hello Michael?" she asked, looking across the table.
"Hello, Michael," he deadpanned, raising an eyebrow sardonically. She turned back to face Max, and stroked his face gently with her hand.

"Do you have the book for me yet?" she asked as she continued to run her fingers against his cheek, and using her mind to nudge both him and Michael.
"Well, not here with me," hedged Max, stalling for time. "Actually, I,"
"Actually," interrupted Michael, "I put the book in a safe deposit box in a bank in Las Cruses. We were planning on going down tomorrow after school to get it."
"Why not tomorrow morning?" she asked, her voice petulant.
"Because we have school tomorrow," explained Michael slowly, as if talking to a simpleton.
"Michael really needs to put in an appearance at school every once in a while," added Max, reasonably.
"Yeah, and Mr. Seligman has really been on my class for missing so many classes," added Michael. "I really do need to be there tomorrow."

"I don't know why all of you are so hung up on following the rules," said Tess. "This isn't our world, we don't belong here. What do you care if you graduate high school, or not." Max slammed his hand down on the table, causing the silverware to jump.
"He does it, we all do it, because I'm the king, and I say to do it," said Max, his voice hard and full of anger. "Damn it Tess, we've survived this far by getting along, following the rules, and fitting in as much as possible. Michael will draw too much attention to himself, and the rest of us if he keeps skipping school."

Tess gazed at Max, her gaze narrowing thoughtfully for a minute. Suddenly, she smiled, and pressed her body against his.
"Max, do you remember, we had an argument similar to this on Antar. Please tell me you remember." She closed her eyes for a minute and both Max and Michael could feel her planting a false image inside their minds.
"I very much wanted to go to a neighboring town for a festival, but you wouldn't allow it because there was nobody there to escort me. So I went to Michael, I mean Rath, and asked him to do it. You overheard me asking him and you got so angry. You said you were the king, and your word was law. Max, Michael, please tell me you remember."

Michael glanced at Max for guidance, unsure of how to answer. He felt the images Tess fed into his mind, but he was unsure of how to react. He looked at Max again, and Max nodded slightly.
"I might," said Michael, slowly. "I think I can. It's almost like trying to remember a song that you haven't heard for a long time. I can kind of feel it floating there, on the fringes of my memory, but I can't quite get a grip on it." Michael paused for a moment and allowed his mind to review the images Tess had planted in it. "Wait, you were wearing something blue, weren't you?"
"Yes, she was," said Max, smiling down on Tess. "Blue was, is, the color I love best on you."
"Oh Max, you do remember," said Tess, her eyes shining. She threw her arms around him, and hugged him tightly.

"Well, I don't remember much," admitted Max. "So far, I can only remember things you've reminded me of. I guess this means we'll have to spend a lot of time together, until I can start remembering things on my own." He hugged Tess tightly against his body, and made a face over her head at Michael, who was making gagging gestures at him.
"Don't worry, Max," said Tess. "I'm sure the time will come when you, when all of you," she said, including Michael in her gaze, "will remember everything about our lives on Antar."