Last Chappy!
Max led Tess back to their bench, helping her to sit down, wrapping his arms around her once again, taking in her radiating warmth. "What was Kyle talking about?" he asked, looking Tess in the eye, "What attacks?"
"Nothing," Tess murmured, taking comfort in Max's presece, "Nothing to worry about. I'm fine."
"Tess," Max said, directing her gaze towards himself, "Tell me."
Tess sighed, "Do you remember anything about Antar?" Max nodded, it was slowly coming back to him since last night. "Do you remember anything about marriage?" He nodded slightly, that part was still a little fuzzy. "Well…on Antar divorce is non existant…it's not that it isn't allowed or anything, it's just that no one gets one." Max's puzzled look made her continue. "When two people are married…their…their souls are joined."
There, she said it.
She sighed again, "A couple has to undergo so many tests and rituals to make sure that their souls are right for each other and that nothing would happen to destroy the marriage, so that one can know where the other is, if they are ok, and feel the love. There are so many steps to take, but Ava and Zan breezed through it because none of the priests had ever seen two souls more right for each other and the ceremony was beautiful, nice and small, and our families showed up and…well we were married in record time." She chanced a look at Max, his eyes were glazed slightly as if he were remembering it too. "The ceremonies are designed to last lifetimes." She whispered as Max stared at her. "They transcend time…even death and cloning…"
She faded off, snuggling into Max as realization dawned on him. "I made you sick." He said.
"No!" Tess exclaimed sitting up, "You didn't remember, it wasn't your fault." He looked at her, and she looked away, "I made myself sick. If I had only forgotten the ceremony or the binds of the soul, I wouldn't have had such a hard time dealing with Liz or letting you go…" His hold tightened around her, "Every time I saw you with Liz, the binds reminded me that you were techinically cheating, which injured my soul. You were fine because, even though you didn't remember the link, I loved you. But you…you didn't love me and that hurt me. Not only emotionally, but physically, spiritually, mentally…It actually got so bad that I'd pass out, or throw up, or have some sort of weird attack…kind of like a heart attack…"
She stopped when Max brought her closer to him, "Oh…my…God…" He trailed, "I can't believe I…and that you…I made you…"
"Max" she said directing his gaze this time, "It wasn't your fault, you didn't remember."
"But I should have noticed how sick you were getting!"
"Yes you should," She said, laughing at his stunned look, "But it is in the past, we need to move on. The only important thing is that you remember now and we'll be okay…I'll be okay."
Max looked into her eyes, seeing the truth. He couldn't change the past, he could only accept it and learn from it. And boy did he have a lesson today. He would never take Tess for granted ever again, nor would he let her out of his sight, yell at her, be angry, be jealous, be cruel…
"Max…"Tess whispered, nearly asleep, "What are we going to do about Liz?"
To this, Max just laughed and joined his love in sleep.
The End