Author's Note - I am so sorry, I honestly didn't mean to abandon this story :/. As luck would have it, my other computer quit working completely and it took forever to get a new one. Anyway, I fully intend to continue on this story, so no worries. Thank you all for being so patient

Also, thank you so much for your kind reviews, I'm glad you all like it so much I hope I don't disappoint! I have serious writer's block right now though, sorry if it's a little slow and short.

EDIT Sorry for the formatting issues. I tried going back and editing them through but for some reason they never took. Here's how it's supposed to be.

Chapter Two - "All that's left are memories..."

At that moment, holding her felt like holding a stranger. The rift between them had grown so wide and so quickly that Max hadn't even had time to feel the shock that should've come with losing her. Perhaps it had been the human side of him, that self induced preservation instinct kicking in. Or maybe even the alien side that was beginning to believe in his so called destiny, trying to convince himself that he didn't need her. She was the one who was being stubborn after all, right? And SHE was the one being unreasonable saying that aliens had been responsible for Alex's death.

Right then in that dark night, Max's heart began tearing in two.

Liz moaned fitfully, gently kicking in her sleep. He'd never seen her like this, vulnerable and terrified, and it worried him all the more. But he couldn't protect her forever, and he began to realize that he would have to let her go eventually- when he returned home. If he gave in now, he would just cause her more pain, no matter how much he loved her.

Quietly, Max got up from the bed, and fled out the window. If he didn't go now, he'd never have the courage to do so again.

'I'm a fool. I can't even help her. How am I supposed to help an entire planet? Some king I am.'

The harsh beeping of the alarm clock woke Liz with a shudder. Moaning at the thought of sunlight, she turned on her side away from the window and threw the covers over her head. Her mind was still going a thousand miles an hour and she wasn't even sure if she could handle school for once in her life.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty."

Liz's eyes sprang open and she flung the covers off. "Ava?! Why are you here? I thought you disappeared!"

Ava peeled the covers off her head. "Nice to see you again too," she said flatly.

"But...where's Max?" Liz frowned and looked around the room.

"That ain't important right now. I need you to listen to me. I know you had those dreams last night...and I know you want answers...the problem is, I ain't so sure you're ready to hear the truth right now."

Liz looked taken aback. "The dreams? How did you know about them?"

"Again...it's nothing you need to hear yet. But...you do need to know that if you keep rejecting everything, rejecting your own fate, you're going to end up alone."

"End up alone...you mean Max and Tess?"

"Yes. I know that the Max in the future came to you. And I know he said that the enemy won because Tess left them. But...that's not true. They won because you and Max gave in to a worse fate. Because you didn't believe."

Liz looked down in shame. "So...I did the wrong thing? Are you telling me because I pushed Max away the world will end?" Frustrated, her hands balled up into fists at her sides. Why couldn't everyone just get their story straight? Which way was it?!

"...Only if you let it happen. It's all up to you. There ain't always just one path. No one's holding a ray gun to your head and telling you that you have to hand Max over. You're the one who said everyone chooses their destinies right? As...ugh...cornball as it sounds, you should just follow your heart," Ava shook her head and shuddered a little before she softened. "I know...how you feel. When I lost Zan...it felt like my whole world crashed down around me. Like I lost everything. Do you really want to just give Max up so easily? Believe me, if there was anything I could do to save Zan, absolutely anything, I would have. Don't let him slip through your fingers, like I did." Ava shook her head sadly and turned back for the window when Liz grabbed her arm.

"It wasn't your fault you know." Liz spoke softly.

"...I know. Lady Eos. Just...don't give up. What you're doing may save their lives. You're their only hope now."

She jumped down. ...It had begun.

"You just think you're so clever don't you?"

Ava froze in the middle of the alleyway. 'I hate that voice. So freakin' much. Why won't that little pest just die already?' "What do you want Nicholas?"

Nicholas smiled, his anger thinly veiled behind it. "I know it was you who sent her the dreams. And just what made you think you were going to get away with that?"

She smirked. "Nothing. I know there ain't nothing that gets past you. You're like some annoying little mosquito that just won't buzz off."

Frowning, with his gaze growing cold and even darker, he gritted his teeth at her. "I'm not the one you need to worry about you know. You allowed her to awaken. You're the one who allowed Max to heal her that day in the restaurant. She was going to die- and so was he. And you ruined it. Did you really think we wouldn't notice that either?"

The smirk faded. "What...?"

"And now you're going to pay the consequences. Just like your predecessor."