The girls were down by the water, giggling as they tried new steps to a song they liked while the boys were playing football above them over looking the large reservoir.

When the girls finally fell to the ground laughing, they decided to take a break and stretch out and enjoy the sun.

“So what do you think you’re parents are going to give you guys for your 12th birthday next week?” Maria asked as she rolled onto her stomach to lean on her elbows.

“I don’t know. They’ve been pretty quiet about it.” Isabel shrugged stretching out and letting the sun tan her long body. She had grown taller than the other girls and was starting to enjoy her body and the way some of the older boys were looking at her.

“Max thinks we might get a computer.” Tess answered.

“And what are YOU getting Max for his birthday Liz?” Maria teased.

Liz just smiled mysteriously and didn’t answer. She knew Maria loved to tease her about Max.

Every year Max and Liz got each other a little something even if they just made it themselves. The others thought it was funny in a cute way. “Come on Liz! You can tell us. We won’t tell Max.” Tess pleaded sitting up. She loved surprises, but only when she was in on them.

Liz laughed and sat up as well. “To tell you the truth, I haven’t decided yet.” She said with another mysterious smile. She had been saving up her allowance for something special and thought she might have enough money for it by next week.

“Well whatever it is, you know Max will love it.” Isabel smiled as she continued to stretch out on her towel with her eyes closed.

“Hey! Let’s play hide n seek!” Tess exclaimed suddenly.

“Ah… Tess, have you noticed that we’re out in the open here?” Maria looked around.

Tess rolled her eyes at Maria’s comment. Then she pointed over toward the other side of the reservoir where there was a clump of natural trees and bushes and rocks to hide behind and around.

Maria looked over and grinned. “Let’s go!” she laughed and got up.

Isabel didn’t even open her eyes. “You guys go, I want to just relax and listen to music.”

The other three shrugged and climbing to their feet, they headed around toward the treed area.

Max had had a hard time concentrating on the game while the girls had been dancing. He hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off of Liz as she danced and floated around below him. Even the other guys teasing him about it couldn’t stop his eyes from continually glancing over at Liz as she danced in the sun, her hair shining like a beacon, and her long slim body mostly bare and tanned from the sun, arching and moving gracefully as she danced.

When the girls had finally sat down to talk, Max had been able to breathe easier and really get into the football game, much to the relief of the rest of the guys.

For the next half-hour, Max concentrated totally on playing ball, his next favorite sport after Liz watching.

Max ran out to catch a long pass Kyle had thrown him when suddenly he felt a cold chill and froze. The football hit him square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him for a second, but he didn’t move. The hair on his body was standing straight up as goose bumps crawled all over him.

“Liz!” he whispered and swallowed a metal taste of fear. “LIZ!” he now shouted as he started to run to where the girls had been dancing.

The other guys didn’t question Max, they just followed, knowing something was wrong.

“Isabel? Where’s Liz?” Max cried out as he skidded to a halt at the bottom of the canyon where his sister was lying.

Isabel sat up and looked around. “I don’t know. Why?” she could tell from Max’s anxiousness, that something was wrong.

“God…LIZ!” Max cried out again in desperation and then zoomed in on the area across from them in the trees. He tore off in that direction followed by the others.

As he rounded the reservoir he came upon Tess and Maria calling out to Liz. “Okay Liz, you can come out, you won…we can’t find you.” They shouted.

“LIZ!” Max shouted again as he got nearer to the girls.

Maria and Tess went white at the look on Max’s face. They knew then that something was wrong. No one doubted that Max knew Liz was in trouble.

Max, frantic now, looked around, took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on Liz. He closed his eyes begging her to let him know where she was.

The others held their breaths in fear as they watched Max. And then they gasped when he screamed out the word ‘Nooooo’ in pain and dove into the water.

“Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!” Maria mumbled as she ran to the edge of the water with the rest of them and tried to see where Max had gone.

Tess gave a sob and Isabel held a fist to her mouth as Alex, Kyle and Michael dove into the water to help Max.

The water was murky due to the muddy ground and rocks and underground plants that grew around this area, making it impossible for Max to see anything. He tried not to panic and closed his eyes to again concentrate on Liz. Then he pushed off of a rock and headed for her.

Isabel cried out when she saw Max surface suddenly with a limp Liz in his arms. Michael, Alex and Kyle helped an exhausted Max out of the water but he shrugged them all off when he reached the edge and laid Liz gently down and brushed the water out of her face.

She was deathly pale and cold and blue looking. Maria screamed, and Tess and Isabel cried.

“Does anyone know CPR?” Alex shouted hysterically. He knew they were going to teach it later this year in school, but he didn’t know it now.

“No! God! Do something!” Kyle cried out, wanting to jump out of his skin he felt to helpless.

Michael was staring down at Liz shocked at how it felt like a small part of him was dying. He couldn’t imagine how Max was feeling.

Max didn’t hesitate or look around. He leaned down, put his hand over Liz’s still chest and tried to breathe life back into her. He didn’t know CPR, but he knew with his powers to heal, he could make her breathe again.

Alex couldn’t take it anymore. Watching Max hovering over Liz silently, he cried out and mumbled that he was going to call 911 but Isabel’s hand on Alex’s arm stopped him.

“Wait!” she insisted watching Max with her own breath held.

Alex looked at Isabel as if she’d lost her mind, but then heard a coughing and stared over at Liz and Max as Liz suddenly moved and started coughing.

He watched as Max sobbed and turned Liz over to help her expel the water in her lungs.

Michael’s knees gave out and he sat down next to Max and Liz, looking as pale as Liz did. Later he would wonder at his strong reaction, but now he was just numb.

Maria sobbed and came down next to Liz and held her hand as she stopped coughing up water and lay quietly in Max’s still shaking arms. “Liz! Oh God Liz!” was all she could say.

Tess and Isabel closed their eyes in relief and for the first time, Isabel was glad that they were alien and Max was able to bring Liz back.

“I’m…I’m okay.” Liz managed to say, seeing all the upset faces around her. Then she reached for Maria’s hand and grasped it tightly. “I’m okay Maria.” She said again with emphasis, knowing her friend needed to hear it.

Maria just nodded and took a deep breath to calm herself down. Then she looked over at Michael and frowned with concern. She let go of Liz’s hand and crawled a few feet over to where Michael still sat. “Hey, you okay?” she asked softly and placed a hand on his cold, still shaking form.

Michael nodded and also took deep breaths to calm down. He didn’t want anyone seeing him so upset.

“Max…”Liz whispered finally, looking up at Max and seeing that his eyes were closed and he was still cold and shaking himself.

Max opened his eyes and they burned down into Liz’s with all the fear he’d felt. “It’s okay Max!” Liz cried out at the intense pain she felt coming off of Max. She sat up and since she was already halfway in Max’s arms, she crawled the rest of the way and threw her arms around him. Max just held her tight, his eyes closed in relief.

Kyle finally broke the moment. “Ahhh…can someone tell me what the heck just happened?” he asked in total confusion. Alex too looked around for an answer.

Isabel and Tess looked at each other and silently came to the same conclusion. Neither Max nor Michael looked like they were going to explain, so Isabel took a deep breath and swallowed, hoping that her friends wouldn’t turn away from them when they knew the truth.

“Um…Max healed Liz.” Isabel said softly.

Alex and Kyle nodded. That much they had figured out.

“How?” Alex asked knowing Isabel wasn’t just going to explain if he didn’t ask outright.

Isabel bit her lip and then sighed. “We’re…different. We’re not quite like the rest of you.” She said…still trying to get the words out.

“Different? How different?” Kyle asked now, looking at Max then Isabel and then Tess.

Tess swallowed and seeing Isabel couldn’t finish she did.

“We’re aliens.” She just blurted out. There was no other way to say it.

Kyle stared at her and then laughed. Alex wanted to join him, but he saw all the serious faces around him, including Maria’s and Liz’s and knew they weren’t kidding.

Kyle stopped laughing and looked around as well, then back to Tess. “You’re not kidding are you?” he said slowly.

Tess looked scared as she shook her head solemnly at Kyle. Now she knew why Isabel had been afraid to tell Alex and Kyle. Tess’s stomach was in knots with the way Kyle was looking at her.

Alex and Kyle exchanged looks and sat down. They tried to be calm since everyone was waiting for their reactions.

It was obvious to them that Maria and Liz and Michael knew about all of this. And if they weren’t worried or scared about it, then Alex and Kyle knew they shouldn’t be either.

“Would you…would you mind starting at the beginning?” Alex finally asked calmly for he and Kyle.

***************

"God...you too Michael?" Alex swallowed after Tess finished telling them what they knew so far about themselves.

Michael nodded seriously and held himself tightly together wondering what his friends were going to feel about them all now. He wanted to pretend he didn't care, but he did.

"Max...if you weren't...if you hadn't been able to heal Liz...she'd be... Thank you." Kyle managed to get out.

Max shivered again at the thought of how close he had come to losing Liz. But nodded at Kyle's thanks.

"Kyle, Alex, we can't tell anyone about Max, Michael, Isabel or Tess you know that right?" Liz said just to be sure.

They both nodded knowing the dangers having lived around Roswell all of their lives.

"Man...my granddad was right though. All this time." Kyle couldn't help but say.

"Liz...how did you fall into the water without us hearing the splash?" Tess asked finally.

"I didn't fall in. I thought I could hide in the water and then got my foot caught in a weed and couldn't get lose." she said still holding on tight to Max who gripped her tighter at her words of getting tangled up in the weeds.

"Max...how did you know that Liz was in trouble?" Alex asked in amazement. He was still coming to terms with all he'd heard, and had a million questions.

"I...I just knew. It felt like...like part of me was suddenly...gone." he said hoarsely and then hugged Liz tightly to him once more.

They all just stared at Max. They had all accepted the special bond between Max and Liz all this time, but to actually hear about how it worked, shocked them all.

"God Max." was all Maria could say as she realized the true extent of Max's connection to Liz. The others could only silently agree as they watched the two curled up together.

***************

Nancy Parker carried a laundry basket into her daughter's room and placed it on the neatly made bed. She hummed as she took out the folded clean clothes and began to put them away in Liz's drawers.

She glanced at the shelf by her daughter's bed and smiled when she saw pictures and trinkets on it.

There were pictures of Liz and all of her friends, and of her and her parents and of her and her grandma. And there were also souvenirs and trinkets that Claudia had brought back for Liz from many of her trips.

Then she noticed that one shelf had only pictures of her and Max and of little things Max had given her over the past few years. At first Nancy smiled, but then she looked closer at the heart shaped drawings on some of the things Max had given her, and Nancy swallowed.

She tried to calm herself. She knew that Max and Liz's connection was strong and that someday there would be no doubt that they would marry, but to see them admitting their love so early worried her. She bit her lip wondering if Jeff was right, and she should have the "sex" talk with Liz.

Nancy didn't think that Max would ever hurt Liz or that they would do anything foolish, but Liz was getting older now and would soon become a woman. She must be feeling all kinds of things for a girl her age, and with Max so close to her, and her bond to him so intense, Nancy worried that maybe Jeff was right and she should talk to her daughter.

Nancy berated herself for not having faced this sooner. She knew she had been putting it off as long as possible. Trying to hold on to Liz's childhood till the last minute, but knew it was time to at least talk with Liz and let her know to be careful and what to expect from her own body.

She knew it was too soon for Max and Liz to be thinking of adult loving, but she knew that the hormones going thought their young bodies at this age must be confusing and that they might just wonder and think about experimenting. Nancy trusted Max not to hurt Liz, but she knew it wouldn't be long before they were in their teens and things would have the potential to heat up.