"You tell me Liz," Isabel said lightly. "I'm your guide, but this is still your journey. You are the one who brought us here."

Liz turned to Isabel. "Is this a dream? What is happening to me?"

Suddenly, Kyle came out of the kitchen with a bowl of chips and a soda. "Hurry Dad, the game is about to start," Kyle yelled and sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV.

Tess came in a few seconds later and sat down next to Kyle. She immediately reached for the remote that Kyle had laid down on the coffee table. "You don't mind if I watch this Christmas movie that is coming on, do you?"

Liz looked toward Kyle and Tess then back at Isabel who was laughing at the transaction between Tess and Kyle. "As my guide, can you at least tell me when this is?"

Isabel sighed. "I believe it is this Christmas Eve in the Valenti household."

"And what am I supposed to learn here?" Liz sighed. She had no idea what was happening to her, but she knew that she was here to find answers.

"I don't know, Liz," Isabel said simply and turned back to Tess and Kyle who were now physically fighting over the remote.

Liz turned back to Tess and Kyle. Liz was surprised by the sight. If Liz didn't know any better, she would swear that Tess had a major thing for Kyle and vice versa. Kyle mentioned that they had gotten closer, but Liz had no idea how close they had gotten. When Liz said something to Tess about it, she had blown it off. "Okay you two, what is this about?" Liz looked up to see that the Sheriff had come into the room. He was laughing at the sight of Tess and Kyle.

Tess and Kyle pulled apart with Tess retaining the remote. She smirked at Kyle and Kyle sighed. "Looks like we'll be watching a Christmas movie, Dad."

Tess grinned triumphantly and flipped the station. Jim sat down on the reclining chair near the couch and sighed, "You remember the good old days, son."

"You mean when we didn't have panty hose hanging in the shower and potpourri on the coffee table," Kyle said with a smile.

Jim nodded. "But you know what, we also didn't have any home cooked meals or a reason to put up a Christmas tree." Liz watched as Tess looked up and smiled at Jim. "Thanks Tess, for making this a really special Christmas. You are welcome to stay here as long as you want."

"Ditto," Kyle said seriously and then he tried to reach for the remote one last time.

Tess pulled it away before he could grab it and laughed. "Being nice to me isn't going to get you the remote," Tess said and then turned back to the TV. "And by the way, thank you for making me feel welcome," Tess said nonchalantly and then turned up the volume on the TV because 'A Christmas Story" was starting.

Liz couldn't believe what she was seeing. Tess and the Valentis were like a real family. "Is this real?" Liz asked Isabel.

"Yes."

Liz turned to Isabel and asked, "How do you know?"

Isabel looked down at Liz. "You have too many questions. Look, what we saw in your past was real and what we see here in the present is real and what we will see in your future will be real unless you do something to change it. You've lost your way, Liz. I'm here to help you."

"Lost my way?"

"What would you call it? You've convinced Max that you slept with Kyle, because a future version of Max told you to help him have present day Max fall out of love with you," Isabel paused and sighed. "Just saying that gives me a headache. Anyway, you've been holding onto this lie because you can't see what's right in front of you." Isabel pointed toward Tess, Kyle, and Jim and continued, "Liz, you have already changed the future. In that alternate timeline, Jim and Kyle were friendly to Tess, but they never thought of her as part of their family. She was a guest in their house, nothing more. When she left, it didn't matter to them. Look at them now. Do you think Tess would want to leave this? This is the closest thing to family that Tess has ever had."

"But Tess is destined to be with Max and I can't get in the way of that. I just can't take the chance that she will leave. The only sure way to make her stay is for me to stay away from Max. Too much is at stake," Liz said carefully as she looked at Isabel. When she finished she looked down at the ground. She didn't have a choice. She had to push Max away. She wanted to believe that Tess would stay even if Max and her were together, but she couldn't take the chance. In the alternate timeline, Max had said Isabel and Michael had died. More than likely Maria, Alex, and her family were dead too. Liz couldn't be responsible for so much destruction. She just couldn't.

Liz then looked to Isabel. "How do you know about what the future version of Max asked of me?" Liz asked. She thought this had to be a dream, but why would she dream about Isabel? Was Isabel dream walking and causing these things to happen? Did Isabel know the truth? "Are you real?"

"As real as a dream can be," Isabel said and then grabbed Liz's hand. "There's more you must see." The room shimmered and disappeared around her.

When Isabel and Liz reappeared again, they were standing on a sidewalk and Max was standing nearby talking to someone.

"I want you to know that if they ever need me, I will be there for them," Max said carefully.

"I know you will Max."

Liz glanced at Isabel. "Who is that?" Isabel shrugged.

"Get outta here," the man said with a smile on his face.

"I don't know where to go," Max said slowly.

"Isabel," Liz gasped. "How could he think that?"

"It's Christmas, you should be with your loved ones. That's where I'll be, that's where I'll always be."

The man walked up to the nearby house and materialized inside.

"That was the man that was haunting Max." Liz realized and asked, "Is this Christmas Eve too?" After Isabel nodded Liz continued, "Why would Max think he had nowhere to go?"

"He's lost Liz. One of the most important things in his life is gone. Someone he thought he could count on no matter what has been taken away from him," Isabel explained.

Liz felt her heart being ripped out her chest. She knew her betrayal had hurt Max, but she did what she had to do. She did what the future version of Max had asked her to do. "He has you. He can always count on you. And anyway, he came to midnight services," Liz finished, looking where Max had walked.

"Yeah, he has me, and he knows he can count on me, but he needs you, Liz" Isabel sighed and looked at her brother as he turned and walked in the direction of their house. "He's trying to heal. He's trying to move on, because he thinks that's what you want. He thinks you don't want to be with him. But he can't let go. He'll never be able to let go. You are too much a part of him now."

Liz continued to look in the direction Max had walked. "It will take time, but he has a destiny. If he focuses on that, he'll be all right."

Isabel turned back to Liz abruptly. "Do you have any idea what you meant to Max, Liz?"

Liz stepped back at the harshness of Isabel's words and nodded. "Of course I do."

"I don't think you do or else you would understand what he's been going through." Isabel turned in the direction of her brother. "We have one more stop to make before I take you back."

Isabel reached out and grabbed Liz's arm. The street shimmered and disappeared around them.

------

When Isabel and Liz reappeared again, they were standing in what only could be described as a war room. There were maps along one of the walls and what looked to be some sort of super computer in the middle of the room. Max was sitting alone in front of one of the computers, looking at a blank screen. His hair was long like the Max Liz saw from the future.

Suddenly, a door opened behind Isabel and Liz and an older version of Tess walked through the door. "Max," Tess said as she came into the room. The older Tess was of course still beautiful, but she was visibly tired with wrinkles under her eyes.

Liz watched as the older Tess walked up behind Max and put a hand on his shoulder. "The Christmas ceasefire is still holding. You should come with me. I set up a nice Christmas dinner for all of us. If you don't hurry Michael and Kyle will have it all eaten before we get there. Someone else can sit here and keep an eye on things."

Max turned and Liz gasped. There was a scar that extended from his forehead through his eye and down his left cheek. He was wearing a patch over his eye. He looked so worn and tired, not at all like the Max she knew. "How far is this in the future?" Liz asked Isabel, not really expecting an answer.

"Do you really think this ceasefire will hold?" Max asked bitterly. "Christmas is a human holiday after all."

"I don't know Max, but I know we have to take the relief where we can get it and I know you shouldn't be alone right now," Tess said and she pulled up a chair next to Max. "Are you thinking about Liz and Isabel?"

Max nodded and turned back toward the blank computer screen. "It's that time of year. You know, Michael and I used to call Isabel the Christmas Nazi." Max laughed lightly and continued, "We even got my father using the term." Max looked at Tess and frowned. "I can't believe I let it happen. I can't believe I let Nicholas trick me. It's my fault Isabel and Liz are dead."

"You can't blame yourself Max."

"There's no one else to blame. I'm the leader. And it was because of me that Nicholas took Liz. He knew he could use her to get to me. We weren't together, but Nicholas knew that Liz still meant a lot to me. If only I could have forgiven her for sleeping with Kyle."

"Max..."

"Well, if I could have forgiven her, she and I would have been together. She wouldn't have left Roswell and Nicholas would never have been able to get close to her. Of course, it didn't quite work the way he planned. He didn't get the chance to kill me, but he did kill Liz and he also got to Isabel."

"Stop, Max," Tess exclaimed.

Liz couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was dead and so was Isabel? She looked at Isabel next to her. Isabel's eyes were tearing up as she watched her brother. This couldn't be real.

"I know it was 13 years ago, but I still feel the pain like it happened yesterday," Max turned around and started to get up out of his chair. He pulled himself up, squared his shoulders and walked over to the wall that contained the maps. "If Isabel were here we might have had a chance against Khivar."

"Maybe..." Tess said hesitantly.

Max turned back to Tess. "I'm so tired. We will never be able to win this war. There are too many of them and they are too strong."

"We can't give up."

"I know, I know. We can't give up the Granolith, not without a fight," Max said in a singsong voice. "If only we could use it to help win this war."

"They are losing the war?" Liz turned to Isabel. "How can that be? What happened to you? What happened to me?" Liz stopped. She couldn't finish her thought. What she had put Max through meant nothing? The world was still going to end. No, this couldn't be.

"I don't know Liz. This is your..."

"Don't tell me this is my journey again. I don't think I can handle it. Is this the future?"

"This is one possible future. Another possible future was the one the future version of Max asked you to stop."

"So you're telling me I need to change this future too?"

Isabel sighed. "Don't you see by now? Haven't you learned?" She then turned back to the Isabel and Max sitting nearby. "Watch."

Liz turned toward them.

"You have an idea?" Max asked, looking at Tess apprehensively.

"Michael found something in the upstairs of the Crashdown when we went scavenging in Roswell last week. I was talking with Serena and she confirmed that it could be done."

"Serena," Liz whispered. She recognized the name. The future version of Max referred to her when he explained that the Granolith was used to rip a tear in time space. Liz looked to Isabel. "What's happening?"

"Watch," Isabel said simply, her eyes still on Tess and Max.

"Time travel, that's insane," Max exclaimed slamming his hand on the table. "Anyway, how can that help us? There are too many uncertainties, too much can go wrong."

"We should try," Tess said.

"Why?" Max asked. "What can we do that will change anything?" he said in a defeated voice.

"It changed things the last time."

Liz gasped. "How does she know?"

Tess reached into the coat she was wearing and pulled out a book. Liz recognized it right away. It was her journal. Liz couldn't believe what was happening right in front of her.

"Max, read this," Tess said as she stood up and walked over to where Max was standing.

"What is it?" Max asked as he took it from Tess.

Tess smiled. "It's Liz's journal."

Max took a step back and stared at Tess. "Her what?"

"It's her journal. There's something in there you need to know about."

Max looked down at the journal clasped in his hands. "Isabel," Liz said and turned to Isabel. "They know."

Isabel nodded and sighed. "That's how I found out. Tess came to me and asked me to help her."

"Tess?"

"This Tess, the one we see here. She explained to me what had happened and asked me to help her make it right." Isabel looked at her brother who was now reading Liz's journal.

Liz gasped. "No, that can't be."

Isabel turned to Liz and smiled, "It's pretty crazy isn't it." Isabel paused and looked carefully at Liz. "You have to trust me Liz. This is what will happen if you don't do something." Liz couldn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. "Tess came to me like Max came to you. She chose that particular moment in time, because she knew that at that point she would never leave Roswell," Isabel explained and when Liz didn't say anything she continued. "She came to me instead of you or Max, because she knew she could convince me of the truth. You have to tell Max, Liz. You have to stop lying to him."

Liz couldn't believe what was happening. She wanted this all to be over. She didn't want the responsibility again. "Why can't you?" Liz forced out.

Isabel reached out and touched Liz on the arm reassuringly. "It has to be you Liz."

"So you are real? You're in my dream?" Liz let the tears flow. She couldn't hold them back anymore.

"I had to find a way to convince you."

"So you manipulated my dream? How?"

Isabel looked over to where Tess was. "This Tess helped me and it also helped that Max changed you. I doubt I could have done this with anyone else," Isabel said and looked back to Liz. "The Christmas Carol theme of past, present, and future was my idea," Isabel said with a smile.

Liz stepped back and looked down at the ground. "No, this is too much. I can't do this anymore," Liz exclaimed shaking her head back and forth. She didn't want to do this anymore. She couldn't. She changed the future to save Max and the others and ended up causing even more pain. If she did it again, who knows what could happen. No, she wouldn't, she couldn't.

"You have to, Liz," Isabel said.

Liz looked up at Isabel. "I changed the future once already and looked what happened. What if it's even worse the next time?"

Isabel sighed. "It's a big gamble I know, but what choice do you really have?" Isabel asked and then looked over at Max again. "But in the end, wouldn't you and Max be better off together, no matter what happens. I've seen my brother with you and without you. He is stronger with you. Aren't you stronger with him too?"

Liz cried. She couldn't take anymore. She didn't know what else to say.