Maria turned from the table with her notepad and orders. She sat at the counter and handed Liz the sheet, who put it in the order wheel.

“So, talk to me girl. What’s the problem?" Liz turned back to her friend and turned on the milkshake machine.

“I can't tell you now. Patrol duty is watching us”.

Maria looked over at Mr. Parker who was sitting behind the kitchen counter watching them.

“Ok. Break time”. She took off her apron and grabbed Liz’s hand. She dragged her to the back room and Liz sat on the bottom of the stairs. She reached into her shirt and pulled out the necklace. “Woah! Did Max buy you that?”

“Yeah, right.” Liz’s sarcasm surprised Maria and even herself.

“Liz, is everything ok?” Liz sighed loudly and stood up.

“What is happening Maria?! I mean, you broke up with Michael, Max’s dad is after all of us, well almost all of us.”

“Liz, calm down. What will he possibly find out? And even if he did, would it be so bad?” This time Maria sat on the bottom step and Liz paced around.

“He took my necklace. The one he gave me, you know, before leaving. He’s stressed about the search, but he is more worried about me.”

“Worried about you? Why? That’s ridiculous.” Liz rushed to the stairs and took off the necklace with the foreign planet. She looked at Maria frightened.

“I'm changing Maria.”

“Oh my God, hun, you’re losing it!” Liz took Maria’s hand and placed it on her own.

“Liz? Liz what the heck….”

“Look at me. Maria just look at me!” Maria looked up worried and as soon as she and Liz made eye contact, Maria felt the strange dizziness of a flash.

FLASH

“She’s dead! Eliza come on!” Her hand was tightly wrapped in Zan’s and they were running to see Larek.

“Your Highness…” Larek looked lost, unsure of their rush. He had just been sleeping and was still half asleep.

“We’re under attack. Vilandra is dead and Ava is missing. Kivar somehow found his way into the city and Miss Eliza needs to find her way back home.” They were hysterical and by the time Larek heard it all, he was rushing to find Serena. She came rushing out with bags.

“Your Highness please, let us leave immediately.”

“Serena, we have to help. If this Kingdom comes to ruin, Earth is also hopeless.”

“If we don't leave, you will die!” Serena looked pleadingly at her princess and took her hand.

“I'm not leaving Serena!” She turned away and looked at Zan and the look in his eyes scared them.

“Round up the troops Larek. We’re going to war.” Zan let go of Eliza’s hand and kissed her passionately before running off. Serena stared in disbelief and Larek could barely move. “Oh no…oh no, no, no. This is not good.” Serena rushed Eliza inside and ran into the chem lab. She took out the quartz and began mixing chemicals into the middle of it.

“Great! This is just great. I'm watching over the heir to Earth who’s now in love with the married King of Antar who’s under attack by his sister’s lover who killed her. I have got to save this planet!”

END OF FLASH Maria’s eyes widened and she gasped.

“How did you do that?”

“I don't know.” Liz drew her hand slowly away. Maria kept her eyes glued on Liz who was now sitting next to her on the steps.

“Who’s Eliza?” Maria tried to lighten the mood by smiling. She was truly concerned about her friend. She wanted to help, in any way possible.

“That’s the scary part. I wasn't sure. But then I started to feel like… it was so obvious. So familiar. Then I remembered something Ava said to me…”

MEMORY:

“You really loved Zan, didn’t you?” Liz looked at Ava with her pink, blonde, and black hair and her facial piercings. “Yea, but I never really felt it back. I always felt like he was just waiting for someone else to come into his life.”

REALITY-

“So what you’re saying is that you think Eliza is Zan’s 'other'?” Maria was now genuinely interested in the whole situation.

“Yea…but if that’s the case then who’s Max’s 'other'?”

Liz lowered her eyes sadly and Max walked in the back door.

“Ok…break time over." Maria smiled and got up to leave.

“I'll cover for you Liz.” She winked at them both and went out the door into the dining area of the Crashdown. Max went closer to Liz who hadn't stood up from the stairs.

“Can we talk?” Max tried to make eye contact with Liz who refused to look up at him.

“Sure.” She got up and started to walk upstairs, as Max slowly followed. They reached her room and he quietly shut the door. He turned to look at her and she was finally looking at him with sad eyes.

“Liz…” He walked over to Liz who was by the window and reached out to hold her hand. She opened it and he looked down at the gold shimmering half-heart with an intricate design of a planet he strangely recognized.

“Liz?” It was now a confused question and he took it from her quiet hands and held it up to the sunlight.

“Umm…it’s the moon. The relationship between the Earth and moon was thought to be spiritual and eternal by the Native American Indians Grandma Claudia was always studying. I found it in one of her boxes and thought it was kind of nice.”

“Oh…spiritual & eternal.” He reached over to her neck and pulled out the Earth half.

“Can I keep this?” Liz looked straight into Max’s eyes slightly amused.

“What for? I mean I don't mind or anything, but what would you do with it? You probably wouldn't even wear it, you know you don't really like jewelry.” Liz tried hard to convince him, knowing that if he kept it, he'd see the flashes and she needed to figure out what they meant first.

“That’s what I came to talk to you about. Liz... when I think of you, I think of eternal. Forever.”

“Max…”

“Just hear me out for a second, ok?” Liz nodded softly and sat on the bed. He sighed loudly and profusely and sat next to her.

“There’s something about you Liz Parker. Something I've never been able to understand. From the second I saw you I knew… I loved you….”

“Max that was third grade…” “I not only loved you, but I felt this intense attraction towards you that I couldn't explain. I used to dream about how I'd tell you who I really was. Why? I mean my instinct was immediately to hide from anyone and everyone. But not you. To me you were always so different. Like I knew that I could trust you…” He looked over at Liz and turned her face to his. He stared into her now watery eyes and felt his heart reach out to her as it had the day he'd told her his secret.

"What is it about you Liz? I've been asking myself that question for years. Why is it I need you so? It's like when I'm not with you, I go crazy. You bring out the stronger side of me... the human side." He whispered the last sentence and touched her face.

"I wanna be with you Liz. For now and forever, just you." Liz smiled and then sadly took Max's hand away from her face.

"But that can't happen Max." Her comment confused him. He knew she loved him and she was going to help him find his child because she didn't want to lose him. He didn't want to lose her either. But he couldn't understand why she was so sad.

"Why not?" It was all he could say.

"Because we don't belong together. You know Max, I don't even think you and Tess belong together. I think the love of your life is still out there. Your soul mate... and she's still looking for you."

"If there's one thing I know Liz, it's that I can't look anywhere else. I know what it feels like to be with you..." He paused and looked at Liz who recongnized the words he was saying as her own. "And I know what it's like to be without you. I don't feel complete unless I'm with you. That's what being a soul mate is... isn't it? Two halves of one whole."

Finally, he saw a genuine smile on Liz's lips and he couldn't help but smile himself. She looked down shyly and her hair fell softly from behind her ear onto her face. Max sat in shock for a few seconds, trying to understand the image that had so suddenly flashed in his head. His breathing grew quick as he realized what he'd seen. He saw the beautiful dark-haired, dark eyed princess look down shyly and he raised her head to kiss her goodbye. They knew at this point they would die. Kivar had taken over the castle and was on a killing spree. But there was hope. He and his princess knew about the secret Granolith mission and their hope for restoring the kingdom once again.

"Until we meet again my love." Max whispered, remembering the last moments with her. Liz looked at him strangely amused.

"What?" He looked at her shocked and then looked back down at his half of the necklace still lying in one of his hands.