"No, doubt, Babe! Watch for my name in lights!" Maria called from the passenger's window of the beat-up red car Alex drove. When she could no longer see Liz, Maria repositioned herself inside the car. "You know, it's really hard to be sad right now," she spoke smiling at the California driver's license in her hand. The face was hers, but the name was new. "Marianna" Maria spoke.

Two months had passed since the Czechs left town. Alex, Liz and Maria became closer than ever as they relied on each other for strength.

Liz refused to leave her room for days following the departure. Her journal became her savior. She chronicled all her feelings and emotions leaving not one minor thought untold. She shared her written words with Alex and Maria knowing empathy can be healing. And it was. She reasoned with herself that she had lived the majority of her life knowing Max as nothing more than a school mate...a name among many. She was thankful for the short time she did know him as more, but she felt positive that her life would one day return to normal. Liz knew she would never forget Max or the days they enjoyed together, but she also knew that she wanted to smile when she remembered him. She wanted to be able to one day tell her children about a great man she once knew. She wanted closure. Liz knew that it would kill Max if he knew she refused to go on with her life. She knew Max well enough to know that he would blame himself if Liz wallowed for the rest of her life. She knew he would want her to continue...living.

In the weeks after Michael left, Maria suffered depression, weight loss, and bouts of physical illness. Afraid a doctor would send her to a psychiatrist, Maria turned to friends to help her through the ordeal. She hung onto every last expression Michael portrayed, every last sigh he let escape, and the final words he admitted in the moments before he left for Antar. Maria seemed to have the hardest time dealing with the situation. Being left by Michael resurfaced old emotions she hadn't felt since her father left. The mix pushed her deeper and deeper until she felt she was drowning in an atrocious ocean of pain. Eventually, she became numb to all reason, numb to all emotion, numb to all pain.

In the middle of an anti-alien ice cream sob fest, Alex made an unbelievably wild suggestion. "Let's leave, too." Liz and Maria thought he was kidding and quickly forgot the idea. Alex felt a sense of responsibility for his two best friends. He wrestled with his own emotions to be strong for the two girls. He wanted to be their shoulder. Still, he had trouble empathizing. Though Alex loved Isabel, he had never had a real relationship with her. He wasn't able to fully understand how much pain Maria and Liz were experiencing. Alex lost three friends. But Maria and Liz lost much more.

Alex knew Liz was handling the situation with more vigor than was Maria. When Alex felt that Liz was able to once again stand on her own, he focused all his efforts on bringing Maria to the same plane. A week later, while Alex and Maria were waiting for Liz at her locker after school, Alex told Maria he had been giving the idea more thought. "I know a way," he informed Maria very seriously.

"I can't leave Roswell," Maria nervously replied. "Who will take care of my mom? Did you know she left the iron on for two straight days last week?" she joked trying to change the subject. Alex opted against pushing the idea and tactfully chose to accept Maria's change in subject.

Alex began losing any hope of his girls moving on. Then, a week after dropping the idea to leave Roswell, he woke to Maria knocking on his bedroom window. "Maria?" he asked opening the panes for her to come inside.

"Let's do it," she announced broadcasting the smile Alex had missed since the Czechs left.

"Do what?" Alex smiled knowing full well what Maria meant.

"Let's get a change in scenery."

Alex worked his magic and in a matter of days the pair had new identities and new lives waiting for them in California. Though the pair shared their plans with Liz and begged her to join them, Liz declined saying she could never leave Roswell. "He's not coming back," Maria told her friend hoping that her decision to stay was not based on empty hope. Still, Liz refused. She told Alex and Maria that her life was in the small town and she could never see herself living anywhere else. However, Liz warned her friends that she would probably be visiting so much she would wear out her welcome. "Not possible," Maria said sincerely hugging Liz their last night in Roswell.

Maria and Alex drove for hours taking turns behind the wheel. They laughed about old times and fantasized about times to come. "Thank you, Alex," Maria said suddenly turning the mood very serious. "I really don't think I would have had this kind of courage without you."

"You deserve it," Alex replied meaning every word he said. Maria was his sister, his partner in crime, and most of all, his best friend. Lightening the atmosphere, he continued, "Besides, I'm counting on you to make me a very rich man! You better sing your heart out in California."

Maria laughed excitedly at the idea of pursuing a music career. Singing on stage had been her dream since childhood when she stood before her mirror and sang into a hairbrush. On numerous occasions she had accepted Grammy awards donning her mother's pearls and red lipstick. A fuchsia boa Liz's grandmother gave her on her 10th birthday became a regular accessory used during back porch performances.

Alex glanced to his right and smiled knowingly at his daydreaming companion. He knew her thoughts...knew her hopes. And he was ecstatic at having the opportunity to be a part of her inevitable success. "After all, he thought. "What does Roswell hold for me? Isabel had to leave before we even had a chance to develop a relationship. Even if I pursued a career in computers, Roswell doesn't have the kind of potential employment I would need to be successful. I've always been pretty good at PR, though...I could sell an idea to a dead man. I am sure I could sell the idea of Maria. And once I've convinced a record label to hear her audition, her voice will sell itself."

Maria looked up from the new drivers' license she affectionately held between her fingers and caught Alex smiling at her. "What?" she asked laughing.

"This is gonna be good," Alex answered.