Looking out the window, she noted that it was mid-afternoon. “I’ve probably been gone overnight. I’m glad Mom’s in Santa Fe for two weeks.” Shutting her closet doors, she looked at her clock and noted that it said 4:25.

“Oh God, I have to be at the Crashdown in 5 minutes!” Quickly changing into her uniform, she transported herself to the back door of the Crashdown and walked in. She walked over to her locker and got the stupid headband out and put it on. She turned around and saw Liz approaching her, not looking so good and not looking at her.

“Hey Liz,” Maria said. Liz dropped the menus she was carrying and looked up slowly. “Ma-Maria?” she asked slowly, her voice quavering.

“Yeah, who were you expecting? Madonna?” Liz didn’t answer. She just ran up to Maria and tackled her in a hug, tears streaming down her face. “Whoa, miss me much? I’m glad to see you too.”

“Where have you been Maria?”

“Been?” Maria asked, really confused. Liz only ignored her question and said, “We thought you were dead. You’ve been missing for 5 days. When we couldn’t find out what happened to you, we thought you had died. Everyone was so upset, especially Michael. He went ballistic when he found out you had died, he almost blew up this building, I swear.”

Liz kept on talking, but Maria had tuned her out. < 5 days? 5 DAYS? I couldn’t have been gone 5 days. I was only over there for 4 hours. >

Suddenly Maria spotted Ander outside the Crashdown and her eyes narrowed at the smile on his face. Giving Liz a quick hug, she said, “I promise Liz, I’ll explain everything later. I need to go talk to someone.”

“Ok,” Liz said with a huge smile on her face as she went back to what she was doing. Maria stormed out of the back and headed straight for the front door, which was open. Not caring who heard her and her native language, she wasn’t halfway across the main room of the Crashdown when she yelled, “Ander! You have some explaining to do!”

“Hello, Maria,” Ander said in English, trying to get Maria to speak in English again. “What is going on?” she asked in English, getting the hint that she shouldn’t use her native language in front of people, “Why does Liz think was dead and why was I missing for 5 days?”

“Well, Maria, space travel takes a long time. It took you 2 and a half days to get from here to home. You were traveling millions of light years. They thought you were dead because you disappeared without a trace.” Ander looked past her and said, “But, I guess it’s my turn to go. You’re about to have a visitor.”

“What?” Maria turned around and saw Michael approaching her. “Oh-no,” Maria said, not wanting to explain what had been happening in the last few days.

***

Max, Michael, and Isabel entered the Crashdown and sat in their usual booth. Max slid in to one side of the booth, facing the door of the Crashdown, and Michael slid in next to him. Isabel sat down across from them and gave Max a look. Max looked at Michael’s solemn form and gave Isabel a look back. Ever since they’d heard that Maria had died, Michael had gone into a state of lethargy.

He’d given up all hope for everything and was ready to most likely kill himself. Max and Isabel had been trying their hardest to keep Michael from going insane and deal with Maria’s death at the same time.

Liz walked over to them and handed them their menus. “Hey, what do you guys want to drink?” Max looked up at Liz and noticed how tired she was. She was pale and there were dark circle under eyes that indicated that she hadn’t slept. Max shot her a sympathizing look and said, “I’ll have a coke.”

“I’ll have a Sprite,” Isabel said. Liz looked at Michael who hadn’t told her what he wanted. Max kicked Michael under the table and Michael sat up. “What? Oh, I’ll have a cherry coke.”

“Ok, I’ll be back with your drinks.” Liz disappeared from their table and Isabel looked over at Michael. “Come on, Michael, cheer up. Maria wouldn’t want you to be so sad.”

“You don’t get it Isabel. You just don’t get it.” Michael turned away. < You really don’t get it. I loved her and I never got to tell her. > Michael let a lone tear run down his cheek before wiping it away. < No, you’re not going to cry. You have to be strong. > The table was silent for a few moments before Isabel looked up and paled.

“Oh. My. God,” she said as she was Maria storm out of the back and out of the restaurant. Maria yelled something in a language she hadn’t heard before, but Michael would recognize her voice anywhere.

He perked up immediately and watched as Maria stormed out and stood in front of a guy who looked much older than her. He could see that Maria was really annoyed at the guy she was talking to. Liz walked over to them, carrying their drinks with a big smile on her face. “She’s back,” Liz said, not believing it.

“Do you know where she was?” Max asked. Liz shook her head and said, “I don’t know. I don’t care, really. I’m just happy that she’s back.” Max nodded and they watched her talk to the guy outside when Michael stood up and walked outside. The guy she was talking to spotted Michael walking towards her and walked away as Maria turned around to face Michael.

Michael didn’t say a word, he just wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight, afraid that if he let her go, she would disappear.

Michael felt the tears roll down his face, but he didn’t care. Maria was back. He missed her more than he thought possible. As he hugged her, Maria smiled. < He really does care for me. > Maria suddenly felt the need to breathe and she said, “Michael, I know you’re happy to see me, but could you loosen your arms so I can…” Maria never got to say what she wanted to say because before she could do anything about it, Michael had captured her lips with his own in a passionate kiss.

The kiss lasted for a while and Michael released her lips long enough so she could draw in a deep breath. They stood there kissing in the street for a few minutes before Maria pulled away. As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn’t be with him until she defeated the evil mage, Luke, who was coming after her amulet and her. Neither one of them spoke for a few moments until Michael said, “I missed you.”

“You did?” Maria said, very surprised.

“More than you can imagine. When I thought you had died, I felt like my world had ended. I-I think I love you, Maria.” Tears sprang to Maria’s eyes as she heard him say those words. “I love you too, Michael. But I can’t be with you…”

“What? Why?”

“Yet,” she finished. “There are a few things I have to take care of before I can really be with you. And God help me, I really want to be with you. But I have to finish a few things before we can be together. Trust me, I love you so much. I could never let you go. Do you trust me?” “Yes, I trust you.”