“Liz I’m so unbelievably happy to see you, but there is something I have to do first.” Liz backed up a few steps and looked up at Max. She saw a man with a pained expression on his face.

“What is it?” Liz questioned.

“I have to speak to Maria. Is she here?”

When Maria walked through the door, she was in a state of shock. Instantly, she realized that a face was missing.

“Maria, please sit down.” There was nothing else to do, so Maria sat. Max gently opened Maria’s hand and placed two familiar rings into it. “He wanted you to have these.”

“He-he’s not coming back, is he?” Suddenly, they heard the door slam. Max looked back to where Isabel had been standing, and then he looked back to Maria. Maria saw tears in his eyes that he was desperately trying to hold back.

“Maria,” Max started slowly, “on our planet about two months ago, there was a fierce battle. Michael was wounded and I swear I tried my best, I tried to heal him but….” Max could no longer hold back those tears. “He said he was sorry for leaving you. He told me to tell you ‘Me too’.” Maria got up to run, but Max grabbed her. “It was too late to come back. We were forced to fight until the war was over, but that’s not where he wanted to be.” Maria was out the door in less than a second.

She was driving. She drove until she reached their spot. Their rock. Maria loved coming here with Michael. She remembered the first time he brought her here. Michael had broken her heart once more and had decided to make it up to her. It was the only time she ever heard him speak the words ‘I love you’. Since then, she would say it and he would reply with a smile and a ‘Me too’.

After that night, he would often arrive at the Crashdown after her shift and they would drive here together. Maria remembered how close they became. He would tell her things that no one else knew. Then, she remembered the day they drove in silence. Even after they arrived at the rock, he didn’t speak, so together they stared at the stars. He finally broke down and told her he was leaving. “I’ll be back, I promise,” he told her, before they shared their last kiss.

“It was the only promise you ever broke,” Maria said staring up at the night sky. Next, she started yelling. “How dare you Guerin, how dare you. Of all the promises you made, this one you had to break.” Only this time, no one yelled back. Maria climbed back into her car. She had been wrong though; he hadn’t completely broken his promise.

One week later, they buried Michael at the local cemetery. His stone was to read ‘Michael Guerin: Beloved Friend, Brother, And Son. “That’s right son. Mr. & Mrs. Evans paid for the whole thing. No matter how much you thought you didn’t belong, they loved you just as much as they loved Max and Isabel. It’s late Michael; I should go now. I love you, Guerin.”

You see Maria went to their rock every night and told Michael about the current events in her and their friends’ lives. Maria married and had kids. She led a full and happy life; however, there was always a special place in her heart for a certain Czechoslovakian who sent her world spinning. Maria was never sad that she had met Michael, even with all the hurt he brought. She could have missed the pain, but she also would have missed every touch, every kiss, and every ‘Me too’ that was whispered into the night as she left their rock.

The Dance-Garth Brooks

Lookin’ back on the memory of
The dance we shared beneath the stars above
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known that you’d ever say good-bye

And now, I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I’d of had to miss the dance

Holding you, I held everything
For a moment wasn’t I a king
But if I’d only known how the key would fall
Hey, who’s to say
You know I might have changed it all

And now, I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I’d of had to miss the dance