Tess stared at Danala, seated across from her in a booth at Senor Chow's. "I can't do that!"

"You can and you will." Her sister replied, taking a casual sip of her Cherry Cola. "I told you that Liz Parker is all that is standing in the way of the salvation of our planet. It's up to you Sabrya. It's your job to see that your destiny as the mother of the chosen one proceeds uninterrupted."

Tess fell back against the booth. "But Liz is my friend." Tess whispered. "I don't love Max. Not to mention, he's not even here! How am I supposed to have a child with someone stuck on another planet?"

Danala shrugged, tossed her blonde head. "He'll be back. Sooner than we might expect." Danala scowled at her watch. "Dammit! I have to go. I have a date. Listen. I'll meet you at the pod chamber later tonight. Have a plan. I mean it Sabrya! You have to stop waffling about this. You've always known your destiny." Tess' sister stood up, came to stand beside her. Tess turned to look up at her sister, feeling sad and frustrated at the same time. Danala reached out a hand, brushed a curly strand of Tess' blonde hair off her forehead. Her voice became more gentle as she said, "You know you have to do this Tessie. For all of us. You have to help me save our people AND our brother. Isn't sacrificing one worthless little human worth that?"

Tess did not reply, just turned back to stare down at the burrito that was slowly getting cold in front of her. She felt Danala pause, but her sister left suddenly without saying another word.

She raised her head in time to watch Danala's form disappear through the front door of the restaurant.

Danala of Dernia. Her sister.

Tess had not believed it when the girl had shown up at her front door on the evening before Isabel, Liz and Michael had left for England. She had been in a bathrobe, having just taken a bath, trying to calm down her anger over being left behind.

It had been just one more bit of evidence that Isabel and Michael still did not truly want her around. It was always about Liz...Max and Liz...Liz and Max. Sure, Tess didn't want Max for herself any longer, but she DID want her place in the four-square. SHE was the one who should be going to help Isabel and Michael open the portal.

Tess had realized quite quickly upon leaving the Crashdown though that she wasn't really angry. She was just upset about life in general and was feeling lonely - not for the first time. Coming home to the empty Harding house was never easy.

She had even begun to convince herself that staying in Roswell would not be so bad. She was going to protect Maria for Michael...he HAD to trust her a little bit if he wanted her to do that. Didn't he?

And then fate had come knocking in the form of a sister she never knew she had.

Tess had opened the door, stared at the girl in astonishment. She knew her. Tess scowled. "What are you doing here?" She demanded in annoyance.

Danala had just stared at her steadily. "It's not what you think. Can I come in?"

Tess eyed her suspiciously. "We don't have anything to say to each other." Tess had replied snootily, but somehow she had known that she was going to let her in.

Against her will, Tess had followed the girl into her living room. She had been gazing around the room, an interested expression on her face. "Nice digs. I always knew Laren had good taste. He designed my throne room before he turned traitor." Tess had stared at her back.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tess demanded. "Who's Laren?"

The girl turned, smirked. "Oh sorry. You know him as Nasedo, or dear old dad Ed? All these names - my other name is Danala by the way." Tess blinked at her.

"How do you know about Nasedo?" She whispered, feeling horror building up in her stomach.

The girl had sighed, rolled her eyes. "Because I'm one of you dummy."

"What?" Tess had forced herself to calm down. "I don't know what you're talking about...you're not one of us. We all hate you."

The other girl had continued to eye Tess, looking amused. "You really got screwed out of all your memories, didn't you? I'm your sister Sabrya. You do know that's YOUR name don't you?"

And suddenly it all became crystal clear to Tess. She had the journal. "It was you. You took it. Liz's journal." Tess hurried forward, grabbed the girl by the arm. "Where is it?"

The girl shook her off, scowled. "Of course I have it. But that doesn't mean anything. Who cares?"

Tess wondered suddenly if she should call Isabel or Michael. They had to deal with this immediately. The witch had already posted part of the journal...who knew how long it would be before she posted something truly incriminating. She realized that the other girl was still staring at her. She finally shook her head.

"You really don't believe me do you?" Tess' eyes narrowed. "Fine. I'll show you." Tess swallowed as Danala raised her hand. It began to glow and as Tess watched, the girl claiming to be her sister shape-shifted into a perfect replica of Liz Parker.

After that, Tess had listened.

Danala had told her the whole story... that Michael was her brother...that she and Michael had betrayed Danala and their whole race by running off to be with the Illyrians...that she and Max were fated to have a child that would save the whole planet...

When Danala had opened the pod chamber, that had been the final proof. "But where is your pod?" Tess had asked her sister.

"I didn't come with you dummy. I'm not human...I wasn't cloned. I'm still the same being I was fifty years ago when Laren kidnapped you all and brought you here to this Ring forsaken planet."

And for the first time Tess had not felt alone. She had a sister - one who WANTED to be her sister.

It was an amazing feeling.

Tess had remained a little wary. She had not liked the way that Danala had talked about Maria for example. Danala seemed to have a highly suspicious hatred for Liz's best friend.

"That little whore." Tess had heard her mutter once. "She almost ruined all my plans..." When Tess had asked her about it, Danala had quickly changed the subject. Tess had made sure that whenever she wasn't with Danala, she was with Maria.

Danala might be her sister, but Maria was her brother's love...and Tess had been amazed by how quickly she had loved the idea of being Michael's sister. She could not stand the thought of him being hurt...and losing Maria would hurt him.

Being with Danala became increasingly easy however. The future world she created for Tess with her words was magical...

"And when your child becomes the ruler of our planet, a golden age of peace and prosperity will emerge." Danala had told her only last night. Tess had closed her eyes, imagining being the mother of such a child...a child that would never leave her...that could fill the empty hole that had existed in her heart from the first day that Max had rejected her in favour of Liz.

It had never occurred to Tess that having this child with Max meant that something had to be done about Liz. She wasn't really sure...she supposed that she had assumed that Liz would just fade into the wood-work. Liz had walked away from Max once because she thought it was his destiny to be with Tess. Tess had just assumed that she would be willing to do it again.

Danala had quashed that idea over dinner this evening. "Of course she won't disapear Sabrya. You must take care of her. The hold she has over Jaxon is witchery I tell you! You must save him from himself."

"But I KNOW that Liz loves Max." Tess had replied, feeling distraught that she was going to have to hurt someone that she had come to like and admire. The way that Liz felt about Max...the way that she was willing to risk her entire existence for him... one couldn't help but be in awe of a person such as that.

And suddenly another thought had occurred to her.

What was Kyle going to say?

She had wondered briefly where that thought had come from, had hidden it away for examination later when she was alone.

What did Kyle Valenti have to do with her destiny anyway? Sure, they were friends - good friends - but he wasn't Max...

As Tess stared towards the door of Senor Chow's she realized that later had arrived. She swallowed when she saw Kyle peering in the front window at her, using his hand to shade his eyes.

She knew the exact moment he noticed her. Her heart skipped a beat.

Tess clenched her hands in her lap, steeled herself for the coming confrontation.

She knew he was mad at her...she didn't blame him. She had been acting like a maniac for days. The hot and cold treatment had to be hurting him.

And that was the last thing she wanted to do to Kyle...he was the only one who accepted her exactly as she was. He even seemed to like it when she was snarky...she didn't get it all.

"So, felt like Mexican huh?" Kyle demanded a moment later as he slid into the booth across from her. He was glancing around the restarant suspiciously. "All alone?"

"Yes." Tess replied quietly. Kyle's eyes narrowed. He didn't say anything. The silence stretched out interminably between them.

"How's Maria?" Tess finally asked, fliched when her voice cracked. Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"Funny, I thought you'd know since Alex told me you slept on a chair beside her bed last night." Kyle sounded proud, but annoyed too, like her behavior was totally perplexing him.

"I meant since then." Tess snapped, being harsher than she intended because she felt awful and was trying to hide it.

"She's the same." Kyle finally replied. "I also heard from Liz." He continued. "They have Max."

Tess felt her heart skip a beat. Danala had been right...he was back. They COULD fulfill their destiny. Tess blinked, jumped when Kyle suddenly reached across the table and grabbed her hand.

"Tess! What the hell is going on with you? Why are you suddenly keeping secrets?" His eyes were no longer frosty. They were blazing with heat - a combination of anger and something that Tess could not quite name.

Tess wrenched her hand away from him. "I don't know what you're talking about." She replied. He sat back, glared at her.

"I don't believe you." He told her stonily. "I don't get it Tess. I thought that we were making some real progress...we're friends - or at least I thought we were. I was the one person you talked to..."

Tess felt her heart go out to him. He was right. He had been the one person she could depend on...the others had always run hot and cold with her...but not Kyle. Never Kyle.

But she didn't need him anymore. She had a destiny to fulfill, a sister who was depending on her.

"It's nothing Kyle." She managed to force the words out, keeping her tone cold. "And even if there were...you're the last person I would tell. You're not one of us Kyle, no matter how much you think you are." She saw him flinch.

"What...what do you mean?" She had never seen him look so vulnerable. He was trying to keep his voice steady, strong, but she could tell it was a trial.

"Just what I said." Tess replied clearly, feeling her throat closing up, as though her heart was trying to stop her from saying what she intended to say. "The only reason you ever found out anything was that you were dumb enough to get yourself shot. Do you think Max would ever have trusted you otherwise? You don't actually believe that?"

Kyle blinked. "No." He finally replied in a monotone. His face was blank, like he was desperately trying to think of a way to disentangle himself from this situation.

"Can you just like leave?" Tess finally asked. "I'm sick of having to explain myself to you." He stared at her for what seemed like forever.

And suddenly his eyes narrowed and he smiled. Tess felt her own eyes widen. She had never seen such an expression on his face before. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what it meant. "Actually, no. I can't leave." Kyle told her evenly. "I have something to tell you."

She wondered why she suddenly felt her entire body tingling from the top of her head to the tips of her toes...his eyes were smoldering, with something in them she had seen countless times, in Max's eyes when he was with Liz, in Michael's when he looked at Maria, even in Alex's when Isabel was around, but it had never been directed at her...

Never her.

Or at least not that she had noticed.

Where had she been?

"What?" She finally managed to squeak.

He stared at her a moment longer. "You can run Tess, but you can't hide from me. I know you're lying."

Tess wondered why her heart suddenly wanted to break with disapointment. "What?"

"Do you know why?" Kyle continued, tilting his head and eyeing her with a combination of amusement and annoyance.

"Why?" She squeaked again. Her heart had started to thunder.

"Because I'm in love with you." He replied simply. She felt herself stop breathing.

"What?"

"You heard me."

She could NOT deal with this now. There was NO WAY she could deal with this.

It wasn't meant to be. She was supposed to be with Max. Her sister had told her so.

But then why did she suddenly feel like leaping across the table into Kyle's lap?

Danala's voice suddenly ran through her mind. "It's your destiny to mother the child that will save our race...it is your duty. Don't betray us Sabrya..." Tess wondered how her sister had known she was wavering...but somehow she did.

They were connected. They were kin.

They were sisters.

Tess looked Kyle straight in the eye and told him. "I don't care." She forced herself to watch his eyes darken with pain. She had to end this insanity now. It was bad enough that she was going to have to take care of Max's soulmate.

She didn't need a soulmate of her own - she could not bear it.

Kyle finally closed his eyes to shut out her face. He slumped back against the booth. "Please leave." She heard him say, repeating the words she had given him moments before.

She didn't apologize. She wanted too, but she didn't. It had to be a clean break.

He was not for her. It was not meant to be.