He had not absorbed the horror of the announcement Ren had made about Jennetta’s future. His little sister was losing her childhood, Michael and Maria were losing the joy of watching their daughter grow up…they had already lost so much. The unfairness of it was like a physical pain to Max.

And there was absolutely nothing any of them could do. It certainly wasn’t like they hadn’t tried to get Ren to give them some sort of hope that the process could be halted.

Maria had been the first to react to the news. Her eyes had rolled up in her head and she had fainted from the impact of her grief. Michael had barely managed to catch her before she hit the floor. Liz had left Max’s side, rushing to Maria.

Michael had let Liz take Maria in her arms, had let her talk soothingly to her best friend. The rage in his voice was barely controlled as he asked, "Why? Why is this happening to my daughter?"

"It’s her destiny." Ren replied, sounding upset that THEY were upset, but clearly a little confused as to WHY they were all so upset.

"Not that word! Please! Anything but that word!" Tess had shrieked from where she stood, near the maturation pod that might have originally been the one meant for her.

Michael had pressed his lips together. "How can this be her destiny?" He demanded. "She wasn’t supposed to exist! I was supposed to be with Isabel, not Maria. How can my half-human daughter be the ‘salvation of out planet’ as you so eloquently called her a while ago?"

Max had blinked, stared at Michael. This was not the act-first, think about consequences later Michael to whom he was accustomed. The whole ordeal he and Maria had endured together had matured him in a way that made him almost unrecognizable to Max.

The old Michael probably would have beaten Ren into a bloody pulp by now.

Maybe SOMETHING good HAD come of this whole catastrophe, although Max almost missed the old Michael. It would mean that none of this had ever happened. He would not have wished the tragedy his best friend had endured on anyone.

"It was a safety clause." Ren explained. "Although the Crash was not anticipated, it was determined that something MIGHT go wrong. If any of you were to die on the journey or during the maturation process, it was decided that the remaining three would be allowed to live out their lives on Earth. The Four were only capable of uniting the two factions as a unit." He glanced significantly at Jennetta. "And yet a ruler would still be needed." He paused, continued wryly. "It was hoped that at least one of the remaining four would produce a child - one that could be taken to Illyria and proclaimed the unifier."

"That still doesn’t explain anything about Jennetta…" Alex said. "How could it have been known that she would be born? And how could ANY child born on Earth be a unifier? It wouldn’t be half-Dernian/half-Illyrian, which seems to be what you have all decided is the answer to all the problems."

"The legend." Ren had explained. "It was always assumed that the Chosen One would be half-Illyrian/half-Dernian because it was known that it would be a child of mixed blood. The annals never specified what specific conditions were attached to being the Chosen One, only that it would be a child of two heritages. No one counted on the fact that it would be half-human." He paused again. "Except for Lucianus, which is why he insisted that a fifth pod be sent."

"What?" Isabel had asked the question they were all thinking. "What on Earth are you talking about? What do humans have to do with any of this?"

Ren had raised an eyebrow. "You cannot tell me that you have not all wondered why everyone on Earth looks exactly like everyone on Illyria? Or why Earth was chosen as your destination in the first place your highness?"

Michael and Max had exchanged looks. "Well, I guess I haven’t…" Max finally replied, feeling a little sheepish.

Ren had looked perplexed that they were all so dense. "Earth was an Illyrian colony."

"So the X-Files are true!" Alex had exclaimed. "I knew it!" When everyone had turned to glare at him, he reddened. "Er - sorry."

"The portal was created specifically for that reason." Ren had explained. "Our explorers came here many thousands of years ago, so long ago that the Dernians as a faction did not even exist yet, to build the Ring that would receive the portal that only the true heirs could open. It was hoped that travel between the two worlds would be frequent and beneficial to both planets, but something needed to be done to overcome the problem of time loss that results from space travel. Stonehenge, as the Ring on Earth has been called, was meant to receive the portal so that the energy from the stones could absorb the lost time." He had paused again, looking pained. "Unfortunately the humans were so unadvanced at that stage that the whole project was deemed worthless and Illyria abandoned the plan."

"That still doesn’t explain why Illyrians look like humans." Liz had put in from where she was still holding Maria. Maria was no longer unconscious, although she looked slightly dazed. Max could tell that she was listening to what was going on around her though.

Ren had shrugged. "It was why Earth was chosen. The Illyrian genetic make-up is so similar, it was determined that it was the best planet with which to make contact. Dernians are of course shapeshifters, but our genetics are very closely linked as well. Illyrians used to have the ability but have lost it over the millenia from lack of use." He had looked at Liz, Alex, Maria and Kyle significantly. "Even HUMANS have the ability. They have many aspects of their brains that they do not access. It is the great tragedy of the species as a whole." Ren glanced at Jennetta. "But Lucianus knew that humans would still have a role to play in our history."

"Nasedo told me something similar - about the untapped reaches of the human mind I mean." Michael had told Max. He looked at Jennetta, floating peacefully in her pod. A deep despair seemed to come over him. Max clenched his jaw. His own sadness was growing. "Jenny - or any other child born to any of us - has always been doomed then."

"Who is Lucianus?" Liz had asked.

"Lucianus is the beginning and the end." Ren replied evasively.

"In English please." It was Kyle who had spoken up at this point. He was shaking his head. "I mean, can’t they ever just spit it out?" Max eyed him for a minute, concerned. Kyle had been behaving strangely ever since he had returned to the transformation chamber with Tess. He looked like he was about to snap at any moment.

" I don’t really know how to put it into words. Lucianus is the power of the Ring in Illyrian form." Ren had explained, shaking his head. "That’s not really right though either."

"He isn’t…God?" Liz had asked quietly. Max had felt his heart stop. He stared at Liz. The expression on her face was unreadable.

"No. Not exactly. He is not the Creator." Ren replied, scratching his neck. "He is energy, maybe a small part of the Creator."

"Why is he on Illyria?" Max had managed to ask.

"Is he not everywhere?" Ren had shot back. He clearly wanted to change the subject, it being one with which he was uncomfortable. Max had realized that Ren’s manner of being in control of a situation was by knowing about every little in and out of the story. Things he did not understand, he preferred to ignore and just accept.

But then who didn’t have a little bit of that in them?

"Anyway, Tristandor, I must disagree with you that Jennetta is doomed." Ren had told Michael.

Max had felt an overwhelming sense of relief sweep through the transformation chamber. "Then the transformation can be stopped?" Maria had asked, as Liz helped her to her feet.

"No." Ren had stared at her. "What I meant was that she is to be the Chosen One, the saviour of our people. She will know all of this when she emerges from the pod. She will be ready to take her place on the throne of Illyria, will unify the people and bring peace to the planet."

"But she’s only a little girl." Maria had said. "She’s my baby. I barely know her." Max had seen the tears welling in her eyes. Michael had reached out, pulled her into his arms. Max had felt a flash of pain from Liz’s direction, knew that she was grieving for her friend.

Liz had come and taken his hand, looking for comfort, frustrated that she could do nothing to help Maria and Michael.

"But what of us?" Max had asked. "If Jennetta is to sit on the throne, are none of us needed anymore?" He realized that he didn’t care one way or the other. He had absolutely no intention of returning to Illyria, come hell or high water. But he was curious to know how they could be replaced so easily.

"I don’t know." Ren frowned slightly. "I only know that Lucianus foresaw that Jennetta would be the one."

"It might be nice for Lucianus to pop in right about now." Alex had muttered. Isabel had pinched him warningly. "Again, sorry. Frustration being vocalized in unnecessary angst."

Max and Liz had both been watching Michael and Maria with concern. The despair that surrounded them was almost suffocating.

"Michael…" Max had finally said, trying to find out what his friend wanted them to do.

There was silence for a moment. And then, "I think we need to be alone with her for a while Maxwell."

Ren had interjected then. "I cannot leave her. I am her bodyguard."

Max had intervened firmly. "You can leave her for one night." He told the shapeshifter.

"But Tarsus is likely trying to find a way through the portal." Ren had argued. "He will know that Danala has been destroyed."

"One night." Max had repeated. Ren scowled, but nodded finally nodded his head.

"Yes your highness."

And they had all left, Max telling Michael that they would be back first thing in the morning.

Now, Liz was quiet beside him in the passenger seat, although her hand was resting on his leg as though she couldn’t stand not to have some sort of physical contact with him. He was glad, because he felt exactly the same way.

In the back seat Isabel had fallen asleep with her head on Alex’s shoulder. Alex was staring off into the pitch black desert night, silent, as they all had been since they had left the Reservation. Kyle, Tess and Ren were following in the Mustang.

"How can things ever go back to normal after this Max?" Liz asked him quietly, shattering the unnatural stillness that had permeated the car.

"They can’t Liz." Max picked up the hand that was resting on his leg, brought her palm to his lips. "But as long as we’re all together, somehow we’ll work it out."

Liz was quiet for a moment longer and then she said, "I want you to promise me that if you ever leave again, that if you ever decide you have to go back there, that you’ll take me with you."

"Liz…"

"I mean it. I know that you would never break a promise to me. It’s why you didn’t promise that you’d be back the first time you left. You didn’t know for sure that you’d be able to come back." Max turned his head, looked at her lovingly, before he turned his eyes back to the road. "So I’m not getting out of this car until you promise me."

The lights of the city were appearing ahead of them. Max felt his heart swell.

His home. Roswell was his home. EARTH was his home.

It was where he had found Liz, his true love, the one person in the universe who completed him…

He would never leave it again.

"I’m not going anywhere." He told Liz firmly.

"Max! That’s NOT a promise!" Liz’s voice was rising.

Max smiled slightly to himself. If Liz Parker was anything, she was stubborn. "I promise that I will never leave YOU again." He turned to look at her again. "I swear it. And if that means that you have to come across the universe with me, well, I guess that’s what will happen."