The six were sitting on the grass in their usual spot. Everything was
normal. Liz sat leaning up against Max, getting as close to him as she could
without actually being in his lap. Isabel rested her foot against Alex's
leg, painting her toenails crimson, while Alex tried not to blush. And Maria
was glaring at him. It was one of their off days. Maybe tomorrow they'd be
on again.

Michael cleared his throat. "Maybe you didn't hear me. I had another
vision last night." It was almost the end of senior year. Graduation was a
few days away. One last summer together waited for them, before they
scattered in the fall. Liz and Max were headed back east for pre-med. Izzy
got into pre-law at UCLA, like her parents had done. Alex was headed off to
California too--either to major in film or music or something...or maybe
Isabel. At least Maria was staying around. She still had no idea what she
wanted--when she was talking to him.

And he was going to the art school up at Albuquerque, all expenses paid,
a one way ticket out of Roswell, New Mexico. Maria had already hinted that
she might come to visit. Or maybe he could drive his old beat-up truck a
couple times a month. Just to make sure the Evanses didn't forget what it
was like to have children. And to make sure that the Crashdown kept stocked
up in Tabasco sauce.

"Another vision?" Izzy's voice was tired. "Remember what happened with
the last one?"

Maria muttered something about visions of nookie motels, but he figured
that he'd just ignore her. She was probably PMS-ing again. Or got a bad
vial of cedar oil.

He lowered his voice, so that the other students around wouldn't hear.
"It wasn't about domes or anything, Iz. I think it was a message."
That got their attention. Max stopped playing with Liz's hair. Isabel
dropped her nail polish, and it splashed all over Alex's jeans. And Maria
finally met his eyes.

"E.T. phone home?" Alex cracked. Michael resisted the urge to melt
Alex's wallet-chain to his face.

"Seriously. Like someone knows we're here. They've been searching for a
really long time, and now they've found us. Like someone's coming to get us.
Someone good. Someone who's...Czechoslovakian."

Maria's beautiful eyes widened, those soft lips opened to say
something--and for the first time since he'd known her, nothing came out.

"Home." Izzy's voice was soft. Her face said it all--the fear of the
unknown, the sorrow of leaving. The longing for someplace that she wasn't.
Even with her and Alex's relationship that moved at the speed of a glacier,
Michael still thought she wanted to go home more than any of them. Well, not
more than him. But what he wanted all depended on how Maria felt that day,
if they were on, or off.

"Did they say when?" Liz's voice, as always, was calm. She was Max's
quiet strength, only getting shook up by some strong emotion. She'd learned
control over the past two years, through all the hard times and worse times
they'd been through since she and Max first decided to throw caution to the
wind. He envied Max, because most of the time, his and Liz's relationship
went like things were supposed to. They were the fairy tale. They had
problems, but at least they knew where they stood from day to day.

"Soon. It's the third time I've had the dream, and the message is
getting stronger. I think soon." At the fallen looks on the five faces
around him, he couldn't help feeling angry--at them, and at himself. "We
knew it would happen! We knew it was only time before something blew up. It
was part of the risk..." He didn't know if he was speaking to himself, to
Maria, or to everyone else.

Her lower lip trembled, and she shook her head. He could see the tears
beginning to well up in her eyes.

"Maria..." He reached out to her, trying to fix it in some way. But she
got up and ran away.

She sat on her bed, holding her lavender-scented Michael-bear. Michael
had shoved it at her last Valentine's Day with a quick, hot kiss between
History and English. That had been one of their 'on' weeks. One of these
days, she'd just dump him and move on to a real guy who treated her better.
He was so annoying, and so grungy, and sometimes she hated him more than
anything. But his kisses made the bottom drop out of her stomach, and his
touch sent fire racing through her veins that no amount of cedar oil could
calm. And something drew her to his rebelling Czechoslovakian nature. She
wouldn't admit to anyone that she needed him--but she did.

Something rattled at her window. She knew it was him. He refused to use
the door like most normal people. Her mom even joked about it sometimes,
when she saw Michael walking out of Maria's room at odd times. At least her
mom liked Michael, though sometimes she made cryptic remarks about how fast
the Tabasco seemed to disappear with him around.

"Well, can I come in?" His voice was gentler than usual.

She snorted. "Like you ever ask." And like she ever said no.

He slipped in, one arm held behind his back. When he dropped to the
floor, he held his hand out to her, a fragile spray of long, pale purple
flowers.

"Lavender! You knew I was getting low..." She took the herb gently,
suddenly shy. "Thank you."

"Umm, you're welcome I guess," he mumbled, his ears turning pink.

"So, about these visions..." She looked up at him, fidgeting in that
cute way he had. "What...what...are they like, little green men or
something?"

He flopped down in his usual place at the end of her bed, picking up
Michael-bear. He sniffed the teddy bear's head, an odd look on his face.
"What'd you do to him? He smells like those flowers now." He tried to look
indignant. "He's a very masculine bear."

She couldn't help giggling. Her laugh seemed to break the ice. His face
visibly relaxed, and he moved to put his arms around her. She settled back
against his chest, listening to his heart beat. It sounded like a real human
heart. She'd lain against it often enough to know.

"They weren't little green men. And they didn't have three eyes. It was
more...a feeling, I guess." He rested his chin against her head. She liked
cuddling quietly with him. They didn't usually get to do this, because they
were either fighting or macking. Even after two years of whatever their
relationship was. "They felt right...like Max or Iz. Like me. Like we
belonged together..."

Like we do, she added silently. But she couldn't try to make him stay.
She'd always known the price of their relationship.

"And it was just like they knew where we were, and that they were coming
to take us home. I guess they finally realized that the crash happened, and
that we were left behind." He was quiet for a while, and she thought she
felt something damp fall on top of her head. "They want us, Maria. They're
coming to take us home. They love us after all." He began to shake slightly.

There's gotta be something better than Roswell, New Mexico. A
conversation from over two years before echoed in her mind, that first night
they'd actually talked and realized that something connected them inspite of
everything. What would she do if her father suddenly showed up on her
doorstep? Would she feel the same way?

She took him in her arms, cradling his head against her shoulder, letting
him cry into her shirt. She stroked his spiky hair, kissing the top of his
head. At least he'd learned to cry in front of her. They'd come a long way,
down a rough road, but they still had a long way to go.

"Are you gonna go?" They sat on the roof of the Crashdown, candles
burning like tiny stars. The coolness of the desert night surrounded them.
She shivered, and Max tightened his arms around her.

"I don't know, Liz. I always hoped we'd go back, but...but I never
thought it would actually happen." Which was true. He'd always been more
concerned with having to leave one day, because someone found out the truth.
There had been too many close calls over the years.

But as usual, Liz was able to read his thought, just because she knew him
inside and out. "None of you ever thought about it, did you?" Except
Michael. And maybe Iz sometimes. He knew she felt left out a lot. That had
changed a little bit, with Alex, since he was drawn to the person inside as
well as out. But he knew his little sister still felt alone sometimes.

"I guess I was so busy trying to take care of us all that I never
thought..." Or never let himself think. What would he do without Liz? He
didn't know where his home was. He loved his parents, and he loved Liz more
than life, but to be with people like him, people who understood the Tabasco
and the depths of his feelings. People who wouldn't think of him as an
alien, but just the same as everyone else.

He buried his face in her soft, dark hair, trying to forget that this
might be one of the last times he could do this. But Michael was right.
They all had known from the start that it would never last.

I love you, Liz. You know that. You know I can't live without you. But
I can't stay here, and not know...

She turned, her mouth met his, as if she'd read the answer in every touch
of his body. Every caress of her lips spoke to him.

I know, Max. I just hope I can love you enough to let you go.

"Hey, honey. Nice to see you, Alex." Her mom's warm voice drifted in
from the doorway as she dropped her briefcase on the table. "Sorry I'm so
late. A client had some issues we needed to take care of." Her parents'
small law firm had boomed in the past couple years. Both her mom and her dad
were thrilled that she'd decided she wanted to do the same thing. But Isabel
figured that if she knew the laws and could argue them, maybe she could do
something about her own precarious situation on Earth. Plus, she looked hot
in a business suit.

"It's okay, Momma." She blushed. She hadn't called her mom that in
years, since Michael first teased her about it. Her mother gave her an odd
look, but didn't say anything. Alex caught her eye, and gave her had a quick
squeeze. He knew what she was thinking.

Her mom smiled at them. "Let me guess. Your brother's out with Liz, and
Michael's made up with Maria for this week." Isabel's mom, of all of theirs,
knew the most about what went on in the group, though she didn't know the
most important secret of all. There were a thousand times when Isabel felt
like blurting it out, but she couldn't. There was an oath she made a long
time ago that kept her from it, no matter how much she loved her mother.

"Where else would Max and Michael be?" She tried not to let the scorn
she felt into her voice. But her mom picked up on it. She always did.

Her mom reached out and stroked her hair. "It's hard to share your big
brothers, honey, but they've had to learn to share you too." She smiled. "I
remember when the three of you were inseparable. When Michael flushed your
doll down the toilet, and Max almost blew up the garage with his chemistry
set."

"Mom!" She tried not to blush. Alex was grinning, clearly enjoying this.
But her mom only grinned at her. "And Mr. Whitman over here was the same
way with Maria and Liz, always hanging out at the Crashdown. Jeff Parker
always wondered if you'd pick his baby or Amy DeLuca's to take away from
Roswell." She gave Alex a soft smile. "I'm glad you picked my baby. She
needed someone like you."

"Mom!!" Isabel blushed bright red. "Can't you wait til I leave the room
to tell him this?" But it was her mother's way. She loved both Isabel and
Max more than anything. So how could Isabel tell her that soon, she might
not see her mother anymore? Mom, I'm sorry, but I'm going home...I won't
forget you, but I need to go, even though you're my only mother, and I love
you...

Her pajamas felt stiff, the sun was in her eyes, and something was laying
on top of her chest. Maybe she left the window open and a cat got in or
something. She rolled over, and smacked right into a spiky head.

"Michael!"

"What what what?" He sat up, almost smacking her in the face with his
arms. He shook himself slightly, and then stared at her, as if he realized
where he was. "What are you doing here?"

"It's my bed, idiot! What are you doing here? Why didn't you go home?"
But then it hit her. He was going home. Very soon. And from the way
his face fell, he probably remembered it too.

"Michael..." She reached out for his hand, remembering how good she'd
slept next to him.

But he pushed her hand away, untangled himself from her, and got out of
bed. He began to pace across her floor. "Not now, okay? Let's not do this
now. Not when we don't have much time left."

She slid out of bed, ignoring the fact that she was still wearing her
clothes from last night. "I'm sorry," she said softly. She held out her
hand to him, hoping for a compromise.

He gave her one of his usual rakish looks. "Besides. There are so many
other things we can be doing." He looked at the clock. "We're already late
for class anyways."

How much time would they have left? She'd already given Michael her
heart--though she couldn't tell him that. And after he left, she might as
well have something good to cry about...

She reached out, ran her hands up his chest, touching his face, running
through his messed-up hair.

Would Michael have sex on his home planet? And how would they do it
anyways, if human form wasn't their true form?