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Author: Susan
Distribution: roswellimprov and Roswell Desert Skies. Anyone else can
have it just ask.
Category: Liz POV, CC/UC
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Pod Squad left for Antar during Departure.
Author's Note: They never met the Dupes.
Improv #16: forgive – innocence – pear – wisp
It is December 25th, I'm Liz Parker and three days ago my world was turned upside down, Max Evan came home. Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess left over 10 years ago for Antar after they found out that Max and Tess's unborn child was dying because of Earth's atmosphere. Three days ago three of them came back.
The day they left was the absolute worst day of my life. Max Evans broke my heart so badly I never thought I would ever be able to love again. Thankfully I was wrong. I am in love with an incredible man who makes me feel like I am the center of his universe. There is no doubt in my mind that nothing is more important to him than me. He doesn't believe in Destiny, except the one that we make. And he doesn't feel like he has to be responsible for everyone else around him, just me. The only planet that he wants to be on is the one that I am on. There is only one thing strange about him, his name is Zan and he is Max's duplicate.
Two months after Max and the other left they, The Dupes, came to Roswell looking for the Granolith. Their had been two sets of the Royal four sent to Earth. Four had been hid in Roswell and four in New York. Nicholas had found the New York four and told them that the Roswell's had the Granolith and if they ever wanted to go home the needed to find it. Zan never wanted to go home in the first place so he was happy to find out that the Granolith was gone. He liked it on Earth and he didn't want to be King. He remembered enough of his past life to know that he had not been happy ruling Antar. He had always wanted a different life and here on Earth he finally had his chance.
Ava, Tess's Dupe, had always followed whatever Zan wanted. She thought she was in love with him but Zan never really loved her back. Ava told me once that Zan had always seemed like he was looking for something else. Ava did however find love in Roswell. She married Kyle a little over five years ago.
The other two Dupes, Rath and Lonnie, were not content to live in Roswell after they found out the Granolith was gone. They went back to New York to cause havoc on the streets. The Dupes may have looked like the Roswell aliens but that is where the similarities ended. It was even more apparent in Rath and Isabel than Zan and Ava. Isabel used to act like an Ice Queen but Lonnie really was one. And no matter how tough Michael acted deep down he really had a heart of gold. Rath on the other hand didn't have one at all.
Michael leaving hit Maria really hard but seeing Rath made it so much worse. Maria tried to get to know him but he treated her like she was below him. And seeing Rath and Lonnie together tore a huge whole in her heart. Maria's greatest fear was that Michael and Isabel would get together once they were on Antar. Rath seemed to enjoy throwing his very physical relationship with Lonnie in Maria's face. Luckily Zan put an end to Rath's behavior and told him to leave before Maria was hurt any worse than she already was.
Zan was the first to realize that Maria was keeping a secret from us. Before Michael left she had given him her innocence and although they had used protection it failed because Maria was pregnant with his child. She was nearly three months along before any of knew a thing. Her pregnancy was fairly normal except it lasted six months instead of nine.
Amy Deluca had been furious when she found out that Michael had gotten her daughter pregnant and then took off. She ranted and raved for months but after she got one look at her grandson, James Michael (Jaime), the only thing Amy felt was pure joy. Jaime was a beautiful baby. He could even bring a wisp of a smile to Zan's otherwise stoic face. I think I realized I was falling in love with Zan the first time I saw him holding Jaime in his arms.
Jaime has brought Maria so much happiness over the last 10 years. The older he gets the more he looks like his father. I know it has to be hard on her. Jaime, although a blessing, is a daily reminder of the love she has lost. Maria's mother has not made things any easier on Maria. She says that Jaime deserves a father and that Maria needs to move on. Maria just tells her that Jaime does have a father and leaves it at that. Maria never once gave up hope that Michael would someday come back to her. And he did.
Beside our small group no one knows what happened to the four. The Evans had gotten the tape that Max and Isabel had made but they still didn't know where their children had gone. They hired detectives all over the country to track them down but of course they hadn't found anything. The first time they saw Zan for a moment they thought that their son had come home. It didn't take them long to realize that Zan was not Max nor would he ever be. For a little while they had tried to turn him into their son but after awhile it became obvious to them the Zan could not be a Max substitute. He was too much his own man for that. The Evans left Roswell soon after wards. Seeing Zan was too painful for them and deep down I think they knew that it was highly unlikely that their children were ever coming home. I get cards from them every year. I think it is their way of letting me know where they can be found just in case.
Three days ago the thing the Evans had hoped for happened. Their children came home. We were sitting in the Crashdown for Jaime's 10th birthday party. I had just grabbed a pear from the kitchen and was one my way back into the dining room when I heard Maria's cry. When I walked into the dining room and saw why she hollered the piece of fruit that I had so desperately craved moments before slipped through my fingers and fell to the floor.
In front of us stood three of the four that had left that day. Max, Isabel and Michael had returned. Maria didn't hesitate a moment and flew into Michael's waiting arms. The absolute joy and love that Michael was feeling was written all over his face. He had obviously missed Maria as much as she had missed him. And when Maria finally broke free from his embrace and introduced him to his son he didn't even bother to hide the tears that fell.
I was only half aware of the scene in front of me as my attention was focused on the man who hadn't stopped staring at me since I walked into the dining room. I felt rather than saw Zan move from the booth he had been sitting at with Kyle and Ava to come stand beside me. I couldn't seem to take my eyes off of Max though. He looked more like the man that had come to me from the future then the boy that had kissed me goodbye over 10 years ago. He looked like he had been in a war, one that I don't think that he had won. I momentarily looked to his right and I saw Isabel standing with her arms around a little boy who was not much older than Jaime. Their wasn't any doubt who the boy was. He was the spitting image of Max with the exception of his eyes; he had his mother's eyes. I was surprised that I still felt the pain of Max's betrayal after all the years. I knew right at that moment that I could not forgive Max for what he had done, for the pain he had caused me. I closed my eyes and reached for Zan's hand pulling him closer and resting his hand on my stomach which was swollen with his child.
I don't think I will ever forget the look on Max's face when he recognized Zan and came to realize I was not going to welcome him home as Maria had done Michael. And more importantly that I had moved on. He walked out the door and I don't think I will ever see him again. I stopped Isabel before she went to follow him and dug in my purse for her parent's latest address. She gave me a thankful smile and followed her brother out the door.
I looked quickly to Michael and Maria to see if he would also follow but I was quickly put to ease as I saw that Michael wasn't going anywhere. He was hugging both Jaime and Maria to him with a fierce look that clearly said he was never letting them go.
I cried in Zan's arms that night, something I had done many times before, but I knew for sure that it was the last time I would ever cry for Max Evans again. He was finally in my past. My future was with my husband, Zan, and our child.
This afternoon Zan and I had Christmas dinner with the Deluca- Valenti's. Amy still wasn't quite ready to let Michael off the hook completely but after seeing that he obviously adored both Maria and Jaime she was able to calm done enough to include him in the family dinner. Kyle, Ava and their three year old daughter Alexia were there as well. Jim loved his role as doting grandfather to both Jaime and Alexia and he told Zan and I that he couldn't wait till our son was born so he could spoil him rotten as well.
Michael sat down with Kyle, Maria, Ava, Zan and I after dinner and he told us what had happened the past 10 years. I am amazed that any of them survived the horrors of Antar. He didn't go into details but I can tell it must have been a living nightmare. They had lost Tess five years ago and by the time the war was over there was nothing left to stay for. The planet had been all but decimated and those that had survived wanted nothing to do with the Royals. They blamed them for the horrors that had befallen their planet. So Max, his son Philip, Isabel and Michael made their way back to Earth, to their real home.
Michael told us that they had found out about the duplicates soon after arriving to Antar so that is why none of them were surprised when they first saw Zan and Ava.
Michael and I spoke only briefly but he did tell me he was glad I was happy. He told me that Max was not the same guy who left 10 years ago and in the end he would have only ended up breaking my heart once again.
I don't know if Michael and Zan will ever become friends but Michael will always be loyal to him. Max may be his brother but Zan will always be his king.
Tonight I grabbed my journal from its old hiding place and read it over. I realized that it had no ending. So tonight I am writing once again for the first time in over 10 years. Twelve years ago I died and Max brought me back and changed my life forever but Zan is the one that I continue living for.
I'm Liz Parker and three days ago my world was turned upside down but with the love of my husband and friends I was able to finally let go of the past and dream of the future ahead of me.
The End
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