It is the happiest day of his life. He looks into her dark eyes and knows...this is his destiny. At last. The right one. The right person.

He knows her face. Has memorized it's oval curve over the course of years. The shape of her lips and the way they feel brushing against his...the gentle bridge of her nose and the way it crinkles when she laughs.

He knows her slender body. Her delicate hands and the way they touch him. How the span of her waist fits perfectly into one palm as he pulls her close. How the top of her head just barely comes to the middle of his chest and he has to lean down to kiss her forehead.

He knows her mind. Has marveled at her sharp wit...her jokes have never ceased to make him laugh. Her intelligence awes him at times...the way her beauty hides a deep sense of time and space and energy.

And he knows her heart. She loves him. Has always loved him. Just as he has loved her and no one else. She would die for him. She would sacrifice everything and more for him.

She has.

And so they are rewarded with today.

Their wedding day.

Their wedding day that will never see a wedding night.

"I love you, Ava," he whispers.

And as the first explosion rocks the palace, she touches his face with silver-gray fingers...wiping away his tears. "I'll love you, Zan. Always."

***

"I hate her!" she growled, slamming the tray of dirty dishes down by the sink as the din of customers rose and fell and the deep fryer hissed and sputtered.

Maria sighed, tapping an order pad against the metal island where a chunk of raw chicken lay, anticipating assault and battery. "You've said that six times in the last fifteen minutes, Liz. I get the picture. In fact, I think half of Roswell gets the picture."

"I've tried, Maria. I've really tried." The words came out in a hyperventilative rush as she turned on the jets of hot water and shook her head violently. "I can't help it! I hate her! I've tried to like her...I've tried to be nice to her. But every time I see her perky little face and see her hanging on Kyle's arm like she belongs there...I hate her!"

"Liz! Come on!" Her best friend sighed, throwing the pad across the small kitchen in exasperation. "At least she's not hanging on Max's arm, right? Shouldn't you be GLAD that she's gotten this Destiny thing out of her system and is working on turning the Sheriff's house into a model of Martha Stewart Living?"

"Should I be?" Liz slumped against the sinks as the level of soapy water slowly rose. "I don't like her. I just don't. I don't like what her being here means for Max. I never will."

Maria leveled her with a hard look. A "cut the crap" look. One she'd evidently been practicing on Michael. "Sweetie...you have to stop SAYING that. Tess hasn't looked at Max cross-eyed, much less laid a *hand* on him, since they went to New York. In fact, she almost seems...*bored* with him!"

"Yeah, she does! And what's with that, huh? Why is she bored with him? Tell me that! Max is sweet and he's funny and he's handsome and he's smart...there's nothing to be bored with!" Her hands shook and she clutched a dish towel, wringing it tight. "See...it has to be a trick! I-I bet she still wants him! She's just laying low. Using Kyle while she just biiides her time."

"Liz..."

"I hate her! I hate Tess! I. Hate. Tess. Harding," she said emphatically, transferring a pile of plates into the waiting suds.

"You. Need. A. Break," Maria snapped, retrieving the order pad and adjusting her silver antennae. "And a Valium."

"I need Tess to go away," she muttered as the kitchen door swung shut and she was left alone with her washing. "Somewhere far. Maybe off a cliff. A high cliff. With sharp rocks at the bottom."

*It would be better that way*, she thought to herself as she scrubbed at a particularly stubborn piece of dried MIB Meatloaf. And then she spoke aloud, liking the sound of her own nobility. Of the way 'I hate her' could be made into something rational that Maria couldn't complain about.

"It would be better for everyone if she was gone. She's dangerous."

***

"Yes..." she whispered, throatily, against his mouth. "Yes...yes...yes."

He rocked against her hips, hypnotized by the silver-blue light of her eyes...as hypnotized as he'd been the first time he'd seen her. More. A thousand times more. "Oh, Tess," he moaned, helpless. "Tess, I...I can't believe this is really h-happening."

"B-believe it," she laughed, kissing him as they strained together in the tangle of sheets. "I'm here. I'm going to stay here. I'm *home*."

"I love you, Tess," he whispered.

And as the first tremors of climax rocked their bodies, he touched her face with his surprisingly gentle fingers...wiping away her tears.

"I'll love you, Kyle. Always."

***

It was over in an instant.

A flash.

Stepping off the curb, together, in front of the CrashDown.

A little nudge and then...

"She fell," she babbled, lower lip quivering. "She tripped and fell and the car was just coming so fast and there wasn't time and everybody was watching and I couldn't come get you..."

She watched the understanding filter slowly into his beloved brown eyes. He pulled her close as she willed the tears to spill down her cheeks. He rubbed her back as the crowd began to disperse and the sirens grew louder.

"It was an accident," he assured...or maybe he asked? "It was an accident?" His gaze was fixed on the blood spreading across the pavement...the flecks of gray matter in the limp blond hair.

"A h-horrible a-accident." Her chuckle turned into a hitching sob and he didn't even notice. He just held her tightly.

Almost too tightly. So tightly she knew she would bruise.

She shivered, reveling in the delicious closeness that she had feared she would never feel again...and she hid her smile in the soft material of his shirt as he numbly patted her back.

*This is better for everyone. She was dangerous.*

***

It is the happiest day of her life. She looks into his dark eyes and knows...this is her destiny. At last. The right one. The right outcome.

She knows his face. Has memorized it's shape, it's intricacies, over the course of years. The curve of his lips and the way they felt kissing hers...the smile lines on the sides that appeared when he was amused.

She knows his muscular body. His big, powerful, hands and the way they can touch her. How she fits perfectly in his arms, like she belongs there, and the top of her head barely grazes his chin.

She knows his mind. Has spent hours marveling at the mysteries that lie behind his silence, his pride. His intelligence awes her at times...the way his beauty hides a deep sense of time and space and energy.

And she knows his heart. He loves her. Has always loved her. Just as she has loved him and no one else. He would die for her. He would sacrifice everything and more for her.

He has.

As she has for him.

And so she is rewarded with today.

"I love you, Max," she whispers.

And as the first handful of rich dirt strikes the shiny black coffin's lid, she touches his face with her pale, pink fingers, to wipe away his tears.

But he yanks away as if she offers poison, not comfort, and looks across the grave...at Kyle's red-rimmed eyes.

"I'll hate you, Liz. Forever."

***

My name is Liz Parker and five days ago...Tess Harding died.

And it didn't go back to the way it was supposed to be.

I don't understand.

How could this happen? How could it all go so wrong? How can people change so much...just when you think you know them, they're not who you thought they were at all.

Max won't speak to me.

He won't even look at me.

He hangs up on me when I call...barely lets me get a sentence out.

And Michael and Isabel won't tell him I love him...or that I'm sorry.

I don't know what's wrong with them. They treat me like an outsider, like a criminal. Like I don't belong. Don't they know I did it for them? To save them? To free them? So that Max could finally love me the way he's supposed to...?

They're all blind. That's the problem. Maybe Tess left a permanent mindwarp before that car hit her? So that they will always think that I pushed her because I'm evil...because I'm crazy?

I didn't push her! I accidentally nudged her! I wasn't the dangerous one! I never was!

And I'm not crazy! I'm not!

God, even in death, she wins.

It doesn't stop.

I hate her. I hate her! I hate her!

I. Hate. Tess. Harding.

I hate you. Stop looking so smug, Tess...I'll show you. I'll win this time.

I'll make it go back to the way it was.

To normal.

To him and me.

You'll...see...

It hurts...

I didn't know it would hurt this much...

Not...for...me...

Where's Max? It's...been hours...since I called...him.

Why...hasn'thecomeforme...? There's...so...much...blood.

I love you.

I'll love you, Max. Always.