Part 9

Muni trains always seemed to be busy at the oddest times. It was barely one in the afternoon, when everyone is downtown at their jobs in the huge office buildings that lined the business district, but Max and Liz still found themselves stuck standing on the train.

Liz smiled as she listened to Max talk away, gesturing wildly with both hands as he told her some silly story about some guy on Antar asking Isabel out.

The train suddenly jerked on its track, and Liz squealed loudly with laughter as Max fell forward into her, since he hadn’t been holding on. Clutching on to her shoulders for support, Max couldn’t help grinning. Her laughter was addicted, especially when it was aimed at him.

"Max, you always have to hold on when you’re standing on Muni!" Liz explained to him between laughs. "These trains are so jerky they could give you whiplash, or some other permanent injury."

"Yeah, well my pride is definitely damaged!" Max joked.

"Oh, your poor little manhood!" Liz shot back with an evil smile. "Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you!"

The train pulled into a station, causing Max to stumble again, as it jerked to a halt. Liz giggled, watching him try to regain control over his movements.

"Come on!" Liz gestured to the door. "We’d better get off before you fall flat on your face!"

"Very funny." Max grimaced at her. "I’ll be fine."

"Well…still, this is our stop! Embarcadero Station!"

Within a step off of the escalator, onto the busy street above, Max found himself staring up in amazement. He was right in the center of downtown San Francisco. Cars and buses were speeding by down Market Street in either direction, coming in and our of parking garages on the bottom floors of countless skyscrapers. The buildings were so tall, they almost seemed to touch the clouds.

Suddenly, Max found himself feeling small, insignificant. Throughout his entire life he had always been a small town boy. In Roswell, a three-story building seemed gigantic. And things had been very much the same on Antar…small buildings. Even his palace was more widespread than tall. Tall buildings were like magnets to Khivar’s troops.

"Max?" Liz asked gently, pulling his attention away from the buildings. "Are you okay?"

"What?" He asked, jumping back into reality. "Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just amazing. I’ve never seen buildings this tall before."

Liz giggled, amused, as she remembered back to her first trip to San Francisco, during her Sophomore year of college. She and her roommates had come to the city for a night on the town, getting all dressed up and catching the Cal Train from school, all the way up to the city. It had been Liz’s first trip on Muni, and unlike Max she HAD fallen flat on her face!

Sliding her hand into Max’s, Liz threaded their fingers together.

"Come on." Liz begged him, as she began to lead him down towards the end of Market Street. "If you think this is incredible, there’s something else you have to see."

The very end of Market Street, where it dead-ended into the Embarcadero was like a tourist’s dream. Liz and Max found themselves there only a block later, emerging out of the huge sky scrapers, loud traffic, and beeping cell phones that were typical of the business district, and finding themselves instead on the industrial waterfront, beneath the Ferry Building, one of San Francisco’s most recognized landmarks, thanks to the large neon sign on top, announcing any sea faring traffic that they were entering the Port of San Francisco.

What caught Max’s eye the most though, was the massive bridge that jutted straight out of the city and over the water to the other side of the bay. He stared up at it in awe, barely able to believe the sight before him.

"What do you think?" Liz asked, recognizing the look of amazement on his face.

"This is incredible!" Max exclaimed. "But I thought the Golden Gate Bridge was orange!"

Liz laughed out loud, so suddenly that it caught Max by surprise.

"What?" He asked her. "What did I say?"

"Max!" Liz cried between laughs. "The Golden Gate Bridge IS orange! This is the Bay Bridge! The Golden Gate is goes north out of the Presidio into Marin County. The Bay Bridge goes east to Oakland."

"Oh." Max replied sheepishly.

"You really don’t know anything about San Francisco at all, do you?" Liz asked him.

"Well, I didn’t have much time to research before I moved here. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing! I mean, a week ago I was on another planet, you know!"

"I’m sorry…you’re right, of course. I guess I’ve just gotten so used to being a San Francisco native the past few years, I forgot what it must be like to people who aren’t accustomed to the Bay Area."

"Hey…" Max asked as his eyes examined their surroundings. "What’s with all the palm trees? I thought that was Los Angeles."

"Yeah, LA has more than us, but we have them here too." Liz explained. "Come on, let’s start walking. It’s about four miles to Fisherman’s Wharf, but well worth the walk!"

Hand in hand they headed down the Embarcadero, past the bikers and joggers, and the dozens of matching cement pier buildings that counted up each number as they progressed towards their destination. A bell jingled as a large, green streetcar went gliding past on its tracks, stuffed full of tourists who weren’t courageous enough to make the walk.

It was warm for an autumn day in San Francisco, and Liz felt herself tilting her face up to feel the heat of the sun on her face. They walked in silence for a few blocks, just enjoying the atmosphere, and the feeling of being so complete with one another.

"What’s on your mind?" Max finally asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Huh?" Liz asked, popping back into reality.

"What are you thinking about?" Max asked again.

"Oh…I was just thinking about how much life has changed in such a short period of time. A few days ago, I walked down this street and everything was completely different than it is right now, at this exact moment. I was lonely…and sad. I missed you so much that it hurt. It was cold, foggy, gray, and I was shivering…I probably shouldn’t have been out at all, but I just needed to walk…I was trying to clear my head…trying desperately not to think about you, even though I couldn’t think of anything else. Now, though…I’m here with you, and everything is perfect."

"Perfect." Max agreed with a content smile. "I haven’t been this happy in a long time, and I owe it all to you, Liz."

Knowing that neither needed to say anything else, they fell back into their comfortable silence, just absorbing each other’s presence, while they slowly paced their way along the waterside, all the way down the Embarcadero to Pier 39, and eventually Fisherman’s Wharf, both of which were bustling with tourists as usual.

They stopped for the first time to enjoy a lunch of clam chowder and bread bowls at Boudin’s on the Wharf. They sat out at the open air tables on the Wharf, and Liz was right about to start digging in to her food, when suddenly Max produced a miniature bottle of tobasco sauce out of his pocket, and emptied the contents into his soup. Liz couldn’t hide the amusement that was plain on her face, as she watched Max mix it into the chowder.

"What?" He protested, noticing the look on her face. "It’s easier to carry it around than to ask for it everywhere I go!"

"I’m sure it is." Liz laughed, as he took the first bite, closing his eyes, pleased by the perfect flavor.

After finishing their lunch, Liz led Max back to Pier 40, where she bought them two tickets for a bay tour by ferry.

Warm as it is on the land, somehow it always manages to be cold and windy on the bay. Max and Liz stood together on the railing of the ferry as it glided smoothly over the water, right along the coast towards the beautiful Golden Gate. Max saw the goosebumps on Liz’s arms, and quickly pulled her into his arms for warmth, wrapping himself around her, and rubbing her to try to keep the blood flowing. Liz in turned leaned back against his hard chest and sighed happily, as she breathed in Max’s scent all around her.

The ferry looped right under the Golden Gate Bridge, and around Alcatraz Island before returning to the pier. Once their feet stepped back onto the steady land, Max and Liz made their way to Ghiradelli Square, where they stopped at the creamery, splitting a massive hot fudge sundae.

As they sat in a back table at the creamery, their mood had turned playful, carefree. Liz giggled as Max fed her a huge spoonful of fudge, and Max found himself busting up as well when Liz in turn poked the spoon at his nose, coating it in the sticky, sweet chocolate.

Finally taking the move that made them the ultimate San Francisco tourists, Max and Liz stood in line for an hour to ride the cable car back into downtown. By the time they stepped off onto the cable car turnaround at the bottom of Powell Street, dusk had come and gone, and people were beginning to fade back into their homes for the night. Max and Liz, following suit hopped back into Muni, riding the train back to Castro, where they enjoyed a quiet dinner at a little Italian restaurant a few blocks from Liz’s apartment.

It was late when they finally stumbled, exhausted, back into the apartment. They didn’t even make it to the bedroom, collapsing on the couch in the front room like the night before.

"I love you." Liz mumbled, just seconds before her breathing evened out into the steady rhythm of a deep slumber.