Epilogue

The ringing telephone jarred Liz suddenly awake. She glanced at her alarm clock, and saw that it was already nine a.m. She groaned realizing how late she’d slept—she had so much to do before her 11:00 a.m. American Literature class.

She fumbled for the phone and one thought immediately surfaced.

Max.

"Hi," she said sleepily, as she pressed the receiver to her ear.

She heard him laugh softly on the other end of the line. "Good thing I wasn’t trying to surprise you."

"At least you could tell I was happy that it was you."

"Yeah," he answered softly. "You do sound happy. Must have been that great night of rest."

"Oh, please!" Liz laughed. "You’ve been conducting sleep deprivation experiments on me for weeks now."

"I haven’t heard you complaining," he replied huskily.

Liz was silent a long moment. She didn’t have a good come back for that one.

"You’re going to be late for class, though," he continued.

"Not if I get off the phone and take my shower," she countered.

"I have a better idea. How about forgetting class for just this one day?" He asked in a mischievous voice.

"Aren’t you at work?"

"Well… I asked my dad for the afternoon off," he answered. "He’s got a court case anyway."

"Hmm…" Liz thought for a moment. She’d only been at the university for a month, and it was hard to grow accustomed to the more flexible class schedule. But this was the summer, and a Friday, so classes were more relaxed. Besides, she’d been missing Max so much lately—what with his long hours at his father’s law firm, and her own tough study schedule. The only time they seemed to find for one another was when he came to her room late each night, and even then, he always crept out long before daybreak.

"What’d you want to do?" She asked.

"Well that part is a surprise," he laughed. "I’ll pick you up in an hour."



Liz stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, as she finished blow drying her hair. She wondered if she looked different now--she wasn’t a high school girl anymore, and so much had changed inside of her during the past year and a half.

Max had thoroughly transformed her inner terrain each time they’d made love, whenever they connected. He had been slowly--almost deliberately-- unlocking things within her, and in the process Liz Parker had become someone wholly different.

It seemed that her connection with Max had opened her intuition up in so many other areas. It was as if the more Max’s soul had woven with her own, she’d begun to sense things— know things. He’d opened her to a whole other world of impressions and instincts.

Sometimes it was just little things, like knowing it was Max on the phone—although of course that was their own connection more than anything else. But other times it was something more important—maybe knowing who they should trust.

And when to trust herself, she reflected.

Like when she’d decided to tell Max the truth about Kyle, had risked everything that she and Max’s future self had tried to accomplish. Even then, some quiet inner voice had guided her, and she’d acquiesced

Liz stared into the mirror, and recalled the night when Max’s future self had kissed her in this very same bathroom. He’d begun the change within her even then, that very night.

It was bizarre, but sometimes she missed his future self, yearned for him a bit. He’d been so different than her Max, and yet he’d loved her with a husband’s heart--enough to risk everything, just so she might glimpse the connection he’d shared with her in the future.

Since then, Liz had realized that on some level, he’d never really wanted their plan to succeed, or he never would have kissed her that night. It was like he’d been silently begging her to find another future for the two of them--one where they could be together, without it being the end of the world.

Slowly, she opened her eyes… and saw Max smiling at her from the doorway, just quietly watching her. She jumped a little, surprised that she hadn’t sensed him already—but then again, she’d been so caught up in her memories.

"Hi," he said, moving to kiss her. His lips softly grazed her own.

"Hi," she answered, turning off the blow dryer.

"You forgot what day it is, didn’t you?" he asked gently.

"What do you mean?" She asked, and then awareness quickly dawned. "Oh, Max!" she cried, pulling away from him.

"July 12th." He smiled at her broadly. "Our wedding day."

"I can’t believe I forgot. We were going to do something special."

"We still can," he said, stroking her hair away from her face with a light touch of his hand.

"What do you have in mind?" she asked coyly.

Max hesitated a moment, staring deeply into her eyes, and she felt a little shiver settle over her skin. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking.

"Let’s go to Vegas, Liz," he answered finally.

She stared at him, speechless.

"Max, what are you saying?" she asked, a thrill of excitement shooting through her.

"I’m saying let’s get married, Liz," he whispered, pulling her into his arms. "Let’s elope, just like we did last time."

"We always said…"

"I know what we’ve always said, but I can’t wait until after college, Liz." He drew in a quick breath. "This is driving me insane. I want the world to know what you already are to me."

Liz’s heart beat crazily. This was crazy. She could think of a million reasons why they shouldn’t do it—and yet just like Max, it was becoming nearly impossible for her to keep pretending they weren’t already mated for life.

"We don’t have any money," she offered softly.

"I’ve saved some," he answered. "But I’m sure we didn’t have any money the first time, Liz. We’ll have each other… the rest will take care of itself."

Liz pulled away from him, and stared up into his golden eyes. He was serious—dead serious. He was ready to marry her this very day.

This is your future, your present, that quiet voice of intuition whispered. You belong to him completely anyway.

And she knew this was one of those moments—a time to trust her raw instincts.

"Yes, Max," she breathed. "I want to."

He broke into a radiant smile, and cupped her face within his hands. He kissed her for a long moment, letting his mouth lingering against her own.

"You’re saying you’ll be my wife," he murmured. "Do you realize that?"

She pulled away, and traced her fingers across his lips. "I already am your wife, Max."

"But now the world will know."

She ran her hand across his cheek, and felt soft stubble prickle her fingers. Lately, he’d had more of a beard… was becoming more of a man, and less of a boy.

"I’ll be Liz Evans," she said, and pulled him close to her, whispering in his ear. "Yes, Max, I definitely want the world to know that, too."

"Good," he laughed gently. "Because I already bought the plane tickets. We’re on a 12:30 flight."

"You were that sure I’d say yes?" She asked in amazement.

He nodded silently, kissing her, his lips incredibly warm against her own. "But I was prepared to convince you, even if you’d said no."

"I would never have said no," Liz exclaimed. "Just maybe ‘not yet.’"

"Doesn’t matter," he murmured, kissing her again. "I wasn’t going to accept anything less than yes today."

Their kisses deepened and Liz felt Max’s heart open fully to her. And she sensed his overwhelming pleasure that she’d agreed to marry him now… not later, after college. His contentment just rolled over her in soothing waves, surrounding her completely. Liz sighed, drinking him in--his familiar scent, the warmth of his body.

"Just promise me one thing, Max," she whispered in a serious voice.

"Anything."

"That it doesn’t have to be at the Elvis Chapel."

"Actually…" he hesitated.

"What?"

"Well, I pretty much felt the same way… and I’ve already booked something much more elegant for 9 p.m. tonight."

"Max!" she cried in surprise.

"I had to cover all the bases… and you’ve got an appointment at a bridal shop at 4:00 p.m., so we’d better get going."

"You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?" she asked incredulously.

"I wanted it to be perfect for you, Liz," he answered thoughtfully.

Liz threw her arms around his neck, pulling him tightly to her. "It already is, Max."

"For me, too," he answered, threading his fingers through the length of her hair. "But we’d better get going if we’re going to make that plane."

"Yeah, and I should leave a note for my parents."

Her parents. Oh, God… they were absolutely going to kill both of them.

But Liz Parker, who had so often done just the right thing in her life, was ready to be wild and reckless today. It was July 12, 2002, a day that had once been etched in history as belonging to just the two of them—and she intended to make sure that it was once again.


Max sat on the little garden bench outside Chapel of the Roses, tapping his foot impatiently. Liz wasn’t late yet, but the wait was slowly killing him. They’d parted outside the bridal shop three hours ago, and he’d immediately headed to the chapel to make sure all their arrangements were in order. They had their licenses now, and everything was in place.

Except Liz, who had yet to show. He felt a tiny wave of insecurity. What if she changed her mind? This had all been so rushed, and now she’d had time away from him, when she might have reconsidered their rash plan.

But even as his fears attempted to surface, he knew in his heart that she wanted this as much as he did. He’d felt her excitement all afternoon, cresting through him in little vibrations. In fact, he was pretty sure he’d known the moment when she found her wedding dress, because she’d reached for him briefly. Their connection had skittered momentarily with unbridled giddiness, but then he’d sensed her pull quickly away. It was almost like he’d heard her quickly shushing herself, so as not to spoil any of the details about the dress.

He smiled at the memory, closing his eyes. The excitement he’d felt from her in that moment had been just what he’d wanted this day to be for her--something she’d treasure for the rest of her life.

And even though he knew she might have wanted their friends here, it seemed only right that their wedding be private, without a throng of people looking on--exactly as their spiritual joining had been, so sacred and personal. There would be plenty of time to celebrate with everyone when they got back to Roswell. But this moment was going to be reverential, and he didn’t want to share it with anyone but Liz. Well, and the chaplain, but there was no getting around that, he laughed to himself.

He watched the cars passing on the street, and felt a wave of apprehension. What if she couldn’t find the chapel? Or if her taxi driver didn’t know where it was?

But then he saw a yellow cab pull up to the curb, and glimpsed Liz’s dark hair through the window. He rose quickly to his feet, hurrying to meet her. The back door opened, and his breath literally caught in his throat when he saw her. She was still wearing her khakis and t-shirt from earlier, but she looked more beautiful than he’d ever seen her before, as she pulled a long garment bag out of the car.

"Hey," she smiled shyly. "What’s that look for?"

He shook his head mutely. How could he possibly explain how radiant she looked in that moment?

She was glowing, inside and out… and it was all because of him.

"What?" she asked again, laughing as he took the hanging bag from her. He stopped, and kissed her quickly.

"It’s just that you look so beautiful, Liz."

"Wait until you see me in two hours," she promised, eyes widening playfully.

"I don’t know if I can wait that long," he sighed, as they stepped up the walkway, toward the chapel door.

She stopped suddenly, turning toward him. "After that, there’s no more waiting… never again," she promised.


The strains of Pachobel’s Canon in D floated through the empty chapel, as Max stood waiting for Liz, eyes trained on the closed doors at the end of the carpeted aisle. He felt his palms grow clammy, as he realized once again that he was waiting for his intended… his Zillia. His Queen.
How many lifetimes had this moment traversed now, always repeating itself? Yet this was the only one he would remember, he thought, as he waited in hushed expectation.

And now the music paused, as the doors opened… and time simply stopped for one eternal moment. As Max stared at her, he knew that her dress was lovely, all beads and satin, but none of that mattered at all. Because all he could see was her fathomless dark eyes, eyes that he’d lost himself in on so many occasions. And her silky hair, that he always just loved to stroke and touch… pulled back elegantly from her face, so that her delicate features looked even more radiant. But it was her graceful smile that nearly eclipsed everything else, and he felt his heart swell within him.

Instantly, tears filled his eyes, but he blinked them away so he could see her more clearly. She nearly floated down the small aisle toward him, a bouquet of white roses clasped in her tiny hands.

And then this moment, which was already so delirious, intensified even more as she reached out toward him, across the small distance. He gasped slightly, feeling her suddenly all over him, caressing him… as she took her final steps toward the altar.

In all his careful planning this had never once occurred to him--that they should open themselves to one another at precisely this moment. He felt shimmers of Liz’s quiet energy roll through his whole body. Even her scent spread quickly across his skin, nearly intoxicating him with her sudden proximity, as he allowed the connection to unfurl between them.

She stepped beside him, gazing up into his eyes for a long moment.

"I’ve never seen you look more beautiful," he whispered, kissing her quickly on the cheek.
She beamed up at him, and like a soft embrace, he felt her love surround him fully. He answered by clasping her small gloved hand within his own… and then quickly moved inside of her, just as she slipped within him.

They turned to the chaplain, bonding silently, sacredly--even as they would be joined in the eyes of the world.


Their hotel suite was dark, except for the soft light spilling from the stereo cabinet. Liz’s arms were wrapped around Max’s waist, and her head lay against his chest. He held her close against him, his hand resting softly against the small of her back.

They’d been dancing slowly like this for a long while now, she still dressed in her wedding gown and he in his tuxedo. There was no need to rush anything tonight, and it seemed what they most wanted was simply to hold one another.

Long ago, their breathing had fallen into a quiet rhythm, as they danced together in the darkness. It was surprising how gentle this moment was… she would have thought it would be passionate and intense. Instead, a hush had immediately fallen over the room and their hearts… a reverential stillness.

"I want to stay just like this all night," she whispered against Max’s chest.

He stroked her back softly through the dress. "We can do anything," he answered. "We’ve got all weekend."

She smiled in satisfaction. No more hiding, no more sneaking around.

"Just know this, Liz Evans," he murmured quietly against her hair. "I plan to make love to you over and over again."

"I like the sound of that," she answered.

"In every way, Liz… alien… human… and back again."

Her heart began to beat more quickly. How was it that his simple words of seduction could unnerve her so fully?

I heard that, he laughed.

Of course you did. I meant for you to.

Ah, I see, he said, gazing down into her eyes. I guess that means your every wish is my command.

Well,I am a queen now, she smiled coyly.

He thrilled a bit at her words.

And you’re my king, she continued. But you always were that anyway.

Oh, Liz. Now what am I supposed to do with that?

She glanced up at him curiously.

I mean, that just makes me want to forget everything else…

We can do that, too, she breathed.

He cupped her face tenderly within his hands. Let’s forget the world, Liz. Right now.

And when he touched her next, slowly unbuttoning the back of her dress, she did forget…everything but Max Evans, her husband.

In fact, they both forgot everything else for almost the rest of their weekend.


The music played loudly in the Crashdown, as strains of Fly Me to the Moon floated all through the café. But the music wasn’t nearly as deafening as everyone’s laughter-- all their friends and family had gathered to welcome them home this Sunday evening. Ever since they’d walked in the door, there’d been so many congratulations and exuberant shouts.

They’d called their parents on Saturday morning from Las Vegas, and Liz had quickly told her father the details. She knew he wasn’t pleased, could hear his quiet anger across the telephone line, even though his words were measured and controlled. Max’s conversation with his mother had gone much better--but then again she understood how happy Liz made him—something her own parents had never fully grasped about Max’s role in her life.

Yet here they all were at the Crashdown, and somehow her parents’ disapproval had dissolved the minute they’d walked in the door. Maybe it was the look they’d seen on her face—she really wasn’t sure. But they’d quickly embraced her, tears in their eyes, and told her that if she was happy, then they were happy for her. At one point, her father had pulled her aside and given her a quiet lecture about school and her studies. She’d almost laughed despite herself, and even in the middle of his talk he’d begun smiling softly.

"I know how serious you are about your studies, Lizzie," he’d said. "I just want to make sure you and Max are smart about this."

"I know, Daddy," she’d said. "Believe me, I couldn’t be more committed to my education."

"Well, good thing you’re on a scholarship," he’d answered seriously. "I don’t know how you and Max expect to pay for an apartment."

"We’ve both saved some money."

"Have you been planning this?" He asked, anger flaring again.

"No, Daddy," She’d laughed, shaking her head. "But I have been working like… all through high school."

He’d stared at her a long moment, then quickly hugged her in a fierce embrace.

"I trust you, sweetheart. You’ve always been so responsible."

When they’d pulled apart, she’d seen tears shining in his eyes. "But I just wasn’t ready to give up my little girl so quickly."

Then tears had sprung to her own eyes, and she’d only been able to nod in response.

But that had been an hour ago, and now her father was pouring champagne for all of them. She realized that was a big mistake—Max had better not even think about taking a sip, or she’d definitely have to intercept his glass.

Maria came up beside her, and slipped an arm around her shoulder. "I’m never going to forgive you, chica," she said, but her smile belied her words.

"Yeah, right," Liz laughed. "I can see that."

"Seriously, I was supposed to be your maid of honor. We had it all planned. You were not going to get married at the Elvis Chapel."

"We didn’t," Liz laughed.

"Oh, great. See, there’s so much I don’t know," Maria protested, and Liz detected a flicker of genuine sadness in her eyes.

She turned quickly toward her friend. "Maria, I’m going to share every detail with you. I won’t leave one thing out, I promise."

Maria stared at her a long moment. "That’s not what I’m worried about," she said, and her voice cracked a bit.

"What?" Liz asked, touching Maria lightly on the arm.

"Just promise me you’ll always be my best friend," she answered quickly, her eyes dropping to the floor.

"Maria!" Liz embraced her quickly. "How can you even ask that? Of course you’ll always be my best friend. Always."

"Well, I just had to be sure," she laughed.

Liz glanced up, and saw her father hand Max a glass of champagne. "Oh, no," she groaned. "He is not going to drink that, or I’ll kill him."

Maria glanced up, right as Jeff Parker approached each of them. "Ladies, here you go," he said, handing them both a glass.

"I have to run a bit of interference with my husband," she laughed quietly, stepping away from Maria.

My husband, she thought. It was the first time she’d ever said those words out loud. And they sounded so right, so natural.

She stepped beside Max, who leaned in close to her, whispering in her ear. "Your dad gave me The Big Talk," he laughed.

"You, too, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah, but I think he’s okay with this," he assured her.

"I know," she answered, staring down at his glass of champagne. "I think he might even…dare I say it, be happy for us?"

"I thought that, too," he exclaimed, his brown eyes widening.

Their conversation was interrupted when her father began tapping a spoon lightly against his champagne glass, preparing to make his toast.

"Just don’t drink any of that, or he might become very unhappy."

"Oh, Liz," he laughed. "You may have made me deliriously happy, but not stupid."

He kissed her quickly on the cheek. "At least not yet."

The café grew quiet, as all eyes turned to Jeff Parker, who had raised his glass toward the two of them. Max slipped his arm around Liz’s shoulder, nestling her close against him. She felt his familiar heat radiate through her body, as she listened to her father begin his toast.

Suddenly, she realized her father was smiling almost as giddily as she had been for the past few days. And it was at that precise moment that her happiness found its completion—when she knew that she hadn’t just gained a husband, but that together they’d found her parents approval.

Glancing quickly at Max, she watched his warm eyes as her father began his speech, welcoming him into their family.

And Liz felt him beside her, opening to her, welcoming her within himself… completing the circle of love that surrounded her at that moment.

She sighed. Yet another perfect day… what was she going to do with all the perfect days that lay ahead of them, now that they were truly one, for all the world to see?

But she could handle anything—perfect or otherwise--so long as Max was by her side.

And he was definitely by her side…within her, around her, thoroughly encompassing her in every conceivable way—and she was ready for their future, whatever it might bring.