"The Final Sacrifice"

"So, what's up?" Tammy asked, looking at the Elder.

"Yeah," Yasmine added, "what are you doing here?"

The Elder sent them a tiny smile. "Congratulations on finally defeating Rakshiki. We saw how trying the battle was on you five. Still, you did not give up and therefore, came out victorious."

"Yeah!" Isabella cheered, throwing a fist in the air. "We kicked ass!" The other girls, still riding high on both their victory and seeing the child just a few minutes ago, gave each other high-fives and hugs. They were so busy celebrating that they did not question why one of the Elders decided to come third density and show himself to the boys… though they should have.

"It's all over," Serena sighed happily. "I can live my life again. I'm so proud of us."

"Me too," Tammy grinned, clapping her on the back. "I just can't believe we're done with all the super hero stuff."

Michelle, who happened to glance at the Elder at that moment, saw his smile drop off of his face. "What?" she asked. After he did not respond, she asked again, "What is it?"

"It is not over," he whispered. "Something has happened."

"What do you mean 'it's not over'?" Isabella frowned. "Is Rakshiki back? If so, I don't see how that's possible. Tammy's snake ate him all up."

"Rakshiki is not back," he answered. "Rakshiki is never coming back. This danger is even greater than him."

"So what is it, already?" Michelle asked, ready to go kick some more butt.

"The world is now in danger," he answered, "not just the child."

"So what's the problem?" Tammy asked impatiently.

The Elder still hesitated to answer. Finally, he raised his eyes and deeply stared into hers. "A supernova," he answered simply with a sad shake of his head.

"What the hell is that?" Yasmine asked, wrinkling her nose.

"A star that explodes, losing a large amount of mass and releasing a helluva lot of energy," Tammy answered. She continued with a snort, "You should really try to stay awake in your astronomy class more often." Turning back to the Elder she shrugged, "So what's the big deal?"

"It is not just a supernova," he explained. "The largest supernova ever documented in our records, but not in scientific records, increased in size almost one-hundred million times before exploding, letting off enough energy to shift this entire star system four billion light-years east. Thankfully, it was billions and billions of light-years away from any galaxy known to contain life. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the nova we are referring to."

"What's so different about this one?" Serena wanted to know.

"It's mass is already nearing the billions mark as we speak," the Elder answered. "When it explodes, it will release a surge of energy to wipe out everything within a four-hundred trillion light-year radius." He glanced at Tammy. "All life will be wiped out, including the child's."

"No, it won't," Serena shook her head adamantly. "'Cause we're gonna stop this thing."

"Yeah," Michelle nodded, "I can absorb the energy that the nova is gonna release."

The Elder shook his head. "It will be an immense amount of energy. If you tried to absorb it, it would literally rip you apart. You would need the help of these other four to contain it, and even then, that will be too much for you all to sustain."

"So what are you saying?" Michelle scowled. "That this is hopeless?"

"No," the Elder replied, "it is never hopeless."

"That's what you're telling us, though," Yasmine argued, brushing her silky hair out of her face angrily.

"No," Tammy said quietly, understanding what the Elder was really saying, "that's not what he's saying. You're missing the point."

"Which is?" Isabella challenged, planting her hands on her hips impatiently.

Tammy stared at the Elder in silence, then finally looked away. Looking at her Hispanic friend with a somber gaze, she explained, "It's a suicide mission. If we go and absorb the energy from the nova, we'll be killed, but the rest of the world, and the child, will be spared."

Isabella whipped around and stared at him incredulously. "Is this true?" she asked.

"Yes," he nodded. "In order for the world to be saved, you five are needed. Nothing will stop the nova from exploding, but if something were to absorb the excess energy, the world would continue to live on unscathed. In the process, though, you five would cease to exist." He added, "It is your choice, though. We cannot make you do it, but we strongly beg you to do so."

"How long would the world have if we didn't do it?" Serena asked.

"Approximately eight years," he answered, "give or take two."

"Why can't you all do it?" Yasmine glared at him. "You all are more powerful than us."

"No, we are not," the Elder smiled sadly. "You five, and only you five, possess the abilities needed to defeat this horrible catastrophe. It is your choice," he repeated as a reminder.

Isabella, who was breathing hard, suddenly started to cry. "It's not fair!" she sobbed as Michelle wrapped a comforting arm around her. "You all told us that all we had to do was protect the child from evil forces, and we did. We did!" Glaring at him, she continued, "For three years we yearned to be normal, but the horrible truth was that we were not. We had to live with that. And now that we think it is over and that we can go back to living normal lives, you tell us that we're gonna die?"

"It is your choice," he said quietly.

"But that's not fair!" Isabella shot back. "How can we not do it? We can't very well go on living our lives normally knowing that in about eight years, the world will come to a sudden end. And that we had the power to stop it!"

"Yeah," Yasmine scowled, leaning against the wall with her head down. "We're stuck between a rock and a hard place. This fuckin' sucks."

"It is your choice," the Elder reminded them.

"Would you stop saying that!" Serena snapped angrily.

"But it is," he said with a helpless gesture. "You do not have to do it."

After a long silence, Isabella choked out, "It's not fair. It's not. You all are the one's who told me that I had to learn to live my life without my sister, and now that I'm finally doing it, I have to leave again."

"Was dying the first time that bad?" the Elder asked sympathetically.

"Yes!" Michelle replied sharply. "We were cheated out of our lives, and that's why we were sent back. To protect the child, but also as a way to fulfill the lives we were robbed of the first time around. And once again, it's the same story. We're being cheated again."

"So do not do it," the Elder shrugged.

"No," Tammy sighed wearily, "I'll do it." As the girls looked up at her in shock, she continued, on the verge of tears, "I'll go."

"Don't," Justin said from the other side of the room. Tammy looked up at him in surprise. Up until that point, the guys had been strangely silent. "Don't do it," he repeated.

"I have to," she said with another sad sigh.

"No, you don't," he argued. "You said that the child has to make an impression on the world, to teach it. Eight years is long enough for him to do that. It is! And by the time the world ends, he could have taught everyone."

"No," Serena chuckled bitterly, "that's not enough time. He has to reach the entire world, and I seriously doubt that in the state this world's in, they'd listen to a seven year old black kid. The world's too close-minded. He needs to grow."

"Besides," the Elder added gently, "this world will not be the only one to perish as a result of this nova. There are billions of other life forms out there who have yet to reach the state of transition we are approaching. If this star explodes, they will never know the wonder that awaits them once they complete their evolutionary cycle. That would not be fair to them."

"How soon do we have to leave?" Michelle asked in a whisper.

"The sooner the better," the Elder answered. "The nova is growing now as we speak, and is due to explode in about ten minutes."

"That soon?" Isabella sniffed. "God, this sucks."

The Elder looked at the girls. "Tammy, you told Rakshiki that you were not afraid to die to save the child." Looking at Serena he added, "You said something similar. Were you lying when you said it?"

"No," the two said together. Serena added, "We just didn't know that our end would come so quickly."

Tammy glanced behind her towards the boys, who had tears trickling out of their eyes. "Guess it's time for the final good-bye," she sighed, turning and walking towards them with the other girls.

Serena was the first to go down the line for hugs. "Good-bye, Joey," she sniffed. "It's been great knowin' ya. Keep on bein' Mr. Lova Man for me."

"I will," he whispered, hugging her tightly. "You're wonderful."

Hugging Chris, she grinned shakily, "I hope the whole engagement works out. I'm sorry I'll miss the wedding."

"Me too," he sniffed, hugging her.

"My man," she laughed through her tears, hugging Lance. "Keep the blond pride alive."

"Always," he said sadly, wrapping his arms around her. "Love ya, girl. Stay beautiful in this life and the next, inside and out, okay?"

Serena turned to JC and Justin and gave them a hug at the same time. "I'll miss you all so much," she said, tears pouring freely out of her eyes. "But the time we spent together was wonderful. Never forget me, okay?" With that, she turned and walked away, wiping her tears.

Michelle hugged the five of them briefly, but couldn't say good-bye, for she was sobbing so hard. JC wrapped her in his arms gently and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and walked away from them.

Isabella was next in her good-byes, and when she got to Justin, she grinned and looked at the floor with a bright blush on her face. "So…" she shrugged.

"So what?" he shrugged back. "So what we've had a few intimate times. I don't regret 'em. My only regret is that I don't remember them. I'm sure it was special, though." Giving her a hug and kissing her on the forehead, he whispered, "I'll miss you, mami chulo."

She laughed shakily. "Your Spanish is better, I see." She gave JC a hug and a kiss, then went to stand next to Michelle and Serena.

Yasmine stepped up and gave each of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek. When she was finished, she stood back and said to them as a whole, "I want you all to remember me just like this. When you remember a joke I might have told and laugh, or when a mental picture of me pops into your head, I want you to remember this moment right here. I love you guys." She blew them all a kiss and turned away.

Finally, it was Tammy's turn. "What do I say to my favorite Italian?" she smiled, tears coming down her face. "Except ti amo anch'io. That's Italian for 'I love you'," she said.

"The feeling is more than mutual," he said as he wiped the tears from her face. "I don’t know what to say to my angel except, grazzi. That's Italian for 'Thank you'." Placing his forehead gently against hers, he whispered, "I love you."

She hugged Chris, who could barely stand to look at her. "I feel as if I'm watching you die," he said hoarsely, trying to hold back tears.

"But you're not," she scolded, "so don't think of it like that. Life goes on, and after this one, I'll have another shot, I'm sure."

"You'll come back?" he asked hopefully.

"No," she shook her head ruefully, "we can't die and come back twice. It's against the rules. But someday, I'll be back for another incarnation."

Turning to Lance, she grinned. "My Lancey pants. Raymundo." Lance gave her a weak smile as he struggled to hold his tears in. "It's been a pleasure knowing you," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll really miss you."

"You don't even wanna know how much I'm gonna miss you," he shook his head, giving her a tight hug and letting his tears flow freely now.

Once she got to Justin, he didn't hesitate to let his tears fall. "Why do you have to go?" he whispered, tears falling from his eyes. "Just stay," he begged.

"I have to," she sighed. "You heard what the Elder said. We're not just protecting this world, but all the others out there, too. Besides," she continued with a sorrowful smile, "the child died to save me in his last life, so it's only natural that I die for him this time around. I'm honored to go out like this. Very noble."

Justin sucked in a shaky breath and replied, "I guess. I'm just being selfish, but I don't care. You've already died once, you don’t deserve to die again. You've done nothing but good in this world, and I think that that should count for something." Shooting a glare towards the Elder, he sighed, "What I'm trying to say is, I'm really gonna miss you. The time that I've known you has been awesome, and I'll never forget you."

Tammy nodded, and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I'll see ya someday," she promised. "Maybe not in this life, but definitely in the next one." Moving on to JC, she smirked.

"How can you smile at a time like this?" he asked, his eyes looking like glowing sapphires as they drowned in his unshed tears. "You're about to die."

"Ah, get outta here," she nudged him with her elbow. "Remember the story I told ya? There's no death. Me and the girls'll wake up next to that damn river again, and then we'll spy on y'all while you're in the shower."

JC chuckled through his tears. "I'm sorry for being so mad earlier. It was stupid of me and I was bein' a jerk. A close-minded jerk."

Tammy shrugged. "No problem. It's hard to accept that things like this do happen, ya know?"

"Yeah," he agreed, "I'm still having a hard time believing it. It's just like, why me? Ya know, why should I be here seeing this type of stuff? Who am I? Nobody. Just some ego-filled pop star."

"No," she scolded him lightly, "you're not. Remember what I once told you. You are Joshua Scott Chasez, never forget that. It counts for a lot in the next life." Pulling him towards her in a hug, she sighed, "I'll miss you, I really will."

"I'll miss you, too," he echoed. "And I love you. You've changed my life, and I'm glad I was one of the few that was lucky enough to be blessed with their very own angel." After saying that, that was the end of him. Tears flowed swiftly down his face and he started to sob. "Don't go," he begged, grabbing her hands tightly. "Please."

"I have to, JC," she whispered firmly. "Now, let me go. I have to go."

"No," he shook his head, staring into her eyes. His grip remained stead-fast, and Tammy glanced back at her friends.

"JC," Joey said sharply, "let her go!"

JC refused to comply with his order, and Tammy wasn't even sure if JC was paying attention to him. He just continued to stare at her with tears coming down his face, holding her tightly. Finally, after thirty precious, nerve-wracking seconds, he let her go silently. "Good-bye," he said, looking at the floor.

Tammy nodded and walked away from him, joining her friends. "Let's go," she told the Elder. He instantly formed a portal of light for them to walk through, and as Tammy was about to step into it, JC called, "Wait!"

"What?" Tammy turned around.

"What do we tell everyone?" he wanted to know. "They're gonna wanna know why you suddenly disappeared."

"Tell them I went into solitude as a way to escape the harsh realities of Hollywood," she smirked. "Don't worry, I won't be sued 'cause all my scripts are done." She waved to the guys, then walked into the portal with her friends. For a second, the light surrounded their frames, and to the guys, they looked like silhouettes of soldiers ready to go to war. Then, the light completely engulfed them, and the portal closed.

And just like that, Tammy was gone again.

Later that night, JC went into his room to get away from the stony silence of the others. True, he wanted some silence to think, but the sad silence that was in the other room was too much to bear. He just wanted some time to himself to mourn and grieve for Tammy and the others.

He happened to glance at his bed and saw a big, thick book on it. Upon closer examination, he saw that it was not a book, but was a tightly bound script. On the cover, it read, "Guardian Angels". Sitting down on his bed, JC opened to the first page and started to read, immediately becoming engrossed in a story about five guys a lot like he and his friends, but not exactly like them, and a very special girl who came into their life.

"We're not even famous in this story," he mused aloud after finishing the script two hours later. He didn't really care that Tammy didn't stick to the whole "tell 'NSync's entire story" format, because he knew that that bored her. Instead, she took their characters and spun a rich tapestry of love, trust, lies, betrayal, and forgiveness, and created a story that he knew would knock "Titanic" out of the number one spot as the highest grossing movie of all time. "God bless you," he whispered, kissing the script and climbing under the covers. He kept the script, and Tammy's bear, cradled in his arms as he drifted off to sleep. It made him feel closer to her.

Meanwhile, Tammy and her friends were flying through space faster than the speed of light in order to reach the dreaded nova. "Alright, y'all," Tammy called to her fourth-density friends, "if we're gonna do this, we gotta do it right. If we're gonna die, then we're gonna make sure we make it count. That means destroying this thing once and for all. You with me?"

"You know it," Isabella curled her hands into a fist as she flew faster towards the approaching nova. "Sweet Lord, look at that thing!" she gasped. "It's made out of diamond!"

"Get the fuck outta here!" Yasmine gasped also as she looked at the huge star. "That's why all the galaxies would be obliterated. Not only would a large amount of energy be emitted, but the diamonds would spill out over the galaxy at a lightning fast velocity."

"So let's do this," Michelle glared at the nova. "Everyone spread out!" she commanded. "Everyone go to a corner and be prepared to connect with each other."

The girls followed suit, and Tammy stood alone at one part of the increasingly hot diamond, sweating profusely. "I wish someone were here to stand with me," she thought.

Serena heard her thought and replied telepathically, "Don't worry, T. Just because we're billions of miles apart right now doesn't mean we're not here. We're with you all the way."

The girls closed their eyes, and made a spiritual connection with each other, resulting in a tight, cosmic band spanning around the entire nova. "Ready?" Isabella called into their minds.

"Yeah!" they all replied. "Let's do this!" Serena added.

"How much time do we have?" Michelle asked.

"Twelve seconds 'til it blows!" Tammy called, her heart rate increasing. She was scared, but the thought of holding the baby boy in her arms was the one thing that kept her from bolting back to Earth.

"I'll miss you guys," Yasmine said emotionally.

"No, you won't," Isabella laughed. "We'll be together in the next life." She added, "It's been great working with you guys. I couldn't have asked for a better team."

"Same here," everyone echoed.

"It's time!" Tammy called, closing her eyes and preparing for the big explosion. Still, the impact wrenched her eyes back open, for nothing could prepare them for such a great amount of heat, pain, and pressure. "Hold on, guys!" she struggled to call to her friends. "Just keep taking in the energy!"

"I can't," Serena moaned, "it hurts!"

"Think of the child," Michelle called calmly. "That's all I'm thinking about."

Soon though, the pain and pressure became unbearable, and Tammy couldn't stand to look into the bright light that the diamond was releasing. "Shit," she swore as she felt herself slipping away. Her arms and legs felt like they were no longer attached to her body, and she knew that they were ripping away by the millisecond. Sweat continued to pour down their faces as they struggled to hold on, but they all knew that their time was ending.

"I'm dying," Isabella moaned. "I can't hold on, guys."

"Yes, you can!" Michelle called. "Just a little while longer. The nova is reaching the climax."

"Once, it reaches the climax," Yasmine gasped, "we will all cease to exist."

Suddenly, as the nova approached the moment where it would be the brightest and would release the greatest amount of energy and pressure, a thought came to Tammy. She didn't know where it came from, but surmised that it must have been the Elders, or maybe God himself. "Guys!" she called, "go seventh-density!"

"What?" Yasmine struggled to ask incredulously. "That's theoretically impossible!"

"Look," Tammy snapped back, "we don't have time! Just do it! Focus your mind on it, and you can." The girls complied with the order just at the nova blew up, and they ceased to be. In a sense, they became everything, and nothing at all.