Part Two

Sky looked up at Michael and swallowed down a big gulp. "Did that woman just say that this man’s name is Michael?" Sky thought. A deep fear washed over her entire body and settled in the pit of her belly. Her eyes shone with it for a brief second. The other woman’s name was Liz.

"No," Sky thought, "It can’t possibly be. I’m not that lucky." But somewhere just under her surface, that fear remained. Sky looked back up at the blonde woman, "It’s nice to meet you Isabel, and Mr., Mr. Guerin, but I, uh, don’t know what that’s supposed to mean to me."

"Oh......," Isabel replied, "I just thought..." Sky then glanced to Michael. Michael had been starring directly at Sky since she had said that name, that sacred name. He looked over her carefully. She had Maria’s lips, her full, glossy lips. Her entire face reminded him of Maria, especially the way her emotions ran over her smooth skin. But her eyes, they were unmistakably his. Almost an exact replica. "Why hadn’t he seen it coming?" He thought. He couldn’t look any longer; he turned his eyes away.

Liz broke the spell and spoke, "I don’t think Isabel meant anything by that, Sky. She just meant that it’s important because you’ve been more than good to us." Sky nodded in recognition, "Yeah... So, I guess you guys are going to be leaving?" "Yeah, it’s getting late, and I’m sure you’ve got plans or something," Max said. Sky nodded. They said their good-byes and left. Sky stood starring out the glass of the door as they called a cab and drove out of her sight.

"So," Lennie said, coming out of the shadows of the kitchen door where she had been standing, "What was that all about Sky? It sounded like it got a little tense for a moment." Sky looked up, "Oh, it, it was nothing much." "It didn’t sound like nothing much to me. Did you hear what that woman said, and how she said it? That man’s name is Michael, and that other woman’s name is Liz. When that woman asked you your name, she had this look on her face like she knew exactly what you were going to say. Sky, you don’t think that it’s possible that he’s...?" Lennie cut off. "No possible way!" Sky yelped, "There is no way he can be, I mean, that’s impossible, right?"

"How could she! How could she keep something like this from me! I mean, that kid, she’s my daughter! I have a daughter. What am I gonna do? I have to find Maria. Maria! I’m gonna strangle that blonde, big-mouthed, EARTH GIRL!" Michael continued to shout in rage. "Michael," Max stated, "Pull yourself together! We’re all here; we’ll figure this out." Michael boomed, "What’s to figure out, I have a daughter whom I know nothing about. That girl is my flesh and blood! What if? I mean, do you think she’s like us?" "Liz and my kids haven’t shown any signs, nor has Jace," Max replied, "I don’t think it’s likely, but it is possible. Let’s get to the hotel, then we’ll sort this out." "Michael, it is going to be okay, you’ll see, this is Maria we’re talking about," Liz said as she laid a soothing hand on his shoulder. "Michael," Isabel crooned, "Come on love," as she brushed a lock of his wild hair from his face. With that, they remained quiet the rest of the ride.

Over at The Red Roof, Sky and Lennie had finished closing and were preparing to leave. "I’m gonna call Mom and tell her I’m staying with you tonight, Okay?" Sky said to Lennie. "Yeah," Lennie answered, "I’ll meet you at the front door." Sky picked up the phone and dialed home.

Maria picked up on the third ring. "Hi, this is Maria speaking." "Hey Mom," Sky answered. "Oh, hey sweetie, is everything okay; you sound a little shaky?" "Yeah Mom, I’m fine. I just wanted to let’cha know that I’m gonna stay over at Lennie’s tonight. Her dad’s out of town again and she doesn’t want to be alone. I’ll see you tomorrow after work, and I’m bringing Lennie home. Okay?" Sky said to her mother. "Always, baby. You take good care of Lennie for me. I’ll see you tomorrow then. Oh, and don’t stay up to late, and Sky, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do." Maria stated with a little chuckle. "MOM!" Sky choked out before hanging up the phone. Then Sky remembered, and she headed for the door. Lennie and She had a lot to do.

Maria sighed as she hung up the phone. She had such a great daughter, and she loved her so much. Michael had given her the greatest gift of all. And because of that, she loved him even more. How could she not love the person whom had given her such a gift---her heart. It was a wonder to have your heart go walking around outside of your body, but that’s exactly what Sky was. Only, there was a piece of that heart that was missing. Sky was a piece of Michael, and so he was also a piece of her heart. Naturally, in true Michael fashion, he was the missing piece. Oh, how she missed him.

After getting to the hotel and into their rooms, Max, Michael, Isabel, and Liz, got settled and resumed their previous conversation. Liz asked,

"So what are we going to do?" "Well," Max stated, "We’ll have to find Maria. It shouldn’t be to hard. We’ll go back to the restaurant first thing tomorrow morning and see if we can pry some information from some of the other waitresses." Liz nodded in agreement, as well as Isabel. Isabel knew, only too well, what this would mean to Michael. Had she not laid in bed next to him during many nights when he had unconsciously let her know that nothing would ever be finished between Maria and he?

Sky pulled up to Lennie’s apartment building. They gathered their stuff and headed on up to the apartment. Inside, they dropped their things to the ground. They found some leftover, cold pizza and a few cans of soda. Then the search began. "So," Lennie said, "What do you want to do about it?" "Well," Sky replied, "First, we’ve got to find where they are staying. Then we’ll follow them. We don’t start our shift till four tomorrow, so if we catch them in the morning, then we’ll have most of the day to see what’s up. I mean, they’re tourists; they’re bound to be up at the crack of dawn." "Okay, sounds like a plan to me," Lennie answered. "So," Sky said," Are you going to work your magic?" Lennie chuckled as she logged on to her high-dollar, state of the art computer. The hacker had emerged. Within the hour they knew everything they needed to know. Mr. Guerin and his companions were staying at a local hotel called The Haven. They got their gear ready, and took in a few hours of rest. There was a long day ahead of them.

That night, Michael tried to sleep, but it was no use. He got out of bed, and checked to see if Izz was still asleep. Her breathing remained deep, so he stepped out onto the balcony and shut the sliding glass door. He looked up towards the stars, and he began to remember. Maria, so much was said in that one word. All of his hopes and dreams fell there. She was everything. To get lost in the world that was Maria, that was more than everything. Her soft skin was like the petal of a rose, not red, but cream. Her sent was wild and innocent at the same time, but then, he’d always loved sweet and spicy mixed together so that each overlapped the other confusing the senses. Her lips, they tasted like strawberries; the sweet, overpowering honey of summer. Her eyes were fire. Their intensity burned him; their truth burned him. Her eyes were the windows to his own soul. Only through Maria was there Michael. Maria........

Maria awoke with a start. Was it just her imagination, or had she just heard her name? And that voice? That was a voice that had lived in her dreams for so many years. Michael...... Why after all this time had she finally heard him call for her? What did it mean? Had he realized his truth? Maria could feel it in her very being, something very big was whirling in the air. A storm was brewing, and only God knew who was going to survive. Maria knew that you couldn’t stop fate, she had learned the hard and vicious way, but who had ever said you couldn’t make it your own? She eased back down gathering her covers around her face and curled up. A smile began to grow on the beautiful plane of her face as she again sunk into her dreams, where reality was illusion.

At six a.m. the next morning, Lennie and Sky were seated right outside of The Haven. They were ready for action. "Hey Lennie," Sky said as she pulled out a bag of red hots, "Want some? They’re so great, especially in the morning!" "No thanks," Lennie replied, "I don’t know how you do it DeLuca, all that junk food? Why don’t you try fruit for breakfast, a banana or a grapefruit?" "Are you kidding Lennie? You’ve known me practically my whole life; I’d die if I ever ate anything without artificial flavoring." Lennie smirked at her best friend, she loved Sky too much. They were keeping watch on the front doors of the hotel, but it was getting boring. "Want some Music?" Lennie asked. Sky looked up and answered, "Sure." "Okay, let’s see what we got here," Lennie muttered as she searched through her music chip collection, CD’s had gone out like ten years ago, though a lot of people still played them. "Ah-ha," Lennie stated in victory, "I’ve got it. How about a little Blue Rebellion Magic?"

"Yeah," Sky said with cheer, "I totally love that new song of theirs; what is it?" Lennie answered, "I think your searching for Silver Moon Girl." "Yeah, that’s it!" Sky piped up. Lennie put the chip into the player, but all she got was a horrible screeching noise. "Man, it must be busted, or something! I was really wanting to hear them!" Lennie said in dismay. "No Fear! The Alien is Near!" Sky said trying to cheer Lennie. "Here," Sky said, "Let me see it." Sky took the chip and began to concentrate. A warm glow slowly spread from her fingertips to the chip. After about a minute, Sky opened her eyes and smiled, "There ya go Lennie, all better." Lennie took the chip and put it into the player. Sure enough, it played even better than it had originally. Lennie was happy to be hearing her favorite rock band, but no matter how long she had been friends with Sky, the alien thing did tend to freak her out, if just a little.

Michael, Max, Liz, and Isabel had gotten up and ready for the day. "Hey," Max called to Michael from the lobby, where he and Liz were waiting. "Morning Michael, morning Izz," Liz greeted them. "Good morning," both Michael and Isabel replied. "So," Max asked, "Everyone ready?" There was a chorus of nodding heads.

Sky looked up in time to see them coming out of the hotel. "There they are Lennie!" She stated. Lennie looked up and saw where Sky was pointing to. "Okay," Lennie said as she started up the engine, "They’re calling a cab. You ready for this Sky?" With that said she turned in Sky’s direction. "As ready as I’ll ever be." Sky answered. Lennie turned after the cab that had just picked up their prey.

About forty minutes later, they all pulled into the parking lot of The Red Roof. "So," Sky said, "It was more than just me being extra great with them. I wonder what they’re in there digging up?" "I guess we’ll just have to wait till they come out," Lennie replied as she brushed her long, straight, dark hair onto her shoulders.

They had decided that Max would go in alone to keep the alarm down. Max headed for the restaurant doors, while the others kept the cab. He reached the doors and went in. Once in, he located a waitress. "Ma'am, can I speak with you a moment?" He asked politely. The waitress’s nametag read "Sam." "Sam?" Max asked. "Yes?" Sam replied with a smile.

Max smiled back using his best sexy, I can melt you into a pile of mush smile. As desired, Sam melted. "Well," Max began, "You see I’m a teacher at the local high school here and one of my students works here. She asked me if she could borrow my telescope tonight for her science report on stars and the different constellations. The problem is that I left her address in my office at work. I was hoping that she’d be here." "Who are you looking for Mr....?" Sam asked hopefully. "Mr. Valenti, but you may call me Kyle," Max said, "And I’m looking for Sky DeLuca." "Well, Kyle, I think you’re in luck. I happen to know where Sky lives...." Sam responded.

Lennie spotted Max emerging from the front door of The Red Roof and said, "There he is. That’s the one who went in." "Follow him!" Sky demanded. The cab started out, and they followed. "He must have found something out because he wasn’t in there very long," Lennie said.

"I don’t know, but I do wonder where we could possibly be going?" Sky replied.

In the cab, Michael asked Max, "So you got it, did ya. How?" Liz and Isabel also looked at Max in wonder. "Let’s just say that I dazzled "Sam" with my charming personality and good looks, and boy, Valenti is gonna get a Heck of a laugh outta this one!" Max answered them with a roar of laughter, and they soon joined him. It wasn’t long before they pulled up to their destination.

Lennie and Sky followed the cab down the streets. Not too long after they had begun, the streets got familiar. "Sky," Lennie said with a worried look on her face, her bright, emerald eyes shining, "Are you thinking what I’m thinking?" "I think I’m starting to," Sky replied. Sky had barely gotten the sentence out, when they pulled up to a house, a warm brightly colored little house. As it could only be, for it was the house of Maria, Maria DeLuca to be exact.

Continue to Part Three