What Happened to Forever?

Chapters 11-12

~*~Chapter 11~*~

Elizabeth is absently wiping down the counter, her mind wandering to memories of her and Lucky. After seeing Nikolas and Emily together, she can't help thinking about how magical everything seemed when she was falling in love. How every touch was filled with electricity, how every look sent shivers down her spine. She's replaying their first kiss when she is brought back to reality by someone calling her name.

"Liz? Earth to Liz?" Emily waves her hands in front of Elizabeth's face, trying to get her attention.

"Sorry, Em, what did you need?" She feels silly being caught daydreaming like that.

"We just wanted to say good-bye before we left. We're going for a walk on the docks. Where were you just now? You had this really dreamy look on your face...oh, nevermind, stupid question." Emily smiles sympathetically and hugs her. She feels guilty being so happy when her friend is so sad. "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

Nikolas gives her a quick hug, and then grabs Emily's hand as they leave Kelly's. Liz smiles, happy that her friends have finally found each other.

***Outside Kelly's***

Emily sighs. "She looked so sad in there. I wish there was something I could do for her."

Nikolas nods. "I know. I feel the same way. Unless we can bring Lucky back, there's nothing else we can do. Just be there for her when she needs us, remind her that there are lots of people here that love her. She'll get through this. She's strong. I think today being the anniversary and all just brought back old memories."

Emily nods, pulling back to look at him. "Well, at least it looked like they were good memories. You're right, though. I remember when my mom died, that first year was so hard. It'll get easier for her from now on. She's made it through the worst part."

He wraps his arm around her waist and begins to lead her away from the restaurant. "Why don't we take that walk now? I could use the fresh air, how about you?"

Emily smiles up at him, her body tingling a little at the feel of his arm around her, thankful for the distraction. 'Oh, and what a fine distraction he is!' She giggles at this thought, and Nikolas turns to look at her quizzically. "What?"

"Nothing." She giggles again.

"Come on, what's so funny?" He tries to be serious, but her giggling is contagious.

She shakes her head, " I swear, it's nothing. Just a random giggle-fit." She silently kicks herself for that comment. 'Okay, that was real lame, Em. He's going to think you're SO immature now!'

He grins. 'She's so cute when she laughs.' "A giggle-fit, huh? I'll give you a giggle-fit!" With that he tries to tickle her, but she breaks free of him and starts running. He gives chase, and they end up rolling on the ground, tickling each other. They finally come to a stop, Nikolas leaning over her, both of them out of breath. Their eyes lock. 'Well, if there was ever a perfect time to kiss her, this is it!' he thinks, as he lowers his head towards her face. Her heart starts doing somersaults when she realizes what's about to happen.

Just then, a dog comes bounding around the corner, running straight for them, barking at the top of its lungs. Emily jumps at the sudden noise, annoyed that their kiss was interrupted before it could even begin. Equally irritated, Nikolas reluctantly lifts his head to see where the ruckus is coming from, and finds himself face-to-face with the animal's tongue.

"Foster! Foster! Get back here!" Laura is yelling, trying to catch up with the beast, dragging a giggling LuLu behind her. When she realizes who the dog has targeted, she can't help but laugh. The look on her son's face is priceless.

Emily is also cracking up at this point. Her anger at being disturbed has vanished. Nikolas looks so mortified. 'Well, at least he got a kiss out of the whole thing, even if it is from Lucky's dog!'

"Mother! Could you please get this fleabag off of me!" He's trying not to laugh, but as horrified as he is at being licked by the dog, he can't help but find the whole situation rather amusing, especially seeing how much Lesley Lu is enjoying the scene. His baby sister's laughter was always infectious. Finally, Laura catches up to her renegade pet, and shoves the collar back around his neck.

"Bad dog!" she scolds, trying to keep her laughter from escaping again. She feels terrible that Foster destroyed what looked to be a very tender moment between her son and Emily. "I'm so sorry! He has this talent for getting out of his collar whenever the mood strikes him. I guess he saw you over here, and had to say hello." She covers her mouth, trying not to laugh as Nikolas wipes his face dry with the end of his sleeve. LuLu runs up to hug him, laughing at how silly he looks.

"Yeah, well, do his greetings have to be so....wet?" As if in response, Foster barks loudly, and they all start laughing again.

When they all calm down again, Laura hugs her son, a difficult task since her daughter is still clinging to him. "It's good to see you Nikolas. You too, Emily. I really hope Foster didn't interrupt anything" she says sheepishly. "I think he was just really happy to see you. Ever since Lucky....well, Foster is taking it as hard as the rest of us. I guess you're the closest thing to his favorite master that he knows." With the mention of Lucky, everyone turns serious again.

Laura clears her throat, not wanting her sorrow to ruin the young couple's date. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring everyone down. Everything just seems to remind me of him today." She shakes herself out of her sorrow and tries to put a cheery tone back in her voice. "Anyway, I promised LuLu some ice cream, so we better get going. Come on honey." She holds her hand out for the little girl, who reluctantly untangles herself from her big brother's arms. Nikolas gives his mother another hug before they leave. It's obvious to him that she's acting cheerful for LuLu's sake, but underneath she's still grieving. He hates it that she is so sad and there's nothing he can do for her.

He turns to Emily once they're gone. "I'm sorry. I wanted this to be a happy day for us." She smiles at him and touches him face. "Oh, Nikolas, this has been a happy day. We can't just avoid remembering him. His presence is all over this town. It's unavoidable The best we can do is honor his memory by enjoying life. It's what he would want." Nikolas hugs her and they continue their walk down the docks in a comfortable silence, thinking about the events of the day, disappointed that they never got to kiss, but happy knowing that they would have plenty of chances in the future.

~*~Chapter 12~*~

Luke manages to regain control of his emotions and looks up at Felicia, slightly embarrassed that she saw him in such a state. He takes a shaky breath before speaking again. "Sorry you had to see me like that, sweetheart. Been a while since I let it hit me so hard. I'm trying my damnedest not to get my hopes up, but I just don't have the willpower. I would give anything right now just to have my cowboy back, you know?"

Felicia nods sympathetically. "I know, Luke. So why don't we start looking for more clues. Nothing's better at keeping your mind off your sorrows that a good mystery, right?"

Luke smiles at her. Felicia was the only person who could distract him from his grief this past year. The whole escapade with Lila's memoirs was just what he needed, and now here she was, coming through for him again. "You know, if you weren't married, I just might kiss you right now."

She laughs. "Now there's the Luke I know and love! Alright, let's start brainstorming. What do you need me to do?"

Luke thinks for a moment. "Well, if you can get the medical records they used to ID him, that would be a start. Our biggest roadblock is the fact that everything matched up so well. It never sat right with me, you know. I couldn't understand how a fire started by a couple of little candles could have gotten out of hand fast enough for him to be trapped. Not just trapped, but still in bed. That would have had to be one fast fire. But, when the records matched, and the necklace was found, it seemed like arguing was pointless, so I let it go. Now I wish I hadn't."

"Well, it just so happens I have connections at the PCPD," Felicia jokes. "I'll see what I can do. If I do get them, what do you think you'll find? I know Mac looked at them himself, and everything was in order."

Luke grins. "It just so happens that I have my own set of medical records here." He points to his safe. "We can compare those to the PD's and see what's what." Felicia looks confused. "Don't look so amazed. We used to move around a lot, so it was easier to keep everyone's records with us. That way if anyone needed medical attention, we didn't have to wait for the hospital to get records sent from somewhere else. After we decided to stay in town, I just stashed them away and forgot about them....until now. They may be outdated by a few years, but the essential information doesn't really change." He winks at her, and they hear a knock on the door. "Enter"

Laura pokes her head in, afraid that she's interrupting a meeting. She's a bit confused at seeing Felicia there, but figures she's just there to offer support to Luke. She knows that the two have become close, and finds herself feeling a slight bit jealous. "Did I come at a bad time?"

Felicia smiles as she notices how Luke's face lights up at the sight of his estranged wife. 'Maybe there's still hope for them.' She decides this is a good time to excuse herself. "No, Laura, I was actually just leaving. I have to pick the girls up from school soon, and start dinner." She turns and nods at Luke, so that he knows she's on board with his plan, and turns to leave, stopping at the door to give Laura a friendly hug. "How are you doing today?" she asks, concerned, but also close to bursting with the thought that all this grief could be for naught.

Laura smiles weakly and nods. "I'm doing good. It's hard, but I'm working through it. Thank you." With that, Felicia takes her leave of the couple. She can tell they need to be alone. It's such a shame that this tragedy wasn't able to bring them back together. The only good that came out of it is that Laura severed her burgeoning romantic relationship with Stefan in order to deal with everything on her own. She admired the woman for that. Hopefully, Luke's hunch will be right, and they can bring Lucky back to Port Charles where he belongs. If that doesn't reunite them, nothing will!

After Felicia leaves, Luke motions for Laura to sit down. He is amazed at how awkward they are around each other. "So how are you really? Did you see Gail toady?" He asks, trying his best not to blurt out that their son may not be dead. He doesn't want to get her hopes up quite yet. After the breakdown she had last year, he is afraid that any little bit of bad news could break her fragile mental state.

She smiles, knowing how worried he is about her. She can't deny that she still loves him, but after seeing him with Tammy last year, she's afraid to allow herself to get close. She couldn't bear that pain again. "Yes, I was there earlier today. I ran into Elizabeth in the hallway. She's taking this all so hard, but she's so strong. I think she only lets on to a few people how much she's hurting."

Luke nods, his eyes glistening with fresh tears. He has come to think of the girl as one of his own, and he hated to see her in such pain. She never said anything about it to him, and he knew it was because she didn't want to be a burden. Not that she could ever be anything other than a delight to him, but he had to love her for her concern. He'd do anything for that girl, and now that he knew that Lucky could be alive, he vowed to do everything in his power to bring him home to her.

"Luke?" Laura's voice cut through his thoughts. "Are you okay?" The concern in her voice touched him.

"Yeah, babe, I'm good. I was just thinking about Lizzie. I wish there was something I could to for her, you know?" Laura nods. "So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?" he asks, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, I wanted to see how you were doing, make sure you weren't holed up in here with a bottle of booze or anything," she smiles, hoping he realizes that was just a joke, "and to tell you that LuLu has been asking for you. I can understand if today is a bad day to see her, but her schedule is open tomorrow. If you can come by, it would make her day."

"Then I'll be there. I always have time to see my little princess. How is she doing today? Has she said anything about him?" They were both trying to keep his memory alive to the little girl. She was so young when he died that they were afraid she'd forget him. She doesn't mention him too often, but every now and then she'll remember something about him, usually something cute or funny that makes them all smile.

"She hasn't said anything today, but I think she knows. She keeps looking at me like she's afraid I'm going to start crying any minute." She sniffs, trying to hold back the tears. She doesn't want to cry in front of Luke. She stands up, afriad that if she doesn't leave now, she going to start bawling. "Well, I should get going. I still have some errands to do."

Luke gets up and walks her to the door. "Thank you for coming by. I'll stop over tomorrow afternoon and take LuLu for ice cream or something, okay?" On impulse, he reaches out and gives her a hug. He can't help it. She looks so lost and sad standing there, and no matter how far apart they are, he can't stop wanting to comfort her. When she's in his arms, everything just feels so right.

Laura is stunned at first, but then softens when she realizes how much she needed this. Having Luke hold her again, she feels like she's finally home. All of her fears and insecurities take a backseat to the love she suddenly feels. She never wants to let go.

As much as he hates to, he releaes her, trying to control his emotions. He wants nothing more than to hold on to her forever, but he's afraid to get hurt again. The last time he allowed himself to feel hope for them was after her breakdown, when he went to visit her in the hospital. But when he looked in her room and saw Stefan comforting her, he knew that it was over for them. Sure, she wasn't with the Bat anymore, but she won't grieve forever, and he's sure that once she's done healing, she'll go right back to him. He can't be hurt by her like that again.

She can see his hesitation, and assumes that he's uncomfortable, so she quickly excuses herself and leaves. After collecting himself for a moment, he goes back to his desk and dials the phone. It is answered after a few rings.

"Hello."

"Sonny. I need to talk to you about something. Can we meet later?"