It is the color of light,
the shape of sound
high in the evergreens

It lies suspended in hills,
a blue line in a red sky

I am looking at sound

I am hearing the brightness
of high bluffs and almond trees

I am tasting the wilderness
of lakes, rivers, and streams

Caught in an angle of song

I am remembering water
that glows in the dawn,

The motion tumbled in earth,
life hidden in mounds.

I am dancing a bright beam of light...

I am remembering love.

~~~~~~~
Paris, France
The Montgomery Hotel
Presidential Suite 1

Elizabeth stalked over to the mini-bar, searching for anything to numb herself to every emotion that was pulling at her mind and body. She'd never been a big drinker, but suddenly she had the urge for an ice-cold draft. Of course God forbid Alex should keep something as trite as beer in his presidential sweet. She grabbed the first thing she saw.

"Scotch," she said aloud, lifting the dark bottle in her trembling hands. She poured the contents into a shot glass. "This should do the trick, just as nicely...and quicker," she muttered as she downed it in one gulp.

Her face contorted in disgust as the heat of the liquid and stress of the day met in the center of her throat. She had only consumed one glass and already she thought she was going to be sick. 'Lucky always said you were a 'light-weight' Webber,' she thought to herself, a bitter smile pulling at her lips.

They still tasted of chocolate. She poured herself another shot.

How had this happened? Why had Lucky come back into her life now? And why was a huge part of her glad that he had? It didn't make any sense. She hated him. She knew she did. It had taken her long to make herself believe it. No way was she going back on that promise to herself now. She couldn't afford to love him. There was nothing to gain, and an entire world to lose all over again.

Her sanity to lose.

"When you're drunk...you can't worry about lofty ideas like sanity Webber. Drink up," she mumbled, tilting her head back and swallowing quickly.

She wiped angrily at her tears and started towards their asininely large master bedroom, clumsily pulling her boots off as she went. All she needed was this scotch and this bed and she'd be fine. She didn't need Lucky. She didn't need anyone. She'd figured that out long ago. She was just fine on her own.

Elizabeth nearly laughed out loud at her own thoughts. Instead, silent tears rolled from her eyes as she lay back across the bed. Her body horizontal to it's vertical. On her own? Had she actually just thought that?

She wasn't on her own. She was 'taken care of' and everybody knew it. All the blue-haired old ladies at the society luncheons made sure she never forgot that. Oh yes, Alex provided for her in every way that a woman could want to be provided for. She had the best of everything. Her life was the best.......the best there was.

This time she laughed at her own joke. Making fun of things past...things important, had always been a good way to numb the pain.

She sat up just a bit to drain the contents of her third shot, letting the glass roll out of her hand as she lay back down. This one went down much smoother than the first two. She curled into a tight ball, and crossed her arms over her head. The damned sunset was too bright.

Alex would be back soon, and he'd close the drapes on the sun. He'd draw the darkness into the room and smother all the light. Chasing away all the fleeting dreams of picket fences, babies, romance and love everlasting.

She smiled as she drifted off, her thoughts were getting too heavy. Good thing her head already felt like a balloon floating on top of her body. That's what she wanted. To float away and never come back.
~~~~~~~
Montgomery Hotel Lobby

Lucky ran up to the front desk, his feet pounding against the hard marble floor. He wasn't about to let her get away now. No matter how much she said it didn't matter. Said she didn't care. He knew differently. He knew she cared. He could see it in her eyes. Feel it in her kiss.

'Damn...that kiss,' Lucky thought, his pulse speeding up at the mere memory.

On one level he knew that it had been wrong to kiss her. Wrong to presume that he had the right, after all these years. After the pain and agony that he'd caused her. But how could something wrong have felt so completely and totally right? Her lips had felt like everything good in the world. Like falling in love all over again, when he'd never even left.

He ran up to the counter, banging on the silver service bell continuously.

"Arret! C'est assez! That's enough." The concierge answered, straightening his tie. The Frenchman noticeably perturbed by the young man's incessant ringing. "May I help you?" He continued, haughtily.

Lucky ran a hand through his hair in frustration, quickly wracking his brain for French vocabulary. He tried his best to be polite under the stress and asked the man to ring Elizabeth's room. "Pourriez-vous s'il vous plait...sonner la piece de Mme Harts pour moi?''

"I'm sorry Monsieur, there has been a request from the Harts not to be disturbed," he answered quickly. Absently shuffling through hotel paperwork.

Polite time was over. Lucky slammed his fist against the matching marble desk. "I don't care about the request! This is an emergency! Either you put me through to the room, or I'll knock on every damn door in this hotel, disturbing a whole lot of good paying guests. I'm sure you don't want that."

The man lowered his voice, looking directly into the fierce blue eyes that stared back at him. He obviously understood English quite well, and knew a threat when he heard one. He didn't take it well.

"Just a few moments ago, I was given strict orders by Mrs. Hart herself not to allow any visitors. Especially ones matching your description......Do I need to call security?"

Lucky licked his lips and tilted his head to the side, shaking it in disbelief. He dragged his hands slowly off the desk in front of him, and rolled his eyes. "No...that won't be necessary....Thanks for all your help."

'She doesn't wanna see you. Is that what you wanted to hear?' Lucky thought to himself.

It was almost funny. His heart hurt like Hell, but something else...something else inside of him was actually proud of her. 'Go figure,' He thought as he turned around, glancing from one end of the grand, spacious lobby to the other. It was all glass and marble. Everything shined.

He'd stayed in a lot of places like this. If there was one thing that Helena had made sure of, it was the finest of accommodations. Only the best was good enough for Helena. And of course her employees. He swallowed against the disgust for himself that rose in his throat.

Lucky looked down at his dirty tennis shoes and the mud he had tracked in. It had started to rain outside. A smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth. Somehow rain seemed fitting.

His maudlin thoughts were quieted by the sound of the concierge giving someone else a much more gracious welcome than the one he had received. Someone he only recognized from finance magazines and newspapers. Lucky quickly hid behind one of the large white columns. He didn't need to make his presence known just yet. If Elizabeth chose to tell the guy, that was her choice. But he wouldn't be the one to break the news that he was back in her life.

"Good evening Mr. Hart! I trust you're doing well tonight."

"Very well, mon ami," Alex answered.

Lucky peaked from around the corner. Seeing the man that got to spend every day and every night with the love of his life in person for the first time. An immediate hate surged hotter in his veins than it had at the sight of him in pictures. Seeing him as a living, breathing, walking individual some how made it more real. Made his presence in the world - in Elizabeth's world, more contemptible.

"Did my wife by any chance check-in yet this evening?" Alex, questioned. Sauntering up to the desk as if he owned the place.

'Oh that's right...he does,' Lucky thought bitterly.

"Oui Monsieur Hart. Just a few moments ago."

"Fantastic!" Alex smiled, slapping the desk with his hand. "Jean, do me a favor and send up our best bottle of Merlot...I'm afraid I've got some apologizing to do."

Jean nodded his head and snickered. "Oui, Monsieur...oui."

Lucky watched as Alex jogged over to the row of elevators, wondering why Jean hadn't mentioned Elizabeth's request for him to watch out for 'strangers' to Alex? Had Elizabeth asked him not to? Why would she do that? To protect....whom? Lucky or Alex?

And more importantly what did Alex have to apologize for? The thought of what his 'apologizing' might entail caused Lucky's stomach to churn. He jammed his hands into his pockets.

Ugh, the two of them had been married for over 2 years, and the Jerk-off didn't even know that Elizabeth hated Merlot. That she pretty much despised all things 'wine.'

Lucky watched as Alex boarded the elevator with a spring in his step and almost gagged in reflex. He turned back towards the Concierge and walked up to the desk.

The man sighed loudly at the sight of him. "Do I need to call Mr. Ha -"

"No," Lucky began, his demeanor strangely calmer than when he'd previously approached the man. "Listen...Jean? Is that you're name, Jean?"

The concierge nodded in annoyance.

"Jean...I'm sorry for my earlier outburst. I'm just an old friend of Mrs. Harts, and I really need to get a message to her. Do you think you can help me with that."

"Is there a reason that I should?" He asked, once again busying himself with whatever nonsense there was to take care of behind the desk.

The contrast of flashing green paper against the beige colored marble caused Jean to look up.

"You don't have anything against dead American presidents do you?"

Jean's eyes widened as the young man slapped yet another bill down next to the rest. "Um...no, Monsieur. What is it that you'd like me to do for you?"

Lucky asked for a pen and a small sheet of paper. If Elizabeth didn't want to hear his voice, she'd just have to read it.
~~~~~~~
Presidential Suite 1

"Sweetheart, I'm back!" Alex called, closing the door of his suite and wondering into the room. All the lights were off. He'd thought for sure that Jean had said she'd returned. Certainly she wasn't asleep yet.

Alex walked farther into the huge space. "I'm sorry that business meeting took so much of my time. I know I said I'd meet..."

He stopped in his tracks at the site of the mini-bar. Various bottles of liquor lie discarded, while the bottle of Scotch sit open and waiting for its drinker to pour another.

He spotted the drinker a moment later, sprawled out across the comforter.

"Bethie!" He called, concern in his voice. He moved towards the bed. There was no answer. He leaned over and placed a hand on her back, trying to shake her out of her deep slumber.

Elizabeth groaned under the shelter of her arms, turning towards the headboard and away from him. She grumbled grouchily under her breath. "I'm tired...leave me alone."

Alex sat down next to her curled up body and shook her once again. She wasn't budging. "Elizabeth...what the Hell is going on here?"

All that came was more whining. "I said leave me alone."

She whimpered the words and used her hands and knees to shimmy towards the pillows on the bed.

"Fine," Alex sighed, slapping his hands against his knees. He got up and walked around the bed, pushing her roughly away from the pillows and pulling down the covers. "You go ahead and act like a lush tonight...I guess I'll cancel that bottle of wine. Looks like you've had enough of......whatever for both of us."

His words didn't seem to penetrate the thick haze that enveloped her. He watched as Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, as if that way she wouldn't be able to hear him.

The last thing she muttered that night was something about closing the curtains. The sun had already gone down.

Parisian Airlines - Flight 704
Destination: Port Charles, New York

"Flight attendants please prepare for take-off."

The words over the loud speaker, caused Lucky to shift in his seat. This was it. His last chance to get up and walk away from the plane. His last chance to go back and plead with Elizabeth. Beg her to understand. To hear him out. Take him back.

'She doesn't wanna hear it,' He thought to himself, quickly pulling out the airline magazine that lay tucked into the pocket before him. 'She explained that to you in no uncertain terms! What do you need? You need her to hire a skywriter?...You've done all you can do for now.'

But he wasn't giving up. He wasn't ready for that. He'd never give up on Elizabeth.

The words his mother had once said about never 'giving it up' on someone that you love, rang in his ears and he suddenly missed her more than he thought possible.

So ironic how it was possible to both love and hate someone at the same time. Love them because they're your mother, and they'd shown you warmth and compassion for most of your life. Had GIVEN you life....yet, hate them because certain actions in their life had caused you to pay with yours.

Lucky bit down on his lip as he realized he'd done the very same thing to Elizabeth. He looked out upon the Parisian night sky and felt the roar of the engine behind him. He could only hope that the love that Elizabeth had once had for him outweighed the hate.

It had to right? Love like theirs never died.

He lay his head back against the cushion of his seat and sighed. A cold hand on his own caused him to look up.

"You afraid of flying son?" The man next to him asked. His kind, old eyes questioning Lucky.

"No," Lucky said, trying to grin back at him. Immediate suspicion taking root, and causing him to tense up a bit. The old guy looked harmless though. It couldn't hurt to answer an innocent question could it?

"I fly all the time...well I mean...."Lucky let his voice trail off. Yeah, the guy seemed nice, but he was a complete stranger. "Yeah, I fly all the time."

"Ah...for your job?" The man inquired. "You must be one of those corporate jet-setters," he added, laughing.

Lucky clicked his tongue and turned his head to the side. Weirdly amused by the comparison. "Yeah, somethin' like that."

"Out in old Paris for a business trip then?"

Lucky smirked. Something about the old man invited conversation. Something made him want to talk. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't had a conversation with someone that was truly interested in what he had to say in years.

"Not really," he sighed.

"Aww...pleasure then?"

The younger man rolled his head against the seat, seemingly in deep turmoil over something.

"Oh, come now...tell an old soul. If I admit I live vicariously through the pleasure trips of others, will you humor me?" He asked, chuckling.

Lucky laughed in spite of himself. "Yeah, I kinda do too nowawdays."

"A young man like yourself!? I don't believe that."

Lucky licked his lips, and gazed upwards. 'Young?...God, he hadn't felt THAT in a long time."

"Yeah...even young men like me have bad.....years," he chuckled to himself. "I was in Paris to...to see - to see and old friend."

The elderly man grinned knowingly as the boys' eyes shown with the unmistakable glow of love. Not just any kind of love. That 'once in a lifetime' variety. "A woman?....Someone special?"

Lucky nodded soberly. "Beyond special."

The man before him tilted his head to the side. It was so rare to see the 'real thing' in young people these days. It made one's heart smile to see it. "Ah...I had a 'beyond special' in my life once...Tell me about yours."

Lucky looked back towards the night sky as it loomed around them, staring at it longingly. Hopefully. The backdrop: midnight blue. The lights of the city and the stars above it twinkled in luminescent harmony.

"Her eyes....they look like that."
~~~~~~~
Montgomery Hotel
Presidential Suite 1

***

"Are you ok!?" Lucky asked frantically, running his hands over her face. Her hair.

Elizabeth's brow furrowed in confusion. 'Lucky? What's happening?' Why was he trying to wake her up? What was wrong?

She shook her head, trying to shrug the sleep off. His hands running continuously over her cheeks. "Lucky?..."

"Where?!" He asked, his eyes searching her face frantically. Taking the gesture she made with her head the wrong way, he pulled the covers back in a rush. "Where are you hurt?"

His words finally began to penetrate the haze of drowsiness that enveloped her. She blinked repeatedly. "Lucky..."She began. Her voice quiet. In direct contrast to Lucky's panicked tone. "Lucky, I'm fine..."

He wouldn't look at her. It was as if he didn't even really see her. She watched as his eyes seemed to become more and more horrified with each passing second. What the Hell was going on?

Elizabeth reached out and grasped his hands tightly in her own, stilling them from their frantic searches. "Lucky...baby, look at me. I'm fine. I'm fine!"

He stopped for a moment, staring into her eyes. She repeated the words again. Softly this time. Whispering. "I'm fine."

She smiled weakly, repeating herself again. "I'm fine."

The information seemed to hit him all at once. He looked slowly at the bed he'd just made a mess of and then glanced slowly around the room.

Everything seemed in place. There was nothing stolen, broken....bleeding.

The world began to get dark. Seconds later he was sinking down upon the sheets, his entire body starting to shake violently as he did so.

In a flash, Elizabeth sat straight up. She moved up behind him, quickly. Wrapping her arms around him awkwardly from behind. She barely understood what her own name was at this time of night, let alone whatever was going on here. All she was truly away of was the fear that ricocheted through her entire body in mere seconds.

A million thoughts flooded through her mind at once. She took in his slumped form and his downcast eyes. Felt the way he shook from head to toe. Had he had a bad dream? No, he was still fully clothed. Still in the clothes he'd worn earlier that evening in fact. He obviously hadn't been to bed yet. The glowing numbers on the clock read 2:14 am. What the Hell had happened to put him in such a state?

"Lucky...look at me, please."

He wouldn't look. He seemed to be in some sort of trance. A scary place that he was not about to allow her access into, even though he heard her voice calling him to her.

She wrapped her fingertips under his chin, trying to force him to look at her. He shook his head as if in protest.

"Lucky please..." She said again. Her own panic creeping to the surface now. She crawled to sit half-way in his lap. He wouldn't even look at her. "Lucky...what's wrong? What's going on?" She asked repeatedly, tilting up his head.

They locked eyes for a moment and a chill ran up her spine. She'd never seen anyone look more frightened in their entire life. She ran her hands along the sides of his face carefully, pushing his hair away strand after strand. He almost seemed as if he were in shock.

Should she call a doctor? What the Hell was she supposed to do?

"Lucky...what happened? Baby...you're scaring me. Please answer me....What -...was someone at the store hurt? Did the robbers hurt anyb....Lucky...please.."

He licked his dry lips, and tried to push his voice forward through a tightening throat. He could barely see her. The combination of his yet to fall tears and the small shaft of light coming from the hallway, provided the only illumination. Yet she still looked like an angel sent straight from God.

A single tear fell as he closed his eyes and said thank you to the heavens above that she was still there with him.

The insanity that he'd brought into their lives couldn't go on anymore. He'd put a stop to it in the morning, through any means necessary... Any means.

"N- no. No one was hurt...I just..."Lucky's voice trailed off. Try as he might to swallow around the huge knot in his throat, he was losing the battle. His voice cracked, signifying the crumbling to follow.

Elizabeth bit down hard upon her bottom lip as she watched him lose it. Tears streaming down his face now. He tried to cover his eyes with shaky hands, but she wouldn't let him. She wrapped her arms gently around him again and held him while he sobbed against her shoulder.

Her words sounded false to her own ears as she rocked him and whispered that it would be all right. How could she possibly know that if she had no clue what the problem was? Had the break-in simply shaken him up this badly? Something was desperately wrong here. Something that he wouldn't tell her. 'But Lucky tells me everything,' she thought. 'Get a grip Webber, maybe he just can't tell you RIGHT NOW...give him time...'

She brushed a hand through his hair and pulled back a little, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. She moved to get off of his lap, so she could see him better. So they could talk. But his arms wouldn't release her. She looked down at the top of his head as he moaned softly against her chest.

He held tightly to the grip he had around her waist, pulling her against him. Holding on for dear life.

"Please don't leave me," he whispered. His lips warm, and trembling now against her bare shoulder. The spaghetti strap of her tank top, providing no coverage from his tears.

Elizabeth breathed deeply and smoothed a hand over his back, beginning to rub in circles. "Baby I'm not going anywhere. I'm here. I'm right here."

Lucky pulled back a bit, gazing into her eyes. Searching them for what? "And you're never gonna leave me right? Not ever?" He asked, his voice sounding so unsure it caused her physical pain to hear it.

She cupped his face in her hands and brought his lips to hers. Kissing him tenderly. "Lucky I'm not ever going anywhere....Look at me. We're forever. Ok?"

He nodded only slightly and she kissed him again and again, wiping the tears from under his eyes with the pads of her thumbs. She started to break away after a few moments, but quickly realized that she was no longer leading the kiss.

He was kissing her. Kissing her like he never had before. Kissing her like lost treasure - finally found after an agonizingly long search.

Lucky's hands slid down to her hips and under her backside, lifting her slightly and pulling her closer. Tighter against him. Elizabeth rearranged her legs. Placing one on either side of his waist. She let her hands travel to the back of his head, weaving her fingers through his silken hair.

His hands searched her body, needy in their quest to have her. They slipped under the tank top that she wore and glided over the cool flesh of her back only once, before pulling the lavender scrap up and over her head.

As his soft, full lips descended on her collarbone, placing kisses all along the delicate edges, Elizabeth tried to concentrate on him. She needed to watch him. Needed to be conscience of any signs that would give her an idea as to what was happening in that head of his. He'd always been so good at knowing exactly what was bothering her. She only wanted to do the same. 'Let me in Lucky.'

His mouth plummeted to the valley between her breasts and Elizabeth was lost. She gasped when she felt his tongue flick quickly against her warming skin, her nipples tightening immediately in response.

Things were moving too quickly. She didn't mind it. God, she didn't mind it at all, but it wasn't Lucky's style. He'd always wanted to take his time with everything. Take his time in loving her.

"Lucky," she moaned, as he came back to her mouth. His lips molding to hers, his tongue seeking it's partner with a quickening passion. His hands moved from her face, to her back, to her buttocks in record time. It was like he couldn't feel enough of her at once. Didn't have as many hands as he wanted. Didn't have as much time.

He gazed back up into her eyes for a long moment. Like he were looking at her for the very first time.

Elizabeth gasped again when he stood suddenly, giving her no time to contemplate the meaning of the look he'd just given her. She quickly tightened her legs around his waist as Lucky lifted both of them up. He held her with one arm and lowered them both to the bed with another. Her body now lying beneath his.

Lucky's hand traveled down to her foot, wrapping his long fingers around it and pushing her leg up to meet his waist. He allowed his fingers a slow journey back over the smooth flesh of her calves, and into the realm hidden by her shorts. He pulled her closer by cupping her bottom in his hands.

Feeling the hardness between his legs only succeeded in building the ache between her own and the wetness that she was sure he now felt on his fingertips.

His fingers suddenly disappeared again and he pressed his lower body against hers, feeling her liquid desire for him grow by the second. Feeling his own want strain almost painfully against the confines of his pants.

He began to pull at her shorts, his hands fumbling slightly. She silently, raised her hips and removed them for him. Watching as he moved to his own zipper.

His hands were still shaking, trembling. His fingers completely unable to unfasten or unbutton anything. Elizabeth heard him mutter a curse under his breath in frustration.

Elizabeth sat up, naked before him and wordlessly placed her fingers over his. She began to undress him, starting with his pants. Something in his eyes, in his touch, pleading with her to take him inside her body now. To take away whatever it was that was causing him so much pain, if only for a little while.

She slid her hands down his sides and into his pants, letting her fingers splay against his firm thighs before pushing the fabric completely off of his body. Her fingers trailed lightly over the front of his boxers before they returned to his beautiful face. She kissed him slowly, softly while uttering quiet words against his lips. "It's ok Lucky...we've got all night. All the time in the world."

Lucky cupped her face in his hands, their wrists crisscrossing in their gentle efforts to be one in this way first. He kissed her a bit slower, making a mental note that it would indeed be ok. All he had to do was get rid of the problem tomorrow. The bastard would either accept the money he had, or die refusing it.

Sensing the slow calm that fell upon him, Elizabeth began to unfasten the buttons that held his shirt together. Her palms glided along his smooth chest as she pushed the cotton off of his shoulders. She pulled away slightly and gazed into his eyes as he pushed the last remaining barrier of clothing off of his hips.

She gazed into the glassy blue eyes in front of her. "Make love to me Lucky."

Without a word. Without hesitation, he lay her down beneath him once more, covering her entire body with his own. Entering her in one long, powerful stroke.

Elizabeth's mouth dropped open at the feel of his body pushing into hers. His weight, his size, the heat being generated between them - the sensation of their bodies joining together never ceased to amaze her. Her thoughts dwindled with every thrust. With every moan from him as his pelvis rocked against hers. Deeper and deeper.

Lucky's hand grasped her thigh momentarily, pressing her to the mattress, claiming her entire being as his own in the darkness that surrounded them. "I want to feel all of you," he whispered in a voice thick with need.

She called out his name and he kissed her again. The tip of his tongue beginning to mimick the actions of his lower body, her mouth allowing him in with the same eager response. Inviting him. Caressing him. Loving him in every way she knew how.

His hands traveled slowly up her writhing, moist body. Over the soft, rosy peaks of her breasts, eliciting soft whimpering noises from some contented place in her soul. Until they met her arms, and began to push them up towards the headboard.

Lucky's fingertips danced over her glistening flesh and finally joining with their mates. All 20 fingers laced together above their heads as the fantastic tingle between them began to build with intensity.

She stretched her fingers out under his and clenched them around his knuckles once again as he pumped a bit harder. Suddenly deeper than before. She had all of him tonight. Every single, solitary inch.

"Oh God... Luc - ky.." his name caught in her throat as an incredible shuddering emerged from her very core and began consuming her bit by bit. There was no way she would ever come down from this one. Not this time. It was too strong...too intense.

Lucky pressed his lips to her forehead and lodged himself further into her body again and again, whispering her name and words of love in some sort of secret language that only they could fully comprehend. He groaned in ecstasy as the walls of her body tightened and relaxed around him with her exquisite end.

Elizabeth held tighter as he neared the peak that her body was beginning to descend. She ran her tired fingertips over his flexing body. Every muscle in his back taut, wet. She watched as he squeezed his eyes shut, as if he were trying to savor every moment inside her. Every second of temporary bliss.

He stilled a minute later, and she willed her spent muscles to clench themselves around his pulsating manhood once again. Trying to give him everything he needed. His hips thrust against hers one last time. His seed spilling freely into her warm, accepting body before allowing his rest. Or hers.

Elizabeth smoothed her hands over his face and brought him down to her as he panted for breath. He lay his head tenderly against her heaving chest and she wrapped her arms around him. His body still blanketed inside her.

Her fingers traveled up and down the clammy flesh of his back and she tried not to think any of the thoughts that returned with a vengeance. She held him tighter and looked down at his closed eyes, brushing a few golden-brown strands away. He'd already fallen asleep.

Placing a small butterfly kiss to Lucky's forehead, she swore that they'd talk about it all in the morning. The Sandman's tantalizing allure of sleep beckoned her forth.
***
A hand on her back jolted her from sleep. Intruding upon something that had felt vaguely like contentment. Had felt somehow sacred. Beautiful.

Looking at the person next to her through hooded lashes, she suddenly felt a sense of violation.

"Bethie, wake up, you're dreaming," Alex's grumbled as he turned towards her side of the bed.

Elizabeth raised her head slightly, the mixture of alcohol and sleep slurring her speech. "I'm sorry...Did - did I say anything?"

She asked the question as a flicker of memory ran through her mind and prickled the hairs on her arms. Had she called out his name? Perhaps writhe in pleasure?

Alex, closed his eyes and turned back to his own side. His wife's dreams, intruding upon his sleep were becoming somewhat old hat. "I don't know...something about being lucky."

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she rolled onto her back, now completely awake. Funny what the mere mention of his name could do for a hang-over. Her entire body was tingling with a sensation that she'd forgotten the strength of. She pushed her hair away from her face and stared at the ceiling.

Her entire life had changed the day he'd left, and now he'd come back to tell her that it had changed in more ways than even she remembered. She'd never known about any note. Any threats against her life. Any money that Lucky had owed. Or any 'invasion' by Helena Cassidine. That's the word Lucky had used, right? Invasion?

'He also used the words 'I - love - you'...What do you think about that Elizabeth, huh? Isn't that what you've been dying to hear for years now. Aren't those the words you said you'd give anything to hear again? In every dream, you've ever had...Lucky comes to you and he says those words. He says them and then you two get on his white horse and ride off into the sunset.........

'Where's the horse Elizabeth? Where's that sunset?...Guess the fairytale wasn't all it was cracked up to be after all, huh?...Get a clue girl.'

Questions swam through her head at lightening speed. Her lips still tasted of Lucky, in spite of the Scotch. Her body still ached for Lucky, in spite of the wedding ring on her finger.

She glanced down at the rock on her left hand. A stone that possessed the power to sink her. Figuratively, and probably...now that she thought about it: literally as well.

Somehow it was still too small to mean anything to her, yet too big to forget.

Elizabeth smirked and shook her head. "Cut it out Webber...." She whispered, thinking the rest in her head. 'Your life is complicated enough. You don't need any illusions of grandeur with Lucky to complicate things any further. Go to sleep and quit dreaming about things that can never happen again.'
~~~~~~~

Parisian Airlines, Flight 704

Lyrics: I Am Looking at Music - written by Pinkie Gordon Lane