Fiona woke up, and for a moment she had no idea where she was.
It was dead quite. Not a sound came from anywhere around her. She reached down and felt something warm and soft by her feet. Hewie... She looked to her left and could see someone sleeping in the front seat. Alex...
They were in Alex's car.
How long had she been asleep?
She didn't remember falling asleep. The last thing she remembered was driving away... away from that terrible place. She was still tired, but needed to stretch her legs. Careful not to wake Alex, she stepped out of the car. It was dark outside... when they had left the castle she was sure it had been early morning.
They were parked on the side of the road.
Slowly she noticed a sound, not so far away. Leaving the road, she walked through a patch of trees.
Alex was right. The lake was beautiful.
She stood on a cliff side, she could see everything from there. The water by the shore was partly frozen over, but the lake itself was dark blue. Shimmering in the moonlight that lit up the sky. With the sound of the waves crashing below she almost didn't hear the footsteps coming closer.
"Alex?" She turned around.
"I'm afraid not."
She gasped, stepped back. It was Riccardo...
"How-You... Why... why won't you just leave me alone!?"
He stepped closer. "I have no choice Fiona. And neither do you."
"Stop it!" She screamed. "Of course you have a choice! You didn't have to kill my parents, or kidnap me, or try to rape me! Those were all your choices!"
"Fiona-"
"No! I won't go through that! Not again!"
He ran at her, she fought him.
Her only focus was on getting free, on fighting back. She did not notice how dangerously close they were to the edge of the cliff, until they were already falling. Fiona stared at Riccardo fell. For a second their eyes locked onto one another, seconds before he hit the water...
It was then Fiona realized she wasn't falling.
Alex held her by her wrist, keeping her from falling.
"You've got to pull!"
Alex only had one good hand. Already it was slick with sweat, and loosing its grip. Fighting off the pain, she outstretched her other hand Fiona took it.
After a moment of struggling, Alex pulled Fiona back onto the cliff.
The two of them sat there, gasping for breath.
Alex leaned over the edge of the cliff.
"I... I can't see him... Fiona... I don't... see him..."
Fiona walked with Alex down to the spot where he fell. Alex said she wanted to make sure... although Fiona didn't look for him...
Alex scanned the water... but saw nothing. Perhaps the body had already been pulled out by the tide? Or maybe it sunk to the bottom...
Or maybe he survived...
As Alex searched she realized she didn't know how to feel about the man. He was a horrible person who did terrible things... But he had saved her life, twice... though not because of any actual kindness.
In the end, she felt pity.
When she'd seen Riccardo and Lorenzo... the hatred they had for each other...
She could relate.
With one last look around, she and Fiona walked back to the car.
"I'll drive." Fiona said.
Alex looked back. "You sure?"
"Yes. It isn't very far, right?"
She smiled. "No, not at all."
The two of them got in the car, buckling themselves in.
"Alex..."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry..."
Fiona was quiet for a moment, then turned to her and smiled. "And thank you."
Alex smiled back. "Anytime."
GOOD ENDING: "Love Conquers All"