From the Ashes
Authors Note: Chapter 3 is up lol. This chapter took me a while to wring since its pretty long. Thanks so much for the reviews for Chapters 1 + 2. For everyone wanting the long awaited Zaxie interaction/scenes, you don't want to miss the end of this chapter ;) And I fixed something in chapter 1 that needed to be fixed. It was part of the Nikolas/Emily scene.
And finally...don't forget to review! I love reading reviews and it encourages me to write more and more often than if I didn't get any lol
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Luke and Skye walked into the shoe store and looked at the ice skates on the shelves. Skye took a seat down on a chair while Luke took the liberty of looking for red skates first.
"I don't see any red skates Luke." Skye said as she looked over at him. "Looks like I'll have to just get the traditional white ones." Skye was glad about that fact. She didn't know how she would look in red skates.
"Hold your horses Red...I'm not done looking yet." Luke said as he walked over to a sales clerk. "Hi, excuse me...-" he paused reading his nametag. *James...Well James seems like an intelligent name. Hopefully this guy is as intelligent as his name sounds* "Excuse me James, my friend and I are looking for a pair of ice skates...size 7 ½ in women's...but we are looking for some red skates."
James studied the older man's face and thought for a moment. "Well...we usually don't carry red skates...." He paused. "Wait, I think we may have on pair in the back. I'll be right back sir." He said and then disappeared into the back
Luke walked back over to Skye and sat down next to her with a grin plastered across his face. Skye knew that look all too well. "They don't seriously have a pair of red skates do they??" she asked.
"Wait and see Red." Luke replied as he turned around and waited for James to come back.
Skye turned around also and saw the young man come back out with a box. She watched him come over to them and then turned back around. James knelt down and opened the box. Skye saw the fire truck red skates and her mouth nearly dropped open. James instructed her to take off her right shoe and a still shocked Skye did as he asked. James slid the skate onto her foot and it was a perfect fit.
"How does that feel mam?" James asked standing up and looking at Skye,
"I'll tell you in a second." Skye replied as she stood up. The skate on her right foot felt perfect. Not too tight, not too loose, not to big, not too small....it was almost like fate. "It fits...perfectly actually." She said still amazed. Luke smiled. "Looks like a winner to me. We will take these ice skates...box them up, wrap them up and do whatever you do with them!" he said to James with a laugh. "You are really going to stand out at that ice pond Skye." He said grinning at her.
Skye took the skate off and handed it to James so he could put it back in its box with its mate the left skate and then ring them up. She told Luke she would buy a pair of red skates if there were any, she was keeping her word. "I'm most definitely going to stand out. Between my red hair and these skates, you won't be able to miss me." She said with a slight smile.
"That's the spirit Skye." Luke said as he watched Skye put her right shoe back on. The two walked over to the cash register and paid for their purchase.
"Have a nice day." James called out to them as they were leaving.
"You too." Luke and Skye answered together. The two then left the store and started walking towards Luke's car.
"Now all we got to do is pick up Lulu and we will beat the whole crowd to the pond. We can skate until everyone starts showing up and then leave." Luke told Skye. "And you should wear a red outfit you know...then you can be all the way red." He joked.
"Absolutely not!" Skye said with a laugh. "I'll look like a fireball." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*
Dillon and Georgie arrived at the pond and realized that they were the first ones there. They quickly put on their skates and laced them up.
"It looks like we get the pond to ourselves for a little bit." Dillon said with a grin as he stood up all set to go ice-skating.
Georgie smiled as she slowly rose to her feet. "It looks that way and it works for me....that way nobody sees me fall."
"Except for me." Dillon replied as he stepped onto the ice-covered pond.
"Are you sure its sturdy?" Georgie asked before she stepped on. She was afraid of falling through the ice whenever she would go skating on a pond or on a lake.
Dillon stomped his foot on the ice where he was standing. "It looks sturdy to me...now come on."
Georgie sighed as she slowly and cautiously stepped on the ice. She felt the slippery ice underneath her ice skates and nearly fell when she tried to take her first step. Thankfully Dillon glided over to her and placed his hands on her waist saving her from falling on her butt.
"Careful." He said as he smiled warmly at her.
"Thanks." Georgie replied with a smile. "Lets see how long it takes me to fall." She said as she felt Dillon remove his hands from her waist. She felt like her safety net was gone once he let go of her. Georgie tried to take another step and this one went better. She didn't almost fall this time. "Maybe I'm not as bad at this as I remember." She said.
Dillon skated along side Georgie circling her. "You will be fine." He said.
Georgie started skating a further distance and slowly got the hang of it....least she thought so. Soon Dillon and Georgie were skating side by side laughing and enjoying having the pond to themselves. The two soon realized that they had company as they saw Nikolas and Emily Cassadine arrive at the pond.
"Hey Emily...the ice is great!" Dillon called out to her. Emily was one of Dillon's favorite members of the Quartermaine family. She wasn't greedy, snobby or...well a typical Quartermaine.
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Emily and Nikolas had decided to go skating for a little bit early in the day to take their mind off of what day it was. They were hoping to get to the pond early to beat out the crowd. Emily smiled as she saw her half brother Dillon and his girlfriend having a good time on the pond.
"Hey Dillon!" Emily called over to Dillon. She sat down on a bench and started to take off her shoes to put her skates on. She noticed Nikolas take a seat next to her.
"It looks like Dillon is having a good time." Nikolas commented and then took off his shoes, put on his skates, and started lacing them up.
"Yeah, I'm so happy for him and Georgie. They are a match made in heaven, I hope they can survive my family." Emily said with a slight laugh. "My family is very picky about who their members are involved with."
"No kidding." Nikolas said with grin. "They weren't too thrilled about me once they found out I was broke at the time we got engaged." He said. "Now...they tolerate me, mostly since we got that money from the treasure." He stood once he finished lacing up his skates and extended his hand to Emily to help her on her feet.
Emily took his hand and felt him help her to her feet. She smiled as she gazed out onto the pond watching Dillon and Georgie skating around. "They are pretty good." She said after watching them for a moment.
Nikolas put his arm around her shoulders. "Yep...but we are just as good as they are." He said.
"Oh really?" Emily asked with a smile. "I don't know about that, but lets find out!" she took off onto the pond. Nikolas laughed and then took off after her.
"Try and catch me Prince!" Emily called out laughing as she sped around the pond. She knew Nikolas hated being called 'prince'. She looked behind her shoulder to see Nikolas trying to catch up with her. Emily glided past Dillon and Georgie who she noticed moved quickly out of her path along with Nikolas'.
Emily and Nikolas raced along the pond for a long time until Emily had to stop to catch her breath. She came to a stop and then slowly made her way off the pond. She noticed Nikolas do the same. Emily found the bench that she had laced up her skates on and sat down.
Nikolas stood in front of her breathing heavily. "Giving up?" He asked looking at her.
Emily smiled. "Yeah, I'm whipped...and so are you from the way you are breathing....come on take a seat. I know you must be as tired as I am." She said.
Nikolas didn't object, he took a seat next to Emily. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Nikolas looked over at her. "So, what's my prize?" he joked with a grin.
Emily smiled. "Oh I'll give you your prize all right!" she said and playfully hit him.
"Ouch! That hurt!" Nikolas said with a laugh. "Just kidding." He added.
Emily rolled her eyes jokingly. "Mmm..hmm...sure." she joked as she looked into his eyes. Nikolas cupped her face softly with his hands and brought her lips to his in a soft kiss. _________
Helena Cassadine was a very busy woman these days, trying to think of a way to get rid of Skye Chandler Quartermaine...or whatever her last name was. She found herself at the ice pond where she was to meet with Tracy. Since it was such a public place nobody would suspect anything if they saw them talking. She had come up with one idea, but she had to arrange everything first. As she was waiting on Tracy, Helena saw her grandson in a lip-lock with his wife on a bench. Helena groaned as she watched for a second. Oh how she despised Nikolas' relationship with Emily. *That little Quartermaine twit* she thought to herself. Helena tried everything and anything to break those two up. She ended up getting banned from her own grandson's wedding because of it. Helena didn't blame herself for that, she thought she was doing Nikolas a favor of getting him away from Emily...apparently Nikolas didn't see it that way. She decided she would go and see how her grandson was doing and waltzed right up to the pair. Helena loudly cleared her throat to make her presence known.
Nikolas and Emily parted and Nikolas groaned at seeing his grandmother. "Hello Helena." He said with a sigh. "What a 'pleasant' surprise."
Helena was used to the sarcasm and simply ignored it. "Its nice to see you again...I still have noticed that you haven't come to your senses and divorced this brat."
Emily opened her mouth to object but decided not to say anything. She wouldn't give Helena the satisfaction of getting to her.
"Come on grandmother, if you can't say anything nice about Emily then I suggest you turn yourself around and walk away in the opposite direction. Like it or not, Emily is part of our family. She is a Cassadine through marriage and that's how it's going to stay." Nikolas gave Helena a look of warning. He didn't feel like dealing with Helena today.
Helena was about to say something in response when she noticed Tracy out of the corner of her eye waving her over. "Fine, I'll leave...but mark my word, this marriage of yours is never going to last. Emily Quartermaine is not good enough for you my darling Nikolas, she never will be." Helena turned around on the heel of her boot and walked off in the opposite direction.
"Wow...she actually left us alone." Emily said amazed.
"Yeah, that's very unlike Helena. She has either.... A) Lost her touch, B) She is not feeling well, or C) She is up to something." Nikolas said. "Take your guess at the reason." He said sighing as he watched Helena's figure turn a corner and go out of site. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Maxie made her way back to the Scorpio House and got ready for work. She quickly ran out the door and hurried over to University Hospital just a minute or so early. Maxie always cut it close, but she was never late.
Bobbie Spencer noticed Maxie step off the elevator and walked over to her. "Hello Maxie." She said with a smile. She got used to seeing Maxie every weekend. Maxie Jones was one of the most dedicated volunteers she had seen in a while and it was a breath of fresh air to her.
"Hey Bobbie." Maxie said with a slight smile. "So what am I doing today?" she asked.
"Well, you are working behind the desk...I know it gets kind of boring after a while, but think of it as an easy day." Bobbie said sugar coating the job...well trying to at least. Bobbie's paged suddenly started to beep and she checked it. "I got to run, they need me in surgery....don't have too much fun behind that desk." She said and then went off towards surgery.
Maxie watched Bobbie until she was out of sight and took her place behind the desk. Just her luck...she had to push papers around for the whole entire day. Maxie couldn't wait for her day to be over with already. She got off around 2:00pm and it was now just 9:00am on the nose. She sighed as she began filing some papers and trying to keep busy to pass the time. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It seemed like forever before her lunch break arrived. Maxie was so thankful that it was 11:30am. She had a half hour to scarf down her lunch before she had to be back behind the desk until 2:00pm. Maxie slowly made her way down to the cafeteria and had to buy her lunch since she forgot to pack herself one before she bolted out of the house. She ended up getting what looked like macaroni and cheese, but Maxie wasn't quite sure if that was what it was.
As she sat down at an empty table with her tray, Maxie started to remember what day it was. She had forgotten for a little bit but now that she had time to think to herself, she remembered it again.
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Alexis Davis walked inside the hospital cafeteria to get herself something to eat. She was going to need all the energy she could get to make it through this day. She had already had a rough morning. She lost two people she deeply cared about in that blaze a year ago that day, Zander Smith and Cameron Lewis. Alexis desperately wished she could have done something to prevent what happened. She kicked herself daily for treating them as poorly as she did at times. It also was going to be a year today since she spilled her secret about Kristina being Sonny's daughter to Carly
She pushed those thoughts out of her head and once again thought about both Cameron and Zander...father and son whose lives were both claimed by that deadly fire. She made sure that she gave them the best memorial service possible and she was a basket case during the whole thing.
Cameron was her rock for a long time. He kept more of her secrets than anyone and always tried to reason with her. Even thought she didn't show it, she appreciated him trying to help her not do anything stupid. He helped her fake a alternate personality in court...laid his professional career on the lime numerous times for her...why?...Alexis seemed to ponder that and she came to the conclusion that Cameron was a good person who cared a lot about her and her daughter. She now regretted a lot of things when it came to her...well her relationship with him. If she could go back, she would change a lot of things.............
Alexis had gone to the hospital to visit a client. She had the unfortunate pleasure of not having this Saturday off, which she honestly didn't like. Her job never had a 'usual schedule' of days which she worked. Some weekends she worked, others she didn't. The only good thing about working this Saturday was that she got a distraction from her thoughts about that fire. Alexis had decided that she had might as well have lunch there at the hospital. Even though the food left a lot to be desired, she didn't feel like going to a restaurant and waiting a while for her food. Once Alexis got her tray, she noticed Maxie sitting at a table with a tray as well and decided to join her.
"Is this seat taken?" Alexis asked interrupting Maxie's thoughts.
Maxie turned her head to see Alexis. "Nope, its all yours." She said with a slight smile as she watched Alexis take a seat.
"So, how are you doing?" Alexis asked noticing how down Maxie seemed to look. She figured it had to be about the fire.
"Is it that obvious that something is wrong?" Maxie asked with a sigh.
Alexis nodded. "Yeah it is...and I don't blame you. You and I have something in common...we both lost people we cared about in that fire and we miss them...a lot. I know you and Zander didn't know each other for very long, but I could tell that you cared about him and vise versa. Otherwise, you wouldn't have helped him when everyone bailed on him....including myself." She said.
Maxie tried to smile just a little bit and couldn't. "You really miss Dr. Lewis a lot don't you?"
Alexis nodded and sighed at the same time. "Yeah, I really do. Like you were to Zander...Cameron was to me. He helped me when nobody else would. I trusted him...like I know Zander trusted you." She said. Alexis picked up her fork and pushed her food around on her plate. She suddenly wasn't hungry anymore.
Maxie watched Alexis push her food around and then looked back at her tray. The two women sat in silence for a little bit each lost in their own thoughts. Maxie decided to change the topic. "How is Kristina doing?...." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Luke and Skye arrived to the ice pond with Lulu. Skye and Luke exchanged glances as they saw how crowded it was. Luke looked at his watch....it was 11:55 am going on noon, so it was understandable. Luke and Skye's whole day got thrown off schedule mainly because Lulu had trouble finding her skates along with her winter stuff.
"Well, least we know we are going to have a lot of company here." Skye said as the three of them sat down on a bench to lace up their skates.
Lulu smiled brightly. "You bet. I can't wait to get skating! Daddy thanks so much for taking me...you too Skye." She said.
Luke took off his shoes and started lacing on his skates. "No problem Princess." He said as he looked at Skye lacing up her skates. He chuckled to himself because her skates were fire truck red. Luke managed to find a pair especially for Skye and Skye had promised him that if there were a pair of red ice skates, that she would buy them....and that she did.
Skye felt a bit awkward and embarrassed to be wearing those ice skates, but Luke and Lulu seemed to enjoy them, so that didn't make it as bad. She finished getting them on and smiled slightly in triumph. Skye always hated lacing up skates, she found it pretty annoying.
Lulu bounced up once she finished getting her skates on and made a mad dash out to the pond running in her skates.
"Don't trip!" Skye called out to her and was glad once Lulu made it on the ice without falling.
"Ahh...she wasn't going to trip. She's a Spencer, we happen to be very graceful." Luke replied with a grin as he stood up. Luke and Skye made it out onto the pond and stood there for a moment looking for Lulu. "Now where did that girl skate off to?" Luke pondered out loud.
Skye shrugged. "I have no idea." She said sighing slightly.
"Looks like its me and you for a while then Blaze." Luke said as he put his arm around her jokingly.
"Oh goodie." Skye said and then smiled pushing his arm off of her. She tried to skate around a bit but found her newly bought red skates to be a pain. "These stupid things are a piece of crap Luke!" she exclaimed.
"Ahh...don't complain. They just need to be broken in a bit." Luke replied skating up beside her. "Just close your eyes and imagine you are walking like normal."
"I don't think so....-" Skye started but was cut off.
"Come on Blaze...humor me." Luke said raising a brow.
"Oh fine!" Skye huffed giving in. She closed her eyes and took a step as if she were walking on normal ground. It didn't go well at all, Skye's skate got caught in a chip of ice that was on the pond and she ended up falling but she took Luke down with her as well. She opened her eyes and realized that they were both were not longer standing but on the cold ice ground. "Oh my god...I'm so sorry Luke....I should have never listened to that whacked idea of yours...are you okay?"
Luke looked furious for a minute and then broke out into shear laughter. "Of course I'm fine!" he said while laughing. "A little fall won't kill me. Besides, I have a feeling it is going to be the highlight of my day." He slowly got up and extended his hand to Skye to help her to her feet. Skye took his hand and was standing again in a second thanks to Luke's strength along with her own.
Lulu came gliding up next to them. "I saw the whole thing...and boy did you look funny." She said with a smile and started giggling.
Luke looked over at Skye and grinned. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Courtney didn't know why she let Carly talk her into going ice-skating. She was in no mood to do anything today since all she could think about was that fire. 'It will be fun Courtney...just us two girls' she remembered Carly saying. After a while of arguing and going back and forth with Carly, Courtney finally gave in. She would skate around for an hour or so, humor Carly and then leave.
The two former mob wives stepped out onto the ice in their skates and just skated slowly together, talking about simple things...the weather, Carly's kids, Courtney's new job and other things. Speaking of Courtney's new job, she was now a businesswoman. She had taken a job offer offered to her by the rich Jasper 'Jax' Jacks. Courtney was happy with her new job because it didn't involve the mob and it was 100% free of guns and violence.
Courtney and Jax got along quite well actually....they had common interests about how things should be run in his company and were quick thinkers. Courtney and Jax only kept a professional relationship. The two never once brought up their relationship problems, it was strictly business. Courtney figured that was because each didn't want to pry into the other's life...and it was none of their business anyway.
Courtney tried her hardest not to talk about Jason, even with Carly. She knew that Carly and Jason were still friends and she accepted that and she respected that. They had been friends before her relationship with Jason and there was no reason for them to stop because her marriage to Jason ended in divorce. Besides, whenever she would talk about Jason....she would miss him more. The only thing that took her mind off of Jason was work.
Courtney and Carly were on the topic of the weather believe it or not, when Courtney's cell phone rang. She had kept it in her coat pocket incase of emergencies. Courtney quickly picked up. "Hello?"
"Hey Court, its Jax." Jax's voice said from the other end of the line. "I'm sorry to bother you...especially on a Saturday, but I was wondering if you had everything set for Monday's meeting?" he asked. "If not, we can put it right before the meeting Monday morning."
Courtney smiled slightly...it was just like Jax always concerned about the business and always flexible. Carly gave her a curious look wondering who it was on the other line. Courtney held up her pointer finger telling Carly that she would tell her in a minute.
"Everything is set." Courtney said. "You shouldn't worry too much, the meeting will go fine." She assured him.
"Yeah, your right...I'll see you Monday. Have a nice rest of the weekend." Jax's voice said.
"You too...bye." Courtney said and then hung up.
Carly already had the mystery person on the other line figured out when the word 'meeting' came up. "Hmm...let me guess...it was Jax." She said.
Courtney nodded. "You guessed right." She replied.
"You seem to enjoy your new life out of the mob. You know...you were my role model for getting out too." Carly said.
Courtney remembered when right after her custody hearing started for Carly's kids that Carly broke things off with Lorenzo. Courtney knew Carly didn't want to be in that lifestyle again and she knew that Lorenzo...like Sonny could never get out of that life. Lorenzo didn't take things well, but let her go in peace. Sonny calmed down a bit after hearing Carly broke off all ties with Lorenzo and Carly even allowed him to visit the children frequently even though she won custody of them.
"You know...you aren't completely out, you still have ties with Jason." Courtney pointed out as they continued to skate along.
Carly smiled. "Yeah, I know...but its Jason. I will always have ties to Jason." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
: Nighttime:
Maxie walked into her room after finishing cleaning up the kitchen with Georgie after dinner. She sighed as she flopped down onto her bed.
The rest of Maxie's shift had passed by pretty quickly once her lunch break was over. She just filed documents until it was time for her to leave. Upon returning home, Maxie changed out of her uniform and threw back on what she was wearing earlier that morning before she went to General Hospital. Maxie then did all of the homework that she had for college for the weekend since she just felt like it. After having a 'blah' day, she didn't mind doing schoolwork as much. Once she had that all done, Maxie laid down on her bed and flipped on her TV. She got interested in a movie that was on. It was entitled Beverly Hills Cop and it was an old comedy movie with a young Eddie Murphy in it. Maxie mainly stuck to watching anything comedy these days, it made her laugh and wasn't sad or depressing like dramas and some love stories were. Once that ended, Maxie and Georgie, who had just gotten home, cooked spaghetti for dinner. Mac came home and the family had a nice quiet dinner making chitchat. And once dinner was over with, Maxie and Georgie cleaned up....and now Maxie had returned to her room to crash for the night.
Maxie grabbed a book off her bookshelf and flipped it open. She had begun reading it about 2 weeks ago and was about half way through with it. Maxie didn't even bother changing into her PJ's; she just flicked on her lamp, got comfortable on her bed, and began reading where she had left off. She had only planned on reading a few chapters, but found it hard to set the book down and the further she got, the more determined she got to finishing the book that night.
Maxie set the book aside and closed her eyes for a second giving them a rest, the strain of reading was making her more tired by the moment. Maxie hadn't planned on falling asleep then and there but she ended up doing so....drifting off into the dream world. She was oblivious to the sound of her window opening hours after she had fallen asleep.....
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He stepped inside of her room making sure not to make a single sound. This wasn't the first time he was in there, so he knew what he was doing. He wondered if Maxie understood the riddle he left in the note or not. His eyes scanned the room; he noticed that Maxie still had her lamp on and that she was fast asleep in her clothes with a book lying right next to her.
He smiled to himself as he looked at the one person who believed in him during the end of his time in Port Charles a year ago to the day. He glanced at his own watch taking his eyes off of her for a moment. It was 2:30 am so he would leave his next note now and then split before anybody knew he was there.
He made his way over to where he had left the first note and placed the new one there, he knew that she would figure out who the notes were from eventually because she was an intelligent young woman.
He made his way back over to the window in which he would exit, when he looked back over at Maxie. He stopped in his tracks and walked over to her bed and her nightstand. He scanned the room and noticed a blanket lying on a nearby chair and went over to it and picked it up. He opened it up and laid it on top of her so she would be warm. He then turned towards her nightstand that had her lamp on it. He peered underneath the big shade trying to figure out how her particular lamp shut off. He fumbled around with the lamp before he finally got it to turn off. He quickly glanced over at Maxie's figure making sure she was still asleep. Now the room was dark and he didn't mind. He had navigated around her room in the dark before, so this was no problem. He quickly whipped around to head towards the window and as he did this, he knocked into her nightstand knocking something onto the ground making a loud noise....
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Maxie's dream was interrupted by a loud noise close to her. She jolted awake and sat up as she felt the cool air on her skin once again *He is here....right now* she thought to herself. She turned her head towards her nightstand and saw a dark figure next to it. Terror ran through her body. She went to scream when saw the man leaned quickly across to her and she instantly felt the man's hand fall gently over her mouth.
"Shhh....don't scream." His gentle voice said.
Maxie was too afraid to think about or concentrate on anything except what was going to happen to her now. She failed to recognize his voice...even though it was above a whisper. She found herself nodding and watched as the man used his other hand to reach towards her lamp probably to turn it on. She watched as he fumbled for the switch and then turned it on. Light emitted from the lamp and clearly lit up his face. Maxie looked at him in shock and surprise.
"Oh my god....Zander." she said her voice trailing off.
Authors Note: Chapter 3 is up lol. This chapter took me a while to wring since its pretty long. Thanks so much for the reviews for Chapters 1 + 2. For everyone wanting the long awaited Zaxie interaction/scenes, you don't want to miss the end of this chapter ;) And I fixed something in chapter 1 that needed to be fixed. It was part of the Nikolas/Emily scene.
And finally...don't forget to review! I love reading reviews and it encourages me to write more and more often than if I didn't get any lol
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Luke and Skye walked into the shoe store and looked at the ice skates on the shelves. Skye took a seat down on a chair while Luke took the liberty of looking for red skates first.
"I don't see any red skates Luke." Skye said as she looked over at him. "Looks like I'll have to just get the traditional white ones." Skye was glad about that fact. She didn't know how she would look in red skates.
"Hold your horses Red...I'm not done looking yet." Luke said as he walked over to a sales clerk. "Hi, excuse me...-" he paused reading his nametag. *James...Well James seems like an intelligent name. Hopefully this guy is as intelligent as his name sounds* "Excuse me James, my friend and I are looking for a pair of ice skates...size 7 ½ in women's...but we are looking for some red skates."
James studied the older man's face and thought for a moment. "Well...we usually don't carry red skates...." He paused. "Wait, I think we may have on pair in the back. I'll be right back sir." He said and then disappeared into the back
Luke walked back over to Skye and sat down next to her with a grin plastered across his face. Skye knew that look all too well. "They don't seriously have a pair of red skates do they??" she asked.
"Wait and see Red." Luke replied as he turned around and waited for James to come back.
Skye turned around also and saw the young man come back out with a box. She watched him come over to them and then turned back around. James knelt down and opened the box. Skye saw the fire truck red skates and her mouth nearly dropped open. James instructed her to take off her right shoe and a still shocked Skye did as he asked. James slid the skate onto her foot and it was a perfect fit.
"How does that feel mam?" James asked standing up and looking at Skye,
"I'll tell you in a second." Skye replied as she stood up. The skate on her right foot felt perfect. Not too tight, not too loose, not to big, not too small....it was almost like fate. "It fits...perfectly actually." She said still amazed. Luke smiled. "Looks like a winner to me. We will take these ice skates...box them up, wrap them up and do whatever you do with them!" he said to James with a laugh. "You are really going to stand out at that ice pond Skye." He said grinning at her.
Skye took the skate off and handed it to James so he could put it back in its box with its mate the left skate and then ring them up. She told Luke she would buy a pair of red skates if there were any, she was keeping her word. "I'm most definitely going to stand out. Between my red hair and these skates, you won't be able to miss me." She said with a slight smile.
"That's the spirit Skye." Luke said as he watched Skye put her right shoe back on. The two walked over to the cash register and paid for their purchase.
"Have a nice day." James called out to them as they were leaving.
"You too." Luke and Skye answered together. The two then left the store and started walking towards Luke's car.
"Now all we got to do is pick up Lulu and we will beat the whole crowd to the pond. We can skate until everyone starts showing up and then leave." Luke told Skye. "And you should wear a red outfit you know...then you can be all the way red." He joked.
"Absolutely not!" Skye said with a laugh. "I'll look like a fireball." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*
Dillon and Georgie arrived at the pond and realized that they were the first ones there. They quickly put on their skates and laced them up.
"It looks like we get the pond to ourselves for a little bit." Dillon said with a grin as he stood up all set to go ice-skating.
Georgie smiled as she slowly rose to her feet. "It looks that way and it works for me....that way nobody sees me fall."
"Except for me." Dillon replied as he stepped onto the ice-covered pond.
"Are you sure its sturdy?" Georgie asked before she stepped on. She was afraid of falling through the ice whenever she would go skating on a pond or on a lake.
Dillon stomped his foot on the ice where he was standing. "It looks sturdy to me...now come on."
Georgie sighed as she slowly and cautiously stepped on the ice. She felt the slippery ice underneath her ice skates and nearly fell when she tried to take her first step. Thankfully Dillon glided over to her and placed his hands on her waist saving her from falling on her butt.
"Careful." He said as he smiled warmly at her.
"Thanks." Georgie replied with a smile. "Lets see how long it takes me to fall." She said as she felt Dillon remove his hands from her waist. She felt like her safety net was gone once he let go of her. Georgie tried to take another step and this one went better. She didn't almost fall this time. "Maybe I'm not as bad at this as I remember." She said.
Dillon skated along side Georgie circling her. "You will be fine." He said.
Georgie started skating a further distance and slowly got the hang of it....least she thought so. Soon Dillon and Georgie were skating side by side laughing and enjoying having the pond to themselves. The two soon realized that they had company as they saw Nikolas and Emily Cassadine arrive at the pond.
"Hey Emily...the ice is great!" Dillon called out to her. Emily was one of Dillon's favorite members of the Quartermaine family. She wasn't greedy, snobby or...well a typical Quartermaine.
______________
Emily and Nikolas had decided to go skating for a little bit early in the day to take their mind off of what day it was. They were hoping to get to the pond early to beat out the crowd. Emily smiled as she saw her half brother Dillon and his girlfriend having a good time on the pond.
"Hey Dillon!" Emily called over to Dillon. She sat down on a bench and started to take off her shoes to put her skates on. She noticed Nikolas take a seat next to her.
"It looks like Dillon is having a good time." Nikolas commented and then took off his shoes, put on his skates, and started lacing them up.
"Yeah, I'm so happy for him and Georgie. They are a match made in heaven, I hope they can survive my family." Emily said with a slight laugh. "My family is very picky about who their members are involved with."
"No kidding." Nikolas said with grin. "They weren't too thrilled about me once they found out I was broke at the time we got engaged." He said. "Now...they tolerate me, mostly since we got that money from the treasure." He stood once he finished lacing up his skates and extended his hand to Emily to help her on her feet.
Emily took his hand and felt him help her to her feet. She smiled as she gazed out onto the pond watching Dillon and Georgie skating around. "They are pretty good." She said after watching them for a moment.
Nikolas put his arm around her shoulders. "Yep...but we are just as good as they are." He said.
"Oh really?" Emily asked with a smile. "I don't know about that, but lets find out!" she took off onto the pond. Nikolas laughed and then took off after her.
"Try and catch me Prince!" Emily called out laughing as she sped around the pond. She knew Nikolas hated being called 'prince'. She looked behind her shoulder to see Nikolas trying to catch up with her. Emily glided past Dillon and Georgie who she noticed moved quickly out of her path along with Nikolas'.
Emily and Nikolas raced along the pond for a long time until Emily had to stop to catch her breath. She came to a stop and then slowly made her way off the pond. She noticed Nikolas do the same. Emily found the bench that she had laced up her skates on and sat down.
Nikolas stood in front of her breathing heavily. "Giving up?" He asked looking at her.
Emily smiled. "Yeah, I'm whipped...and so are you from the way you are breathing....come on take a seat. I know you must be as tired as I am." She said.
Nikolas didn't object, he took a seat next to Emily. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Nikolas looked over at her. "So, what's my prize?" he joked with a grin.
Emily smiled. "Oh I'll give you your prize all right!" she said and playfully hit him.
"Ouch! That hurt!" Nikolas said with a laugh. "Just kidding." He added.
Emily rolled her eyes jokingly. "Mmm..hmm...sure." she joked as she looked into his eyes. Nikolas cupped her face softly with his hands and brought her lips to his in a soft kiss. _________
Helena Cassadine was a very busy woman these days, trying to think of a way to get rid of Skye Chandler Quartermaine...or whatever her last name was. She found herself at the ice pond where she was to meet with Tracy. Since it was such a public place nobody would suspect anything if they saw them talking. She had come up with one idea, but she had to arrange everything first. As she was waiting on Tracy, Helena saw her grandson in a lip-lock with his wife on a bench. Helena groaned as she watched for a second. Oh how she despised Nikolas' relationship with Emily. *That little Quartermaine twit* she thought to herself. Helena tried everything and anything to break those two up. She ended up getting banned from her own grandson's wedding because of it. Helena didn't blame herself for that, she thought she was doing Nikolas a favor of getting him away from Emily...apparently Nikolas didn't see it that way. She decided she would go and see how her grandson was doing and waltzed right up to the pair. Helena loudly cleared her throat to make her presence known.
Nikolas and Emily parted and Nikolas groaned at seeing his grandmother. "Hello Helena." He said with a sigh. "What a 'pleasant' surprise."
Helena was used to the sarcasm and simply ignored it. "Its nice to see you again...I still have noticed that you haven't come to your senses and divorced this brat."
Emily opened her mouth to object but decided not to say anything. She wouldn't give Helena the satisfaction of getting to her.
"Come on grandmother, if you can't say anything nice about Emily then I suggest you turn yourself around and walk away in the opposite direction. Like it or not, Emily is part of our family. She is a Cassadine through marriage and that's how it's going to stay." Nikolas gave Helena a look of warning. He didn't feel like dealing with Helena today.
Helena was about to say something in response when she noticed Tracy out of the corner of her eye waving her over. "Fine, I'll leave...but mark my word, this marriage of yours is never going to last. Emily Quartermaine is not good enough for you my darling Nikolas, she never will be." Helena turned around on the heel of her boot and walked off in the opposite direction.
"Wow...she actually left us alone." Emily said amazed.
"Yeah, that's very unlike Helena. She has either.... A) Lost her touch, B) She is not feeling well, or C) She is up to something." Nikolas said. "Take your guess at the reason." He said sighing as he watched Helena's figure turn a corner and go out of site. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Maxie made her way back to the Scorpio House and got ready for work. She quickly ran out the door and hurried over to University Hospital just a minute or so early. Maxie always cut it close, but she was never late.
Bobbie Spencer noticed Maxie step off the elevator and walked over to her. "Hello Maxie." She said with a smile. She got used to seeing Maxie every weekend. Maxie Jones was one of the most dedicated volunteers she had seen in a while and it was a breath of fresh air to her.
"Hey Bobbie." Maxie said with a slight smile. "So what am I doing today?" she asked.
"Well, you are working behind the desk...I know it gets kind of boring after a while, but think of it as an easy day." Bobbie said sugar coating the job...well trying to at least. Bobbie's paged suddenly started to beep and she checked it. "I got to run, they need me in surgery....don't have too much fun behind that desk." She said and then went off towards surgery.
Maxie watched Bobbie until she was out of sight and took her place behind the desk. Just her luck...she had to push papers around for the whole entire day. Maxie couldn't wait for her day to be over with already. She got off around 2:00pm and it was now just 9:00am on the nose. She sighed as she began filing some papers and trying to keep busy to pass the time. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It seemed like forever before her lunch break arrived. Maxie was so thankful that it was 11:30am. She had a half hour to scarf down her lunch before she had to be back behind the desk until 2:00pm. Maxie slowly made her way down to the cafeteria and had to buy her lunch since she forgot to pack herself one before she bolted out of the house. She ended up getting what looked like macaroni and cheese, but Maxie wasn't quite sure if that was what it was.
As she sat down at an empty table with her tray, Maxie started to remember what day it was. She had forgotten for a little bit but now that she had time to think to herself, she remembered it again.
___________________________
Alexis Davis walked inside the hospital cafeteria to get herself something to eat. She was going to need all the energy she could get to make it through this day. She had already had a rough morning. She lost two people she deeply cared about in that blaze a year ago that day, Zander Smith and Cameron Lewis. Alexis desperately wished she could have done something to prevent what happened. She kicked herself daily for treating them as poorly as she did at times. It also was going to be a year today since she spilled her secret about Kristina being Sonny's daughter to Carly
She pushed those thoughts out of her head and once again thought about both Cameron and Zander...father and son whose lives were both claimed by that deadly fire. She made sure that she gave them the best memorial service possible and she was a basket case during the whole thing.
Cameron was her rock for a long time. He kept more of her secrets than anyone and always tried to reason with her. Even thought she didn't show it, she appreciated him trying to help her not do anything stupid. He helped her fake a alternate personality in court...laid his professional career on the lime numerous times for her...why?...Alexis seemed to ponder that and she came to the conclusion that Cameron was a good person who cared a lot about her and her daughter. She now regretted a lot of things when it came to her...well her relationship with him. If she could go back, she would change a lot of things.............
Alexis had gone to the hospital to visit a client. She had the unfortunate pleasure of not having this Saturday off, which she honestly didn't like. Her job never had a 'usual schedule' of days which she worked. Some weekends she worked, others she didn't. The only good thing about working this Saturday was that she got a distraction from her thoughts about that fire. Alexis had decided that she had might as well have lunch there at the hospital. Even though the food left a lot to be desired, she didn't feel like going to a restaurant and waiting a while for her food. Once Alexis got her tray, she noticed Maxie sitting at a table with a tray as well and decided to join her.
"Is this seat taken?" Alexis asked interrupting Maxie's thoughts.
Maxie turned her head to see Alexis. "Nope, its all yours." She said with a slight smile as she watched Alexis take a seat.
"So, how are you doing?" Alexis asked noticing how down Maxie seemed to look. She figured it had to be about the fire.
"Is it that obvious that something is wrong?" Maxie asked with a sigh.
Alexis nodded. "Yeah it is...and I don't blame you. You and I have something in common...we both lost people we cared about in that fire and we miss them...a lot. I know you and Zander didn't know each other for very long, but I could tell that you cared about him and vise versa. Otherwise, you wouldn't have helped him when everyone bailed on him....including myself." She said.
Maxie tried to smile just a little bit and couldn't. "You really miss Dr. Lewis a lot don't you?"
Alexis nodded and sighed at the same time. "Yeah, I really do. Like you were to Zander...Cameron was to me. He helped me when nobody else would. I trusted him...like I know Zander trusted you." She said. Alexis picked up her fork and pushed her food around on her plate. She suddenly wasn't hungry anymore.
Maxie watched Alexis push her food around and then looked back at her tray. The two women sat in silence for a little bit each lost in their own thoughts. Maxie decided to change the topic. "How is Kristina doing?...." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Luke and Skye arrived to the ice pond with Lulu. Skye and Luke exchanged glances as they saw how crowded it was. Luke looked at his watch....it was 11:55 am going on noon, so it was understandable. Luke and Skye's whole day got thrown off schedule mainly because Lulu had trouble finding her skates along with her winter stuff.
"Well, least we know we are going to have a lot of company here." Skye said as the three of them sat down on a bench to lace up their skates.
Lulu smiled brightly. "You bet. I can't wait to get skating! Daddy thanks so much for taking me...you too Skye." She said.
Luke took off his shoes and started lacing on his skates. "No problem Princess." He said as he looked at Skye lacing up her skates. He chuckled to himself because her skates were fire truck red. Luke managed to find a pair especially for Skye and Skye had promised him that if there were a pair of red ice skates, that she would buy them....and that she did.
Skye felt a bit awkward and embarrassed to be wearing those ice skates, but Luke and Lulu seemed to enjoy them, so that didn't make it as bad. She finished getting them on and smiled slightly in triumph. Skye always hated lacing up skates, she found it pretty annoying.
Lulu bounced up once she finished getting her skates on and made a mad dash out to the pond running in her skates.
"Don't trip!" Skye called out to her and was glad once Lulu made it on the ice without falling.
"Ahh...she wasn't going to trip. She's a Spencer, we happen to be very graceful." Luke replied with a grin as he stood up. Luke and Skye made it out onto the pond and stood there for a moment looking for Lulu. "Now where did that girl skate off to?" Luke pondered out loud.
Skye shrugged. "I have no idea." She said sighing slightly.
"Looks like its me and you for a while then Blaze." Luke said as he put his arm around her jokingly.
"Oh goodie." Skye said and then smiled pushing his arm off of her. She tried to skate around a bit but found her newly bought red skates to be a pain. "These stupid things are a piece of crap Luke!" she exclaimed.
"Ahh...don't complain. They just need to be broken in a bit." Luke replied skating up beside her. "Just close your eyes and imagine you are walking like normal."
"I don't think so....-" Skye started but was cut off.
"Come on Blaze...humor me." Luke said raising a brow.
"Oh fine!" Skye huffed giving in. She closed her eyes and took a step as if she were walking on normal ground. It didn't go well at all, Skye's skate got caught in a chip of ice that was on the pond and she ended up falling but she took Luke down with her as well. She opened her eyes and realized that they were both were not longer standing but on the cold ice ground. "Oh my god...I'm so sorry Luke....I should have never listened to that whacked idea of yours...are you okay?"
Luke looked furious for a minute and then broke out into shear laughter. "Of course I'm fine!" he said while laughing. "A little fall won't kill me. Besides, I have a feeling it is going to be the highlight of my day." He slowly got up and extended his hand to Skye to help her to her feet. Skye took his hand and was standing again in a second thanks to Luke's strength along with her own.
Lulu came gliding up next to them. "I saw the whole thing...and boy did you look funny." She said with a smile and started giggling.
Luke looked over at Skye and grinned. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Courtney didn't know why she let Carly talk her into going ice-skating. She was in no mood to do anything today since all she could think about was that fire. 'It will be fun Courtney...just us two girls' she remembered Carly saying. After a while of arguing and going back and forth with Carly, Courtney finally gave in. She would skate around for an hour or so, humor Carly and then leave.
The two former mob wives stepped out onto the ice in their skates and just skated slowly together, talking about simple things...the weather, Carly's kids, Courtney's new job and other things. Speaking of Courtney's new job, she was now a businesswoman. She had taken a job offer offered to her by the rich Jasper 'Jax' Jacks. Courtney was happy with her new job because it didn't involve the mob and it was 100% free of guns and violence.
Courtney and Jax got along quite well actually....they had common interests about how things should be run in his company and were quick thinkers. Courtney and Jax only kept a professional relationship. The two never once brought up their relationship problems, it was strictly business. Courtney figured that was because each didn't want to pry into the other's life...and it was none of their business anyway.
Courtney tried her hardest not to talk about Jason, even with Carly. She knew that Carly and Jason were still friends and she accepted that and she respected that. They had been friends before her relationship with Jason and there was no reason for them to stop because her marriage to Jason ended in divorce. Besides, whenever she would talk about Jason....she would miss him more. The only thing that took her mind off of Jason was work.
Courtney and Carly were on the topic of the weather believe it or not, when Courtney's cell phone rang. She had kept it in her coat pocket incase of emergencies. Courtney quickly picked up. "Hello?"
"Hey Court, its Jax." Jax's voice said from the other end of the line. "I'm sorry to bother you...especially on a Saturday, but I was wondering if you had everything set for Monday's meeting?" he asked. "If not, we can put it right before the meeting Monday morning."
Courtney smiled slightly...it was just like Jax always concerned about the business and always flexible. Carly gave her a curious look wondering who it was on the other line. Courtney held up her pointer finger telling Carly that she would tell her in a minute.
"Everything is set." Courtney said. "You shouldn't worry too much, the meeting will go fine." She assured him.
"Yeah, your right...I'll see you Monday. Have a nice rest of the weekend." Jax's voice said.
"You too...bye." Courtney said and then hung up.
Carly already had the mystery person on the other line figured out when the word 'meeting' came up. "Hmm...let me guess...it was Jax." She said.
Courtney nodded. "You guessed right." She replied.
"You seem to enjoy your new life out of the mob. You know...you were my role model for getting out too." Carly said.
Courtney remembered when right after her custody hearing started for Carly's kids that Carly broke things off with Lorenzo. Courtney knew Carly didn't want to be in that lifestyle again and she knew that Lorenzo...like Sonny could never get out of that life. Lorenzo didn't take things well, but let her go in peace. Sonny calmed down a bit after hearing Carly broke off all ties with Lorenzo and Carly even allowed him to visit the children frequently even though she won custody of them.
"You know...you aren't completely out, you still have ties with Jason." Courtney pointed out as they continued to skate along.
Carly smiled. "Yeah, I know...but its Jason. I will always have ties to Jason." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
: Nighttime:
Maxie walked into her room after finishing cleaning up the kitchen with Georgie after dinner. She sighed as she flopped down onto her bed.
The rest of Maxie's shift had passed by pretty quickly once her lunch break was over. She just filed documents until it was time for her to leave. Upon returning home, Maxie changed out of her uniform and threw back on what she was wearing earlier that morning before she went to General Hospital. Maxie then did all of the homework that she had for college for the weekend since she just felt like it. After having a 'blah' day, she didn't mind doing schoolwork as much. Once she had that all done, Maxie laid down on her bed and flipped on her TV. She got interested in a movie that was on. It was entitled Beverly Hills Cop and it was an old comedy movie with a young Eddie Murphy in it. Maxie mainly stuck to watching anything comedy these days, it made her laugh and wasn't sad or depressing like dramas and some love stories were. Once that ended, Maxie and Georgie, who had just gotten home, cooked spaghetti for dinner. Mac came home and the family had a nice quiet dinner making chitchat. And once dinner was over with, Maxie and Georgie cleaned up....and now Maxie had returned to her room to crash for the night.
Maxie grabbed a book off her bookshelf and flipped it open. She had begun reading it about 2 weeks ago and was about half way through with it. Maxie didn't even bother changing into her PJ's; she just flicked on her lamp, got comfortable on her bed, and began reading where she had left off. She had only planned on reading a few chapters, but found it hard to set the book down and the further she got, the more determined she got to finishing the book that night.
Maxie set the book aside and closed her eyes for a second giving them a rest, the strain of reading was making her more tired by the moment. Maxie hadn't planned on falling asleep then and there but she ended up doing so....drifting off into the dream world. She was oblivious to the sound of her window opening hours after she had fallen asleep.....
____________________________
He stepped inside of her room making sure not to make a single sound. This wasn't the first time he was in there, so he knew what he was doing. He wondered if Maxie understood the riddle he left in the note or not. His eyes scanned the room; he noticed that Maxie still had her lamp on and that she was fast asleep in her clothes with a book lying right next to her.
He smiled to himself as he looked at the one person who believed in him during the end of his time in Port Charles a year ago to the day. He glanced at his own watch taking his eyes off of her for a moment. It was 2:30 am so he would leave his next note now and then split before anybody knew he was there.
He made his way over to where he had left the first note and placed the new one there, he knew that she would figure out who the notes were from eventually because she was an intelligent young woman.
He made his way back over to the window in which he would exit, when he looked back over at Maxie. He stopped in his tracks and walked over to her bed and her nightstand. He scanned the room and noticed a blanket lying on a nearby chair and went over to it and picked it up. He opened it up and laid it on top of her so she would be warm. He then turned towards her nightstand that had her lamp on it. He peered underneath the big shade trying to figure out how her particular lamp shut off. He fumbled around with the lamp before he finally got it to turn off. He quickly glanced over at Maxie's figure making sure she was still asleep. Now the room was dark and he didn't mind. He had navigated around her room in the dark before, so this was no problem. He quickly whipped around to head towards the window and as he did this, he knocked into her nightstand knocking something onto the ground making a loud noise....
_____________________________
Maxie's dream was interrupted by a loud noise close to her. She jolted awake and sat up as she felt the cool air on her skin once again *He is here....right now* she thought to herself. She turned her head towards her nightstand and saw a dark figure next to it. Terror ran through her body. She went to scream when saw the man leaned quickly across to her and she instantly felt the man's hand fall gently over her mouth.
"Shhh....don't scream." His gentle voice said.
Maxie was too afraid to think about or concentrate on anything except what was going to happen to her now. She failed to recognize his voice...even though it was above a whisper. She found herself nodding and watched as the man used his other hand to reach towards her lamp probably to turn it on. She watched as he fumbled for the switch and then turned it on. Light emitted from the lamp and clearly lit up his face. Maxie looked at him in shock and surprise.
"Oh my god....Zander." she said her voice trailing off.
