Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, they belong to ABC.

The Vows/The Dream

(February 14, 2000-Port Charles, New York. Mount Hebron Baptist Church)

Elizabeth paced down the center aisle of the church, dressed in a clean white coat that made her skin glow, pale and perfect, so that she looked like an angel. She approached the alter, gazing into the tiny candle flames, thinking of Lucky. There was rarely a moment where the thought of Lucky was far from her mind. Gone were the days when the mere mention of his name felt like a kick in the stomach or a slap to her face. Instead, what was left was a continuous, never ending dull ache, a pain radiating from her like a light. Gone also were the nights when she would wake up, sure that she had heard Lucky taping on her bedroom window. They were replaced with nights of dreams of Lucky. Some were good, dreams of dancing at the Bacchanalia, of Christmas and the first "I love you", of Valentine's Day and their promises to each other, but some were terrible. She heard sirens and saw flashes of red and blue lights. She saw flames engulfing the motorcycle shop, saw the outline of a body in the window, trying to escape. She knew that the medical report said that Lucky had most likely died in his sleep, smoke filling his lungs, but she couldn't help but wonder against that report. What if he had woken up and tried to escape? What if he had been trapped, and had died terrified and alone?

She wiped a few tears from her eyes and started to speak, though her voice was tired and weak. "Lucky...Lucky, I miss you. I miss you almost all the time. I've tried not to, but it doesn't work and that's okay, because it means you're still with me. You, what we had, the promises we made here. You've got my heart. That's a permanent lock. Everything I am is in love with you, my soul, my mind, my body, and my spirit. And it's never gonna change. I pledge myself to you, today, forever. You will always be in my heart. Bye, Lucky." Tears fell down her cheeks and this time she did not try to stop them. She looked one long last at the alter, remembering their Valentine's night and then turned and walked away quickly, before she could stop herself. Instead of going to her studio she went home to her grandmother's and straight up to her old room. She crumpled in a ball on her bed and cried herself to sleep.

The dream started out peacefully. She saw Lucky's face, smiling back at her from across a table at Kelly's. It was no specific memory, just his face. The scene expanded and she recognized their last dinner together, the night before the fire. Nikolas and Emily were gone and they were alone. Their song was playing on the juke box and Lucky reached out his hands for her and they started to dance. Elizabeth could feel his warm breath on her skin and the memory was so real, so comforting. The scene faded to black and the sirens started, first a far off sound, then growing louder and closer and more powerful. Elizabeth struggled in her sleep, fighting against the terrible images flashing before her mind's eye. She saw herself running towards the motorcycle shop. The blaze lit up the entire night sky, but seemed to have attracted no attention. There were no fire trucks or police cars, no bystanders at all. There was no one there to stop her from barreling into the building, past the inferno that seemed to have no heat at all, at least none that could touch her. She ran straight up to Lucky's door and started pounding with her fists with all her might. She screamed Lucky's name, begged him to wake up. The fire grew around her and she was trapped, but she continued to scream for him.

Elizabeth jerked herself awake, sitting up. She rubbed her eyes and tried to get her dream out of her mind. She could still hear the sound of her pounding on Lucky's door, only quieter, as if far away. She shook her head back and forth, but the sound persisted. It was almost as if...no, it couldn't be. She dismissed the thought as soon as it arrived. It just couldn't be.

But the knocking would not cease and the thought resurfaced. It sounded exactly like Lucky, tapping on her bedroom window like he did so many times before, in what seemed like another life. Finally, going against all the logic in the world, Elizabeth dragged herself out of bed and over to the window. She stopped dead when she saw the face looking back at her.

"Elizabeth, it's me."