Chapter 18 – "A New Lock"

"If this works out," Elizabeth started to say, "all of this...intrigue, or whatever you call it...have you thought about the future? Our future?"

Lucky sighed. She'd been quiet for so long he knew something big was coming.

"You used to tell me how you thought about the future," she continued. "Do you still do that?"

"I didn't for a long time," he answered her. "I couldn't. When all you have are four grey walls around you, it's hard to think of anything beyond the next ten minutes. After Helena showed, I started thinking about how to get out, which got me thinking about what might happen if I actually did get out. A few nights I dared let myself dream about you – about finding you – but that was rare. I couldn't risk it otherwise."

"And now?"

"And now, maybe there's a chance of the future again," he answered her. "A chance to get that image back. But things can never be what we first dreamt of Elizabeth, you know that, right?" She nodded. "But there are new dreams to make, new futures to have."

"Best to start dreaming as soon as possible then, wouldn't you say?" Elizabeth asked.

"Go ahead," he told her. "Did you make any plans after you decided not to go to art school? What did you want to do?"

She shrugged. "I didn't really have any plans. I set up a studio to work in, but I haven't done anything that actually interested me in a long time. I didn't have the heart to make any plans."

"Do you know now? Any ideas?"

Elizabeth sighed and nestled into his arms. "Right now, I'd say that I could be content with you and a little home and a place to paint...now that I have my inspiration back."

"Sounds nice," Lucky said. "And idea of where that little home might be?"

This made her sit up. "Well," she hedged. 'It's in Port Charles, actually." She searched Lucky's eyes for a hint of disappointment, but she found none. "The New York dream just seems a little...I don't know. It's passed. I don't think that's who we are anymore."

"I was hoping you would say that," Lucky sighed. "The idea of staying in Port Charles is rapidly becoming very, very attractive to me. I like the idea of home."

"So what would you want to do?" she asked. "The bike shop isn't exactly around anymore."

Lucky laughed. "I have no idea. I'm not really qualified for anything except espionage."

Though he was laughing, his last comment scared Elizabeth. "You wouldn't ever work for Sonny, officially, would you?" she questioned him.

Lucky recognized her fear. "No," he assured her. "I know Sonny's a good guy, but I could never deal with his line of work. I don't want anything to do with death, even in a roundabout way. I don't know. Maybe I'll just start working on the club. Dad's certainly not putting much effort into it these days."

They were both silent for a while, lost in their thoughts, before Elizabeth spoke again. "It almost seems strange to be thinking about this again," she said. "All these promises seem so long ago. You know, I went to Mt. Hebron on Valentine's Day," she told him. "That night."

Lucky looked at her, surprised. "Why?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "I think I was trying to let you go. I went there to say those worlds again, to say goodbye. But it didn't work. I dreamed about you that night, too." Lucky raised his eyebrows in question. "I had a dream about the fire. I was still dreaming about it when you knocked on the window."

"I'm sorry," Lucky whispered. A dark shadow passed over his eyes. "I'd love to go back to Mt. Hebron. Preferably not in the middle of a blizzard, though," he said with a hollow laugh. "Sometime in the spring. I think we have new promises to make."

This caught Elizabeth's attention. "What do you mean?"

"Things have changed, Elizabeth," he said. "We've both changed. You said it yourself. The New York dream isn't who we are anymore."

"Who are we then, Lucky?" Elizabeth asked. Her brown eyes shot straight through him, questioning him.

"I don't know," he answered her as honestly as he could. "I think we need some time to figure that out." Elizabeth's expression strained and he quickly reassured her. "We will have time to figure it out, Elizabeth. I promise you that. I will not let Helena separate us in the mortal world again. She'll be gone from our lives forever, or I will die trying."

"Please don't say that," Elizabeth begged him. "That's not really the kind of promise I want to hear." She tried to smile as if she was joking, but she was very much sincere.

"I don't know what else to promise you right now," Lucky said honestly. "I can't promise you that I'll never leave you, because you know what kind of danger we face. I can't promise that I'll never hurt you or let anything happen to you for the same reason. We can't see what the future holds, we can't always control it. I'm not sure there's any such thing as permanence."

"Then don't make me any promises," Elizabeth said. "Not until you can be sure you can keep them."

"I promise," Lucky joked.

Elizabeth laughed, despite herself. "I love you."

"I know," was his answer. "I love you, too."