"I can't right now… uh… Chief… listen to me…" Ian said into the telephone, raising his voice. "I… uh… I'm… no… no good for you now. You really wouldn't… wouldn't want me on the island… I'm sorry…"
Lucy stood in the hallway, just out of sight eavesdropping on his conversation. She had a worried look on her face, recognizing in the timbre of Ian's voice just how distressed he was. I wonder if he's talking to the chief from that island of his? What was it's name… Eve said it was magical… no she said it was paradise! We could both use a little paradise right now…
Lucy walked into the living room as Ian hung up the telephone, smiling to him, "Who was on the phone just now?"
"It was nothin'… I mean nobody… uh… it's not important. How's Danny?" Ian prevaricated.
"Danny is just fine! Taking his nap and dreaming wonderful dreams… I'm more worried about his daddy. Now I know that wasn't nothin' and you know that I'll only torture you until you tell me what it was… why do you always make this so hard on yourself? It's much easier to 'fess up… much better for your health…" Lucy answered him with a giggle as she started peppering his face with little kisses.
Ian laughed and pulled her close in his arms, "Alright, alright! It really doesn't matter, 'cause I can't do anything about it anyway… that was just a call from an old friend inviting me for a visit. Under the current circumstances, I'm not feeling up to making visits to old friends… especially friends that live on the other side of the world. Somehow I don't think that airport security is going to be very thrilled if I travel with my luggage full of blood… and it's not like there's a drive through blood bank to replenish my supply when I get there." He pulled away from her and threw himself on the sofa, "It's bad enough that I have to use you to keep the town safe from me—I'll not be inflicting myself on the rest of the world just yet."
Lucy knelt in front of Ian and sighed deeply, tired of having to convince him once again that she wanted to help him—and frustrated for him at the life he was forced to live. She reached up and took his hands in hers, "I'm not going to tell you for the millionth time that you're not using me—you know the truth of that. You also know that our love for each other is stronger than any of this… and that you would never, ever desert me if the situation was reversed. Can't you please let go of this obsession you have? You… Do... Not... Use... Me." She leaned onto his chest and kissed him slowly, deeply, "I… Use… You."
Ian groaned and pulled her in for a deeper kiss, one hand wrapped around her neck and the other entwined in her hair. Lucy pulled herself onto his lap, never breaking the kiss, and they both sat enjoying the rising passion for a few minutes before Ian broke away, "No… no… we can't… we can't keep doing this."
Lucy looked at him, breathing heavily, "Why not… I want you… you want me…"
"Aye… I want you… but… but didn't you come down here for a reason? You have plans today… at Serena's school don't you?"
She giggled before answering, "Yes… I did have plans at Serena's school… been there done that… and now I'm back home with you and Danny and Christina. You're not keeping me from anything… except making love with you that is…" She leaned forward and captured his lower lip between her teeth, pulling him close as he responded with a passion of his own.
After making love, they lay in each other's arms relaxing together, nearly falling asleep in the languor of the moment. Lucy traced invisible patterns on his chest as she asked, "What old friend? Someone from Ireland?"
Ian sighed and lifted her hand, kissing the palm before placing it back against his chest, "You're insatiable… and I'm not talking about what we just did!"
Lucy giggled as Ian continued, "No… no one from Ireland. I haven't called home in a long time… I don't know how to tell them what I've become… and my mum's entirely too intuitive… she'd hear it in my voice… besides they're used to not hearing from me for long stretches… probably don't even notice that I haven't called."
"A mother always notices when she doesn't hear from her child… just because you've grown up doesn't mean she stops worrying… you really should call her—talk to her about Danny—you know she'd love an update," Lucy answered him softly.
"I've sent pictures and letters… she can't hear my voice that way…" Ian replied.
"Good… I'm glad that you didn't just drop off the face of the earth. You know… she might just show up on our doorstep if she gets worried enough," Lucy said with a grin.
"Not bloody likely! They only have the address and phone number at the loft… despite the fact that the boy and I pretty much live here… I've never given anyone outside of Port Charles your address or phone number," Ian laughed.
"Sooo… how did your friend call you here if you haven't given anyone the number? Did you forward your apartment phone?" Lucy asked walking her fingers up his chest.
"Um… forward? No, I don't think so… I wouldn't know how to forward the phone… I'm lucky to be able to answer it…" Ian mused thoughtfully.
"Then the question is—who gave your friend this number? And why don't you officially move in with me?" Lucy said.
"What… what… woman! What are you askin' me here?" Ian said with surprise.
"We-ell… I love you… and I know you love me… and the only time you go to that old loft is when you get it into your head that you have to protect us from your… your vampire… uh… urges… soooo…" Lucy said, gesticulating wildly. "Let's get rid of that old loft and phone number and make it official. We're in this for better or worse, buddy… um… I mean… let's…"
Ian smiled broadly as Lucy stumbled over her words, "Are you thinkin' about Rafe and Alison's weddin' now? Because I have to tell you… that was a different situation entirely."
"Well… now that you mention it…" Lucy said with a sigh, laying her head against Ian's shoulder. "Actually… I just wanted to get rid of the loft so that you couldn't run there when you're feeling… you know… overwhelmed by things… it's not good for you, and it's not good for Danny… and it certainly isn't good for me…"
"You know that I can't make that kind of commitment… not to anyone… not the way I am now… it's not that I don't love you…" Ian stammered.
"Why not? Why can't we get married? Name one thing in our life… one thing that matters that would be different than it is now. I'm free… you're free… and you are the man… the only man… who I want to spend the rest of my life with…"
"Lucy, don't do this… I have nothin' to offer you… except my need, and this hunger… for God's sake, woman, I just used you in the worst possible way…"
"What!" Lucy sat up and grabbed his ears, pulling him to face her.
"Ow! What was that for?" Ian said lifting his hands to his ears.
"You are the most stubborn, mule-headed, annoying… Ohhh! Haven't you heard a word that I said? You can't be using me when I give it to you freely… I want it… I want you… you… you complete me!" she exclaimed using her hands to draw a circle in the air. "I want you here—part of my life—part of our children's lives—forever. And yes, I know that forever means something different to you than to us… but it doesn't change anything in my eyes. Don't you understand? I thought we said it all at the cabin… we are a matched pair, we compliment each other… and you can't escape my clutches, Ian Thornhart, because you belong to me!"
"Okay, okay… I'm sorry… but I've been married twice… and it didn't turn out so well… Eve and me… to be honest we had nothin' but problems from the very beginning… love was never enough for us, you know? And now I have the boy, and I have to do what's best for him…"
"And I've been married five times and it didn't turn out so well for me either! Sometimes you've got to kiss a lot of frogs until you find your prince… or princess… charming," Lucy laughed. "Look, I wasn't really proposing marriage… just asking you to move in with me on a more permanent basis… but I wouldn't be averse to trying again… and I truly believe that this time it would work… after all, remember how happy Rafe and Alison were… I mean are—I'm sure the honeymoon is going swell… don't we deserve that kind of happy, too?"
"Aye… you deserve all the happiness that this universe has to offer. Me… I'm happy just to get to share this little piece of it with you… I don't need anything else…" Ian whispered softly. "If I ever beat this thing… then we can talk about it again… but I'll think about letting go of the loft, if that will make you happy."
"Okay… good… but…" Lucy said, lost in thought.
"But… what? Lucy? Lucy? …"
As she continued to sit staring into space, chewing on her lower lip, Ian waved his hand in front of her face teasing, "You're hair's on fire."
She laughed in reply, "Silly… okay that we'll table the marriage discussion until later… good that you'll think about moving in permanently… but how did your friend get my number?"
"Okay… we're back to that now! I don't know… maybe the chief called GH and they gave him this number. I didn't think to ask," Ian replied.
"The chief… isn't that the man from your island… the one where you took Eve…" Lucy said, her voice getting more quiet with each word.
"Aye… Tirama Island… the closest place to paradise on this earth," Ian said in the same soft tone.
"Paradise… that's what Eve called it, too. You once told me how you and she had been able to visit your past lives together… that you had loved each other for hundreds of years…I wonder where that leaves us?" Lucy mused almost to herself.
"Does it really matter? I mean Eve and me… we still ended up apart… in every lifetime one of us dies a premature death… and now… now I have no more lifetimes to share with her or anyone else… seems to me we're better off not knowin'…" Ian whispered the pain obvious in his voice.
Lucy pulled him close and kissed his forehead, "No… there can't be any room for regrets… there's a reason that you and Eve are together throughout time…"
"Aye, I used to feel the same way… but we never ended up together… except this last time, and the chief warned us that it would end badly. I think the part that hurts the most is that love… even the kind of love that survived centuries… wasn't enough for us. We were never a good match in marriage, and we almost called it off more times than I can count…"
"…but you have Danny and he was worth all of the pain you two suffered. I don't know why you and Eve had such a difficult time… but I do know absolutely that there's always a reason in this universe for the things that happen in our lives," Lucy said with conviction. "Just look at Doc and me… even without any knowledge of past lives, I'm sure we've known each other before… loved each other before. There are a lot of parallels between you and Eve and me and Doc… Say! Do you think maybe we all knew each other before… that we're here… now… in Port Charles to work out some cosmic puzzle that we've been putting together for years?"
Ian pulled back and held up his hands, "Wait, wait, wait… that's a mighty big stretch there… even for you, Lucy. And something we'll never know the answer to. I think the best thing to do is just concentrate on the here and now… and enjoy being together for as long as we can." Ian pulled her back into his arms, growling low in her ear, "I love you to distraction, woman!"
"And I love you, too. You know… I'd really love to meet your chief," Lucy said with interest, pulling back in his arms.
"Well, it's not gonna happen. The island is much too far away for me to travel… with you or without you. Besides, what would we do about the wee ones?" Ian said emphatically.
"Why can't we take Danny and Christina with us? I mean Serena has school—so she'd have to stay here—but Scott would be happy to keep her while we're gone. And we'd only be gone a couple of weeks, you know. I say let's do it… what do you say?" Lucy replied excitedly.
"I say that I'm not carrying this curse to paradise. Anything could happen, and I won't subject those people to the monster that I've become. End of discussion," Ian said as he stood and started pulling on his clothing. "Now, we need to be dressed before Danny and Christina awaken."
Lucy sat on the bed punching buttons on the telephone, thinking to herself, "Well… that's what Caller ID is for, isn't it? To find out the number of someone who called? … Okay… so you know that Ian would be angry if he knew that you were trying to contact his chief… but Ian doesn't always know what's… what… what's that… oh… back up, back up… YES! There it is… now just to…
"Hello… hello? … Is this… um… chief? … uh, well… hello… this is Lucy Coe from Port Charles…"
The voice on the other end of the telephone replied, "Hello, Lucy… did Ian ask you to call me?"
"This is the chief?" Lucy asked again.
"Yes… it is… is Ian there with you?" he replied.
"Uh… no… actually… that's a very funny story…" Lucy stammered.
"I see… well, then, has he given any more thought to my invitation?"
Lucy sighed before answering, "Ian… well, he isn't… isn't the man you… well, he's changed…"
"I know that, Lucy… that is why he needs to visit the island… it is time…" the chief answered quietly.
"Time? Time for what?" Lucy said almost to herself. "Chief… I'm afraid… you wouldn't… wouldn't understand at all… it's … oh, it's not good…"
"Lucy… you can get him to come… your powers of persuasion are very strong, and you have many other gifts… Ian will listen to you," the chief continued.
"But… wait a minute… how do you know about my gifts? You can tell that over the phone?" Lucy said in amazement.
"You will not remember it… but we met once…"
"… many years ago?" Lucy said quickly.
"No… not long ago… but it was time out of time… and I recognized a kindred spirit… you believe the same as we do, and you expressed a wish to visit our island," he answered.
"Time out of time… what does that mean?" Lucy said in confusion.
"Bring Ian to Tirama Island… it will all be understood when you are here… and bring your daughter… and Eve's son… it is important that you come soon… there is not much time, but much to do."
"Okay… you want me to bring Ian, Christina and Danny to the island, but you don't want to tell me why… and how am I supposed to convince that stubborn man if you won't give me a reason," Lucy said in exasperation.
"Tell him that I have had a vision… and he is needed here. He is the only one, Lucy, and he cannot wait any longer… you will convince him… your love is strong. We will see you soon," the chief answered before ending the connection.
Lucy clicked off the telephone and sat staring at it for a few minutes before hearing a soft noise in the doorway and looking up to find Ian standing there watching her, "Did you hear the whole thing?" she asked him softly.
He nodded his head before turning on his heel and walking away. Lucy jumped up to run after him crying, "Ian!"
He said gruffly, "Not now, Lucy!"
She ran to him and pulled him around to face her as he tried to hide the redness in his eyes, but she pulled his head down and kissed him deeply before he could pull away. He stood with his head hung low, breathing deeply and looking ashamed of his weakness.
"Lucy… I told you to leave it alone!" he said intensely.
She looked at him, tears streaming down her face, "I know… Ian, I'm… I'm sorry… but I had this … this feeling… I just had to talk to him…"
Ian nodded, "I know…"
"You feel it too?" she whispered to him, placing her hand against his heart. As he pulled her close, he buried his face in her hair and breathed in her fragrance before nodding his head.
"Will you take me to the island now?" she whispered against his neck.
"Aye… I'll go… but it may be the end of us…"
Lucy pulled away from him, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that someone may die… and I don't want it to be you or the wee ones… I need to face this alone," Ian said softly.
"No… the chief was very specific… he said to bring my daughter… and… and Eve's son… we have to go together… I… I trust him, Ian," Lucy answered.
"I trust him, too, Lucy… alright… make the arrangements… we'll all go to Tirama Island. I just hope…"
Lucy put her fingers against his lips before whispering, "… I do, too."
8
