Port Charles Docks-

"You really didn't need to do this for me, Ric," Elizabeth was holding the hand of the man that she loved tightly. She didn't need him to be so clingy, but she wasn't going to say that she didn't like it. In a way she was perfectly content with Ric being right there beside her. She missed having him around in that way. It was longer than the two days that they had been apart after the Christmas mess, it was so much more than that. She missed being with him. Ric could touch her in ways that nobody else could, and she loved having that feeling around. She didn't regret the choice that she made to end the marriage when she did, but she'd be lying if she said that being with Ric didn't have some very nice fringe benefits.

"Since when is it a crime to walk around with the woman that I love?" Ric asked. Besides, he was in need of a good walk, his legs had almost forgotten what they were supposed to be used for. Luckily for him, that more than wonderful nephew of his managed to pick up the various bags of Fritos and Pretzels that were lying around the apartment.

"The woman that you love…" Elizabeth smiled at the comment.

"What else would you have me call you?" Ric looked down at her, the smile that she was giving warming even his heart. "Don't you think we're both a little too old to be calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend? It makes us sound like we're in high school or something."

"Old?" A stern look appeared on her face, she didn't like being called old, not in the least.

"Allow me to rephrase that," Ric felt like he was suddenly in a courtroom, like he was saying something that he shouldn't have said, or at least he had said it in a way that didn't make sense. "We're too mature to be placing childish terms of affection on one another. Is that better?"

"Much better, snookums."

"See, now you're just doing that to spite me," Ric laughed, a hearty laugh. It was the first that he had in some time. He was always so concerned about whatever crisis was going on, either with him involved, or with him just being around it, that he didn't really have time to just enjoy life, enjoy being with someone that he cared about. He wanted to change that.

"Do you mind that I'm being spiteful?" Elizabeth began to take a few coy steps ahead of Ric. "Some people would say that the cute and goodhearted Elizabeth Webber could never do something like be spiteful. Would you agree with them?"

"What's the answer that you're looking for, Elizabeth?"

"If I told you, then you'd know what I was looking for. You don't get any hints with me, Ric, you should know that by now. Just tell me what you honestly believe the answer to be."

"You can be spiteful, Elizabeth," Ric looked out at the harbor, at the ocean, "I've seen you when you're truly spiteful. You can do things that hurt people much more than any sort of physical blow. You can shun then, make them feel like they're not worthy of love, be it from you or from anyone else in the world. I know the type of person that you can be when you're hurt, or when you're angry, and I truly do fear that side of you, but I know that it's not the person that you are at your core. You're a wonderful person and you only get angry at people when they've done something that is horrible, something that is inexcusable, like locking a pregnant woman in a panic room and never telling anyone about it."

"Don't, Ric, please," Elizabeth begged. "Don't bring up the past, it hurts too much, it still hurts too much."

"You asked the question, I only gave you the answer. I'm trying to be honest with you now, remember? I know how much you hate it when people are dishonest, so, even when it's something that I would much rather not speak to anyone about, including you, I force myself to tell the truth, the whole truth. You can be a very cold individual, Elizabeth, but only when you're pushed to the breaking point. You are the most patient person that I have ever had the chance of being around, and I love you for it. You give people second chances, and even when those don't work out you keep on giving them more if you can see something worth saving in that person, like you saw with me. Yes, it is well within your abilities to be a spiteful woman, but you are more than anything else the most loving and caring individual that I have ever had the chance of being around. The sum of your parts shows your flaws, but those flaws are so small that they really don't matter."

"You know how to sweet talk a woman, don't you, counselor?"

"I know how to present the facts as I see them. I didn't spend years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in Law School for nothing. What can I say? I'm skilled."

"At quite a few things, I might add," Elizabeth walked back to Ric and wrapped her arm around him. "I'm sorry that I hurt you by acting the way that I did after everything happened."

"I deserved to be hurt. You don't need to apologize. I would have reacted the same way if I were as good of a person as you are."

"Ric, you are good. You know that you have a good heart deep down inside of you, you've just had so many things happen to you that it can take a long time for that good person to come out and thrive. You've saved people's lives before. You didn't have to, but you did it regardless. How could an evil person do something that is so kind?"

"See?" Ric saw one of the ships that clearly belonged to his brother, but, as was often the case when he was around Elizabeth, Sonny wasn't front and center in his life. Still, Ric couldn't help but wonder what sort of illegal materials were in that ship, or maybe it was one of the few ships that brought the real, legal product. "That's what I'm talking about. With you, you see the good in everyone, even those that don't see it in themselves. You have a vision, Elizabeth, a truly unique vision that isn't shared by many people in the world."

"Gram always said I was a special little girl…"

"Audrey was absolutely correct," Ric kissed Elizabeth gently, pulling away and running his hand through her hair. "You're special, and I would gladly do anything, even give up my life, to see that you were happy."

"I'm not expecting you to die for my happiness, Ric, though the thought is touching. If you were gone I don't even know if I could be happy. When I'm away from you there's this void in my life that seems to lessen, heal, when I'm near you, if you were gone, truly gone, I don't think I could survive."

"I appreciate the importance that you place on me when it comes to your life, but I know that you could move on."

"Ric… what are you saying?" Elizabeth was worried, and she had good reason to be, at least in her mind. "Are you saying you don't want to be near me anymore?"

"What?" Ric was stunned. His meaning had been twisted, turned into something that was not the intention that it should have been. "Of course not, Elizabeth. I'm just saying that you're a strong woman, you could move on if you needed to. I respect that about you. I don't intend on going anywhere. I want to stay here, to be with you, for as long as I possibly can be. In fact, I want to show you something."

"Something?"

"You'll love it, trust me," Ric took her by the hand once more and started to lead her away from the docks. "Come on, it's not that far."

A short time later they were both at the location that they needed to be at. Ric had put his hands in front of Elizabeth's eyes to keep from ruining the surprise. He had done so before she could even take a guess as to where they were, or where they were heading. "Watch your step, I don't want you to fall."

"Ric, what is this?" Elizabeth was growing anxious. She wanted to know what the big surprise was. She was like a child in that way, she hated waiting for surprises.

"I told you to trust me."

"I do trust you, but I just want to see what's going on!" She was giggling, her mind racing at the various possibilities. "I swear, if you got me a pony…"

"I don't think a pony would fit in here. Not to mention the smell." Ric dimmed the main lights as much as he could, keeping as much of the ambiance as was needed. Some of the things could light up, and they looked better when they weren't battling over the main light for supremacy.

"Well… I'm waiting."

Standing behind Elizabeth, his hands on her shoulders, he looked around. It still wasn't all that touching to him, but he knew that she would appreciate it. "Okay, open your eyes."

"It's about…" she stopped when she opened her eyes and saw the sights that she was looking at. She gasped as she realized what was going on. Everything that she had brought to Ric's apartment was in a place around her, from the angels to the reindeer and everything else in between. The pale ambers and other soft hues pierced through the darkness.

"Merry Christmas, Elizabeth," Ric whispered softly in her ear.

"This… this is just… so…" she couldn't find the words. Well, she could, but the words that she could find weren't the words that would properly express how she felt about the situation. It was more than the fact that she was touched, even though she was, there was so much more than that, and it showed on her face.

"Do you like it?"

"Like it?" She wasn't fighting back the tears. "I love it, Ric."

"Is it better than a pony?"

"Much better than a pony," she turned around and hugged him around his waist tightly. "I was kidding about the pony anyway."

"Good, because they're pretty hard to clean up after, and I don't think the lease I signed permits me having a pony."

"Why did you do this?"

"Because I realized how much it meant to you," Ric looked again. Seeing Elizabeth happy made him happy, but it didn't make him appreciate all the Christmas stuff that was now taking over his small apartment. "But… to be fair, I had help."

"What do you mean?"

"Damian. I called him earlier, had him help decorate the place… all the credit, Elizabeth, it goes to him. I'm not good at this sort of thing, you know that. If I had my way when it came to furnishing and organizing there wouldn't be anything but a bunch of papers and blankets on the ground. I wanted to do something that would touch your heart, but since I couldn't have a hand in it directly, I did in the next best thing, I called the one person other than you who I trust."

"I'll make sure to thank him for helping when I see him," she wasn't hurt that Ric had to find help from his nephew, that he couldn't do something on his own. At least he knew that he couldn't, and he found the help that he did. Ric usually wanted to do everything on his own, it showed that he was becoming better at accepting his own limits as a person. "But still, you were the one who gave him the idea, all of this, it came from your brain, Ric, not his… not even your mind, but your heart."

"I wanted to set the mood…"

"I'm sure you did that. It's very much like Christmas in this house now, something that I didn't think I would ever get to see."

"Not the mood for Christmas, Elizabeth," Ric admitted. "A different mood."

"Ric…"

"Elizabeth, just listen to me for a moment, please. I need you around me. I need to know that I have someone who I can share my life with, someone who can touch me in the way that only you can. I forced us to end our first marriage to one another because of my mistakes, because I pushed you away. I'm through pushing you away, I'm through keeping you out of my bed, out of my life. I don't have a ring, so I can't do this properly, but I know in my heart what I want, and what I want is you." Ric bent down on one knee, looking up at her, "Elizabeth Webber, would you marry me… again?"

Elizabeth knew that she had doubts. There were always doubts about any sort of relationship, but she also knew that the doubts did not outweigh the need that she had to be with the man that she loved. No matter what, she believed she could help Ric through his troubles. She knew her answer. "Yes, I will!" She fell into Ric's arms and kissed him, the soft light of her decorations basking on the two.