They left Haven to get away from the people. Then, they left the mansion to get away from the solitude. Though they were alone, seated at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, it was nowhere near as cold as it had been at Julian's mansion. There was too much of a threat around that structure, too many reminders that something bad was coming their way. They had to be prepared, but that didn't mean they had to drown in impending doom.

Morgana leaned against Julian's arm and closed her eyes. It was the first time Julian had taken her there, and with the wind brushing against them, she knew that it was too peaceful for it to be the last. There was something so serene about it, being high above the life of the city, watching people come and go. As late as it was, there were still cars streaming back and forth across the bridge. They all seemed to be in a rush, when what everyone really needed was to just slow down.

"So much space," Julian said softly. He brought one arm around the front of Morgana and lightly stroked her hair. "So much empty space out there."

"Where?" Her words were little more than a murmur.

"Everywhere. So much space for people to roam free, but they don't. Confined by life and their responsibilities."

"We have responsibilities, too, Julian. I thought we were up here escaping them."

"That's exactly my point. No one takes the time to escape them. They dwell on them until they explode. They let them suffocate them until they're little more than drones, moving about their daily tasks."

Morgana sat up slowly and turned to him. "You're not thinking of a world of Kindred... That would be..."

"Insane." Julian laughed lightly. "And no, I'm not. Granted, it would be the end of the Masquerade. In all other areas, we're free, but we're still trapped by the game we have to play with the human world. And yet, as wonderful as that idea might be, there would be nothing but war. Not to mention an end of our food supply. It's one half of a Utopia, Morgana. One that will always be half, because the other doesn't exist."

She lightly stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. "Is that what goes through this beautiful mind of yours?" She turned her hand over and rested her palm near his temple. "Thoughts of Utopia? Where there are no princes or princesses, no Gangrel versus Brujah? A world where every Kindred gets along?"

"Thoughts... sometimes, but definitely not all." His fingers traced the side of her face. He opened his hand to cup her chin. Julian leaned closer to her, his mouth hovering over hers. "I have much more beautiful things, real things, to think about than something that doesn't exist."

"Is that so?" She turned more to him. Her arms encircled his waist. "How beautiful?"

"Absolutely gorgeous." He kissed her, and though they were in one of the most beautiful settings he could imagine, Julian wished they were back home. He wanted to lay her down and covet her body. He wanted to peel every inch of clothes from her and float his hands over her skin. On the bridge, all he could do was lean her back enough to cover the top half of her body and hope to hold them both steady enough so as not to fall.

Morgana put her hand to the back of his neck. To be free of the burdens of leadership, even if for a little while, felt wonderful. As much as their kind talked of freedom, she was fully aware that the only ones truly free were those who did not have to rule. Primogens and city royalty had burdens of their own. The others could roam as they chose, but the top of the hierarchy had to limit their inhibitions. They had to curb their desires enough to see clearly. Seated atop of the city, the only desire they had to curb was to make love right then and there. It had nothing to do with propriety and everything to do with comfort and ease.

Julian pulled back and rose, bringing Morgana up with him. His eyes glowed. Beneath his skin, Morgana could see the blood running slowly through his veins. The two had fed together, picking a particularly amorous teenaged couple from a local makeout point. When the donors awoke, they would think only that they had a wondrous time, and probably do it again. They would never know that it was their blood that would allow Julian and Morgana to hold hands and walk along the beach the next morning.

"We've been out here for hours," Morgana muttered, "and I could stay here for hours more. We could skip going back to the mansion and go straight to the shore. Sleep on the beach, and take that walk you promised me."

Julian sighed and looked down. The walk he could do. A prince was nothing if he didn't keep his promises, and this was one he would enjoy. A night away from home, however... "Morgana..." He sighed again. Before Sydney's arrival, he would have most likely taken her up on her offer. Before Sydney's arrival, he would have, at the very least, gone back to Haven with Morgana and rolled naked in her bed. Now, he didn't want to spend an entire night away.

"Sydney."

"I don't like the idea of her being alone. Not now."

"She's not alone, Julian. Cash will be there. You told him yourself that you might not come back tonight. Only, instead of Haven, we go to the beach."

"I..." He shook his head. "I can't. Tomorrow, we'll walk on the beach with our toes in the sand, but tonight..."

"Tonight, you have to get back to her." Morgana stood up and balanced on the bridge. She rose her arms and slowly lifted into the air. She disappeared into the night, a large black bird with an impressive wingspan and swooped away. The only way Julian knew how to follow her was by the sounds of her wings flapping and the occasional screech in the night.

As Julian felt the wind ruffling his feathers, he got a sudden drop in the pit of his stomach. There was something ominous about the night, two black birds in flight, one chasing furiously after the other. He wasn't much for signs, but this one seemed too harsh to miss. He was glad when they finally hit the ground and retook their forms. His concern had gotten him off balance and more than once, he had almost flown into something.

"Morgana, wait!" Julian called after her as she stalked towards the car that waited in the brush. "Morgana!"

She whirled on him. "I'm being selfish, I know, but it is my nature! Not as Toreador or Kindred, but as a woman! Do you understand that at times, no matter how selfless we try to be, we all want attention of our own! I know that she is your family, from your own child, but even now, I look into your eyes, and I see your concern for her. I look at you and know that I am not the only thing in your mind, and after all that time watching you with Lillie, then that human woman, that hurts! Yes, this cold heart that only occasionally beats can still hurt!"

"Morgana..." He took three steps towards her, then faltered. "I wish that I could give you what you want, and before she arrived, I did my best to give it to you. I can't help that I worry. As you say this selfishness is in your nature, so is this worrying in mine. I worry just as much for you as I do for her, if not more at times. I know that you have some within your own clan who would kill you if they didn't know that I would bleed every one of them dry for doing it. Every time you leave my home to go back to Haven, I worry that the next day, you'll have been given your final death and you'll be gone. I love you, Morgana, but I love her as well! She's all I have left of the life I once had."

"And what am I?"

"You..." He continued forward, and this time didn't stop until he was in front of her. He cradled her face in his palm, then leaned down to kiss her lightly. "You are all that I want in the life that I have now."

Morgana's bottom lip trembled as she pushed out a heavy sigh. She rubbed her cheek in his hand, then turned her face in to kiss his palm. She loved him, and had for longer than he would ever know. Since the first time their paths had crossed nearly fifty years before, she had wanted this new Ventrue prince. Now that she had him, she was afraid to lose him. That was why she didn't fight when he looked at another Kindred. She knew that to be with him for eternity was something that would never happen, but she thought that when they broke, they would eventually find their way back to one another. She almost waited for the day they broke up, just so they could come back together a few years later. An eternity of leaving with an eternity of revisits.

She kissed his palm again, then stood up. She turned his hand over and brushed her lips across his knuckles. "Then go home, my prince. Look after your old life."

"And my present one?"

"I'll come with you. And this night, I will stay. You worry enough about her. Tonight, you don't have to worry about me." She put a hand to his face and smiled. "And in the morning, you will keep your promsie. We will walk on the beach, while the sun washes over us, and for a little while, we'll be free again, just as we were tonight."