Stepping out of the Mountie Office, Elizabeth looked at the Queen of Hearts. Lucas was walking along the balcony. Lucas was a wonderful friend. She loved him like she loved Bill or Lee. His sweeping romantic gestures made her feel special, just like Jack's always had.

Elizabeth paused. She had just told Nathan that she had been looking for Jack in him. She realized now that it wasn't exactly true. She had been looking for Jack and how he had made her feel in Lucas. With Nathan, all she had ever seen was the uniform and that scared her.

"I love you but I'm not in love with you."

Elizabeth cringed as she recalled those words. How silly they were. Silly and untrue.

Somewhere along the way, she had fallen in love with Nathan and that scared her. It scared her because she knew that if she lost him, it would hurt, just like losing Jack had hurt.

"I'm not sure I am brave enough to spend my life with someone as brave as you."

Elizabeth remembered telling Jack those words, after he had come to her rescue in the mine. Jack had been brave. His bravery had helped her to feel brave. Jack had challenged her to be brave.

Nathan was every bit as brave as Jack was. All Mounties displayed bravery in the performance of their duty. However, Nathan had displayed a bravery beyond that in simply coming to Hope Valley. He had come knowing he would be living in Jack's shadow in the mind's of the town people. He had come feeling responsible for Jack's death on some level, which was not true. He had not let those things stop him. He had come because he felt a duty to Jack, a fellow Mountie he did not know personally, to look after Jack's widow and son.

She heard Jack's voice in her head telling her to be brave.

The easy thing was to make the safe choice. To choose Lucas and not have to face the fear of loving a Mountie.

Being brave meant listening to her heart and accepting the fact that she loved Nathan.

Lucas turned, saw her and wave. Elizabeth waved back but suddenly she new, Lucas was in her life for a reason. He had showed her that she still deserved to be cared for. He had helped her to realize that she could still open her heart.

However, her heart had chosen Nathan. Lucas words to her last night had her thinking that Lucas had already realized that.

Turning, she walked back into the Mounted Police Office. Nathan was still standing where she had left him. There was only heartbreak in his expression. Heartbreak that she had caused.

"It is not Jack I see when I look at you, it is the uniform and that uniform reminds me how much it hearts to lose someone that you love."

"I told you, Elizabeth, I will quit the Mounties for you."

Elizabeth shook her head. She had not been able to let Jack risk losing his job by refusing his transfer all those years ago and she knew she could not be the reason that Nathan quit.

"I can't be the reason you give up your job, Nathan," Elizabeth said.

"Then where does that leave us, Elizabeth?" Nathan asked.

Elizabeth crossed over to him. Like she had in the street all those months ago, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest. She heard his heart beating fast as Nathan wrapped his arms around her.

"It leaves us at the point where we fight for true love together," Elizabeth told him. She shifted her head and looked up at him. "Do you think you can help me to learn to be brave again?"

Nathan's only answer was to press his lips tentatively against hers. There was no thought in Elizabeth's mind of pulling away. Instead, she stood on her tip toes as she deepened the kiss.

True love was always worth fighting for.