With the help of my friend _SocraticMethod (to whom I am very grateful :D) I managed to upload chapter four. This chapter is dedicated to my gutter fellow on GW cuz it's her b-day this month :D The story will have one more chapter and I'll try to finish it as soon as I can. Thanks for being so kind and reading/reviewing my stories. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too.

My dear Keaira,

I know it's not your b-day yet, but I wanna be the first to wish you HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Thanks for every time you made me laugh, for being there for me from day one we've met and for encouraging me to have more trust in my own work :D I'm not very good with words but I hope you'll enjoy my little surprise. This chapter is for YOU.

your gutter fellow,

sg4ever :)

"Keaira. My name is Keaira."

"Nice to meet you Keaira." Helen said. "How long before we came have you been hiding like this?"

"They have been searching for me for the last three days." Keaira replied.

"You're safe for now. We have to spend the night here but tomorrow we will take you to a safer place. Whoever was searching for you, they might come back so we'll have to watch all night." Helen said.

"I'll take the first watch." Nikola replied. "You two get some sleep."

So there he was, in the middle of the night contemplating the now sleeping Helen. The moonlight coming from the window made her black curls even darker and lightened her face. She was an angel. The angel that made his heart flinch with joy with every breath that she took. He could have spent forever just watching her sleep.

She woke up and saw his silhouette in the moonlight. He was looking through the window, pensive. Helen got up and walked to him. She gently put her hand on his shoulder. Nikola flinched.

"You should get some rest too. I'll take it from here." Helen said still holding her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine." He said.

"You don't have to be stubborn, you know. You need rest now." She pleaded to convince him.

How painful it was for Nikola to be reminded that he was mortal now. He would never get entirely over this. He hated to be threatened by time and now time seemed to rule over him.

A shadow of pain appeared on his face for a moment. Without saying another word, he left Helen at the window and stepped away to go to sleep. In the middle of the room he stopped and turned to Helen. The need to know was quickly growing inside him. He focused his entire self control to stop the words from coming out of his mouth but failed.

"Why did you never get married?" he asked still trying to gain control over this irrational impulse that was giving him the guts to finally ask the question.

Helen turned her face in surprise and took a moment to respond. She was still recovering after the shock of this question coming from Nikola. Why hadn't she gotten married? Because her heart has been broken to pieces. Because she has learned never to trust people entirely. Because she has forbidden herself the happiness of loving somebody and being loved in return. Because she had already been through enough pain for nine lifetimes.

"I guess for the same reason as you." She answered and lowered her gaze.

"Because the one you loved got married to a killer?" Nikola replied.

"Why did I say that?" He thought. "What's happening to my mind?"

But it was already too late because the words had been spoken. Within him there was a struggle between the desire to gain control over his actions again and the desire to know Helen's response to his question.

This was not the Nikola she knew. His question sent frozen shivers through Helen's spine but at the same time, the thought that what he said might be true, the thought of him loving her, started to grow in her mind and made her heart go crazy. The curiosity to see where this discussion was leading made her answer Nikola's question even though this caused her a lot of pain.

"He proposed and I thought he was the one. But after that unsuccessful engagement, I renounced to think about marriage anymore. It's too painful. "

It was Nikola's turn to lower his gaze. He clenched his fists with anger. If Druitt was there, he would have ripped him apart. The night he found out about what Druitt did to Helen he was so close to actually doing it. If Watson hadn't stopped him in time, Druitt would have been dead now, unable to cause any more pain to Helen.

Helen was watching his reaction trying to see behind the angry look on his face. There was no point dwelling in the past. But now, she needed to know.

"Nikola." She said with her voice trembling. "Is it true?"

Nikola locked his gaze on Helen's eyes.

"What you said earlier." Helen finished her question not being able to reproduce Nikola's words. She needed no false hopes. Her heart was too fragile now.

He approached her slowly, not interrupting eye contact, even for a second. When they were only inches apart he took her right hand and kissed it, his lips lingering on her soft white skin. His actions didn't belong to him. There was a part of him that would never allow him to be so exposed, so vulnerable, but that part was dead that night. As if all his barriers built over a century had fallen down to release his feelings. He felt like he had nothing to lose anymore…