Author's Note: So I have ideas about the Jack Thornton cliffhanger, but cannot for the life of me figure out how to solve the scenario I have concocted. With that said, I have lots of scenes in my head influenced by the scenario, and so I'm just going to lump them all into the same universe. This isn't a sequel to The Elizabeth That Jack Loved, it actually takes place in the middle of that fic (in the time jump).

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This time, she knocked on his door.

He opened it, a little surprised to see her on the other side. He was wearing a blue shirt, but hadn't quite finished dressing as his suspenders hung limply from his sides, his hair still slightly damp from bathing. Elizabeth appreciated the small glimpse of him being a little undone. "Good morning," she said with a small smile.

HIs smile could light up a room. "Morning. I..I wasn't expecting you, but come on in." He stepped to the side and gestured into the row house.

She stepped in as he ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up further. He was a little discombobulated as he was usually the one that met her at her door in the mornings now. She approached him as he attempted to form the words to ask what she was doing there, but quickly found his mouth otherwise occupied as she placed a sweet kiss on his lips.

He reacted instinctively to the kiss, pulling her closer to him with one arm, the other hand softly touching her hair. A few moments later they parted, and he placed his forehead upon hers. "Not that I'm complaining, but you don't usually come here."

She pulled back slightly and asked simply, "Want to take a ride with me? I…I want to show you something."

He smiled and nodded. Finally.

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He could tell that she was a little subdued on the ride - oh she was smiling, and giving every effort to appear as joyful as possible, but he could tell that there was more on her mind. Which made sense. It had only been a week since Superintendent Hargraves interrupted them on the street after Mike and Mei's wedding and informed her about the investigation into Jack's "dealings" in the Northern Territories. Something didn't add up, but he and Bill were pulling every string they could to get someone on the inside to see what exactly was going on - the problem was that Hargraves knew about his relationship with Elizabeth and wouldn't let him touch it, and Bill was retired. No one would give them anything to go on…

He was jolted out of his thoughts when they reached a clearing and Elizabeth dismounted. The view up here was stunning - he had only been up here a few times, usually crossing the land only when necessary to get to another parcel to help someone nearby. He dismounted and they both set Newton and Sargeant off to enjoy a grassy snack. Once the horses were set, he walked over to her where she stood overlooking the valley below.

"It's beautiful up here."

"It's mine." She chuckled softly to herself, remembering Jack saying those words to her, all those years ago.

Nathan turned to face her, confusion written all over his face, "Really?"

Without turning from the view, she responded, "Well, technically it was Jack's, then mine when he passed. But now it's actually in a trust for Little Jack."

He looked around, surveying the rest of the parcel. "Wow, I had no idea. I sometimes wondered who owned it, but usually by the time I got back to town, I would forget it all together."

She turned and watched him for a few minutes as he continued looking around. "Not many people actually know. Bill, Lee, Rosemary - they know it all. Henry and Faith and some of the others that lived here while Jack was alive might assume I still own it, but I've just never shared it with anyone that's come along since."

He turned at that. "Lucas didn't know?"

She shook her head. "He would have soon enough had I gone through with the wedding. I didn't think it was all that necessary to bring it up because it was already signed into Jack's trust. It didn't impact us as a couple."

He tipped his head to the side, trying to comprehend what she had just said. She reacted to the look on his face and shook her own head slowly. "I say that, right, as if owning a whole parcel of prime land up here that my late husband left me isn't relevant to a relationship? And yet, I've felt monstrously guilty the past week that you didn't know about it." She took a deep breath. "I didn't tell Lucas because it involved Jack."

Nathan just nodded, his conversation with Lucas last week a fresh memory.

They stood there together, shoulders touching, for a few minutes, just taking it all in.

Eventually, it was Elizabeth that broke the silence. "He was going to build me a house up here. One with two porches - one to view the sunrise and one to view the sunset. He spent his free time while serving in the Northern Territories drawing up blueprints and had the lumber delivered before the wedding. I wonder what happened to that lumber," she looked around aimlessly, "Lee must have seen to it…" She began walking away from where they stood.

Nathan quickly turned and grabbed her hand, following her where she headed. The land was pretty clear and wide open - it would have made a beautiful homestead.

She led him over to a log that had clearly been here for some time. "I would wait and wait and wait to get letters from him while he was away. And in the mornings they showed, I would put them in my pocket and do everything I could to make the day go faster so I could get up here and read them. I read them dozens of times, some of them are so creased and smudged you can barely read them, but I know exactly what they say."

Nathan was silent as he pulled her into his arms, enveloping her in a hug.

Eventually he looked over her shoulder at the log and started laughing.

She pulled back and glanced up at him, confused at his laughter until she followed his gaze. She giggled a little and rolled her eyes, as he raised an eyebrow in question. "J.T. E.T? What, were you two like 12, or something?"

She laughed, stepping away to crouch down and run her fingers over the letter carved so long ago. "It did feel like it sometimes. We had problems and complications like any couple, but when I think back on it, it just felt so all-consuming, I guess the way young love feels sometimes, like we could take on anything together…"

She sighed, standing back up. He stepped behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

She rested her head on his shoulder as she looked beyond the log. "I read his last words to me here. He wrote me a letter and gave it to Abigail to give to me if anything happened to him in the Northern Territories. He never asked for it back, so when…Abigail gave it to me to read. I had to be here to read it."

She turned in his arms and looked up to him, face tear-streaked. "This is what is at stake, Nathan. All of this."

"What do you mean?" He looked down at her, determined to understand.

"I used Jack's pension to pay off the loan to own the land outright. Then, I put it and the rest of the pension into a trust for Little Jack. If the Mounties demand the money back, this is what it's going to cost me - Jack and I'll be fine day to day, but this? This was meant to be Jack's future - whether he wanted to stay here near Hope Valley or sell it and make a new life somewhere else. I wanted him to grow up and have something of his dad's to lean on."

Nathan nodded in understanding. "Then we fight for it, Elizabeth. We both know these allegations against Jack are just that, allegations. I'll do anything I can to get this settled for you." He pulled her in close, embracing her tightly.

"Thank you," she said, face buried in his chest.

Pulling back after a few moments, he continued. "I'm just doing what I came here to do." At her confused expression, he explained further, "I came to Hope Valley for one reason and that was to protect Jack's legacy: you and Little Jack. This is just an extension of that. As is Jack Thornton's good name. He's not just well loved here in Hope Valley, he has a reputation as a Mountie that I'm proud to uphold as a fellow Mountie. I won't let them slander his good name and I won't let them take his pension - at least not without a damn good fight."

She looked up at him with so much hope and love in her eyes. She brought her hand to his cheek and guided his lips to hers in a soft kiss full of thankfulness and promise. She pulled away, eyes still closed for a moment and he just admired her strength.

"Jack told me in his letter to open my heart to love again." She opened her eyes. "It's taken a long time, and a couple false starts, but I think it's finally open. To your love."

Nathan smiled. It was about time.