Harmony sat at the bar of Kelly's, nursing a black coffee as she thought about how much of a mess her life has become.

She lost her way of life for years when she got brainwashed by Dawn of Day.

She lost her husband, the one and only love of her life, because she tried too hard to be part of Shiloh's Inner Circle, because she had stupidly fallen in love with that monster and wanted to be his closest confidante.

She lost her grandson because her daughter didn't trust her enough to keep him safe when she was pregnant with him, and then she lost him again when he died from SIDS shortly after birth.

And now…

Now she's lost her daughter. Their relationship was already strained because she allowed Willow to be drugged, branded, and then raped by Shiloh in his sick initiation ritual, but when she'd learned that she wasn't her biological mother and that she'd been lied to for years…she saw a rage and a grief in Willow she'd never seen before. She knew that it was only Willow's self-control and respect for her son's grave that her daughter didn't attack her right there after finally being told the truth.

She wouldn't be surprised if Willow went no contact with her after that and after everything she'd done to her, she'd deserve it.

Heaving a miserable sigh, she sunk her head further down, nearly resting her forehead against the warm lip of her coffee cup.

"If you keep leaning into your coffee cup, you might burn yourself."

Harmony's head jerked up in shock at the voice and turned it to see Ava Jerome (Ava Cassadine at this point since she'd married the newly resurrected Nikolas Cassadine; she really didn't care to hear any details of how that was possible) staring at her, her purse clutched in her hand.

"What are you doing here?" Harmony asked.

Ava rose an eyebrow. "I'm here to get a coffee. However, unlike you, I intend to drink it and not swim in it." With that, she placed her order before returning her attention to the despondent woman.

Harmony looked so pathetically downtrodden that she actually felt some sympathy for the woman. She never particularly cared for her when she learned about Shiloh and Dawn of Day and what she forced her daughter Willow to endure during their time in that sick cult.

Ava wasn't a saint by any means, but she would have gladly let the whole world burn before she ever sold her daughters to be permanently marked and sexually assaulted by a predator.

But now…staring at Harmony's disheveled appearance and how the brunette kept her head down in shame…well, it made her think that maybe she'd been punished enough…

With that in mind, Ava asked her, "Do you need someone to talk to?"

This time, when Harmony looked up, she held her head in place, mouth open and eyes wide in surprise. "W-What?"

"Do. You. Need. Someone. To. Talk. To?"

For a few moments Harmony could only gape like a fish, unable to speak. Eventually, she managed to stammer, "What…why…" She swallowed to moisten her dry throat before trying again. "Why would you want to talk to me?"

"Well, for one: I know what it's like to be a pariah, to have people hate you for things that you've done," Ava began, thanking the kid at the counter who'd just set her coffee down in front of her before taking a sip. She relished in the familiar warmth and taste of caffeine for just a few moments before returning it to its place beside her and boring her eyes into Harmony's once again. "Second: Your actions towards your daughter are deplorable, but you do love her. I know what that's like…having a child you love so much only to lose them because of your own actions…it's unbearable and the person who tortures you the most is yourself."

Harmony stared at Ava, noticing the way that the blonde seemed more forlorn towards the end of her little speech. "Have you been through this before?" She asked tentatively. She didn't want to test the waters too much, but it was nice having someone talk to her instead of glare at or insult her for her association with Shiloh and Dawn of Day.

Ava took another drink from her cup, suddenly wishing that she had something much stronger within her reach. Kiki's name was rarely spoken around her unless it was herself talking to Avery about her loving big sister; it was too painful for her otherwise, but Harmony had asked a question and she did ask her first if she wanted to talk.

"My oldest daughter," Ava began, the dull clink of the ceramic mug once again being placed onto the countertop a roar in her ears. "We didn't always get along. In fact, we had many problems."

'That's an understatement,' she ignored the voice that sounded suspiciously like her firstborn. Ever since Kiki's death, it appeared more often, telling her everything that she did wrong in her life. She supposed that it was part of her penance, the other part being her daughter's passing itself.

"We loved each other deeply, but we hurt each other, too. We wouldn't mean to most of the times, but sometimes…on my side…sometimes the pain would be a result from a vindictive action. Many times we wouldn't speak and we'd only be civil if we had to be around each other for something that we couldn't avoid. The last argument we'd been in, I said some very hurtful things to her and I didn't want her to be there to see her little sister off for her first day at kindergarten. It was the last time we spoke," Ava explained. The words chipped away at her heart and she could feel her eyes sting with tears, but she managed to restrain them. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't.

"What happened?" Harmony asked softly, carefully. She could tell by the other woman's face that nothing good came after her last conversation with her daughter.

"She was murdered," the tears fell down her cheeks now and she didn't bother to wipe them away. "She was stabbed by a man who pretended to be someone I could trust, someone I thought I could have loved. My precious little girl died alone, scared, and in pain, and the bastard who killed her told me that she was calling for me the entire time, but I didn't come. My daughter wanted her mother in her last moments and I failed her just like I always did."

Grabbing several napkins from a nearby canister, Ava dabbed at the water trickling almost endlessly from her eyes, silent sobs shaking her shoulders as she allowed herself a few minutes to grieve and collect herself.

Harmony watched her in sympathy. She wanted to comfort Ava, but she didn't know if it would be well-received, so she waited, giving her all the time in the world for her to process her emotions.

When Ava finally regained her composure, she rolled the wet napkins into a ball in her fist and sniffled once before she looked up at Harmony. "So I know," her voice was very rough. "I know what it's like to make mistake after mistake with your child and not be able to fix it. My daughter is gone and I can never make it up to her, but yours, your Willow…you can make amends with her."

Before Harmony could open her mouth, a voice rang out with furious intensity:

"She's not her Willow. She never has been. She's mine."

Ava and Harmony whipped around to see Nina Reeves standing beside them. The Crimson CEO looked just as prim and proper as she always did, but there was a wild anger in her eyes as she regarded the two women she held nothing but disdain for.

"What are you doing here?" Ava asked, showing her distaste for the redhead.

"Getting the lunch I ordered from here. It's a public restaurant, Ava," Nina sniped.

Ava rolled her eyes. "Well, hurry up and get your food so you can leave."

"I will, but I have something I need to say to Harmony first," Nina replied, her hateful gaze returning to the brunette.

Harmony shrunk a bit from the anger that Nina was exuding. She knew that nothing good could come from whatever Nina was about to say.

"How dare you keep calling Willow your daughter after everything you've done to her," Nina began, her fists clenched and her teeth gritted as her tone grew colder, so cold that if she could turn to Harmony into ice with only her words, the other woman would be a sculpture in seconds. "You let Shiloh drug, brand, and rape her because you knew that he wanted her and that if you let him have her, you would be included in his circle. You pimped Willow out just so you could have your turn with him. And then you try to recruit her and lead her back to that hell house they all live in like mindless sheep. Willow ran away from that place because she wasn't safe, because you failed her, because you broke your promise to always take care of her and put her first and you have the audacity to sit here and want her back in your life? I'm here to tell you that that is not going to happen!"

"What business is this of yours?" Ava demanded, jumping in when she saw Harmony flinch with each venomous sentence spewing from Nina's mouth, the tears making tracks down her face as the devastation in her eyes deepened. "Who are you to tell Harmony what she can and can not hope for with her own daughter?"

"Willow is not Harmony's daughter!" Nina whisper-yelled, glaring daggers at Ava. "She's mine!"

Ava blinked in surprise and looked at Harmony. "Is that true?" She inquired. "Willow is Nina's daughter?"

Harmony sighed and nodded. "It's true. Willow was given to my husband and I when she was a newborn. Nina is her birth mother."

"Given to you," Nina scoffed. "She was stolen from me by my mother along with her twin sister."

"Oh?" Ava said. "She was stolen from you, huh? Just like how you stole Avery from me after cutting her out of my womb?"

If Nina could make Harmony into an ice sculpture with her words, she would make Ava a pile of ashes with her fiery stare. "I was out of my mind with grief and anger over being in a coma for over twenty years. My mother was a greedy, selfish bitch who sold my daughter when I wasn't awake to stop her," she hissed. She knew that what she did when Avery was born was wrong, but it wasn't fair to compare her insanity at the time with Madeline's sound thinking. Nina just wanted her life back and the children she was robbed of; Madeline wanted to take it just so she could have her inheritance.

"I meant what I said," Nina told Harmony, grabbing the bag of food that had just been passed to her. "You don't deserve to know Willow or be in her life after the way you let her be used and abused by a sexual predator. You uprooted her entire life just so that you could have some twisted self-fulfillment and she doesn't want anything to do with you. Stay away from my daughter or you'll have me to deal with and I promise you…when I deal with you, it won't be pretty." With that, she left the diner, her heels clicking behind her.

Despite the easy chatter of the diner being ample background noise, the air was still and silent between the two women sitting at the counter, both reeling from the confrontation with Nina.

"She's right," Harmony finally said, her voice thick with the tears that were still flowing.

"Oh, please. That woman is never right about anything," Ava said, trying to reassure her.

Harmony shook her head. "No. She is. Biological mother or not, I was supposed to protect my daughter and I didn't. I put her in danger and traumatized her. It would take a miracle for her to forgive me and want me to be in her life again."

Ava looked down, Harmony's words reaching deep into her soul. She thought of Kiki. Would Kiki have eventually forgiven her for their last conversation? She had been angry at her for sleeping with Griffin Munro, her boyfriend at the time, but really, how was it any different than when she slept with Morgan several times during each of their relationship attempts? Kiki never meant to hurt her and she tried to tell her, but she had been locked in that trial between her and that sexual predator Dr. Bensch, who had made inappropriate advances on her while she worked under him as an intern. Getting justice for herself and the other young women victimized by him was more important than telling her about a one night stand that she'd instantly regretted.

But Ava hadn't seen that at the time. All she felt was hurt and rage, knowing that her daughter had sex with her boyfriend. And in typical Ava Jerome fashion, she'd lashed out and deepened the rift that formed in their relationship. Kiki never knew how much her mother loved her; in fact, at the time of her murder, Ava doubted if Kiki knew that she loved her at all.

Now that thought was as unbearable as knowing that she was buried underground in a coffin.

Ava cleared her throat. "Harmony," she waited until Harmony's teary eyes met hers. "I don't care what Nina says. She's not all-knowing or even in a sound state of mind most of the time. You raised Willow and loved her as her own. She may not want to forgive you now, but I wouldn't give up hope."

"You wouldn't?"

"No. Willow is alive and she lives in the same town. As long as she is, there's always hope."

Harmony smiled. It was a watery smile, but a genuine one nonetheless. "Thank you, Ava," she said.

"You're welcome."

The two sat there, drinking their coffees and wondering if this one conversation was on its way into becoming a friendship. They found that they quite liked that idea; it was always nice to have at least one friend.