Sarah gets to the condemned church and sees that no one is there. 'Could this have been a joke?' Sarah questioned, thinking of all the cruel stunts Lizzy has played on her in the past. Just as that thought was taking shape, she hears footsteps behind her. Turning around, she sees Nikolas standing there, They both stare at each other for a moment, neither knowing what to say.

Sarah decides to speak up. "Hi," she said, "I...I got your letter." They stand there in awkward silence, seconds ticking by like hours. Nikolas finally gets the courage to walk over to Sarah. He hands her a note, she takes it and without hesitation rips it open. She doesn't notice Nikolas walking off and pressing play on a tape player.

Sarah reads:

"I know I'm not able to say it right now, but I know someone who can..." Sarah wonders what this means as she hears music start to play. Nikolas walks over to her and extends his hand, asking for a dance. She walks into his arms and they begin to dance, as Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" begins to play. Nikolas pulls Sarah close, he can't believe he actually has another chance to prove himself to her. Sarah melts in Nikolas' arms, reveling in the old familiar warmth of his embrace. As they dance to the music, Nikolas pulls back and looks into Sarah's eyes. The sweet love and admiration he saw there was enough for him to take the chance.

"Sarah..." He utters.

Sarah looks up at him. "Yes, Nikolas?" She can't believe he's really trying to talk to her. His attempt alone made Sarah's heart do backflips.

"I...I love, you." Nikolas says. It took a lot but the reward of the look in her eyes made it all worth it.

Sarah's emotions overtake her as she throws her arms around his neck, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Oh Nikolas, I love you, too. I love you too!!" Nikolas squeezes her tight as he picks her up off the ground and twirls her around. Sarah squeals in delight. He brings her down to meet his lips, they kiss passionately as all their fears and worries melt away.

Their first step towards each other...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason is at the penthouse, going over his papers. The doorbell rings.

Jason gets up and yelling at the door, he asks, "Who is it?"

Reinaldo answers from the other side. "Ms. Brenda Barrett to see you."

Jason opens the door to find Brenda standing there, holding this gigantic teddy bear. He looks at her questioningly. "That bear is bigger than you."

Brenda smiles. "Well, glad you can see that. Could you do me a favor and take this big thing for me?" Jason takes the bear from Brenda with one hand, motioning her to enter with the other. She looks around. "So, it hasn't changed too much has it?"

Jason sits the bear on the sofa. "No, not really. I'm not into re-decorating. Brenda, why are you here?"

Brenda looks at Jason. "Well, you sure don't beat around the bush, do you? Okay, first I'm here to tell you that Sonny just came to see me." From Jason's expression, she can tell he knew nothing about Sonny's visit. "And two, I'm here to drop that off..." she points to the bear, "....to Michael Morgan. It was a gift from Sonny for me for Valentine's Day, but I thought instead of throwing it away, you would like a little part of Sonny for the baby."

Jason stares at her. "Thanks." He says. "But why don't you want it?"

"Well...," Brenda starts. " I don't want any part of Sonny anymore. I know that's hard to believe or understand, but it's true. I've decided to really put the past behind me and that would be a little hard to do with that gigantic monstrosity to look at every day." She heads for the door. "Well, I wish you luck with the baby and make sure you tell him the gift was from Uncle Sonny." She opens the door to leave, but first she turns back to Jason, knowing there was something she had to settle. "Look, Jason, I know you don't care about a lot of things, but I'm sure my lying on you to Robin wasn't your idea of fun."

Jason shrugs it off. "Don't worry about it."

Brenda rolled her eyes, sometimes aggravated by his nonchalant way of life. "I worry about it, Jason. I'm sorry I lied on you, and...hopefully you will forgive me."

With that final declaration, she says, "Goodbye, Jason," and walks out of the penthouse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alexis is in her hotel room, packing her bags. She is so absorbed in what she's about to do she doesn't hear the knock on the door. She is then startled by a bang on the door. She wasn't expecting any company tonight of all nights. She comes out of the bedroom, closing the door to conceal the baggage, and walks over to answer the door.

She swings open the door to see Ned standing there, holding an array of flowers and candy...

"Happy Valentine's Day!" He announces, smiling fully to show his deepest set of dimples. "Are you ready to go?"

"Go where?" Alexis, for a second, thought Ned knew about her plans.

Ned gives her a scowling look. "Don't tell me you forgot about our plans for tonight?"

"Plans? Plans...Ned, we never made plans for tonight. I would have remembered.

"Okay, okay..." Ned interrupts. I was going to try and play it off. I know we didn't have any plans but I was hoping that we could make some...impromptu, of course.

Alexis was finding it hard to resist this beautiful man which stood before her, but she knew what she must do. "Ned, I don't think I can, not tonight."

"Are you kidding?" Ned asks.

Alexis answers him, somberly. "No, I'm not Ned."

"But it's Valentine's Day," Ned interjects, "you can't possibly want to stay home all alone tonight." Ned sees that Alexis really isn't falling for any games tonight. "Alexis, something's wrong. What's going on?"

"Nothing!" Alexis answers too quickly and way too sharp. "I'm just, tired...that's all, and I would like to stay in tonight."

"Tired? I don't believe that, Alexis. Something's wrong and I want you to tell me what it is..."

"Since when are you my keeper!?!" Alexis snaps. "I'm sorry, but I have to go, Ned." She attempts to close the door in the face. Ned puts his foot in the doorway, Alexis sighs heavily. "Ned, why can't you just leave me alone, I don't want to be bothered with anything tonight. I have things to do."

Ned forces himself into the room. "Alexis, I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on here?" Ned looks at her with the look of a man who means what he says. Alexis stares at Ned, not knowing what to say or do, she breaks down into sobs. Ned goes over and holds her in his arms.

Ned whispers to her, "Alexis, please tell me what's wrong? Let me help you..."

Alexis pulls away from him. "You can't fix everything, Ned. There are some things in this world that you have absolutely no control over!" She crosses the room and sits on the sofa, sobbing softly.

Ned, not knowing what to do, stands there. He's not used to seeing Alexis so vulnerable...it's unnerving him. He finally walks over to the sofa and sits down next to her. He takes her in his arms and lets her rest her head on his shoulder. He doesn't say anything for awhile, he just lets her sob and empty herself. After what seemed like an eternity, Alexis finally stops crying. Ned pulls out his handkerchief and hands it to her. She takes it and after she wipes her eyes and blows her nose, Ned decides it's time to ask some questions.

"Alexis," Ned starts off, slowly, "are you going to tell me what's going on?

Alexis looks at Ned, deciding she was tired of hiding everything. "Helena has threatened to kill me." She says as if she were reciting the weather report.

"Helena Cassadine?" Ned asks. Alexis nods, he continues. "Why would she want to kill you? Wait a minute, isn't she your aunt or, something..."

"She is nothing to me!" Alexis snaps. "She is Stefan's mother and Nikolas' grandmother...which makes her my heartache!" Ned doesn't seem to be following her. "She hates me, Ned. She hates me because I am the bastard child of her husband's affair! My mother was having an affair with Mikkos Cassadine and I was born. Helena found out about the affair and had my mother killed...or did it herself, I forget. Anyway...she wants to use me to get to Stefan to get to Nikolas and I don't want anything to do with this woman. The only problem is, she says if I don't go along with her plan, she will have me killed...or kill me herself, again...I forget.

Ned sits there, for one of the first times in his life, speechless. "Alexis, you really think she would kill you or have you killed?"

Alexis looks at Ned, not believing his naiveté. "Yes, Ned...she would kill me without a backward glance."

Ned stands, gets his coat. He turns to Alexis. "Where's your purse?"

"Right here." She says, holding on to it.

Ned continues. "Is all of your I.D. in there? Everything you need, Passport, Driver's license..."

"Yes, Ned. Why?"

Ned comes over to her and lifts her from the sofa. "Come on, we have to go..."

Alexis asks, "Go where, Ned?"

Ned looks at her. "We're going to get out of here. You have to get away from this woman..."

"Ned, Ned..." Alexis cuts him off, shrugging her arm from his grip. "Don't you understand? I cannot run from Helena Cassadine. She is inescapable. She has people watching me every minute, guards at every block. I was even packing myself earlier before you came in but I can see now that..." she's about to break down into sobs again, "I'm trapped. I'm stuck in this god-awful city and there's nothing I can do about it..."

"There's something that I can do about it." Ned says, anger flashing in his eyes.

Alexis smiles at him. "Ned, thank you for caring, but there's nothing short of death that would stop Helena Cassadine..." Alexis stops as she sees a maniacal grin cross Ned's face. "Ned, why are you looking that way? You're scaring me..."

"Alexis, listen..." Ned puts down his coat and takes her by both arms. "I will help you fight Helena to the bitter end. I just can't let you walk away from your life, hands thrown up in defeat. I can't let you walk away from me...from us, without a fight, and I'm willing to fight with you, no matter what." He takes her hands in his and brings them to his lips, kissing them. He looks into her eyes, lost in the dark pools full of fear and dread, but still the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen. "I love you, Alexis...and I won't let anyone or anything hurt you any longer. That includes Helena Cassadine."

Alexis stares at Ned, not believing what she just heard. "What did you just say?"

Ned repeats himself, with a smirk. "I said, that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you aga..."

"No, no, before that." Alexis is dumbfounded.

Ned grins, dimples perforating his face. "Uh, let's see, what was that I said? My memory seems to be failing me..." He sees the look in Alexis' eyes, knowing that she knows he's teasing her. "I Love You," he repeats again.

Alexis looks at Ned, fearfully. "Now, Ned, do not say things of such intensity if you do not mean them. Don't play with one's emotions, especially when they are on the brink of malfunctioning..."

Ned stops her rambling with his lips. Alexis can feel her muscles relaxing and her tension ebbing away as his lips draws all her anxieties away. She wraps her arms around him and loses herself in his kiss. Ned eases off her suit jacket, she doesn't fight him. He then unzips the back of her dress; she in turn slips off his suit jacket and proceeds to loosen his tie.

"Aren't you afraid one of Helena's henchmen could be watching us at this very moment?" Ned asks, between kisses.

Alexis, now fishing for his belt, answers "Well, let's give them their money's worth." With that Ned picks her up and carries her into the bedroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nikolas and Sarah come in from their meeting. Lizzy comes barreling downstairs, almost running into them.

Lizzy notices that they are smiling at each other. She looks at Nikolas secretively. "Hey, Nikolas. So, Nikky..." she says, nonchalantly as she possibly can, "I didn't expect to see you here today. What brings you by?" She gives him the eye, trying to tell him not to give away their secret.

Nikolas walks over to her, handing her a long stemmed red rose.

Lizzy reaches out for the rose. "For me?" she asks, not knowing what to say. "Why?"

Nikolas reaches out and gives Lizzy a hug. He pulls away and tells her, "th...thank you."

Lizzy, embarrassed by the show of affection and not wanting Sarah to figure this out, tries to brush it off. "Sure, yeah, no problem. You don't have to get emotional about it." She looks at the rose before walking away. "Thank you." She says, as she tries to make her way to the kitchen before Sarah gets suspicious..."

"Hey," Sarah interrupts, 'what's going on around here?"

Lizzy plays innocent. "Nothing, why?"

Sarah turns to Nikolas. "What was that you said in your letter to me earlier? Something about Lizzy being very persuasive?" She looks back and forth between Nikolas and Lizzy. "Is there something going on that I don't know about?"

Nikolas motions to Lizzy, as if she should tell Sarah what's going on. "Okay, okay," Lizzy gives up. "I...sort of stopped by Wyndemere yesterday and..."

"You what!" Sarah cuts her off.

Lizzy continues. "Yeah, I just stopped by to let Nikolas...have a piece of my mind!" Lizzy fakes a toughness that's obviously not there. Sarah looks at Nikolas who, smiling, shakes his head no, as in that's not the way it went. Lizzy comes clean. "Sarah, I just couldn't take you sitting around like you were. I mean, you were downright pathetic." Lizzy argues. "So I went to Nikolas to let him know that he should really not give up on what the two of you have...no matter how nauseating it may be."

Lizzy rolls her eyes as Sarah begins to get teary-eyed. "Oh, don't get too emotional, okay? I had my little motives, too. I figured if you two were still together, then that would give me a clearer road to Lucky. Well, I'm joking...not about Lucky, but about that being the reason I did it."

Sarah goes over to her sister and hugs her. "Well, for whatever reason, I thank you, Lizzy. You really didn't have to be so sweet."

Lizzy hugs Sarah back . No problem, Sarah. "By the way," Lizzy asks as they part. "Where is that Lucky anyways? I wonder what he's doing tonight?"

Sarah looks dumbfounded, wondering should she tell Lizzy the truth. "Well, who knows? Uh, do you have any plans tonight, Liz?"

Lizzy looks disappointed. "No, I don't, that's why I was asking about Lucky. You don't have any idea, huh?"

Sarah decides now is the best time as any. "Well, Liz..." Sarah whispers, "Lucky is out with Emily tonight.

"What?" Lizzy says. "You've got to be kidding me? When did this happen?"

Sarah tries to reassure her. "I don't know, but it's not like it's a real date or anything. At least, that's what they said. Anyway, " Sarah changes the subject. "Would you like to come with us? Nikolas and I are going out to eat..."

"No thank you." Lizzy interjects. "No one wants to be the third wheel. Besides, I'm sure I can find something to do around here. You guys go ahead, have a good time." Lizzy tries to hide her disappointment. She goes into the kitchen, concealing freshly brewing tears that threatened to overflow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucky opens the door to the Spencer house. He has Emily blindfolded as he leads her into the house, cautioning her to watch her step. He brings her into the center of the room.

Lucky has his hands on the blindfold, ready to untie it. "Okay, ready?"

Emily, figuring from the delicious (and familiar) smells in the air and the soft music playing, this must be a restaurant. Suddenly, panic took over. "Lucky, if you have me standing in the middle of a restaurant blindfolded in front of a million people, I'm going to kill you." Emily laughs nervously.

Lucky, from behind her, whispers in her ear. "Now, would I do a thing like that?" As he unties her blindfold,

Emily notes that the butterfly sensation has returned 'Pull yourself together!' she tells herself.

Lucky removes the blindfold and Emily can't believe where she is or what she sees. The fact that she is not in a restaurant but standing in the Spencer's living room is the first shocker. Then, if that weren't enough, the furniture is all re-arranged and there's a picnic setting...in the middle of the living room!

"Lucky..." she looks at him with a million questions in her eyes.

"Well," Lucky answers, "I figured a picnic would be the perfect dining experience. But unfortunately, Valentine's Day happens to fall in the Winter." He continues, "So I figured, if I can't take you to the picnic, I'll bring the picnic to you."

Emily stands there, dumbfounded. She recalls the familiar aromas in the air. "Is that...Southwestern Chili I smell?" She asks. "With green peppers, and black beans...and those little..."

"Scallions, you mean?" Lucky finishes for her. "Yep, you have a good nose!" Lucky smiles. "Remember? You told me that one of the things you missed most about Arizona is the food. Well, I've decided to try and recapture a little bit of Arizona memories for you."

Emily looks at Lucky with newfound adoration. Emily feels herself getting teary-eyed.

Lucky notices the melancholy look that crosses her face. "Hey, I wasn't trying to make you sad, Emily. I...I'm sorry if I..."

Emily wordlessly waves away his words in protest. She goes to Lucky and hugs him. "Oh Lucky, you are so sweet, thank you."

Lucky takes her in his arms and hugs her, not thinking this would be the reaction he got from her. He really hasn't gotten girls figured out yet.

Emily moves from him. "I mean, Cook is great, but she can't do the things my Mom used to do."

Lucky wipes a stray tear from her cheek. "Well, prepare yourself for an evening of dining pleasure." He leads her over to the outspread checkerboard blanket and motions for her to sit. "Dinner will be served immediately." He exits into the kitchen.

Emily sits there, not believing the display before her. She notes the picnic basket, the beautiful candles, lit all around in small glass holders. 'A Candlelight Picnic' Emily thought that was the cutest, most original idea. She then notes the beautiful bunch of fruit and the big heart shaped box. She could tell from the Godiva label that it was Valentine candy. She picked up the box and the little card said, 'To Emily, sweets for the sweet.' Emily sat there for a few seconds, not believing all the trouble Lucky had gone through for her. She eyes the bottle on ice and picks it up to read. 'Sparkling cider, no alcohol.' She smiles to herself. 'Lucky, you thought of everything.' She puts the bottle back on ice and notices a little red box with a pink ribbon. She picks up the box, the little tag reading, 'To Emily'. She hadn't noticed Lucky walking back into the room.

"You can open it," Lucky's voice breaks into Emily's thoughts. He comes and sits next to her, eyeing her nervously. "It's just a little something I thought you'd like."

Emily just stared at Lucky, in awe. "Lucky, I mean, the flowers, the candy, now this? You really didn't have to..."

"I know," Lucky told her. "I just wanted to." Go on, open it already!"

Emily laughs. "Okay!" She opens the box. Emily let out a small gasp at the sight of the beautiful little gold puffed heart laid on the red velvet in the box, with a beautiful, delicate chain.

"Oh, Lucky..." Emily whispered.

"You like it?" Lucky asked.

Emily looked at him and whispered, "I love it."

Lucky smiles at her approval. "Here, let me put it on for you." He moves closer to Emily, taking the jewelry from her hands and turning her back to him. He fastens the locket on her neck and she turns around for him to see.

She looks in his eyes. "Thank you, it's beautiful."

"Just like you." Lucky says, while looking into her eyes. He breaks the spell first. "So, you hungry?"

"Starved!" Emily says, glad the spell was broken.

"Good," Lucky says, "then let's eat!" They begin to eat in hushed silence, both trying to figure out what it is exactly that's going on between them.

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