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“Alright,” began Lucky, flipping
through a pamphlet as the four teens
walked down a busy New Orleans
street. “What do we want to do with our
four hours? We could go on a river
cruise, check out the flea markets
....” “Shopping!?!?! Definitely!”
cried Liz and Emily. Lucky and Nik
exchanged a look of misery as the
two girls dragged them into the market
place.
Helena’s henchman lurked around
the outside of the bus. After a while,
the driver came out, “Can I help
you sir?” he asked pleasantly. The man
nodded, “I believe that something
I ate isn’t really agreeing with me.
Is it possible for me to take a
bit of a nap in the bus, instead of
sightseeing?” The driver
shrugged his shoulders. “If you don’t mind
missing New Orleans, feel free
to stay on the bus. We’ll all be back in
about three and a half hours.”
The man sighed gratefully, “Thanks sir.
I’ve been here before, so it’s
not that big of a deal.” The driver
nodded sympathetically. “Well,
I hope you feel better soon.” He turned
around and walked into the bus
station. The man smirked at the driver’s
retreating back, “Foolish man.”
he muttered to himself. He climbed onto
the bus and began looking for Nikolas’s
belongings. He finally found
his carry on and slipped the book
into the side pocket, where it would
be sure to fall out, when the bag
was removed. Then he sat down in the
back seat and closed his eyes,
thankful his task was complete.
Nikolas and Lucky sat on a bench
as Emily and Liz poured over the
tables filled with silver jewelry.
“I sincerely hope this does not
happen in every city.” Nikolas
said said in a pained voice. Lucky
shrugged his shoulders, “I wouldn’t
get your hopes up man. Girls and
jewelry have a habit of going together.”
“So I’m finding.” Nikolas
muttered. The two sat in
silence for a few minutes. Nikolas stole a
sideways look at Lucky. Lucky,
caught him looking at him, and turned
towards him. “What?” Nikolas
looked down at the ground, “I know you
didn’t want Liz and I to come along
on this trip Lucky, but, I just
wanted, I mean, I just thought
I should say thanks.” Lucky looked up at
the sky, “Well, don’t sweat it
man, I mean look at it this way. If you
and Liz didn’t come, I’d be stuck
here on this bench by myself, or
worse, I’d be looking at the jewelry
displays. I owe YOU an apology.”
He grinned slightly and continued
watching the two girls at the table.
Nikolas kept looking at him for
a minute and then turned his attention
to the people passing them in the
busy market place.
Emily and Liz took their bags from
the cashier and walked back towards
the boys. “I love your locket Em,”
Liz said, “It’s really beautiful.”
“Thanks Liz.” Emily said in a quiet
voice. Liz studied her for a
minute, “Is something wrong Emily?”
She asked in a concerned voice.
Emily looked at the ground and
then stopped to turn towards Liz. “I am
sorry that Lucky snapped at you
the other day. I don’t know what’s
gotten into him lately. Do...
do you think he’s feeling well? I keep
wondering if he should really be
traveling. What if he’s still sick,
and not telling me?”
“Not telling you?” Liz asked curiously.
“Not telling you what?”
Nikolas grinned as the boys approached
them. Liz bit her lip, “I said
I’m not telling Em where I got
my broach. Like I want to wear it around
Port Charles, when someone else
has the exact same kind!” Emily grinned
and rolled her eyes, “She’s so
mean,” she linked her arm through
Lucky’s, “Let’s head back to the
bus.” Liz walked alongside Nikolas,
reading the travel pamphlet.
“Can we go visit the St. Louis Cathedral
guys? It looks so beautiful.
Oh, let’s go!” Nikolas said quietly,
“I’ll go with you Liz.” Emily
groaned, “Count me out! My feet are so
sore. I didn’t realize how
far it was to the market. I just wanna go
to the bus. But you guys
still go, you have an hour and a half.” Liz
nodded, “Alright, catch you guys
later.”
Liz and Nikolas stood in front of
the great cathedral half and hour
later. “Wow.” breathed Liz,
“It’s so beautiful.” Nikolas put his hand
over his eyes and panned up to
the steeple. Liz studied him intently,
“I guess you’re used to this kind
of thing. I mean you practically
lived in a castle in Greece right?”
Nikolas shrugged, “It was more
like a large villa. But I’ve
been all over Europe, I’ve seen some
pretty amazing buildings.” He stopped
talking and stared up at the
church. “If you don’t like
talking about your childhood, I understand.”
Liz smiled apologetically at him.
Nikolas smiled at her, “I don’t
mind, usually I don’t talk about
it much, though because people think
I’m spoiled. They think I’m
bragging or boasting.” Liz shook her head,
“I love hearing about it.
It sounds so magical and exotic. I just
never asked because I thought it
makes you uncomfortable.” She looked
away shyly. Nikolas broke
into a wide grin, “Well, I’d love to tell
you about Greece, but I’d also
really like to hear all about you Liz.”
She looked back at him, “Really?”
He nodded, and took her hand.
“Really.”
Laura, Luke and Stefan poured over
the various bus schedules and cruise
lines. Stefan removed his
glasses and rubbed his eyes. “This is quite
the challenge. Do you think
the children would have taken a cruise or
the bus lines?” Luke shook
his head, “It’s hard to say, Lucky could
have chosen a cruise because it
would be the hardest to get to until it
reached it’s destination.
But.... the bus is cheaper and more
efficient.” Stefan shook
his head, “Money is not a factor, Nikolas has
plenty of money and access to almost
all of his accounts. I’m sure he’d
be happy to fund this little excursion.”
Laura nodded. “Do you think we
can trace what bank or bank machine
he’s drawing his money from?” Luke
shrugged, “We could, but it would
be hard. The only cruise that left in
the past few days is docking San
Francisco. We could meet it there and
look for the kids.” Stefan
nodded, “That sounds reasonable.” Laura
agreed. “It docks there in
five days. I say we make all our personal
arrangements and start heading
for San Francisco tomorrow.”
Liz settled back into her seat next
to Emily and sighed a sigh of
contentment as the bus left the
New Orleans bus depot. Emily glanced at
her with a curious glance, “What’s
up?” Liz smiled out the window,
“Wasn’t New Orleans wonderful?
You should have seen the church and the
gardens Em, they were so romantic.”
Emily shook her head, “But I don’t
know if I would have risked missing
the bus the way you guys almost
did.” Liz giggled, “That
wasn’t part of the plan. Nikolas and I just
started talking, and we totally
lost track of the time. Emily, it was
so unbelievable, I thought he was
so stuck up when I first met him, but
today I saw a completely different
side of him.” Emily grinned at her
friend, “Really? So ..... what
does this mean for the two of you?” Liz
groaned in despair, “I don’t know!
Nikolas doesn’t seem like the ‘Do
you wanna go out?’ kinda guy.
He just seems like he would court some
one if he wanted their affections.
He seems so much more romantic than
the other guys at PC High.”
Emily nodded, “He probably is. He’s been
raised in old traditions.
Why don’t you just keep talking to him and
see what develops?” Liz sighed,
“Hopefully that won’t take all year.”
She settled back into her seat
and closed her eyes and began to dream of
castles and romantic balls.
Emily watched her friend as she drifted off
to sleep. “I hope your fairy
tale comes true Liz.” she whispered under
her breath. Emily glanced
beside her and Lucky and Nikolas, both were
dozing. Nikolas, Emily noted,
was making a slight whistling noise as he
slept. “So much for great
romance.” she giggled to herself.
Several hours later, the bus driver
announced into the microphone,
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we have
now reached our fourth destination, San
Antonio. We will be spending
the night at this local hotel and then
spending the day sightseeing.
We will depart San Antonio at
approximately 8 p.m. tomorrow night
and head to our fifth destination,
Phoenix Arizona. Thank-you.”
Lucky shook the sleep form his head as he
stood up to collect his carry on.
Nikolas stretched and opened his
arms to receive the bag Lucky threw
at him. “Thanks, man,” he said.
Lucky stopped and stared at him,
“Did you just say .. man???? Nik, I
hate to say it, but you are becoming
American.” Nikolas gave Lucky a
half grin, “Yeah, but don’t rub
it in, MAN.” Lucky laughed and slapped
Nikolas on the back as they followed
the girls down the aisle. At the
front desk, the four picked up
their room keys. “Alright!” cried Liz,
“Adjoining rooms. Can’t go
wrong with that. The four grinned at each
other as they made their way through
theta lobby.
An hour later, they were all settled
in and met at the pool for a much
needed swim. Liz settled
in a lawn chair, “Now if this is running away
I should have done it sooner.”
she giggled, and then stopped as she felt
guilty. She looked over at
Nikolas, “Do you feel guilty about leaving
your family?” He thought
for a moment, “I don’t really know. I think
my Uncle was expecting some sort
of rebellion from me sooner or later.
I’m sure he’s not overly worried.”
Liz nodded, “Yeah, by now they know
we’re all together, and that nothing
terrible has happened to us. So,
ok, I feel better now. Thanks
Nik.” She rooted around in her towel for
something. “Shoot!” she muttered.
“What?” asked Nikolas. “I
bought a magazine to read while we were here
and I must have left in my
room.” She started to get up, but Nikolas
grabbed her arm, “Wait, I have
to go get a book for myself, I’ll grab
your magazine.” “Thanks Nik,” Liz
breathed, “It’s probably on the
dresser or bed.” Nikolas
walked off towards the rooms. He entered Liz
and Emily’s room and found the
magazine right away on the bed. He
smiled to himself as he walked
back into his room. He opened up his bag
and rooted around for his novel.
That’s weird, he thought to himself,
it’s gone. He felt the side
pocket, there it is!. He pulled out the
faded leather journal. “This
isn’t my novel,” he said to himself, “What
is it?”
Nikolas looked over the journal
in his hands. The leather was soft and
worn. “What is this??” Nikolas
asked aloud as he opened the book.
“Stefan Cassadine? This is
my uncles, how did it get into my bag?” He
put it down on the bed and resumed
looking for his novel. He located it
at the bottom of his bag and stood
up to leave. Pausing, he turned
around, and stared at the book.
Curiosity was peaking in him and he
sat down on the bed. He gently
touched the fraying pages, “It’s his
journal.” He smiled to himself,
“A chance to find out about my uncle as
a child.” He opened the journal
and began to read.
Laura sat on the couch giving last
minute instruction to Amy on caring
for Leslie Lu. She frowned
as she hung up the phone. Luke walked into
the room, “What’s wrong darlin’?”
She smiled ruefully at him, “I hope
we’re right, and that we find the
kids soon. I know she’s my sister and
I love her like crazy, but I really
don’t think Amy’s going to be able
to handle Lulu for a long period
of time.” Luke laughed, “Aww, she’ll
do alright, I told Bobbie to look
in on them from time to time. Laura
touched his hand, “Thank-you.”
He pulled her into his arms, “We’ll find
them Laura.” Laura turned
away, “Lucky has your stubbornness Luke. I
thought things would have been
better by now.” Luke slumped down into a
chair, “I know, I did too.
But I knew it was going to take a long time
for Lucky to forgive me.
I’m beginning to think he’s never going to.”
Helena stood in front of her fireplace,
staring into the flames. Alexis
walked into the room. “Ah,
Natasha, how are we today?” Alexis
stiffened and sat down on the couch.
“Ari called me on the cell phone
today. The delivery was successful.
Nikolas will be finding the
journal any day now.” Helena
smiled a cold smile, “Excellent. Once
Nikolas finds out the truth about
his paternity, he’ll come straight to
me. It won’t be long until
he no longer wants Stefan in his life.”
Nikolas poured over the journal
intently, it was filled with Stefan’s
thoughts and daily activities on
the island. Nikolas was intrigued by
the possibility of finding out
about Stefan’s childhood, and about his
father. Smiling he turned
the page. He began to read and then stopped,
“This is the day my mother came
to the island!” Nikolas exclaimed. He
hungrily read further down the
page, his heart crying out for details
about his parents life together.
Lasha came to the island today.
Stavros brought her in on his personal
plane. She was so different
from what I’d imagined her to be. When
Stavros said he was bringing his
wife to the island, I expected a more
jubilant, vivacious woman.
This Lasha is timid, and frightened. She
looks no one in the eye.
It’s as if she already knows that she is
virtually a prisoner here.
Nikolas looked up, “So it’s true
what Laura always told me, she was
kept a prisoner there. I
never believed her, I thought it was an
excuse.” He flipped the pages
and kept reading, his heart crying out
for Laura as he learned of Stavros
and Helena’s cruel treatment of her.
Liz and Emily sat in the hot tub
drinking cokes and laughing. Liz
however kept her eye on the hallway.
“So what is it you keep looking
for?” Emily asked her curiously.
“Nikolas. He was going to our room
to get our books and stuff, but
he has been gone a long time.” Emily
shrugged her shoulders, “Maybe
he wasn’t feeling well. He’s probably
just lying down or he decided to
watch tv instead.” Liz nodded, “You’re
probably right, but I still want
my magazine. I’ll be right back.” She
climbed out of the hot tub and
wrapped a towel around her waist. She
left the pool area and headed towards
her room.
A few minutes later, Liz entered
the room. “Nikolas?” she called. No
one answered her. She went
into the boys room and found her magazine on
the bed. She picked it up
and began to walk away when she noticed the
leather journal on the bed.
She opened it up to the page Nikolas had
been reading. Her eyes began
to widen as she skimmed the pages. “Oh my
god!” She cried. She dashed
out the door, journal in hand. Hurriedly
she dashed into the pool area and
sat down in the lawn chair next to
Lucky and Liz. “Guys, we
have a serious problem.” THey looked over at
her, “What?” they asked in unison.
Liz swallowed, tears forming in her
eyes, “Nikolas is gone.”
“What?!?” Lucky jumped up, “What do you mean
gone?” Liz shoved the journal
at him, “I think he’s taken off.” Lucky
skimmed through the pages, his
jaw clenching as he read about his mother
and Stefan’s passions for each
other. He threw the journal to the
floor. “You’re right he’s gone.
He’s upset and he’s taken off. We have
to find him though. Let’s get dressed,
he can’t get far.”