"Lilia, I've been looking everywhere for you!" Jacki cried out as she ran down the hall to catch up to her.

"I have nothing to say to you, Jacki. Nothing at all. So just forget you found me, okay?" Lilia said and started to walk off, when Jacki reached out and caught her shoulder.
"Please, give me a minute, that's all I ask," Jacki pleaded. Insanely curious about what Jacki had to say to her, she turned around and assumed an uninterested stance.

"One minute."

"I just wanted to say that…shit. I hate this. I am so sorry for what I said, I knew I shouldn't have said it as soon as I did. I'm so sorry, I was…well, I feeling left out and I took it out on you, and I'm really sorry about that Lilia, I really am," Jacki said. Lilia was taken aback by her sincerity.

"You don't have to apologize just because you think it'll get Paul, Sandy and Damon to forgive you, because it won't work. So don't even try," Lilia said coldly, turning away.

"Lilia, I don't care about them or what they think of me. I care about the fact that what I said upset you. I didn't mean it, it wasn't true and I really am sorry for saying it," Jacki tried again, determined to at least be listened to.

"Why are doing this? Does it make you feel better? Will you be able to sleep at night now, your guilt erased just because you apologized? Because mine won't go away, Jacki. I can't just apologize and have it go away, because it won't," Lilia spat out. Jacki's lip starting trembling, but it was too late for remorse, Lilia couldn't stop now. "I can't get rid of it and sometimes it's unbearable. But then there's the odd time where I can push it so that it's at the back of my mind, and I can breath normally and laugh and have fun and go on with living. But you brought it back."

"I'm so sorry," Jacki said, her voice wavering.

"Yeah, so am I," Lilia said simply, and turned and walked away, leaving Jacki crying in the hallway.

* * * *

"Lilia, why don't you sing anymore?" AJ asked out of the blue.

"You know why I won't," she answered quietly, looking away.

"No, I don't. I know that you feel guilty because of your fiance's death, but you never said why you won't sing. Why won't you?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to do something after someone died to hear you do that thing? When you do, let me know, because then I can count on you not asking me stupid questions," she said, and walked over to where Paul and Nick were standing. He stood still for a moment, then decided to pursue her.

"Retract those claws, and tell me the real reason," he demanded. She spun around.

"Why won't you leave me alone? Can't you just be like everyone else and just accept the fact that-"

"You're scared. Sure, I can accept that. It doesn't look so hard, you've been doing it for awhile, hiding from it," he answered.

"I'm scared to death."

"Lilia, you honestly can't be that bad. Now, there have been some bad singers, but nothing really to worry about," he said, trying to lighten her attitude.

"Oh, I'm good. I'm really good. But I'm terrified of singing, after what happened. I mean, if I got back into it, and something else happened…I couldn't stand it," she stammered.

"Lilia, you're worrying over nothing. Seriously, that was an accident and you really can't let what happened stop you from something you loved."

"Nothing? If it happened once, why wouldn't it happen again?" she demanded. Nick, who was in ear shot, came over and readied himself to jump into the conversation, to save either one of them if things got ugly.

"AJ, come here for a minute!" someone called across the lobby. Relieved to be saved from continuing this heated confrontation, AJ nodded his goodbye at Lilia, and walked to the person who had called him.

"Lily, what are you doing in an hour?" Nick asked curiously. Lilia gave him a baffled look, surprised that he was so quick to change the subject, when he had obviously heard everything that had been said.

"Not much. Why?"

"I just wanted you to come with me, somewhere. Will you?" he asked. She shrugged her shoulders, glad to have any sort of distraction from the irritating persistence of AJ.

* * * *

"Carter, you have three seconds to explain where you're taking me before you die," Lilia threatened. Nick just smiled.

"I'm serious. Where the hell are we? I'm supposed to meet Paul in an hour. Now, where are we?" she demanded.

"Calm down, flower girl. We're almost there. I guess you could call it a pet project. I actually only found out about it a few days ago, but it's cool and you'll be glad I dragged your ass out here," he said. She sighed. They had left a half hour ago, and she was still in the dark about their destination.

Finally, a few minutes later, Nick pulled into the parking lot of a white building. She got out the car and followed Nick inside. At first glance, it resembled an office building, but on the inside, it was more like a school.

"Nick, what is this place?" she asked.

"Hold on, there is someone that I want you to meet first," he said, and grabbed her arm and led her down a hall, into a room. Inside, there were two people, a young girl and an older woman. The young girl was playing a flute, and the woman was clapping, to keep time for her. She looked up as Nick entered and waved in their direction. Nick nodded in return, and he pulled Lilia down into a seat, near the door, and whispered for her just to learn.

The little girl was still playing, a beautiful song on her flute. Lilia was impressed by the skill the little one possessed. The song was difficult, Lilia could remember struggling through it in her high school band, but it was playing so well, that it was breathtakingly beautiful.

As the young player drew out the last note, letting fade, Lilia jumped up and applauded loudly for the little girl. The little girl turned around, and upon seeing the duo clapping for her, she jumped up and ran into Nick's arms.

"Hello Cara. You were wonderful today," Nick said, swinging her up. She hugged his neck, and then squirmed so that she could slip out of his arms. She stood on her own, and then stuck out her little hand so that Lilia could shake it. Lilia was instantly charmed by her, and shook it.

"Nick's right. You were really good. I remember trying to play that song in high school. I never could get it, but you played it wonderfully," Lilia said, kneeling down so that she could be eye level with her. The little girl nodded, smiling. She turned back, and picked up her flute from where she placed it on the ground, and sat down, and started flipping through her sheet music.

"This is a music school. They teach all sorts of things, different types of music, instruments, history. It's wonderful, and it's run by volunteers, so there's practically no charge for the students," Nick explained.

"So where do you fit in here, Nick?" Lilia asked.

"I play the drums some of the kids down the hall. We have fun. They're great kids," he said, smiling. "But Cara, I heard her playing one day, and I got really curious, so I ended up watching her entire rehearsal, she's so captivating."

"How old is she?"

"She's eight," the instructor said, coming over to the two of them. "She's my star pupil."

"She's also quite the conversationalist. I've had quite a few heated debates with the little kid. She's rather opinionated about the lack of flutes present on our CD," Nick said, laughing as he remembered that day. "Why don't you go talk to her, Lilia? I'm sure she'd like to meet you."

Lilia eyed him suspiciously, getting the feeling that something was weird about this whole arrangement, but she walked over to the little girl and sat down in the chair next to hers, accompanied by the instructor.

"Hello, Cara. My name's Lilia. So, what made you decide to play the flute?" she asked, searching for a topic to discuss with her.

The child turned to her instructor and started making signs with her hands. It took Lilia a minute to realize what was happening, when it hit her, she was shocked. Cara couldn't speak, and she was using sign language to talk to her teacher.

"I chose it because it sounds like a person when I play it. It reminds me of my mother's voice," the teacher translated for Lilia.

"Does your mother sing?" Lilia asked, directing her question towards the teacher, when the teacher pointed towards Cara, and Lilia understood that she was to speak to the child.

"No, but I used to. But now while I can't sing with my voice, I sing with my flute. It's almost the same, although I wish I could sing like Nick can," the teacher interpreted for Lilia.

"I'm sure you would have been great, Cara. But your flute playing is really beautiful, I really liked it," Lilia said, searching for something to say.