Ned jogs onto the dock to find a shivering Alexis waiting for the launch to arrive. She sees him coming and presents him with her sternest face possible....the very look in her eyes reprimanding him more forcefully than most tongue-lashings.

Ned: Alexis, I am SO sorry -

Alexis: I should think so! Do you have any idea what I was subjected to in your absence?

Ned: Yes actually, I ran into him at the Grille. Sorry.

Alexis: Hmph.

Ned: Careful, you're beginning to sound like Grandfather.

Alexis: Trust me, he's not half as riled up right now as I am.

Ned: What exactly did Luke say to you?

Alexis: That he's been watching me. He knows Emma's name and birthdate, Ned! God only knows how quickly he'll uncover the rest....

Ned: (moving closer) Come on. You're giving Spencer more credit than he deserves. Anyone who was motivated enough could have traced her back far enough to figure out her name and birthdate. But there's nothing about that that ties her to you at all, let alone Stavros. She was born here, in the States right?

Alexis: (nodding) Um-hmm. I registered under Debbie's name at the hospital in New York.

Ned: Ok then, anyone would assume from that, that Emma is the biological child of Debbie and Mark Norwood. Trust me. Luke's going to hit a wall very soon. You've done everything you possibly could to separate her from yourself, you have to believe that it's going to be enough.

Alexis: That's part of the problem Ned - I didn't think anyone here would trace her to Debbie and Mark. I've fabricated a whole family history for her. I mean, come on Ned, why would a New York teeneager be spending Christmas with a family of Russian aristocrats?

Ned:(momentarily stumped) ....Ok, I don't know....yet....but we'll figure something out. Look - here's the launch. Let me take you back to Wyndemere and we'll put our heads together....

Alexis: (sighing) Ok.

Ned: Hey! You said you were adopted right?

Alexis sees almost immediately where he is going with this idea.

Alexis: Yes...and so...Emma's related not to the Cassadines, but to my biological family. Ned, that's brilliant! All I need to do now is do some digging about my birth parents -

Ned: You don't know anything about them?

Alexis: No, I mean I have names, but that's it. I was too young to really remember anything about them. Except...

Ned: What?

Alexis: Well, I've always had this foggy perception of my mother as a woman with long, blond hair.

Ned: Well, it's a start. How will you go about tracking them down?

Alexis: I'll give Leo a call in the morning - he's pretty effective with this sort of thing. Once I have the names of some relatives, distant or otherwise, I can make up a family for Emma. Alexis: Helena forbade it. She said that I was part of the Cassadine family and that any traces of illigitemacy should be hidden and not emphasized. She always was one for making a kid feel special.

Ned: So I've heard.

Alexis: Well, now that I can stop worrying about that for the time being, I remember that I'm starving.

Ned: Do you want to go back to the Grille? I'm sure Luke's long gone by now.

Alexis: No, I'd rather not risk it. Why don't I just get Mrs. Landsbury to whip us up something, and we can eat up here.

Ned: Up here? (Moving closer) Isn't that a wee bit close to temptation - there is a bed in that room over there...

Alexis: (smiling) Well, I can control myself, Mr. Ashton. Do you think you can?

Ned grins mischieviously and pulls her close to him. He kisses her with a passion that takes her breath away and makes her whole body go limp, as he rubs his hands sensuously up and down her back. He only breaks the embrace when he senses that he has conveyed his message effectively. Alexis is at a loss for words and stares at him, dazed.

Ned: (smiling self-assuredly) Oh, I'm pretty sure I can.

Alexis is having coffee and a croisant as she begins to open the package, just delivered by messenger, from Leo. She can't help but feel anxious as she delves into the facts about her parents and their tragic death. She devours the information, berating herself for not having done this sooner. She moves on to another document and a startling fact catches her eye:

Alexis: Oh my God.....a sister?

Alexis stares, disbelieving, at the piece of paper she holds in her hand. How can this be? A sister? How could she not remember something like that? She rereads the words in an effort to grasp details that just aren't there. She rumages through the other documents in the envelope looking for corroboration...perhaps Leo had made a mistake...but no, Leo rarely, if ever, made mistakes. After a throrough examination of every page and scrap of paper, she is left with scanty, but disturbing facts: There was indeed a full, biological sister, 11 years older, placed in an orphanage after her parents' deaths. Impassioned, she picks up the phone and dials Leo:

Leo: Voss.

Alexis: Leo, it's me.

Leo: Ah, Princepessa! I take it my delivery arrived safely?

Alexis: Yes, but Leo -

Leo: I know, za seestah...

Alexis: Surely there was more information...

Leo: Zer vas very leettle, actually. You vahnted my vork to be exshpedient - more details veel take some time -

Alexis: How much time?

Leo: A few days at leasht.

Alexis: Alright....but please - let me know the moment you find anything of significance.

Leo: Of course. (He hangs up)

Alexis gathers the papers up in her arms and carries them to her suite to review them again, in private. Not that this was something she had any intention of keeping from Stefan, but it all seemed a bit too personal just yet. She was still reeling from the impact of her discovery, let alone the guilt at having no memory of a sister who would have been....what....fifteen at the time Alexis was taken in by the Cassadines? The fact that her sister had been abandoned to an orphanage distresses, but doesn't really surprise her. At four, Alexis was still young enough to mold and shape into whomever the Cassadines wished. A fifteen year-old however, would have been much too far developed to manipulate. Alexis can only hope that wherever she was, and whatever she had done with her life, her sister had found happiness.

She sleeps peacefully, with a barely perceptible smile on her lips....

Girl: Sonya? Where is she? She couldn't have just disappeared! Hmmmm. Maybe, under this table!

She looks, exaggeratedly, under the table and appears shocked when she sees no one there.

Girl: Hmmm, where on earth could she be? Sonya? Sonya? Ah hah! I see a foot!

Alexis giggles and whips her foot in, out of sight befind the sofa. She is too late though, and the older girl pounces on her, sweeping her up in her arms and tossing her onto the divan, tickling her madly. Alexis squeals in delight and panic at the onslaught:

Alexis: Nikki stop! Stop it Nikki, stop it...

Girl: (laughing bemusedly)You didn't pick a good enough hiding spot....that means you get TICKLED Sonya....

Alexis is far too invigorated to sleep any longer and she slides out of bed and pulls on her robe. She spends the next six hours at her desk, willing herself to remember more. She writes down as much as she can remember from the dream, but in the end, has little more than a bewildering name and a vague description of a blond girl she once called Nikki. Frustrated, she gives up and decides to shower and dress before she makes herself late.

Alexis is seated at one of the tables in the library, making a half-hearted attempt to get some work done. She is just about to give up on getting anything of merit accomplished today when her cell phone rings. She answers it almost instantly:

Alexis: Alexis Davis.

Leo: It's me. I sink I've found vhat you're looking for.

Alexis: And?

Leo: Well, believe it or not, your seestah ended up here, in America. She ran avay from ze orphanitch in Norvay und emmigrated to ze United States vhen she vas 16. She vas quickly discovered howevah, und placed in something ze Americans call foster care -

Alexis: (interrupting) Is she still alive?

Leo: Patience, patience Princepessa...of course she's still alife. Actually, she's leeving right zere viss you in Port Charles.

Alexis: What? That's impossible. She would have discovered me by now. Everyone in Port Charles knows the Cassadines are here. Most of them aren't very happy about it, but they're aware of it.

Leo: Zer vas eveedence zat your seestah had tried to find you before she left for America. Unfortunately, ze Cassadines had your name changed completely und tracing you to zem vould haf been impossible.

Alexis: ....Leo....was my name Sonya?

Leo: You remember! Leo: Nikki? Vell, I suppose your seestah's name could have been shortened to zat.

Alexis: What's her name? Do you know her address here? Her phone number?

Leo: Yes....und so do you.

Alexis: What? Leo, spit it out already!

Leo: Her name ees Monica Quartermaine.

Alexis almost drops the phone. After a moment, she composes herself enough to speak:

Alexis: Are you certain? Are you absoluteley positive?

Leo: Vithout a doubt.

Alexis: I can't believe it....you'll send me the documentation of course?

Leo: Of course.

Alexis: (at a loss for words) Ok...thank you Leo...your help has been invaluable.

Leo: You know I vould do anysing for you Princepessa. Goot bye, and goot luck with your seestah. (He hangs up)

Alexis replaces the phone in her purse and sits, stunned, for several minutes before she stands and exits the library, on her way to find Stefan.