**
I know we're just like old friends
we just can't pretend
that lovers make amends
we are reasons so unreal
we can't help but feel that something has been lost


But please you know you're just like me
next time I promise we'll be
Perfect
Perfect
Perfect strangers down the line
lovers out of time
memories unwind


So far I still know who you are
but now I wonder who I was...


Angel, you know it's not the end
we'll always be good friends
the letters have been sent on

So please, you always were so free
You'll see, I promise we'll be
Perfect
Perfect strangers when we meet
strangers on the street
lovers while we meet


Perfect
you know this has to be
we always we're so free
we promised that we'd be
Perfect
(Smashing Pumpkins from Adore; "Perfect")
**




Liz was in deep with the sandman. So deep she was talking. Lucky roused from his catnap when she began mumbling. He yawned and stretched, then reached out and over to wake Liz. His hand froze when what she was saying sunk in.

She was repeating his name like a broken record. Her face was distorted and pained.

"Lucky. Make it stop!" Lucky jumped. Make what stop? "I can't - I can't make it stop. Why won't it stop?" Liz's voice filled with desperation.

Lucky chose that moment to wake her. "Elizabeth," he said quietly as he took hold of her arm and shook it lightly.

"Five more minutes mom -- oh, ugh! Did I actually say that?" Liz asked. Her eyes fluttered open. Lucky found them to be soft and warm, whispers of sleep still clinging inside them. There was pain deep inside, a pain that was constant and terrible. And, closer to the surface, a sharp hurt. Lucky wondered what had caused it.

Then those expressive eyes filled with happiness. It covered the pain and hurt. Covered, but did not erase.

Liz smiled and shifted in her seat.

A cheery voice on the intercom startled Liz. Lucky touched her hand.

"It's ok. We're almost there."

"Already?"

"Uh, no. We're almost to L.A. We have to change planes there, and then again in Sydney."

Liz released a martyred sigh. She turned to her window and peered out. The sight of the ground far below sent her head spinning.

"Remind me not to do that again," she said, turning away from the window. Lucky's lips turned up in a smile.

"Remind me to give you a prize when we land."

Liz's eyebrows shot up. She wiggled them suggestively at Lucky, who had the courtesy to blush. He began to turn away from her, but Liz reached out and touched his cheek. Her hand was cold and clammy. Lucky made a face. Liz's eyes lit with realization. She removed her hand and wiped it vigorously on her jeans.

"Sorry," she mumbled embarrassedly. "I guess that didn't work the way I had planned."

Lucky chucked her chin with his knuckles. She raised her eyes to his.

"You don't ever have to be embarrassed to me," Lucky told her, in all seriousness. "I love you just the way you are, and I won't stand for it."

Liz felt her heart thud in her chest. She smiled a watery smile and then began to laugh at herself. Lucky's mouth on hers stopped her laughter. She never noticed the plane taxiing down the runway, landing safely.

When the call for passengers to please be careful leaving their seats came, Liz pulled away.

"I think that was a trick," she murmured, undoing her seatbelt. She smiled at Lucky. "Thanks."

"It's my job."

---

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