The phone rings, and Laura answers. It's Stefan, asking if she's alone. Laura doesn't say anything, just glances back at Luke and Sonny, then says that it's not a good time. Luke takes the hint and tells Sonny he wants to show him Lucky's treehouse. Sonny goes out, and before Luke leaves, he looks at Laura and she looks at him), but she doesn't say anything.
Stefan: Lasha, are you there?
Laura: Yes, I'm here. So is Luke. What do you want?
S: I'm sorry to call like this, but I need to see you.
L: Absolutely not. (very firmly)
S: It's important.
L: I don't know how much clearer I can make this - I can't see you any more.
S: I thought you might make an exception to say goodbye.
L: (Her shoulders slump slightly, and her voice is not as firm) You're leaving? When?
S: Will you meet me?
L: We've already said our goodbyes. (a bit firmly again)
S: I'm asking you to do this one last favour before we leave. You owe me that much.
L: (angry) What makes you think I owe you?
S: (softly) Because I brought you blueberries.
L: (pauses for a minute, then says very softly) Oh my God.
S: You remember?
L: I do.
S: (remembering) You were so homesick. You cried on my shoulder and told me how as a young girl you used to walk along the railroad tracks to pick blueberries from the bushes to eat. I was so moved by your sadness that the next time I left the island i brought you back an entire basket. It seemed to make you happy.
L: (stunned, thinks for a minute) Where?
S: In the park. How soon can you leave?
L: Give me a half hour.
Laura hangs up the phone and turns around to see Luke right there. Luke says, "Problems?" and Laura replies, "No, I just have to go out for a while." She turns away to collect her coat, and rushes out.
(In the park)
Stefan: Thank you for coming. Please sit down. (He indicates the bench.)
(They both sit. Laura sits looking straight ahead, with her hands folded on her bag on her lap, and Stefan sits turned towards her, with his forearm on the back of the bench. They are sitting far apart.)
Laura (looks at him for a moment, then says softly): You're taking Nikolas back to Greece?
Stefan: Yes. It's what you wanted, isn't it? (accusingly)
Laura: (looks at her lap for a minute) Why was it so important for us to meet?
Stefan: Since this is probably the last time we'll see one another, I felt that we should say our goodbyes in person. And I... I wanted to apologize.
Laura: (wide-eyed) Why?
Stefan: I lied to you. You were right about me. (Laura looks at him sharply, apprehensive.)
Stefan & Laura are in the park, sitting on the bench talking.
Stefan: You were... right about why I let Nikolas stay. (looks down, then back up at her) You were right when you said you knew me. I am the man you remember. It wasn't in my interest to concede these things to you.
Laura: Why? (softly)
S: Why do you think?
L: I - I've never known why you were here. And now you're leaving.
S: We won't see each other again, and that's what makes it possible to leave nothing unsaid this time.
L: What did you intend when you came here?
S: I wanted to punish you, to be the living instrument of my brother's curse. (Laura looks shocked)
L: What made you change your mind?
S: Well... an intention is a slight thing after all. It can feel as if it fills you, animates your every act, but in a moment it can drop away... or drop its mask and show another face. (looking away) It may be that my reasons were hidden from us both.
It's odd. Just now I had this strange sense that we were someplace
else.
(he looks at her)
I was listening for the water.
L:
S: Do you think of it sometimes too?
L: (looks down)
S: (Much more casual and easy manner than he has now. Not angry with her)
That's disappointing. I didn't think anybody else knew this place existed.
L: (looks down, away) Permission to be out of the compound.
S: Well, I'm not the hounds come to track you down. (takes a few steps
toward her) You look different outdoors.
L: (looks down at her dress, then looks out to the ocean, a bit embarrassed
maybe) It's nice here. (glances at him)
S: Yeah. It's a long walk though, huh?
L: I wouldn't mind if it were longer. (she walks past him to stand close to
the edge)
S: (half turned to her) So what'd you do? Tell Stavros he was handsome?
(smiling)
L: (half turns to him) Whatever he said I did. (challenging)
S: (turns to face her) Oh, he doesn't confide in me, if that's what you
think. I suppose its none of my business. You'd rather be alone. (walks by
her to leave)
L: (turned away from him) I told Stavros I'd marry him
(Stefan stops and turns back. She sits on the bench as he walks toward her.)
S: Well that was a mistake. My brother doesn't forget.
L: (looking up at him) He said it was either that or stay locked up in my
room, so... (she trails off, shrugs)
S: I see. (walks around her and sits down kind of facing her)
L: Would he kill me if I said no?
S: (considers it seriously) I don't think so.
L: Would he rape me?
S: Has he yet? (She shakes her head slightly and looks down) I don't know.
(He looks down too)
L: (looks at him, then away) It's better this way.
S: (looks at her; joking tone) Well, before long you'll be giving me
orders. (touches her lightly on the back)
(They both laugh slightly.)
L: No, I don't think so (smiling)
(She looks away, he looks at her.)
S: How you must hate us. (looks down)
(She looks at him for a minute, then stands up and walks a few steps away in
front of the bench.)
L: So this is your secret place, huh?
S: Yeah, until today. (gets up too)
L: (not facing him) I won't tell. (turns to him) Do you mind if I come here
sometimes?
S: (shakes his head) No, (smiles slightly) I don't mind. And anything you
say here will be secret too.
L: (smiles) Thank you.
...Fade back to present>
L: I kept your secret, and you kept all of mine.
[She may have said "our secret" - I couldn't tell]
S: We still do. (softly)
L: It made life bearable then.
S: And unbearable now... and not just for you.
(Laura looks at him closely, surprised.)
S: Why do you marry men you don't trust?
L: (stiffly) You're mistaken.
S: You won't tell Luke about this conversation.
L: (slowly) I... wanted to see you again, (more quickly) I wanted to see
Nikolas again. It was very important to me (small sigh) because I really
believed that if I tried hard enough and if I said I was sorry often enough
that I would be able to take that piece of my life and add it to the rest...
like a piece of a puzzle that was missing for years. But I was wrong. It's
just not going to work like that. I mean, people... aren't puzzles. I have
to go on now without you.
S: I understand. We were always something separate, you and I. We rarely
spoke to each other in front of anyone - then and now. Alone we could tell
the truth...
(Present: We see Laura crying silently as she looks at Stefan.)
S: (not looking at her) Late yesterday. (looks at her) You weren't at dinner.
L: I wasn't... (hesitates) feeling well.
S: (looks down) So Stavros said.
L: How was your trip?
S: (ignores her question, talks loudly) He still went up to your room after
dinner, didn't he? (looks at her) He was drunk. (pauses, looks down) You
seem all right now, though. (turns and walks a few steps away from her)
L: (walks to stand facing him. We see that she is wearing the Cassadine
locket around her neck on a gold chain.) I'm going to have a baby. (smiling
slightly, hopeful)
(Stefan just looks down, can't tell if he's frowning or just squinting
because of the sun.)
L: I never thought beyond the next day on this island because I didn't care
if there was one, but now I'm going to have someone that I can love for the
rest of my life. (smiling, very happy)
S: (smiles sadly, takes her hands in his) You will give us an heir. Because
of you we won't disappear, as we may deserve to. You and your child will
have my every loyalty. (Kisses her fingers. Keeps her hands for a minute,
then lets go and turns away.)
Laura's voice from the present: I could never tell that day whether or not
you were happy.
(We see Stefan walking away, then Laura's face as she turns around. She
looks shocked and sad, like she's going to cry.)>
(present)
S: Of course I was happy, but I also realized on that day how much I envied
my brother.
(Laura looks surprised.)
S: I thought I would be a better father than Stavros. But (stands up and
walks past her, to stand on the other side of her) my envy was punished
fittingly (ironic smile) when the job of raising Nikolas fell to me. (turns
to face her) He was a ... secret one, like you. His eye was always drawn to
the water, like yours... I would take him to the cove with me sometimes to
escape Helena. Of course there was no escaping Helena entirely - since he
would head the family one day, I was obliged to let him sit through hours of
her indoctrination.
L: (surprised and puzzled) Head the family?
S: Yes - when he comes of age.
L: But I thought you were the---
S: (interrupts her) No. As with all monarchies, the Cassadine succession is
passed down to the first son of the first son. (said deliberately, small
smile) I'm merely his 'regent' (smile and shrug) as it were.
L: My son?? (wonderingly)
S: (nods, smiles) Yes.
L: (stands up to face him) And you raised him knowing that one day you will
be second to him.
S: (smiles again) He... will be a very different power from what Helena or
Stavros were. (smiling) He has your mark... your heart - that strength and
kindness mixed. (Laura looks teary-eyed) And I have protected that in him,
as I promised I would (Laura has tears running down her cheeks) on the day
you told me there would be a Cassadine you would always love.
L: (whispers) Thank you Stefan.
(Stefan looks away, uncomfortable, then acknowledges her with a slight twist
of his mouth and a glance at her before he looks down.)
L: Stefan, I hope you get everything you want out of life.
S: I'm a realist now, but thank you.
L: I've heard that Helena is very ill. (sounding a bit sympathetic for him)
S: (with no emotion) Yes. She may last another year, she may not. Knowing
mother, she may last another twenty just to spite us. (wryly)
L: (slight smile) But still, when she does pass away, there's really nothing
to hold you and Nikolas to that island.
S: Nothing except who we are. (flatly)
L: But that's something you can create for yourself. (smiling, trying to
convince him)
S: No, other people can. Not Cassadines. (bleakly)
(Laura's smile fades.)
S: I know
S: It was on the sand, waiting for the tide to take it out to the mainland.
L: Nikolas pulled it out of my hair. It must have blown away.
S: (talking to Nik) Strong hands - made for seizing.
L: Made for swimming maybe... (also talking to Nik) One day you'll catch a
tide to the mainland, won't you, little boy? And you'll be free to go
wherever you want in the world.
S: That may be a difficult promise to keep.
L: Parents are supposed to make promises, and the ones that they can't
keep... just become dreams, I guess.
S: (bleakly) What good are dreams?
L: (turns around to look at him) Did you really grow up without any?
S: Apparently. (walks around her to sit beside her on the bench, leans in
to play with Nik) Did any of yours come true?
L: (looks down) It almost did.
S: (very serious) Is it possible for a dream to come late, with no promise
before it and none likely?
L: I imagine.
S: (still serious) May I tell you mine?
L: (very quickly) The baby's getting sort of cold. (stands up) I should take
him back.
(Stefan just looks sad. Laura turns back when she's almost out of the
clearing to look at him for a minute, then turns and goes.)
end flashback>
S: May I ask you something?
S: ...You had lost the ribbon from your hair.
L: (looking confused, a bit uncomfortable) I... don't remember that day as
well as you seem to.
S: It was autumn. You had Nikolas... You said that even promises that
couldn't be kept meant something and I wondered if the same were true for
promises that couldn't be made... Then you ran off.
L: I don't remember... (maybe lying, pretending to be confused)
S: Do you know what I was going to say next?
L: I don't think so. (shrugs)
S: Do you know now?
L: No.
S: Did you ever wonder?
L: (bites her lip, like she doesn't want to answer) What was it?
S: Only that I loved you.
(Laura looks shocked and sad, like she's going to cry. Like maybe she's
known all along, but surprised that he confessed.)
(Stefan & Laura are standing facing each other in the park)
S: Do you ever wonder?
L: What was it?
S: (voice low) Only that I loved you.
L: (looks down, away) That was a very long time ago.
S: (looks away too) Yes, it was. But some feelings don’t change with time.
(Laura looks at him) I loved you then, and I still do, Lasha.
L: (puts her hands up as if to stop him, then turns away) Please don’t say this.
(She walks a few steps away from him, but he follows her)
S: (harshly) Why not? It’s true. Aren’t you the one that’s always demanded
the truth?
L: (pleading) Things were so different back then. It was all so intense, it
was unreal. (turns to face him) That’s the feeling you’re remembering.
S: Don’t you think I’ve told myself that a thousand times? Don’t you think
I wanted to come here and find that you were just some ordinary woman
without some hold over me? It would have made my life so much simpler.
(softly) But no, you were still incomparable… still… From the moment I saw
you on that dock I knew I could not escape the way I feel. I wanted to turn
you away… but you were so extraordinary, so beautiful, pleading for your
child with the passion I remembered. I couldn’t do it… (looks down,
continues, upset) I swore I would never say these things.
L: (gently) Why are you now?
S: (angry and upset) Because we’re leaving and I may never see you again.
(very upset) Because things couldn’t be left unsaid *any* longer. (more
softly) And because this is my gift to you… Nikolas will always have the
best of me (small smile) because I’ve loved his mother.
L: (has tears on her face, but smiles; at a loss for words for a moment)…
It’s not the first time you’ve given me that gift… is it?
(Stefan looks uncomfortable, unable to look at her)
L: (she has been crying; sighs) I know that it couldn’t have been easy for
you, raising Nikolas all alone on that island… Especially with that woman
breathing down your neck, giving you all kinds of instructions on the proper
way to raise a prince, no doubt.
S: (small smile, then dryly) Yes, mother did enjoy having her input.
L: But you preserved his spirit in spite of her.
S: It wasn’t selfless. I preserved your spirit in him - for myself, so that
I would have a friend.
L: Stefan, may I say something? (he nods) What you did for me, coming here
with Nikolas and saving Leslie Lu’s life, and then allowing Nikolas to stay
for a while so that I could get to know him - I will forever be in your
debt. I don’t know how to thank you… You are not like the rest of them -
I’ve always known that… and because of that, I’m able to leave him with you
and say goodbye.
S: (slight smile at her words, then slowly) Good-bye, (softly) we’re getting
good at that, aren’t we? (sigh) Do you remember the last time?
S: (walks in front of her to stand on her other side as he speaks; she turns
to face him) When I look back, which I try to avoid, (faces her) that day
stands out as one of the most important…
(back to present)
L: Once Helena allowed me to know the truth - that my husband was still
alive - my life was divided right down the middle… and no, it was never the
same.
S: (nods) And more than anything in the world, you want to be with him.
(neutrally, almost understanding)
L: (fervently) Yes… I mean, I’d just like to see him, just to be sure… (her
enthusiasm wanes as she sees Stefan’s reaction, or realizes the implications
of what she is saying) …But I can’t, can I?
S: You have a son.
L: (looks away from him) Before now, I would have just run away. Nothing
and no one could have kept me on this island. (a bit sadly)
S: (sympathetically) I don’t doubt that.
L: (looks at him with a slight smile) And now I have someone I love just as
much. What am I going to do?
S: Look at me. (she does) I’m his godfather. I won’t let any harm come to
him… (Laura is crying) Believe that.
(Laura nods tearfully, and throws her arms around Stefan’s neck. Stefan
slowly moves one hand to her back to return the hug.)
Laura’s voice from the present: …I meant to come back. You must know that.
End Flashback>
S: I know what Helena and Stavros put you through. Who could blame you for
taking a way out of that hell?
L: My son… And you blame me too.
S: Because that’s what was expected of me. I am a man who has lived
shackled to his family from the very first day I was born. Even the woman
who made me see life’s potential belonged to my…
L: (interrupts him, crying) Stefan, please…
S: (talks over her, upset and angry) No, no! I will own my truth now.
(softly) The woman… who made me see… (moves deliberately to stand much
closer to her - they are face to face) that life was more than pain, and
anger, and revenge (bitterly) belonged to my brother, (gently again) and
loved yet another man. (looking at her intently, whispers) Tell me, Lasha,
if I had been the only one, if it had just been you and me, under different
circumstances, without impossible choices, would you have loved me?
(Stefan is standing very close to Laura, with his hands on her upper arms)
L: You've answered your own question. I'm in love with another man, and I
always will be.
S: But what if he didn't exist? (watching her closely)
L: (protests, with a small smile) But he does.
S: At least you tell the truth. (looks down, steps away from her, though
they are still facing each other)
L: I didn't tell my husband the truth, and it hurt him more than anyone will
ever know, but he stayed with me... He chose our family... and now I have to
do the same thing. (Stefan looks sad) I think it is best that you and
Nikolas leave.
S: (nods, his face impassive) That's how it will be. And my promise from
all those years ago still holds true... I love Nikolas, (smiles) for many
reasons, and I will see that no harm ever comes to him.
(Laura nods, looking tearful, and bends down to pick up her bag. She
straightens and looks at him again.)
L: Thank you Stefan... for Nikolas, and for Lulu.
(He nods and smiles slightly in acknowledgement. She kisses him on the
cheek, and walks past him, leaving. He stands still for a moment, then
turns around to look at her going. Presumably she is out of hearing range.)
S: Goodbye, Lasha.