Stefan: "I thought I would be a better father than Stavros. {Getting to his feet} But my envy was punished fittingly when the job of raising Nikolas fell to me. He was a secret one, like you. His eye was always drawn to the water, like yours. I would take him to the cove sometimes with me 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."

Laura:  "Head the family?"

Stefan:  "Yes, when he comes of age."

Laura:  "But I thought you were the head."

Stefan:  "No. As with all monarchies, the Cassadine succession is passed down to the first son of the first son. I'm merely his regent, as it were."

Laura:  {Stunned} "My son?"

Stefan:  "Yes."

Laura:  {Rising to face him} "And you raised him knowing that one day you would be second to him?"

Stefan:  "He will be a very different power from what Helena or Stavros were. He has your mark. Your heart. That--strength and kindness mixed. And I have protected that in him as I promised I would on the day you told me there would be a Cassadine you would always love."

Laura:  {Crying} "Thank you, Stefan." {He works to control his emotions}

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Laura:  "Stefan, I hope you get everything you want out of life."
 
Stefan:  "I’m a realist now, but thank you."

Laura:  "I’ve heard that Helena is very ill."

Stefan:  "Yes. She may last another year. She may not. Knowing mother, she might last another 20 just to spite us."

Laura:  "But still, once she does pass away, there's really nothing to hold you and Nikolas to that island."

Stefan:  "Nothing except who we are."

Laura:  "But that's something you can create for yourself."

Stefan:  "No, other people can. Not Cassadine. {Flahback to an island scene with Laura standing on the cliff holding a baby Nikolas} I know. You promised. But parents are supposed to make promises."
 
 
{Back the island...} 

Laura:  {Stefan approaches holding a hair ribbon. He comes to where Laura is seated holding Nikolas and bounces the ribbon in front of Nikolas, teasing him} "Where did you find that?"

Stefan:  "It was on the sand, just waiting for a tide to take it out to the mainland." {He continues to play with the ribbon and Nikolas}

Laura:  "When Nikolas pulled it out of my hair, it must've blown away."

Stefan:  "Strong hands. Hands made for seizing. Yes."

Laura:  "Made for swimming, maybe. 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."

Stefan: "That may be a difficult promise to keep."

Laura:  "Parents are supposed to make promises. And the ones that they can't keep just become dreams, I guess."

Stefan:  "What good are dreams?"

Laura: "Did you really grow up without any?"

Stefan: "Apparently. Did any of yours come true?" {He sits down beside her}

Laura:  "It almost did."
 
Stefan:  "Is it possible for a dream to come late with no promise before it and none likely?"

Laura: "I imagine."

Stefan:  "May I tell you mine?"

Laura:  "The baby's getting sort of cold. I'm going to take him back." {She gets up and starts to walk away. Stefan watches her sadly. She turns back to look at him and then continues on her way}
 
{Coming back to the park} 

Stefan:  "May I ask you something?"
 
 
 
 
 
 

Stefan:  "You had lost a ribbon from your hair."

Laura:  {Evasively} "I don't remember that day as well as you seem to."

Stefan:  "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."

Laura:  "Why did I do that?"

Stefan:  "That is my question."

Laura:  "I don't remember."
 
Stefan:  "Do you know what I was going to say next?"

Laura: "I don't think so."
 
Stefan:  "Do you know now?"
 
Laura:  "No."
 
Stefan:  "Did you ever wonder?"

Laura:  "What was it?"
 
Stefan:  "Only that I loved you." {Laura looks shaken}
 
 
 
 
 

 
(This scene picks up where the last left off) 

Stefan: "Did you ever wonder?"

Laura:  "What was it?"

Stefan:  "Only that I loved you."

Laura:  "That was a very long time ago."

Stefan:  "Yes, it was. But some feelings don't change with time. I loved you then. And I still do, Lasha."
 
 
 
 
 

Laura:  {Turning away} "Please don't say this."

Stefan:  "Why not? It's true. Aren't you the one who's always demanded the truth?"

Laura:  "Things were so different back then. It was all so intense. It was--unreal. That's the feeling that you're remembering."

Stefan:  "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 any hold over me? It would've made my life so much simpler. But no. You were still incomparable. {Quietly} Still Lasha. 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 a passion I remembered. I couldn't do it. I swore I would never, ever say these things."

Laura:  "Why are you now?"

Stefan:  "Because we're leaving, and I may never see you again. {Raising his voice} Because these things could not be left unsaid any longer. And because this is my gift to you. Nikolas will always have the best of me because I’ve loved his mother."

Laura:  "That's not the first time you've given me that gift. Is it?"
 
 
 
 
 
 

Laura:  "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."

Stefan:  "Yes, mother did enjoy having her input."

Laura:  "But you preserved his spirit in spite of her."

Stefan:  "It wasn't selfless. I preserved your spirit in him--for myself, so that I would have a friend."

Laura: {With tears in her eyes} "Stefan. May I say something? {He nods} What you did for me--coming here with Nikolas and saving Lesley 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 have always known that. And because of that, I’ll be able to leave him with you and say good-bye."

Stefan: " 'Good-bye.' We're getting good at that, aren't we? Do you remember the last time?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Stefan:   When I look back--which I try to avoid--that day stands out as one of the most important. {Flahback to an island scene with Laura running to 'their place', calling for Stefan}  Neither of our lives were ever the same again."
 
Laura:  "You're right. 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."
 
{Back the island...}   

Laura: {Excited} "He's alive. Did you hear me? He's alive."

Stefan:  "And more than anything in the world, you want to be with him."

Laura:  "Yes. {A little less joyful} I mean, I’d just like to see him. Just--just to be sure. But I can't, can I?"

Stefan:  "You have a son."

Laura:  "Before now, I would have just run away. Nothing and no one could have kept me on this island."

Stefan:  "I don't doubt that."

Laura: {Looking up at him smiling} "But now I have someone that I love just as much. What am I going to do?"

Stefan:  "Look at me. I'm his godfather. I won't let any harm come to him. {Laura begins to cry} Believe that." {She gratefully hugs him, he being less happy}
 
{Coming back to the park}  

Laura:  "I meant to come back. You must know that."

Stefan:  "I know what Helena and Stavros put you through. Who could blame you for taking a way out of that hell?"

Laura:  "My son. And you blame me, too."

Stefan:  "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--"

Laura:  "Stefan--"

Stefan:  {Raising his voice} "No! No! I will own my truth now! {Quietly} The woman who made me see that life was more than pain and anger and revenge belonged to my brother and loved yet another man. Tell me, Lasha. {He moves close and takes her arms}  If I had been the only one--if it had just been you and me under different circumstances, without impossible choices--could you have loved me?"

 
 
 
 
 
 

Laura:  "You've answered your own question. I'm in love with another man, and I always will be."

Stefan:  "But what if he didn't exist?"

Laura:  "But he does."

Stefan:  "At least you tell the truth." {He moves away from her}

Laura:  "I didn't tell my husband the truth, and it hurt him more than anyone will even know. But still, he stayed with me. He chose our family, and now I have to do the same thing. I think it is best that you and Nikolas leave."

Stefan:  "That's how it will be. And my promise from all those years ago still holds true. I love Nikolas--for many reasons--and I will see that no harm ever comes to him."

Laura:  "Thank you. {Taking a deep breath} So--you're going to leave tomorrow?"

Stefan: "The sooner the better for everyone."

Laura:  "Thank you, Stefan, for Nikolas and for LuLu." {She kisses his cheek and then leaves. He looks after her}

Stefan:  "Good-bye, Lasha."

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