CHAPTER ONE: ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE...   Emily Quartermaine frowns as she answers her ringing cell phone while sitting in Luke's, waiting for Lucky. "Quartermaine," she says. She listens while the voice on the other end talked quickly. "Yes, I see, thank you.," she said before hanging up. She closes her eyes to block away the tears as she hears someone enter behind her. She wheels around and fakes her best smile, fully expecting it to be Lucky that had entered. Instead, it was Lesley Lu. Lu bounces over and sits down on the stool next to Emily, "Hey Em. Seen Lucky?" Shaking her head, Emily says, "Nope, he was supposed to meet me here any time now. But he probably went to the cemetery." Lu looks aghast, "Why? Those places are so dreary." Emily frowns, "Haven't you looked at the calendar today, Lu?" Lu glances at her watch and checks the date, "Oh," she says softly. "Maybe I should go by there myself. I've not been in a while." Just then, Lucky comes in, smiling and smoking one of his trademark cigars. "Well, if it isn't the two prettiest gals in all New York." He walks over and kisses Lu on the top of her head, then ruffles her hair, "Hey Lulu." Lucky quickly brushed a kiss across Emily's lips before saying, "So, Em, babe, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Worriedly, Lu says, "Uh oh, what have you done now, Lucky?" Lucky shrugs before looking at Emily and smiling, "Is it real pressing, or can it wait until dinner? I'd like to spend the afternoon with Lulu." Lu stands up quickly, "Wait a minute, big brother, if you and Emily need to talk, whatever you and I had planned can wait." Emily smiles, Lu has her mother's generosity, but Lucky shoots Lu a glare that would melt ice in the Arctic, "No it can't, Little Sister," he emphasizes a little too strongly. Lu throws her hands up in defeat, "Whatever.' Standing up, Emily says, "It can wait until later. Spend today with Lu. Call me later." She heads quickly for the door. "Bye Lu," she says as she leaves. After Emily left, Lu faces Lucky, "Lucky, is that any way to treat your girlfriend?" Lucky glares, "Don't get cocky, Lulu. What would you know about a relationship anyway?" "Excuse me, mister-know-it-all. You keep forgetting that I'll be 17 this summer." "And the way Nikolas keeps you all cooped up on that damn island, you'd never know it." Then a thought strikes him, "How did you get here anyway?" "I walked." "Does Nik know about this?" Lu shakes her head sheepishly, "No." Lucky frowns, "Great, just great. You're gonna hear it now, babe." Lu shrugs, "I don't care. Mom and Daddy are out of the country until later tonight and Nik's at work." Lucky grimaces as Lu calls Stefan 'Daddy'. "How'd you ditch your bodyguards?" he asks. "They're idiots," Lu replies blankly. Lucky smiles, "That's my girl!" ***** A few hours later, Emily is standing in the dark on the bridge overlooking the Port Charles River. Her tears are free flowing, so she doesn't hear someone come up behind her. "Hey Emily, what's wrong?" the figure asks. Emily squeals as she wheels around to face the newcomer. She quickly calms down when she sees who it is, "Thomas Hardy, you scared me!" she scolds. Tom Hardy, Jr. walks up close to Emily and wraps his arms around her. She starts sobbing into his chest. After a few minutes, she regains some of her composure. "Thank you," she says softly. He smiles, "That's what I'm here for. You wanna tell me what's wrong?" Emily can't bring herself to look in his eyes. She starts crying again, "I, uh," then she erupts into fresh sobs, "Lucky, uh, I, um..." Tom understands what she was trying to say, even without her spelling it out. "Where is Lucky?" "I wanted to talk to him, but he said he need to spend today with Lesley Lu. We were supposed to go out tonight, but I've not heard from him." Emily sniffs and wipes away some of her tears. Tom embraces her again, and this time, she returns the embrace. Tom lovingly strokes her hair, "Lucky Spencer is a fool." ***** Lu shifts her weight uncomfortably as she stands by an old gravestone in the cemetery. She smiles as she sees a cigar placed precisely on the headstone. Kneeling silently, she brushes away the dirt around the name. She chews on her other finger absentmindedly as she thought of something to say. "Hey Dad, it's me, Lesley Lu. You know, Lulu? Anyway, happy birthday." She laughs softly. "That's a joke, isn't it? Here it is, I'm wishing you a happy birthday at your grave. I'm really sorry we didn't have more time together. Mom and Lucky have tried to tell me all about you, but it's really not the same." Thinking she heard a noise, Lu looks around quickly. She doesn't see anything, so she refocuses on her father's headstone. "They made me proud to carry the name Spencer, and proud to be your daughter." Lu fingers the Cassadine pendant that had been hanging around her neck since her mother and Stefan's wedding. "They've been really great, you know? Real good to me and Mom. She finally seems happy. I remember being little and her being upset, but I didn't understand why until later. I'm sorry. I wish I did understand what was going on at the time." Lu wipes away an escaping tear as she remembered back to when she was a little girl. Before she could say or do anything else, a hand clamps down on her shoulder. She screams. *****