Nikolas is on the plane, thinking about the latter part of his conversation with Sasha. They were in her suite at the Port Charles Hotel.

" Niko. You just have no right to sit in judgement of either Papa, or myself. We did what we had to do."

" Do you know how sick I am of hearing people tell me that I can't judge them, and then, have them tell me that I can't know what they did. You are so much like Uncle.."

" And, is that so wrong? Oh, Niko, Papa has spent his life loving you. Sacrificing for you."

" I never asked him to sacrifice for me."

" But, you never would have had to ask. He's fought for you, Niko. Fought so that you could be a different kind of Cassadine. He fought Helena for you, so that.."

" So that what? "

" Nothing. He just fought for you, that's all."

" No, Sasha. You had a thought. I want you to finish the sentence. Uncle fought Helena for me so that..."

Sasha's back is turned to Nikolas.

" Sasha? SASHA?!"

Nikolas goes and stands face to face with Sasha. He could see that there were tears in her eyes. Nikolas was stunned. Sasha rarely, if ever, cried.
With a whisper she uttered:

" Papa fought Helena for your soul, so that you wouldn't turn out like me......"

Sasha turned immediately on Nikolas. She stood in front of her fireplace. There was nothing said between them. Then Sasha spoke, very calmly.

" Please tell Papa, that I will not be able to join you for dinner."

With that, she went upstairs to her bedroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stefan is sitting there with his eyes open. Katherine nuzzles him.

" Penny for your thoughts."

" They are all about Katya."

" Yes. Well, I think it's wonderful that she has such a caring father. One who's willing to take care of her and support her. All you have to do now is pick one of the facilities and arrange for her to be sent there. You and Nikolas would take her, of course. If you'd like, I would of course, go with you to support you during this difficult time."

" I am not sure that I want to send Katya to a facility."

" Stefan, I know that it may not be what you want, but the doctors believe it is the best thing for her. And, I'm not just thinking of Sasha. I'm thinking of you too. I know how much you love her and want to see her thrive and succeed. And, these facilities will enable her to recover, just that much sooner. I know that you'll do the right thing. You always do, when it concerns your family. That's why I love you so."

She kisses Stefan, and they begin to make love once again. After this session, Stefan gets up and goes into the bathroom, leaving a semi-dozing Katherine.

As Stefan splashes water onto his face, the voice of Sasha and one of their conversations pops into his head.

[[[[[" That is why she (Katherine) has no use for Alexis or myself. She treats Alexis as little better than the hired help, instead of your close cousin. And me? I bet that she is counting the days until I leave town. Mark me, and mark me well, her wheels are spinning as to how to eliminate me from yours and Nikolas' lives."

" Don't be preposterous, Katya."

" I'm not Papa. No. One day she'll come to you. With either that smile on her face, or her best feigned sincerity in her  cow eyes. Whichever would be appropriate for the situation. And she will muster up all the caring in her voice. Full of selflessness. Full of support for you. But, the bottom line , that she has come to, is that it would be best , if I was away from the family. Best for Nikolas, you and yes...even me. And she'll make you think that it was all your idea. And if you stall on it. She will keep up the sincere routine, subtlety dropping the idea here, and there, maybe even whispering it to you after lovemaking. Drilling it into your subconscious, to where, one day, I'll find myself back in London, and I'll be lucky to get even a postcard from you on Holidays."]]]]

Stefan stares into the mirror for quite sometime. So, long, in fact, that Katherine comes into the bathroom and has to touch him in order to get his attention.

" Stefan? What's wrong?"

Stefan looks at Katherine. " Nothing, Katherine. I am just thinking about Katya."

" I know. It must be difficult for you to have to choose a facility. But, let's talk about that later. I miss you. Come back to bed."

" I'm sorry, Katherine. But, I must leave."

" Why?"

" I feel the need to visit Katya right now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura is sitting with Lulu and Lesley. They are all playing a game when the doorbell rings.

" Laura, are you expecting anyone?"

" No, Mother." Laura goes to the door and opens it. " Nikolas?"

" Hello."

" What are you doing here?"

" Are you not pleased to see me?"

" Of course I am. Please, come in. May I take your coat?" Nikolas gives her his coat, and Nikolas walks over to Lesley and Lulu. " Hello, Grandmother. Lesley Lu."

" You can certainly do better than that. Give us a hug and kiss." Nikolas proceeds to do so.

" So, Nikolas, why are you here?", Laura asks.

" I need to speak with you. About a private matter."

" Well, no one needs to ask me to take a hint. Lulu and I will be upstairs. Now, don't you leave without telling us goodbye."

" I won't."

Lesley takes Lulu upstairs. Laura and Nikolas sit on the couch.

" Well, whatever it is, it must be important."

" It is."

" Does it concern Stefan?"

" Yes, and no. I am wondering if I can actually count on you to be truthful about this."

" I'll try to be."

" My cousin Sasha is ill."

" I am sorry. I had heard. From Amy."

" Of course."

" But, before she was in the accident, we had a conversation about my Uncle and Grandmother. I know that you were only a Cassadine for a couple of years, but Sasha was on the Island then."

" Yes, she was. She was one of the only spots of joy for me, on the island."

" So, then, you were able to evaluate the relationship between her and my Uncle and Grandmother."

" I saw them interact, yes."

" Fine. Everyone says that Helena is this awful woman."

" She is."

" OK. Then, what I want to know is why my Uncle let Sasha spend time with her. Why he didn't do all that he could to keep her away from Helena. I know he did it for me. Why was I so special?"

" Because, you are the heir."

" That's not good enough. Sasha was HIS child. Are you telling me that my Uncle disregarded Sasha? That, when push came to shove that she was expendable? That she was sacrificed to Helena, for me?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stefan is by Sasha's bedside.

" The Doctors believe that you should be sent to another hospital, in order to recuperate. Barbara says no. Katherine says yes. It is only because you are not awake to tell me, 'I told you so', that I will admit that you may possibly be correct about Katherine. I must make decisions about you that will affect the rest of your life. I will sit here, holding your hand, and hope that I am able to obtain the guidance I need in order to make the right decision."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mrs. Lansbury comes into the Conservatory.

" You wanted to see me, Ms. Bell?"

" Yes, Mrs. Lansbury. I must go out of town for a few days on business. Please make sure that Mr. Cassadine receives this letter explaining everything."

" I will, Ms. Bell."

" Thank You. You are dismissed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" So? Am I correct? Was Sasha Sacrificed?"

" Nikolas, I don't think it's that simple."

" Then, explain it to me."

" Your Uncle loves Sasha. Of that I'm sure. And he loves you, too. The two of you comprise his life. Yes, Stefan was always engaged in some battle or another with Helena about Sasha. Which, I really never understood, because it didn't look to me that Helena even cared for Sasha. She was just a means to an end. I saw Stefan fight for her."

" Then why.."

" I believe that Stefan took some calculated risks. He believed that you were the one most in danger from Helena. That Sasha was old enough to withstand Helena."

" Old enough? She was still a child."

" I know...but, she wasn't completely defenseless, as you were. I only talked to Stefan once, about Sasha. He told me that he wished that he had done better with regards to Helena, but that you were of enormous help to him."

" Me? I was just a baby."

" A baby who needed love and caring. And, when Sasha tapped into those places of love for you, they were places that Helena, and her evilness could not go. Sasha's natural protectiveness towards you, which was evident, even when I was pregnant with you, was obvious. She loved you before you were even born. And the more she loved you, and wanted to help Stefan keep you away from Helena, the weaker Helena's hold over her became. You helped Stefan fight Helena. By making you the top priority, Stefan was able to save you both."

" But, he wasn't 100% successful."

" No. But, who is. Sasha is a much better person for having loved you and Stefan, than she would have been, without you. You tipped the scales in Stefan's favor."

" These are nice platitudes, but..."

" Nikolas. I don't mean to speak for Stefan, but I believe, that what he wants for you and Sasha, is what I want for you and Lulu. I want for her to have a brother. A big brother. Although, Sasha is older than you, one of the these days, you are going to become 'The Cassadine', which will flip the power balance between you immensely. I want for you to accept Lulu, love her, support her, and never let anyone break the bond that you two share.

And, I think, if you ask Stefan about Sasha, he wants the same thing for the two of you. He wants you to accept those things about Sasha that she does for the family that might not be so nice. Know that she does them because she loves the family. And, that she's devoted to you. What I think he would ask most of you, is to never let anyone come between the two of you. There is no outsider worth sacrificing the relationship that you have with Sasha. There are very few people in the world that will love you as deeply and selflessly as Sasha. Be VERY careful about whom you would allow to come between the two of you. You maybe disappointed and digusted with what Sasha does, but her motivation is the family, and YOU are the family, Nikolas.

Do you understand?"

" I believe so."

" People...parents make choices that they must live with for the rest of their lives. They don't have to like their choices. But, they must live with them. I believe that Stefan loves you and Sasha. And, that he has done the best by you as possible."

" Thank you. I appreciate you speaking to me."

" It's my pleasure. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

" No. I should be going back to the States."

" Then let me call Mother......MOTHER!"

Lesley and Lulu come down the stairs.

" You are leaving, Nikolas?"

" Yes, Grandmother."

" So soon?"

" I am afraid so. I will return possibly later on. Please take care of yourselves." Nikolas kisses Lesley and Lulu. He goes to Laura and extends his hand. " Thank you for the information."

" You're welcome, Nikolas. Goodbye."

" Goodbye."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" So, Ms. Jensen. Are you ready for another wonderful time between us?"

" Yes, Jax. I have decided to release all those doubts, and just go with the flow. So, tell your pilot to get us in gear, and get us to Memphis."

" Yes, Ma'am."