How Nina And Ava Went From Mortal Enemies To BFFs On General Hospital

Nina Reeves and Ava Jerome's unlikely friendship has become one of "General Hospital" fans' favorite things to watch on the soap. When Nina Reeves was first introduced in 2014, she was played by Michelle Stafford, who was on hiatus from her role as Phyllis Summers on "The Young and the Restless." Nina had just woken up from a 20-year coma to find out that she lost her baby and her husband Silas Clay (via Soap Central). Her biggest bone to pick upon waking was with Ava Jerome (Maura West) — the woman who had an affair with Silas all those years ago and now had her own adult daughter to show for it.

Nina's fury led her to do the unthinkable when she kidnapped Ava — then pregnant with her second child — with the intention of stealing her baby. After temporarily paralyzing Ava with drugs and then inducing labor, Nina did successfully take off with little Avery Jerome-Corinthos, but the authorities caught up with her. After being deemed not guilty by reason of insanity, Nina spent some time in a psychiatric facility before rejoining society and trying to rebuild her life in Port Charles.

Unsurprisingly, there was no love lost between Nina and Ava. However, after several years passed with each woman experiencing their own trials, triumphs, and drama, something happened that allowed them to find common ground: the betrayal of Cassadine men. The enemy of your enemy is your friend, as they say.

In 2019, the role of Nina Reeves was recast with talented soap vet and successful mainstream actress Cynthia Watros taking over. By this time, the character had struck up a romance with the formidable Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) for the second time and things had taken a turn for the worse (via Soaps in Depth). The couple had been married from 2016 to 2018 when Nina agreed to help Valentin get custody of his daughter Charlotte, allowing her to finally be a maternal figure. The two fell in love for real; however, they split when Nina couldn't handle his continued association with Anna Devane (Finola Hughes).

Determined to win her back, Valentine decided to find Nina's long-lost daughter that she gave birth to while in a coma to make amends. When he was unable to locate Nina's actual daughter, he instead paid Sasha Gilmore (Sofia Mattson) to pose as her. Over the following months Nina and Sasha formed a strong bond, and the older woman was overcome with joy at finally having her "daughter" in her life. At their second wedding reception, the truth about Valentin's lies was revealed; Nina was heartbroken and furious about his betrayal (via Soaps).

Later in 2019, Valentin believed he had successfully won Nina back for a third time when she seemingly forgave him and began planning their third wedding. In reality, she was only pretending to be in love and was actually plotting to destroy his life at the ceremony — just as he had done to her.

While Nina Reeves was dealing with the loss of her daughter, Ava Jerome was suffering the same fate, only under more tragic circumstances. Ava inadvertently found herself in a romantic relationship with the obsessive, sociopathic serial killer Ryan Chamberlain (Jon Lindstrom), believing him to be his twin Kevin Collins (via Soaps in Depth). She was completely gutted when he murdered her adult daughter Kiki Jerome (Hayley Erin) on Thanksgiving 2018.

While dealing with her grief, visions of her dead daughter began torturing Ava. She soon became convinced that someone was watching her and even started seeing hallucinations of Nikolas Cassadine (Marcus Coloma), who had been killed by his uncle Valentin Cassadine right in front of her in 2016 (via Soap Central). Ava believed she was suffering a nervous breakdown and checked herself into the infamous psychiatric facility Shadybrook.

However, it turned out that Nikolas had survived his "death" and had been biding his time for three years until he could return to Port Charles and usurp his family's fortune. Ava was in possession of an important painting that contained information regarding the Cassadine estate, and Nikolas and Valentin were both on a mission to find it. Nikolas began "haunting" Ava by showing himself to her while she was medicated and taunted her by saying that her daughter Kiki was in hell in order to get information out of her.

Nina discovered that Nikolas was alive when they found his Cassadine ring that he accidentally left behind when "visiting" Ava, per Soaps. When Ava she realized a very alive-and-well Nikolas had terrorized her, she became more determined than ever to take down the Cassadines.

Ava Jerome came into possession of a valuable portrait of Helena Cassadine, and it was revealed that the painting contained a codicil to Mikkos Cassadine's will that disinherited Valentin Cassadine from the family fortune (via Soaps in Depth). He and Nikolas Cassadine, along with various accomplices, were both determined to get their hands on it. When Nina Reeves realized that Ava held all the leverage, she suggested that the two women pair up and use the codicil to take revenge against the men.

It turned out that the codicil not only disinherited Valentin but also proved that he wasn't even a biological Cassadine after all. Nina planned to reveal this fact at her New Year's Eve wedding to Valentin at the Wyndemere castle, but she didn't get the chance. Valentin cornered Ava for information on the codicil and when she wouldn't comply, he pushed her off the parapet to her presumed death. Luckily Nikolas was there to rescue her and the two crashed the ceremony (via Soaps).

While Nikolas' family was busy rejoicing that he was alive, Valentin came to realize that Nina had been playing him all along, and she was finally able to gloat about her revenge. For Ava's part, she agreed to give Nikolas the codicil that would reinstate him as the rightful heir to the Cassadine heir and ensure that his son Spencer would receive his inheritance. However, her one condition was that he had to marry her, thus winning herself half of the estate that he had been so desperate to reclaim (via Daytime Confidential).

Nina Reeves and Ava Jerome's unlikely partnership proved beneficial for them both. Nina took everything away from Valentin Cassadine that he ever wanted, and Ava snatched half of Nikolas Cassadine's lofty inheritance for herself as payment for the tortuous tricks he played on her. Thus began a friendship between the two women that outweighed any of their past animosity.

In the years since their victorious coup, Nina and Ava have become confidants for each other and enjoy not only hanging out but supporting each other during their hardships. Ava helped Nina come to terms with her feelings for Sonny Cornthios (Maurice Benard), who is the father of the daughter Nina once kidnapped (via CheatSheet). She didn't even give her grief when it was revealed that Nina knew Sonny was alive for six months while his family grieved his "death." In return, Nina supported Ava through the ups and downs of her marriage to Nikolas, which began as a business arrangement and ended up becoming genuine when the two surprisingly fell in love (via Metro).

Both Nina Reeves and Ava Jerome have checkered pasts filled with betrayal, loss, and plenty of crimes, but it seems that having each other in their corner has helped them deal with the never-ending drama in their lives — and "General Hospital" fans seem to delight in witnessing their newfound friendship.