Disclaimer: Only original characters and situations belong to me.

A/n: And now begins the story I've been waiting write ever since the "Family Ties" premiere…

The strumming of a lute filled the air as people strolled around munching on turkey legs and drinking wine. A woman with long black hair done up in a knot, a crown on her head and a blue off-the-shoulder ball gown sat on a throne away from the hubbub, watching it with an amused grin. As a jester came by, trying to keep three balls airborne and failing, she burst into laughter.

"What's so funny, your highness?" asked the man on the throne next to her. "If it's Billy, I don't see how he can continue to amuse you day after day. He's not trying to be comical, you know. He's just clumsy, that's all."

The young woman stopped laughing, looked at him, and gave him a small smile. "It's not just Billy," she said. "It's all of this. It's highly inaccurate. That's why I laugh every day," she said.

"Oh," the young man, who just happened to be the king, said. "Are you a history major? Or were you? Perhaps we can put your thoughts to the sponsors and see what they say."

The queen rolled her eyes and patted the king on the arm. "Would you relax, Robert? I was only joking of course." She looked up at the banner hung high on two poles over the festivities: Winter River Theatre Company presents A Weekend in the Renaissance, Richmond Virginia, November 10-13. "This really is such fun. Don't pay attention to me." She squirmed. "Would you mind watching out for the boss for me? I have to run to my dressing room really fast."

He nodded. "Would you like me to get one of your ladies in waiting to help you with your dress, or will you be fine on your own, Stella?"

She gave him a wink. "Thanks for the thought, but I should be fine on my own. I've had quite a bit of experience in dresses like these."

Robert nodded. "All right, whatever you say. See you when you get back."

Stella headed to her dressing room, which was contained in a building put far back from the action of the fair. When she was safely inside, she shut the door behind her and took a deep breath. "Good God," she whispered. She walked to the mirror and stared into it, bracing herself against the sink. "When will this end? I can't do it anymore." The lighting in her dressing room only emphasized how pale she was and made the dark blue of her eyes even more striking, especially when it was contrasted with the lighter blue of her gown. She turned on the faucet and ran her hands under the warm water, splashing some on her face. As the water dripped back down into the sink, there was a knock on her dressing room door. Stella straightened up and took a seat on her sofa. "Come in," she called. A few seconds later, Robert entered, pushing a lock of his red hair out of his eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Stella shifted position slightly. "I don't think I can do this anymore," she said. "I'm worn out."

"Well that doesn't surprise me," Robert said. "This is what, your third tour with us? It's perfectly reasonable for you to want a break by now. And actually, the boss was going to tell you tonight, but we're readying your understudy to come with us to Raleigh, so you can go wherever it is that you call home and have a nice break."

Stella smiled. "It'll be nice to see my husband again. And my brother-in-law. And my sister."

"You're married?" Robert asked interestedly. "For how long? Newlyweds?"

"Yes," Stella nodded. "My parents were against it at first since I'm so young, but we eloped."

"This is probably none of my business," Robert continued, "but it must be nice to have a husband who supports your ambitions. It would be hard for most guys to let their wives go away for weeks at a time, especially if they'd only just married them."

Stella laughed. "My husband and I are kind of unusual in that we actually get along better if we don't spend a lot of time together. We're both independent-minded, passionate people and to act married all the time is much too conventional for us. But we write, text, phone. It works."

"But you're going to see him this weekend?"

"Yeah, I think I am," Stella said. Robert's eyes traveled to the clock on the wall. "I better get back into the fray." He stood up. "I'll be along in a minute," Stella told him. "I just need to get my thoughts together."

Robert nodded. "I'll be waiting for you."

As soon as he was gone, Stella's phone rang. "Hello?" she said, putting it up to her ear.

"Carina," the voice on the other end was velvety and ironical and it made her shiver. "How's the slumming going?"

She laughed. "I'm not slumming, I'm working. And it's going well. But I think I've reached the end of my rope."

"What are you doing now?"

She cleared her throat. "Nothing special. Being the queen at a Renaissance Fair." He burst out laughing. "You're never happy unless you're ruling something, isn't that so, Bella?"

"Ha, ha," she said. "I was planning on coming home this weekend for a visit. Are all of you ready for me?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." She rolled her eyes. It sounded like he was smirking. "I was thinking about something else too," she said carefully. "What's that?" he asked.

"Well," she continued, "since you and I are on better terms now, I thought I'd try and get the necklace back."

"You mean the one that was my mother's?"

She nodded even though he couldn't see it. "Yes, that one."

"But you haven't seen it for years. How could you possibly know where it is?"

"Trust me, I know," she told him. "We're in Richmond right now, and the necklace is with some of our descendants in a town called Mystic Falls. Or at least it was. Now I have to do damage control."

"Well, where is it now?"

She smiled ruefully. "Katerina Petrova has it. You remember her, don't you?"

"Unfortunately, yes I do." The voice at the other end of the line had become subdued. "I remember her all too well."

"So," Stella continued, "I have to go to this Mystic Falls and help them get it back."

"You aren't going to ream them out too badly for losing it, are you?"

"Of course not," Stella said. "They're all young and Katerina is a sneaky, manipulative bitch. I knew she'd get a hold of the necklace sometime."

"But you're going to come back once you get the necklace?"

"Of course," Stella said.

"All right," he told her. "Buona fortuna. Ti amo, Carina."

She smiled. "Grazie, mio caro. Fino a che non ci incontriamo ancora."

"Yes," he said. "Until we meet again. Try not to get into too much trouble beforehand. Do you promise me?"

She laughed. "I make no definite promises, but I'll try." She looked up at the clock. "I have to go now, but I'll call again soon. That's one promise I can keep. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Carina." Stella snapped her phone shut and sighed. If anything, that little conversation had made her feel worse. She adjusted her skirts one last time and left her trailer, running into Robert on her way out. "There you are," he said. "You've missed the beginning of the joust. They were going to send a search party after you."

"Sorry," Stella said. "My husband called."

"Oh," Robert said, taking her arm. "Did the two of you have a nice chat about this weekend?"

"Yes," Stella said. "We did. But before I see him, there's some other family I need to visit. Robert, do you know the location of a town called Mystic Falls?"

"Sure," he said. "If you head out right after the show, you could be there in a couple of hours. I'll write out directions as soon as we're finished."

"Thank you," she smiled. "You're a big help."

After the festivities ended for the day, Stella changed out of her dress, folded it up, put it back in the box and put the box in the trunk of her car. "I'm gonna have to remember to thank Ella for that," she whispered.

"I got the directions to Mystic Falls," Robert said. "Usually you'd go on the interstate, but they're doing construction, so you'll have to take a detour and that'll add on a few extra minutes, but not many."

Stella smiled. "Thanks again." She took the directions from him and got into the car. She flipped through the channels on the radio before arriving at the one that did "songs from the 90s until today." The song ended and the next one came on, one that she thought perfectly illustrated her personality: Bitch, by Meredith Brooks. She began to sing along "I'm a bitch, I'm a tease, I'm a goddess on my knees, when you hurt, when you suffer, I'm your angel undercover. I've been numb, I'm revived, can't say I'm not alive. You know you wouldn't want it any other way…" she turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. She was on her way.

"Are you positive that Stella won't be mad at us when she figures out that we lost the necklace?" Selina asked.

"No," Damon said. "Stella has many good qualities and her sentimentality is one of them."

"Sentimentality?" Selina asked. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Damon said, "remember how before she died, she and her husband had two kids? Well, losing them scarred her in a way, so now she has this weird need to take care of people, even if she knows they're perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. She also has problems admitting that she's wrong, or that people other than herself are capable of making competent decisions without her input."

"So she's a motherly type?" Elena asked.

"Yeah," Damon nodded.

"Just my luck that when Isobel became a vampire she didn't feel such things," Elena said.

"Oh, come on," Selina said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What do you need her for? You've got us!"

"Just how did you find all this out about Stella?" Stefan asked.

"We've gone out for drinks a few times," Damon said. "She can be real fun when she wants to be."

"Well there's an image I won't get out of my head for quite awhile," Selina said.

"It's not like that," Damon said. "There's no way she'd let it get that far. I was in fact, referring to karaoke, not sex."

"Oh," Selina said. "Right, I knew that. Now, about the necklace…"

Damon sighed. "If she comes looking for it, if we tell her what happened and say that we're sorry, she'll look at us with pity and say something along the lines of 'you're young and she's evil. It's not your fault she tricked you. It's a good thing there's someone experienced and capable like me to get you out of this horrible hole you dug yourself into".'

Selina smirked. "She sounds like such a head case."

"Maybe a little," Damon conceded. "But we need her if we want to defeat Katherine."

Just then, they heard the honking of a car horn outside. "Who could be visiting us?" Selina asked, hurrying to the window. "Especially at this time of night?" She looked out the window, squinting into the fading daylight. "Who do we know that drives a red Lamborghini Diablo?"

"Speak of the devil," Damon whispered. "It's Stella. She's here."

"Oh, my God," Selina breathed. She followed Damon to the door. At the first ring of the doorbell, he pulled the door open to reveal Stella, now clad in a short black skirt, a red top, a leather jacket, and silver stiletto heels. "Hi Junior," she said, grinning at Damon. "I haven't seen you in ages. Did you miss me?"