A.N.: Krystena, I hyperventilated at the comparison to Tolkien's writing-style (and yes, I did read it a lot! And watch the movies a lot! Like on repeat every day!) Thank you so much!
Can anyone remember the chapter where I went into detail about previous doppelgängers that had cropped up over time, but been protected by Elijah because the moonstone was missing, so Klaus couldn't have lifted the curse anyway? Because I can't. So I'm just going to make up a name for one of the historic ones.
Also, time-wise, the Originals were woken 'now' - between 2018-2020-ish. So my guys, who are nearly 28/29 years old were born in the very early 1990s. When I say Zara survived Hurricane Katrina, she was about 13/14 at the time.
A warning: This is a long one… I felt like the 25th chapter deserves a special title, and as it's special (not smutty!) content, I thought I'd name it in our favourites' honour…
Resurgam
25
Giulijah
She arrived ten minutes early: Elijah was sat basking in the sunshine, on one of the little benches laid out in the parterres in front of the house. As requested, he wore no suit: Only dark-wash jeans and a black t-shirt under a blazer.
And he looked good.
His face creased into an easy grin as she drew up to the picket fence. Instead of letting her out of the truck, perhaps becoming distracted by whatever was going on inside the house, Elijah strolled down the path and climbed into the passenger seat.
"Good afternoon," he smiled warmly, adjusting his sunglasses. Giulia smiled, as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. "You look very pretty."
"Thank you," Giulia said, smiling sweetly. "And you… Nice denims."
"I wore them especially for you," Elijah teased. "Kol is still in shock."
"Well, you do them justice," Giulia smiled to herself. There were few people who had the talent of finding the perfect pair of jeans: Elijah had that knack. The dark denim hugged his thighs and caressed his ass and made her mouth water. "I hope it wasn't too painful a process to turn away from Savile Row?"
"Oh, it was exquisitely excruciating… In truth I've been adopting them more and more often to spend time with Finn out-of-doors."
"It must be an adjustment, being reminded…of who you used to be," Giulia said carefully, and Elijah nodded.
"That, it most certainly is," he said quietly, glancing at Giulia, who had orchestrated everything. "But a welcome one. I had forgotten…the simplicity, the purity of…being outside, taking care of the crops and fields. It was back-breaking work then, but necessary…now it feels almost a privilege to have the sun at my back as we tend the fields. Finn can't understand why I wore my 'finery' every day."
"It was your armour," Giulia said softly, with a warm, knowing smile, and Elijah nodded. "You've been to the Edible Farmyard with Finn?"
"If I want to spend time with Finn, I must follow where he leads: He does not abandon his chores. He's very proud of the Farmyard," Elijah said warmly, glancing at Giulia. "He's very proud of the trust you have shown him, to look after your lands."
"It's never been hard to be kind to Finn," Giulia admitted. "He's wonderful."
Elijah sighed heavily, watching Giulia's face. "And you're wondering how I could have let him stay daggered all this time." Giulia started, and glanced away from the road to look him in the eye.
"If he hadn't been daggered, he wouldn't be the wonderful person I've come to appreciate," she said carefully, but with a stern bite - warning him not to start blaming himself. "Every…wonderful thing about him, his decency, his warmth, his nurturing nature, his diligence…do you think that would have survived the test of time - survived Klaus?" Elijah sighed heavily, acknowledging…
"No."
"A personality like Finn's… Klaus would have crushed him," Giulia said. "Destroyed everything extraordinary about Finn. He would've been…a husk."
"He gained consciousness…through the centuries…" Elijah admitted, the words ripped from him, drenched in pain. He had never known, never realised… "He was trapped."
Giulia nodded to herself, and muttered a dull, "I know." Elijah winced, emotion threatening to choke him, guilt and grief for his favourite brother… Giulia reached over and placed her hand on his thigh, squeezing subtly. Her eyes were unsettling, hypnotic, and stern as she held his gaze. "Not your fault - you couldn't know that."
"He doesn't…recognise me," Elijah admitted. He and Finn had been closer than brothers, best-friends, partners in their farm - had guarded each other's backs through every raid before they fled the Old World, ferociously devoted to each other. He had been a second father to Elijah's children, their fiercest protector, their ally and friend. Elijah had been trying to remember the man he was…when they were human.
Giulia sighed softly, her hand moving to his, her thumb stroking the back of his hand. "Elijah…they're only suits," she said, with a tiny, sad, expressive smile. "Every wonderful thing they loved you for then is still a part of you now. They just have to work a little harder to tease it out… And it's worth it."
Elijah smiled warmly, admitting, "I've missed you."
"You've missed me?" she laughed richly, and he smiled, almost flushing: of course, he had missed her nearness for weeks. She had been without him for a decade.
"How have you been, Giulia?" he asked earnestly, wanting to know everything. She made a noncommittal noise, and his lips twitched. "I'll start with an easier question, perhaps. You have a new truck?"
"Sadly so," Giulia said, crinkling her nose. She had never in her life imagined ever owning a truck: She had a ruby-red Ford F-150 for the heavy-duty stuff demanded of her as a partner in a construction company. And Enzo had her sleek gunmetal-silver Audi Q5 today; he was having a bonding day with Zita. Thickshakes had been mentioned; and softball. "I needed it for work."
"What happened to the Beetle?"
"She's semi-retired," Giulia smiled. "The truck, my other car - they're safer."
"Mm… I will miss it," Elijah said, and Giulia shot him a smirk, remembering exactly why he liked the Beetle so much. They had explored how gymnastic they could be in the backseat of her beloved car…
"Oh, I do, too," she promised him.
"Did you manage to go on that road-trip you had been planning with Caroline?" Elijah asked: Before he had been daggered, Giulia had been taking classes at the University of Virginia in Richmond, planning a transcontinental summer road-trip with Caroline, among other things. Giulia grinned, reminded of that summer road-trip, just her and Caroline, her Beetle and the teardrop trailer she had built from scratch - driving across the US pursuing adventure.
"I did," she smiled. "Two weeks after…everything - Caroline and I set off as soon as the semester ended."
"And how was it?" Elijah asked carefully, and Giulia glanced at him, knowing he wasn't just asking about the road-trip itself.
"It was…an education," she admitted, with a deep sigh. She told Elijah, "I'm still exploring, truth be told."
"If you don't wish to tell me -"
"It's okay." She laughed softly to herself. "For the longest time all I wanted to do was tell you… Do you remember when Tyler bit you, and the venom triggered your memories? You drew me into them. And then you explained…all of it."
"I do remember," he said. She was the first person he had opened up to about his family in centuries. And she was the first he had ever shown his past - all of it, every tragic circumstance that contributed to the creation of the vampire race.
He had let her in.
Elijah didn't let people in.
"Your mother wanted to protect you; your father wanted to make you superior to the werewolves," Giulia said, and Elijah nodded. "Well…as far as I've experienced…perhaps I'm more what your mother had in mind when she crafted her spell."
"How so?"
"I don't subsist on blood, or crave it, firstly," Giulia said. "It speeds up my healing to the same rate as vampires, but that's all; I don't need it the way a vampire must have regular doses of blood to survive. I live off the fruits of the earth. Although my metabolism is so fast, I burn through energy…especially when my instincts are triggered. The blood rushes to my organs to fuel my shift, and afterwards, I'm exhausted. Much more like a werewolf after the full-moon."
"So you - you're not actually a vampire," Elijah clarified, and Giulia shook her head.
"No. Blood for healing; otherwise, my diet is very normal - although I'm always eating," Giulia said. "My senses are heightened, which is tricky… I still have trouble sometimes, guarding myself. That summer, Caroline and I learned through trial-and-error a little of what I am…what I can do… Figured out pretty early on that I still need my reading-glasses… I couldn't listen to music, really, for…years, actually - until I was pregnant with Zita."
"The emotion," Elijah guessed, and Giulia nodded slowly.
"Although that wasn't the worst," she said softly. Elijah shifted in his seat to examine her profile at his leisure, unabashedly curious. She looked relaxed, and very pretty, her hair gently waving around her shoulders, a tissue-thin white t-shirt highlighting her summer tan. He had only known her over autumn, winter and into the spring; summer hadn't yet officially begun when she was killed and he was daggered. He had never seen her tanned - he remembered her beautiful pale skin, her silvery-grey eyes mesmerising in contrast to her dark hair, now sun-streaked and very pretty. She had…grown up. At seventeen, she had been beguilingly pretty: Now she was breath-taking.
"Which was the worst for you?" Elijah wondered.
Giulia glanced at him; she wore no sunglasses, and her mesmerising eyes swept over his face before she answered, sadly, "Scent… It's the sense with the strongest link to memory… Decades later, you can catch a scent and be reminded of something long-buried…" Her features softened sadly, withdrawn, and Elijah was reminded of the girl he had been desperately in love with mere weeks ago. This Giulia was calmer, warmer: She was no less herself than she had been at seventeen, in fact, Elijah would say she was more so. He had never known Giulia before her father was killed; he had been with her through her grief, the adjustment period, and the chaos that had created such unique circumstances, they had found each other, and fallen fiercely and irrevocably in love. Giulia sighed softly. "And it's unpredictable. My hearing, I learned how to put in mental blocks, otherwise I'd be struck down with debilitating migraines… Touch, I had to wean myself from touching everything… I always noticed you were so tactile, now I understand a little more why…" He smiled. "As for taste…well, I've always had an appreciation for fine food; it's made me extremely conscious of things like organic farming, which isn't a bad thing, it opened up some opportunities for me… But scent… That was one is the bitch. I have absolutely no control over it - or my reactions when scent triggers a memory." Elijah chuckled softly.
"So…your senses are heightened," he said.
"Yes, but -" Giulia interrupted, then sighed, grimacing thoughtfully. "I've spent enough time around werewolves to realise I'm a lot more like them than vampires. My senses are always sharper at night; and I really have to work hard closer to the full-moon to keep my blocks in place - everything's sharpest on the full-moon. I don't shift or anything, but there's…a surge…like a tidal-wave of power rising up inside me, and I have to be very careful… And I'm strong. I had to learn to temper my strength; I'm stronger than werewolves, but not physically as strong as vampires."
"Your mind was always your most lethal asset, anyway," Elijah said, "not your physical strength… So everything is in balance."
"With me? I think so," Giulia mused. "I'm allergic to werewolf venom but it won't kill me. I can't sire more like myself but…I can bear children."
"And that is very curious to me," Elijah said, all his training as an obstetrician snagging his memory, peaking his interest. "You did…actually die."
"Oh, yeah, a couple times," Giulia said, with a nonchalance Elijah saw through: It had been harrowing to watch. To have endured it…? She started in her seat, and turned wide eyes on him. "Oh. I didn't tell you, yet."
"Oh dear. What?" he winced.
"You remember my phobia of pregnancy and childbirth?" she said, grimacing, and Elijah nodded. "I…thought I'd killed my mother when I was born." Elijah sighed softly, nodding. "When…my mother was pregnant with me, she was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer. The doctors said they could terminate me and treat the cancer, or she could hedge her bets, refuse treatment to let me grow, see if she could bring me to term before the cancer killed her."
"She refused treatment," Elijah guessed.
"Sort of. Damon liked her," she said, as if this explained everything. "He stayed in town, and every day he'd dose my mother with vampire blood. To keep the cancer at bay."
"You gestated…with vampire-blood in your system," Elijah said softly, realisation settling in, "you were born with it."
"And the sacrifice…I think that all triggered whatever was latent in me," Giulia said. "The Gilbert device, the werewolf attack…all the hints and clues something was different… So, there it is. I gestated with vampire-blood. However the sacrifice and the fire and my deaths…however they all factored in, it brought out the potential that had always been there…"
"The vampiric answer to the werewolf gene," Elijah said softly, and Giulia nodded. "You were born, not made."
"I was born, but…unique circumstances triggered my transition," Giulia said thoughtfully. "I'm still trying to figure out which it was - the vampire blood and transition; or stepping into the fire after… I think I went through more transformations that night than even I can understand. And I've no desire to research further into it." She said it with a bite; Elijah raised an eyebrow. It meant, no-one else was to look into it, either.
"Neither vampire nor werewolf…with neither the weaknesses of the vampires or the werewolves," Elijah said softly, nodding to himself, something like dread clenching the pit of his stomach - worry, for her. She was utterly unique in the world. He wondered briefly about her daughter - and knew better, as a father, than to ask questions that might implicate the innocent little girl. He knew what Giulia was capable of doing to protect her friends…for her daughter? She would shock even him, Elijah was certain. "Am I the first you've spoken to of this?"
"In so many words," Giulia said. "Caroline knows a little; she helped me through a lot of the early trauma, with my senses. Most things, I've had to figure out on my own… My strength, my metabolism and diet, my menstrual cycle-"
"You have one?!" Elijah blurted, eyebrows rising, and Giulia nodded. Vampires could only procreate through siring: Caroline hadn't had to worry about being surprised by her period for ten years - but it meant she couldn't have children.
"Once a year," Giulia said, sighing. "I…am fertile between September and November, then I get my period for a week. I mean, it makes sense…"
"How so?" Elijah was stunned.
"Any more children I have will always be born in the summer months. Children born in summer have a better chance of survival," Giulia said, and Elijah nodded, agreeing. "But it - it does make me wonder… Female werewolves still have a monthly cycle. We know that werewolves can live to be up to two-hundred years old if they're smart enough to survive, but… It makes me wonder about my life-expectancy…"
Elijah noticed her fiddling with her rings, a subtle nervous tick he wouldn't have noticed if he didn't know her.
"I'm…the only one of my kind, I - don't know what that means," Giulia said softly. She glanced at Elijah. "I'm playing it by ear, and I don't even know what instrument it is I'm playing… The same thing you had to do a thousand years ago."
"You've handled your transition far more elegantly than we ever did," Elijah said grimly.
Giulia's smile was enigmatic. "You don't know what I've been up to."
"I suppose not," he sighed. "So…what have you been up to?"
"Well…sometimes you've got to run before you can walk," Giulia said. She shot Elijah the mischievous smirk he remembered so fondly.
"I did hear a rumour…about a certain university campus…being razed to the ground."
"It was one - it was one building!" Giulia exclaimed indignantly. "I wish people would get their facts right."
Elijah laughed. "And something about a spot of bother with the witches of the Tremé?"
"Oh, that was just a bit of fun," Giulia purred, but something dark glinted in her eyes.
"Fun? How was it, Kol described it… Ah, yes: 'Midnight…moonlight…surrounded by death'," Elijah chuckled.
"He's very evocative, isn't he?" Giulia smirked. She waved a hand airily.
"He said you lived together, very briefly, in the Quarter."
"And they say I paid no penance," Giulia clicked her tongue, and Elijah laughed.
"What took you to New Orleans?"
"Sheila called in a favour."
"Ah…it was about Bonnie. How were things left between you two?"
"After the sacrifice? We were polite, but…guarded… Then the nastiness in New Orleans cropped up, I dragged Bonnie back to Mystic Falls by her braids - things got better," Giulia said simply. "A few years later, moved back to town with Zita, and then she was pregnant with Penelope…suddenly we were the ones who had the most in common…"
"And what of the others?" Elijah asked curiously. "Your friends?"
"Well, Caroline is still in town, so are Elena and Matt, and Bonnie, but Tyler… Tyler got a full-ride to Tulane and, but for vacations, he's never really moved back," Giulia smiled fondly. "He's…made friends there, he's got a teaching post at a pretty awful school where he can really make a difference…and he's part of a pack. Your old friends."
"My old friends, hm… Ah. The Crescent wolves," Elijah said softly, images of old friends and acquaintances and lovers flickering through his mind, cataloguing those he had known and loved and lost throughout the centuries in New Orleans. He remembered the city when it had been nothing more than a backwoods penal colony of the French king, had had a hand in shaping the jewel of the South it would become. "They were not to be trifled with."
"Then… Infighting put them on the verge of extinction a few decades ago," Giulia said softly. "The ones left behind… Well, school's not the only place Tyler's making a difference. He's…he's grown into himself there, in a way he could never have done if he was stuck in Mystic Falls. He…found people who needed help and realised he was pretty good about getting things done…he didn't so much as adopt a leadership role as grudgingly accept it when it was thrust on him - and I think he's still a little surprised, and a little pleased, that people come to him for help with their problems. That wasn't his natural role when we were kids."
"I imagine he learned a few things, watching a very good friend of his," Elijah smiled, and Giulia chuckled softly. "How did Bonnie end up in New Orleans?"
"Ah, well… So, Tyler got his scholarship…and Sheila pulled some strings with some contacts she has at Tulane," Giulia smiled. "Bonnie and Tyler were both at Tulane together… I helped Bonnie out… A few years later, I was pursuing my Psychology PhD, I'd enjoyed the city so much…the community, you know? Kol was there, so was Tyler. And I had ties to the covens, so when I decided on the angle I wanted to pursue for my doctorate thesis, I applied to Tulane and moved to New Orleans… I lived there for eight months, lecturing while I was writing my thesis. I bought a house with Tyler and a friend of his from college, we fixed it up together… Zara and I were both pregnant, so, it was a very bonding experience, and Tyler…just came into himself, you know? Became the man I think he'd always wanted to be, but would…would likely never have had opportunity to become if he'd stayed here… After living overseas, I just…it felt like home, being with Tyler - when Zita was born, I stayed for a few months, got my PhD…then I decided to come back here. To Mystic Falls." She glanced at Elijah. "I'd been avoiding it for years… It's strange how things work out."
"What we do for our children," Elijah said softly, and Giulia nodded, drawing up in front of a house stripped to its structural supports, a large skip on the driveway, half-full with debris.
"Where are we?" Elijah asked, unbuckling his seatbelt as Giulia smiled and climbed out of the truck.
"This is one of the things I wanted to show you," she smiled, pausing by the hood of the truck, tucking her sleek sunglasses in place. "When I lived in New Orleans, I got bit by the bug… I bought and built up two other houses in New Orleans, and when I moved back here… Caroline and I…we take things that are ancient and neglected, and we fix them."
"Houses."
"Those, too," Giulia said, her lips twitching, and Elijah chuckled; she turned to the skeletal remains of the house. "We're in the business of 'neighbourhood rejuvenation'. We buy up neglected properties, strip them back to the bones and foundations, fix what can be repaired, and then we sell the properties on. Most of them. Some are rented - to give us an income, you know? Outside of other investments. Last year we had seventeen properties that we bought and rebuilt. We also do new-builds, too, which I design."
"You?"
"I earned a degree in Architecture from Central Saint Martins in London," Giulia told him proudly, and Elijah raised his eyebrows.
"Architecture? What about History?"
"That was then; this is now," Giulia joked. She shrugged delicately. "I had to look forward. And…Architecture gives me a creative outlet, keeps my mind sharp...you know how I like my projects."
"I do," Elijah smiled. "So, you and Caroline, in business together?"
"We've found a wonderful balance," Giulia said. "I handle the nitty-gritty; she gets the pretty. I redesign the houses; once they're built, she stages them and pimps them out to potential buyers. She's also pretty good at obtaining new properties, and getting the permits."
"Uncanny," Elijah smirked, and Giulia grinned. Elijah narrowed his eyes at her. "Caroline compels…what about you?"
"I can…not as easily as a vampire, I have to really focus - and really need to be able to do it, kind of…like the Imperius Curse, I have to feel it," Giulia said. "I just don't tend to bother; I'm convincing enough as it is, I don't need the crutch." Elijah smiled to himself. "So…we've worked with the town on a few projects to revitalise downtown and keep the town from slipping into an economic coma. And we work with the local juvenile detention centre to incorporate newly-released kids into our work-crews, to give them jobs, teach them skills, reinforce accountability, teamwork…"
"What inspired that?"
"Uh, well - when I burned down the building at Whitmore College, it was suggested to me that amends must be made. Also that, if things had gone another way for me, I might've been one of those kids behind bars," Giulia said, giving Elijah a look; he kept his face carefully blank, though he felt his lips twitching.
"You could pull off orange overalls," he said thoughtfully, and Giulia laughed.
"That's what I told Matt; he was not amused," she said.
"Matt?"
"Hhe was the whistle-blower. His first few weeks at Whitmore College, he found out about an organisation there…they…had a vampire captive, they'd been experimenting on him for decades, doing scientific research," Giulia said, and her expression darkened, a muscle ticking delicately in her jaw. Elijah sighed, his eyes caressing the curve of her jaw, wishing he could lean over and kiss his way from her chin to her ear, tasting the warmth of her skin… "Vivisection."
"Dissection…while the vampire was conscious?" Elijah said, his jaw dropping. There had been those who had discovered the secret, throughout the centuries - of course - and tried to exploit their findings…but this…
"He was very much so," Giulia said darkly, and Elijah realised…
"Enzo."
"Enzo," Giulia said softly, nodding expressively. "Anyway, when I moved back to town with Zita, and Caroline and I started up Lazarus Construction, I worked with Matt to start First Chance. That's our programme - for a lot of the kids we work with, it literally is their first chance, just because of their family's circumstances. So we give them jobs after their release, they learn skills - and life-skills, too, like budgeting, cooking, general skills to maintain a household - but we also provide tutoring; we want these kids to stay in school, or work toward their G.E.D.s."
"They get support," Elijah said, and Giulia nodded.
"It was important to Matt," Giulia said. "He wouldn't have graduated if not for me offering him rent-free accommodation, and Rose tutoring him, helping him to apply for colleges. He lived at the Boarding House during vacations, and he did a lot to help Rose with the renovation of the Boarding House. He got a lot of experience; he got a degree in project management. So Caroline and I have been discussing inviting him to join us."
"What about First Chance?"
"Well, actually, after the initial start-up, Carol Lockwood took on a lot of the work with First Chance; it's her retirement project," Giulia said, rolling her eyes subtly as they stepped into the shade, pushing her sunglasses up onto her head. "She was Interim-Mayor after her husband's death but when election-time came, Tyler was headed to Tulane… Carol wanted the freedom to go to New Orleans any time she wanted. She has a condo on the Gulf Coast now…but she enjoys her social life here, and First Chance keeps her busy. I think it affected her more than she lets on…when she found out the circumstances of Tyler triggering his curse…if he'd been anyone else's son, from any other family - he should've ended up in jail, for the rest of his life. For circumstances that were completely beyond his control. It's the same with a lot of the kids we work with… And speaking of first chances…I heard a rumour about Lagertha."
"Ah," Elijah nodded, following Giulia as she inspected the bones of the house. Her sunglasses were pushed up on her head, and he could see her mind whirring behind those mercurial eyes, plotting things out in her head, doing calculations. "That's…one of the things I wanted to discuss with you."
"Let's discuss it in air-conditioning," Giulia said, plucking her t-shirt away from her stomach, and she shot him an envious look as he chuckled.
"So you're still warm-blooded."
"Oh, yes," Giulia grumbled. "I say I enjoyed New Orleans - the humidity was a real bitch."
"Especially when you're pregnant, I would imagine," Elijah said, glancing sideways at Giulia as they approached the truck. As he buckled himself in, Giulia cranked the engine and Tchaikovsky's 'Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48' started playing as the air-conditioning swept over them in a lulling blanket. He glanced at Giulia. "I…will tell you anything you wish to know about my family…if you will…tell me about her."
"Who?" Giulia gazed at him. He smiled sadly. Children changed everything.
"Zita."
Giulia smiled warmly, her entire body radiating joy and pride and delight. "Love of my life!" she cooed richly. Elijah smiled. Even when they were together, he had never seen her like this. He had rarely seen her…ecstatic.
"You chose an exquisite name," he said softly. Zita. She always pronounced the 't' very sharply; she had abandoned her Southern drawl, perhaps through experience and education, and to his ears her accent was richer, more melodic, as if she spent more time speaking in foreign languages now than English.
"Her…her full name is Zita Alma Carolina Hero," Giulia said softly, and Elijah watched her face; her eyes seemed to dim, saddened.
After a moment, he realised, and sighed, "Z.A.C.H… That is a very beautiful way to honour your father." Some of the warmth returned to Giulia's smile, pushing back the sadness. "I can understand 'Carolina' but where did the other names come from?"
"Well, Much Ado About Nothing was the last Shakespeare play I saw before I learned Zita was on the way, it was during the Globe's 'Summer of Love' summer season, and the name triggers the memories of that summer," Giulia said, and again her eyes turned sad.
"And memories of her father," he said, and Giulia started, gazing at him unblinkingly.
"Yes," she murmured, finally, perhaps uncertain how he had realised. "Alma was my husband's grandmother, who raised him. And Zita…I already knew a Zara, and as much as I love her, I couldn't give my daughter her name. But names beginning with 'Z' are not particularly common for girls…or very pretty. I never liked Zoe - association, you know. Third grade. Not that I bear grudges… There was…Zoya, Ziporah and Zosima… Cara recommended Zsa Zsa… Zelma made the short-list…but none of them were right. I heard the name Zita, a friend of a friend of someone I went to university with in London. I heard the name, and it stuck with me. I had thought of keeping the name for my next cat." Elijah laughed. "Then she was born, and…Zita just fit."
"You always shuddered at the very mention of pregnancy and childbirth."
"And Zita's birth did nothing to dispel my horror," Giulia said, glancing at him, assessing; he was an obstetrician, after all. "She came elbow first." Elijah inhaled sharply, grimacing, his reaction visceral, his experience as an obstetrician showing in his horrified expression.
"Oh, dear."
"Yes. Oh, dear. It was a home-birth, in spite of everything I worried about…because I couldn't risk the questions…" Elijah nodded, understanding: She was an anomaly, would be classified a medical mystery. "Thirty-three hours' labour, with no drugs, not even gas-and-air."
"No drugs?"
"My metabolism burns right through everything," Giulia said grimly, looking briefly very annoyed, so annoyed Elijah's lips twitched. "Thirty-three hours' labour, no drugs, she came elbow-first and…I haemorrhaged." Dread settled in his stomach like a dead weight.
"But you healed."
"I healed," Giulia nodded. "Tyler got me blood-bags, and I healed, as if I hadn't gone through the worst trauma any woman can endure… And there she was…" She glanced at Elijah, and held his gaze, her features softening, at once serious and hallowed and awe-struck. "I'd never been…terrified before…but holding her for the first time…"
"There is nothing to compare to it," Elijah said softly, "and I speak only as a father."
"And speaking as a father, and head of your family…what's going on, Elijah?" Giulia asked softly. Elijah sighed heavily.
"You've… I was woken, and…you had done your utmost to help establish my siblings here in Mystic Falls, to…embrace them," Elijah said, turning a devastating smile on her, his pride and his gratitude shining through. Giulia's answering smile was gentle, almost self-conscious. He bit his lip. "After learning the truth about our mother, and…finding Niklaus in the condition he is in… We have decided it quite time we decided our own fates. You've…very graciously provided us a safe place from which we can decide on…what exactly they will be… Lagertha has never lived in a world where the same opportunities are open to women as they are men. She has always been martial in nature, as well as nurturing…and she despises idling her way through life. She would rather commit her considerable skill-set to something worthy."
"And Rebekah talking about Liz Forbes peaked her interest."
"A female sheriff? You can imagine Lagertha was scintillated by the idea of women in the Armed Forces. It is early days yet, but we discussed my training in medicine. Obstetrics would, I think…be too painful a path for Lagertha to pursue, and she agrees, the same with paediatrics."
"You did it," Giulia reminded him, and Elijah nodded, making a tiny noise at the base of his throat, that tiny expressive noise Giulia remembered, that said a thousand words.
"But I never carried children, only to lose them," he said softly. He glanced at her, dark eyes arresting. "You can understand…it is different for women." Giulia nodded, having carried a child, having given birth - even in such harrowing circumstances. "But Lagertha…she always enjoyed the camaraderie, the discipline of the raiding-parties. She is curious about medicine - but she is also interested in the military."
"There's no reason she couldn't pursue both," Giulia said reasonably, and Elijah nodded.
"I did suggest some form of military surgeon or doctor," he said softly.
"That's tricky, though," Giulia said, and Elijah nodded. "She'd need all sorts of paperwork. And she'd have to really commit to it."
"Lagertha's commitment has never be an issue," Elijah said.
"Well…if she wants to pursue that kind of a career… My dad was a Marine," Giulia said, and Elijah smiled warmly.
"I remember."
"Some of his old buddies I still have contact with have retired out, now, but I'm sure they'd be willing to give some careers-advice if Lagertha wanted it. They're good people," Giulia said earnestly. "An E.R. doctor in Richmond who's friends with Meredith was a flight surgeon - he's still in the Reserves with the U.S. Navy, as far as I know. But…she'd have to pursue her education first, and…I mean, like, the basics…"
"Unfortunately, unlike Gyda and Rebekah, she stands little chance of passing off as a high-school student," Elijah murmured, and Giulia nodded, agreeing.
"She can work on her G.E.D.," Giulia said. "I'm sure she'd have no trouble."
"Lagertha doesn't show it, but I'm certain she's thrilled with the idea of attending a university," Elijah said softly. "Rebekah certainly is…" He sighed heavily, glancing at Giulia. "Thank you. For the offer to put Lagertha into contact with your family-friends."
Giulia shrugged delicately. "You have to have the right personality for military service - and a career in medicine. I…personally think Lagertha…has it," Giulia said, and Elijah nodded, agreeing. Had it been Isak…or Rebekah… "And if she needs help with her G.E.D., I'd be more than willing to help out - I enjoy spending time with Lagertha."
"And she likes you, too," Elijah smiled, chuckling richly. "It's rare for her to find a woman more intense than her." Giulia laughed, nodding. He sighed. "On to…more troublesome siblings."
"Oh dear. Which?" Giulia grimaced, and Elijah laughed.
"There are so many to choose from, are there not?" he teased. "Rebekah. She concerns me the most. Gyda…has already made up her mind to attend the high-school and start assimilating, in preparation to apply for universities. And Rebekah…much as she would be loath to admit it, she has often admired Gyda, the choices she made…and there is a degree of pettiness in Rebekah's decision to attend high-school - she cannot leave well enough alone, and the idea of Gyda pursuing something she wants…"
"Families," Giulia clicked her tongue, "who'd have them?" She winked playfully at him; Elijah smirked. Wasn't it all for his family? Had Giulia not done all of this - for him, because he couldn't bear to be parted from his family?
"Gyda and Rebekah have already made…overtures at the administration office," he told Giulia. "Knowing Rebekah as I do, and the inevitable clashes that occur when she and Gyda are forced into proximity for an extended duration…I believe it best someone keeps an eye on them. I know that Alaric is now…somewhat-retired."
"Somewhat," Giulia nodded.
"But he is now the principal of the high-school?" Elijah prompted, and Giulia nodded, smiling proudly. "Through making enquiries I discovered that there is an opening in the English Department."
"Making enquiries. You took Carol Lockwood out for drinks, didn't you?" Giulia smirked, and Elijah grinned.
"Perhaps. Perhaps she was plied with a few dry martinis," he admitted, and Giulia laughed. "I won't deny I do have a tender spot for Carol Lockwood. She seems more content now."
"The only thing that bothers her is Tyler's refusal to give her grandchildren. Not that there's anyone…he's actively pursuing in his life," Giulia said carefully, reflecting on Tyler, and his…intimate friendship with Zara. They were like an old married couple and best-friends rolled into one - without any sexual relationship or even a romantic one. They were just Tyler and Zara. That was it. That was all they needed to be.
"Hm. Complications?" Elijah smiled warmly at her, and Giulia flicked her gaze over his face thoughtfully.
"You could say that," she said softly. "Many, and varied. And he's afraid of the risk if he upsets things as they are…he's not ready to risk what he has, for something that…could be."
"There is always a tipping-point," Elijah said softly.
"Regression to the mean," Giulia murmured, and Elijah nodded. Things could neither be wholly bad or wholly good forever: All things drifted back to a comfortable neutral. There must always be a balance. She sighed heavily. "Well, they're content - for now. And I'm glad. They're…well-suited."
Giulia's phone rang in the centre console. Her eyes widened as she glanced at the high-definition screen. Zara was pulling her ears, her cheeks puffed out like a monkey, her eyes crossed, wearing Mickey Mouse ears. She'd been so high on sugar that day… "Okay, that's eerie." She glanced at Elijah, who sat up straight at the image on her phone, his lips parting. She connected the FaceTime call. "Hi, Zara - whoa! Hot new hair-do! Yeowch!" The last time she'd spoken with Zara, her hair had been growing out of a dark winter lob - now, her hair curled softly away from her face in a bob, full of delicious caramel, golden and bronze highlights, glittering platinum blonde framing her face, offsetting her olive skin and dark eyes.
"See - now, that's the reaction I should have had," Zara exclaimed pointedly to someone off-screen.
"Yeah, yeah," someone muttered in the background; Giulia recognised the vibrant sunflower-yellow kitchen wall she had painted so long ago with Zara, and the sound of a grumpy Tyler.
"Tyler says he doesn't like it," Zara said, pulling a face.
"Oh, no, it looks gorgeous - with that hot-pink lip! You look delicious!" Giulia groaned, grinning. Zara beamed, the familiar face so utterly unique, joy and irony radiating from beneath her very skin - and concealing the iron beneath.
"Not that I don't appreciate the flattery, but…that's not why I'm calling," Zara smiled warmly. "Tyler needs you."
"Oh, okay. Does he want abuse or heavy-breathing?"
Zara smirked straight at the camera, her grin widening as they listened to Tyler muttering in the background that he didn't need any help. "Neither. He's fixing the plumbing."
"Oh, for God's sake!" Giulia exclaimed. "Tyler!"
"I told him to call someone," Zara sighed.
"We don't have to fork over four-hundred dollars for some jerk to come and waste our time - we can fix it ourselves…"
"Uh-huh… There'd be nothin' to fix if you hadn't decided to start tinkerin' with it!" Zara said, her deep N'awlins drawl lulling. "Every damn summer-vacation he gets like this, Giulia - he drives me nuts! Trying to 'fix' things around the house. Thank God school starts up soon."
"I'll say," Tyler muttered darkly.
"I'm just gonna show Giulia how little we need help right now," Zara said sweetly, and the camera jogged and zoomed and Giulia had to look away until Zara settled the camera on the kitchen-floor, where sodden towels and rags were piled up.
"Well, if someone wouldn't abuse the garbage-disposal, there wouldn't be an issue!"
"Hey, is that the toolkit I got you?" Giulia asked brightly, smiling: She had gifted Zara her very own personal toolkit when she and Tyler officially bought Giulia out of her share of the shotgun house they had renovated together - it was a point of great pride that Zara, Official Adult, had her own home and a toolkit. She barely knew how to use any of the tools, but…it was black and pink and she'd gone Lorelai Gilmore on one of the hammers, complete with googly eyes and feathers.
"It is," Zara said excitedly.
"Alright, show me the problem."
"Wait - are you in your car? You're not driving, are you?" Zara asked, instantly serious.
"No, I'm pulled over," Giulia assured her. "Just chatting with Elijah."
"Who?" Giulia tilted her phone: Elijah half-smiled, wiggling his fingers in salute as he appeared on Zara's screen. Her jaw dropped.
"Oh…hi," she all but squeaked, and Elijah's smirk turned playful, teasing.
Tyler appeared onscreen, nodding, "Hey, Elijah. Okay - gimme the phone - "
"Don't you dare hang up - this is gonna take all night to fix!"
"I need the flashlight!"
"There's a flashlight in the toolkit… Guys?!" Giulia prompted. "Hello? Do you need me, or…?"
"Hang on," Tyler grunted, and the camera shook as he focused it on the pipes. "Okay, tell me what you see - what do I need to do?" Aware she would appear onscreen at his end, Giulia curbed the urge to snicker and smirk, and focused instead on the pipes he was showing her. Being in the construction business and an enthusiastic DIY-guru, Giulia knew her way around a kitchen-sink, among other things. There were many unusual skills she had picked up throughout her forays into neighbourhood rejuvenation. She examined the pipes, and told Tyler what to do, while Zara made notes.
As he tucked himself into the cupboard, Zara snickered, and the phone shook, as she angled the phone behind Tyler to show Giulia an excellent view of his jeans-clad ass.
"Zara, would you get that camera off my ass and focus the flashlight up here?!" called a grumpy Tyler, who was too used to Zara by now to be fazed.
"Gotta go!" Zara snorted. "If you don't hear from us, the problem's either fixed or Tyler's drowned us."
"Bon chance," Giulia cooed, sending an air-kiss and ending the call.
Elijah raised an eyebrow at her as soon as she tucked her phone back into the centre-console. "You three renovated a house together?"
"It took some time," Giulia said, deadpan. "And a lot of direction." Elijah laughed. He sighed, catching her eye.
"So that…"
"Yes. That's Zara."
"That's…complicated," Elijah repeated, and Giulia nodded.
"That's very complicated," she agreed. "You can imagine Bonnie and Tyler's shock when they showed up at Tulane for freshman orientation and there she was."
Because Zara Laress, New Orleans native, was a doppelgänger.
His voice constricted with emotion, Elijah whispered, his lower lip trembling, "She survived."
"Zara?"
Elijah shook his head. "No… Angelique. Her daughter survived. She lived. She had children of her own."
Zara Laress wasn't the first doppelgänger to pop up in New Orleans.
Elena wasn't the first doppelgänger to be discovered after Katerina's transition.
There had been more. Always more. Always more than one alive at any given moment. Nature demanded balance: There must always be a way for the curse on Niklaus Mikaelson to be broken - to do that, a doppelgänger must always be living.
Life found a way.
Elena wasn't the first; Elijah had come across a handful, throughout the centuries, and protected those he could.
"Angelique…" Giulia murmured, and gazed at Elijah as emotion played so vividly across his face, and in his memory, a gentle-natured girl with elegant arms brought him to tears as she played her violin, a baby cooing in a cradle beside a painted screen, candlelight glimmering off her molasses-dark hair, making her delicate muslin dress glow, showing tempting glimpses of the supple curves beneath - the only doppelgänger Elijah had personally ever taken as a lover. He had met Angelique in 1806. Angelique, the gentle romantic, who had sailed to America convinced her lover would follow her there…his child, whom she bore months after she arrived, with little gold and only a violin and her own body to sustain them. Elijah had heard her playing, first…heard her, been mesmerised by the sorrow and beauty of her expression with the violin - then seen her face, and Elijah had tucked her, and the child she had carried, in a little apartment away from Klaus' sight, where they had stolen moments together…until consumption claimed Angelique. He had secured her daughter Delphine's future with a small fortune - with opportunities denied her mother - opportunities he had denied her in not allowing her to use her beauty to provide for herself and her daughter. She would never have lasted, if Niklaus had ever discovered her, so dangerously close.
She had died anyway, far too young.
Angelique - delicate, romantic, innocent Angelique, who had died frail and bloody and in pain, far too young. A doppelgänger, transplanted from France in pursuit of a better life, whose hand he had held as she faded away with blood on her pale lips. He had sat and wept, for hours, as the sun rose.
But a doppelgänger in New Orleans, now, alive, meant…meant Delphine's line had endured. The child of the woman he had adored, and grieved, had thrived, as had her descendants. Angelique's line lived on.
Elijah had honoured his promise to her, to take care of Delphine.
Giulia reached over, delicately holding his hand. He gulped, and clasped her hand between his, licking his lips.
"Scent, you said earlier, is your most punishing sense?" he said, clearing his throat, and glancing at Giulia through eyes that burned. "Mine is certainly my hearing. Sound. Music. It punishes me as nothing else ever could." Giulia nodded solemnly. He sighed heavily, shaking his head, and leaned back against the headrest. "What is she like?"
"Zara?" Giulia asked, and smiled warmly, squeezing his hand gently. "Vivacious, and that phone-call was just a taste! Fiercely independent. Resolute. Eccentric. Playful. And deeply loyal. She's a charismatic extrovert. You'd never know…"
"Never know…?"
"She's not had an easy life," Giulia said grimly. "By any stretch of the imagination. She was abandoned at birth and endured the foster-system. She survived Hurricane Katrina… She earned a soccer scholarship and still managed to play and juggle a double-major. No family, no real support… All that, and she is one of the most upbeat, most generous people I've ever met. She's…irrepressible. She lifts everyone she meets. I'd say she's a happy medium between Lorelai Gilmore and Fiona Gallagher, but -"
"But I've been desiccated ten years and wouldn't understand the references," he chuckled. "Although I do recall Lorelai Gilmore's energy."
"Zara certainly has that," Giulia smiled. She sighed, looking fond. "Fiona Gallagher…from Shameless - she's angrier, um…more delinquent…still vivacious, and a boss… A go-getter, but rough around the edges… Anyway…we were talking about Alaric and…Gyda and Rebekah."
"Yes… We were, indeed," Elijah nodded. "I heard from Carol Lockwood that there's a vacancy on the teaching staff at Mystic Falls High School… I was hoping that you might put a good word in for me with Alaric Saltzman."
"You…want to teach…" Giulia stared at him.
"Well, my qualification is still current," Elijah said, almost defensively. "Do you not think it advisable?"
"Uh - that's not… I'm just figuring out how I can blend in with a bunch of teenagers," Giulia said. "Could I get away with going back to high-school?"
"Put it this way, my darling," Elijah smirked, "you would never want for a date to the dance."
"You're going to teach… I mean…for nearly half of my life, Ric has claimed the coveted position of Sexiest Teacher. I'm not sure how I feel about having to relegate him to the silver medal," Giulia said, looking troubled, and Elijah laughed richly. "Especially as I won't even get to enjoy class-time fantasising about you."
Elijah laughed richly, enjoying her teasing - and her pouting. "Well…as a consolation…how would you feel about sitting down to help me write the syllabus?"
Giulia gasped, face radiating delight, and she beamed at him. "Seriously, no bullshit?" she asked enthusiastically.
"I wouldn't dare tease you about academia," Elijah said solemnly, his lips twitching.
"Would I…get extra-credit?"
"I'm sure we can arrange something," Elijah said, and Giulia laughed warmly, her eyes twinkling. "So - you wouldn't mind endorsing me to Alaric Saltzman?"
"Of course not. And…given your brothers…it might do to have you at the high-school," Giulia said carefully, and Elijah nodded, his expression grim. "Any idea what they're up to?"
"Well…Willem's patience wears thin," Elijah said, and Giulia sighed softly to herself. "I think perhaps he might stay in Mystic Falls, but only if Niklaus earnestly sought his help. And as yet Isak shows no sign of tiring of torturing Klaus to release him… Willem will not wait forever… Kol has already voiced interest in returning to New Orleans, though…with Gyda remaining in Mystic Falls that may alter… As for Isak…"
"He always comes back. He knows he can't hunt here, but I have no influence over other towns, other cities - he's gone as far afield as North Carolina and Montgomery, Alabama. He always comes back," Giulia said softly.
"Well, he has nowhere else to go," Elijah said quietly. "No-one else who remembers him."
"There are some who remember him," Giulia reminded Elijah carefully. "They were in town, recently."
"Carafina and Vera came to wish Ashlyn congratulations on planning her wedding," Elijah said, giving her a cautioning look. His careful look turned to a smile as he realised what he'd said. "Her wedding!"
"It's been a long time coming… She wanted you there," Giulia said simply, but Elijah's smile wasn't happy.
"All that time…wasted," he said softly.
"It wasn't wasted. She built a business - a family," Giulia said softly.
"She told me you spent a lot of time together, that year you attended NYU," Elijah said, and Giulia nodded. He gave her a thoughtful look. "Where else have you been, Giulia?"
"Oh, lots of places. I studied in London; lived in Paris briefly, and Bologna - all for school," Giulia said, smiling. "New Orleans, of course."
"You've accomplished so much in a very short amount of time," Elijah said thoughtfully. Giulia shrugged modestly, and indicated before driving off. "Where to next?"
"I hope you don't mind, I do have some errands I have to run," Giulia admitted, and Elijah smiled, shrugging enigmatically.
"I don't mind," he said softly. "So…tell me more."
"About what?"
"About everything," Elijah smiled. "Tell me about Zita. Tell me about New Orleans! Tell me about your life."
Giulia's little smile was pleased; there was a warm flush to her cheeks, and she did just that. They spent the afternoon completing Giulia's chores - checking that granite countertops had been delivered to one property; and the windows were being installed at another; they did a walkthrough of the Victorian property Caroline had wanted, Giulia sketching a rudimentary alternative floorplan to open up the ground-floor and make full use of the attic-space and cupola. It was…a working-day in the life of Giulia Salvatore, and they never stopped talking.
They laughed. They teased each other. They enjoyed each other, the way they used to, appreciating each other's company, their intellect, their shared interest - and their differences. They slipped seamlessly into a beautiful routine. It was…natural, organic - unrushed, intimate, warm, teasing, relaxed, and intuitive.
Hours later, Giulia stood in her walk-in closet, panicking. There was a soft chuckle behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder to find Enzo sprawled against the doorframe.
"I don't know what to wear," she admitted. Over the last few days she had picked out several outfits, always switching them out - and after their afternoon together… An outfit said a lot, especially to a man as meticulous with his clothing as Elijah. She didn't want to send the wrong message, or turn their dinner together into something…more than what it was, or…or downplay how much she was looking forward to it.
Enzo grinned lecherously, found her favourite pair of black 'So Kate' Louboutin heels, and handed them to her with a smirk. "Wear those, and a smile."
"I'm not trying to propose, Lorenzo," Giulia chided him, and Enzo laughed. Her shoulders sloped, and she gazed despairingly at her outfit choices. She had already put her hair up in an elegant pinned 'do that made her profile look wonderful, and she had settled on fine eyelashes and a glorious red lip - because she felt both fierce and elegant in red lipstick. And red lipstick sent a message: No kissing… Enzo smirked luxuriously.
"I've never seen your knickers in such a twist," he said warmly. After a moment, he said softly, "This one's very special."
She didn't answer, fiddling with one of the hangers. It wasn't that it was weird, talking about Elijah with Enzo…it was just that Giulia didn't know what there was to talk about, yet, if anything. Enzo sighed, rifled through her things, and pulled out a mid-calf length sleeveless dress with cut-outs at the shoulders, made of ivory cotton-blend jersey. It fit throughout the torso and flared from the hips whenever she moved. "Wear this. It's pretty, you're always comfortable when you wear it, and it'll offset your tan. With those strappy shoes that elicit dark fantasies."
"Which pair?" Giulia said, a smile returning to her lips, and Enzo winked before turning to her wall of shoes; he pulled out a pair of very plain, very demure, and very sexy twin-strap heels in nude suede.
"There you go," Enzo smiled, and Giulia unknotted her robe, completely unabashed about nudity in front of Enzo: She pulled the dress on, careful of her hair and makeup, and adjusted the fabric over her torso and hips, eyeing her reflection. It was one of her most comfortable dresses, though the white limited when she wore it. And it did offset her warm tan. With her hair worn up, off her neck, and the sinuous heels, the dress was elevated to an elegant evening look.
Elijah picked her up - in his car. A Bentley. A glorious, glorious Bentley. He did a stutter-step when she met him on the porch, his lips parting as he took in her outfit, and Giulia smiled warmly, flattered by his reaction. He opened the door for her, ensured her skirt wouldn't get trapped, and drove them back into town.
"So, where are we headed?"
"The best restaurant in town," Giulia smiled proudly. She had booked them in at the eight o'clock sitting in the China Room at the Boarding House. He didn't recognise the interior.
"This…is…"
"Very different," Giulia smiled warmly, as she watched Elijah absorb every detail of the Boarding House's renovation. Most significantly, the dark stain on all of the woodwork had been sanded back and a lighter, richer, warm golden stain had been used instead, bringing out the natural hues in the wood. It created a very different feel to the oppressive Wuthering Heights home of Giulia's childhood. The new, warmer wood set the tone, the rest of the renovation following suit with lighter, airier, warmer hues. It made the entire house feel warmer, more inviting.
"Very - and it's beautiful," Elijah said softly, as they were greeted by the maître d' and coaxed toward the cocktail-bar for a pre-dinner drink while the China Room was prepared for the second sitting.
"Rose did an extraordinary job," Giulia said softly. "I should let her give you the tour, as it was her labour of love…this all happened while I was away at school, but… I'm proud of it, too."
"You should be… This was quite an undertaking. I would love a tour," Elijah said, his eyes warm with delight and interest, and he offered his elbow; Giulia smiled, linking arms, and they sipped their cocktails as Giulia gave Elijah a walking tour of the Boarding House, from the cocktail-bar to the kitchens, from the spa to the vegetable-gardens, and let him peek into the suites and guest-rooms that had once been garages and rundown stables. The entire house felt open, inviting - there was no clutter, and the chill of oppression and the macabre seemed to have evaporated over the years in Giulia's absence. There were familiar pieces littered about the house, to maintain the continuity of theme in the decoration - a timeless nod to exquisite antiques as beautiful relics of a bygone age: Every original piece that remained in the Boarding House had been hand-picked by Giulia and Rose and painstakingly, lovingly restored, artwork, furniture, even vases.
The China Room had always been her favourite - it had always been the most vibrant, most colourful, airiest room, full of sunshine: Rose had had the original murals restored, and instead of one grand table, smaller, intimate ones had been set at a comfortable distance, with candles and tiny bud-vases filled with flowers from the gardens. Their cocktails finished, they were guided into the China Room for the second sitting of the taster menu. They didn't order: There was one menu, and the Head Chef wrote it every week based on the quality of the seasonal produce available.
"I hope you enjoy this," Giulia said earnestly, as the very first course - of seven - was served.
"How…where did the inspiration for this come from?" Elijah asked.
"Would you believe it - Cara?" Giulia smiled. "She got bored, when I was living in London; she came for a visit that kept extending itself, and she ended up attending Le Cordon Bleu. When Rose and I discussed what we wanted to do with the house, we thought about a restaurant…Cara put us in contact with a chef friend of hers who agreed to get us off the ground if he had carte blanche to test things out before opening up his own restaurant in New York. He left a year ago, after setting us up, and he trained the sous chef to take over, he's incredible. And he's worked very hard with First Chance: a lot of the kitchen-staff are part of the programme…"
"Well, they do the Salvatore name credit," Elijah said, his lips parting as another small, beautifully presented dish full of exquisite flavours was presented.
"Thank you," Giulia smiled sweetly, her eyes glinting in the candlelight. "That means a lot, coming from you."
"Your kitchen-staff are extraordinarily talented - but I would expect no less," Elijah smiled warmly.
"They're extremely well-trained," Giulia said proudly. "Enzo's recommended we send one of them - Jerome - to Le Cordon Bleu for more formal training. Wait for dessert, and tell me if you agree."
"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm too captivated by each course to even anticipate dessert! This is remarkable, truly," Elijah said passionately. Every dish was served with a small glass of wine paired expertly to complement and enhance the flavours of the dish. Giulia had been very specific about wanting that to be an aspect of the dining experience - and it was an experience, it wasn't simply just a meal. She was very aware that the standard of food produced in her kitchen was on a par with some of the top chefs in the world, she could think of at least five restaurants in London owned by master chefs that would compare. But the restaurant had turned the Boarding House into a destination.
"Rose and I both wanted this restaurant to be outstanding," Giulia said. "Most of the produce comes from the kitchen-gardens out the back, or from the Edible Farmyard, and we're very strict about the standards of our vendors, we're trying to reduce our carbon footprint, so everything is local, and strictly seasonal… Eventually we'd like to expand the kitchens to incorporate a cooking school, and incorporate the kids who have worked through the First Chance programme as leaders…"
"Pass the parcel," Elijah said, smiling as he raised his new glass of wine in salute to her. "That's admirable. That's…all we can hope to do. Pass on our skills and our knowledge for another generation."
"I just…wanted to turn it into a place I could actually step foot inside again," Giulia said, with a subtle wince, as she gazed around the candlelit China Room. "And be proud of, rather than afraid to enter, hating the memories… I enjoy coming here to have Sunday lunch with Rose, I look forward to my spa treatments with Caroline, and I'm…I'm proud of the kitchen staff, and the whole…the whole thing. I never thought I would be, back then."
"I understand," Elijah said softly. His smile was soft, and Giulia felt comfortable admitting to him that she had hated this place with a consuming passion. She had wanted to set a match to the house and walk away. But she couldn't. So she had transformed it. Perhaps indirectly, the Boarding House had been her first renovation - it had been her idea, even if she'd had no hand in it: She had taken what was broken, and drenched in pain and loss and memories, and rebuilt it. Taken what was strong and good about it and enhanced those features, drawn out their beauty, made them inviting. She could never ignore the memories; but she wasn't afraid to come here and make new ones, and that was the point. "You were in pain."
Giulia held his gaze, her expression sorrowful. "And you loved me when I was in pain."
"This…woman you've become - she was there, in the girl I remember," Elijah said, solemnly but with an undercurrent of ferocity, passion. He leaned forward in his chair, gazing earnestly into her eyes. "There's a…a warmth to you now, a joy…that was flickering in you then...like a candle starved for oxygen, so precarious… I'm very glad it was not extinguished… I cannot imagine the mental fortitude it took, not to give in…to thrive, instead of falling into despair."
"You're over-generous. I have my bad days," Giulia said softly. "Everyone does… For a long time, I looked back at who I was when we were together and…" She flinched, shaking her head: She hadn't been proud of herself, no matter the bravado she showed the rest of the world.
"You were in pain…and instead of taking it out on people, you did your utmost to protect them," Elijah said, and Giulia quirked an eyebrow. He amended, with an ironic twitch of his lips, "Most of them. You were…just a little lost. But by definition - something lost can always be found again. Much…like this house." They gazed around the candlelit room…the last time they had dined here, together - the only time - had been Giulia's rehearsal dinner for the Historical Society's dinner: She had recreated every recipe the Founders had feasted on during the celebration of the town's founding. It had been a mammoth undertaking - and like everything Giulia attempted, she had conquered it.
Dessert was served, and throughout the China Room, the soft muted sighs of delight and excitement at its arrival made Giulia smile.
The Salvatore Soufflé was becoming legend.
Every day, a different flavour: the soufflé was a staple of the menu, whether or not it was the set Friday and Saturday dinner menu.
Tonight's flavour was kirsch cherries, served with a scoop of fresh yoghurt gelato, the soufflé dish sprinkled with shavings of rich dark chocolate…at the bottom of the ramekin were slightly caramelised, preserved amarena cherries soaked in homemade kirsch - one bite evoked Giulia's memories of wandering Bologna with Enzo, hand in hand, exploring the obstetric museum and the museum of anatomy and falling in love with a small, popular restaurant Giulia still dreamt about - Sfoglia Rina.
Giulia, never really bothered about desserts, savoured every bite.
Elijah was in ecstasy. And Giulia smiled between bites, watching him relish every spoonful.
There was something…deeply erotic about watching Elijah enjoy his desserts.
She thought it was one of the rare times that Elijah allowed himself to live utterly in the moment, without worries or cares or anything to distract him from one mouthful of pure, undiluted joy.
"I've missed watching you enjoy your desserts," she admitted softly, and Elijah's smile was sweet, unabashed. He peered sorrowfully into the empty ramekin. Giulia chuckled softly, feeling warm and sleepy and delighted - both by the delicious meal, by Elijah's proximity, and his reactions. He didn't need to say how much he had enjoyed the meal; it was evident in every expression, every mouthful he savoured.
"I'm glad to put on an exhibition for you," Elijah said saucily, and Giulia grinned to herself. The dessert plates were cleared away, and they were offered after-dinner cocktails; they had two apiece, and an espresso each after - they were served with a tiny, hand-crafted artisan chocolate made in the kitchens - one of the newer skill-sets introduced into the kitchens. They were presented by Jerome.
"Here he is," Giulia beamed. "Elijah, this is Jerome. Jerome is training in the kitchens as a pastry-chef." Elijah's eyes lit up and he beamed at the young African-American boy who stood, smiling demurely in his chef's whites, his short dreads tied back from his face, looking uncertain but pleased. "Elijah is a dessert fiend, and you have impressed him."
"Thank you," said quiet Jerome, who hadn't had a positive word said to him his entire life until he started working in the kitchens, and showed curiosity and initiative, and started to pick up skills. He was one of their first, and when their faith in First Chance started to waver because of the other kids' behaviour, they just reminded themselves of Jerome.
"Well done," Elijah smiled, offering his hand, giving Jerome a firm handshake. Giulia smiled, watching Jerome retreat back to the kitchens; she was sure he'd walked a few inches taller. She caught Elijah's eye and couldn't help but smile wider.
"I like seeing that," she admitted. "You should've seen him when he started here." She shook her head, but smiled, proud of Jerome's journey and fond of the kid himself.
Elijah smiled at her, as if he felt the same way about her.
They were brought digestifs - Armagnac for Elijah, and a small glass of port for Giulia, which they sipped, and chatted, and didn't notice when the staff started quietly clearing up the rest of the China Room. Their candle was replaced, the music was left subtly playing, but they were shrouded in candlelight as the rest of the restaurant was packed up - they didn't notice: they sipped their digestifs and talked.
It was nearly two a.m. when Elijah drove her toward home. He held her hand in his casually, and they murmured to each other over the classical music playing through the speakers, warm and relaxed.
Something glinted in her peripheral vision, and Giulia sat up, frowning.
"Turn around."
"Are you alright?"
"I saw something - turn around…" She glanced out of the window, and the headlights of the Bentley illuminated the woods either side of the road, the underbrush. There was a glint of silver, and something vibrantly red glistened in the light. Her heart stopped, and she threw her door open, battling with her seatbelt.
It was a kid's bicycle.
The humidity of the August evening kissed her bare skin; the lingering warmth settled in her lungs. But she went cold at the sight of the bicycle, dented and abandoned at the side of the road. Closing her eyes, she focused her senses…she allowed herself to listen, to smell, and to see…when she opened her eyes, the starlight illuminated everything, and she could hear…crying. Soft, muted, but she heard it. She followed a thundering heartbeat, and the scent of terror and pain.
"Spencer?"
A.N.: I know…don't hate me! I just couldn't leave it on too good a note, you know?!
