Salvatore Garden~ Time Pressing Ever Onward, Supposedly

Abigail powered through her pain and guilt after seeing Sallie quicker than she had with Damon. Perhaps she was figuring this out. Damon, then Sallie, who could possibly be next?

Closing her eyes, she waited for the next visitation. When the voice came, she found that she wasn't nearly as surprised as she'd been by the first two. She almost expected to hear it.

"Ah, my sweet Abi," the cultured tone of a well bred woman said, forcing her eyes to open. Lily Salvatore, healthy as she had been the very first time she'd met her at five years old.

The sob came fast this time. The mother she'd only had for two short years. The mother she'd watched waste away after bearing up under the strain of an unhappy marriage. A woman she aspired to emulate.

"Lily." She whispered, her voice choked with pain and longing. "I miss you so much." Her eyes were clouded by tears and she fought to clear them. She wanted to keep Lily with her. This woman, who clearly loved her dearly, meant so much to her.

"And I you, my darling girl." Lily was beaming as she sat next to Abigail and held open her arms. Abi wasted no time to take the offer, cuddling into her embrace. "You've been through so much, Abi." She felt the kiss against her hair. "You've been strong and brave. You need to let it go-everything you're holding back."

Abigail understood the permission to let go. Her screaming and freeing up her emotions was allowing her to feel easier inside. If this was part of the key to unlock her prison, she's happily take the wisdom as it was offered.

"I never wanted you to leave, Lily." Abigail offered weakly, knowing this version would understand she meant both to the sanitorium and from life. "I begged to stay with you."

Lily rocked her lightly and continued speaking quietly. "I know, but I had to go. You my darling, are meant for so much more." She whispered into Abigail's hair. "You needed independence. And I had hoped that my wedding quilt would have been put to proper use by now." A light chuckle from her mother figure told her that she wasn't been scolded. Not really.

"Stefan and I," Abi began.

"It was never Stefan and you, my wonderful daughter." Lily pulled back and stroked the hair from Abi's face. "The two of you knew your fate from the moment you met. Only my husband would turn a blind eye to what the entire world could see." She was smiling at Abigail. "He came first for a reason, Abigail. Don't forget what you've learned, that will only set you back from all you've accomplished." She kissed Abigail on the forehead in blessing. "Release me, Abigail. Let me be a happy memory, like the story of the quilt. Don't hold on to the last terrible goodbye."

Abigail sat up, control fighting to return. "Yes, Mother," she replied smiling. Lily's answering smile could have lit up the garden.

"Perfect, my love. I'd expect no less." As she faded, a feeling of peace rolled over Abigail.

Maybe, just maybe she would find her own way out after all.

Mystic Falls, VA~ December 2009

Damon insisted on Elena's company for an impromptu trip to Atlanta. Swearing it was only because of the nasty car wreck she suffered due to some weird guy standing in the middle of the road, she was shocked to find that she was actually enjoying herself. Even if he only brought her to piss off Stefan, and she was enjoying it in retaliation for finding out that she really did look exactly like Katherine. Not the best way to end your first time with your new boyfriend, but it wasn't like she and Stefan had a normal relationship.

She had to admit, saving Damon's ass from a vengeful grieving boyfriend put a damper on the trip. Especially when it brought Lexi's death to the forefront again.

Elena was somewhat shocked that Damon never mentioned Abigail Morgan. Stefan talked about her more than Katherine, and Lexi and attempted to explain it all to her. Stefan had issues with human blood, addiction issues, which she'd seen first hand. Lexi said the other part, his other obsession had been one he held for Abigail. They seemed linked, his blood lust and Abigail. And since he'd mastered the one, he felt responsible to fix the other.

Lexi had also said that, while Stefan was fixated on Abigail, it was Damon who had the actual real world connection to her. They'd been best friends. So if that were true, then why wasn't he at least interested in why she hadn't awakened? One hundred and fifty years, give or take, was a long time for even Sleeping Beauty.

On the drive back she decided to ask. His focus on Katherine didn't make sense. He loved her, that was fine, but why didn't he give a damn about his best friend? If he helped her to safety, why hadn't he made sure she was still safe?

Damon glared out the windshield. This trip wasn't going as he'd planned. It had pockets of fun, but it was getting worse since he'd been attacked by Lexi's boyfriend. And having to kill Bree hadn't been the ending he'd hoped for either. And now Elena had to bring up the petite, beautiful elephant lingering in the Morgan House to haunt him.

"You know the basic information, Elena." Damon said, hoping the warning in his voice was evident.

Elena faced him across the car. "So explain it better, then."

Giving a long suffering sigh, Damon wondered where to begin. The beginning he decided, thinking Elena would fall asleep from boredom.

"Abigail Morgan came into my life when I was twelve years old. She and my darling baby brother were both five." He found himself falling into memories. "Their age would make most people assume they would be the close ones, but despite our age gap, she and I found each others' company more desirable." He could almost feel her small body in his arms as he'd doted on her in those early years. How smart and engaging she had been even at that young age. He'd devised games, stories, and ways to keep her entertained, while Stefan would soon lose interest. "When Abigail was thirteen her house burned and everyone except her and her servant Sallie died."

"Everyone?" Elena asked in a hush.

Glancing at her he realized that orphans might be something difficult for her to deal with after her own tragic backstory. "Yes, everyone. Her parents and all their servants." He didn't remember the night, he'd been asleep. The next morning his mother had come to his room and explained about Abigail and that she'd be living with them from that point forward. "She lived with us after, my parents' ward. She and my mother were close, already like mother and daughter even before the fire." He said, remembering how Lily had glowed with happiness at having Abi with her. "Then, two years later, my mother died of tuberculosis." His memory bloomed of Abigail hellbent on following his mother wherever she went. And the one time he and his father were on the same page. "She had nursed my mother, having never been sick, and always so attached to my mother. We should have known-" He allowed his memory to fill the three years that followed. Keeping Abigail company, finally having her all to himself. Learning more from her than he had ever learned from his father. The parties they'd attended, always together. How the town expected what he had, for them to be together forever. "We were one another's comfort in a house that held so little. She was someone who always saw the best in me." Even he heard the longing in that line.

"And yet, you haven't gone to see her." Elena pointed out, clearly having heard it as well.

"Being stuck in the past-" He started.

"Like with Katherine?" She interrupted.

Damn Elena and her sudden interest in Abigail Morgan. And her attentiveness to him when she forced him to discuss her.

"You never seem this interested when Stefan brings her up." He commented, hoping to shut down the conversation.

Elena turned to look out the passenger window. "Because he's only interested for the sake of redeeming himself. You had a real connection to her, so you not being interested is strange to me."

Finish the story, he reminded himself, that should put an end to her curiosity. "I left to join the military in 1863. Abigail was 16 going on 17. I broke her heart by joining. Abigail had been plagued her entire life with the curse of premonitions. Leaving for the uncertainty of war was like setting her curse on fire. She pleaded with me, but I joined to prove something to my father." He remembered her green eyes flush with tears, begging him to change his mind. To stay with her. He'd wanted to, so very badly. To take it back . "Stefan wrote to me in September 1864, asking me to return, for her sake. I went to my commanding officer and begged for leave. I went home, but never to her. Because when I arrived at the house that hadn't really been a home until Abigail Morgan came to live with us, I heard a voice in the garden and went to see who it belonged to. There she was, Katherine Pierce." Did he imagine the pain he heard in his own voice. "I never really spoke to Abigail again. Well, not until I tried to kill her to clear the path for Katherine." Hearing Elena's gasp he continued to so he could push the feelings that anyone felt he held for Abigail would be put to rest. "I didn't know she couldn't die, Elena, so I didn't just try to kill her. I buried her in my family's crypt. I put her to rest inside my great grandfather's tomb, then I shut the lid."

"She would have," Elena stopped, swallowing down the rising bile. "You still made sure she was safe from Stefan." She was pleading with him to redeem the monstrous image he'd created.

"Only because I didn't want to live watching her torture at his hands, Elena." He said, absolving himself. "I wanted freedom from Stefan."

And that effectively ended her questioning about Abigail.