One Year Later:

Do you hear what I hear Said the kind to the people everywhere. Listen to what I say! Pray for peace, people everywhere, listen to what I say! The Child, the Child sleeping in the night - He will bring us goodness and light, He will bring us goodness and light.

Elena sings into the microphone, her band wrapping up her first Christmas concert to raise money for charity.

Damon's back stage, so very proud of her success. He doesn't regret letting her fly all those years ago. There's no doubt in his mind that if he had held her back, they wouldn't be where they are today.

If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, they're yours; if they don't, they never were.

He finds himself swaying to the music as she sings, applauding wildly when the last note ends.

"I want to thank everyone for coming tonight and for your generosity. We raised a lot of money to donate to several children's charities. They're near and dear to my heart. A portion of the proceeds will also be donated to a number of 'save the sharks' charities."

Elena raises her arm, discreetly wiping her tears with the back of her wrist.

"I hope you all have a Merry Christmas," she nods, exits the stage to the sound of thunderous applause and walks into Damon's waiting arms.

An unrelenting chorus of "encore, encore', fills the arena.

"Go on," Damon kisses her forehead and urges her back to the stage.

She turns her head towards him, she gives him a wink and a come-hither motion with her arm.

"I'd like to bring my fiancé out here to join me," she starts clapping and the audience breaks out in a "Damon" chant.

Rolling his eyes playfully, he comes to stand next to her, taking her hand. She takes the microphone in the other and begins the notes of 'The First Noel'.

When she finishes the song, together they thank the crowd, say goodnight and leave arm in arm.

"Let's get going, we have a plane to catch," Damon opens the limo door for her then slides in himself. After stopping at the motel to get their bags, the driver drops them off at the airport.

Several hours later, they arrive at Rapid City Regional Airport where Stefan and Lexi are waiting to take them to Deadwood.

They're exhausted by the time they get home and fall straight into bed after letting Martha know they arrived safely...

As Damon wakes his mind swims with a departing dream; he sighs, reluctant to banish it and begin his day. The light of morning shines into his slowly opening eyes and he brings his hands to guard them.

Everything about him feels heavy from his arms to his feet. He lets his head loll from one side to the other, eyes closing one more time as he enjoys the brief darkness. He releases a weary exhale and shifts in bed, smiling though he's half-awake to see Elena still deeply ensconced in slumber.

The last year has been a whirlwind for them. When Elena returned to Seattle, he accompanied her, staying for two weeks before flying home. They made a lot of decisions and that if they want a marriage to work, they'll both have to be willing to compromise. Elena loves her home and he loves his.

Eventually she decided to make South Dakota her home base but they kept her apartment in Seattle and spend a good amount of time there too. When Damon's on the road with her, Stefan and his mother run the business. He also hired a couple of ranch hands to help with the alpacas so for now, things work.

Elena has no relationship with her mother. Isobel married a man she met on online and moved to Texas. She and John do talk, all the bad hasn't been forgotten but they have gone to see a counselor and they're both working hard to build something new between them.

Elena's also very fond of Jenna and the toddler she and her father adopted, her brother Jeremy lights up whenever she sees him.

As if she subconsciously knows he's staring at her, slowly and reluctantly she uncovers her face. She blinks, closes her eyes and blinks again. Streaks of sunlight penetrate the window.

"Morning," she mumbles, turning to face Damon.

"Mm," he mumbles and rolls her beneath him.

Later that night, Elena and Damon drive to their old haunt Mount Moriah. Cold licks at their faces and creeps under their coats.

"What were we thinking?" Elena laughs, her breath coming out in a puff of white steam. With chattering teeth, she wraps her alpaca scarf around her neck tighter and snuggles against Damon.

"We can go if you want?" Damon wraps his arms around her.

"No, I want to see one too," she raises up and kisses his cold cheek.

They go to their spot and gaze up at the sky. Damon decides they'll stay a half hour and if there's nothing, he'll take her home for a hot bath and... he smiles inside at the thought.

And then almost miraculously, through the inky blackness comes a blaze of brilliant blue, moving through the sky as the tip of a cosmic artist's brush; bold enough to light up the eyes, respectful enough to leave the starry night in perfect form once it passes.

"You already know what I wished that night, what was yours?" Damon asks her as they start to walk back to the truck.

"I wanted to get out of here, Damon, that was my wish. But my life is so different now, tonight I wished for something different," she teases cryptically.

"And what would that be?"

"That's for me to know and you to well..." she breaks out in a huge smile and runs towards the vehicle with Damon following close behind.

"So, what are we doing tomorrow?" Damon asks, pulling Elena tighter into his arms. They're laying together on the couch, in front of the big twinkling Christmas tree. The fireplace mimics the warmth of the day. They're cozy by the flames, their features illuminated by the flickering light, the only one in the room. Though the air isn't smoky they can smell the pine as it burns... Damon's always loved it.

"Martha said we're going to do the Santa thing for Micah, Stefan and Lexi told him he's going to be a big brother. Jeremy will be here too... Your mom asked if I was good with her inviting John and Jenna. I agreed. I'm glad she did mention it to me first though," Elena yawns.

"The two of you have made a lot of progress but I understand that it's hard to get past all of the bad."

"Yes, it is," she's silent for a moment then untangles herself and stands up. With a wink, she pulls a Santa hat out of the magazine rack and pops it on her head. Then she unties her robe, letting it drop, giving Damon an eye-popping view of her two piece red and green plaid, faux fur lined lingerie. The garters are hooked to French lace top thigh-high pantyhose. She turns around real slow to give him a peek of her perfectly shaped ass.

"Let's go upstairs and take it real slow," she purrs, running her palms over her breasts and down her sides tantalizingly.

He smiles that smile, the devilish one that knows everything it does to whoever it's aimed at. Damon leans in and whispers in her ear, lips grazing the shell, "Fuck slow. There are a million things I want to do," he licks the soft spot behind her ear that drives her mad.

"With you," Damon brushes her lips with his.

And to you..." he adds with a husky lilt to his voice and flames blazing in his blue eyes.

"And none of them are slow..."

The End

Thank you all so much. The DE universe is the very best.

Chapter title: 'Paint the Sky With Stars' by Enya.

I'm sorry if it felt rushed to some of you- that's completely understandable. I just feel that Christmas stories have their own set of guidelines; short, light-hearted, fun, for the most part angst-free and the happy ending.

Thank you Eva. I wouldn't still be here without you.

I did post the first chapter of 'Abracadabra' last evening. Damon is a world famous magician - I was thinking of David Copperfield and Criss Angel when I wrote him.

Have fun and be safe if you have NYE plans. Here's hoping that 2021 brings much better tidings.