A.N.: This chapter is devoted to Samcoo 12, because you reviewed first! Thank you so much! And to FoxFabled and Alymariet, thank you!
I've got half-term holiday and should be working on my uni assignments - but, you know what, I'm exhausted from being at school and I need a break, so fanfiction it is!
Oh, and if anyone's interested in the inspiration for Fabian, watch Carnival Row: Orlando Bloom is brilliant, and the gravitas he brings to his character is wonderful and heart-breaking.
Resurgam
24
Anticipation
Enzo paused at the panorama of folding glass doors overlooking the deck, and the steps down to the narrow jetty, at the end of which two small children were sat quietly. Spencer had his arm around Zita's shoulders as they sat, cross-legged, knee-to-knee, drenched in sunscreen and wearing hats and sunglasses. She'd been listening to their quiet chatter for the last hour as they absorbed the details of the extraordinary world around them; it was always entertaining to hear them talking between themselves. "What are those two up to?"
"Fishing."
"Have they caught anything?"
"Nope."
Enzo shot her a sidelong look. "Did you put hooks on the end of the lines?"
"Nope."
Giulia glanced up and grinned at Enzo as he chuckled, pottering around the kitchen, the scent of fresh flour delicate on the air as something bubbled sluggishly in the oven and a pan simmered on the hob. She bit her lip, combing through documents, paperwork spread across one end of the island, laptop glowing softly and playing music over the delicate ping of incoming emails.
"Well, they're enjoying themselves," Enzo smiled indulgently, gazing out at the children again. "I thought Caroline was having Zita today."
"Last-minute change of plans; it's a bonnie day," Giulia said, crinkling her nose at something in her papers and tapping a rapid-fire email out, switching between her applications so the architectural designs she had been working on for the duplex and the two-bedroom house on Primrose appeared, both houses rendered in three-dimension side-by-side for comparison of the complementary designs. Even when the world turned upside-down, it didn't stop spinning: While Bonnie's world had tilted on its axis, Giulia still had a business to run and multiple projects to manage. "Carol had them today while I demoed Butterfield Lane with the guys, but she has plans tonight, so, we get Spencer."
"So the prodigal Bennett returned," Enzo said thoughtfully. "How's Sheila feeling about that mess?"
"She's feeling pretty good - that may have something to do with the three strong juleps she knocked back while I talked to her on the phone," Giulia said, grimacing as she stretched. She loved, loved, loved demo-days - tearing the guts out of a house down to the bare bones, to see its full potential - and any problems that would inevitably arise during reconstruction. She was rarely happier than when she was demolishing something: It gave her something to look forward to, rebuilding. And she could any latent frustrations out on crumbling drywall.
"And we're concerned," Enzo said, and Giulia nodded, smiling to herself as Enzo abandoned his dough to slide around the island and start kneading her shoulders instead. She loved demo-day; her body always ached afterwards. She wasn't like vampires, impervious to physical strain - she felt it; it lingered in her body. And she enjoyed it.
"We are."
"Think this is linked to the wolfsangel?" Enzo asked, and Giulia groaned as he continued to knead her shoulders. She'd had a quick shower to rinse off the sweat and dust and grime, and indulged in a hot soak before Carol dropped Spencer and Zita home: She sat in a dark slip, her hair air-drying, enjoying a half-glass of chilled white wine while she finished off some ordering.
Giulia scoffed. "Absolutely."
"Does Sheila agree?"
"There's a reason she was happy for Abby to stay away all this time," Giulia said darkly. "She knows more than she's telling about Abby's involvement in the Order - she wasn't intimidated by the wolfsangel."
"How long has it taken you, to get Abigail Bennett to surface?" Enzo asked curiously; he knew more than he let on about Giulia's extra-curricular activities regarding the Order - tearing it down from the inside, using them to decimate Klaus' legions of enemies.
"Since I tracked her down? Six years, give or take," Giulia shrugged. She could say this for Abby Bennett: She was an excellent executioner. Whatever her orders, she carried them out without qualms. Yes, Giulia had used her before now - in part to keep her away from Mystic Falls just a little longer.
"She was one of the stubborn ones," Enzo remarked, but Giulia shook her head.
"She's been…distracted," she admitted, and Enzo chuckled softly.
"Ah, the Crusades," he purred. "Makes me nostalgic."
"She's here for the Originals..." Giulia said, and Enzo kissed her hair before abandoning her for his pasta. "But that doesn't mean she's not going to take advantage of the situation, her proximity to Sheila and Bonnie... I think she knows."
"About what?"
"About Bonnie. The Order punishes disloyal witches: Stripping a witch of her powers…?" Giulia said, and Enzo gave her a dark look. "Worst kind of heresy to their kind."
"I thought you kept it contained," he said, frowning.
"Yes, only the covens of New Orleans knew. Nine covens. Dozens of families. Hundreds of witches," Giulia grimaced. "And the Order had unwitting spies everywhere."
"Had."
"Had... Still, if Abby got wind of what we did..." Giulia said, shaking her head. She was not omniscient; she could only anticipate how people might act based on what information they hypothetically knew. Some had foresight: She had insight. She could read people. "The wolfsangel was left on Sheila's lawn. That sends a message... And Bonnie said something about feeling like Abby was too interested in Penelope."
"So, we play keep-away," Enzo said simply. "By the sounds of it, Bonnie isn't too keen on letting Abby anywhere near her. Besides - won't Abby be a little distracted?"
"Not nearly enough… Abby has no idea what she's taking on," Giulia said, ruminating on the Order's arrival in Mystic Falls. First Bill…now Abby… "But you can always rely on a zealot to go all-in without realising they're building their own gallows."
"Burning question: how are you going to go about torturing her for information on Joshua?" Enzo asked, stirring the sauce on the hob, taste-testing it and adding a pinch of salt.
"You're the second person to accuse me of interest in Joshua Salvatore recently!" Giulia exclaimed. "I never even met the man, he disappeared years before I was born."
"And disappeared into a magical puff of smoke. We both know we live in a world where it's dangerous to say things like 'never' and - well...Salvatores have the tendency to…not stay dead when they're supposed to."
Giulia smirked. "It's a fault."
"He's your father's brother," Enzo said, giving Giulia a careful, sombre, almost apologetic look as he leaned on the island, those dark eyes consuming. She busied herself with her paperwork, not wanting to let it show that - yes - she was desperate to find out what had happened to her father's brother…to discover for herself whether there was any hope Joshua Salvatore had…had survived whatever the Order had done to him - because for some traitors to the Order, death was not nearly severe enough a punishment.
If there was even the tiniest glimmer of hope that her uncle, her only remaining relative besides Zita, was alive… Giulia would follow that tiny glimmer wherever it led her - even if it led her to a cult hell-bent on destroying the world she adored. It hadn't taken much to harness the Order as a weapon: She'd had a harder time convincing her thesis advisor to let her pursue her unique strand of research for her Psychology PhD.
"You're going to look me in the eye and claim you're not interested to know what happened to him?" Enzo smirked, as if he knew exactly what was on her mind. "What the Order did with him?"
"Of course I'm interested..." Giulia exclaimed, and sighed, shaking her head. Her hair whispered around her shoulders, tickling her bare skin, now soft from her bath and sun-warmed from working outside all day in the blistering Virginia summer sun. "But at the moment, Abby Bennett has done nothing I can prove has malicious intent."
"Short of spiking Bonnie's blood-pressure dangerously high," Enzo said drily, and Giulia pulled a face.
"And, as I told Isobel, I'd rather focus on Bonnie than her mother's maleficence - than my missing uncle," Giulia said. Enzo nodded, turning to his cooking. After a moment, he leaned back against the counter, arms crossed over his chest, and gazed thoughtfully at her.
"What do you think happened to him?" he asked carefully.
"People don't just disappear," Giulia said cautiously. And she had heard of Abby's vindictive streak before Isobel warned about it. "Especially in our world."
"Shall I get the Christmas lights and an old radio?" Enzo grinned, alluding to Stranger Things and the Upside Down.
"And waffles, please..." Giulia smiled, and perked up, reminded of something. "Speaking of - we need to start thinking Halloween costumes."
"Halloween's ages away, it's barely August!" Enzo protested. "Shouldn't you be mentally preparing for Zita starting preschool?"
"Do not speak such vicious words to me!"
"It's happening, whether you like it or not," Enzo teased, grinning. "Our poppet is growing up."
"Silence!" Giulia cried, clapping her hands over her ears. "Lalala - I'm not listening to you!"
Enzo's rich laugh echoed through the house, and he reached over to gently pull her hands away from her ears. "You're going to be a wreck. I'm going to enjoy it so much!"
"Sadist."
"Flatterer," Enzo quipped. "So. Halloween?"
"I thought we'd put it to a vote," Giulia smiled. "You know, introduce the concept of democracy."
"Can't we just recycle last year's costumes?" Enzo moaned. "I personally adored every glorious inch of Wonder Woman and Supergirl." Giulia rolled her eyes, smiling: She had dressed up as Wonder Woman, after a lot of peer-pressure. And she looked damn good, too. People were utterly convinced. And Caroline had made the best known Supergirl ever - complete with her own superpowers!
"I was thinking Wreck-It Ralph," Giulia said, and Enzo grinned, his eyes glinting. Wreck-It Ralph was one of the kids' favourites: It had inspired Spencer's current project, the pedal-powered go-kart they were building in the garage. And it was perfect for coordinating family costumes.
Enzo narrowed his eyes. "So you're going to fix the vote?"
"Uh, duh. You're only legally eligible to vote at eighteen; I don't want to give these kids false ideas about politics," she smirked, and Enzo laughed.
"What, that their vote actually matters?"
"Exactly," Giulia sniffed, turning back to her laptop and completing an order. "Those in power stay in power."
"Well said, Cersei," Enzo said, and Giulia rolled her eyes at him. "Are you going to summon the children for dinner?"
"Ooh, how are they going to be prepared tonight?" Giulia teased.
"In a rich ragu, I thought, with some fresh tagliatelli."
"Sounds delicious..." Giulia smiled, and then grimaced. "Oh…we should also think Friendsgiving."
"Is it our year to host?" Enzo asked, eyebrows rising. "Again?"
"Technically it's Matt and Elena's year..."
"So, Friendsgiving Italian-style it is," Enzo said, without missing a beat.
"Car's already offered to contribute dessert," Giulia nodded. "I don't know who'll be coming yet."
"Thankfully, we're Italians. We're nothing but a disgrace to our nonnas if we don't cater to a crowd for every meal," Enzo smirked, and Giulia chuckled softly as she slid off her bar-stool to pad through the house, pausing at the threshold to call the children in to wash their hands. Spencer set the table on the deck without being asked; and Zita went to choose the music.
The phone rang just as Enzo was pouring fresh tagliatelli al ragu into a serving-bowl, steam billowing up, making Giulia's mouth water. She was infinitely thankful she still subsisted on the fruits of the earth - blood was for healing, not sustenance. She not only needed but enjoyed food. She checked the caller ID and raised an eyebrow as she answered the call.
"Hi, Meredith. Everything okay?" she asked, surprised. Firstly because Meredith knew their dinner-time, and would never usually call when it was mealtime - Giulia never answered; also, because she was sure Meredith was on shift.
"Everything's fine. I have a quick question for you; Mason says it's probably you I'd need to get a reference from," Meredith said, and Giulia raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"A reference? Okay…what's going on?"
"Some woman named, uh…Lagertha came to the hospital today," Giulia said. "Apparently she's an Original vampire."
"That, she is."
"And she asked if she could shadow me on my rounds," Meredith said.
"Did she?"
"Usually I wouldn't discourage anyone from taking an interest in medicine," Meredith said, "but as Lagertha is a vampire…"
"Well, that's not very inclusive of you, Doctor Fell," Giulia teased, and Meredith scoffed. "What did Lagertha say?"
"Not very much, she seems…intense, but earnest," Meredith said, and Giulia smiled to herself. Those two words did describe Lagertha beautifully. "She told me she's curious about the opportunities available to women. She's already asked Liz to shadow her; that's how Mason knew her. Lagertha said she's undecided which she wishes to pursue, as she never had opportunity before, not in a truly professional capacity. She heard about Liz through her sister, um, I think her name is Rebekah - that nastiness with Bill Forbes and Caroline. I think Liz impressed an Original vampire."
"Well, of course she did," Giulia sniffed, always the first to acknowledge that Liz Forbes was actually a goddess.
"Well, Rebekah waxed lyrical about Liz to her family, talking about this badass nurturing sheriff - who's a woman - and she peaked Lagertha's interest about women in law-enforcement," Liz said. "And - you never told me Elijah was a qualified surgeon and obstetrician! Because he remembered me from, you know, before, and he's the one who suggested Lagertha seek me out."
"Liz isn't the only one who impressed an Original," Giulia smiled warmly. Meredith scoffed. "So…why are you calling me?"
"I want your opinion, on allowing Lagertha to shadow me," Meredith said. "I don't want to waste my time if she's simply doing recon for blood-bag storage at the hospital."
"If it was Isak or Klaus I'd say your instincts are spot-on," Giulia mused, "but Lagertha… I don't think she's ever said something she hasn't meant. If she's interested in shadowing you at the hospital, I'd say…encourage her."
"You know, I was worried you were gonna say that," Meredith said, and Giulia smiled. Meredith sighed. "Mason told me what happened on Fourth of July. All these ancient vampires are in town now…"
"Yeah," Giulia sighed, wondering when Mason had started spending so much time with Meredith to have more than just passing conversations at Founders' events.
"It would've been nice for the Council to have a heads-up about it," Meredith said carefully, and Giulia rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry; they're too focused on punishing each other to bother tormenting the locals," Giulia said.
"Find the biggest bullies on the playground and turn them against each other, huh?" Meredith said.
"Something like that," Giulia admitted. "Honestly, Lagertha showing an interest in medicine and law-enforcement is a positive sign they're assimilating. Some of them, anyway. Was Elijah with Lagertha or did she just mention him?"
"Only mentioned," Meredith said. "Why?"
"Oh, just wondering whether he was going to dust off his medical qualifications," Giulia said thoughtfully. "If so, I might consider being hospitalised more often." Meredith laughed. "Hey - when have you been talking to Mason?"
"Quite a bit, actually…he's in the E.R. a lot with the Department," Meredith sighed. "So you think I should trust Lagertha to shadow me at the hospital?" Giulia nodded to herself, pouring a glass of red wine for herself and for Enzo.
"I do. It'll be an adjustment to most of the Originals to assimilate to this time, but I think it's a positive step that they're getting curious," Giulia said. "Let me know how it goes."
"Oh, I will," Meredith threatened. "I'll see you at yoga, okay?"
"Look forward to it," Giulia said earnestly, and they hung up. She turned on her privacy settings so they weren't disturbed during the meal, and joined the others out on the deck, citronella candles flickering in the gentle breeze, the cicadas singing in the underbrush, birds performing in the dusk, and Spencer and Zita's sun-rosy faces beamed at her as she slipped into a cushioned chair, Enzo serving the fresh tagliatelli.
"Thank you," she smiled warmly, accepting a dish of pasta. "This looks delicious."
"Was that Meredith?"
"It was. Lagertha's investigating her options, apparently," Giulia said, intrigued. She knew Elijah had had many different professions over the centuries, but…it was different for the female Originals. Lagertha had been raised a farmer and shield-maiden, and been turned into a vampire, enduring the last millennium in the role of a woman: Her options had been vastly more limited than her brothers'.
"You know, I have a healthy mistrust of most people who wear white lab-coats," Enzo said thoughtfully, as Giulia settled Zita in her high seat.
"That's fair," she acknowledged, casting Enzo a warning look. She didn't want Enzo's own personal experiences - or her own - to colour how Spencer and Zita were starting to develop their understanding of their world. It had to be about their experiences, their opinions, and their education: She was a facilitator, not a dictator. She would not push her own trauma on them, and did her utmost to make sure no-one else did, either.
"But even I will admit…that woman is fine."
"I like Meredith," said Spencer, meticulously twirling tagliatelli around his fork, as Giulia laughed and sipped her wine. "She's nice. She has a pretty smile. And she plays softball."
"Yeah, that's pretty cool," Giulia said softly. "Maybe we could trade to have Meredith on our team for the Founders' softball game?" Spencer grinned, nodding enthusiastically.
"Can we work on my go-kart later?" he asked, and Giulia nodded.
"We'll play cards before bed; after I've read Zita a bedtime story we'll go out to the garage," Giulia promised her.
After dinner was cleared away, Giulia tucked Zita into bed and nestled beside her, Zita's choice of bedtime story in her lap. Quietly, stroking her curls and creating all the voices, Giulia read Zita the story: her eyelids drooped, and soon the sunshine and exertion of the day, combined with a decent meal and fun playing cards, coaxed Zita to a gently, pleasant sleep. There had been many times when Giulia had dozed off, cuddled up beside her daughter. Giulia turned on the nightlight, tucked the picture-book back in the bookcase and left the bedroom-door ajar to pad downstairs, crossing paths with Zeus, who nosed his way into Zita's room to climb onto and curl up at the foot of her bed, where he always slept. Her guardian angel.
Spencer, freshly showered and wearing his pyjamas, was waiting for her in the garage, enjoying a contraband grape popsicle - Giulia kept a box in the garage freezer, a special treat just for Spencer when they spent time together on his go-kart. It was humid inside, so she opened the garage doors to coax in the evening breeze, the ticking of the cicadas a soothing lullaby, Gallant and Tisiphone exploring the driveway.
"A few more days and this will nearly be done. Have you thought what colours you'd like to paint it?" Giulia asked, and Spencer grinned, greasy hands busy with tools.
"Hot-rod red!" he exclaimed.
"You've been watching Iron Man again, huh?" Giulia smiled. "Alright. Stick with the classics." They were nearly there; the kart was almost finished. She wondered if Spencer would want to dress as Iron Man for Halloween - she had ideas about nestling an old Bose speaker inside the kart to blast AC/DC as he sped around his neighbourhood collecting candy. "So…I was talking to Enzo today, about Halloween. And, I was thinking…maybe Zita could be Vanellope."
"From Wreck-It Ralph?" Spencer asked, eyes glinting, grinning, and Giulia nodded.
"And I thought maybe we could make another kart for Zita, and we could decorate it like the kart Ralph helps her make in the movie."
"That'd be cool," Spencer grinned. "But you don't have to make another - Zita can have this one." Giulia smiled warmly.
"This is yours, kiddo," she smiled. "You've worked so hard on it."
"I don't mind," Spencer said amiably, shrugging. "Zita can play with it, too." Giulia smiled warmly at Spencer, mussing his curls affectionately. Spencer was a good kid, utterly unselfish, decent, laidback most of the time, hard-working, a team-player. He was a wonderful boy. And she hated that he wasn't hers. That someone undeserving claimed to be his mother, and neglected her responsibilities to him.
"You're such a sweet kid, you know that?" she told him, leaning over to kiss his head, rumpling his curls. "I have an idea, though; when we finish the kart, we can make a papier-mâché casing that just nestles over the top, and we could decorate that, so that after Halloween you can have the kart back."
"That would work," Spencer nodded.
"I think so. You gonna help me decorate it?"
"Sure," Spencer grinned.
"Alright, you'd better get off to bed, little boy," Giulia sighed, and Spencer nodded, climbing off the floor to put tools away and wash the greases off his hands in the basin before heading inside, Gallant and Tisiphone escorting him. She gave Spencer a kiss before seeing him upstairs and tucking him into bed, after a brief call with Mason to say goodnight.
Scooping up the half-glass of chilled white wine Enzo had poured for her, her cell-phone, resting on the island, glowed with a silenced call. She glanced at the screen, and dove for her phone, rather unwilling to dwell on how quickly she had snatched it up at the sight of the familiar name. Giulia accepted the call. "Hello, Elijah."
"I hope it's not too late," Elijah said softly, and Giulia smiled.
"No, not at all," she replied. "Is everything okay?"
"Nothing for you to worry about," he said drily, and in the background on his end she could hear what sounded like a muted party.
"I'd ask if you're at a frat party but the semester hasn't even started yet!" she teased. "Where are you?"
"The witch-house," Elijah said grimly. "Kol and Isak had a snit over Niklaus and Kol is…blowing off steam with Gyda and Willem."
"And you're hiding," Giulia chuckled, curling up on the sofa and tucking a blanket over her legs; Simba prowled over to curl up in her lap, demanding his ears be scratched.
"I couldn't take it anymore," Elijah confessed, and Giulia smiled.
"Where's Isak?"
"Still at Niklaus' claimed residence," Elijah said, with a touch of asperity.
"He wouldn't give up his new toy."
"No," Elijah sighed, "he wouldn't. Thankfully Kol is easily distracted… He has made mention he may return to New Orleans."
"He never likes to be the last to leave a party," Giulia said, though her heart sank; she had enjoyed Kol being so close all summer. It made her nostalgic for when she had lived in New Orleans - and very grateful they no longer lived under the same roof! "I heard a rumour today that Lagertha has been looking into medicine and law-enforcement."
"Mm," Elijah hummed softly. "In fact, I was…hoping we might meet to discuss…opportunities."
"Why me?" Giulia asked; Elijah chuckled softly.
"I know enough to respect that nothing happens in Mystic Falls without your say so," he said, and Giulia felt a subtle thrill in the pit of her belly. To be acknowledged in a position of influence by Elijah… She didn't make the rules; but she did set the tone. She had put things in place so that the likes of the Originals could make Mystic Falls as much their home as anyone else, whether human or vampire, witch or werewolf. As long as the human populace was never under threat, they could all exist in Mystic Falls in a delicate ecosystem - she was a champion of symbiosis.
But she wasn't a queen. She had briefly lived as part of a community that had its own supernatural sovereign ruler. Parts of the city had worked; other things had been left to malinger, and it was the rot that endangered the entire foundations.
Everything had to be in balance, as Nature intended.
"You overestimate my influence," she said modestly.
"Oh, I don't think so," Elijah said. "And…even if it wasn't a matter of gaining your approval on behalf of the Council… I'd still like to see you."
She softened, a smile teasing the corners of her lips, and she felt a pleasant warmth spread through her entire body - anticipation. She'd forgotten that feeling. The excitement of seeing…him. "I'd like to see you, too." She sighed softly, realising… She hadn't spoken to Elijah, not really, not about herself…her circumstances… She had been avoiding the inevitable curiosity.
She had allowed the Originals to distract themselves: She had used Gyda and the others to deflect Elijah's attention. Because the anticipation of waking Elijah, ten years later, was very different to sitting down and acknowledging everything that had happened - that Elijah had witnessed happen at the quarry ten years ago.
Weeks ago, to him, they had been cohabiting, they had been…in love.
Deeply, devastatingly, wretchedly in love.
Giulia didn't forget.
She had made a promise to herself, though, a decade ago, that when they finally reunited, however long it took her to get the dagger from his heart…she'd have stories to tell him. A life to share with him.
There were certain things she could never have factored in. Things she did want to boast about; others she could never have imagined she would ever have to keep to herself. But she was proud, for the most part, about what she had accomplished over the last ten years.
"I… I have missed ten years. Ten years of your adventures," Elijah said softly. "Giulia, I would - I would like to…to get to know the woman you have become."
Softly, almost sadly, Giulia said, "I'll warn you now: In some ways, she's a lot scarier than the girl you remember." Elijah chuckled richly, making her toes curl, melting away some of her hesitancy.
"Of that, my dear, I have no doubt," he said warmly. "No doubt."
She couldn't help preening luxuriously. They had always enjoyed playing the game - at first, against one another. It was excruciating foreplay. But teaming up together? That had come later - and been exponentially more satisfying even than the thrill of outmanoeuvring Elijah.
Giulia missed it. She missed having a partner…she missed…having Elijah.
It was different with Enzo: If they were in a scrap, he did what she told him to - he let her take point, trusted her instincts, let her rein him in. They were equals, they were family, but she was naturally dominant in their dynamic - most of the time. When their dynamic shifted, it was significant - and usually, for horrific reasons.
As for Fabian…she hadn't spoken to him in eight months, and even then, half their last conversation had been unintelligible gibberish that had made her hang her head in her hands, knowing that Fabian was teetering on the brink, crumbling. Before one of her contacts could get to him in Paris, he had disappeared: There had been no signs of struggle. He'd taken himself off somewhere. He had fallen off the grid, and Giulia…couldn't expend the energy to track him down, not when she knew him too well to think he'd appreciate her tearing the world apart to try to find him. If Fabian was lost, it was for a reason - even if he didn't know what it was until something extraordinary happened that he'd forgotten he had seen coming. That was one of the many problems with Fabian's extraordinary gifts - he was ever-knowing rather than all-knowing, due to the frequency and accuracy of his shifting visions - there was always a butterfly-effect to any decision ever made: He saw the future more clearly than the present, often confused where he was during rare bouts of lucidity - Giulia was a rare dead-zone for his powers, which had made him exquisitely curious about her, before they met in person, enough to put himself in her way one fateful afternoon… And her proximity kept the worst of the backlash of his visions at bay: With her, and her alone, he could have reprieve.
Some men would have luxuriated in it, intoxicated by the idea of living a life of lucidity… But, extraordinary as he was, Fabian was…too like Giulia.
They enjoyed it too much.
And, much like Giulia, Fabian was duty-bound to use his extraordinary gifts to help people…to right wrongs…to carve out certain paths for the future… He couldn't do that if he couldn't see; he couldn't see when she was near. She brought him lucidity, guarded him against the debilitating, bloody pain of his visions, relief, gave him someone…to know him, Fabian himself, not the oracle, but the man. He loved her: She loved the man he was without the visions. He loved the visions: He couldn't have her and the visions.
The visions had won: Only because he had been playing toward his own endgame for far longer than he had ever loved Giulia, far longer than he would ever admit.
The game won.
Somewhere, out there, was her husband - dying slowly from the visions he craved, and Giulia just had to accept that she could never coax him to abandon his endgame. She had wanted him to - not even for her - for himself. Because the man he was without the visions… God, Giulia missed him.
She missed having her person.
Giulia missed being someone's person.
"Are you free…on Friday?" she asked, mentally going through her schedule for the rest of the week. "I don't have the children."
"I am free whenever," Elijah said politely. "I was…thinking perhaps you'd like to go to dinner?"
"Oh. Sure," Giulia said, her heart sinking. Going out during the day with him…wasn't quite so intimate - but it revealed a lot about her life, as it was now, what she did with herself on a daily basis. The life she had built for herself in Mystic Falls, after everything, the last place she had wanted to return to.
"You sound disappointed," Elijah said, picking up on every nuance, as was his habit, and Giulia smiled sadly to herself.
"I - wanted to show you some things," she admitted. "But dinner sounds wonderful."
"Well, there are no laws saying we couldn't do both," Elijah said reasonably.
"Alright. We can…chat while I show you around," Giulia said, "and then…go out for dinner later in the evening."
"I must admit, I am no longer au fait with the restaurants in the area," Elijah said. "Do you have any recommendations?"
"I know a place," Giulia said warmly. "I'll book the eight o'clock sitting, if that's okay. We can have the afternoon, and still have time to freshen up."
"I look forward to it," Elijah said warmly, and Giulia smiled.
"Oh, and Elijah…no suits," she said, and Elijah's breath hitched. She laughed. "I can practically hear you shuddering."
"I suppose it is all part of the adjustment-period. What is it you plan on doing with me, Miss Salvatore?"
"It's Doctor, now, my darling," she purred, and he laughed. Calling herself Dr Salvatore was a lot easier than trying to explain the state of her marriage - she had never taken her husband's name: She had never been Madame Seydoux. "I'll pick you up after lunch, is two o'clock okay for you?"
"It's wonderful," Elijah said warmly. "I look forward to it."
"Me, too," she said softly. "Goodnight, Elijah."
"Goodnight, Giulia," he seemed to sigh, and Giulia shivered as she hung up the phone, gathering Simba in her arms to climb upstairs. Enzo's bedroom-door was ajar, and he sat in his armchair, reading; as she passed, he glanced up from his book, smirking softly.
"Goodnight," he cooed, almost mockingly, but his features were soft, almost pleased. There were few things he and Caroline were united in: Their incomprehension over Giulia's complicated, in their eyes unnecessary separation from Fabian was one of things. They thought Giulia should either divorce Fabian, or drag him to Mystic Falls by his hair. That she did neither flummoxed them. That she seemed content to live her life in limbo, seemingly at Fabian's whim, infuriated Caroline and saddened Enzo, who was a walking poster-child for time slipping you by. They wanted Giulia to date.
She couldn't.
And at the same time, knew that going out to dinner with Elijah might be…incendiary.
Never in her life had she been unfaithful: She wouldn't start now.
Her marriage was an awkward situation. But she remained now, as she had been since she first felt the fluttering in her belly, heard a tiny heart beating like a hummingbird, utterly, utterly devoted to Zita. She came first. Until Zita was off in college, healthy and happy and thriving, Giulia's wants and needs came second.
No matter what - or who - she wanted.
She could no more chase Fabian across the world than she could dance off into the sunset with Elijah.
They thought she was in limbo, torn between the love for a man who didn't want her, and the possibilities of a love that could make her thrive. They didn't understand.
Giulia was wholly in love with her daughter.
Any other relationship came second to Zita.
Giulia missed having a partner - she missed having sex - but she was not deprived of love. She was consumed by it - for her child.
Nothing else - no-one else - really mattered, not Enzo, not Fabian, not Elijah. Only Zita.
It made things simpler.
That didn't mean she wasn't itching for Friday to come around; that she wasn't going to plan the afternoon to show off all she had accomplished around town; that she wasn't going to agonise over her wardrobe choices for dinner that evening. Because she was. She hadn't been out in ages.
And it was Elijah.
The first love of her life.
There were some things in her life that she regretted; but never, never, loving him - or letting him go, so she could have the last ten years to grow. To experience life - its ups and its downs.
She would never have had Zita if she hadn't made the choice to do something with her life worth sharing with Elijah. She had been seventeen, resurrected, filled with uncertainty and grief and wonder, aching with pain at his daggering - but determined.
Giulia had lived.
She had done something Elijah had thought no-one could do. She had outmanoeuvred Klaus: Had freed Elijah's family.
Had survived.
More than that, she had thrived. She had done all she had promised herself she would do, and more. And she had made that promise to herself because Elijah was going to be absent from it all.
She had promised herself that she'd have something to tell him when he woke.
One afternoon and one dinner were not going to be enough.
But he had eternity. And Giulia…
Well, time would tell.
A.N.: I know, not much has happened - but we're building up to Giulijah, so, you know…patience, my loves.
