Damon carried the burden of a war he hadn't really agreed with on his shoulders as the familiar sight of his house came into his vision. Home, he thought, warmed at the idea of finally seeing Jessa after far too long away. He walked carefully through the gates, and stopped for a moment to decide where she may be at this time of morning. The garden, he thought, would be perfect for her to disappear into a book. He put down the one bag he'd carried home and made his way to the back of the house.

Jessa sat at a bench under one of the trees. The book lay in her lap, forgotten for a moment, as she simply allowed herself to be warmed by the early morning sun. She smiled to herself, feeling that this moment alone, before the burdens of keeping the household in order would hunt her down, was well worth being awake before everyone else. She heard a slight rustling behind her, at the beginning of the garden, and turning she felt that she couldn't believe her own eyes.

Damon hadn't wanted to disturb her. He'd hoped for a few moments to take in the very sight of her, not yet completely the vision from his first meeting her, but close. He'd been gone nearly two years, the war had ended, and here he was watching from a distance at the very love of his life. He'd known it the first time he'd seen her, even though they'd been but children, and here she sat at 15 years old, and he knew he must wait his time for her to be where he was in the affection he held for her.

He saw her eyes the moment she realized he was there. They lit up and he felt his heart expand. Thank God she looked as happy to see him as he was to see her.

Jessa rose and allowed one of her beloved books to drop harshly to the ground, but she bore it no mind. He was here, standing uncertainly at the garden gate and staring at her as though she were water in a desert. They started walking toward each other, and before either knew it their arms were clutched around each other.

"Damon," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "How are you here?"

"It's over, Jessa." He whispered into her curls, and his hands held her tighter. "I'm home, for good."

FLASH OF WHITE

"Damon!" Jessa's voice called, looking around the grounds. He'd asked her to meet him in the garden at noon, but he hadn't been there. Here she was wandering the Salvatore lands, getting rather irritated. "Damon Salvatore! Where are you?!"

Damon was cursing in the garden. Getting there a few minutes late, thanks to less than helpful servants, he'd found that she wasn't there. He allowed her ladies' maid, Hattie, to put the finishing touches on the table he'd requested. Curses on the fact that he wasn't the planner that she was. As he watched the maid, and her help from the household staff finish his surprise, he couldn't figure out where she would have gone off to.

"Mr. Salvatore," Hattie said, calling him from his frustration and nervous worry. "If I know Miss Warren," her eyes twinkled, " then she's looking all over for you. Maybe you should try looking around while I finish up here. She does have a temper, after all."

Damon took a settling breath, and thanked Hattie with a chuckle. "You're right. I'll go for a bit of a walk. Maybe I'll find her on the grounds."

Jessa was unladylike in her stomping back towards the house. Really, as though she had the time to spare running all over the dirty grounds looking like an idiot in what was clearly one of Damon's idiotic pranks. Honestly, she could swear he was the oldest, yet she was out doing him for maturity.

Today was her twentieth birthday, and she'd expected a surprise, not this irritation. She'd turned toward the gardens, hoping he was there so she could give him a piece of her mind, when she stomped right into him. He steadied them both so they didn't end up in a heap on the ground.

"Jessa," he said, looking down into her eyes. Hers flashed and he knew that Hattie was right, she was angry. "I'm sorry, it took me far longer to set up your birthday surprise than it ever does for you to do mine. You're going to have to teach me how you do that, by the way."

Her eyes and irritation softened. So he was trying to surprise her. She allowed him to place her hand in the crook of his arm. "Jessa, come with me to your very late, and hopefully very well received birthday lunch."

They walked silently into the garden and Jessa gasped when she saw what he'd finally managed to put together. The table was lined with white linen and lace, topped with all of her favorite flowers in a bright silver vase. Crystal goblets held wine, and the plate was laid with the simple foods she preferred for lunch. All of this was set up under the canopy of blossoming trees. It was breathtaking and very intimate, as no was in sight. He held her chair for her and then sat himself across from her.

"I really want to be angry with you, as my new dress feels rather heavy with dust, but seeing this I cannot find it in me to actually be so." Jessa said, placing her napkin in her lap. "It's beautiful, Damon, thank you."

Damon swallowed heavily, nerves attacking him again. The lunch table was simply the setting, not the surprise, and he was terrified of what he was about to do. He smiled at her and raised his glass, giving her a toast. "To Jessa Warren, the one bright light in this dark world we live in."

She smiled and accepted the toast. Then she took up her fork, and started her lunch. Jessa felt like there was more to come, but she was nervous. The next step, she thought, looking across the table at Damon was a little different from what they had had to this point. Perhaps she was wrong, she thought, watching him eat nonchalantly. Maybe they were only supposed to stay in this relationship stasis, friends, with this undercurrent.

"Jessa," Damon said, drawing her attention. "I do have an actual present for you." She could hear the mischievous tone and smiled in response. "That is, if you'd like it?"

Jessa took a moment to stare at him in consideration. The tone would suggest that she was about to receive something silly, like a book of limericks. Deciding to play along, she nodded. "Alright, Damon, you have my curiosity peeked."

He smiled, and stood. Pulling a very small silver box from his pocket, he walked to her chair and dropped to his knee before she could hold out her hand. Swallowing heavily to steady his nerves, he opened the silver box. "Jessica Warren," he was proud that the quiver in his voice wasn't as noticeable as he feared. "Since the first day I met you, even though you were four and I twelve, I knew that this day would come. Because, since that first day, you've been the light in my darkness. You've seen everything that those who are closer to me by blood would never admit I was capable of, and you've given me every support that anyone could ask for. With those things in mind, I bought this ring when you turned sixteen, but I knew that you weren't ready. I hope, today on your twentieth birthday, you are ready. Because I am, Jessa, I am ready to spend the rest of our lives together."

Tears made Jessa's eyes glassy, but her smile was true. She took the hand that held the box into hers, and slid from her chair to join him in the grass. "Yes, Damon, absolutely!" And there, with her new gown getting yet more stains, and his trousers matching, they shared the kiss that would mark the beginning of their life together.

With a start, both Jessa and Damon woke up. Their bodies were still entangled, and their eyes were aligned. They were both breathing heavily, and they knew that both of them had seen the same visions in a shared dream. What their lives would have looked like, had the two of them been destined to be mortal. As they waited for their hearts to stop pounding, Damon searched for Jessa's hand, and found hers to be reaching for his.

"Do you think…" She whispered, afraid that her mother was still pulling strings. Showing the two of them what they had most wanted, in the past, was a powerful manipulation.

He sighed, and raised their clasped hands to his lips. Kissing her knuckles, he shook his head. "I don't think it was her. She'd never want for you to yearn to be regular." He shook his head at the very thought. "No, I think, maybe it was just us."

Jessa considered the idea that the two of them, sharing a bed and entwined, could possibly create this dream to torture them with and wondered if that was a good thing or terrifying. "So, do you wish we had been, or stayed in your case, human?"

It was his turn to think about her question. Would it have made things simpler? In some ways, he supposed, but the truth was that he loved being a vampire. It was a thought that he'd bragged of often, much to his brother's discomfort, but it was the truth. He didn't feel tortured by immortality. And while the dream, of how he would have proposed, a vision he'd had often during the war, was beautiful it would have also meant that they'd both be dead now. And looking down into the green eyes that held his heart, he couldn't bear a world without her alive.

Damon gave her a devilish grin, so reminiscent of the dream, and said, "Absolutely not. You and me? We're meant to outlive everything and everyone." He pulled her onto his body, forcing her to straddle him (not that she minded), and kissed her soundly. "I wouldn't get stuck in the past for anything, Jessa. This," his hands ran down her length and cradled her hips, " would have NEVER been allowed back then. And I have to tell you," his eyes twinkled as he rocked his hips against hers, "THIS feels much better."

Jessa was biting her lip, and her pupils were dilating. Clearing her throat, to stop herself from moaning, she answered a little breathlessly. "You're incorrigible."

"Yes, I am." He practically hissed, and forced himself to stop moving against her. "Would you love me better any other way?"

Her eyebrow rose at the casual use of the "l" word. Smiling down at him, she did something that surprised them both. She leaned forward and nipped down his jaw to his neck, giving a light lick at the very vein that Katherine had ripped from her, she nipped again. Feeling him swallow, she knew she was giving as good as he gave. "Damon," she whispered against the slight wetness that she'd created, "should I stop?"

He moaned and suddenly she was underneath him. "You're torturing me, Jessa." He said, holding her at arm's length and keeping her still.

"Would you love me better any other way?" She asked, smiling up at him. With a wink, she'd disappeared from under him. "Anyway, I need a shower, and you're a hot water hog." She said from the adjoining bathroom. His laughter and groan followed her as she leaned against the door and sighed.