"Stubborn as a… me…"
Friday morning, August 23
Half a fortnight passed by quite peacefully, as Damon and Lizette enjoyed their time together. It felt like old times when they were with one another, and Damon suddenly realized that
he was becoming the man whom he had so long thought to be dead inside of him… the man whom he had once been… the man that Lizette had always thought so fondly of…
She even showed him photographs from as far back as the summer of 1960… "This was taken, I believe, in Georgia sometime in late June… there was talk of war back in those days,
though even I never took any of those rumors seriously… though, I'm sure you can clearly see now just how wrong I was." She giggled slightly as she motioned to the earliest of his few
photographs of him dressed in Confederate uniform with hair that fell to his shoulders and a beard that had, at that time, been considered fashionable.
Damon defended it though, "Hey, I'll have you know that I was one of Atlanta's most elligable bachelors when that picture was taken. Dozens of women were devastated to see me go to
war." But Lizette only laughed.
"Oh, I'm sure they were throwing themselves out in the streets at your feet." She teased.
"Ha ha," Damon fake-laughed and lightly pinched her side much like the way he had always done in "retaliation" for her teasings. Lizette squealed and swatted his hand, like she had
always done, and pulled out a new photograph. "Oh… this one is my favorite…" she whispered softly, admiring the picture for a moment before handing it to Damon. "This was taken in
Paris by Monsieur William Ronis, in 1942… he was just starting out as a photographer and he asked my permission to photograph me once…" she explained, smiling fondly at the old
memory. "he was a sweet man… he only recently passed away too…" she said, looking up at Damon's face as he gazed down at the photograph in awe.
"You're beautiful." He surprised her by saying it, and he was no longer looking at the photograph, but directly into her eyes. Lizette looked up to meet his gaze and turned to hide her
blush and Damon touched her face gently and lifted it ever so slightly so that she was looking into his eyes again. He didn't say anything for a while, only looking at her… emotion
reflecting in his eyes… those eyes... Then he surprised her again, and he kissed her softly. His lips were soft and gentle, and he touched her so tenderly, like she might break. Lizette fell
back to the floor slowly, her fingers intertwined in his hair as she kissed him. He moved to nip at her throat and she giggled. But then he stopped kissing her and looked at her again.
"Wait, I want to show you something." He said, and she nodded.
"Okay…"
"Damon come on! Just tell me what it is!" Lizette laughed as Damon led her through the Old Wood.
"Aw… you don't want me to spoil the surprise do you?" he teased, holding tightly onto her hand as he led her onward and gave her a quick wink over his shoulder, causing her to giggle
behind her petite hand. Damon had been delighted in discovering that she still unconsiously exercised her old mannerisms and habits from their human lives, a feature in women that he
had not seen much of since those feminists came out around the turn of the twentieth century. But Lizette's ladylike demeanor had remained all but untouched by the feminism ideals of
modern day women.
"Damon…" she stuck out her bottom lip as though to pout and looked up at him from beneath her long, black lashes. But Damon only laughed and kissed her forehead.
"All in good time piccolo agnello…" he promised before turning back to take a look. "We're getting close." He said as he reached around Lizette and covered her eyes with his hands. "No
peeking." This made Lizette giggle again and she followed his direction while taking care to mind her footing. Damon smirked in spite of himself and stopped when they stood before it.
"Alright…" he paused to make a dramatic effect. "drumroll please…" he joked, Lizette laughed. "now… open your eyes." And she did just that.
Lizette gasped at the grandeur of the ancient ruins, "Oh Damon! C'est magnifique! C'est l'église de Fell?" she asked, looking back to Damon as he nodded, grinning with pride that she liked
the surprise.
"Correct, this is indeed the church of Fell. Thomas Keeping Fell was his full name," He said, then added. "and Honoria as well, of course." He chuckled as Lizette's face lit up.
"Sa femme, oui?" she asked and Damon nodded.
"Yes, Honoria was his wife." He confirmed, smiling as he watched her tiptoe her way up the stone steps-or at least what was left of them-and to the ancient archway where the oak
doors had once hung. Lizette carefully put one foot through the threshold while looking intently at what had once been the sanctuary. She looked all around, turning around in circles as
she savored every detail. There was very little architecture left from this long ago.
It was dawn now and the sun was on the horizon. For a moment, Damon's eyes widened in fear and he moved toward Lizette. "The dawn is upon us…" he said quickly, frightened for her
sake. Lizette turned to look at him and they stared at once another for a short while. "Have you no stone?" she asked him, suddenly realizing that they had not left the shelter of indoors
in all their time spent together. Instantaneously they each held out their left hands. Upon each of their center fingers was in place a ring with a large, impossibly blue stone in the silver
casing, and they matched.
Lizette laughed in spite of herself, "You had me worried, mon amour." She giggled ever so softly, and Damon was relieved.
"I would have given you my ring before I let you leave my life again…" his voice was soft, his eyes were full of emotion, brimmed with the sincerity of his words. Lizette felt a tear fall from
her eyes as they both recalled the very same memory… of when she had been forced to leave him the first time… and oh, how her heart had ached that day, so long ago now, that she
had left Florence...
Damon could remember exactly the number of tears that had fallen from her eyes as he had kissed her in the street for all the people to see. Of course he had been heavily ridiculed for
that very action in the weeks following the scandal_ fore people did not kiss in public back in those times, especially not with so many witnesses about.
Since that day so long ago Damon often smirked at the memory of all the shocked faces; he had counted precisely five women to have feigned a fainting spell, which was the right and
proper thing to do when having witnessed such impropriety. Kissing on the mouth was considered indecent and inappropriate in the years of the Italian Renaissance, and he remembered
especially the scrutiny offered by Stefan (who had accompanied Damon and Lizette into town, acting as something of a chaperone for the sake of her family name's reputation) in
particularly. The poor boy's mouth had hung ajar as the Pierét's carriage had driven away and Damon had snickered as he turned away. But speaking of Stefan…
"Hi Mom and Dad," Damon heard the voice all too soon-it was only a couple of yards away at the graveyard, and he knew precisely who it was… and he had forgotten to mention that
very person to Lizette… which was definitely a big mistake… and Lizette, knowing nothing of Elena Gilbert, saw only one thing. Katherine.
Damon cursed and Lizette hissed. Her pupils dilated at an abnormal rate and extent and her kanines erected immediately upon the arousal of her highly sensitive instincts and senses.
But before Damon had the chance to grab her, Lizette had taken off at full speed directly at the blissfully ignorant Elena Gilbert and something equally fast-if not a single degree off-
charged at Lizette from the left.
"No!" Damon cried as he reached the incident a hundredth of an instant after it happening, and the entire scene sped through in fast forward and it was near impossible to determine
what was happening in what order- Elena was dashing through the forest towards the brawl, screaming Stefan's name as he fought to plunge the solid wooden stake through Lizette's
torso and Damon all the while trying to pry his brother off of her.
"Je vais te tuer! Je vais vous tuer pour ce que vous avez fait!"
"Take your hands off her!"
"No! She's too dangerous to be left alive!"
"Stefan! Stefan stop it!"
"Vous gâté, salope égoïste!"
"She thought it was Katherine!"
"Katherine's dead!"
"Stefan!"
"Je te déteste! Je te déteste! Je te déteste! Je te déteste!"
"Lizette! You are not helping!"
"Lizette?! Lizette Pierét?!"
"Mais bien sûr! Qui d'autre avez-vous pensé qu'il était idiot stupide?!"
"Lizette! Is that really necessary?!"
"Stefan!"
"ÇA SUFFIT!"
Lizette finally was able to throw Stefan off of her and Damon grabbed him by the collar and pinned him to a tree, his eyes were menacing. "When I say leave her alone, you do it!" he
exclaimed before throwing Stefan aside and turning to reach Lizette, as Elena scrambled to collect Stefan in her arms and to hold onto him protectively.
"Are you alright Lizette? Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?" Damon frantically asked as he ran his shaking hands around her throat and shoulders and face, looking for any injuries. But
Lizette threw him off as well, fuming with anger and confusion and humilation, and pure outrage.
"J'ai dit ça suffit!" she cried, reclaiming her footing and standing up, fists clentched at her sides as her hold frame shook with rage, her eyes were a blaze of flames. "Vous avez dit
Katherine était morte!" her voice shook with rage, the sky overhead darkened as thunderclouds tumbled across the previously clear skyline.
"Katherine is dead!" Damon interjected, "That girl is not Katherine! I promise you, Lizette!" he pointed toward Elena as she clung to Stefan's shoulders, as he was now crouched
defensively in front of her, ready to protect her, fangs bared. "That is Elena Gilbert! She is a human! She lives in Fell's Church! She was born seventeen years ago! She is not Katherine
Pierce!" Damon exclaimed, carefully walking towards Lizette, his arms outstretched in a defensive manner. But Lizette still shook with fury.
"Vous voulez me faire croire que cette fille, qui pourraient être jumeaux avec Katherine, est comme ça par hasard?!" she cried. Damon frowned, oh… of all times to not understand what she
had said… of course it had to be this time. He cursed under his breath, trying to piece together what he had understood. You want… something… something, something, something…
daughter? No, girl, yea that's right… something, something, something… twin… Katherine…as it is… something… chance…? Damon cursed again and watched her, trying to be careful.
He certainly didn't want to offend her, or to anger her any more than she already was, so he took it safe. "Um… yes?" not the best answer.
"Vous maudissent, Damon Salvatore…" she snarled.
"Oh, come on! What do you want me to say?! God! You are so… stubborn, Lizette!"
"Vous êtes l'un de parler, Damon…" Lizette snapped back, and Damon understood that. You're one to talk… Damon growled and was about to scream something else at her when they were
interrupted by Stefan, who appeared confused as to whether be concerned or amused by the situation.
"Can we discuss this in perhaps a more private setting?" he suggested, still standing as something of a shield in front of Elena to guard her from harm. But Lizette refused.
"I'd rather not." She snapped, quickly adjusting her blouse and sweater before turning and heading off in the opposite direction.
"And where do you think you're going?" Damon called to her, an eyebrow arched.
"To the river!" she answered over her shoulder.
"What for?!"
"To make a hole in it- I'm going for a walk!" of course her first comment had been pure sarcasm, and Damon scoffed, mumbling profanities under his breath as Lizette disappeared from
view.
"My God Stefan! I'm telling you, I'm done! I'm through with this! That Lizette, she's as stubborn as a… as a… a…"
"Stubborn as a what, exactly, Damon?"
"um, well… she's as stubborn as a… well, me… I guess…"
Stefan laughed. "That she is, Damon. That she is…"
A/N: Hey, sorry for the long wait between updates. This chapter took a bit more research than the others, AND I tried to make it a lot longer since a couple other chapters
were really short. But anyhow, I hope you enjoy and please review! You all are my inspiration!