So… I think that this might be our longest chapter to date. If it isn't…. well it's certainly the most exciting! I've had this chappy in my head for awhile now. I hope you guys like it! I also wanna apologize for taking so long to update~ I'm in a musical right now and it has taken over my LIFE!!!! But I love love LOVE this chappy so I hope you feel that it was worth the wait!! Also, thank you so much to all of my reviewers!! I love hearing from all of you! Sooo.... let me know what you think of the newest installment to our lovely tale!

ENJOY!!

Chapter 11

Destiny

In the months following Elisabeth and Joseph's reconciliation, Joseph stayed true to his and his wife's agreement. Elisabeth was allowed to spend time with her son, she was permitted to go where she wanted, when, and with whomever she wished, and in return, Elisabeth stayed by her husband's side always supportive and always loving. Elisabeth grew closer with Rudy, she was attempting to fall in love with Joseph again, and she was trying, for the life of her, to forget Death.

During this time, Elisabeth also helped Joseph in his campaign for Austria's Presidency. She would attend the dinner parties, the speeches, the rallies, the photo shoots, always being the beautiful wife, behind her husband, supporting him. The local newspapers began to call her, "The Most Beautiful Woman in Austria" or even, "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World." Her long brown hair was always piled on top of her head, allowing others to view her porcelain face that appeared to be practically perfect in every way. She would listen to Sophie- stand by Joseph in her navy blue dress suit, with a smile placed on her beautiful face, dainty claps, and always finish the event with a cordial hug. The people of Austria seemed to love the candidate's wife rather than the Presidential hopeful, himself.

The married couple traveled all throughout Austria during the Presidential election, taking their son with them where ever they went. They traveled from Vienna to Innsbruck. En route to Graz, Joseph decided to stop in the city of Lienz, along the southern border, in order to try and pick up a few of the votes in the South.

"Mom," Rudy tugged on his mother's sleeve while they were in the car. "How far south are we going?"

"As south as you can get before you're in Italy," Elisabeth said as she placed a sweet kiss in his golden blond hair.

"Oh," Rudy said in a disappointed voice.

"What's wrong?" Elisabeth asked.

"I just wished I learned Italian," he replied as Elisabeth burst into laughter.

"You'll be fine!" she said with a reassuring squeeze as the car door opened and they stepped out into the screaming crowd. Joseph walked up to Elisabeth, took a hold of her hand, and led her and Rudy up to the stage.

The minute her foot hit the stage, Elisabeth placed her irresistible smile on her made up face. She held onto Rudy's small hand and played the role of the loving wife and mother. Never interested in what her husband had to say, she would peer out into the crowd. She loved seeing the variety of people present to support her husband. Old, young, men, women, tall, short. The people of this city were different from those of the other cities they had visited. Rather than the paler skin and fairer hair, many of them had skin the color of coffee mixed with cream and jet black hair.

There was one boy, in particular, who caught her eye. He had the dark skin and black hair of the Italians but had wide innocent chocolate brown eyes. He had found a place on a fountain and was craning his neck in order to see the stage. After a moment, the young boy realized that Elisabeth's eyes were on him and a large smile illuminated his face. He pulled his baseball cap off of his head and waved it in the air over his head. Elisabeth's plastered smile suddenly reached to her eyes and she waved to the boy causing his smile to grow even more.

At the end of Joseph's speech full of promises and plans, the crowd burst into cheers and cries. With a final wave, Joseph took Elisabeth's hand and led her and Rudy down the stairs to meet with the members of the crowd. Those eager to meet with the hopeful future president, swarmed around the family and among those was the young boy from the fountain.

"Hello," he said to Elisabeth with a smile, in a voice that was buried in a deep Italian accent.

"Hello," Elisabeth replied, dazzling him with her perfect smile. "Are you from Italy?" she asked, truly interested.

"Oh," he said, nodding. "Yes, ma'am."

"Well, your German is wonderful," she said as she touched his arm. "And what brings you to Lienz?"

"I…" the boy said, avoiding the woman's gaze. "I wanted to get the chance to see you."

"See me?" she asked, quizzically.

"Oh yes!" the boy said, lifting his head, their chocolate eyes meeting. "'The Most Beautiful Woman in the World?' I didn't want to miss the chance!"

"Oh," Elisabeth said, laughing. "Well, thank you. I hope you weren't disappointed," She added with a wink.

"No, ma'am!"

"Please," she stopped the boy. "Call me Elisabeth."

"E- Elisabeth," the boy said, sheepishly. "Thank you."

Elisabeth nodded as her husband motioned to her that it was time to leave. With a smile, Elisabeth began to turn and walk away just as the boy grabbed her arm and said:

"Just so you know- I would do anything to make you happy. Anything! If you ever need anything, just come to Luigi Lucheni!"

"Thank you, Luigi," Elisabeth said as she placed a kiss on the boy's cheek and followed her husband back to their car.

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The night the results of the election did not hold much surprise. Joseph was ahead in the polls for months and this was simply the official announcement. Joseph won by a landslide and he, Elisabeth, and Rudy celebrated among friends, family, co- workers, and complete strangers. It was certainly a great achievement and Elisabeth was happy that she had helped Joseph get there. It had helped the two grow closer together- granted they acted more like co- workers rather than husband and wife.

The night of the inauguration came upon them faster than what would've seemed possibly. But before Elisabeth knew it, she was at the Hofburg Imperial Palace, in an evening gown, watching her husband being sworn into office. The night was long and seemed to bore both Elisabeth and Rudy to death. Thankfully, the mother and son were able to sit next to one another. They doodled on the tablecloth, played with the napkins, and enjoyed several violent games of "Hangman." The clock on the wall above the table seemed to be moving backwards- Elisabeth could not make this night end. She had been proud of Joseph- happy, even- that he had been elected by the people of Austria to represent them as their new president, but this was not her world. She belonged outside, walking through the forest or swimming in the lake, not sitting in a painfully tight, black ball gown surrounded by other miserable people who didn't want to be there, either.

Finally, after hours of monotonous speeches and hundreds of pictures, the evening ended and the family was able to move into their new home. The Imperial Palace had been the ruling place of Austria since the 13th Century, housing such elites as Marie Antoinette and members the Habsburg Monarchy. Each member of the President's family received their own room in which to reside in and, as a result, Elisabeth was able to escape from reality once again.

The moment the door behind her closed she sighed a sigh of relief. What a great triumph! She had risen from being the wife of a refugee politician to the President's wife. With a smile, she slowly undressed, freeing herself from the tight dress. She let the black dress fall to the ground and stepped out of it. Leaving the thousand dollar dress laying on the floor, she wrapped her lacy bathrobe around her nude form. Walking over to her mirror, she took the pins out of her hair and let it fall down her back. Pulling the curly, brown locks over her shoulder, she began to braid the mass of curls, quietly humming to herself.

"Elisabeth…" a voice whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down spine.

Elisabeth spun around and stared into the ice blue eyes of Death. They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed to be an eternity. Elisabeth was furious. It had been months since she had last seen Death in her husband's office, and now after such a triumphant event for Elisabeth and Joseph, Death decided to reappear in her life and torture her? Elisabeth needed to remind herself to breathe.

"What are you doing here, der Tod?" Elisabeth whispered, barely audible to human ears.

Death just smiled and placed a gloved hand on her flushed cheek. She sighed as she closed her eyes and buried her face in his hand. It was cold, as it always had been, and seemed to send an electrical current through her skin, flying its way to her heart, making it skip a beat. They hadn't been this close since the night of Death's confession of love. Since then, Elisabeth refused to admit that she had longed for him to touch her again- hold her hand, stroke her cheek, run his hand through her hair… kiss her.

Her eyes flew open at that thought. How could she possibly wish such a thing? She had finally accomplished something in her, thus far, meaningless life. She had helped her husband become the President of Austria! She was finally free. Free to do what she wanted. Free to love her son. Free to do whatever she wanted with her life- and she wasn't about to give that all up just to be with a man who would bring her nothing but death.

Standing up, she pushed Death away from her and spat, "Get away from me!"

As she pushed her way to the door, Death grabbed a hold of her petite wrist and enticingly whispered her name.

"Stop it!" Elisabeth cried trying to free herself from Death's icy grip. "I have finally done something I am proud of in my life," she continued, tears running down her cheeks. "I have freed myself. And I didn't need any help from you!" she screamed.

Death just stared at the woman before him for a moment and burst into peals of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Elisabeth asked, venomously.

"Do you honestly think you're free?" he asked with a mocking smile.

"Yes," Elisabeth stated. "I've beaten Sophie, I've become closer to Joseph and Rudy-much to your disapproval, I know- and I've now become the new First Lady of Austria," she finished with a smug look on her face.

"And do you really think that you're free now that your 'husband,'" Death spat the word as if it were a curse. "Is President? The way I see it, you've just found a new form of imprisonment. So many rules and regulations and duties for the President's wife. Rather foolish of you, don't you think?"

"Stop it," Elisabeth hissed as she, once again, tried to shake off his grip. "This is what I want!" she lied to both Death and herself. "I fought so hard to rise up above Sophie and those who have always hated me and judged me! I became the most powerful woman in Austria… and I did it without anyone's help- especially yours! I'm living, der Tod! Living! Living the life I've always wanted. I'm happy and married to a successful, caring man. I…" Elisabeth paused, trying to collect herself. "I love Joseph," she said pointing to Death with her free hand, "Whether you like it or not!"

Before Elisabeth could comprehend what was happening, she had been thrown onto her bed and Death was laying on top of her.

"Don't lie!" he spat at her. "Don't you dare say that you love that pathetic excuse for a man!"

Terrified, Elisabeth tried with all her might to try and get Death off of her, but with his entire weight on top of her small body, Elisabeth could only struggle in vain. Death grabbed both of her arms and pinned them up over her head with one of his black, cold hands. His free hand, he used to force her to look into his eyes that were burning with a deadly mix of fury and passion.

"You love me," he whispered to her in the most deadly tone. He stated it with such confidence, his tone seemed to dare her to even try to deny it. His fingers dug deep into her chin causing her to cry out in pain. Elisabeth tried to turn her eyes away from his penetrating gaze, only to have Death force her to look back.

"Stop it, please…" Elisabeth whimpered, fresh tears flowing, causing her once pristine make up to run down in dark rivers down her face.

Death let a small, mocking laugh escape his lips as he lifted her limp form off the bed only to slam her against the wall. Elisabeth screamed as she felt her body slam against the unforgiving wall and her vision began to blur. Death had both of Elisabeth's arms pinned once again, making any hope of escape inconceivable.

"You love me," he said again, leaning in close to whisper it in her ear. Elisabeth's entire being began to tremble as she felt Death close the gap between their bodies. She could feel his hard, cold chest pressing against her warm trembling body through her thin bathrobe. Her strength was no match to his power over her and she knew that. She could feel him getting closer and closer to her and all that was separating her- protecting her- from him was nothing more than a bathrobe; a bathrobe that had begun to slowly open, revealing her fair, perfect skin to the dangerous man before her.

"Please, der Tod…" she whispered in a raspy voice, slowly shaking her head.

"You love me!" he screamed as he pressed all his weight against her, crushing her into the wall behind her. "You always have," he continued in a softer, more deadly tone. "You think you're free?" he asked her. "No…" he whispered. "No! You'll never be free! No one will ever have you," he said as he ran a single gloved hand down her cheek, in a rather rough manner. "No one but me. Do you understand?" he asked, mocking her like a child. "No one!" he screamed in her face. As he shouted, he grabbed Elisabeth under her arms and lifted her up and pushed her against the wall, allowing them to see eye to eye.

Openly weeping, Elisabeth tried once again to fight off Death, to call for help from anyone, to escape. Seeing her struggle made Death want to put an end to this. Her trembling, crimson lips seemed to beckon him, invite him in. He went in for the kill, like a viper, rage and lust burning in his eyes. He stopped, his lips a mere breath away from her warm, luscious lips. He could feel her hot breath on his face, making the desire to make her eternally his even greater. His breathing began to slow as he took in her scent. She smelled of lilac and vanilla. He looked into her eyes as he focused on her breathing. She was breathing. She was alive. Alive and oh, so beautiful. Death looked away, ashamed. He had come so close to destroying the one thing he truly held dear.

Realizing what he almost did, Death looked back at the almost naked woman he had pinned to the wall. She seemed terrified, almost as if she was expecting him to kill her. Ashamed, he stared into Elisabeth's eyes as if to convey an apology and slowly, he disappeared, causing her to fall to the floor.

Elisabeth lay on the floor in a pile of lace and tears. She cried her heart and soul out. She was so confused. She had been a kiss away from death. From leaving behind the life she had worked so hard to achieve; from leaving Joseph, whom she had become fond of; from Rudy- her dear sweet little boy. She was on the verge of being ripped away from everything she held dear, and yet, at the moment she could feel Death's icy breath on her face, all fear left her. She was not afraid of him. She was ready. She wanted him to kiss her. She had convinced herself that she didn't need Death, that she never loved him and that she had always despised him. But in truth, Elisabeth knew that deep down, she did love him. She didn't know why or how, but she did. And she also knew that in the end Death would win.

Elisabeth lay there, alone, ashamed, and confused. Soon, Elisabeth's tears ran dry and she was finally able to escape from reality into a deep and luckily, dreamless sleep.

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