Don't tell me that I'm different; although you can try to show me
Other ways to go about it I already know
This is a relationship in which you make a sacrifice
You take the cut and split it up and leave the body paralyzed
Unable to be clear that you listened that you realized
That that's just what you got to do: you take the right, you pay a price

Simon Curtis – Soul 4 Sale

Chapter 22

What your heart desires

Tuscany, 20 years later

I opened my eyes when I felt the bright sunrays hitting my face, even after so many years that made me to instinctively touch my bracelet. It was on my wrist, as always, I never took it off. I blinked few times, enjoying the warmth. Finally I turned on my other side and faced Klaus, he was still fast asleep. For a moment I simply looked at his relaxed and peaceful face, I was grateful that he had allowed me to sleep in his bed. Last night had been particularly difficult for me, I would have probably cried the whole night if I would have been alone in my room.

Usually I didn't cry anymore, especially in front of papa or Rebekah, they had already been through more than enough because of me, I didn't want to see that pain in their face anymore. It was better to just pretend, I owed them at least that much. They had always been there for me and loved me and I loved them. I loved Klaus as well, but things were different with him, he didn't ask any questions when I had a bad night, he simply allowed me to be close to him. It usually helped a little; it made me feel less lonely, at least for a brief moment.

It had been probably the hardest thing in my life to accept that could never have the kind of companionship I was craving for; I would never experience that intimacy. I knew how ungrateful I was, there were so many people who were much more unfortunate than me, but I couldn't get rid of the huge hole in my heart. If I would still be a human, I would be almost 40-years-old and I had never been even kissed. Who would want to kiss a child? I simply had to accept that I would never experience that kind of closeness. It seemed that Klaus was waking up, he sighed before opening his eyes.

"Hey," he muttered sleepily. "Is everything alright, sweetheart?"

I nodded.

"Yes, thank you for letting me sleep here."

He smiled and touched my hair.

"You are welcome. Could you close the curtains, I do not think I will get up yet."

"Sure," I replied and hopped on the floor. I had to push up to my toes in order to reach the curtains, Klaus turned on his other side and went back to sleep. I wasn't tired anymore, so I headed to the hallway. I passed two maids on my way to my room, they both smiled at me and it seemed that they would have wanted to pet me or something. That happened all the time, I was the cute little doll and many strangers thought that they had the right to touch me without my permission. Usually I tried to ignore that, but sometimes I bit people who tried to treat me like some kind of toy.

The other vampires were even worse, they thought that I was adorable when I growled and showed my fangs at them, none of them saw me in any way threatening, they usually just laughed at me. I didn't have much interest to spend time with other vampires, except with my family, I was so tired of being belittled. I had thoughts, I had read a lot, traveled, studied languages, culture, art, history, but none of that mattered, all everyone saw was my appearance.

I opened the door to my room, every single furniture, the dresser, the bookshelf, the armchair, the desk, even the canopy bed, had made especially for me; papa always tried his best to make my life easier. I had books and dolls on the bookshelf and an easel in the middle of the room, Klaus had taught me about art and I enjoyed painting, although I wasn't very good at it.

I spent a lot of my time studying; it was as good way as any to pass the time. I pondered what to do, should I read or maybe sketch something. It was a beautiful morning; I didn't really feel like staying indoors, I could go riding. We were currently living at a beautiful villa in the countryside and I enjoyed taking long rides with my pony Orsino. I wore my lilac riding dress and headed outside when I ran into papa.

"Good morning," he said smiling. "Are you going out?"

I nodded.

"I feel like going riding."

"That's nice. I would love to take a ride myself, but unfortunately I have plenty of things to take care of today."

I smiled and opened my arms, letting papa know that I wanted him to lift me up; he didn't do that without my approval. I loved him even more because of that, he never treated me disrespectfully. I kissed his cheek when he lifted me up, I liked being at the same level with him.

"You slept in Niklaus' room?" he asked, trying to keep his tone casual. I hoped that he wouldn't have noticed that, but of course he had.

"I… I just wanted…"

"It's alright," he said gently. "I am glad he can make you feel better, but I want you to know that you can always come to me, always."

"I know," I said and hugged him. "I love you, papa."

"I love you too, sweetheart. I truly hope…"

He didn't finish his sentence, but I knew what he wanted to say, he hoped that they would have found some way to make me grow. I had accidently heard him talking about it with Klaus few years ago, apparently they had talked with many witches and warlocks, but none of them had known a way to make a vampire physically age. How could my body age when technically I was dead, I had died in that small tavern in Glastonbury almost 30 years ago.

That was a strange thought, I had lived as a vampire much longer than I had lived as a human, the memories of my human life had slowly but surely faded away. This was my life; this was who I was now, a woman in a child's body. Things could be worse, I was sure that I would eventually get over the longing I felt from time to time. Sometimes I still thought about Owen, but I understood now how unrealistic my expectations had been, I had been just a foolish child.

"Have fun, sweetheart," papa said while placing me on the floor. He didn't patronize me, he knew that I was capable of taking care of myself, but I really didn't mind him looking after me, his presence always made me feel safe. Rebekah still saw me more as a child, but I couldn't blame her for that, I had noticed along the years that it was her deepest desire to be a mother, to have a family of her own. To me she had always been the best mother I could have hoped for, the least I could do was to be her child. I passed one of the stable boys when I walked across the courtyard; he greeted me with a polite smile and a brief bow. Orsino was at his stall, he nickered when he saw me coming.

"Hi," I greeted him and kissed his muzzle.

I had loved all of my ponies; they had been my faithful friends. I was too small to ride a horse, but ponies were perfect for me, not to mention they were very smart animals. I chatted with Orsino while saddling him; he truly was a great listener. The morning sun lit up the vineyards when we rode away from the villa, the grapes looked very good this year. I loved to ride here, the scenery was beautiful. Florence wasn't very far, but I didn't go there often, I had tended to kept to myself lately, mostly because I was sick of strange people touching me, they had no right to do that.

After an half an hour ride, we reached the river; I dismounted and sat down at the riverbank. I didn't usually run into anyone here, although one time two men had attacked me, planning to sell me to a brothel. I had drained them both and I had enjoyed it. Maybe that made me evil, I didn't know, I already had enough things to worry about without the endless guilt. I didn't kill for fun and I tried not to kill innocent people, if such people even existed, but I had killed. I especially enjoyed hunting the predators, men who hurt children. They thought that I was their prey, but it was actually the other way around. Klaus and Kol had sometimes hunted with me, it had been fun.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I startled when I heard a weak cry. My senses sharpened immediately, I looked for the source of the sound. There was someone in the water, a small child who tried desperately to fight against the flow. Obviously she, at least I thought it was a she, couldn't swim very well, she was about to drown. Without really thinking about it, I jumped in the water and started to swim towards the girl. Her head disappeared under the water before I reached her, so I had to dive. Fortunately I spotted her and managed to drag her above the surface; she was coughing and gasping for air. She was smaller than me; she couldn't be older than 3 or 4.

"It's alright," I said in Tuscan and started to drag her towards the riverbank.

"Maria!" a woman's voice shouted, I turned my head and saw that she was reaching towards the girl. I lifted her up as much as I could, the woman scooped her up and they both started to sob.

"My darling angel…"

They didn't seem to notice me when I climbed up; the woman was wrapping her arms even tighter around the girl. I really wasn't sure what to do, maybe I should just leave. Finally the woman looked up with her tearful eyes and smiled at me.

"Thank you."

"You are welcome," I replied and saw an old woman approaching us.

"Take her home," she said to the younger woman and turned her dark eyes towards me. Her grey hair was up in a bun and she was wearing a simple black dress, she looked like a peasant. I tried to understand what she wanted from me, did she want to thank me? Her gaze was piercing and it made me very uncomfortable; she didn't say a word until the younger woman had left with the child.

"I know what you are," the old woman stated calmly. "A demon."

She didn't sound repulsed or scared; she said the word like she would have said that I was a girl.

"I am sorry, but I do not know what you are talking about," I replied matching her tone.

She smiled, but it certainly wasn't a happy smile.

"You saved my granddaughter's life," she continued. "Unfortunately that means that I am in your debt."

My eyes widened, her words genuinely surprised me. Not to mention she spoke to me like to an adult.

"No, no, there is no need…" I started, but she silenced me by raising her hand.

"The debt must be paid. What do you want?"

I was confused, she certainly didn't look like a wealthy woman; did she want to give me her goat or something? Her gaze was becoming more and more piercing.

"I can tell there is something your heart desires, what is it?"

For some reason her gaze made me to lower my head, I felt exposed.

"Nothing you could give me, madam," I muttered.

"Tell me," she demanded.

I looked up, her tone confused me.

"You said you know what I am?"

She nodded.

"Yes, I have seen many others like you. Not someone so small though."

"Are you a witch?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes," she replied.

I bit my bottom lip, what did I have to lose?

"I…I would want not to be so small."

She was quiet for a long time; there was no expression on her face.

"That cannot be done," she finally said.

I had no idea why I was so disappointed, she only said the same thing than all the other witches, only a fool would have hoped for some other answer.

"Alright," I muttered. "Thank you anyway…"

"However," she continued, ignoring my words. "There is something I can offer you."

My eyes widened.

"What…"

"There is a spell, a very rare and powerful one; it would transfer your mind into someone else's body."

I stared at her disbelievingly, was she serious?

"Madam, please do not give me false hope…"

"The spell exists," she interrupted me. "But there are risks and the transfer would not be permanent, it would last a day, maybe two."

I tried to process this information, it definitely sounded too good to be true. Could it really be possible?

"I…"

"Consider this carefully, young demon," she stated. "This spell would be anything but simple and as I said, there are risks. Come to me when you have made your decision."

"Where do I find you?" I asked immediately.

"Follow the river until you reach the village. Ask for Agata."

She turned around and marched away without saying anything else, it took a long while before I managed to move. A day… I could be an adult for a day. I could… No, this was too good to be true. But what if it was true? I had no idea what to think.

First of all, thank you everyone for taking the time to give me feedback, you inspire me to write new chapters. I've received few messages about whether she'll grow up, she's a vampire so her body won't grow, but… maybe she can experience what it is like to be an adult. I actually didn't originally mean to add that in the story, but many of you asked for it in reviews and PM's. Now I have two questions, is this good, bad or terrible and if she has a chance to experience some intimacy with someone, who should that someone be? If you think this doesn't fit in the story, I'll rewrite this chapter.