Over the course of the next few weeks Damon and I fell deeper in love. We took long walks around camp and swam in the ponds. When it came nearer for them to go into the next battle I began to worry.
He was only human after all.
"I have said not to worry of me, I am faster than the enemy, I will make it back" He had told me, trying to assure me the night before the battle. I still was not convinced, humans are fragile and the break easily, I could not bear to lose him to this war. Or to anything for that matter.
"I know that you are skilled, my love I just hate to take chances like this. I wish that you didn't have to go," I gazed into his eyes, he smiled down at me and kissed my forehead lightly.
"You needn't worry, I will come back," He paused and his face brightened, "How could I not when I have you waiting for me?" I forced a smile through my watering eyes.
"Well then, you need to wake early tomorrow and you will need your sleep. I'll not keep you up any longer," I smiled and he reluctantly got up to leave, I held out my hand and he kissed it bowing slightly before disappearing. As soon as he left I had wished that I had kissed him, really kissed him. I told myself that if he made it out, I would kiss him, and I just hoped that he wouldn't die before I got that chance.
He was gone by the time I got up the next morning, I could hear the gunshots booming through the valley miles away, I tried to pinpoint his shout through the many that were going off but I could not hear it. My hearing had grown weaker since I began to stay with the regiment, as I could only feed on animals so they would not detect a murderer. I dressed myself and headed out towards the woods. No one had suspected me because I had often gone for for walks with Damon in weeks past. As soon as I was out of sight of the camp I summoned a rabbit, a few seconds later one hopped up to me. I quickly snatched it up and drank its blood, it was bitter and held the taste of metal but it had to do, just to keep my urges down. I placed the rabbit carefully in the bushes and resumed my walk feeding now and again. I didn't return to the camp until I heard the gun fire cease, which was around noon. I timed myself and returned an hour before the regiment and sat in the infirmary tent with the other nurses. I held casual conversation with them as I tried to listen for Damon's voice among the men coming back. They were about a mile away and I could still not hear his voice.
"He will be alright dear," one of the older nurses told me patting my shoulder. "That boy has a special way about him, he will be alright," she said smiling sadly.
"For my sake and his poor family's I pray that you are right," I took a deep breath and began to listen again.
Ten minutes later I could hear them staggering into the entrance. I stood up and ran to greet them. Some of the younger nurses followed me leaving the older ones to shake their heads. I reached the gate and feigned being out of breath to match tired human girls.
The men staggered into camp and were helped to walk by the other girls. The ones that were uninjured helped their fellow soldiers, but Damon was nowhere to be seen. My eyes started to water as I turned and helped another man carry a soldier with a bleeding leg. A lonely tear slid down my cheek as I helped the soldier. I helped him onto the surgical table and looked at his leg. It would need to be amputated I thought automatically as I cleaned the wound and stopped the bleeding. Having fed earlier I had no trouble being around this much blood.
More tears had begun to slide down my cheeks and I prepared him for amputation. Once everything was finished I left the tent to let the older nurses do their job. I cleaned my hands and face in an a bucket. I staggered to the eating tent to see the other soldiers. As I walked in the talking seemed to quiet and the others looked at me, I stared ahead eyes unseeing. I staggered some more and one of the men came to my aid.
"Are you alright Miss Mikaelson?" he asked and I had looked at him with pleading, sorrowful eyes.
"Why did he not return with you?" I asked him my tears coming faster as I had spoken the words aloud. "He was supposed to come back, he said he would come back," I pleaded with the soldier as he lead me to one of the wooden tables and sat me down. The soldier looked at me with sad eyes.
"He and a few other men got trapped on the other side of a mud slide on the way back here, they are trying to come around another path. We are to wait a day here but if they do not return by noon tomorrow then we will continue to Virginia without them," He told me quietly,
"Without them? But you must wait out the whole day, what if they come just past or if they come at supper time, they will have just missed us, we have to wait the whole day for them," I pleaded looking the soldier in the eye and dabbing mine with a handkerchief. He shook his head sadly.
"I'm sorry Miss, but we cannot afford to stay here any longer then that, they will return, don't worry" he said then stood up to walk away,
"Was he hurt?" I called out causing the man to turn around again and look at me, "Before you got separated was he hurt at all?" I asked and the man shook his head smiling a bit,
"No ma'am he was just fine, said he had to get back to see you in one piece," I smiled at this and returned to my tent for the night.
I heard them return early the next morning, thankfully I could not smell any blood, wet or dried on them. I used my vampiric speed to get dressed in a matter of minutes and I ran out to greet him, reminding myself to maintain a natural pace. When I saw him my heart had lifted and actually picked up to a normal human pace. I ran at him and wrapped my arms around him, surprising him. Tears streamed down my face as I buried my nose in his neck. He returned my embrace and kissed my hair.
"I was so scared when you didn't come back yesterday I feared the worst" I my voice broke through the tears, Damon shushed me, gripping me tighter to his chest. Whistles came from his friends around us.
"I'm so sorry I worried you," he said quietly, ignoring them.
"Mr. Salvatore, I do love you," I whispered, it was the first time I had ever said it with this kind of meaning.
"Miss Mikaelson, I love you too, and now, after this battle, I have realized that I don't want to die without having you as my wife," he said and I froze. "Please marry me," he said releasing me and getting down onto one knee. I had gasped and nodded rapidly.
"Yes I will marry you, with out a doubt, yes. I could think of no other!" I spoke rapidly and as Damon stood up, I launched myself at him. A smile spread across his face as he hugged me. I pulled away slightly and gently put my lips to his. I closed my eyes as I felt the world disappear from around us. Suddenly it was just Damon and me. I felt something pull us closer together and I never wanted to let him go.
When we finally did separate we were both out of breath. I put my hand to his chest and felt his heart beat. He ran his hand through my hair separating my loose curls. I looked up at him as he ran a light finger across my jaw causing me to shiver.
"Get a room!" Some one called out and Damon laughed a bit taking my hand. He led me back to my tent and laid me down on the cot. My breathing became heavy as he laid on top of me. He kissed me slowly and passionately. I ran my hand slowly through his hair and held it the back of his neck. What we were doing was scandalous, being together in this way before marriage, but I couldn't care less. I loved this man and I wanted to be with him.
To be human for him.
Just as he touched the bow of my corset to undo it the horn sounded, signaling everyone to begin to pack their things. Damon stopped kissing me and sat up.
"I suppose I have to go," he said, his running a hand though his mused hair. I smiled sheepishly at him.
"Yes, I suppose you do," I spoke quietly.
"Well then, Mrs. Salvatore, I will see you at noon," he said standing up. I put my hand at the back of his neck and pulled him in for one last kiss.
"At noon then, Mr. Salvatore," I whispered, I removed my hand and Damon stumbled out of the tent like a drunkard. Only it wasn't beer he was drunk on. I heard hoops and hollers from the other soldiers as he walked out.
I mounted my horse at noon and and handed Damon the reigns, he walked and guided the horse along the path. It had been a little less than a month since Damon had begun to court me and now I was to be married to him. And he still didn't know my secret.
We arrived in Mystic Falls just as the sun set and the general in our group said we had three months leave. The smile never left Damon's face as he took another horse and mounted it.
"You will love my brother, and I cannot wait to deliver the good news. I smiled at him trying desperately to hide my nervousness. What if his brother did not love me? Damon had often told me of his younger brother Stefan and of how close they were. I couldn't help thinking of my brother and a smile spread across my face at the thought of telling him. I could just see his face scrunching up at my falling in love with a human.
We reached the Salvatore mansion within the hour and Damon hopped off his horse opened the gate then guided me through. He helped me off my horse and planted a kiss on my lips as he handed the horses to the stable hand who greeted him excitedly.
"Master Stefan is in the fields," he said and Damon chuckled to himself taking my hand.
"That brother of mine, if you let him he would stay in the fields all day with that old damned horse," Damon wrapped his arm around my waist and I giggled leaning my head on his shoulder. "Come, let's find him, I cannot wait to tell him of our good news," I smiled reluctantly up at him, "What's wrong my princess? You can tell me," I sighed looking ahead as we walked to another pair of gates leading out into a vineyard.
"What if he finds me dull?" I asked sadly, Damon just squeezed my waist and smiled. "Or, plain and disagreeable, what shall I do then?"
"There is not a dull or plain bone in your body love," He said smiling. "And it is because you are pleasantly disagreeable that I love you," I relaxed slightly. As we passed through the gates the vineyard spread out before us covering acres of land.
"Oh how will we ever find him, with all of this space!" I exclaimed looking around, the space was so large that I could not even hear the young man's heart beat.
"My brother is a creature of habit, I know exactly where he is." Damon pulled on my hand and began to run. I caught up with him easily but after a mile or so I pretended to have trouble breathing when I noticed that he was beginning to breath hard.
"Slow down, I am out of breath." I pretended to huff. Damon slowed down and began to walk backwards facing me.
"I could go on forever," he exclaimed even though I knew that he couldn't. He couldn't make his laboring heart lie as well. I laughed healthily but then Damon held a finger to my mouth to hush me. He leaned around one of the trestles and I followed his gaze seeing a young man of around seventeen sitting in the middle of a clearing and a horse feeding not too far away. He looked up to the with his eyes closed. The wind blew through his dark brown strait hair. He was beautiful, of course not as beautiful as Damon but beautiful just the same. It was easy to tell they were brothers. I looked up at Damon's face and saw so much love emanating from him towards his brother that I almost became jealous.
Almost.
Suddenly Damon left my side and charged at his brother. Stefan, caught off guard, was startled by Damon's brashness and I laughed out loud when he cried out in fear.
"You weren't to get home until this evening," Stefan exclaimed wrestling against his brother.
"Aww come on little brother are you not excited to see me?" Damon asked sitting up with his back to me. Stefan stayed lying down his head by Damon's knee. He had still not seen me and I stayed back wondering what to do.
"Alright so tell me the best thing that happened to you since we saw each other last." Stefan said and I heard Damon's heart beat quicken.
"I've gotten myself in a mess of trouble brother," Damon said quietly, looking back at me, I frowned at him.
"What've you done now Damon?" Stefan asked tiredly eyes ing his brother as he sat up with his back to me.
"I've gone and fallen in love," Damon sighed like it was a bad thing and I gasped.
"You are so cruel," I exclaimed walking up to the pair. Stefan jumped to his feet noticing me for the first time. Damon laughed as his brother gave a slight respectful bow and I laughed curtseying in return.
"Isn't she beautiful?" Damon asked standing up and walking next to me.
"Thaliana Mikaelson," I had said sticking out my hand before Stefan had a chance to answer. I already knew by his quickened pulse what his answer would be. "Please, call me Ana," I had said. Stefan took my hand and kissed it slowly.
"Stefan Salvatore," He said politely.
"Feel free to call him Stef," Damon said to break the tension, Stefan's face turned bright red and he shot a glare to his brother. "He hates it when I do that," Damon whispered into my ear. I giggled a bit and looked up at the horse who was eyeing me warily. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Stefan begin to gather up his things but Damon stopped him. "I was thinking that we stay out here for a while longer, I have a new game I want to show you," Damon said pulling out an oblong ball from behind his back. I had seen the soldiers toss it back and forth on occasion.
"Oh I'm sure Miss Mikaelson, forgive me, Ana, would not like to sit here and watch us play games," Stefan said quietly, eyeing his brother mischievously. I smiled widely and nodded in mock thankfulness. Disappointment spread across Damon's face, but before he could say anything I spoke up. How I enjoyed playing with him.
"You are quite right Mr. Salvatore, it would be very boring to watch men play games out in this sun," I smiled wider and snatched the ball from Damon's hands and hugged it to my body. "I would much rather see your shocked faces as I beat you," I smiled at them and backed away protecting the ball. Damon gave me a surprised but amused face, Stefan was just surprised. Damon lunged at me while I looked at Stefan, but I easily sidestepped him and squealed. "Are you just going to take defeat Mr. Salvatore?" I asked him challengingly, he seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in and a huge smile spread across his face as he ran at me.
"What are the rules?" he asked as I screamed and held my hand to his chest outstretching my other one to keep the ball away from him.
"There are none, brother," Damon said then from no where he snatched ball from my hand causing me to let go of Stefan's chest sending him and I tumbling to the ground him on top of me. He quickly scrambled to his feet and helped me up. Damon came running over with the ball in his hand, tucked under his arm. Stefan supported me as I brushed off my dress, "Are you alright love?" Damon asked hooking an arm around my waist. I then got and idea.
"Damon? Is that you?" I asked pretending that I couldn't see. "Damon I can't see," I whined. Stefan tried to hide his smirk, as he knew I was only faking it.
"Yes love, what can I do to help you?" He asked, his voice pained.
"Come closer," I said and he drew closer to me, I motioned for him to come closer still and his lips were mere centimeters from mine. I gave him a quick kiss and snatched the ball from under his arm running away laughing. Damon had looked at me in surprise then anger, and then, to my relief, amusement.
"That's against the rules," he said laughing. I tilted my head to the side and turned to Stefan.
"Who was that said there were no rules?" I asked him and Stefan laughed.
"She's got you there brother," Stefan said and dodged a playful punch that his brother threw at him. We played until dusk made it hard for them to see. Of course I could still see perfectly, but I started to notice their squinting.
"Come now Damon I cannot see," I whined and I could see Damon smile relieved.
"Are you admitting defeat?" he asked and I huffed. Damon walked up to me and drew his face close to mine. I heard Stefan clear his throat and mutter about the horse but he sounded far away. All I could see was Damon.
"I never admit to defeat," I whispered, and Damon smiled.
"Maybe I will let you win for a kiss." Damon said and I smiled at him.
"I guess I can agree to that," I said, he leaned down and placed his lips carefully against mine. I closed my eyes and felt the sparks fly and my chest was again tugged closer to his by an invisible force. The sound of the horse separated us.
"Damned old horse," Damon whispered and I laughed again pulling at his collar tugging him in for a kiss before I turned toward the horse that Stefan had brought over. I looked into her eyes and compelled her not to be afraid. Damon lifted me onto her and I rode sidesaddle as they guided me back to the house. The brothers talked idly to each other. I caught Stefan sneaking glances at me once in a while during their slight pauses in conversation and I pretended not to notice.
It was dark when we got back to the house. and Damon guided me to a room with his hand on my back. Stefan had excused himself to get ready before dinner and had kissed my hand taking longer than necessary.
Damon lit a lamp in my room and I thanked him kissing him before he left. I washed myself off then changed my dress and walked into the dining room. There was an older man sitting at the table with Stefan, I supposed that he was the Master of the house. I was reluctant to enter without Damon there to guide me and introduce me. But just as I had worried that, I felt Damon's hands on my hips and he whispered an assurance into my ear.
"Hello father," Damon said cautiously and his father turned to his son, his eyes were not happy but instead very judgmental and I knew in that moment that he would not accept me as Stefan had.
"Damon," He said nodding for two chairs across from him. He had barely acknowledged me and I felt Damon's grip on my waist tighten in frustration.
"Father this is Miss Thaliana Mikaelson," Damon said quietly. And his father nodded picking up a paper that I had not noticed before. He began to read it quietly waiting for his food. Damon's grip on me tightened again as he pulled out my chair for me. "We are to be married," he said, and Mr. Salvatore peered at us over his paper.
"Is that so?" he asked and after studying me he returned to his paper. He said it as if Damon thought he would be doing something that could not actually happen. As if he were a child telling his father he was to become the. Damon gritted his teeth and nodded slowly. I had never seen him this tense and it worried me. I placed a calm hand over his tense one.
"Yes it is," he said refusing to look at me.
"Miss Mikaelson what is the position of your father?" The older Mr. Salvatore asked addressing me and now it was my turn to tense up.
"He is deceased sir." I spoke quietly.
"And your mother?"
"Deceased as well," I spoke,
"Any siblings to be heard of?" he asked gruffly Damon's hand balled into a fist. His father was being quite rude to me and I saw how much it itched Damon.
"Yes sir. One sister and four brothers." I said thinking that all but two of them were technically dead. Mr. Salvatore looked up at me interested.
"How much do you bring in a year Miss Mikaelson?" he asked as he finally laid down his paper. Damon let out a small sound and stood up.
"She does not need to answer your useless questions father." He exclaimed and I looked up at him surprised, "All that matters is that I love her, and that's all that should matter," he mumbled curses as he stormed out of the dining hall.
"Please excuse me," I said quietly and pushed back from the table to quickly follow him. I ran up to his room which I found by following his quickened heart beat. "Damon?" I called out gently knocking on the door.
"Please come in," he called out from the other side of the door. I opened the door and saw him leaning against the post of his bed. I shut the door behind me and walked up to him. I placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and turned him towards me, and even though he was a good four inches taller that me I brought his head down to my shoulder embracing him. "Why can I not do anything right by him?" he asked me and I just shook my head.
"I don't know love," I said running my hand through his hair. "I don't know." I whispered into his shoulder. Damon pulled back and looked me in the eyes. I could get lost in his deep blue eyes. He pressed his lips into mine and I closed my eyes.
"God I love you," he sighed in between kisses. and I giggled as he began to kiss my neck.
"And I you Damon," I said gasping as he lightly nibbled my neck. His hands went to my corset string and he unlaced them letting my corset and my skirt loosen. He lifted me out of them and carried me over to the bed. He laid me down the took his shirt off. His chest was perfectly chiseled and he could not seem more perfect to me in that moment. He knelt over me admiring my body. He then laid over me and began to kiss me again. His kisses were passionate and desperate, I placed my hands on his back and pulled him closer to me, deepening our kiss as I felt something pull us closer together. It was as if we had our own personal bubble of warmth was protecting us.
"You are perfect, to me Damon," I said and he sighed with relief placing his cheek on my chest and staying there. I played with his hair and looked up at the ceiling perfectly content.
"Thank you," he said quietly before falling asleep.