19. Because

"Hot chocolate for m'lady" Damon said, meeting up with Aria in the corridor of Whitmore college.

"Oh, you're a life savior" Aria said, taking the hot chocolate from Damon.

"So how was first day back in college?" Damon asked, lacing his fingers with Aria's.

"Tiring" Aria replied honestly, "But I missed it so much, and it's been great to catch up with Beks again, the only thing missing is Care".

"Well, if everything goes to Klaus and Kol's plan, then by sunset your sister will be back to you" Damon assured.

"I hope so" Aria said, "So, did the kids trouble you?".

"Not at all" Damon replied, "Our children are angels Ria, they will never trouble me".

Aria gave Damon a pointed look, "So Asher and Alec didn't throw a tantrum while you tried to feed them?" she asked.

"Fine" Damon replied, "Your sons might have troubled me a bit, but my daughter was a complete angel".

"That's cause she's like me" Aria said, "And my sons are like you, hey now you know how people feel when they deal with you".

"Rude" Damon teased, making Aria chuckle, "Hey so, I know you're in a good mood and what I'm about to say is most likely going to damper your good mood, but I have to tell you because I don't think anyone else could stop her".

Aria looked at Damon in confusion, "Stop who?" she asked.

"Do you ever hear of April Lyrids? Yeah, me neither" Damon said, "Anyway, it's a stupid comet that my mom thinks that's gonna use to pull her friends out of the 1903 prison world".

"Yeah but we're not going to let her do that, right?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, but I think you're forgetting the part in which I may have reinforced that possibility when I gave the ascendant to her for safekeeping" Damon replied.

"Yeah, you did do that" Aria remembered.

"But it doesn't matter because she needs Kai or you to do the spell to open the door to 1903" Damon reminded.

"Kai is out of town, which means she's going to come after me" Aria realised.

"Yeah" Damon said, "Want my opinion? Stall her, Lily's like a bill collector, if you dodge her calls long enough she'll leave you alone".

"I live in the same house as her Damon, even if I wanted to avoid her, it would be extremely difficult" Aria said.

"By your tone, I'm guessing you have a plan to deal with Lily, don't you?" Damon realised.

"Yes, I do" Aria assured.

"Okay, so what is the plan?" Damon asked.

"You'll know when the plan is successful, right now, you're going to go check on Klaus and Kol and make sure Caroline hasn't done something Caroline like" Aria replied.

"I am not leaving you alone with my mother" Damon protested.

"I won't be alone" Aria said, "Beks is helping me deal with my future mother in law".

Damon smirked, "Future mother in law, huh?".

"Yeap" Aria replied simply.

"You know, your words are making me really want to put that ring on your finger" Damon said, the sincerity in his voice making Aria smile.

"I've been waiting since the day I told you that I love you" Aria whispered.

"Really?" Damon asked, stepping closer to his soulmate.

"Really" Aria whispered.

"Well, I'm sorry for making you wait" Damon said, wrapping his hands around Aria's waist.

"It's okay" Aria said, closing the distance between her and Damon, after a heated kiss, the two soulmates finally separated, knowing they both had places to be, "As much as I would love to continue this, I've got a busy day planned ahead of me".

After placing another kiss on her boyfriend's lips, Aria walked away from him, leaving behind a smiling Damon.

***

"Stealing in your own house?" Rebekah asked amused, "That's what its come to now?".

"Technically it's not stealing if I'm just getting something back, something that originally belonged to my coven" Aria replied, checking the Salvatore house for the ascendant.

"You know, if we find the ascendant and steal it, then Lily is going to retaliate" Rebekah warned.

"Oh, I know" Aria said, "But I'm ready for her".

"Surely she knows your too strong for her, what if she tries to harm your weak spot?" Rebekah asked, "Like Damon or even the triplets".

"First of all, Damon is her son, no matter how bad Lily might be, I don't think she's capable of harming her own son" Aria said, "And about the triplets, I know Lily is their grandmother and all, but I don't trust her not to harm them so for now they are with Ric and Jo in Ric's apartment, a place their lovely grandmother can not enter".

"I would not call her lovely" Rebekah said, making Aria laugh, "God, how many places is there in this house where you can hide an ascendant?".

"A lot" Aria replied.

As Aria and Rebekah searched the living room, both the vampires panicked when they heard the front door open.

"So kind of you to bring me home" the girls heard Lily say, "Still, I think you're wrong to worry about the ascendant, Damon assured me all would be well".

Rebekah and Aria exchanged panicked looks and both of them started rushing their search, Aria opened the cabinet under all the liquor and to her relief, she finally saw the ascendant, grabbing it she showed it to Rebekah who also smiled.

"You've got a lot to learn about your son" Enzo told Lily.

Sensing Lily and Enzo coming towards them, Aria quickly grabbed Rebekah's hand and muttered a spell, cloaking herself and Rebekah from both of them.

"What do you mean by that?" Lily asked, entering the room in which Rebekah and Aria were but unable to see either of them due to Aria's spell.

"Well, he's not the most trustworthy chap" Enzo replied, just as Lily's eyes landed on the open cabinet, rushing towards it, she realised the ascendant was gone, "Figured you were aware".

"Is this entertaining to you?" Lily snapped, "That the ascendant was been taken from me? That I lost the only means of rescuing my family?".

"Your family?" Enzo asked.

"You know what I am, Lorenzo" Lily said, "You saw the horror on that ship, the people in that prison world are the only thing that keep me from becoming that monster again".

"Your real family is right here, in this house" Enzo reminded, "Tell me something, have you even held your grandkids yet?".

Lily glared at Enzo, "Get out" she whispered.

"Lily, relax" Enzo said.

"I said, get out" Lily snapped, veins appearing under her eyes.

Enzo stared at Lily for a moment and eventually he walked out the boarding house and Lily also left the living room.

Once the coast was clear, Aria uncloaked herself and Rebekah and both the best friends looked at each other in confusion, both wondering what was the deal between Lily and Enzo.

***

"Hey" Aria greeted, entering Alaric's apartment where Damon was with the triplets.

"Hey" Damon said, placing a kiss on Aria's lips, "So, was your secret plan successful?".

"Yeap" Aria replied, pulling out the ascendant from her pocket, "I got the ascendant from your mother".

"How did you manage to get your hands on this?" Damon asked curiously, taking the ascendant from Aria's hands.

"Me and Rebekah searched the whole boarding house for it" Aria informed, "Nearly got caught but luckily your mom was too busy with Enzo to sense us".

"Enzo?" Damon asked shocked.

"Yeah, me and Rebekah was as shocked as you when we saw Enzo with Lily" Aria said.

Before Damon could say anything, his phone started buzzing, taking it out of his pocket he realised his mother was calling him.

"Oh, good, mommy dearest" Damon said, showing Aria his phone.

"Yeah, did I forget to mention that Lily found out that the ascendant is missing?" Aria said, giving Damon a sheepish look.

"Yeah, you did forget" Damon stated.

"Well, she did, so good luck dealing with her, I'm going to deal with our kids" Aria said, kissing Damon on the cheek as good luck and then walking over to her kids who were busy playing with each other on their play mat.

"This better be a pocket dial" Damon said, in no mood to talk to his mother, instead wanting to spend time with his family.

"Where have you been?" Lily asked.

"What are you, my mother?" Damon asked, sarcasm evident in his voice.

"Is it with you?" Lily asked, getting straight to the point.

"Is what with me?" Damon asked, pretending to be oblivious.

"The ascendant" Lily clarified, "It's not where I left it and I very much doubt the housekeeper took it".

"Maybe you misplaced it" Damon said, turning to face Aria, a smile forming his face when he saw Aria trying to get Alec to stand on his own.

"It is the only thing that can get my people back" Lily snapped, "I did not misplace it".

"Well, I don't have it" Damon lied, no way was he letting his mother bring back people who might prove to be dangerous to his family, "So start pulling up pillow cushions", Damon looked at Aria and Alec, just in time to see Alec fall on his bottom, "Careful" he warned.

"He's okay" Aria assured, as Alec looked at his father and started clapping happily, "See, he's much stronger then you give him credit for".

Damon looked at the mother and son duo in amusement, completely forgetting that he was still on the phone with his own mother.

"Who are you with?" Lily asked, making her presence known.

"With my family" Damon replied, just as Asher started crawling over to him.

"You have incoming" Aria called out.

Damon smiled at Asher and picked him up in his arms, "Hey buddy" he greeted, kissing his son's cheek.

"You have not heard me, son" Lily snapped, "I need it back".

"Really not a priority on my list of problems right now, mother" Damon said, "I have my own family to take care of".

"Find it" Lily demanded, "Or rest assured, I can just as easily destroy that family of yours, you so happen to be busy with".

Damon looked at Aria, who was now looking at Damon in worry, having heard Lily's threat, "Come after my family, and you'll see a side of me you don't want to see" he warned, subconsciously holding Asher close to him.

"Bring me the ascendant or I will snatch your family from you like you snatched mine" Lily said, hanging up on Damon.

"I know she's your mother, but if she comes near any of our children, she's dead" Aria warned.

"Trust me, I won't stop you" Damon said.

Though both Damon and Aria knew that they are perfectly capable of protecting their children, they couldn't get rid of the small fear in their heart, that feared what Lily would do to get her family back, and would she fall as low to hurt her own grandchildren?

***

After Lily's call, Aria had gotten a call from Klaus, letting her know that Caroline had turned her humanity on and that she needed Aria by her side, so without wasting a second, Aria rushed towards the Forbes house, where she knew Caroline would be.

"Care?" Aria called out, entering the empty Forbes living room and seeing her sister sitting in the middle of the room.

"I burnt it Aria" Caroline whispered, tears in her eyes, "I burnt the last letter mom ever wrote to us".

"No, you didn't" Aria said.

Caroline looked at Aria in shock, "What?".

Aria pulled out a letter from her back pocket and showed it to Caroline, "The letter Nik gave you was fake, Care" she informed, "This is the real one, Kol gave it to me the day I turned my humanity on, I didn't let Nik use this because I didn't know what you will do to it with your humanity off".

"Did you read it?" Caroline asked, quickly standing up.

Aria shook her head, "I didn't want to do it without you" she whispered.

Caroline nodded, tears of joy falling from her eyes, she was happy that she didn't destroy the last thing her mother ever wrote to her and Aria.

Without saying anything else, both the sisters sat on the stairs and after taking a deep breath, both of them opened the letter and started reading their mother's last words to them.

Dear Caroline & Aria,

I am writing this letter to my wonderful daughters so you two will always have something tangible to hold on to, something to always remind you two how much your mother loved you, how proud I am of both of you.

It was my honor to see both of you grow into the best versions of yourselves, at times it was like seeing mine and Amelia's history repeat itself through you two, and I know history will once again repeat itself through Hope and Mia, they will keep your legacy going just as you two kept mine and Amelia's.

Don't worry about me, right now I am with Amelia and both of us are watching over you two, if at times you feel alone, always remember that both your mothers are watching over you, even in death we will always be by your side.

Live life to the fullest, I know my death will break you, but don't let it stop you from living, it's okay to grieve but don't let the grief take over your whole life. Both of you are immortal, you both have the rest of eternity to live, to experience, to enjoy. My last wish for both of you is for you two to be happy, do whatever it is that makes you guys happy, get married, move out, start a life somewhere else, just do what makes you both happy.

But most importantly, never leave each other's side, alone you two are strong, but together you are a force to be reckon with, always remember that.

Love, your very proud and happy mother, Liz.

By the time they finished reading Liz's letter, tears were streaming down both Aria and Caroline's faces, they looked at each other and without saying anything, they simply hugged each other and sobbed, they missed their mother immensely, and all they needed right now was each other.

***

Presenting 6x19 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Aria and Rebekah stealing the ascendant from Lily?

Thoughts on Lily threatening Damon's family?

Thoughts on Liz's letter to Aria and Caroline? In the show I found it a bit surprised they gave her letter to a no humanity Caroline, like what did she expect she would have done to? Anyways, hope I did Liz's letter to her daughters justice, I tried my best but I suck at writing letters >.<