Part 1

Far from home

New Orleans, 1874

"Papa? Papa?"

Once again I called out for him, but I knew that he wasn't coming. For so many years I had waited and tried my best to be a good girl so he would come and take me back home. I had been 7 when he had cast me out and I still couldn't understand why. Had I been bad? Had I done something wrong? I remembered papa's comforting arms after mama had died and I remembered the happiness I had felt when he had scooped me up and spun me around.

I hadn't been allowed to call him papa in front of other people, but he had said that he was proud of me and in different circumstances he would have told that to the whole world. I knew that grandpapa had never liked my mama; she had been just a maid, not good enough for papa. Still he had allowed papa to take me in after mama had died. I remembered being scared of grandpapa, but sometimes he had been kind to me, patted my head and given me sweets or some new toy.

And I had loved Uncle Stefan, he had never been too busy to spend time with me. That had been before Miss Katherine had arrived, after that Uncle Stefan and papa hadn't seen anything except her. I remembered being angry and jealous, I had hoped that she would leave. Unfortunately it had been me who had left. Why? I still couldn't understand.

"Papa?"

"No, sweetheart, it's just me," the compassionate woman's voice said. She was wiping my forehead with a wet cloth, but I didn't really feel anything. My body was too numb to feel anything; I was losing my battle against the illness.

"Oh dear… You are burning up."

I blinked my eyes in order to see something, everything looked blurry.

"I-I'm dying, Elsa," I muttered weakly. "The-the fever is normal… I think."

She looked at me and burst into tears, I hadn't meant to upset her.

"Oh, my little Rosa," she sobbed. "Forgive me, I'm trying…"

"I know, Elsa, it's alright."

I gave her a weak smile when she took my hands between her owns. For the last 10 years she had been my family and I loved her with all my heart.

"I'm so tired…"

"Rest, sweetheart, rest," she said and gently stroked my hair.

"Do you think… Do you think I have time to see papa before I…"

"I sent him a word, I'm sure he will be here as soon as he can."

I wasn't so sure about that, I hadn't heard a word from him after he had cast me out. Maybe he had just forgotten me.

Mystic Falls, 10 years earlier

"Stefan! Stefan!"

"Here, brother!"

Damon followed the bloodstains to the living room, this time his brother had gone too far… He froze in the doorway when he saw Stefan sitting on the sofa; Rosalie was sitting on his lap. There were dead bodies lying around the floor, but she didn't seem to mind, she was smiling and swinging her feet back and forth.

"Hi, papa," she greeted him cheerfully.

"What…what have you done?" Damon gasped.

Stefan smiled, revealing his bloody fangs. "Come on, brother, we're just having some fun. Isn't that right, Rosie?"

"Uh huh," she confirmed. "Uncle Stefan is telling me a story…"

"Come here, Rosa," Damon cut in as calmly as he could. "Right now, sweetheart."

She looked confused and tried to jump to the floor, but Stefan wrapped his arm tighter around her.

"Let her go," Damon demanded and marched towards the sofa.

Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Come on, brother, relax! We're all just a big happy family here, right Rosie?"

Clearly she couldn't understand what was going on, she looked more and more confused. Stefan grabbed her chin, his pupils were dilating.

"Your papa is boring as hell, but we won't let him ruin our fun, no we won't…"

"Stop that," Damon snapped and tried to yank his daughter off Stefan's lap. "Give her to me!"

"Come on, don't be like that…"

"You won't use compulsion on my daughter!" Damon shouted. "Not ever again!"

"You want her to see all these bodies?" Stefan snorted. "You want her to see what we are?"

Rosalie looked at Damon insecurely; Stefan's words didn't make any sense to her. How could they, she was just an innocent child, she definitely shouldn't be here.

"Papa?"

"It's alright," Damon muttered and lifted her up, this time Stefan didn't try to stop him. "Papa's here."

Damon felt terrible, this was all his fault. He should have sent her somewhere safe weeks ago when Stefan had killed their father. His brother was becoming more and more monstrous, how had Damon been foolish enough to think that Rosalie could stay here. A part of him had wanted to believe that nothing had changed, but he was lying to himself, everything had changed. He should just take Rosalie and leave… Th-thump, th-thump, th-thump… No… He hadn't fed for days, he didn't want to become like his brother, but he couldn't fight against the thirst. Her head was leaning trustingly against his shoulder and her little arms were wrapped around his neck. She was his child and all he could think about was how good her blood smelled like. No! No, no, no!

"Is something wrong, brother?" Stefan asked grinning. "You don't look so well."

"I'm fine," Damon replied tensely and marched out, holding Rosalie in his arms.

"Please don't be sad, papa," she said when his tears were soaking into her hair. He couldn't say anything, he simply held her tighter. She was the only thing left of his human self, but he knew that he couldn't keep her. Maybe he was a monster now, but he could perform this last selfless act.