A/N: Thank you to my reviewers! You guys certainly made this whole process more enjoyable and a super shout-out to "A person" for his/her ego-boosting words! :) And now, without further ado, the final journey!

Disclaimer: SM owns all.

Pronunciations/Explanations:

Adalheid- old Germanic form of the name Heidi

The Romans did actually believe that love came from the liver, rather than the heart.

The next day, Demetrios ran with Renata to Velathri, their new home. After a few days of settling in and meeting all of the other vampires, Renata was introduced to the Volturi's fisherwoman.

"So you're the woman who's captured Demetrios' heart." The woman gave Renata a bright smile. "I'm Adalheid. I've heard a lot about you. You managed to keep a young vampire in check. Incredible feat, that." She signaled for them to walk together.

Renata smiled back and fell in pace beside her. "Have you known Demetrios long?"

"Ever since he was reborn." A pang of jealousy washed over her. "I've been around much longer than he has so I basically taught him the ropes, along with Felicius who's only a bit younger than I. He's a great person, is he not?"

Renata nodded. "Yes. He... I can't imagine being with anyone else."

"He has that effect on people." Adalheid told her, laughing to herself.

"How do you mean?" Renata asked, her smile falling a bit.

"Well, I just mean that he's very charming. Handsome, to be sure." Adalheid caught on quickly to what Renata was insinuating. "You needn't worry, Renata. Demetrios and I are simply friends. He has a mate, and it is you. You can never have more than one mate, you know."

"But you can have many friends." Renata replied, unconvinced that there was nothing deeper going on between them.

Adalheid placed her hands on Renata's shoulders. "There's no reason for you to feel threatened."

"You're right. Why should I be threatened by a tall, gorgeous immortal who has spent an infinite amount of time with my mate? No reason at all." She said sarcastically.

Adalheid laughed. "I have a feeling we'll be good friends. There's your knight in shining armor, now."

Renata looked behind her and saw Demetrios, not missing the mischievous glint in Adalheid's eyes as she caught sight of him. "I certainly hope so. It's not as though I have friends, anymore, apart from Demetrios. It is clear that the others do not enjoy my presence here since I'm yet to be one of you."

"Well, I for one, am glad you're here. I've watched Demetrios suffer with this existence but ever since you've come into his life?" She smiled. "Why, he's brighter than ever. And I'll gladly be your friend. It will help to replace the one you lost."

Renata's eyebrows furrowed. "Who do you mean?"

"Why..." Adalheid grew wary. Did the human not know? "Why, your friend, Flavia. She was a Vestal, too, if I understand correctly."

"Ah yes, Flavia. I miss her so much. Perhaps one day I'll visit her again." Renata offered.

"Not unless you plan on killing yourself." Adalheid told her. "It's a bit hard to visit someone who is dead."

Renata's eyes grew wide. "Ex... Excuse me?"

"Oh... I've made a terrible mistake, haven't I." She winced, knowing that her tendency to gossip had gotten the best of her. "Dear Renata, you haven't heard? Flavia was killed in your place for the adulterous crimes you committed- well, that they believe you committed- with Demetrios."

"No one saw fit to tell me this before now?" Renata nearly shouted. "How could that have happened? Demetrios promised me that Aro would take care of it! That no one would dare touch her!"

"Please, calm down." Adalheid was shocked at the woman's outburst. "I am sure Demetrios kept his word and informed Aro of your wishes regarding her safety but you must understand. We are not miracle workers. If the leaders in Rome saw fit to kill her, they would have done so with or without our intervention."

"You don't understand it, do you..." Renata started to cry. "She was my closest friend! A life! An innocent life..."

"I'll just fetch Demetrios for you, shall I?" Adalheid offered, clearly not ready to deal with the distressed human.

Slowly, Renata managed to keep the tears at bay, her eyes just a little red and puffy. She did not want to fall apart in front of Demetrios. Compared to Adalheid, she was already weak enough.

"Renata!" Demetrios said as he rushed down the hall, taking her in his arms. "What is it, what's wrong? Adalheid told me you were beside yourself with grief."

Rather than dealing with the matter at hand, Adalheid still fresh in her mind, Renata took the conversation in a new direction. "Why did you choose me? Why did you choose the one person that you knew, by law, you couldn't have?" She smiled brokenly. "You could have easily left me back in Rome, unscathed, and taken someone else as your mate. Someone like Adalheid."

Demetrios looked shocked. "Adalheid? She's no more than a friend, Renata. I do not feel that way about her." He sighed and kissed her softly before whispering in her ear. "I've taken a great risk with you but I didn't choose this. I literally had no choice." His smile widened. "Renata, we were made for each other. You're my mate. And Adalheid... Adalheid is-"

"And Adalheid's perfect." She told him, tears brimming in her eyes.

Demetrios nodded. "Yes. Yes, she is. But she has one critical flaw." Slowly, he approached her, tenderly cupping her face in his icy cold hands. "She's not you, Renata. She's not the woman I love."

She smiled brokenly. "You can't mean that. I saw her, I saw the way she looked at you. Clearly you two have something that I cannot compete with."

"You're right!" He shouted. "You don't have to compete with her. Do you know why? Because you've already won! I'm already yours. I will always be yours."

"Demetrios..." She whispered.

"This life isn't easy. It's hard and everyday, I have to go against my nature to be in public." He was determined to get her back. "Renata... even though this endless life is hard, I can think of no one I'd rather go into it with than you."

Her face grew desperate. "But how can I when you lied to me?"

"What?" He asked, confused.

"You lied to me about Flavia. You said Aro would take care of her. And now she's dead." Tears flowed from her eyes. "She's dead because of me. Because I'm a coward!"

"Who told you that?" He had no idea Flavia had been killed. Had the masters elected not to tell him?

"Don't pretend you don't know, Demetrios. If she knew, you had to know." She replied.

"Wh- Adalheid? She told you that?"

"I lost my only friend because of you. She's dead! Rufus killed her!" She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm going back. I'm going to find him and I'm going to kill him."

"You will no do such thing." The finality in his voice was unmistakeable. "I forbid it."

Renata marched up to him and frowned. "Don't follow me, Demetrios. If you do, I'll not utter another word to you for as long as I live." With that, she stalked out of the chamber and went outside, waiting for the opportune moment to run.

Renata used all of her efforts to run quickly. Luckily, Rome was not that far from Velathri and she was a fast runner. When she arrived, Rome was abuzz with processions, mourning the loss of two of their Vestals. One had been brutally killed, buried alive, and the other one, the one for whom Flavia was killed, had mysteriously disappeared. Only to return.

Renata had managed to sneak into the office of the Pontifex Maximus only to find that, through the window, he was outside in the garden. Swiftly, she made her way outside, sword in hand and ready to kill. But not before taunting him a bit, first.

"So." She started, scaring the man. "I hear the murder of innocents has become a new past-time for you, Rufus."

His eyes nearly bulged out of his misshapen head. "Renata Drusilla. You have come back. Foolish move, if I might say so."

"You can't hurt me anymore. You've already taken away everything I had." She told him with a ferocity like no other.

"Ah. Did your man leave you, too? He found a better, younger whore to associate with?" Rufus scoffed. "I am sure that's the only reason you would come here, straight to your death."

"You're wrong. He hasn't left me. In fact, he loves me." She insisted.

He smiled evilly. "If he loves you, then where is he?"

"I told him not to come. I didn't want him to witness me killing you." Renata spat out the words, raising the sword in front of her, ready for the attack.

It did make her wonder, however, why Rufus seemed so calm in the face of death.

"Antonius?" Rufus called nonchalantly. A few seconds later, Renata felt a striking pain in her lower abdomen and was gasping for breath.

She looked down and saw the end of a gladius protruding from her paling body. The blood seeped through her dress and she fell to her knees, too shocked for words.

"Shall I finish her?" The man she assumed to be Antonius asked.

After a few moments of consideration, Rufus replied. "No, no. Let her bleed out."

Black spots started making their way into her line of vision and she knew death was approaching her. No one could ever survive such a fatal wound. Not a mortal, at least. Poor Demetrios... he would be heartbroken. She hadn't even told him how much she loved him one last time.

A whoosh was heard and Antonius started to scream. "Take care of him for me, Adalheid. Felicius, deal with that monster!"

Could it be? She was dying and her angel of death came to help her make the journey. "Deme..." As hard as she tried, she could not get his full name out but Demetrios had heard her pained effort. His black eyes widened like saucers when he saw her condition. Her blood was everywhere but he was not affected by it in the least. All that mattered was that he could save her.

He had to get his venom inside her as quickly as possible and so, without warning, he sank his teeth into the soft flesh of her neck, pumping his venom into her veins. The faint beating of her heard had grown weaker and he bit her again in various other places, making sure to seal up her skin so that the venom could take effect and being the transformation.

Demetrios picked her up, kissed her pale forehead, and rushed her back to Velathri where he stayed by her bedside for all of the three days of her painful transformation.

At first, she was sure she had been killed. The searing pain must have been some sort of punishment sent straight from the gods. Either that, or she was being publicly burned. But if so, how did she manage to retain consciousness? She could absently feel someone with a cold hand, likely Demetrios, rubbing nonsensical circles on the back of her hand soothingly. She was grateful for the small reprieve from the burning in that particular part of her body.

Renata tried desperately to open her eyes but the pain was far too intense. She tried to cry but found that she could not. The only thing she could do was scream. And she did so, quite loudly and in anguish, for a while until she heard sobbing. Her ears had started to grow more perceptive and she realized that the sobbing was coming from her mate.

Immediately, she stopped and the heart-breaking sobs followed suit. Not only did she know that screaming would be of no use as the pain would not dissipate as a result, she did not want to cause Demetrios any more unnecessary pain of his own. And so, she elected to suffer in silence, the fiery pain consuming her but the promise of tomorrow giving her the strength and hope she needed to continue on. Just the thought of seeing Demetrios again was enough to make her fight through it valiantly.

Three Days Later

Renata's eyes opened slowly the moment her heart had stopped beating and the ruby red pearls shined back at him in wonderment. "Demetrios?" Her beautiful voice, now perfect and melodic, entered his ears and the magnitude of what had transpired over the past few days finally hit him.

"You will not ever do that again! Do you understand me?" Demetri held her close to him, the desperation in his voice tangible. "I could never lose you. You think I'm strong? That I could handle something like that? I've come so close to losing you... Please don't ever make me feel this way again. Please, Renata, my love. You mean too much, far too much. You're everything to me. I'd sooner die than lose you."

If Renata could cry, she would have been bawling by now. "I told you not to follow me..."

He looked into her eyes, a small smile breaking through his devastation at what had almost occurred. "You forget, my dear, that it's my job to follow you anywhere and everywhere."

"I wanted to protect her." She whispered. "I promised her I'd never let her down."

"Killing yourself won't avenge her death." He told her, grateful to have her in his arms.

"I wasn't trying to kill myself. I was trying to kill Rufus but someone came up behind me and..." She frowned. "I do not remember exactly what happened."

He stroked her hair. "We lose some of our human memories during the transformation."

Renata nodded. "What became of Rufus?"

"He was captured. Felicius brought him here." Her eyes widened at this. "Are you thirsty, my love?"

"Yes." She replied, the burn in her throat catching her notice. "I'm parched."

"Wonderful. We saved him for you." He smirked. "Your first meal."

"So is today my new birthday?" She asked him.

Demetrios' eyebrows furrowed. "Well, Renata does mean reborn, does it not?" She nodded. "Then I suppose it is. Happy birthday, my striga."

Renata smiled, passionately kissed her mate, and allowed him to lead her to dinner.

Present Day

Demetri and Renata had been strolling through Volterra on a cloudy day. He was now known as Demetri, of course, because after a few centuries, the name Demetrios had lost its popularity and grew to be outdated. It was not the only thing that changed, however. The city of Volterra, once known as Velathri in the Roman age, was now a modern Italian city with older yet wonderfully maintained buildings. Neither Latin nor Greek were the preferred languages, something both Demetri and Renata missed, but they could manage to deal with Italian and English perfectly well.

Renata had become Aro's beloved pet, on par with Jane, at times, for she protected him and had done a marvelous job of doing so over the past several hundred years. Demetri rose in the ranks, as well, and equally enjoyed Aro's apt, albeit occasionally and sickeningly forced, attention. The times had changed, drastically in fact, but the love that Renata and Demetri had for one another never once dissipated.

"Do you ever feel old?" Renata asked him on that walk.

He looked down at her and turned his head to the side. "I suppose, in years, we are rather ancient. But no, not old, just wiser."

"It's so incredible, all we've lived through." She paused, a look of reminiscence crossing her features. "Do you ever miss it all?"

"Why all the questions, Renata?" He stopped walking, turning to face her. She was wearing a blue-knit sweater with jeans and heels and looked absolutely wonderful. "Is something bothering you?"

She smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. "No, I'm fine, it's just... I'd like to go back, to Rome, I mean."

Demetri was shocked. He had offered countless times before for them to go and visit her old home but she had always refused. "Renata?"

"It is the 2070th anniversary of my transformation, Demetri." Renata tugged on his arm for them to sit down on a small, stone bench in the garden of the palazzo. "I want to go back, I'm ready."

He nodded. "I'll make the arrangements."

Within hours, they arrived in Rome and the first place Renata went to consisted of the remains of what once was the Temple of Vesta; what was once her home.

Demetri noticed the solemn look on his mate's face and with great affection caressed her smooth, pale skin. "Does this place bring back bad memories?"

"No." She replied to him, smiling. "Not at all... Can we come back after dark?"

Her mate had entirely given up on trying to understand her motives at this point. "Of course, my darling. Let's get us a meal until then, hm?" He replied, both his eyes and hers as black as night.

Once the sun had set and tourists had dissipated, the young (in looks, at least) couple returned to the ruins of a once revered temple. Demetri watched in fascination as Renata climbed up the hill and walked into the temple, kicking up a few cobblestones in the rubble. She looked pensive as she walked back and forth between one circular end and the other.

It was only after a while that Renata stopped and bent down and started... digging? "You alright, love?" Demetri called out.

"Oh yes, I will be!" The excitement in her voice was tangible. What on earth could she have been up to?

She quickly ran down the hill, something clutched fiercely in her hands. "What have you got there?" He asked, curious.

Renata opened her hands, revealing a very worn Volturi-emblemed pendant on an almost disintegrating thread. She handed it to Demetri with a smile.

"This is my old necklace." He eyed her quizzically. "We came all the way here for this?"

"I suppose you think it's just your old pendant. But it's so much more, Demetri." Renata's hands made their way to his new, shiny pendant, the one that was hanging from his neck, identically hanging off of hers. "This one sure is new and heavier, shinier, perhaps more coveted in terms of the material used to make it. But this one." She continued, cupping the hands holding the old pendant in hers, leaning closer to it in wonderment. "This one, my Demetrios..." He paused, feeling nostalgic hearing his given name after such a long time. "This one, you had given to me as a promise, remember? And I hid it in my quarters. Apparently, I hid it well because the archaeologists that discovered this place were unable to retrieve it." She smiled at him. "Demetri, look on the back."

Slowly, and carefully so as not to break it, he turned the pendant over and very lightly, he could still see the inscription: Renata et Demetrios. A small liver had been drawn next to them and Demetri could not help but laugh. "Strange how wrong we were when it came to knowing which organ love comes from, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, Demetri." Renata leaned in and kissed him. "Do you know why I insisted we find it?" He shook his head. "Because the day you gave it to me was the day I first realized that I loved you. And I lied when I said today was my 2070th birthday. It is the 17th of July."

Demetri's eyes flickered with recognition. "That's the day I married you for the first time."

Her forehead met his and she closed her eyes, reveling in their closeness and the beauty of the moment. "Happy anniversary, Demetri."

"Happy anniversary, my striga." He whispered, placing a kiss on her temple and making his way down to her lips: the one place he would never, ever leave.

The End

A/N: If you enjoyed this little tale, stay tuned because I enjoyed writing these two together so much that I've decided to go forward with it and write a series on vignettes about their afterlife starting from the time at which Renata was changed. It will include how she moved up in the ranks, the conflict with the Immortal Children, the Romanians, Children of the Moon, Didyme's death, etc. lovers' quarrels, and lots of lovely fluff. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it!

Also, I am looking for a reliable beta that would be willing to review the stories coming up in the follow-up. Any takers should feel free to either e-mail me or send me a PM. Please, do not offer in the reviews section.