1967

The path from the railway to the square in the middle of Theresienstadt is still the same. When he closes his eyes Damon can almost hear not only the guards but also officer's voices yelling at him and his fellow prisoners. More than two decades have passed.. still the sights and sounds of the place are just as fresh in his mind as the day he and Rik walked out of here. It's funny how the mind works... he can still smell the lilacs. They were both shell shocked and had no idea what they would find when they left the confines of the camp.

He wanted to come here, needed to really, wanted his family to see it but now he feels unsure as to why he felt this overpowering need to do so. What is he doing here exactly? Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he deliberately looks at his family, hoping they can snap him out of whatever spell he finds himself under. Both Caroline and Stefan walk around gingerly, no doubt comparing what they see to what he told them about this place.

Elena stands aside, he can see that she's just as emotional as he is. He admits he's been much more descriptive with her than with anyone else. He didn't want to burden his father, God rest his soul nor did he want to scare his children with the horrors that went on here. When their eyes meet, he mentally promises himself to make sure that she's alright once they leave this place. And where is...?

His reverie is broken when he feels a firm tug on his sleeve. "Daaadee?" she drags out, her little shoulders tense, sensing the unusual atmosphere. Here is a kid with survival instincts. Or maybe she just spends too much time with her dad and his paranoia.

When Anna arrived to extend their family five years ago, they were completely caught off guard, but very happy nonetheless. She was, she is the reason that he still feels young. After every twist and turn in their lives, he sometimes felt like an eighty year old man. But Anna changed it and him. He was incredibly grateful for having another chance at fatherhood. Out of all of their three children, she is the most like him both in looks and temperament. Or perhaps, she's his mother's copy with her big blue eyes and black shining hair.

When he looks at her, he sees so much of her but he also sees his wife. Once again he was mesmerized by Elena's sensitivity when she suggested naming their new little girl Anna to honor his mom. She knew how much it would mean to him and to his dad. Damon will always be grateful that his father was given a miraculous reprieve from his illness. As if Giuseppe also sensed his Anna in his granddaughter, he would spend hours with her, telling her stories just as he did with Stefan and Caroline when they were younger. Damon takes her little hand and tries to shake off the uneasy feeling that's following him since he entered the gate. Twenty years later and he's still looking over his shoulders.

They enter one of the barracks following the recommended tour guide. Damon's heart clenches when he sees familiar rooms with long "shelves" that used to serve as bunks for prisoners, if they were lucky enough to snatch a bed.

He remembers the first time he was herded into the place. It struck him then as it does now how they used to look like loaves of bread on a bakery rack. Anna tugs at his arm again and Damon wonders if she somehow imitates her mother's usual behavior, looking out for him.

"I'm here, sweet pea. Let's go on."

He catches a glimpse of his other children, carefully reading the legends, the testimonies hanging on the walls. They end up in a bathroom where Damon immediately remembers the children panicking, crying and clawing to get out when they believed the shower was just a ruse for a gas chamber. Dropping his eyes, they land on or near the spot where he knelt with the little boy as he tried to calm him down. He remembers embracing the tiny child. Sometimes when he's laying in bed at night, Damon can't help but wonder and hope that maybe some of them are still alive. He jumps, his heart ratcheting up when he hears her voice.

"Was it here?" Elena asks quietly when she catches up to them. Their eyes meet and he nods when she lays her gentle hand between his shoulder blades, silently supporting the man she loves. She presses firmly with her fingertips and then she takes Anna's hand to give Damon a minute.

When they leave the barracks and step back into the sunlight, Damon sets off decisively in the direction of his old barracks. For whatever reason, however, it seems this particular space is off limits to tourists. Damon finds himself incredibly disappointed although he isn't quite sure why. He can't say that he's enjoying this dip into the past but he felt it was necessary for him to be able to put it to rest once and for all.

Elena takes a look around and with purpose she walks over to someone who appears to be a guide. That's how he's dressed anyway. The man looks surprised when she starts talking to him in fluent Czech while pointing to towards where Damon is standing facing that barracks.

"Would it be possible to take a look inside of that one?"

"I'm sorry, madam, that one is closed to the public."

Elena looks like she wants to argue but before she opens her mouth again, Damon steps beside her, shaking his head no with a subtle turn.

"It's alright my love, we don't need to break any of their rules. It's not that important."

Damon lays his hand on her shoulder and is about to turn in another direction when the young guide addresses him, "Excuse me sir, do I know you? Have you ever been here?"

Damon's lip twitches, his eyes smiling. "Yes..." he starts to say pausing as his eyes drift over the landscape for a moment before facing the young man again. "I have. But I can assure you that you weren't here at that time."

The guide's eyes widen and his mouth parts slightly. When he gathers his composure, he smiles. "I do know you sir, would you follow me please?" He leads them to the assembly room, not stopping until they reach a particular showcase. There they are... A picture of Damon and Rik during the horrible days of trying to beat the disease so they all could finally go home. Damon swallows thickly when he sees that they're smiling.

There are more pictures from these post-war days. Damon walks around the room, stopping at another showcase that has pictures and memorabilia from the cast of Brundibár. Pressing his hand again the glass, he stays there for a long moment, his emotions starting to overwhelm him. He remembers each one of those beautiful children and their magical personalities. For one small moment in time, they were his own. If he could have traded his life for theirs, he would not have hesitated at all.

The guide, Zdenek is his name, is hanging around. Damon glances up at him, recognizing the look on his face. He knows it, the look. He has done hundreds of lectures and is easily able to pick out those in the audience who have a genuine interest in what he has to say.

He turns to him expectantly. "Yes?"

"Did you... did you have a lecture in Prague sir? Sadly it was already full when I got there but I read everything about it. I know your books."

They talk about Damon's work and times long passed, he tells him a few stories connected to these walls. The young man knows a lot but is eager to know more. They do remember. There are still people who remember.

When his publishing company brought up the possibility of speaking in Prague after so many years, he couldn't say no, rather, he jumped at the chance. His only condition was being able to bring his family with him to see what he saw, to know what he felt, to save him from the worst of it when he set foot in this place again. But this time, rather than be considered as nothing more than vermin, this time, he's a free man. He wanted them to see what he's spent half of his life talking about, to see through his eyes the evil that once was prevalent here. However, he somehow thought it would be easier.

"Sir? I think I can help you to see the interior of that building," he suggest eventually and Damon nods. It's a surreal walking through these corridors.

"May I?" he stops before his old room. The guide unlocks the door and lets them in. He just stands by the door and tries to collect his composure. The bed frames, stacked three high are standing row by row by row but the mattresses are gone. The walls are stark gray and scratched, people trying to make a mark to show the world that they once lived. There are no windows in this room. Damon sucks in a breath when his heart starts to pound. He runs his hand along the wood, jerking back when he gets a sliver. In his mind, it's 1944, it's cold and dark and the wind is howling.

Damon tries to curl up in as tight a ball as possible. He's shivering so hard that his teeth are chattering. The wind whips through the walls as if they were made of paper. No matter what he does, he cannot get warm. Suddenly he feels Rik's familiar calloused hands pull him close. He curls himself around Damon, spooning him to try to warm them both up just a little bit.

It's still recognizable for him, but there's a mess inside his mind. He takes a deep breath and immediately the stench of death and dying and sick people fills his mind. He clutches the bed frame when he feels a little light headed. When he feels the familiar tug on his shirt sleeve, he's grateful to his little Anna for taking his hand again, bringing him back to the present.

"Can we go outside, daddy? I'm cold." Damon smiles and closes the door to his past.

By the time they leave, he is happy that they came but he also knows that he will never go back there either. They spent several days in Prague, showing their children all the places that held any meaning to them. And now they're going to Salzburg to visit with Rik and Rebeka.

It's good to be back here... for one last tiny moment in time.

And they will certainly come back to Europe someday. But for Damon, nothing is more important than going back to the life they have now and to their family that is waiting for them. He will keep telling the stories so that they're never forgotten. He's going to enjoy his life to its fullest. And he's going to love his wife until his last day on this Earth and then into forever.

Damon nods at Stefan and Caroline, lifts Anna in his arms and gives Elena a scorching kiss. He will never tire of loving her.

"Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened."

- General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Both Eva and I hate to say goodbye to these characters. We grew to love them so much. I would like to give huge thanks to my co-writer Eva. We write all our stories together now, this one included.

And also, I'm at a loss to thank you all. I don't have words enough to truly express how grateful I am, Eva and I are that you embraced this version of Damon and Elena. Thank you for loving them, for all of your incredible reviews, the followers, people that favorited the story. I cannot even begin to find the right words to thank you all. You're all the best of the DE world.

Chapter title: 'Only Time' by Enya. This song, I felt that it captured the story as a whole rather than just this chapter.

I hope you all have an amazing day. Before I shut the lights out on this story, I just want to give you all a heartfelt thanks once more.