Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created by L.J. Smith, as portrayed in the TV series created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec. All rights to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Author's Note: Ok, so if you've read my fanfic before, you'll know I only write Delena. I am, however, about to make an exception for a very special person. This one-shot is for my fellow fanfic-writer and Twitter-buddy Vic (Summer Fairy) for being so supportive and inspiring – and for distracting me with various YouTube-clips when I really should be writing… : ) Oh, and pardon my French… : )

Pairing: Damon/Anna

Setting: late 19th century Paris, La Belle Époque

Premise: Katherine turned Damon and Stefan in 1864 and left Mystic Falls with them. When this story begins, they have recently arrived in Paris, where life is good (La Belle Époque has just begun). Katherine has procured them a lavish apartment on Boulevard Haussmann and their favorite place to visit is the Moulin Rouge. Stefan, under Katherine's tutelage, has relative control of his bloodlust, even though he has Ripper-like tendencies. The brothels in Pigalle serve that purpose well.

A MOMENT IN TIME

Damon sat in his favorite spot in the Tuileries Garden, watching the people out for their afternoon stroll. It was Sunday, and the park was filled with acrobats, puppet theatres, lemonade stands, donkey rides, and stands selling toys. Children were laughing and playing, and Damon found himself wearing a bittersweet smile.

Where he knew his brother only saw potential snacks, Damon saw the future he could have had. It wasn't that he disliked his life as it was - Katherine was all he could ever ask for – but there were times when he regretted his choice. He missed being human.

Katherine was talking to some gentlemen he'd never seen before, no doubt procuring them an invitation to a ball of some sort. Katherine loved balls. She loved the attention. Damon only wished he could have her all to himself for awhile. Just… a weekend, a week, a month… a month of some semblance of normalcy. A month of bliss where no-one else existed but him and Katherine. Where Stefan didn't share her bed every other night.

He was so blinded by his passion for her that he had agreed to share her with his brother. It was a weak moment, but he had given his word, and he never broke it. Honor among thieves, they say. Well, there was honor among monsters, as well.

Truth was, he had grown weary of their arrangement. He knew deep down that she didn't love him like he loved her, but how could he possibly let her go? She was all he had left in this world – except for his brother, of course, who was becoming more and more like a stranger with every day, with every kill.

"You do know she's only toying with you, right?" a smooth voice said right beside him.

Damon turned his head. How had he not noticed this woman sitting down next to him? She was a beautiful creature, for sure, with her exotic features and her mass of dark locks gathered into a loose bun at the top of her head. Her tight-fitting bodice and wide skirt displayed her narrow waist and epitomized the notion of an hourglass figure. There was something vaguely familiar about her, though, and Damon narrowed his eyes at her.

"Annabelle?"

"I'm going by 'Anna' these days, but yes, it's me."

Damon blinked, trying to reconcile the image of the dark beauty before him with his memory of Pearl's meek daughter.

"You look… very different."

"Unfortunately, I haven't aged a day," Anna said with a smile. "But the clothes do help create that illusion, don't you think?"

"I… yes. When did you arrive in Paris?"

"A few weeks ago."

"Is your mother with you?"

"No. She decided to return to Mystic Falls after we left."

"What? Why?"

"Love. She was convinced she could reason with Johnathan Gilbert, make him see her for the woman she was, not the monster."

"How'd that work out?"

"It didn't. If it weren't for Emily, she never would have made it out alive."

"But she's all right?"

"Yes. But she is very unhappy. She wanted me to go with her to China, to return to our roots, but I had plans of my own."

"So you decided to go to Paris?"

"With the arrival of the golden age, Europe is the place to be these days."

"That must be difficult – leaving your only family…"

"I've had centuries with my mother, Damon. I finally realized I'll never grow up if we stay together. I have to make a life for myself, and I can't do that under her wings."

"That sounds… brave," Damon acknowledged.

"Which brings us back to you," Anna said. "Why are you still with her?"

"Katherine?"

"Yes, Katherine. Selfish, manipulative Katherine. I watched her play with the two of you for months before she turned you. I had thought you would wake up and see her for what she truly is once you were in transition, but you stayed with her. Why?"

"What do you care?"

"I don't. I mean, I just think it's a shame," Anna shrugged and moved to stand up.

"Wait," Damon said, placing a hand on her arm. "You should stay. Being alone is overrated."

"You're not alone, Damon. You have Katherine and Stefan to keep you company," Anna smiled.

"I wasn't talking about myself. You should stick around."

"I'm done living in other people's shadows, Damon. I'd rather be alone. I hope you'll have a good life, and maybe our paths will cross again sometime. The world is a small place when you have forever to live in it, after all," she said and disappeared into the crowd.

Damon was left contemplating their brief encounter. Maybe she had a point. Maybe there was more to life than just what was familiar, what was safe. Was he scared, was that it? Scared to be alone? Scared to push Katherine, knowing she would choose his brother over him? Damon shook his head; Damon Salvatore wasn't scared of anything. He was something others were scared of.

"Viscount Lefebvre has invited us to a ball tonight," Katherine proclaimed as she and Damon took their seats in the carriage taking them back to the apartment.

"How lovely," Damon said drily.

"Is that your way of saying you'd rather spend the evening alone in the apartment, Damon?" Katherine said coldly.

"No. I'd much rather you spent it with me."

"Honestly, Damon, could you be any clingier?" Katherine rolled her eyes.

"I don't think I'm being clingy expressing a desire to spend an evening with you, Katherine."

"Do I not see to it that all of your desires are met?" Katherine raised a sculpted eyebrow.

"Perhaps I want more," Damon said under his breath.

"Pardon? What was that?" Katherine said.

"You heard me, Katherine. You hear every word I utter, you just choose to ignore them."

"Really, Damon? You're picking a fight with me?" Katherine leaned back in her seat, a bored expression on her face.

"No. Of course not."

The rest of their ride was spent in silence and Damon was only too happy to return to his room. Stefan was home, and Katherine made sure Damon would suffer for arguing with her. Finally, he couldn't take listening to them any longer and fled the apartment.

He found himself wandering the streets of Montmartre, ending up at Place du Tertre. Ambling through the square, he came across a young artist with a motif that struck him as familiar.

"Excusez-moi, monsieur. Connaissez-vous cette femme?" he asked the young painter, pointing to the portrait.

"Ah, oui, la Belle. J'ai la vue à Au Lapin Agile plusieur fois cette semaine. Elle est très belle, non?"

"Au Lapin Agile? Le cabaret?"

"Oui, monsieur. Voulez-vous acheter cette portrait?" the young painter offered, but Damon was already gone.

Anna was working at the cabaret? Au Lapin Agile was one of Stefan's favorite haunts. The place was popular with questionable Montmartre characters including pimps, eccentrics, simple down-and-outers and students from the Latin Quarter. Not exactly the place for a young woman such as Anna. Vampire or not.

"Couldn't stay away, could you?" a voice whispered in his ear as he was looking around the establishment.

"I was supposed to go to a ball tonight," he replied, sitting down at the bar.

"Oh? Sounds like fun."

"Not really."

"So you decided to visit the cabaret instead?"

"I saw your picture. Apparently, you've got an admirer."

"It happens," Anna shrugged. "Listen, you should probably leave. I'm going to be on stage in a little bit."

"Why?"

"I'm making a living for myself, Damon. Dancing is lucrative."

"Since when do you need to work? You can just compel someone to give you their money."

"And how would that make me any different than a common thief?"

"We're not exactly upstanding, law-abiding citizens, Anna," Damon said in a low voice.

"And that's an excuse for behaving like animals?"

"I can't think of a better one. It's in our nature."

"You have a lot to learn, Damon," Anna sighed.

"So teach me."

"Excuse me?"

"Katherine's content with keeping me on a leash and treating me like a dog. She's not teaching me any new tricks."

"Sounds kinky."

"It's not, unfortunately."

"Ok, I'll take you out, but for now you need to leave."

"Why?"

"I don't exactly feel comfortable with you watching me perform."

"I don't exactly feel comfortable watching, to be honest."

"Good. So I'll see you tomorrow morning. Meet me in the Tuileries Garden, same spot."

Damon returned to the apartment to find that Katherine and Stefan had already left. Out to paint the town red, he supposed. This left him alone with his thoughts, some of which were getting increasingly troubling.

He couldn't seem to shake the mental image of Anna performing in the cabaret. He had known her as a child, a silent bystander, and now she had blossomed into a vibrant young woman. She had an air about her, something so alluring he found himself forced to turn away from it.

"Good morning," Anna greeted him. "I was beginning to think you might not show."

"I apologize."

"No need. You're here now," she shrugged. "Come, let's walk."

Damon offered his arm and she slipped her delicate arm through it. "Where are we going?"

"The Louvre. Have you been before?"

"No."

"Then you're in for a treat," Anna smiled.

The Louvre Palace was an almost rectangular structure with the Sully Wing to the east containing the square Cour Carrée and the oldest parts of the Louvre; and two wings which wrapped the Cour Napoléon, the Richelieu Wing to the north and the Denon Wing, which bordered the Seine to the south. It was spectacular.

As they walked through the exhibitions, Anna spoke of places she had visited, depicted in many of the paintings, and parts of history immortalized by sculptures.

"How we live… it's not all about blood and lust, it's about having the opportunity to observe history in the making. Don't let yourself get so wrapped up in Katherine's world that you forget to look around and see what's going on around you. There's so much beauty in the world. Don't limit yourself to worshipping hers."

"You really don't like Katherine, do you?"

"She and my mother have been friends for centuries, which means I've seen what she's capable of. Trust me, Damon, you do not want to hang around when she grows tired of you. And she will. It's only a matter of time."

"I think she already has…"

"Then let her go. Don't spend an eternity trying to hold on to something that's not real."

"What is real?"

"Life. No matter where it takes us."

"How are you so insightful?"

"Years and years of observing," Anna smiled wistfully.

"You don't think it's time to take your own advice, then?" Damon said. "Actually living life, not just observing it from a distance?"

"That's why I'm here."

"Paris 'here', or with me 'here'?"

"What kind of question is that?" Anna frowned.

"Just… never mind."

"Where were you?" Katherine asked, her hands on her hips, when Damon entered the apartment.

"What? You actually noticed I was gone?" Damon said drily.

"Don't play games with me, Damon," Katherine hissed, shoving him up against the wall. "Where were you?"

"It's none of your business, Katherine," he growled and pushed her hand away.

"You went out hunting?" Katherine narrowed her eyes at him. "In the brothels? I smell perfume all over you."

"Impossible."

"Where were you?"

"Dinner and a show," he quipped. "What's it to you?"

"I need an escort to tonight's ball."

"Another ball? Why can't Stefan escort you?"

"It's your turn," Katherine said, taken aback by his suggestion.

"Oh, we're taking turns now, are we?"

"You act as if though this is something new…"

"I'm just tired of our arrangement, Katherine. Stefan can take you to the ball. I don't much care for it, anyways."

"You're a much better dancer…" Katherine pouted, running her hands up his chest.

"I don't feel like it," Damon said, pulling her hands from his body.

"I suppose you don't feel like sharing my bed tonight, either, then," Katherine huffed.

"No, not particularly," Damon said and headed to his room.

Damon woke up in the middle of the night to a soft body pressed against his, nails digging into his shoulders. He opened his eyes to find Katherine hovering over him.

"Tonight was so boring," she pouted. "I missed you."

"I'm sorry," Damon mumbled. "I'm tired. You should leave."

"Don't be like that, Damon," Katherine pouted, straddling him. "I know you want me just as much as I want you."

"Although this is very tempting, I'd have to say no," Damon drawled.

"Seriously?" Katherine gawked.

"Goodnight, Katherine."

Frustrated, Katherine climbed off him and strode out of the room. "I'm sure Stefan will be much more receptive," she huffed and flicked her hair, her dark locks cascading down her bare back.

"Knock yourself out," Damon muttered and went back to sleep.

Damon wake up the following morning, frowning. Did he really kick a very naked and willing Katherine out of his bed last night? From the glares she was shooting him over the breakfast table, he'd suspect so.

Why they even had breakfast was a mystery, seeing as they didn't need croissants and marmalade to survive. However, the wine was delicious, and the coffee warmed their bodies. Stefan, of course, stuck to his tea. Sometimes Damon thought his brother was more of a Brit than anything else.

Before either of them attempted to strike up a conversation, Damon excused himself and left the apartment, much to Katherine's chagrin.

"Morning," Anna greeted him as he knocked on her door. She had a small apartment close to the cabaret, insisting that she make an honest – well, relatively honest – living, working and paying rent.

"It's a beautiful morning. Would you like to go for a walk by the Seine?"

"Only if we can feed the ducks," Anna said and grabbed her coat.

"Uh… sure… if we can find any."

"Did you have a good night?" she asked as they were strolling through the city.

Damon didn't know how to answer that. Would it be weird for him to say he enjoyed the daytime more? Especially because it meant he could see her again?

"I was tired. Went to bed early," he shrugged.

"Oh, poor baby. Did I tire you out with my history lesson?" she mocked.

Damon laughed. "No, it was… enlightening."

"Did you…"

"How was your night?" he asked, determined to steer away from the topic of his living situation.

"Long and hard," she shrugged.

Damon's eyes widened.

"Hard on my feet," Anna quickly amended, blushing slightly.

"You haven't considered giving up the whole dancing thing?"

"I'm a vampire, Damon. Sure I hurt, but not for long."

"No, I know, but…"

"What? You don't think it's 'respectable'?" she laughed. "I may look like a little girl, but I'm not."

"You did look like a little girl when I first met you," Damon admitted. "But now… no, you don't."

"Is that your way of saying you see me as an adult, capable of making my own decisions?" Anna raised an eyebrow in amusement, knowing she had him cornered.

"I… oh, look, I think I see some starving ducks," Damon deflected, hurrying over to a pond they were just passing by.

Author's Note: Ok, so it seems I'll need some more time to develop these characters. Expect another chapter or so in the near future… : )