“That’s me.” Lizzie nodded, looking down at the clipboard in hand. “You must be Florence.” She looked back up with a smile. “Ready to look around?” 

“yes absolutely, and thank you for taking the time to help me.” and she meant that, it felt strange being in a school dedicated to her father but it was one way to really learn the unedited version of her family history. “its so strange, in my time places like this never existed for people who were specially gifted. it’s a nice change.” 

stressed was an understatement, but she knew it was important to get fresh air, and to do something to get her mind off of it all, which the doppelganger decided to do by taking walks through the local park. it was peaceful here, comforting, stopping by a tree during her walk to take it all in, as well as give her ankles a break before continuing on, only stopping when a woman approached with a piece of paper in her hand. taking the sketch and looking it over, a small smile crosses her lips. the work was beautiful. “this is stunning… thank you.” offering the woman her hand, she introduced herself. “elena gilbert, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

florence smiled, she was glad the woman was receptive of it. florence always drew the beauty around her and the woman was striking, “no problem at all, you just looked so peaceful and gave me inspiration. i’m really glad you like it.” she said, placing her hand in the other womans. “lovely to meet you, elena. i’m florence..” she paused, unsure of what last name really to go with. “last name is complicated, so we’ll just stick with the first. do you know this town well? i’ve been here a little over two months and i’m still struggling to get it down.” 

Before he was human again the answer was always an easy no, but now sometimes it was easier to drink with some substance in his body. “Um, sure. Nachos? And maybe just keep the drinks coming.”

florence needed to gather herself. she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, of him. so instead of saying anything she smiled and quickly walked off to put in his order. going from parents that hated her once they found out what she was, that treated her like scum and only allowed her to live in their home until she was sixteen to finding her father and uncle in the same city was a doozy. she got the drink and the nachos, bringing them back to him and she placed the stuff on the table. “you know, strangers are good for an ear if you need to talk about whatever has the drinks coming. and its pretty slow tonight so i’ve got the time.” maybe it could give her a way in before telling him who she was.

👾 ― “shouldn’t you know the answer to that question, not me?” it was meant to be sarcastic, but there was a truth to the witch’s confusion. as harmless as the girl came off, they weren’t about to overlook the weird question. even if she’d prefaced it. despite all that, and instead of pushing the subject, liv merely followed the snappy reply with, “no, i don’t think so. is there anything else i can clear up for you?”

her brow lifted, clearly the blonde was very unfriendly. she immediately was regretting this decision. “what are you?” she asked, her head tilted. blunt? probably, but she didn’t care she needed to get to the bottom of why she was drawn to the other and it wasn’t romantic, willow still burned bright in her heart. “i’ve only had this sort of sense of familiarity once before and it ended up with me being killed.” so she was on guard, the geminis literally took everything from her.

Considering the dead were coming back, Bonnie had wanted to try to reach out to her Grams. The woman said she was going to find peace, but apparently that didn’t mean anything. At the very least, maybe she could contact her spirit. She had come out to the woods, a place of nature that reminded her of her Grams to try and contact her. She had been trying for hours when she finally gave up and started to head to her car. She stopped when she heard someone nearby. “If you’re out here to try and end me, I promise I won’t make it easy.”

florence furrowed her brows, why were people in the 21st century so angry? she had noticed much more hostile tensions since coming back from the dead. she shook her head, but kept her guard up because she wasn’t about to end up right back where she had just come from. “as long as you mean me no harm, i mean you no harm. i’m trying to work on something not disturb you.”

🖋️ ― he had plenty of theories already cooking up. psychics were outcasts, as were siphons, and the old as time tale displaced werewolves. the latter didn’t fit as nicely as the former two. fortune did not follow doppelgangers; that much he did know. he didn’t feel a need to ask the fate of her father. he simply assumed the worst, and would work his way up from there. he’s pulled from his thoughts when she frowned, and asked about his death. maybe he was right after all about her father’s untimely demise. had he upset her by mentioning his own?  “no, nothing like that,” he assured her. “just a very long story.” stefan would have been content to leave it at that, and hoped she would too, but struck with inspiration, the story short answer came to him: “it was to save my brother.” 

the silence that followed was welcomed, in a way. it was a moment to collect himself before she grabbed his attention again. she looked distracted, but he couldn’t have imagined why. not on his own. she apologized, and his expression became unreadable. why did she seem worried?  he is frozen there. he knew where this was going, the moment she mentioned being born to different parents. he knew the spell. the oxygen in the air felt thin and he looked at her in a daze. this couldn’t be happening. “we, uh.” was there a we?  to say their history was complicated would be understated. it wasn’t just messy, it was, at that time, nonexistent. did she even know why she was sent away?  “she thought she lost you.”

her heart was practically pounding out of her chest, this information was a lot and she knew that. she debated not telling him but the inner young girl that always wanted to meet her biological parents wouldn’t let her, the words came out before she could even brace herself for them let alone stefan. before her own death she did a lot of research about the geminis, the tulles, the salvatores she was pretty well versed in things but that was also over a century ago and things change since then.  her green hues studies his face as he began to speak, this was a tricky situation to find out years later he not only actually had a child but that she died looking for answers. the red head nodded, toying with her own fingers and picking at the polish on her nails as she did out of a nervous tick. “i know this is a lot, i almost didn’t tell you but i couldn’t quite help myself. i don’t expect anything but i promised myself i would find you no matter what it took and i did.” it was what she died for, now valerie was up next. “is valerie....alive?” 

florence had been sitting on the bench, one leg crossed over the other and she had been doodling in her sketch book which is something she always did in downtime or when she needed to relax. the redhead ran a hand through her hair, finishing up the scene before her of a woman near a tree in the park. she often used people as her subjects, at least before she died. pursing her lips together she thought and ripped the page from her pad. “excuse me.” she said, approaching slowly. “i saw you.. and it kind of inspired this? not in a creepy way i just, thought you might want to keep it.” florence shrugged. 

florence had been off in the woods, trying to keep away from anyone else to practice her magic -- after all it had been over a century since she did any magic, she needed to make sure that she was no longer rusty. but she heard a noise, which wasn’t what bothered her but she wasn’t sure if whoever was there heard her. 

she had heard about the school in honor of her father, it left her curious and she knew that many questions and blanks she had could be filled in there -- but to do that she was going to need to go to the school, or at the very least tour it. “hi.” she said, walking up to the blonde after being let in by someone else. “are you lizzie? i think i have a tour with you today.”

having been at a diner most of the day, looking over books she managed to magically copy while at the salvatore school when she felt a strange sort of pull. the redhead looked up, brows furrowed when she saw a blonde standing before her and she wondered what it was, why she felt any type of connection to a stranger and she took a moment looking her over. “i don’t mean to be strange, but..” she paused a moment. “you seem so familiar, do i know you?” the chances were slim, she remembered nearly every face she encountered. 

​

Josie had stolen Bonnie for a girls day which left Damon to eat dinner alone. He decided on this little restaurant he had been hearing about. “Hey.” He gave her a friendly smile. “You have bourbon?” His go to drink of choice.

"yes, uh - we do, definitely.” florence nodded, she was trying to keep her cool but after having run into her father, willow and now her uncle? it was like the people in her life were piling up, even if two of the three had no idea who she was. “can i start you with anything else? appetizers are good here too.” 

Willow shook her head, she too taking a step forward as if the other girl were a magnet. “I, no. I turned.” Willow bit her lip. “I’ll explain it all, I promise, but right now…” Willow took another step. “I need to know that you’re okay.” Florence was the only reason the girl was in this city. She looked through the crowds for days hoping to see her again. Willow reached out her hand, letting the other decide if she wanted to take it.

florence couldn’t believe her eyes, when she had come back she just assumed that willow was long gone and didn’t even think of the possibility of her being here. but there she was, flesh and blood standing before her and the redhead could feel her heart hammering in her chest. when the other reached out, willow took hold of her hand and let her fingers find the spaces between willows. “you are without a doubt the best thing i’ve come to discover in this time.” she said quietly, the details didn’t matter right now.

🖋️ ― “we’ll manage,” he assured. even with those two options, the sky was the limit. “unless you’re feeling particularly adventurous today.” whose palate was better to ease her into it, than someone who’s been on both sides. stefan nodded at the year. and vampire he did think. the math didn’t make sense otherwise. he smiled. as much of a long shot this whole drink and 20 questions could’ve been.. she seemed like a nice girl. “2018. for me,” he explained. his death year. “i know a pretty good place. it’s just around the corner.” 

he seemed so nice, so unlike any of the stories she had heard along the way. maybe she could have the things she always longed for, of course it wouldn’t be the same as a young girls wish to know her parents but it was still something. the words were on the tip of her tongue, ready to pour out like hot lava. a frown pulled at her lips when he mentioned he died too. “can i ask how? or is that... too invasive?” she asked curiously as they went around the corner and got to the diner he had been talking about.  “my mothers family isn’t too fond of my kind, or rather what i have the potential to become so..that was the end of that.” to put it nicely anyways, another small hint but at this point the hints weren’t doing it for her and the inner child she had was screaming at her to say the words.  after getting settled into a booth, florence looked over the menu but couldn’t quite concentrate. slowly she lowered the menu and looked at him for a moment, a long moment and she took a deep breath -- if this didn’t go well? she could high tail it the hell out of new orleans and make a home some place else. “i wasn’t entirely truthful earlier..” she began, swallowing hard as the nerves plagued her now. “about my father.” she explained a little further. “he doesn’t just have your face. he doesn’t know who i am or even that i exist, at least i don’t believe he does. i was born to human parents who weren’t truly my parents, i figured this out when i turned sixteen and started digging -- i’m a witch, a siphon witch and i did a blood to blood spell that lead me to a coven in england called geminis where they told me of my true parents, valerie tulle and stefan salvatore.” it was out now, her heart was racing and she couldn’t slow it down no matter how hard she tried, a feeling of hot knots in her stomach as well as she waited for any sort of response.