Forever; The Devil's Angel

Mia could never have comprehended the meaning of a single hug, the significance of it. It was powerful and tender at the same time, it just melted away the stress, pulled the brakes on her thoughts and made her feel lighter than ever. Obviously, a thousand questions erupted in her mind, ready to be spewing out of her mouth but with all the excitement and peace she felt, she couldn't care about any of it. She was just happy to be there, content and satisfied.

"I still can't believe it," Mia said as she leaned back at to look at her mother. She looked exactly the way she had seen in her dreams and that amazing to her. It was her mother, her mother who was none of the things that Maya had said. She was sure of that, she could see the purity in her eyes. Mia chuckled as she went into her father's arms who hugged her back again.

If he had doubts about this girl before, they had melted away as soon as she rushed into the living room, her arms wide open as she hugged him tight, her eyes were wet but she had the most brightest smile on her face and it was so contagious that Antonio himself couldn't help but smile at her. She looked so radiant and beautiful, Antonio was taken aback. Yes, she looked like Maya but he noticed all the small differences between them both and a surge of pride flowed through him. His daughter was perfect, the way he had hoped her to be. Looking at Maya, he was just always disappointed but Mia's warmth made him want to be father again.

"There are other people in the room too. If you care enough to look around," Annalisa said in a light teasing voice and Mia let go of Antonio to turn towards the girl with almost silver eyes. She had golden brown hair that tumbled to her shoulders as she tucked a stray behind her ears. Her eyes were sharp, her expression calculating and Mia felt if she was being accessed. Mia shifted on her feet as she looked at the familiar yet new face.

"You are..." Mia started when her image popped in her mind and the hazy memory returned with a boom. Mia's face changed almost suddenly, her eyes turning glassy as she looked at the girl from head to toe. She was beautiful, Mia could see that but her eyes went to the door where Damon was leaning against the door, a happy smile on his face but seeing Mia's changed expression, Damon pushed himself off the door and raised his eye brows.

Annalisa opened her mouth to say something, seeing the Maya like look in her eye but Mia spoke before her, "You're the girl from the bar," she said as she pointed her thumb in Damon's direction.

It took a moment for Annalisa to realize her meaning, "Oh!" she exclaimed, "It was you that night, "she said, "at the bar." Yeah, she had seen her with a guy but she had assumed it was Maya and she even advised Damon to not pursue her thinking she was slutty Maya but now she could understand the tangible tension between her and Damon that night and that squeezed her heart. She was a sucker for true love.

"You were with Damon," As much as Mia wanted to keep her voice casual, everyone in the room heard the bitterness in it and Antonio tried to distinguish it from Maya's but he couldn't effectively do that.

"Yes," Annalisa chuckled, "when he kept going on and on about you," she shook her head remembering how enamored Damon was after seeing her just once. "I'm Annalisa," she extended her hand, "I am your...cousin. Daughter of Fiorella's twin sister," she explained.

"Annalisa," Mia nodded her head as she gently took her hand for a shake. Her eyes went to Fiorella's for a moment. Her mother had a twin sister. Wow.

"Yeah," Annalisa shrugged, "But call me Lisa," she said, her eyes going to her aunt who had the disapproving look on her face but Annalisa just smiled widely at her.

"It's nice to meet you Lisa," Mia said with a smile.

"Likewise," Annalisa said, "It's actually very cool to finally meet you," she said and came in for a hug which totally surprised Mia but it was the nice kind and she felt herself hug Annalisa back with equal fervor.

Mia and Annalisa were both laughing when they pulled apart but her parents looked tense as Mia turned around to look at the cause but couldn't see anything out of place. There was Damon standing by the entrance and unlike before Elena had come to stand beside him. Mia furrowed her brows in confusion, not understanding what had caused the sudden drop in temperature until Fiorella charged towards Elena, "Katherine," She hissed and the sound caused Mia to wince before she turned to act upon the situation.

"Mamma," Mia exclaimed and Antonio held his wife by her waist, pulling her to him as he used his other arm to contain her grabbing hands. Mia rushed to stand in front of Elena, "Elena," she screamed, "It's Elena, not Katherine," she said, "Not Katherine."

Fiorella's struggle died instantly as she heard Mia's voice and her body went lax against Antonio's. "Doppelganger?" she asked, her eyes wide and Mia nodded at her.

"Yes," she sighed and Elena eyed them all awkwardly. It wasn't the first time that this had happened, that she was mistaken for her evil doppelganger but it was intense this time with Mia's mother boring eyes and Antonio's glare, Elena felt weird as to what to do and how to act at the given moment.

"So, I got your calls," Stefan made his entry all of a sudden, "But I wasn't sure if I wanted to argue about Mia with you again," he said unaware of all as he fixed his eyes on Damon's head. Elena whirled around to look at him, so did Damon and Stefan widened his eyes in disbelief but it was suffice to say that he wasn't the only one surprised, Mia's parents openly gawked at him and Mia let out a short breath. Great timing, she thought.

"Hey, you're the guy from the book," Annalisa exclaimed as she pointed at him excitedly. She looked like a fan girl who had finally found the celebrity she had been crushing on, "You look so much better in real life," she said and Stefan just looked at her. That was pretty much what everybody else did. "Hey, wait," she raised her finger and gave her best pondering expression, "What was your name again?" she mostly asked herself and Mia saw the moment her face lit up and she gave him a full teeth smile, "Silas," she finally said, "You were Silas...are Silas."

Mia shook her head, a small smile gracing her lips as she looked at Annalisa and waved towards Stefan, "That's Stefan," she informed her and Annalisa’s face fell.

"I'm pretty sure it was Silas in my history book," she argued and Antonio cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Well, I'm glad you were paying attention to anything in the class, my rose but that's what it is," he paused as he looked at Stefan, "History," he shrugged and Stefan gave him a wary nod. Who were these people and what the hell was going on? Why did Elena look like a ghost?

"How many look alikes there are in this world?" Annalisa asked, annoyed as she crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing at Elena, Stefan and then finally resting on Mia who gave her a casual shrug.

Damon took a deep breath as he stepped forward and properly introduced everybody. Stefan was shocked and then quite happy at the fact that at least some of them had parents in this world especially like Fiorella and Antonio whose sight mostly stayed on Mia eyeing her every movement, hanging onto her word but Fiorella scrutinized them all too, sizing them up to figure out the type of people they were and by the look in her smiling eyes, Stefan was sure that she approved of them all.

Having made the small talk, Damon pointed towards Mia, "I'll leave you all to talk," he said and then eyed both Stefan and Elena as he nodded towards the door asking them silently to leave the room. Mia had a lot of catching up to do with her family and he wanted to let them have some peace as he turned around to leave.

"Damon," Fiorella called out to him and he halted in his tracks as he turned around to look at her, his brows raised, "Thank you," she said in a grateful tone, "For finding us...and bringing us to our daughter," she said and Damon gave her a small head shake as to say she didn't have to be thankful because in all seriousness, he was the one grateful for them to believe him enough to give Mia a chance, "We owe you a lot," she said and Damon stiffened. Nobody has ever said that to him before and more than the words was the look she gave him, the voice in which she uttered those words that had him reeling.

His eyes were fixed on Fiorella for a moment when they flickered towards Mia but returned to their previous destination once again as he muttered, "I wasn't exactly thinking about you," his words were uttered in a low voice but the impact on Mia was the same nonetheless as she let out a small gasp and quickly averted her eyes.

"I understand," Fiorella replied, "Whoever your reason maybe, doesn't change the fact that we're indebted to you," she said with a small smile and gave him a nod as she turned around and extended her arms to hug Mia again.

Damon wanted to move. Hell, he was leaving them nicely for the bonding session but with Mia's burning eyes on him as she hugged her mother seemed to completely devastate him. He had no idea what he going to do especially in the matters that concerned her. Mia had no idea how to move either, whether to move on or move back. This man was the very definition of confusing, leading on and then dumping and she couldn't grasp any of the definition. She could just hang in the moment, trying to make it through, hoping that at the end of the tunnel, he would be there waiting for her but for now she had her parents to tend to.

Mia was ecstatic yet her nerves were all over the place. She still couldn’t believe that this was happening. She was sitting here with her parents, her very own mother and father, the one that were snatched away from her and somehow, Damon was the one that had brought them together and no matter how much she tried to ignore, the thought that he cared that much was burning deep in her.

Mia had no idea where to start, what to say or even how. She wanted them to be proud of her, to see the kind of person she was and had become. She wanted to share everything with her mother, to tell her about even the most stupid thing there was to tell but then she wanted to listen, to their voice, to their stories and it was such a conflicting war inside her mind.

“So, do you like reading?” Antonio questioned and Mia saw her mother rolling her eyes at that sentence while Annalisa sighed loudly.

“Not that one,” she said and Mia smiled.

“He and the readings,” Fiorella exasperated, “Library is his Heaven and books his God. I swear that man do nothing else,” she said with a smile. It was difficult for her but she had to pretend that it was all alright for her daughter. Like, Damon had pointed out, Mia had dreamt of this long enough and what kind of mother would she be if she gave her old, lost daughter a broken family.

“As a matter of fact,” Mia announced, “I love reading,” she said and patted her thighs as she looked at her father who gave her a smile and Annalisa sighed once again.

“Like father, like daughter,” she exclaimed, “You’re both bores,” she declared and gave her aunt a high five who returned it with a chuckle.

It was weird but she felt a part of that family already. They all knew there was the heavy part of the discussion that was inevitable but Mia loved how they already understood her enough to know that she wasn't quite ready, how they started to converse in an easy manner like they had been like this forever and Mia realized at what she had been missing out on.