He could have suggested turning her family, vampires all of them, living forever. But fun as Liz was, it would probably drive him crazy and of course any chance he might have had with Caroline would be lost. And there was Bonnie who of course would loose her magic.
Which admittidly he'd be alright with.
"That's life unfortunatly, human life is short but it can be bright, and yes, you spend your time with them but won't that make it all the more painful when they do leave you? And then of course there are children, if any of them have any. Do you look in on them? Is it too painful, do you allow them have some kind of life free of the knowledge of the supernatural world. I would find that harder to deal with I expect. Or would have. You are right though, all of the people I care for will already live forever."
The quote had brought a smile. There it was, the culture. And she understood it perfectly, and this was the smartness she wanted to waste. And the various things she wanted to do, nothing really that obvious, not stuck in one century. "Yes, No, No, Yes, Yes and not that speech but many like it. And she never did speak on her balcony at the end. Spent a couple of months in Argentina around then out of sheer curiousity, never met her or anything but god they worshipped her. The outpouring when she died. For a while I was tempted to turn her. But she was one of those bright lights that burned too brightly. She'd never have lasted. And she was far too famous."
Her question gave him pause as he sat on the bench beside her, considering exactly how to phrase it without her getting all horrified about it again.
"I saw something in you. I don't know why. I don't know what draws me. But you really do have a light about you. And there is a world so much bigger and brighter than anything you've known and I want to see you react to it, live in it. Grow. Its why I want you to follow whatever calls to you in college. And yes, you can do a dozen degrees. You have the chance to do anything. But here, trapped in this world like the rest of us. I want you to do something for you. Not for anyone else, just you. Is that so terribly hard to understand?"
There was something between them. He'd known it for a while. As had she much as she always denied it.
"You didn't have to offer this you know? And you can say its the teaching, but I want to know the truth since we're being so honest. Why did you offer to meet with me so easily? You knew I would accept."