200 years before – Elena has just died.

Stefan's POV:

I held Elena's lifeless body in my arms. She couldn't be dead. No. It wasn't possible – Elena Gilbert couldn't be dead. But the truth was hanging in the air, suddenly like a heavy burden bearing down on me. I felt as if someone had torn my heart out as my chest ached and ached. I hadn't realised tears were trickling slowly down my cheeks, and cradling Elena's body to mine, I threw my head back and screamed in agony.

"No, Elena," I whispered. "No."

I could hear the sobbing of Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline and Tyler. I glanced up to see Jeremy holding Bonnie close; both of their frames shaking in grief as they cried. And then my gaze fell on Damon. He was rooted to the spot in shock, his eyes fixed on the body of Elena. I could see tears falling down his face as he staggered toward me and fell to his knees beside Elena.

"She can't be dead," he growled. "She can't be."

"She is," I whispered. "She's gone."

"No!" Damon wrenched Elena's body from me and shook it hard. "Wake up! Do you hear me? Now! Don't leave me!"

"Damon, put her down," I said gently. "She's not coming back."

Damon placed her gently on the floor, and then glowered at me. "This is your fault."

"I know," I said brokenly.

"You should've been with her! You should've never left her alone!" he yelled.

"I know," I whispered.

Caroline came and sat beside me, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "Leave it, Damon. It's not Stefan's fault – he didn't know what Elena was planning to do."

"So?" Damon roared. "She's still dead!" Taking me completely by surprise, Damon rugby tackled me and slammed me against a nearby tree.

"SHE'S DEAD!" he shrieked. "GONE! AND IT'S YOUR FAULT!"

"Damon!" Caroline wrenched him away from me, and I slid uselessly to the ground.

"Stop it, Damon, think of Elena! She wouldn't want this – she wouldn't want you two fighting," Caroline sobbed.

Damon glanced down at Elena's body and his expression softened. "I'm leaving," he whispered. "And I'm never coming back."

With that, Damon turned his back to us and walked away. My heart ached even more. I had no one now. I couldn't go on with my life anymore if Elena wasn't here. Life wasn't worth living without her.

PRESENT DAY – Stefan's POV

I shuddered as I recalled the memory of losing her. Losing Elena. After that I had switched off. I hadn't heard from Damon in two hundred years. Everyone else I had loved and cared about had died centuries ago. The Gilbert family line had continued with Jeremy, though of course he was dead now. He had marriedBonnie, so the Gilberts were now witches and warlocks. The Lockwood family line had ended at Tyler who never had children. Caroline was still living – she regularly dropped by to see me. The Petrova family line had ended at Elena, but Katherine was still alive. I hadn't seen her in two hundred years either. Good. I didn't want to see her. Despite how different Elena was to Katherine, just looking at Katherine made me think of Elena. And after two hundred years of shutting out the pain by drinking human blood I had tried to forget Elena. I knew this was how Damon had probably handled losing her.

In the two hundred years of living without Elena I had frequently left Mystic Falls for at least four decades, and the returned, living alone in the same house – the Salvatore house. I couldn't bear not returning every once in a while, because this is where Elena rested. After she had died I had visited her grave every day – she had been buried beside her parents (her adopted parents, not Isobel and John). But the pain had become too much so I had adopted Damon's lifestyle (almost). I didn't compel sorority girls but I stole often from blood banks and kept a big supply of blood bags in the cellar downstairs. It was the only way I could shut out the pain and pretend everything was okay.

I sighed and slid off my bed. I walked to my window and threw the curtains open. The sun streamed in through my window, and I twisted my daylight ring around on my finger. Of course, now that the sun and moon curse had been broken I didn't need it, but I wanted to wear it. I'd worn it for so long now that it seemed weird to take it off.

I needed to get out and get some fresh air. I opened the window and jumped down, landing neatly on my feet. I started walking, unsure of where I was going. I found myself walking toward the cemetery where Elena was buried. I passed gravestone after gravestone, most of the names familiar with me: Bonnie Bennet, Jeremy Gilbert, Alaric Saltzman and Jenna Saltzman (her and Alaric married a year after Elena died). So many people I loved and missed. And finally, my eyes rested on Elena's tombstone. But someone else was visiting:

She had long, straight brown hair, and she was tall and slim. Her back was to me, and from here she looked just like Elena. I shook my head. Impossible. Slowly, I dragged my feet over to the gravestone, and stood beside the girl. She turned to face me, and my eyes widened in shock. It was Elena. No. It couldn't be – Elena was dead. Was it Katherine? No, I could smell the blood of this girl and she was definitely human. The resemblance was outstanding. She couldn't be a Petrova doppelganger, could she? No, the line had ended at Elena. So what was going on?

"Um, can I help you?" the girl asked, looking at me in concern.

"I – I'm sorry," I blinked. "You look like someone I knew."

"Oh," she glanced at Elena's stone. "Did you know her?"

"Yeah, I did," I nodded. "Did you?"

"No," she shook her head. "But, I know it sounds crazy, but I feel as if I belong here. I feel like there's some sort of connection."

I smiled, my thoughts somewhere else. Was it reincarnation?

"I'm Isabella," she smiled.

I held my hand out to shake hers. "Stefan Salvatore."

Her eyes widened in surprise and she glanced down at our hands.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"No, I just," she chuckled nervously. "I feel like I know you."

It was reincarnation. Definitely reincarnation.

I smiled. "Maybe we met in a previous life."

She grinned, and my heart sped up when I recognised Elena's smile.

"Maybe," she said gently, her hand curling around mine.

(Okay, so I could leave this open-ended. Leave a review if you liked it, and I'll carry it on if you want me to, but for now, I'm going to leave it open-ended.)