A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome to my story! This is a time travel fic (because who doesn't love time travel?) - I hope you enjoy! My OTP is the main feature of this story, Klaroline - but Elejah and maybe some others might make an appearance. This is my first fanfic in a VERY long time, and the first I've posted to this website. Please read and review - I would love to hear your comments! I have a good chunk of the story written already... You can expect updates from me about once a week or so. Earlier if I can manage, but it shouldn't be slower than that unless life throws me some lemons. I don't have a beta, so if you want the role, let me know. Also, I'm going to be taking some liberties with what's considered canon on the show - not too many, but a few. Mainly anything to do with Silas. I HATED that story arc.

This story is canon up through TVD 2x07 'Masquerade', except that Elena was never kidnapped. Thanks everyone!

Title: Forevermore

Chapter 1 – A Bad Idea

"Remind me again why we're doing this?"

Caroline watched the sunlight dance through the leaves of the overhead trees, as Bonnie and Elena double-checked the items in front of them. Despite basking in the warm summer sun, Caroline wished she was anywhere but where she was. All she had been looking forward to when she woke up that morning was a lazy Sunday in her pajamas, watching bad television and pretending the rest of the world didn't exist. After the masquerade and dealing with Katherine's psychotic demands, Caroline felt that she well and truly deserved a day off – they all did. However, Fate had other plans, and all of her hopes for the day went out the window when she opened her door to find Bonnie and Elena with expectant faces and Bonnie's grimoire.

It had taken Caroline just two minutes in the car to hear out her friends and come to the conclusion that this day was steadily going to get worse. She was the queen of preparedness, the master of research; going off of an ancient – but sketchy – spell book without first looking up every detail of what to expect was far from reassuring.

However, if there was anything Caroline was sure of in life, it was that Bonnie Bennett and Elena Gilbert were two of the best friends she could ever imagine. Sure, the events of the past year bent their relationships further than ever, starting with the death of Elena's parents, Bonnie's powers flaring, Caroline's death and unlife, and finally breaking through Katherine's reign of terror and subsequent imprisonment, but they never broke. It wasn't in Caroline to let her friends work through a complicated (see: dodgy) spell on their own. She has morals, thank you very much.

"Care, you heard about what Katherine said on doppelgängers. What does Elena being a doppelgänger have to do with her being in danger? Where do doppelgängers even come from anyway, specifically Elena's line? This is our chance to actually learn something about it. Just trust me, this spell can work. We cast it, and there's just that much more information that we didn't have before. When we have these questions answered, then we can decide whether or not to take Katherine seriously in her warning."

Caroline huffed as she rolled back into the grass behind her – she had heard it all before. They all had, in all honesty. It's been at the forefront of all of their minds since the masquerade and Katherine's warning. And they didn't know any more now than they did then.

And that was the crux of the issue. All Katherine could get out before Damon shut the tomb door on her was that Elena was in danger because she was the doppelgänger; they didn't know why, and no one was willing to open the door again to interrogate Katherine further. That idea had floated around very briefly, before it was shut down in a snarky, Damon-esqe response of 'Screw that, screw her, and screw you for mentioning it; you don't open the door to Satan after you slam it in her face.' A thorough search on Google turned out to be more depressing than informative – no one enjoys being labeled as a harbinger of bad luck or death. And despite being an evil slut vampire (Damon's words, not Caroline's… even if she didn't exactly disagree), Katherine being the oldest being around – as well as a doppelgänger herself – makes her the unfortunate subject matter expert on anything doppelgänger related.

Caroline was of the opinion that Damon was correct in his assumption that Katherine would say or do anything to stop her from being locked in the tomb, and that there was likely no danger to Elena. However, for Elena, all it did was raise questions; most notably, why did doppelgängers exist in the first place? And being Elena's best friends, Caroline and Bonnie were duty bound to find those answers and do everything they could to make sure their friend wasn't in mortal danger. Again, Caroline has morals, thank you very much.

So when Bonnie showed up this morning with a spell she had found in one of her grimoires, why did Caroline feel as if things were going to go horribly wrong?

"Come on, Care" Elena remarked as she smiled reassuringly, "Bonnie says that this spell will allow us to look back on what we need to see. Then we'll have our answers, and we can put all of this behind us, for good." And more than anything, Elena needed this. She needed to have answers, to feel safe again, more than she needed to breathe. The past several months had haunted her; she felt as if she was being hunted, and it hadn't dissipated. Elena just wanted it to end. She wanted to go back in time, to a point when she could fall into her parents embrace and anything horrible would be chased away.

Bonnie nodded along, "Exactly. The spell allows the caster 'to witness what they seek'. Its essentially similar to a scrying spell – it's going to be similar to watching a documentary. We learn everything we need to know about the creation of doppelgängers, and then we can determine whether or not to be concerned about what Katherine said."

Caroline watched as Bonnie and Elena carefully arranged candles at equal intervals around a large silver bowl of water on the ground, leaving space around them for the girls to sit. Beside Bonnie was a knife. Bonnie had explained that she would use the natural energy from the four elements – the water in the bowl, fire from the candles, the air around them, and the earth from the ground below them. That, combined with the energy she would pull from the sun at high noon, would provide the energy to channel the spell. What the knife was for, Caroline didn't exactly want to know.

Caroline sat up, again feeling the distinct urge that all was not well. "Ok, so then why don't we run this by Stefan and Damon first – they might not be as old as Katherine, but they've dealt with witchcraft for a LOT longer than we have. They could tell us their thoughts on the spell, just to cover our bases."

THAT made Elena and Bonnie pause, but only for a moment. They looked at each other uncertainly before turning back to Caroline. Elena hesitated before responding, "I need some space from Stefan, Care, and neither of us really want Damon involved. You know what his response would be."

"Um, yeah, Damon would go ballistic." Caroline snorted.

And Damon most certainly would go ballistic. Its bad enough that Elena could potentially be in danger due to something entirely out of anyone's control, but for her to get involved in a spell casting?

It would be a pretty safe bet to say Damon's answer would be 'hell no'.

"Exactly. So, we do this without the Salvatore's input. Besides, trust me, Caroline, this will work." Bonnie stated much more confidently than Caroline felt.

"Well, what about Lucy? You found a cousin who's also a witch… Lets take advantage of that and just ask for a second opinion."

"Relax, Caroline, this is just a fact finding spell. What's the worst that could happen?"

Well, if there was ever a sentence in the English language that would make Caroline feel worse about the situation – that was it.

"Famous last words…" she said as she slid from the bed to join her friends on the floor.

"Ok, guys, this is kind of complex, but it's doable. Elena, I'm going to be channeling you. I'm sorry, but I need you to cut your hand. We need your doppelgänger blood for the spell. Caroline, you're a vampire – a creature of unnatural magic. I can also channel you for this, so we'll need some of your blood as well." Bonnie handed Elena the knife. Elena, steeling herself, made a shallow cut on the palm of her hand, before passing the knife to Caroline, who did the same. "Sorry again, guys, I know this sucks. Just, hold your hand over the bowl, and allow the blood to drip into the water. The spell should take effect fairly quickly. From what I could decipher, what we need to know should come to you in a vision." Bonnie cut her hand, and joined her friends in letting the blood drip into the water.

After a moment, Bonnie wiped her hand on the grass next to her, and taking a deep breath, lit the candles around the girls and began to chant.

Caroline watched as the blood swirled in the water, tinted it a deep crimson, as she listened to Bonnie's calm and confident voice. Feeling the heat from the sun directly in the sky above her, she soaked in the heat, basking in its warmth. At first, she thought it was her imagination going wild from the spell, but the temperature continued to rise, until it was almost unbearable. She looked across the circle to find Elena was beginning to look uncomfortable, as well, giving Caroline the confirmation she needed to know that this was part of the spell, and not something her imagination conjured.

"Bonnie…" Caroline began, getting more nervous as the temperature continued to climb.

The area began to feel like the inside of a furnace. Looking around her, Caroline began to notice that the grass beneath them was beginning to crisp and scorch. The heat made the air around them shimmer, blurring the girls vision. Blinking to clear her eyes, Caroline realized it wasn't a mirage. Her surroundings were actually beginning to blur and fade. Looking at Elena, she saw the fear and shock in her eyes as Elena came to the same realization.

"BONNIE!" Elena shrieked in fear as Bonnie fought to keep chanting. Bonnie's nose had begun to bleed liberally, making Caroline's blood run cold as the trees around them faded away entirely.

Caroline felt the heat pressing against her, crushing her under what felt like endless pounds of pressure. Suffocating, she focused on just drawing breath, to no avail. She felt Elena collapse next to her, followed by Bonnie, before darkness enveloped her senses. The last thought that crossed her mind before she fell was that she knew this was a bad idea.