Hello, everyone! So, this is not actually my first fanfiction about TVD, but it is the first one I've gathered the courage to publish.

As the summary says, this is my vision of what the future will hold for Elena, but also what the past has put in the path of the other characters while she was gone.

At first, I thought I would write only a one shot. But inspiration came and different scenarios played in my mind, and I decided to write a multi-chapter story. I don't know already how many chapters I will write, but I'll update as soon as I can (I still have college and work to occupy me, so...).

If you like this prologue, and want me to continue the story, please follow it. And, if you feel like it, tell me what you're thinking in the reviews? Pretty please?

I hope you guys enjoy it! Thank you for reading! Xoxo

March 28th, 2077

I enter the boarding house in an outburst, inhaling hard, trying to catch my breath. Only to find it completely empty.

It's as dark inside as it is outside. Not even the fireplace is lit. It must be the middle of the night.

The only sound I hear is my heart, beating hard against my chest.

I go upstairs in a rush, directly to our room.

I find letters in our bed, but I don't find him.

The first one is from Bonnie.

March 22nd , 2077

Dear Elena,

You asked us to write everything down. Everything that we ever accomplished, you wanted to read about it when you wake up. And we did. Caroline and me, we've kept journals just like you did and we wrote our whole lives for you. Unfortunately, I won't be there to hand them all to you, to watch you read them, to watch your reactions to everything that has happened with us. But I wanted to write this last piece of life, to sum it all up, and to say goodbye to you properly.

I can feel my life is ending, Elena. I can feel my magic going weaker, day by day, for months now. Each day I wake up a little less witch, a little more human. But I'm not sad. If anything, I'm glad. I'm glad that you'll finally get your chance at happiness, that you'll finally put all your dreams and plans into motion.

It's been an amazing life. I got to finish college and get married. I got to have kids and watch them grow and have their own kids. I got to build a life of my own, fighting for my dreams and watching them come true. And it all happened because of you. And because of Damon. You both chose to put a hold in your lives, in your love, for me; so that I could have all of this. And I couldn't be more thankful.

I will not lie. These 62 years without you have been a little less happier because you weren't here, in person, to share the moments with me, with us. But you were here through all the pages I wrote about our lives. You were here in spirit. And I promise you that I lived everything to its fullest. Or at least I tried. I tried to honor the opportunity you gave me in the best way I could.

I'm writing today so that I can go in peace, knowing that I have told you everything, that I have thanked you for everything.

Elena, I hope when you wake up, you wake up with a smile on your face. Please don't feel guilty or sad that you have been away these last 60 years. I know you. You think you're responsible for everybody. You think you need to be here for everybody. My life is proof of it. So, I'm saying it one more time: you don't need to. Honey, as I told you once before, everyone would find their ways. And they did.

As you will know by my other thousands of letters, Ric moved on. It took him time, a long time, but eventually he went back to teaching at Whitmore. He never got married again, nor had anyone special. The trauma of loosing his wife and kids all at once, and in such a brutal way, made him close his heart forever. He had a good life, despite everything, was happy teaching the college students, and after retiring he went to live with Jeremy in Santa Fe. It's been 9 years since he passed.

Jeremy, despite what he had told us, never went to art school. He spent 20 years as a vampire hunter and then, for my relief, found a girl and settled down in Santa Fe. His children, Alba (who looks a lot like you) and Scott, have come to Mystic Falls over the years and are currently at college in Albuquerque.

Matt followed Caroline's mother steps and became sheriff when he turned 40. He retired after 15 years of enforcing the law and fighting for the living and now lives just two blocks away from me, with his wife, Serena. He also got to have kids, who live in Mystic Falls as well.

Tyler left Mystic Falls to live with a pack in the Apalachians. He contacts us every once in a while. He hasn't aged much because of his werewolf gene. He finally figured how to live with his inheritance. He also found a special somebody, but I've never come to meet her.

Caroline and Stefan got together a year after you went to sleep. She stayed 10 years looking out for each one of us, and when she was sure, for the hundredth time, that we were okay, she made her own plans. They moved away from Mystic Falls, since they weren't aging and people were starting to notice. They've got to live in New York, Venice, Rome, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Cape Town, Cartagena, Rio de Janeiro, Sidney and a whole list of a small and big cities all around the globe. I was actually jealous of them for some time. But every Christmas, without fail, they come back to celebrate with my family and Matt's. They're happy, both of them, as I've never seen them before.

As for me, I graduated Whitmore and became an arts teacher at our old High School (Go, Timberwolves!). I met Theo when I was still in college. He was a law student. We agreed to live together in Mystic Falls after I graduated and he got his own firm in Richmond two years later. After 3 years of marriage, I got pregnant with Julia. Four years later, Nathan was born. They're both married now, and I have three beautiful grandchildren. We've had a nice, comfortable life in our home town. I'm retired for 15 years now. But life has been good to me, and I'm not feeling all the pains of an old person.

The supernatural craziness died off after one last battle against the heretics. Mystic Falls has been safe and sound for about 60 years now. It's almost unbelievable. Even my witch sensibility weakened due to this serenity.

The word never spread that you got the cure or that it even existed. We made sure it never did. We managed to deal with everything that could bring problems to us. I sealed you in the Salvatore crypt after Damon said goodbye to you, and have been checking on it over the years. Everything looks perfectly okay.

All of this, Elena, is how much you have provided me to experience, with your sacrifice. And I couldn't have been more happy with this. My life followed its rightful course because of you.

When you finally wake up, I won't be here to say it, so I'm writing it down: thank you. Thank you for being this selfless and this loving to allow me to live my life while you wait to live yours. Thank you for loving us so deeply, that you didn't even think twice before putting your dreams on hold for me. Thank you for being the sister I never had. And, once again, I'm sorry that things came to this point, of us living our lives separately.

I hope, when you come back, that you also get everything you've ever wanted from life. I hope you get to graduate and become an amazing doctor. I hope you have kids and experience this kind of love, a love that is bigger than anything you've ever felt for anyone. Live it to the fullest, Elena, and don't look back. I love you, honey, and I have missed you every single day of my life. Make your dreams come true, dear. You deserve it, more than anyone.

Love, Bonnie

Ps: you are probably wondering why I never mentioned Damon's life in my letter. Again, I won't lie. It's been hard for him, Elena. It's been harder for him than for anyone of us. Thinking about all the years he would have to live without you, he went off the deep end. He went back to being the Damon we met in high school: selfish, reckless, self-destructive. He turned off his humanity after a year of trying and failing to live away from you.

I've heard from him over the years. He left Mystic Falls after shutting off his emotions. He has been all around the globe just like Stefan and Caroline. Stefan is the only one that has been able to keep track of him more frequently. The last I heard we was living in Istanbul.

Although he makes it seem like he doesn't care for anything or anyone anymore, he calls every year on my birthday. His sarcastic, smug voice teasing me for growing old and forgetful (which I'm not, by the way). And every year on your birthday, there's a lavender rose lying beside your crypt when I go visit. He has never admitted to doing this, but everyone else has denied it. I don't think he is as bad as he was in the first five years. I actually think he has found a way to cope with your absence, in a healthy away. He just can't stand living in Mystic Falls without you. He loves you more than his own life. He's holding on, Elena. He's waiting for you.