Sincerely, Elena by asesina
Disclaimer: I don't own TVD.
a/n: inspired by the recent news of Nina Dobrev's departure. This is just a quick oneshot about her decision to take the cure and live out her life as a human. Some references to Delena and Stelena, but I left that part up in the air. Mostly based on Elena's POV.
Enjoy!
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The moment Elena took the cure, she lost something. Her body was instantly drained of its agelessness, and she felt the weight of the universe again. It hurt to breathe, but she quickly re-learned the patterns of inhalations and exhalations, in, out, in out.
She felt everything more acutely now, or perhaps once again. Her human days were not so far removed, and here they were again.
What now?
Elena wanted a million things at once. She actually felt pressured to finish every item on her bucket list, but one item was crossed out twice: fall in love.
She crumpled the paper in her hands and marveled at the fragility of the material between her fingers, or perhaps it was her own weakness that she felt.
No.
She whispered it resolutely.
"No."
Elena was strong. She was mortal, but she was alive.
She wanted to chase every dream, visit every grave, pull every friend into a hug that felt like it would last forever.
It could have. It could have.
"No!"
Elena chased away the last vestiges of doubt. She had made this decision on her own.
She had also made the decision to keep her memory intact. Damon and even Stefan had casually hinted that she would be better off living a normal life and forgetting all of this.
"No," Elena had replied, as if it were her catchphrase.
"I'm not going to just forget you," she'd added, grabbing Damon's hands with all the human strength she could muster.
And Damon had relented. He left her to ponder her thoughts, and Stefan had also visited her, asking her if this was what she really wanted.
"Yes," she said finally.
"Yes."
And with that, Elena Gilbert, age 20 going on 21, turned her back on Mystic Falls and quietly returned to Whitmore for the fall semester.
She occasionally wondered if she was making a mistake, but she took solace in a well-worn copy of Tuck Everlasting.
Winnie had the right idea.
Matters of the heart would come and go. She'd always love Stefan and Damon Salvatore, and they would always love her.
In their minds, she would forever be the force that had brought them together at long last, for better or for worse. She would live on, far beyond the days of the high school keggers under a hazy moon.
She would live on even after the good-byes, and the startling mystery of death. She could continue in the hearts of the ever-young, and that in itself was a rare gift.
Rarest of all, however, was the glowing joy of being alive, the feverish imperative to live in the moment and make everything count.
Elena was capable of change again. She was capable of giving birth, growing old, and dying.
Her newfound mortality had reignited her interest in biology, and Elena smiled to herself as she selected Cell Biology II and Intro to Neurology for her fall schedule.
She signed her name at the bottom and grinned at the mundaneness of it.
Elena Gilbert.
She pulled out a sheet of notebook paper and began scribbling furiously.
Dear Diary,
Today, I will be different. I will look to the future, but I will also remember my past. I will smile and cry, and it will be believable. I won't be someone new, but I will be the girl I was supposed to be.
My name is Elena Gilbert, and I'm an ordinary girl. I've lived a not-so-ordinary life, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
I'll tell you about it someday, but I don't have the time now. And believe me, I'm not going to waste a second.
Don't worry, though. It won't take forever.
Sincerely,
Elena