Willa POV:

I am positive my parents gave me that name to make sure from the earliest time I could protect myself. I mean lets be honest that not the name you give to a kid you DON'T want to be bullied on the playground. Apparently it means resolute protector and that's what I was.

I am a person who has always been proud of who I was, of who my family was but my father warned me about letting that pride corrupt me. I figured it out years later who he was worried I'd turn into, his brother John, my Uncle and Godfather.

John had let his pride of his heritage and his hatred for those he hunted eat away at light inside of him and it corrupted the goodness he used to be filled with. My father, Grayson Gilbert never wanted that for me but would still send me off with John every summer. John had many contacts and he made sure I was trained to the best of my abilities away from the prying eyes of Mystic Falls.

I would miss my brother and sister whenever I was away but I knew I was doing this for them to be able to protect them and I told myself that was the most important thing.

I tried to keep in contact with everyone as much as possible, I would write to them all the time, Jeremy would always write back but Elena was often too busy with cheerleading and if she did write it was usually in her diary, the one Mom encouraged her to have.

My mom and Elena had a really special bond everything my Mom used to be or do Elena wanted to have and do as well. I was never jealous... I had that same type of bond with my dad. He would take me into his practice often giving me puzzles to solve whenever he was busy with patients, he kept me close teaching me everything he could about life, medicine, philosophy, with whatever free moment he could find.

I felt bad for Jeremy he was often an after thought, especially with both our parent's clearly having a favorite and that made me try that much harder to always show him how much he was loved and wanted. I did it with my letters whenever I was away and when I was there I would always take his side in anything... that sometimes drove Elena crazy but that kinda made it more fun.

When John informed me that my parents had died I thought it was a test of some kind. I stood there in silence trying to work out what he wanted my response to be. I never knew the power of denial until that day... and now I wish I could have stayed there longer.

Going home for the funeral was brutal. It was like suddenly someone had hit the mute button on my world. I knew people were talking and moving around but I couldn't follow or make sense of anything. I had been preparing all this time to take on the supernatural and my parents die in a mundane car accident?

My mind couldn't wrap around that. My aunt Jenna came as John apparently didn't want the burden of two kids and although I was often there I kept up the facade that I was away at college so I could still disappear every week to train only coming back on weekends. I was staying at our lake house that had been my new base of operations since I spilt from John, I was too angry at him for not being there for my siblings, I mean Jenna wasn't that much older than I was and she was being saddled with so much, he should had stepped up. Still she was grateful I was there to help on the weekends.

Anyway this is my story call me Willa or Billie but please whatever you do, don't call me Wilhelmina.

A/N: I see Willa as Sophia Bush but feel free to cast or imagine anyone you want.