From my haunted past comes a daunting task of living through memories

Please believe in this my dear, I am more than penitent

She was instantly swarmed by concerned vampires.

Since she had closed her eyes instinctively when her vision had gone black, Bonnie only heard the "whoosh" in the air as they vamp-speed to her, only felt strong hands lift her head up. Then a delicate, bleeding wrist was shoved into her mouth. She didn't fight the gentle pressure, swallowing the sharp tangy liquid until she had several mouthfuls and her head was clear of the pounding haze.

She opened her eyes, and her vision blurred until it sharpened at all once and she focused on the person over Damon's shoulder.

Kai lingered on the fringe of the group, sporting a red mark on his jaw. He looked anxious - a completely foreign expression to her eyes - and it reminded her earlier mystification at the scene she'd just encountered. Damon, irate and yelling about Ms. Cuddles. Elena attempting to play referee between a vampire and a witch.

But what stuck out the most - Kai had called her Bon - the nickname sounding so damn...natural leaving his lips. When it shouldn't have. So familiar, like he was her friend. Intimate when he wasn't, when he shouldn't be. It bothered her, beyond anything else at the moment.

Maybe because she had gone so long without being called anything at all by anybody.

Abruptly, his face shifted, becoming unreadable, as he finally registered her examination. However, his gaze reminded steady, locked with her's. Even as his face was unreadable, his eyes … there was something there, something unsettling - in that it wasn't unsettling at all. But real, reminding her of the moment he had laid his soul bare, in his own way, at the table in his blood-soaked house over a Thanksgiving spaghetti dinner. For what reason, she had no clue now, considering how he had turned on her right after that. The thought of his betrayal brought forth the images she thought she had carefully dammed - all the moments he'd been close enough to her to do damage. In the cave, when he had shot her with a crossbow, and then stood with another arrow notched, his stance tense, his face lethal, threatening to shoot the next arrow in her heart. In the car, when he had been so close to her, she could feel his lips on her cheek, his breath through his nose, his grip firm on her neck, applying only enough pressure to remind her of a boa constrictor still in the process of luring in it's prey. When he had stabbed a white-hot knife in her gut, letting her fall to the ground, some glimmer of ecstasy to be found in the vicious curve of his mouth. His eyes, in all those moments, only contained a type of emptiness that was void-like and seemed more suited to him (and easier to detest) than the look in his eyes now.

She flung her hand out towards him. "Motus."

He flew back, letting out a surprised "oof" when his back met with the frame of the archway. He landed a crumpled heap on the floor, but he let out a caustic laugh. He was unsurprised by the turn of events.

She stood to her feet shakily, shrugging off the other's hands, her hand still extended defensively. She ignored their cautious warnings.

"Ow," he said, as he sat up and rubbed his back. He leaned back on his heels and stared up at her carefully. Then he frowned. "Wait, I'm confused. You weren't a fan of my birthday present?"

She said nothing. Only jutted her chin out as she stared him back down, daring him to make a move.

Kai's eyes dropped down to some place below her waist, and she stiffened.

"I'm sorry," Kai said, grinning widely, the smile too off-kilter, letting loose a short chuckle. "But I can't take you seriously when you have a teddy bear dangling from your hand."

She glanced down to see Ms. Cuddles still in her grasp, her hand gripping one scruffy paw for dear life.

Clinically, she wondered if he would take her next action seriously.

She raised her hand. "Incen-"

"Whoa!" Kai exclaimed, raising his arms in placation, interrupting her incantation. Much to her chagrin, their captive audience had much the same reaction, Elena coming forward to stay her hand, Damon jumping between them.

She was not really surprised at their interference. She knew her friends were no strangers to making deals with villains, and based on the scene she had walked in on, she was starting to suspect something had been offered to Kai for her aiding in her return. Because he certainly wouldn't do out of the good of his non-existent heart.

"So what did you guys offer him?"

Damon and Elena turned to her, sheepish expressions already in place.

"Free reign to terrorize? "

She waited but her friends kept silent, the air thick with their guilt.

But Kai answered, "I only asked that they delivered an apology letter to my sister."

She cut her eyes back to him, sharp. And he almost seemed to shrink from her gaze, shifting nervously on his feet. "Your sister?"

This time, Elena came forward. "Bon, there's a lot that's happened that we would love to explain to you."

She crossed her arms. "Good, he,-" here, she jerked her chin towards Kai, "-can be gone for that."

Kai was quick to protest, and she rolled her eyes. "No, wait - I had something to say to you first."

"I don't care."

"Please, hear me out."

The statement pulled her up short, the pleading tone - was Kai begging?

And her mystification gave him the time he needed. Gazing at her, he began, "I wanted….," he paused, his apple's adam bobbing, and he looked to his feet briefly for a second before his eyes met hers again. "To apologize."

Her mouth dropped open. She took a moment to collect herself before she turned to the vampires on her left. "This is a joke, right?" But they both looked just as shocked as she felt. "A prank?"

"No, it's not. Just hear me out," Kai demanded insistently this time.

"No," she said bluntly, bristling. "In fact, you thinking you deserve even a minute of my time is proof enough to me that you're still crazy."

"Bon-"

"Stop calling me that," she snapped through gritted teeth. "And leave, before I make you."

She raised her hand again, threatening. Kai only stared at her, his face blank.

"Bonnie-" he attempted again.

She struck, sending out an arc of magic straight towards him. This time, however, he blocked it.

Blocked it. Deflected it wordlessly.

She felt the magic - his magic, cloying and dark like night, shifting with her own (she really wondered how she hadn't noticed it before, his new invisible magical aura that was not stolen) - ripple the air.

Her mouth fell open again. "How did you get magic?"

"That's part of the explanation we were going to tell you," Damon cut in just as Kai said, "I Merged."

She saw it, because she had not taken her eyes off Kai's - the glimmer of pride in his eyes as he said the words.

He had mentioned his sister before. And a letter. "You found your sister? You-..." she trailed off as she realized what it meant for him to merge with her. Another sibling dead because of him.

"Speaking of, I called Ric while you were on your magical jaunt, I located Jo," Damon said. "They're back at her apartment now."

Bonnie became confused. "Wait, she's alive?"

Damon ignored her, his attention on Kai, his eyes glinting. "I will personally hand-deliver your note just as soon as you leave Mystic Falls for good and don't return, like for forever."

Kai seemed like he hadn't heard Damon's words, only focused on Bonnie. For longer than was polite. Goosebumps erupted over her flesh.

"You know what," Kai finally said, pulling the letter in question from his jacket pocket. "I think I'll deliver it to her myself." As Kai spoke, he walked past her, heading towards the door. She only stood stiffly, defensively, keeping her eyes on him. He paused at the foot of the door and whirled his finger around, indicating his soundings - the paper streamers, the ramshackled living room that saw a fight between a witch and a vampire. "If this whole experience has taught me anything, it's that I can't trust you bunch to do anything helpful, useful, or effective."

With one last look at Bonnie, he said, "They didn't want me to send you the teddy bear by the way. Thought they couldn't trust me with it. But I'm glad it brought you back. Also, they threw a birthday party you couldn't even attend. I mean how tacky is that?"

She didn't falter in her glowering at him, not matter how much her stomach dropped. Not matter how much the doubt in her head made her think twice.

He opened the door, and Bonnie almost started to relax, but of course he turned back.

"By the way, I'm not leaving Mystic Falls for awhile. Still got a lot of business to conduct." Here was the Kai she knew, a veiled threat and a dark, implacable countenance masking innocent, harmless features.

Bonnie could've sworn his gaze literally pierced her as he said the last part - something sharp jabbed at her ribs, making it hard to breathe.

He finally turned back and ducked out the door, with that signature smirk. She breathed in deeply as the door swung shut behind him and staggered a step backward. Elena came up to her side and grasped her hand, pulling her deeper into the room.

Bonnie gave her a grateful smile.

Just then, she heard it, and the girls paused.

"Bonnie?"

She turned again to see Jeremy standing under the archway, his face awestruck.

In hindsight, Kai realized his whole reunion with Bonnie could've gone better. But it also could've been worse, he mused, as he ascended the steps that led to Jo's apartment.

It was frustrating - to have all these new sensations and no outlet to assuage them. He wasn't equipped with the right tools and resources to handle it. He had no idea how to access them.

When he reached Jo's door, he brought his finger up to press the doorbell then hesitated.

Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders. He reached up towards the doorbell again and then paused.

Shaking his head, he bent down and slipped the letter under the door, in the crack. He knew it would reach his intended target...recipient. He just hoped she would be willing to read it.

Now, it was time to focus his attention elsewhere - earning some semblance of forgiveness from a certain, stubborn witch.

A/N: So I feel like this chapter is anticlimatic after I made you guys wait for like 2 years for it - so sorry about that! I can't promise regular updates : ( but know that this story is very special to me. And your guys' responses to it were amazing. Even reviews from Bonkai writers that I admire and respect so much? It was almost unfathomable. Even now I still get amazing reviews and I wanted to at least give you something.