Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries

Aria had never been to the little town she hobbled into one full moon in October. Mystic Falls was foreign to her. The names Salvatore and Gilbert meant nothing to her. Her life was the epitome of normal. A slightly self-centered older sister, a nerdy younger one, and a hyper little brother, with two great parents that always seemed to be the most in love you could be, made up her totally average life.

Now she was a college student walking down the highway after crashing her car into a tree, that didn't exactly seem weird. No, don't worry; nothing was strange about this perfectly safe small town that just appeared out of nowhere. There was hundreds of the same kind all over the country. She was great, a student at Whitmore College where everything was great, this totally convenient town that was great, the sounds in the woods next to her were great. There wasn't anything strange about this small town in the middle of nowhere.

What did the sign say? Mystic Falls? Quaint. Quiet. A grandparent's town that had just come out of its prime. Nice trees. Oh, look, a squirrel.

Finally, a store. The Mystic Grill. Food! A mechanic. A phone, as hers was dead. Best day ever.

She pulled her hood up as it started to rain. A man walked by with his arm through a women's. They were laughing. Normal on a Saturday night.

Just a touch. One touch. Her arm brushed up against the guy's. She was about to apologize as he reached for the door.

Pain. Searing pain.

Nothingness.

Until.

The woods.

A group of people.

Mom?

Dad?

He looks kind of like Peter.

Why are they crying?

And.

Nothing.

"Oh God!" Tyler shouted followed by a string of curses that shouldn't have followed 'god'.

The girl had just fainted. He hadn't done anything. Had he?

"Liv, get Matt." He said urgently to his girlfriend. She nodded and rushed into the Grill where Matt, now a cop, was meeting them for dinner.

Tyler knelt and gingerly set him hand on her neck. She buckled, still unconscious. Could it be a broken neck? No, that was not possible. On her neck where he had just stroked a burn was fading. That definitely wasn't there before.

"Liv!" He yelled. When he tried again the same thing happened. Each time he touched her, even briefly, a burn resulted. None of them lasted longer them a few seconds but it still unnerved him. His mind immediately jumped to the worst possible option, but admittedly the most likely.

She was something supernatural.

Liv ran in at Tyler's command. "Matt!" She yelled at him. "Outside…girl…fainted." She panted. One would think that an ex-Gemini witch would have more of a stomach for these things but over the past 20+ years Mystic Falls had actually been pretty quiet. Lily was now rotting in the old vampire tomb under the church and Kai was still trapped in the 1903 prison world. Alaric and her sister had packed up just before she had the kids and far away…well they were a minute ago.

Now her older sister and her husband were sitting at a table talking amiably with someone that looked like Jeremy Gilbert.

"Wow, uh…hi." Liv said, standing up to look at them.

Jo smiled at her. "Hey, Liv, long time."

"I'll say. Why are here?" She continued to talk as they each embraced each other.

Alaric looked at Jeremy. "It just sort of happened. We just felt like we needed to come home." He lowered his voice. "Stefan and Caroline are here too, at the boarding house. Bonnie said she's on her way."

Liv's eyes widened. "Do you think something's starting?"

Jeremy's head shot up. "I hope not, I can't believe I'm saying this," he sighed, "But we've never faced something without Damon or Elena. I don't really know what to do. Damon's usually the first one who realizes something's up."

Jo shook her head. "We can deal with it on our own, whatever it is."

"Hey, what about the kid?" Liv asked.

Alaric and Jo's faces lit up like Christmas trees. Jeremy rolled his eyes, "Now you've got them started."

Matt cradled her head in his palm. She was pretty enough, had kind of the European look Elena had had. The girl was college aged with dark brown hair that curled around her checks but was tangled and ratty now. Her face was dripping with sweat and she had a few cuts on her arms and legs but nothing serious.

"What happened?" he asked urgently as he reached up to check her pulse.

Tyler looked incredulous. "Nothing! I mean we brushed up together and she collapsed. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she just fell."

"Jo!" Matt called, still looked at the girl, checking all the pressure point he knew.

Tyler glanced around as Jo and Alaric came out. "Why the hell are you here?"

Jo barely spared him a look as she set to work on the girl. She didn't get far though. The moment there skin touched the girl shrieked. The doctor recoiled staring at her hand. "I-I didn't…" she sputtered as the mystery patient flattened again.

"Okay, I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen." Jeremy said.

"Tyler, call 911." Jo instructed. "Matt, get some water." A crowd had started to gather. "She's fine, just a little bump on the head." She yelled to the crowd.

Alaric knelt next to her. "I'm assuming it isn't just a bump on the head."

She shook her head. "Whatever it is, it's internal."

He glance around. "Should I get that super secret vile you have stashed in her purse?"

She glared at him. "It's not that serious. And its only for emergencies." When he started to open his mouth she continued, "Family emergencies."

The entire hospital was in a flurry. Mystic Falls had been calm for a few years. The worst things that had happened were a small house fire in the country and a car crash in the town square. But a mystery girl with surprise internal injuries collapsing outside of the Grill complicates things.

She was immediately rushed in the ER, sent through surgery, but her injuries were too severe.

"Alaric!" said Meredith Fell who had moved back a few years prior. "She's not relapsing."

'Ric and Jo exchanged worried looks. When they didn't respond she fired quickly back at them. "The internal bleeding is too much. She has a concussion and a hair line fracture on the hip." Meredith said, leading them over to the x-ray. "I'm worried at if there isn't some miracle she's going to die." The stressing of the word miracle told Alaric that he was right. She was asking for some vampire blood.

At the look on 'Ric's face she added. "I'm not asking for some. I have a little left over from the stock I took from Damon and Stefan years ago. And I don't need your permission. But I want a second opinion. You're a doctor, Jo, right? Can you just take a look? I've been saving those samples for something very big."

Jo sighed. "Under some circumstances she should be fine, but we don't know her medical history, we don't even know her name." She tilted her head back, "I can't believe I'm saying this…under any other I wouldn't…but we don't even know who she is…and—the other bit…If you think its necessary I trust your judgment, Meredith."

The other women nodded and took the bottle from her pocket. "It's old but it should have the same effect."

But the moment she dripped it into her mouth, the girl started throwing up violently. Then she flat lined. The room was in a mad rush. The doors were closed, blocking everyone's view from the girl.

"What happened?" Tyler asked, having come from giving his statement to the police.

"She rejected the blood." Alaric responded, still trying to figure out was on earth was going on.

"That's impossible…isn't it?" Liv inquired glancing around at the circle of incredulous faces.

Jeremy's brow furrowed. "Not impossible, exactly. Just unheard of. I've learned never that, but come on, hybrids: impossible, cure for being a vampire: impossible, heck even coming back from the death used to be impossible until we did it…a number of times." He shook his head. "I don't think we should count this as impossible just yet."

Yes, Aria is Damon and Elena's daughter. Yes, there will be more about her. Yes, there will be a reunion. Don't worry. Everything will be explained.