Thanks for reading/ reviewing. I really appreciate it. A little background: Natalie is an Italian name. I am Italian, I would know. Natalie was 22 years old, in-between Stefan and Damon, and was married with a 2-year-old son when she was turned. Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING but Natalie, she's all mine ;)

Natalie Salvatore hadn't seen her brothers in over a century. The last time she'd come face to face with them, they were all human, living in almost complete peace, in Mystic Falls, Virginia.

She was ready to finally confront them. She knew that they needed her help, and she was the only one willing to give it to them. They were her brothers, after all, and she would protect Damon and Stefan to her dying breath if she had to.

As Natalie walked up to the front door of the old Salvatore boarding house, she steadied her head and her pulse easily. She was ready to take on whatever she was about to walk into, but that didn't stop her from being nervous. What if they rejected her? Turned her away? What if they were upset with her?

She fixed her bronze curls, smoothed her shirt, and knocked on the door, less than thrilled to find her little brother, Stefan behind it, answering it for her.

She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Ugh. I was really hoping Damon would answer the door. He's still my favorite."

Stefan shook his head in disbelief, staring into his sister's ice blue eyes, identical to his brother's, and exactly the way he'd remembered them. "Natalie? How is it… possible? I–"

Natalie closed Stefan's open jaw with her hand. "So, are you going to invite me in, or do I have to get Damon to do so because you are an inarticulate ass?"

He composed himself and invited her into the house. "Please, come in, Natalie."

She beamed at her brother. "Why, thank you, Stefan."

They heard a voice, very familiar to them both, and Damon came zipping down the stairs. "Stefan, who are you talking t–?" He stopped dead in his tracks when he laid eyes on a face he thought he'd never seen again. "Natalie?"

She nodded. "The very same. It's been a while, hasn't it, Damon?"

Damon blinked rapidly, as if he was checking his vision to make sure he was seeing correctly. "Natalie, we… we thought you were dead. For the past century and a half. How are you here?"

The Salvatore girl took a deep, long breath, and suggested that they sit. She then politely asked for a drink of whiskey. Damon gave her a strange look, but shrugged and dipped into his store of whiskey. He never drank it, he preferred bourbon to most liquor.

After Damon retrieved a drink for his younger sister, she launched into her story, but not before taking a sip of her alcohol and clearing her throat. "Ahem," she began. "Where should I start? From the beginning, I suppose."

Damon and Stefan exchanged a glance that they'd shared many times before, but not for a long while. They both knew Natalie well enough to know her affinity for asking questions and then answering them herself. She'd been considerably unstable for as long as she'd been alive, and it was both refreshing and troubling to the boys that even after all the years they'd spent apart, she hadn't changed.

Natalie's eyes drifted off as she thought back to 1864, when she lived the last few months of her human life. "It all began when we met that disgusting creature, Katherine. I knew there was something not right about her the moment she looked at me. You two weren't too big on the vampire stories, but I doubtlessly was, and so was Father. That was how I became his favorite child, even looking as much like Mother as I do."

Damon snorted and Stefan rolled his eyes. This was a standard reaction to their sister's cockiness. It was somewhat strange to them, that only having spent a few minutes with her, they were all falling back into their old habits and behavior they exhibited when they were younger.

"I soon figured out her secret," continued Natalie. "Although she was sweeter than sugar and polite as can be to me, she hadn't yet told you two of her dirty little secret. I was out in the woods one night, admiring the natural beauty of the outdoors of Virginia, and I was kidnapped. I awoke in a room, tied down to a chair, to find Katherine's friend, Pearl, sitting across from me." The memories were all crystal clear to Natalie, the flashbacks vibrant and full of detail. They were her last human memories. Not pleasant ones, but memories in the least. She felt as if she was living it all again, though. She ran through the whole thing again in her head.

The flashback was brief and vivid as Natalie reiterated to her brothers the story of the end of her humanity. When she returned to the present, she was trembling violently, reliving the entire thing.

"Nat, I don't get it," Damon protested. "Why didn't you ever let us know? What ever happened to your husband and son?"

Natalie rose from her chair, strolling to the window to admire the backyard. "I was ashamed of what I was. I didn't want Father to know." Her sad eyes flashed to Stefan's. "By the way, Stef, I know what you did, and I've been holding a grudge against you for a long time.

Damon laughed. "That's why I'm still the favorite brother?"

She shook her head. "You've done some horrible things, too, Damon. Killing Lexi was low, even for you. You knew she was Stefan's only friend."

The two blue-eyed siblings laughed hysterically after a millisecond of letting the joke set in. They'd done this a thousand of times before, made fun of their little brother. They couldn't help themselves; he was just such easy prey for their antics.

Natalie sobered, and answered Damon's second question, thinking back to the incredible man she'd married at twenty, and the adorable little boy with the blond curls and brown eyes she'd given birth to. She always regretted abandoning them, but she knew that in the end of the whole ordeal, it was what was best for them. "I couldn't have a family as a vampire. I didn't have fantastic control at first. I know I abandoned my family, but it was the best thing for them. I actually tracked down my very great grandson."

Both Stefan's and Damon's eyebrows shot up. "Oh?" said Damon.

Natalie smiled. "Yes. He's quite the remarkable young man. He has two children and a wonderful woman and is a very successful lawyer here in Virginia. He did become a vampire, but he did what I couldn't and returned to his family. So the Salvatore bloodline will live on, no thanks to you."

It was then Stefan's turn to ask questions. "So… why did you wait until now to find us? Surely if you've been watching us, then you've seen us both struggle."

"I waited until now because… I thought you two could be without me. But recently, I've been watching you do very foolish things, and you could definitely use my help. Doesn't that sound fun?"

The boys gave each other a confused look, wondering what their sister could be referring to. The murderer? Klaus? Esther? They were the only people they were having trouble with at the moment.

Natalie sank back into the chair, crossed her legs, and took a sip of whiskey. "So… when do I get to meet Elena?"

Stefan and Damon both shared a look as their thoughts raced. Why would Natalie want to meet Elena? To hurt her? Neither of them cared who was trying to hurt her, if anyone was trying to harm her in any way, they would be going down for sure.

"Why do you want to meet Elena?" Damon questioned.

Natalie shrugged. "No reason. I just want to meet the girl who's been putting you through hell. Isn't it funny how history really does repeat itself? You should've listened when that saying was made up."

"Well, you'll definitely meet her in the next few days. It usually takes a couple days for her to come crawling back here after a fight." Damon begins to snicker and Stefan hits him.

"That's not funny, Damon. It's true, but it's not funny."

Natalie rolled her eyes, downing her drink completely. "So, which one of you does she prefer right now?"

"Well, since I was raised being taught not to like," said Damon. "I'm going to be completely honest and tell you that for some insane reason, she has always preferred Stefan."

Natalie's nose scrunched up. "Why? If you weren't my brothers, I'd choose you over Stef in a heartbeat. What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know!" Damon whined. "She totally has the hots for me, but she's still stuck on him."

The girl's blue eyes widen. "You love her, don't you?" she accused.

He nodded. "Yes. Very much."

Natalie leaned her head back, only to get back up and start pacing. "Ugh. This is just perfect, isn't it? You're both back in the same situation I left you in. Don't you understand that it's all going to happen again? Except all you can do this time is actually die for her?"

The brothers felt an overwhelming need to defend themselves. They didn't want the same thing to happen. Elena wasn't like Katherine in many ways, and they both new it. They just wanted Elena to be happy, to be with whoever would make her happy, doing whatever would make her happy. Elena had so many good things going for her and so many years ahead of her, and they didn't want to take that away from her by being with her, but if she wanted to be with one of them, the one that she chose would do everything in their power to make sure she had a great life.

Natalie ignored whatever they were going to say and jumped to a new topic. "So. I hear you're having problems with Originals and a murderer, too. Sounds like I chose a really bad time to come back – for me, that is. For you? This might just be exactly what you needed. I'm going to help you with everything I can."