A/N: Wow, this chapter is a lot longer than I expected it would be. I thought that I'd have difficulty writing from Bonnie's perspective, but it ended up being really easy.
I couldn't believe it when I saw Elena. She looked so peaceful sleeping on that bed in the middle of the woods. I had resigned myself to never seeing her again, but here she was. My heart filled with joy knowing that she would wake up soon and with the knowledge that I would see Enzo again. I couldn't believe it when she opened her eyes and looked at me. "Bonnie?" she asked. "Elena!" I called her name in disbelief.
I was so happy to see her again, but she wouldn't let me dwell on that happiness. "This isn't how it's supposed to be. No, you can't die, not yet. You have to live and grow old and have children and grandchildren." I could tell how upset she was that I was there, but I tried to reassure her that it was okay. I was ready to go, ready to be with Enzo again. I told her that I was ready. "Well, I'm not."
I turned around upon hearing this, certain that I must be hearing things, but I wasn't. "Enzo!" When he reached out his hand I took it and was amazed that I could feel his touch. I wanted to stay there, but I knew I couldn't. I had to go back. It's what Enzo wanted, and it's what Elena wanted.
When I woke up, Stefan and Caroline were there, both looking extremely concerned. I sat up and reached for Caroline. As we hugged each other, I knew that I had to tell them. "I saw her. I saw Elena," I whispered. Stefan's face was filled with a mixture of disbelief and amazement. "She was sleeping on a bed, but then she woke up. She told me that I wasn't supposed to be there, and that I couldn't die yet." Bonnie smiled sadly. Both Caroline and Stefan were smiling as well. I knew how much it meant to them knowing that I had seen Elena and that she was okay.
Caroline and Stefan quickly filled me in on Katherine's plan to burn Mystic Falls with hell fire. They then took me home so that I could start packing, just in case Damon and Matt weren't successful in stopping Vicki. Caroline called Alaric on the way to fill him in and asked him to stop by and pick me up on the way to her place.
When Alaric walked out of Caroline's house without her, I was disappointed, but not surprised. Damon had filled me in on the fact that Katherine had taken Elena's body and hidden it somewhere and that he and Stefan were going to look for her. I knew that Caroline wouldn't leave Stefan or Elena behind unless she absolutely had to. It's just who she is. I tried to reassure Alaric that she would be okay, but I could see the worry in his face. He didn't want to lose Caroline and have to explain to the girls that she was never coming home.
The drive to the armory was filled with silence until the phone call from Caroline and Stefan to tell us that they had found Elena's body but it was spelled into the boiler room at the high school. I felt helpless as I realized that we were too far away to help. I hated admitting that to Caroline and Stefan knowing how much they cared for her. Alaric told Caroline to take the tunnels and get out of there, that the girls needed her.
When we arrived at the armory, Alaric sent the girls off to get changed. I think reality hit him then that our friends wouldn't make it out of this alive. He knows Stefan and Damon well enough to know that neither of them would never leave Elena behind. I could see the guilt on his face about having to leave the three of them behind and about telling Caroline to leave them. "You okay?" I asked.
He opened up to me then, saying that he cares about Elena and Damon and that he doesn't want to fail them, but that he couldn't fail his daughters and that they need their mother. "I know you do," I reassured him. I also reassured him that Damon knew that he cared, too. "Ric, if there was something we could do, we would do it." I moved to stand next to him and spotted something on the table. "What is this?" I asked. As Alaric explained it to me I felt a glimmer of hope for the first time since this all began. We began to develop a plan to get rid of Katherine for good.
A few minutes later we had a plan. Now we just needed someone to implement it. I called Stefan to fill him and Damon in. I knew what I was asking him to do. Despite the fact that he killed Enzo, I still felt sadness knowing that there was no way both he and Damon were making it out of there alive. I also knew that neither of them would leave the other behind. Despite their differences and their problems with each other, the Salvatore brothers shared a deep bond, and I knew that they would never willingly leave the other behind.
After the girls finished getting changed, Alaric brought them to say goodbye to me. I could never repay them for their help in making me realize that I still had magic and for saving my life. I knew that there was a chance I would never see them again. Alaric and I also said goodbye, in our own way. I know that he realized that I may not make it out of this alive. I could see the sadness in his eyes as he realized that it may only be him, Caroline, and the twins who made it out alive.
Just as I had finished saying goodbye Caroline entered the armory through the tunnels. I could tell by her voice that she would never forgive herself for leaving her friends and her husband, but that she knew the girls needed her. When she asked if there was any news from Stefan, my heart broke a little. Thankfully Alaric answered so that I didn't have to. He told her to get in the car and he would explain on the way. He headed towards the car with the girls to give me a chance to say goodbye to Caroline alone.
"I'm going to save the world," I informed her. "and you need to get in that car and drive away." She started to argue, but Alaric interrupted, telling her that he was sorry, but they needed to go. "Ric will fill you in." I informed her. "I love you." We hugged and she instructed me, "Don't do anything stupid, Bonnie Bennett." I reassured her that I would be fine. I knew as I said those words that I had to find the strength to do this. Too many people were counting on me for me to fail.
After Alaric and Caroline left I called Damon to fill him in on the plan and to say goodbye. I knew that chances were good I would never see him again. He knew it, too. He had become my best friend over the last several years, and it was all I could do to hold it together as we said our goodbyes. Once we hung up all that was left for me to do was to wait. I had no doubt that the Salvatore brothers would be successful in their part of the plan. I just hoped that I would be just as successful with my part in the plan.
Once the clock struck five till ten I knew it was time to start the spell. "Okay, Grams. If I ever needed you to hear me, hear me now," I announced before starting the spell. I knew I could only do this with the help of Grams and my other ancestors.
Even though I couldn't hear the bell from the armory, I knew when it rang the final time as I could feel the magic in the hell fire. "Phesmatos incendia moventur. Ego ex vos. Vos ex unos," I chanted repeatedly. I could feel the fire as it rushed through the tunnels, being drawn to the armory by my magic. I watched as the fire burst into the main room of the armory. Determinedly I shouted, "Phesmatos incendia entrare!" I was using everything I had to hold the fire back, but it was slowly creeping forward. I thought that I would be scared, but instead I was angry and determined. "I can do this. I can beat you. You can't have me!" I shouted at it. "It's not my time." I could feel myself growing weaker.
"Now you're finally ready to live?" I heard Enzo's sarcastic voice next to me and turned my head to look at him. I couldn't believe he was there. "Keep fighting, love," he told me. I tried to tell him it was too strong, that I couldn't do it alone, but he reassured me. "Nonsense. You are strong enough to do anything you put your mind to. And love, you're not alone."
I suddenly felt someone holding my right hand and turned to look. It was Grams! I knew as soon as I saw her that Enzo was right. I was strong enough, and with the help of Grams, I could do this. As Grams and I started chanting the spell again, our voices were joined by all of the past Bennett witches. The fire started receding and, with one last yell, we sent it back down into the tunnels, sending it back to Mystic Falls to destroy hell once and for all. I smiled, knowing that I had done it, and then exhaustion overtook me and I collapsed.
The next thing I remember is Damon shaking me, telling me to wake up. "Damon?" I asked weakly, sitting up. I thought for sure I was dead or dreaming. How is he still alive?
"Bonnie!" Damon sounded relieved. "You did it, Bon-Bon. Katherine's dead."
"How are you here?" I asked him. There was something about him that was different. Even though he'd tried to mask it, I heard the sadness in his voice. "Stefan…?"
Damon shook his head. "Stefan…he injected me with the cure. I thought that I'd compelled him, but he came back and injected me with the cure and then pushed me out of the way. He's the one who sent Katherine back to hell. He sacrificed himself for me."
I had never seen Damon cry until that moment. I held him while he cried. Despite what Stefan had done to Enzo, I couldn't stay mad at him any longer. He had sacrificed himself so that Damon had a chance to live. Even in the face of death, he had put his brother first by injecting Damon with the cure so that he could live a human life with Elena. My heart broke when I realized that now that Damon was human, he couldn't wait another fifty or sixty years for Elena to wake up. I knew then that I had to find some way to break the curse Kai had put on Elena. That was how I would honor Stefan's sacrifice: by giving Damon the opportunity to live happily ever after with Elena.
Before we left the armory, I called Alaric to fill him in on what had happened. Although he was relieved that the plan had worked and that Damon, Matt, Elena, and I were all okay, I knew that the news of Stefan's death saddened him. Not because he and Stefan were close, but because of Caroline. I could hear her sobbing in the background as I hung up with Alaric, knowing that she had heard everything.
When we got back to the school, Matt was there waiting for us. He greeted me with a hug, his relief evident on his face. Although he and I have never been particularly close, we had known each other since we were just kids, and I was one of the few humans left in his life. I informed him that Alaric and Caroline were on their way back and then asked about Elena. I had hoped that when Katherine died the spell would be broken, but Matt informed me that Elena was still trapped in the boiler room.
When I told Matt and Damon that I was going to break the spell that was holding her in there, they both objected. Even though they were right about me still being weak from the spell I'd just done I knew that I couldn't leave Elena trapped in there. When Damon insisted that he wasn't leaving without her and that he would spend the night in the boiler room, I knew that I had to break the spell tonite for Damon's sake. Now that he was human, he needed rest and the comfort of his own home to help get him through his grief. I also knew that he and Caroline would need each other tonite.
Once the spell was broken, Damon carried Elena to Matt's car. He sat in the back seat, holding her head in his lap while Matt drove us both to the boarding house. When we arrived, he carried her body up to his room and placed her gently on his bed. He gently brushed her hair out of her face. Without turning around, he told me to let him know when Caroline and Alaric got there. I nodded and went downstairs, knowing that was his way of telling me that he wanted to be alone.
About fifteen minutes later, Caroline texted me, letting me know they were almost there. I went upstairs to let Damon know. His door was closed, so I knocked on it gently, knowing he wouldn't have heard me come up the stairs now that he was human. "Damon? They're almost here." A few seconds later the door opened. Damon's eyes were red from where he'd been crying. "You okay?" I asked him.
Damon looked at me, his eyes showing how broken he was. "Stefan's gone. I don't know if I'll ever be okay," he responded. He then headed downstairs before I could say anything else.
As soon as Alaric's car stopped outside the house, Caroline flew into my arms. I held her as she wept. "I'm so sorry," I whispered, wishing there were something that I could do to take both her and Damon's pain away. I watched as Alaric went over to Damon and pulled him into a much needed hug. I saw Damon give up in his fight against the tears and let them fall freely. It was good that was Alaric was here. Damon needed him. He was the closest thing that Damon had to a brother now.
I watched them for a few minutes and then whispered to Caroline, "Damon needs you." In reality, they needed each other right now, but I knew that Caroline would never admit it. She pulled away, nodded, and wiped her eyes and then made her way to where Matt was standing next to Damon and Alaric. Matt gave her a brief hug and then Caroline gently touched Alaric on his arm. He allowed her to take his place in front of Damon. I watched as she and Damon held each other, mourning for the person they both loved who had given up his life so that everyone else could live.
When Alaric came to stand beside me, I confided in him about my plan to wake Elena up. I asked him not to tell Damon or Caroline, just in case it didn't work. I didn't want to give them false hope just in case the spell didn't work.
Over the next few days I worked constantly on the spell to wake Elena up. Damon and Caroline both needed her more than ever right now. I can't take their pain away, but I can give them someone to help them through the pain. Damon especially needed her. He had taken to shutting himself in his room for hours at a time, ignoring everyone.
Finally, on the day of Stefan's funeral, I decided that I was ready. Once Alaric let me know that Damon and Caroline had left for the cemetery I made my way up to Damon's room. Her body had remained on his bed since Damon laid it there the night of Stefan's death. I think it had comforted him to be able to have her close. Caroline had told me about the trick that Katherine had played on Damon and Stefan, pretending to be Elena, and after coming so close to losing her, I think Damon was afraid to let her out of his sight again.
At first, I was afraid that the spell hadn't worked. Elena was still asleep. I started to go back over the spell, looking to see if I'd missed something, but then I heard Gram's voice inside my head. "These things take time, Bonnie. Be patient." I smiled and went to stand beside the bed. A few minutes later, Elena's eyelids started fluttering and then she woke up. She looked around at her surroundings at first, trying to figure out where she was. Once she realized that she was in Damon's room on his bed, she partially sat up. When she looked up at me, I couldn't help but start crying. "There she is," I whispered happily.
Elena sat up the rest of the way. "Am I…?" she asked.
"I did it. I broke the spell," I replied, laughing.
"How?" she asked.
"It took some time, but I think I finally figured this witch thing out," I told her happily. We laughed and cried together as we hugged. When Elena stopped laughing, I knew. She knew that Stephan was dead. I didn't know how, but I'm sure she'd fill me in later.
Elena pulled away. "Where is he?" she asked tearfully.
I immediately knew that she was asking about Damon. "He's with Caroline," I told her, "saying goodbye." I could see it in her eyes when I said it that she'd been holding on to the hope that Stefan was somehow still alive. I smiled gently at her as the tears that had pooled in her eyes began to fall.
"Does he know?" she asked. "Did you tell him that you were breaking the spell?"
I shook my head. "No, I didn't tell either of them, just in case. I didn't want to give them false hope in case I couldn't break the spell. The only one who knew that I was trying is Alaric."
Elena nodded. "He's human, isn't he?" she asked, even though I could tell that she already knew the answer. I nodded and she got up. "I need to go to him."
I drove her to the cemetery, and then trailed a few feet behind her as she walked to the Salvatore crypt where Damon and Caroline were.
Caroline was the first to exit the crypt. I saw her eyes grow wide as she saw Elena standing there. I smiled at her and nodded gently, letting her know without speaking that, yes, this was real. I stepped back slightly to give them a little bit of privacy. For the first time since that fateful night, I saw Caroline really smile. Her sadness was still reflected in her eyes, but I knew that the smile was real when she let out a happy sigh. As she stepped down to go to Elena, Damon walked up behind her.
The look on Damon's face as he saw Elena was a mixture of sadness, disbelief, and love. I think he truly thought he was seeing things at first. I glanced at Elena, who looked slightly nervous at first, but then managed a small smile. When I looked back at Damon, he was smiling and his eyes, even though you could still see the sadness in them, were filled with love. As he took a step towards Elena, she began to move towards him, as well. In a few long strides, Damon had reached her and then their arms were around each other and they were kissing. The look on both of their faces made me cry. I could see their happiness and their love for each other, but I also saw relief, especially from Damon. I think that he was truly worried that he would never see her again once Stefan had given him the cure.
I stole a glance at Caroline and saw tears streaming down her face. I could tell that they were a mixture of tears of joy and tears of sorrow. Joy because her best friend was awake and had been reunited with Damon, and sorrow because their love reminded her of what she had lost. I made my way over to her and gave her a hug. "Let's give them some space," she whispered through her tears. I nodded and led her to a nearby bench where I held her while she cried.
A few minutes later, Elena walked over to join us. I started to give up so that they could have some time alone, but they both stopped me. Elena sat down on the bench on the other side of Caroline with her body angled towards her. "I need you to know," she began, "Stefan said something to me before we parted. 'One day, when you wake up, tell Caroline I heard her, and I will love her forever, too.'"
"He got my message," Caroline whispered, both crying and laughing. I could hear the relief in her voice that came from knowing Stefan had heard the last thing she'd said to him. Elena and I both smiled and leaned in to hug her. We sat there for a few more minutes in silence, just comforted by each other's presence. We were interrupted by the sound of a car pulling up. "It's Alaric," Caroline said softly.
Elena nodded. "There will be time for me to great him later," she replied. "Right now I want to spend time with the two of you. Damon should be the one to tell him the news."
A few minutes later another car pulled up. "It's Matt," Caroline informed Elena. "Go see him," she insisted. "He's missed you."
Elena got up and headed towards the crypt and Caroline and I followed slowly, wanting to give her some time with Matt before we got there. Alaric and Damon must have had the same thoughts, as they were standing off to the side a short distance away from the crypt. I smiled as I saw the shocked look on Matt's face that quickly gave way to a smile. It had been awhile since Matt had been given a real reason to smile. After a couple of minutes, we all walked over and joined Elena and Matt by the crypt. It was time to say goodbye to Stefan.