Aloha everyone! Here's the next chapter (almost 3 000 words). I hope you like it. My next update will be on Wednesday, just to let you know.

Disclaimer: As usual I do not own any of these characters or the story... so don't sue.

Chapter Eleven

Part One: Stefan's Question

Damon hadn't seen Elena for the past five days that he had stayed at the hospital. Meredith and Bonnie took care of Miranda during those days. Today he was being discharged from the hospital. His brother was wheeling him out of the hospital in a wheel chair. Damon really hated it when he felt dependant on somebody; especially his little brother. When he got up, his ribs hurt like hell. He bit his lip to keep himself from yelling out in pain. His nose was still bandaged, but his eyes weren't as purple underneath as they were before. When they arrived at the boarding house Mrs. Flowers gave him some herbal tea. He felt much better. Stefan looked as though he was contemplating on whether to talk to him about something.

"Just spit it out." Damon says, surprising his brother out of his train of thought.

"I don't understand. You're not a vampire anymore and you were still able to communicate with me telepathically. How?" Damon has a devilish gleam in his eyes.

"Because I'm special." Stefan scowls at him.

"That shouldn't have been possible."

"Don't you think I know that Saint Stefan? I have no clue how it happened. Maybe it's like the way Elena could do stuff with her aura." He shrugs.

"Elena was an angel, you weren't. You are far from it."

"The Gods see potential in me. They see how good I am." Stefan couldn't help but snort at his brother's self loving remark.

"Yeah well maybe Sage will have the answers to my question."

"If you can find him." Damon says.

Stefan leaves the room and goes to his room.

Damon wondered if his telepathy was a one time thing. He hoped not. He liked to think that even as a human he could have powers. He knew that if he did have powers that it had definitely not been the Gods who gave it to him. He knew he was going to Hell when he died. He had a theory: So many years of living on human blood and being the most powerful vampire= residual powers when he became human. He drifted off to sleep while he pondered the possibilities.

Stefan watched as his brother slept peacefully for the first time in a week. Now that his brother was home safe he would do some investigating in the attack. From what his brother had told him, it had only been one man that attacked them; a demon he suspected. What troubled him though, was the ever present question of why. Why would a demon attack two humans, leave the child behind and not kill them. It didn't make any sense. If the demon had wanted them dead, they'd surely be dead; if he had wanted to kidnap the child she would have been taken. So why would he attack them if it didn't benefit him? None of it made any sense. Stefan thought over all the possibilities and came to the conclusion that maybe the demon wanted to scare them; like a teaser to what was coming in the future. If there is a war ahead of them, he would have to contact as many allies as he could.

VD

Elena stared at a spot on the wall; she was waiting for her doctor. Hopefully, if her scan results were good she would be discharged the next morning. Her doctor walks in with a clipboard.

"Hello Elena, how are you feeling today?" she asks.

"Good. My head still hurts a little, but I feel alright."

"Any new memories?" Elena shakes her head sadly. The doctor puts on an encouraging smile.

"Good news, you can go home tomorrow, but I want you to see a psychiatrist every day until we can unlock those memories of yours, okay?" Elena nods; eager to get back home.

She couldn't wait to see Margaret and Aunt Judith. Meredith had told her that they were gone on a trip and that had beeen why they hadn't come to see her yet; because they didn't know. The doctor leaves her room after quickly checking her vitals.

VD

"Meredith, what are we going to do?" Bonnie asks frantically. They had just returned from the hospital and Elena had told them she was going home the next day.

"Calm down, Bonnie. Take a deep breath. Okay." She says, also taking a deep breath.

"We can say her aunt is still gone, she can stay here for the time being." Bonnie looks panicky again. She looks over at Miranda who's playing with her blocks.

"What are we going to do with Miranda?" She takes Meredith by the shoulders and shakes her.

"Well, she can't go to my place, I only have a couch. I don't even have a bed for myself. Matt?" He shakes his head.

"Can't. I'm still with my parents. If they see Miranda they'll know something's up and they'll contact Judith."

"What if Elena goes to the boarding house?" Meredith suggests.

"No!" Both Matt and Bonnie yell out at the same time. Meredith looks at them surprised.

"It'll be a disaster." Matt explains. Meredith nods, understanding them now.

"Well what if Miranda goes there then?"

"She'll be bored and Damon can't take care of her in his condition and Stefan would have to leave to hunt." They look at each other; not knowing what to do.

"One thing we know for sure; Elena can't know about Miranda yet, it could ruin her memory progress." They sit, pondering over their options.

"I think the boarding house is our only option." Bonnie says somberly.

Part Two:

Decisions

Miranda was coming over and Damon was a nervous wreck. He half walked, half hopped his way to the other side of the room; he was cleaning it to make it child friendly. Stefan had been wary about Miranda coming over, but he later agreed when Matt had added that it was for Elena's benefit. Damon quickly cleaned his bathroom, coming upon his own reflection in the mirror. He still looked awful, though he wasn't purple under the eyes anymore; he still had a bandage on his nose. The door bell rang and he quickly hobbled down the stairs.

"I'm coming!" He yelled out. Meredith enters the house, followed by a suddenly shy Miranda.

"Hi Miranda." He says. Miranda hugs Meredith's leg.

"Go on Miranda, say hello to your father." Meredith urges her. Damon's breath catches in his throat and his heart skipped a beat when Meredith had called him Miranda's father.

"Hello." Miranda says shyly, she looks up at Meredith.

"I have to go, okay?" Meredith says.

"Have to?" Miranda whines. "Wan' momma." She says. Meredith shakes her head.

"Your mommy can't see you right now, but when she gets better you'll get to see your mommy." Miranda nods as a single tear rolls down her cheek.

Auntie Bonnie and Auntie Mer had explained to her that she would have to stay with her daddy until her mommy got better. She understood it but she didn't like it. Damon was heartbroken as his daughter reluctantly let goes of Meredith's leg and they hug farewell. Meredith walks up to him.

"This is going to be hard on both of you; I wish Elena could just remember." She says sadly. She gives Damon Miranda's toys, her clothes, playpen, and a car seat and gives him a list of things to feed her. Miranda was potty trained so that was a bonus for all of them, though she needed to wear a diaper at night.

"She likes it when you rub her back, play with her and she doesn't like to be left alone. Oh and also her bedtime is at seven thirty, she doesn't like to sleep alone." Meredith says; hating to have to leave the little girl that she had already fallen in love with.

"Someone will be over every day to check up on things." She adds. She sighs loudly.

"Things are so damn complicated. Miranda doesn't deserve for her mother not to remember her. Damon, if anything happens to her, you'll wish you died during the Renaissance." He chuckles.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Meredith. Thank you... for telling me about her. It means a lot to me." She only nods at him. She bends down and hugs Miranda.

"Bye baby." She strokes her black hair and then leaves the two people who had absolutely no clue what to make of each other.

Miranda looks up shyly into Damon's black eyes, seeing that he wouldn't hurt her like the big man did, she lifted her arms up in the air. Damon didn't know what to do; his daughter wanted up, but he still had two very sore ribs. He picks her up anyway, biting back the pain. He sits on the stairs and rocks her back and forth; she falls asleep in his arms.

Stefan walks into the house to find Damon with a sleeping Miranda in his arms. He was sitting on the stairs.

"Oh thank God." Damon sighs. "Could you take her upstairs? I've been sitting here for at least 45 minutes waiting for you." Stefan gave his brother a quizzical look.

"She fell asleep, I... I didn't want to wake her up." He explains hesitantly.

"Big brother, have you grown soft?" Stefan asks mockingly.

Damon snarls at him as Stefan grabs Miranda out of his arms. His arms felt heavy and numb but his soul felt empty without her near him. He hopped his way up the stairs, wincing at the pain in his ribs. He should've brought his crutches, he thought idly.

VD

It was mid afternoon and Elena felt exhausted. She went upstairs into the guest bedroom and lay down unto the bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow she fell asleep.

"Elena." A howl in the wind.

"Elena." This time, louder. Elena slowly turns her body around to face a woman. She looked familiar, put she couldn't place her.

"Elena." She says coming closer to her, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"You need to remember Elena."

"Who are you?" Elena asks confused.

"That isn't important right now. What is important is that you try and remember these past four years, and then my identity will come to you. You have a long journey ahead of you. There is a war coming." The wind starts howling, whipping Elena's hair around. The woman looks up worried.

"Remember." She says before disappearing into the wind. The scene changes.

"You see now you're making her cry." Elena turned around to look at the scene before her. It was night time. Damon, Matt and she were standing outside. The other Elena was only wearing a nightgown. Damon and Matt were glaring at each other.

"I am? I'm not the one who mentioned my dear departed younger brother?" What were they arguing about? Elena wondered.

"Just stop it! Right now! Both of you." Elena yelled out surprising the one that was observing her. All eyes were on her now.

"And I don't want this pencil if you don't mind." She was holding a pencil out in front of herself. Damon took it from her. Elena looks as though she is going to fall, but then Damon catches her. Damon looks at Matt.

"What she needs is fresh air, and I'm going to give it to her." Damon picks her up and Damon starts to hover into the black sky. The conversation was getting a little harder to hear, so Elena floated her spirit body up to where Damon and she were. It was odd watching herself.

"Damon, could you please put me down?" Elena asks.

"Right now, Darling? It's quite a distance..." Damon teased.

Elena shivered. Damon looks as though he is going to take his jacket off. Elena protests by saying: "No, no- you just drive- fly, I mean, and I'll just hang on." She looked quite frazzled.

"And watch for low-going seagulls." Damon said solemnly. Elena turned her face away as a tiny smirk appeared on his face.

"So, just when did you learn that you could pick people up and drop them on cars?"

"Oh, just recently. It was like flying: a challenge. And you know I like challenges." Damon said with mischief in his eyes.

They stared at each other with love in their eyes. It was so blatantly obvious that they were in love to an outsider, but not to the two of them. Elena blushed; both Elena's. Elena, the one observing this scene felt a warmth grow in her heart, warmth she thought she would never have for Damon Salvatore. She looked away from the scene, leaving the other two floating in their own peaceful world, even if it had been short lived. Then the scene changed again.

"Miranda." Elena calls out. Elena watches herself. A little girl with black hair runs out from the corner of the room. Elena gasps.

Elena is abruptly awoken by a tapping at her door. She gets up off the bed and opens the door. Stefan is standing outside of her room, his hands awkwardly in his jean pockets.

"Stefan!" She exclaims and she launches herself into his arms. He hugs her back hesitantly; her love didn't feel right anymore. He clears his throat and enters the room. He sits on her bed.

"How are you?" He asks, looking at her up and down to check for any other injuries. As he suspected there aren't any.

"I'm alright. I think I started to remember... well until you knocked on the door. I can't seem to remember the last part of my dream. I remember when Damon and I were searching for you. It must've been hard for you to be in that prison. It's horrible what they did to you." Tears streamed down her cheeks. Stefan hugs her comfortingly.

"Shh..." He says, brushing her hair with his fingers. "I'm here now. I'm alright now. It's in the past. You and Damon saved me." Elena nods and gives him a watery smile.

"How's Damon?" She half whispers.

"He's doing alright, hobbles everywhere. He can't keep still. The doctors told him to rest, but he's stubborn." He trails off at the end of his sentence.

"I should be going." Stefan says quickly getting up off the bed. Elena looks as though her heart just got crushed.

"I'll be back." He reassures her. He kisses her forehead as he silently leaves the room. Elena sighs frustrated as she plops herself unto her bed.

VD

"It's time." Morpheus, one of the demons, said with conviction in his voice. "Activate the device."

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