Chapter 25:

Time had passed very fast.

Bella and Klaus had had years for themselves to see everything they wanted to see. Bella took her time investigating the Cathare history in the south of France and she loved it. She had learned a lot of things and got very shocked by the heavy and sad aura some places held. They even met a vampire that had been there when the worst massacres happened. He told them what he had seen and they went on with their travels.

After that, they spent a few days in Volterra with Alice and Jasper. The young woman was adjusting very well to her new life and her visions were stronger than ever. She could also compel people and her blood held healing abilities. She didn't know if she would be able to shift like her parents and uncles, but she would try later, for now, she was busy enough being a young wife.

Bella and Klaus used their time in Volterra to check on the orphaned that had been staying there. They also spent some time with Marcus and Didymee who had adopted a little hybrid (Cold one-witch) that had been bewitched to grow at a normal pace. It was a young boy and he seemed to love his new parents over everything. He had been told of the original couple and when the little boy finally met them he acted like he had been introduced to his favourite superheroes. They were also introduced to Felix's and Demetri new mates. They were now officially with Nahuel's sisters and seemed to be the happiest they had ever been.

They stayed a few weeks before leaving again.

After Volterra, Bella and Klaus went to Russia for a while and then they went back to the American continent. They visited Alice and Jasper in Alaska before going to see how things were going back in the orphanage that was more like a sanctuary for supernatural people in need of assistance.

Sage and Finn travelled some more and when Carlisle expressed the desire to start travelling with Esmee, the Original couple replaced them in the orphanage. Harper, Pearl and Anna stayed in the orphanage too, liking the fact that they could be useful and do something good with their forever.

Whenever Anna got bored, she would leave and join one of the original in their travels or even go on her own for a while. The girl was still single but she decided she would not play around. She wanted true love or something that came close to it and she felt that playing around would be close to giving up on love.

.

Magdalena ended up giving up her immortality and mermaid status to be with her true love. She had lived a long and happy life with her husband and had 5 children. All of them had the ability to change into a merpeople and 2 of them decided to join the people of the seven seas instead of living a human life. Klaus and Bella still stayed in touch with Magdalena's family and made sure they were all safe and happy. When she died, it was of old age and everyone was present to give her one last goodbye.

.

Damon and Rose were the on and off kind of couple.

They wouldn't stop caring about each other but they would separate for a few months or years to have fun on their own. It was like being together all the time was too much for them, they wouldn't help but explode.

At some point, Damon left and went to spend some time alone in North Carolina, drinking on campus and enjoying the drunk sorority girls. There, he met a woman name Isobel Salzmann who knew about vampires and wanted to be changed into one of them. When Damon saw that she was married, he asked her if she was sure of her choice, making sure her husband would hear him trying to convince her to change her mind. When the woman assure him it was the life she wanted, he changed her.

As he left her to wake up and make, alone, the final choice to complete or not the transition, he crossed her husband, a man name Alaric.

"I'm sorry man. She made her choice…" He said, not really knowing why he wanted the man to know that it wasn't his entire fault.

"She's becoming her researches, right?" Alaric asked pale faced.

"Yes, she is. It was her choice to make…" Damon said, knowing that if he hadn't reconnected with his brother all those years ago, he wouldn't have cared and would have left the man to suffer this on his own.

"You want a drink? I'm buying." Alaric offered, knowing he would try to drown his sorrow in the alcohol.

Damon talked with the man, telling him everything he knew about what Isobel was becoming. When they were done eating and came back to the apartment, Isobel was gone with all of her things. She hadn't even left a letter to her husband. Damon decided to spend some time with the man and help him through this hard time.

After a few weeks, Alaric and Damon were friends and when it was time for the vampire to go back to his brother and Rose, he knew he would see the man again, especially after he helped him train to fight supernatural creatures. They agreed to meet in Mystic Falls a few years later, when the comet was scheduled to pass over the town. Everyone could feel something big coming during this particular comet passing again in the sky of Mystic Falls.

.

Over the years, the children in need of shelter in the orphanage were less numerous as they grew up and left to lead their own lives so the volunteer mothers that were already present were enough as well as the few orphaned that decided to stay and the originals were able to plan another big reunion.

.

Klaus and Bella blessed technology and cell phones. It had made it way easier for everyone they cared about to stay in touch and to organise the big reunion.

It was now 2009 and the comet was scheduled to be seen in Mystic Falls and it was the time and the place decided to host the big reunion. The Salvatore, Rebekah and Rose were supposed to arrive early to take the time to settle into the boarding house and convince Zack, the last Salvatore, that there would be no trouble.

They weren't in town for two days when they got a shock.

As they entered a place called the Mystic Grill in company of Zack, they saw the doppelganger. Jumping to conclusions, they guessed it was Katherine and that she had escaped from the tomb she was locked in for 145 years.

"That little bitch escaped the tomb!" Damon raged.

"Let's drag her out and finally kill her like the wench deserves..." Rebekah suggested when Zack spoke:

"It's Elena Gilbert, why would you want to kill her? She's an innocent human." he asked.

"She's human?" Rosemarie asked, shocked.

"Yes, I can assure you she is, I've watched her grow up!" The human Salvatore assured them forcefully.

"We have to call Klaus and Bella... They need to know that there is a doppelganger alive." Rebekah insisted.

"What will they do to her?" Damon asked.

His eyes hadn't left the human doppelganger and he could see how different her behaviour seemed to be from Katherine's.

"I don't know… Maybe make a deal with her so she can die in the sacrifice and come back. It's possible; I know Bella had some witches find a way the last time. " Rose said, already getting jealous of the attention the human was stealing from her Damon when she had just barely gotten him back.

"He might have given up on it too… He doesn't seem to care that much about lifting the spell since Bella came into his life… Now he has the family he always wanted…" Rebekah suggested.

"All the same, she will need protection… The scrolls Klaus made after the curse was put on him are still around and a lot of vampires and werewolf might be on the lookout for her…" Rose said, seeing Elena laughing with her friends in a far corner.

"The founding families' council remembers Klaus, Lady Bella and the originals… They know to listen to them and trust them… They are still considered important members of this town." Zack informed his family as he, too, took to watching Elena Gilbert trying to make her blond boyfriend understand she didn't want to talk about the future yet.

"I'll call Niklaus right away, he'll make a decision." Rebekah decided in a determined voice.

She took her phone out and walked out of the Grill to be able to talk with her brother better.

.

"Hello Rebekah, how are you doing on this fine day?" Klaus asked as soon as he saw his little sister's name and phone number on the screen of his brand new cell phone.

"We may have a problem…" Rebekah said.

"What possible kind of problem can you find in Mystic Falls? Nothing ever happens there." Klaus chuckled.

She could hear Bella telling him to listen on the other end.

"Today we saw a girl…her name is Elena Gilbert…" Rebekah didn't know how to inform them of what she was.

"A Gilbert…well, what did she do to have you so nervous? Did she try to steal Stefan away from you?" Klaus asked.

"She is a Petrova doppelganger!" Rebekah exclaimed.

"Are you sure it isn't Katherine out of the tomb?" Bella asked, shocked.

"I'm sure, Zack, Stefan's nephew, said he saw her grow up. She is the daughter of Grayson Gilbert and Miranda Somers." Rebekah assured her brother.

"Elijah is already on his way to get the house ready for us all, I'll call him and inform him of this new development." Klaus said as Rebekah heard Bella saying:

"She's going to need protection… The scrawls of parchment with the legends are still around…Both reckless vampires and eager werewolves will be going around Mystic Falls to try and take her…"

"Yes, we'll inform her and her family of everything when we get there. Thanks for the warning Rebekah." Klaus said.

"You're welcome brother." She said before she hung up, wondering if one of the Salvatore would make the mistake of falling for the doppelganger once more…

Of course she trusted Stefan, but she couldn't help but notice how Damon looked troubled by the sight of the girl… She hoped Rose would be able to keep his interest alive…

.

In order to keep an eye on the girl, Rebekah and Stefan enrolled in high school in the same class as she was. They quickly saw that she was different from Tatia and Katerina. She was nicer and considerate towards others.

"She doesn't seem very happy with her boyfriend though..." Stefan noted as they sat in the living room of the boarding house, telling the others what they saw.

"From what I heard her say to her friends Caroline and Bonnie, they grew up together, being friends, and they started dating because it was what everyone expected of them. She doesn't really love him, but she's afraid of losing his friendship if she breaks up with him." Rebekah explained.

"That sounds different from Katerina…" Rose admitted.

"I just hope she doesn't change with time…" Damon stated.

"What I'm wondering is how she can be a Gilbert… Katherine was a Petrova right? The child she had before being expelled from Bulgaria was probably given away over there… Even if her descendents moved in America, I think we would have known if they joined the Gilbert or Somers family…" Stefan said pensively.

"I remember that Miranda didn't look pregnant… It was a surprise to everyone when she said she had given birth to a little girl. But since she had been trying for a long time to get pregnant, we supposed she kept it quiet in fear of it failing again… It's quite easy to hide a pregnancy, especially when your husband is a doctor as experimented as Grayson…" Zack explained.

"So Elena could have been adopted then?" Damon asked.

"Probably, yes…But Grayson is a doctor; he knows how to hide this…" Zack said.

"Why don't we go see Doctor Gilbert and his wife and simply explain things to them? They know we are the originals, so they know to trust us…They will tell us the truth, especially if we say it's for Elena's protection…" Rebekah suggested.

"Why don't we wait for Klaus and Bella to get there? I think it's better if they take charge here…" Rose suggested.

"I agree with Rose… The council will listen to Klaus and Bella… especially Bella." Zack said with a smile.

"Why is that?" Damon asked curiously.

"We know what we know about the Original family from what our parents told us and what we've read in the journals… Lady Bella was the most popular one… I'm pretty sure they would let her be mayor if she wanted to be… She's very popular around here and they will probably do anything she asks them to do… I'm pretty sure Logan Fell is in love with her just from the pictures we have and what he's heard about her…" Zack said, finishing with a chuckle.

"Okay then, we only have to watch out for her a couple of days until Elijah gets here. Then he'll watch out for about a week until Klaus and Bella get here." Rebekah said to close that conversation.

"I'll take my watch tonight then." Damon informed them immediately as he grabbed his leather jacket and walked out of the boarding house.

Rose was feeling suddenly desperate to have him back; she didn't want him to leave her for a doppelganger. As he reached the door, Damon turned around.

"You're coming Rose?" he asked with a small smile.

She smiled back at him and followed him with her jacket in her hand.

.

The next few days were uneventful. Rebekah and Stefan would watch out for Elena while in school and Damon and Rose would take watch outside of school. When Elijah arrived he took his own watch. They could all see that he was troubled by her sight and they hoped it wouldn't end up hurting him.

After a few days, Klaus and Bella arrived. They asked the council to meet in their house so they could explain everything. They specifically asked to make sure the Bennett's were represented. They were happy to learn that Emily had been included in the council a few years after their departure. They also asked that the children where kept out of this reunion for the time being, which wasn't a surprise since they weren't in the know in the first place.

When they arrived, everyone was present.

Elijah, Rebekah and the three Salvatore, the four Fell's, the three Lockwood's, Sheriff Forbes, her ex husband Bill, John Gilbert, Grayson and Miranda Gilberts, Sheila Bennett… Pearl, Harper and Anna had also arrived the night before, along with Carlisle, Esmee, Kol and Lexi. Alice and Jasper would arrive later in the day along with Sage and Finn.

"Lady Bella, it is an honour to finally have the chance to meet you." Mayor Lockwood said as soon as the couple came in.

He was obviously trying to charm her. Bella noticed his wife rolling her eyes and drinking her glass of what smelled like alcohol way too fast.

"It's nice to meet you too…" Bella answered with a blush.

Even now, she wasn't a big fan of attention.

Rebekah made the introductions and soon, Bella and Klaus were in front of everyone trying to explain what the problem was.

"Okay, the main reason why we asked all of you to meet us here is to announce that we are back for a while. The other reason is to point out a little problem this town is about to have. But if we all prepare ourselves, it might not be a problem at all." Klaus started to explain.

"What is going on?" Sheriff Forbes asked.

"It has to do with Elena Gilbert… She is in danger…" Bella said.

"What?" Miranda, Grayson and John asked in one voice.

"Yes, have you read anything in the journals of your ancestors about Katherine Pierce or Katerina Petrova?" Klaus asked.

"Yes, we did." Miranda said.

"She was locked in the tomb under the old church by Emily." Sheila said.

"Elena is her doppelganger… It means that even if I don't want to break the curse put on me all those years ago, the scrolls with the false curse are still around and both vampires and werewolves are going to want to get Elena to try and break it…" Klaus said, making a pause to let it sink in.

"We have been watching over her since we got back and so far so good, but it might be coming after the night of the comet…" Rebekah said.

"Yes, that night has lots of big mystical properties…" Sheila agreed.

"It's not before a few months so we have time to make decisions and get ready…" Grayson said.

"What I don't understand is how she came to be a Gilbert? No Petrova joined the Gilbert or Somers lines…" Carlisle said pensively.

"Elena is adopted…" Miranda said, shocking everyone.

"She's my daughter..." John announced.

Everyone was shocked in the room.

"Who is her mother?" Bella asked gently.

"A girl I loved back in high school…" He answered evasively.

"Back in high school? Please don't act like you have ever stopped loving her. We both know the reason Jenna broke up with you is because you were moaning that horrible girls name when you slept together!" Miranda snapped angrily, making John blush a little;

"Why are you always blaming me? I'm not the only one who broke your sister's heart in this room you know. Logan Fell here cheated on her with her room mate just a few months ago. I'm not to blame for everything here..." John protested.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your little family quarrels but can we please go back to the subject at hand here?" Bill, the sheriff's ex husband asked.

"Yes, John, we need to know who Elena's mother is. We might need to find her." Bella asked.

"Why don't you ask Damon Salvatore here, he changed her after all." John sneered.

Every head in the room turned toward Damon.

"The only person I ever changed was Isobel Salzmann… She studied supernatural, found me and asked me to change her… I'm still in touch with her husband… Well I guess you could say her ex husband…" Damon replied honestly.

"Her maiden name is Isobel Fleming. I get news from her once in a while, she asks how Elena is doing and I tell her… I send her a picture every now and then…" John added.

"Why don't you call her then. Tell her that Elena is in danger and ask her to come here. We will make sure she is safe if her intentions are good." Klaus suggested.

John nodded and left the room to make the phone call.

"Are you positive you don't want to break this curse then?" Grayson asked, wanting to make sure the originals didn't want to kill his daughter.

"Absolutly. Doctor Gilbert, you have to understand that the only reason I wanted to break that curse so badly was so I wasn't alone forever. I didn't want to be the only one of my kind for the rest of my life…Then I met my Love…" He said as he looked tenderly at Bella. "She fixed our family and taught us to trust each others. I have no reason to break that curse now…" Klaus explained.

"So breaking that curse won't stop a werewolf from changing?" Mayor Lockwood asked.

"No, it can't… I'm sorry…" Bella told him as he look disappointed.

"What is this about werewolves? What's going on?" Carol Lockwood asked her husband as her brother in law looked down.

"Us Lockwood men carry the werewolf gene…To trigger it and change into a werewolf you have to cause someone's death…even by accident…" The mayor explained, knowing everyone was listening.

"Tyler has it?" Carol asked, horrified.

"Don't worry Carol, Tyler is fine for now…We just have to be careful that he doesn't kill anyone." Mason explained.

"Mason, you triggered your curse didn't you..." Liz Forbes asked.

"Yes, I did…" Mason answered.

At the others' confused looks he explained "a couple of months ago I got into a car accident...There was a dog on the road and I tried to drive passed him but he zigged so I zagged…I didn't see there was a car coming the other way and the man driving the car died a few days later of internal bleeding that hadn't been detected… I chain myself up in the old property's cellar during the full moon…"Mason explained.

"I'm sorry man." Klaus said before adding "I, myself only had to change a couple of times before my mother put the curse on me but I feel your pain."

"What do you mean?" Carol asked.

"Werewolves are different than shifters…Shape shifter just change shape, they slowly morph into another form…Werewolves have to break every bone in their bodies every time they change…First when they change from human to wolf, then when they change from wolf to human…" Klaus explained;

"Why do you have to keep yourself locked up?" Meredith Fell asked.

"Because I have no control over what I do when I'm a wolf…" Mason explained.

"Isn't there anything you know we can do to stop it?" Carol asked Bella and Klaus.

"Well, we know that Klaus' blood cures a werewolf bite on a vampire; that if a werewolf bites a human it can be cured if the human drinks wolfs bane immediately; but when it's already in the genes…" Bella started sadly.

"Maybe we could use the coming of the comet to cast a spell on the Lockwood blood line. All male gene carrying members will need to be there but I might be able to block the change and prevent them from giving the gene in the future." Sheila suggested.

"The comet will give you enough power?" Bella asked.

"I might need Bonnie's help…She just started to believe she is a witch and she's starting her training. By the time the comet comes she will be ready to assist me with this spell… I know she'll work harder if it means she can protect her friend Elena." The old Bennett witch explained to everyone.

"Well, anyway, we don't have anything to worry about now since there is no vampire in town… well, I mean…other than you…but you don't really count since you're nice and all…" Liz Forbes said.

"Good then…What do we do until then?" Logan Fell asked, trying to escape from the dark looks Miranda was throwing his way.

"We need to tell Bonnie, Elena and Tyler the truth… Caroline might need to know too so she doesn't feel left out by her best friends…" Bella said.

"I think you're right." Grayson said gravely as the other nodded.

"What about Elena? Even if she knows the truth she needs to be protected." Rosemarie asked.

"Well, Stefan and Rebekah enrolled in school so they could watch out for her so they will continue with it. Kol and Lexi are also looking young enough that they can enrol." Carlisle suggested.

"I will enrol in school too!" Anna said excitedly, jumping on the occasion to be almost normal.

She was going to finally have a life close to normal for the next few years and she couldn't wait.

"I will keep on making sure she is safe at night. I'll patrol around the house and stay around until she leaves for school." Elijah affirmed.

"Are you sure it's a good idea Elijah? I don't want you to get too attached…" Bella asked with worry as Elena's parents looked like they were going to agree.

"Don't worry Bella, after Tatia and Katerina I'll stay on my guards… I won't let another Petrova doppelganger break my heart…" Elijah said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"She is different from them Elijah… She is nicer, selfless…" Rebekah said.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine… She's way too young anyway…Even if I was to fall for her, she would see in me nothing more than a middle aged vampire…" Elijah said before excusing himself to leave the room.

"He was in love with the other doppelgangers?" John asked.

"He was in love with Tatia…he tried not to fall for Katerina because it was obvious she was manipulative… They both broke his heart and he has been very lonely ever since…" Klaus explained.

"Well, as long as he protects Elena, I don't see why he couldn't fall in love with her." Miranda said.

"Because you can't be with someone forever if you don't live forever…" Lexi explained.

John looked down. He was still in love with Isobel and she was coming… He had a chance to get her back… he quickly told them that Isobel agreed to come and was on her way.

"There could be another problem…" Damon said.

"What is it?" Klaus asked.

"Alaric, my friend who happens to be Isobel's husband is also on his way… he got a job here as a history teacher…" Damon explained before adding "He is over her though."

The Mickealson warned them that they would be holding a big ball in the coming week where the founding families would be all invited, along with a few lucky others. It was agreed that the Donovan's would be invited, even if everyone knew the mother was out of town and wouldn't be around for some time. Bella promised herself she would compel the woman to be a better mother as soon as she got back in town.

"So, what have you been up to these last few decades? You haven't been back around in a while…" Carol asked politely as the only one left were the Lockwood's, the Gilbert's, Liz Forbes and her gay ex husband and Logan and Meredith Fell.

"Well, we adopted a daughter a few decades ago, Alice. She will arrive soon with her husband. Then when the war broke out, a lot of supernatural beings got hurt. Hitler was chasing them as much as the Jews and the handicap able people. A lot of children ended up orphans so we built a place for them to be safe and call home." Bella explained.

"What kind of supernatural children?" Liz asked curiously.

"Well, there was a little bit of everything to be truthful, but there were a lot of hybrids. Children that were the result of the union between two different species like human and cold ones, Mermaid and werewolves, witches and fairies… the few pure blooded children were able to find a welcoming home…" Esmee answered.

"Was there a lot of children?" Carol asked.

"By the time the war was over, I think over 250 children passed though the orphanage." Pearl answered.

"Fortunately we were able to find homes for most of them. Sometimes we were even able to rescue their parents or find members of their families, but for a few years it was very hard, there was a lot of them…" Carlisle added.

"It's wonderful that you did this..." Meredith exclaimed.

"It was all Bella's idea… The orphanage is still up but there are a lot less children now… It's more of a sanctuary for supernatural beings in need of assistance." Klaus said.

After that, Meredith talked a lot with Carlisle. She offered a post in the hospital for both Finn and him. After all, they had centuries of practice in medicine and it was a big chance to have them around.

They all had dinner together and the rest of the founding families left to go home. Elijah followed the Gilbert's. They didn't admit it but they felt better knowing an original vampire was around to protect them. Grayson invited the man in, just in case trouble already found its way in and left him to go to sleep.

Elijah sat on the tree in front of Elena's bedroom and opened a book to read until he could hear something out of place. Bella was right, he needed to be careful because he was already feeling attracted to the young human doppelganger. He couldn't let her break his heart… Katerina and Tatia had already done too good of a job with that. Shacking his head he glanced around and when he couldn't see or hear anything unordinary, he went back to reading, trying to ignore what the young Jeremy Gilbert was doing in his room…He had been a teenage boy too and understood his needs after all…

I want to take a minute to thank all of you who have taken the time to re-read this story and to review.

You know what to do!

Love,

Lorelei Candice Black