Hello, my lovely readers. Okay, this is the next to last chapter. I will be posting the epilogue of this story next Saturday and then I will post a note to let you know that the sequel is up when I begin posting it. On with the show…
Chapter 35: Double Your Pleasure
"Oh, Mother Mikaelsons," Damon Salvatore groaned as he looked at the two Esther Mikaelsons who were the only ones who did not seem to be disturbed by this doppleganger convention. "What did you do, witch?"
"You know if you want her to help, you might want to be polite," Damon Gilbert informed the other him.
"Psst," Damon Salvatore rolled his eyes. "And this is the guy you were so into?" Damon looked from side to side to find two Elena's the only way he knew which one was his was that her hair was incredibly straight unlike the one with wavy hair. "Elena Salvatore," Damon called and she grinned.
"Damon Salvatore, we did not get to say a proper good-bye," Elena Salvatore moved quickly to close the space between them and kissed Damon on the lips.
"Hey," Elena and Damon Gilbert protested as their counterparts pulled away from an intense kiss.
"Sorry, needed to get some closure," Elena Salvatore muttered and winked at Damon Salvatore.
"Oh, whoa!" Caroline cried as she stared at her counterpart. "Look at what you did to your hair," she was staring at the Caroline from Damon Gilbert's world.
"You slept with my girlfriend," Stefan shouted suddenly feeling rage that he had worked to get rid of thinking he would never have to look at Damon Gilbert.
"Stefan," two Rebekahs yelled at the same time and then looked at each other.
"Where's the other me?" Katherine asked looking around and spying another Damon.
"Who are you?"
"Dominic Pierce," Dominic told her looking suspiciously at the others.
"No, I can't be a guy in the other world," Katherine protested loudly.
"Look at us," Kol stared proudly at the other him. "We are lovely. Aren't we Bonnies?"
The Bonnies rolled their eyes as they shook their heads. "No, you're ridiculous."
Elijah was looking at his counterpart with apprehension. "This does not seem possible."
"I would have to agree if not for the fact that we are looking at each other," the other Elijah replied.
"How did you manage to not break that curse?" One of the two Klauses was raging at the other. "You had a whole year I did not to take care our plan."
"I was working out a new way to fix this dilemma. Thank you," Klaus snarled. "The doppleganger gave me information that would have enabled me to find you and fix this."
"What?" Caroline gasped as she stared at Klaus and then moved toward him quickly gripping him by the shoulders. "What did you do?" she hissed and the other Klaus backed away.
"I compelled her to give me information," Klaus told Caroline and she shook her head, backing away. "I should have known better."
"I spent a thousand years trying to break this curse, Caroline," Klaus tried to explain. "You cannot believe that my desire would just disappear overnight."
"For me, Klaus. For us," Caroline shouted before attempting to flee the room and running into another invisible barrier. "You have got to be kidding me."
"Caroline," Klaus called.
"Leave her alone, Klaus," Elena Gilbert yelled hurrying over to her friend attempting to comfort the crying Caroline while the one with short hair sat down on the floor and began to cry.
"What is her problem?" Dominic asked Katherine, who shrugged.
"No idea what's wrong with any of these idiots. Back to why you're a guy?" Katherine glared at Dominic.
"How do you think I feel about you're being a woman?" Dominic snapped at her.
"Do you want to make out?" Katherine asked him and he nodded as they moved into a corner and her Elijah tried to ignore them.
"Mother, do you plan on doing that spell sometime soon?" Elijah called to his mother as she looked around the room at the crying, fighting, yelling, laughing and generally crazed group.
"Stop!" The Esthers shouted and there was a sudden silence in the room. "I want you to all stop this at once. Do you understand me?" Staring around the room the Esthers waited sternly for everyone in the room to calm down. "Good. Now, we can begin the spell."
"What is the purpose of this spell?" Elijah asked his mother as he walked toward her with his hand in his pocket with his double performing the same action causing Elijah to feel strange.
"The earlier spell that was performed literally split what should have been one world into two separate worlds. That should not have happened. So, we must correct that mistake and merge them again," the Esther on the left explained.
"Once the spell is performed then you will be whole once more," the Esther on the right added.
"What do you mean, whole?" Damon Salvatore asked looking confused.
"You were split in two," the Esther on the left told him.
"Huh?" Damon Gilbert asked.
"Like on that one episode of Buffy when there were two Xanders, right?" Kol called and everyone turned to look at him.
The other Kol smirked. "What? Do you think that is surprising? There were many attractive women on that show. I also watch How I Met Your Mother. Ummm… Alyson Hannigan. I love witches."
The Bonnies rolled their eyes and sat down on the couch. "Do you need our help?" They asked the Esthers.
"No. Thank you dear," Easter on the right replied.
"But I'm not anything like him," Damon Salvatore protested. "I would never wear those," he pointed at Damon Gilbert's sneakers.
Damon Gilbert shook his head. "Yup, we're nothing alike."
"I am sorry to tell you but I am telling the truth," Esther on the left told him before joining hands with her double. "It is time to restore the balance." Before anyone could protest the two Esthers began to chant and Damon felt his head begin to swirl. Oh, this was so not cool. He felt like one of those women with fainting couches and all that.
Waking up, Damon sat up. He was waiting to find more Damons in the room but he felt the urge to grin when there was just him. Looking to his left he found one Elena. "Hi," he whispered as she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Hi," Elena whispered smiling happily. "Are they gone?"
"I think so," Damon told her as he got to his feet and pulled her up. Klaus was on the other side of the room and had made his way to Caroline's side. Damon felt his eyebrows go up at the sight of Caroline's hair which now hung right above her shoulders. She would not be happy about her combining with the other Caroline's changing her physical appearance.
"Get away from me," Caroline hissed at Klaus who stared at her but sat back.
"Are you all ready for the next spell?" Esther called.
"NO!" Almost everyone in the room yelled.
"Does this mean that all of you have changed your minds?" Esther asked them looking around herself.
"I have," Elena called as she walked toward the witch.
"Are you sure?" Damon asked her looking concerned.
"Yes," Elena told him, smiling happily as she touched his cheek, and then walked toward Esther. "What do you need?"
"Your blood," Esther told her and that got the attention of everyone in the group.
"What?" Klaus looked suspiciously at his mother. "She is dead. Her blood no longer works."
Esther ignored her son as she pulled out a knife from her bag and then she held out her hand to Elena. Elena held out her hand and hissed as Esther cut into her palm and began to pour the blood into a bowl she pulled out of her bag. "Damon, I will need your blood, too."
Damon looked surprised but held out his hand and allowed Esther to pour his blood into the bowl. He was shocked when Esther looked silently at Rebekah, Kol, Elijah and then Klaus. Rebekah came over and offered her palm. Elijah was next, followed by Kol. Klaus frowned into the bowl. Esther handed the bowl to Klaus and then cut into her own palm. Pouring her blood into the bowl Esther nodded satisfied. "The potion is complete."
"And, what, you want us to drink that?" Damon questioned the witch who stared intensely at the son who had killed her.
"Yes," Esther replied never averting her gaze from Klaus'. Klaus turned to look at Caroline who stared back at him unhappily. Lifting the bowl slowly to his lips, Klaus took a long gulp and then stared at Caroline. He handed the bowl to Rebekah who repeated the action as her brother walked over to sit on the couch and look at the blonde on the floor.
Rebekah handed the bowl to Kol who drank and handed it to Elijah. Elijah handed it to Katherine who reluctantly accepted it and then handed it to Caroline who had gotten up to accept the bowl. Caroline then handed it to Stefan. Stefan handed the bowl to Elena who thanked him. Elena handed the bowl to Damon who looked at the blood left in the bowl. "Bottoms up," Damon nodded at the others and then drank the last of the blood.
"I don't feel different," Caroline informed Esther.
"It will not work immediately. Give it a moment," Esther told Caroline when Klaus suddenly dropped to the floor and began to gasp.
"AAAAAAAAwwwwwwwww," Klaus screamed in pain as he dropped to the floor and Caroline rushed to his side.
"What's happening? What's wrong with him?" Caroline yelled at Esther angrily as the other vampires wondered what kind of potion they had just ingested.
"You wanted to change nature. It demands a balance," Esther informed Caroline. "This is the price." Klaus began to scream again and then Rebekah dropped to the floor on her knees and began to scream as well.
"Mother, what have you done?" Elijah demanded as he and Kol went down as well. The other vampires felt frightened and Damon and Elena clutched at each other. They were terrified for each other and the fate of their friends.
When Elena dropped to the floor and blacked out minutes later like every other vampire in the room. Damon was the last to retain his senses. "What was that spell, Esther?" Damon snarled as he bared his fangs at the witch. If he could he would make her death a more permanent one.
"I am fixing the problem I created one thousand years ago. I am the one who created the race of vampires one thousand years ago. I had no idea the plague that I would release upon the world. My intention was to save my family. I was wrong. Now, I have the ability to correct my mistake."
"By killing your children?" Damon gasped in horror staring at the bodies of the Originals as Esther came to stand over him.
"You will understand soon, Damon," Esther whispered placing her hands over his eyes as he lost his strength. "Rest now."
Damon laid down feeling the pain leave his body and the world begin to fade away. This was so wrong. He was sick of dying. How many times could he die? At least he could finally have some peace. A couple of hundred years wasn't so bad. And he had had love. He had had a short time with Elena but he had her. It was great. Being in love with her was greatest gift that he had been given.
And Damon and Stefan had been able to get past their problems. He felt really great about being able to sit down with his brother and be reminded of how good their relationship once was. They had loved each other in a way that defied all the pain they had inflicted upon each other over the years.
Yes, all in all, Damon had a good life and there were ups in his supernatural life that he could not complain about. Now, he felt a tug and that bothered him. What was that sensation? It was like that feeling when you're in middle of a good dream and then someone is shaking you awake.
Nope. Not gonna happen. I'm dead and I'm good with that. Trying to resist the tugging sensation Damon refused to open his eyes as he felt someone begin to shake him. "Damon. Damon, wake up," Elena called to Damon. Damon refused to listen to her. It was a dream. "Damon, come on, brother," Stefan called and Damon felt someone jerk him by the shirt and yank him upward.
"Leave me alone," Damon snapped and without wanting to, he opened his eyes. Looking at his brother he saw Stefan's annoyance and the warm flush to his complexion. Feeling the warmth to his skin he sighed. "So, that's the plan."
"What are you talking about?" Elena asked, taking his hand and looking him in the eyes.
Taking her hand Damon placed it to his heart and her eyes widened. "Oh."
Placing his hand to Stefan's chest, Damon grinned. "Now, that's a good feeling," he began to laugh aloud and Stefan stared at him before placing his hand to Damon's chest and then he grinned.
"Stefan," Rebekah called and Stefan turned to Rebekah who was checking her pulse. "It's beating. My heart is beating," Rebekah whispered and then spoke louder because her voice was too low. "I'm alive," the Original shouted and then began to do a happy dance.
Stefan shook his head with a big grin as he looked at Damon and Elena.
Then they heard Caroline arguing with Klaus. "Just leave me alone. I don't care why you did it. Just leave me alone," Caroline was shouting as she ran out of the room and out of the house.
"Caroline," Klaus shouted and was stopped from leaving the house by Elijah.
"Give her time, brother," Elijah told her.
Damon got to his feet. "Let's get out of here before Klaus realizes that he's human."
"I'm what?" Klaus shouted and then the Salvatores and Elena left the house quickly as Kol and Elijah restrained their brother.
"So? Now what do we do?" Stefan asked, stuffing his hands inside his pockets.
"I guess we go back to our lives," Elena replied as they walked down the sidewalk quietly in the early dusk.
"We don't need these anymore," Damon said, pulling his daylight ring off and throwing it across the lawn. He watched it sail through the air and drop to the floor ten feet away. It was funny that it barely went that far but it thrilled him in a way. He would never have thought he would be this relieved to be alive again.
After being swept into Damon Gilbert's life Damon Salvatore had believed that being human was not what he wanted. Oddly, it turned out that it was exactly what he wanted as he looked at his brother who was throwing his own ring across the lawn. Taking Elena's hand he gave her a twirl. They all began to laugh as they walked along the sidewalk.
"Are you going to join us for high school now?" Elena asked Damon with a large grin.
Damon shook his head emphatically, "No way. Maybe I'll think about college but not high school. No way in hell."
"Oh, come on, Damon. What are you afraid of? You can join the football team with me," Stefan teased and Damon gave him a light shove. They start to give each other light shoves before they began to spar with each other.
Elena shook her head, "I'll race you back to the house," she took off running. Stefan and Damon grinned at each other before they decided to run. What surprised Elena was that they ran right past her toward their own house and then she laughed aloud because she and Damon had the same thought in mind. For the first time in over a hundred years the Salvatore boys were going to run home at a human pace. "Go, Damon," she cheered and watched her love run ahead of his brother. They would be okay.
It makes me sad that this story is almost over but all good things must come to an end. If you're a big Delena fan and you haven't already, I highly recommend my new story "Once Upon a TVD Fairy Tale" which features Delena as one of the three major couples in the story and "The Mystic Falls Dare Club which is told from the perspective of Klaus but has plenty of Delena as kids growing up and failing in love moments.
Thanks for faving, following and for reading: Ghostwriter, zikae218, Guest, MysticGirl200, Yazmin V and redbudrose.
Peace,
LL