((Hey Guys! Sorry it's been awhile and sorry this is a short chapter. I'll update again soon.))
It was uncontrollable and fierce.
Maybe it was because she was a newly made vampire, incapable of controlling her heightened emotions or maybe it was because every single memory of Matt—from the first day they met in Kindergarten, until moments before when Elena saw him as a ghost—flashed through her mind.
She tried to breathe, though now, as a vampire, she didn't exactly have to, but still tried-more to calm herself than anything else.
He's dead…she thought as he fell to her knees, trying to catch herself against the brick wall.
Not only had she lost Bonnie today, but Matt.
And suddenly, the tears came harder and her chest heaved more rapidly.
As her head fell back, Elena caught a glimpse of someone tall—a male figure with dark hair.
"Elijah…" she whispered through wet, blurry, half-opened eyes
"No, Elena it's me—it's Damon," Damon said in a soft, sympathetic voice, kneeling down next to her on the grass.
"Matt's gone," she suddenly blubbered, falling into the eldest Salvatore Brother's arms
"I know," Damon replied, looking up to Stefan, who was looking through the window above them now at what was transpiring, Caroline now at his side, holding the cookie jar in her hands.
Damon's eyes moved back to Elena.
"Come on…" he whispered sweetly, wrapping his good arm around her and pulling her into his grasp with ease
# # # # # # # # #
For a few minutes there seemed to be an eerie silence that fell between the spirits on one side of the room and the three vampires, one hybrid and two warlocks that faced them on the other side.
Everyone eyed each other, finally able to focus on one another with Esther out of the way.
"Ioan…" Tyler/Klaus smiled, Kol at his side, as he stepped forward toward his twin brother. He wished he could touch him—hug him—hold him. He reached his hand out absentmindedly to touch his brother's arm, but Ioan just smiled sadly as it passed through.
# # # # # #
"Mama, Thank You—" Misha said a few feet away, facing Ayanna and his sister with Kaspar now at his side
"Hush, Baby," Ayanna soothed, then looked over to Elijah, "I'm not the one you should thank. He was the one who brought us here. I just showed you the way. Anyway," she continued, turning back to her sons, "It's over now and I'm so proud of both of you."
Kaspar looked to Misha and smiled.
"We should be going," Gloria said, looking toward Ioan's spirit and Tyler/Klaus, "I think you all have some unfinished business to attend to."
# # # # # #
As Rebekah helped a still weakened Elijah to the nearby couch, the siblings suddenly noticed they were not alone.
"Matt," Rebekah whispered with a trembling voice as she looked up upon the pale face of Matt Donovan's spirit.
Matt smiled as he looked at the two of them, then after a few moments spoke
"Tell Elena I'm okay?" he asked, "Tell her that I love her—all of them—and that I died with no regrets?"
"Of course," Elijah said solemnly, "But Matt, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Matt replied
"Why did you appear when I summoned the power of the talismans? How are we connected?"
Matt smiled as he stepped back, "In your heart, you know the answer to that, Elijah."
Then with one last look at Rebekah, he was gone.
# # # # # #
"How are you feeling?" Liliya asked, taking Rebekah's place next to Elijah
"I've been worse," Elijah smiled weakly, looking her over with kind eyes, "Where is Elena?"
"Our connection is still intact. I feel she is safe. Damon has her." Liliya acknowledged
"Good," Elijah sighed, relieved, then his eyes fell on Henrik as his youngest brother came to stand in front of him.
"Ejah?"
"Ja?" Elijah answered in their native tongue, his heart swelling at the mention of his childhood name as he watched his younger brother look over his shoulder toward Ioan, then turn back to face him.
"Kan vi gå hjem nå?" Henrik asked
Elijah closed his eyes and nodded.
"Yes, Henrik, you can both go home now."
# # # # # # #
"Well, now that the 'love fest' is over with," Kaspar smiled, rubbing his hands together as he and Misha came over to join Rebekah, Elijah, Liliya and Henrik, "we can do what we came to do."
"'Love fest'?" Rebekah asked with a curious smile
"Oh, yeah…" Kaspar replied, "Love all around, girl. Vengeance brought the spirits here, but it was the love in those talismans around Elijah's neck that generated their protection—bonded them to him and by default, to Niklaus and all of you. See, once he was in control of the connection Esther tried to kill you all with, she had to back down."
"I just wish we could have seen Finn longer," Rebekah said, looking to Elijah with sad eyes
"Well, he was the one both sides of Esther's soul loved and he was the only brother, well, besides Henrik here, that Elijah had a strong bond with. If we were going to send her back to the light, not the dark, it had to be him."
"What do you mean?" Rebekah asked, "Why would Finn and Henrik have a stronger bond with Elijah than we do?"
"Life and death are what truly bond people in the magical sense," Misha added, "Elijah saved Finn's life once and took Henrik's. That kind of love leaves a mark-an invisible bond."
"That's the power of love!" Kaspar suddenly sang out
"Did you really just do that?" Misha chuckled, turning to his brother with a raised eyebrow
"Too much?" Kaspar quipped with a smile
"Yes." Rebekah, Misha, Lililya and Elijah all answered simultaneously
"I don't understand this comment…" Henrik interjected, "Does it have something to do with the little people inside the television?"
# # # # # # #
With the reunions over and everyone safe, Kaspar and Misha endeavored to now bring Klaus back in Ioan's body and release Henrik and Ioan's souls back into the afterlife, so Kol immediately made his way out the front door, hoping to find what he had left safely on the lawn of the Salvatore Mansion when they had arrived.
But, when he made it down the porch steps, he stopped in his tracks, coming face to face with Caroline Forbes in a model stance, holding the teddy bear cookie jar up in her hands.
"Looking for this?" she asked with a coy smile