A/N: Welcome at Story's End! It's been 13 years since the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, so I'm afraid that the reason behind this greeting's becoming obsolete, but oh well ;)
It's also been more than 7 years since the beginning of The Vampire Diaries and it feels strange to think that in several weeks the series will be over. I think in my first A/N for this fic I said I wouldn't watch S7. Well, I changed my mind. After almost two years of wallowing in sadness I decided that after so many years of frustrating and annoying at times, but still predominantly beautiful and amazing storytelling I owe the show a bit of trust.
So I'm choosing to believe that the series will give Damon and Elena the finale their story deserves. I'm choosing to believe that the show will end with Damon and Elena finding their way back to each other. As always.
As for my DE stories... I won't be making any grand announcements that this is my last fan fiction ever, but... it quite possibly is. Solely due to the lack of time, might I add. Because I'll always love TVD, Damon & Elena, and all of you, the amazing people that I've met thanks to this wonderful site :) You kind of just changed my life ;)
And now onto the...
Thank You Note
I would like to thank so so so so so so so much
AJay 1208, Ana4267, Angelpete87, Ani, Anna Lane, Beasassy, Bernadette1943, Bonnie and Clyde fan 9-22-11, Cary Kate, Celia, Courtney, dearelena, Delenadiva, DelenaIsBatman, delenaveforever, Destrark, dldeibler, Eleid, Elmira Gulch, EsCaDa-Mako, Evelyn Ankers, Finley Jean, Flowersprincess16, Freedom to Rarity, Hana, harmonylove050, Helene08, His Gem, IceTear1, ldavis27, itwillalwaysbedamon, jairem, kat st james, kimminnee, kittyfajitas, Leah, legend402, LGZSPECCY, Lizzy Salvatore-Cooper-Grey, lucy willow, mackenzie6426, Mallory J, ManaliA, melisareynolds12, Mina, minisum, .Sexy, Nejlla, nicolebaka, NinasGirlxo, PattyCake17, raspberry5698, sahlamari, , ScarletRose, scarlett2112, Seddielover945, Sey77, Shadowdancer456, sloksingh45, StarfireKTreva801, stilesxandlydia, SweetyK, . , TheRoadtoHell666, thisdarkpassenger, This Is My Escape, TruffleShuffle21, Tvd2014, TVDTVDTVD, Whitney1278, widowelena, Willofthewisp, xELinneax, ZuzusPetals1985, and all the Guest reviewers
for your amazing, beautiful, inspiring reviews that always made me smile, made me happy, carried me through sad moments, gave me hope when I needed it :)
May 2017 bring you everything you're wishing for!
Happy Damon & Elena's reunion year! :)
*hugs*
Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries belongs to L.J. Smith & CW. I own Elena's dream world, a restaurant in the purgatory world, Hope's sand molds, Lily's tea cups, the anti-love spell, the aging spell, the time travel spell (I could probably write a full-length grimoire lol), the golden threat, whatever herbs Shane was eating to survive on that island for so long, Desmond, Elena's wedding dress, Damon and Elena's new house, Klaus' bank accounts, Denver, Atlanta, and the person whose diary entry you're about to read ;)
Epilogue
Hello world! I mean, Dear Diary,
Grandma Miranda says writing a diary is fun, so I decided to give it a try. My Mom also had a diary, but she accidentally burned it... along with her house. Well, it wasn't really an accident. It happened when my Mom was helping Uncle Jeremy fake his death. It's a long story.
I'm not sure what is the best way to start a diary, so I guess in this first entry I'll just write about my family. I have the best Mom, the best Dad, the best sister and the best brother in the whole entire world! Although don't tell my sister and my brother I said that, because I like fighting with them too, so I have to keep pretending I don't like them all that much ha ha
My Mom's a surgeon, my Dad's a cardiologist, my brother's in college, my sister's in high school, and I'm in 4th grade. We also have a puppy whose name's Vampire. He's really cute and likes running around like crazy. When we take him for walks, we often have to chase after him. You can imagine how hilarious it is when we have to call after him in public. People scatter! ha ha Especially here in Mystic Falls, for some reason. We also have a cat whose name's The Cure. I think our cat's named after a music band, but I don't really know any of their songs. It was Dad who came up with both names. He also wanted to name my sister Porch! It's a good thing Mom didn't let him. Although my brother and I always call my sister that anyway when we want to annoy her.
We live in Mystic Falls. We used to live in New York, but we moved back to Virginia five years ago. My Mom and my Dad and my brother and my sister were all born here. I was born in South Carolina where Grandma Isobel and Grandpa Shane live. My brother says I ruined everyone's vacation, because I was supposed to be born 3 weeks later. I don't really care, because it's pretty cool to be the only person born somewhere else than everyone else in your family. Grandma Isobel and Grandpa Shane are both university professors and they spend a lot of time reading, writing, and traveling. I think they've been everywhere!
I want to travel the world one day too, but for now I really like just living here in Mystic Falls. My Mom and Dad own a restaurant here! When they moved to New York, Grandpa John was taking care of it. Grandpa John is single and Dad says the whole point of leaving him a restaurant was so he could be meeting lots of people on a daily basis and meet someone who would want to marry him, but apparently they don't serve that much alcohol in that restaurant. I mean, I don't know what this has to do with anything, but that's what Dad said.
I don't remember living in New York much anyway. My Mom told me that she and Dad moved to New York two years after my sister was born. They bought a bar and were living in an apartment right above it! Both my Mom and Dad were in residency programs at that time, so they didn't have much time for the bar. They say it was all crazy and hectic, but fun too. Uncle Elijah and Aunt Hayley were helping with the bar, since they were living three streets away. Uncle Elijah was babysitting my brother and sister from time to time too, until he once agreed to play hide and seek with Denver and Atlanta. Let me tell you. That couldn't possibly go well. I know that and I'm 10, and Uncle Elijah must be at least 40 or something. Once when Mom and Dad came back from their anniversary dinner after several hours it was past midnight and... Uncle Elijah was still looking for Denver and Atlanta! And so was the New York Police Department! ha ha Uncle Elijah nearly had a heart attack. But fortunately Dad found Denver and Atlanta within 5 minutes. They were in a closet of all places. They had crayons with them and the walls inside the closet were all covered in all the words they knew how to spell (my brother was 7 and my sister 4 then). Uncle Stefan says making lists of things makes them easier to remember. Guess they wanted to put that advice into practice.
Both my Mom and Dad graduated from medical school, but Grandpa Grayson says it took him years of psychological torture to convince them to at last open a family practice in Mystic Falls. It was a small office at first, but it became so popular that Mom and Dad had to rent a bigger place and hire more people!
Mom and Dad are so funny. Once when they went to a parent-teacher conference at Denver's school they got in trouble and they landed in the Principal's office! Even Denver has never landed in the Principal's office. I don't know exactly what Mom and Dad did... I think they broke something in the chemistry lab.
My brother Denver is studying medicine at the same university where Great Aunt Sheila was teaching. Uncle Alaric was teaching there too for some time until he got fired for forging a sick leave form. The funny thing is, he didn't forge it. It's just that Dad gave him a fake one to begin with ha ha It was a prank, but Uncle Alaric didn't think it was funny and got mad at Dad. He came over to talk, but Dad told him to just forget about it. I'm not sure what was so funny about that response, but apparently it was hilarious, because even Mom laughed. But for some reason that made Uncle Alaric even more mad. Uncle Alaric gets mad quite often, but he always gets over it, eventually.
He and Dad used to participate in car races. It was fun seeing them race! We used to go all together. Races were on Saturdays, but we'd usually skip school on Friday (yay!) and drive to another town stay there for an entire weekend. Mom says road trips are our family's tradition. She and Dad went on road trips all the time when they were dating. Actually, that's where my sister's name comes from! Mom and Dad went on their first road trip to Atlanta. And they kissed, I mean, really kissed for the first time in Denver. I'm not sure what's the difference between kissing and really kissing, but Atlanta says there's a difference.
My sister Atlanta won Miss Mystic Falls last year! Denver says she won, because she shocked the jury by wearing a dress, but I think she won, because she danced really well. My sister is very pretty. She has long, black hair and blue eyes, but she isn't really into all the nails and make-up stuff. Denver says she's only pretending to be a tomboy to be free of teenage drama. Atlanta likes helping Uncle Stefan in his car repair shop instead. Miss Tanner says that's not a good hobby for a girl. When she told Atlanta that, Atlanta told her that apparently geography isn't a good hobby for a girl either, if Miss Tanner's knowledge of the subject is any indication. I think Atlanta read all of the books we have in the house. Mom and Dad say that's the only reason she can get away with all the things she says at school.
I go to school with my cousins Lexi and Henrik. They are twins and they are two years older than me. They are Uncle Stefan and Aunt Rebekah's children. We live only ten minutes away from each other!
Oh I have to tell you this. In March we'll all be flying to France! Our cousin Hope has her first vernisage in Paris! Hope's graduated from the best art school in Europe. I can't remember the name of the school, but Uncle Klaus says it's the best one, and that everyone he's ever met would confirm it.
Last year we all went to Hope's wedding. In Rome! Uncle Klaus bought plane tickets for everyone! Uncle Klaus and Aunt Caroline are very rich. They own 3 art galleries in Europe and an island in the Caribbean! They're running a fashion resort there together with their son, our other cousin Claude. The fashion resort is a place where you go on vacation and you can also attend fashion events and design your own clothes! It sounds really fun. I haven't been there yet, because there's also a casino there and Mom and Dad say it's not a place for kids. I don't think they know Denver went to a casino when he was 16. His ex-girlfriend's parents were working there and once they sneaked in and won a lot of coins. It was too bad they couldn't exchange them later for real money. Maybe then Denver could pay back his debt to the Tooth Fairy. Yep, you heard that right. My brother's indebted to the Tooth Fairy! Ha ha Here's how it happened. When he lost his first tooth, he found a $1 bill under his pillow, and started complaining about it, so the next time when he lost his tooth, he didn't find any money under his pillow, only a note saying that he's supposed to reimburse the Tooth Fairy for her traveling expenses, and until he does, she won't give him any more money at all. Told you my parents were funny.
And actually, there are many funny people in my family. For instance Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Enzo were married for two years, then they got divorced, and then they got married again! They have a daughter who is one year younger than Atlanta. They go to high school together. Aunt Bonnie has a flower shop and she's teaching me ikebana. Things she can do with flowers are pure magic! Last week there was a funeral in town and people bought a lot of flowers in Aunt Bonnie's shop. But all of these people were so sad. This is so sad that people die. When I grow up, I'm going to become a scientist and I'm going to find the cure for death. And then my family and everyone else is going to live forever!
Uncle Enzo is a businessman, but I think he should get a job as a Santa Claus, because he brings the best Christmas presents. He used to always dress up as Santa Claus when I was little. I figured out it was him when one year Santa Claus arrived in his car instead of a sleigh. Come on.
Uncle Jeremy also brings great presents. It was actually Uncle Jeremy who gave us Vampire. Uncle Jeremy was in the army, but he got injured and during the time when he was in a hospital, he drew so many pictures that Mom convinced him to do something with them. He did an exhibition in our local gallery, but someone noticed his drawings and liked them so much he also went to have an exhibition in New York and his drawings got to be published in a book! He won three awards for them already. Aunt Sarah (Uncle Jeremy's wife) also won many awards. She's a photographer. She and Uncle Jeremy are traveling a lot, but we often talk on Skype. Last year Aunt Sarah and her Mom opened an online jewelery shop and they are often sending Mom, Atlanta and me really pretty necklaces and bracelets.
Denver is coming home from college this weekend and he's bringing home his new girlfriend. And on Sunday we'll all be going stargazing! I love looking at the stars. This is also one of our family's traditions.
It's almost seven, so I have to start on my homework. Today is Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary. They're going out and you wouldn't want to be me if I don't have my homework done before Grandma Lily comes over. But maybe Grandpa Desmond will come too, and then I could probably get away with not having my homework done on time. Last time when Grandma Lily and Grandpa Desmond came to visit, we watched the Barbie contest together! No, I don't play with Barbies anymore. I'm too old for that. But this is something different. When our cousin Hope was 5, she and Dad participated in a Barbie contest together! And they won! And the recording of that contest is so fun to watch ha ha We always laugh so much when we watch it.
Homework is probably one of my least favorite things to do, but it has to be done before I can do things I actually like, like reading, painting and rollerskating. Or sailing, but that I can't do in the house. Oh, and there is one more thing I like. Watching Mom and Dad dance in the rain. Atlanta, Denver and I used to sit on the windowsill in Denver's bedroom and watch them dance. Every time it started to rain at night, when they thought we were all asleep, they'd run outside, dance around our garden, laughing and kissing. Atlanta says she'll only marry someone who will be dancing with her in the rain like that. And Denver says that this memory of seeing Mom and Dad dance is something that we can always carry with us, and that whenever something sad happens, we can just close our eyes and remember those nights of sitting on the windowsill and watching them dance. That it's something that will always make us feel better about everything. I'm going to try that out if I'll ever feel sad.
So this is it. My first diary entry! I'll see you again tomorrow. Bye!
Love,
Delena