"How is she doing?" Damon asked as Stefan came down the stairs of the Gilbert House and met him on the landing near the doorway

"Jeremy climbed in bed with her. She's asleep finally," Stefan sighed, rubbing his eyes

"I was thinking that since she's finally down, we should head back to the house," Damon said, "you know, check on the originals and Caroline, take care of Bonnie's body and Matt's, too...though we have no idea know where he is so, that should be fun—"

"And I'll have to call the insurance adjuster," Stefan scoffed with a small smile that Damon returned

"I bet you ten bucks the chandelier in the parlor is smashed to bits," Damon said, rolling his eyes, "Dad'll turn over in his grave. That chandelier is probably the one thing in our family that's actually from Italy."

"Zach had all the insurance papers in his office somewhere," Stefan chuckled over his shoulder as he made his way toward the front door, "I'll call Benson when we get there and maybe he can call Italy about a new chandelier for us—"

"Oh, I heard his son took over the business," Damon interjected, following behind his brother

"What? Why?" Stefan replied, stopping in his tracks and turning back to face his brother, "Where's Benson?"

"Oh, didn't you hear?" Damon asked innocently, biting his lip and squinting his eyes, unsure how to break the news, "Benson—Well, Benson might be the teensiest bit dead."

"Dead? When?" Stefan asked, his face falling

"About forty years ago," Damon confessed, his body language looking like five year-old who had swiped a forbidden cookie from the cookie jar, "He was kind of a little snack the last time I came to town to visit Zach—"

"Damon," Stefan chided as he watched his brother pass him and make his way to the door, "He was a family friend."

"And a member of the town council," Damon shot back as he threw the latch and pulled open the front door, "I can't be held responsible for past grudges and as I've mentioned before, not all of us can exist on bunnies, okay? But, if it makes you feel better, the guy tasted funny and didn't sit too well."

He then waved for his brother to follow him, "Now, let's not pout about it and get going."

Stefan sighed and nodded as he watched Damon cross the threshold.

Soon, Damon turned back to look at his brother, his face and voice full of mock enthusiasm as he rubbed his hands together like an anxious preteen girl, "You know, I hear Klaus is going to have a new body! Won't that be fun?"

"Yes. I'm so excited…I'm skipping home." Stefan deadpanned in a monotone voice as he shut the door behind them.

# # # # # # #

"Will there be any side effects?" Elijah asked, leaning against the fireplace in the back parlor of the Mikaelson Mansion, facing Misha and Kaspar, who were seated side by side on the leather couch in the center of the room, Rebekah perched on the arm closest to Misha.

"Well, we're talking about raising the dead, Elijah," Kaspar said, raising an eyebrow, "It's not an exact science—"

"What he wants to know, Dr. Frankenstein," Rebekah interjected, turning toward the necromancer, "Is will this come back to bite us in the ass somehow?"

"That, I don't know," Kaspar quipped, "Ask Misha, he's the mystic palm-reading drag queen... maybe he can see into the future for you—"

"Now that is a low blow!" Misha gasped dramatically, rolling his eyes as he clutched his chest and Rebekah chuckled, "You know how seriously I take my art!"

"I—I just don't know about this," Elijah said, ignoring the sibling squabble and stepping away from the fireplace, taking a seat on one of the leather recliners and looking anxiously down to his hands, "Perhaps we should have left things as they were. Raising Niklaus is one thing, but what if Esther ever comes back? She could be in danger if that happens and, by extension, all of us if Esther gets a hold of that much power, again —"

"That's not gonna happen, Boy." Misha said, trying to sound reassuring as he looked Elijah square in the eye, "She's gone…for good."

Kaspar nodded in agreement

"Alright," Rebekah said, suddenly, slapping her hands on her thighs and standing from her position on the edge of the couch and walking toward her older brother, kneeling down in front of him and taking his hands in hers, "You know what I think, Elijah? As dangerously gushy and trite as this may sound, I think that Elena Gilbert has lost a lot of people she's cared about in the last year and most of it has happened because of us, well…mostly Nik…but us, too."

Elijah smirked slightly at her comment, studying her as she took a measured breath then continued, "And I think that if we can give her this, we should. After all, we got someone we loved back out of all this…so should she...as much as I hate to admit it."

Suddenly, a voice came from the parlor doors as Kol entered, holding a still unsteady Bonnie Bennett under the elbows for support, "Here's our girl!"

Bonnie looked around the room, squinting hard at both the new and familiar faces in it, a little unsure for a few moments as to where she was and who she was with.

"What happened?" she asked in a groggy voice

Misha turned to his brother.

"I'm just a simple 'mystic palm-reading drag queen'," he quipped in a feminine southern accent, "You wanna take this one Dr. Frankenstein?"

# # # # # # #

He couldn't believe it…

It was him.

He was back.

Klaus dried his freshly washed face with a hand towel, smiling slightly as he studied it closely in the bathroom mirror, running his hand over his smooth, chiseled chin and turning to the side to view his profile. Growing up, people had always commented on how uncannily identical he and Ioan had always looked, more so than most twins. Klaus had always laughed it off centuries earlier, but now as he looked at himself reborn, he had to agree.

It was so surreal. It was like he had never left his own body.

Of course, the hair had to go and a wardrobe change would be necessary or the townspeople might start to think that someone was shooting a Viking movie in Mystic Falls, but otherwise, this whole 'new body' thing might just work out.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

Klaus stepped away from the mirror and walked out of the bathroom, furrowing his eyebrows curiously as he threw the hand towel over his bare shoulder and crossed his bedroom to open the door.

It was Caroline.

Klaus' breath caught when he saw her.

She had a response of her own, blushing at the sight of him half-naked.

"Caroline," he finally said, stating the obvious

"I—I brought you some clothes," she said softly, holding out the neatly folded pile of mens clothes in her arms

"I see," Klaus deadpanned with a smile

"Yeah," Caroline continued nervously, trying not to let her eyes wander over his exposed flesh, "Well, Elijah mentioned that Ioan was slightly taller than you and well, physically larger in general …"

She suddenly trailed off and visibly swallowed

"Anyway, long story short, he thought you might need some bigger clothes, so he had me raid Finn's closet."

Klaus nodded in response

Then a few moments of awkward silence fell between them.

"Would you like to come in?" Klaus suddenly asked, stepping back and holding the door open for her

"Oh..uh… no…" Caroline gasped quietly, shaking her head, thinking of all the things that might happen if they were alone in the same room together…him half naked and… "I just came to bring you these and… so I have."

She smiled nervously as she handed the clothes across the threshold to Klaus, who took them into one arm with a perplexed look.

"Thanks," he said awkwardly

"Okay then…" Caroline said, taking a deep breath before turning away to head back downstairs

"Caroline, wait," Klaus said quickly, reaching across the threshold and taking her hand with his free one.

Caroline closed her eyes at his touch and forced herself to turn back.

"I—I know this is a bit strange," Klaus started, his eyes focusing on Caroline' as she opened her eyes to look at him, "Me being, sort of myself again…and not in Tyler's body. And I also know that it might change your feelings—"

Caroline took a deep breath, "Klaus—"

"No, wait. I need to say this," Klaus said, suddenly dropping the clothes onto the floor at his feet and stepping across the threshold into the hallway, now taking both of his hands in hers, "Listen, I don't want things to change between us, Caroline. Because, I like the way things are with us now...alot."

He smirked and she blushed, knowing that he was thinking about their hot make-out session in the woods.

"And—" he said, looking down for a moment, then looking up at her with soft eyes, "well, I've waited a long time for you…centuries, really…but, I want you to know that I understand what you must be going through right now and that I'll wait centuries more if that is what it takes for you truly fall in love with me in this body and not in Tyler's."

"You think that's all that was?" Caroline immediately asked, perplexed

"Well, I know feelings can be biased when people you don't know are sort of driving around the skin of people you do know …"

"Klaus," Caroline said, holding his hands tighter in hers as her gaze met his head on, "Let's get something straight, alright? I know who it was that I was talking to through the Lockwood's cellar door and who I went all 'true confessions' on in my car and whose lips I was kissing in those woods…it was you. And I wouldn't change that for the world."

Klaus smirked with a mixture of relief and happiness, bringing one of his hands up to stroke the side of Caroline's face as she smiled, her eyes dancing.

There was another silence as they both absorbed the moment, then Klaus spoke, stepping closer to Caroline.

"Then, I propose something…" he said in a low voice

"Yes?" Caroline asked, every nerve in her body tingling with anticipation at the shrinking proximity of this very handsome and shirtless man.

Caroline closed her eyes and held her breath as Klaus leaned in and brushed her curly locks aside, his fingertips gently grazing the skin on the side of her neck as he whispered in her ear.

"When this is all over, I propose that you and I, Miss Forbes, go out on a date."

Caroline exhaled, opening her eyes with a giggle

# # # # # # #

Elena opened her eyes and turned her head to her left, moving her arm over and hoping to feel her brother lying next to her, but all she felt was the blanket he had been laying under as he had held her until she fell asleep.

And it was cold.

He had been up for a while.

Then, as she pulled herself to a sitting position, she picked up a noise downstairs with her vampire hearing, then footsteps before the door opened and Jeremy walked in.

His face was pale and his mouth still hanging open as he brought his cellphone down from his ear.

"Jer?" Elena asked, her voice urgent as she sat forward, "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Damon just called. It's Bonnie…" Jeremy started, but Elena interjected, remembering that Jeremy had been out for most of the last part of the fight with Esther—her voice heightening with emotion as she relived in her mind the moment one of her best friends died before her eyes.

"Jeremy I'm so sorry. I should have told you that Esther snapped her neck—there was nothing we could do—"

"Well, apparently there was…" Jeremy stated, still dumbfounded by what was about to come out of his mouth.

"What do you mean?"

"Damon just put Bonnie on the phone," Jeremy smiled in disbelief, "She's alive, Elena. They were able to somehow channel the magic Esther took from her back into her body. She's alive."

Elena's mouth fell open

# # # # # # #

"Yes. I'm looking at the damage now," Stefan said, standing in the middle of the Salvatore's back parlor, his IPhone pressed to his ear and his eyes trained on the damage scattered about the room, including the wedding cake chandelier that lay in a shattered pieces at his feet, "By the way…how are you at finding replacements for three hundred year –old chandeliers?"

Damon smirked as he turned to Elijah, who was watching Rebekah sit down on the couch next to Bonnie Bennett, offering her a glass of water.

"Is she really going to be okay?" Damon asked, his eyes falling on Bonnie

"Only time will tell…" Elijah sighed, "I wish I had a better answer, but that's all I have."

Damon nodded, then looked around the room, "Where are your warlock friends?"

"Misha and Kaspar went to retrieve Matt Donovan's body," Elijah said softly, thinking of the last words Matt's spirit had spoken to him, "When they return, we'll turn his body over to you. He deserves a proper burial."

"Thank you." Damon said, meeting the original's gaze

Elijah nodded solemnly then asked, "It appears my Mother's body has disintegrated, but Kol's making final preparations for the funeral rites of my youngest brother and, if you like, we could include Matt—"

"Funeral rites?" Damon suddenly interjected with a raised eyebrow

"Yes. When my brothers died, their bodies were preserved with magic and buried. Ioan's body is now Niklaus' vessel, but Henrik's body still remains. He deserves to finally be laid to rest as per Nordic tradition."

"And just how to do you plan to that?" Damon inquired

"Well, traditionally we burn our dead, Damon. This ensures that the soul is truly free, never to haunt it's mortal body again. And in this case, it's the best defense in keeping anything or anyone from using him as a weapon against my siblings and I ever again."

"Sounds good," Damon agreed, "Just don't let Sheriff Forbes catch you."

"Would you like us to honor Matt as well?" Elijah asked

"I appreciate the thought, but Stefan and I will take care of it."

Elijah nodded with understanding eyes

"Alright," Kol said, suddenly walking into the room, holding a bow and slinging a pack of arrows over his back as he waved a small bottle of accelerant and a lighter in his hand, "Let's do this."

# # # # # # #

When Elena and Jeremy arrived at the Salvatore Mansion, they were greeted by Damon and Caroline.

"How are you doing?" Caroline asked Elena softly, judging her emotional state

"I'm…I'm okay…" she whispered, though clearly her eyes said the opposite

"Where's Bonnie?" Jeremy asked, quickly removing his coat, turning to Damon as the older Salvatore helped Elena remove hers

"She's in the back parlor." Damon said, nodding in the general direction of the room.

Jeremy smirked slightly before taking off.

"So is Bonnie really okay?" Elena asked Damon when her brother had disappeared out of sight.

"I think so. She seems a little out of it, but being dead can do that to people," he replied, hanging her coat on the hallway tree.

"I just can't believe she's alive," Elena smiled, still unsure of how it made her feel

"Score one for Team Mystic Falls," Damon smirked and Caroline silently cheered with mock enthusiasm behind him causing Elena to chuckle

Then she nodded to the two of them and started heading down the hallway toward the parlor, but Damon stopped her, grabbing her arm gently

"Elena, we need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" Elena asked, turning back to face them, her curiosity peaked

"Elijah's friends—the warlocks—they retrieved Matt's body for us. It's—well, he's upstairs." Caroline said

Elena's breath hitched and her eyes absentmindedly moved up to the ceiling.

"We are going to give him a proper burial—Stefan, Caroline and I—and we thought you might want to be there."

"Of course I do," Elena said softly then added "Just us, though?"

Absentmindedly, she found her thoughts moving to Elijah.

"Where is everyone else?" she asked

"Well, they have their own funeral to tend to." Damon replied

# # # # # #

"I still can't believe we're doing this," Rebekah said as she stood next to her brother at the water's edge of the quarry lake, "Isn't there a law now against burning bodies?"

"Who died and made you the funeral police, Bekah?" Kol smirked, turning toward her

Rebekah wrinkled her nose at him and scoffed as she looked down to the bow in his hand, "Just watch where you point that thing, alright?"

"I quite agree," Klaus chimed in nearby as he came to Rebekah's side, "Finn was the archer in the family, you however, will just poke someone's eye out by the time this is all over."

"God, it's good to know that after a thousand years, some things never change…" Kaspar smirked, looking over his shoulder at Rebekah, Kol and Klaus still arguing on the bank, then turned to Elijah and Misha as they stood surrounding the wooden rowing boat that now held the body of Henrik Mikaelson.

"We ready?" Misha asked, placing a reassuring hand on Elijah's shoulder as the original stared down at the peaceful face of his youngest brother.

After a few moments, Elijah nodded and stepped back, watching silently as Kaspar and Misha leaned down and each pulled up a container full of accelerant that sat at their feet, instantly pouring it over Henrik's body.

When they were finished, Elijah started to make his way back up the bank toward his siblings, who had now stopped arguing as they watched him approach.

Misha and Kaspar stayed behind, gently shoving the boat off the shore and into the vast lake, everyone now watching as it started on its journey.

"Lo, there do I see my Father," Elijah said in a methodical tone, remembering in English the funeral prayer he heard recited so many times in his youth, "Lo there do I see my Mother and my sisters and my brothers…"

"Lo, there do I see the line of my people...back to the beginning…" Rebekah recited, joining Elijah in the prayer, her hand snaking around his arm to take his hand in hers as she came to his side.

"Lo, they do call to me...They bid me take my place among them..." Klaus added

"In the halls of Valhalla…" Kol followed

"Where the brave may live forever." They all finished together

Then there was a moment of silence and they all bowed their heads

"Strength and honor…" Elijah said

"Courage and valor…" Klaus recited the response automatically

Then Elijah recited the last words of the ritual, usually reserved for the eldest male in deceased's family.

"Av vilje Odin, kan din sjel nå være fri…" Elijah said solemnly, before raising his head and turning to Kol, finding that he had already lit the arrow strung in his bow during the recitation.

Elijah nodded to him and Kol angled the bow high in the air, taking aim for a few moments before shooting the arrow out into the distance.

They all watched, holding their breath as the arrow arched through the night sky, brushing the stars as it fell and finally hit its mark, wreathing Henrik's boat in the flames that would free his mortal flesh and send his spirit home to their ancestors.

# # # # # # #

"That should do it," Stefan said as he slowly slid the face of one of the vaults in the Salvatore Family crypt back into place and it was only as he stepped way, that Elena read the carved on the stone.

Stefan Matteo Salvatore

1846-1864

Beloved Son

"I don't understand…" she said softly, "We just buried Matt in your vault?"

"It's been empty for centuries," Damon said, coming up next to her and pointing to his own headstone, "They both are."

Damon Alessandro Salvatore

1840-1864

"And whosoever liveth and

believeth in me shall never die."

John 11:26

"But, as far as the world knows," he continued, "they aren't. It's the perfect place to bury a body that we don't want anyone to find."

Elena nodded, then looked over to Jeremy, Caroline and Bonnie.

There was a moment of silence among the group before Stefan spoke.

"Would someone like to say a few words?" he asked softly, stepping away from the vault

Elena opened her mouth, but nothing came out…she found herself too overwhelmed with emotion.

Suddenly, Damon stepped forward and did the last thing anyone expected him to do.

With his hand, he brushed the stone face of one of the nearby vaults gently, then came forward toward Matt's final resting spot and starting reciting the 23rd Psalm.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul."

Soon, Stefan stepped forward and put his arm around his brother, wiping away the tear that now came to his eye.

"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake," Stefan said, taking over the psalm from his brother, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies," they continued together, "thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

"Amen." They all said together when the brothers had finished

"He was a good friend," Jeremy said softly

"Him, we liked..." Damon smiled

"Him, we loved..." Caroline said, her lip trembling

"He was the best of all of us," Stefan added in a solemn voice

Elena took a deep breath as she stepped forward and silently laid the flowers in her hand at the foot of the vault that now held Matt Donovan's body.

No words could expressed how she felt.

She wasn't even going to try.

And as she stepped back, Elena saw Stefan and Damon huddled together near the stone Damon had brushed with his hand earlier.

Stefan said a few muttered words to Damon and to Elena's surprise, Damon nodded then embraced his brother.

The stone read:

Lucianna Maddelena Caldente Salvatore

1820-1846

Beloved Wife and Mother

Psalm 23