Author's Note: More loose ends here, two more songs after this. Zoraya Windwalker, thanks for the question; it's in here somewhere.
The lyrics and story title are from the song by Linkin Park.
Rate M for language, sexual content, sensitive matter, and dark themes.
I tried so hard and got so far,
But in the end it doesn't even matter…
It was early evening when Elena entered her old home, bursting through the door without knocking and yelling, "Jenna! Alaric!"
"Elena?" It was John, emerging from around an upstairs corner wearing an old t-shirt and jeans. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
As he descended the stairs, Elena flew up them and pulled John into a hug. Surprised, and a little off balance given the stairs that he was perched on, he froze until she leaned back, smiled shyly, and followed him down the remaining steps.
"You're… smiling?" John asked, sitting on the living room couch, Elena taking the seat next to him.
"Are Jenna and Ric home?" John shook his head. "Then what are you doing here?"
He sighed. "She's telling Ric tonight… about the baby," he paused to gauge her reaction, "And she didn't have time to put the surprise crib together before he gets home. I offered," he shrugged, "But they should both be home pretty soon if you wanted to talk to them."
"Actually, I need to talk to all of you, about everything. But, if you bear with me, I'd like to talk to you alone first."
John frowned. "About what?"
"John," Elena leaned forward, and took his hand, "I know you now. I didn't trust you, before I left. For my entire life, you'd only ever been cold and standoffish. You cared about Jeremy more than you cared about me. Then I found out that you were my father, and you threatened me, and you tried to kill people that I love. So, you can't really blame me for the trust issues, right?"
John opened his mouth to answer, but simply nodded his head instead.
"But now," she continued, "I've seen into your heart. I know that you care, about me, about this town, about all of us. And whether you're slated to die soon or not, you're good; you have a good heart. I trust you John; I love you."
John's jaw dropped, but before either he or Elena could say anything else, Jenna walked in.
"John!" she shouted, "Are you done? Ric won't be home for another little… Oh! Elena, what's going on?"
"I'm back," she smiled back.
A moment later, Jenna was seated in a chair, and Elena launched into her explanation of where she was, and what she was doing. By the time she described, minimally, how she got back, Jenna was in tears.
"Oh, damn hormones! So, if you don't mind my asking, what are you now?"
Elena laughed. "I'm back to normal. Or, well, I'm back to succubus-vampire crossbreed, which is normal for me now."
"And no leftovers?" John asked.
A shake of her head. "Well, I still remember everything from when I was up high, but I'm not connected anymore. Although I did learn how to control my succubus powers, so I don't go explosive on anyone. I can also throw out all my gloves, which'll be a waste, but whatever."
"Well," John slapped his knees and stood up, "I guess I'll head back up and finish that crib," he squeezed Elena's hand one last time, "Thank you."
After he was upstairs again, Jenna took his spot on the couch.
"Okay," Elena grinned, "Girl talk: How's the baby?"
"The baby's healthy. It's only been six weeks, as far as we can tell. Jeremy said that we could turn his old room into a nursery, since he's moved in with you guys. I was gonna have John put the crib in there, and then bring Ric in. He's been talking about starting a family since before we got married!"
"Oh! He'll be so excited! I'm so happy for you two! Oh my God!"
They hugged, both of them teary-eyed, for a long moment.
"Speaking of God," Jenna said pulling back, "You're okay now? For good?"
Elena smiled brightly at Jenna. "I took a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears, but it doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is that all is well, and we're all here together."
