Goodbye
Alex watched as Stefan, followed by Damon, walked out of the clearing. It would be the last time she would see Elena, and she would never see Jeremy or Jenna again. And Elijah, he was locked in some coffin. He didn't deserve that.
Alex remained seated at the altar, she pulled her coat tight around her as the night's chilly air cooled her warm skin. She smiled as James approached her and sat down beside her. He placed his arm over her shoulder and kiss the side of her head. He said, "All that power, your grandmother, must have been a badass witch." James smiled at her and nudged her shoulder.
Alex nodded. "From what Elijah told me, she was."
"What happened to him? I thought he was supposed to show up," asked James.
Elijah. She had hoped that maybe there would be a chance for a final goodbye, but it didn't seem like she was going to get one. "From what Klaus said, Elijah is dagger in a coffin alongside his siblings." Alex sighed and rubbed her eyes. Everything had worked out except for Elijah, and all because his brother was the biggest asshole on the planet. Alex wasn't going to let him suffer, not when Klaus couldn't hurt anyone anymore. "Can you do me a favour?" she asked.
James nodded. "Anything."
"Find Elijah, wake him up. Please," she said. "I know that you still don't like vampires…"
"I hate vampires, but I do believe that what we have believed in for the past eight years for me, five for you, the Council have twisted everything," said James. "I still don't like that they feed and kill humans, however, I will concede that not all are bad. Elijah seemed like one of the good ones, especially if he caught your fancy."
Alex leant her head on James' shoulder. "I love you," she said.
James smiled. "I love you too, which is why I hope you understand."
Alex frowned. "What do you mean?"
James pulled his arm off her shoulder's and grabbed her hands instead. He fiddled with her fingers for a moment and smiled. "You really think I would let you bind yourself to Elena so you could just die?"
Shock, anger and betrayal all filled Alex. She reached up and smacked him. "You bastard, you let her die."
James grabbed the hand she had smacked him with and shook his head. "No, I linked Elena, just not to you."
Alex didn't know what to do or to say. Who else would he have linked her too?
"I linked Elena to me." James squeezed her hand.
"What?" Alex was shocked. He couldn't have, Alex didn't believe him. "No," she said. "Your lying." She shook her head and pulled away from him. Tears, once again, ran down her face, and she found it hard to breathe.
"I had too." James pulled Alex to his chest and hugged her. "Elena needs you, and so does Jeremy. I could let you sacrifice yourself for them when I could be in your place." He pulled her head up. "I love you, Alexandra Gilbert, I couldn't let you die."
"What about Sarah?" Alex asked.
"I already had my chance to yell, cry and kick him." Sarah appeared before them and knelt down. She grabbed one of James' hands and squeezed it. "My idiot brother fell in love with the most strongwilled and stubborn woman he could have found, which meant he always had to find a way to be more strongwilled and stubborn." Sarah smiled, and a tear slid down her cheek.
"For once, I'm not going to disagree with you," said Alex.
The three of them sat side by side on the ground. James had his arms around both Alex and Sarah, and they waited as the minutes ticked by. Alex didn't notice that James had gone until she opened her eyes. The morning sun was rising, and James was lying against her, still and pale. Alex stroked his cheek and placed a kiss on his forehead before standing up to wrap her arms around Sarah.
Alex stood in the doorway to Elena's bedroom. It was almost eleven o'clock, and Elena was sleeping, curled into Stefan, who was also asleep. She had come home, only after burning James' body. Sarah and Alex had gathered wood and burnt his body on a pyre as the sun started its day. Klaus' body was bound and then sealed inside a coffin that Alex had, for the meantime, had Sarah store at a storage facility until she could make over arrangements. She had also sent Sarah to meet up with Robert to wake up Jeremy and Jenna and have them brought back to Mystic Falls.
"I'm sorry about chocking you."
Alex turned her head to see Damon standing at the top of the stairs. Alex smiled and couldn't help the small laugh that bubbled from her chest. "Never thought you were the type to apologise," she said.
"I'm not," said Damon. "But she is alive, and so for that, I am thankful."
"You love her," Alex said.
Damon frowned. "No—"
"You do. It's why you reacted the way you did, and it's okay." Alex turned back to look at Elena.
"Even so, she loves Stefan. She's my brother's girl." Damon stepped up beside her. "And we both know that he is better for her."
Alex nodded. "Not going to disagree with you there."
The sound of the front door opening pulled Alex away from Elena's room, she walked downstairs to see Bonnie standing in the doorway. Bonnie smiled widely, "You're okay."
Alex nodded.
Bonnie dashed across the room and hugged her. "Stefan called and told me what you did, how are you still alive?"
Alex's guilt throbbed at the thought of James. "James linked himself instead of me to Elena."
Bonnie pulled back, and sadness filled her eyes. "Seems like something he would do."
Alex nodded. "That it was."
"Are you okay?" Bonnie asked.
Alex shook her head. "I don't really know, everything is a little much at the moment."
"No doubt." Bonnie squeezed her hands and asked, "How's Elena?"
"She seems okay," said Alex. "She is asleep upstairs."
Bonnie stayed with Alex for the rest of the morning. They sat in the kitchen drinking tea and talking about what had happened. Damon wandered around, fidgeting and cleaning—which was the strangest thing Alex had ever seen. It wasn't until almost 1 o'clock when they hear footsteps on the stairs.
Elena walked into the kitchen and froze when she saw Alex. "Your okay."
Alex smiled and nodded. "So are you."
Both sisters ran at each other and met in the middle. Alex buried her face into Elena's neck and just cried, the relief that they both had come out alive and safe on the other side of it all was an outcome that Alex had thought would be impossible. But here they were, crying and hugging. When they did manage to finally calm down, it was all upset when Sarah arrived with Jeremy and Jenna in tow. The tears flowed even more, and Alex pulled her family in for the tightest hug she could muster.
Alex had her family. Jenna was mad at them for knocking her out and trying to take care of themselves when she was the adult; Alex had tried to make her remember that she wasn't a child herself, but Jenna was insistent and scolded her and Elena like children. Jeremy had been annoyed as well, but he understood that both Alex and Elena had only wanted him safe.
They spent the rest of the day, filling them in on everything that had happened. Alex included Renee and the Council, she told her family everything.
By the end of the day, they were all tired and ended up falling asleep together in the living room. Elena and Alex spilt the couch, Jenna in the armchair, and Jeremy was comfortable on an assortment of pillows on the floor.
Alex had watched them sleep and knew that she wasn't going anywhere. The past five years had always been about staying away from Mystic Falls, she had always thought that she hated the town and the painful memories that came with it. But Mystic Falls was her home, it was where her family was, and most of all, it was where she was needed.
