' i sometimes look to the stars. to the moon. the great, dark sky. and wonder if what they see down on our earth terrifies them. '

It didn't take long for Skye to change out of her blood-stained clothes and into something cleaner.

She wouldn't have said no to a shower as well, but they were already losing precious time as it was.

Elena and Rebekah could be anywhere by now.

If they didn't find them, they had to start looking all over again. Those two were not a good combination to be left by themselves.

As soon as she buttoned up the last part of her crisp white blouse, she turned towards the mirror and took in her reflection.

Her skin, a fair white, her eyes, blue and bright, her mouth, rosy and pouted.

It surprised her. She would've thought that the heartbreak and tragedy would be able to be read from every crevice in her face, every little wrinkle, in the way her body held itself.

Instead, she looked normal. Okay.

It felt like a lie.

Turning away from the mirror, she casted one last look at the room, remembering the evening before.

At least there was still one memory that could make her smile.

Then she closed the door.

The car ride felt like it was lasting forever. They had been driving the entire day and night and it was nearing early morning. They were close to Damon's location, and even then, they still had a long way to go.

The only thing keeping her sane through the duration of it was Stefan's fingers interlocked with her, their hands resting between the seats.

She could feel his eyes on her occasionally, but her own blue hues were glued to the view outside the passenger side window, watching as everything blurred by.

Everything that had happened the last couple of days was wearing her down. She didn't know how to feel, or how to behave, or what to think.

'Can you call Damon and put him on speaker?'

Stefan's voice cut through her thoughts, both not haven spoken in a couple of hours, which caused the sudden noise to startle her.

Still, she complied, grabbing his phone from his jacket pocket, before dialing Damon's number and putting it on speaker.

She held the phone between them, head resting against the car seat, as Stefan spoke, 'We're almost there. Did you get the gas I asked?'

'Yeah, all two gallons of it. Took you long enough to get here. I was starting to get bored to death.'

Huh, who would have thought that she'd miss Damon's voice and blatant mockery?

'Well, I had some things to take care of, I'm not just on standby for whenever you screw up,' Stefan shot back, exchanging a glance with Skye before rounding the corner.

Damon came into view.

'Whatever, I'm hanging up now. I see your dumb car.'

They stopped in front of Damon, as Stefan rolled his window down, directing himself towards his brother.

'Put the canisters in the back and get in.'

'Yeah, yeah, no need to be so pushy,' Damon grumbled, before lugging the two cans with him to the back and popping open the trunk before storing them.

Coming back to the side of the car, he slid into the backseat, head popping in between their chairs.

'Hey, lovebirds. Good to see you walking around again, princess.'

The last part was directed at her, which made her roll her eyes before flicking him on the head.

He moved back in surprise, before whistling.

'You got yourself a feisty one, Stef. Who bit you in the ass this morning?'

Skye scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest as Stefan rolled out onto the road again and set course to Willoughby.

Never mind, she hadn't missed Damon at all.

'I'd like to see you in a good mood after waking up from a slumber of three months induced by your own sister, only to find out that not only your friend is dead, but also your brother.'

Her expression and voice remained neutral, but her mind was screaming at her, and Stefan's worried look did nothing to ease her conflicted emotions.

Thankfully, Damon got the hint as he sunk down into his seat and remained quiet for the rest of the ride.

This surprised her. Damon wasn't usually one to give up.

A couple of hours later, they arrived just two hours away from Willoughby, with a clear view of Damon's car down the road.

Heeled boots touched the pavement as she got out of the car, blonde hair blowing in the soft wind as she looked around.

The brothers got out after her, and Damon got the canisters filled with gas from the trunk.

Taking the lead, she walked a small way ahead of them, needing the space to ground herself.

She'd been in the car with them for hours, and she was starting to feel cooped up.

'If they so much as even scratched the paint on my car...' She heard Damon mumble from behind her, which was met with a scoff from Skye that he thankfully didn't hear.

'Well, just be grateful Sheriff Forbes was able to track down the car after you let them, ah, you know, steal it from you,' Stefan replied, a mocking lithe to his voice.

'Remind me to send her some mini-muffins.'

Walking a little slower to let the boys catch up to her, she listened to Damon's next inquiry with her eyebrows raised.

'Do we really need ten gallons of gas, or are you making me just lug this around as punishment?'

'Well, they left your car after it ran out of fuel. You have to fill it up. It's a hundred miles before we get to Willoughby,' Skye butted in, catching their attention.

'Yeah, well I don't remember that name from the list of places I got from New York.'

Skye shared an amused look with Stefan. Sheriff Forbes had been kind enough to direct them to their next destination, and she trusted the woman way more than she did Damon's incompetency.

'Oh, the list? The list they stole from right under your nose, after you let your guard down? They'll be there. Sheriff Forbes tracked down the car they stole after yours.'

She truly did love Stefan Salvatore.

They'd reached the car, and Damon had started on filling up the tank.

'Screw the muffins. I'll get her champagne - if Elena is wherever it may be,' Damon relented, impressed with the Sheriff of Mystic Falls.

'Willoughby. Creamed corn capital of Pennsylvania. They'll be there. Let's just hope we get to them before they get to the cure.'

The cure.

At first, it had seemed like a miracle, a wonder. She'd been so intrigued by the prospect of becoming human again, that she'd been willing to look past all the tragedy it would bring.

Now? She wished it had stayed on that damn island.

'Ooh, silver lining: if Rebekah takes the cure, then she's mortal and we can just kill her right then and there.'

There was the Damon she knew and loathed. She may be having problems with her sister, but like hell, she'd let anyone ever lay a hand on her.

'Ooh, dark cloud: Elena stays a vampire forever.'

Stefan was just as annoyed with his brother as Skye was, only because of completely different reasons.

'Ooh, another dark cloud: You do that, I'll pull your heart out of your chest.'

The remark was clean-cut and simple, no anger behind the words, but annoyance still heavy on her tongue.

Damon raised his hands.

'Wow, no need to get all murder-y. Besides, weren't you mad at her or something?'

Before Skye could bite something back, Stefan interrupted them, 'Look, why don't we just table the revenge fantasies for now, and just keep our eye on the prize. Find Katherine, get the cure and get out before Damon gets his neck snapped-again.'

'Believe me, I learned my lesson. Elena without humanity is a stone-cold bitch, and I won't trust her until we get the old Elena back.'

At least he wasn't being an idiot about that.

'Look at that. We're finally on the same page about something,' Stefan said before getting into Damon's car, planning to get the other car on their way back.

'Look at that,' Damon replied as he too got in the car.

Skye looked at the stretching road behind them one last time, before following them.

'Something's not right. Katherine Pierce does not hole up in Hickstown, P-A.'

The three vampires had arrived in a cute little town just a few hours away from Lake Erie. This was the second time that Skye had traveled outside of Mystic Falls since awakening for the very first time, and she had to admit that it was nicer than she expected it to be under the circumstances.

Willoughby was a lot like Mystic Falls at first glance, but as a resident of the latter, she knew that looks could be deceiving.

From what Skye had heard of Katherine Pierce, she had to admit Damon was right. She didn't seem like the type to vacant a small town like this.

Everyone knew everyone, and visitors were looked upon strangely.

'Well, this is definitely the car they stole. We're in the right place,' Stefan said in reply, his eyes sweeping over a piece of paper with the license plate number they'd gotten from Sheriff Forbes.

Skye stayed close to him as she watched Damon look inside the car, her brows furrowing in contemplation.

'Points to them for their choice of vehicles.'

Damon sounded slightly annoyed, but Skye couldn't exactly blame him. If she'd been betrayed like that she would've been pissed too.

'So, let me ask you something. What happens when we find Elena? How do we get her back to Mystic Falls? I mean, she's not exactly gonna go quietly, and she has an Original vampire as her bodyguard.'

Stalling her attempt at looking around, she focused back on Stefan, his question interesting her.

She wanted to know as well. If push came to shove, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to take Rebekah on.

It's not that she wouldn't do it, but more so that her fighting skills were a little outdated.

'We do whatever we have to do. I don't care if we have to throw Rebekah under a school bus and wrap Elena up in a burlap sack. Besides, we have an Original vampire of our own. We do whatever we have to do.'

Even while he said this, his face was grim, eyes roaming around the street in search of the two girls.

'I'm serious, Damon.'

Skye felt the urge to squeeze Stefan's hand in comfort, so that's what she did.

Walking up close to him, she took one of his hands from his pockets and wrapped their fingers together.

They fitted together perfectly.

Stefan looked at her as she did so, a soft smile on his face before focusing back on his brother.

'I am, too. I don't care what Elena wants right now. She's this close to going off the rails for good and that isn't happening. She's a pain enough as it is.'

A sigh traveled past her lips as she registered the severity of the situation.

'None of this is helping,' She contributed to the conversation, wanting to find the two vampires just as much as they did, but not at the cost of something worse.

'So, what happened to the guy who thought Elena should embrace being a vampire, let the chips fall where they may?' Stefan completely ignored her, which send a pang through her chest that she promptly ignored.

Skye wasn't always in the right mind when it came to her own siblings either.

'That guy got his neck snapped in New York and this guy is royally pissed off,' Damon shot back, before making his way down the street.

Untangling her hand from Stefan, she went to follow him, looking back over her shoulder to ensure that the boy was following her.

He took a second, but then he caught up with her, his arm brushing against hers.

'What do you think we should do?'

His question caught her off guard. She hadn't really thought about it, too wrapped up in thinking about what she would do when she came face to face with her sister again.

But now, with her thoughts steered in another direction, she realized that Elena's situation was direr. What happens between her and her sister would happen, there was no use in trying to predict it.

'I don't know. I mean, I agree with Damon that Elena is out of control and that right now her own wishes can't be taken into account. She can't think straight. We need to bring her back.'

Stefan was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, caution behind his words, 'What will you do when you see Rebekah?'

Her eyebrows furrowed, 'Who knows? I can't predict how I'm going to feel when I see her. But, if push comes to shove, I'm on your side, Stefan. Even if that means going against my own blood.'

She stopped walking, locked her eyes with his, and let the words sink in.

Stefan blinked, before he took her face in his hands and lowered his forehead to hers.

'I love you.'

Her breath stuttered in her throat. He had said those words before, two days ago, when she'd been on the brink of sleep.

She hadn't been sure if it was a dream then, so hearing it now, loud and clear, made her heart flutter.

'I love you too, Stefan. I promise I'll always be on your side.'

Her loyalties had shifted, she knew this now. If her family were to threaten his life in any way, she would retaliate, no matter how much she loved them.

He was her world now.

'Lovebirds, stop smooching for a second. I'm pretty certain I see Barbie and Psycho in that diner there.'

Attention drifting to the establishment, she straightened up and stepped away, seeing them too.

She looked at Stefan one last time before they made their way in, just when Rebekah started twisting Katherine's arm.

'Ladies, playing nice?' Stefan asked them, breaking up their little quarrel.

Both girls looked up, Rebekah's eyes widening at the sight of her sister.

'Skye?' There was disbelief present in her eyes, together with something she couldn't quite decipher.

Seeing her sister brought some of her anger back.

Even if it wasn't her fault that Jeremy and Kol died, she had still daggered her.

She knew how terrible it was to be ripped away from life, yet she did it anyway.

She was angry, and rightfully so.

'Who the hell are you?'

Katherine diverted her attention from her sister to her.

The resemblance to Elena and Tatia was uncanny, and the myth of the doppelgänger was once again too complex to make sense of.

'Skye Mikaelson. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but seeing you tormented my family, killed my best friend, and turned my boyfriend into a vampire against his will a hundred years ago, I'd be lying.'

She was fuming. Katherine Pierce was very high on her list of people she hated right now.

The fact that she called Stefan her boyfriend did not go unnoticed by anyone, especially not Katherine, her face morphing into features of disgust and annoyance.

'You're dating a Mikaelson now?' The question was directed at Stefan, making his brow furrow.

'We don't have time for this. Where's Elena?' He shot back, not wanting to get into anything with the woman right now.

Neither of the girls replied, making Skye sigh in annoyance as she slid into the booth next to Damon, pushing him aside.

He groaned but made room for her as Stefan got another chair.

'Chop, chop. Spill,' Damon mocked.

Rebekah's eyes, having been focused on Skye this entire time, finally moved towards Damon, 'So let me get this straight: I tell you where Elena is, you shove the cure down her throat, and then I end up in a box, right? I don't think so.'

'What about you over there, smiley? Do you know where she is?' Damon directed towards Katherine this time, having noticed her smiling down at the table.

'I can give you a hint. Start by looking at the town morgue. She's probably dead.'

All of them looked at her in confusion.

Upon receiving looks of utter bewilderment, Katherine elaborated, 'She went to meet up with a friend of mine. You may know him— an Original brother, impeccable taste.'

Wait, what?

'Elijah?' Both Skye and Rebekah asked horrified at the same time.

Katherine could do nothing but smile as Damon looked at her in disbelief, 'Elijah's here?'

Skye couldn't really believe it herself. What the hell was her brother doing here? The last she heard; he was still in New York.

Of course, that had been more than three months ago, but still!

'Well, you sort of have to question Elijah's impeccable taste if he's friends with you,' Stefan remarked.

'Oh, when I say friend, I mean friend.'

Cue the groan in disgust. What the hell did her brother see in the wench? Sure, she was pretty, but that was all there was to her.

Her brother deserved better than that.

'It probably took him about ten seconds to realize that she wasn't me, at which point he probably yanked her heart right out of her chest,' Katherine carried on, not at all affected by their reactions.

'All right. Where are they?' Stefan questioned, not being at all thrilled by the idea of Elena being with Elijah right now.

As no one responded, Skye turned towards her sister.

'Rebekah, if you want to have any chance of me ever forgiving you for what you did to me, you tell us where Elena is.'

Her voice was clear and straight to the point. If her sister cared about her at all, she would tell them.

It took a second as Rebekah looked her in the eyes, before she looked away, relenting, 'Fine. They were supposed to meet at the gazebo by the park.'

Skye shifted back in her seat as she exchanged a glance with Stefan who was already getting up.

'Skye and I'll go talk to Elijah.'

She nodded, getting up after him as Rebekah spoke, 'You two go deal with Elijah. Katherine will take us to the cure.'

She motioned towards Damon.

'No, she won't. The cure is my one chance to win my freedom back from Klaus,' Katherine looked at them like they were all crazy.

'You want to broker a deal with Klaus? The one person in the world who probably hates you the most?' Damon shot back in incredulity.

'No. She's gonna get Elijah to broker the deal for her,' Skye realized. Stefan seemed to get her drift as the others looked at her in bewilderment.

'That's why you need your little friend, isn't it? Some things never change, Katherine.'

'Nope,' Damon said, popping the 'p'.

'Fine,' Katherine said, turning towards Rebekah, 'Move. You have to follow me.'

They weren't at the gazebo anymore. It wasn't surprising, but it did make things a bit more difficult.

Stefan decided to call him with Katherine's phone which she had handed to them after a lot of grumbling.

'Katerina?'

That was unmistakably Elijah. Under any other circumstance, she would have been ecstatic to hear his voice. Right now, she only felt conflicted.

'Hello, Elijah,' Stefan responded.

It was quiet for half a second before Elijah replied, 'Where is Katherine?'

'Where's Elena?' Stefan shot back just as fast.

'Safe. How long she remains so depends upon you,' Elijah informed him.

'Well, I guess the same goes for Katherine.'

'Oh, Katherine can take care of herself against the two of you,' Elijah sounded amused.

Stefan exchanged a quick look with Skye before responding, 'Oh, you mean the four of us. 'Cause Rebekah decided to join Team Good Guys for the time being and Skye is no longer daggered.'

Elijah didn't respond. She could only imagine how he must look. Angry, for starters.

'Put Rebekah on the phone.'

Okay, auch? What was she, a wet toothbrush?

'Well, she's not here right now. I left her with Damon and Katherine.'

'Skye?' Elijah amended.

Oh, so now she was important?

Stefan looked at her, the question clear in his eyes.

Reluctantly, she nodded and took the phone from him.

'Elijah.'

'Skye. Where are they?' He demanded to know.

'Oh, no 'hello, good to know you're no longer daggered. I missed you so much'?' Skye bit back, fingers clenching around the phone.

It wasn't often that she got into fights with Elijah, usually being on the same side of things, but right now she was about ready to punch him in the face.

'Do you understand how much our sister despises Katherine? I assure you; Rebekah will end her the moment she ceases to be of use.'

Elijah completely ignored the hurt in her voice, which made her even angrier.

'You think I care? Katherine could die in hell for all I care. Tell me where Elena is, Elijah. I won't ask twice.'

'Do you care more about your friends than your family, Skye? This isn't you.'

'Where were you, Elijah? If I can remember correctly, it was Stefan who undaggered me. Not you. A fat lot of good family is if you can't even count on them,' Skye shot back, rage swirling inside her stomach.

How dare he talk to her like that? Like she was the one in the wrong here!

All she could hear was a sigh before her brother spoke again, 'If anything whatsoever happens to Katherine, I will descend upon Elena.'

Then he hung up.

They still weren't any wiser of Elena's location after that phone call, even though it did result in Skye being moody the entire way towards the address Damon sent them earlier.

Stefan was worried, but his mind was too occupied with everything else to also dig deeper into Skye her feelings.

It made him feel guilty, but they had to focus on the task at hand now. He knew Skye would understand.

As they approached the house, she immediately knew something wasn't right. The door was wide open, and it was awfully quiet in the house.

Rounding the corner towards the door, she was shocked to see the scene before her. Damon's entire face was scorched as he lay on the ground, but the most shocking thing of all was her sister downing the cure.

'No!' Stefan called out, but it was already too late.

Rebekah sank down on the couch, unconscious, as Skye could do nothing but watch.

Stefan sped towards her, studying her, as Damon got up from his spot from the couch in search of a towel.

Skye stood still in the doorway; cobalt blue eyes focused on her sister's form.

She couldn't believe that she took the cure just like that. Without even discussing it with her first.

She knew this was something Rebekah wanted for centuries, and she knew that her sister would be a perfectly good human, but that didn't change the fact that she didn't even ask what Skye thought.

It hurt, and she didn't know what else to feel.

'Did you even try to stop her?' Stefan asked with anger in his voice, turning towards his brother.

'You forgot the part where I was bobbing for boxes in vervain water!' Damon shot back just as quickly.

'All you had to do was stall her, Damon.'

'Sorry. It's Rebekah. I didn't have a pony to distract her, Stefan.'

This entire situation was a downright mess. Why couldn't things be easy for once in their miserable lives? Didn't she deserve it by now?

'You let her take it, didn't you? You were never on my side. Now Elena will be a vampire for the rest of her life just like you wanted,' Stefan said, disappointment clear on his face.

Damon didn't respond, his own features distorted in a grim setting, before throwing the towel to the side and bending down to pick up his phone from the ground.

A loud gasp made him shoot back up, all eyes in the room turned towards her sister.

Slowly, she sat up as Stefan moved towards her and took a seat on the table in front of her.

Skye decided that this was the right moment to move into the room as well, caution in every step she took.

'How do you feel?' Skye asked quietly, brows furrowed.

Rebekah looked at her like she was in a daze, 'I- I feel good. I... I feel great. I feel alive.'

'Slight problem with being alive— I can kill you now.'

Before Skye could respond, a letter opener came flying towards her sister's face. To her complete and utter surprise, just before it impaled smooth skin, a hand shot out to catch it.

They all looked on in disbelief as Rebekah's hand slowly opened to reveal the wound healing.

A clearly audible sigh of relief escaped Stefan as Rebekah spoke, 'I'm still a vampire. The cure didn't work.'

'It worked just like she wanted it to. The cure was a fake. It must've been a concentrated shot of vervain or something,' Stefan came to the realization.

Pure shock and heartache were visible on Rebekah's features, and Skye almost felt sorry for her.

In the background, Damon muttered in slight admiration, 'Katherine.'

Her head was swimming with a million thoughts as she walked through the dark streets of Willoughby.

She had left Stefan and Damon to deal with their own drama, while she decided to spend their last hour there clearing her head.

What she didn't expect was to run into Elijah.

Seeing him face to face after their phone call was difficult, to say the least.

Now he was standing right in front of her, she found it hard to remain as confident as before. For some reason, she always felt like a little girl when she was talking to him.

'Sister...' Elijah muttered, his fingers stroking a small box.

'Elijah... You're not with Katherine?'

'Ah, it turned out that my judgment was clouded. I was only ever a means of survival to her, nothing more. She didn't care about me, she only cared about her freedom.'

Skye's lips turned down into a frown, feeling sorry for him despite her anger, still wanting the best for him.

'I'm sorry, Elijah. You deserve better.'

A sigh traveled past his lips as he looked at her clearly now. He'd been unfair towards her, only because of his own compromised emotions. He should have come for her after not hearing from her in a couple of days, instead, he had let three months go by without a single thought of returning to Mystic Falls.

She had been a permanent part of his day, with her daily phone calls and their plan to stay together in New York. After Katherine had contacted him, he had lost focus.

'No, I am the one who is sorry, sister. I should've understood your inner turmoil. It was not right of me to talk to you that way.'

Skye appreciated it, but that didn't mean it hurt less. What he said had really struck a nerve.

As Elijah looked at his sister's innocence, the cure weighed heavy in his hand. He felt like Atlas, with the entire world on his shoulders.

If anyone deserved the chance of being human again, it was Skye. The life of a vampire had never been cut out for her.

It worked against her on every turn, beginning with the sunlight and ending with the blood lust.

Even as a vampire, Elijah had never met anyone more human than her. He couldn't believe he only realized that now.

Taking a step towards her, he took her hand, placing the box inside of it. She looked at him in surprise.

'Elijah?' Her voice came out as a whisper, not believing what was happening.

'Skye, your kindness and loyalty have always been pure. If anyone were to make a good human, it would be you. You deserve to choose your own path now. One no longer intertwined with the rest of us.'

She couldn't speak. Couldn't move.

'You've had to give up so much of your life for us. The least I could do is give you this. I want you to take it, Skye. I want you to be human, no matter if that means I'll lose you. You were never selfish with us, so now let me be unselfish with you.'

It was like her entire world stopped. Like time stood still, and the only two people left standing in the world where the two of them.

The cure, so alluring, hers for the taking.

The choice of eternal life, or a normal human existence clutched between her fingers.

How was she ever going to make such a decision?