Author's note: a major shift in tone as we enter the final chapters. Another 3 with an epilogue to go! Enjoy, readers and thanks for sticking with me 3

Kai's smile began to droop, turning further downward with each second of silence that passed. Bonnie hadn't moved from her position, still chewing on the bit of bacon he'd fed her. Her brain was working overtime trying to assess her emotions.

Not a soul for weeks and, suddenly, the person she wanted to see more than anything was standing in front of her, a facetious air surrounding him. Much too playful considering what had transpired over the last few months. Her desires were warring internally; she wanted to kiss him, punch him, and yell at him all at once.

"There's some sausage in the fridge, too." Out of everything that she could have said, she was equally as surprised as Kai that these were the words she chose.

"Yeah...I saw...but we both love bacon…" he snorted in disbelief, seemingly unable to comprehend the conversation. "Okay, so we're not gonna do the kissy-kissy reunion I was fantasizing about. Noted. Bonnie, I know it's a lot to process, but this is not a productive talk we're having here."

"Your humanity is turned back on." Much better, her synapses were firing at a normal rate now.

The smile was back, warm and sincere...with just a little snark. "There it is. The start of the story. And yes, it is. Back on in all its Bonnie-obsessed glory." Turning off the burners, he set the remainder of the food onto the island and stepped around the block. He raised his hand and held it out to her, bidding her to take it.

Bonnie couldn't help her hesitancy. This was too good to be true. In her head, she could hear his voice repeating the harsh words from their first night in the dungeons. "I thought 'humanity-filled Kai' hated my 'fucking guts'," she drawled, fingers forming air quotes.

"Humanity-filled Kai came back because you saved my life, Bonster," he said without an ounce of pretense. "It warrants a lot of forgiveness on my part." He shook his hand again and this time she placed her own in it. It was the first time they'd touched with any kind of affection in so long and Bonnie felt her slowly rebuilding core respond. It immediately reached for him, almost desperate to intertwine with its twin. Kai sucked in a sharp breath and squeezed her tighter, letting some of his magic flow. She was disappointed that her body was unable to absorb it at the moment, but it felt wonderful nonetheless.

"We have a lot to talk about, Bonnie, and I'm on a timer," Kai continued, voice lowered and impossibly soft. For a moment, she thought he was looking to pull her in for an embrace, but he thought better of it and led her to the bar stools, an unspoken question to sit beside him.

Once she was situated, he slid an empty plate in front of her and spooned on a helping of eggs with some buttered toast. They were silent for a moment as she tucked into the food, relishing in real sustenance instead of the junk she'd been swiping from the nearby grocery store.

"How are you here? A timer?" She peppered him with questions as soon as she'd swallowed her bite. "What is 'here'?" She felt her cheeks warm as he regarded her, an irrefutable sparkle that made her turn away. It was hard for her to accept all this as true: that he was Kai again. Her Kai. She'd had the rug pulled out from under her so many times in the past several months. There was an ardent fear that if she accepted this moment, lowered her walls, it would all come crashing down. It would crush her again.

Her fellow hybrid seemed to note Bonnie's apprehension, but didn't push on it. "It would probably work out better if I just explained from the beginning. It just...it'd be easier. Coffee?"

She nodded in affirmation and eyed his form as he stood to grab a cup before pouring the hot brown liquid into it. He handed it to her and nudged the sugar and creamer in her direction.

"Thanks." Silently bidding him to continue, she prepared her drink before taking a sip.

"You were just lying there, Bonnie," Kai began quietly as he sat back down, pained at having to relive the moment. "You were just lying there and there was so much blood and I was completely overloaded." Grey orbs were fixed with a faraway stare, like he was looking at her all over again. "It was torture seeing you like that and I didn't even have a choice. It turned my switch back on and everything came flooding back."

Uncertain of what to say, she took another bite of the fluffy eggs on her plate. It was surreal listening to him rehash viewing her dead body.

"I pulled myself over to you," he continued, his fingers fidgeting with a napkin in front of him. "I had to see if you were okay." His words were stunted, aggrieved. "But then, this weird… thing happened. When I touched you, the magic you had in you… it just… it started to pour into me. And there was no way that was possible because my core was on the fritz, you know? But I was healed Bonnie. Not only that, I was stronger."

"But that's not how siphons work, right? We have a core like every other witch, but ours doesn't create magic, it absorbs it. Once it's damaged, we need to let it heal. Outside magic can't fix it."

"I mean, I always assumed that, too, but Freya seemed to know a lot about root magic and - " he trailed off, staggering over his next words. "She said that the magic you'd absorbed from Joseph's spell had been imbued with your supernatural signature, which allowed it to reach for me. It had to find a new vessel and it recognized that we're twin flames. Your essence wrapped around mine, Bonnie, and it made me whole." Kai stopped again, the napkin now shredded into small, messy pieces. His stare was still fixated at a spot in front of him. "But I realized that there was no way that could have happened if - if - "

"If I was still alive?" she whispered.

"Yeah." Kai finally shifted to face her. "I lost it. I fucking lost it. I'd never felt pain like that in my life, Bonnie. It made the hurt - from finding out you lied to me - feel like a pinprick. Everything else was so trivial." His right hand clawed a bit at the granite counter and he took in a deep breath. "There was this crazy psychic blast and…" he snapped his fingers, "they were gone. Drained of life. All of them, Bonnie. It was insane."

She wanted to feel bad that they were dead, but she couldn't muster any sympathy. She was glad Joseph and his pathetic followers had been destroyed. She hoped it hurt. Suddenly, Bonnie gasped. "But what about Freya? How - "

"We're not sure. We think it was because Freya had managed to break free and run over to me. Her hand was on my shoulder. Maybe it grounded her and protected her?" Kai shrugged, indicating that it wasn't important. "But Bonnie, that's not all. We think that the psychic blast created this." He gestured at the space around them.

Her frownlines deepened as she let her fork clatter to the plate. "You put me in a Prison World?"

"No Bonnie, not a Prison World," he responded quickly with a shake of his head. "Losing you was so unbearable. And I think that, because our entwined signature was within me at the time, it sensed my suffering and it created this plane. A place to house your soul, to house you."

"So I'm not dead?" She felt excited, giddy.

"You are," Kai replied softly, but with a quirk of his lip, "but this place protected your soul from going into the void. Which gives me a chance to bring you back."

"My body - "

"Under every preservation charm the Mikaelson and Gemini clans have in their arsenal. Don't worry about that."

Bonnie's breaths were shaky, a giggle of disbelief escaping her lips. This was amazing. She had a chance. The restrictive feeling she'd had in her chest since she'd been here abated and the optimism within her threatened to burst through. She hopped off the chair and bounced a bit on her feet, offering him the first smile she'd had since he arrived.

"So, what are we waiting for, then? You could have told me the whole story after I got out."

Gently tugging at her wrist, Kai smiled and bade her to sit back down. "It's not that simple, Bonnie." He was apologetic as he said this. "For all intents and purposes, this is still a sort of afterlife. One that our magic created, yes, but it's still a spirit realm. For me to get here, I needed to be able to harness enough power to create a portal that would let me enter without dying. It took me a long time to get everything I needed. That's why I wasn't able to get to you until now."

"But you figured it out?" she asked, prodding for information.

"I created a spell similar to the one you cast the day you took me from the manor, when you used Stefan and Caroline as totems. In a sense, I reestablished my ties to my remaining coven members. They're all helping me fuel this portal."

"Kai, no," Bonnie said, disappointed. "Humanity or not, it's safer for them if they're no longer linked to you."

"It's temporary, Bonster, and they volunteered." He let out a puff of breath. "I told them everything. What I did. What you were trying to do. They wanted to help set things right."

She felt such gratitude for his followers. "Is that why you said you were on a timer?"

"The spell is very draining," he responded, chewing absently at a piece of toast. "We can only keep it going in several-hour increments. Best estimate is three to four. Since witches are physically human, they need to take a few days to recover before we do it again." Kai let his hands drop between his thighs and swiveled until his body was completely facing her, their knees touching. "Getting you out is proving to be more difficult than getting me in. You'd think if our joint magical signature created this place, it could at least have given me some kind of key."

Uncertainty was gnawing at her once more. "What if you can't get me out of here, Kai? What if...what if this is my world now?"

"There's no doubt I'm going to get you out of here, Bonnie." He was firm, resolute. "The Scooby Gang plus Freya are in New Orleans as we speak, working with Klaus and Elijah to get to every powerful witch on this planet. We just need to get the pieces. I can make them fit." Grabbing her hand again, he let his fingers intertwine with hers. "There's no way I would ever leave you here. Our magic already performed the impossible by even creating this place. I can do it."

Bonnie pulled away first, but was left feeling cold once she no longer had his touch. "It makes sense now why my core is healing. I'm literally surrounded by my own signature." She pretended not to notice his frown as she tugged herself from him and stood up. "So, how much more time do you have left now?"

"Probably an hour or so. I arrived while you were still sleeping, so I wanted to make you something to eat. I know you've been living on nothing but Doritos and blood bags."

She didn't bother to deny this. He knew her well. "You laid down next to me."

It was Kai's turn to be flushed as he offered a bashful grin. "Maybe for a second. You looked so peaceful and I wanted to bask in that."

He was so loving as he said this and she should have been elated at his confessions. And a part of her was. But her emotions were battling each other. She loved this man more than anything: she'd sacrificed herself for him, fought a war from him. All for the hope that he would go back to this version of Kai that stood before her.

Bonnie had been running at lightning speed since he had turned off his humanity. Kept her focus on specific tasks so she didn't have to think about her emotions. Concentrating on the love instead of the resentment, the anger. But this time in the spirit plane had forced her to evaluate all the trauma she'd been dealt by his hands.

"You broke my heart," she whispered after seconds of excruciating silence. There it was; the elephant in the room. The monster that had been sitting beside her since she'd seen Kai in the kitchen.

There was a fear that he would become defensive, but it was unfounded as he merely nodded, looking properly remorseful.

"I know." The acceptance in his tone vindicated her in a way she didn't know she needed.

Kai slid from his chair until he was standing directly in front of her. "I'd been thinking a lot about what I was going to say to you when we finally got to this part. I was hoping for kinky make-up sex first, but I see that's not happening." He was clearly joking when he said it, but her lasered glare had him stuttering through his next words. "Of course I'm kidding, Bonnie." He backed up a bit for good measure. "I'm sorry."

"I know you were kidding, Kai. Just...this isn't a funny moment."

"I meant that I'm sorry for all of it. I know it's not any kind of excuse, but you are aware I'm a complete ass when it comes to dealing with real emotions." His words picked up speed as he moved through his monologue. "I was so fucked in the head, Bonnie and I thought it was the right move. I was so angry and I hated you. I hated you so fucking much at that moment, and I just couldn't deal with it. The emotions were too real, too tangible and they were drowning me."

"You crushed me." The words caught in her throat and she sniffed, shaking her head before turning away from him.

"You crushed me, too, Bonster. The loss of trust and the betrayal...maybe it's because you've been feeling emotions for over a century that you're better able to deal. But I don't have that luxury."

"Do you even remember everything you did to me?" Bonnie cried, lashing out. "The words that came out of your mouth, the violence. The sick games you played with me."

"I do remember everything I did to you." He was contrite, not defensive. "And I am willing to work to make all of it up to you. I'm sorry for what I did, I am. And I know it's not an excuse, that my humanity was off and I'm hoping that counts as something."

"Your darkness scares me, Kai." He seemed taken aback, but she continued on. "I always knew you had that in you, deep down. And I know your humanity was off; I accept that you wouldn't have done those things had your switch been on. But you were awful to me, Kai, and it still hurt. And I hate you for it."

The last sentence hung in the air, stifling and heavy.

"You made the decision to turn it off and you're not a stupid man. There was a part of you that knew how it would go. Knew that you could rip me apart." She looked skyward for a moment, willing herself not to cry. "I know I hurt you. I own my part of this, but I can't go through all of it again...I can't. I died for you, Kai."

He chose his next words carefully. "There's a part of you that's residing in me right now, Bonnie. And that bit has been tempering me...slowing me down and forcing me to be more introspective. Turning it off was the wrong move, I understand that. And I can say for certain that I will never choose that path again. You don't have to believe me, but I promise you it's the truth."

"And you're not angry with me anymore? You accused me of not loving you."

The lop-sided grin that adorned his face made him look boyishly charming. "You saved me, Bonnie. If that doesn't show me how you feel, I should be maimed." His nose crinkled as though he ate something sour. "That, and Caroline very succinctly explained to me that I was a 'piece of shit who should've died' and that if I didn't understand what I meant to you, then I should pour gasoline over my body and fuck myself with a large lit match."

She couldn't help it. A giggle escaped her lips. That was so very much Caroline. She sobered, though, once the novelty of humor passed.

"It took me dying…" she trailed off. What else was there to say about that?

"I know, and I fucking hate myself for all of it. But even if you decide you don't want this anymore, if you don't want me. I'm gonna have to live with that. But I'm still going to get you out."

There was a weight to his words that seemed to wash over her like ice-cold water. Hearing the notion of them not being together, hearing it out loud...it was terrifying. There was so much pain between them, but Bonnie never entertained a future that didn't involve him.

"I don't know what I want."

It obviously wasn't what Kai wanted to hear, but he respectfully nodded and took a big step back to remove himself from her space. "Okay, I understand."

"It doesn't mean I don't love you, Kai," she said with profound sadness. "I love you too much. That's why everything hurts as much as it does." This whole interaction was so bizarre to her. She'd fully expected to leap into his arms if she'd had the chance to see him again. Instead, this was how it played out.

Lips pressed into a thin line, he took time to process her words. Before he could retort, however, something akin to a chime rang through the kitchen. An angry scoff bubbling from his throat, Kai rolled his eyes before re-focusing on her.

"I'm sorry. I want to stay here, Bonnie, I don't want to leave it like this. But that's the signal that I'm going to get pulled out in a few minutes."

Knowing he was leaving caused the panic to return tenfold. "No, it's too soon. What if you can't come back? What if this was a one-time thing? We can't just - "

"Bonster, I'm going to come back, I promise." He was soothing, soft. "Hopefully, with more news on how to get you out."

She itched to reach out to him, to let him comfort her. How was it possible to love a man so much, but be so afraid to be with him? Letting out a slow breath, Bonnie nodded. "How long until I see you again?"

"Three days? Maybe four, but it should be three."

Another nod. "Okay."

Kai rocked back on his feet, clearly wanting to add more. Instead, he offered a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Okay...I'll go out to the gates or something. Get out of your hair." He shuffled past her, accidentally brushing her shoulder with his own.

Seeing him walk away pulled at something in her gut, something that made the worry reach a crescendo. "Kai?" She blurted out his name without thinking.

He half turned to regard her. "What is it?"

She strode purposefully over to him before tugging at the lapel of his blazer so that her body was pressed flush against his. He seemed jarred by her action, but he didn't move, letting her control the situation. Green appraised grey and Bonnie tipped her head up, pulling at him so that her lips slid against his.

It was chaste to start, a simple peck. She hadn't been sure about how far to take this. Her original decision was borne of desperation, but the feeling of skin against skin sent her mind back to relive the memories of his kisses. Her tongue peeked out to swipe at his bottom lip, eliciting a gasp. Feeling bold, she opened her mouth a bit wider, intensifying their connection.

Kai's hands immediately wandered over her hips to her lower back. His fingertips gripped at the fabric of the hoodie she still wore. His hoodie.

Bonnie moaned at the touch. She dreamt of this very moment so many times and the reality was so much better. The kiss was searing as he poured his essence into her, the tendrils of their joint signature caressing and nurturing. Her magical core seemed to vibrate within, wanting so badly to absorb what Kai was offering. But she still hadn't fully healed yet.

Her fingers moved up, carding through his hair as her tongue met his with an electricity that rippled from head to toe. His scent filled her nostrils, a woodsy, crisp smell that was so uniquely Kai. She pushed harder against him, the ferocity making her sway on her feet.

Wrapping her more tightly in his arms, he picked her up at the waist and straightened to his full height. Her head now level with his, she had more leverage to deepen the contact, to drink him in. He yielded to her completely, so unlike him, but Bonnie needed this. Her insistent mouth continued to part his lips and her nerves were set aflame everytime he nibbled at her.

Another chime sounded, somehow sounding more urgent than before.

Begrudgingly, Kai pulled away, giving a final peck before setting Bonnie back down. His gaze mirrored her own, the fervor evident in the way their orbs danced with pleasure.

"That was amazing," he said with a breathy chuckle. "And also, very confusing."

"I know...I just...I needed to do that. In case you don't come back." She smiled, slightly abashed. "I'm sorry."

"No. Don't apologize for that. Ever." Regretfully, he extricated himself from her embrace. "And I'm coming back Bonnie. I swear it."

"If you don't, I'm glad we did that. Even if I can't be sure of where we stand."

A bright light appeared behind Kai, the beams stretching over and pulling at him. He smiled at her, all at once soothing, promising, and loving. "I'll be back and we can figure all that out. I love you, Bonster."

And with that, once again, he was gone.

But this time, the dread that had filled Bonnie was now replaced with hope.