A/N: At long last, the season 5 finale! Lmfaooo

This finale has always killed me inside. The night it aired and I watched it for the first time I was a disgusting, sobbing mess LOLOL
And unfortunately it was the best part for me to write lmao

Thank you so much to everyone who has followed this story/series. It means a lot to me. You're all awesome.
Stay tuned for the second half which will take place in season 6!

xoxo
Kuraki-chan

25: But I Wish I Was Dead.

"I know we loathed each other, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind…" Nova spoke quietly as she stared down at Stefan's dessicated corpse on a couch at Whitmore. Elena was sobbing; Damon was enraged.

"I didn't know where to bring him," cried Caroline. "I couldn't just leave him outside…"

"Bonnie has a plan, right?" Elena sputtered through her crying. "She- she said that she could bring people back. Tell me that she can bring him back!"

Nova looked to Damon and found pain in his eyes. There had been a way, but it must have been ruined somehow. "We'll bring him back." He told her. "Come on, let's get away from prying eyes."

Once Stefan was safely in Elena's dorm room, Zina, Nova, Damon, Jeremy, and Matt found an empty classroom to occupy. Nova sat down at one of the front row desks with Dracula still clutched tightly in her hands. Finally she opened it and revealed Remiel's stone in the middle. Zina's eyes widened immediately. "How the actual hell…?"

"I can fix this," Nova told them firmly. There was a newfound light and fire to her emerald eyes. She looked to Zina and smiled softly. "We can fix this. Can you even think about what we can do with our links to Oblivion and Remiel's Stone?"

"We would need a third Vasile who's also linked to Oblivion though. It always has to be the power of three for a full circle."

Nova shrugged. "Take your pick then. While Liv is holding the door open through Bon-Bon's hand we three Vasiles can connect to the three planes to keep the Other Side stable enough so long as Liv keeps the door open."

"Well that automatically ships Zina to Oblivion," Damon commented with a smirk at the younger sister.

She rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately the baboon is correct. We then would need you tethered to either the Other Side or our plane and someone else for the other."

"What about Katia?" Jeremy suggested. "She's already on the Other Side."

"It has to be someone here currently because someone on the Other Side is essentially floating energy. There's nowhere they're rooted to so they can't connect anywhere."

"So we'll get Sofia or Daciana to link them to our plane and I'll go to the Other Side." said Nova.

"Absolutely not," Damon immediately rejected.

"Why not? I know the Other Side - I've been there. It might not have been long but at least I've been there."

"You'd risk being trapped on the Other Side and wiped out of existence just for some of our lost people?" Matt questioned hesitantly.

Nova stood slowly after closing the book with the stone inside. Matt jumped at first, even took a preemptive step backwards, but she merely walked calmly around the desk to sit on it. "When I wasn't being controlled to be a good girl, I was fucking off and doing whatever I wanted without reason. This town might honestly suck some serious sack sometimes, but it's my home. It's home to all of us. It, and all of you ridiculous little creatures among it, have given me a reason to do things. Good things." She smiled. "I'll fight for my home."

Damon was the first to smile with pride and joy. Jeremy took up second but even stepped forward to give the vampire a hug. "Welcome back, Nova."

"Alright, alright," Zina chimed in, "next order of business: mass murder. If you guys want to bring back this ever growing list of people then we're going to need balance with just as many Travelers at least."

Damon shrugged. "There's a major gas line that runs underneath the town. Now if it did leak, it could be deadly, as in massive explosion kind of deadly."

"We can't blow up our hometown," Matt argued.

"Says one of the only people left in this group who can actually live there."

"We would just need to get the Travelers in one spot in town and blow them to high Hell," said Nova.

"How?" Zina quipped. "We can't lure anyone being stuck out here."

"There's Sheriff Forbes," Jeremy suggested with a shrug. "She could convince them to gather somewhere inside, Matt and I turn on the gas-"

"Then what, genius?" said Damon. "How and where is gonna get blown up?"

All of them were quiet for a good couple of minutes before Nova spoke up. "The Grill," she offered. "We blow up the Grill by driving right into it."

"You're gonna drive your precious Firebird into the Grill?" Zina scoffed.

Before Nova could retort with something, Damon's voice came. "No. We're gonna use my Camaro."

"Nova," Zina called. They had gone to the cafe, but before they even made it out of the parking lot Saskia appeared.

Nova immediately whipped out her daggers when she turned and saw Saskia. She, however, laughed at the gesture. "Go ahead and try. Even in my feeble state I could prevent you from harming me before making my escape."

"What the hell are you doing here then?"

"I have come to offer my assistance to you both." She smiled deviously. "I know the spell you plan on doing. You can link me to the land of the living."

Zina made a face. "What do you get out of it?"

"We all get something in the end, really. You see, Bonnie has been in need of a Traveler to teach her the spell to bring everyone back. It just so happens that Silas is the only one there. My magic will counteract his and feed into the destruction of the Other Side. After using as much of my power as I will be…" She shrugged nonchalantly. "It will most likely consume what is left of my life."

The twins blinked a few times. They were both flabbergasted. "What the fuck makes you want to die now?" Nova practically shouted.

Saskia smirked which nearly sent a chill down their spines. "Fate has caught up to me at last I suppose."

Nova and Zina looked to one another with distress. It unfortunately was everything they both wanted - Silas gone for good, Saskia gone for good, Bonnie gone for good (Nova knew how much it meant to Zina), and those they loved having returned; like Katia. They knew it more than likely was going to backfire in the long run, but what other choice did they have?

Nova ran her fingers delicately across the shining hood of the light blue Camaro. She remembered the day Damon bought it. She remembered every race against her Firebird. She remembered every single adventure. "I can't believe we're about to blow this beauty to smithereens," she commented quietly when she heard Damon join her.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the top of her head. "Maybe we'll be able to fix it if we make it out of this mess."

"You realize our wedding is totally postponed, right?" She laughed a little.

"Mm, it doesn't have to be. You know, provided this doesn't go horribly wrong."

"So you want me to blow up the Grill, rescue everyone - including ourselves, and come back in time for a wedding? You know what? If we actually succeed then you've got yourself a deal. The very next day we can get married if you want."

He chuckled and kissed her, savoring every second and feeling. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his gut. Something was going to go wrong. He couldn't begin to know what was going to go wrong, but something was going to. "We should be able to bring back a decent amount of people if we do this right. Are you gonna save some Vasiles over there aside from Katia?"

"I'd like to find Siya, for Zarya, and me and Zina's mother at least. Zarya has been dealing with a lot. I think her mother could really help her."

Even if it did all fall apart, Damon was so thankful to know that Nova was intact again. All he wanted was for her heart and humanity to heal. He was ready for the worst knowing that. Including working with Saskia. He knew that at the end of it, no matter what, Nova would live.

"It's back," Enzo called to Silas and Bonnie as the wind began to howl again.

"She's ready," said Silas as they emerged. "Let's get on with it."

Someone ran through suddenly, surprising them all. Bonnie's eyes widened when she recognized the girl. "Katia?"

The dhampir looked at them with panicked eyes. "Siya," she panted. "Tell me one of you have seen Siya Vasile anywhere."

"What's she matter?" questioned Enzo.

"She matters a lot more than you know, dick," Katia snapped back. "I've been looking everywhere for her even before this place started to collapse."

Silas shrugged. "She's probably been sucked into never-never land by now then. Sorry not sorry, kid."

Suddenly, Enzo was grabbed by the storm. As he was yanked away, Katia grabbed his arm. With her free hand she grabbed tightly to one of the wrought iron posts in the cemetery. Bonnie rushed over and helped hold Katia and Enzo down against the storm when Silas started to get dragged through. Bonnie reached at least a little for him before smiling in his face. "Bygones," she shrugged. They all watched as Silas got sucked away into the darkness.

Once the three were safe again, Enzo cleared his throat. "Alright, so this Siya."

Nobody liked the idea of Saskia helping, but being strapped for time no one had a choice. As Liv and Bonnie started the spell to open the door, the Vasile trio started theirs just outside the town line. Once it was linked, Zina took Remiel's Stone and Nova got in the Camaro with Damon. "After we cross that line," he told her, "it'll be like dying all over again in that river."

She nodded and put her hand on top of his that laid on the gear shift. "I know. I'm ready. Let's do this, iubițel."

The Camaro roared as it zoomed down the empty road. Damon started to cough with an ache in his abdomen. Nova began coughing so violently it was increasingly difficult to breathe. "Hang on, dolcezza," he told her. "We have to die while we're still vampires."

She nodded quickly. "I know." She coughed again and water began spewing. The gas pedal was pressed to the floor as the odometer began to max out. The couple looked to one another with desperacy in their eyes. "Damon…"

He smiled and squeezed her hand. "I know."

Closer and closer the Grill came until the nose of the Camaro was through with a massive bang. Glass shattered and the gas leak caused an enormous explosion. There was nothing left of the Grill or anyone inside except for char and burned remains.

Zina stood at the border of Mystic Falls alone with Saskia. She could feel the strange disconnection when Nova must have died in the explosion. She despised how Saskia just stood there with a disturbing smile. The older woman was up to something, she made it abundantly obvious. What could Saskia possibly be about to accomplish if doing the spell was going to take the rest of her life? If it was true, then something was going to happen when she died. It was like her death would be a dead man's switch to something catastrophic. It was too difficult to try and guess what Saskia could be up to; the results were limitless with what little they actually knew about her or what she's been doing.

"How does it feel to be alive again after over a century?" Saskia asked casually.

"Glorious. I'm not looking to have any kind of casual conversation with you. You're a deranged menace."

"Oh how you wound my heart, Zina. You know, the organ that beats inside of my chest; the one you happen to lack, do you not?"

She cut her eyes at Saskia. "That's hardly any of your concern. Besides, do you even have a beating heart in your chest? We were all certain it shriveled up centuries ago."

Saskia chuckled. "No, darling, not my heart. That was my soul. I abandoned that for black magic."

Zina's eyes widened. "Black magic? No. Not even you're that stupid."

"It isn't stupid if you can harness it." Her hand shot out suddenly, an invisible force choking Zina and lifting her off the ground. Saskia's eyes bled entirely black with black magic. "For a psychic, you sure have no idea of the events about to come. What you are allowed to witness are things that could be; scenarios you could change if possible. The things I have seen are events that will be. They are fixed points in the future that will happen no matter the path before it. Now, if you don't mind, I will be taking my mother's stone so I can finish one more thing."

Through the lack of air Zina smirked. Her fingers uncurled and allowed the stone in her hand to fall to the ground. When it finally stopped rolling in front of Saskia's feet she was able to see that it was a fake - no more than an average rock that had been skillfully kept out of her view. She looked up with rage at the Romanian vampire before letting her drop to the ground.

"Where is the real stone?!" She bellowed so loud it shook the trees.

Zina chuckled as she got back to her feet. "Oh, it's long gone. An object with that amount of power will be sought after by each and every one of us whether we think we desire to or not. So it went with Nova. It got stripped of any magic when it went across the border which should have allowed it to explode in the fire."

In a fit of rage, Saskia lashed out at the Romanian with a wall of black magic smoke. Zina went flying backwards and into the woods. She quickly picked herself up knowing Saskia wasn't about to give her any slack. With lightning at her fingertips and irises bright red, she ran forward to fight back.

"You're ingenious idiots," Katia greeted Nova and Damon on the Other Side in the Grill. Alaric was beside her with a disapproving smile.

"Yeah, we know." Nova replied. "But we don't have a lot of time. Everyone that's going needs to be rounded up right this second."

"We haven't been able to locate Siya at all," Alaric told them.

"Who do we have?" asked Damon.

"Enzo, Tyler, Luke, Nessa, and Clara."

"What about Stefan?"

Suddenly, the front door burst open with Lexi and Stefan rushing in. "Present!" The blonde vampire grinned.

"What about… my mom, by chance?" Nova asked.

Katia smiled. "She's with Anja and Valora trying to give those who deserve it a little more time and kicking the real douche bags into oblivion." Her smile turned into a frown. "She… she's not coming back, Nova. But I've been trying to find Siya since I got here and I can't."

"Are we sure she's still over here?" Damon asked.

"If she was alive she would have found Zarya, no questions asked," Nova replied instantly. "She would have to be on a different plane if she wasn't here."

Everyone was silent for a moment, pondering the possibility of that. "We don't have time," Damon spoke, breaking the silence. "We tried. We have to go now."

The six of them went running through the storm straight for the crypts with Nova and Damon taking the rear. While she was mid-run, a wooden stake went flying into the back of her thigh. The instant, immense pain dropped her right to the ground. Damon skid to a stop beside her and yanked out the stake. Before them stood Lena Vasile.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Nova groaned.

"You honestly think I'm letting you make it back safe and sound?" Lena hissed venomously. "No. No. If this place is falling to bits then you deserve to go with it and I'm gonna see to it that you do."

An arrow flew past them, lodging deep into Lena's shoulder. Alaric approached with a bow in hand. "We really don't have the time for this. Katia, Lexi, and Stefan continued ahead. We need to go."

Lena snarled as she ripped the arrow from her shoulder. "She had no reason to kill me and my husband and traumatize our daughter! She does not deserve to walk back over and live!"

"I'll kill you again right now if that's what you really want." Nova shrugged.

As Stefan, Lexi, and Katia made it to Bonnie they looked back to see if the other three were behind. "You need to go now, sweetheart," Lexi told the dhampir when there was no sight of the rest of them.

She took one last look back and sighed. "I know I do." With a nod to the Bennett witch, Katia took her hand and returned to the living. Before anyone could say even a word to her, she took off. Lexi and Stefan waited still for Damon, Alaric, and Nova. Bonnie had begun to bleed from her nose. She tried to assure them she was okay until she got dizzy and started to fall. Without even thinking, Stefan tried to grab her before she fell which sent him back as well.

"You should go too," Bonnie urged the blonde vampire.

She smiled and shook her head. "Not before the other three. Just hang on a little bit longer, okay, Bonnie? I'm gonna go make sure they get here, I promise."

She sped right off and found the trio locked with Lena. Using her speed and advantage of being unseen, Lexi tackled Lena. The ravenette struggled so they still stood, but Lexi had her in a chokehold. The wind came blowing through again fiercely, so Lexi swiftly whipped Lena right into it. However, it didn't go away after just Lena. Lexi smiled at the three before her. "You guys need to get home and hurry." She turned to the dark sky with her arms wide open and a bright smile on her face. "You're not going to get me." The violent wind stopped suddenly and a warm light overcame Lexi until she vanished.

Once Damon, Nova, and Alaric made it to Bonnie, the raven haired vampires immediately shoved Alaric forward first. After he was safely among the living again, Bonnie smiled and held her hands out to the couple. "Time to go home, guys."

They gave one quick smile at one another as they reached for Bonnie's hands. However, when they made contact, nothing happened. Nothing changed. Nova collapsed to the ground suddenly as the wind was knocked out of her. Panic flooded her veins. "Both ends of our spells collapsed…" She realized. "We're trapped here with nothing keeping the already bad collapse at bay…"

They were silent for a long moment, just looking around at one another while the wind picked up around them. Nova's hair that had finally begun to reach the middle of her back whirled around her face. Damon took her hand and gave it a squeeze. There was an unusually sad smile on his face that Nova didn't understand. "Then I guess this is it. Time for that Ace up my sleeve."

"What are you talking about?"

"Lucifer!"

Nova and Bonnie's eyes widened. "Damon, what have you done?" the Romanian spoke with haste. "What's going on?"

Through the storm a golden fog broke through with the archangel stepping through. "Oh, let's be real here, Nova - we all knew this was going right to shit eventually. Don't pretend like you were all going to walk out of here unscathed."

"So what are you doing here? Why the fuck did my fiance call for you?"

"He made sure that you walked out of here unscathed. And before you even start blubbering: I can only bring back a Vasile, and there isn't a lot of time so you're going… mm, now."

Without warning or a care in the world, he just grabbed her and started hauling her away. She kicked around like a child, screaming with tears running down her face. Damon blew her a kiss with a broken smile. Bonnie stared with her jaw dropped in sheer astonishment. Nova thrashed around hopelessly against Lucifer as she cursed in both Romanian and English, screaming and begging for Damon and to be left there with them.

"Please, no!" She cried so loud her throat was going raw. "I can't go back without you, Damon! Please don't make me!"

It shattered his heart to watch her be hauled away but he knew it had to be done. After they were gone, Bonnie looked to him with her flabbergasted expression. "I can't believe you did that… You're never gonna see her again; you didn't want to just die together…?"

Damon still stared after where Nova had been as the storm raged around them. "She just got her humanity back; she's made a life for herself at last. Hell, she even has a whole family she never knew about. I wasn't going to let her waste that away just for me no matter how much I love her."

Bonnie looked up at him with a newfound admiration. She never really noticed it before, given all of Damon's bad qualities, but he really did go out on every little limb for Nova Vasile. She grabbed his hand reassuringly and they watched as everything fell apart around them.

I will always love you, Nova Vasile. Through eternity.

Nova fell to her knees when she returned through the veil. Her eyes were wide and glistening with tears waiting to fall. No one around her spoke or so much as moved. They all knew what just happened; Damon and Bonnie weren't coming back. Nova got her humanity back just to lose the love of her life. Her lip trembled as the harsh reality set in sharply. Her mind was blank; thoughtless. Inside of her chest her heart pounded as fast as it possibly could. A few tears finally broke through and she let out the most painful wail anyone had ever heard. It was so broken that the sound resonated through the forest and into Mystic Falls. The pain of losing her imprinted soulmate was so great that the sound broke through to even Heaven and Hell alike.

She felt like her beating heart had been ripped from her chest. Personally, she would have rathered that it had been. The world around her spun. What even was reality for Nova anymore? She had just regained her humanity at long last. Would she throw it all away and shut it back off? What would Nova be like without Damon at all? As the question prompted various scenarios for everyone around, most of them wanted to take off and run before she could pull herself together. Suddenly, through the trees, Clara stepped timidly. She walked over to Nova and dropped to her knees before the Romanian, wrapping her arms around her. Nova didn't even budge as the dhampir embraced her. She was hollow; dead inside.

"I am sorry for those of us who delayed yours and Damon's safe return home," Clara spoke softly to Nova. "Our lives caused the loss of his."

There was a dark deadness to Nova's emerald eyes that stirred with vengeance at the dhampir's words. She was right - rescuing so many extended their time and wore vastly at Bonnie's strength.

Some people would just have to pay then.

- End -