Disclaimer: I do not own the vampire diaries.

02

Into the woods.

The realisation of her new found emotions brought a turmoil of changes in her life and habits that defined the rest of her childhood. Alex dedicated most of her free time in preparation for the future. Her visits to the witches house were more frequent as her need of learning protection and healing spells increased as she grew older and realised how often both of her siblings tended to seek trouble with no regard for their own safety.

She was officially declared the mother hen of the bunch the day she stopped Jeremy from jumping from the dock back at the lake house, thus preventing him from breaking his arm.

That single event, as simple as it was, filled her with hope for the future. In a way, it made her realise that it was possible to change things for the best as long as she tried hard enough.

It was decided then, at the tender age of ten, that she would aid them and protect them with her life if necessary.

Jeremy and her started to take Karate classes after he saw Dragon Ball and begged their parents to let him learn how to fight. They had been hesitant at first, 'You could get hurt,' their mother had said in an attempt to change his mind when Alex had intervened in his favour.

"We could go together. That way I can make sure he doesn't get in too much trouble." She suggested and they caved in, much to the siblings delight.

To be honest, she hadn't done it because she wanted to recreate the fight between Goku and Vegeta like she had told Jeremy when he asked her reasons about joining the class with him, but to learn how to fight was very important, all things considering.

Relaying on her magic was something she wanted to avoid as much as she could, whilst she was growing to be a decent witch, (according to the hundreds of witches that taught her,) she didn't want it to be her only ability. She wanted to have the element of surprise on her side.

She had seen how badly it had affected Bonnie to be the only witch in the group. To always be their backup plan, the ace up their sleeve willing to risk it all for them. Only to be paid dust at the end.

Alex was planning on changing that. She hoped that by providing her the support she needed, magical and emotional wise, Bonnie wouldn't have to stretch herself thin to the point of dying at every inconvenience the Scooby gang faced.

She hoped she could give everyone the happy ending they deserved. Whilst she knew it was impossible if not extremely hard to do so, she'd rather die trying than do nothing to help them.

It amazed her how fast she changed her mind about her earlier convictions. Love really does change people and she wasn't the exception to the rule.

(...)

The karate classes were alright. Very demanding for her small body and her lack of stamina and strength in general so more often than not she ended up face down on the sweaty mattress, yielding to her opponent.

She was very frustrated to say the least and Jeremy's snickers didn't help improving her sour mood. Alex was a sore loser, that much she knew. She was living a whole different life and yet, she was the same person as she was before.

Wanting to tilt the scale in her favour, Alex started to run around the neighbourhood to raise her endurance and stamina. Day by day she increased the distance until one day she ended up jogging around the forest. To her utter relief, she wasn't the only one in the area as it seemed to be a popular area for fit people to gather and, be fit together? But she was the only child there and her lone presence brought more than one concerned woman to her side to offer their assistance in returning her home.

Alex appreciated their concern, she knew she was an odd sight with her short stature and her Dora the explorer light up sneakers, but she must admit it was getting rather old having to explain herself almost every day.

She just wanted to run in peace!

Thankfully, it only took a few days for them to get used to her presence and leave her alone to do her thing. Her only company during her runs were her thoughts and her inner voice, singing never ending remixes of 'Eye of tiger'. She never learned the correct lyrics, so it became a remix of lyrics of other songs that she sung following the original rhythm.

She was in the middle of the woods now, singing 'The final countdown' for a change as she ventured further into them. The sun rose high behind her, burning her exposed skin and making her regret her choice of wearing a tank top. She increased her speed, eager to reach her home and cool herself under the a.c when a twig snapped to her left.

Alex slowed down, eyes following the sound involuntarily as she came to a full stop spotting a man not far from her. He was crunched, as if examining something on the ground. Her heart was beating loudly in her ribcage as her lungs burned with the exertion as she tried to backtrack as quietly as she could.

He froze as if sensing her gaze on him and looked over his shoulder. He visibly relaxed once he realised she was just a little girl that happened to stumble upon him by accident.

He might be calmer now but Alex was full on panicking because, holy shit it was Stefan Salvatore!

She was rooted on the spot, caught like a deer on headlights as she tried to process her situation. What were the chances of this encounter happening? One in a million? Most likely, and yet, here she was, standing like a statue right in front of Stefan.

He must've mistook her reaction as fear, or maybe he just heard how loud her heart was beating because he smoothed his features, trying to appear as friendly as a lone man could do in the middle of the woods. His face was gentle as he kneel to her height, "Hey, are you lost?"

No. She wasn't. She knew exactly where she was, but for the first time since she got that question asked, she nodded her head yes, purposely ignoring the faint red smudge around his lips. Alex also ignored the voice at the back of her head wondering if he was even supposed to show up so early in town. But she didn't ponder on this for long because holy shit, it's Stefan Salvatore and dear God he was offering his hand for her to take. She only wished her hand wasn't so sweaty.

He held her hand delicately on his much bigger one, "I'll walk you back home, If that's okay?" He said and she nodded, "Do you know your address by any chance?"

She nodded again, not trusting her words at the moment.

He smiled at her, starting to walk away with her by his side, "My name is Stefan, what's yours?"

She took her time to answer, no more than a few seconds as she tried to push her nerves aside, "My name is Alexandra, sir." She said politely, blushing a little under his gaze. Not her fault he was so handsome, "You can call me Alex if you want." She offered shyly.

His smile widened, "Alright, Alex it is." He said and she beamed at him, "What are you doing all alone in the forest?" He asked, looking around to see if she was indeed alone.

She blinked at him, the answer was very obvious to anyone who paid enough attention to her clothes and sweaty face, "I was running." She said, frowning.

He chuckled and she blushed a darker shade of red, "I can see that. But why?" His best bet was that she was running away from home. As far as he knew, no child wandered alone in the woods like this unless they had a very strong reason to not want to be at their home. It would be wise to get more information from her before taking her home or to the sheriff office. 'It all depends on her answer.'

Alex frown deepened, scoffing as she looked down, kicking a rock out of her way and her reaction made him tense in preparation, "I'm training to be stronger. I always lose my fights and I'm tired of my little brother making fun of me because of it!" She confessed, pouting.

Her answer took him aback. He was not expecting that and Stefan had to resist the urge to chuckle at her genuine frustration. Something told him she wouldn't appreciate if he were to laugh at her predicament.

"Fights?" His lip twitched a bit, hinting a smile that he couldn't suppress. Still, just to make sure, he inspected her form for any sight of abuse, luckily finding none.

Alex nodded, "I practice Karate."

His face lit up, amused, he asked her, "Is that so?" Her small size makes him doubt her statement, she doesn't look much like a fighter.

"Yes, sir. I'm training so I can protect my loved ones."

Her conviction was evident in her tone so he feels the need to ask, "What are you protecting them from? Surely the police department can take care of that?"

Alex shrugged, meeting his gaze, "I have bad dreams... visions of the future." She said in a whisper she's sure he heard thanks to his super vampire senses. "I want to keep them safe." She added when he didn't answer right away.

He frowned, "Visions, of the future you said. Are you sure?" There wasn't a teasing undertone in his question and Alex was grateful for it.

"Yes, sir. Some of them had become real recently and it scared me."

He hummed in contemplation, "I see. Not all of them become true then?"

"Nope." She shook her head, her ponytail followed the movement, "They don't happen if I intervene to change the outcome." She said as she glanced up, "Do you believe me?" She asked innocently.

Since he couldn't detect any lie in her confession, he nodded "I do. You have a very rare gift, Alex. Can you see the future of other people or only yours?" He asked, curious to know more.

Inwardly, she was grinning like the Cheshire cat. "I can see the future and the past of some people." Only if they were important enough to get a backstory in the show, is left unsaid by her. "You want me to tell you yours?"

He wet his lips, pondering her offer, he nodded at last, "Sure. Go ahead."

Alex is grinning as she closed her eyes, pretending to be in deep concentration, "You have a brother." She said, opening her eyes and he stiffened in her grasp, "His name starts with a D." She continued in a sing-song voice, "Demon."

"Damon." He corrected a tad amused.

"Same thing." She shrugged, grinning brightly, "I live on 2104 of Maple Street." she said to change the topic. Part of her wanted to continue their conversation but the way his expression shifted at the mention of his brother's name makes her feel guilty.

Stefan makes most of the talk on their way to her house and Alex is more than happy to hear him talk. He's in the middle of telling her a story from his childhood when they arrive at her doorstep.

"Thank you for walking me back, sir."

"You're welcome, Alex. It was nice talking to you."

She's blushing once again, "If you ever need to know your future..." She trailed off and he got her meaning easily.

"I'll come knocking on your door for lottery numbers," he joked, but Alex knows he understands her offer.

"It doesn't work like that," she reached for the doorknob, "Have a nice afternoon, sir. See you around!" She said before hurrying inside and closing the door on his face.

God, her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She couldn't believe she had been able to pull that off successfully. He had believed her lie about having 'visions' and now she was on his radar. Good.

The whole thing had occurred to her a while ago, one night when she couldn't sleep and she started to think about her future. That was the only viable option that she could come up with since Alex doubted she would be capable of biting her tongue when the time came and she wanted to be able to justify her knowledge.

"Why are you so smiley about?" Her mother asked as she pulled out a smoking pot from the oven as the smell of burned food filled the area.

Her smile widened, "I met someone."

"Oww, a boy? Is he cute?" She asked, teasingly setting the pot on the sink.

"He is really cute." She said shyly. Clearing her throat, Alex made her way to her side, "Don't tell dad, please. You know how he gets whenever I mention a boy's name that's not Jeremy's."

"My lips are sealed." Miranda pretended to zip her lips closed and Alex giggled at her.

"Don't tell me what?" Her father asked from the stairs as he made his way down, eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Nothing." They both answered at the same time.

He didn't buy their answer but the smell of burned food demanded his attention as soon as he reached the bottoms of the stairs, "Guess we're eating takeaway tonight." He sighed, before adding, "Again."

Miranda smiled sheepishly as she scrubbed the charred parts from the pot, "Sorry. I must misread the recipe."

He shook his head, already familiar with his wife's lack of talent in the kitchen, he just smiled, "It's okay, honey. Are you in the mood for Chinese or Italian food?"

"Chinese sounds delicious."

"I'm on it." He said, pulling out his phone.

Alex watched their interaction with fondness, there was something about her parent's relationship that made her long to have the same for herself in the future. They had such a healthy relationship and dynamic to the point that they made her realise that her previous home hadn't been good at all. Not even close.

But now she had it, and that was all it mattered to her.

Alex was going to save her parents, screw the plot. These were real people with dreams and aspirations that she wanted to keep by her side for as long as she could.

Stefan seemed to vanish out of thin air as she didn't see him again during her runs. A small part of her wants to go look for him at the boarding house, but the idea is quickly shut down as she doesn't have any excuse to talk to him, besides just wanting to see him, of course that's not a good reason to show up unannounced to his home.

Her stamina had improved greatly with her constant runs and seeing as she no longer gets out of breath as easily as she did in the beginning, Alex decided it was time to move onto bigger things. She developed a workout routine that was a strange mix of different exercises that she'd seen a lifetime ago in multiple YouTube videos when she was trying to be fit for the summer once upon a time when she lived a normal life.

Soon, Alex realised she hated exercising with a burning passion but with her other choice being dying for not being strong enough, she sucked it up and continued to do it four times a week in the privacy of her room once Elena was moved to her own bedroom, much to the younger girl's displeasure.

As much as she liked spending time with her sister, Alex enjoyed her new sense of freedom greatly since she could now practice her spells and incantations without fear of alerting Elena of her secret.

With patience and practice, Alex had learned to control her odd ability. She now could 'project' her soul without being asleep with the help of meditation. With a whole world of possibilities at the palm of her hand, she did the logical thing, knowing she had to start playing her moves soon if she wanted to keep the upper hand against the big, bad hybrid in the future.

She started to follow around, well, more like stalking Mayor Lockwood on his home. He had yet to be elected but Alex couldn't remember his name or if it was even mentioned on the show. The alternative was to call him Mayor Asshole. Though it fit him like a glove, she refrained from calling him that, even in the privacy of her head, out of fear of accidentally calling him that in public, during one of the many social events his family organised in the name of charity and tradition.

It was during one of these events, two months after she started to follow him around that she entered his office with the intention of stealing the moon stone.

It had been just her luck that the man was awfully paranoid and he constantly checked his safe before going to bed, allowing Alex to learn the correct digits combination to open the safe as her spirit floated right beside him during one of his nightly inspections.

Tonight was her chance to get the stone. There was no room for mistakes.

The numbers seemed to be a random combination and not an important date like his wedding anniversary or Tyler's birth date as she had first predicted. It took her a few tries to get it right as she'd never done this before and had no idea in which direction she was supposed to rotate the wheel to make it work.

"Bingo!" She cheered out loud knowing that the live music playing at the garden would hide her voice.

Alex was careful when moving around the things inside of it, barely lifting them to search for the wooden box hidden out of sight.

With the box in her possession, she opened the lid, pocketing away the moon stone on her little hand purse before replacing it with a random white crystal stone she bought in an antique store with her allowance money a while back.

It hadn't been cheap, but Alex knew it was worth it since it was almost impossible to spot the difference, though the fake one was lighter in weight and had more of a yellowish undertone but there was no way the Mayor could tell the difference without having them side by side.

She put everything back in place and fixed the rug before making her way to the other end of the office to rummage around the place even more, looking for Emily's necklace.

After much contemplation, she had decided to grab it as well. There was no harm in getting it now since it was going to be destroyed either way, also, she wanted to be in Emily's good side and returning her necklace will earn her many brownie points with the witch.

"C'mon," she hissed under her breath, struggling to pry open a drawer.

It took her longer to find it, and once she did, Alex pumped a fist in the air, triumphantly. A celebratory cheer was about to escape her lips when the door burst open.

Alex ducked at the sound, hiding under the desk, her periwinkle dress pooled around her, frantically she grasped the ends, hiding them from view, pushing herself further against the wood. her shiny shoes creaked at the sudden movement and her heart skips a beat when she hears the approaching footsteps.

Swallowing hard, she prepared herself to blurt out a barrage of excuses when Tyler's grinning face peers at her from the side.

"Found ya!" He exclaimed loudly, "It's your turn to count!" He said, rushing out of the office.

For a minute, Alex stayed there, rooted on the spot as she waited for her racing heart to calm down. She had completely forgotten about the hide and seek game she had started as an excuse to roam around the mansion without being suspicious.

'That was a close call. I need to be more careful next time.' She thought, leaving the office as well. Alex made her way down stairs where the rest of the kids were gathered, waiting for her with eager smiles and teasing remarks about her crushing loss.

Alex smiled genuinely at them, taking joy at the childish game for she knows it wouldn't be long until tragedy strikes in Mystic Falls.

(...)

Specials thanks to narwalass21 gmail .com for their kind words and for being my first review! Wasn't expecting to get one so soon and I must admit I screamed a bit. I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapters!

Also a huge shoutout to: LifePrice1412, Reika Elvira Dare and xXKaitylynnXx for following this fic.

I wrote some chapters ahead so should be able to update every few days? If not every week. Believe me, I'm having a hard time stopping myself from just posting all of them at once.

On a different note, there's going to be romance on this fic, but I have yet to pick one so for now this is oc/? So feel free to comment your ideas for a future partner/ partners for our girl Alex.