"Hello, my shadow self," Silas said with a smirk before stabbing Stefan and throwing him into a safe. He pushed it off the edge of the quarry and into the water, where it started to fill up dangerously fast. Stefan frantically banged on the door to the safe, desperately trying to get out, but to no avail. Faster than he could process, his head went under the water, and then he couldn't breathe.

Elowen woke up with a gasp, her hand coming up to grab her throat. She coughed violently a couple of times, her brain still trying to catch up with the fact that it was just a premonition and not real life. Once she calmed down, she realized that she was alone in Damon's bed. Pulling back the covers, Elowen made her way to Stefan's bedroom. When she entered, she found that Stefan was just waking up.

"Hey," she called out softly, as not to startle him. "Bad dream?"

Stefan slowly sat up, nodding his head. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"This is me we're talking about, remember?"

They both laughed. Elowen came to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I had a sleep premonition and something told me I was seeing your dreams. That happens sometimes."

"Ah, well… that's kind of embarrassing. What if it was a sex dream or something?"

"Yeah… that's already happened before. Not something I wanna remember."

"Okay, I have to hear this one. Come on. Spill."

Elowen sighed dramatically, but decided to tell him anyway.

"Josiah had this dream about Caroline once. That's all I'm going to say. He's probably screaming at me from the other side as we speak."

They both smiled at each other, but Elowen's smile slipped away.

"Seriously, though, are you okay? Because that wasn't just a bad dream. That was a nightmare. I'm a little too familiar with those."

Stefan was silent for awhile.

"... I was coming home," he mumbled.

Elowen tilted her head. "What?"

"The night I took Silas to the quarry, I said goodbye to Lexi, and then I was going to come home."

"Wait, hang on. How do you remember that?"

"Because my memories are back."

Disbelief crossed Elowen's face.

"Really? Are you serious? How?"

"Tessa came here last night and she undid whatever spell fried my brain and it's all back. I can remember everything."

A wide grin broke out on Elowen's face.

"Stefan, this is great!"

She pulled him in for a hug.

"This is amazing."

She leaned back, remembering the nightmare.

"You're okay, though, right? Because the dream you had-"

"I'm fine. Maybe we should find Damon." Stefan had abruptly cut her off, stopping her from prodding him even further.

Elowen blinked a little, but still nodded her head nonetheless. "Uh, yeah, okay, if that's what you want to do. He'll be happy that you have your memories back."

A few minutes later, Stefan and Elowen were downstairs in the living room with Damon, who was testing Stefan's memory.

"October 1852." Damon quizzed, watching Stefan carefully.

"You broke my nose trying to teach me how to throw a right hook," Stefan replied easily with a small, amused smile at the memory.

"But not on purpose." Damon glanced at Elowen, who laughed. "Just to be clear. How much did you pay for that hunk of junk motorcycle you ride?"

"That's a trick question. You bought me that motorcycle, although I'm guessing it was pretty expensive."

"Or he just compelled it for you," Elowen added with a shrug.

"So Tessa just gave you back your memories, no strings attached?" Damon asked, unconvinced.

"Well it wasn't exactly a gift," Stefan replied. "It was a lot to take it at once. Everything from blowing out the candles on my first birthday cake to drowning in a safe."

Suddenly, Stefan's eyes unfocused and he had a faraway look on his face.

"Stefan?" Elowen called out, but he didn't look over at her. Instead, he gripped the glass in his hand tightly, causing it to shatter.

"Whoa!" Damon exclaimed. "Easy there, buddy."

Elowen frowned. "Stefan, where did you go?"

She recognized that look all too well. She'd seen it on Esmeralda's face before, and even on her own, in the mirror and in pictures. Stefan dodged her question.

"All that and I still can't remember my own strength."

A muffled thud echoed through the house. Stefan furrowed his eyebrows.

"What was that noise?"

"Uh, well, that is…" Damon trailed off.

"We have a situation," Elowen said.

"Of the doppelganger variety."

"Yeah."

"Katherine?" Stefan asked.

Damon shook his head. "No, nope. Not Katherine."

"Her name is Amara," Elowen explained. "She's Silas's one true love. Aka, the first Petrova doppelganger. Fair warning, she's kinda lost her marbles."

Damon stood up. "Come on, brother. I think it's time you met Crazy Pants."

xxxx

After showing Stefan Amara, Damon called Silas, only to find out that he wasn't going to help them bring Josiah back. Him and Stefan found Elowen in Stefan's bathroom, having just finished taking shower, and Damon tilted his head.

"Why are you showering in here?" He asked, slightly confused. "You never shower in here."

"All my clothes in your room are dirty," Elowen replied. "I'd wash them, but you're out of detergent."

Damon gave her a sarcastic smile. "I'll be sure to add it to the shopping list."

Elowen walked over to Stefan's dresser and opened the top drawer, where her clothes were, and started pulling some out.

"So, what's the 411? Obviously something went down judging by the way you're looking at me."

Stefan and Damon shared a look. Damon sighed.

"Wen… Silas said that he changed his mind about bringing Josiah back."

Elowen ceased her movements. She turned around.

"What?"

"He's not bringing Josiah back, Wen. It's over."

Elowen was silent for awhile and Stefan and Damon waited on a bated breath for her to say something. Slowly, she nodded her head.

"Okay."

Stefan and Damon shared a confused look.

"Okay?" Damon repeated. "Just okay?"

Elowen looked up and met Damon's eyes.

"I'm a witch, Damon. I know what the consequences are for bringing someone back to life, and as much as I'd love to see my little brother again, him and Bonnie died bringing Jeremy back. If Silas won't do it, then that's it."

"So… you're just… giving up?"

"I'm not giving up." Elowen's voice cracked, and she swallowed to keep her emotions in check. "I'm being smart. Are we done? I need to feed Amara."

When Stefan and Damon didn't say anything, Elowen grabbed her clothes and left the room.

xxxx

Elowen walked down to the cellar carefully, holding a plate with a sandwich on it in one of her hands. She peered into the cell before unlocking it and pulling it open. Amara sat inside, looking around the room and occasionally tugging on the ropes that bound her hands. When she heard the door squeak open, she looked over, fear in her eyes. Elowen cautiously approached her.

"Relax. I'm just bringing you something to eat. You're hungry, aren't you?"

Amara didn't say anything. Elowen slowly set the plate on the ground and started undoing the ropes on her wrists so she could eat the sandwich herself instead of Elowen hand feeding her. Amara stared at Elowen intently for a moment.

"I know you," she mumbled.

Elowen shook her head. "I don't think so."

"I never forget a face. I've seen you more than once. That shouldn't be possible. How are you alive? You're supposed to be dead."

Elowen frowned, looking up at Amara.

"I mean… I did die, once, in some shape or form, so I guess that would explain why you've seen me before... And a girl named Marisol gave up her life so I could have a second chance. We share the same face. It must've been her you saw the second time."

Amara's eyes flickered to something next to Elowen.

"Are you Marisol?"

Elowen furrowed her eyebrows, looking beside her, where Marisol was standing, equally confused.

"You can see me?" She asked.

"Of course I can see you," Amara scoffed. "I'm not blind. I have eyes. Except you're dead, right? I can't tell the difference between the living or the dead."

Elowen tilted her head. "Can you see people on the other side?"

"I am the anchor to the other side. I can see everything."

Tentatively, Marisol reached out to touch Amara, who immediately recoiled.

"Don't touch me! Please don't- Don't touch me."

"She can touch you?" Elowen asked with wide eyes as an idea struck her. She pulled her phone out to call Jeremy.

"Jeremy? Get to the boarding house as fast as you can. I need to talk to Josiah."

xxxx

Elowen sat in the parlor with Stefan, Damon, Esmeralda and Jeremy. Josiah and Bonnie were standing nearby, while Marisol was seated on the couch.

"Amara could see Marisol, and Marisol could touch her," Elowen was explaining to everyone. "They made physical contact. It's like Amara's got a foot on each side or something."

"Amara exists in both places at once? Here and the other side?" Esmeralda asked.

"Then she's not crazy crazy," Damon said. "She's just talking to dead supernatural beings roaming around in our basement. Hey, Marisol, what's with the sudden visit? I thought you were cozying up to Kol on the other side."

Marisol grew awkward. She cleared her throat.

"Kol and I got into an argument when I refused to kill Elena. I've been on my own ever since the veil went back up."

Bonnie placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and Marisol looked up at her with a sad smile. Jeremy sighed.

"She said she's been by herself ever since the veil went back up."

"That's not the point," Elowen interjected. "The point is, if Silas isn't going to help us, what if Josiah could be the same thing? What if he existed on both sides at once? What if he became the anchor?"

"Tell her I want Bonnie to take it," Josiah said, causing Bonnie to look at him with wide eyes.

"What? No! Josiah, we've been over this."

"Bonnie, listen to me. I've accepted the fact that I'm dead. I've made peace with it. You haven't. You said so yourself, you aren't ready to be dead. I'm happy with the way my life ended. I'm not doing this. You are."

Elowen frowned when she saw the look on Jeremy's face.

"What?" She asked. "What is it?"

Jeremy turned somber eyes onto Elowen, and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Josiah doesn't want to become the anchor. He wants it for Bonnie."

"What?" She whispered, looking around the room. "But… no, no. I'm not ready to let you go. You have to come back!"

With tears in her eyes, she faced Esmeralda.

"Mom?"

"Ric's here," Jeremy told her softly.

Elowen's eyes darted around again.

"Daddy?" Her voice was soft, and maybe even a little broken. "What do I do?"

Alaric smiled sadly at Elowen, coming to stand next to Josiah. He wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"I made a promise to you that I would watch over him over here, and I plan on keeping it. It's okay, kid. He'll be safe."

Jeremy nodded, turning to Elowen again.

"Ric said that he's keeping his promise to look after Josiah and he'll be safe."

"Tell her that it's okay for her to let me go," Josiah said. "Letting go doesn't mean she has to forget me. I'll always be right here with her."

Jeremy relayed this message. A tear slipped down Elowen's face and she quickly wiped it away. Taking in a shaky deep breath, she nodded.

"Okay," she muttered quietly. "Okay. Bonnie becomes the anchor."

Esmeralda reached over to rub comforting circles on Elowen's back. Elowen sniffled and cleared her throat, willing her tears to go away.

"There's only one thing that could stand in our way," Elowen started to explain. "This spell is 2,000 years old. Our grimoires don't go back that far."

Damon groaned. "Oh, please don't say who I think you're going to say."

"We don't have a choice, Damon. We either ask Tessa for help, or the other side gets destroyed and I never get to talk to my dad or my brother ever again. What do you think my choice is?"

Damon sighed loudly, giving in.

"Fine. I'll go talk to her."

"Thank you."

Damon stood up and looked down at Stefan.

"Coming, brother?"

Stefan shook his head. "No. I'll hold down the fort."

"Fine, suit yourself."

Damon turned and left the parlor, leaving everyone else by themselves.

xxxx

Elowen entered Stefan's room and found him standing in front of the balcony windows, looking out. She came over and stopped beside him, staring outside the windows.

"Want to tell me what you're thinking?" She asked after a few moments of silence.

"I'm thinking about how I'm going to kill Silas," Stefan replied.

Elowen sighed. "You've already been down the revenge road with Klaus, Stefan, and you eventually realized that it wasn't worth it. I just got you back. I don't think I could handle losing you again."

Stefan paused, a hush falling over them again, before he opened his mouth.

"You know, there were these moments in that safe, a stillness in time when I was dead, right before I was about to come back to life. I would think about things in the past that made me happy, things that gave me hope. All these things kept me sane. They pushed me to hang on when all I wanted to do was give up and turn off my humanity, but eventually, the pain took those moments away from me, too."

Elowen took her eyes off of the trees outside and looked at Stefan. She reached over and gently grabbed his hand.

"I'm sorry you went through that. I looked for you all summer. I tried everything, but I think Silas put some kind of psychic damper on my magic. Nothing was working, but I refused to give up. I'm sorry that I couldn't find you sooner."

Stefan looked away from the window and down at Elowen.

"Every time I close my eyes, I can see Silas stabbing me. I can feel myself drowning, and I need to make it stop."

Elowen sighed and reached up with her other hand to brush her fingers against Stefan's face.

"Stefan, what you're experiencing is PTSD. I'm kind of an expert with it, remember? You went through something traumatic. That doesn't just go away overnight, but killing Silas isn't going to help you."

"You killed Luis," Stefan pointed out.

"You're right, I did, and killing him felt amazing, but it didn't magically erase the years of trauma he put me through. It's been years, and sometimes I still find myself having panic attacks over it, or having nightmares that Josiah used to have to wake me up from. It's not as bad as it used to be. Just someone raising their voice at me would make me feel like I was back in my childhood bedroom, but I learned to cope with it, and you can, too. Let me help you, Stefan."

Stefan reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling it away from his face.

"If I don't kill him, I'm gonna lose my mind, or I'm gonna turn off my humanity… or both."

Stefan took a step back from Elowen and then started to leave the room. Elowen watched him leave helplessly, but didn't go after him.

xxxx

Later on, after the sun had gone down, Tessa, Katherine, Elena and Amara were gathered in one of the rooms. Elowen sat out in the living room, curled up on the couch by herself. Esmeralda entered, holding a mug in her hands, and walked over to Elowen.

"Missing all the fun, huh?" She asked, sitting next to Elowen.

"I can't be in there," Elowen mumbled back. "I'd just be reminded that it's not Joey coming back."

Esmeralda smiled and handed over the mug.

"Earl grey with a tablespoon of honey, just the way you like it. The Salvatore boys sure have a variety assortment of teas in their kitchen."

Elowen accepted the mug and took a small sip.

"It's because they know I prefer tea over coffee." Elowen paused. "Am I a bad person?"

Esmeralda leaned back on the couch and carefully situated Elowen in her arms. She started running her fingers through her hair, something Esmeralda knew Elowen found comforting.

"How so?" Esmeralda asked calmly, her mom voice on.

"I was so willing to throw Bonnie on the back burner to get Josiah back. That makes me a bad friend."

"No, it just makes you human. I'm sure Bonnie understood why you were prioritizing your brother over her. She was willing to sacrifice her happiness so you would have him back. It was very Bonnie of her."

Elowen and Esmeralda shared a small laugh.

"I'm sure Joey would've loved nothing more than to come back, baby, but he's at peace, and we should be happy that he's not suffering over there. He saw that Bonnie was hurting, and he put her first to make sure she could get closure. I couldn't be more prouder of him for doing that. I know letting him go is hard for you, but it's what he wants. You still have me, and Eliana, and Sydney. Stefan, Damon and Caroline, too. And Veronica," Esmeralda added at the end. "A very unlikely friend of yours, but a friend all the same."

Esmeralda heard Elowen sniffle and knew that she was crying.

"Ssh. It's okay, honey. You'll be okay."

The moment was suddenly interrupted when strong winds began to blow through the room and the lights started to flicker.

"What's happening?" Elowen asked loudly over the roaring of the winds.

"I don't know!" Esmeralda answered.

As suddenly as it started, the winds stopped and the lights went out, throwing them into darkness. Elowen stood up from the couch, set her mug on the table and pulled out her phone to turn the flashlight on. Her and Esmeralda shared a look before setting off for the room Tessa was doing the spell in, where they met up with Damon.

"Electricity's out in the whole house," Damon said as they entered the room. "What happened?"

"Silas is here," Elena replied, still standing in the middle of the room.

"Well, Silas owes me a fuse box." Damon looked between Elena and Katherine. "Hang on. I only count two doppelgangers. Where's Crazy Pants?"

Elowen peered over his shoulder and saw that Tessa was also gone. "And where's the other crazy?"

xxxx

"Stefan and Amara are not inside," Esmeralda said as she met up with Elowen and Damon a few minutes later, after searching through the whole house for them.

"That's because Stefan took her," Elowen explained. "I have to find him before he gets himself killed."

As she turned away, Damon grabbed her.

"No. He's luring Silas away so he can finish this. It's typical Stefan. He'll be fine."

"He won't be fine. He's hurting Damon, and he's not thinking clearly. I know what he's going through, and I'll be damned if I let him go through it alone. I'm going to go find him, so let me go, Damon."

Damon sighed, letting go of her arm.

"I'll come with you. Come on."

Elowen nodded, turning to face Esmeralda. She nodded back.

"Go, find him. I'll stay here."

Elowen turned and ran for the front door, Damon following behind her.

xxxx

Elowen and Damon found Amara a second too late. They watched as she stabbed herself with a knife, swayed on her feet and started to fall over.

"No!" Elowen shouted with a gasp while Damon rushed over to catch her.

"Amara. No, Amara! Amara." Damon bit into his wrist and put it to her mouth. "Drink this. Drink."

Amara's body rejected the blood, coughing and throwing it up. Elowen was frozen in her spot, her hands coming up to cover her mouth.

"No, no, no," Damon mumbled frantically when he realized his blood wasn't working. "No, hey, stay with me. Look at me. Look at me. Amara. Amara! Hey! Look at me."

Amara grew weaker and weaker by the second. She looked up at Damon through hooded eyes.

"I've been in hell for 2,000 years," she rasped.

"What's another five minutes, huh? Hey!"

"Let me die."

"No! Amara! Come on. Please."

With tears in her eyes, reality crashed down on Elowen.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "Josiah."

Turning on her heel, she booked it back for the boarding house, completely blanking on just duplicating herself there, or teleporting, as she was too busy running like a mad man through the trees.

In the living room, Josiah, Alaric and Bonnie approached Jeremy.

"Where's my mom?" Josiah asked. "I need to say goodbye."

Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you talking about? Tessa's doing the spell."

"Amara's dying, Jer," Bonnie told him sadly.

"No, that's impossible. Damon and Elowen-"

"Stop. We don't have much time."

Esmeralda walked into the room and saw the look on Jeremy's face.

"What? What is it?"

Jeremy turned solemn eyes onto Esmeralda.

"Amara's dying. Josiah wants to say goodbye."

"... What?" Esmeralda asked in a whisper.

"I'm sorry."

Tears welled up in Esmeralda's eyes and a single one slipped down her face. Josiah walked over to her and reached out to touch her shoulders, something he knew she couldn't feel.

"I love you, mom, and I'm forever grateful for the life you gave me. You and Elowen put yourselves in harm's way to protect me from Luis, and I've never said it before, but thank you." Josiah turned to Jeremy. "Tell Elowen that even though I never thought to mention it before, that I'm thankful for her always having my back."

Jeremy nodded and opened his mouth to repeat this message to Esmeralda when her eyes trained on something over Jeremy's shoulder and her eyes widened.

"Bonnie?"

Josiah, Alaric and Jeremy turned to face her. Jeremy reached out slowly and touched Bonnie's shoulder, the both of them shocked when they were able to feel contact.

"I can feel you," Jeremy breathed.

"I can feel you," Bonnie replied in the same tone.

"... Bonnie?" Elena questioned from behind her. She turned around and saw Elena and Caroline standing there.

"Please tell me this is real," Caroline said quietly.

"You guys can see me?" Bonnie asked hopefully.

"It worked," Esmeralda mumbled in disbelief. "Bonnie, it worked!"

"It worked!" Bonnie repeated excitedly, her eyes filling with happy tears.

As Elena and Caroline ran forward to group hug with Bonnie, the front door burst open and Elowen came into the room, panting and out of breath. She paused when she saw Bonnie. Relief flooded through her when she realized that the other side was still intact and that Josiah was fine, and so was Alaric, but the next second, a dark cloud loomed over her head as she remembered that she was never going to see her brother again.

Bonnie looked over and shot her a smile. Elowen tried to smile back, but instead of going over to hug her, Elowen turned to leave the house again to find Stefan.

"I'll be right back," Bonnie told Elena and Caroline before going after Elowen. She was already a couple of yards away from the house when Bonnie caught up to her.

"Hey," she called out softly.

Elowen came to a slow stop and turned around.

"Hey."

"How are you doing?"

"Look, Bonnie, I want to be happy that you're here, I really do, but-"

"I know. And it's okay."

Bonnie looked on either side of Elowen and smiled.

"Josiah and Ric are here."

Elowen looked both ways at the empty spots beside her and tried her hardest not to cry.

"I miss you guys so much," she said, her voice cracking mid sentence. Josiah and Alaric looked at each other before both of them smiled down at Elowen.

"We miss you, too, kid," Alaric told her. "But we're right here with you. Always."

"And I'm still here to give you a hard time," Josiah spoke up. "Someone's gotta do it."

Bonnie passed along the messages and a laugh bubbled up in Elowen's chest. She sniffled, dabbing at the wetness under her eyes.

"Thank you," she said to Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded. "You're welcome."

Elowen nodded towards the front door. "Now go. Be with Elena and Bonnie and Jeremy. And don't forget to call Angel. You sort of owe him a date."

Bonnie laughed. "I will. Be safe, okay?"

Elowen nodded. "I will."

The two of them turned away from each other and parted ways.

xxxx

Elowen found Stefan in the woods, standing over Silas's body. He'd already dug a grave and all that was left was to fill it up. She carefully approached him from behind.

"So, he's dead," she spoke up quietly. "It's over."

"Yeah, it's over," Stefan replied without looking at her.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Elowen walked over to him and grabbed his shoulder, turning around to face her.

"Look at me and tell me that killing Silas worked. That it at least eased some of your pain."

"Why is this so important to you?"

"Because I know how much he stole from you, and I know how much traumatic memories can eat away at your brain."

"Yeah, and he's dead."

"That doesn't erase what you went through, Stefan. While you were suffering in that safe, grasping onto hope, fighting every second so you wouldn't lose your humanity, I failed to find you. It was my job to get you out of there, and I couldn't, and even though it was because Silas was blocking my magic, I still feel like this was my fault. I was supposed to save you, so I need to know that this helped, even the littlest bit, because I hate myself for not finding you on time."

Stefan was silent for a moment.

"You know… when my memories were gone, I had the opportunity to fall in love with you all over again, and I clung to that thought when everything came raining back down on me. It reminded me of what it felt like to be human, back before things got so complicated, when we first met. I never thought I would remember what that was like, and I'm grateful that while you weren't the first face I saw when I got out of that safe, you were what kept me grounded, like you always do."

He paused.

"But… that doesn't change the fact that I wanted it to be you. When that safe finally opened and somebody found me… I wanted it to be you." Stefan looked over Elowen's shoulder. "I wanted it to be both of you."

Elowen looked behind her and saw Damon standing there, then looked back at Stefan, her face twisted with regret.

"I'm sorry," she whispered after a lapse of silence. "It should've been me. I'm sorry." Her eyes flickered down to Silas's body. "You should bury him. I'll see you back at the house."

Damon wrapped an arm around Elowen's shoulders and they both left Stefan alone, heading back to the boarding house.