Elena holds the box carefully on her lap as Elijah drives her back to Bonnie's house. She stares at it the entire trip, afraid that if she looks away that it will somehow disappear. When they get to Bonnie's house, Elijah opens the car door for her, and helps her out, and walks her to Bonnie's front door – as always.

As Elena opens the front door, she realizes that she doesn't remember whether she thanked him yet.

"Elijah," she murmurs, turning around to face him. He stares down at her with those dark eyes. "Thank you." It's barely a whisper, but she knows he hears her; Elijah inclines his head, accepting her thanks graciously. They say their goodbyes, and she feels the weight of his gaze on her back as she slips inside.

Elena cautiously carries the box upstairs to the room she shares with Bonnie. She places it carefully on the bed, before opening it – just to reassure herself that the elixir is still there.

It is, as is the vial of Elijah's blood. Elena takes that vial out and slips it in her pocket, leaving the elixir where it is. As she does, she realizes that there is a note inside the box. It reads:

iElena,

I have spoken more with you than I have with anyone in decades, perhaps centuries, and yet I find that some messages are still easier to write down. I regret that I did not clearly communicate to you that, although the sacrifice is regrettably necessary, it was never my intention for you to stay dead.

It would be a tragedy for the world to lose a soul as compassionate as yours. If you choose to take the elixir and return from the dead as a human, please know that my offer of eternal life has no expiration date.

Always and forever,

Elijah/i

Elena smiles, wiping away a few tears, before she carefully closes the box, and places it on Bonnie's bookshelf. She reads Elijah's note again, and then a third time, before she folds it up and slides it between the pages of the diary that she has not written in for quite a while.

She saw no point to recording her memories, when she wouldn't be around to remember them. She saw no point to writing out her feelings, when almost everything in the world was dark, and grey.

But Elena has hope now. For the first time since making her deal with Elijah, she lets herself think about the future:

She'll willingly sacrifice herself to break Klaus's curse. She'll die – and then she'll wake up, free from the curse that is her face.

Elijah will kill Klaus, or he won't; revenge or reconciliation, it is still all the same to her, so long as Bonnie is safe.

Elena will get to graduate high school, and go to college. She'll get to build a career. Maybe she'll even get to build a ifamily/i.

She'll get to watch Bonnie grow into the powerful witch that Elena knows she will be. She'll get to be the maid of honor at Bonnie's wedding, and ask Bonnie to be the maid of honor at hers. (Elena tries to imagine the man she might marry, one day. Once, all she saw was Stefan. Now, the man at the end of that imaginary aisle has dark hair, and dark eyes.)

Elena will get to grow old, if she so chooses.

The most important thing is that she has ipossibilities/i again. Elena isn't seventeen going on dead; she's seventeen, going on eighteen, going on iforever/i, if that's what she decides.

Elena rereads the last entry in her diary, from the afternoon before the Masquerade Ball. Elena was grieving then too: Jeremy, and Uncle John, and Caroline, and her parents. But she also had ihope/i - that their plan would work, and they could kill Katherine and remove the threat she posed to everyone in Mystic Falls. (She had no idea of the losses to come: Aunt Jenna, and Matt, and Ric.)

Elena spends the afternoon writing in her diary. She writes about everything that happened the past few weeks, the grief and hopelessness she felt, and the tentative beginnings of optimism that she feels now.

She writes about Aunt Jenna's funeral, and the pain of missing her. She writes about her mixed feelings for Stefan. She writes about how she still occasionally expects to see Matt in the hallways at school, and then she iremembers/i that she never will, ever again. She writes about Tyler, and how weird it is to live in a Mystic Falls without him.

She writes about Bonnie, of course. How supportive she's been, as Elena wallows in her grief. Her training with Dr. Martin, and her obvious crush on Luka. That they've never been closer, except for this one, terrible secret…

Perhaps most of all, Elena writes about Elijah. Their first meeting. Their many negotiations. His death, and return. How he saved her from Katherine. How he saved her from the werewolves. The way he opens doors for her. How attentive he is. That he lets her choose and then irespects her choice/i.

The way he listens to her.

The way he looks at her.

The way he looks in a suit.

Elena writes until her hand cramps, and then she writes some more. When Bonnie walks into the room later, she stops at the sight of Elena writing in her diary. Bonnie smiles – she knows what it means, that Elena is writing in her diary again.

Elena smiles back, closing her diary (for now), and shaking out her hand. "It's good to write again," she admits to Bonnie.

"I'm glad," her friend responds, still smiling. "Did you have a good time with Elijah?" There's something teasing in her voice; she sounds not unlike Elena does when she asks Bonnie about Luka.

Elena isn't yet comfortable enough with how she's feeling to gush about Elijah to anyone other than her diary – not even Bonnie. And besides… she thinks it is time to share with Bonnie the one, terrible secret that she's been keeping back for weeks. (Once she does, Bonnie may not feel quite so positively about Elijah.)

Elena's right. Even though she leads with the elixir, Bonnie still thinks that Elijah is crazy to ask Elena to go through with the sacrifice. She's angry that Elena agreed to put herself in danger this way, and that Elena didn't tell her earlier.

But even though Bonnie is angry, Elena feels much better once she shares the truth with her friend. She knows Bonnie will forgive her: that's sort of their thing, forgiving each other.

That night, Elena dreams of Elijah again. She rises from the dead, and he kneels at her feet. He presses a kiss to the inside of her knee, and another kiss a few inches higher, to the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, and another a little higher, and up and up and up…

When Elena looks down, his face is smeared with her blood.

She wakes up, and admits to herself that she's not just damp from sweat.

In the morning, Elena realizes that her period started overnight. Luckily, she mostly sleeps on her side, and her flow isn't very heavy for the first day or two, so she didn't make a mess of Bonnie's sheets.

When she has to borrow a tampon from Bonnie because she doesn't have any of her own, Elena also realizes that this is the first period she's had since before Founders' Day. In the midst of her grief and stress, Elena didn't notice that she was late by about two months. (It isn't like she has to worry about being pregnant. The last time Elena had sex with someone capable of impregnating her was before her parents died. With Matt.)

That afternoon, when Elijah picks her up from school, Elena thinks his eyes turn just a little darker than usual – just for a moment. And then she blinks, and he looks just the same as he does every other day.

Elena tells him that she read his note, that she forgives any misunderstanding, and that she appreciates his offer. He responds that he appreciates her forgiving nature. They don't talk about it further.

(Elena keeps the vial of Elijah's blood with her at all times, both a talisman and a reminder that the choice is hers. Bonnie spells it for her, so it is just as unnoticeable as her vervain necklace.)

And then, Elena lets herself start to live a little.

She and Bonnie attend the 60s decade dance. They dance with each other, and anyone who asks. Elena watches with a smile as Luka asks Bonnie to dance, and then sweeps her off her feet on the dance floor. That night, as they get ready for bed, Bonnie gushes about Luka's dance skills, and how handsome and sweet he is. She admits that – in the spirit of the 60s – he asked her to "go steady," and Bonnie agreed; Elena can't help but be happy for them.

Elena allows herself to relax around Luka a little more. They start to talk, to become real friends – separate and apart from Bonnie. Eventually, Luka reveals to her that he and Dr. Martin are helping Elijah because Klaus has his older sister, Greta. They're trying to get her back, and think Elijah is their best option. (Elena wonders if Greta – who according to Luka is more powerful than even Dr. Martin – went willingly with Klaus, or whether Klaus threatened Dr. Martin and Luka. She doesn't ask.)

She finally has a real conversation with Stefan, and closes the door – forever – on them getting back together. He tells her that he understands, but he will always love her and protect her. (He tries to tell her something about Elijah, but he stops talking when she asks him to.)

She occasionally texts with Tyler. He never mentions his dead pack members, and she doesn't bring them up. He seems to be settling into his new life in Florida.

She pays attention in school, and does her homework, and studies. After all, Elena will need decent grades if she wants to go to college. She even signs up for SAT prep classes.

She writes in her diary. Every day.

And every day, she spends time with Elijah. Now, armed with the knowledge that he isn't sending her to her death (or at least, not to her permanent death), Elena allows herself to appreciate how attentive he is, and his sense of humor – and the way he fills out his tailored suits. She lets herself enjoy the way he looks at her, and how he seems to understand her on a fundamental level – and the heat that simmers between them. (She isn't ready to do anything with it yet, but she enjoys it just the same.)

And it isn't that the grief is gone. It will never be gone, a constant thrum of iJeremy, Aunt Jenna, Mom, Dad, Uncle John, Caroline, Matt, Ric,/i over and over and over again. And it isn't that each day is easier than the last; some days are harder, often for what seems like no reason at all.

But Elena is still here, even though they're gone. So although there are some days that she just doesn't want to drag herself out of bed in the morning – she finds a way to do it. (And on the days when she just can't, Bonnie's dad calls into school for her, and Elena curls up in bed, thinks about everyone she's lost, and cries.)

But even though it's difficult at times, Elena keeps living.

Before Elena knows it, she's in the midst of finals, and then it's the last day of school. Bonnie decides to spend most of her time over the summer training with Dr. Martin and Luka. With Tyler still in Florida, and the rest of her friends dead or estranged, that leaves Elena a bit at loose ends.

She ends up spending most of her time with Elijah at the Lockwood Mansion. Most of the time, they just sit together in the study in companionable silence – Elena writing in her diary or reading a novel, and Elijah sorting through the Gilbert journals and old newspapers and various ledgers.

Occasionally, Elijah will put his work to the side, and they'll talk. Really talk; in a way that Elena isn't sure she's ever talked to anyone before, save Bonnie.

And sometimes, Elijah looks at her with those dark eyes, and Elena has to resist the urge to touch her vervain necklace to make sure it's still there, because it seems like he can read her mind. Like he can see inside her brain, and understand everything that makes her tick. That he iadmires/i it.

Admires iher/i.

(Even the parts of her that Elena knows aren't admirable – like her increasingly flexible morals, and the fact that she would willingly throw others into danger to protect the people she cares about, and her desire for Katherine to suffer before she dies.)

Elena wonders if Elijah feels the same way: understood and admired. Admired both because of and despite that understanding.

She hopes so.

And then it is June 22, 2010: Elena's eighteenth birthday.

It should be a happy day.

But her birthday reminds her of everyone who should be there but isn't. (iJeremy, Mom, Dad, Aunt Jenna, Uncle John, Caroline, Matt, Ric/i.)

She imagines every milestone will be like that, for the rest of her life. But at least Elena will ihave/i a life. She should be grateful. She should. (She'll be grateful another day.)

Elena ends up spending most of her day at the cemetery, visiting the graves of all the people who should be there to share her special day, but aren't. Bonnie offers to skip training to join her, but Elena declines; she wants to be alone with her ghosts. Instead, they agree to have dinner together that night, after Bonnie is done training with Dr. Martin.

Of course, Elena is not icompletely/i alone. The cemetery is a public place, no invitations required. Elena bargains Elijah down to waiting at the entrance, where he'll be able to hear her if she calls for help.

Elena visits Aunt Jenna first; the Gilbert plot was full, so she isn't near the others. She clears away a few leaves before she lays down flowers and a bottle of bourbon. Ric isn't buried in Mystic Falls – his parents ended up reclaiming his body and burying him in Maine – but Elena thinks he'd appreciate the thought, anyway.

She visits Caroline next, in the Forbes plot; and then Matt, not too far away, next to Vicki.

Then she moves on to the Gilbert plot. Jeremy is right next to Mom and Dad, and she sits there for a while, between three of the people she loves most in the world, and tries to think of nothing at all.

Uncle John is on the other side of the mausoleum. As she approaches, Elena is surprised to see a dark-haired woman standing by his grave. As she gets closer, she realizes that she recognizes the woman.

It's Isobel.

Elena stops when she sees her. She contemplates calling for Elijah, but there's something in Isobel's eyes that makes her pause.

"Hello, Elena," Isobel murmurs quietly. "Happy birthday."

"Not particularly," she replies, just as quietly. She tries to keep her heart rate steady, not sure exactly how much Elijah will be able to hear from where he's standing. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you," Isobel tells her. Elena can't get a read on her, but she doesn't believe Isobel is there just to see her. She tells her so. "I have a gift for you."

"From Katherine?" Elena asks. "Did she tell you that she killed Uncle John? And my Aunt Jenna?"

"I haven't seen Katherine," Isobel replies. Elena doesn't believe that either.

"She killed Ric, too," Elena tells her. iThat/i gets a reaction: just a widening of Isobel's eyes, but it's a reaction nonetheless. She wonders if Isobel didn't know that Ric was dead – or if she just didn't know that Katherine was the one who killed him.

Well, now she knows.

"I didn't come to fight," Isobel says. She reaches into her bag, and pulls out… a present. She offers it to Elena; she isn't sure whether to take it.

It doesn't ilook/i dangerous. The box is fairly long, but not too high or wide. It's covered in shiny red wrapping paper.

"What is it?" Elena asks, looking into Isobel's eyes. They give nothing away.

"It's a surprise; you'll have to open it to find out," Isobel tells her.

Elena sighs and – wondering if she's being stupid – takes it. It's not particularly heavy, but it isn't light, either.

"Thanks, I guess," Elena tells her. "You should probably go now. I'd like to be alone, and I don't think you want to meet Elijah."

"No," Isobel replies. "I don't think I do."

Between one blink and the next, she's gone. Elena isn't in a gift-opening mood; she puts the present in her bag, and then puts Isobel from her mind, so she can grieve Uncle John in peace.

Later, on their drive to Bonnie's house, Elena tells Elijah about her encounter with Isobel. "Do you believe she is a threat to you?" Elijah asks. She's a little surprised he isn't chiding her for not calling for him the moment she saw Isobel.

"I don't know," Elena replies. "I think she has her own agenda. She told me she hasn't seen Katherine, but I'm not sure I believe her."

"Are you going to open her gift?" Elijah asks, as he pulls into Bonnie's driveway. Her car isn't there yet; she must still be with the Martins. (Bonnie's dad is out of town for work, as usual.)

"I don't know," Elena shrugs. Elijah turns the car off, and doesn't push her for further answers. When he materializes outside her car door to help her out, he's holding a wrapped present – Elena has no idea where he was hiding it.

"Happy birthday, Elena," he tells her, handing it to her. She thanks him with a smile. Elijah's dark eyes are fond as he holds his arm out and walks with her to Bonnie's front door.

Elena opens the door, but before she walks over the threshold – and before she thinks twice – she turns back to Elijah, leans up, and presses a quick kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you," Elena murmurs again. She doesn't just mean for the book. She also means for the elixir upstairs (the choice to remain human), and the vial of his blood in her pocket (the choice to become something else), and the fact that he's somehow found a balance between protecting her and not smothering her.

It's a balance that she can live with. (Maybe, for the rest of her life?)

"You're more than welcome," Elijah murmurs back, his expression earnest. Elena thinks he understands.

Later, after Bonnie surprises her with birthday dinner catered from the Grill, and a birthday cake from her favorite bakery, they sit down together on Bonnie's bed, and Elena opens her gifts.

Bonnie encourages her to open Elijah's gift first. She seems excited. Elena wonders if her friend knows what it is.

Elena gently pulls off the wrapping paper, to reveal a cardboard box. She opens the box, and sees that Elijah packed the box with bubble wrap. She thinks that's a bit odd, for something that is so obviously a book – until she pulls the bubble wrap away, revealing the book's cover.

It's a very, very old copy of Jane Austen's "Emma" – one of Elena's favorite books.

"It's a first edition!" Bonnie blurts out, as Elena reaches down to pull the book out. She freezes before she can touch it, her eyes wide as she looks down at the cover.

She's speechless. Bonnie smiles at her, obviously pleased at Elena's reaction.

It's beautiful. Elena is afraid to touch it. After a minute or two of just staring at the cover, she replaces the bubble wrap, carefully closes the box, and brings it to Bonnie's bookshelf. She puts it next to the box with the elixir.

"My gift now," Bonnie tells her, pulling her back to the bed.

It's a new diary, with high quality paper, and a fountain pen much nicer than she would ever buy herself.

"You deserve nice things," Bonnie tells her, shrugging, when Elena protests that it's too much. Elena hugs her, and then they spend hours talking, about nothing and everything, just like old times. (Well, almost. Elena will never get used to the empty spot where Caroline used to be.)

She leaves Isobel's gift, unopened, on the dresser.