For a few moments, everyone was silent, with the exception of Josie's sobs.

"It's my fault."

"It's not your fault," Jenna said automatically.

"It is! She died so I wouldn't!"

"Honey, she's going to wake up," Elena said hastily. "Lizzie's a big girl; she's capable of making decisions."

"There's really no point right now," Penelope said sadly. "When she's in this state, she won't listen."

Elena sighed. "You're right." She checked the time and go to her feet. "Right, is anyone hungry?"

There was a brief awkward silence.

"I'll take that as a no," Elena said. "Which two of you are brothers?"

Landon and Rafael raised their hands.

"Okay, I've put you both in the same room, if that's okay," Elena said. "Penelope, I assume you don't mind looking after Josie for me?"

"Of course not," Penelope said.

"I'll take Hope up to her room," Katherine said. "I suggest we leave Lizzie down here for now."

"I'll keep an eye on her," Elena said. "I need to catch Jenna up anyway." She gently eased Josie into her own arms and steered her upstairs.

The others followed her, following her directions to their own rooms with thanks, and Penelope trailed after her into the twins' room.

"There we are, sweetheart," Elena murmured.

Penelope bent down to pull Josie's shoes off so Elena could tuck her in. "Thank you."

"I'll try calling again," Elena said. "I got through to one of Hope's aunts and she's gone to the school. Do you need me to call anyone?"

Penelope smiled sadly. "My parents wouldn't care."

Elena frowned, touching her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Penelope's breath hitched, but she nodded. "I will be."

Elena wasn't convinced but she let it go. "Let me know if she gets worse."

She met Stefan on the landing. "Can you …?"

"Tuck the girls in?" Stefan finished. "No problem. Do you need any help?"

Elena paused but shook her head. "No. Jenna and I need to have this conversation ourselves."

"Alright." Stefan kissed her, and she made her way downstairs again, finding Jenna still sitting beside Lizzie, still monitoring her pulse.

"She'll be okay," Elena said.

"I know," Jenna said. "I just … I don't know."

Elena sighed. "Why don't we talk in the library?"

After a second, Jenna got up and followed her through to the next room. "It's late, Elena; if you … Oh, wow."

Elena smiled, following her gaze to the painting above the mantlepiece. "Beautiful, isn't it? It was Damon's wedding present to me and Stefan. And it is late, Jenna, but we need to have this conversation now because of what's likely to happen tomorrow."

Her phone buzzed and she checked it.

CM: On our way. Everyone ok?

ES: Everyone alive. OK may take time. Need some time to sort out.

CM: OK- will talk 2morrow. Taken Nik's phone.

"Everything okay?" Jenna asked.

"Everything's fine," Elena said, slipping her phone away. "How about a drink?"

"Elena …" Jenna said.

"Trust me," Elena said, pouring out two measures of bourbon from Damon's stash. "You do not want to handle vampirism without alcohol."

"I don't doubt that," Jenna said. "But you know I'm not really a whisky girl."

Elena held out one of the glasses with a sad smile. "Josie and Lizzie are Alaric's daughters."

Jenna took the glass and downed it. "Okay then. Is he happy?"

Elena shrugged. "I think so. Unfortunately, their mother passed away about seven years ago. Cancer. Or, as it turns out, cursed by her psychopath of a mother."

"Oh God …" Jenna murmured. "Better bring the bottle."

It took hours.

Eventually, Elena fell quiet, emotionally exhausted. Putting everything together in one story had driven home just how much happened in such a short period of time.

It had taken her several false starts before she got into a rhythm.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured.

"Oh, honey," Jenna sighed. "It's not your fault, Elena. I'm so sorry that you had to deal with all that. But it's not your fault."

"He killed you," Elena whispered. "And I had to forgive him."

"Good," Jenna said firmly. "Elena, I'd rather you forgive him and call a truce than kill yourself to avenge me, alright?"

"Caroline …" Elena began.

"Is she happy?" Jenna asked.

Elena hesitated. "Yes. He adores her."

"Then that's all I can ask for," Jenna said simply. "Now I know you did tell me as part of the story, but let me just try and get it straight in my head. Caroline is now married to Klaus - happily - and they have Hope, who's seventeen. Bonnie is dating Enzo, who's a vampire, but she's still a regular witch as far as you know."

"To be fair, Bonnie has amazing genes," Elena said. "She could very easily have achieved immortality and we wouldn't realise until she's, like, seventy."

"That runs in the family," Jenna said. "Sheila was the same. Matt's married to … Rebekah? She's Klaus's sister, and they have an adopted daughter, Mariella. Matt and Rebekah are both vampires; Mariella's a werewolf, she's seventeen. Tyler lives in Mystic Falls still, with Hayley - they're both hybrids but the alphas of a werewolf pack. Carol's still the mayor, but Liz retired last month."

"That's right," Elena said.

"And Jeremy's a vampire," Jenna finished heavily.

"That was a choice," Elena said gently. "He and Jeanette had been together for several years and … Honestly, it was reaching the point that he either turned or it was starting to look really, really creepy."

Jenna smiled. "But he still lives in Mystic Falls?"

"He does," Elena said. "They kind of have a time share. They spend six months here and six months in New Orleans - Damon ended up buying out the Grill and Jeremy runs it when he's here."

Jenna nodded, taking a slow sip of whisky. "Katherine said I was Hope's 'sticking point' - what did she mean?"

Elena grimaced. "Everything else, you can explain away. You can understand his reasoning. Not agree with it, but understand it. You just … You don't make sense. I don't even think Klaus knows why he turned you and didn't just use another vampire. When Caroline told Hope the story a few years ago, she ran away. She came here, because she wanted to apologise to me for you. And then she had a panic attack because she thought she was a psychopath."

"That is not the act of a psychopath," Jenna said. "For that matter, Klaus's actions aren't those of a psychopath either. He clearly loves his family far too much."

Elena jumped to her feet. "That reminds me! Where did I put it?"

"Put what?" Jenna asked, a little startled.

Elena hurried over to one of the bookcases, scanning the shelves for something, before pulling out one of her journals and checking the date, flicking through it until she found what she was looking for - a heavy, yellowing envelope, addressed not to her, but Miss Jenna Sommers.

"This arrived just after you died," Elena said, handing it to her. "It's from your school."

Jenna's eyes widened. "I … I didn't even think about that. I was due to get my masters' results. Do you know …?"

"I haven't opened it," Elena said. "I couldn't bring myself to, but I couldn't just throw it out either."

Jenna slit open the envelope and pulled out the letter. "What if I failed?"

"You didn't," Elena said firmly. "I know you didn't."

Jenna hesitated. She had majored in psychology and graduated with flying colours, but it was her Masters degree that was most important to her. And her tutor had taken such a risk allowing her to continue the degree online when she had to drop out to take custody of Elena and Jeremy.

"Go on," Elena said.

Taking a deep breath, Jenna unfolded the letter, her hands shaking. "Okay, you read it, I can't."

Elena smiled, taking the letter. "Dear Miss Sommers. We are pleased to inform you that you have been awarded first class honours in your Masters of Education in Counselling."

"First class?" Jenna repeated.

"First class," Elena repeated, handing her the letter. "I told you you didn't fail."

Jenna read the letter herself, a smile spreading across her face. "I passed."

"With flying colours," Elena agreed, hugging her. She stiffened suddenly and disappeared; Jenna jumped to her feet, leaving the letter on the coffee table, and followed her.

Elena was kneeling beside the couch in the living room, rocking Lizzie back and forth. "It's okay, sweetheart; you're okay."

"Where's Josie?" Lizzie was asking frantically. "Where is she?"

Jenna stepped closer. "It's okay; she's okay."

"She's upstairs," Elena elaborated. "Penelope's with her. Hope's still out because her magic had a bit of a panic attack. She brought your Uncle Luke back; he's recovering upstairs." She released Lizzie and stood up. "I'm going to get you a blood bag; Jenna, do you mind staying with her?"

"Of course not," Jenna said, sitting down beside Lizzie as Elena hurried for the kitchen. "We're taking you transitioning as a given - you do want to, don't you?"

"Yeah," Lizzie said, wiping at her eyes. "I had to make that decision beforehand, otherwise Hope would have my death on her conscience and … She triggered her curse, didn't she?"

"So I've been told," Jenna said.

"I hadn't even thought about that," Lizzie whispered. "She never wanted to. The idea terrified her."

"You're shaking," Jenna said. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"You're shaking too," Lizzie said in response. "Are you?"

Jenna smiled weakly. "Hope resurrected me too. I'd been dead for twenty years, and I've only been a vampire for about a day. So I guess I'm a little overwhelmed."

Lizzie nodded. "I'm nervous. Vampire emotions are like a hundred times stronger, and I'm bipolar."

Jenna's breath caught in her throat. What were the chances? "Well, I guess we can figure it out together," she said. "I'm bipolar too."

"You are?" Elena asked, rejoining them with a mug of blood. "Since when?"

"I got diagnosed when I was fifteen," Jenna answered. "Your dad dragged me to a friend of his. I never told you and Jeremy because … Well, because you didn't need to deal with that. Plus people already felt that I was an unfit guardian because I was so young."

"Wait a second," Lizzie said. "You're Dad's Jenna?"

Jenna hesitated. "Yes, I am. I'm …"

"Did Dad know?" Lizzie asked.

"No," Jenna admitted. "I wanted him to have plausible deniability - he was their teacher, so he probably had some kind of responsibility to report it. He wouldn't have, but if someone else had found out …" She sighed. "I wish I had told him. Maybe then he would have told me everything. I mean, I'd still have died, but … maybe I would have felt better."

"What are the chances?" Lizzie asked Elena, unknowingly voicing Jenna's internal query.

Elena shook her head. "I know."

"What?" Jenna asked.

Lizzie smiled sadly. "My full name is Elizabeth Jenna Saltzman."

"Josie's middle name is Elena," Elena added helpfully.

Jenna closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry it's not your mom that came back."

Lizzie's hand touched hers. "If she did come back, she'd still be sick. Freya Mikaelson couldn't fix it then, I doubt she could do it now. She'd just die again in a few days. So I'm glad you're back."

Jenna opened her eyes again to see Lizzie's shaky smile. "Thank you."

"Lizzie," Elena said quietly. "Drink up."

Lizzie nodded, taking the mug. "Thanks, Elena. Have you told her you're our sister yet?"

"Sister?" Jenna repeated.

"Ric became our guardian after you died," Elena reminded her. "And Jo pretty much adopted us." She hesitated. "Plus, there is an outside chance that Alaric is actually my biological father. We never did any kind of test and we're both of the same opinion."

"Which is …?" Jenna prompted.

Elena shrugged. "He's my dad. DNA or lack thereof isn't going to change that. And I don't need DNA to have two little sisters. Jeremy's still thrilled he's not the baby anymore."

"I swear you are," Lizzie said, taking a tentative sip, before draining the whole mug. "You and Dad are like … Oh, God, that's weird."

"Just your fangs coming through, honey," Elena said gently. "Breathe through it. I've got another mug for you in the microwave and then it's bedtime."

"I can't," Lizzie said hastily. "I can … I can hear heartbeats upstairs and … I'm scared I'll hurt someone."

"Honey, I can't leave you down here," Elena said.

"I'll stay with her," Jenna said. "I'm honestly scared as well."

"If you're both sure …" Elena said.

"We're fine, Dr Salvatore," Jenna said with a smile.

"You're going to keep calling me that, aren't you?" Elena asked.

"So proud of you," Jenna said, beaming.

Elena chuckled. "Alright." She bent down to kiss Lizzie's forehead. "I'll see you in the morning. Make sure you have that other blood bag."

"I will," Lizzie said. "Good night."

As Elena made her way up to her and Stefan's room, she checked in on the others.

Josie and Penelope were fast asleep, curled up in each other's arms, and Elena slipped into the room fully to pull the covers over them.

Penelope stirred slightly and Elena brushed a hand across her forehead, murmuring soothing nonsense under her breath until she settled.

Hope was still unconscious, but her breathing was even, so Elena kissed her forehead and left her to it.

She paused outside the boys' rooms, listening intently to confirm that they were all asleep, breathing steady and even.

Luke was still out as well, and Elena checked his vitals once more, reassuring herself that he was still alright. He stirred as well, but unlike Penelope, his eyes opened.

"It's okay," she whispered. "Everyone's safe."

"Mother …?" Luke croaked.

Damon had left a glass of water on the nightstand and Elena fetched it, helping Luke take a few sips.

"She's gone," she said quietly. "We don't know where she is, but she's gone. Josie and Lizzie are okay."

"I thought I was going to die," he murmured, his eyes fluttering closed.

Elena hesitated, but figured that she could probably wait until morning. "Well, you're okay. Just sleep it off."

His breathing evened out, and Elena slipped out again, leaving him to sleep.

Her final stop was Ariana and Jenna's room - they really needed to figure out how to differentiate between Jenna and Aunt Jenna.

Unsurprisingly, the girls were curled up together - they usually started out in separate beds, but one of them always managed to migrate before morning.

They would not go back to sleep if she woke them, so she withdrew quietly, shutting the door, and climbed the final flight of stairs to go to bed. She was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.

***
Elena woke the next morning, initially unsure if she hadn't just had a very strange dream.

Stefan was still asleep, so she brushed a kiss against his cheek and got up, hurrying downstairs to the living room.

She came to a sudden halt, a smile spreading across her face.

Jenna and Lizzie had fallen asleep on the couch, Jenna's arms wrapped protectively around the younger girl.

Both had rather tearstained faces and Elena guessed that they had talked for quite a while after she had gone to bed.

Not having the heart to wake them, she took a quick photo on her phone and grabbed a blanket to cover them up, before going to put on the coffee.

Just as she entered the kitchen, however, she caught the sound of a car pulling up outside and sped to the door, stepping out into the morning sunlight just as Caroline, Klaus and Ric piled out of the car.

"They're okay," she said immediately. "Give me five minutes."

Caroline threw her arms around her. "Thank you so much."

Elena hugged her tightly, her eyes fixed on Alaric. "Lizzie's a vampire."

Caroline released her abruptly. "What? How?"

"Maya Parker found them," Elena said. "She was going to do the Merge - it was Hope's idea. Once Lizzie was in transition the spell stopped working. Hope triggered her curse - we don't think she was expecting it and her magic had a bit of a panic attack. She's still out, but I expect her to wake up today."

"Is Lizzie okay?" Ric asked. "And Josie?"

"Lizzie woke up last night," Elena answered. "She seemed okay. Josie was pretty hysterical last night but she slept properly at least - I asked Penelope to come and wake me if she wasn't, and she didn't."

"And how do you know Hope's magic had a 'panic attack'?" Klaus asked.

"Well, first of all, you don't lost consciousness when you trigger the curse," Elena said. "Second of all, Luke Parker tried to save them and was killed for the trouble, but he's currently upstairs recovering."

"She resurrected him?" Caroline whispered.

"Not just him," Elena said. "Jenna's back."

Alaric's face paled. "She's … What?"

"She seems to be okay," Elena continued. "I filled her in last night, which was … exhausting."

"Hope's going to wake up, you said?" Klaus asked.

"Yes," Elena said.

Klaus turned to Caroline. "Maybe I should go and find a florist."

"Excellent idea," Caroline said, handing him the keys. "I think you probably owe her the whole store."