As soon as Caroline released her daughter, Hope immediately headed straight for Lizzie, who took an automatic step backwards.

"I don't want to hurt you."

Hope stopped just out of reach. "You won't."

"You don't know that," Lizzie said.

"I know you haven't hurt anyone yet," Hope said. "Also, I can take care of myself."

Lizzie looked as though she was going to say something else, but she bit her lip and nodded.

Hope watched her for a second longer, before taking her face in her hands and kissing her gently.

A choked sob bubbled out of Lizzie's throat and she wrapped her girlfriend in a tight hug, burying her face in her hair.

Hope freed one arm and held it out to Josie, who joined in the hug, looking like she was going to start crying as well.

"Ric," Elena said quietly. "Can we step outside please? I need to tell you something."

Alaric hesitated, clearly unwilling to be too far from his daughters, but nodded, following Elena out into the backyard.

"What was all that about?" Caroline whispered.

"I … It's a long story," Jenna said.

"Here," Katherine said, reaching across to take Caroline's hand. "Take a look."

A hundred emotions crossed Caroline's face, ending in a fascinating mix of grief and rage. "What happened to her?"

"No idea," Katherine said. "She was gone by the time we got there. Whether she cloaked herself, or managed some kind of travelling spell, I don't know."

"Well, she's a dead woman," Caroline said, typing something into her phone. "I'll get Freya and the others looking for her."

The hug broke apart, all three girls a little damp-eyed.

"I want to help," Hope said.

"Absolutely not," Caroline said immediately. "Let your father and uncles do what they do best." She pulled Josie into her arms. "Katherine just showed me Penelope's memory of what happened, sweetheart; are you alright?"

Josie shook her head. "Not really."

"What happened after I triggered the curse?" Hope asked.

"You went full Wonder Woman," Penelope said. "Or your magic did and then knocked you out."

"You exhausted yourself, honey," Katherine said fondly. "Managed to resurrect two people and give Landon a heart attack."

"What did I do?" Hope asked, spinning around to face Landon.

Landon grinned, giving her a hug. "Don't think you did anything. Just told me where you were."

Hope sighed in apparent relief. "And the two …"

"Uncle Luke's upstairs," Lizzie said. "He's recovering."

Hope's face lit up in a smile. "So who was …" she trailed off, her eyes locking with Jenna's across the room. "Oh my God …"

"Hope, this is Jenna," Caroline said. "Jenna, this is my daughter, Hope."

Jenna smiled. "Hi Hope. Elena's told me a lot about you."

Hope faltered. "Mom? Where's Dad?"

"He's looking for a florist," Caroline answered.

"A florist?" Jenna asked, her brow crinkling in confusion. "For me?"

Caroline nodded.

"Why?" Hope asked, a certain amount of ice in her voice. "Were they fresh out of 'sorry I murdered you' cards?"

"Hope!" Caroline chided, but Jenna laughed.

"It's okay, Caroline."

"No, it's not," mother and daughter said in unison.

Jenna sighed. "Look, Elena explained everything last night. I'm not okay. I'm not going to be okay for a while. And it's going to take me a long time before I'm comfortable being around him. But it is not your job - either of you - to take responsibility for what he did. Okay?"

"Still," Hope said, her eyes softening. "I'm sorry."

"You don't apologise for anything your father did," Jenna said.

Hope cracked a smile. "Dr Saltzman said that to me once."

"What did you say?" Jenna asked.

Hope shrugged. "Dad's not going to apologise; he's an asshole."

Wheels on gravel caught everyone's attention, and Jeremy gave Jenna a sheepish smile. "I may have called the others on the way over."

Katherine sighed. "I'll make more pancakes."

The front door opened and Tyler appeared in the doorway, his eyes landing on Jenna. "Holy …"

Jenna gave him a shaky smile. "Hey kiddo."

Tyler shook his head with a laugh and hugged her. "Welcome back, Jenna."

Two women appeared behind him, both brunette, both unfamiliar.

"Jenna, this is Hayley," Tyler said, releasing her, gesturing to one of the women.

"And this is Jeanette," Jeremy added, slipping an arm around the waist of the other one.

Looking at Jeanette now, Jenna could see Elena's point - if Jeremy had turned any older, they would make for a very odd couple.

"Welcome home," Jeanette said. "Sorry I stole your nephew."

"I'm just glad he's still here," Jenna said with a breathless laugh. "Elena speaks very highly of both of you, so it's lovely to meet you."

"Jenna …"

The rest of the car's occupants had now gathered in the doorway. If seeing Jeremy had brought home the reality of how much time had passed, Liz and Carol cemented it.

Beside them, Bonnie was hand-in-hand with a man she assumed was Enzo.

It was Bonnie who moved first, releasing her boyfriend's hand in favour of reaching for Jenna's. As Jenna took her hand, a shiver of energy ran through her.

Bonnie smiled. "Welcome home."

As Bonnie stepped back, Liz and Carol hurried forward, enveloping her in the kind of hug Miranda might have given her.

One of Liz's arms disappeared and an extra person replaced it - Hope, Jenna assumed from the former sheriff's whispered words.

"She's not going to disappear again, is she?" Carol asked, unknowingly voicing the same question Jenna had been trying not to think about since she had woken.

"She's here for good," Bonnie answered. "I just checked."

Relief flooded into Jenna's body, and she felt herself begin to cry again, as her sister's best friends tightened their embrace, anchoring her while she broke down.

While Liz, Carol and Bonnie fussed over Jenna, Lizzie slipped away to the library. Outside, she could hear Elena trying to comfort her father after breaking the news that her mother's death was not the tragic misfortune they had believed it to be.

Alaric had never shied away from letting his daughters know that emotions were okay, that adults got them too, and that sometimes people were sad.

But something about hearing her father cry just didn't sit right.

Warmth settled beside her and she looked up into Hope's smiling face.

"You're really warm," she murmured.

"And you're really cold." Hope shrugged. "Werewolves run hot, vampires run cold. We balance each other."

"You never wanted to trigger the curse," Lizzie whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Lizzie …" Hope began.

"You didn't realise that's what would happen," Lizzie said. "If you had …"

"I still would have done it," Hope interrupted. "I would … Lizzie, look at me."

Lizzie dragged her gaze upwards, until she met Hope's gaze.

"I would sooner go through the werewolf transformation every single night," Hope said in a low voice, "than live a single day without you in it."

The words settled on Lizzie like an oath, tinged with old magic most had forgotten, weighted with the reminder that Mikaelsons did not let go.

Lizzie managed a smile. "Till the bitter end?"

Hope nodded. "Always and forever."

Lizzie leaned forwards, resting her forehead against Hope's. "Do you think Dad and Jenna are going to get back together?"

"Not if you and Josie aren't okay," Hope answered. "Not to mention - she's dealing with being a new vampire, and he's just learned the truth about your mom. I doubt either of them are up for anything like that right now."

Lizzie nodded. "Good point. Is Bonnie going to get her a daylight ring?"

"Aunt Elena let me go and plunder," Hope said. "I've already done it. I know she said it's not up to me, but it's the least I could do, considering that my dad killed her." She hesitated. "I've got one for you too."

"Well, you could have led with that," Lizzie said, smiling.

Hope didn't laugh, looking strangely nervous. "If you don't like it, we can find something else."

"Why wouldn't I like it?" Lizzie asked.

Hope pulled a small ring out of her pocket and Lizzie's breath caught in her throat. It reminded her of Caroline's in a way, the blue of the lapis lazuli surrounded by small diamonds that glinted in the light.

"Hope," she said, in what she hoped was a measured tone, "I love you, but I really hope this isn't your way of proposing to me."

Now Hope laughed, taking her right hand and slipping the ring on to her finger. "No. But … a promise, maybe? I can't imagine a life without you, Lizzie."

"A promise," Lizzie echoed, lacing her fingers through Hope's. "That I can do."

While Alaric and Caroline prepared to return to New Orleans with the kids, Jenna slipped out to the back yard with a cup of coffee.

It was unreasonable and unrealistic to expect Klaus to stay away from his daughter after she had been missing for three days, especially now she had woken up, and she still wasn't ready to look him in the eye, no matter what Elena had told her.

So instead she took advantage of Hope's gift (and if anything good had come out of the whole mess, it was her) and sat in the sun.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Jenna glanced up. "Shouldn't you be teenager-wrangling?"

Alaric chuckled, taking the seat beside her. "Caroline's far better at that than I am. Besides, they don't need much wrangling. It's not like they packed for the trip. Are you okay?"

"I feel like I should be asking you that," Jenna said gently.

Ric paused, his mask crumpling in a second. "Knowing the truth isn't going to bring her back."

"No, but it doesn't make it any easier," Jenna said. "I am so sorry."

Alaric shook his head. "She didn't even tell me she'd seen her mother."

"She probably didn't want you to worry," Jenna said fairly. "I know it sounds strange but, from what Elena said … I think she and I would have been friends."

"You'd have loved her," Alaric said honestly. "A few months after she died, I was … struggling. And Caroline came to talk some sense into me. She told me that you two were probably standing on the other side yelling at me to get my head on straight."

Jenna smiled. "I'm sure we were." She sighed. "I wish I could remember."

"Me too," Alaric said softly.

"Did she know who I was?" Jenna asked. "Lizzie's named after me. Please tell me she knew when you called her that."

Ric smiled sadly. "She knew. And actually, she named Lizzie. When she and I met, I'd only just come back from the dead, literally. I was mourning you and Elena. She was dealing with losing her family - or so she thought. We both walked into that relationship with eyes wide open. She said that those things brought us together, in a way."

"It's ironic, really," Jenna said quietly, "that it was Lizzie you named after me."

"Why?" Ric asked.

"Because I'm bipolar too," Jenna said. "Before you ask, I didn't tell you so you had plausible deniability if someone decided you should have reported it, me being Elena and Jeremy's guardian and all." She hesitated. "That was one of the reasons I was so angry about being lied to. I knew you were hiding something, but … I was relatively lucky with mine, I guess. It was fairly mild, at least compared to some of the stories I read. My thing was paranoia. I got so used to it, that when I knew you were hiding something, I just talked myself out of it because it was probably my mind playing tricks on me again."

"I'm so sorry," Ric said. "If I'd known …"

"I know," Jenna said. "And I do get why you didn't tell me. I was more upset because … If you weren't telling me and it was just affecting you, that would be one thing. But how would you feel if you found out that Lizzie and Josie were in danger and someone you knew was lying to you about it?"

"I'd be furious," Alaric said honestly. "And you're right. I should have told you. Even if I was capable of helping them, I should have told you, as their parent."

"Thank you," Jenna said, taking a sip of coffee. It should have gone cold, but it still felt warm to her - maybe it had something to do with what Elena said, about vampires running cold. "If it's okay with you, Lizzie's given me her phone number; once I have a new phone, I'll send her mine."

"Of course," Alaric said immediately. "You're both in the same boat; it makes sense for you to talk about it. I wish Josie was taking it as well."

Jenna smiled sadly. "Lizzie's a daddy's girl, isn't she?"

"How did you know?"

"Miranda was the daddy's girl," Jenna whispered. "She took it a lot better when Dad had … friends after Mom died."

"Jenna …" Alaric began.

"No," Jenna said firmly. "We're not having this conversation."

"But …"

"No," Jenna repeated, a little gentler this time. "It's been twenty years, Ric - for you. For me, it's been twenty-four hours, give or take. I became a vampire, then I died, and now my niece is married with children, and my nephew is a fully-fledged adult vampire. You've been widowed - again - and you have two teenage daughters. And you've just found out your wife was murdered. Here and now is not the time to have this conversation."

Alaric hesitated. "When is, then?"

"When Josie isn't hovering at the window watching us," Jenna said, glancing back at the house.

Through the glass, she saw Josie turn a little pink, but she didn't move.

"And when things have settled."

"We do need to talk, Jenna," Alaric said. "Whatever the outcome, we need to talk. I don't like how things were left."

"Neither do I," Jenna said softly. "I thought I learned my lesson when Miranda died, not to just assume that you'll have a later. And I was so angry with you that I forgot that. And then you were possessed, but I got a second chance - and I still put it off. So just in case there is no later - I love you."

Alaric opened his mouth.

"No," Jenna said, for a third time. "You're going to go back to your daughters, take them home, and make sure they're okay, because that is the priority right now. We are going to put this conversation on hold, and we'll pick it up later, okay?"

Alaric hesitated, but a horn sounded at the front of the house, causing Josie to disappear from the window, calling for her father at the same time.

"Alright." He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Don't be a stranger."