Postcards
DG32173
Sarah: welcome to Chapter 2 of Postcards. As I've already written the first two and a half chapters on paper before even starting to type up the first chapter, I'm going to get right to it. First, review replies then the chapter. The chapter starts with Elena again.
REVIEW REPLIES
HoneySexy: glad you like the concept. Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it just as much.
Leann Nickerson: as I said last chapter, this is going to be a rather short fanfic compared to some of my others. And as the pairing makes obvious, Stefan is not going to get the girl. I will never write a fanfic where he gets together with Elena at the end. Here's the next chapter.
Chapter 2
Snapshots
I smile to myself as I write my first postcard to Damon. I'm in Paris, France. I thought that starting my solo road trip in one of the most romantic cities in the world, the city nicknamed The City of Love, I might be able to figure out my heart.
No such luck. But I did make a lot of memories. And I realized a road trip without Damon is a lot harder than it sounds.. Ever since Georgia, road trips had been our thing. And now, without him, I keep finding myself with the urge to make a comment or remark that would amuse him but he's not here to hear it.
I had turned a picture I had a passerby take of me in front of Notre Dame turned into a postcard at a specialty shop. Now I sit at a desk in a French library, trying to figure out what I want to say to Damon. I want to keep it lighthearted but still get across that I need more time to find myself and my heart.
Finally, I put my pen to the postcard and start writing from my heart.
Dear Damon,
You won't believe how weird it felt to open my journal Wednesday evening and find no note from you. You've left a note for me in my journal every Wednesday for me to find since I discovered yours and Stefan's secret. Now Wednesday has passed with no note. It was beyond weird to say the least.
As you can see, my first stop was Paris. I had fun but I kept getting the urge to turn to you with a wry comment or a joke. But you weren't there. I blame the fact that on every road trip I've been on since Georgia, you were my travelling companion. I'm too used to having you around. I need to learn to stand on my own two feet again. Maybe, with time, I'll figure it out along with the rest of what I must figure out. By the time you get this postcard, I'll be long gone from France. Can you believe the shipping for just a single postcard from France to America? Outrageous!
Well, I'll tell you all about my travels when I get back. Until then, stay well and keep Stefan on the Bambi-and-Thumper diet for me. I'd love it if you could retrain him properly, but we both know he won't go for it.
Love, Elena
I smile to myself and nod as I reread what I had written. I attach the intercontinental stamp and head to the post office next door, carrying my luggage with me. I left no return address on the postcard.
After mailing the postcard, I flag down a French taxi to take me to the airport. It's been one week since I arrived in France and it's time to move on. I find that as time passes, I miss Damon with a near constant, sometimes almost physical ache, but I barely even think about Stefan. I wonder if that's a sign of who I truly love. But I'm not sure of anything at this point.
At the airport, I pick the next flight out that's not headed to America.
Four days later, Boarding House
Damon
I check the mail as I have every day since Elena left. Today, I'm rewarded for my efforts. Right on top is a postcard featuring a picture of Elena in front of Notre Dame. Given how obvious the picture is of where she was when it was taken, I know damn well that she had to have left France already.
Ignoring the other mail for the moment, I turn the postcard over and read what she had written me. I can't help but chuckle at how she actually admits to missing my little notes in her journal already. I wonder what jokes or comments she would have made had I been with her. I roll my eyes at her request to do what I can to keep Stefan on his diet. I agree that he should be trained to be a proper vampire, but, as she said, he's not about to allow me to do it.
I smile slightly as I carry my postcard and the rest of the mail inside. I leave the rest of the mail on the coffee table in the living room. I carry my postcard up to my room to tack on the bulletin board that had been previously used to track Stefan and Klaus.
I tack Elena's postcard in the upper left corner of the bulletin board. I can't track her down just yet because she's not in France anymore. It may take a while before her pattern of travel becomes apparent, but there will be a pattern she will follow. No creature in this world can help but follow some sort of pattern. I just have to figure out Elena's pattern then I'll be able to predict where she'll go next. Once I'm able to do that, I may or may not chase after her. With Klaus no longer after her, she's as safe as any human can be in the modern world.
A week later
I grin as I find another postcard in the mail, this time featuring Elena in front of the graffiti-ridden ruins of Berlin Wall. I turn it over and read her message.
Dear Damon,
I can't help but wonder if you feel the same ache of separation as I do. It's strange. I miss you constantly, day and night. Sometimes the ache is like the niggling annoyance of a missing tooth for a child. Sometimes it's so overbearing I find myself contemplating cutting this trip short and returning to you.
But I'm still looking for myself. I already have my answer to who owns my heart. I just need to find my true self before I can come back. Considering how deeply I must have buried her in the past two years, I know it will take a while to find the real Elena again.
I'll return when the real Elena is back. I won't reveal until then who my heart chose. Berlin wasn't nearly as fun as Paris. Too much tension still exists between East and West Germany for me to find enjoyment here.
Then again, you probably would have told me that had I asked for your input. I left Germany even before mailing this postcard. I actually mailed it at a layover. I won't tell you where I'm going next, but this stop was a bit unexpected. Take care of things back home for me.
Love, Elena.
I check the postmark on the card and see that it's actually postmarked Sweden, not Germany. Huh. I add it to the bulletin board next to the last one she sent and mark her movements on the world map I had hung up next to it. I wonder if she's planning on moving on every week or if it will depend on some unknown conditions she will set?
One year later
I check the mailbox and like clockwork, find Elena's postcard in there, this latest one with a picture of Big Ben in London. I smirk. I had actually predicted last week her next postcard would be from somewhere in the British Isles. To see I was right makes me glad. I turn the card over and read her latest message.
Dear Damon,
I think I might be getting close to my goal. I think I'm closing in on who I truly am. I'll let you know soon. I know you can't answer me, but how are things there? Is Stefan still on his diet? Are you doing okay? I bet you're trying to figure out where I'll go next by forming a pattern in where I've been. Where I'm going next is going to break the pattern I've set so far, but I want to fulfill a childhood dream before I come back.
Maybe after this is all over with, we can visit all the places I've been together. wouldn't that be nice? Anyways, until next time.
Love, Elena
I smile. Over the past year, Elena has traveled all over Europe and Africa, sending a postcard every week like clockwork. The only places that would break the pattern would be if she went to Asia or came back west and visited somewhere in the Americas.
Considering I've spent the past year going through her room and finding all her hidey holes in an effort to locate her old journals and read them, I am well acquainted with her childhood dream. She's heading to Japan, or, more likely, is already there.
Given the patience I have had to use in the past year learning her pattern, I realize I can wait until she's ready to come home on her own. I've already figured out her choice simply by the messages she sends me on her homemade postcards. But I'm not going to spoil it for Stefan. He's already broody enough over the fact that every week she sends me a postcard while he hasn't had contact with her except for the letter she left for him with Jeremy when she left Mystic Falls.
I tack the postcard on the nearly full bulletin board, making a mental note to get a bigger bulletin board and soon.
Sarah: and there's chapter 2. As with Chapter 1, it was much longer on paper than when typed up. But that's the way of things. Review and let me know what you think. By the pairing, you should know who Elena's heart has chosen. Next chapter is when Elena finally returns to Mystic Falls. Until next time.