Postcards
DG32173
Sarah: welcome to Chapter 3 of Postcards. In this chapter, Elena finally returns to Mystic Falls after being gone for two years. Anyways, on with the chapter after the review replies. Once again, the chapter starts with Elena.
REVIEW REPLIES
heyitskarma: as you'll see this chapter, Elena's gone for nearly two years before she decides to return. Damon could have tracked her down if he so wanted to but he figured she needed her space and she's as safe as a human can be.
ladymadonnav: I'm glad. Here's the next chapter.
HoneySexy: Glad you loved it. Here's more.
Leann Nickerson: thanks. Here's more.
The Viking Trubie: yeah, I'm glad someone gets the trouble of having an overactive imagination. Thanks for being understanding. Here's more.
Chapter 3
Finally Home
It's been nearly two years since I left Mystic Falls and everyone important to me behind in my quest to find myself and my heart. It didn't even take two weeks to figure out who my heart wants. But it has taken until now to finally find out just who I am and become that woman.
I'm not who I thought I was before my parents died. Nor am I the girl I became for two years after their deaths. That's why it took so long to find myself. I smile as I send my last postcard to Damon, letting him know when to expect me at the Richmond airport. I know he'll be there to pick me up. He's never willingly let me down before and I know he won't this time.
I look at myself in my motel mirror when I return to my room. In the past two years, my physical appearance has changed enough that I'll never again be mistaken for Katherine. I had cut my long hair to my shoulders about six months into this trip and have kept it at that length since then. It's much easier to handle now. My face is far more mature than it was when I left Mystic Falls, losing the looking of a half-grown girl completely. I had finished gaining my adult curves.
I smirk. I think Damon will be pleased when he gets a good look at me. For the past year, I have made sure that the photographs I choose to turn into postcards to Damon haven't had a clear shot of me in full. He never liked how closely I resembled his sire. Now, I no longer do. I could pass for her older sister, but not for her.
I don't care what Stefan will think of the changes in me. He is not my heart's choice. I hope the past two years of silence have given him time to realize that we aren't meant to be, that we would never have lasted as a couple.
I return my thoughts to Damon. It will be so good to finally be in his company again, to hear his voice once more. When I left Mystic Falls, I had left my cell phone behind. I would never have answered it had I brought it with me. But now, all I want is to hear Damon's voice again, to feel his arms wrap around me in a hug, to kiss him and have him actually able to return the kiss.
I look out my window at the not-too-distant Taj Mahal and nod to myself. Soon, I'll be able to be with Damon as my heart desires. Just a few more days before I leave and begin my journey home.
As I have come to realize in the past two years, 'home' is no longer a place on the map for me. 'Home' is at the side of the man I love, surrounded by my family and friends, no matter where we are. They say home is where the heart is. My heart and home is wherever Damon is.
One week later, Richmond Airport
Damon
I wait impatiently as disembarking flights are announced; waiting for the woman I love to finally come home. When I received the postcard three days ago featuring her in front of the Taj Mahal with just a time, flight number, and Richmond Airport on it, I thought my heart might burst with joy when I realized she was finally coming back.
It's been two years to the day since she left, two long, agonizing years without anything more than a weekly postcard from her. I'm anxious to find out how she's matured and to finally get to know the real Elena.
I glance to my right and see Stefan leaning against a pillar nearby. He had insisted on coming with me to greet her, but I made him drive his own car. I'm going to get her choice out in the open first thing. That way, Stefan will not be able to say I in any way affected her choice. That's why I agreed to let him come but made him drive his own car. Based on her postcards, he'll need the entire drive back alone to compose himself.
Finally, Elena's flight is called for disembarking. I straighten up and search the faces coming through the appropriate gate. Finally, she's there, one of the last to get off the plane. And I'm floored by how much she's changed physically in the past year since she last sent a clear picture of herself to me. She will never again be mistaken for Katherine.
I glance at Stefan out of the corner of my eye in time to catch the face he makes, as if he had just eaten a raw lemon with nothing to sweeten it up. That alone tells me all I need to know of his true feelings for Elena.
I return my attention to Elena. I grin and wave an arm when she pauses to look around. She grins her relief and pulls her carry-on towards me. About halfway through the crowd, she spots Stefan. She arches an eyebrow at me that speaks volumes but continues coming straight to me.
"Damon," she breathes when she's within comfortable speaking distance.
Both Stefan and I can hear all the messages she puts behind my name. 'I missed you, Damon.' 'Why didn't you come after me, Damon?' 'I wish you had been with me, Damon.' And, my favorite, 'I love you, Damon.'
One word, two syllables, and we have our answer as to her choice. Without a word, Stefan leaves us to our reunion. He heard the same messages Elena was hiding in my name as I did. He knows her choice as well as I do. He knows she's had no outside influences on that choice in the past two years. I won the girl fair and square and not even he can deny that.
I pull Elena into my arms and proceed to give her a proper greeting after not seeing her for two long years. I kiss her thoroughly, until her legs threaten to give out from under her and she's left gasping for breath. The only reason she manages to stay upright is because I'm holding her.
Our first kiss, the one she gave me during what I had thought was my deathbed before Katherine showed up with the cure to the werewolf bite, has nothing on this kiss. This kiss, I take the lead and can actually taste her and explore her mouth with my tongue.
When we finally break apart, I grin at her as she struggles to un-melt her bones so she can support herself. "Do you need to stop by baggage claim?" I ask.
She shakes her head. "I've only been traveling with what I could fit into these two carry-on bags," she replies breathlessly.
"Good girl," I say, placing another, brief kiss on her lips. I grab one of her bags and wrap my arm around her shoulders. "Let's get you home. You've been gone too long."
Sarah: and there's Chapter 3. There should be one more chapter, maybe two, for this story before it's over. Review and tell me what you think.