Darkness is simple. Darkness can be empty or heavy. It can also be nothing. Light on the other hand can be suffocating. At least that's how it can feel when you're coming back from the darkness.

Jessa felt like the light was suffocating. Coming back after the darkness of removing the wolf from Roza felt like what real death might feel like. It felt like her body was being yanked out from under her and then crushed. Then it felt like her body was being re-inflated. Altogether, not an enjoyable moment.

"Ouch." Jessa said, opening her eyes. Sitting up, she realized she was still seated at the table and wondered how long it took to come back from the dead. It seemed weird given that she couldn't actually die.

"Jessa," Damon's voice said, seeming to come from somewhere down a long tunnel. Though that couldn't be if she was still at the table. Wasn't he still beside her? Why was everything so strange?

"Hmm?" She asked, trying to make her mind come up with words align with the ideas in her head.

"Baby, I need you to tell me you're OK." He said, sounding closer.

She tried to shake her head to get the cobwebs out, but that felt like a bad idea. Blinking also felt like a chore. "I'm fine." Her mouth felt like it had cotton in it and sounded like it too.

"Yeah, not sure about that." Damon said, proving that he was smarter than people gave him credit for being. "Look at me, Jessa."

Jessa blinked, trying to decide where he was. Turning her head, she found his blue eyes and suddenly she felt centered. Taking a deep breath, she started to feel better. She smiled. "Hey, you." She said, cottonmouth gone.

His smile was breathtaking. "There she is." He smoothed her hair. Kissing her, he smiled again. "You scared me senseless. No more practice. Not until we know for sure you can handle that much power."

"Damon, it worked." Elena's voice came out of nowhere, sounding out of tune. Along with a few others, the words weren't as clear, static filled.

"Yes, Elena it did. And unless you're fucking brain-dead, you might have noticed that Jessa nearly fucking died as well." Damon growled. "So, as I said, no more fucking practice until we know she's strong enough to handle it."

"She's fine," Elena started.

Bonnie cut her off this time, sounding strained. "Now, she's fine now."

Even Tyler came to Jessa's defense, his anger was very clear to her ears. "Yeah, she was out for almost two hours. You just got here. Right after she took the curse from Roza, she was gone. Two hours she was unresponsive."

"We can't risk it, Elena." Ric agrees. "She's literally our strongest fighter. If we have a chance she's it. And if she takes on too much too soon, that's it."

"Jessa," Elena starts.

"NO." Damon growls. "NO. You are not appealing to her giving nature. You aren't going the route of true love. I won't let you manipulate her. We've agreed to help. And we will. When she's ready. When we're ready. Not before. Don't make me ask you to leave, Elena."

Elena had the good sense to know when to quit. She sat quietly while Damon once again gathered Jessa into his arms and took her upstairs. She sat while the rest of her usual group of friends talked quietly about what they'd witnessed that day and what she heard was surprising to her. She knew that Damon and Jessa were together, of course. She hadn't really thought much about it. Her focus was on Stefan, after all. Bonnie, Jeremy, and Tyler were talking to Caroline and Matt about the two of them and how much Damon had changed. Ric was smiling along with them about how much his unlikely best friend was growing now that the love of his life was back with him. And then she heard something said that gave her pause and hope for herself and Stefan.

Ric was chatting with Bonnie when she heard this exchange.

"Did you notice the part in the book that said that Jessa and her partner, a vampire that becomes 'truly immortal' can have children?" Ric asked Bonnie.

"Yeah, I did," Bonnie answered, smiling. "I was wondering what kind of dad Damon would be."

Ric laughed. "Terrifying."

If there's a part in Jessa's mother's book about that, maybe the reverse was true. Maybe Jessa was wrong and she could remove that part of Stefan that was vampire and make him fully human again and they could have a regular mortal life together. She could make Jessa see that would be the best thing for her and Stefan and she'd give Elena and him it.

Roza had left not long after it was clear that the wolf was truly gone. She felt so light and free. She thanked Tyler and Ric, and made them both promise to tell Jessa and Damon that she owed them her life. She felt like her life was brand new and was planning on truly starting over. She headed to New Orleans and planned on meeting up with some family friends who owned a business in the Quarter.

Upstairs Damon held Jessa and told her that she'd scared him to death and made her tell him exactly what removing the curse had felt like in minute detail. He was hoping that some small point might tell him how to make it simpler the second time around. Anything to make it less traumatic than the first. Learning that his face helped bring her back did make things easy, but he'd rather make it simple from the get go.

"Do you think asking her questions about her family background helped?" Damon asked, holding her, and kissing her lightly.

"That was just to put her at ease. All the background, I don't need that to get into anything. We know how werewolves and vampires happen and are made. I need the person at ease, at least right now, for me to be able to touch." Jessa said. "I was working with Bonnie and Jeremy yesterday. First I have to touch. To do that with an aggressive wolf, asking questions first is just safe. Late yesterday, I was able to do what I did early with touch, with my mind."

Damon nodded understanding. "So you won't need to touch Klaus, hopefully." He sighed, "I hope you don't even need to be in the same room with him."

Jessa nodded. "Me either. You wanted to know what happened when I took the wolf. I touched her hand. I could feel the heat. You know how the werewolves are so hot?"

She felt him nod. "I just felt the heat leech into my hand, all that heat until it was gone. Then I could see Roza and she was glowing. I could see all the anger and rage was gone and she was beautiful in her happiness. Then it was dark. And there was nothing. Just dark. I felt nothing. Literally nothing. Then pain. Crushing pain and suffocation. Bright, blinding light and pain everywhere at once." She tensed, remembering. "It felt like it went on forever, even though I know it wasn't long. And I could hear your voice, it was far away, down a tunnel. That didn't make sense to me, because I knew that when I took away Roza's wolf part, you were beside me. I thought I died, Damon. I thought I finally died. That I pushed past what my immortality allowed. And that was the final straw, I left you behind, and for what?" She felt the tears start to come.

Damon's arms tightened around her. "I know, I felt that way too. When you were unresponsive for two hours, I felt like the clock really did stop. I felt like my world stopped turning. I started wondering what I'd do in a world that really didn't have you in it."

Jessa chuckled darkly. "We're a mess." She turned to look at him. "What are we going to do, Damon?"

He sighed, and gave her a soul scorching kiss. "We're going to save this God-forsaken town and my miserable brother and his girlfriend one last time. Then you and I are hanging up our hero capes. We're done. You and I are DONE. We're going to get married and have a family and be as normal and you and I can manage. That is if you agree?"

Jessa smiled up at him. "Damon Salvatore, have you learned to read my mind?"