Disclaimer: I don't own TVD or anything related to it.

I don't usually upload two chapters this close together but I had ideas in my head that I needed to get out and I figured I'd get it done while I had the chance. My first semester of nursing school starts this coming Monday so it may take some time for me to write after that time. Please don't give up on me, though! I promise to write when I can! I can't thank you all enough for the love!- Krista

Damon's POV

"The last time you talked about prophecy and fate, it was to tell me that Stefan and Elena belonged together and I was merely an obstacle for their undying love to overcome. Now, you're saying I'm her soul mate?"

"As much as I hate to say it, it's the only thing that makes sense; it's one of the few connections not severed by death. You and I both know that it was actually Markos drawing them together in an attempt to perform the spell that would undo all witch magic. It was never fate and they were never 'meant to be'. I admit, I wanted to believe that so I could hold onto my hate for Silas. And, now, he's gone… hopefully trapped in a dimension much like this one for all eternity." She smiles.

"Yeah, but soul mates? Really? I thought soul mates were supposed to be happy all the time, writing poems for each other and finishing each other's sentences. We don't exactly fit that in that category. We've broken up several times and then I died. If we were supposed to be happy eternally ever after, I want my money back."

Tessa scoffs. "Only in the fictional world is love easy. Soul mates are not some romantic idea concocted by authors who believe love should be constant and unchanging. 'Soul mate' is just a term used to describe two souls who are drawn together despite whatever obstacles they might face. They are a creation of God."

"Really? God?" Even I can hear skepticism coating my words.

"You believe in vampires, werewolves, doppelgangers, travelers, magic, ghosts… but you don't believe in God? A little hypocritical, don't you think?" She smirks. "Call Him what you will: God, a higher power. It's not as black and white as many think it is, but there is a superior being out there that guides us."

"I believe in what I see. And no offense, but have you met me? I don't think any 'superior being' in their right mind would want me to be with anyone."

"Believe what you want. I don't exactly disagree with you, but, fortunately for you, I don't get to make the decisions."

"It makes sense, Damon." I look at Bonnie in shock. Did I just hear her right? "About Elena, I mean. You killed her brother and she still dated you."

"He came back to life!" I know, that's not really the point… but it's still true.

"You threatened her life, repeatedly. You killed Aaron Whitmore and were killing his family members off while you were dating. And, still, even after her sire-bond was gone, she came back to you over and over again. She always forgives you for everything."

"Oh, God, you guys are making my head hurt with this 'soul mate' stuff. I'm tempted to go join the Wanderers so I can get away from this crap." Katherine snaps, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Well, how about this: you go do that and we'll never think of you again? Sound good? Good." I smile at her. "You know, I think maybe you're just mad because you thought you and Stefan were 'meant to be' and, now, you know you're not." I say, unable to stop myself from antagonizing her. After everything she put us all through, she deserves this and more.

She glares at me and starts to respond but Tessa cuts her off.

"Shh! Something's happening. Someone is trying to contact us."

Elena's POV

"You know, the pendant didn't block their magic. They were still able to drop me. Why do you think that is?"

I look across the car at Liv, sliding the gear shift into park and turning off the engine.

"There isn't anything that can protect you from magic completely. Some of those witches have been practicing for their entire lives, 30 or 40 years. They are extremely powerful. The pendant did its job if you're still alive."

Oh. "Well, thanks again." I tuck my hair behind my ears and sigh. "You can go on in, if you want. I'll grab the supplies."

She looks at me wearily, probably confused by my mood swings, but takes me up on my offer and heads inside. I grab the bags of candles and other various supplies from the car and carry them into the house.

-need someone to literally travel there in order to get them back. It's dangerous. I hear Luke say from the living room.

I walk in and everyone turns towards me looking guilty.

"What? What happened?"

I look between my friends but no one seems willing to say anything until I look at Enzo. He rolls his eyes.

"Luke was able to talk to someone over there with Damon and Bonnie. She said that in order to bring them back, one person from each of their bloodlines must travel to get them and bring them home."

"And?"

Luke steps forward. "And it's dangerous. Very dangerous. When we die, our souls are freed from our bodies and able to move to a different plane, which becomes our Heaven or Hell, depending. If you travel to another plane while still alive, your body will act as a tether to this plane, but the farther you wander and the longer you stay away, the weaker the connection gets and the less chance you have of ever returning home."

"I really don't care. I'm going." Why is this even a question?

Luke looks at me with a peculiar expression. "Also… we need to bring their bodies back here. When The Other Side existed, there was simply a veil that hid their spirits from us within the same plane. That allowed them to take form here, to m manifest so to speak. We no longer have that luxury."

"But they've been dead for months… Damon was burned up in the explosion." I cringe, imagining him walking around like that.

"Once his soul is restored, his body will heal. They all will."

"All?"

"There's one more thing." Stefan looks at me grimly. "The witch helping them is Qetsiyah. She has only agreed to help on the condition that we bring her and Katherine back, too."

This takes me aback. "Why the hell would Qetsiyah help Katherine?"

He shakes his head. "I don't know. But she won't help unless we agree."

I can feel my teeth grinding together. "Fine. I know where Katherine's body is; she's still inside the tomb, mutilated from the traveler that allowed her to take over my body. Do you know where you buried Qetsiyah?"

Stefan nods. "I remember. I can get it… her."

"Who are we supposed to get to be her tether, though, if they are supposed to be family? I will go for Damon and we can see if Bonnie's mom will help to get her…"

Stefan sighs. "I can go for Katherine. Could Bonnie's mom bring back Qetsiyah and Bonnie, since they are both descendants of her bloodline?"

Luke shakes his head. "It's almost too much to bring back one extra soul with your own. She'd never make it with two."

"Bonnie's cousin!" What was her name? Um… "Lucy. Remember? At the masquerade ball? Bonnie said the witch that helped Katherine link her to me was her cousin somehow. Would that work?"

"It should. Do you know where she is?"

I shake my head. "I've not seen her since the ball. Could you do a locator spell to find her?"

Jeremy steps forward to holds out Emily's grimoire. "I brought this is case we needed it. It belonged to Emily but then it was Bonnie's. Maybe it will help you find her easier."

Luke takes the grimiore and sits in the floor, lighting candles as Liv places them in a circle around him.

"Sa laca tha tarq. Permisso laca tha tar." He repeats over and over again until, suddenly, he opens his eyes. "I found her."

Damon's POV

There is a rumbling outside the house, constant and operating on a crescendo. It reminds me of thunder and gives me the same ominous feeling when I hear it. In reality, it's the Wanderers, trying harder and harder to be released from their prison before we can escape. Tessa says that, on order to bring us back, they will have to gather several things, find a few people, and dig up all of our bodies. For the first time since this all happened, I'm glad to be on this side, the side that doesn't have to dig up bodies that have been rotting for months.

"This is really happening." Bonnie says from beside me, a smile lighting up her face. "We're really going back. And I won't be the anchor anymore! I'll just be a witch again, right?"

Tessa nods. "You're a witch now. We'll have to work together to get out of here along with the witches on their side. You will all return to the state that you left in."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Katherine says, finally paying attention to something other that herself "When I died, I was old and decrepit because of the cure you made and Silas hijacked!" Nevermind.

Tessa stares at her blankly. "I meant your form: human, vampire, witch… You were a human and you will return as a human. Damon was a vampire, he'll return a vampire. Do I need to spell the rest out for you?" She rolls her eyes and starts to meditate again but hesitates. "Though, Damon… I do have something to tell you about what it means for you to return home."

"Which is?"

She smiles. "I may have exaggerated a bit when I said you would have come here or gone somewhere worse if not for holding onto Bonnie's hand."

"Exaggerated how?"

"Okay. I lied. Though it's true that your choices in life have a great deal of influence on where you'll go after you die, your last act overrides all. Or, rather, how you die. You committed suicide, but you did so for the greater good, to help people you love. It was the ultimate selfless act; a sacrifice. Therefore, you should have gone to one of the better, brighter planes. Heaven, as most call it."

I shake my head. "I don't think it counts. I did it thinking I'd come back."

Bonnie touches my arm in a gesture that, before all this, would have seemed out of place. "But you knew there was a chance you wouldn't come back and you did it anyway."

I look back to Tessa, whose smile is gone. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you haven't been as difficult as I imagined you'd be… and because it affects the choice you're about to make. If you were to stay behind, you would not be bound by the deal I made with Sheila Bennett and you would be taken to the realm you were meant to be in."

"No, thanks."

She raises her eyebrows. "I wouldn't take your choice so lightly. Returning to Elena and your old life is an act of selfishness and disrespect. In doing so, you most likely will not be given a second chance to go there if you die again."

"What about me?" Bonnie says, clearly distressed. I don't really blame her, though. She won't live forever and the prospect of staying here longer than she lives on Earth would definitely be a punishment. Her fears are unwarranted, though.

"Your grandmother paid the price for you. You would not suffer the same fate if you were to die."

"Paid the price? What does that mean?"

"It doesn't matter. You need to make a decision, Damon. What do you want to do?"

"I'm going." I say without hesitation. I was never a plan-for-the-future kind of guy, anyway.

Bonnie starts to interject, probably curious about her grandmother's sacrifice, but a strange sound breaks us from our conversation… is that scratching? We all stop and I walk to the window to look outside.

"Damn it!"

Outside is a Wanderer, clawing at the ground in a desperate attempt to not be pulled back into the forest. His hand, or claw is more accurate, I guess, grazes the door every so often, resulting in the chilling scraping noise that lets us know he's right outside. His head flicks in my direction, dark sockets where his eyes should be, and he lets out a screech that costs him a few feet. As I watch him continue to pull with all his strength to stay out of the purgatory that holds him, other figures start to emerge in the same way, fighting desperately to claim our souls before we can leave.

Elena's POV

"Thank you for being willing to help us."

Abby looks at me, expressionless.

"My daughter was dead. She died before she even graduated and I never knew. No one ever told me."

I feel awkward, caught between wanting to comfort her and knowing I can't. "I'm sorry. We didn't even know until right before she was brought back as the anchor." As if that somehow makes it better.

"You said my mother wanted this. Somehow I find that hard to believe. She was always set on following the rules of nature."

I shrug, not really sure what I can say that would negate that. Bonnie always said the same thing, that her grandmother understood the limits placed by nature and abided by them. I don't know why this is different, but I'm sure Luke said that Qetsiyah had mentioned a deal with Sheila Bennett. I tell her that for a second time and stand just as a car pulls up. It's Stefan and Alaric with the bodies.

I rush outside to help them and stop at the sight of the coffins that hold two of the most important people in my life. I remember the memorial we had for them, looking at the closed casket that held Damon because the only part of him we had was the charred body he left behind. And we were lucky to get that from inside the magic-free zone. I picked out his headstone myself; Stefan wasn't ready to do something like that, even after a century and a half with his brother. I guess it never gets easier to lose the people you love no matter how long you live.

I'm coming for you, Damon. I think to myself, closing my eyes. As soon as I do, I see a place I've never been before. It's dark, dead, surrounded by dead trees that make up a massive forest. All alone sits a little house that has a small circle of living plants around it. Ghoulish creatures are climbing across the earth towards it in the weirdest way, as if they are struggling against something. I turn towards the house to see what they want so badly and see Damon's face in the window. My heart jumps and I try to go to him but I can't… something is pulling me back.

When I open my eyes, I'm on the ground surrounded by Stefan, Alaric, and Caroline.

"What just happened?" I try to sit and the world spins for a second

"Why don't you tell us?" Alaric says.

I think back and remember the dreary land, ugly beasts, and Damon.

"Damon." I look Stefan in the eyes. "He's in trouble."

Once we cleared the living room of anything that could be removed and pushed all the furniture against the walls, we lay out the bodies of Quetsiyah, Katherine, Bonnie, and Damon. Lucy, who showed up a few minutes ago, is obviously disturbed by this and I don't really blame her. I try to keep my eyes away from the forms of my two best friends but they keep being drawn back as if I want to punish myself. I bounce my knees in anticipation, terrified and confused by what I saw and really wishing they would hurry up and get this going. I don't think they understand the urgency of "Damon is in trouble."

"Okay. Everything is set up. You guys should lie down and relax your mind. Once I start the spell, I will connect with Qetsiyah, who will act as our guide to their plane. You may not 'wake' where they are, but search for them quickly. I'm giving you limited time to find them before I'll have to pull you back or risk losing you completely. You have an hour, our time. Okay?"

I nod and look at Stefan, wide-eyed. This is it.

I lie back and close my eyes, trying to focus on the sound of my breathing instead of the butterflies in my stomach. I try, and fail, to keep the smile from creeping on my face as I picture Damon's face again, his beautiful blue eyes and sideways smile.

Suddenly, I feel strange… light. I open my eyes and I'm looking down at my own body. I look around and we are all doubles, standing above our lifeless shells. I offer my hand to Stefan and he takes it, offering his to Lucy who offers hers to Abby. I look at Abby and she smiles for the first time since she's been here, holding out her hand to complete the circle. My hand barely clasps hers before a light burns away the image of the living room and I'm standing in the very place I saw earlier.

"Is this it?" Stefan says, looking around the barren land and I nod.

"Yes. There is a little house somewhere. That's where I saw Damon."

"What is that?" Abby says staring past Stefan into the woods.

I turn slowly, praying it's not what I think it is… but it is. One of the gray, sickly thin creatures begins to claw its way towards us, screeching.

"I don't know, but I don't think it's our friend. Run!"

We take off, running as fast as we can, which isn't very fast since we're apparently lacking our vampire speed here. More screeches join the one behind us but I don't dare turn around. Lucy cries out beside me and I turn to see the beast swipe at her, catching her leg with its claw. He skin blackens at the touch, almost is if it's dying. Thankfully, his attempt to grab her threw off his footing and he slid backwards until he was swallowed by the darkness of the forest. Abby grabs Lucy's hand and pulls her along in an attempt to keep up despite her wound.

The shrieks reign in from all sides as more of the creatures come crawling from the forest at us. An overwhelming urge to keep moving takes over me, pulling me like a magnet, leading me somewhere. I make a turn around the edge of the woods, heading left and push myself even harder.

"Where are you going?" Stefan yells.

"I don't know, I just feel like I should go this way."

After a couple minutes, I see the outline of a building and point to it.

"There! That's where they are!"

I reach the door first, pounding on it has hard as I can.

"Let us in!"

The door swings open and we pile inside the small room, desperate to escape the monsters outside. Stefan lays Lucy back on the bed and they start to examine her wound. I know I should be more worried about her but all I can see is Damon, standing in front of me, real. I launch myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck as tightly as I can, savoring the feeling of his arms locked around me, too.

"Is this real?" I whisper to him.

He pulls back and looks into my eyes. "It is." He whispers back and then his lips are on mine.