Bonnie appeared, tears in her eyes that matched both Caroline's and Elena's. Stefan wore a look of relief while Damon managed a small, sad smile. The witch may not have been his biggest fan but they had understood each other. He had been moved -slightly- when Jeremy had told them that Bonnie had died after exhausting her body and her powers bringing him back from the dead.

"Is it really you," Caroline laughed as she cried, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

"Yes, Care," she reached out a hand that would never be able to make physical contact; a small gesture for her best friend. "I've missed you all so much," her voice caved and she turned to Elena.

"How have you been," the doppelganger was determined to be brave through her tears.

"I've been taken care of," she answered. "The witches have helped me through it all. You don't have to worry about me."

"We're always going to worry," Elena told her. "But we'll feel better about it now. I wish Jeremy was here to see you."

"The boy," Denny asked, "right? The one you saved?"

"Not only saved," Stefan spoke proudly, "she brought him back from the dead."

The tension grew thick as their faces turned from one of mutual admiration to stone cold and resistant in less than a second. "That's what you meant when you said he meant more to you than life itself," Denny demanded. She understood the concept of that kind of love -though she had no desire for it at all- but could never justify such an act. Payton pulled her by her upper arm, keeping her from relinquishing Bonnie's presence here; only slightly less disturbed by the information.

"She loved him," Caroline retorted. "What would you have done?"

"Let what was meant to be remain," Phylicia stepped forward. "Why didn't you tell us earlier," she demanded of the other witch.

"I knew what you would think, of me," she said after a slight pause. "I've had ten years to reflect on every decision I made since finding out I was a witch. To see how far off the path I came before I died. I understand now why I had to face the consequences of my personal gain," Bonnie stared them in the eyes.

"Personal gain? You saved my brother's life," Elena defended her.

"But it was dark," she barely whispered. "I turned my back on nature to do it and I had to pay the price. A life for a life. There's no cheating Death. I know that now."

Damon snorted in contempt at the Halliwells' attitude. "How can you hold it against her for doing something anyone would do for someone they love?"

"Do you think our mothers wouldn't have done anything in their power to save my aunt Prue," Denny demanded. "No one has control over life and death like that and when you play at it you don't get away with it Scott free. Not only did Bonnie pay that price but I guarantee you there were others added to Death's list because of her actions. People who are supposed to be alive today who are gone!"

Denny paced, holding her hands to her temples as she tried to calm herself. The last thing she needed was to lose control of her powers. Not again. "I have to get out of here," she said and ran out the door, leaving everyone else in shock.

Bonnie held it together. The past decade had given her a kind of strength, softer then she had possessed when she was living and yet stronger, allowing her to deal with the repercussions of her actions. "When you need me you can call me. I want nothing more than to loosen Klaus's hold on this town and our community. The witches will not be oppressed any longer," she told Phyl and Payton.

They nodded, eyes cast away from her as she made her goodbyes. "Caroline," Bonnie said finally, "whatever else they need to know, you have the answers. You just have to look again. Blessed be."

"Blessed be," the witches offered begrudgingly.

"Should we go after her," Pay asked and Phyl shook her head.

"No; Denny will be back soon enough. Besides, we don't want to interfere with fate," she told her twin.


Denny had calmed down after an hour and realized just how hungry she was; anger had a way of doing that to her. Stopping at the grill, she took a seat at the bar and saw Caroline's friend come up to her.

"Can I get you anything," he asked. At twenty-eight, he was more than eleven years her senior but boy were his eyes blue.

"I'll take a strawberry milkshake and the house burger," Denny smiled the same toothy smile her mother and aunts had. What the hell, she was going to be seventeen in a few months anyway. "It's Matt, right," she flirted and the sound of his chuckling gave her butterflies.

"Yeah," his head tilted slightly, "and you're jail bait."

"Only for a few more months," she leaned forward on her arms; glad for a distraction. "Why, are you already seeing someone?"

Matt laughed, shaking his head. "I'm going to go put your order in. Let me know if you need anything else," and he turned to leave the bar.

"How about your number," she called after him; Matt's chuckle soared across the restaurant and Denny was more determined than ever to get what she wanted, even if she didn't know exactly what that was.


"Well," Payton told them, "Denny seems to be doing better and she's safe. Hopefully she'll still feel better when she comes back."

"How do you do that," Damon asked curiously.

"I'm part whitelighter. We can sense our charges and the connection to them allows me to know if they're in danger or hurt. Because of our blood link to one another I can keep track of anyone in my family, although their magic allows them to turn that beacon off or go mute. My cousin Chris is constantly turning off the volume when he leaves home so he's not constantly distracted by the family calling him for any and every reason. "

"So you can sense her in your head," Elena was amazed.

"Sense them, feel them, hear them; the whole shebang. So can Phyl and our brother Henry, as well as our cousins Chris and Wyatt who are also half whitelighters. Of course, Denny and her sisters have similar powers because they're half cupid but the way they teleport is different-"

"Half cupid? Teleport?" Damon was not believing anything he was hearing, that is until Phyl orbed in before his very eyes in a flutter of a thousand brightly shimmering lights that coalesced into her physical form.

"You rang," Phyl impersonated Lurch and snapped her fingers in frustration; not allowing a single second for her sister to interrupt. "I left my food downstairs. Sandwich," she called and her plate appeared in the same manner in her very hands.

"See," Payton asked the three vampires and Stefan came walking in, bewildered.

"I was bringing your sandwich up for you and then it disappeared just like you did," he told Phyl. Looking to his friends he asked, "Did you see how she did that?"

"Oh, we saw it brother," Damon acknowledged, still shocked.

"And I thought what we could do was amazing," Elena spoke.