Becoming who we are- Final chapter
AN: Well, a late update is better than never, right? I know, I know. Just shoot me.
~VD~
246 days. That's how long it's been since he last saw Caroline. 246 days without her smile, without her beautiful soul.
It would harden the heart of anyone. But it has a different sort of effect on Damon Salvatore. He's given up. The first three months, he spent in a state of complete and utter lifelessness.
There was a brief angry spell when Elena turned, rendering Caroline's sacrifice void.
Is she alive?
What on earth is this alternate universe, that Bonnie has created? Does Caroline live a fulfilled life, or does she just float in nothingness? Are the originals with her?
Is Tyler with her? Is Tyler dead?
Damon Salvatore has no certain information on Caroline, and without it, he has lost himself. If only there was something. One fact that he could hang onto.
But there's nothing, and so he returns to drinking once he has absolved his daily visit to Bonnie's lair. She's equally hopeless, but she tries not to show it.
Perhaps it's because she blames herself, but aren't they all equally to blame? Isn't Caroline really the one to blame?
No, he decides. How could he ever blame Caroline for following her basic character traits? How can he blame her for being the selfless, lovable young woman he rediscovered on that road trip so long ago?
Exactly. It's love. Perhaps it's always been love, blinded by the Doppelganger.
When he's deep in thought, he hates himself for getting it wrong the first time. Perhaps if he'd been better to her the first time around, she would never have thought it possible to sacrifice herself. Perhaps she never loved him the way he loves her now.
He's suddenly in want of snapping his own neck just for some peace of mind, just for a little bit of silence in his busy busy brain.
~HG~
Mystic Falls has become a place of tranquility since Caroline ended the Originals. And Bonnie hates it.
That's not to say she enjoyed life here when the Originals wrecked the town, in want for Elena's blood.
But this quiet, peaceful town, it's not Mystic Falls to her. Because it lacks Caroline. The school commitees have almost all been replaced, and their ideas can't nearly rival her's. There's still a poster of her on the board, stating the time she was last seen.
Liz is aware of what happened, and nearly drowns herself in her work. Everyone tries to cope, but it's just not happening.
Because nothing is guaranteed. Bonnie doesn't even know if Caroline is alive, and of course she blames herself.
And then one day, 246 days after her final stand, she hears Caroline's voice.
Bonnie?
It's so fleeting that she presumes it to be her imagination, but then it's there again.
Bonnie Bennett?
"Am I crazy?" She says out loud, and earns herself a strange look from the guy walking past her. He shakes his head and carries on, but Bonnie suddenly beams wider than she ever thought possible.
Can you hear me?
~HG~
Her hand comes to touch the glass, and it shatters instantly. The second it breaks, she feels little particles cut into her skin, creating scars that will be gone fortwith.
She's up on her feet in an instant, but it feels wrong, and they're stiff from disuse. Nonetheless, she backs into the corner of the room, armed with a glass shard. Should the Original choose to come after her, she would most certainly perish.
Best not let him get the chance, she thinks.
"Caroline, I have no intention to harm you."
"Forgive me for not placing trust in said words."
"It is widely known that I am a man of my word." He says, ever polite, glancing at his shoes for but a second. "And if anything, I ought to be the one questioning words that fall from tongue. Was it not you that staked my siblings in a way quite irreperable?"
"They're daggered."
"So I've noticed. But impossible to awaken."
"That had been the intention. But I don't think so." She mumbles, wearily looking around for any trace of other originals.
"So what is it that brought you here? I had thought to be alone here for all eternity. However long it shall please the little witch."
"You had been thought to go here in a state similar to that of your siblings." Her voice will not go any louder, for fear of repercussions. Once she wills herself to meet his eye, she flinches.
He does not look angry, but the thoughtfulness of his face makes her nervous beyond belief.
"And it is your wish to return to mystic falls."
"Perhaps. I do not know how long we've been gone. Perhaps no one I know is even still alive."
"And in that case would you prefer to spend my miserable eternity here with me?" It's a rhetoric question, she can guess as much. He's not dumb like Kol. Nor is he blinded by emotions like his other siblings. He's the brains of the family. The cool and collected one. They should have killed him first.
"No."
"Then I should tell you it's been 246 days since our arrival, whatever that means in their world."
"Oh."
"So what do we do now, Caroline Forbes?" He says, drawing out her name while crossing his arms. Perhaps she's intimidated now, faced with the consequences of her suicide run.
She briefly wonders if it was foolish for her to fly from loving arms to save Elena.
But it was the right thing to do, was it not? Elena was to be saved at all costs. And that's the price you pay for it.
"We find a way out."
"Interesting proposition, but there's no plan behind it, is there?"
"I have a starting point."
"Alright, but what about my siblings?"
"What about them?" She blurts out, and nearly wants to stake herself for her tactlessness.
"I would see them returned to life, wouldn't you?"
"Not while I'm still here."
"Wise precaution. So you get out, and then what?"
"I find a way to reanimate your family."
"Unconvincing. There's no guarantee, and as we've established, neither trusts the other."
"Then what?" She's honestly scared now. Scared he'll just kill her. She's got a need to return, if only to be certain of something. Either everyone she knows is dead, or they aren't. But she needs to know.
"You don't leave here before we find a way to bring my family back."
"And then you'll rip me to pieces as a bonding activity."
"It would be a most fitting revenge."
"I'd rather you kill me right now." She lies through her teeth, because actually, she'd very much like to keep herself intact.
He gives a small smile. "Use the starting point you've got. We'll see about the outcome, Caroline Forbes."
~HG~
"A way to reanimate the Originals? Caroline are you crazy?"
They wouldn't leave the house. Eliljah has agreed that they'll stay where they are.
That's a promise that Bonnie Bennett finds infinitely vague, and can therefore not put her faith in.
"Until when?"
Is that really important? This is the only way I can get back. Or have you all moved on already?
"Don't say that Caroline, you know it's not true."
How long has it been?
"A while."
And she accuses Elijah of being vague.
"Alternate universe but same sarcasm, I see."
Will you do the spell or not?
"Yes. It'll take a while though. I'll contact you again." Bonnie says, and severs the connection just as Damon enters her workplace, eyes deranged with hope.
"Did you say her name, witchy?"
She says nothing. Bonnie isn't sure this will all work anyway, and she's taken too much pity on Damon. She doesn't want to get his hopes up. At the time of Caroline's dissappearance that was a different matter.
"Are you bringing her back?" He comes closer, shaking her shoulder softly.
"I don't know. I'm trying something." She stammers, and sees the hope leave his eyes. He nods, whispers a goodbye, and leaves like he does everyday. She's never seen him so stuck on something.
But today, there actually is something she can try. Today, she can actually succeed.
~VD~
"And my blood will do what exactly?" Elijah says, looking skeptically at the corpse of his brother. Finn lies on the slab they've put him on. He's her ticket out of here. If he lives, she gets to escape with her life, through the portal that Bonnie will open soon. And then, she has no idea.
It's been 310 days now. It took a while for Bonnie to complete the ritual. Alignation of the moon and such. But today is the day.
"Restart the blood circulation in his body, which will retransport the dagger liquid to the ends of his canals, i.e. his fingers and feet, where it'll collect. Since it's not in his heart, it'll wake him up. That's the theory."
"And what a bold theory it is." He mumbles. There's an inhale and an exhale, and then Elijah injects his blood into Finn's heart. There's a portal that opens, with a timer above it. Caroline nods and moves to step through, but Elijah blocks her path.
"You're not leaving until he wakes up."
The timer has 3 minutes. That's how long Bonnie can hold the portal open without it killing her. Elijah knows that.
"That's...really?" She says, turning angry."Bonnie and I have worked our asses off to do this..."
"I can still kill you, Caroline Forbes!" He screams, and it's the first time that she's ever heard his voice above a polite level. She shrinks away, flinches hard.
And then there's a groan from the table. They both stare at Finn. His groan is followed by an agonizing scream. And then the colour begins to return, and Elijah rushes to Finn, nodding at Caroline.
"You may leave. Give Elena my regards."
And then Caroline falls backwards into darkness.
~VD~
Something is crushing her entire body, nearly suffocating her as there's a rough object on her windpipe.
With her last strength, Bonnie pushes what she assumes is debris off of her, but when she feels hair, her chest constricts. It's dark, so she can't make out who is lying on top of her, but the length of the hair is all for female, and then she hears a wheeze.
"Where am I?"
And Bonnie Bennett starts crying like a baby.
"You're home, Caroline."
~VD~
Nothing has changed in her absence, because time is the exact same way in Bonnie's parallel universe. She's been gone for a year.
There's an outcry of surprise when she enters the schoolyard. She came back on graduation day, of all things. For a brief second it overwhelms her how much schoolwork she missed, how on earth the committees have been run without her.
But that no longer takes precedence when her eyes get caught on Damon's. He's staring at her like a man dying of thirst would at an oasis, and it makes her feel rather lightheaded, if she's honest. He begins walking towards her, and she can see that he's desperately trying not to go above human speed.
He starts running and falls onto his knees in front of her, hands clutching her shirt, that's bloodstained and dirty, and not giving a damn.
"Are you real?"
"I hope so." She expels a puff of air, and Damon smiles from ear to ear, finally getting up. Her eyes close as she breathes in his familiar smell and then she's sure.
He's real. And she made it back. After 310 days.
"It's been long."
"I know."
"Promise me something..." He starts, and she closes her eyes.
"I can't stop being who I am." She cuts him off, thinking that he'll request her to give up on protecting Elena. But then he surprises her.
"Next time you do it, just take me with you."
At his words, she tears up, and with a laugh, nods, before finally pulling him down to her to kiss him again. It really has been a while. And reflecting on it, Caroline couldn't be happier about the way their relationship has transformed.
They've become truer, she thinks. He respects her now, and she no longer mistrusts him. And they're good this way.
She's happy.
And for the first time, she thinks as though she actually got what she deserved.
~The end~
It was a blast writing this, but considering I started the story a long long time ago, I do think my writing style has changed to an extent where I no longer really identify with what I wrote before. If I do chose to write fanfictions in the future, they probably won't be so cliché and romantic. But I hope you'll stick around for it anyway. Kisses, Chris. :)