I don't own the vampire diaries and I don't own the characters.
This takes place after the events in my fanfic Soulmates always find a way.
The POV's will be from Damon and Elena.
Enjoy.
Feedback is appreciated.


I really appreciate the feedback, it helps keep me inspired to write more. This chapter is 3 months after the last chapter ended. There's decisions made and an epic surprise ending.
Enjoy.


Chapter 15- Time...

Damon's POV

Time...it used to seem so useless. Now it never seemed more...precious, as corny as that sounds. 3 months had passed since we'd come back and my world came to a screeching halt. At first we all had hope but things changed. After a few weeks Klaus stopped checking on Elena and not long after that Caroline did too. I understood their reasoning, they didn't want to see her like this. After about a month Grayson requested that Elena have a new doctor because he claimed to be too close to the patient to be able to make the right decisions, medically that is. A few weeks later he signed over all the medical decisions to me, for example taking her off life support. "No way in hell that's happening." That was my response at that time.

Two months had passed when Ric and Jenna stopped calling or coming to check on Elena. I never thought that her family would lose hope but I have to admit I did expect it. Miranda stopped coming by everyday and had resorted to calling me once a week. A few weeks ago I had told Asher to go back to the boardinghouse and I'd call everyday and let him know what was going on. He didn't need to be here all the time, not seeing Elena like this. Jeremy and Bonnie, they never left. It was the three of us now who took up residence in Elena's room. They had the chair that pulled out into something the size of a twin bed, they didn't seem to mind. I usually slept next to Elena on her bed always hoping that I'd wake up to see her beautiful brown eyes open and looking at me. For 3 months now that hasn't happened.

Today was only the second time I'd left the hospital, the first was to pack a bag of extra clothes. This time I went to get something for Elena. A wedding band. I had given the size and engraving information to Bonnie who went to the jewelers to place the order. They called this morning and told me it was ready. Bonnie offered to get it but I told her I had to go...I have to think about everything. I love Elena, I really do, but how long can someone hold on to someone who is giving no sign that they are even close to coming back to them. I still have...well want to have...hope that Elena will wake up but even now I have to admit that maybe, just maybe, she isn't coming back this time. I look at the ring in the box once more. It's a plain white gold band with the words 'Always only you' written on the outside. It matches the one that I got for myself. I already placed it on my left ring finger, that's where it will always stay.

I don't go straight back to the hospital instead I take a longer route to get there. I first go to the falls, we had our first kiss here, we only just remembered it but now it's like that memory has always been there. I don't spend too long here, the next place I go is the road where so many events have happened. This is the road where I had always thought I'd first met Elena. It was at that moment she saved me, she made me feel human. This was the road where later she avenged my death by killing Tatia. This was the road where she had waited for me to remember everything we'd been through after Bonnie had broken the soulmate and blood bond between us. I keep walking and I find myself next at Wickery Bridge. For so long Elena had associated this bridge with death, she had thought only bad things happened here. It was me who changed that for her, or so she said. It was the moment I found her after she had taken off her daylight ring after killing Connor. I saved her here. I shake my head and walk back to the hospital.

I walk in the room and Jeremy and Bonnie make themselves scarce. I think they know what's coming. I've finally made a decision. I get down on knee next to the bed and sing a few lines of the song I was going to sing to her at our wedding.

"Forever could never be long enough for me to feel like I've had long enough with you. Forget the world now we won't let them see. But there's one thing left to do. Now that the weight has lifted, love has surely shifted my way. Marry me. Today and everyday. Marry me. If I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe, say you will."

I slip the ring on her finger and sit on the bed next to her. She looks peaceful. God, this is killing me. I run the back of my knuckles across her cheek one last time. "Jeremy, come here." I don't take my eyes off of her but I can feel his presence back in the room. "It's time Jer." I look back at him and I can see the pain in his face. "I'll give you a minute." I get up and walk out of the room.

I get to the end of the hallway and turn into the small vacant waiting area. I lose it. I do everything that I should have done months ago. "Why her!" I pick up one of the chairs and throw it at the wall. "Why not me!" I throw another one. I destroy the room, not as well as I would have had I been a vampire but it's still pretty fucked up by the time I'm done throwing things around. I finally sink down in the corner of the room and pull my knees up to my chest. "We were supposed to be happy. We were supposed to have more time than this. I love her." I don't know who exactly I'm talking to, maybe God, maybe myself, hell maybe I'm talking to everyone in general.

"Damon?" I don't look up instead I bury my face in my arms. Please leave, please. Of course no such luck. I feel Bonnie sit next to me and pull me into her arms. "Shh. You don't always have to be so strong. It's okay to cry Damon." She's rubbing my back and I let it all out. I wrap one arm around her waist and hold onto her like a life preserver.

"I can't...I don't...I don't know how to say goodbye." I manage to get the words out in between the sobs.

"I know it's hard. But it's not forever. You will see her again one day. Plus she's always with you Damon. You just have to look at the ring on your finger to know that." I shake my head, it's not official. She was never officially Mrs. Elena Salvatore. "She was yours Damon, ever since the beginning of time. It was destiny that brought you together. She's always with you." I don't respond. I don't know what to say to that. "Come with me. I'll go with you when you make the decision, she was like my sister." She stands up and holds out her hand.

I take it and we walk back to the room together. When we get there Jeremy's gone. I release Bonnie's hand, "Go find him Bonnie. He needs you. I'll be alright." I wanted the words to sound stronger than they did but even I heard how sad and unsure they sounded. She gave me one last hug and went to find Jeremy.

I give Elena one last kiss. She doesn't kiss back but I put all the love and passion I have into that kiss. I pull back as I feel my knees give out underneath me. I feel arms around me and I'm led to a chair. I look up and in this moment I think I'm dead. This woman...she can't be alive. I saw her die, a long long long time ago. Yet, I know those eyes anywhere. There blue, as blue as lapis lazuli and her hair is just as black as mine. I open my mouth to talk but she shakes her head and walks back to Elena. I know I should get up and ask her what the hell is going on but it's like my legs aren't connected to my brain. I want to move but I can't. I'm in shock, I have to be. I watch her as she places one of her palms on Elena's heart and her other palm on Elena's stomach. She starts speaking but I can't hear what she's saying. Suddenly Elena's heart stops. This time I'm able to jump up and I even find my voice.

"What are you doing?! You're killing her!"

I try and grab her arm but she shakes her head at me and I find myself stopping. I relax a little when I hear the heart monitor start beeping again. It sounds stronger now. I walk to the other side of the bed and I watch Elena closely. I could have sworn her eyelids fluttered. When the whispering stops I'm left breathless. Her eyes are open. Her beautiful brown eyes are open. "Elena?" I barely get her name out in a whisper.

"Damon!" Her eyes are so full of light and life and passion.

"God, Elena!" I grab her and pull her to my chest. "I thought I'd lost you. It's been three months. I was...oh God I was about to give up. I'm so sorry baby."

We're interrupted when we hear a faster heartbeat fill the room. I look down at her stomach. I shake my head. It's impossible. We lost the baby. How...I look at Elena and I look back at her savior. Elena grabs my face and turns me to face her.

"Who is she Damon?" I know who she's referring to.

I look her in the eyes. "She's my mom."

The silence in the room is deafening as Elena looks from me to my mother. I know she saw the truth of the words in my eyes and I know she is now seeing the similarities between us. I know she is seeing the same black hair and blue eyes, although mine are lighter than my mothers. I know she sees Stefan's cheekbones and my smile. If she heard my mother laugh she'd hear Stefan's laugh just a girl version of it. I look to my mom and for the first time our eyes lock together.

"Mom...how...how are you alive, you are alive right?"

She smiles. "Yes Damon. I am alive. I told you before baby, I was going somewhere I could look after you and Stefan. I was always with you. I saw everything, your fathers anger, your love for Elena, Katherine, your depression, those years you had become the monster I knew you weren't. I saw when you found Elena again and I saw you become the man I knew you always were. You were right, I do love Elena, very much so. I've also watched Stefan and Asher over the years as well."

"But you were supposed to be dead! I mourned you! I cried for you, wished I could have taken your place. I visited you every year on your birthday. I...I missed you mom."

"I know sweetie. I know but I had to do this for you and for Stefan. I had to find a way to be both."

I look at her in confusion. She had to find a way to be both...both what? Mom and apparently immortal? "Both what?" I know my voice now sounds harsh and I see the look Elena gives me but I'm passed caring.

"Both a vampire and a witch. Just hear me out Damon. Give me half an hour. I'll explain everything to you and to Elena. Please?"

I look at Elena and she nods her head. She wants me to give my mom the chance to explain. I go to sit next to her. "Will you tell me what you did to her?" When she nods I motion her to start her story.

She closes the door and sits in a chair next to Elena's bed. "I was dying Damon. Something happened when I gave birth to Stefan and I was dying. I had power that your father knew nothing about, that's how Stefan survived. I had transferred some of my life essence to him, to save your little brother. Elizabeth was my mentor, she helped me with my magic and she told me there was a way I could live to watch over you and Stefan. I took it Damon. Elizabeth helped me and when I died...I transitioned. I became a vampire. She had also heard of someone who could help me keep my magic, I just had to find him. After nearly 50 years of searching I found him. He helped me and I was able to be in touch with my powers and still be a vampire. That is how I saved Elena. I'd been watching you Damon and I knew the decision you had made. I saw that you lost your child. I also knew that neither of you deserved that. I knew what I had to do and I did it. I'm sorry I didn't let you know sooner that I was alive, I wanted to but I didn't know how you'd react."

I'm still trying to process this. My mom is alive, well she's a vampire but she's alive. She was a witch, how could I have not known that when I was a kid? Honestly, right now I'm beyond ecstatic. My mom is alive, she saved Elena and our child. My thoughts stop. "How did you save Elena and our child exactly?"

She sighs. "I gave them my magic. I traded my magic for their lives."

My eyes widen. "You're not a witch anymore then?" She shakes her head no and I look down at Elena. "Why did you do that mom?"

"I did it for you, for Elena, for the baby. You love them and they love you. You need them and they need you. It was an easy decision for me. I'd rather you both be happy than me be a witch." She tilts her head to the side. "Speaking of decisions, do you want her brother and Bonnie to meet me?"

I nod. I stand next to Elena and keep a tight hold on her hand. She sits up and smiles at the door. A minute later Jeremy enters and stops dead in his tracks.

"Lena?" His eyes pop out of his head, like in the cartoons.

"Hey Jer. Come here and give your sister a hug huh?" She opens her other arm and he runs to her embrace.

I clear my throat. "Jeremy, Bonnie...this is my mother. Abigail Salvatore. She saved Elena and the baby." I motion to my mother who had moved to stand next to me.

Jeremy looks at me and then at Elena. "The baby...but you...you lost it."

I'm about to answer but Bonnie answers for me. "Magic. I can feel it." She looks at my mom. "You gave up your powers in exchange for Elena and the life of their child." Bonnie takes me by surprise when she grabs my mom in a Bonnie tight hug. "Thank you. Thank you for saving my best friends. Damon would have been a wreck without her and Elena would never have found peace on the other side without Damon with her. So thank you."

My mom nods and Bonnie steps back. Jeremy shakes her hand. I pull out my cell phone and find the names I need to text. Asher, Caroline, Klaus, Grayson, Jenna, Miranda, Meredith, Ric.

Come to the hospital.
It's important.
Something's happened.
-Damon

I send the text message and sit next to Elena. I raise my eye brow at her. "Ready to tell the rest of the family the good news?" She nods and kisses my hand. "Baby, just wondering...did you hear the song I sang you a little of earlier?" Part of me is hoping she says yes, while part of me is hoping she says no.

She smiles and holds up her left hand. "Yes. And I've already given you an answer Mr. Salvatore, of course I'll marry you. You don't have to ask twice. I love you." She pulls me down and kisses me just as I kissed her earlier but this time her passion and need is returned with my own passion and need for her.

I pull away, "Perhaps not in front of visitors Elena. But later, we have some catching up to do." I wiggle my eyebrows at her and I feel a pillow hit my shoulder. "Hey!" I pick it up and throw it back at Jeremy. "She's my fiancee what we do after you leave does not concern you baby Gilbert."

We wait patiently for our family to arrive. Jeremy, Bonnie, and Elena catch up while I get to know my mother again. This is something I've missed, having my mom with me. Now...I have not only my mom but Elena, a child on the way, and Asher. I have a family. I wish you were here Stefan. I miss you baby brother. I send the thought out and hope that he can get it on the other side.


The next chapter will have POV's from both Damon and Elena. Be sure to let me know what you thought of this chapter. It took me a few tries to get it right. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Hope you think so too. =)