Well, I'm back again! Right away: after this chapter, there will only be one left, I think. At least, that's what I'm planning!

As always, a huge thanks to AVECIA, my dear beta reader. Thanks for the awesome work! Also – thank you, my dear readers and especially reviewers; You always make my day!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'bout TVD, I just mess with them for fun!

Now, on with it!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Elena let out a drawn-out sigh as she tried to enjoy the sight. She had taken a walk through the woods, and finally hiked up the trail that ran down beside a waterfall. The sun was just beginning to set now, and even though it was beautiful, she couldn't quite bring herself to get lost in the moment.

So she closed her eyes, and listened into herself, trying to find the place Alyona had taken for the time being.

"You can come out now. I'm done here."

There was a feeling near her heart, as if butterflies spread their wings, before she heard the voice of the other woman.

"Are you sure? You have time yet… don't you want to take as much as you can with you?"

Elena thought for a moment, but in reality it wasn't even necessary. There was nothing here she would absolutely need to see before she went to her own funeral. If she had a choice, she would be with Bonnie and Caroline, having a few hours of "girl time". Or she would spend time with Jeremy, make sure that he'd be okay without her. And then, she would take Damon by his hand, lead him up to his room, and spend her last hours on earth with the man who owned her heart. But as things were… no, she had no desire to stand on top of a waterfall and watch the sun go down. It was rather depressing, really. Like an omen or something.

"I am sure, yes. There is nothing left here for me now."

"Very well."

And with that, Elena's world shifted on its axis and a second later got pulled back straight. Only then, she was no longer in control of her own body. It wasn't like other times when Alyona took over control. She wasn't floating in nothingness. No, this time she could actually see and hear everything. But she couldn't feel a thing, and after trying to lift her hand, she found out that she had lost control, too.

And then abruptly, the scene began to change as Alyona made her way back down the path, and through the woods. Soon, they were on the familiar path through the Lockwood property; they came to a stop in front of the old slave quarters, and went down into its moist, dark depths. They halted in front of a wall – a wall that was missing quite a few bricks, showing the entrance to a tunnel. It didn't look as if it was made by human hand; the stones looked natural still, no signs that any tools had been used. The only thing that was obviously not natural had been the wall in front of it.

They only halted for a short moment, long enough for Alyona to take a deep breath, and then walk through the gap in the wall, and down the tunnel.

There was some sort of natural light in there, as if the stones themselves gave off light; Elena would've thought of it as beautiful, if the situation itself wouldn't have been so much of a downer.

But as she couldn't change anything now, she just watched in a weird detachment, not allowing herself to feel much at all. After a few minutes of walking, the tunnel forked into two paths – they took the right one. Walking around a bend (and over the last remnants of some wooden spears – maybe an old trap?) they reached a cave; and in the middle of it, his eyes fixed on something on the walls, was Elijah.

As they stepped into the cave, he acknowledged them by nodding his head once, before he trained his eyes back on the walls. As Alyona followed his line of sight, Elena could see what he had been studying. There where drawings on the wall. Obviously old ones. It reminded Elena of the pictures of Lascaux she'd seen in history class a few years ago.

She wanted to ask what they were about, or how they had known they'd be here – but then she remembered she couldn't do anything but watch now. But as if reading her mind (which was probably exactly what she was doing) Alyona answered her unspoken question anyway.

"What you see here, is our history. Paris, Menelaus, and mine. Menelaus… Elijah, lived here in these woods, many centuries ago. Long before there was a town; even long before they called this land the New World, or the Vikings tried to settle here. I watched from afar – neither here, nor there – as he gave his story to the stones. After all, they where here long before he was, and would still be here after he had left."

Elijah watched Alyona while she talked; he watched her with this same soft, loving, longing expression she knew from Damon's features when he watched her. So much love, that it nearly ripped her in two, knowing that it would be over before the sun would rise again. She wanted to laugh, cry and scream altogether at the one time. When had her life turned into a spin-off of some Mystery TV show?

She wished she could turn back time and just… just what? Have her parents back, be "fun Elena" who only cared about what other people thought about her, and where the next party would be? Never to meet Damon, never know what it meant when her heart took flight?

No. No matter what, no matter that there would be no tomorrow for her, she wouldn't trade him for a thousand happy endings.

Elijah and Alyona were talking now, but Elena tried her best to tune them out. Most likely, they were trying to have their own last moment together, to say their own goodbyes. But she didn't quite succeed, and she really hated to see someone else's moments, if she couldn't have her own.

"Alyona? Can you… tuck me away again? You know, like you did the other times. So I won't hear or see what you do?"

For a moment Elena thought she wouldn't get a response, but luckily she did.

"I thought you might want to see as much as you can, before you leave this world."

"Well… not right now, no. Just… get me to that place I was the other times for now. And when you go and meet up with Klaus, get me out again. Wouldn't want to miss my own last bow."

Alyona didn't answer, but she did as asked. Seconds later, Elena was safely floating in the dark, soothing nothingness again.

Xoxoxoxoxoxxoxo

Damon paced back and forth, already in danger of ruining the hardwood floor. He couldn't be bothered to spare even a shred of a thought for a damn floor, while Elena was out there, doing god knows what.

It didn't help in the least that Elena's words, just before she had disappeared, had sounded like a fucking Good Bye. Or that Elijah had vanished soon afterwards, not even bothering to say anything at all.

"Come on Damon. Sit down already. You're not helping anyone by making us dizzy."

He waved Alaric's words away with a flick of his hand, not really caring what the man had to say right now. The man might be his friend, but he had other things on his mind than sparing his feelings, or something like that.

"What the hell does she think she's doing? Just because that woman in her thinks she knows how to end Klaus… fuck!"

And there went one perfectly fine side table. It shouldn't have been standing in his way, really. Now it would be used for firewood. Or for a few stakes – one never knew what would be needed sooner in this house.

"She's going to be alright Damon. Really. I mean… Alyona said she knew how to kill Klaus. And Elena trusted her and… I think Elijah will be there, too."

He rolled his eyes at Caroline – trust Vampire Barbie to look at the situation in a 'glass half full' way.

"Blondie, we're not in Paris. The light here is not pink. Go and watch TV – there you can watch as the Chauffeur's daughter gets her happily-ever-after with the Billionaire. This is real life."

The women in the room all shared a secret look – did Damon really just make a reference to that movie? – while the men decided they really didn't want to know what was going on.

"Also… yeah, Elijah is going to be there, sure. As will we – right?"

Damon said the last word with a very distinctive sound to it. A sound that promised: just dare you to not show, and bear the consequences.

A round of thick swallows and quick nods followed. Satisfied for the time being, Damon resumed his pacing. What on earth could he do until midnight arrived and he had to be at Wickery Bridge?

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

"Menelaus, my love… I think you stared at these paintings long enough. Don't you want to take me into your arms?"

Alyonas words were quiet, nearly enough so even he couldn't quite discern them. But there were no other sounds in these caves, so he just about made them out.

Sighing, he turned to his wife; taking in her proud stance, the way she held her shoulders, or how her head was tipped to the side just so. No matter how many women had stolen her face over the centuries, he had always known that it wasn't her. Elena had been the one to come closest – which was the reason that Alyona had been able to take root in her, after all – but still not quite there.

For him, his wife was unique – just like Elena probably was for Damon. He would recognize her out of thousands of Doppelgangers, no matter what. But right now, he had trouble even looking at her.

As much as he had loved her, all his life… he had lived a million times longer without her, than he had with her. And it had hurt, so much. To go on, and on, all this time, never having her there beside him. And now, they were about to do the same thing to another man. Just because one man couldn't live with the fact that he couldn't always get what he wanted, and because he decided that it was worth an entire war to get back what he thought of as his.

Now there were vampires and werewolves out there – witches all over the world constantly fought to keep the balance of nature intact, because one had tipped the scale over, so long ago. So much chaos, and all born out of love.

With a sad shake of his head, he stepped closer and did as she had asked.

"Of course I want to. It's just I…"

"You have regrets. You feel bad that our love is at fault for destroying another one. You wish you could've let me go as there was still a chance to."

Smiling, he kissed the top of her head. As always, she knew exactly what he meant, even if he couldn't find the words himself.

"Yes. Do you think… do you think it was worth it?"

She took one step back, intertwined their hands, and looked at him deep into the eyes.

"Even one second with you, has been worth all the time apart. Even a minute… is worth everything to me. Of course I feel bad for Elena and Damon. I do. But you are the one I love; you are the one who always held my heart. I can't regret that you fought for me, that you didn't want to let me go. I'm just not able to. If that makes me a bad person, so be it. I'll go to hell and gladly burn for eternity."

Blinking away tears, he surged forward and captured her lips with his, finally feeling complete again. Screw fate, revenge and everything else. He had only hours left in this world – he might as well take advantage of them, and be one with his wife one final time.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Hours later – they only had a little over half an hour left until midnight would strike, they were lying entangled with each other, their clothes building a makeshift sheet under them.

Alyona kept on drawing lazy circles on his chest, following old, faint scars; scars, that were still left from when he was human. No injury – no matter how severe – had left a mark on him since his heart stopped beating. Halting over one that reached all the way from just under his ribcage to his right hip, she smiled faintly.

"I remember that one. It was at this tournament, before we married. You wanted to impress me, and kept glancing at me, even though you should have concentrated on your opponent."

His lips turned up into a dreamy smile as he, too, remembered.

"I kept on hoping you would give me a sign that I was succeeding with impressing you. But you just looked bored half to death!"

She chuckled, before she kept on retelling.

"Yes – I tried to act all high and mighty, because that's what my father told me to do. Either way… the one time you really should have kept your eyes on the other man, you once again looked at me, and in the next instant, his sword swung into this huge arch. But all I saw was the red that glistened on the tip of his sword, and the way you stumbled before you caught yourself and ended him. And then you just fainted."

His face changed from amused to wistful then.

"The next time I opened my eyes, you were leaning over me, and you finally showed something else than cool boredom."

She slapped his chest once and rolled her eyes before she resumed talking.

"Well of course. I was worried out of my mind! I loved you from the moment I saw you… and I haven't stopped since then."

He smiled up at her, cupped her cheek in his broad hand, and leaned up to kiss her again. And then, he schooled his face into a serious mask and sat up, taking her with him.

"It's time to go, isn't it?"

"Yes, my Queen. I fear it is. We should… dress ourselves, and be on our way."

Nodding once, she got up, and did as he told her to. When they were done, they stood in front of each other, righting the last piece of cloth out of place, and making sure that their hair didn't look like they just stumbled out of bed. Then their clasped each other's hand, and exited the cave, and soon after the slave quarters, too.

They looked up at the same time, smiling as they saw that tonight would be a dark moon. In all the chaos that was brought by her arrival in Elenas body, they had missed the waning moon – and with it the chance to turn Elena back human.

Well then, dark moon- may you bring us justice, once and for all.

With that thought, Alyona let Elena out of the dark recesses of her mind, so she would be able to watch her last moments on earth, and then they made their way to Wickery Bridge.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Well, done for today! So… tell me, who did get the movie-reference? Uhm now… I don't have much to say, other than I haven't decided if there will be a happy end or not. Now it's your turn though – please tell me what you thing about this chapter. Just click on the little button below and tell me; after all, reviews are love!

So long,

Zora