I cannot believe that this story is over. It took four months and more hours than you can imagine working on this. I was so inspired by some of the reviews that I got for the last chapter that I needed to finish this story, so I stayed up late to post this.
I want to give a truly heartfelt thank you to everyone who has read, alerted, favorited, and reviewed this story. There are so many of you whose kind words were sometimes the only thing pushing me to finish this at all. I do humbly ask that you review this last chapter, even if you've never written a review for this story before. I love hearing what you guys think, and your opinions whether positive or negative make me a better writer. I hope you all enjoy.
Future Elena's POV
It's hard to sum up the life that I watched my past self live. Where would I even start? Five years is a lot of ground to cover. I could talk about the feeling of elation and pride that I felt every time she told Damon she loved him, or the light that glowed from his face at the words. I could speak of the nights they spent going on whatever outrageous dates that Damon could think of, just so life would never be boring. Or I could even talk about how my friends and family evolved and grew over the years, but after much thought, I've realized I can sum up those five years into ten moments. Ten perfect moments that finally gave me the strength to let go.
The first moment happened only a week after my death. Damon decided that we were all far too depressing and that I needed a much needed break from the doom and gloom, so he asked me to put on something pretty and not ask any questions. He never told me where we were going; all he would say is that this would be our first official date. He even went so far as to blind fold me to preserve the surprise. It wasn't until I was sitting on a private plane on the tarmac that Damon finally fessed up. He was taking me to Paris for our first date, because why not? I'd never been to Paris.
While it was certainly the longest date of my life, 12 hour flight each way was no picnic, Damon made every second entertaining. He dared me that I couldn't think of enough life stories to fill the 12 hour flight. Personally, I think he just wanted to learn more about me, not that he'd ever admit to it. On the flight back, I dared him to do the same, and his were far more entertaining. Imagine listening to Damon describe the roaring 20s or the hippie movement. As beautiful and perfect as it was having dinner in a fancy French restaurant and walking down the Champs-Élysées at night, my favorite part of the date were his endless stream of stories. He was just himself, without the hang ups or the insecurities. Damon just wanted me to see him, exactly as he was, and I'd never loved him more.
The next moment came swiftly after. It was the first night that we spent together. While I probably would have jumped him halfway through the plan ride back from our first date, Damon insisted on being a gentleman. Because I clearly chose Damon for his manners. I felt my past self's emotions like they were my own, so when she felt like she was dying to rip Damon's clothes off his chest, so was I, so goody for me.
After nearly a week of being gentlemanly, I was going insane. So late one night, I snuck into his room, like he had done so many times to me, and I stripped off all my clothes and climbed into bed with him. Why not be bold while dating someone like Damon? The surprised look on his face made it all worth it. Damon forgot all about his gentlemanly streak once I was sitting on top of him naked. It wasn't until right before dawn that both of us were too exhausted to continue our marathon session of sex, teasing, and even cuddling. I finally got an answer to my question. Yes, Damon was really that good. I fell asleep in his arms feeling safer than I ever remembered being since my parents died.
The next joyous moment had nothing to do with me or with Damon. It came when Damon dropped me off after school and he came inside to watch me study, a.k.a. distracting me from studying. When we entered the house, we could hear the sounds of laughter coming from the kitchen and I saw my aunt with a decent sized engagement ring on her finger. Alaric was getting married again. He and Jenna were going to live happily ever after, like they were always supposed to. I was the maid of honor at their wedding and Damon was his best man.
Love must have been in the air that year, because within two weeks, Tyler and Caroline announced that they were a couple. Apparently unbeknownst to any of us, they had grown closer after her breakup with Matt, and they were ready to take their relationship public. I was happy to see that they had still found their way to each other, even without the werewolf curse to bring them together.
The next epic moment belonged to Damon and I, and it will always rank as one of the most romantic nights of my life. For weeks, Damon was acting secretive and jittery. Neither I nor my past self could figure it out, but on our three year anniversary. Damon took me to a fancy French restaurant that he said reminded him of where we had our first date. He rented out a boat and had the captain drive us out to the middle of the lake. If it was anyone else, I would have thought he brought me out here to dump my body. He started playing with my hair, which he only did when he was nervous about something. I whisper in his ear to calm his nerves, "You know you can tell me anything."
He smiles back at me as replies simply, "I know, that's why I want to marry you." At this point, he kneels down on one knee, claiming this was the proper way to propose. He swore that he would love me forever, which for a vampire was really saying something. He asks for the honor of becoming my husband, and I would have come back to haunt my past self from beyond the grave if she had said no. Luckily for both our sanities, she answered yes immediately, as happy tears ran down her face, while he placed the ring on her finger.
It was no surprise that my next momentous day was when I declared in front of family, friends, and God to honor and cherish Damon for all the days of my life. Our wedding day was perfect in its imperfections, just like us. Caroline lost the rings, Stefan's tux got a large tear down the side, and my own brother was an hour late. But it was absolutely worth all the drama to see Damon running around like a chicken with his head cut off, as if I was going to change my mind if I didn't have the perfect wedding. When I finally walked down the aisle and caught Damon's eyes for the first time, he looked breathless and in awe. I felt like a princess, and I was never happier to have at least one human moment where I got to be just like everybody else.
Life was pretty quiet for a while after that. With no real supernatural threats, thanks to Elijah, the residents of Mystic Falls were able to just live their lives in peace. Every few weeks, Elijah would stop by and update me on the supernatural visitors that he 'redirected,' as he phrased it, to other locations. Deep down, I couldn't help but wonder if he just wanted time to talk with me. His siblings provided him with company enough, but the memory of our early bond kept drawing him back to Mystic Falls. Over the years, my past self grew fond of his company and his visits. Damon even came to tolerate him; once Elijah made it clear he had no intention of harming me or trying to steal me away from him. There were times I almost could see them becoming friends.
As good as life was living in newly wedded bliss, things got even better when I got a hysterically happy phone call from Jenna telling me she was pregnant. Alaric was beaming like a proud father for weeks after the announcement. When the babies came, babies as in twins, which Ric conveniently forgot to mention ran in his family, we all rushed to the hospital to welcome the new additions. The most precious sight of all was Damon holding little baby Grayson as I held little baby Miranda. We both knew this was the closest that we would ever come to having children of our own, and we took to it instantly. They named Damon and I Godparents to the twins, and that gave Damon the perfect excuse to babysit while still holding on to his bad boy image. The sight of Damon making funny faces to Grayson and his careful rocking of Miranda was enough to make even the most cynical person believe in the humanity again, because I could see it, in its purest form, in Damon's eyes.
I didn't have to wait long for another perfect moment, because we seemed to be making them on a daily basis. However the sight of Stefan and Katherine making out on the couch like two horny teenagers definitely makes it on the top ten. My past self starts laughing uncontrollably at the embarrassed look on Stefan's face after he is caught. Damon seems pretty pleased with himself as well at the moment, mostly because he had called it weeks ago, saying that the two were growing closer, and more than once he had caught them in what he called was their star crossed lover's gaze. My past self found the situation so hilarious she couldn't help herself from commenting. "Since my future self isn't here to say it," she begins with a wide smile across her face, "I would like to say on her behalf. I told you so." The sense of satisfaction that I was right about those two was definitely worth all the crap that Stefan put me through while I was alive. The blush on his cheeks at my gentle teasing didn't hurt either.
After that, I took pity on Stefan and invited them both out for drink at the grill. The sight of us all laughing together, throwing darts, and playing pool, while Katherine and I occasionally teamed up against the boys to mock them mercilessly, was a sight for sore eyes. For the first time, I could see her future, the four of them together for the rest of eternity. My past self must have thought the same thing, because that very same night, as she was lying in Damon's arms, she asked him to turn her.
This sparked days of debate, uncertainty, and eventual acceptance on Damon's part. He never chose this life for himself, and he would never wish it on anyone. The one argument that finally gets through is when I bring up what he told me on his death bed all those years ago. Damon said becoming a vampire was worth it, because he got to meet me. I did my best to help him understand that an eternity of bloodlust was a fair trade for an eternity of life with him. Once he agreed, I knew it was time to go. Everyone I knew and loved was happy and safe. I was confident that they would stay that way. No amount of rationalizations can hold me here any longer, so I call out for Miss Sheila, and she appears instantly.
"I understand that you're ready now," she replies, as if she has spent the last five years waiting for my call.
"I think I am," I answer uncertainly, "but how could I ever know? You're asking me to let go of the only life that I ever knew to become what exactly?" She smiles knowingly back at me.
"I thought you might need some convincing, so I brought along a little help," she responds mysteriously. A flash of light comes and standing before me is Damon, my Damon. He's still wearing the same clothes that he had on from the night that he died, but he wasn't gray or lifeless. He was just standing there, looking at me with his classic smirk in place, like he had been waiting all along.
"You're telling me little Miss Vampire Slayer herself, who took down an Original, is afraid of the great beyond?" Damon mocks with his typical sarcasm. "I've done this whole dying thing twice already. Trust me, you're being a little melodramatic."
Without thought, I launch myself into his arms. I pepper kisses all over his face. If I were wearing lipstick, Damon would probably resemble a clown given my attack of on his face with my mouth. I start on his lips and then work my way to his jaw, repeating over and over again, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
He reluctantly pulls away, but still keeps in constant contact, with his hand on the small of my back. Damon places a hand on my lips and speaks softly. "You gave up a chance at a mortal life so that you could save mine. I'd say we're pretty much even." Just like that I'm forgiven, for rejecting him, for not choosing him sooner, and for not making him feel worthy of my love. We don't need elaborate apologies, because we're together now, and nothing else matters.
"We've both made mistakes, and I never need another apology from you again. Although I will say, how many days in the life of Elena Gilbert did you really need to see before letting go?" He remarks casually, half-joking and half-serious. "You have no idea how boring eternity has been up here without you. We don't even get cable," he informs me, as if such a thought is preposterous.
"We?" I inquire hopefully. Damon smiles real wide and I can't help but mirror his actions.
"Another bone that I have to pick with our eternal cruise director," Damon directs his complaint to Sheila, who has been standing at a respectable distance since I attacked Damon with my face. "I've been stuck here with all your friends and my insufferable brother who cannot stop apologizing. I get it, you feel bad about quasi killing us all. It's time to move on man. The moping and the hair shaping really starts to wear thin after a while." I laugh at Damon's feigned dislike of his brother. After watching five years of brotherly bonding, I know he's full of it, but I enjoy watching his fierce denial. As I'm reveling in the moment, a question troubles me.
"But Stefan didn't die, not even in the future," I point out, perplexed as how Stefan could even be here. Damon's face grows serious, and he starts to scare me.
"Yes, he did, they all did," Damon states gravely. "Once you killed Klaus, you weren't the only one who faded away. Caroline, Stefan, Katherine, and all the other people who were affected by Klaus' death, they all disappeared too, because their futures were altered forever just like yours." I feel like I've been kicked in the gut. Derailing my life was one thing, but I never agreed to change theirs.
"Why didn't anybody tell me that would happen?" I question despairingly. "I didn't just sacrifice my life. I sacrificed theirs." Damon holds me tighter and rubs my back in comfort.
"The witches were afraid it might impact your decision," he informs me. "That's the witching community for you, always thinking they know what's best. They work in mysterious ways, ours is not to reason why."
Damon stiffens in my arms and starts screaming just for a moment as he grabs his head in agony. Miss Sheila apparently took great offense to Damon's insult of her ancestors. Once Damon's head feels like it is no longer exploding, he glares at Sheila.
"Really, still?" He questions aggravated. A part of me is angry at her for hurting him, but the other part remembers that she might still hold a grudge for the whole tomb opening, death thing.
"You should count yourself lucky she even let you in to this little after life of ours," I remind him, curious as to whom he had to bribe to secure that deal.
"I was pretty surprised myself," Damon answers with a confident smile, "but grandma witch mentioned something about a stellar character reference, apparently judgey has a soft spot for me." Bonnie, Bonnie Bennett convinced her Grams to let Damon have a peaceful eternity with me. If there are still such things as birthdays once you are dead, I will need to get her like a kick ass present, like maybe a small island.
A million thoughts keep popping up in my mind. While I want to race towards eternity with Damon, I still have so many questions. "So when I move on, I'll see them all again?" My hope, that was once such a tiny flicker of light, is now a fiery inferno, but I'm afraid of it getting snuffed out. Damon calms my worries and fears with the sound of his voice alone.
"You'll see whoever you want to see," he promises wholeheartedly. "This is your afterlife. You decide what to make of it."
"So is this real, are you real," I ask in disbelief, "or are you just some figment of my imagination that I'm making up in my head?"
"I find its best not to ask too many questions," Damon answers jokingly. "Theology, religion, what does it matter in the end? I'm here and you're here. That's good enough for me." He really has the best answers, and I respond with a lingering kiss that is only interrupted when Miss Sheila clears her throat. Even dead, Damon and I can't seem to catch a break.
"That's enough for me too," I vow to him. "That's enough till the end of time. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I love you," I confess, more honest than I've ever been. "I've imagined telling you that a thousand times," I admit shyly, alluding to all the nights I spent dreaming about finding him again, saving him. Thus far, the reality is even better than the dream. Damon grins and gazes at me in almost childlike wonder.
"In this little fantasy of yours, how do I respond to your little heartfelt confession?" Damon asks cockily.
"Oh, you know some sappy music plays, you tell me you love me too, followed by kissing," I reply casually, like I'm not bearing my soul and my deepest desires.
"I don't know what I can do about our music options, but I'm happy to oblige with the rest," Damon generously offers, before cradling my cheek in the palm of his hand. He caresses my face, and I shiver at his touch, even in death, he makes me feel alive. He stares deeply into my eyes, and I could care less that Miss Sheila is still standing like ten feet away. A herd of bison couldn't divert my attention from this moment. "Elena Gilbert," Damon starts after a second's hesitation at the prospect of saying those three words to me once more. "I love you, back then, now, and for all of time. I love you, forever." This was the moment, the one we never got to have, and it isn't with some past version of Damon, and it isn't through some vicarious feeling. This is just us. This moment is ours, and for once, I know exactly what to say.
"I love you too," I confess freely, "which you know we already covered, but I thought you deserved to hear it again," I ramble nervously, to Damon's complete amusement.
"Happy to hear it," Damon gently mocks with a smile, "because any other response would have been really embarrassing."
I laugh a little at his joke before desperately asking. "Can we skip to the kissing part?" Damon breathes a sigh of relief.
"I love the kissing part," he admits as he grabs for the back of my head. I swear if I wasn't already in heaven, this kiss would send me there. Facing down Klaus, dealing with moody versions of my past self and past Stefan, even dying, totally worth it to bring me here to this moment. When we finally pull away, there is a door that I swear wasn't there before. It is a standard, run of a mill door that you would see on anyone's house that happens to be standing up straight in the middle of the vast whiteness.
"This is our exit," Damon answers to my unspoken question, as he gently takes my hand. I have no idea what's behind that door or what new life I'm about to start, but feeling Damon at my side at last, I'm not afraid anymore. With him, I'm fearless, so we walk into the unknown, together, finally.
As Always Please Read and Review
Congratulations LucklessRomance17 on guessing the ending like 5 chapters ago.