Hey guys, believe it or not, this is the final chapter.
Stefan
Elena's looking at me like I am about to shatter into a million pieces. She opens her mouth to speak but not a single sound comes out, her big brown eyes are filled with worry and even despair. I can see the wheels in her head turning, considering what she should tell me and what she should keep to herself.
"Elena, please…" I plead with my eyes, with my voice, with my whole body. I need to know what happened. I look at my brother's body and I feel like I've been punched in the gut. I remember those times wishing that Damon would just disappear from my life, that I'd rather have him dead than causing problems, but all those times were a big fat lie. I would have done anything for him, all he had to do is ask.
I look at Elena again who is eyeing me with great concern. I hold out my hand for her and she willingly puts her small hand in mine. I savour the moment, thinking of how lucky I truly am to have someone like her in my life. There are a few unsaid words being exchanged between us, a time in which only our eyes speak to each other - hers so sad, bottomless, but still alive. I give her a tentative nod, encouraging her to talk.
Elena closes her eyes for a second, inhaling deeply –"What do you remember, Stefan?" her voice is raspy like she's been crying for a long time now.
I struggle to bring back the memories that I know exist in the back of my brain, but it seems like there's something that tries to block them, trying to keep them from having a full impact on me.
"I…I…don't know." I say, squeezing my eyes shut. It's like I know everything that happened, but it's impossible for me to put those events into words.
"I remember falling." I say, pictures of that day flash before my eyes. I suddenly feel the pain, the sorrow, and the emotions that came with the fall. I remember how it felt to be an empty shell – seeing everything and wanting to feel everything but not being able to. I remember Elena's face when she realized what had happened to me, I remember the pain behind her eyes, how she begged me to feel and how I responded.
I pull my hand abruptly away from her.
"Stefan?" she squeaks; her eyes wide and scared.
"Elena…" I gasp, memories flooding my head. I try to make some space between us. Why is she even here? She should be running far away from me by now.
"Stefan, it's okay." She tries to calm me down.
I let out a dry chuckle; she's trying to soothe me? I should be the one trying to calm her down, not the other way around.
"How can you even look at me?" I ask, "After what I said to you, how I acted around you?"
"That wasn't you Stefan." She argues, the fire starting to blaze a little hotter in her eyes.
"But that's not true!" I nearly scream, frustrated, especially with myself. "Every word I said back then, I meant it." I say, remembering the cruel words and how I hadn't cared how those words affected Elena.
Elena looks a bit taken aback, but she recollects her quickly. "I refuse to believe that."
I bury my head in my hands – "I'm so sorry." I mumble, unable to look at her anymore.
Elena put her warm hands over mine and pries them off my face. I keep my head lowered but she puts a finger under my jaw and lifts my head up gently. "Hey, look at me." She whispers. I raise my eyes hesitantly and face her.
It's like I am looking at her for the first time and so is she. Elena's whole face is so serene, so pure and so beautiful.
"Don't," she breathes, when I try to pull away, "Look at me." she commands and I obey. It is kind of impossible to tear yourself away from those eyes, it's like they have imprisoned me and I am carrying a life sentence. "We'll cross that bridge someday, Stefan, I promise, but right now I don't want you to beat yourself up about it. Do you understand?" she asks.
I nod, biting my tongue to keep me from saying something back.
"I'm just so glad to have you back." She whispers and presses her lips against mine, just for a tiny fraction of a second but that's enough to leave my head spinning and insides screaming for more.
"Thank you." I say solemnly when her lips leave mine. I grab her hands from my face and hold them firmly in my lap, afraid that if I let go, she'll run. I welcome the familiar feeling I get every time I touch her, this electricity or so she likes to call it. I'd like to think that it's our souls entwining, becoming one, but maybe that thought is just too stupid.
"You're welcome." Elena says silently, smiling a little.
"Well, this has been sickly sweet." An annoyed voice reaches my ears and I realize that Rebekah has been standing here all the time watching me and Elena.
I turn to look at her expecting to see her angry or plain bored but instead her face is surprisingly soft, a little sad even.
"I remember Klaus stabbing me and then there's nothing." I say. I glance between Rebekah and Elena, whose brow is in a frown. "I need to know what happened." I say, swallowing down the lump in my throat when my eyes stop on Damon again.
"Klaus is dead." Elena begins her voice slightly shaky. I give her hands a squeeze, hoping to reassure her. "Damon was able to hold him down for a minute so I was able to shove that liquid down that throat. I don't know what was in that bottle but after that Klaus was unable to move…" Elena pauses, closing her eyes, "I killed him, Stefan. I'm a murderer."
"Shh, Elena." I can sense her distress, desperation. I can't imagine what it took her to do such an act. I wrap my arms around her shoulders, encasing her in a hug while tears fall from her eyes. "You're not a murderer," I tell her.
"Stefan's right, Elena." Rebekah interjects, "This was for the greater good."
I can feel Elena relax a bit in my arms but she doesn't respond to Rebekah. I look up to the blonde woman who is eyeing us and mouth a silent thank you to her.
Some time passes before Elena finally stirs and untangles herself from me. "I'm sorry." She mutters, wiping the tears from her face.
"Don't be." I smile ruefully, wishing that she wouldn't have to feel the pain.
"Rebekah," I look at the archangel who has been standing here the whole time, for god knows why, "Would you tell me the rest of the story?"
Rebekah nods.
"Damon summoned me." She says. "A bit drunk, if I may say so. I suspect it had something to do with you being dead, Stefan."
I grimace, trying to recall how it felt to be dead, but I come up with nothing.
"I can't bring back the dead," Rebekah continues, "But I can trade one life for another."
"Damon's life for mine." I say, my voice cracking. I look at my brother's body and at that moment I wish I could trade places with him.
"This was Damon's redemption, Stefan." Elena suddenly says; she must have sensed what I had thought. "He wanted this, he asked for Rebekah to save you, no matter the cost." I lower my head, letting the sadness wash over me. I never thought that my brother would do something like that for me and although I am grateful, I would have never allowed Damon to do that.
"He is in a better place now, your brother." Rebekah says. "He's with Katherine now." My head snaps up when I hear Katherine's name.
"Katherine?" I ask.
"Yes." Rebekah nods, "Damon asked for her before I gave his life to you and I figured that after defeating Klaus he at least deserved a bit of happiness."
"Thank you for that, I mean it." I say truthfully, even though the hole in my chest that weeps for my brother is still there I can breathe a little bit easier knowing that he finally got his happy ending.
"You're welcome, Stefan." Rebekah says.
I look at Elena who is intently studying me like I am a fascinating science project. She looks so tired, so fragile, like she's about to break down in front of my eyes.
"Are you okay, 'Lena?" I ask, stroking the back of her hand with my thumb.
Elena nods weakly and then averts her eyes on Rebekah.
"What will happen to heaven?" she asks and I can't help but ponder at the same question.
"My brothers and I will take over now." Rebekah responds. "Heaven is freed from Klaus' reign of terror and I believe that we can restore the balance that it so desperately needs."
"What about the angels, you once said that there weren't supposed to be any other angels besides archangels." I need to know.
"The angels will stay." Rebekah says. "Although there aren't going to be any new ones, I think we have enough." She flashes a small smile.
"And Destiny?" Elena asks, anger lacing the tone of her voice. I, too, feel a surge of rage coursing through my body at the mention of the woman who was the cause of my downfall.
"We'll keep her locked up." Rebekah pouts her full lips. "Believe it or not, we do need her, so there's no way to get rid of that annoying woman, but I do assure you that she will never interfere with your lives again."
"I wish I could kick her ass, give her a taste of her own medicine." Elena mumbles under her breath, fuming.
I let out a dry laugh at her words and Elena gives me a slap on my shoulder for that. "It's not funny, Stefan." But she's smiling as well.
"I should leave." Rebekah states, bringing us back to reality. "I'll take Klaus' body with me along with the blade." She frowns at the body, clearly disgusted by the thought of carrying a corpse with her.
Rebekah steps over to Klaus and picks up the weapon that's lying beside him, she examines it for a second and with a flick of her wrist it disappears from her hands.
"There," Rebekah says, "Now it can't hurt anyone, anymore."
Rebekah crouches down and puts a hand on Klaus' shoulder, but before she leaves, she throws Elena and me one last knowing glance – "You know, broken bones are easy to fix." Rebekah eyes my arm which has been completely healed, "But I can't fix broken wings." She says and with that Rebekah disappears along with Klaus.
"What did she mean by that?" Elena asks, drawing my attention on her.
"I have no idea," I shake my head, thinking over Rebekah's words. What did she mean by broken wings?
"Stefan, we should do something about this mess." Elena drops the previous subject and starts to scramble onto her feet. I stand up too, offering her my hand, to help her get up. It's then when I notice how bad she looks – there's dried blood all over her face and in her hair, although the bleeding seems to have stopped. She holds her right leg like it's painful to step on.
I feel a flash of anger course through my body at the sight of her; it makes me wish I could kill Klaus all over again.
"Let me help you, Elena." I say, letting her support most of her weight on me.
"No, it's alright, Stefan, I got this." Elena argues, letting her stubbornness rule her.
"It's not alright, look at you; you're barely able to stand!" I say, agitated and a bit afraid for her. "I can fix it." I say, my abilities should all have been returned to me by now.
"Are you sure?" Elena asks, her face betraying nothing, but I can hear it in her voice that she's in pain.
"Yes." I answer, one hundred per cent sure of myself. "Give me your hand; I'll start with the smaller cuts and bruises."
Elena reaches out her right arm, which has a long and bloody cut on it; fortunately it's not that deep. I put my palm over the wound and close my eyes, expecting the surge of power which usually comes with healing, flow through my body, instead I get nothing. I frown, concentrating harder, yet nothing happens.
I open my eyes and meet Elena's curious ones, there's contempt behind those endless brown orbs of hers.
"I can't..." I whisper, "There's something wrong with me." I look at the wound I was trying to heal, it's still the same.
"Maybe you're just too shaken," Elena says, "Give it some time."
"You don't understand, angels are never too shaken." I say, almost angrily. I shake my head in frustration - "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." I apologize, mentally slapping myself for being so rude with her.
"It's okay, Stefan, I understand." Elena smiles a little and sighs, lowering her head, "Maybe something happened when Rebekah brought you back." She says nonchalantly, more to herself than to me.
"I can't fix broken wings." Rebekah's earlier words resound in my head, beating into me like a hammer. My heart rate picks up rapidly as I start to put the puzzle pieces together.
I put my hands on Elena's shoulders and look straight into her eyes – "Can you stay here for a moment, please?"
She blinks a few times and frowns but doesn't say a word and only nods. I hate to leave her standing like that, considering her current physical state, but this is something I need to test out.
I run outside, little into the forest and when I think I am far enough from her, I try to sense her, Elena. Usually, no matter where she was, I could always pick up on her, feel how she felt in the moment, but right now I am not able to do that. I get absolutely nothing.
And when I used to be able to transport myself into a location in a matter of seconds, this time I can't.
"There's no way…" I say to myself, looking up to the clear blue sky. "It can't be…"
I run back to the house where Elena's still waiting for me. I am actually a little out of breath when I finally stand in front of her again. Huh, that never happened before.
"So…?" Elena asks, raising an eyebrow, "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Elena…I…I…" I stutter, searching for the right words.
"What is it Stefan?"
I grab both of her hands – "I think I am human again."
Two days later
Elena
The sun is shining hotly over our heads and although the weather forecast predicted rain for the whole day, there's not a single storm cloud to be seen, for which I am grateful. The slight breeze gently tousles my hair, making it stick on my face, but I really don't care. Not today.
Mystic Falls cemetery has its own kind of beauty, some would call it a place straight from a horror movie, but for me the big trees casting eerie shadows over the final resting places have always been a sign of home, weirdly enough.
I know I should hate the place for I have buried way too many people here – my parents, Jeremy, but I can't bring myself to feel a feeling that carries such weight with it. I have never been a hateful person and the only person I have hated is now gone.
The loud cawing of the crows wakes me up from my reverie and I look up to the sky, seeing nothing but blue emptiness around me. I squint my eyes at the sun, letting its warmth wash over me before lowering my head and searching for the person I know needs my support today the greatest.
I see him standing near the Salvatore family crypt. The doors of the building are wide open and before it stands a stone casket waiting for it to be carried into the crypt.
Stefan's head is lowered, his shoulders tense and hands curled up in a fist beside him. I know how he is keeping everything he feels bottled inside him and even though I have tried to break through him it just seems to be impossible. I know that he tries to be strong because of me, I see how he looks at me; afraid that I am going to fall and break like a porcelain doll. His worry for me clouds his own feelings and I wish I could make him see that he doesn't need to be the hero all the time that sometimes it's okay to be broken together, because in time we can heal each other's wounds.
I hobble over to him, resting a part of my body weight on a crutch I was given from the hospital. I was thrown many strange looks from the people working there for they hadn't seen me since Jeremy's funeral; my guess is that they thought I left Mystic Falls in my grief. Fortunately I wasn't asked many questions on how I got the injuries and even if I was asked, I shrugged it off as a car accident with no one else being involved in it.
"Stefan…" I say, putting a hand on his shoulder, he seems to relax a bit, "Are you ready?" I ask, knowing that he will never be ready. I wasn't ready to bury my brother, it didn't matter that I knew it was the right thing to do.
"Yes." He says simply, "I just need to say my goodbyes." He turns his head slightly so that he could see me. Stefan takes hold of my free hand and together we stand side-by-side in front of Damon Salvatore's casket.
"I…" Stefan begins, "I… don't know what to say." He confesses his voice slightly shaky.
"If Damon was here, what would you say to him?" I ask, hoping that it will make things easier on him.
"I'd say…" he pauses, choosing words. "I'd say I'm grateful. I'm grateful that you protected Elena when I couldn't, when I wouldn't." He closes his eyes; I can almost feel the guilt emanate from him. "I'd say that despite all of our differences you were the one who always mattered. I'd say I'm sorry for not believing in you all the time, but that is what a brother is supposed to do. You were supposed to make me question, make me question life, myself. I'd say I'm sorry for not standing by you when you needed me the most, I know that I can never erase that mistake and I just hope that one day you'll be able to forgive me."
I squeeze Stefan's hand in reassurance before he continues – "I know that we were never big on telling each other how we felt. I guess we knew it all the time, no words were needed. And I am not going to say it right now either, knowing that you'd probably slap me from being so melancholic." Stefan chuckles.
"I just hope that you found your happiness, wherever you are right now." He looks up to the sky and I follow his lead. "You'll always be my brother, the one I looked up to when I was growing up, you will always be my best friend, my guardian, my saviour, but I have to let you go, no matter how badly it hurts. So good-bye my brother, you'll be remembered."
We both look down again simultaneously and Stefan's gaze is instantly on me.
"How did I do?" He asks sadly, taking his other hand and flicking away the tears on my cheeks with his thumb.
"That was beautiful." I say, trying to suppress the overwhelming feeling of sadness in me.
Stefan's lips curve into a small smile. "Do you want to say anything before I call the workers and let them carry the casket into the crypt?"
I nod, turning my eyes away from Stefan. I think for a brief moment before I open my mouth – "Damon, you were an ass." I say and I can feel Stefan's eyes on me, I guess I startled him a bit with the first sentence.
"You were an ass, you were rude and manipulative and every time you smiled that stupid smirk I wanted to smack it off your face. But no matter how hard I tried to hate you, I never could actually do it. There were times I thought that it's just not possible for Stefan to be your brother, because you two were like the moon and the sun, so different from each other but over time when I got to know you I learned a thing or two about you. I learned that you would do anything for Stefan, and that you could never hate him even though you tried to insist on it a hundred times. I learned that there was always something good in you, but you tried so hard to hide it behind your snarky attitude and cheesy jokes and, hey, you fooled everyone at first, but there's only so much you can hide and eventually the good started to break through the walls you had built around you."
I look up to Stefan who is looking at me, his green eyes sparkling in the sunlight like two emeralds. The sadness that had been so present in his eyes for the past two days has diminished a lot and I smile widely while saying my last sentences.
"So, yeah, Damon, I may have not been particularly fond of you, but without you we never could have made it. You're the reason why we are standing here today on this beautiful day. You're the reason I can be with the man I love, and I am forever thankful for you because of that."
Stefan's eyes are wide as saucers when I say the last word.
"You love me?" he whispers, uncertainty in his eyes.
I realize that he has never heard me say it.
"I love you, Stefan." I tell him, pouring my heart and soul into every single word.
Stefan presses his lips against mine, his one hand around my waist, steadying my wobbly feet.
"Say it again." He pleads when he finally breaks off the kiss.
"I love you." I say. Stefan smiles widely and it's probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
"And I love you, 'Lena." Stefan says, placing another soft kiss on my lips.
I let out a laugh of pure joy, although this day is supposed to be a sad one.
"What now?" I ask, glancing at the casket. From the corner of my eye I can see the workers approaching the crypt, ready to carry it into the building.
"Now we start to live." Stefan says. "One day at a time."
Stefan takes my hand and together we walk away, leaving our old lives behind us and ready to start a new one.
The end
So yeah, this is the end, unfortunately. I could go on with it, but then the chapters would probably be really sappy and lovey dovey and I personally think that it wouldn't fit with this story since it has been kind of gloomy since the beginning. I hope you won't be too mad at me because of this lol.
I really can't believe that I actually managed to finish this story, it's been one heck of a ride considering this is the first time I tried to write something and not even in my own language. And I couldn't have done it without your support, I think I would have quit this story at chapter 5 if it wasn't for you guys. You were my inspiration and you gave me the courage to continue this no matter how bad I thought it was. I am forever grateful for each and everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited this story! You rock! :)
I had thought of a whole different ending for this story, a bittersweet one, but I finally decided that I won't go with it because our Stelena hearts are already broken. I may post it one day, though. I don't know yet.
There's going to be an epilogue as well, a short one probably, but I think the story needs one, so stay tuned!