Epilogue

Dear Diary,

Today, was the best day of my life. Now, don't get me wrong, we still have a whole lot of problems. The big one being that the Mystic Falls council is still out for vampire blood. Damon is still part of it, so we will at least have some type of heads up if they make a move against us.

However, this is strongly outweighed by the fact that a few months ago, we got our best friend back. Ever since then, life has been good. Or, at least as good as it's going to get for a vampire.

Speaking of our friend, Bonnie is alive. Somewhat. Technically, I think she might still be dead, but that's not too much of an issue. We can all see, hear, and interact with her just like we can with anyone else, so her "dead" status is just as relevant as my own "dead" status. There was one drawback to this whole "anchor" gig though; Bonnie is now the gateway between the living world and the "other side" for anyone supernatural. Basically, any witch, werewolf, vampire, hybrid, or original who gets themselves killed, shows up next to Bonnie and she helps them pass on to some sort of supernatural purgatory. It's all really confusing, but I've learned to just accept it.

However, this doesn't seem to be stopping Bonnie from living her own life. As a matter of fact, she and Jeremy have finally gotten engaged. After dating a few months, Jeremy decided it was time. He popped the question to her under a full moon, with an elaborate witchy themed dinner. They plan on getting married in the fall.

Caroline is doing well. She seems to somewhat be in denial about her feeling for Stefan, but pretty much the entire town can see it. Except, of course, Stefan, who is just as delusional about his own feelings for her. The rest of us have been using every opportunity to set them up. It's become almost a game. They still haven't caught on.

As far as Matt, he moved on from Caroline pretty fast. A week or two later, he started going out with Rebekah Mikaelson. I'm not entirely sure how they meet, or how that works, but they seemed to be happy. Of course, when he found out that she was a vampire as well, he was quite shaken up. But, somehow, he didn't seem as upset about it as he was with Caroline. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that Caroline killed his sister, even if by accident. When Rebekah told Matt she desperately wanted to be human, and mentioned something about a cure, he decided to help her out. As friends of course. Not sure how long that "friends" caveat will last, but right now, the two of them are on some island in the middle of the ocean, looking for this supposed vampire cure.

Rebekah did us a favor by letting us know that even though the spell we put on Klaus broke when Bonnie died, she and Elijah had decided that it would be better for everyone to dagger him for a few hundred years. He shouldn't be a problem for a long time.

I'm not sure where Elijah went, but I haven't seen him since that night. A part of me says that he's okay, and I have a creeping suspicion that he ran away with Katherine, who also hasn't been seen since we got Bonnie back. Neither of them have contacted us. I guess all I can do is trust that they are okay. I wish things hadn't ended the way they did with Katherine and I. She is my sister, and, honestly, I miss her. After all these years I still miss her.

Anyway, who else is there? Max. My doppelganger. Well, Max seems fine. She's adjusted to vampiric life well. Ish. There were a few stumbles, but we were always able to talk her down, and how she seems pretty well under control. But I still keep a close eye on her. The last time I thought someone was doing well, his brother died, and he ended up flipping his switch. Another notable little tidbit about Max is, well, about someone else. Tyler. Those two haven't been able to keep their eyes off each other for a few weeks now. So I think it will be fun to see where that goes.

Lexi headed off once we got Bonnie back. She said something about problems with acquaintances somewhere else and disappeared. But I know she's okay. She can take care of herself.

What else? What else? Oh of course. Damon. He's a vampire now too. He loves it. This is something he was born to be, and it suits him better than I ever thought it would suit anybody. He's been good about keeping an eye on Stefan. It seems to work well for the two of them.

Now, back to the whole, "best day of my life" thing. Today, I got married to the love of my life. Damon proposed to me two weeks after Bonnie came back to life. And today, I finally got to walk down the aisle. It was everything I ever dreamed and more. Everyone was there. Stefan was the best man, and I picked Caroline as my maid of honor. They were wonderful, and as an added bonus, it was another chance to pair the two of them together.

We wrote our own vows. We promised each other that we would always be there. That we would strive to give the other a life of passion, adventure, and maybe even a little danger. We gave each other everything, for all eternity. I made him promise that we were forever. He promised. As vampires, forever is a long time, but this is the first time in 150 years that I have felt like living for something more than just the sake of it. He gives me life.

To wrap this all up, I'm happy. I have not doubt that there will be problems in the future. Enemies that we will have to face. People we will have to save. But I'm not worried anymore. With Damon by my side, and my friends behind me, we can stand against anything. Bring it on, world. Bring it on. I'm ready.

Elena Pierce

A/N - That's it guys. That's all I got of this story. I'm done. wow this feels so weird to have actually finished something this long. Thank you all for coming on this journey with me. I have been so appreciative of all of your support.

I feel like this marks a new chapter in my life, because it just so happens that I have just learned that I got accepted into my top college, and I am planning on going in as a Professional Writing Major. I plan on eventually being able to release my own original novel, and this fanfiction is actually a huge stepping stone to get me closer to that goal. I know now that I CAN write something 80K words long and actually finish it. I also know, that if I just keep trying and pushing through, eventually I will become the writer that I want to be.

So, truly, thank you for reading. I don't know if I could have done this without you.