Before Sage left, Elena held her daughter close, and said a silent prayer. She hugged and kissed her, promising to return. She gave Delena her locket to hold onto. Delena looked back at her intently as if she understood every word her mother said.

Then Elena turned to Sage and asked him to grab for her the two bracelets tuck secretly away in her draw.

With that Sage was gone, leaving Elena who had been holding back her tears, as to not scare Delena the freedom, to bow her heard and cry. It felt wrong to leave her daughter behind, even though she knew she was leaving her in good hands. Still, it felt even worse to take her into the Dark Dimension, where anything was possible.

She turned her attention to Damon who lay there so still. She had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. The fact that he was there before her, was nothing short of a miracle. It was hard for her to wrap her head around all which had taken place, in such a short period of time. Markus was Damon...Damon was Markus. How had she been unable to tell? She remembered back to the times when they had been intimate, and how when she would start to lose herself in the moment, the lines between fantasy and reality had seemingly started to blur. During those split second intervals in which she had thought she'd been imagining catching glimpses of Damon. Only now she realized it hadn't been a fantasy at all, it had been him she had been seeing, but her denial of it was what had made the illusion of Markus easier to believe.

She thought about Sage's words, saying she had needed to open herself up to the love to be able to see it for what it was.

She realized this had not been the only time she had been unwilling to allow herself to admit to herself, her feeling for Damon. It hadn't been until he had died, that she felt the true emptiness of a life without the possibility of him in it. So long she had tried to play it safe; wanting what she thought would be dependable, and calm. Not that life with Stefan had ever truly been calm, but much of that she had blamed Damon for.

The truth was dependable, and calm was not for her. She wanted excitement, and adventure, lust and all it entailed.

She had mistakenly thought she wanted calm and safe, but it had turned out to be boring, dull and unfulfilling. She had been drawn to Damon like a moth to the flame. No matter how much she had tried to fight it, her heart felt alive when with him. No mountain in-climbable, with him at her side. With him she could be the detective, heroine, and reach depths to herself she had not known existed until he was at her side. In truth, she never truly feared things like dyeing, or whippings. She always just knew he would protect her. Whereas many times she had felt she needed to save Stefan. With Damon she had felt free.

True Damon was his own worst enemy, but his unpredictability was part of his charm. Looking down at him, she couldn't help but feel pride, seeing just how much of Delena she could see there. She giggled to herself thinking about the poor boys that would have to ask Damon if they could date his daughter.

She thought about how he must of felt hearing she was going to marry Stefan. Actually she knew exactly how he felt, as the memory came back to her of him with Bonnie.

Luckily Sage reappeared, stopping that thought in its tracks.

"Are you ready to go, we haven't much time" he said as he handed her the bracelets and threw Damon over his shoulder with one swoop.

He suddenly had some sort of shell in his hand which she was unsure from where it had come, as his pants fit him like a glove, and she would of thought something like that would have been hard to hide. Regardless there it was in his hand. He grabbed her hand with his free one, and then they were moving, like the speed of light. Elena was unable to see much of anything, but found herself clinging tightly to his arm.

Just like that they were back in the castle. Sage had let go of her hand and was laying Damon down on Markus's bed.

Elena quickly had to correct her thinking. Damon's bed she told herself. She was feeling a bit dizzy. She guessed it was due to a form of jet-lag.

"I'm going to send you a new guard, and then I'm returning up above." He told her.

"But why, we only just arrived. What do I say to him when he wakes up, you saw how he was last time he awoke?" She asked worriedly.

Sage flashed her a big smile. "I have a date with your aunt. What better way for me to keep an eye on Delena?" he answered with a coy, yet teasing voice. "The rest is for you two love birds to work out."

Then he was gone, and a servant was knocking on the door asking if there was anything she needed, such as food. Elena quickly noticed that the woman was looking strangely at Elena's clothing, and that her eyes were on Elena's bare wrists.

"Yes, please fetch me some appropriate clothing, and food.""Yes, Mistress" she answered, before scurrying off.

Elena had noticed the woman had turned red, at being caght starring so openly.

Elena went and showered quickly, coming out with a towel draped around her, while using another briskly on her hair.

There was a gown draped over a chair, and a plate of food,

With wine and cheese waiting on the table.

Elena was so hungry she found herself stuffing bread in her mouth with one hand while trying to dress with the other.

She realized it was useless, and instead went to the closet, and pulled out one of the silk nightgowns that had a matching robe. After sliding into it, and brushing out her hair, she sat down and ate.

Oddly it felt good, it was familiar. It felt like home. Before long there was a knock on the bedroom door and Elena found herself staring at a bare chest. Cranking her head up, she found herself gazing at a stone faced man.

"The new guard I presume"? She asked.

"Yes Mistress, I am Amul." Elena recognized the look, but it made her Miss Ezra.

"Amul, could you please bathe Master Da...Markus, and get him into his bed clothes, and back into the bed?" She requested.

"Yes Mistress." He answered her with that unchanging look.

Elena put that time alone to good use, eating to her heart's content. Even the wine seemed better then she remembered.

Once Damon was back laying peacefully still asleep in the bed, she crawled in next to him, laying her head on his chest. The bed felt dreamy, it was so comfortable. The smell of a freshly clean Damon filling her nostrils, and she was asleep, before Amul had even turned off the light.