A/N:
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of the Vampire Diaries.
The concept of this story was inspired by Soulmate by L.J. Smith, also the creator of the Vampire Diaries. I highly recommend you take a look at her Night World series if you haven't already.
It has been a looooong time since I've tried my hand at fanfiction, now I'm giving it another shot. I guess you could say my story is a bit of a self-insert, but also, not really. I apologize in advance for grammar errors, cliches, and if I've not followed canon events correctly. Comments and constructive criticism are appreciated.
(4/29/2021): Edited.
A/N: (1/19/2021) Hi all! So, the first 4 chapters of this story require heavy editing, including how I constantly misspell Stefan as Stephan. Thank you for reading!
Description as it was intended (with no word count to hold it back):
Sophia Gilbert is hearing voices in her head. While many would argue it was the death of her parents that led to her losing her marbles, she would argue it was the arrival of the Salvatore brothers that kicked everything off. Before she knows it, her friends and family are having love affairs with vampires, witches, and werewolves, oh my.. and she's being driven to insanity by visions of past lives. She's barely able to disentangle what her past selves are trying to communicate to her before the next big baddie shows up in town wanting her sister's blood. But it turns out that she's one to talk when it comes to loving monsters.
1st Century B.C.
Sofia's destiny was not her own.
The midwife who helped bring Sofia into the world immediately recognized her as a paliá psychí. An old soul, born into her first of many lives, by the look of her aura. It was a great honor to be bestowed with such a child, and it was customary for the elders of their group to bless the infant girl with safe travels for her numerous lives. A huge celebration occurred for the blessing to take place. Sofia's parents, who possessed no magical capabilities themselves and were generally lumped in with the lower caste in their tribe, were out of place in all the splendor.
It was a common belief among travelers that blessing a newborn paliá psychí with safe travels, and providing guidance for her as she grows up, will in turn bring the tribe good fortune...
... In the centuries to come, there will be those who speculate it was the spiteful butchering and tampering of Sofija's first life that led to the division of their tribe.
It was due to the folly and cruelness of others that Sofia's destiny was not her own. By way of maleficent intervention, her fate was invariably intertwined with reflections of her best friend.
June 22, 1992
Grayson Gilbert drove very carefully to his medical clinic at 5 am in the morning. Roughly an hour ago, he helped to deliver his daughter, Sophia, into the world. His wife, Miranda Gilbert nee. Sommers opted to sit in the back seat of the car, gazing lovingly at their daughter, who was safely latched into her car seat.
Miranda and Grayson had caused quite the stir in their small town when they married a little over a year ago, him being 9 years her senior. They met when she was 18, and him, 27, at a bar near Whitmore College. Grayson had been under the impression that she was at the very least, 21. By the time her true age came to light, there was no turning back. He was too far gone, and very much in love with her.
Their age difference and marriage caused quite the stir in the small, sleepy town of Mystic Falls. However, Grayson being the son of a founding family had tempered the worst of the rumors. Towards the end of Miranda's senior year of college, Grayson proposed.
Soon after their marriage, Grayson took over his late father's medical practice. Six months into their marriage, Miranda found out she was pregnant
Miranda had given birth a week early, right there in the house left to him by his parents. She smiled wanly at Grayson from the back seat, her eyes instantly brightening when they returned to their daughter. Grayson hadn't planned for an at-home birth, and with his daughter born early, he was anxious to get her and his wife to the hospital to be certain that there were no complications. Exhausted, and not wanting to make the drive to the hospital on the outskirts of town, Miranda insisted Grayson should assess them himself at his clinic. Grayson was hesitant, but ultimately agreed with his wife.
Grayson narrowed his eyes as he pulled up closer to his clinic.
"Wait in here," he said, not wanting Miranda to leave the car just yet. There was a small figure pacing back and forth in front of his clinic. He was surprised when he saw it was a young girl who couldn't be much older than his teenage brother, John. It was difficult to tell when her back was facing him, but as soon as she turned, her late-term pregnancy immediately caught the eye.
"Grayson what's going .." Miranda had stepped out of the car, hovering near the open door. Her eyes widened at the sight of the obviously pregnant teenager who barely looked older than her little sister, Jenna.
"Please help- Owww" the girl whimpered. "I think I'm labor". Grayson looked helplessly at his wife.
"Go ahead, get her inside, me and Sophia will be right behind you," said Miranda.
The girl, who later introduced herself as Isobel, gave birth within the hour to a baby girl. Holding her daughter in her arms, Isobel tearfully explained how she managed to hide the entirety of her pregnancy from her parents. She had not sought any medical attention in all that time. This worried Grayson, but ultimately, she and the baby were perfectly healthy. Isobel had borrowed a friend's car and drove herself to Mystic Fall when she felt herself going into labor, not wanting to go to the hospital in her small town.
Grayson gritted his teeth at her reckless behavior, but glares from Miranda kept him from scolding the 16-year-old girl. Now exhausted, the girl shared how she didn't plan to return home with the baby, originally planning to leave her at the hospital. Before she should make it to the hospital, her contractions became too powerful, and she parked her car down the street from Grayson's clinic, not trusting herself to safely drive it. She walked down the street, looking for a payphone to call for help, which luckily was in front of Graysons Clinic.
Grayson and Miranda shared glances with each other throughout Isobel's account, skeptical, but not wanting to scare the girl into running away again.
Miranda offered the girl a room to stay at in the Gilbert house for the day, insisting that Isobel stay there to recover, and hoping to encourage her to really think about her decision. Isobel agreed. Once Grayson was assured that both women and babies were healthy, they made plans to drive back to the house. There was a spare car seat in the clinic. Miranda insisted on driving back with Isobel and her baby in Isobel's friend's car back to the house, while Grayson drove back with Sophia.
He had his assistant cancel all appointments made that day, and re-route any emergencies to the hospital.
Grayson watched over Sophia in her nursery while Miranda stayed with Isobel in the spare room for an hour or so. Grayson overheard her helping the teenager with her baby and trying to talk the girl into contacting her parents.
Miranda soon joined Grayson in the nursery, where he had fallen asleep in a rocking near Sophia's bed. Miranda brought an extra chair to join them, soon falling asleep herself with her head against the crib.
Grayson woke up to the sound of Sophia crying. He picked up his daughter and rocked her in the rocking chair until she calmed down. He belatedly realized Miranda was gone.
"Grayson..." said Miranda in an odd voice, suddenly standing at the doorway.
Grayson looked up to see Miranda cradling Isobel's baby, and holding a note in her hand.
The note was solely addressed to Miranda. Isobel detailed how she was not ready to be a mother and how she was sure of her choice. She also pleaded to Miranda to take in her daughter and raise her as her own. In the little time that she knew them, she felt that Miranda and Grayson would be great parents to her daughter. That maybe it was meant to be that it was their clinic she found herself at when she went into labor.
Miranda told Grayson that when she woke up, Isobel and her car were gone. The teenager was careful to not tell them her last name or where she lived.
Instinctively, Grayson wanted to report the baby to the hospital, and maybe track down Isobel. Miranda wanted to do the opposite, and honor the girl's wishes. Miranda reasoned that Isobel knew where to find them if she changed her mind. They had the money and resources to take care of both babies. She was resolute about raising Isobel's daughter as her own. They argued about it for a day, before Grayson gave in to his wife's wishes. When they finally came to an agreement, they realized Isobel's daughter, now their daughter, didn't have a name. They both agreed on the name Elena, which was a strong contender while Miranda was pregnant before Grayson's mother passed away and Sophia was named in her memory.
Miranda's OBGYN was a friend of Grayson's, who treated her primarily at Grayson's clinic. No other hospital had access to her health records. Feeling it was best for everyone involved to avoid a lengthy legal process, Grayson forged paperwork that noted how Miranda was pregnant with twins.
Miranda and Isobel had similar coloring, as did their daughters.
With no one being the wiser, it required no stretch of the imagination to regard Sophia and Elena Gilbert as fraternal twins.
October 15, 2007
"Tyler Lockwood was telling everyone and their mother that he's gone to second base with you at the lake yesterday," Caroline informed her friend matter-of-factly.
Sophie wrinkled her nose.
"Ew. I tripped into his arms at Tim Richards party and he was handsy about catching me, but that's all." said her friend, her face flushed from hanging upside down on Caroline's bed, her head touching the floor. Caroline was settled across from her, settled on the nook in her bedroom.
"Lucky for you, Elena was there to tear him a new one. She called him a perv and a liar, and if Elena says it, it must be true." Caroline said with mild envy.
Sophia righted herself and sat with her legs crossed on Caroline's bed.
"Lucky me." Sophia smiled brightly, her eyes guileless. Her hair shined in the sunlight, with a luster that Caroline used multiple hair care products to achieve.
For the entirety of grade school and the better part of middle school, Sophia was thought of as the ugly twin. It was an enigma to the kids around them how on earth Sophia was Elena's sister, let alone her twin.
Unlike Elena who seamlessly transitioned from a beautiful child to a beautiful teenager, Sophie went through major growing pains, with her gawky features, bucked teeth, and bouts of acne.
Then, sometime during the 8th grade, Sophia's acne cleared and her face had settled in.
Even with her braces still on, she looked cute as a damn button, thought Caroline.
Sophia's resemblance to mother and twin was now strongly apparent.
Elena now had to fend off the boys who used to mercilessly tease her sister for very different reasons.
Despite the occasional bullying, and likely in part of having Elena as a sister, Caroline wrote off Sophia as a total Pollyanna. Endlessly cheerful, she seemed naive to the harsh reality of Mystic Falls society
It wasn't until earlier this summer that Caroline realized Sophie saw more than she let on.
"When did Elena even get the chance to meet Paul?" questioned Caroline as she wiped her snot and tears with the edge of her blouse sleeve.
"She met him at the ice cream shop. We were waiting for our dad to close up his clinic, and Paul works there," said Sophia softly.
They were sitting at the high school's empty bleachers. It was orientation week, and both girls were about to be high school freshmen.
Caroline had spent all week humming with joy because of the soon-to-be sophomore boy she made out with at last week's lake party. Elena and Sophia couldn't make it because their parents insisted that they have a family weekend at the lake house.
However, when the Gilbert twins and their best friends went to the school that day for their freshman orientation, they all met the guy as he was passing out flyers for the debate team.
His eyes skimmed over Caroline and immediately zeroed in on Elena, who preened at the attention of the sophomore boy.
"She didn't know that he was the guy you were talking about," said Sophia unhelpfully.
"I thought this was the one time where I finally said the right thing, where I was the one to dazzle the guy. One look at Elena and -" Caroline stopped herself, remembering her audience.
The brunette in question eyed Caroline contemplatively, then with a surprising burst of energy...
"Caroline, you are amazing! Don't let some boy who can't count change right get to you. And please, choose to not compete with Elena. I love her, but she…" Sophia trailed off, having realized how loud her voice had gotten.
Suddenly sheepish, she said, "Look, constantly comparing yourself to Elena will get you nowhere. She's your friend and she loves you, don't make her the enemy. " said Sophia, her eyes bright.
Caroline's mouth fell open, and she gaped at her friend for a few the better part of a minute before closing it.
This was probably the closest it had come to someone acknowledging Caroline's unofficial contest with Elena, and the most Sophia has or will ever speak out against Elena.
"You can go back to the orientation, I just need a minute to pull myself together," Caroline said as she harshly wiped away the last of her tears, not knowing what else to say.
Sophia exaggeratedly settled in beside Caroline and didn't leave until Caroline was ready to go. She then insisted they ditch the rest of the orientation, trusting Elena and Bonnie to collect their paperwork and fill them in on everything later.
"We should get going soon, movie night at my house, remember?" said Sophia.
"Yeah- let's get going," agreed Caroline as she stood up from the window seal.
Since that moment at the bleachers, Caroline pondered, not for the first time, the intricacies of the Gilbert sister's relationship.
Sophia was still far easier for Caroline to be around, rather than her twin. She maintained her sweetness in spite of the newfound peer attention, and her presence was more soothing than infuriating, as Elena's was wont to be.
Sophia never seemed bitter that she was once considered the ugly twin, and her newfound cuteness has yet to spark any competition between her and Elena.
Elena was still by far the more charismatic of the twins and drew in people more effortlessly than Sophia. Sophia, for her part, seemed more than happy to step back and let Elena glow with a grace that eluded Caroline.
March 8, 2008
"Elena, you need to wake up soon." cajoled a low voice
"No, go away," Elena said, covering her head with a pillow. She felt nauseous, and her head was pounding.
"You knew last night that mom and dad were planning a huge breakfast for Aunt Jenna, and you kept drinking anyway," Sophia said matter of factly as she swiped Elena's pillow away from her.
"Soophieee" Elena whined, pulling her blanket over her head.
Elena eventually got up a few minutes later, her saving grace being that she threw up the worst of the liquor last night. Taking pity on her sister, Sophia swiped her some ibuprofen from the kitchen and had already laid the groundwork with their parents. Elena had overheard Sophia telling their mom, who had stepped into their bedroom, that their movie marathon with Bonnie and Caroline had run really late.
"Aunt Jenna!" Sophia beamed as she ran to greet their aunt at the doorway.
"Sophie!" Aunt Jenna returned just as enthusiastically, dropping her bags to hug Sophie.
"Hi, aunt Jenna" Elena smiled wanly as she walked over at a much more relaxed pace to meet their aunt.
They only saw her a few times a year since she relocated to Santa Barbara for her bachelor's degree.
"Hi Elena," said her Aunt Jenna, raising a knowing eyebrow at her niece. Elena blushed and glanced nervously at her parents, but when she turned back towards her aunt, Jenna just winked at her.
"You're moving back here for your Master's?" Sophia questioned later on when they were settled at the table.
"Yep, as much as I want to stay in California, I can't justify the high expenses when the university nearby offered me great financial aid," Jenna shared forlornly.
"Just when you think you're home free, Mystic Falls pulls you back in," said Sophia dejectedly, staring off into the distance.
"What's wrong with Mystic Falls?" Their dad raised an eyebrow, forever questioning his eldest daughter's perpetual goal for escaping their small town.
Jenna snorted and looked at Sophia sympathetically, knowing better than to support Sophia's wish in front of her brother-in-law and sister.
Elena didn't have the same wanderlust as her sister and didn't entirely understand it. She planned to go to a college nearby, travel a bit, but ultimately settle back down in Mystic Falls.
But Sophie wanted OUT, out. To her family's confusion. Well, except Aunt Jenna, who understood Sophia better than most. Even Elena.
July 4, 2008
"If I was you, I would have never left California," said Sophia dramatically as she twirled her spoon around her cereal bowl.
"How do you know if you would even like it in California? Your parents never got around to letting you visit because they're afraid of this attitude right here, missy," said Jenna cheekily as she took a seat by her niece at the dining table.
Sophia let out a breath.
"They don't even humor me when I try to talk to them going to school out of state. Mom changes the subject, and dad immediately starts on how great Whitmore College was, and how the Gilberts are a legacy there." Sophia rolled her eyes.
"You're their daughter, they're never going to want you too far from home. Not to mention the crowning glory of the Gilberts, a Mystic Falls founding family" says Jenna with an air of mockingness.
Jenna had done what she could to talk up the out-of-state college experience when Miranda and Grayson had taken her out to dinner on their own. She felt that she was wearing down Miranda, but Grayson was adamant that his baby was too young to be really thinking this decision through.
"You must be confusing me with Elena. I tag along for the founder's family crap because mom makes it fun, and the after-parties make living in Mystic Falls bearable," remarked Sophie with uncharacteristic pessimism.
Jenna simply smiled, lost in thought. Miranda certainly had taken to being a Mystic Falls socialite like a fish to water after marrying Grayson.
While the Founding Families made up an altogether small portion of the town, their words and actions had a lot of sway in Mystic Falls, Virginia. If you weren't from a founding family in this town, then you looked upon as less than. Or at least that's how it felt when Jenna was in high school. Miranda had tried to do what she could, but that crowd never quite accepted Jenna. At least she had Mason to get her through the worst of high school.
Thankfully, it wasn't like that for Sophia, her birth inducted her into the inner circle. Although, she wasn't wrong to imply that Elena was the Mystic Falls darling of the family, while Sophie merely entertained her mother's whims.
"Sophie, mom wants to leave early for the Bar-B-Q at the town square so you and Elena can help prep," said Jeremy as he walked past the kitchen to the living room.
Both Sophia and Jenna eyed Sophia's pajamas.
"Guess I barely go get ready." Sophia got up from the table to put her dishes in the sink, before climbing up the stairs.
Jenna couldn't help but think that Sophie would love California.
September 2, 2009
Jenna Sommers anxiously eyed the coffee pot as she waited for her nieces and nephew to come down the stairs. The past summer had certainly been a trial, after the car accident that killed her sister, her brother-in-law, and nearly killed her youngest niece.
She side-eyed a picture of the twins posted on the fridge. She clearly recalled how baffled Miranda was that the girls were effortlessly passed off as biological sisters, given the knowledge of Elena's true origins. If she hadn't told her, Jenna never would have guessed that Elena was adopted.
As the only one who inherited her grandmother's dark hair, Sophia looked like the literal black sheep of the family. With their doe eyes and similar coloring, Elena and Jeremy looked more like twins than Elena and Sophia did.
She has my mother's eyes, thought Jenna, turning away from the picture.
When she was preteen, occasional hints of the lovely woman Sophia would grow into flickered here and there, but similarly to Jenna's own puberty, they had taken a backseat to Sophia's more gawky features, her braces, and then an outbreak of acne in middle school.
Jenna was grateful for small blessings, that even during her most awkward phase, Sophia seemed more comfortable in her skin than any kid had the right to be.
"Good morning Aunt Jenna," said Sophie as she walked into the kitchen, her glossy black hair pulled back into an elegant bun. Jenna smiled at her oldest niece.
"Do you want me to make you breakfast, I can make… toast" Jenna murmured as she glanced haphazardly around the kitchen.
"It's okay Aunt Jenna. We're easy in the morning, we just require coffee." Sophie commented as she started pulling out mugs.
Turning away, Jenna hid her frown. Would Miranda have insisted that they sit down for breakfast?
But Sophie generally steered her in the right direction when it came to managing the Gilbert household.
She was, for obvious reasons, more subdued after her parent's deaths. She wasn't nearly as volatile as Jeremy, and a little more open than Elena, who had withdrawn into herself completely over the summer.
"Hey, these brochures came through the mail yesterday, I put them to the side and forgot to give them to you," mentioned Jenna.
"Oh." breathed Sophie as she took the brochures.
They were mainly from California colleges, mixed in with the occasional New York college.
Sophia wasn't quite as extroverted as Elena generally was, but she had her own earnest charm. She used to be the happy-go-lucky Gilbert, and it wasn't until the disagreement of where she wanted to go to school with her parents that she let it be known how unhappy she would be to be stuck in Mystic Falls. It was also when she started to balk at the founding family's traditions, to Miranda and Grayson's uneasiness. It took her parents by surprise at how adamant their generally passive child was about the subject. It was still a sore subject for them at the time of their deaths.
Watching as her niece put the brochures in her school bag, Jenna hoped the trauma of her parent's deaths wouldn't stop her from pursuing what she wanted.