Author's note: Thank you for the lovely responses, everyone!

Happy Autumnal Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere; with the Spring in the Southern!), beautiful souls! (It's a bit later this year, huh?) Fun fact! "Equinox" is Latin for "Equal Night," since they (the Autumnal and the Spring/Vernal Equinox) are the two times per year that day and night are of equal length. Many thanks to our Earth being tilted at 32.5 degrees – which is why we have seasons! :D


May 2009

Anna tentatively stepped into the hospital room after having compelled her way past the hospital staff who initially insisted that Elena speak to family first, her heart constraining at seeing her friend so lost and broken. If only she'd been there…

She took a seat at the foot of the bed, everything in her body language indicating that she was at a loss for how to proceed, just watching Elena as though she were a snared animal – cautious in her approach. They sat together in silence for at least ten minutes, when Elena finally lifted her head, her faraway glance an indicator that she was only vaguely aware of Anna's presence. Evidently unsure of what to say, Anna just took her hand, and squeezed it; and Elena allowed the interaction.

They sat in this silence for the next quarter hour, both caught at the edge of speech, emotion, expression. Neither having anywhere near the faculties to properly articulate what they felt, but at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Anna was desperate to comfort her friend – to soothe; while Elena sought to withdraw deeper into herself, where the world couldn't hurt her, and everything was still safe and okay – where her parents were waiting for her at home, safe and alive, and her worst transgression was a slight bout of teenage rebellion manifesting in a rude word, a skipped class, a defiantly late night out.

And none of them came with serious consequences, aside from a slight scolding or admonishment.

None of them were punishable by death of her loved ones.

"I heard what happened," Anna finally said, drawing Elena's attention. "I'm sorry I wasn't there," she breathed.

"There's nothing you could have done," Elena hoarsely replied. The 'but I could have' was left unsaid—she could have not gone to the party. She could have not called them, and just let Matt take her home, saving the consequences of their fight for another evening. Her mind raced through all the possibilities – every which way she could have prevented this – coming up with all manner of fanciful scenarios in which the night didn't end with her lying in a hospital room, orphaned by that she genuinely believed to be her selfish, impulsive stupidity.

Anna just took both of Elena's hands in hers, doing her best to hide the guilt she was positive was plainly written on her face.

There was plenty she could have done – she could have stayed with Elena all night, instead of chasing after Damon Salvatore the moment she saw him to make a deal. She'd caught Damon waxing romantic to Elena on a forest road a short walk from the party, her inner alarm at the sight of him blaring, and interrupted them just as he was about to compel her to forget. He seemingly disappeared from sight, and she elected to chase after him. Perhaps he was back for the comet, too, she correctly surmised.

And in chasing after Damon, desperate to gather intel and make a deal to save her mother, she had been too far way to hear the crash. There would have been other opportunities to speak with him – she was now certain. The comet was months away.

She would have been able to save them all, then, and spared her best friend the tragedy of losing her family – of being orphaned at such a young age.

A tragedy Anna only pretended to have while hiding her vampirism from her friends in hopes of opening the tomb that held her desiccating mother.

She'd nearly told Elena so many times, desperate to share this part of herself. Although their friendship admittedly began as a scheme – a clever ploy to not only outwit a Gilbert descendant and Katherine Pierce lookalike, which held its own unique brand of catharsis – it quickly became genuine when Anna was faced time and time again with the undeniable knowledge that Elena's empathy was in fact real; that she really did care for her; that their friendship was indeed the sisterly bond for which she'd yearned throughout all the centuries of her life.

"There's nothing you could have done, either," Anna instead said, seeing the self-admonishment clearly written in Elena's expressive, dark eyes.

"Yes, I could have!" Elena shot back, seeming more alive than she had in hours – her voice filled with venom, contempt, sheer hatred – all for herself. "I could have stayed home! I could have actually listened to them! Maybe then they'd still be alive – maybe then Jeremy – oh God, Jeremy!" Elena brought her covered her mouth in horror, only now realizing that she'd forced this fate on her brother, as well.

"Stop it," Anna said calmly, herself familiar with the refrain of 'if only I'd been faster, stronger, smarter' – watching with helplessness and abject guilt as her own mother was carted away over a century prior. "You couldn't have known. None of this is your fault." It took her ages to overcome her own feeling of survivor's guilt, and she was absolutely not about to resign Elena to the same fate – especially since she was a human and had nowhere near the time to heal that deep, aching, chasm of a wound, as far as Anna was concerned. It would take entirely too long of her life – become too deep-seated a trauma – if effort wasn't taken to discourage it immediately.

"Yes, it is," Elena sobbed, but allowed Anna to gather her into an embrace. "It's all my fault."

"No," Anna soothed, her voice just barely above a gentle whisper. "It isn't. And I don't care how long it takes to convince you. I will."

As she held her crying friend, Anna's mind wandered to more practical concerns. The police report stated that Elena was found unconscious ashore, with no memory of her escape. If she didn't save her – because she'd been too busy plotting with a reluctant Damon, who obviously also didn't save her – then who did? The entire situation practically reeked of compulsion, which meant that there's another vampire in town.

And she aimed to find out exactly who it was.


Mid-February 2009

After a curious lunch period of formally meeting Katherine's doppelgänger and her shallow friends – though Anna had to admit the description wasn't entirely accurate, but she wasn't quite in a forgiving mood just yet – she resolved to go home and work on the next phase of her plan. All that mattered were the journals and freeing her mother. She wasn't here to make friends – certainly not with someone who looked identical to the person who betrayed them all and left Anna feeling hollow for decades.

"Anna, wait!" Elena called, running up to her. "You forgot your notebook in class!" she panted, breathless.

Anna just eyed her dubiously. Was this girl for real? Did she really chase after her through the school? "Thanks!" she chirped, hoping the enthusiasm that she forced into her voice clouded the very obvious suspicion of her motives. There was no way someone who looked exactly like that two-faced bitch, Katherine Pierce, could have anything resembling noble intentions. And yet, her smile was so open – her demeanor appeared so earnest.

There was something about Elena that seemed so achingly genuine.

"Do you need a ride home?" Elena asked, noticing Anna wasn't headed to the parking lot.

She had to clamp down the instinct to turn her down; instead, Anna reasoned that perhaps letting Elena drive her to the house she'd claimed for herself would provide her with a valuable opportunity to continue building their earlier rapport. Perhaps she'd have those journals in her hands even sooner than she anticipated.

And then she'd be reunited with her mother at last.

"Sure."


March 2009

"Caroline's in rare form today," Anna grinned at an exasperated Elena who shot out of cheerleading practice like a gigantic, corporeal, and human-shaped photon. "I heard her screaming all the way from the cafeteria."

"Tell me about it," Elena mumbled, desperate to put her belongings away and dash from sight before Caroline noticed her absence during the tiny five-minute break they finally got between grueling routines. What she really wanted to do was curl up with a good book, or her journal – or literally anything where he could switch her focus on her mind, because her body had more than enough of a workout that day. "Her best frenemy from last year's cheer camp just –"

"Elena Gilbert!" interrupted a decidedly shrill and petrifyingly angry voice coming out to the front of the school, its owner looking and sounding every bit like the Regina George's angrier cousin. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I had a … uh… a leg cramp," Elena attempted lamely, desperate to get away.

Caroline looked at her dubiously, scrutinizing her friend who only occasionally had the ability to lie effectively, and even then, she had to partly believe her own lies for it to actually work. This was not one of those times. "Well, take five, and right back at it – we have to master this new routine for the game next week. I won't let that brainless halfwit beat us to regionals."

"Regionals?" Elena asked uncertainly. "Since when are we going to regionals?"

"Since that walking Silicone-for-Brains, Cally Henderson, made it her mission to take her squad there," Caroline huffed. Caroline and Cally had been practically set up against one another from the start of camp – both fashionable blonde captains with fierce determination and a dedicated treatise to ambition a mile wide. Both scored Slytherin on the Sorting Hat quiz the girls took for fun after a particularly exhausting cheer session, and both aimed to wear the title of Queen Bee of camp for the remainder of their stay. And now that Cally had her sights set on regional championships, Caroline was determined to move mountains, human-filled skyscrapers, and the Earth itself to beat her.

"What's the routine?" Anna asked innocently, eager for another opportunity to tease the girls with her very special set of abilities. In truth, keeping this secret was starting to wear on her, and she found herself dying to ease them into it, but every time she came close to confessing, she'd remember the way this town turned against them in 1864, and was instead overcome by fear of a repeat betrayal.

Elena and Caroline and Bonnie certainly seemed to care for her and be open minded – though she suspected the latter had at least an inkling of her not-quite-human status – but her mother had been equally sure of Johnathan Gilbert's affections, and all it got her was desiccation for over a century.

"I'm so happy you asked!" Caroline chirped with a wickedly scheming gleam in her eyes. Ever since Anna started letting her astounding athleticism show, Caroline's been determined to get the reluctant self-proclaimed weirdo on the squad – no matter what it took. "Bet even you can't imitate this, Anna!" she challenged, hoping Anna would take the bait.

From this, Caroline launched into a complicated fusion of acrobatics and dance, completing her presentation with an elegant twirl and split.

"Oh, please!" Anna scoffed. "Piece of cake. Watch!"

And then, to the utter bewilderment of her spectators, Anna Zhu perfectly imitated the Timberwolves' routine after only having seen it once – executing somersault after elegant somersault with precise perfection – and even exchanged the split for a flip at the end, a sassy hand resting on her hip and a playful wink aimed at Caroline in her eye.

Elena just watched, both amazed and intimidated – and perhaps a touch relieved that her suspicions about not being entirely made for cheerleading were more accurate than she previously surmised. She'd always been more mental than physical – her mind flitting between literature and medicine and scribbling in her journal – while she quickly threw together her hair and makeup each morning, instead choosing to dwell in the wilds in her imagination, the results of which often ended up in said diary.

She lacked Caroline's attention to detail, to the almost meditative dedication of having not a hair out of place – not a touch of her perfect eyeshadow and eyeliner smeared or asymmetrical or in any way flawed. Caroline not only colored inside every line with perfect precision, she drew additional lines within which to stay.

Elena's hands moved outside the lines of their own volition, while her dreamy mind wrote the day away in journal after journal.

"You have to try out for the squad!" Caroline demanded, not for the first time – but with more adamant fervor than ever before. "That lazy cow, Tina, has been slacking all year. I'd kill for you to take her spot. Kill, Anna," she stressed through gritted teeth, frustrated when Anna just kept the same immovable smirk on her lips, making no sign of acquiescing. "Please?" she whined. "I'll even make you my Co-Captain!" she chirped brightly. "I'll let you choreograph some cheers?"

Anna just laughed, finally releasing the pose. "Nah, not my thing." She loved teasing Caroline this way – keeping the carrot just out of reach, while secretly hoping that if she ever got the courage to reveal her vampirism that her friends would be accepting of her true nature.


May 2009

Anna eventually moved to sit next to Elena, and the two girls took comfort in having their arms around one another, enveloped in a comfortable silence. Elena's family would be called to pick her up soon, probably wondering why they allowed Anna in so quickly.

"Anna," Elena broke the silence, her gaze awash with curiosity, and perhaps the slightest blush. "Who was that guy that I met? You seemed to know him."

Anna practically groaned in annoyance. Out of all the horrors that happened this night, the one silver lining would have been for Elena to have completely forgotten her surprising interaction with that annoying relic from her past. Why did she have to interrupt them? She should have just let him carry on with the compulsion. Not for the first time, Anna completely regretted her actions earlier that night.

"Oh, Damon?" Anna asked cautiously, analyzing Elena's reaction with the diligence a biologist would exercise when studying a particularly fascinating organism under a microscope.

"Yeah," Elena breathed, her blush deepening, having clearly been touched in the deepest fibers of her heart by the vampire in question.

This wasn't good, Anna decided. Although a crush would be a fantastic distraction for her now, Damon – Damon, who was in love with the traitorous bitch who wore Elena's face, who wouldn't hesitate for an instant to hurt her, whose humanity was undoubtedly off – seemed to spell absolute trouble. She'd have to handle this matter delicately.

"You should really stay away from him."


Damon and Stefan will (probably) enter the scene next chapter! So, there you have it – some early foundations for the girls' friendship. More to follow. Like I said before – at least in the early stages – this story will be told from a non-linear perspective.

So, yes, Anna has some false notions about Damon – but to be fair, she has reason to believe this. And sometimes part of the fun in developing a story is having characters overcome their biases! There has to be room for growth, right? :D

I think you can probably figure out who saved Elena from the river. I didn't want it to be Anna because she'd probably be clever enough to save all three of them (maybe at least release the seatbelt, Steffie?), and I didn't want that to happen in this story.

Next chapter, we'll (probably) learn what Anna and Damon's conversation was about when she interrupted the meeting right before Damon was about to carry on with his compulsion on that forest road.

Thank you all for being utterly delightful. Please value yourselves and each other. Much love, all! :D