Elena was sitting with Caroline and Bonnie's in Caroline's living room. She told them everything. She was going to need their help at some point, especially Bonnie's. They were both shocked of course. Bonnie was a little less so, as she knew a great deal of the story, but she still looked shocked at the parts she didn't know.
Caroline was shellshocked. When Elena told her that she had something to tell them both, this was not what she was expecting. "Reincarnation? I didn't even know that was real. Then again, until recently, I didn't know vampires, witches, and werewolves were real either."
"It's real, although, it's a little more complicated with me. It's partially reincarnation and partially a magical ability, plus the help of two witches," Elena said.
"Magical ability? So, you're a witch?" Bonnie asked surprised. That was one of the things she hadn't known before. Elena hadn't even known it before.
"Yes, but not the way you are. I don't have the abilities you have. I don't know much about it, but from what I understand, my people were cursed so that we couldn't practice traditional magic. What I can do it body jump, though I was taught never to do that unless under the direst of circumstances. It's not something my family believed in," Elena explained.
"So, you jumped into this body. Does that mean you're possessing the real Elena?" Caroline asked.
"No, not exactly. In most cases of Traveling, that would be the result, but the spells placed on me and the reincarnation itself makes it different. I am both Elena Gilbert and Tatia Petrova MIkaelson. I was reborn into her when I died," Elena told her.
"When you died. That has to be creepy to think about," Caroline said.
"A little. It helps that I knew what would happen," Elena said.
"So, you're Elena, but you're not?" Caroline asked. She was trying to understand this, but it was difficult.
Elena nodded. "I guess you can put it that way. I know it's difficult to understand."
"It must have been hard for you when you got your memory back," she said.
"It was. It was overwhelming, and incredibly painful. It was never supposed to be that way. I was supposed to remember the whole time," Elena said.
"I'm sorry," Bonnie said. Her friend had been put through a substantial amount of pain because of her grandmother.
Elena shook her head and grabbed her friend's hand. "It's not your fault, Bonnie. You're not responsible for your grandmother's actions."
"This is so strange. You had an entirely different life. You had a husband and a son," Caroline said in disbelief.
"I still have a husband and son," Elena said.
"Right. That guy, Elijah, is your husband. Jeremy is your s…son," Caroline said in shock. That was probably the hardest part for her to comprehend. Jeremy wasn't just Elena's little brother anymore. He was her child. Her best friend, who was technically only seventeen physically, had a family.
"I guess this is why he called you 'Mama' when he was little. He remembered that you were his mother," Bonnie said. This was boarding on creepy for her because she had just started dating Jeremy. She might have to stop that. It was kind of weird when he was just her best friend's little brother. Now, he was her best friend's son. She didn't know if she could handle that. "And you did all of this to protect him from some witch?"
Elena nodded. "A very powerful witch, who wants to use him for her own means. The firstborn witches in Elijah's family are very powerful. Jeremy is the only one born to his family line in his generation. Making her think he was dead was the only way I could guarantee his safety, and sending him out of the then current timeline was the only way to ensure that she thought he was dead."
"We get it. We may not be parents, but I don't think there's anything a mother wouldn't do to protect her kids," Caroline said.
Bonnie nodded in agreement. "Does Jeremy know?"
"He knows most of it. We haven't talked to him about Dahlia, but he knows who he is and that he was sent to the future for his protection. Actually, he's known longer than we have. When Damon killed him, he was sent to the afterlife, where he met a friend of mine. She showed him the truth," Elena said. She gritted her teeth when she mentioned Damon and what he'd done to her son.
Caroline caught the tension when Elena mentioned what Damon did. "Does this mean we don't have to pretend to like Damon anymore?"
Elena laughed. "When did either of you ever pretend to like Damon?"
"Fair point. Can we stop pretending to tolerate him then?" she asked.
"Absolutely. He's lucky he still draws breath, and he won't for much longer," Elena said.
"Sounds good to me. So, what does all of this mean? What happens now? What happens with this thing with Klaus? What will you do next?' Bonnie asked.
Elena immediately waved off the concern about Nik. "Nik's not going to be an issue. The moment he finds out the truth, he'll call the whole thing off." That was why she had no intention of telling him the truth until after the ritual was complete. He wouldn't go through with it. She wasn't going to tell her friends just yet that that was her plan though. She had to have that conversation with Elijah first. That was a fight she was not looking forward to.
"Nik?" Bonnie asked in confusion.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot that I haven't told you this part yet. Nik is short for Niklaus. He goes by Klaus now, but most of his friends and family called him Nik when I knew him.
Bonnie and Caroline's jaws practically dropped to the floor. "You knew Klaus? You were his friend?" Bonnie asked in shock.
"Nik was my best friend. He's also my brother-in-law," Elena said. She'd spoken to Elijah, and he agreed that she should tell them everything if she trusted them, including that he and Klaus were brothers.
"Klaus and Elijah are brother's? He's your best friend?" Caroline asked. She honestly wasn't sure what part shocked her more. Actually, that wasn't true. She could comprehend the brother part much more than she could Klaus being Elena's best friend. This man was rumored to be an absolute monster. He wanted Elena dead.
"Yeah, you left a couple of things out, it seems," Bonnie said in a shocked tone.
"Sorry. Look, the monster you've both heard about and the man I knew almost seem like two different people. You have to understand that Nik's life was hell. I won't go into details because he's entitled to his privacy, but it's not hard to figure out why his life took the turn that it did. All he wants is to end a curse that never should've been put on him in the first place," Elena told them.
"You mean the sun and moon curse?" Bonnie asked confused. She didn't understand how that was a curse placed on Klaus. That was a curse that affected all vampires and werewolves."
"No. Elijah and Nik made that curse up. It isn't real. This was a curse placed on Nik to suppress a part of him," Elena said before explaining what her friend was and what was done to him.
"He's a vampire and a werewolf?" Caroline asked in disbelief. She didn't even know that that was possible.
"Yeah, and his mother used my blood to suppress his werewolf side," Elena said with gritted teeth. It would never stop pissing her off that her blood was used to hurt her friend. That was a big part of why she wanted to stop it. She was righting a wrong. Of course, despite that, she probably wouldn't go through with the sacrifice if that was the only reason. She wouldn't put her family through that. But she needed as much power as she could get to help her protect Jeremy. She needed Nik to be a hybrid.
"And you really think he'd back off if he knew the truth about you?" Bonnie asked a bit skeptically.
"I know he would," Elena said. Again, that was why she had no intention of telling him who she was until the curse was broken. He'd be pissed when he found out, but he'd forgive her. That was what friends did.
"Okay, let's table that for a minute. What are you going to do now. I mean, this changes everything. I know this is probably a sensitive subject, but have you thought about what you're going to do regarding Stefan and Elijah?" Caroline asked. She'd noticed that things had been tense between Elena and Stefan at school for the last day or two. They avoided each other. She wondered if it was because Elena realized she had a choice to make.
"It's already done. It was never even a question. A part of me is always going to love Stefan, but Elijah is the love of my life. He always has been. Even the love I felt for my first husband never compared to what I have with Elijah," Elena said.
"Your first husband? God, this is such a weird conversation," Bonnie said.
"So, you broke up with Stefan? That's why things have been so weird between the two of you?" Caroline asked.
Elena nodded. "It was a hard thing to do, but I had to for both our sakes. I love Elijah. It wouldn't be fair to string Stefan along."
Caroline nodded. She didn't know what to think about that. She thought Elena and Stefan would be together forever. They just seemed to have the fairytale type of love. But Elena had to do what was right for her. "So, what's your next move."
"To put my family back together. I'm going to need your help with that actually. I need to tell Jenna the truth about everything. I can't keep it from her anymore," Elena said.
Bonnie nodded. That made sense. She couldn't really keep it from Jenna if she was going to start acting as Jeremy's mother or bringing his father around. "Yeah, I don't know how you'd avoid it at this point. What do you need from us?"
"I need you to be there. She's going to want proof that the supernatural is real. You can both provide that. Also, she's probably going to freak out. I'm hoping you can both help me keep her calm," Elena said.
"Of course, we'll be there," Caroline said.
Bonnie nodded in agreement. "When do you want to do it."
"Tonight. I know it's last minute, but I don't think my nerves will let me wait any longer. I asked Elijah to take Jeremy out for a few hours around dinner time. I'd rather he not be there in case she handles it badly. I was hoping you guys could come over around six," Elena said.
Bonnie and Caroline both looked at each other and nodded. "We'll be there. Just so you know, no matter who you used to be or who you are now, we're still your friends. We'll always be there for you," Caroline said.
"Thank you. I love you both. I should get home. I only have a few hours to prepare for this," Elena said before standing up.
"We'll see you around six," Bonnie said.
Elena smiled at the gratefully before heading out of the room.