03. Welcome To Paradise

"Not happening, Rebekah" Aria said, talking to Rebekah on her phone, while keeping an eye on the triplets who were currently laying on their play mat.

"Please, Aria" Rebekah pleaded, "It will be fun".

"Beks, I want to spend the day with the triplets" Aria said.

"You've been doing that for the past week" Rebekah said, "It's time to get out and have some fun".

"Why not ask Caroline?" Aria asked, "She loves parties at the lake".

"Because since she's become pregnant, Nik has become overprotective over her, he will never let her come" Rebekah complained.

"Can you blame him?" Aria asked, sitting on the floor next to her kids, "Caroline's pregnancy hasn't been like mine, I had think I had it easy compared to her, she's sick all the time".

"Yeah, I know, which is why I didn't pressure her into coming to the party" Rebekah said.

"But you're pressuring me?" Aria asked amused.

"Well, I need someone by my side" Rebekah replied.

"Why not ask Enzo?" Aria asked, a teasing tone in her voice, "You and him seem to have gotten a lot closer recently".

"I have asked him" Rebekah mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

"Ooo, Rebekah and Enzo" Aria singsonged.

"Shut up" Rebekah laughed, "And please tell me if you're coming or not, you can even bring the triplets".

"Are you mad?" Aria asked, "How can I bring them to a lake party full of drunk collage students?".

"Fine, then drop them at Caroline and Nik's, they adore the triplets and would love to babysit them" Rebekah replied.

"But--".

"No, not hearing it" Rebekah interrupted, "I'll see you at the party".

Before Aria could protest, Rebekah hanged up on her, making Aria shake her head in amusement.

Aria turned to her kids and picked Mia up, "Your Aunt Rebekah is really stubborn" she said, a smile formed on Mia's face, making Aria smile as well, "And you find that funny, of course you do, now come on, time to get you three ready to spend the day with Caroline and Nik, if I don't go to the party, I think Rebekah might actually murder me".

***

"Why are you not pushing this stupid trolley?" Damon complained, as him and Kol walked around the supermarket.

"Because I don't want to" Kol replied, reading the grocery list, "Okay, so here's what we need, strawberries, eggs and milk, all for your disgusting pancakes".

"If you hate it so much, why do you eat it everyday?" Damon asked.

"Because I have no choice" Kol replied.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire" Damon said.

"Just shut up and grab the milk" Kol said, walking over to the sunglasses stand, while Damon took the milk out of the fridge, "Here", Kol threw a glasses at Damon.

"What's this for?" Damon asked, wearing the glasses, while Kol wore his.

"It's present from us to us, to celebrate the fact that we are not alone in this stupid prison world" Kol replied.

"That mysteriously filled-in crossword could have very easily been you" Damon said, refusing to believe there was anyone else here.

"I'm not an idiot, Damon" Kol snapped, "I would know if I finished the damn crossword, I've been trying for four bloody months".

"Correction, you filled it in and then forgot" Damon argued.

"I didn't forget" Kol argued back.

"Eggs" Damon said.

Kol rolled his eyes but nonetheless grabbed the eggs, "Unless your messing with me Damon, I know for a fact none of us filled that crossword, meaning Kai is actually here, and Aria's mom didn't lie to us", he said, placing the eggs in the trolley.

"Maybe she didn't lie, maybe somehow, someway, her magic went wrong" Damon suggested.

"She's a Connor witch, their magic doesn't go wrong" Kol said, "You know what, I know what you're doing".

"What am I doing?" Damon asked.

"You refuse to believe Kai is actually here, because you don't want to have hope" Kol replied, "You don't want to have hope that there might actually be a possibility of you seeing Ri and your kids, you are scared to be disappointed".

"I refuse to have hope, because there's nothing to hope for" Damon snapped.

"Look whose lying this time" Kol said, his eyes then landed on a shelf, he frowned seeing something missing from that shelf, "Pork rinds".

Damon checked the shopping list, "Not on the list, and ew" he said.

"No, you idiot" Kol said, "I've seen pork rinds on this very shelf for the past four months, Damon".

"Maybe Bonnie took it" Damon suggested.

"Bonnie is not longer in Mystic Falls, she hasn't been in Mystic Falls for the past two months" Kol snapped.

Damon looked at Kol, then at the shelf with a confused look on his face, then suddenly both the vampires started hearing merry go round music.

"Please tell me you hear that and I'm not going crazy" Kol said.

"Oh, I hear that" Damon said.

Both Damon and Kol exchanged a look and then walked over out the supermarket, where they saw the merry go round playing.

Kol looked at Damon, "Let me guess, I did this as well?".

***

"It's gotta be a short, faulty wiring or something" Damon said, checking the merry go round's wiring.

"Here's another option, Kai, put a quarter in it" Kol suggested, looking around but finding no one.

"You know, I'm a little confused with all this misplaced hope" Damon said, "All right, let's just say Kai is actually here, how do you know he's actually going to help us get out?".

"Because Amelia Connor, one of the most powerful Connor witches told me" Kol replied, "Remember her? Your future mother-in-law? Aria's mom? The grandmother of your kids?".

"I remember her" Damon replied, "All I'm saying is that we've been here for four months, if Kai is actually here, where has he been this whole time?".

"I don't know" Kol replied, "But don't worry, once we find him, I'll make sure to ask, now, how do you feel about playing a little game?".

"No" Damon simply said.

"When we get out of this hell hole, what's the first thing you're going to tell Ri and your kids?" Kol asked.

"Sorry, but I managed to find some white oak stake and ended up killing Kol, he was the most annoying person in the world" Damon said, making Kol roll his eyes, "He wouldn't shut up, he just kept talking, I mean, it's a wonder I made it as long as I did, but here's the thing, I think it's better this way, because he was being useless anyways".

As Damon was walking away, talking to himself, Kol's eyes landed on something else, "Damon" he called out.

"What?" Damon asked annoyed.

"Isn't that your car?" Kol asked, pointing to Damon's car, that was now parked in the parking lot.

"That's my car" Damon confirmed, shocked seeing his car, "That's my car!".

***

Damon sat in his car, mimicking an engine revving with his mouth, while Kol stood there annoyed.

"You are such a child" Kol said.

"Shh, shh" Damon said, putting his finger on his lips, "This sound is the opposite sound of your voice, and I so enjoy it".

"Are you not even slightly curious as to how it got here?" Kol asked, "Surely you didn't leave it here in 1994".

"I don't know, Kol, it was eighteen years ago, had a lot going on that day" Damon replied.

"So you admit, there's a chance you didn't leave it here" Kol said.

"A possible chance" Damon agreed.

"Which means, I'm right, someone--".

"Someone may have put it here, Kol, yes" Damon finished, "I admit that".

Damon looked at the car and suddenly all the times he and Aria spent here started going around in his head.

"I'm going to tell Aria how much I love her" Damon suddenly said, "And I'm going to promise my kids that I will never leave them again, and then I'm gonna apologise to all of them for killing you".

"I'm not dying before I make your kids like me more then you" Kol said, making Damon give him a mock smile, while Kol simply chuckled, suddenly Kol saw something walk by, "Please tell me you saw that".

Damon looked towards where Kol was looking, and suddenly both him and Kol saw what seemed like a person run by.

"I did that time, let's go meet our little friend" Damon stated.

***

"Aria!" Rebekah yelled, running over to Aria, "You came!".

"You would have killed me if I didn't" Aria joked, hugging Rebekah.

"Hello, love" Enzo greeted, walking over to the two girls.

"Enzo" Aria greeted.

"You look happy" Enzo observed.

"There's no reason for me not to be happy" Aria said, making Rebekah and Enzo exchanged a look, Rebekah warning Enzo not to tell Aria anything.

"Enough talking, more swimming" Rebekah said.

"Gladly" Aria said, removing her shorts and shirt, and standing there in her white bikini top and bottom.

Aria winked at Rebekah then walked over to the tree, she climbed up the tree and grabbing the rope, she swinged towards the lake, and after doing a backflip in the air, she jumped into the lake.

"What are you looking at?" Enzo asked Rebekah, who was looking at Aria with a smile on her face.

"This is the first time since Kol and Damon's death I've seen Aria smile so much" Rebekah replied, watching Aria swim around, "It's just nice to see her happy again".

***

"I swear someone was behind this pickup truck" Kol said, as him and Damon looked around the truck.

"No, it was in the front" Damon said.

"You sure?" Kol asked, confused as to where this person went.

"Yes, absolutely, I'm sure, it was right here" Damon replied, as they stood behind the pickup truck, whose tarp suddenly started flapping, making realisation draw on both Kol and Damon, "It was a tarp, we saw a tarp" Damon realised, really disappointed, suddenly the merry go round started playing again, "And that--that is on a timer, that turned on by itself".

"But what about your car?"  Kol asked, refusing to believe there was no one here.

"I left it here in 94" Damon replied.

"And what's your excuse for the crossword?" Kol asked.

"You filled it out, Kol" Damon snapped, kicking the truck, "Which means we're alone, in my own hell, with no Amelia Connor escape hatch, we're never getting out".

"You really believe that?" Kol asked angry, "If you really believe that Damon, then why are you still standing infront of me? If you have no hope then take your bloody ring off and burn, end all of this Damon! Hope is the one thing that's stopping me from going crazy, a thousand years ago, the hope of seeing Ri again was what made me survive a thousand years without her, and now that I'm here, once again the hope of seeing Ri again is keeping me alive, because you are right, the white oak isn't destroyed here Damon, we both can just end it if you really have no hope of going back to Ri and your kids again".

After glaring at Damon for a moment, Kol walked away, leaving Damon to himself.

***

After Kol left, Damon walked back into the supermarket, and towards the alcohol aisle, taking a bottle of bourbon, Damon went to drink it when he heard rustling near the umbrellas, Damon put the bottle back and walked over to the umbrellas, where on the other side, he saw a guy, sitting down on the rocking chair, eating pork rinds.

"Rough day, huh, Damon? Sorry, manners, I'm Kai" Kai introduced, shocking Damon, "Nice to meet you, pork rind?", Damon didn't say or do anything, just looked at Kai in shock, "No?".

***

"That is gonna have to stop" Damon snapped, as Kai loudly munched on pork rinds.

"Oh, you think this is annoying?" Kai asked, "Try listening to you and Kol bicker every five minutes",

"So you've been following us?" Damon asked shocked.

"Of course I have" Kai replied, "You two are the closet thing I have to a TV, I mean, you're no Baywatch, but--remember Baywatch?".

"No, I do not" Damon replied, very confused as to how the person infront of him was going to help him return to Aria.

"Oh--Oh, man, you gotta watch it" Kai said, "You like lifeguards? Like, not ones?".

"This has been a monumentally bad day in a sea of bad days" Damon snapped, "So I'm gonna need to know what you are doing here and how you are the one who can get me and Kol out of here, or I'm gonna rip your throat out".

"Temper's gonna get you in trouble, Damon" Kai warned, "It's already driven Kol away how many times? Oh, oh, oh, wait, I know, thirteen".

"You think my temper's bad with him?" Damon asked, "I like him, he's unfortunately my best friend, you? I don't like", Damon speeded over to Kai and picked him up with his collars.

"Okay, okay" Kai said, "Sorry, seriously, I'm just kind of rusty on the face-to-face type human interactions".

Damon let go of Kai, "Answers, now" he demanded.

"Maybe you should have a drink" Kai suggested, "That usually calms you down".

"Thanks" Damon said sarcastically, grabbing a bottle of bourbon.

"And makes you angry" Kai continued, "And sad, then calm again, it's a weird cycle, and look, if you really wanna know the reason I'm following you, it's because I want to kill you".

As soon as Kai said that, Damon, who had taken a sip of the bourbon, spat it right back out, and fell to the floor, coughing violently.

"Vervain in your bourbon" Kai revealed, "Who didn't see that one coming?".

***

"Who buys patio furniture from a grocery store?" Kai asked, while Damon was still on the floor, "I mean, somebody must, otherwise it wouldn't be here", Kai grabbed one of the large patio umbrellas, "Now, I'm a little unfamiliar with vampires", Kai broke the umbrella in half, "But from what I've gathered, a stake in the heart should do it, right?", Damon went to grab the part of the umbrella that Kai dropped, but before he could, Kai staked him in the hand, causing him let out a yell in pain, "You always fight dirty, Damon" Kai said, twisting the stake, "Like the time you and Kol played Monopoly and you stole from the bank, not cool, but at the same time, so did Kol, so I guess that says a lot about you two".

After Kai took the stake out of Damon's hand, Damon slowly stood up and glared at Kai, "I'm gonna rip your head off" Damon threatened.

"No, you're not" Kai said, "As I'm the only one who can help you get back to Aria, whose baby photo is still in your pocket".

Damon glared at Kai, he went to charge at him, when Kai used the broken umbrella to smash a bunch of bottles on to Damon, causing him to scream and once again drop to the ground.

"I didn't know which bottle you'd take, so I vervained them all" Kai informed.

"Well, this is a great sight" Kol said, just as Kai was about to stake Damon.

"Oh look whose here, about time" Kai said, "Here to help me kill Damon, or to give Damon another lecture on hope? Aren't you supposed to be an Original, what did Damon call you? Right, the psychotic Mikaelson, honestly I don't see it, it's embarrassing, I'm embarrassed for you".

Kol glanced at Damon, then at Kai, who was about to once again stake Damon, but before he could, Kol speeded over to him and punched him in the face, "You want to know how psychotic I can get?" Kol asked, veins appearing under his eyes, "Guess we are about to find out".

Before Kai could react, Kol grabbed his head and banged it on the shelf, knocking him out.

"I'm sorry I called you the most annoying person in the world" Damon said, slowly standing up, "I hadn't met him yet".

"This is the guy whose supposed to help us return to Ri?" Kol asked, looking at a unconscious Kai.

"Apparently" Damon replied.

"But he just tried to kill you" Kol said confused.

"Yeap" Damon said.

"We are so screwed" Kol mumbled.

"Very much so" Damon said.

***

"Aria!" April yelled, running over to Rebekah and Aria, with Jeremy.

"April! Jer!" Aria yelled, hugging the couple, "I missed you both".

"We missed you two, Aria" Jeremy said, hugging Aria back.

"Guys, have you seen Sarah?" April asked worried, as Jeremy and Aria broke the hug.

"No, why?" Aria asked confused.

"There's no ice" Jeremy replied.

Aria chuckled, "Jer, you two can live without ice".

"No, Aria, Rebekah compelled this girl to get ice, but she didn't" April revealed.

"Why not?" Rebekah asked confused, "Is she on vervain?".

"No, she had to go into Mystic Falls to get it" Jeremy replied, "She had to cross the border".

"Oh my god" Aria whispered shocked, as realisation drew on both her and Rebekah.

"Compulsion is magic" Rebekah realised.

"Which means that every memory you compelled away came back, so Sarah, whose been staying in Mystic Falls, and is the girl Aria attacked, and Caroline compelled--".

"Knows who me and Caroline are" Aria finished.

"Exactly" April said.

"We find to find her" Aria said suddenly, "Caroline is pregnant, what if she goes after her?".

"Then Nik will kill her" Rebekah replied.

"No, this is my fault" Aria said, "I attacked her, I need to find her and talk to her".

"Well you better be quick, because I heard Matt and Tyler talking, there's a new hunter in town" Jeremy revealed.

"Lovely" Rebekah whispered, "Just what we needed".

***

Kai groaned and slowly woke up, only to realise he was tied to a chair and was at the boarding house.

"You're awake, good" Damon said, "Now for the Q and A portion of the evening".

"Let me guess, I answer right, I get a pork rind" Kai said, gesturing to the packet in Damon's hand, "Wrong, I get a poker".

"No, those are for him" Kol said, heating a poker at the fireplace, "But yes, the poker is all yours".

"Yeah, you don't have to do that" Kai said.

"No?" Damon asked.

"We're on the same team" Kai replied.

"Since when?" Kol asked, "You tried to kill Damon, how is that being on the same team?".

"I needed to see if Damon was in a life threatening position, would you save him" Kai replied, "And you did, experiment gone right, you didn't really think I'd kill Damon, did you?", Kai chuckled, "In what universe does that make sense? I wouldn't kill one fourth of our population, I'm not a monster".

"Why did you want to test me?" Kol asked confused.

"If we are going to get out of here, we need to work as a team, and with all of your bickering I was worried that you two can't work as a team, turns out I was wrong" Kai replied, "I guess bickering is how you two show your love".

"Annoyance" Kol corrected.

"Not love" Damon added.

"I noticed something" Kol said, "When hurting Damon, you didn't use magic, if you were a witch, you wouldn't have to use vervain, you could've just used your magic, which means you have no magic, so how the hell are you the person whose going to get us out of this hell?".

Kai smirked, "Vampires are full of magic, a bit of your assistant, and a bit of Bennett blood, we can get out of here in no time".

***

"Me and April checked every room, Sarah is gone" Jeremy informed Aria through the phone.

After Sarah had come to Mystic Falls, Jeremy and April let her live at the boarding house with them after learning she had no where else to go, but now she was gone.

"And from the looks of it, she trashed the whole place before leaving" April added, looking around shocked.

"Dammit" Aria whispered frustrated, "Alright, me and Rebekah are gonna search the borders, you guys search the town".

"Got it" Jeremy said, "We'll call you if we find anything".

"Okay" Aria said, hanging up.

"Anything?" Rebekah asked, entering the dorm room.

"Nothing" Aria replied, "We have to search the borders".

"I informed Nik, and he said he will keep an eye on Caroline" Rebekah said.

"How are the triplets?" Aria asked, not liking staying away from them for so long.

"They are okay" Rebekah assured, "Liz is also there, the triplets are in good hands".

"I can't meet them till I take care of Sarah, right?" Aria realised, "If Sarah realises those are my kids, what if she tries to harm them?".

"Aria, do you realise how many people are willing to die for those kids?" Rebekah asked, "Nothing is going to happen to them, someone would be a idiot if they decide to go after mini tribrids".

"I hope your right" Aria mumbled.

"I know I am" Rebekah said, "Now come on, let's go find this girl before she outs you and Caroline".

Aria nodded and followed Rebekah to search for Sarah.

***

Presenting 6x03 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Damon refusing to have hope that he will meet Aria and his kids?

Thoughts on Aria finally happy but on the expense of her and Damon's memories?

Thoughts on Damon and Kol finally meeting Kai?

Thoughts on Sarah, the girl Aria attacked, knowing the truth about Aria and Caroline?