22. I'm Thinking Of You All The While

Aria's head,

Damon laid in the middle of the road in which he had first met the love of his life, patiently waiting for her to arrive.

"Do I even want to know what you're up to?" Aria asked, slowly walking over to her fiance.

"I was just waiting for you" Damon replied.

"By laying on the ground of the road we first met?" An amused Aria asked.

Damon stood up and faced Aria, "I'm feeling symbolic" he replied, putting his hands on Aria's cheeks and pulling her into a kiss.

After they broke apart, Aria looked at Damon, a sad smile forming on her face, "How bad is it?" she asked.

"We never got to have a engagement dance" Damon said, dodging Aria's question.

"Don't do that" Aria warned, "Don't try to dodge the question, just tell me how bad it is, get it over and done with".

"Dance with me, please Aria" Damon pleaded, a sense of vulnerability in his voice.

***

Reality,

While all the glass around them was shattering and the guests were busy screaming, a panicked Damon Salvatore was trying to find the mother of his kids.

"Aria!" Damon yelled, looking around franticly but finding no sign of the tribrid anywhere, eventually after much looking around he finally found Aria, laying on the ground, unconscious, without wasting another second Damon quickly rushed towards her, kneeling down, he gently grabbed her head and placed it in his lap, "Come on Aria, hey, wake up, Aria!", Damon bit into his wrist and tried to feed Aria his blood, knowing that whenever Aria fell unconscious his blood always woke her up, but to his horror it didn't wake her up this time, "Come on, just drink it" he begged, "No" Damon whispered when he realised Aria wasn't drinking his blood, he then started looking around for a certain original, "Kol?! Kol?!".

"I'm here" Kol said, rushing over to Damon, he knelt down and looked at Aria in worry, "What happened to her?".

"I don't know, she won't wake up" A worried Damon informed, "She won't wake up, I don't understand".

"Damon, look" Kol said, grabbing Aria's wrist and showing Damon a mark that has formed.

"What is that?" Damon asked confused.

"It's a linking hex" Kol realised.

Damon looked at Kol in shock, "A what?!".

"Someone has linked Aria to something" Kol realised.

"Okay, so how do we unlink her?" Damon asked.

"We need a witch for that" Kol replied.

"Kai" Damon remembered, "Go find Kai, he's the only witch we know".

Kol nodded, "Take Aria to the boarding house, I'll find Kai".

"Wait!" Damon called out, stopping Kol before he could walk away, "Where's our kids? Are they okay?".

Kol nodded, "The kids are fine, when everything happened here, they were outside with us, and now Klaus and Caroline have taken them home".

Damon nodded, breathing a sigh of relief when he heard that his kids were fine, now he had to make sure that their mother was fine as well, so without wasting a second Damon picked Aria up in his arms and rushed towards the boarding house while Kol left to find Kai in the wedding chaos.

***

Aria's head,

Aria and Alaric stood in the woods, practicing how to fight.

"Stop going easy on me Ric" Aria said, when she realised Alaric wasn't giving it his best, "You're ruining an extremely special moment".

"Yeah, look I can't do this" Alaric said, taking the punching pads off and throwing them onto the floor.

"You can't do this" Aria snapped, "You can't give up like this Ric".

"Why not?" Alaric challenged, "I have nothing left to fight for, two of the most important people in my life left me".

"I haven't left you yet though" Aria whispered, "I'm here for a little bit longer Ric, and we both know, Damon and Kol won't stop until I wake up, I'm going to see you again, soon, I promise".

"And what happens when you don't?" Alaric asked.

"Then you will still have Asher, Alec and Mia" Aria replied, "Your grandchildren, I won't be there for them so you have to be, okay?".

Alaric shook his head and turned around, not wanting to show Aria his teary eyes,  Aria without saying anything, just stepped forward and pulled Alaric into a hug.

***

"Come on you two, cheer up" Aria told Elijah and Finn, as they sat infront of the lake, "It's going to be okay".

"This shouldn't be happening" A frustrated Finn said.

"Well, it is" Aria retorted, "And right now, there's nothing you guys can do about it, except say your goodbyes".

"We can't do that" Elijah whispered, "We can't say goodbye to you".

"It's not a forever goodbye though" Aria said, "Max it will be for a few months, then I'll come back, I always come back to you guys, now come on, take these and say it", Aria handed both Finn and Elijah some flowers.

"I'm not doing this" Finn said, shaking his head.

"Me neither" Elijah said.

Aria sighed, "You originals are such stubborn people" she said, "If you're not going to say it, then I'll say it", Aria stood up and stepped near the water, "Here lies Aria Connor-Forbes, an amazing friend and an even better sister", Aria then threw the flowers into the lake.

"How are you taking this so lightly?" Finn asked.

"Someone has to, since you two aren't" Aria replied, sitting inbetween the two originals again, "Plus if I don't take this lightly, and I actually start thinking about what's happening to me, I'm not so sure I would be able to say my goodbyes".

"Then don't" Elijah said, "Don't say goodbye, just stay, we need you, your children need you, none of us will be able to survive without you".

"I know Elijah, I know" Aria whispered, "But you guys will have to survive, for a little bit at least, till you find her and unlink us, you're going to have to go a few weeks without me, but it's going to be okay, you guys are going to be okay".

"No, we are not" Finn disagreed, "How does one survive without their humanity, Aria?".

"You remind yourself that one day she will come back" Aria replied, "You keep reminding yourself, until one day you won't have to, because I will be there by your side, always and forever".

***

Reality,

Damon sat by Aria's side, holding on to her hand as tightly as he could, afraid that the moment he left go, he would lose Aria forever and just that thought wanted him to die.

"Damon".

Damon turned around to see Caroline entering the room, with a hysterical Mia in her arms.

"She won't stop crying" Caroline whispered, tears in her eyes, "She keeps calling out for Aria".

"Ma!" Mia cried, trying to reach out to her mother.

Damon didn't say anything to the Forbes vampire, he just stood up and took his daughter into his arms, "Shh" he whispered into her ears, "It's okay baby, your mom is going to be okay, she's going to wake up really soon and once she wakes up, you and I are never going to let her leave us again".

Hearing Damon's words, caused the tears to spill down Caroline's face, she didn't know what was wrong with her sister, but she knew if she didn't wake up, then a lot of people were going to lose it, starting with Damon and her kids.

"Guys" Kol called out, entering the room with Kai.

"Finally" Damon said, "Wake her up Kai".

Kol and Kai exchanged a look, "I can't" Kai said.

"What do you mean you can't?" Caroline asked, glaring at Kai.

"Before me and Kol murdered my father, he revealed something to us" Kai replied.

"Which is what?" Caroline asked, her patience running low.

"Joshua Parker linked Aria's life to Elena's" Kol informed, "And as long as Elena is alive, Aria will remain asleep".

"Okay, so we kill Elena, let's go" Damon said, handing Mia to Caroline.

"Elena isn't in Mystic Falls, Damon" Kol revealed.

"What?!" Damon asked shocked.

"Before coming here me and Kai decided to find Elena, but we looked everywhere for her, she is no where in Mystic Falls" Kol replied.

"Did you do a locater spell on her?" Damon asked Kai.

Kai nodded, "I did, but it didn't work".

"What the hell are you saying, Kai?!" Caroline snapped, "What does this mean for Aria?!".

"It means Aria will have to stay asleep till we kill Elena" Kai replied, "And we don't know how long that is as Elena is missing and the locater spells aren't working on her".

Damon, Caroline and Kol looked towards an unconscious Aria, all wondering how the hell were they supposed to live without her.

***

Aria's head,

"Out of all the things we could have done, you chose to go on a bloody hike?" an annoyed Kol asked.

"Perfect way to say goodbye, right?" Aria teased, as they finally arrived at the waterfall.

"This isn't goodbye, Ri" Kol snapped, "It's just, I'm going to see you in a few days, hike".

"Or a few weeks, or months, or years" Aria listed, "Depending how good Elena Gilbert is at hiding".

"She can hide wherever she wants to Ri, but she is not getting out of this alive" Kol said, "She has no idea what's coming her way".

Aria smiled at Kol, "I'm going to miss your murderous talks".

Kol chuckled, he then stopped and stared at Aria for a moment, "I'm not ready for this" he whispered, "I can't lose you again Ri, the first time was hard enough, I can't do it again".

"But you're not losing me" Aria said, stepping closer to Kol, "I'm right here, and I will be there by your side soon enough".

"You better" Kol said, holding Aria's hand.

"Thank you" Aria said, smiling at Kol.

"For what?" Kol asked confused.

"For everything you did for me" Aria replied, "For knowing me better then myself, for making sure I lived, for never turning your back on me, just, thank you for being you, Kol Mikaelson".

"Don't" Kol warned, "You're saying a goodbye speech Ri and I don't want to hear it".

Aria gave Kol a small smile, "If I don't make it back in this lifetime, in another lifetime, I really think you and I would be together, Mikaelson".

Kol let out a teary chuckle, "I'm going to hold you on to that, Connor" he said, pulling Aria into a hug.

***

"Just dance with me" Damon said, "This was supposed to be our big night".

"Please, just tell me Damon" Aria pleaded, "It's written all over your face that something has gone wrong, just tell me what is it?".

After a moment of hesitation, Damon finally spoke, "Joshua Parker linked you to Elena" he revealed, causing a shocked Aria to take a step back from him, "You won't wake up until she dies".

"But there's more" Aria whispered, "There's more, isn't there?".

"We can't find Elena anywhere" Damon replied, "We looked everywhere for but it's like she knew we were coming for her, which is why she just disappeared into thin air".

Aria looked at Damon, tears in her eyes, "What's going to happen to us now, Damon?" she whispered.

***

Reality,

Everyone entered Damon and Aria's room, none of them ready to say goodbye, but they knew they had to.

Caroline and Rebekah looked at each other, they then stepped forward and sat on either side of Aria, they held the tribrid's hand, and after closing their eyes, they were transported into her head.

"Sleepover time!" Aria yelled, as soon as Caroline and Rebekah entered her head, looking around the girls realised they were in Caroline and Aria's old room.

The two vampires laughed and went and sat next to the tribrid.

"Rule number one, no crying" Aria said, "We are all going to see each other again".

"Still doesn't make this any easier" Rebekah whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

"Oh Beks" Aria whispered, pulling the original vampire into a tight hug, "It's going to be okay Beks, I'm going to see you all soon, but till I'm gone, promise to take care of everyone, okay?".

"I promise" Rebekah cried into the hug.

Aria broke the hug and looked at her two best friends, "You two need to do something for me, I don't know for how long I'm going to be sleep beauty, but till I am, I need you two to write or record everything you guys do in my absence, and everything the triplets do as well, I don't want to miss out on anything".

"Don't go" Caroline cried, "Don't leave me Aria, I can't live without you".

"But I'm not leaving you Care" Aria whispered, wiping her sisters tears, "Trust me, you won't even realise I'm gone, your hands will be too full with the triplets and the twins".

"That is true" Rebekah said, "After all they are Salvatores and Mikaelsons".

"Exactly" Aria said, making her best friends laugh.

"I don't know how I'm going to do this without you" Caroline whispered.

"Don't think like that Care" Aria cried, "As long as I'm in your heart, I will always be by your side".

Caroline sobbed and pulled her sister into a hug, Rebekah also joined and the three vampires sat there crying.

***

Elijah and Finn threw the flowers into the lake.

"Are you happy now?" Finn asked, seeing a smiling Aria.

"Very" Aria replied, standing up and lopping her arms around Elijah and Finn's, "And that's exactly what I want you two to be, be happy you guys, because you two deserve it, you deserve all the happiness in this world".

The tears slipped down the two originals faces and they pulled the tribrid into a tight hug, trying to hold on to her for as long as it was possible.

***

"The pain isn't going to last forever, Ric" Aria said, breaking the hug and looking at her father figure, "But before you beat it, you need to let it all in, stop trying to fight it, stop trying to put on a brave front when you have every right to be upset, eventually it won't be as hard, eventually each breath will be worth living for, I promise you that Ric".

Alaric looked at Aria with teary eyes then pulled her into a tight hug.

***

Reality,

Alaric sat near Aria's body, just finished talking to her, when someone called his name, "Alaric".

Everyone turned around and saw Jeremy entering the room.

"Jeremy" Alaric whispered, standing up.

"I tried to be here sooner, I wanted to be here for the wedding" Jeremy said, "But me and April got stuck, there was no tickets, after much difficulty we managed to find one which is why April couldn't make it".

"I'm glad you both weren't there" Alaric said, pulling Jeremy into a hug.

Alaric then stepped back and allowed Jeremy to walk over to Aria, who immediately got teary eyed seeing his best friend like this, he then sat beside her and held her hand in his and was transported into her head.

Aria sat in Jeremy's old room when she felt someone place their hand over hers, looking to her side a huge smile formed on her face when she realised it was Jeremy.

"You're here" Aria whispered, pulling her best friend into a tight hug.

"Three canceled flights, I could've walked here faster" Jeremy said.

Aria looked at Jeremy, "Dammit, Jer" she cried, "I was doing so well but seeing you after so many days just--", Jeremy rubbed Aria's back in comfort, "I missed you so much".

"I missed you more" Jeremy whispered, "But don't worry about me okay? I'm going to be fine".

"And that's all I want for you" Aria whispered, "To be fine and just be happy".

"The last part might be difficult without you" Jeremy said.

"Jeremy, I'm sorry" Aria suddenly said.

Jeremy looked at Aria in confusion, "What did you do this time?" he asked.

"Elena is your sister" Aria whispered, "And I know everyone else isn't going to stop until they kill her and I'm sorry because of me--".

"Stop" Jeremy interrupted, "This isn't happening because of you Aria, yes Elena is my sister but let's face it, we haven't been siblings for a long time, and she has done some pretty bad things, maybe this is karma".

"So you will be okay?" Aria asked.

"As long as I have you, how can I not be okay?" Jeremy asked.

Aria smiled and pulled Jeremy into another hug.

***

"Do you have to leave?" Klaus asked, sitting next to Aria as they stared at their favorite lake together.

"I don't want to" Aria whispered, placing her head on Klaus's shoulder, "But I have to".

"I'm going to bring you back" Klaus promised, "I don't care where she is, but I'm going to find her and I'm going to kill Elena Gilbert as soon as I can and I'm going to make sure you wake up".

"I know you are" Aria whispered, "But till I'm gone, promise me that you will take care of Caroline for me, she's going to need you".

"I can't do this without you Ari" Klaus whispered.

"You're going to have to, Nik" Aria said, "This is a very temporary situation, I promise I'll be back, you're going make sure of that, I know you are, and then I'll never leave you, after all Aria Connor is tied to the Mikaelson family, for always and forever".

"Always and forever" Klaus whispered, kissing Aria's forehead.

***

"Thank you for bumping into me a thousand years ago" Aria cried, "And I'm sorry for punching you on our first meet".

Kol chuckled, "All's forgiven" he assured.

"Thank you for not only making me happy in that life but also this life" Aria whispered, "Thank you for supporting me and loving me so unconditionally, thank you for saving my life everytime I decided to be an idiot".

"You're not an idiot, you are just a trouble magnet" Kol teased, with tears in his eyes.

Aria let out a watery chuckle, "Yeah I am" she whispered, "I love you so much, I need you to know that though I might not love you in the way you love me but I do love you, and I always will, and all I want for you is to be happy".

"How can I be happy without you?" Kol whispered.

"You're going to have to" Aria whispered, "I'm leaving my children in your care Mikaelson, because I know if there is anyone who can love them as much as me and Damon do, it's you, but don't you dare corrupt them".

"No promises" Kol joked.

Aria chuckled, "I'll see you soon, Kol" she whispered.

"I'll bring you back soon" Kol promised.

***

"Come on vampy" Aria said, "Cheer up, you only have to live without me for a little while".

"This was supposed to be our big night" Damon whispered, "It wasn't supposed to end with us saying goodbye, it was supposed to end with us together".

"We're going to be together" Aria promised, stepping closer to Damon, "This is just a slight pause, I still plan on marrying you Damon Salvatore, you're not going to get rid of me this easily".

Damon looked at Aria and slowly kissed her, "Things are gonna be awfully dull around here without you".

"No it's not" Aria said, "Because you have three toddlers who won't let you have a moment to yourself let alone give you a moment to think about me".

"I can never stop thinking about you" Damon said.

"I know" Aria whispered, "But you also have to be there for them, they are just babies, they don't know what's happening around them, they need their parents but I can't be there so I need you to be there for them, okay?", Damon simply nodded, "Now, how about that engagement dance? It is our tradition after all".

An emotional Damon nodded, he then grabbed Aria's hand in his, while Aria placed her other hand on Damon's shoulder, who then pulled Aria closer to them and the two soulmates slowly started swaying. Damon then span Aria around and dipped her down, after pulling her back up, he carried her in his arms and span her around, making Aria laugh out loud, causing a smile to form on Damon's face.

"I'm going to miss that laugh" Damon whispered, helping Aria stand.

"I love you, forever and ever" Aria cried.

"Forever and ever" Damon whispered, pulling Aria into a kiss.

***

Three Months Later,

Aria gasped and opened her eyes in shock.

"Aria".

"Ri".

"Ari".

"Ria".

"Mom!".

"Damon" Aria whispered, her eyes slowly adjusting to the light.

"I'm here Ria, I'm right here" Damon whispered, sitting beside Aria.

As Aria's adjusted to the light, she slowly looked around and realised she was surrounded by all her loved ones, all of whom had massive smiles on their faces seeing her finally awake.

"You guys did it" Aria whispered, as Damon slowly helped her sit.

"Of course we did" Damon said, looking at Aria, only he knew how hard it was for him to survive without her.

"It's official Ari, Elena Gilbert is dead" Klaus said.

"We all gave her a very painful death" Kol added.

"She deserved it" Klaus said.

Aria chuckled, she then looked at Damon, "I swear I heard someone call me mom".

Damon smiled, "That's call some people did".

Damon gestured for Aria to look towards the door, where Rebekah and Caroline and April were standing, carrying her children, who had huge smiles on their faces seeing their mother, even if they were apart from her for three months, it was obvious to everyone that the Salvatore triplets had not forgotten their mother.

The girls slowly let the triplets on to the ground and Aria watched in shock as her kids slowly waddled their way over to her.

"Oh my god" she whispered, tears streaming down her face, "I missed their first step".

"You didn't miss anything" Caroline assured.

"Me and Caroline recorded everything for you, just like we promised we would" Rebekah said, making Aria smile.

"Ma!" Mia yelled.

"Mom!" Alec and Asher yelled.

Aria chuckled and quickly picked Mia into her arms while Damon placed Asher and Alec into his lap.

"They are here to tell you that you are not allowed to leave us ever again" Damon said.

Aria looked at Damon, a huge smile on her face, "Never ever" she whispered.

***

Few Months Later,

"Ri, stop!" Kol yelled, entering Damon and Aria's room and seeing Aria destroy the whole room.

"No!" Aria yelled, using her magic to smash the mirror, "I hate him Kol, I hate him so much!".

"Ri, stop!" Kol snapped, grabbing Aria's wrist, "You're going to hurt yourself".

Aria looked at Kol, "Why does he always do this to me?" she whispered, "Why does he always walk away from me?'.

"He thought he was doing the right thing this time" Kol said, pulling Aria into a hug.

"This wasn't the right thing!" Aria yelled, pushing Kol away from him, "This was the wrong thing! He can't keep doing this and I can't keep forgiving him!".

"Ri listen--".

"No!" Aria yelled, she looked at her hand that still had her engagement ring, "It's over Kol, everything is over".

And before Kol could stop her Aria had taken the engagement ring off and let it fall to the ground.

***

Presenting 6x22 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN THIS CHAPTER MARKS THE END OF ACT SIX, YOU GUYS WE ONLY HAVE TWO MORE ACTS LEFT, THE END IS NEAR AND I'M NOT READY! 😭

Anyways, how was this season? Did you like it or dislike it? What were your favorite moments? What were your least favorite moments?

Thoughts on what will happen next season? Any suggestions?

Now back to this chapter, how was it?

Thoughts on Joshua linking Aria to Elena?

Thoughts on Aria saying goodbye to everyone?

Thoughts on Elena finally dying?

Thoughts on the flashforward a few months later?