When I finally opened my eyes I see I am in my dads old house I feel a pain in my chest as I raise up and I check myself over in the mirror and make sure I was presentable. I smooth out my hair and I see a bruise on my chest from where elijah tried to break free from the old white oak tree. He won't ever be able to get out of there if we put a protection on the tree so he can't break out the white oak tree is his ultimate weakness. I grab the necklace on my neck and a smile crosses my face I miss jagger I wonder where he is even in death I felt like I was dying at the tree he's the one who makes me feel most alive.

He's the first person I think of when I get up what abel and I once had is over my heart doesn't belong to him anymore my heart only calls to jagger. I make my way downstairs and I look around the room and see everyone here and I see abel and jax standing beside the fireplace as my mom and dad smile at each other. This is how it should be a smile crosses my face I ease through the kitchen and everyone turns to look at me. I look at my mom and dad I smile at faith and ben sitting in the floor she stands to her feet and makes her way to me.

I shake my head at her and I say "where's jagger?" my mom smiles at me and dad says "you know exactly where he is" a smile crosses his face and I look at abel and he says to me "i'm sorry if I hadn't had left you would still be mine". I shake my head at him and I say "i'm sorry abel my heart will always call to him". His eyes soften and he says "did you love me?" I bite the inside of my cheek again and I reply "I did but here's the difference between my relationship with you and mine with jagger you will always be my first love and heartbreak I loved you I just wasn't in love with you with jagger I feel like I can walk through fire with him I feel like our love consumes me it's like a figure eight it's endless with us". Tears roll down his cheeks I walk over to him and I wipe them away and I say "my heart wants what it wants I can't deny my heart happiness can I?".

He shakes his head at me and he says "you deserve to be happy even if its not with me mia". I kiss him on the cheek and I turn to my everyone and valerie smiles at me and she says "what are ya waiting on love go get him". I run out the door and I hear everyone start to whistle and clap I run down the porch steps and to the woods I run through the trees and go back to where it all began. The white oak tree came into focus when I see him looking at the tree when I walk out of the treeline and I catch my breath he turns to look at me.

I smile at him and he shakes his head at me "no keep your distance it's only to keep you safe" I feel my stomach drop and tears form in the corners of my eyes. I walk closer to him and I say "I can take care of myself jagger I can handle your father" he turns around and he screams "oh so my fathers hand wrapped around your heart was you handling it?". I glare at him and I say as I move closer to him "I didn't know he would be able to come through the tree I thought his soul was locked into the tree the white oak tree is his weakness it's how you kill an original right?". He turns around and moves closer to me and I say "and besides if I had died I would had wrapped my soul to his and took him to hell with me".

He scoffs and he says sarcastically "and killing yourself in the process? thank god I got him back into the tree in time he's permanently locked in there now considering how good of a job you did the first time I told valerie to get you as far away from here as possible". I scoff and scream at the top of my lungs "I was doing it to save you,ellie and elijah I wasn't gonna leave innocent children in the hands of your evil father he damaged you beyond repair jagger I wasn't gonna let him get his grimey hands on them to and if I got killed in the process so be it thats what all of you are worth to me".

He turns to face me as I see tears roll down his cheeks and I say "what do you want me to say jagger? you want me to say i'm sorry for putting my life on the line for you and your siblings? i'm not sorry that I met you". I see his whole demeanor change and he tries to keep his wall up and I say "i'm not sorry that knowing you has made me question everything". I scoff and I feel my heart swell with love for him I feel like my heart was beating a mile a minute for him that's what he makes my heart do like I was running a marathon that's the power of love does for you "that in death you're the one who made me feel most alive". I see his eyes soften but then I see it go straight back up but I keep on going "you've been a terrible person jagger you've made all the wrong choices but then again so have I and all of the choices i've made this will prove to be the worst one".

I feel my stomach drop and then I say to him "but i'm not sorry that i'm in love with you" jagger's eyes soften and this is the first time I have actually told him I love him. I send him a soft smile and I say softly "I love you,Jagger" he makes his way towards me and as he gets closer I say not above a whisper "I love you". His lips crashed on mine and I wrap my arms around his neck and I feel like I could walk through fire with him he makes me stronger in the end. He breaks the kiss and he says to me "say it again" I smile at him and I say "I wanna hear you say it to" my hands glide through his hair and he says to me "I love you, Maria".

"I love you,Jagger"

*************************************************

After our moment jagger and I make our way back to my dads house where everyone was waiting for us no doubt. Once we made it back I don't see ben and faith anywhere in sight and I ask "where's faith?" my mom and dads eyes soften. I cross my arms under my chest and my mom says to me "I think it's time we tell you what katerina was talking about at the tree". I bite my inner cheek and I make my way to my mom and she grabs my hand and dad says "you can tell her cher i'll be right here in case you need me".

I send her a furrowed eyebrow and I ask "what's going on mom?". She sighs and takes a deep breath and she says "you remember the story about how I got pregnant with you?". I nodd at her and I reply as her hands grab mine "yeah you told me that you were young and you couldn't tell dad because he had already left". She lets out a shuddering breath and she says "that's not the true story honey".

My eyes widened and she continues "its a story to cover up the truth". I feel the air leave my lungs and she continues on "the real reason why he left is because he was angry at me because instead of one baby there was two". I feel tears start to flow down my eyes and I gasp "you gave up my brother or sister?" she nodds at me and then I start to cry and jagger tries to touch me and I then I remove his hand. I run my hand through my hair as my dad steps up and he says "your mom wanted to give the baby up for adoption I didn't that's why I left I wasn't sent away I left".

I wipe the tears away from my eyes and I ask "who adopted the baby? was it a boy or girl? did she stay around here? do I know the person?". I look at my mom and dad and he says to me as he steps beside my mom as she cries "she's alot closer than you think she has long blonde hair same color eyes as you do she's been with you your whole life she's your best friend". I feel surprise creep up into my heart I mean I always felt connected to faith for some odd reason we just always assumed that it was because we were family. I feel more tears roll down my cheeks "Faith" I can't believe they lied to us our whole lives and I ask "why?".

Mom wipes the tears away and she says "honey I did it because one baby was one thing but two? I didn't have a job I didn't have any money to keep both of you. When your grandfather found out about you and faith he disowned us I had no money to my name. I'm not justifying what I did as right I live with that mistake of putting faith up for adoption. Every day seeing her grow up and become such a best friend to you and I would like to think that me giving her up had something to do with who she is now".

I take a deep breath and I say "excuse me I gotta get out of here I gotta get away for a minute" I walk outside and I hear my mom crying and I hear everyone screaming my name. I make my way to the tree and I see something on the tree I make my way to it and see it's a cross with a circle on top necklace. I have seen that symbol before it symbolizes life my thumb glides across the black necklace and it's probably for protection. I lean against the tree and just cry my eyes out faith is my sister I start to sob and I say "katerina where is she? my sister needs me".

Once I said that I feel a thought enter my head she probably went to ben's I hop up no use in crying about it now. I walk away from the tree but not before I turn back to the tree and see the necklace still dangling in the wind. I feel the wind wrap around me and toss my hair over my shoulder I smile and start my walk towards ben and jagger's house which wasn't far from here. I go through my backpack which I grabbed before I left the house it was inside my mom's car and find an old picture when faith and I were little we were both eleven or twelve I can't remember and our moms took us to the beach and our backs were turned from the camera but elizabeth took our picture and I walk through the field of grass and I get a sense of deja vu come face to face with faith's horse 'Thalia' she was tied to the fence.

I make my way to her and she softly knickers I touch her side and I say "hey girl is she inside?" I smile at thalia and give her one pat on the side of her face. I make my way to the house and into the front door and I walk upstairs when I hear crying and I know it's faith. I stand outside the door when I hear her say in between sobs to ben I assume "why did they lie to us? I have always felt like I had a connection with maria. But I just thought it was because of how close we are as best friends and to think cheryl lied to us our whole lives and that's the reason why I don't look like anything like my parents that's why my dad left he couldn't take not knowing I didn't belong to him".

I feel tears starting to form on my cheeks and she sobs "and they lied to maria too that's really what i'm upset about is they didn't just lie to me they both lied to her I bet she's so confused and angry I gotta go out and find her". I walk inside and stand in the doorway and she turns to me and her face was red from crying and when she see's me she starts to cry again. We don't say anything I just walk over to her and I wrap my arms around her and I cradle her in my arms and we both sob in each others embrace. She sobs in my neck and I hug her tightly and she returns my gesture and I didn't wanna ever let her go I always thought what it would be like to have a sister.

When we break our embrace we stare at each it was like we were staring at each other through different eyes and I never noticed that we did have the same colored eyes. She smiles at me the only thing different about us is she has blonde hair and I have brown that's the only difference she looks like mom with blonde hair. The bond my sister and I have is something to write for the books and the friendship and bond that we have is something that I could never explain it's something that you won't understand until you have a sibling. A sibling is someone who loves you for you and will do anything to protect you and you will do anything to protect them.

In the beginning of this story I told myself that I would find out my mom's secrets and looks like I did I uncovered her dark past and I even found out a secret about myself. But if I knew back then that faith was that secret I wouldn't change a thing because I was afraid if I uncovered it I wouldn't like what I found. But as I stand here right now in our embrace one thing is for certain.

I Wouldn't Change A Thing.

The End?.

Oh wait I got sidetracked while hugging my sister you didn't think this was the end of our story did you?.