CHAPTER 40.3: I'm so sorry
WARNINGS: sadness (SO MUCH SADNESS, i'm sorry. tears were streaming down my face), damon, stefan, alaric (but not really, only his body), CLAIRE, implied/referenced cheating, harsh words, the whole scene with claire tbh

LORELEI SAT IN THE BACKSEAT of Caroline's car, watching the trees pass by. They had ditched school after what happened, one because Lorelei almost destroyed the school with her emotions and two because Caroline was absolutely livid.

Caroline had come back after Lorelei talked with Elena, the conversation with Hayley and Athena about Lorelei dying when her emotions got too much. They had to sit in the forest—Caroline rocking Lorelei back and forth and whispering words to try and calm her down—for thirty minutes before they could move.

Now, they were in the car driving back to Athena's house to get Hayley and hopefully find Athena.

Because what the fuck was going on?

"You're not going to leave me, right?"

Caroline's thoughts came to a halt as her eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror. Lorelei wasn't looking at her, staring out the window. "What?"

Lorelei shifted a bit, looking uncomfortable. "If all this is real—"

"It's not," Caroline said firmly, eyes going back to the road.

"—If it's all real, you're not going to just... leave me, right? You're going to hate my mom and—and there would be no reason—"

"Lorelei," Caroline cut off, seriously, "whatever happens between your mother, Hayley, and I... we're not abandoning you."

Lorelei finally met Caroline's eyes in the mirror. Her eyes were red and she looked exhausted. Caroline gave her a small reassuring smile. 

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"YOU THINK HE killed her?" Damon asked as he leaned against the front porch of Athena's house. He and Stefan were waiting for her to return—Stefan begrudgingly—to get to work on a plan to stop Klaus. They were hoping they could change the woman's mind and play the brother card. Luciana was standing by the door, her arms crossed while watching the two through narrowed eyes.

"Katherine?" Stefan asked, looking over at his brother. Damon turned his head toward Stefan but didn't meet his eyes. Luciana tensed at the mention of her wife. She hasn't heard from her since yesterday before she left to go switch with Elena. "Probably," Stefan said.

Luciana's eyes flicked between the brothers, a knot in her throat that kept her from speaking. Her heart sped up in panic. The only he that they'd be talking about was Klaus. It had to be.

"It's not like she didn't have it coming," Damon said, looking back out in front of him. Stefan agreed silently.

Luciana glared at the two boys and Damon flinched a bit, remembering what she had done to him the night before. "What do you mean 'he killed her'?" She demanded through gritted teeth.

Stefan raised an eyebrow at her, confused at the reaction. Damon hadn't told him anything about the interactions between Katherine and Luciana, deciding for once to not gossip (he was afraid of what the women would do to him).

"You haven't heard? Katherine was kidnapped yesterday," Stefan said, "it was Klaus. He had Isobel playing Katherine."

Luciana stared through them. There was no way Isobel played her Katerina. If anything, Katerina knew what she was doing all along and let it happen. But why?!

"Hey, blondie. Where's the fire?" Damon asked, watching as Caroline stormed up the steps like a woman on a mission. Lorelei was trailing behind her, looking worse for wear.

"Where's Athena?" Caroline ignored Damon, focusing on Luciana who slowly turned her head, her eyes following a second later.

She blinked, coming back to herself. "Hmm? Oh, she's not here yet. Why?" Luciana asked curiously, seeing the anger radiating off of the young woman. She saw Lorelei grimace from over Caroline's shoulder and a frown pulled at her lips.

Something was going on. First Katherine, and now whatever was happening with Athena.

Caroline growled under her breath, "not here yet," she muttered, spinning around with her hands on her hips.

"What's going on?" Luciana grabbed her arm gently, "breathe for a moment. Tell me what's going on." Caroline huffed a bit, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply. Then she released it. She opened her mouth to explain when the familiar sound of Athena's car pulled into the driveway.

All attention turned toward the Jeep as Athena stepped out of it.

Caroline appeared in front of the woman, smacking her across the face so hard that Athena's head snapped to the side, banging against (and denting) the car door.

Damon's jaw dropped a little, his eyes wide as he stared at the two women. Stefan looked moments away from laughter. Luciana covered her mouth with her hand, disguising her laugh with a cough. Lorelei's eyes were a little wide, but other than that she had no reaction.

"Ow," Athena deadpanned, staring down at Caroline with a frown.

"You are going to explain to me right now what the fuck that was at the school. You say one wrong thing and I will electrocute your ass into your next fucking life, do you understand me?" Caroline snarled, glaring at the woman she loved as electricity crackled in the air around her.

Athena looked a little scared, taking a step back away from the blonde while eyeing her carefully. Luciana frowned a bit, there was something off about her, with the way she carried herself.

"I don't know how to explain it to you without saying things you won't want to hear, Caroline," Athena drawled, crossing her arms and leaning against her Jeep.

"Athena—" Caroline shook slightly with the strain of holding herself back. She may love the woman in front of her, but that wouldn't stop her from kicking her ass if she needed to. If this was a trick on Klaus or on Claire—Claire.

"I'm a terrible person," Claire said seriously, "I've told you and Hayley that from the beginning. I've done terrible things and I continue to do terrible things. I'm selfish and I have no regard for anybody other than myself. I am smart and cruel and calculating."

Caroline frowned at her words, raising an eyebrow. Her mind was going a hundred miles a minute, trying to figure out what Claire had done to her girlfriend.

The dots weren't connecting in her head to realize that it was Claire right in front of her.

Luciana stepped forward slightly, rubbing her hand along Lorelei's back when she saw the girl begin to cry softly. Damon's brows furrowed, wondering where this conversation was going.

"I told you I came here for Elena. The whole reason that I came to Mystic Falls was to find her, and protect her. When I got here, she was depressed," Claire started, something wicked in her eye like she was pleased with herself, "It's always been Elena, can't you see that?"

"Excuse me?" Stefan said, figuring out where this was going. He fucking knew it. Since that day Caroline and Elena showed up talking about foursomes.

Luciana's hand dropped from Lorelei's back, staring at her friend in horror.

Claire didn't even bat an eye in his direction. "I've done everything to gain her attention. You think I agreed to fake-dating you because I actually cared about your situation?" She chuckled humorlessly, a cold, scary sound that made all of them shiver, "I wanted Elena. I needed to make her jealous. So I did. When Hayley came into the picture, I knew exactly how to make it work."

The wolf in question had silently stepped out onto the porch after hearing the commotion. She had wanted to see what was happening.

"You're lying," Caroline shook her head, angry tears having formed in the corner of her eyes, "you couldn't have faked all of that. What the fuck did that woman do to you?"

Claire rolled her eyes, "she didn't do anything to me. I just realized life is too short to be playing these games. Elena seemed to agree." She shrugged, "it doesn't matter anyway, you and Hayley are quite happy without me."

"You said we were your person," Hayley said quietly, staring at the redhead in quiet despair, her eyes wide with unmasked horror. She looked absolutely devastated.

All of them turned to her, shocked to find her there. Caroline looked panicked like her entire world was falling apart around her.

Claire shrugged, gathering herself again. "I told Cassidy the same thing. Did you two truly think you were special? The whole concept is bullshit. It doesn't exist." She smiled at both of them, "you still have each other though. We all knew this was how it was going to end anyway. A person can't love two people equally. You two were just kidding yourselves," she laughed, patting Caroline's shoulder as if she hadn't just turned the blonde's world on its axis.

Caroline smacked Claire's hand away, electricity shooting up the woman's arm and blasting her backward. Claire shouted in pain, anger filling her chest as she sat up and glared at Caroline. She shot toward the blonde but Luciana raised her hand, holding Claire in place.

"Let me go," Claire snarled, glaring over at Luciana. She had always hated that bitch. She was all too happy when she thought Luciana was dead.

"Get ahold of yourself," Luciana snapped back, glaring at Claire, "you're being absolutely ridiculous. I don't know what happened to you, but this is not you. My friend isn't like this. Rebekah... Esther, Alix... Freya." She shook her head, her glare intensifying, "they would be so disappointed in what you're doing right now."

Claire glared back at Luciana, "they're all dead. It doesn't matter."

Luciana faltered a bit, her eyes widening. She thought that would've worked. It was a low blow, yes, but it was usually an effective one. Something was definitely wrong.

"How could you say that?" Lorelei whispered, staring at her mother like she was a whole different person (ha). Claire's eyes turned toward Lorelei, her chest filling with warmth at the pain that she had caused her enemy's daughter. "I thought you were the hero of my story... you were supposed to be the hero," Lorelei cried softly, her arms wrapping around herself in an effort to protect herself, "I hate you."

Claire scoffed, rolling her shoulders back. "You ruined everything for me, kid. The feeling is incredibly mutual."

"ATHENA!" Caroline, Hayley, Damon, and Luciana shouted, pure anger in their words.

Caroline pressed her hand to Claire's chest, sending the most amount of lightning she'd ever tried to summon into it. Claire screamed, thrown backward and off her feet from the surge. She lay twitching on the ground about twenty feet away, unable to move or speak.

Hayley grabbed Lorelei and guided her into Caroline's car as the blonde turned it on. Hayley got in beside Lorelei and Caroline tore out of the yard, not looking back. 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

"YOU THINK BREAKING the chair would work?" Katherine asked, staring at the ceiling from her position. Klaus had left before Athena had returned with Elena, leaving Katherine to sit in the same chair and stab herself in the thigh over and over again while Isabella watched over her.

"No," Athena said shortly from where she was pacing in front of her best friend. Elena was curled up on the bed, fast asleep with Isabella watching over her. "Are you sure you can't just let her go?" Athena asked, her eyes flicking over toward the young witch who turned away from Elena to meet her eyes.

"I'd rather not upset the man who took me in," Isabella said apologetically.

Athena huffed through her nose, "he won't kill you, if that's what you're worried about."

"No. I'm worried about him throwing me out on the streets," Isabella deadpanned.

"He won't do that either."

Isabella shot her a disbelieving look.

Athena groaned softly, rolling her eyes and tapping the side of her head. "Twin telepathy, remember? I know my brother. It'll be fine. Let her up," she said.

Isabella blew out a breath and stared at the woman for a minute. Then she waved her hand and the knife in Katherine's hand dropped.

"Oh, thank the Gods," Katherine groaned, quickly standing up and stretching. Her bones cracked a couple of times before she appeared beside Elena, running her hand over the sleeping girl's head. "Thanks, kid," she said without glancing at Isabella.

The witch merely nodded. "What are we going to do?" She asked, looking to Athena, "you can't do a ritual when you're not in your own body and who knows what kind of mayhem Claire is going to cause with the power you hold." She saw what Claire could do just by being herself and it was terrifying.

"Kat is going to take Elena's place from now on," Athena said, not pausing in her pacing. It wasn't really a choice and Katherine seemed to know that even though she looked like she wanted to protest. "Elena will be safe here. Klaus isn't going to hurt her. Isabella will work on stripping the compulsion and I'm going to... well, I don't know yet. Fuck, I hate being just a vampire," she frowned, looking down at her hands.

She was weaker now, but she had a millennium of experience. If she truly had to, she could take down anybody she needed to. She still didn't like not having her magic to help her.

Isabella tilted her head a bit, looking over at Elena, "but it seems like she already broke the compulsion..."

"Witch compulsion is different from vampire compulsion, but not by much. They have something in common, if you don't know how to use it, there are cracks. That's why Elena was able to break away from it and still be conscious of what she was doing. Claire doesn't know how to use it correctly," Athena explained, "since Elena had vervain in her blood and she's wearing it, Claire had to resort to the witch version and no amount of practicing as a vampire can prepare you for the real thing."

"Oh," Isabella muttered, nodding. It made sense.

"Athena, please for the love of all the Gods, stop pacing!" Katherine exclaimed, giving the woman a stink-eye. Athena paused in her step and crossed her arms, frowning. "Thank you."

Elena stirred and slowly blinked her eyes open. She stared in front of her for a moment before turning over. Her eyes flicked between the three women, blinking. "Why are you staring at me?" She asked.

Athena shrugged her shoulders. "You and Katherine need to switch clothes. She's going to take your place for the time being," she said and Elena frowned, but then nodded. The two went to change and Athena grabbed a grimoire, handing it over to Isabella, "do you think you could do this?"

Isabella looked down, reading through the spell. It would take some power, but she knew how to do it. This one was a bit stronger than the ones she's done, but she could do it. "Yeah. I've done stuff like this for Claire when she recruited people who were compelled by you and your siblings."

"Hmm."

Elena and Katherine came out, the younger of the two in a new set of comfy clothes instead of Katherine's outfit. "I need to go to the dance tonight," Elena said after a moment, wincing a bit, "Claire said we needed to go. To add salt to the wound or whatever. Gods," she ran a hand over her face, sitting down, "I'm supposed to be staying around Bonnie today and, um... yeah. I think that's it."

Katherine nodded, rolling her shoulders and grabbing the backpack. "It'll be fine," she assured, smacking Athena's arm as she went. Athena frowned and smacked her back before she could get too far.

Elena rolled her eyes at the two of them.

"Off to school, I go!" Katherine drawled, "with a bunch of high school idiots!"

"Just go," Athena sighed, running a hand over her head.

Katherine wiggled her fingers goodbye before disappearing.

"Alright, let's start," Athena said and Elena raised an eyebrow. "Oh, sorry. Isabella's gonna take away the compulsion."

Elena nodded and sat down in the chair that Katherine was previously sitting on. "Is this gonna hurt?" Elena asked worriedly, glancing up at the two women.

"Not if I do it right," Isabella replied, not looking up from the book.

Elena pouted a bit, "do it right."

Isabella smiled.

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KATHERINE SAT DOWN in history class, picking up a poster. She had been able to dodge Stefan's questions about Athena, brushing them off. Bonnie doesn't know what happened clearly and Katherine wasn't going to be the one to bring it up yet.

She picked up the poster and turned to Stefan, wiggling it a bit with a smirk. He shook his head, narrowing his eyes a bit. She frowned at him and turned to Bonnie, waving the poster for Elena's best friend to see.

The witch smirked, nodding her approval.

She turned to Stefan, smirking smugly and shrugging her shoulders. She loved messing with the man. She sunk into her seat, setting the paper on her desk.

Alaric—Klaus—walked in and Katherine groaned softly, she forgot that man was the history teacher. He cleared his throat, "hello, class," he said, going behind his desk. "What... are we learning today?" He raised an eyebrow, flipping through Alaric's journals.

"With the decade dance tonight, we've been covering the '60s all week," Dana, the student in front of him, said and Klaus looked up.

He smiled, nodding. "Right," he said, "the '60s." He didn't particularly like that time period. His eyes flicked back, finding 'Elena'. His eyes narrowed just slightly and Katherine smirked a bit, wiggling her fingers in greeting. He grits his teeth, quickly turning away to avoid suspicion. He was going to smack his sister. "The, uh," he cleared his throat, grabbing a piece of chalk, "the '60s... Wish there was something good I could say about the '60s, but... actually," he turned toward the class, "they kinda sucked. Except for the Beatles, of course. They made it bearable. Uh, what else was there? The Cuban missile thing, the, uh, we walked on the moon. There was Watergate."

"Watergate was the seventies, Ric," Katherine smirked and everybody kind of blinked in surprise, turning to look at her. Bonnie and Stefan shared a look. She cleared her throat, "I–I mean, Mr. Saltzman."

Klaus coughed a bit so he didn't laugh, smiling. "Right, all kind of mushes together up here, the '60s, '70s. Thank you, Elena." He turned away and briefly wondered if he could throw a pencil fast enough at Katherine that nobody would see.

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"JUST BECAUSE OUR... ex, is acting like a jackass, doesn't mean I'm going to stop my life," Caroline said to Hayley who was trailing after her and Lorelei. Luciana was hanging around as well, hoping to catch a glimpse of Elena to figure out what the fuck was going on.

"Okay, but maybe pushing it all into a small box isn't what we should be doing right now," Hayley argued gently. "And, besides, you said that we should be trying to figure out what's going on with her."

Caroline had been adamant that Athena wasn't herself, that Claire had done something to her. Hayley and Lorelei didn't disagree, but it didn't make what the woman had said hurt any less.

"Yeah, well, I made a commitment," Caroline grumbled, plastering on a fake smile as she walked to her place. "Hey, Dana," she greeted.

"Hey," Dana greeted back, barely looking up from her work with a smile.

Lorelei and Hayley glanced at each other before going to find some other work to do.

Caroline briefly looked up, seeing Matt. He seemed happy and good, which was a relief. She did not need him to be a liability with everything else.

"Hey, are you okay?" Dana asked and Caroline looked at her, confused. "I, uh... this morning. I know what it's like to be cheated on and I'm so sorry it happened to you. Especially... with your best friend."

Caroline's eyes watered a tiny bit, clearing her throat and brushing her hair behind her ears. "Um, I'm... definitely not okay, but thank you for asking. I'm sorry you went through that too," she squeezed Dana's shoulder gently before moving to hang up the fliers. 

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KATHERINE WALKED UP to the table where Bonnie resided with Jeremy. She smiled at the two of them. "Hey, Jer," she greeted, "how you doing?" Jeremy looked up at her for a moment but didn't seem all too pleased to see her. Katherine had a feeling it was either about what happened that morning or because he was left with John in the house since Jenna had decided to stay with Bianca. "Are you okay at the house alone with John?"

"It's not ideal," Jeremy said, looking directly at Bonnie and pulling his backpack over his shoulder.

Katherine sighed a bit, playing fully into her character, "listen, Jer—"

"Save it," he said, walking away.

Katherine frowned a little and sat down in his previous seat. "What's going on?" She asked Elena's friend as she watched Jeremy walk away.

"I told him he had to dress up tonight and he got all uptight," Bonnie lied, smiling a bit.

Katherine didn't understand why she was lying, but she wasn't going to push. She laughed a little, nodding, "oh."

"Hey, Elena, there you are," Dana said and Katherine looked up, slightly confused. She doesn't know who this person is. "Okay, this is gonna sound freaky but this totally hot guy just asked me to ask you if you're going to the dance tonight."

Katherine's eyebrows raised in surprise, laughing as she looked over at Bonnie. Bonnie's brows furrowed, looking up at Dana, "tell him she has a girlfriend."

Dana looked a little upset over that. "Yeah, I know. But clearly, Athena isn't a good one. You could at least meet him," she said, looking back at Elena. Bonnie almost got whiplash from how quickly her neck snapped to look back at Dana at the name 'Athena'. "He'll be at the dance tonight. Look for him. His name is Klaus," Dana was back to being all smiley.

Katherine's face dropped just a bit. She had to play into the fact that Elena had no idea about him. "I'm sorry," she said and glanced at Bonnie who looked a cross between shocked and horrified. The witch sobered up, deciding to deal with one crisis at a time. "W-What did you just say?"

Dana glanced between the two of them, slightly confused. "His name's Klaus?" She asked slowly. Bonnie's eyes flicked over to meet Katherine's. "I know the name's stupid but I swear he's hot."

Katherine snickered internally at that. Klaus would be up in arms if he heard her say that about his name.

Bonnie sat up straight, looking around. "Where is he? Is he here?"

Dana looked up for a moment before looking back down. "I don't know," she said, her voice tinged with a small amount of confusion.

"She's been compelled," Bonnie said.

"But he wants to know if you'll save him the last dance," Dana's eyes widened just a bit, "how cute is that?"

Katherine just stared up at her. 

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ELENA BLINKED A couple of times, her head woozy and eyes blurry. Isabella was right, it didn't hurt, but it was still a very weird feeling. Athena was holding her steady, wiping her forehead with a cool cloth every once in a while.

Slowly, something in the back of her mind began to unfuzz. Like it was being dusted off and opened up. Her breathing sped up a little as a familiar voice sounded in her head.

"I can't believe she would just leave you..." Katherine's face appeared above her, her eyes narrowed with contempt, but also adoration. "You're so tiny. So fragile."

"We knew Isobel wasn't ready for the commitment," the familiar voice of her aunt Jenna sounded, "you said so yourself. Of course, she'd try to get rid of her the second we look away."

"That was dumb of us," Athena's voice filtered in next.

Elena looked around at the scene playing out in front of her, confused out of her mind. They were in an alleyway, the three women dressed in warm clothing. Athena was standing in the rain, looking like she was guarding the entrance to the alley while Katherine and Jenna stood under an umbrella, a bundle wrapped in Katherine's arms.

She stepped closer as thunder rumbled above them, scaring the bundle and causing it to cry. Elena peered at the crying face, her eyes widening when she recognized herself.

"Тихо, малката," Katherine murmured which Elena believed translated to 'quiet, little one'. The baby settled as Katherine hummed a song under her breath.

"Okay," Athena murmured, loud enough to be heard by the rain, but not loud enough to wake the child again, "we're free to go. John and Grayson are gone."

Jenna nodded and the three women disappeared.

Elena's eyes opened blearily, her breathing heavy. Athena looked worried, wiping away the sweat that had gathered on her brows. "What's wrong?" She asked, concerned.

"Nothing," Elena lied, giving the woman a smile, "I think the compulsion's almost gone. Keep going." She didn't want Isabella to stop. It seemed like her memories were coming back.

"Alright," Isabella agreed, sensing there was still more.

The next memory that Elena unlocked was one from where she was a little older. She was standing up at the coffee table, babbling away as she played with her toys. It didn't seem like anybody was in the room.

It was definitely a living room. From the front windows, she could see they were in the middle of nowhere in a house in the woods but surrounded by a large field of grass and flowers. The room had a TV, a couch, and a couple of sofa chairs.

Baby Elena grabbed her little lion stuffed animal. She tried to bite it, but with no teeth, her gums slid off of it.

An amused laugh rang out behind her and Elena spun around, having not realized that the living room bled into a kitchen. Her eyes widened in shock as Luciana, with black hair, walked around the counter, wiping her hands on a towel.

"At least we know she'll make a good vampire, huh?" Katherine asked, smirking at Luciana from her spot on the stove.

The witch made a noise of disagreement, scooping baby Elena up and earning a delighted squeal and a wet kiss on her cheek from the baby. Luciana giggled a bit, smiling down at the baby. "No way, she's going to be a witch just like her mama. Mhm, yes you are." The baby squealed again and Katherine winced, chuckling softly.

Katherine yelped when flames erupted from the stove and she was quick to put it out with a quick spell.

The baby giggled manically and the two women looked at her, eyes wide.

"Huh, you are just like your mama," Katherine said.

Luciana grabbed a pillow and chucked it at the woman.

Elena groaned a bit, resting her head against the back of the chair. She was exhausted and very confused. "I think we're done, Elena," Athena said, seeming to understand what was happening.

"No, no," Elena panicked, sitting up a bit, "please. Just a little longer."

Athena shook her head, "Elena—"

"Please," Elena pleaded, "I need to know."

Athena grimaced, unsure of what to do. Katherine would kill her if this happened, but she also knew what having your memories tampered with did to a person. Having memories so close yet so far away.

"Okay," Athena whispered, looking up at Isabella, "get rid of all of it."

The witch nodded, closing her eyes and focusing.

Elena's eyes drooped.

"She's pregnant," a frantic-looking Athena said, pacing.

They were outside now. Elena was stumbling around, giggling and muttering things about how pretty the flowers were. She was probably two now from how well she was walking and how some of her sentences were talking.

Katherine eyed her best friend who looked like she was about to pull her hair out. "Who?"

Athena paused and spun on her heel, "who?!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, "who else?! My wife!" Two-year-old Elena giggled at the woman's behavior, picking some flowers.

"Oh," Katherine blinked, momentarily forgetting that her friend was married.

Athena groaned slightly, "you're ridiculous. You were at my wedding. You and Klaus were my maids-of-honor," she deadpanned, staring at her friend incredulously.

Katherine grimaced a little at the remembrance of that. She and Klaus had argued over which type of flowers for hours. "Apologies. Continue," she waved her friend on.

Athena grunted and opened her mouth to rant when Elena walked up to her, holding up a small daisy. Athena took it gently, "thank you, dear," she smiled and Elena hopped away, grinning. "She's pregnant and I'm losing my mind. How the hell is she pregnant? I don't have the capabilities for that!"

"How were you and your brother created?" Katherine asked, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

Athena paused, frowning. "My mother had the... capabilities."

Katherine stared at her, surprised. "Oh, I had no idea," she muttered, blinking.

"Part of the soulmate thing," Athena waved off, running a hand through her hair, "I mean, I love being a mother. I love Bianca and Jenna, so much. But, Bianca was already five and Jenna was an adult. How do I handle a baby?"

"You handled Elena well," Katherine argued softly and Elena came skipping back to Athena.

"Look!" Two-year-old Elena said, holding out her palm. Athena looked down, confused since there was nothing in her hand. Athena smacked her hand lightly in an underhand high-five.

Elena snickered at the interaction, smiling as Athena snagged the two-year-old off the ground by her belt loops when she went to chase a bunny.

"I barely touched Elena when she was a baby," Athena continued even though Elena whined about not being able to go after the cute, fuzzy bunny.

"But when you did, you were just fine. You believe yourself to be this monster, but you truly are the softest person alive."

"I'm not alive."

"I'm going to throw a rock at your head."

Elena felt herself being moved from the chair to the bed, but couldn't open her eyes to watch.

The next memory Elena found herself in, she was sitting in an unfamiliar house next to two younger girls. One looked only four while the other looked six. There was a movie on, The Parent Trap.

The youngest of the three was wrapped in a blanket, her head on a pillow, her eyes slipping closed every now and then. She had a little black bear stuffed animal trapped between her arms.

The six-year-old wasn't paying attention to the movie but rather the two women in the kitchen. Athena was staring out the window, her mouth moving but none of the kids could tell what she was saying. Katherine was a bit in front of her, arms crossed, nodding every now and then.

Elena frowned a bit as she took in the scene. The child in the middle looked familiar.

Eight-year-old Elena's eyes flicked upwards from where her head was in the younger girl's lap. She was rubbing the youngest legs, lulling the preschooler into sleep. "What's wrong?" Elena whispered, nudging her friend with a frown.

The middle girl didn't say anything for a moment, tapping a rhythm on Elena's side. "Nothing," Lorelei muttered, looking away from her mother and aunt to the movie on the screen.

Elena raised a disbelieving eyebrow, "you have that look on your face."

Lorelei, with said look on her face deepening, looked offended. "What face?"

"The one you're wearing," Elena deadpanned, poking her friend's forehead, "your brows draw together when you're worried and you frown. You look a lot like Athena like that, but cuter."

Lorelei's cheeks flushed a little, looking away from her friend to focus on the TV. "I think... I think Cassidy hurts mom," she said softly after seeing that Davina had passed out.

Seventeen-year-old Elena, standing in the corner of the room, feels her heartbreak at the uttered words and the pure worry on Lorelei's face. She's dumbfounded that she knew Lorelei and even Lorelei's younger sister before this year and even more so that Lorelei never mentioned it.

Eight-year-old Elena tenses a bit. "Does she hurt you two?" Lorelei's eyes flick down to meet hers, startling a little at the look in her friend's eyes.

"No. Mom never lets her even though I can tell Cassidy thinks about it sometimes. I've read about the signs... and thanks to my heightened senses... I can tell," Lorelei murmurs.

Elena frowned deeply, "Athena won't let her hurt either of you."

Lorelei nodded in agreement, her eyes looking over at Davina, "No. She won't."

Elena's eyes open, a cough stuck in her chest. She can tell she's sweating and from the worried look Isabella is giving her, she knows she doesn't look too good. Athena is beside her, not touching but a steady presence.

"Almost done," Athena reassures her, her eyes sad.

Elena nods, closing her eyes again.

Elena stands in the rain, the water not touching her, but she remembers the cold from the memory.

Katherine knelt in front of her eight-year-old self, looking like she had been crying for days. Luciana was a few steps behind Katherine, turned away from the two but Elena could see her sobbing, barely able to breathe. Jenna stands about ten feet away from the family, giving them their privacy with an umbrella held over her head. She looks devastated. Bianca is sitting in the car near the road.

Katherine closed her eyes, tears rolling down her cheeks and mixing with the raindrops on her skin.

"I want to stay with you, Mama," her eight-year-old self pleads, holding onto Katherine's arms with tears of her own falling from her eyes.

"You can't, моя любов," Katherine whispers back, "you have to go with Jenna. She'll keep you safe." She brushes the little girl's hair, pulling the hood further over her head. [my love.]

"You'll come back for me, right?" The girl asks, pouting and so hopeful. Luciana's sobs get a bit louder, her hand on her stomach and looking like she's going to be sick.

Katherine didn't have the heart to break her daughters. "Some day," she whispers, pressing a kiss to the little girl's forehead. She stands up, stepping away to let Luciana say her goodbyes.

"Mommy, please," young Elena cries, her lower lip trembling at the sight of her mother's impossibly sad face. She's never seen Luciana like that and it scared her.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry," Luciana says, caressing the girl's cheeks and brushing away her tears, "I love you, okay? I'm sorry we weren't enough. But your aunts, they'll keep you safe, my little star."

Elena knows there's tears running down her cheeks as she watches the memory, her heart breaking just like it did that day when she realized her mothers weren't gonna come back. She had known but didn't say it. She hadn't wanted to break their hearts more than they seemed to already have.

"What about Lori? And D?" Elena trembled, sniffling.

Luciana swallowed roughly, "Jenna's gonna take you to see them one more time," she promised. She kissed Elena's forehead, her lips cold and wet. Elena tried to cling to her, but Jenna gently pulled her hands off, holding them. Luciana stood, turning away from her daughter. She kissed Katherine's cheek, "goodbye, my love," she whispers.

Katherine caught her wife's fingertips, "goodbye, Ana..." she whispered, their fingers slowly slipping from each other as Luciana walked into a portal. It closed behind her and Katherine felt her heart leave with it.

"Mommy! Please!" Young Elena yelled, sobs coming out. She tried to run forward, begging her mother to come back. Jenna caught her, looking miserable. "Mama, mama—" Elena sobbed, reaching out for Katherine as the woman slowly backed away, watching her daughter. Then she was gone and young Elena screamed, fighting her aunt and trying to get to her mothers'.

Elena jerked slightly, coming out of the memory. Sobs filled the room as the two women tried to console her, Athena whispering apology after apology to her. Elena could do nothing, but succumb to the memories she had forgotten and grieve the memories she never got to make. 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

A SHARP PAIN filled Lorelei's head, her vision going blurry as she stumbled, her hands unable to find purchase, and her legs giving out. Hayley caught her before she hit the ground, her eyes wide and terrified as Lorelei clutched at her head.

"I don't want to forget, Elena," Lorelei argued, staring at Athena incredulously. Jenna was holding a sleeping and wet Elena in her arms, her friend looking like she had been crying.

Davina held onto Lorelei's fingers tightly, clutching her black bear to her chest. She understood what was happening to a certain extent, very intelligent for her age. "Ma... Elena is family," Davina frowned, looking sorrowfully at her older friend who was asleep in her older sister's arms.

Athena flinched a little. "I know, babies. I don't want you two to forget her either. I wanted you three to have each other forever... but... but it can't be that way. I'm so sorry. But this is going to help keep Elena safe."

"Safe?" Lorelei repeated, her eyes softening as she stared at her friend. She wanted her to be safe.

Athena nodded. "You'll find each other again. You're family, just like D said," she murmured, brushing her hand over her youngest daughter's head, "maybe not for a while. But you will."

"Promise?" Davina asked, looking up at her mother with wide eyes.

Athena's face set, a look that both of them knew meant what she was about to say was guaranteed to happen. "I promise."

Lorelei gasped, her eyes opening wide. Her heart was beating out of her chest and her breathing was quick. Caroline and Hayley were hovering over her, having moved Lorelei to Caroline's trunk and away from prying eyes.

"Oh, thank Gods," Caroline breathed out, closing her eyes in relief.

"What the hell happened, kid?" Hayley demanded though she looked just as relieved.

"I—I just got my memories back," Lorelei stuttered, her eyes wide. Her mother had only said she'd get them back if Elena did.

"Memories? What are you talking about?" Caroline asked worriedly.

Lorelei's wide eyes met Hayley and Caroline's, looking between the two women. 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

14 HOURS AWAY — NEW ORLEANS
A 13-YEAR-OLD DAVINA sits, reading The Great Gatsby. It was one of the days that she was alone ever since Luna had decided to stay. The woman had to run out to get something—she wouldn't tell Davina what. She didn't know how she felt about the woman being here if she were being honest with herself.

She sighed and sunk further into her pillows, wondering if she'd ever have someone so deeply in love with her the way Gatsby seemed to be with Daisy.

Just as she turned the page, a sharp pain rang through her head, causing her to cry out in pain and clutch her temples.

"I promise," Athena said and both children knew she meant it.

Lorelei sighed heavily and Davina looked up at her older sister sadly. "Okay then," Lorelei agreed, squeezing Davina's hand gently.

Jenna woke Elena up softly, not wanting to startle the girl. It took a couple of minutes for the exhausted girl to stir and open her eyes. Davina was the first one to hug Elena when their friend was fully awake.

Elena hugged her back just as fiercely, resting her head on the young girl's. "Hi, D," she greeted quietly, her voice hoarse.

"Hi, 'Lena," Davina murmured into the girl's stomach.

"I missed you," Elena said when they pulled back.

Davina wiped the tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. "I missed you too." Elena smiled at her, albeit it was small.

Lorelei wrapped Elena up in a hug next and the older girl sunk into her, tears welling in her eyes. "I don't want you to leave," Lorelei muttered, her fingers twisting into Elena's shirt.

"I don't wanna either," Elena murmured back, clutching onto her best friend.

Athena grimaced, her face filled with guilt and self-loathing. Davina snuck into the older girls' embrace, the two welcoming her easily. Jenna and Athena made eye contact, Jenna mouthing some words to her.

"We are family," Davina said quietly, "and Ma said we will find our ways back to each other."

The three pulled away but stayed close together. Davina looked down at her bear, hugging it to her chest and kissing its head. She then held it out to Elena.

The older girl frowned a bit, confused. "What?" She asked curiously.

"Take him. He'll keep you happy when you're sad," Davina said as Elena gently held him.

The older girl looked up with panic in her eyes. "No way! You need him to sleep, D! I can't take him," she argued, shaking her head quickly and trying to pass him back.

Davina shook her head, grinning with childlike hope. "You'll keep him safe for me. You can give him back when we see each other again," she said.

Elena's eyes watered, looking down at the bear. She hugged him to her chest for a moment before pulling Davina into a tight hug. "I'll protect him with my life," she promised.

Davina beamed, kissing the older girl's cheek.

"Alright, little ones," Athena murmured and the three turned toward the woman who looked like she was in pain. "It's time."

Davina's eyes slowly opened, staring out blankly in front of her for a moment. Her mother had said that they would only get their memories back if Elena did... or because Elena was dead. Her mother hadn't said the second part, but Davina knew enough magic to know.

She felt panic fill her chest. She hugged her knees, curling into a tight ball, her book forgotten. She prayed to all the Gods that Elena wasn't dead and that they'd still find their way to each other.

They had to.

AN: tears were falling and made my headache worse, but it was worth it. i am so sorry about the week late chapter! the weather is ruining my immune system and i hope i never feel like this again cuz it's so bad 😭 i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter even though y'all probably hate me for what i'm doing to the main three and lorelei :) THANK YOU FOR READDDINNNGGG.

anybody else in their twilight phase?? i've been rewatching the whole damn saga every day. someone needs to take rosella fics AWAY FROM ME.

edited:
finished: 03/17/24
wc: 7228