A Knick In Time

Over Time

On the next morning, I am incredibly tired. I barely got any sleep last night. After my husband and his family departed, I spent the rest of the night feeling lonely and worried. But, things need to be done. I go to get water while Tatia begins to prepare breakfast. Just like old times. Only now, there's a melancholic pinch in my gut when I go to the water without Rebekah. And then there are the strange looks I get from everyone else who lives in the village. They're relieved the Mikaelsons are gone, but they aren't sure if Tatia, Haakon and I are to be trusted again.

Over the next couple of days, we learn just how much has changed. First, the villagers start warming up to us again, slowly realizing that the destruction they had to endure has left with the Mikaelsons. Then, after about three days, someone comes knocking on Tatia's door, asking for employment. He is the first in a longer row. Apparently, Elijah was right. Now that the Mikaelsons are gone, all their land has been passed over to Tatia. Now, she is the whealthy land owner.

And she makes good use of it. From the way she starts picking her employees, demanding respect and discipline from them and telling them about her plans for her land, I can tell she's going to be a very capable boss.

It won't be much longer until Ayana will send me back. She told me that while Bonnie had a considerably higher number of ancestors by her side, she was able to send me here whenever, but the same thing does not apply to Ayana herself. She is going to need the next full moon.
I am torn. On one hand, I don't want to leave Tatia, Ayana and little Haakon behind, knowing I'll never see them again. On the other hand, I really do want to see Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline and the others again. Those that are left anyway. And Elijah. I know, in my times, there wasn't much left of the kind, gentle man I married, but I don't care. I'd take him any way he is. Obviously, I will be going back, no question. But, part of me will miss the viking times. And the nice, happy life they gave me.

When the time for my return arrives, Tatia and Haakon accompany me to the place in the woods where Ayana waits for me. They stay with me until just after nightfall. Then, it's time to say goodbye.

Tatia hugs me.
"Farewell, Elena. May the gods be with you."

"You too, Tatia. I wish you all the joy and happiness in the world. And I am so grateful to have had a sister like you." I tell her, fresh tears welling up in my eyes.

Next, I embrace Haakon, running my hand over his hair one last time and kissing his forehead. "Farewell, my sweet boy. I love you."

"I love you too, aunt Elena." Haakon smiles his adorable 5-year-old smile at me.

With a heavy heart, I watch as Tatia and Haakon leave until their forms disappear in the dark.

Ayana speaks up. "Well, child," she muses, a slight smirk on her face, "you've had quite the impact here, haven't you?!"

"Perhaps." I thinknof all the things I wasn't able to prevent. "Perhaps not."

"Either way," the viking Bennett witch continues, "it's time."

I nod. "Thank you, Ayana. Not just for sending me back. For everything."

"It was... quite entertaining at times, to be frank." she says, though showing little amusement on her face. Then, her face becomes softer. "I wish you the best of luck, child. Be safe."

When I first heard the spell from Bonnie, I didn't know what to expect. This time, I know. This time, I watch closely as the ancient forest fades before my eyes and a soft light engulfs me, taking me away and out of these times.

○○○○○

When the light goes away, a different forest materializes around me. Not entirely the same one as before, but kind of similar, actually. Might have something to do with the fact that this is, after all, the exact same place. An owl hoots somewhere near. Taking a deep breath, I look around. The full moon illuminates my surroundings well enough for me to see. I'm alone.

With a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, I begin to make my way back home. This time, I know where to go. Having grown up here, I remember every detail of this place. Although now, after everything that happened in the past months, it still looks sort of strange to me. Familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

As I reach the end of the forest and start making my way through the amall town called Mystic Falls, I am grateful for the late hour. No one is around, which means me and the viking clothes I'm still wearing are not going to draw any attention to me.

Just as I reach Maple Lane, a terrible thought occurs to me. What if, while I was gone, my house was sold? What if someone ransacked it, destroyed it or what if Klaus went on another rampage and- Klaus. I feel a pang in my stomach. Now that I've grown to love Niklaus as a brother, it will hurt me so much to see him as the hybrid Klaus again...
But I tell myself to calm down. Even if my house isn't a place to go for me anymore, I can still go to Bonnie or Caroline. And as for Klaus, well, that's something to deal with tomorrow. For today, I have had more than enough. I really just wanna go to bed.

A great wave of relief washes over me when I step on the doorstep of my house and see that everything looks the same as it always did, the 'Gilbert' name is still on the plank at the door and the spare key is still in the fake rock in the flower pot on the porch. I open the door and head upstairs. There's an awful lot of things laying around, as I notice on the side. In the back of my head, I acknowledge that, in my absence, my friends must have used my house, for whatever they needed at thqt time. Storage, a temporarily safe place, whatever. Looks like they let a lot of old stuff lie around here, including a lot of stuff from my family. I don't pay much attention to it though. In fact, I don't even turn on the lights. All I do is drag myself up the stairs to my room, notice that it still looks like mine and get ready for bed.

The one thing I do enjoy before dropping into my unbelievably soft and comfortable bed is take a shower. The feeling of warm water running down my body and the sweet scent of my favourite raspberry shampoo seems to me like heaven after all those months of not having that. I revel in every second of it, showering for almost an hour. Afterwards, I put on one of my most comfortable pyjamas and then finally go to bed. My eyes fall shut by themselves as soon as my head hits the pillow.