Author's Note:

So... this is it... the final chapter! The sequel will be up within the hour.

The title is based off of Simple Plan's song, Untitled.

She was dancing. It wasn't the kind of dance she'd done recently, fueled by training and discipline; no, she simply stood on her father's feet, held on to his legs, and let him lead her around the dance floor. Her mother wasn't one for dancing, but even she had danced at the wedding, allowing Joseph to sweep her across the hardwood like he'd done when they'd first met.

She looked up at her father and grinned, not caring that her two front teeth were missing. He looked down at her and smiled, picking her up and throwing her into the air. She squealed with delight as she fell into his arms, grabbing onto his shirt out of instinct. He laughed loudly and twirled in a circle with her, kissing her forehead affectionately.

"I'll love you forever," he promised.

And he did.

She knew by the smell where she was before she opened her eyes. With confusion she looked up at the ceiling of D'Angelo's dance studio, the place where she'd spent the majority of her waking hours for the past couple of weeks. The lights were off, and the only reason she could see was because of several candles lit up around the room. With a groan she tried to sit up, only to be pushed back by the unbearable pain all over her skin.

"Oh God!" she cried out, gasping as it all caught up with her. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, throbbing, burning, roaring with pain with every tiny movement she made. Tears forced their way out of her eyes and the liquid stung the left side of her face, so she squeezed them shut, ineffectively stopping the tears. Distantly she heard footsteps, and a second later she sensed somebody kneel next to her.

"Where do you want to be?" Elijah's voice reached her, and with confusion, she looked up at him. Catching on to her unspoken question, he repeated himself. "In this moment, if you could be anywhere, where would you be?"

She stared at him with wide eyes, the reality setting in. She'd disregarded his role in her dreams as a paranoid manifestation, considering he was what she'd affectionately called the slave driver of D'Angelo's, but no... They were actually correct. He didn't show her his predator eyes, but she could sense it: he wasn't human, and not a simple vampire. He was something... more, and he had taken her out of the hospital for a reason she couldn't even begin to guess at.

"Am I... going... to die?" she asked. Her voice came out strangled, but she knew he could understand. He nodded.

"Yes, Mikaela, you are," he stated. She whimpered and dropped her head back, closing her eyes as the tears threatened to fall. "We found a way to save both of you, but Elizabeth isn't allowing us. The curse is stronger than we anticipated, so this is the only way."

"But... the hospital...!"

"Your body is rejecting medication and vampire blood," he explained. "The more we try to heal you, the worse your condition becomes." She resisted the urge to scream, in anger, in pain, in frustration, and turned her head away, even if it hurt her to do so. "I'll try to make this as comfortable as possible."

"Why?" she asked. She knew he understood exactly what she meant, and when he put his hand to her forehead, for all appearances a gesture of affection, she would have given anything for it to have been her father instead. In her moments of fear, he was the one who had taught her to be strong, and she felt that she needed him then more than ever.

"You didn't do anything wrong," he said quietly. She could sense that the sadness in his voice was genuine, and that confused her. How could he feel that sadness, and at the same time, the resignation to her dying? "I've been trying to find a way to break the curse without the cost of your life, but now that you've given Elizabeth the opportunity, she's making sure your body shuts down."

She could feel the truth of what he was saying. Her visions had tried to warn her over and over of what was to come, and knowing what could happen, she'd made her choice. Damon's life over her own. She couldn't think of a better way to die than for someone she loved, and as much as the idea should have comforted her, true death scared her. Like Benji had said, her life was only just beginning: she wanted to dance, wanted to see the world, fall in love and know what it felt like to be loved back.

"All of this, and he's going to hate her anyways," she whispered.

A silence passed before Elijah spoke again. "I can't save you, but I can make you more comfortable," he reminded her, turning her face so that she was looking at him. "Tell me. If you could be anywhere, where would you be?"

"Benji, stop bullshitting me!" Diane snapped, slamming her hand on the table. "She was covered in burns and had multiple broken bones! You can't tell me that even your blood could heal that much damage in the five minutes it took me to get my damn coffee!"

Tense silence filled the room after the doctor's yell. They were in one of the hospital conference rooms with Damon and Stefan, neither of whom could come up with an explanation. The brothers had already searched the hospital and asked around, but nobody could even recall seeing the burned trauma victim. Benji sat in one of the cushioned seats, head held between his hands as he gritted his teeth.

"I don't know what else to tell you-" he began, but Damon grabbed him by his shirtfront and slammed him against the wall.

"How about the truth?" he suggested calmly. He'd hardly spoken a word after getting back from searching the hospital, but his dark eyes and the murderous look on his face made it clear that he was through with talking. Benji jutted his jaw and glared at him challengingly.

"I already told you-!" He was cut off as a scream of pain ripped from his mouth, startling Damon enough to release him. Benji collapsed on the ground, gripping at his heart and growling with pain. His chest rose and fell violently and he yelled again, this time gripping his head and falling back on the floor.

"Benji, what's wrong?" Diane exclaimed, surging forward. Stefan held her back as Benji started to trash around violently, kicking a chair hard enough to break the leg he came in contact with. Damon grabbed Benji and held him in a headlock to keep him still, and even then Benji fought, almost snapping his own neck in the process.

A minute later he calmed down, sweat pouring down his neck and his face pale. Damon tentatively released him and Benji nodded at him gratefully, rubbing the back of his neck with shaking hands. "What the hell, Benji?" Diane demanded.

"The doctor has a dirty mouth on her," Damon commented. "Do you talk to your patients like that?"

"I'll show you a dirt- Benji!" she yelled, and all eyes turned back to him. He had his pocket knife out and sliced a deep gash into his palm, wincing as he snapped it shut and tucked it back into his pocket. He watched the blood pour out as if it was the most important thing in existence, and none of them could figure out why. A couple of seconds passed as blood continued to pour, and after a whole minute Benji closed his fast and covered his face with his other hand.

"I'm human," he whispered. Diane blinked and pulled herself out of Stefan's hold.

"What?"

Benji took in a shaky breath and lowered his hand. His green eyes were filled with tears, and his jaw was tightly clenched. "Elijah took her," he answered through gritted teeth. All color drained from Diane's face and she seemed to freeze, mouth slightly open as she stared at Benji. Stefan and Damon still looked at him with confusion, and he elaborated. "He compelled me to say that she ran away, but now I'm human, so his compulsion broke. And the only way for me to become human would be by breaking the curse, so..." He trailed off, running a hand roughly over his head and balling his fists.

"She's dead," Damon finished quietly. Diane seemed to sway and immediately Stefan was by her side, catching her before she could fall. In that same second Damon was out the door, running for all he was worth to God only knew where. Benji slammed his fist against the wall and yelled just as Diane broke into sobs. Stefan held her, but only moments later Benji was next to him, pulling Diane into his arms.

"My baby," she cried out between sobs, gasping for breath. Her whole body shook uncontrollably, emotion wracking through her like a physical force. Benji simply held her, running a hand over her mane of blonde curls. "It can't end like this...!"

Benji shook his head and looked Stefan in the eye as the only remaining vampire in the room backed away. Even if he had weakened in pretty much the span of sixty seconds, when he looked at Stefan, he had the same determined fire in his eyes as he had as a supernatural being.

"I promise you Diane," he said, loud enough that the three of them could hear. "It's not over."

She hadn't been to the Smoky Mountains in years, and it was wonderful to be back. They'd all rented a six-room cabin for the weekend, large enough to fit all thirteen of them comfortably in the same building. Matt, Tyler and Jeremy had left with Zach to get food for dinner, Bonnie, Caroline, Elena and Stefan had gone for a hike through the woods and her parents had gone for a walk, leaving Damon, Benji and Mikaela with the house to themselves. Her parents had stayed in the cabin for a while, but they all understood that the two of them would want some alone time after the months he'd spent in the coma.

It was really the perfect place to be to die.

She sat on the large porch swing with Benji, wrapped in a blanket and staring out at the mountains. She leaned on him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, letting her rest against his chest. "This place is beautiful," she commented, smiling and closing her eyes. He nodded in agreement.

"Last time I came here was with Elijah and Elizabeth," he said, a hint of nostalgia in his voice. She opened her eyes and looked at him curiously.

"You knew Elijah as a human?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yup. He was our tutor for a couple of years," he explained. "He taught me mathematics, but taught Elizabeth most of the spells she died knowing."

"Hm. That's nice. How is she doing, anyways?"

"Fine. Still bitter about your engagement."

"Too bad."

"She'll get over it eventually."

Damon returned then, two mugs of hot chocolate in his hand. "Oh, gosh darn, Benji, I can't carry more than two without burning my hands," Damon said in mock apology, nodding to the door. "There's more on the stove."

Benji rolled his eyes and gave Mikaela a quick kiss on top of her head. "Be careful with him, honey," he warned, getting up from his seat. She laughed, shaking her head at Damon. All he could do was look at her blankly, the epitome of false innocence.

"Love ya Benji," she called as he entered the house.

"Love you, hate your choice in men," he yelled. Damon shrugged as he sat down in Benji's spot, handing her one of the two mugs.

"Can't win 'em all, can you?" he said, draping an arm over the back of the swing.

"You don't exactly make it easy," she pointed out, albeit with a smile. He shrugged again.

"Eh, not my style to make it easy," he said, kissing her cheek playfully. She scoffed and leaned into him, dropping her head back on his shoulder. He reached around her, holding her hand in his as if it were the most natural thing to do. The ring he'd given her shined brightly on her left hand, the small pearl embedded in the silver glinting in the setting sun. She looked at it and leaned up, kissing his neck.

"Have I told you that I love you?' she asked quietly. He smiled and rested his chin on top of her head.

"I love you, too," he answered, squeezing her hand. She laughed lightly.

"Who said anything about falling in love?" she said jokingly. He chuckled and shook his head.

"I don't think any of us saw it coming," he admitted. She nestled closer to him and sighed.

"Can we stay like this?" He looked at her and nodded.

"For how long?"

She contemplated that thought for a moment. "Until the end," she decided.

"The end?" he repeated. She smiled sadly and closed her eyes.

"Let's not talk about that," she dismissed. "Just... say it again, please?" He didn't even have to ask. As the sun set behind the mountains, he leaned down by her ear and said it, over and over again until she faded away.

"I love you. I will always love you."

And then she was gone.

Two Weeks Later:

Everyone had different methods of coping, and Damon wasn't certain if he'd taken a step up or a step down in coping with Mikaela's death.

He stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, her breath soft against his chest and her arm draped over his stomach. Stefan wasn't around, of course, but then again, even if he was, he wouldn't be in the room. He'd been giving Damon a wide berth, and for that, he was grateful. He knew hell would reign on earth if he walked into the room at that particular moment.

"God, what time is it?"

Damon checked his cellphone. "8 o'clock in the morning." She gasped and jumped out of bed, grabbing her clothes off the floor. "Where are you going? Stefan isn't going to be back for hours."

"The funeral's at 10, Damon," she reminded him, hurriedly pulling her jeans on. "We need to be there."

"You need to be there so Stefan doesn't suspect anything," he corrected. "I don't have to be anywhere."

Elena pulled on her shirt and raised a brow at him doubtfully. "Don't look at me like that," he warned.

"It's Mikaela, Damon," she said with a sigh. "You have to be there."

"Like I said..."

"Fine," she surrendered, running her fingers through her hair quickly. When she didn't look like she'd just spent the morning having sex, she leaned over to him and gave him a quick kiss. "I'll text you when I'm free."

"You do that." He looked out the window as she left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. Yeah, he knew it was wrong. Did he care? Not much, not anymore. After the immediate grief and lashing out, there was nothing. Nothing really mattered. With a sigh, he sat up and reached for his jeans.

Something small and metal clattered out of the pocket and rolled across the floor. Once he'd pulled on the pants, he walked over to the window it had rolled under and picked it up. It was his mother's engagement ring, the one he had planned to give to Elizabeth in 1863. He'd been carrying it with him on Founder's Day, mulling over the idea of giving it to Mikaela.

Obviously he hadn't planned to propose. It had just felt right that she have it. Many things had felt right, but then again, actually weren't. It had felt right to be with Mikaela, and then she had died. Being with Elena didn't feel right, but he did it anyways. Anything was better than accepting what had happened.

He looked down at the ring and closed his eyes. He knew she wouldn't be proud of him, not with the way he was acting, but that didn't stop him. Hell, if she was so disappointed in him, she shouldn't have gone ahead and died. Maybe that's what he was doing, really: challenging her to come back.

She didn't get to make him love her and then disappear like that. She just didn't. So, he wouldn't go to the funeral, and he wouldn't accept that she'd "died". No, he'd just keep on challenging her, trying her patience until she came back and gave him a piece of her mind, just like she always did. He preferred to have her hate him then be dead.

"Well, that was a ridiculous waste of time."

"It was a funeral, Benji. How is that a waste of time?" Diane asked tiredly, dropping her purse on the kitchen table. She pulled off her black coat and hung it over the back of a chair, looking at Benji with a raised brow as he sat down. He shrugged and leaned back in his seat.

"No body, no closure," he answered simply. "Funerals are about paying respect to the dead and putting the body down to rest. Without the second part..."

"I think the kids needed to say goodbye," she reasoned, making her way to the pantry. "Coffee?"

"Please."

They fell into silence as she got to work making the two cups of coffee. It didn't go unnoticed by him that she poured more Irish cream than normal in her mug, but he didn't say a word. The woman was in mourning- hell, they all were- and if the alcohol could provide some comfort while she got past the worst of it, who was he to stop her? She'd lost a lot of weight ever since the curse had been broken- they didn't dare say the words "Mikaela" or "died" in the house-, and taking into consideration how thin she had been beforehand, it was starting to worry him. If she kept on at the rate she was going, she was going to disappear.

The others who knew the truth weren't doing too well, either. Bonnie, Stefan and Elena were doing their best to keep themselves distracted with schoolwork, but Damon wasn't having as much success as they were. Benji had stopped by the boarding house to check on him a week before, but had stopped in the foyer when he'd heard the sounds of sex coming from his room. He hadn't gone back when he'd realized that the other participant was none other than Elena.

Did he approve of Damon sleeping with his brother's girlfriend to ease the pain? Not in the slightest. Despite how much he resented the teenager for the part she played in the love spell fiasco, however, he knew for a fact that the girl was the faithful type. Sleeping with Damon didn't seem like something she would do, so he could only assume that she had also found a way to cope with the pain. And who was he to judge?

And how was Benji coping? Pretending he didn't need to cope. Playing the part of supporting brother to Diane took all of the energy he had, and hiding his guilt took constant effort. Only he knew of his true intentions behind making contact with Mikaela months before, and he knew of the point that he had reached, of being prepared to kill her if it meant to get his sister back.

And then she'd gotten under his skin. He knew she had been able to tell that there was a darker side to him (being a psychic and all), and still she had trusted him, cared about him. It wasn't out of ignorance: she had made a conscious choice to hope that he was as good as he pretended to be. And for that, he loved her. He didn't love her in the romantic sense, but in the true sense of it, he did: he would die if it meant bringing her back.

The house phone rang. Diane didn't even look up from the sink as she rinsed out a small metal milk server. After four rings, Benji snapped himself out of his thoughts and answered himself. "Knight-Greene residence."

"Benji?" a rough voice asked from the other end. Benji frowned and crossed his arms. The voice sounded slightly familiar, but not enough for him to identify its owner.

"This is Benji," he said warily. Diane handed him his cup of coffee and sat down at the table, clearly uninterested in the phone call. She dropped her forehead between her hands and let out a heavy sigh. The stranger let out a relieved breath.

"Good, good," he said quietly, then cleared his throat. "I need you to come to the hospital, now. Diane is going to receive a phone call soon minute, and I need you to be here by then. Leave your cell phone and bring your sister's talisman-"

"Now just hold on one second," Benji interrupted. "Who the hell-?"

"It's Joseph," the other man snapped, effectively shutting him up. "You know, the father of the girl your sister is responsible for killing?" Benji felt as if he'd been doused with cold water, and immediately his gaze flew to Diane. The woman practically considered herself a widow and had just lost her only child, and now Joseph Greene, Mikaela's father and Diane's husband, was awake from the coma? That was impossible-!

"Focus, Benji. Do what I said and get over here, before you lose your opportunity," Joseph said, clearly expecting Benji's shock. Benji shook his head and looked away as Diane gave him a curious glance.

"For what?" he asked quietly.

"Redemption," Joseph answered. He didn't specify, but the moment Benji heard that word, he knew exactly what the man meant. Only one thing could bring him redemption, and if anyone could tell him the way to get it, it was the powerful psychic.

"I'll be right there," Benji stated. "Do I need to do anything else?"

The man hesitated, and Benji braced himself. The man was very calm- hell, he knew about pretty much everything before it happened-, so to hear him hesitate made him anticipate the worst. "You might want to say goodbye," he finally replied. "You have five minutes before the hospital calls." Benji let out the breath he'd been holding and nodded: he'd expected as much.

"Thank you."

He hung up the phone and swallowed his emotion, looking at Diane. She'd let her hair down and was surrounded by her ridiculous amount of tight blonde curls, reminding him of when they'd met over twenty years before. He'd seen her as an infant and then as a child, but hadn't actually met her until she was starting college and dealing with her mother's suicide. She'd been angry at the world, angry at God, and angry at herself, but he'd watched as she'd slowly changed from being an angry teen that had suffered a horrible trauma to a strong young woman. He couldn't think of a way to say goodbye to the woman who had become his only family over the years.

"Who was that?" she asked, stirring some sugar into her coffee.

He couldn't do it.

"The boss," he lied, rolling his eyes. "I have to head in to work."

She frowned. "But you asked for today off," she said, clearly upset. "Can't he understand if you miss work today?"

"The man's a tyrant," he muttered, taking a sip of his coffee. His last coffee in the house. He sat down next to her and forced a smile. "It's fine. If I work today, I should have tomorrow off."

"Good." She nodded, satisfied with his answer. Benji focused his attention on the warm drink and took a large swallow. Four minutes left. Irish cream had never tasted so delicious before. As he set his mug down, his hands shook. It was a new sensation after so many years of being a vampire. Vampire hands didn't shake, or at least, his hadn't. Diane's pale hand covered his, and when he looked up at her, a knowing look that he'd feared seeing was in those blue eyes.

"You were a better liar as a vampire," she informed him quietly. He chuckled sheepishly: the women in the family were too sharp for their own good. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

He sighed and stayed silent, simply enjoying the feel of her hand on his, comforting, in spite of everything. "Do you remember when we went to Florida eighteen years ago?" he asked, smiling to himself. She nodded, and he noticed her swallow thickly. "You were pregnant, and we'd gone to Cocoa Beach hoping to enjoy the sun and the beach. Then it ended up raining all weekend."

She nodded, a ghost of a smile passing over her lips. "My father had lent us the beach house, and Joseph found some DVD's in his closet," she recalled. "We made a movie weekend out of it." Benji laughed suddenly.

"Didn't half of them turn out to be porn?"

She actually smiled then, albeit sadly, and nodded. "I thought I would die of embarrassment," she admitted. "When Joseph sorted through them, picking the movies out of the adult content, he couldn't stop laughing." She narrowed her eyes at him. "And you went and put one on!"

"Hey, you were the only one complaining!"

They both laughed at that memory before elapsing into silence again. When he looked at her, he saw that a tear had managed to escape before she wiped it away and took a steadying breath. "I know that the curse couldn't let you love him as much as you loved Nikolai, but you did love him," he stated, squeezing her hand. "You need to know that."

She looked at him strangely and nodded. "I know," she assured him.

"I don't think you do," he admitted. She looked down, knowing he was right. "You were going to let him get a divorce, but then he had the accident, and the paperwork got put on hold."

"He knew I couldn't love him like Nikolai," she said quietly, resignation heavy in her voice. "It wasn't fair for him to constantly be competing with my first love." Benji shook his head.

"The curse is broken," he reminded her firmly. "I need you to fight. You love him, I know it. Promise me you won't let him go." He stood up then, looking at his watch. One minute left.

"Benji, what's going on?" she asked, standing up as well. He set his jaw, fighting back emotion. He hated goodbyes.

"You're going to get a phone call in less than a minute," he said, holding on to her shoulders. "It's going to change things for you. Hold on to that hope, and wait for me." He pulled her into a hug. "Promise me you won't give up. You still have a chance to get it all back."

"Why are you saying goodbye?" she whispered. He couldn't stop the tears from falling then as he held onto that moment, wishing it would never end. But, it had to.

"I'm going to make things right," he promised. She hugged him back, but after a moment, he had to pull away. Before he could turn to the door, she grabbed his hand.

"You know I love you, right?"

Even as tears poured down her face, she smiled, giving him the one thing he wanted more than anything: to see her happy. He nodded, certain he was incapable of speaking at that point. The phone rang, and closing his eyes, he pulled away, pushing through the front door and out of the house for the last time.

Post-Story Note:

The sequel will be up tonight (most likely within the hour). If you can, please write what you thought of the story in a review, I would greatly appreciate that :).

And really guys, thank you all so much for sticking with my through this story... It's been so much fun to write this for you all :)