"So today is the day," Katherine said to Elijah as they lay in bed. "Today's the day I have to give Sophie her body back. Can we at least figure out something to do with me before it happens? I really don't want to be a ghost again. I mean, I would be more amenable to it if I knew that I'd only have to wait however long it took until you died and we were reunited, but…since you're a vampire, I'll be waiting until doomsday, right?"

"Yes, sadly," Elijah nodded. "Although, I suppose if you really are serious about us being a couple and you're not just using me as an excuse to get your life back, I might have a way."

"You have?" Katherine asked, bouncing a little, her eyes bright. "What is it? Do I get to keep Sophie's body?"

"No, you don't," Elijah shook his head. "A promise is a promise and you're going to give her body back to her."

"But then what other choice do I have?" Katherine wanted to know. "Are we gonna find some other poor schmuck for me to possess? Is that it?"

"No, it's not," Elijah shook his head again. "I happen to have a friend who's a warlock, so with his help, we can get your body back to you and you can inhabit that once we dig it up and fix it up a little."

"Seriously?" Katherine asked. "Will you be doing any digging, or are you gonna hire other people to do it for you? Cause if I'm really gonna be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing you dig. You got all these muscles. Why not show them off?" She ran her hands over his arms and gave him a look. "Come on," she encouraged. "You know you want to."

"No, I think you want me to," Elijah replied. Then, he paused. "But if this exchange with Sophie goes well, I might think about it," he conceded. "That's just a little something to keep in mind."

"Oh, I will," Katherine nodded as she got out of bed. "It's not something I think I can forget." She put a robe on and made her way to the bedroom door. Just as she put her hand on the door handle, however, Elijah clicked his tongue. "What?" She asked. "Do you not want me to leave yet? You wanna spend a little more time in bed before that's not an option for the small window of time before we get my body back?" With a grin, she strode back to him and kissed him.

Elijah kissed her back, but then shook his head. "That's not what I meant," he told her. "I think you should shower and dress now so that Sophie's body's in good shape when she gets it back."

"Oh, all right," Katherine rolled her eyes. "You wanna come in with me?"

"No," Elijah shook his head. "This isn't a fun shower, it's a business shower. I don't know how much time we have until Sophie wants to do the exchange, but I assume it's going to be as soon as possible. I suggest you get moving."

"Oh, all right, I'm going!" Katherine told him. "Keep your pants on!"

"I intend to," Elijah smirked at her. She went into the bathroom and when Elijah heard the shower running, he came in too and shut the door behind him, sitting down on a stool in front of the bathtub to make sure that her shower was efficient and she wasn't dawdling on purpose.

This was quite a surprise for Katherine who, of course, didn't reach for a towel right away. She started for a second and then smiled. "Sorry I didn't notice you until my shower was over," she told him. "But if you wanted to have fun, why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because I didn't come in here to have fun," Elijah replied. "I came in here to watch you and make sure you showered in an efficient manner and didn't just dawdle for the fun of it."

"Well, of course you did," Katherine nodded. "How is it that you can even make showers seem boring? It's quite a skill."

Not looking away, Elijah held a towel out to her. "Now take this and dry yourself off and then get dressed," he told her.

"Yes, I know," Katherine nodded. "Cause Sophie could be here at any time wanting her body back." So she dressed quickly and when Elijah had showered and dressed as well, he came to sit next to her in the living room and wait for Sophie.

To his surprise, she didn't appear right away, probably out of some feeling of kindness for what Katherine would be giving up once she did. But eventually, she arrived with Klaus and Caroline striding in the house behind her.

"We wanted to see this too," Caroline explained when Katherine asked why they'd come. "Just to make sure you actually did what you said you were gonna do."

"Oh, all right," Katherine sighed.

"Have you had a good day?" Sophie asked. "That's why I came as late as I did. I wanted you to have some good last hours with my body."

"Well, aren't you sweet?" Katherine said. "Weird, but sweet."

"Are we ready to do this?" Elijah asked, looking back and forth between Katherine and Sophie.

"I'm ready," Sophie nodded.

"I am too," Katherine replied and hitched her shoulders. "Let's do this before I lose my nerve and make a run for it."

Sophie stared at her for a moment, then took off at a run and disappeared into her body. There was a moment of scuffle as Katherine's soul made one last-ditch effort to stay right where it was, and then it was tossed out, and looking very perturbed.

"Well, she put up more of a fight than I thought she would," Katherine the ghost said as she rose up into the air.

"What do you mean that I put up more of a fight than you thought I would?" Sophie shouted when she got her bearings back. "Why did you think I wouldn't fight for my own body?" She then looked at Klaus. "Would you pinch me, please? I want to make sure this worked correctly."

"Of course it did!" Katherine cried. "I'm floating over your head, damn it!"

"I know the part about expelling you went right," Sophie told her. "But how well I settled into my own body is another matter entirely." She held out her arm to Klaus. "Pinch me!" She ordered.

He did so, and when Sophie felt the pain, she laughed. "Good," she said. "It seems to have worked." Then she looked up at Katherine. "Thank you for being such a good sport about all this," she said.

"Stop thanking me and being so gracious!" Katherine told her. "You say one more nice thing to me and you're gonna be a ghost again! Besides, why are you wasting your time here? Don't you have a guy waiting around to date you or something?"

"Oh, my god!" Sophie cried, her blue eyes wide as she reached up to smooth her short dark hair. "You're right, I do!" She rummaged around in her purse for the guy's number and then went to call him while Klaus and Caroline followed, leaving Elijah and Katherine alone.

"That went much smoother than I expected it to," Elijah told her. "Thank you."

"No problem," Katherine smiled. "It was a lot easier for me since I knew I was going to get my own body back soon, and to tell you the truth, I think I like that better anyway." She paused. "So…can I ask when you're gonna take me to see your warlock friend? I don't have to wait forever, do I?"

"No, you don't," Elijah promised. "I wouldn't do that to you."

A few nights later, Katherine followed Elijah and his warlock friend, whose name was John, out to the cemetery where she'd been buried.

"I haven't been in the ground for too long," Katherine told them. "But I bet I'll still look gross anyway."

"Probably," John agreed as he and Elijah took shovels and a tarp out of the trunk of his car. "Where did you say you were buried again? And it'll be your job to scare away anyone who tries to disturb us, all right?"

"Sure," Katherine nodded, grinning and rubbing her hands. "I think I can do that." When they had all the equipment in hand, Kathrine led them to her grave and watched in fascination as they both began digging.

"I wondered why you were dressed so casually," Katherine said to Elijah. "Now I know."

"Well, I wouldn't wear a suit to dig up a grave, would I?" Elijah asked her as he hefted another shovelful of dirt onto the ground beside the grave. "Besides, I promised I would dig if you were good with Sophie, and you were, so I'm sticking to my word."

With both John and Elijah digging, they quickly reached Katherine's vault and coffin. It took a little more time to get the vault open, but when they did and got the coffin out and open, Elijah let out a breath. "Oh, my god," he said.

"I know," Katherine replied as she eyed her own decaying body. "I look disgusting, don't I?"

"You won't for long," John told her. "Just situate yourself in it again and with a little magic, you'll be as good as new."

Looking at herself more, Katherine was highly skeptical, but a nod of encouragement from Elijah made her want to take the jump. Then, John did the magic and soon, Elijah was lifting a very alive Katherine out of her coffin and kissing her soundly.

"This is an interesting start to our relationship, isn't it?" She asked as they climbed out of her grave and John used his magic to fill it in again (he'd agreed to the digging in the first place because Elijah had told him about his promise to Katherine regarding seeing him dig.)

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "But it's not like that's anything new. When we first met, you were a ghost! That's pretty interesting too."

"Do you think our relationship now will be just as good?" Katherine asked.

"Yes," Elijah nodded and took her in his arms. "I think it will." He and Katherine thanked John then and they all made a run for the car because while they hadn't been found out yet, they knew their luck could only hold out for so long.

When they were on the road, Elijah said to John, "Do you still have that friend who is able to marry people?"

"Sure," John nodded. "Are you looking to get married? You just pulled her out of her grave! Maybe you should take time to get to know her first."

"Oh, we've done that," Katherine told him. "And since he seems to be able to handle me, he's just the kind of guy I want to marry."

"All right," John smiled. "Lucky for you two, he doesn't live far from here."

They reached the man's house and after dealing with the paperwork, he married them with John standing as the witness.

"Do you want to do your own vows?" the officiator asked them.

"Yes," Katherine nodded. "I do." She took Elijah's hands, looked into his eyes, and said, "You amaze me. I don't know if you're foolish or crazy, or what, but here we are, getting married, after all we've been through and all you've seen of me. I just hope you know what you're signing up for. And…this is hard for me to say, but…I think I love you."

"Well, that's good," Elijah replied. "Cause I wouldn't share my bed, my house, and my life with just anyone. You're very extraordinary, Katerina. I love you too." He then looked at John's friend. "May I kiss her now?"

"All right," the man said, muttering the rest of what he was supposed to say really fast until he reached the 'You may kiss the bride' part. Then he and John applauded as Elijah and Katherine kissed, exchanged rings that Elijah had found earlier in the attic of the castle and had kept for a long time, and were proclaimed officially married.

They then got in the car, picked up a cake from the store (with Elijah promising to get her a much nicer one on their honeymoon) and went home to eat it.

"When do you think we should call Klaus and Caroline and tell them what we did?" Katherine asked.

"How about we call them from the plane as we fly over the ocean?" Elijah asked. "Did you know I have a plane?"

"No," Katherine shook her head. "But I do now." She ate her cake and then, eager to see her sister's reaction to the news, called her up and demanded that she and Klaus come to their house right away.

"What is it?" Caroline asked breathlessly as she came running in a few minutes later with Klaus following along behind her. "What's going on?"

"I'm married!" Katherine crowed and held out her hand so the diamond ring was visible. "See?"

"When did you decide to do this?" Klaus asked his brother. "After you dug her up? Nothing says 'romance' like a cemetery."

"I think it was more the idea of us having a fresh start than us being in a cemetery that made me propose," Elijah replied.

"Where are you going on your honeymoon?" Caroline asked.

"That's a good question," Katherine replied. "I just know we have to take a plane to get there."

"Well, I'm happy for you," Caroline told her and gave her a hug. "I hope you finally get to be happy."

"I am," Katherine nodded. "And…I'm sorry for all the times I possessed you and tried to control your life and stuff like that."

"I accept your apology," Caroline told her and then went over to hug Klaus. "What's the use in dwelling on the past when our futures look pretty damn good?"

"I don't think there's any point at all," Katherine replied. "Want some cake?"

"Sure," Caroline said as she and Klaus sat down and Katherine cut them pieces. "Now that we finally have something to celebrate at long last, why not make the most of it?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Katherine agreed.

"Why don't I get drinks to go with this?" Klaus asked, standing up. "Champagne for everyone?"

"Sure," Katherine agreed. "Why not?"

Klaus and Elijah got the champagne; put it in glasses, and then Klaus held his up. "To Katherine and my brother," he said, "who found that you can find love in the most unexpected places."

"Cheers!" Caroline added. And as they clinked glasses, both the house and the future seemed brighter than they had in a long time.

The End

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and review. I really appreciate it. :)