Similar to the prologue, this chapter is shorter, but I feel like it is a very fitting end.

I'm so glad you guys stuck with me through this story, and I can't wait to introduce the next one to you!

Well, see you at the bottom :)

Blood.

God, there was so much of it, everywhere.

Damon took deep breaths, trying to control his pounding heart.

His body was splattered in the red liquid, and his lungs screamed, but the rest of the world was silent.

It was over.

He looked around the yard that had served for this battle.

Nothing moved.

Bodies laid in every direction, both Arc and Darkling.

They were dead.

Every last one of them.

When he could, Damon forced his legs to move, going back to the only place he wanted to be.

Elena was laid out on the grass, the scorch of Stefan's attack still singed upon her chest.

But she was inhaling, ever so softly.

"Elena," he whispered.

She didn't open her eyes, but the lightest moan answered him.

She was alive, but wouldn't be for long.

And he wouldn't be able to heal this wound, not with her being in a mortal form...

She was going to die, and it wasn't fair.

None of this was.

But it was over, and he knew what had to happen now.

As easily as he could, he scooped her into his arms.

She groaned as she was jostled, but he didn't plan on her being in discomfort for long.

Calling on his power, he dematerialized them to the first place that came to mind.

Their clock tower.

When they appeared atop the building, Damon sat Elena down gently on the stone.

She was still barely clinging to life, but it was going to be okay.

His love would not leave his world alone, as he would be joining her soon.

With an exhale, he stood, and walked to the edge of the building.

The tower overlooked the city around them, stretching for miles out under the sky.

A sky that was beginning to turn a bluish grey, a first in the time he'd been beneath it.

Curious, he stared at the heavens.

With every half second that passed, it got brighter.

The Light...it was returning.

He wanted to curse. He wanted to laugh.

But mostly, he wanted to end.

And he would.

Whatever the fate might be for him, he would go wherever Elena was heading.

Maybe that would be home.

Maybe it would be something unimaginable until he was actually there, but the specifics weren't important.

Orange began to trail through the blue, and it was beautiful.

Dawn was finally rising, and with it, all the things the Darkness hid away would be revealed.

It had to be, to be cleansed.

Washed away, as if none of it had even happened.

There was peace in that numbness, but also fear.

The Light would make new warriors, and soon, they of the past would all be forgotten.

Him, Elena, Caroline, Stefan, Bonnie, Matt, Lexi, Jeremy, Tyler...the endless names and faces.

Even the Darklings. Enzo, Rose, Rebekah, Klaus...

No one would be left behind to care.

He sighed, and moved back to Elena.

Her heart was faint now; she was nearly gone.

Crouching down, he ran a finger over her cheek.

"I pray you find happiness," he told her, "Wherever you are about to journey to. And I pray that I find you there."

He dropped a kiss to her forehead, then reached around himself, and gripped his wings.

It was the most physical pain he'd ever felt in his existence, but he didn't stop ripping, until the bone tore from his back.

He felt the blood soak his skin, mixing with all of the others whose lives he'd taken.

It was so close to being over.

Closing himself off to the pain, he gripped Elena's body and stood.

Attached cartilage held his wings to him as he forced his feet forward.

The black feathers drug behind him.

But he wasn't going to waste time removing them completely.

The job he'd done was good enough, as he could feel his powers draining from him.

So close.

He reached the edge of the tower, and squeezed Elena to his chest.

"I love you," he whispered to her, then looked up.

A blazing haze was beginning to appear in the distance.

Dawn had risen, and the Light was shining it's return.

"I hope I see you again," he breathed, not exactly sure if he meant Elena, or their home.

But this was it.

An odd acceptance washed him in the finality, crippling any other motion.

He turned his body, so that his back faced the edge, and wings tethered off, a few feathers dislocating and drifting away.

He held Elena to him tightly.

And fell.

Light caught the two former Arcs as they soared down through the air.

The beam shot through all the darkness of the realm and filled every crevice.

The souls would have hope.

This was good, the way it should be.

The Dark had been defeated, and the end of the war had drawn.

There were so many emotions that could be had.

But as the last of the power left Damon's body, peace was all he knew.

His mortal soul would leave this body, as Elena's was leaving hers.

But the clarity of this moment gave him truth.

That maybe, just maybe...

Falling, was the last thing he would feel as an angel.

Wellllll that's that.

This has been such a fun, darker story to write, and I'm so glad ya'll liked it!

Can't wait to hear your final opinions, and be sure to look for my new Delena story, which will be a "southern" theme. ;)