Setting Things Right
DG32173

Sarah: I saw a fanfic with this theme, but the author never finished it. So I decided to write my own version of the theme, with a major difference from that fanfic. I hope you enjoy.

DISCLAIMER
I would not be writing fanfics about the series if I owned it. Well, okay, maybe I would. But I don't own it. What I write is the only thing I own.

WARNINGS
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE! MASSIVE SPOILERS ALERT! Mostly spoilers for season one, but there is one memory scene that comes from Season 3 finale. There could possibly be other spoilers as well. Rated M for my sanity. Not that I have any. Elena's viewpoint. Also, combining elements I know are in the books – though I haven't read them yet – with what is known in the show.

SUMMARY
After John succeeds in killing Damon on Founders' Day, Elena drops into a state of despair that no one can pull her out of. When Bonnie finds out from the spirits that Damon was not supposed to die that day, she is given a spell to send Elena back to a point in her relationship with Damon where she can start setting things right as well as making the right choices. But only Elena will remember what happens and she can't exactly tell people how she knows things she shouldn't… Damon/Elena

Prologue

"What does it matter to me if they die? They're monsters, Elena," John tells me.

"As my father, it should matter if my friends die. I'll never forgive you if anything happens to them," I snap, shoving past him as the shock of finding out that I know our true relationship paralyzes him. I continue racing around to the back of the building. As I'm about to dash in the back door, Bonnie grabs my wrist to stop me. I whirl on her. "This is your fault!" I yell at her. "I trusted you! And you lied to me!"

"I'm sorry, Elena!" she cries, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I did what I thought was right! I didn't think they would get caught up in it!"

I try to tug my wrist from her grasp, but she has a vice-like grip on it. "Let me go! I swear to God, Bonnie, if something happens to them, I will never speak to you again!" I shout.

She ignores me and starts chanting softly. I don't know what she's saying but I can feel her magic writhing in the air around us. I turn to stare at the doorway, searching for a sign that the brothers are okay, my heart in my throat. Then I see shadows making their way through the smoke as Bonnie collapses next to me, releasing my wrist. Anna is the first to break free. She gives me a look so full of sorrow that I know something has gone terribly wrong.

"I'm sorry. I would have saved him, but the vervaine wouldn't let me move," she tells me.

My heart starts to break apart at her words. I turn my attention to the other shadow. A sound like a dying animal rips its way free from my throat as I rush to Stefan's side. "No! No, no, no, no!" I sob, taking Damon's head in my hands as my eyes land on the stake through his heart.

I know instantly that John was the one who murdered him. I feel the tears streaming down my face as I hold his head to my chest, trying to will him back to life. I use one hand to yank the damn stake from his chest and toss it away, wishing that that would be enough to bring him back. But I know deep down that he is never coming back to me. Not this time. My entire body is wracked with heart-wrenching sobs. I hadn't realized until now how much I had come to rely on him. I hadn't realized until now how much I had grown to love him. And now he will never know. I will never get to tell him how, in the end, he has won my heart.

I vaguely feel someone's arms wrap around me, saying words I can't understand. A black hole had burst into existence and sucked me in the second I saw Damon's body. There is no way out of it, not without Damon in my life. Nothing will ever be the same again.

We buried him next to his mother on the old Salvatore estate the next day. A large part of me is in that grave with him. Stefan gave me Damon's ring as a keepsake. I wear it on a chain around my neck, a constant reminder of what I had lost. John packed up and left that week, giving me an apology that I'm sure he meant. But I couldn't forgive him for something that cannot be brushed under the rug and forgotten. I didn't even look at him as he walked out the door.

I no longer bother going to school. All I do now is eat, cry, shower, and sleep, only to dream of him. I know everyone is worried about me, but I can't bring myself out of the depths of this black hole enough to care. I know Jenna doesn't understand what caused this drastic change in me. She was told that Damon left town and is never coming back. I haven't said a word since then, that I know of. I might call out to him in my sleep, but that is it.

It's been three months since his death. Stefan is leaving town today. We have a shaky friendship now. He knows he reminds me of what I lost. So he decided to say goodbye today and leave so he doesn't continue to cause me heartache every time I see him. He finds me laying on Damon's bed in the boarding house. I spend a lot of time in his room, going through his things or simply laying on his bed, reminding myself of his scent.

"Elena?" Stefan calls softly from the door. I turn my head towards him. "I decided that I should leave, and I decided I'd go today." I nod slightly. "I wanted to say goodbye before I left."

"Miss you," I manage to croak in a voice rusty from disuse.

His eyes widen in surprise that I actually spoke. "I'll miss you, too. You have a key to the house, and you're welcome to come anytime, even when no one is actually living here." He pauses, as if debating whether or not to tell me something else. He sighs. "Someone came over to see you," he says, stepping aside to show Bonnie.

I lunge out of bed faster than they expect and stalk up to her in a predatory fashion. "Why should I talk to you?" I snarl viciously, my voice coming back the instant I see her. "It's your fault he's dead! It's your fault he's not coming back! I should kill you like you killed him!"

Suddenly, as I'm reaching forward to wrap my hands around her neck, Stefan grabs me, holding me back. "Listen to what she has to say, Elena," he says. Even with vampire strength, he has to struggle to keep my arms behind my back. "There might be a way to make things right again!"

"I know you don't want to see me," Bonnie says quickly, her eyes wide with fright. "But the spirits said that Damon was not supposed to die that day. They gave me a spell that I can use to send you back to a point in time where you can alter history so that he lives. I can give him back to you, Elena!"

The fight goes out of me in an instant as I stare at her in shock, her words sinking in one-by-one. "I can save him?" I ask weakly. "I can have him back?"

"I can send you back to the point where your relationship with him took the first major turn towards love. That's where you have to start rewriting history before it happens again, and you can end up saving his life rather than burying him again. I have to warn you though, the one who was supposed to die that day was Anna. There is a slight chance where you can save both of them, the spirits said."

I barely hear her, overflowing with joy at the thought of being able to have Damon back with me. "I can have him back," I whisper, tears of joy in my eyes. "I can have him back."

Bonnie grabs my arm and I look in her eyes, knowing she can see the life returning to mine. "Elena, you will be the only one who will know what will happen. You have to be extremely careful who you tell. It's preferable that you tell no one. Not until after it's all over, at least. And even then, don't go blabbing to everyone," she says emphatically, making sure that her words register this time.

I nod. "Okay," I say softly. "Tell no one what I remember if I can help it. Got it."

Bonnie gives Stefan a look; he releases me and steps away. Bonnie takes a deep breath. "Now, I want you to concentrate on the point in time you started developing feelings for Damon," she tells me, lightly touching the edges of my face with her fingers. "Let me know when you got it."

I think hard over the course of my relationship with my beloved, analyzing the twists and turns it took. Then I realize that, of course, it had to start on that trip to Georgia. There's no way around that. I nod, once, focusing on the moment I woke up in his car with everything in me as Bonnie starts chanting. I feel myself start to detach from my body, floating on a kind of magical wind. Slowly, my memories start playing before me, starting from the most recent as the wind carries me backwards. The wind and memories seem to pick up speed, going faster and faster until I have to close my eyes against the dizziness. That helps block out the memories somehow. But the wind is soon at category force five hurricane, and I'm caught up in it.

Then, everything stops and I feel myself waking up to slight pain in my body. I open my eyes.