Chapter Text
Pictures in order: The identical twins (Malakai {Kai} and Gabriel {Gabe}), Carolina (Carrie), Serenity (Ser), Damien, Stefanie (Steffi), Carolyn (Lynn)
/>Damon knew that someone was going to have to bite this bullet, and it seemed like it was going to end up being him. He knew how Kai felt after their ‘guy’s night’ talks and Elena felt the same way, but neither of them were bringing it up, so Damon waited until a time when all the kids were outside playing with Artemis and Ares watching over them before he went and sat across from Bonnie and put his hands on her knees. “It’s time to go home, Bon-bon.”
“What? No. The twins aren’t fixed yet. There’s still more we could find…”
Kai wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “We have six different spells that could work, one of which we /know/ will work if the others fail. It’s just a waiting game now.”
“But there could be a better way. One we haven’t found that will definitely work without the side effects…” Bonnie argued.
“They’re right, Bonnie,” Elena said gently, sliding her arm into Damon’s and leaning her head on his shoulder. “We’ve looked everywhere. We’ve found everything we’re going to find, and we know what this merge thing is now and where it came from. You don’t really think there’s going to be a better way, do you?”
“There’s still hope…”
“Bon-bon,” Damon said seriously. “We have to think of the kids too. The twins are ten now. How do you think this isolation is going to affect them if we keep it up. All seven of the kids are going to end up suffering for it eventually.”
“They need to be able to meet other people. To have friends outside of each other. To learn how to live in a world where we’re not alone,” Elena added. “The longer we wait, the harder it will be for them.”
Bonnie sighed sadly and leaned against her husband of twelve years as she nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. I just…It’s hard. We’ve been so happy here for so long and going back means letting go and…”
“I know, Bon,” Kai told her, kissing her head. “We’ve all found happiness here, but when all is said and done…this is still a prison.”
Bonnie took a few deep breaths for calm. “Okay. We’ll go home,” she agreed.
“Good. Since that’s settled, I’m gonna take Kai on a little trip before we go while you girls get everything organized,” Damon said with a smirk.
“You’re gonna go for it?” Elena asked with a grin.
“Gonna give it a shot, yeah,” Damon told her.
“Go for what?” Kai asked.
“There’s a cure for vampirism,” Elena told him. “In our world it was guarded by a powerful comatose witch, but here…”
“You want to be cured?” Bonnie asked surprised. She thought that Elena had come to love being a vampire and with the kids and all, it would be difficult for her to be human and them to be vampires.
“Not for us,” Damon shook his head. “We want to take it back for Stefan. If he wants it, of course.”
“With him being a ripper, being a vampire is pretty much hell for him. If anyone deserves the chance to be cured its Stefan,” Elena told them.
“Yeah, I agree,” Bonnie nodded. “Just…be careful. Both of you.” With seven kids in the house there was no way they could all go. Not with how dangerous that trip turned out to be last time. “And if by some chance Silas is there…”
“We walk away,” Damon assured her. “I know.”
“I guess this will also give me a chance to get my magic levels topped off before the trip,” Kai chuckled.
“There is that,” Elena grinned. “When are you guys leaving?”
“In the morning?” Damon asked Kai who nodded in acceptance. “We’ll probably be at least a few days. Maybe a week. It depends on how easily we can find it. It’s been a while.”
“We’ll have everything ready to go when you get back,” Bonnie assured them.
“We’ll leave the car, but do you mind if we take the RV?” Damon asked.
“Not at all. We’ll go check it this afternoon to make sure there’s nothing in there we’ll need,” Elena told them.
The next morning, they all saw the guys off. The kids were confused. None of their parents had ever been away for more than a day, but they didn’t seem to mind it really. They watched the plane take off before heading home in their two separate cars. They made a stop on the way though. There was something Elena wanted to find to make organizing their drives easier. The kids were let loose to explore the giant store with Artemis watching them to get help if it was needed. Ares had gone with Damon and Kai.
It took hours for them to find what they were looking for. A canvas bag with forty zipper compartments, twenty on each side, that could roll up for easy storage. It seemed to be designed for things like nuts and bolts and such, but could easily hold a few dozen or so thumb drives in each pocket. It would still take up quite a bit of space, but much less than any other organizational system, and it would be much better than just throwing the drives in and having to search forever to find anything.
By the time they got home, it was time for lunch. The vampire kids were very picky about what human foods they would eat, but since they didn’t actually need human food, their tastes weren’t catered to often. If they didn’t want to eat what everyone else was, they just didn’t eat. Today though, they were taken into consideration. Since it was their first time without their dad, Bonnie and Elena wanted to make sure that they felt as included as possible.
After lunch was when the real work started though. Elena was left to take care of the computer stuff while Bonnie took care of everything else. The ten year old twins were the only one of the kids that Elena trusted to help her, so they joined her while the other five stuck with Bonnie as they sorted through everything. They could only take what they could carry so most of their stuff would be left behind and between the thousand thumb drives and the dozen hard drives, that took up a lot of their available space.
The hardest part of the process was sorting and storing the thumb drives. They were currently only sorted by region, which was still a nightmare when they wanted to find something specific. She taught the twins the basics of the labeling code that they’d had to use given the lack of space to write on the drives. GC for Gemini Coven, NO for New Orleans, MY for Mayan, AZ for Aztec, IC, for Incan, VK for Viking, TV for travelers, and so on. The rest of the code she dealt with as they sorted them that far. It ended up taking days to finish and then it was getting that and the hard drives packed up safely so they wouldn’t be damaged in what might be a bumpy ride.
When that was finally done, she started working on Damon’s and her stuff, deciding what to take and what to leave. There wasn’t a lot they wanted to take though. Damon’s best tux, the dress she’d worn for their first fancy night on the Eiffel Tower, and of course her wedding dress. Just in case her girls ever wanted to wear it for their own weddings. She also grabbed a few changes of clothes for both them and the kids, just in case it took a few days to get some more, but the rest of their clothes could be replaced.
Some of the kid’s artwork and projects were packed up carefully as well as a few other keepsakes from their younger years and that was it. Each of the kids were given a small grocery bag for anything they wanted to keep, like toys or stuffed animals, which then filled another large duffel bag. By the time they were done, All four of their camping backpacks were filled along with six large duffel bags, and just in time for Damon and Kai’s return.
“Did you get it?” Elena asked hopefully.
Damon held up a small box. “Yep. Got it,” he grinned. “With Kai able to take down the protective magic and no Silas or traitorous teammates it was a cakewalk.”
“Well other than the hiking through the forest for three days looking for the damn entrance,” Kai snorted.
“Poor baby,” Bonnie teased with a fake pout as she ran her hands through his hair. He gave her a more real pout before kissing hers away.
“So are we ready to go or do you need our help?” Damon asked.
“We’re ready, but feel free to take a walk through the house and make sure there’s nothing else you want to take,” Elena told them.
Once they finished that, and took a moment for lunch, they headed for the spot that Kai had scouted out and they had excavated years ago waiting for this moment. All four of the adults had a big camping pack on their backs and the gathered the other luggage, the kids, and Artemis in the center of the circle, with Ares on Damon’s shoulder. Once they were all settled and Bonnie made sure that everyone was within the circle of light, she took the ascendant from Kai and cut her hand, dripping her blood on the device as she chanted a spell to take them home.