Ariana knew their situation before she even opened her eyes, it was her instincts that kept her from gasping in a breath as she came around. It could only cause her to drown faster. Through the ghostly blue water, she saw her reflection. Only it wasn't, it was Elena with a panicked expression. They both had to survive... For the other. They would die together now. It didn't take much to work out what happened as their hair floated around them in matching brunette clouds. Ariana shook Matt violently, slapping his cheeks because right now, did it matter if he got a bruise? That was preferable to dying.

Elena took a different approach as Ariana continued to beat up an unconscious Matthew Donovan, her movements slowed by the water. Elena slammed her hands against the pane of glass on her right, inwardly pleading for it to break loose, the door wasn't set to open any time soon.

Through the darkness, a savior came to them and Ariana thought she was hallucinating when Stefan's face appeared beyond the window. Her heart lit up as she continued to choke and thrash. He ripped Matt's door off easily and tried to grab the twins but they knew better than to let him. He couldn't take them both at once and if one remained under the water, the other would drown too. The girls were going to die tonight, one way or another. But at least they could spare Matt. Their heads shook in identical unison and he was torn as they pointed to Matt. Though if he somehow saved the girls, they'd never forgive him for sparing them over Matt.

He was angry as he looked into Elena's eyes for the very last time, dragging Matt quickly from the truck. Regretfully he left them under the slowly gliding water, Ariana and Elena grasped tightly onto one another's hands as they felt pain overtake them. Drowning was by no means an easy way to go and as they felt one another's pain, they grappled onto one another as though maybe the human contact might save them. After mouthing a quick 'I love you' to one another, their visions became dark, it was oddly a relaxing end for Ariana Gilbert as she floated under the water with her twin sister.

She felt that she was right where she was meant to be, where her parents had been. Their story ended exactly where it had started.

---

Ariana sighed contently, basking in warmth as she felt the soft fabric of her bedsheets below her body. She could feel bright light on her eyelids which encouraged her to keep them closed. Through her ears, she took in all the sounds that she had grown accustomed to, the sound of songbirds dancing in the breeze, a lawnmower buzzing away and even the groaning of car engines sweeping passed. It was reluctantly that she rejoined the world, her eyes flickering open to meet a plain white ceiling. To her, it was the same as it had been the very first time she had seen and her eyes speckled with tears. She felt alive.

Soon she realised that this wasn't her bedroom and a ruckus beside her caused her to jump, startled to a sitting position in Elena's bed. The older twin was writhing on the sheets, a look of horror and confusion on her face as Ariana watched her. Glancing around her, a mask of shock on her face, Ariana finally realised exactly why Elena was so horrified. She could hear everything and she knew, as surely as the sun did shine, that she was something different now.

Ariana Gilbert was in transition.