The morning dawned bright and beautiful four days after Elena's almost death at Stef's hand and Elena didn't really want to get up. After her talk with Klaus four days ago, her mind had been a chaotic mess.

Klaus had somehow known she was in danger, he explained it as a pain in his chest that he just knew meant that Elena was in danger, and he had called Rebekah who had managed to save her in time.

At the same time, she was so very confused, maybe she was sick or something. First it began with the tingles and warmth in her chest when she was around Elijah or even just thought of him and that still kept happening, but now she started to feel the same symptoms around Klaus. Was she dying? Cancer? Insane? Maybe she should go to a doctor or something.

"Elena, you awake?" Jenna poked her head through the door.

"No, just leave me here to die in peace." Elena grumbled from the bed.

"No can do, doodle bug." Jenna laughed. "You told me to wake you up early because apparently Mason told you about some cave or something that you wanted to look for."

"Oh, right." Elena grumbled. "I had forgotten about that."

"Well, Alaric didn't and he's been ready to go for over an hour." Jenna chuckled. "He's very adorable when he's excited about history."

"You being so gone on that guy, that's what's adorable." Elena giggled as she got up and walked into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

After her shower Elena decided to put on an outfit that was inspired by Indiana Jones because she was going on an adventure in some before unexplored caves; brown skinny jeans, white long-sleeved shirt, brown ankle boots, dark leather jacket and a leather satchel that Caroline had given her.

She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled, the only thing missing was a hat, otherwise she could almost pass as a cosplayer doing a female version of Indiana Jones. she finished off the outfit by putting on a leather armband that Nik had sent her from wherever he and Mason where.

Elena made her way to the kitchen, only to stop and smirk in the doorway. Tyler had Jeremy pressed up against the counter with his tongue showed down Jeremy's throat, while Jeremy moaned lowly.

"I didn't know I ordered breakfast entertainment today, but I'm not complaining." Elena spoked up deviously.

"Lena!" Jeremy gasped and fumbled a little while Tyler just smiled.

"Good morning, Alpha." Tyler walked over and nuzzled her throat.

"Good morning, pup." Elena stroked a hand through Tyler's hair before she walked over to the cupboard to grab a powerbar, then she turned and smirked at Jeremy, "Little brother."

"I thought you were going somewhere with Alaric." Jeremy asked with smile and a huff.

"I'm on my way right now." Elena bounced her way towards the door. "Oh, and if you two are gonna fuck in the kitchen, remember to clean up after yourself."

"Fuck you, Lena!" Jeremy mock glared at her.

"Nah, you may be very handsome, Jeremy, but I'm not into incest." Elena called back before she closed the door.

"Finally!" Alaric drawled as he saw Elena walk out of the house. "What's with the Indiana Jones get-up?"

"We're going to explore an unexplored cave; I thought the outfit was fitting." Elena jumped into the passenger seat of Alaric's car. "Move it, slow poke, we're waiting on you now."

"Why do I put up with you?" Alaric asked as he started the car.

"Because your technically my step-dad." Elena smirked. "And if you marry Aunt Jenna, you'll be my step-uncle too."

"Can't I just disown you or something?" Alaric groaned, turning onto a forest path.

"What's the matter, step-dad?" Elena asked slowly with a smirk.

The car came to a sudden stop as Alaric stared out of the front window of the car with a horrified look on his face. He turned to Elena slowly and pleaded with her, "Never ever call me that again, please!"

Elena frowned and wondered what he was freaking out about and slowly replayed their entire conversation in her mind until she finally got it. Her confused frown turned into a frown of disgust very quickly.

"Eww." Elena shuddered.

"Agreed." Alaric nodded.

"Let's forget this conversation ever happened and swear to never talk about it again." Elena declared.

"Agreed." Alaric nodded again.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence and neither of them broke the silence until they were walking through a tunnel in the cellar where Mason and Tyler used to turn during the full moon.

"So, the Lockwoods really have no idea that these tunnels are underneath their property?" Alaric asked.

"Yeah, Mason only found it because he saw something when he was packing his stuff up after a full moon." Elena moved her flash light around.

"Careful where you shine that thing." Alaric cautioned. "Bats hate the light."

"There's bats here?" Elena looked around, trying to catch a glimpse.

"Elena."

Elena stopped and tilted her head; it was almost liked she heard a voice on the wind. As she spun around, she saw Damon standing behind her.

"Boo!" Damon smirked. He lost his smirk as Elena reacted like he had taught her; with punching him in the face with a closed fist.

"Damon!" Elena gasped in shock when she saw who she had punched.

"Nice right-hook." Damon complimented as he rubbed his cheek.

"Thanks." Elena smiled and followed Alaric into an open room like cave.

"Eh... guys?" Damon called out.

Alaric and Elena turned around and saw that he couldn't get passed the 'doorway'.

"How come you can't get in?" Alaric asked, looking fascinated.

"I don't know but it seems like even the ancient Lockwoods were anti-vampire." Damon looked past their shoulders.

"What do you mean, ancient?" Alaric asked with bright eyes.

"See for yourself." Damon nodded for them to walk further into the cave.

"What is all this?" Elena whispered as she looked at the drawings on the walls.

She of course already knew what it was and how it got there, but she couldn't say that to Damon and Alaric. Elena wondered how she could tell Rebekah about Nik killing their mother without making Rebekah hurting or hating Nik.

Elena understood why Nik did what he did and she had a suspicion that Nik hadn't been in his right mind when it happened. Esther had just forced Nik's wolf half down and locked it up, how was Nik supposed to react rationally when part of him was missing by her hand?

"Well, as far as I can tell, it's a story." Alaric's voice brought her back to the present. "In simple, archaeological terms, it's a really, really old story." He pointed at a drawing on the wall. "That right there, is a moon cycle." Then he pointed at another drawing. "A man, a wolf."

"A werewolf." Elena concluded.

"Yeah, it's the 'Lockwood Diaries: Pictionary-Style'." Damon spoke up from the entrance.

"Wait a minute, are these proof that there were werewolves here before the Lockwoods?" Elena looked between Alaric and Damon. "Because the Lockwoods didn't get here until the 1860s."

"It looks that way." Alaric had an exited gleam in his eyes.

"You are such a nerdy guy when it comes to history." Elena giggled.

"It gets better." Damon smirked.

"What?" Alaric looked wide eyed at Damon.

"There are runes over there." Damon gestured at what he had seen.

Alaric hurried over with Elena following him, and Alaric breathed out in awe. "These are Viking Runes."

"Niklaus... Elijah... Rebekah..." Elena read of the wall.

"You read Runes?" Alaric looked at her.

"A little, yeah." Elena nodded. "I started after I found out what the runic tattoos between my breast means."

"You have runic tattoos between your breasts?" Alaric asked, shocked.

"Yes. Seriously Alaric, keep up." Elena huffed and turned back to the wall. "This proves that the Original family is hella old, tho."

"How do we know this isn't one of Klaus's fakes?" Alaric asked slowly.

"Because of that." Elene pointed at another runic sequence.

"What's that name?" Damon asked as he looked at where Elena was pointing.

"Mikael." Elena said gravely.

XOXOXOX

Alaric was looking through the photos on his desk that he had taken of the drawings on the wall in the cave while Damon and Elena sparred in the living room.

"These images tell a story..." Alaric muttered. "To learn the story, you have to decipher these images."

Damon disarmed Elena but before he could taunt her, she grabbed him by the balls and took the stake back, placing it over his heart. "You're dead."

"That was just cruel." Damon hissed as Elena let go of his family jewels.

"Wasn't it you who told me that anything and everything could be used as a weapon?" Elena smirked and walked over to Alaric.

"Yeah, but I didn't mean for you to use it against me." Damon muttered petulantly.

"Sucks to be you." Elena teasingly mocked him.

"Bang, you're dead!" Damon ran up behind Elena suddenly and started to mockingly nibble on her neck.

"If you were hungry you could just have asked." Elena huffed and bared her neck.

"Thank you, Elena, but I'll just have a blood bag." Damon kissed her on the cheek.

"If you're sure." Elena looked at him and when he nodded, she smiled slightly. "About the images, why don't we just ask someone who was there?"

"Who?" Alaric asked slowly, looking confused.

"Rebekah and Nik." Elena gave him a look and Alaric looked down in embarrassment.

"Really, Ric?" Damon laughed.

"I'll go talk to Rebekah and I'll call Nik on the way." Elena chuckled and walked out.

As Elena walked towards the school, she pulled put her phone and called Nik, wanting to talk to him before she talked to Rebekah.

"Hello, love." Nik answered with a smile in his voice.

"Hey, Nik." Elena found herself smiling.

"What's wrong?" Nik asked, obviously having heard something in her voice.

"Maybe I just wanted to call and ask how the hybrid army is coming along?" Elena huffed, trying to sound believable.

"I wasn't born yesterday, kitten." Nik told her.

"You know how Mason called me a few days ago?" Elena asked with a sigh and continued as she heard Nik make a noise of agreement. "We were just talking and I admitted that I was bored and wanted to go on an adventure and he told me about a cave he had found in the tunnels underneath the Lockwood property."

"So, you got your adventure." Nik chuckled.

"Yes, and it was really fun, until..." Elena trailed off.

"Until?" Nik coaxed softly.

"We found a cave with images drawn on the walls." Elena murmured, knowing that he could hear her anyway. "Your name was carved into the cave wall."

"Oh, you found that cave." Nik chuckled and that's when Elena knew he didn't know about the story drawn on the walls.

"The drawings on the walls told the story of you and your family and... how you killed your mother, Nik." Elena said softly and she heard his drag in a deep breath.

"What?" Nik growled deeply.

"I don't think Alaric or Damon knows but I could read the story." Elena told him quickly.

"How come you could read it?" Nik asked, sounding intrigued.

"I... I..." Elena stuttered, knowing she would have to lie. "I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Nik wondered.

"Exactly that, I don't know how I could read it." Elena murmured, making sure to sound confused. "I just looked at the pictures and knew what they meant."

"Yes, I killed my mother." Nik gave a weary sigh. "Do you hate me or find me a monster now?"

Elena could hear that he did his best to sound uncaring but underneath it all she could hear the fear and loneliness, like he expected her to hate him and leave him.

"No." Elena answered simply.

"What?" Nik asked sounding shocked and very lost. "Why not?"

"Because I knew it was right after she bound your werewolf half." Elena explained. "And I don't think you were in your right mind. I think you just reacted to the betrayal, the loss, the pain and the emptiness inside you."

"How come you can understand something so easily when people I've known for centuries can't even understand a fifth of it?" Nik asked softly.

"Elijah did call me insightful once." Elena chuckled.

"He was always good at seeing people and their gifts." Nik murmured.

"You miss him." Elena stated, like it was obvious.

"Did you know that I shut off my emotions after I killed my mother?" Nik asked in a way that showed he didn't want an answer. "I just couldn't handle the guilt when I came back to myself."

"Oh Nik." Elena sighed sadly.

"And I haven't switched them on since then. Sure, I still cared about my family but I was quick to dagger them at any little, so called, disappointment." Nik kept going like Elena hadn't said anything. "Until I talked to you for the first time and you willingly offered yourself up for a sacrifice to help me be whole again, that's when my humanity started to trickle back and now it's on full force. Can't really say if I like it or not."

"Nik, I will do my best to explain to Rebekah about why you killed your mother, okay?" Elena offered gently. "I assume she doesn't know?"

"I told my siblings that father did it as revenge for her cheating on him with my father." Nik admitted. "Though, I think Elijah might have known."

"I'll talk to Rebekah." Elena assured. "But why don't you wake Elijah up when you get back? We could use his help against your father."

"I guess you're right." Nik mumbled. "I'll think about it."

"I miss you." Elena murmured before quickly hanging up the phone.

Elena silently cursed herself, why did she say that? Shit, fuck, hell, bugger...

"Elena!" Rebekah called out to her as she came upon the cheerleader practice, knocking Elena out of her cursing streak.

"Hey, Rebekah." Elena smiled. "Having fun?"

"I absolutely love doing this." Rebekah beamed. "High school is fun."

"And that's how I know you've done it less than a month." Elena laughed.

"What?" Rebekah looked at her in confusion.

"Give it a few weeks and you'll hate high school as much as the rest of us." Elena smirked.

"If you're gonna be a depressed cupcake, Elena, you can leave." Caroline mock glared at her as she walked up. "Plus, we need Rebekah so we can start practicing group numbers."

"Caroline is right, I should get back." Rebekah smiled brightly, happy to have real friends. "Homecoming's right around the corner..."

"You exited for that then?" Elena smiled, finding Rebekah's excitement for high school and homecoming sort of adorable.

"Yes!" Rebekah almost squealed, but then she frowned. "I just hope someone will ask me."

"Rebekah you're absolutely gorgeous and a bit of a bitch." Elena told her. "There's definitely several guys that will ask you, and probably some girls."

"Guys find bitchiness hot?" Rebekah asked hesitantly.

"Definitely." Caroline nodded. "That's why half the guys in the school wants to get with Elena."

"They do?" Rebekah looked between a smirking Caroline and an annoyed looking Elena.

"Oh, yeah." Caroline chuckled. "You see, Elena is the Queen Bitch of this school, but at the same time she's considered nice. Add the fact that she hasn't agreed to date anyone since she broke up with Matt and you get the guys wanting to break her icy demeanor and be the one to make her melt."

"It's ridiculous." Elena deadpanned.

"It's hilarious, that's what it is." Caroline started to laugh and Rebekah joined her.

"I wanted to talk to you about something we found this morning." Elena turned to Rebekah with a smile. "But it can wait."

"I'll call you later, okay?" Rebekah asked as Caroline started to drag her away.

"Sounds good." Elena laughed and watched as Caroline started to instruct the others in the new routine.

Elena walked home, thinking about the future and the changes she was making to this world. Having Tyler turned into a hybrid willingly, did that mean he wouldn't betray Nik later? And if Nik woke Elijah up when he returned, would that mean that Stef wouldn't be able to steal Nik's family?

She sighed, she missed Nik and Elijah so very much, it was like a physical pain in her chest and she didn't know why. Maybe she could talk to Aunt Jenna about it? She was smart and Elena knew she would be honest with her if Elena was dying or really sick.

"Elena!" Jenna called out happily as Elena walked through the door of the Gilbert home.

'Think about the devil...' Elena thought with a smile as she hugged Jenna. "Hi, Aunt Jenna."

"It feels like it has been ages since we talked." Jenna said sadly.

"We talked this morning, Aunty." Elena chuckled and sat down at the breakfast bar.

"I know that." Jenna mock glared at her. "I meant really talked, like we used to."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Elena murmured. "We've both been so busy with our own stuff that we forgot about each other for a little while."

Jenna bounced over to the fridge and took out some Ben&Jerry's cookie dough ice cream, then she pulled out two spoons before making her way over to sit beside Elena. "So, what had been going on in your life?"

"Not much, really." Elena shrugged and scooped up a spoonful of ice cream.

"Oh, come on, doodle bug." Jenna groaned. "Something must be going on."

"Well..." Elena hesitated, should she really ask Jenna bout her symptoms?

"Go on." Jenna coaxed.

"I think I'm dying or at least sick." Elena admitted.

"Why do you think that?" Jenna asked gently.

"I have these symptoms that freak me out a little, but they don't happen all the time." Elena put the spoon in her mouth.

"What are the symptoms and when do they happen?" Jenna looked concerned.

"Well, there is this warmth that fills my chest, tingles in my stomach and sometimes I get a hard time breathing." Elena said softly. "But it only happens around Elijah and Nik, or sometimes when I think about them."

Jenna had gone from looking concerned to beaming and looking like she wanted to squeal.

"What?" Elena asked as she turned to her Aunt.

"You really don't know?" Jenna asked a little shocked.

"No... I'm dying, aren't I?" Elena looked down sadly.

"No, doodle bug, you're not dying." Jenna smiled at her. "You're in love."

"What?!" Elena asked incredulously. "No, I'm not."

"Oh, doodle bug, what happened to you that forced you into this mind set of feeling unlovable and not understanding your own feelings?" Jenna looked at her with sad eyes.

"But, Aunt Jenna, I can't be in love." Elena ignored Jenna's question. "Especially not with two people!"

"And why not?" Jenna wanted to know.