3rd person POV
Supernatural Plane
Kaitlyn woke up with a gasp and as she looked around, she was greeted by the same cloudy white outlook that she had been pulled into a few months ago as well.
"Hello?" Kaitlyn speaks and her voice echoes around the area, as if she was in some sort of enclosed area.
"Hey, I'm Kaitlyn, I was here a few months ago too but now I'm here with my own will. Remember me?" Kaitlyn asks again and is only greeted with the echoes of her own voice as a response, "I...I need help for my daughters. Please, whoever controls all this, please help me," she then pleads. When she still receives no reply, she sits down on the ground and buries her face in her hands as tears of frustration pool into her eyes. Her friends had warned her about this. That there might be no one here this time and she was going to be walking into unknown territory. Freya has informed her about how limited time she would have here and if she doesn't utilize each moment properly, she might not find any help. This was their own shot and she was totally blowing it.
"Please, please, please help me, I beg you," Kaitlyn pleads, "I can't lose my daughters please. They're just sixteen and they're innocent little gems, please help them. I'll do whatever I need to, in return."
"L-lyn?" she hears a voice come from a corner and she immediately looks around, startled by how familiar the voice sounded.
"Hello? Yeah, it's me. Who are you? Show yourself, please help me," she says as she gets back on her feet and looks around the area. Suddenly, a strong dusty gust of wind starts to blow around the place and Kaitlyn struggles to stay on her feet. As she gets pushed back by the wind, she hits something and just as she is about to stumble and fall, a pair of hands reach out and help her stand. She slowly opens her eyes and gasps as soon as she notices who had helped her.
"W-what? Stefan? Oh my god, Stefan is this really you?" she whispers as she tries to comprehend what was happening.
"Lyn? Oh my god, it's really you!" he says as he gives her a long, bone-crushing hug.
"Wait a second, you...you're here? Why are you here? What happened? Oh my god, what happened to you?" Stefan starts to panic as he realizes what her presence there meant.
"I...Bonnie and some other friends helped me with a spell to send me here," she says, knowing the million questions that Stefan might have for her right now, "I'll explain everything, I promise but can you please help me look for someone while we catch up? I have limited time here," she requests him and he nods as they start to walk around the unknown.
"Wait, so you mean it's been 13 years since...then? And you're here to find Jo so she can help with the twins?" he asks her when she first tells him what/who they were looking for.
Kaitlyn nods, "yes and I've been here before. A few months ago and then I saw Chris and...my mom. Why didn't I see you? Where were you?" she asks him curiously.
"I...I don't stay here, Lyn. I stay at the Boarding School. It's empty...like Kai's prison world was. Except it's warm and fuzzy and calm and the resources never run out," he tells her with a smile.
"Always knew you'd find peace," Kaitlyn replies with a smile, "but if you found peace, why can't you see other people? Are all these promises about reuniting in the afterlife just a bunch of made-up crap?" she asks and he chuckles at her question.
"I don't have an answer to that. I just remember the Hellfire and then I woke up at the house but it was empty so I just made peace with the fact that at least I didn't end up in hell with Katherine," he jokes.
"You know, it's a real Boarding School now. Damon let me and Ric turn it into a supernatural school. It's called "The Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted," she tells him and he smiles warmly at her.
"How is everyone?" he asks her with a sad smile.
"We're alright. Me and Ric moved into the Lockwood mansion with the kids, Jeremy moved away, Bonnie and Enzo travel a lot. Damon and Elena moved to NY and they...they had a daughter that they named after you. Stefanie Miranda Salvatore. Kid's a sweetheart," Kaitlyn tells him and his smile widens at the thought of his brother finally getting to live the live he deserved all along.
"What about her?" he asks slowly.
"She...she's happy, Stefan. I mean, of course it's not the same without you but she spends a lot of time travelling with Bonnie and Enzo. Other times, she spends with us, helped us with setting up the school and practically raised the kids, at one point when I was unable to," she tells him and he nods with a sad smile.
"Did she find anyone?"
"No, but then again, she never looked. For the first two years, she still wore the ring on her finger and now, it's a permeant necklace around her neck," she tells him and as she takes another step ahead, she bumps into an invisible barrier and stumbles back. Stefan catches her just in time and just then, the ground shakes.
"Oh boy, I know what happens next," Kaitlyn mumbles as the surroundings begin to change and they find themselves back in the woods where Kaitlyn had met Catherine the last time.
"Kaitlyn?" they hear a voice from behind them as she turns around to be greeted with her mother's concerned face.
"Hi mom," Kaitlyn greets sheepishly, "I'm back."
Catherine rushes towards her and pulls her into a hug, "you're back. How long has it been? Who is this?"
"It's been a few months. And this is Stefan Salvatore, one of my best friends. I ran into him when I got here a while ago. As for why I'm here...I uh, I need your help with something concerning your granddaughters," she tells her as Catherine looks at her with a skeptic look.
"Then let's sit and talk," Catherine says as she leads the two into a small hut behind them. They settle down around a table with makeshift chairs and Catherine looks at her expectantly, waiting for Kaitlyn to elaborate.
"Oh you stupid girl, why would you take such a risk?" Catherine reprimands Kaitlyn while serving tea to them both.
"I told you, I had no other choice. I can't give up on my daughters, mom," Kaitlyn reasons and Catherine nods in understanding.
"So what do you want me to do for you?" she asks her daughter.
"I...I don't know, I came here expecting to see Jo, their biological mom. But I ran into you and Stefan instead, not that I'm not happy to see you two again but I just...I'm short on time and there's only one shot at this. Maybe you could contact some of our ancestors or your old witchy friends? See if they can help, please?"
"You need to give me some time, more than what you say you have," Catherine tells her and Kaitlyn frowns, "you see, time works differently on the Supernatural Plane. What is a day there is sometimes way more here but sometimes way less. No one controls it and it changes at will. You won't realize what your last second here is and it would be stupid of you to risk it. You need to go back, dear," Catherine says as he lovingly strokes Kaitlyn's face.
"I can't go back without a solution, mom," Kaitlyn complains but Catherine smiles at her sadly.
"You have to if you don't want to get lost in the mid-realm. I...I'll look for a solution. I'll try to find this Jo you speak of and if not her, I'll send this friend of yours back with my message but you need to go," Catherine says as she points at Stefan.
"You...you can send people back?" Stefan asks cautiously.
"Only temporarily, against the law of nature and with an immense amount of power," she replies, "but I will make it work for you, Lyn."
"I don't know what to do to go back," Kaitlyn whispers sadly.
"You need to cast a spell with your magic since you came here at will. I can deduct from your words that you barely ever use your powers but dearest, you have so much power in you. More than a Bennett witch, almost as much as the Original Witch but your magic is pure. Use it when you have to, don't hold back on what's yours," Catherine tells Kaitlyn as she hands her a grimoire.
"This is one grimoire with all our ancient spells stamped on this, use what you need to. Remember what you think might be useful for you, now or later. And then go back, I will send help later on," Catherine tells her as she leaves Stefan and Kaitlyn alone in the hut and walks outside.
Kaitlyn doesn't know how much time passes when she skims through the grimoire and catches up with Stefan, making the mot of every second she got with her 'hero big bro', as she liked to call him. All of a sudden, just as Kaitlyn closes the grimoire, the ground starts to shake again and she rushes out of the hut with Stefan following suit. They see the wind has picked up again and the ground is breaking apart when Catherine comes out rushing from the woods. And behind her was...Sheila Bennett.
"G-Grams?" Stefan and Kaitlyn say at the same time.
"Hello dear," Sheila greets Kaitlyn from afar.
"We have no time, the candles are running out! Cast the spell, Kaitlyn. Now!" Catherine orders her.
"What about the help?" Kaitlyn screams.
"We'll find the help you need, I promise. You need to go now!"
"I-" Kaitlyn hesitates again when Stefan turns her to face him.
"Lynnie, listen to me. Go! You have so much to go back to, you can't risk this. She said she'll find help. Go! And please, tell her I love her and I'll be waiting for her here," he tells her and she nods, remembering what Chris had told her the last time she was here. She then turns around and starts to chant a spell from the grimoire as the shaking gets fiercer and the others cling onto anything for support, Kaitlyn doesn't even stutter once.
༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
Mystic Falls
It had been over 4 hours and the candles were barely alight now.
"We need to start the spell now," Freya informs the others as she walks back into the backyard.
"How do we know she got the answers already?" Damon asks and Caroline looks at him with an 'are you serious?' look.
"We don't but we can't delay this or we might risk losing her in the mid-realm," Bonnie says as she and Freya walk towards the candle settings. Kol helps Davina to her feet and the three witches take their places, equidistant to each other and forming a link within themselves with the help of their magic.
They start to chant their spell, trying to bring back Kaitlyn but soon enough, realize that the spell wasn't working.
"Something's blocking our spell," Davina says and everyone looks at her cautiously.
"Wh-what? How can that happen? Who's doing it?" Caroline stutters as tears pool in Bonnie's eyes.
"No Bonbon, bring her back!" Damon yells out in fear.
"I-we're trying, we can't feel her," Bonnie tells them and just then, Hope comes rushing into the backyard.
"What's going on? Why isn't she up yet? The candles are almost out," she asks as she points at the barely lit candles now.
"We need more power," Freya comments as Kol steps forward.
"Channel us, me and Bekah should be enough of a power source for you," Kol suggests as Rebekah nods and steps forward too.
Freya, Bonnie and Davina then start chanting a spell as Rebekah and Kol lie down on either side of Kaitlyn. While they're chanting, the wind picks up again and the witches struggle to keep their foothold stable, even while channeling two Originals.
When Hope notices them struggling, she rushes to them and starts chanting along, before anyone can stop her. Even through the hesitation, the witches continue their spell. The others just stand there, holding onto their breaths, waiting for their Lyn to come back to them-all safe and sound.
༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
Supernatural Plane
Kaitlyn was still chanting when all of a sudden, the shaking halts and so does the wind. Kaitlyn looks at Catherine with confusion and fear written all over her face.
"Wh-what's happened?" she asks Catherine.
"Someone else started a spell, fighting against yours," Sheila Bennett states, "if your spell worked first, it would've been easy but since this spell is overpowering yours, this is going to hurt dear."
"So what do I do now?" Kaitlyn questions again.
"You wait and hope they bring you back before the candles run out. There's nothing else you can do," Catherine states and Kaitlyn sighs, sitting down on the ground. When Stefan sits down next to her, she rests her head on his shoulder as he wraps his arms around her.
"So while we wait, you wanna tell us about him?" Grams asks with a smirk as she points at the big ring on Kaitlyn's finger.
Kaitlyn looks down at it and smiles, "you're not going to like hearing it. Not you and Stefan," she says as she runs her other thumb over the ring.
"Let me guess, it's him. The big, bad hybrid on one knee for you? Should've seen it coming," Stefan says in a calm tone as Kaitlyn turns to look at him.
"You're not mad? I thought you hated him after everything," she asks him in a curious tone.
"Don't get me wrong, I do hate him for everything he's done to us all. To you. But he's your soulmate and I, of all people, got to see up close how much he cares for you. You know, I never told you but that one time I went to New Orleans to ask for his help, all he did was ask about you. If you were happy, if you had everything you wished for, if you'd find someone or not. I...I didn't tell him about Chris because I didn't think you'd want him to know but I he figured it out himself that you did find someone. He tried to hide his sadness but I saw it, I knew that look all too well, I felt it way too many times to know what it was. He...he cares for you, Lyn. Always has and probably always will. And you deserve to find that happiness. So I'm happy for you," Stefan tells him and Kaitlyn swiftly wraps him into a tight hug.
Suddenly, Kaitlyn feels a slight pang in her chest and she breaks away from the hug with wide eyes. She turns to look at Catherine and Grams and they give her a knowing look.
"Their spell is working," Grams tells her and she starts to panic as the pain in her chest starts to grow.
"It hurts," she cries out as her head falls back on Stefan's lap and she starts to struggle to breathe.
"Shhh, it's going to be over soon. You're going back to your kids," Stefan tries to console her and her breathing gets heavier by the second.
༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
Mystic Falls
"I think the spell is working," Caroline whispers as she notices Kaitlyn's unconscious body flinch a little.
The wind gets fiercer as the witches continue to chant and then it happens. All of a sudden...the wind stops and the candles all burn out at the same time. A series of gasps follow as Freya, Bonnie, Hope and Davina are thrown back, away from the circle as if being pushed off by an external force. Soon enough, Kol and Rebekah gasp awake as Marcel and Davina rush to them. Everyone turns their attention to Kaitlyn, waiting for her to wake up like the others but she doesn't.
"What happened? Why isn't she waking up?" Ryan yells as he runs to his mother's side.
"The spell worked, she should've been up by now," Freya mumbles under her breath but all the other supernaturals hear her.
"Then why isn't she?" Kol asks, raising his voice as well. It was clear that the sense of panic was raising into everyone's hearts with every passing second.
"The candles went out. What does that mean?" Alaric asks, hoping for a different answer than before but Freya, Davina and Bonnie wear a solemn look on their faces.
"No No no! this can't be happening, it worked! The spell worked. No, mom needs to wake up!" Hope cries out and everyone looks at her with a sad expression, realizing this was the first time she had called Kaitlyn 'mom'. Hope rushes to Ryan's side as the two kids surround their mother, tears spilling down everyone's eyes.
Hope holds onto one of Kaitlyn's hands and starts to cry hysterically, "mom please, wake up. Please, I didn't even get to spend any time with you. I just got you, please mom don't do this to us. Dad...someone needs to call dad," Hope starts to ramble as Rebekah moves over and wraps an arm around her. Ryan just stares blankly at his mother's face.
"She knew...she knew how risky this was and she still did it. Why does she always have to be so goddamn stubborn?" he yells out in anger, "she...she didn't think of how we'd survive without her? I already lost dad because he was too busy being a hero for me, and now her too? I can't lose her," he whispers, more to himself than the others.
"Is...is it too late or is there still time? To try again?" Damon asks, trying to fight his own tears. Just then, the bracelet is Kaitlyn's hand starts to glow a bright blue color, as if emitting some energy from it. Klaus had given her back the bracelet he got her during the Mikaelson Ball. He said he had spelled it and linked it to his own Viking Wolf bracelet, so whenever either of them were in danger, both their bracelets would glow with a protection spell and as a sign to show the other was in danger. The blue light spreads all over Kaitlyn's body and slowly sinks into her as everyone else watches in awe.
And then...she moves. Her fingers move first and Hope looks down at the hand she was holding when she feels the movement.
"Mom?" Hope whispers and after a while, Kaitlyn moves her head and squints her eyes in pain, letting out a soft groan. Everyone simultaneously releases a breath they had been holding in as they see her move. Hope immediately scoops her into a tight hug and begins to cry into her shoulder. The last time Kaitlyn had been in this situation, it was her soulmate-Klaus who was the first one to embrace her upon her return. This time, it was her daughter, the closest thing she had to her soulmate now- their daughter, Hope.
"Oh my god mom, thank god. We were so scared for you!" Hope cries into the hug.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you guys. I...ah it hurts so bad," Kaitlyn mumbles and Hope immediately loosens her hold on her mom.
"Oh sorry, I just got a little carried away," Hope replies sheepishly and Kaitlyn chuckles slightly.
"No worries, sweety. Wait...did you just call me 'mom'?"
"I...I did. You are my mom so I thought," Hope trails off, trying to explain herself.
"You don't have to explain yourself. I loved hearing it," Kaitlyn reassures her with a smile before turning to the others, "hey everyone. Now before you all point out how crazy all that was and give me your 'told you so' speeches, I want to say I'm sorry," Kaitlyn explains with her puppy eyes as the everyone chuckles as Kol rolls his eyes and Damon continues to glare at her.
"Did you...find a solution?" Alaric asks cautiously, unsure if this was the right moment to ask or not.
"I...uh no, I didn't. but I've got people working on it as we speak, they'll find something," she tells them as they look at her with confusion written all over their faces.
"You've got people on the Supernatural Plane working for you now?" Damon asks at the same time as Bonnie askes, "who?"
"Your Grams, actually," Kaitlyn says as Ryan helps her up and she turns to Bonnie. The entire Scooby Gang gasps at her response while tears pool into Bonnie's eyes.
"You saw Grams?" she asks in a disbelieving tone and Kaitlyn nods.
"Not just Grams. I saw my mom too. They said they'll contact their ancient witch friends and send help ASAP," Kaitlyn says in a hesitant tone that Damon catches on to.
"What else?" he asks her with a raised brow as Elena walks out and joins them.
"Lizzie is resting, she's calmed down somehow. God news?" she asks as everyone looks at Kaitlyn expectantly waiting for her answer.
"I uh...I saw," she mutters, not knowing how to break the news to everyone, with Damon and Elena in front of her and Caroline standing beside her now.
"I saw Stefan," Kaitlyn says but it was barely a whisper.
"Did you just say-" Rebekah asks at the same time as Damon asks, "you...what?"
Kaitlyn, however, ignores them and turns to fully face Caroline, who was now fighting her own tears by looking down at the ground. When Kaitlyn notices her hands were trembling, she holds onto Caroline's hands and pulls her into a hug.
"I saw Stefan, Care. He...he said he was happy, in a warm and fuzzy place. And my mom said she'd find a way to temporarily send him here with a solution if they can't find Jo," Kaitlyn repeats as Caroline tightly holds onto her and cries hysterically, in happiness to hear he had found peace and in sorrow of not being able to see him.
"What happened here?" a voice comes from behind them and as Kaitlyn breaks away from the hug, she is greeted with the presence of a suited Original.
"Hey 'Lijah," she says as she walks up to him and hugs him in happiness of seeing him after months. Elijah too hugs her back, but in sorrow of knowing the message he was burdened to convey to the girl he considered his best friend/little sister.
"Where's Nik?" Rebekah asks as they break away from the hug and Kaitlyn too then looks around, noticing he wasn't here.
"Yeah, where's Nik?" she repeats Rebekah's question.
"Rose, he...he isn't here. He didn't come back with me," Elijah whispers to her in a guilty tone while handing her Klaus' letter.
Kaitlyn looks down at the envelope and then back at him, "oh," is all she says in response before turning away and walking back inside while motioning for Ryan and Hope to follow while the others just stand there, shocked at the revelation.