Birds chirping filled the air as the sun shone brightly into the room, lighting it up as a sense of warmth filled the room. The storm had finally cleared out and Mystic Falls was finally sunny again.

Luciana tossed on the bed as the sunlight poured onto her face, causing her sleep to be interrupted. She slowly opened her green eyes, adjusting to the sunlight as she sat up, resting her head against the headboard, looking around at the room she was in.

As Luciana explored, a burp escaped her stomach in hunger, considering she hadn't eaten in over a century, technically. With a sigh, Luciana walked to the washroom and washed her face before finally looking at herself in the mirror, only to notice all her wounds had healed overnight. It didn't take t=long for her then to realize that the water from last night wasn't mixed with herbs, but vampire blood. Vampire blood from her best friend, Stefan. Stefan and Damon were vampires. They were dead yet alive. Katherine...wasn't Katherine anymore. It was Elena, a human. It was a 145 years later. 145 years she had been slumbering. The world was different now, and she knew none of it.

With a sigh, Luciana pat her face dry before stepping out of the bathroom and went downstairs to check if she could find Stefan or not.

Reaching downstairs, she noticed many familiar things around the house, as well as many things that she had never set eyes on before. Strolling further, she finally reached the main living room where she had woken up last night. Her eyes landed on a glass with ice in it, causing her curiosity to get to the best of her as she picked it up and sniffed it, only being met with a strong and disgusting smell, causing her to scrunch up her nose in disgust.

"I don't think that's the first thing you want after waking up," she heard a familiar voice from behind her, causing her to turn around as Damon walked up to her, taking the glass from her hand and gulping down the bourbon in one go.

"What is that?" she asked while still making a face, "it smells disgusting."

"Yeah, it tastes even worse," Damon replied, "but it's either this or people, so..."

Luciana looked away at his words, not knowing if he meant it as a joke or not. He was a vampire now, after all. And something was different about him now. He wasn't smiley like he used to be. He was...closed off, moody and he reeked of alcohol, even at 9 AM in the morning.

"I didn't see you last night," Luciana said as she settled down on the couch opposite him.

"Maybe because I was avoiding you," Damon replied bluntly as Luciana frowned.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Damon asked as he poured himself another drink.

"Why were you avoiding me?" she questioned.

"Because I don't care?" Damon replied, "I mean, you're Stefan's best friend. You're Katherine's best friend. Yeah, yeah, yeah...but you and I? We barely ever even talked."

"And whose fault was that?" Luciana retorted, trying to cover up the hurt from his words, "you were the one who always ignored me."

"Just like I will be, even now," Damon smiled at her sarcastically, gulping down this drink too as the two of them heard the front door open and Stefan and Elena walk in, both carrying big bags in their hands.

"Hey, you're awake," Stefan greeted with a smile as he placed the bags by the door, "sorry, I was out."

"Where did you two go?" Damon asked before pointing at Luciana, "this one was snooping around."

"I was not," she retorted in a offended manner, "I was looking for you."

"We went to get you some clothes," Elena answered as she handed a bag to the redhead, "there's mostly dresses, considering you don't seem to be a fan of pants and shirts."

"Um, thank you?" Luciana responded in a confused manner, still not knowing how to approach her best friend's lookalike, who was apparently nothing like her.

"You're welcome," Elena smiled softly as Stefan spoke up.

"Lu, you must be hungry, wanna go out to grab something to eat?" he offered.

"I...I don't think I should be going out yet," Luciana mumbled as Damon nodded.

"For once, I agree," he said, "what're you gonna tell people? Who is she?"

"I think it's easier to catch up if you see how things have changed," Elena chimed in, "and me and Stefan will be with you all the time."

"Come on, Lu," Stefan urged, "you'll be fine."

"Al-Alright," Luciana agreed hesitantly as Elena grabbed the bags and her hand in excitement.

"Come on, you can choose what you want to wear and then we can leave," she said as she dragged the redhead upstairs. Stefan watched with a smile on his face, happy to see some progress between the two most important women in his life whereas Damon only rolled his eyes at the girls before returning back to his drink.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

The Grill

After changing into a dress that Luciana liked, the three of them walked to the Grill to get some food, knowing Luciana must be starving.

"And this is the Grill," Elena explained, "this is a diner. Um, a place where we stop by to get food, hangout with friends, get drunk- all that."

"I thought you said you're 17?" Luciana questioned, wondering how she got to drink at all, "how do they let you drink?"

"They don't. But that never stopped us before," Elena chuckled as they sat down at a booth, "you'll understand once you meet my friends."

Right on cue, Matt walked up to their booth, "hey can I take your order?" he asked before noticing who the customers were, "oh hey, Elena, Stefan and..."

"Luciana," Stefan answered, "she's an old family friend who just moved to town."

"Oh, hi, it's nice to meet you," Matt greeted as he held out his hand for her to shake, "I'm Matt."

"It's good to meet you, Sir," Luciana greeted back, shaking his hand as Elena and Stefan shared a look, noticing the confusion on Matt's face.

"I heard about your sister from Elena," Stefan then said, trying to change the topic, "I'm sorry."

"Thanks, man," Matt replied.

"Yeah, how are you and Kelly now?" Elena asked in concern as Matt smiled at her.

"We're fine," he assured, "and you know, mom said thanks for all that you did for Vicki's funeral and memorial."

Elena nodded in understanding as Matt sighed, "right, so what do you guys want to have? I'm guessing you two will have the usual so, what about you, Luciana?"

"Um, I don't really know what to try," Luciana mumbled, not knowing what to get off of the menu, considering she hadn't heard of most of these food ever before.

"Just get her what I'm having," Stefan told Matt as he nodded before noting down the orders and walking away.

"Thanks," Luciana spoke, "is Matt a friend of yours, Elena?"

"Oh yeah, he's a childhood friend," Elena answered, "we grew up together."

"So like me and Stef?" she asked with a smile as the brunette nodded.

"You know," Elena smirked, "I was hoping you could tell me some embarrassing stories about Stefan."

Stefan's eyes widened in alarm as Luciana smiled at Elena's words before looking at him with a raised brow, "like the time he broke one of Giuseppe's favorite statues and tried to fix it using dough he stole from the kitchen?"

"Hey, you promised you wouldn't ever mention it," Stefan glared at her in mock-offence as Elena burst out laughing.

"You did what? How old were you?"

"He was 13," Luciana answered as Elena began laughing even louder, Luciana joining in as gradually, a smile broke out of Stefan's face as well.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

"Okay, pancakes might me my new favorite food ever," Luciana announced as the trio walked out of the Grill after finishing their breakfast.

Stefan and Elena laughed as the brunette said, "wait till you try the burger and fries here. They're divine."

"The Town Square hasn't changed much," Luciana stated as they walked around the area, "it's the same...just modern."

"A lot of things haven't changed," Stefan agreed, "you'll see."

"So, you two really think it's a good idea for me to join your school?" the redhead then asked hesitantly as the other two nodded.

"We both go to school," Elena stated, "so, you'll be with us there too. You can meet Caroline and Bonnie too."

"Bonnie...is she the witch who unlocked the tomb?" Luciana whispered as Elena and Stefan looked surprised at her words.

"How do you know that?" Stefan asked as Luciana frowned.

"You told me," she replied as Stefan shook his head 'no'.

"I didn't tell you that, Lu," he denied, "how do you..."

"What're you talking about?" Luciana interrupted, "you told me. You said Damon made her open the tomb to find Katherine. That's how you found me there. I remember you telling me."

Stefan fell quiet as he tried to remember when he had told her all this. After pondering on it for a moment, his eyes widened in realization.

"I...I told you all this when you were in the hospital," he said as the girls looked at him shocked, "Lu, you were unconscious, how did you hear me?"

"I...I don't know," Luciana mumbled in confusion, "I just remember hearing you say-"

"What else do you remember?" Stefan asked abruptly, trying to see how much she had heard.

"I...I remember you talking about your friend...Lexi?" she asked rhetorically, "I remember you talking about Damon leaving, I remember you saying you moved here to find out more about Elena and um, you said something about losing control but I-"

"Hey, you guys!" Luciana got cut off as a new voice broke into the group as they looked back to see a blonde waving them over.

"Hey, what're you guys doing here?" Caroline asked as she walked up to them, finally noticing the unfamiliar face among her friends, "oh, who's this?"

"This is Luciana," Elena introduced this time, "she's an old family friend of Stefan's."

"Oh," Caroline mumbled, "hey, I'm Caroline. It's nice to meet you."

"Pleasure to meet you too," Luciana smiled at the blonde as she smiled back in response before turning to Elena.

"Hey, have you seen Matt?" Caroline then asked, "I haven't heard from him since yesterday."

"Yeah, we saw him at the Grill," Elena answered, "I think he just needs some more time to cope, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Caroline mumbled sadly, "anyway, I'll see you guys later, okay? It was nice meeting you, Luciana," she chirped before walking off towards the Grill.

"She's a cheerful one," Luciana commented as Elena nodded with a chuckle.

"Cheerful is an understatement," the brunette agreed.

"So, what happened to Matt's sister?" the redhead then quizzed curiously, "if you don't mind sharing, of course."

"No no, it's alright," Elena reassured, "she, uh...she was found dead and buried in the woods a few weeks after she went missing. They ruled it off as drug overdose."

"But...it wasn't that, was it?" Luciana deduced from the look on her friends' faces, "was it one of the tomb vampires?"

"It was...it was Damon, Lu," Stefan revealed as Luciana gasped in surprise, "he turned her and when things went wrong...you know, he's not the same guy he was a 145 years ago. He's changed now."

"I'm sorry," Elena mumbled as they walked back to the mansion, spending the day getting to know more about each other.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

The Salvatore Mansion

"Come on, it'll be fun," Elena nagged, "you'll get to meet more of the townspeople."

"Elena, the last few days of getting to know you have been great and all but I don't know if you can't tell that I'm more of a... homebody or do you just choose to ignore it."

"Hey, you're using our terms now. That's progress," Elena complimented, "come on, you start school in a week, it's better if you know the people you'll be going to school with. And technically, you're a founding family too."
"Elena-"

"Plus, Stefan's been on edge since the human-blood incident so, you being there could help him," Elena pointed out, knowing this would cause the redhead to reconsider.

It had been a 3 days since the awakening and Elena had become a good friend of Luciana's. Elena, her and Stefan hung out a lot over the past few days with Luciana finally being able to tell the differences between Katherine and the human brunette, but in her eyes, there were many similarities as well.

Damon mostly kept to himself and chose to avoid Luciana for some reason unknown to all, and it was clear to Luciana that the raven-haired vampire was the one who had changed the most over time.

And tonight was the Founder's Day Kick-Off Party. A 150 year celebration of the founding families of Mystic Falls. The Salvatores, the Gilberts, the Lockwoods, the Forbes, the Wards- it was a day to commemorate them all.

The Wards were the doctors of Mystic Falls back in the day. They knew all about medicine, diseases and most of all, they were incredible at predicting the outcome of someone's medical condition. They were the lifesavers of the town.

"So, will you go?" Elena asked with an expectant smile as Luciana sighed in defeat before nodding as the brunette cheered in victory, hugging the green-eyed girl tightly.

"Come on, I think I saw a perfect dress in your closet," she stated as the girls began to get ready for the party ahead of them.

{her outfit to the Founder's Day Kick-Off Party}

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

The Founder's Hall

"Oh god, I shouldn't be here," Stefan mumbled as the trio stood outside the entrances, contemplating whether to enter or not.

"Well, maybe if we run, we could get away without anyone noticing," Luciana mumbled under her breath as Stefan laughed at her words. This was a common line for them as whenever there was a celebration back in their childhood, the trio were renowned for sneaking off.

"Come on, don't be such downers," Damon urged, "it's a party for founding families. That would be us. It would be rude to skip."

"I really liked you a lot better when you hated everybody," Stefan teased as Damon smirked in response.

"Oh, I still do," he teased back, "I just love how everyone loves me. And you, how're you doing? No cravings, no urges?"

"Damon, don't," Luciana warned, having heard all about Stefan's struggles with human blood from the vampire himself.

"I mean, we are who we are, Stefan," Damon went on as the redhead glared at him, "pretending doesn't change that."

"Nothing would make you happier than seeing me give in, huh, Damon?" Stefan quizzed sarcastically as Damon smirked in response.

"Um, you know what, why don't you go find Elena, Stef?" Luciana interrupted again, "tell her I'm mad she invited me here and then left me at the mansion alone. I'll come find you." 

Stefan shared a hesitant look with his best friend before nodding and walking away.

"Okay, bring in the lectures," Damon rolled his eyes as Luciana turned back to him with a glare.

"Who said I'm gonna lecture you?"

"Oh please," Damon scoffed, "that's what you always did, whenever I teased Stefan or got him into trouble, I'd always be the one you yelled at."

"Because you always did it on purpose," Luciana retorted, "or just to get on my nerves."

"Because you were always so easy to annoy," Damon fired back with a smirk as Luciana continued to glare at him.

"I'm not easily annoyed."

"Oh really?" Damon challenged, "what about now? Are you not annoyed?"

"I...ugh, I miss my friends," Luciana changed the topic, "so, I'm gonna go. And you can...do whatever it is that to do. Just don't cause any trouble."

"But that's what I do," Damon called out as Luciana walked away, rolling her eyes at his words.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

Walking further into the room, Luciana walked over to the bar where she saw Elena just in time to hear the song change as people began to join in on the dance floor. Stefan danced along goofily as Kelly Donovan and many others joined in as well.

"Join in," Luciana nudged Elena as she chuckled when Stefan reach ed out and pulled her to the dance floor too.

Luciana watched with a smile as her friends danced along to the music, enjoying themselves to the most. The smile, however, faded as soon as she felt a familiar presence beside her, knowing that a snarky response wasn't too far away.

"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon snarked as Luciana rolled her eyes at him.

"He's enjoying himself," Luciana replied, "besides, it was you who used to always be the buzzkill."

"Well, things change. I'm the fun brother now," Damon retorted with a sarcastic smile as they heard Stefan call out to them.

"Hey Lu, come on," the younger Salvatore called out for her as she held up her hands in mock-surrender.

"Oh no, I'm good here," she stated but in vain as Damon nudged her a little, just in time for Stefan to take ahold of her hand and drag her to the dancefloor as well. Luciana looked back at Damon with a mock-betrayed look while he only smirked back in response before walking off.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

It was a while later when Luciana and Stefan were stood by the bar as Stefan drank away to keep his urges down and Luciana stood by his side for moral support. Elena had slipped away from the dance floor sometime without them noticing where she had gone off to.

Damon walked up to the two with a smirk as he whispered to Stefan, "do you wanna hear the bad news or the really bad news?"

"Actually, Damon, I don't want any news right now," Stefan replied drunkenly as Damon sighed.

"Alright, let me rephrase," Damon urged, "so you wanna hear how the Council is back in vampire-mode or...how I just killed Uncle John Gilbert?"

At this, both the others' eyes widened in horror but before either could say a word, Damon had already walked off.

Luciana and Stefan exchanged a look as they both rushed behind him, only for Stefan to stop halfway when he began to smell the blood of Kelly Donovan, caused from the fight that broke out between Matt and Tyler.

"Um, Lu, you...you go find Elena, okay?" Stefan instructed, "I'll be with you in a second."

Before Luciana could protest, Stefan was off in the opposite direction, leaving Luciana alone in a sea of unknown faces.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

A crowd had gathered as Mayor Lockwood gave a speech on the beginning of the town's Founder's Day celebration. Damon walked up to stand where Luciana stood as the mayor went on.

"And I would like to welcome back one of our town's favorite son to do the honors of ringing our official charter bell," he announced.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Damon mumbled under his breath as Luciana looked at him in confusion.

"John Gilbert, would you please join me up here?" the mayor went on as Luciana's eyes widened in realization.

"I thought you said-"

"I killed him," Damon admitted, "I snapped his neck and threw him off the balcony."

"Then how is he-"

"I don't know, but we sure need to find out," Damon spoke sternly as he gulped down his drink in one go before grabbing Luciana's hand and dragging her across the crowd to where Alaric Saltzman was stood.

"Look at his right hand," Damon mumbled to the history teacher as he looked at the two in confusion.

"Whose?" Alaric asked.

"Town's favorite son," Damon clarified, "look at his ring."

The three of them turned to look at John as he rang the bell, their eyes focused on the huge men's jewelry gracing his hand.

"That looks like mine," Alaric commented as Luciana looked back at his hand to notice the similarities.

"You think the ring-"

"Brought him back to life after I just killed him five minutes ago?" Damon finished her line, "yes, yes I do."

"Where did you get that ring?" Damon snarled at Alaric as Luciana tried to comprehend what this meant.

"Isobel, my wife," Alaric answered hesitantly as Damon began to chuckle sarcastically at the teacher's words.

"What's funny?" Luciana asked as Damon went on.

"Who gave birth to Elena under the medical care of the esteemed Dr. Grayson Gilbert," he told the two as they looked shocked at his words.

"You think John knew Isobel?"

"I know John knows a lot of things," Damon answered Alaric, "and we need to be cautious of him."

As the crowd dispersed, John Gilbert heads towards the exit as Damon rushes behind him, followed by Alaric.

"Hey, don't leave me here," Luciana groans as she takes off her heels and runs to catch up with them.

"Going somewhere, huh?" Damon asks as him and Alaric walk out behind John.

"I never like to be the last one to leave a party, it's too desperate," John replied, "are you here to kill me again or are you going to let Mr. Saltzman do it for you?"

"Okay, you obviously know who I am," Alaric deduced.

"I do. Alaric Saltzman, the highschool history teacher with a secret," John announces as Luciana finally catches up with them and John's eyes land on him, "it's good to see you're fitting in alright, Ms. Ward."

"H-How do you know who I am?" Luciana asks fearfully as Damon steps in before her, glaring at John.

"Sure know a lot for someone who just got in town," Damon stated skeptically, "or for someone who wasn't around during our time."

"More than you can imagine, Damon," the Gilbert threatened, "my knowledge of this town goes beyond anything that any of you or the Council knows. So, if you were planning on some clever high-speed-snatch-ring-vamp-kill move...know that if I die, everything I know goes to the Council, including the fascinating tale of the original Salvatore brothers, precious little Ms. Ward and all their present-day return to Mystic Falls."

"How'd you get that ring?" Alaric snarled in anger, wanting answers to the mystery.

"I inherited one," John answered, "my brother Gray, the other. This was his. And I wouldn't have given mine to Isobel had I known she'd hand it to a guy."

"So, you did know her," Luciana deduced out loud as John laughed.

"Who do you think send her your way when she wanted to become a vampire?" he asked Damon rhetorically.

"You sent her?"

"Guilty," John smirked, "why, did you think someone else sent her? Maybe Katherine Pierce?"

"You know Katherine?" Luciana asked curiously at the mention of her former best friend, "how do you know her?"

"How do I know anything?" John joked, "you have so many questions. Maybe save some for another time. It was a pleasure meeting the two of you," he said to Alaric and Luciana, "I've heard so much about you. See you around."

And with that, John Gilbert turned on his heels and walked off, leaving the trio behind to process the conversation they had just witnessed.

"Oh well, looks like we have a global crisis to deal with now," Damon sighed as he began to walk away while Alaric and Luciana exchanged paranoid looks.

"You coming?" they heard Damon call out as Luciana cleared her throat, "um yeah, one second," she called back before turning to Alaric with a smile.

"It was nice meeting you, Mr. Saltzman. Elena told me about your help with the tomb vampires, thank you for that."

"It was nothing," Alaric replied, "anyway, it was nice to meet you too, Ms. Ward."

"Oh please, call me Luciana," she insisted, "I...think I'll be seeing you at school soon."

"You're enrolling?"

"Yeah, Stefan and Elena think it might be a good idea," Luciana shrugged, "um, anyway, see you around," she said before walking off behind Damon as they headed back to the Salvatore Mansion.