A/N: Oh my god…I AM SO SORRY about how long it took to get this chapter up….I've been in a writer's block chokehold for like forever. I'm still not sure I liked the way this chapter went, and I know its pretty short, but I figured I should get it up ASAP. Tell me what you think :D

"Grace?"

Eric's eyes snapped toward the woman standing before Ava. Grace? He eyed her carefully. She was taller than he had imagined, 5'7" or 5'8", and as slim – if not slimmer – than Ava. The two could easily have passed for sisters, at first glance at least. She possessed the same fair skin and silky black hair – though hers was longer, fluttering well past her shoulder blades and almost to the small of her back – and similar oriental features. But, upon closer examination, her face was narrower, eyes smaller, and cheekbones higher. She was quite conventionally beautiful, he decided. But Ava…

His gaze flicked toward Ava, who seemed stuck in a state of shock. He would give her a few more seconds – it had probably only been about two since her proclamation – before he intervened. It struck him as highly unlikely that this was actually her dead best friend; she had probably just mistook someone…

It was her eyes, Eric realized abruptly.

Ava had the most breathtakingly beautiful eyes, with their perfect almond shape and the dainty way they'd crinkle at the corners when sahe laughed. And the color…Grace's seemed a dull pebble in comparison to Ava's ever-shifting chocolately browns and glimmering onyx irises…

__

Ava froze and just stared. Grace? "Grace?" she croaked out, her mouth and throat suddenly dry, though not her face, she realized as Grace's thumb swept across her cheeks, brushing away her tears. A stifled sob escaped her lips and she clung to her when she wrapped her arms around her.

"I'm here Ava. It's really me," Grace said into her ear, answering all those teeming questions that she couldn't seem to say. "It's really me."

Eric chose that moment to interrupt, his hand coming to rest carefully on her shoulder. Ava jumped a little, before she smiled radiantly. "Eric! Look, it's Grace!"

He grunted noncommittally, eyes darkening in distrust as he took her in. "Let's go to my office. We'll sort this out there."

Ava nodded, her happiness bright and captivating. She linked arms with Grace and trotted after Eric, before a thought occurred to her. "What about Godric?" Twisting, she tried to catch sight of him over the mess of bodies that lay between her and the bar.

"He's already in the office. Pam'll take care of the bar until then," Eric replied. "Come along."

"Godric?" Grace repeated, a small smile settling around her lips. Her eyes widened and she whispered urgently to Ava, "Ava, I've got to tell you something. I-"

"Come on," Eric said impatiently.

"We're coming," Ava said dismissively. She turned to Grace. "I've got a bunch to tell you too! But let's not agitate them too much, especially since Godric probably can't wait to see you," she said suggestively.

"Ava," Grace tried again, but she had grasped her hand and started tugging insistently. She sighed and let herself be pulled along, there'd be time later.

**

Godric stood as the three of them walked in.

He was unsettled, Ava deduced. There was a deliberate relaxedness to his posture and a not quite natural smile stretched across his lips. It made sense of course, the strangeness of the situation was hard to ignore. His childe, whom he had met all of once, was returning to him from death. Ava's forehead furrowed at that thought.

Shouldn't Godric have known whether or not Grace was dead? The connection between Eric and him stretched far and wide, and however young his bond with Grace was…shouldn't he have known?

She didn't give voice to these questions however, the momentousness of the moment was not lost on her. Standing beside Eric, she watched as Grace stepped uncertainly toward Godric until they were separated by just a few feet.

Something was wrong.

Godric did not move, though his eyes sharpened as he took in Grace. An eyebrow raised and he glanced over her head toward Eric, who nodded tightly.

"What's going on?" she said, tugging slightly at Eric.

It was Godric who answered.

"She's not my childe."

"Yes. Yes, she is! It's Grace, I know she is," she said, desperation slipping into her voice. She couldn't lose Grace, not again. "She's right there and she's back and she's completely fine and..."

"No one is denying she's Grace," Eric murmured, drawing her into his arms. He cupped her face gently, hoping the contact would calm her franticness. Her breathing was evening out, and he waited another beat until he felt her body relax into his before he said softly, "But she's no longer a vampire."

"They're right," Grace spoke up quietly.

"But…how?"

"I don't know, exactly," she sighed. "But I think it has something to do with our gifts."

"I don't understand."

"When I got," she licked her lips, "When I got staked, I think…I think my gift protected me at the expense of the vampire me. Does that make sense?"

"Not really," Ava admitted. "The two shouldn't be exclusive…right?"

"Yeah, but…it was. I can't use my gift, at all. And believe me, I tried."

"But, you're alive. Alive alive?"

"Yes. I think so."

"And you're not going anywhere?"

"Not unless you want me too," she said with a small smile.

"Never," Ava said fiercely, launching herself at Grace again. "Never."

"I believe there are things which still require explanation," Godric said, his quiet voice sliding between the two. "Many many things."

A/N: Read and review? Please?