A/N: Hi there! So here's a little ficlet that popped into my head one day. I will be writing a short little piece to help sew this up, but I haven't done so yet due to reasons of RL. Enjoy loves!
Things to know: Not entirely canon, but not AU either. Set post ssn 4, and just about everyone has left town, and all of the Originals are alive and kicking. I own nothing except this fic, and I wanted to say thanks to my beta Gorramit Girl.
Elena zips up her hoodie, and walks out the door of the boarding house, where she'd been staying because her house was in ashes. Jeremy had gone back to Denver, Matt was in Minnesota on a football scholarship, and Caroline had been apprenticed at a big boutique in New York, while she'd stuck around, hoping that her roiling emotions would settle themselves, and she could get on with her life. But as the weeks dragged on, she knew something was going to have to be done. She'd been surreptitiously packing things into her car for months, while the Salvatores weren't around. She'd put letters on her pillow that morning, saying goodbye to all those who remained. All that was left was to leave. Elena reflected back on the past months, wondering why she hadn't come completely undone after she'd turned her humanity back on, only to see Bonnie die, and then to discover a voidness of emotion still. It wasn't that she was unable to feel, as was the case with her humanity off, it was more like her emotions had been cauterized, or, she supposed, dulled, by the sheer amount of whiplash over the past years. She slams the car door shut, sticks her key in the ignition, starts her car, and pulls out of the Boarding House driveway, wondering if she'll ever be back.
Once she is sixty miles out of Mystic Falls, Elena pulls over to have a little snack (she has a cooler in the back of her car, nothing conspicuous) and to call the one man she can depend on to get her through this. They speak for just a few moments, before they reach an agreement, and Elena finishes on her end with, "I'll be there soon." They'd agreed to meet in a podunk little town with an unmemorable name and not a whole lot else to it that's just a few miles up the road. Once she reaches her destination, she pulls into the only diner in town. She sees a car across the lot that looks way too expensive for town and knows that he's already inside.
Once Elena enters the diner she scans it, before catching sight of the close cropped hair that belongs to one Elijah Mikaelson. It's shorter than it was the last time she saw him. She doesn't know why she notices this, but she does. His back is to her, but she knows that he knows that she's here. He always does. She slides into the seat in front of him, finally meeting his gaze.
"Hello there." His voice takes on almost the same timbre as the first time he'd said that to her, but this time it was colored with more familiarity and warmth.
"Hello." They exchange a few further pleasantries. She decides that there isn't a ton of time to beat around the bush, especially since Elijah is there on a personal favor. She doesn't want to take up any more of his time than she has to. Well, that isn't entirely true. She's enjoying the company far more than she thinks she ought to be. Alas. When the waitress comes over, she orders a decaf latte, as does he, sans decaf.
"Why, , I never took you for a caffeine person."
"I ordinarily am not, but Rebekah and Klaus have been fighting again. Might I inquire, Miss Gilbert, as to what exactly you did take me for?"
She takes the evasive route and says, "Not a coffee person. I'm getting more of a tea vibe, maybe chamomile." He smiles a little at that, but says nothing.
Once the coffees arrive, Elijah cuts into the business end of things. "What is the reason I am here, Elena?" Her voice sticks in her throat, before she can finally voice the concern that's been weighing on her mind for months.
"I don't have any emotions left, Elijah." The look on Elijah's face is one of concern and confusion.
"I was under the impression that you had turned your humanity back on."
"I did. So pardon my odd metaphor, but it almost feels like my emotional battery has run out of charge." Elijah nods, as way of acknowledging her statement, and looks contemplative for a long moment. Finally breaking the silence, he says,
"Elena, what happened after the confrontation with Silas?"
"My brother left, and Bonnie died." Her face falls with grief, and sorrow at having lost yet another loved one. He looks at Elena, and suddenly understands what can be done.
"Elena, this is my advice to you. Take time to grieve properly. You've been running from Silas, among a great deal of other things since you turned. I hate to be blunt, but did you ever take the time to properly mourn Alaric?
Elena's mind flounders, and she comes to the realization that she hadn't. She'd been too trying to deal with the vampirism, and the the lack of humanity, and then the Salvatore busy brothers pressuring her into choosing, and then her little brother's death and finally, the cherry on a very screwy cake, Silas. Suddenly her throat clogs with grief she'd put aside for later, and she has to take a few calming breaths before she can meet Elijah's eyes again.
"My second piece of advice to you: find somewhere sunny and beautiful on another continent. I hear Italy is lovely in the summer."
He smiles, just enough to crinkle the lines at his eyes. She knows that he's reminiscing about summer days spent in Italy and simplicity. Elena mulls over what he's said, thinking that it is very good advice, and is just about to thank him and take her leave, when her cell phone rings, blaring out her ringtone for when either of the Salvatores called, Theory of a Deadman's The B Came Back. Elena excuses herself with a polite smile and takes the call.
'Yes, Damon?"
"Where are you, Elena? And what is with all this goodbye letter shit? You're coming back to Mystic Falls, whether or not you like it. You could get hurt out there, Elena. Come home, now."
"No, Damon, I'm not going back to Mystic Falls. You and Stefan were smothering me, and you two being my only ties there, I left, just like all my friends did, and I'm not planning on being back anytime soon. Goodbye, Damon, and please don't call me again." Her voice breaks on the last word, so she hangs up before he can hear anything else. She takes a minute to compose herself, and heads back to the table, where Elijah had been staring out the window during the whole conversation, but she knew he had heard the whole thing.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that. He's just doing what he normally does when he gets hurt, that being lashing out... So coming back to our earlier conversation, before we were so rudely interrupted, I wanted to thank you for your council."
"You are quite welcome, lovely Elena," returns Elijah with a soft smile. She stands up, puts money on the table to cover the tab, and then pecks Elijah on the cheek. She lingers just a moment, in which it appears that things could get very heated very quickly, but then his cell phone rings and the moment is gone. She waves goodbye, and saunters out the door to a future full of promise. Elijah lingers a moment, still feeling her lips on his cheek, before accepting the call.
"Yes, Niklaus?"