AN: Drabble alert - it's been a while, so a light attempt to get my head in order!
"Klaus loved her didn't he?" Elena asked, she had a feeling that this was the case for a while now but Elijah had been no help in confirming whether it was true or not.
"Hmm? Who? Katerina?" Rebekah was brought out of her train of thought.
"No, the Original Petrova, Damon told me he loved her, maybe that's why he's so bitter about love. Since he's lost it so much. I can't imagine losing the person you cared for in that way." Elena tried, so maybe the Damon part was a small white lie but Rebekah didn't have to know that.
"Klaus didn't just lose her; she wasn't merely taken from him." Rebekah said reluctantly, this was a difficult subject to discuss and it wasn't brought up often but at the same time, she understood that Elena was desperately searching for answers, each one of them had an issue on hand, so she figured perhaps just this once, she'd put her hatred for the current doppelganger aside and give her the answers that she seeked, as the favour may be returned.
"What do you mean?" Elena was confused now
"My mother did seek to end the feud, but she didn't kill Tatia when we became vampires. The Original Petrova only died after my mother put Niklaus under the curse that shielded him from his wolf side." Rebekah told
"So she lived on? She didn't die?" Elena was surprised at this, she had spent an evening with both Stefan and Damon speculating potential theories as to why Klaus was the way he was but none of them had ever considered this may be a scenario.
"No, she died a horrible death." Rebekah paused as she looked down towards her hands
"I don't understand. Elijah said she was taken from them."
"She was, but my mother didn't kill her. Elijah doesn't know that. Only Niklaus and I know the truth." Rebekah then sighed in remorse, Tatia didn't deserve her fate that she was dealt, she had been an innocent, yet collateral damage.
"I don't understand." Elena pressed, she needed the full story
"Elijah will never understand the grief Niklaus goes through, why he tortures himself over her death. My mother didn't kill Tatia. Niklaus did. She snatched him away and kept him from blood for weeks span. It was only under the darkness of the full moon that she captured Tatia and bound her in the wilderness. By then Niklaus was rapid with hunger and she released him. His hunger came before reasoning. Niklaus took her life, and drained every drop from her body. It was only when he awoke next to her cold form did he realize what he had done. Niklaus didn't lose Tatia; he took her from the world. He killed the woman he loved. You can't recover from that grief."
"No, I guess you can't. You probably never will." Elena nodded
Rebekah offered a small smile in return, a sign of mutual understanding. Perhaps her brother was not perfect, but that didn't mean that he too was dealt with the right fate.