Forgiveness, Understanding, and Love
Summary: Elena, Elijah, and Damon all have some sort of understanding because they're the older siblings; but with Elena and Elijah it goes deeper than understanding, and with Stefan's betrayal with Katerina; she makes one of the biggest choices of her life.
Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries, TV series or books.
I've always wondered why I understood Damon so much more than I could Stefan. I had always chalked it up to the sheer fact that we were both older siblings, we understood each other through watching over the younger sibling; until Elijah had come and made that deal with me. I have told Damon once that we shared a certain connection; it wasn't what I had thought it had been though. With Elijah I had felt a connection very similar to what I shared with Damon; only with Elijah it felt deeper, much more than the friendship I share with Damon. I knew from the moment he had blown into my life that he would be the deciding factor in some way; and in a way I had been right, he'd saved my life alongside Bonnie. I get the feeling; however, that not everything pertaining to Elijah was at an end.
The night the curse on Klaus was broken Elijah broke his word, he couldn't kill Klaus. It wasn't something I could blame him for though, Klaus is his brother; and because of that one small fact, I cannot help but forgive Elijah. But I still have to wonder as to why? From what Stefan had told me later, Elijah wanted revenge for his other brothers and sisters. I think he wants to know that their bodies are safe before he kills Klaus.
This past year had been rough though; if it had been Damon or I; we would have done the same thing as him. I know what it's like watching a younger sibling break to the point of no return; even if I don't believe Klaus was, or is, savable. I just knew that over the past year I had realized that no matter what Elijah had done that day, I would always forgive him; kind of like what I've done over and over again with Damon.
Lucky bastard survived that damned wolf bite, apparently Bonnie and Jeremy found a regeneration spell that could help him. I don't believe I would have made it through the last year if not for Damon, I really don't. It's because of Damon that I was able to stabilize and become healthy again; it had happened right after Aunt Jenna died, I had no one but Damon, Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy, and oddly Tyler at the time.
See the thing was, Stefan, Stefan cheated on me with Katherine. I was walked into the boarding house, which was and still is mine, to find them sleeping on the couch together; naked. I was so shocked that I just left the room, went home and cried, for three straight hours. The next time we saw each other I told him to stay out of my life. I didn't want to be with a person whom would always cheat on me with my undead look- a- like, who I should mention had made all of our lives living hell because she had decided to run from Elijah and Klaus rather than let the sacrifice happen. He'd always told me that she'd compelled him into loving her. Ever since I'd ended things with him though, he'd been trying to get me back; I wouldn't, no, couldn't go back to him, he is my past.
I had heard rumors from Damon that Elijah was back in the general vicinity; if he was I really just wanted to get away. I know that I'm alive, and if he's told Klaus; I don't even want to think about that at the current moment. Thinking on it though, I should have nothing to fear from either, I've fulfilled my part of what Klaus wanted they don't need me any longer. Knowing that put a smile on my face, I could have a normal life now, thanks in part to Elijah.
Then on the other hand I'm tempted to call Elijah up and see if Klaus would be interested in killing Katherine. I'm not doing it out of vengeance either, oddly; but rather peace of mind. I've not slept well out of fear that she'll come in one of these nights and snap my neck all because she can. That scared me more than the two originals combined.
As I approached the boarding house, which I still own; I notice Bonnie and Damon are here, those two have become my official protectors since the curse was lifted and Damon had been cured. They didn't trust Stefan or Katherine coming anywhere near me. Stefan because he has begun to mix Katherine and me up; while Katherine is always a safety issue in and of her own. I've had to re-ward my own home because I fear the two of them.
I don't notice till the last moment that a black SUV is trailing me; I wonder who would want to follow me,' cause I don't have anything anyone could want. I stop in the driveway and so does the SUV, something seems so damned familiar about that car, and I know it from somewhere. I'm about to enter the door when a figure stops me. Surprise, surprise Elijah steps into my path.
"How'd I know that you would show back up? Especially when people really don't want you around what so ever," I question him exasperated already; vampires are annoying at times.
"I needed to know if the witch's spell worked or not. To see if you were still human Elena," I look at him in bewilderment.
"Of course it worked, John died the moment I woke up," why would he have doubted Bonnie's spell? She's the strongest which to come from the Bennet line, stronger than even Emily, "Why wouldn't it have worked? Bonnie's one of the strongest witches in the country at the current moment," he lifted a brow. Probably expected me to say the strongest in the country; no I was not going to tempt fate by doing such a thing.
"It might not have worked; because spells can be faulty Elena," he sounded concerned. I wonder why? Especially considering he took off with the person he was supposed to help us destroy; I know I've forgiven him, but that doesn't mean that I trust a damned word that comes out of his mouth, "I also came to ask if I could borrow your friend again, the witch?" now he'd just made things more interesting.
"You do realize that Bonnie will try and find a way to kill you correct?" Bonnie had been, and still is, pissed after he'd ran off with Klaus; it was a wonder she hadn't hunted him down actually, "If she sees you; and with you standing in my way of the door, she more than likely will. I can also guarantee that her answer will be no, if she kills Klaus it will be on her terms and rules. Understand this now; Bonnie won't hold back on your brother, She's grown to accommodate all that power and she does know how to use it," Stefan had nearly paid a heavy price after what he'd done to me; I hadn't stood in her way either. Katherine had tried to stop Bonnie, but Damon had somehow distanced her proximity to Bonnie.
"I've no doubts in my mind that she would try her damnedest; however she would not succeed, for you see unlike Klaus I've grown an immunity to magic," I had always wondered why Bonnie's magic had never seemed to bug Elijah.
"Why did you save Klaus that night?" I needed to see if what Stefan said was correct or not, if he had done so to obtain his family back, "I could have understood if you and Klaus were closer, but from what you've told me that wasn't the case."
"I suggest that we go inside if you wish for an answer Elena," he said looking at me with an emotion I couldn't decipher yet.
"Your invite was never rescinded, oddly; we hadn't thought about it at the time," but then even if he could, Klaus couldn't.
"That wasn't very bright of you," he says frowning. As we start to enter the house Damon is instantly by my side trying to protect me from Elijah.
"Elena, what in the hell is he doing here?"
"He'll have to explain that himself once we've had a moment to talk," that's when all hell breaks loose; Bonnie's caught sight of Elijah.
"You Bastard! How in the hell did he get into the house?" here we go with the dangerous magic levels.
"Bonnie we never rescinded his invite remember?" I question, "He's come to explain things to us. Isn't that right Elijah?" giving him a look that says 'you'd better agree with me.'
"Yes I did. I do have quite a bit of explaining to do," that didn't calm Bonnie down much though.
"That doesn't matter, you betrayed out trust; so intern you shouldn't be here," she was itching for the fight that Stefan hadn't given her.
"Bonnie using magic on him won't work; he's an original remember? They're impervious to magic," except Klaus during his were transformation. She has that face on that says she doesn't give a fuck what she can and cannot do, "Fine don't believe me; just try and see how well you attacking him works," that's when the lights started to flicker.
X Time Lapse X
It took twenty minutes, but it's finally gotten through Bonnie's head that she can't hurt Elijah; by this point though everyone had come into the room.
"Are you happy now Bonnie?" I say looking around the boarding house at the destruction she's caused.
"No, but I have learned my lesson. No more attacking Elijah, it won't work," she says accepting defeat.
"Good; now maybe we can get an explanation as to why in the hell you came back," it was obvious that Damon wanted to rip Elijah's head off just as much as Bonnie. Damon; however, knew that if he took Elijah on in a fight he'd lose; and badly.
"The living room then shall we?" Elijah suggests. Everyone starts for the living room except Elijah and me, "I will need to speak with you after I've told them what they need to know."
"Alright," I've have to tell him everything that's happened in the last year or so.
"Shall we… lovely Elena?" he extended his arm out for me to take. As I looped my arm through his something seemed to snap into place; but what I didn't know. We started making our way to the living room, once we entered all eyes came to us; I let go of Elijah's arm and sat on the couch next to Jeremy, that's when Elijah began speaking.
"I know you all believe that I betrayed you, and while in a way I did, I didn't really; I just haven't followed through with it yet. I promised Elena wouldn't die, she didn't; I know I was supposed to keep close loved ones from dying, but Katerina was a curve ball waiting to happen. She chose to keep herself alive and offered up Jenna, I probably wouldn't have been able to stop that even if I had known about it," Damon looks at Elijah credulously.
"Wait! Katherine said Klaus never wanted to use her in the sacrifice, he wanted to use Caroline, but when I busted her out he had Katherine call Jenna," I looked at him as though he were stupid.
"And you believed her? Greta told me Klaus had Aunt Jenna picked from the moment he arrived here; same with Jules, Tyler and Caroline were just distractions to keep you away from the real targets," I said in annoyance.
"So he planned on killing Katherine outside the sacrifice the whole time? Why in the hell would he do that?" did Damon truly no understand the Katherine is completely useless to Klaus beyond anything but dead?
"Because the Petrova blood is only useable while it's in a living body," they all looked at Elijah expecting him to answer.
"Meaning he couldn't use Katherine for the sacrifice, she's a vampire; so even if he had wanted to, Klaus couldn't. That's why he used Aunt Jenna, because he thought it would break me," no it hadn't been Klaus that broke me; but of course he'd never be able to because he didn't love me. As if sensing my emotions Elijah gave me a knowing look; I mouth 'We'll talk.'
"But that still doesn't explain why you've come back to Mystic Falls?" Jeremy says confused. Thank you Jeremy for getting to the part of the story that everyone wanted to actually know; why he'd betrayed us?
"I took Klaus because he knew where my other siblings and parents are buried at; for the longest time I'd thought that he'd buried them at sea, where I could never reach them. When he said he hadn't I saw my opportunity to properly bury them, which I have; now I wish to finish what I start last year," everyone else scowled, Damon and I; however, understood. He wanted to know his family was safe from harm, even if it was just their bodies. Damon and I shared a look then nodded.
"We're in," he and I say together. Older siblings tend to understand things of this nature; only children and younger siblings don't, that's why the others were giving us looks.
"It's an older sibling thing that none of you would ever understand. We're the ones who make sure everyone else in the family is safe, even if it's just their bodies," Damon states defending Elijah. Damon may have been mad at Stefan, but he still looks out for him, "Which is exactly what Elijah here was doing; he made sure they could have a proper burial before Klaus could do something to their bodies."
"Also in doing so he's created the illusion that Klaus can trust him again, this makes Klaus more vulnerable to an attack. Bonnie you'll have to use a lot of energy, so to limit the damage that could be done to you call Lucy up; we'll need her help anyway," she gives me a suspicious look, "I'm thinking of your safety Bonnie, besides she's more experience than you do; with her help we'll be able to accomplish this much more smoothly."
"Alright, I'll help kill the bastard. I can't guarantee that Lucy will help though," she said grabbing Jeremy's hand walking out the door. Jeremy waves bye.
"I'll help, He killed Jenna, and that hurt worse than when Damon turned Isobel," Alaric really had loved Aunt Jenna more than Isobel, him rejecting being put under compulsion had proved that, "Night Elena, Damon," he just nods toward Elijah and leaves the boarding house.
"I'll be honest I'm still pretty pissed at you, but the situation was understandable after Stefan explained what happened. So trust me when I say this time you really have nothing to fear from Elena and me; we, like you, are older siblings. We get the sudden overprotective urge. I'm gonna go to the Grill and grab a few drinks; night Elena, Elijah," he then ran out at vampire speed.
"So the elder Salvatore brother and yourself have forgiven me, that's a bit of a surprise to say the least," I knew he'd been expecting more of a fight out of us, specially Damon; however, because Damon and I had a certain understanding into the situation, that wasn't going to happen, "May I ask where Katerina and the younger Salvatore are? Last I knew you and Stefan were inseparable," I had been wondering when this would come up.
"For the first topic; it's as Damon said, you want your family safe, even if it is just their bodies. He and I are both the oldest from our respective families, we understand the need to protect family," he thought of it for a moment and nodded understanding now, "As to Stefan and Katherine, we had a falling out with them."
"She did something; what did the pair do to you Elena?" I looked him in the eyes and realized if I lied he'd know instantly.
"He slept with her; I only found out because I walked into the living room while they were sleeping," Elijah looked even more angry than Damon had been if that were possible, "The next day when I saw him at school I ended things with him. He asked why, and I told him how I'd seen him with Katherine; he said he'd thought that it was me and I told him to go to hell and that he was trying to lie to me. Apparently he really had thought that it was me that once because so had Damon, until certain traits started to click. The major one was when Katherine gave the excuse of not being in the mood for strawberries, knowing full well that I would never turn down a strawberry. It turned out; however, he'd been cheating on me with her from the moment she'd entered town. She also has a tendency to act as though she's me just to torture him, and now he can't longer tell the difference between Katherine and me," I explain.
"Sounds like something Katerina would do, especially to someone she believes is encroaching on her territory," he was right, she didn't take me being with Stefan well. He then gave me a worried look, "You seem tired, haven't you been sleeping more comfortable since Klaus disappeared?"
"No, no I haven't slept well over the past year because I fear one night Katherine or Stefan would get inside and kill me," it had been a fear of mine since I'd met Katherine, but till I'd found them out I'd never really had to fear for my life.
"Well you have no need to fear them now, one of the things I'll let Klaus do before we kill him is let him have what he wants with Katerina. I took off with him before he could deliver her to her death. He does know that you're still alive Elena, I couldn't hide that that from Elena; however he isn't likely to bother you Elena. In fact in a way he might just owe you for doing everything he wanted willingly," I had only been willing so as not to have my family or friends killed, and that hadn't worked out well; but I could see his point, Klaus in a way did owe me in a way.
"Oh so I should just wait and see if he'll do something for me in the near future?" he looked amused, then rushed at me. Once he was right in front of me, I gasp; I sometimes forget how fast vampires. My eyes flutter shut from my nerves, they still hadn't recovered from when Stefan had done just this only a few weeks prior.
"Do you wish to know the main reason I came back my lovely Elena?" my eyes are still closed, and this now it's not from being shaken, but from anticipation. I can feel Elijah's right hand stroking my cheek, while his other was placed on the small of my back. I want to open my eyes so desperately, but I find that I can't. I'm too scared of what I'll find there in his dark, expressive eyes. Finally I force my eyes to open; I'm shocked by what I see. I can see worry, understanding, lust, and most importantly an emotion I couldn't identify; I wanted to know what it was so desperately.
"If not to take revenge on Klaus; then why?" he keeps stoking my cheek and his eyes gain a certain spark. He started to lean closer, and we were so close that we were breathing the same air; until
Knock!
Knock!
Knock!
Elijah and I both look toward the door, each other, and then the door again.
"Are you expecting anyone else tonight?"
"No, not that I know of," I start toward the door with Elijah at my heels, "Why do I get the feeling that it's Stefan?" I say as I'm about to open the door, "Well speak of the devil, and he shall come," because there was Stefan standing at the boarding houses front door, "What the hell are you doing here?" I was even more pissed that he'd show up here after I told him I'd never want to see him again. Elijah I notice had decided to hide in the shadows.
"I saw Damon at the Grill; said that Elijah was here. I came to make sure that you're alright," I just stared at him as though he were crazy.
"And why would you? What reason would Elijah have to hurt me?" I was still inside, I wasn't about to leave the safety of the house. Main reason being that I didn't know if he thought I was Katherine or myself.
"Because I still love you that's why, and Klaus could want you dead if he knows that you're still alive Elena," I just shook my head, "He's here isn't he Elena? If he is you need to get out of there Elena."
"Why would he want the one person who helped him achieve what he wanted most Stefan? Yes Elijah is here," I turn my head toward the shadows where Elijah was more than likely hiding, "Elijah could you please get him to leave."
"Of course Elena," he said stepping outside the door, "I believe you should leave Mr. Salvatore."
"Why should I leave her alone with you? You betrayed us by letting Klaus live," yeah like the rest of the group Stefan had never comprehended that what Elijah did was for his family, so he would never understand why Damon and I would forgive him. Elijah just stared at him as though he were psychotic.
"I didn't finish out my word for my families safety, even if they are already dead, I needed to make sure that they're safe," Stefan just growled at him, "I'm beginning to see why the others, sans Katerina, have cut you off. You've lost logic because of Katerina's mind games," I smirk, he'd just hit the nail on the head, "Besides are you not the one who betrayed Elena by choosing to sleep with Katerina while you were with her?"
"I've not lost my logic; I choose Katherine a long time ago, I just forgot how much I loved her is all. Now answer me this; what are your intentions toward Elena? Because no matter what happens I will always care for her," he wasn't the only one wanting to know the second part; however, I don't believe that he has ever cared for me, not after what I saw.
"My intentions toward Elena are my own boy, so don't try and find out again," I got the feeling what he has planned for me has something to do with the kiss we almost shared, "No one forgets love Mr. Salvatore, love is impossible to erase from ones heart and mind," he was right on that pitch, I'd never regret or forget loving Stefan, "I also highly doubt you give damned about Elena, not really anyway. Your inner vampire still sees her as yours, even if the human side of you doesn't register it as such; in a way I've encroached on what/who you believe to be your territory. As for your sanity, yes I can see quite plainly that Katerina has robbed you of it. Child never did learn to play nicely with others," damned strait on that point, "So Mr. Salvatore which shall it be? You leaving or dying?"
Stefan scowled and left.
