A/N- This is just a little one-shot I couldn't get out of my head about Elijah, instead of Damon, finding Elena on Wickery Bridge in season 4, episode 6...aka last weeks episode. Enjoy!
VVV
You Saved Me
Elena was shaking as she pulled her lapis lazuli ring from her finger and held it out over the depths below Wickery Bridge. She was having an inner battle with herself. Somewhere deep inside, her true self was screaming for her to reconsider her next action, while the tormented part of her wanted it to simply be over and done with. She closed her eyes, trying to withhold her cries, as the ghost of the hunter whispered for her to do it...to drop her only safeguard from the blistering rays of the coming sunrise.
A rebel tear, slid its way down her olive cheek and fell to the pavement. "There you go, crying again. You really never stop, do you?" Katherine's taunting voice said beside her. "Just do it already! Everyone will be so much better off without you!"
A sob constricted Elena's throat, as she released her ring and watched it fall into the dark waters below her. She glanced toward the eastern skies, the slight reddening glow on the horizon told her it wouldn't be long now. 'Just a few more minutes and it'll all be over.' she thought to herself.
She wasn't really aware of her surroundings, instead she kept her eyes and concentration on that distant brightening of the skies. It was like a clock counting down, the brighter the glow, the less time she knew she had.
"It won't be long now." the hunter promised her.
She was so lost in herself that didn't she hear a car screech to a halt at the end of the bridge, nor did she hear the footsteps that approached her. But she suddenly became distantly aware of a voice calling her name.
"Elena?" it said. The slight accent and pronunciation seemed familiar to her, but in the haze of her insanity she couldn't place it. "What are you doing?"
She turned then, out of some form of dying curiosity, to see if she could identify the unwanted intruder who would soon watch her burn. The hunter stood before her, but unlike before when he had been solid and resolute, he was now blurry. And, as she blinked her eyes owlishly, a different form began to take his place.
Dark, imploring eyes stared into her own, from out of a face that, she could now admit, was impossibly handsome. "Elijah?" she questioned, the name floating into her mind like a ghost out of the fog.
"Elena." he said, again.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, warily.
"I believe that I asked that of you..." he said, gently.
His instincts were screaming that something was wrong. There was an intensity in her eyes that normally was not present...she was different. He knew that she had became a vampire, thanks to his siblings informative phone calls, but this...this was entirely different all together.
In answer, she turned her gaze back to the horizon, "I'm ending this once and for all." she explained in a dead tone.
"Good!" the hunter whispered in her ear, his voice not as clear as it had been.
Elijah followed her line of sight toward the dawn and realization of what she was planning hit him like a freight train. "Elena, where is your lapis lazuli?" he demanded.
She motioned down toward the water below them. "I dropped it in." she explained.
Elijah silently cursed, "Elena, you do not want to do this." he said, reaching toward her, only to have her step back.
"Stay away from me!" she said, in a panicked voice.
Elijah shook his head, his brow furrowed in confusion and concern. "I do not know what has happened in my absence to cause this reaction in you. But I do know that this...this being standing before me is not the brave and strong Elena that I left behind. She, regardless of whether she was human or otherwise, would not do this to her family, to her friends, or to herself."
"Don't listen to him." Katherine whispered.
"Don't let him interfere." the hunter said.
But Elijah's words struck a chord deep within her soul, 'He is right!' it screamed. 'Don't do this!'
"He is wrong!" the hunter appeared again. "This is right!"
"Don't listen!" Katherine said.
Then suddenly...they disappeared. Elena glanced around wildly searching, as a sense of clarity settled over her mind. "They're gone!" she breathed.
"Who, Elena?" Elijah asked, taking another step toward her.
"I was hallucinating." she said, relief evident in her voice.
Her elation was short lived, however, as the first rays of the sun peeked over the far mountains. The skin of her cheek began to sting and sizzle as it burned. She looked to Elijah, a new found terror in her eyes that was no doubt reflected in his own. "Elijah!" she panicked.
He quickly glanced at the sun, glaring at its brightness. He stepped forward and grabbed Elena, wrapping her in his arms much like he had done when he had trapped her in the caves, and leaped over the railing of the bridge. When they fell into the water, he kept an arm around her waist, holding her to him.
His eyes quickly searched the bottom of the lake for her lapis. When he spotted a small, blue stoned ring, he grabbed it and slipped it onto her finger. (Had it been under any other circumstance, he would have laughed at the gesture, given its modern significance.)
With his arm still around her, he swam for the surface. He found her to be unconscious when they broke through the water and he pulled her to the shore. He gathered her in his arms and walked to his car, placing her on the back seat. Getting in the drivers seat, he pulled his cell from the center console and dialed Klaus' number.
"Hello?" his brother's irritated voice sounded on the other end.
"Niklaus." Elijah said by way of greeting.
"Now is not a good time, Elijah. So whatever it is make it quick."
"Very well. I do not suppose that you have any idea what is going on with Elena?" he demanded, thinking, no knowing, that Klaus probably had something to do with her almost suicide.
"You found her?" Klaus asked.
"Yes, I found her on Wickery Bridge, attempting to kill herself."
"She didn't succeed then?"
"No, she did not. Why don't you explain to me what's going on, Niklaus?" Elijah asked, his tone deadly serious.
Klaus began to explain about the reemergence of 'The Five' and the fact that Elena had killed one of the hunters. Elijah remembered all too well what members of the group were capable of and the consequences that had befallen his brother as a result of his murder of the original five.
'It's no wonder she wanted to die.' he thought, glancing back at the sleeping girl in the rear seat and starting the engine of his car.
A few minutes later, he pulled up in front of the Gilbert residence. The house was dark and quiet as he made his way inside, cradling Elena to his still damp chest. He took her up to her bedroom and lay her on her bed. Seating himself at the window, he contented himself to wait for her to awaken.
VVV
Blinking rapidly, Elena's eyes adjusted to the sunlight streaming in through the window. 'Wait...how did I get back here?' her mind questioned. She raised a hand to her brow and slowly sat up. Glancing around the room, her eyes landed on the one person that she hadn't expected to see at all.
"Elijah?" she breathed.
"Good morning, Elena. How are you feeling?"
She contemplated for a moment, "Drained."
"Do you remember anything?"
"Some. It's like...like it was a dream or something. I remember mostly everything, but it's almost like I was watching it happen instead of actually participating." she said, staring down at the comforter on her bed. It was then that her mind raced back to that one terrifying moment on the bridge when the sun had risen...when she realized that she might just die.
He had saved her.
"You saved me." she said, her gaze raising to meet his own. He didn't say a word, merely sat staring at her as she smiled, "Thank you." she said.
He nodded once, a small clipped nod. "It does not even begin to erase the sins that I have committed against you, particularly in the past several months. But I hope, however vainly, that it grants me some absolution in any case." he explained, glaring down at the floor.
Elena used her vampire speed and appeared in front of him in an instant. Her hand reached out, on its own accord to cup his cheek. "I had already forgiven you long ago, Elijah." she whispered.
He glanced up at her, a small smile pulled at the corner of his lips, "Now that is the Elena I know and love." he said, quickly realizing his slip.
Her eyes widened in surprise, "'Love?'" she questioned. "I thought you didn't believe in love."
He gulped, but didn't answer. He didn't have to voice it, it was there buried in the depths of his eyes. Touched by some unknown emotion, she smiled softly and surprised them both by leaning forward, her mouth slowly inching toward his until their lips met.
It was a sweet kiss, nothing harsh or excessively passionate about it...but regardless, it was meaningful to them both for many different reasons. His hands grasped her waist and he pulled her ever closer...and he was honestly surprised when she allowed him to do so. Her fingers ran through his hair and her arms wrapped around his neck as the kiss deepened.
When they parted, Elena's hands still cupped his face and they stared knowingly at one another.
The enchanted moment was broken when the door downstairs opened and the Salvatore's made their presence known. "Elena?" Stefan's voice called.
She hesitated for the most brief of moments, then, "I'm up here." she called, sounding almost reluctant...at least to Elijah's ears.
She stepped back away from him, breaking his hold on her waist. She watched the mask of indifference resurface on his face. They had shared a fleeting moment of understanding and forgiveness, but now it was once again time to face reality. An apology, for the interruption, for the kiss, for...whatever, he didn't know, was evident in her eyes, as her bedroom door swung open.
VVV
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