It was with a sigh that Elijah allowed himself to relax into the soft blankets and pillows of his bed, the stresses of the day weighing him down as he sank into the mattress. Even a good night's sleep wouldn't erase all the worries and stress that filled him, but hopefully it would ease them at least a bit. Even as he drifted off to sleep he could feel the tension slowly ebb out of his body.
When he opens his eyes, he knows he is dreaming. He wears a dress suit, Armani of course, and is kneeling next to a bed in the Salvatore boarding house. His eyes travel up from the foot of the bed, knowing exactly what this is. This has haunted him for months now, and he sees it in his dreams; his guilt, his anger, his devastation, all making him restless.
When he meets her eyes this time he sees no anger, he sees no resentment. She doesn't hiss at him, accusing him of loving Hayley more than he ever did her, accusing him of never truly loving her, accusing him of abandoning her, accusing of letting her wither and die.
No, this time she looks at him with love in her eyes and a soft smile on her face as she uses the little strength her sick human body had to gently squeeze his hand reassuringly. She is just as he imagined her to be, her human frailty not becoming of her. No, she has spent too much time being strong, being powerful, that seeing her human and alive no longer holds the same appeal it once did. Instead of looking alive, like she has her whole life ahead of her, one in which she will slowly age as she should, she looks weak and sick because she is dying. Dying all because he failed to come to her aid, he left her and that's when Elena attacked. She shoved the cure down her throat and Damon fed her to Silas. Because of that she's dying, aging too rapidly for her body to keep up, time is finally catching up to her and yet now she no longer looks angry, no longer looks fearful of death. Instead she seems content to be holding onto him, that he is with her even as her life fades.
"Katerina." His shoulders sag as the remorse and guilt and pain fill him once more. She should be upset with him, she should be screaming at him for he does not deserve her love and attention. "Katerina, why do you haunt me? You come to me in my dreams and I see you even in my waking hours. Why do you torment me so? It pains me to see you like this; it pains me to know that I may have been able to prevent it; it pains me to know that you are gone from this Earth, from me, forever."
"I do not mean to be your tormenter Elijah." Her voice is hoarse from the sickness killing her, "And I am not truly gone from you forever." She pulls her hand from his grip and cups his face. "You hold power here." She tells him, "I appear to you this way because this is what you have imagined, this is what you have chosen to see because you wish to cause yourself pain, you wish you could reverse time so that you could have been there in those last few moments of life. But Elijah, I do not have to appear this way. Release the hold on your imagination, of the images you see, release them so that I may appear to you in a way that no longer causes you pain, no longer torments you, because Elijah, you were forgiven long ago."
The next time he awakens, it is slowly, and he is laying down. Soft grass between his fingertips, the feeling of slender fingers threading through his hair as they combed it slowly in a comforting motion. His head was elevated, he realized, as it was in the person's lap. His brow furrowed in confusion, what dream was this now, he wondered.
"Elijah." A sweet, impossible voice spoke his name, softly urging him to wake. "Darling Elijah, open your eyes." She crooned. Slowly he opened his eyes, blinking against the soft glow that was above him. A soft hand cupped his cheek as she leaned over him, coming into clear view, "Katerina." He breathed her name, relief flooding though his senses like water putting out a raging wildfire within him.
Her dark hair fell like a curtain around them, blocking out their surroundings and framing her face, making her look like an angel to Elijah. Reaching up he touched her face, his touch light as he tentatively cupped her cheek, afraid that she would fade away and disappear.
It's as if she senses his fear because she leans into his touch and tells him, "I'm not going anywhere Elijah." Her hand leaves his hair where she'd been brushing her fingers through the short locks comes up to cover his larger one as she relishes the touch. "I'm not going to disappear, not when we are here."
"Where is here?" He asks, knowing that she already has an answer ready for him.
"Dreamland." She smiles as she kisses the palm of his hand. "Here I can come to you freely. Here I can manipulate the space between realities. Here I can give you the sweetest dreams, your wildest wishes, all of your dreams can be fulfilled here."
"Dreamland?" He tested the word, even as it felt false he knew she was telling the truth.
"Yes." She moves, allowing him to sit up, the land around now coming into his line of vision for the first time. The sky was painted in hues of purples and pinks and yellows and oranges and dotted with stars. It looked very much like a cosmic scene above him, like a galaxy within his reach overhead. The grass between his fingers was both green and blue, the wood of the trees were blues and browns while their leaves were mostly of the purple variety. It truly was a sight to behold, not one he would have come up with on his own, of that he is sure.
Returning his gaze to the angel next to him, marveling at the difference he allowed his gaze to simply sweep over her features. She looked healthy, she seemed to have a glow under her skin that glittered and shined under the soft lights around them. Her eyes were bright, full of life, full of happiness.
He almost sighed her name in relief. "My beautiful Katerina."
"My sweet Elijah." Her smile was infectious, and his lips tugged upward in a small smile. "What do you want to do first?" She tilted her head with the inquiry, inviting him to take the lead now.
"I think-" He paused, " I would just like to lay here with you." He finished, as he shifted he felt a shift in the space behind him and found that there was now a smooth tree behind his back. He rested comfortably against it and Katerina scooted closer and into his arms, her back resting on his chest and his arms wrapped loosely around her.
That is how the rest of the night in dreamland went by; he absently played with her small, smooth hands, she relished being by his side.
Elijah opened his eyes, feeling refreshed and content after the great night's sleep he just had. With a sigh he pushed himself up and began to dress, wishing he could just escape back to this Dreamland and be with Katerina for even longer. Perhaps she would visit his dreams again tonight, and he would again sleep peacefully.