AN: Fic for The Vampire Diaries Ficathon:Part 4. Enjoy and please review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Elena cried silently as she stood over the freshly covered grave, her tears turning the soil below to mulch. She felt her knees give out as she fell to the grass in despair. The cold, wet dew soaked into her dress as she knelt before the gravestone but she didn't care; she was too numb to care about anything right now. Her hand rose shakily as she reached out and touched the cold, marble of the headstone, her fingers tracing the indents of the gold letters.

Jeremy Grayson Gilbert

1995-2082

Beloved brother, son, husband and father.

Forever in the hearts of those who loved him.

Her eyes drifted from his grave to the dark and empty cemetery. She wouldn't be disturbed right now; no one visited the cemetery at these hours. She supposed that was the reason she had come now.

Elena had looked over the funeral from a distance, hidden behind the trees of the nearby forest. The vicar's words had travelled on the air, telling her of how her brother had been laid to peace to move onto a better place. She hoped the vicar was right, that Jeremy had moved onto a better place because it was the only way that she could bear her decision. Really, she could have saved him. She could have fed him her blood in that hospital bed but she didn't. It was his time to go, he said, but that didn't make her heart ache any less.

She supposed that his death was a good thing. Everyone had their time but she had managed to hold off his demise for as long as she could. Not that he knew that. As soon as that fateful day had finished and left her as a vampire, it was only a matter of time before she left Mystic Falls. He had accepted it, persuaded her even, because he knew that if she didn't, people would find out her secret.

Jeremy had missed his sister dearly each day that she was gone but he knew that it was for the best. He didn't need to worry about her anymore, she could more than take care of herself. So, he moved on with his life and had a family. A normal family. He had a wife, Jennifer, and two sons, Alaric and James. He had enjoyed the last seventy years of his life but sometimes he missed the supernatural entities that had filled his teenage life. They left one by one; Elena, followed soon after by Damon, Stefan who had disappeared after one of Katherine's impromptu visits, Caroline and Tyler had eloped and Bonnie had fled to New York for a new life. Everyone had left and somehow, he was the last one standing, something he had never expected.

Elena had run from her old life, knowing that her new-found vampirism would only destroy what she had built up in her eighteen years of human life. She fled because she needed the memories to remain pure, she didn't want her misgivings as a vampire to affect how she viewed her life as a human. She returned though, every few years, it was impossible to resist the temptation. She thought that her visits might destroy her, tearing apart her heart as she wished for that normal life but instead, she had a purpose. She was there to protect her brother.

She didn't think that Jeremy knew that she had looked over his life. He didn't know how many times she had protected him from danger. Elena had never wanted to interfere in his life, she wanted him to have as normal a life as possible but that didn't stop her from preventing certain events.

She had saved his life when he was twenty-seven. Elena had been watching him walk home from his art studio when she heard noises in the distance. Two men, armed men, looking for an easy target to mug and injure. As they hid away in the darkness of the dingy alley, they never even saw her coming. She was behind them in an instant, their throats wrapped up in her dainty hands. With two quick flicks of her wrists, they collapsed to the ground, their hearts stilling as they hit the cold concrete. She had held her breath as Jeremy stalked past the alley with music pounding in his ears, unaware of the potential danger he had just escaped.

Elena had followed him home that night, looking in through the clean glass window as he hugged his girlfriend in his muscular arms. Her blonde hair had touched the floor as he dipped her down for a tender kiss. She had felt the tug in her heart as they stared at each other lovingly, their bodies embracing tightly.

Fours years later she returned. Her first instinct had been to go to their family home but when she arrived there, the house was shrouded in grief. The pain in their hearts was palpable and she found her hand gripping her chest in response. Something had happened; something bad. Her first instinct was to pull Jeremy into her arms and comfort him but she didn't want to upset the already unsteady balance in his life. She followed Jeremy and Jennifer; she overheard the blonde's name as the couple had cried together, to the hospital. She flitted down the white corridors unseen but she paused as she heard her brother's voice talking softly, an almost whisper. He was declaring his love for someone; promising to save them. She followed the deep baritone hum until she stood outside a small hospital room. He was leaning over something and as he shifted, she caught a glimpse of the incubator. The baby looked to be around a few months old but she suspected that it was older.

A silent tear ran down her cheek as she listened to the doctor's diagnosis. It didn't look good. The baby, a boy named Alaric, had caught meningitis and it was fatal. When her brother and his wife left the hospital, she stepped into the small room silently. Her footsteps were wary as she approached the little boy, her breath catching in her throat as she took in his deep brown eyes. She ran her finger down his cheek as he let out a soft whimper.

Elena never questioned what she did next, all she knew was that she had to save little Alaric, something she had never been able to do for the man he was named after. She pierced her finger with the sharp point of her fang, allowing a slow flow of blood to emerge from the small cut. She stroked the baby's cheek once more, causing him to open his mouth and as he did, she allowed a few drops of her blood to land in the back of his throat. She fled from the scene as she heard the doctor's approaching footsteps but she visited again a few days later. A miraculous recovery, they said. But something in the twinkle in his brother's eye had screamed silent recognition.

She had looked over Jeremy's family as they formed their own lives. She had missed the birth of their second child, James, but had been there to oversee his first birthday party. Elena had watched over them, a protective entity that followed their lives. So when she discovered that her brother was lying in the hospital she had been there in record time.

When she looked into his hospital room, she let the tears flow freely. His hair had greyed over the years and the wrinkles covered his body but even though life had aged his body, it hadn't aged his personality. He was still upbeat, even when faced with death. That's what hurt the most. She had overheard his conversation with a nurse, telling the young woman that it was his time. Elena had fled then, not being able to bear the thought of losing her baby brother but when she returned, he had already passed on. He had slipped away in his sleep, something which she was glad of. Jeremy had a natural death and for that, she couldn't be more thankful.

Back in the cemetery, Elena looked at his headstone one last time before pressing a kiss to the cool marble as a sob wracked through her chest. "Goodbye, Jer Bear," she murmured as she pulled herself to her feet and dusted off the soil on her dress. Her steps were fatigued as she left the cemetery behind. She didn't know how she got there but she was glad that her subconscious had brought her. She looked in through the window as Jeremy's family and friends laughed and cried as they recounted his life. She was about to leave when she saw a piece of paper fluttering out of the corner of her eye. She approached it cautiously, picking it up from the patio carefully so as not to tear it. A gasp left her mouth as she saw that it was addressed to her in Jeremy's familiar scrawl.

Dear Elena,

I asked Jennifer to leave this outside when I finally passed on, in the hopes that it would get to you but if it doesn't, then I guess it will just be lost to the wind.

I know that you've checked up on me over the years. I wanted to thank you for everything you've done. I know it was you who saved Alaric and I know that you compelled the landlord to give us more time when we were struggling for the rent and that it was you who mailed that winning lottery ticket to us. You have always been there for me, and for that, I thank you.

I never was one for words but know this, I love you.

Forever and Always.

Jeremy

Tears streamed from her doe eyes as she finished the letter. The once light wind picked up, blowing leaves from the ground up until they spiralled and flowed around her. The wind seemed to wrap around her in an embrace and a soft laugh fell from her lips. "I love you too, Jer," she smiled at the sky before speeding off into the darkness.