The first thing he sees, once again, is Elena. She is kneeling over him with concern pouring out of her face. "Are you okay?" she asks as she hands him a blood bag. Not for the first time, Elijah feels a strong sense of déjà vu.
Elijah nods. "I really should have expected that."
There is a vengeful glimmer in her eyes and a barely-there smirk on her face as she offers him her hand.
Elijah decides it must be a sign that Elena brought him back to life both times, so when she asks for his help finding Stefan, it's not as if he can say no.
-x-
"Damon left me in Mystic Falls a month ago to go looking for Stefan; I can't sit around by myself and wait and you're the only person I know who knows Klaus," she tells him.
Elijah can't help but find it remarkable that she brought him back to help her in the very thing he betrayed her at once before.
"He won't be the same person, Elena," Elijah warns her. "You must realize that."
Nonetheless, they head out in the middle of July.
-x-
At night, while Elena sleeps peacefully beside him in the cheap motel bed, Elijah listens to her heartbeat. It relaxes him.
He discovers early on during their road trip that Elena is not a morning person, and delights in teasing her while they get ready to leave each town. After a while he suspects her of catching on, for now she often gives it right back to him.
He finds himself laughing more with her in these months than in he last two hundred yeas prior to meeting her.
He hardly sleeps, so it's a good thing he doesn't actually require much rest. When he closes his eyes he sees her, and it's harder then because what he wants of her is too out of reach to even dream about.
-x-
Elijah kills Klaus once and for all a year later. Too bad he doesn't pay attention to Stefan, who finds Elena and starts draining her.
Although Elijah wouldn't mind ripping his heart out as well at that point, they go back to the boarding house where he locks the younger vampire up and helps him detox.
With the help of vampire blood, Elena heals fairly quickly. Her first demand when she regains consciousness is to see Stefan.
Elijah swallows his emotions and explains to her that her boyfriend is still detoxing and that it is too dangerous.
-x-
The night of their reunion, Elijah hears everything.
The morning after, when Elena comes down for breakfast in Stefan's shirt, Elijah pretends not to notice. He offers her a glass of orange juice which she accepts with a radiant smile, and he pretends not to be aware of just how her night went.
Stefan comes down not long after, and Elijah is almost forgotten.
He grabs his suitcase that night and leaves without a goodbye.
-x-
Six years later finds Elena knocking at Elijah's door in London. She's a crying mess, so he immediately pulls her close and does his best to comfort her. Although it's been a few years, he remembers just what to do.
It turns out twenty four year olds get a lot of grief for dating men who look to be seventeen. This in itself would not be a problem, but Stefan was bringing up turning her and she couldn't take it. It led to a rather large argument and he left for a week. When he finally came back, he was back on human blood.
"Twenty four suits you," he says to lighten the mood and get her to stop crying.
It works, and Elena laughs.
-x-
That night, Elena is once again sleeping beside him. This time, however, they are not in a crappy motel, and he had offered to situate her in one of his many guest bedrooms.
"Will you go back to him?" he asks, cringing in anticipation of her answer.
She moves around a little before answering. "I love him." The 'I love you too, Elijah' isn't spoken, but he feels it between them.
Unfortunately, he also feels the 'just never enough to stay' that follows; so he keeps her close because, for the moment, she is his to hold and he'll treasure the moment while it lasts.