Elijah had been roaming the world for generations, lost beyond all measure. Long after his siblings and friends had gone, he remained. First Tatia had left him, and then Katherine, and finally, it ended with Elena. The Petrova doppelganger line ended after three women, forever cutting off any hope Elijah might have had about getting together with the next beautiful lady to come along. There was no one else for him, no place for him. He was totally and utterly alone.
He had come to develop a routine. Every hundred years, he would rotate between Mystic Falls, his homeland, and simply roaming the lands and seas aimlessly. He might have left forever and never returned if he did not still, somehow, after all this time, still have hope that one of the doppelgangers would come back and decide to be with him.
It was the year of the transition. The hundred years had passed and Elijah was free to return to Mystic Falls. Everyone that had lived there one hundred years ago had surely died, so there was no hope of being recognized. And if by some tragedy, he was discovered, he could simply kill whomever it was that knew his secret. Being an Original came with perks.
Elijah was just leaving the newly remodeled Mystic Grill – a place that had been standing hundreds of years and had seen more action than any being ever could – when he heard a terrified, desperate cry pierce the air. A woman's scream. He thought nothing of it at all, at first. Mystic Falls had always been littered with vampires. Surely that was what was happening now. Why should he help? Why should he care? He did not.
The girl screamed again. Elijah could not see her. He was walking away from the alley where he knew her to be trapped. He did not care.
"Please!" She begged her attacker.
Elijah stopped dead in his tracks.
Elena. No, it was Katherine. Wait. It had to be Tatia. Yes, of course. No.
Elijah fell to the ground in the middle of the deserted street, covering his ears against the lie. It couldn't be. It just could not be them. None of them. Tatia had not been seen since the Middle Ages, Katherine had disappeared with Damon hundreds of years ago, and Elena was settled down and living happily with Stefan. It could not be them. His mind was playing tricks on him. That was it.
And why should he care if it was one of them? It wasn't as if they ever loved him or even cared for him. Why should he put in the effort to save them when they would not return the favor?
"Please." The girl begged again, sobbing gently this time.
Elijah was blocking out the sound with all his might. He was trying to turn off his humanity, but it would not go. It would not stop bothering him. It would not let him walk away.
He was on his feet in one second and at the mouth of the alley in the next. His vampire eyes allowed him to see into the pitch black darkness with ease and what he beheld was enough to bring him to his knees.
There she was. Tatia. Katherine. Elena. One of them. So beautiful. He was so stricken by her presence that it just then occurred to him, watching her struggle against the bloody thirsty vampire, that, whichever one of the doppelgangers she was, she could have fought back. But no. There she stood, pressed between the brick wall and the vampire, as helpless as a human.
Elijah, without a moment's hesitation, grabbed a splintered branch from the ground and staked the vampire. He took pleasure in standing over the monster as it turned to rubble.
"Thank you." The girl gasped.
Now that the danger had passed and she was safe, Elijah could afford to let his disgust show. "So which one are you?"
"Excuse me?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Don't play stupid." He rolled his eyes.
The girl placed her hands on her hips. Elijah fought the urge to notice how beautiful she looked. His perfect memory still had not done her justice. "Then answer my question. Which one are you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She crossed her arms over her chest.
Elijah was bewildered. Her sass was certainly characteristic of Katherine, but her voice was gentle like Tatia's. However, she was dressed like Elena. Her hair was that deep, rich dark color and worn in odd waves, like none of the three girls. Of course it was possible that they changed their looks, but after hundreds of years of keeping it the same, it seemed odd that they would pick now for a makeover.
"Tell me." Elijah roared.
He took a threatening step toward the girl and she flinched. "I really don't know what you're talking about. Please. I've been through enough."
Could it be that this was not one of the Petrovas? Could it be that this girl was someone else? No impossible.
"What is your name?" Elijah demanded.
"Myra!"
"Your last name! What is it?"
The vein was bursting in his forehead. He could feel the heat creep up his neck to his face. The suspense, the knowing what was coming, was killing him. He knew what he was about to hear, and yet he could not believe it. He didn't want to believe it.
"Gilbert!" She screamed.
Elijah stumbled back.
"Myra Gilbert." Myra growled. "Why does it matter?"
"Are you… Jeremy Gilbert's ancestor?"
Because it was surely impossible that she descended from Elena. Elena changed her last name. It was now Salvatore. Who else would it be, though?
"No." She said. "He was my great uncle to the twentieth power, or something like that."
"Uncle?" That meant that…
"Elena Gilbert is my mother."
Elijah was to Myra in a second. He grabbed her by the collar, shoving her up against the wall. His anger was beyond his control and he ended up holding her two feet off the ground. "Elena Gilbert is your mother?"
"Let go of me!" Myra screamed.
Elijah dropped her and she went crashing to the floor. Nothing made sense. None of it. "This Elena Gilbert. Does she look exactly like you? And I mean exactly like you."
"Yes. So?"
"Then… you. How? How is she human?"
Myra stood, brushing the dirt off her pants. In her anger, she looked so much like Katherine, but in the underlying features, he found Tatia and Katherine. There was no hiding it. "The descendants of the witch Bonnie Bennet found a way to make her human. It took years, but she made it happen. It was recent. Nearly seventeen years ago. She decided to keep her maiden name."
"Elena… is… human?"
"Yes. And so is my father. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Stefan is human." Elijah laughed. He was hysterical. Hysterical and elated and confused and a thousand other feelings. The impossible was possible.
"Yes." Myra glared at him. "And so is my Uncle Damon and Aunt Katherine."
"Uncle Damon!" Elijah laughed. "Aunt Katherine!" He was losing his mind.
"Myra?"
A new figure appeared at the mouth of the alley. He was tall and quite beautiful. Wavy blond hair, deep blue eyes, ruby red lips, and a strong, golden tanned body. He looked so, so familiar.
"Kyle." Myra ran to him, leaving Elijah standing alone in the darkness.
He took her into the protective circle of his arms, kissing the top of her head.
"Wait." Elijah held up a hand. "You. Boy. What is your name?"
"Kyle Mikaelson."
Elijah had to hold the wall to be able to stand. "Your parents?"
"Klaus and Caroline Mikaelson. Now leave us alone."