A/N: So this is actually my first Vampire Diaries fic. Damon and Elena are my original favorite couple but something about Elijah and Elena just inspired me and my affection for them has been rapidly increasing. Unfortunately I've noticed there aren't many Elejah shippers out there but I just couldn't resist. I present you with my debut fic since my long bout of writers block. Enjoy!
The Heart of a Man
Elijah stood grimly in wait, concealed by the shadows of the night with his jaw clenched, his body tensed, and his eyes filled with a misery no man other than that of the Salvatore brothers could ever fully comprehend. A sharp pain echoed in his chest, piercing barbs that reminded him what it felt like to be human again. What it meant to feel.
It had never been his intention to fall for the doppelganger. Either of them. In fact it had been the exact opposite of what he had originally planned. He had made the mistake of falling for Katerina all those years ago and he had promised himself that it would not happen again. He wouldn't allow it.
He should have learned from his past misstep when it came to matters of the heart. And yet, Elena, in the short time he had known her, had captivated him with her soft beauty and selflessness, compassion and grace, her bravery in the face of danger and even her stubborn tendencies that often made him cringe and smile with adoration.
She had found a way to set his humanity on fire, igniting something he had once thought lost and unrecoverable since his family's deaths. Elena had touched him deeper than he was willing to admit to himself much less to anyone else and sitting idly, not being able to intervene as he watched his brother drain the life from the beautiful doe eyed girl was tearing him apart inside.
Every muscle screamed at him to do something, anything. But he held still and remained in the dark even though it went against every natural response his body had. He knew making a move would compromise everything. That Klaus would see right through him and not give up without taking as many people out as need be but the desire to spare Elena and save her from an unwanted fate was so strong. It seemed to take up his entire being. It was a force that threatened to wreak havoc, causing him to act impulsively and putting all their efforts to waste.
He knew it was a feeling shared between himself and the two Salvatore's one of which was pinned and incapacitated at the moment and the other who stood across from him waiting with pain in his eyes for the girl who seemed to be the only link to his humanity.
Elijah swallowed thickly, poising to move, as his brother tossed Elena's body aside and grinned as if her life meant nothing as if she had not been the most endearing and noble woman Elijah ever had the pleasure of meeting. Like she was nothing more to Klaus than an opportunity to embrace his other half.
Anger stirred within him. A rage Elijah had never know before and he had a hard time reaching inside himself to control it. All their hope now lied with a spell that carried no guarantees, no second chances given it failed. It was quite simply a shot in the dark and Elijah couldn't help but think had Damon never fed Elena his blood the elixir could have saved her but even Elijah wasn't naive enough to believe that wholeheartedly. He knew that the elixir would have the same chance of sparing Elena as the spell her birth father had spoke of.
In the end, all Elijah could do was hope fiercely that the spell would do what it promised and that Elena would come out unscathed and ultimately still human. He closed his eyes, smiling weakly as Elena's beautiful face greeted him from behind his lids. He took one final staggering breath, focusing all his energy into the task at hand, killing his brother in the name of their family. He sauntered over to his brother sprawled against the cold ground before plunging his hand through Niklaus's chest as the witch chanted, calling upon the spirits to guide her and Stefan anxiously watched it all unfold.