"My mother plans on killing us tonight."

"What?" I asked calmly and started laughing. „She can't kill you, you're all immortal."

"She found a way. My mother created the spell, she can take it back. Nothing is truly immortal, there has to be a balance." He explained deadly serious.

"You don't have to explain witch policy to me! I spend enough time with witches!" I screamed angrily and insulted. I had paid more attention to witches than he ever had! While witches may fear him, they had been my true friends! I had listened to them and honored their wisdom more than the Mikaelson's ever had, even with their mother being the original witch!

"Then you shouldn't be surprised." He replied calmly.

"How is she planning on killing you?" I asked still not convinced that it was even possible. Many people had already tried to kill the original family and all of them failed, why did Elijah believe this time would be any different?

"Elena gave my mother her blood, she used it to link us all together. So she just has to kill one to kill us all." He explained in a cold monotone voice.

"But she still has to find a way to kill one of you!" I said my voice shaking. Binding them was a good idea, no one else had thought about it, but it was still impossible to kill any of them!

"Finn is willing to sacrifice himself." Elijah explained further, leaning casually against the wall watching me pace the room and slowly losing it.

"NO! Stop him!" I screamed. Why was he standing here and telling me all of this when he could be out there searching for his suicidal brother!

"He is with my mother and I have I no idea where they are." Elijah was too calm! Why was he so calm? He should do something! Anything!

"How can you be so indifferent? Your mother is trying to kill you!" I screamed choking on my words. "You could be dead by the end of the day." I stated my voice barely above a whisper. Tears were slowly streaming down my face. Elijah looked surprised.

"There is nothing I can do about it. My mother won't care if I come to beg for my life and I can't just kill her. She won't let any of us near her, she will know what we are up to!"

"Then I will go!"

"She knows that you will try to stop her!"

"We can't just do nothing! I can't lose you!" I cried. Elijah came to me and hugged me. I hold on to his shirt for dear life. He couldn't leave me! Having him in such close proximity just made me sob even more. The wet textile of his shirt felt damp on my cheek.

"Why did you come here?" I suddenly screamed and pushed him away from me. "To tell me you are about to die and that I can't do anything about it?!" I hit him hard on his chest. He didn't even flinch. He just took my hands and made me immobile.

"I didn't expect you to be that upset." He whispered.

"You can't die!" I sobbed louder.

"I lived for over 1000 years, maybe it is my time." He sounded convinced. How could he believe that? It wasn't his time! It would never be! That was what being a vampire was supposed to be about!

"DON'T SAY THAT! We are going to find a way, we always do!" He hugged me harder.

"I've never seen you that upset before." He gently wished over my face to let the tears disappear. He was clearly overwhelmed with my outburst. I tried to stop the tears and rubbed my eyes vehemently, but it didn't help.

"Don't leave me!" I begged. I normally didn't cry like that! Why couldn't I stop crying?!

"I thought that is what you wanted? I thought you wanted me to leave you alone." I pushed him away hard. I wanted him to leave me alone, yes, but not like this! I didn't want him to die!

"Don't!" I warned. "Do not question my intentions right now! It's hardly the time!"

"I don't think I can wait any longer to ask you this." He pointed out. I grabbed the first thing I could get a hold off and threw it at him. It was a lamp. He dodged it effortlessly.

"Stop saying that! You don't get to joke about your nearing death!" I chocked.

"Stop, denying! You do what you always do, ever since I met you. You deny yourself the chance of happiness, because you are afraid to admit what you truly want." Elijah became more agitated by the minute.

"Maybe I just think before I act." I hissed. The crying had stopped, now I was just angry.

"And I don't?" He asked amused.

"Yes, you forget to use your brain sometimes."

"And you don't listen to your heart." He countered. I glared at him. "Or you are too stubborn to listen to it." He corrected. "You always tell me to leave, until you realize I am really about to leave and then you panic."

"I don't! I am the one that leaves! You are the one that begs me to stay! Remember?!"

Flashback 1904 – Los Angeles

We fled to the other side of the country. I had asked Alice to cover our track, so Mikael (Elijah finally told me his name) couldn't find us. We compelled us a nice little house. Elijah picked it out, I would have been fine with just staying in small apartment, but Elijah insisted on it. I didn't care enough to fight about it. I was just excited to settle down after running what felt like an eternity.

I was just about to put my clothes in my new closet. Luckily I had learned to pack quickly and efficiently. That made unpacking easier. Elijah came into my room and watched me. I smiled.

"Stay with me." He said suddenly and surprised me.

"I am here, silly." I answered confused. He shook his head and sat down on my bed next to my suitcase I was just emptying.

"That's not what I mean. You ran with me, because Mikael would have killed you otherwise. Stay with me, because you want to stay with me." I sighed heavily. I didn't like where this was going.

"What do you mean?" I asked anyway, playing innocent.

"I mean that I am in love with you and I am sick of pretending otherwise and playing this game of hide and seek that we play now for almost two years. If people come up to me and ask me if I know you, I don't want to pretend we barely know each other, I want to introduce you as my girlfriend."

"I have known you for two years now, I've never met any of your friends. Who do you want to introduce me to? Your father, maybe?" I laughed, ignoring the fact that he said he was in love me, again. "Because we just travelled to the other side of this country to avoid him." Elijah rubbed his forehead.

"Why do you have to be so difficult?" I shrugged. "Maybe I don't want to introduce you to my family, but at least I don't want to have to hide at the place we choose to settle in."

"I am pretty sure that everyone at the university knew I was sleeping with you."

"You know what I mean." Elijah took my hands. I sat down on his lap.

"Why is this so important for you? Why can't we just leave it as it is and have fun? Why do we have to define anything?" He cupped my face gently and I closed my eyes for a second.

"Because you are more than just a girl I occasionally share my bed with! And I want to treat you as such!"

"Occasionally?" I repeated in mock anger. Elijah ignored it.

"Maybe George Lockwood" He spat his name and I started laughing. "didn't show you what you are worth, but I was raised better than that." Jealously didn't suit Elijah.

"I should have never told you about George." I kissed him. "I didn't want to marry George. Our parents weren't exactly happy, but they couldn't force me. I still had to say yes and they knew I wouldn't. Besides George's family was afraid another founder's family would find out about their werewolf gene, so maybe they were happy that we never married, after all."

"What did the other people say about your relationship with him?"

"They gossiped a lot. It was pretty obvious that I wouldn't start any future marriage pure, but my family was basically royalty in Mystic Falls. They couldn't do anything about it. No matter what, my future was secured thanks to my father. And who knows maybe they were even jealous, because they belonged to their husbands and I belonged to myself. I didn't have to answer to anyone."

"Do you really think I would treat you as if you were my property?" Elijah looked hurt. I tried to imagine Elijah like the husbands I had seen at home. I couldn't imagine him being unfaithful or treating me with anything but respect. He was too noble.

"Maybe not, but if you would, I could just leave, thanks to our no-strings-attached agreement."

"We are no human. It wouldn't mean you can never leave me just because we would be in a relationship. Your image wouldn't be ruined. You would always have the choice to leave."

"Then why put a label on it, if nothing would change between us?" I didn't see the point. It had worked perfectly until now. "I like my freedom and I like the routine we developed. Let's don't change that."

"The freedom to sleep with other men?" Elijah asked unsure of himself. "Because as it is now I don't have any right to be mad at you for doing just that. Technically we aren't a couple. I would have no right to put other men in their place, because you are mine."

"See!" I exclaimed. "I am not yours, I am mine!" Elijah looked hurt again. I knew he didn't mean it like that, but he had to see my point as well. "I am not planning to sleep with any other guy as long as I have you." I admitted. It was true. I was happy with Elijah and I saw no point in changing anything about that. I leaned forward to kiss him. I put my hands on Elijah's chest and pushed him so that he fell to the bed and I straddled him. I continued kissing him while I opened the bottoms of his shirt. Elijah caught my hands in his. Before I knew it I lay on my back and he was above me. I giggled and wanted to kiss him again, but Elijah sat up.

"I am sorry, Sarah. But I can't continue like that. I won't dishonor you any further in treating you like an ordinary prostitute." I glared at him.

"What does that mean? Don't you want to sleep with me again?"

"No. As long as I can't call you my girlfriend, I won't sleep with you. I can't do that to you." I scoffed.

"Are you trying to blackmail me? You can't force me to be your girlfriend!" I stood up angrily. Elijah chuckled softly.

"No, I can't and I am not trying to. You can leave if you want to, but I won't use you for sex anymore."

"So you want me to leave?" I screamed in disbelief. I had just saved his life! And now he was kicking me out! He told me he loved me!

"You aren't listening to me." He looked exhausted and a little sad. "I want everything but you leaving, but I can't treat you like a simple affair and keep a clean consciousness. You are so much more than that. But if you see it differently and the last two years have just been about the sex for you, I will have to watch you leave, but." He smiled hopefully. "I don't think you want to leave. I think you feel something for me too and are just too stubborn and scared to admit it. You didn't have to lie to my father and you didn't have to flee with me. You could have gone a completely other way without me. Or even before that, you could have left when it became clear that I wouldn't leave your little town. You stayed and I think you will stay now." I squinted. He shouldn't be so sure about that!

"Would I have known that you are so scared of your father I would have called him myself. Then I wouldn't have to put up with you for the last years!" I spat. "I think." I mocked his serious tone. " you will regret your strategy soon! I don't think you are honorable enough to let me leave. I think you should leave my room! "
Elijah left indeed, but he stopped at the door. "You would be surprised how much self-restraint one learns in 1000 years." I scoffed again and continued to unpack my suitcase and sort through my clothes. I could still feel his gaze on me.

"You are still here." I heard him whisper.

"I do." He said. "But not this time. You are still here, you didn't leave, even though you could have."

"I am here for my brothers!" I reminded him.

"Maybe in the beginning, but you stayed even after you realized you couldn't do anything for them."

"That's not true! You would have followed me! You would have never let me go again!" He smiled.

"True, but you could have tried. So why didn't you?" He couldn't just let it go, could he?

"I told you! Because of my brothers and it wouldn't have made a difference anyway!"

"You are still in denial." Elijah sighed.

"Seriously? Your mom is trying to kill you, so let's focus on that first. We can talk about everything else, when we came up with a plan to save you! You do have a plan, right? You have to have a plan! You didn't just come here unprepared, did you?! You always find a way!" I was freaking out again. He rubbed my back soothingly.

"Psch… I might have, but you won't like it."

"I don't care what you have to do as long as you stay a life!" How could he think I cared about anything else right now? I didn't care if he had to kill the whole damn town to achieve that! I would help him! He nodded and pulled back gently. I felt the loss of his touch immediately.

"We should talk to your brothers."

"What?" What had my brothers to do with any of that?

"I'll explain downstairs." He moved to walk in front of me, but I took his hand. He smiled sadly. "It takes me dying for you to take the next step in our relationship." He joked.

"You are not dying! Stop saying that!" Then I looked down at our joined hands. "You better enjoy it!" I murmured, squeezing his hand slightly.

Damon and Stefan were downstairs talking peacefully. They looked up surprised when they saw Elijah and me coming down the stairs hand in hand. Stefan smiled and winked at me.

"So you made up?" He asked.

"Not exactly." Elijah answered.

"We need your help." I started. At least that's what I thought we were here for. My brothers looked confused.

"What can we help you with?" Damon asked cautiously.

"I believe you already know my mother's plan."

"What?" I asked confused. My brothers couldn't know about it! They would have told me! Damon nodded and ignored my outburst.

"Sorry, nothing we can do for you."

"That's what I thought. That's why I had a talk with Elena."

"What did you do to Elena?" Stefan asked and stood up.

"Don't worry, she is still very much alive. How long she remains this way is up to you. Rebekah is currently with her."

"What do you want us to do?" Damon looked defeated.

"You find a way to stop my mother, if you achieve this task, Elena will return to you unharmed. You have until six minutes after nine."

"Oh how super specific of you." Damon spat.

"By 9:07, the moon will be full, my mother will have the power she needs to kill me and my family. If you do not stop her before then, Rebekah will kill Elena. So we all have our deadlines. I suggest you get started."

"Are you just going to stand there, while he is threatening us?" Damon spat at me. I didn't flinch.

"You have no right to speak to me like that! You knew Esther's plan! And you didn't tell me! You knew Esther linked them all together! I understand your hatred for Nik, because he tried to kill your precious Elena and wants to use her blood or whatever, but Elijah didn't do anything! You are willing to let him die, too! You told me to give him another chance! You pushed me towards him! For what? So I could watch him die?!" I screamed and tears were spilling again from my eyes.

"It's called collateral damage. I didn't want you to regret your choice!" Damon explained.

"Regretting my choice not to be with him after he died?! That is what you meant, isn't it?" I couldn't believe him! He didn't understand it. I scoffed. "So you chose the girl that is not even your girlfriend over your sister, again! Watch me do the same to you this time! You better find a way to save the Mikaelsons or you will have made yourself a new enemy!" Elijah looked at me stunned. Stefan and Damon looked equally surprised. I was tired of being the only one fighting for this family. We always said we would put our family first, but I was the only one who actually did it! They didn't care what I thought so I needed to stop worrying about them.

I left the house together with Elijah. There was nothing else we could do here. My brothers knew what was at stake. They would find a way to save the girl they loved, they always did no matter the cost and in the process they would save Elijah. That was all I cared about.

"Where are we going?" Elijah asked after I led him away from the forest and towards the town square.

"To my personal library or do you have a better idea?" I didn't want to sound that harsh, but I was angry. I thought my brothers and I were finally getting along, that we finally understood what it meant to be a family, but we clearly didn't. They were still leaving me out of their decisions!

"You think we will find a loophole?" Elijah asked doubtfully trying to bring me to slow down, but I would have none of that.

"I think we don't have anything else to go by plus your mother is a witch, she has to follow the rules of nature. "

"My mother betrayed nature once." Elijah pointed out.

"And she is regretting it now that's why she wants to kill you. She won't do the same mistake twice." We stopped in front of an apartment building not far from the Mystic grill. I fished for my keys, while Elijah sighed clearly not agreeing with me, but not wanting to start an argument.

"Okay, let's see what we can find." I entered my other apartment that I only used to store grimoires in. I met many witches over the years and copied some of their spells, stole a few books and some even gave me their grimoires willingly. Witches were the only one who wrote their knowledge of the supernatural world down. I had made it my mission to collect that knowledge. I knew it would come in handy one time or another. I opened the door.

"Who is currently living here?" Elijah asked. I always stayed with a human to keep uninvited vampires out. Only my home in Mystic Falls was human free since Damon refused to let a human live in his house which I still thought was incredibly reckless.

"Still Mary, she is living in California at the moment, but the apartment still belongs to her. You should be able to enter."

"I always liked this apartment." He said and took the small one bedroom apartment that was filled from top to bottom with ancient books, one small round table in the middle of the room and two comfortable reading chairs in. I laughed and kissed Elijah on a whim.

"You've only been here once."

"Well, I like this idea that no one knows about it but you and me. I still think it is odd that you don't hide everything of importance in here."

"I can't just store all my secrets in one place! Besides I have that space under my bed that no one used to know about." I looked pointedly at him. "But all these books just didn't fit under it." I joked. "I hope you can read fast because finding a spell that can stop your mother won't be easy."

"And it's impossible." Elijah tried to bring me back to reality again, but I wouldn't have any of that.

"Don't say that!"

"We have to be realistic, Sarah. My mother uses original spells, they aren't in any of your books."

"We can't just sit here and do nothing all day while my brothers are trying to save everyone!"

"I think we should face the fact that this may very well be the last day we have together." Elijah said seriously.

"Stop saying that!" I screamed.

"Sarah." He came over to hug me. "I know our past has been difficult, but I want you to know that ever since I met you, I've been in love with you." He leaned down and kissed me eagerly. "I love you, Sarah Salvatore." He kissed me again. I kissed him back with equal passion.

"This is not a good-bye." I reminded him.

"Sarah." He cupped my face and I leaned into him. He looked at me sadly.

"NO!" I interrupted him, before he could continue his little speech. "You don't get to say good bye. You don't get to just leave me. We are going to read these books and find a way to save your family!" He sighed, but nodded, took a few books from its shelves and sat down to begin his research.

For the next hours we sat quietly in my apartment reading and studying and occasionally making out, but we didn't find anything remotely useful. Elijah had already lost any hope if he had any in the first place. He just read to ease my mind and I knew it, but I would not give up so easily! There was always a way! There just had to be!

I looked up from the book I was currently reading. With each passing minute it got more difficult to focus on the letters before me. As much as I tried not to let any negative thoughts enter my mind, I couldn't help but stare at Elijah to memorize him. The way his eyes squinted when he read an interesting passage or how he absentmindedly stroked my knuckles while reading as if to ease both our minds and the way he shifted his weight to get into a more comfortable position, something his suit often hindered him from, but still he refused to wear anything else. All the little things that I hadn't seen for over 20 years because of our fight and slowly started to get used to again but might never have a chance to see again.

Elijah looked up, he must have felt my gaze on him, the corners of his mouth slowly turned up and I gave my best to reciprocate his smile.

That's when Elijah fell dead to the ground.