How can you see into my eyes like open doors?
leading you down into my core where I've become so numb
without a soul my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold
until you find it there and lead it back home

~
Bring Me To Life - Evanescense

"Where are we?" She muttered in awe at the landscape around her. She could sense his presence somewhere near, though the scene before her grabbed every ounce of her attention.

The world had only fallen dark for only a moment before she found herself on a high hill in the sunshine of a clear, breezy day. The large body of water that filled the gully below her was as blue as she'd ever seen, perfectly matching the sky above. The colors of autumn seemed to cover the rest of the land; the tall amber trees that surrounded them and swaying russet grass that reached just above her ankles.

Two jagged ranges of dark rock towered high on the horizon, folding in sharp angles and peaking in caps of white. They met at the middle where a waterfall of newly melted snow drained endlessly into the large lake before her.

The air was fresh as it whipped her long hair around her shoulders. There was a crispness to it that told her she would be cold if it were real. She reflexively placed her hands into the pockets of the thick jacket that suddenly appeared around her.

"What you see is Aarmuhle in the late eighteen hundreds," Elijah's voice came from behind her as he moved up from his position at her flank to stand just off to her right. She was surprised to see him also sporting protection from the cold in the form of a conjured black trench coat. His hands mirrored hers, held leisurely in his pockets, and she couldn't remember a time where she'd ever seen him so at ease. "Though it is referred to in present time as Interlaken, Switzerland and contains only a fraction of its natural beauty."

Her eyes widened just a bit more over the fact that she was seeing the landscape as he saw it so many lifetimes ago. It was amazing to think of the various changes it had gone through with time and human interference; but for now it was left pure and untouched – and stunning.

"It's incredible," she breathed turning her gaze to find him. Nostalgia was clear in the way his eyes took in the sight.

"My mother used to tell us stories of the places her and my father discovered on their travels to the new world." A sad smile of reminiscence tugged a corner of his lips. "The way she spoke of this country made it clear that it was one of her favorites."

The same troubled tone thickened his words as it always did when he spoke of his family. She felt the unexplainable need to reach out to him when he was like this; just as she had the first time.

"What was she like, Elijah?" She questioned him with empathy, taking a step closer to him to be at a more comfortable speaking distance (at least that's what she told herself). She had talked with him openly about her parents a while back, but he had barely uttered a word about his own.

Her inquiry made his eyes find the ground for a long moment before he spoke. There were two very different sides of his mother – and only one he cared to talk about.

"She was protective and tender to us…a perfect balance to our father's strict, disciplinarian tendencies… She always did whatever she saw fit to guard us and keep us out of harm's way…" his voice broke off for a moment before he quietly reinforced what was already made clear. "…she made it known that she loved us more than anything."

Her hands found their way around the crook of his elbow without her telling them to. It was a natural reaction, one that would usually be accompanied by her head resting upon the shoulder of the receiving party, but boundaries had been created by her predecessors that she did not want to test. He had admitted his torment to merely having to see her and it would be a selfish thing to forget in the wake of her compassionate nature.

He reached across with his opposite hand to lift one of hers and for a moment she thought he was going to remove it. Instead, he indulged her by maneuvering her fingers to wrap slightly higher around the bend of his arm, sliding a thumb over her knuckles a single time before letting her hand remain there.

As he silently began to escort her down the grassy hill, the space around her grew dark and morphed in unnatural ways before her eyes.

Her searching gaze fell to the new pair of boots on her feet when she felt the crunch of snow beneath them. It was piled thick on the ground and glinted in the dim light, stretching on for a far as she could see. Faint specks sped across the white slush, causing it to glisten all around her.

She looked up to the heavens in search of the source, finding the most spectacular astronomical show she'd ever laid eyes upon. The night sky was streaming with meteors that seemed to dance and cut in every direction through a blanket of stars that shone brighter than she thought possible. The light they emitted was almost blinding compared to the darkness of their backdrop, making them seem so close that she almost felt the urge to reach her free hand toward the sky. She had never seen so many in her life.

"Where are we this time?" she muttered with renewed curiosity, her eyes glued to the sky above.

"At the time of this specific phenomenon, this place held no name – it was not yet discovered." He eyed the spectacles in the night with just as much wonder as her for a moment. "The meteors above us are said to have originated from the Orion constellation, which you can see just there to the left," Elijah adjusted the arm she still held to point out the Hunter in the sky, connecting the three stars of his Belt with the slow drag of his finger. "The Orionid Shower is still visible from earth every year, but a show of such magnitude has not existed since the one you see now… Over the years most of the meteors have gone their separate ways… or have disintegrated to dust." He turned his head to face her then as he noticed his own voice faltering.

Her astonishment at the view above was clear on her features, taking the place of the deathly stillness that had filled them for far too long. The thought of having to see her that way again in the near future was one he tore himself away from.

He noticed her forehead crease slightly as she too began to contemplate something in her mind. His words seemed to always carry more than one meaning and she'd caught this one.

"We have a lot in common with those meteors you know?" She released a breathy sound, somewhere between a sigh and an empty laugh. "It's almost like watching my life displayed before me in the night sky. Together – they are beautiful… I've never seen anything so vibrant." She looked over to find his eyes on her, holding more wonder than he had shown the sky. "But alone, they are just rocks… just dust."

He blinked once as if coming out of a trace before moving his gaze back toward the stars. "Objects that are believed to have lost their luster can still shine, Elena. You are living proof of that."

"And you're not?" She retorted with a bit of vigor. It earned her a questioning glance. "You may think of yourself as a lost cause but your heart is in the right place, Elijah. The only fault you can be held accountable for is loving with all you have… and that's not a fault at all. You've lost so much more than Klaus yet, unlike him, you somehow manage to stay honorable and…sane. That's even more than I can say for myself…"

He considered her sincerity for a moment. "You believe what I show you," he corrected with a practiced calm though her words had not failed to stir something in him. "I am but a shadow of the man I used to be."

"Maybe," she nodded in his direction before her eyes joined his on the stars, "but even the darkest shadows can be brightened by a little light."

He did not show it physically but her words made one thing exceptionally clear to him. He would have to at least offer the alternate option. Whether it was the sickening thought of Klaus taking something else that was not his to take or simply an extension of selfishness he did not know, but the choice would remain hers.

The snow seemed to melt beneath her feet, pulling her gaze down once again to find she was now standing on a narrow, dirt trail. There were other people around them this time, though they seemed to not notice their presence.

The giggles of small children could be heard as they chased one another around a few of the small shacks that formed what seemed to be a makeshift settlement. There were fire pits spread along the circle and a few women stirred food in large basins causing the smell of smoke and searing meat to fill the air.

Two men passed her on horseback as she stepped away from Elijah to the opposite side of the trail to clear their path. The way they were garnished in tanned leather vests and ragged robes gave away that this was also a time long past. She looked down at her own clothing then to find that she was now adorned in an ankle-length olive dress that suited both her taste and the period perfectly.

She immediately sought out Elijah. He stood across the path from her, a hand resting on the hilt of the sheathed sword at his hip as he gaped at the small village with a look of what she could only describe as melancholy.

The brown of his vest and dark pants matched many of the other men that wandered the streets, leaving lean arms and broad shoulders revealed to her for the first time. It was easy to see that he was reared in a period that required fighting for survival. The word warrior came to mind and she couldn't help but to marvel at such a drastic change. She never realized just how much of him was hidden by a suit.

When he finally turned to find her eyes on him, he couldn't help but do the same to her. The last time he had seen a woman of her beauty dressed in such a fashion occurred in the same time they were now. Even so, there was no mistaking it – he was looking at Elena; the selfless, compassionate protector he himself had tried to be.

He crossed the path to close the space between them before bidding her to follow, waiting to speak until she fell in stride beside him.

"This was Mystic Falls as I knew it long ago." He glanced over at her as she gave her surroundings another once over in surprised wonder. "I've learned a lot from you about your family and in return I would like to share a lesser known piece of my own."

She looked to him with a mixture of sympathy and appreciation then. Each of the dreams he'd given her had been linked to his family in some way and she couldn't help but feel somewhat honored that he found her worthy.

As they walked through the circle of structures, Elijah pointed out a few places of significance, ending when they reached the place he had once referred to as 'home'. It stood apart from the rest of the circle, just along the edge of the woods. The dark, emptiness of the dwelling outcasted it from the bustling life that filled the houses just before.

Elijah had only mentioned it with the nod of his head without any further remarks. They instead walked past the house in silence, finding a trail just behind that led into the dense woods.

The tree cover was thick, blocking out much of the light of day, and the wild foliage would have been difficult to maneuver through if their dreamt steps weren't slicing right through it. It was the only thing that reminded her that this place wasn't real. Everything else about the conjured world appeared so vivid and alive around her.

After they had walked a ways from the settlement, Elijah halted her before approaching a large boulder, placing a hand on it in recognition.

"Stand back some," he coaxed after a moment with a light touch to her arm.

In the time in would take to blink, with the single stomp of his foot against the ground, a large crater formed in the earth just in front of them. She knew he could have probably just sent them to their destination with his mind, but he seemed to thoroughly enjoy the process of getting there.

He turned, reaching a hand to her with a light smirk of satisfaction on his lips and for the first time after many, she hesitated. The way he looked just then, dark eyes focused on her as if there were nothing else in the world, his arm extended to her in waiting, ever the gentlemen…

He must have heard her heartbeat (was that even possible here?). "There's nothing to be afraid of down there." His tone was smooth with reassurance. "While the dream is tangible, we are not."

It was ironic that now that he was actually in her head, his previously flawless gauge of her emotions was wrong. Then again, maybe he hadn't been incorrect – maybe it was fear. Sure, she was only human but those types of feelings weren't allowed to exist in her circumstance. She shook it off – she had to.

She actually shook her head slightly as if to clear it before she approached him and lightly placed her hand in his. He pulled her close then, the unexpectedness of it drawing her wide-eyed gaze up to him.

He did a double take at the look he could have sworn he saw in her eyes, but even his vampiric senses couldn't keep up with the speed in which it passed. When he looked down at her, all that remained was surprise.

He jumped then, holding her up slightly so he would take the full impact of the fall though neither of them would feel it.

The darkness of the pit was soon lit by torches sprouting every few feet along the walls and she could make out multiple tunnels that seemed to branch off in all directions around them. He ducked slightly, pacing onward down one of the enclosed caves and she followed close enough behind him to see him clearly in the glow of the fire. The air was moist and heavy and smelled of moss; and though she didn't feel anxious, she did wonder just what exactly he was going to show her in such a place.

Elijah turned sideways in front of her when the tunnel widened to a large cavity and seemed to come to an end. He grabbed a torch from its perch and held it above his head to light up the walls of rock that surrounded them. The flames brightened the roundness of the cavern, revealing its true size, and danced over ancient looking tribal etchings of animals and figures and what seemed to be words in a language she couldn't name, covering most of the wall space.

"What is this Elijah?" She asked, running a hand studiously over a masked figure on the wall to her right.

When his eyes found hers in the dim light, they held the same dejected look he'd given his birth town.

"This is where my family would hide from the beasts on nights of a full moon. It contains my last good memories of my human life." His grave gaze rose up the wall to a row of six word-like sketchings. "Our last hours together as a family were spent here. I did all I could to protect them," his eyes lingered upon the final word of the set, "but Klaus took it upon himself to bring our youngest brother, Henrik to watch the men transform that night..." His troubled tone was enough for her to determine that it had not ended well.

He paused for a long moment, running his fingers lightly over the etchings as if they were a treasured sight to behold. "Henrik's death was only the beginning of the chain of events that changed our family forever." He took a step to turn his back to her completely then. "Our mother mourned greatly and grew obsessed with preventing the remainder of her children from sharing a similar fate… Our father's wrath towards Klaus only intensified. The resulting violence hardened him…changed him." He cleared his throat quietly. "Our mother simply turned her cheek while he suffered our father's harshest scrutiny… She blamed him just as much as he. Niklaus became more of a stranger to us with each passing day."

Sympathy overtook her as his words and the broken way he uttered them in fell into place. Those six etchings were names…and only two of them remained visible on the wall now. "And you feel you're to blame?" It was barely a question.

"I feel like it all could have been prevented," he corrected slightly. The pain in his voice was clearer than ever and she watched from behind as his head nodded toward the ground. "If I would have just kept a closer eye on my brothers that night, we would not have lost one so young… Klaus would have never been abhorred in such a way that morphed him into what he has become… our mother would have never felt the need to turn us into what we are… "

Her heart ached at his tone. She had never heard him sound so wounded. She had known he felt guilt but not to such despairing depths. "There's no way you could have known it would happen that way Elijah." She lightly pulled at his elbow to turn him to face her and he was cautious to oblige. She realized why when the firelight curled in the faint glint of his eyes. "You did everything you could to keep your family out of harm's way but life can be cruel. Bad things happen to the undeserving and sometimes we are unable to control it. That doesn't make it your fault." She shook her head up at him with an intent gaze to drive in her words.

With them, something changed in him - the pleasant feeling of pieces falling into place. Her words of comfort seemed to do just that, and it was something no one had done for him before. Blame had been a weight upon him for as long as he could remember, and her attempt to deter it was effective enough for the time to allow something else to take its place.

He took a deep breath, both to speak and in an effort to contain his long lost composure. "For a very long time I questioned why she did this to us… turned her own children into monsters. I could never accept why our own mother would act out so selfishly…" His eyes softened on hers for a moment before he raised a hand slowly, calculatingly, giving her more time than necessary to stop him – and something deep within him was begging her to. When she only continued to look back at him, the tips of his fingers grazed her temple lightly as he slid them down to tuck a tress of soft, brown hair behind her ear. "But I think I'm beginning to understand it now."

She was learning quickly that his dark eyes were very easy to get lost in – too easy. First he had been speaking of the torment he suffered but now his attention was turned so completely on her in a way that made her quiver. "What are you saying, Elijah?" She whispered up to him.

"I didn't have a choice, Elena – but you do." He watched the length of her hair slip through his fingers as he pulled his hand away. "While your humanity is a precious thing, I won't stand by to watch a soul as pure as yours wasted so carelessly by my brother... I've witnessed my fill of such vile acts already. I am offering you the same fate my mother forced upon us."

Her eyes searched the dirt floor. It's not like she hadn't considered the option with death around every corner, but the fact that Elijah himself was the one offering such a thing muddled her thoughts. While the proposal itself was surprising, it was his underlying affection that held the spotlight in her mind.

"Elijah, I…"

He lightly pressed a finger to her lips to silence her, paired with the slow shake of his head. "There's no need for an answer now. I know the burden. It is an offer you have every right to refuse - but one that had to be given. We will discuss it further when you are ready."

It made her wonder if he always played off his feelings this easily... As if they were nothing more than conversational…

He had just offered her forever.

Hope you enjoyed! Thank you so much for such sweet reviews on the previous chapter.