Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.

Chapter 26

AJ stared at him, her mouth open. She tried to say something, and then stopped, again. Finally, she found her words. "You're serious? Only the blood of an Original can heal me?"

Elijah nodded, surprised that she was so, well, surprised.

And she was, completely. Why hadn't Klaus healed her, then? He could have tried to convince her to be on his side in that way. But he didn't, and that confused her.

"So it's like this for every Warrior?" AJ asked. She was also relieved that there wasn't something wrong with her. That was an idea that popped into her head every time she dwelled on why Damon's blood didn't work.

"Yes, from what I heard long ago from Klaus. I'm surprised he didn't try to offer you his blood as a way of persuasion. He'd said once that he tried it for another Warrior," Elijah said, thinking back to when he and Klaus had been on the same side. He was glad he was no longer on that side. He wouldn't have met AJ. Well, he would've, he just probably wouldn't know her in the way he did now.

"Yeah, me too. That's why I'm so shocked. He made the wound worse rather than better," AJ snorted, "That's the way to win my heart," she said sarcastically.

Elijah looked at her, thoughtful. She spoke of her heart in relation to Klaus. What did that mean? Has she still left something out about when he spoke to her? Was he attracted to her, or she to him? Why was he thinking these strange thoughts? Why did she care who her attention was focused on? He already had an answer for the last two questions. He just hadn't admitted it out loud yet. Maybe he never would. Maybe he shouldn't. He wasn't sure.

"What happened to the Warrior he offered his blood to?" AJ asked, suddenly curious. Had they been tempted or had they been completely good?

Elijah's face grew dark and he slowly shook his head. "You don't want to know that story, AJ."

Now she was even more curious, but not in the way she had been before. She was curious because she was a little panicked. "What happened to the Warrior, Elijah?" she asked but her voice held a demand in it. Had Klaus killed them? Tortured them? Both? Or something much, much worse?

"AJ please," Elijah said as he gave her a pleading look, "I'd rather you not know."

She huffed. "Fine." She knew he was truly doing her a favor and sparing her more nightmares, but she still wanted to know. She let it drop.

He looked to where she still softly cradled her wound, holding her hand against it tenderly. "AJ, I'd like to offer you my blood. If you accept, you'll be healed in no time," he suggested. He wasn't sure of what she would think.

She looked at him and smiled. "You'd do that?"

He smiled very slightly back. "Of course."

She was happy, but then she looked very reluctant. "I've never really drank vampire blood before. Well, except for that one time in the hospital," she shuddered, "It was… odd."

He regarded her curiously. "Are you saying no?"

She shook her head and smiled again, "No, I'm saying yes, please. It was just strange the last time. Damon's blood was… weird."

He nodded. He wasn't all that happy that Damon tried to give her his blood, but he didn't care. It was Elijah's blood that would heal her, not Damon's. He folded up one of the sleeves on his suit to reveal his wrist. He bit into it without hesitation and held it out for her. She glanced at it with hesitance, but put both one of her small hands on his forearm and the other in his drastically larger palm. He found that he liked the feeling of her soft, warm hand resting in his own. Then she brought his wrist up to her mouth and tasted his blood. It was completely different than Damon's in every way. It was rich and sweet, it was very, very good. She was surprised that blood of all things could taste so good; she was surprised that she liked it. But she did, and so she sucked at the blood, her eyes closed, until he pulled his arm gently away. Her eyes opened instantly and she watched as his wound closed within seconds and he rolled his sleeve back down. Then she put a hand to her abdomen, to where her wound once had been.

Her eyebrows rose. "It's completely gone," she said, the shock in her voice. She didn't realize that it would be that quick.

"Yes, Original blood is the strongest."

She beamed at him, extremely happy that she no longer had to worry about being defenseless. And he was here now, too. She was in fact very happy. "Thank you, Elijah."

He nodded and gave her a half-smile. "You're very welcome."

AJ's cell phone rang just then. She frowned, dreading to see who it was. Pulling it out of her pocket, she checked caller ID, something she noted to herself that she should do more often. It was Elena. She gave Elijah a sarcastic look that said 'this should be fun.'

"Elena," AJ answered, careful to keep emotions out of her voice. She wasn't sure if Elena was just asking where she was or if her best friend knew that she had awakened the Original.

"AJ," Elena replied, angry. "Where are you? Where is he?" Ah. So they knew.

"Not anywhere where we can be found, but we're safe," AJ answered.

"Safe? You aren't safe with him, AJ! He's playing you!" Elena shouted.

AJ snorted unladylike, "Elena when will you see that we're all out of options? He's not playing me, he's protecting me. And you, and all of our friends. He had a plan to keep you alive, Elena."

Elena said nothing for a moment. "He's lying," she said suddenly, sounding doubtful of even herself.

"No, he isn't," AJ said gently. "Now just give me time to talk to him, okay? I'm fine. I'm actually better than I was before, thanks to him. Everything else will be fine, too." AJ didn't bother to hear Elena's response. She hung up. She'd explain to her best friend the whole only-Original-blood-can-heal-the-Warrior thing later.

Elijah looked at AJ curiously. "You have a lot of faith in me."

AJ returned his look. "Yes, well, it surprises me, too. But you do so much for me. I mean, you just gave me your blood so I could heal. I think that calls for some trust." After she said that, she looked down sheepishly. She meant for her to trust him, and she knew he understood that. But she still didn't know if he trusted her again or not.

"You had nothing to do with my death," Elijah stated to clarify he understood that now. He could easily read her body language.

Even though it was a statement, not a question, she still felt the need to shake her head. "No. I knew nothing of it. I promise." She looked him in the eyes.

He looked at her for a while, watching the way the gold specks in her eyes sparkled in the sun. It could be entrancing. "I trust you."

After hearing those words, she closed her eyes and smiled. She had been so scared that he would say the opposite, that he'd leave angrily and want nothing to do with her. But he trusted her again. Everything between them was repaired. She couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Thank you," she whispered as she looked at him.

He couldn't restrain himself. He reached out and ghosted his fingers over the side of her face, feeling how soft her skin was. He looked at the way her lips were just the perfect shade of pink, the way her nose wasn't the usual ski-slope kind that many girls had, it was exotic like the rest of her, suiting her perfectly. And then there were her eyes. They were such an assortment of colors for being hazel—having colors from rich browns and bright greens to deep grays and stark gold. They were beautiful. And they were looking at him with surprise and just a hint of delight.

"I should be thanking you," he said softly, slowly and reluctantly bringing his hand back. She smiled up at him sweetly but said nothing. Neither of them was sure of what just occurred between them, but they found they rather liked it.

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