Chapter 10

The missing Mikaelson

Elijah struggled to keep his face free from emotion as he tried to clear his thoughts. Ginna was here. After all these years. She was here. And she was Tristan's wife. How… None of this made sense.

"Hey," Hayley said as she placed her hand on Elijah's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Sure," Elijah murmured tensely and emptied his glass.

"Right…" She paused for a moment before continuing. "So… You have a third sister."

"Yes."

"Is there a reason why none of you ever mentioned her?"

"It's… complicated."

"Yeah, I saw that. You didn't know she married Tristan."

"No, I didn't. I haven't seen her for a very long time."

Hayley didn't reply, thankfully she understood that Elijah didn't want to talk about it, especially here. Some members of the Strix were still observing him. Facing Ginna so suddenly had startled him so badly that he had completely forgotten Marcel until the younger vampire appeared in front of him.

"Well, that was interesting," Marcel stated. "Any more missing Mikaelsons I should know about?"

Elijah didn't have time to reply when he saw Ginna walking towards them. She hadn't changed at all. Sweet innocent face, silky blonde hair, warm smile… She was his little sister. His kind and warmhearted sister. He remembered carrying her on his shoulders when she had been a small child. He remembered warning some boys in their village to stay away from her when she had been a young woman. He remembered comforting her after they had lost Henrik and their mother. She had always been kind and modest. Easy to love. Yes, she still looked like his Ginna, but she wasn't anymore. He needed to remember that.

"Hello," she greeted him. "My apologies for leaving like that."

"Hmm, you mean a moment ago or back in Italy?" Elijah replied coolly. He had been determined not to let his feelings show, but he couldn't stop himself.

Ginna's expression didn't change as she met his gaze.

"Would you like to join me for a cup of tea?" she asked. "There's a beautiful parlor in this house."

Elijah frowned.

"A cup of tea?"

"Yes, I was hoping we could talk in somewhere more private."

"Fine," Elijah stated as carelessly as he could.

Ginna smiled at him.

"Wonderful." She paused and glanced at Marcel. "My apologies, where are my manners. I'm Ginna de Martel."

"Marcel Gerard," Marcel replied, looking at Ginna cautiously.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Gerard." She paused and glanced at Hayley. "Mrs. Kenner. Please, excuse us."

Elijah followed Ginna across the hall to the long hallway. Neither of them spokes before they reached a very stylish living room. There was already a tea tray waiting for them on the coffee table. Despite the strange situation, Elijah was a gentleman, so he waited for Ginna to take a seat before he did. They were still quiet as she poured him a cup of tea.

"Thank you," he murmured automatically as she handed the cup to him.

"You're welcome. Cream, sugar or honey?"

"No, thank you."

She poured a cup for herself as well.

"So, where shall we start?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"How about your marriage," Elijah replied sharply.

She nodded.

"Alright. What about it?"

Elijah frowned.

"You can't be serious. Tristan de Martel."

"I fell in love with him in Marseille," Ginna replied. "He's the only man I have ever loved."

"You were young, a child," Elijah stated tensely. "He took advantage of you."

She took a sip out of her cup.

"Is that why you told Kol to compel him?"

"What? No, I didn't tell Kol to do that."

"But you didn't stop him either."

Elijah pressed his lips together.

"No, but I was only trying to protect you. We both were."

Ginna was quiet for few seconds before looking at her brother.

"You broke my heart, 'Lijah. You both did."

"That was never my intention, I just wanted you to find someone worthy of you. I never meant to hurt you, sister."

"I chose Tristan," she stated after a moment of silence. "He is the love of my life."

Elijah didn't reply, he still hated the idea of Ginna with Tristan.

"You don't have to like him," Ginna continued. "But if you want any kind of relationship with me, you need to respect my choice."

"You chose to leave your family," Elijah snapped. "Leave me."

Ginna looked at her cup for a moment.

"I never wanted to leave you," she finally said. "But I also knew you would never leave Niklaus."

"What does that have to do with…"

"Can't you honestly remember how he treated us? His own family. He would have left Finn in that coffin for who knows how long. I couldn't live with that."

"So you chose Finn over me," Elijah snapped before he was able to stop himself. Of course he knew how childish and petty that sounded, but that was how he had felt deep down.

"I chose to do what I thought was right," she replied quietly. "I didn't want to hurt you."

They were both quiet for a long while before he spoke.

"Why didn't you ever contact me? Let me know that you were alright."

"I wanted to, but…"

"But what?"

Ginna pressed her lips together.

"As you know, the Strix has a lot of resources. I received some news about you, Rebekah, Kol and Niklaus for every now and then. What I heard was that you were still letting Niklaus mistreat you. Keep some of you daggered whenever he felt like it. I just couldn't understand or accept that."

"That's not… You don't understand…"

"I think I do. I know our brother, 'Lijah, and it broke my heart to see him becoming this cold and cruel person…"

"That's rich coming from Tristan's wife," Elijah cut in harshly. He couldn't listen to this. He didn't want to. That would mean he would be forced to face his own actions. He was the reason why Niklaus had become a monster.

"Tristan has his faults, but at least I know he would never hurt me," Ginna replied.

"But it makes no difference to you if he tries to hurt your family?" Elijah stated icily.

Ginna shook her head.

"That's not why he's here."

"Why is he here then?"

Ginna was just about to reply when Hayley zoomed in.

"Elijah, they took Marcel. He should still have an hour, but…"

"Of course they did," Elijah sighed and glanced at Ginna. "Your husband was never the one to keep his promises."

Ginna smiled as she stood up.

"Well, you two have at least one thing in common then."