"What do you think?" Elijah asked, opening the door to the mansion Klaus had remodeled in her other life.
Elena stepped through and looked around, examining the entry way carefully. Though it had most of the features Klaus had put in, there was a slight editing that Klaus lacked, making it more elegant instead of showy.
A sadness overcame her as she realized that Klaus was all about the show because he felt that he himself was lacking, thanks to Mikael. As much as she disliked him, it hurt to know that he was the way he was because he was trying to hide his own pain.
"It's great."
"I took what you remembered and made it mine. Niklaus is be my brother, but he's very ostentatious when given the chance."
"When did you start on this?"
"About a week after you and I met," Elijah admitted. "How do you think Rebekah will like it? You know more of who she is after she will wake up than I do."
"Being awake and being with her brothers will be more than enough, but I think she'll love it." Elena chewed on her cheek for a moment, then asked, "Have you heard from Niklaus?"
"No. But I've been looking into stopping Markos and the Travelers. Sheila has agreed to help."
"Will it kill her?"
"Bonnie will be doing the spell, along with the Martins."
"Which is why she's been MIA. She's busy trying to save our asses." Elena sighed and wrapped her arms around her waist.
"We're not using them, Elena. They are protecting themselves and the people of this town from some very powerful, very dangerous people. You're saving them, Elena."
"What about Silas and Amara? She's the Anchor and she feels every supernatural death and Silas is tormenting anyone who goes near him. Silas might be a bit of a selfish asshole, but Amara doesn't deserve what she's going through."
"Sheila has a list of things to work on and once they've recovered from stopping Markos, they'll deal with that. Silas is immobile, so he's not a threat unless people get close to him. We give Silas the cure and take him to Amara, let them both die, after finding an appropriate replacement for the Other Side, and he's dealt with."
"Do we even need the Other Side? It was created out of revenge and it allows people like Markos to continue trying to come back."
Elijah considered Elena's words for a long moment. "You're right. Perhaps we should deal with Silas and Amara. That will send Markos to a place he can't escape from."
She needed to help them. She needed to be on the front lines of this war. With her memories, she could be a formidable opponent. Was it possible that she could be more than a general behind the scenes? Was it possible she could actually tap into her heritage? If so, certain events suddenly made sense.
Slowly, she reached her hand how, holding it over a candle and sought out that strange power she'd felt when she'd thrown Damon off her. At first it was a tickle, then came the flood and every candle in the room flared to life.
"Elijah? Did you know I could do this?" Elena whispered, staring around at the candles in awe of what she'd just done.
"I had an inkling after you couldn't figure out how you'd gotten Damon off of you. I didn't say anything because this is something you needed to discover for yourself. But it looks like the spirits of nature revoked your Traveler status and allowed you to be a full-fledged witch."
"If I can do magic too, that will help all that much more and I'll be more than just this person who knows what's going on." Excitement rushed through her at the thought of actually being able to change things with her own hands instead of depending on others to do it for her.
"And with your heritage, you'll be a formidable opponent. Would you like me to take you to Sheila's after this?"
"Please." Elena smiled at him. "Now, on with the tour?"
As they walked, Elijah caught her hand in his, linking their fingers. Elena waited for the sensation that Bonnie felt whenever she touched vampires, cold and death, but she didn't feel it, not with him. He made her feel safe.
"You took what you saw in my head and you made it even better."
"Niklaus has his flair and I have mine."
Elijah's eyes flickered to her lips and they both stepped closer to each other, the air charging with the current between them.
"We can't," Elena whispered. "I promised."
"I know." Elijah pressed his lips to Elena's hair, then stepped back.
After showing her around the house, Elijah took her to Sheila's house.
"Elena, I was wondering when you'd show up," Sheila said when she saw them on her doorstep.
"Call me if you need a ride," Elijah said as he stepped back. "I will leave you to talk."
Inclining his head to Sheila, Elijah headed towards his car.
Sheila opened the door wider and Elena walked inside.
"Tea?" Sheila asked as she headed towards the kitchen.
"Please."
Sheila returned with a kettle and two cups, before sitting down. Like the proper southern hostess that she was, Sheila poured them both cups of tea, then took a sip of her cup. Elena did the same, allowing the soothing liquid to calm her nerves a little.
"You know what happened to me?" Elena asked finally.
Sheila nodded slowly, "Spirits talk, child. Especially when it involves something like this."
"Do you know I have magic now?"
Sheila looked her over carefully and Elena swore she could feel a light probing across her body.
"You've got power, that's for sure and once you learn to harness it, you'll be a force to be reckoned with. Which you'll need to be with what you need to do."
"Can you teach me? If I know how to use my power, I can do things for myself instead of depending on Bonnie or you all the time. I feel guilty for using you."
"You're trying to save us. And Bonnie and I both swore an oath to see to it that your previous life doesn't happen as you lived it."
"Teach me, so I can fight along side you. I know I might not be ready to deal with Markos, but I want to be able to stand in the fray instead of remaining behind the lines."
"I'll help you, because they gave you your ancestors' magic for a reason, and to deny that, it will lessen your effectiveness later on. You were sent back to save us and I will help you achieve that."
"Thank you."
They continued talking for a while, with Sheila outlining her plans to train Elena to learn to use her powers.
"Now I see why they chose you," Sheila said finally.
"Why?"
"Because even when you're in pain, you still fight for who you love."
"So, Jedi training after school and on weekends?" Elena set her now empty cup on the table, next to the nearly empty kettle.
"Yes. Bonnie will be a little ahead of you, since we started sooner, but with your innate power, you'll pick things up in no time. Though we can't push you too hard too fast or you'll crash and burn."
Elena stood up and said, "Thank you so much for agreeing to help me."
"Of course, Elena."
With a final smile, Elena headed out the door. Instead of calling Elijah for a ride, she decided to walk home.
I'm gonna walk home.
Let me know if you need anything.
Thank you.
"I want to say that I'm going to lay off on the whole vampire issue," John said as he sat down on the swing next to Elena.
"So, there will be no trying to put the Gilbert device together?" Elena pushed the swing slowly with her toes. She wasn't really in the mood to talk to John or deal with the baggage he carried, not with what she'd figured out today.
"You still don't trust me," John sighed.
"Not when it comes to vampires."
"Can you trust that I want what's best for you?"
"Trust is earned. Besides, your idea of what's best for me, it's not always what is best for me."
"Fair enough." John chewed on his cheek and watched Elena's face.
"If you've got something to say, go ahead and say it."
"Isobel wants to meet you."
"Tell Isobel that I'll pass."
"You really don't want to meet her?" John asked, shocked.
"Not particularly. She prefers Katherine to me, so why would I want to spend time with her?"
"She gave birth to you and giving you up was the hardest thing she's ever done," John defended the first woman he'd ever loved.
"That doesn't mean she's the same person she was then. She's flipped the switch on her humanity, John."
"She's still your biological mother."
Elena exhaled heavily through her nose before replying, "Yes, there may be a part of her that cares about me, deep down, but she wants to be around people who don't test that switch, because to allow herself to feel anything for me, means she's got to let it all back in." Elena wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the pain of having to go through people choosing Katherine over her all over again.
"What if I speak to her about limiting the talk about Katherine? Will you agree to meet with her?"
Elena chewed on her cheek and looked out into the darkness. Was Katherine already out there, watching her? Did she know that Elena possessed magic?
"She does want to meet you."
"Only to hurt me and remind me of all the ways I look like Katherine and the fact that the Salvatores are in love with Katherine, that's why they keep trying to get close to me, and even Elijah had a thing for her at one time. Then, to top it off, she'll want to tell me just how little I stack up when compared to the woman who came before me." Elena leaned back and stared at the ceiling above her. "I'm not going to put myself through that and if she thinks she can get away with acting out in Mystic Falls because I don't feel like sitting down with her, it won't be the Salvatores she'll be pissing off. It will be Elijah, and she'll be risking Katherine's clemency."
"She's not going to be happy about this."
"What's she going to do? Try to hurt people? Kill them? Elijah will take her heart at the first sign of trouble." Elena stood up and headed for the front door.
"Elena, please, just give her a chance."
"If she wants to meet me, she's got to turn her humanity back on and not think she has any say in my life. Those are my terms. She can take them or leave them. And speaking of Katherine's clemency, tell her we need the moonstone. Now." Opening the door, she went inside and made her way up the stairs.
Pulling out her phone, Elena sent a text to Elijah.
Isobel might try something stupid. She wanted to meet me, and I refused. Which will annoy her.
Enzo's on it.
What about him tormenting Damon?
Watching Damon flounder after the debacle with the tomb, and you refusing to give him the time of day is amusing enough, for now.
Elena lay back, then glanced at her nightstand. Taking a scrap bit of paper out of her top drawer, she rested the paper across her upturned palm and concentrated. Memories of how Bonnie had shown her her abilities the first time around played through her mind and she allowed the power to flow through her. The paper trembled, then rose into the air.
As the paper twirled, Elena raised her other hand and slowly the paper changed shape, folding into a rose.
"Elena? What the hell?"
Elena sat up to see Jenna standing in the doorway, staring at her in shock, and she let the flower drop.
"Um, I can explain." Elena stood up. "Okay, no I can't. Not without telling you the truth."
"About what?"
Elena used magic to pick the flower back up and twisted her fingers to encourage the floating flower to spin.
Jeremy, having heard Jenna's shrieks, joined Jenna at the door and watched her, eyes wide.
"I'm a witch."
"How long have you known that you were one?" Jeremy asked as he helped guide Jenna to sit on the edge of Elena's bed.
"Since the night I was attacked, sort of. But I figured it out for sure today."
Elena's phone buzzed and she checked the screen to see Bonnie on the caller ID.
"Hi, what's up?" Elena asked.
"Grams just told me!" Bonnie said, excited.
"Yeah, we don't have to be so careful around Aunt Jenna. She caught me practicing."
"Are you going to tell her everything?"
"I'm going to tell her enough."
"Alright, I'll let you go now. Good luck."
"Thanks."
Bonnie ended the call and Elena slid her phone back into her pocket.
"Tell me what?" Jenna whispered.
"About the supernatural."