A/N: Sorry I wasn't able to update last week. It was my bday wknd.

~EPIGRAM~

'Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.

– Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H. –

~Recap from Chapter 13~

He didn't realize it until he saw her, but his love had turn to hate.

He hated the girl who made him fall for her.

He hated the girl who used them and abandoned them.

Most of all, he hated himself for hoping she would still come back all those years.

But if she had really cared about them, she would have come back. She would have found a way back to them.

If she had really loved him, she had every opportunity all these years to look for him. But she didn't.

Seeing her made him realize it. He hated Faith Mikaelson.

~TGITW~

Chapter 14: Being Human (Part 2)

MYSTIC FALLS. 2010 A.D.

Elijah wasn't sure when things changed. Perhaps it was right when Niklaus told them that she had lied and manipulated them. That she had broken her word, her promise to love them, to be faithful and true.

Or maybe it was not hearing from her for centuries and thinking that she was dead. And how the thought of it driving him almost mad. It might have been easier to hate a person who was dead than to long for someone who was gone.

Moreover, the passing of time brought many changes. He was different. His family was different. Being a vampire had changed them so much. He himself had come so far away from the man who he once was. Deep inside, he might have blamed Faith for what had happened to them.

To think that he once loved her! To think he had been so elated when she told him she loved him! To think that he still remembered that night!

"Elijah Mikaelson, I love you."

Faith said with eyes shining brightly.

Her smile was beautiful.

Hearing the words that he was waiting for, he felt utter joy!

He lifted her up and swung her around.

The woman he loved, loved him!

He still remembered it. He remembered it all.

Faith crying when she was angry which made her all the more frustrated because she didn't want to appear weak.

Faith forgetting to breathe during their first kiss and almost passing out and him shaking her awake in panic.

Their memories together. Her strength. Her smile. Her touch.

It was all fresh in his mind as if it happened yesterday. He was the only woman he loved so deeply. And now the woman he hated so deeply.

~TGITW~

It had been a hectic week. What with Alaric's alter ego emerging, then being turned into a vampire. Now there was an immortal vampire out on the loose AND they still had the whole issue with the Original family and the sired hybrids.

Although, they had a temporary truce with Klaus, Anna still felt uneasy.

It didn't help that Jeremy had volunteered to "die" in order to kill Evil Alaric.

Anna sighed as she recalled the events prior.

"Let me do this." Jeremy volunteered after hearing Bonnie's suggestion.

"NO!" Anna exclaimed upon hearing his words. She grabbed his arm in fear.

"She's my sister." Jeremy had turned to her defiantly. Then his face softened and he slowly moved her hand away.

"Besides," Jeremy touched her face affectionately. "You're in danger too. And I want to protect you."

Anna had tried to persuade Jeremy to change his mind. She pleaded, she argued, she reasoned, but nothing would change the Gilbert's mind. Stubbornness seems to be a family trait for them.

She, Bonnie, and Jeremy were in the woods when Bonnie confirmed that the vampires had made contact.

Anna watched as Bonnie placed her hands on Jeremy's chest and began chanting.

The wind blew all around them and Bonnie's veins started to bulge starting from her hands and climbing all the way up to her face.

Then the chanting stopped. Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief. Her veins going back to normal.

The spell was completed but Jeremy's eyes remained closed.

Anna could feel that something had gone wrong. That something had gone terribly wrong.

Immediately, she knelt beside Jeremy and tried shaking him awake.

"Jeremy! Wake up! Wake Up!" Anna could feel the tears coming but she held them back. No! This cant be happening!

"Jeremy! Jeremy!" With each scream, Anna pounded on his chest.

Still, nothing happened.

She looked up at Bonnie and grabbed her by the clothes.

"Bring him back!" She growled at her, veins popping around her eyes. "Bring him back!"

Bonnie shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." She kept repeating. "He's gone."

In that instance, something broke within Anna.

Her love, her world, was gone.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

She gave out a desperate wail and hugged his body close.

He was gone. He was gone.

~TGITW~

It had turned dark outside. Hours must have passed since Jeremy died.

Anna remained motionless like a statue.

Bonnie sat across from her equally still.

A twig snapping drew both of them out of their stupor. They glanced up and found the Salvatore brothers emerging out of the trees.

Damon and Stefan had come looking for them when they hadn't come back to the house.

It was then that Anna laid eyes on Bonnie.

"You," Anna growled, her voice ominously soft.

Damon did not like the dangerous glint that appeared in Anna's eyes.

Anna let go of Jeremy's body and leapt at the witch.

Immediately, Damon rushed to protect Bonnie. He side-tackled Anna and snapped her neck.

Turning back to Bonnie, he asked, "What happened?"

Bonnie's eyes went from Anna's limp body to Damon's blue eyes.

"Jeremy's dead." Her voice cracking as she told the truth.

Stefan vamp sped to Jeremy's side and confirmed the younger Gilbert's death.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." Bonnie started crying hysterically before running into the woods.

Damon turned to his brother and shouted, "I got this! You take Jeremy and Anna back."

Then Damon sprinted towards Bonnie.

Within seconds, he caught up to Bonnie. He vamp sped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks.

"It's all my fault. It's all my fault." She kept repeated. Bonnie couldn't help but blame herself for what had happened. The guilt was consuming her.

"Hey! Hey!" Damon called out, trying to get her attention.

He cupped her face in his hands and forced her to look at him.

Then in a serious voice, he looked into her eyes and reassured her, "It's not your fault. It's not."

"How can you say that? I'm a terrible person." Bonnie cried and tried to look away, but Damon held her firmly in place.

"Bonnie Bennett," He spoke softly, eyes filled with sincerity. "You are the most selfless and decent person I know. You always put others before you, even at your own expense. Your first instinct has always been about helping people. You are not a terrible person."

As he said each sentence, Damon found himself leaning closer and closer to Bonnie. As he gazed into her green eyes, he found himself mesmerized and lost in them.

He blinked. Then he kissed her.

~TGITW~

Esther should have died when Alaric had stabbed her.

As luck would have it, Finn and Sage managed to rescue her in time.

Creating another vampire hunter was a gamble. There were many variables that could have changed the outcome. But she did it anyways. She made Alaric into a vampire.

While there may be a way for her children to become human, she was not taking any chances. If indeed there was a cure, then Alaric becoming vampire wouldn't affect them at all. If not, then they would perish at his hands, ending the vampire plague.

Now here she was putting her theory to the test. What seemed to have caused Finn to become human was Faith's blood. Possessing Rebekah's body had allowed her to get close to Faith, close enough to obtain her blood.

For this to work, they had to imitate the exact conditions that Finn had gone through. Esther had fed the blood to Sage and killed her. Then when Sage resurrected, they fed her vampire blood.

Now they waited.

Just like Finn, Sage became feverish throughout the night. And like Finn, Sage transformed from vampire to human right before Esther's eyes.

By dawn, Sage's fever was gone and she was slept soundly. Her steady heartbeat indicating that she had become human once more.

Esther smiled in awe as she watched the girl's frame. With this, she can make her family human again.