"Am I not your daughter?"
The simple question made everyone at the table freeze. Niklaus looked down in shame, as Elijah and Finn looked at each other. Disbelief was clear on Rebekah's and Kol's faces while Henrik remained clueless about the situation at hand.
"Of course you're our daughter,"
The lie was almost believable.
She wished she had believed Esther's beautiful lie, for it would make her life so much simpler.
"Do not lie to me," Elena's words sounded as if it had been more of a demand than a plea.
"Elena," Mikael's voice came out slow and soft, it was as if he was speaking to a frightened animal.
Elena shook her head as she stood up.
"So it is true? I am not your daughter,"
The silence was the only answer she needed. Without another word she ran. She didn't know where she was going, but she needed to get away from there. She couldn't bear the thought of not being a part of the family, her life had been a lie.
It had all been a lie.
Was Elena even her real name?
She knew nothing of her real life.
She stops as she realizes where her legs had taken her, it was the forest from her dream. She sits up against a tree, unable to stand any longer. Her emotions were all over the place, she couldn't control them. She wanted to scream, to rip something apart, but she couldn't. All she could do was sit against the tree and cry.
She's unsure of how much time had passed by the time she lifts her head up.
"I take it you wish to know of the past?" A voice asks, startling her in the process.
It was the same boy who had appeared in her dream. Elena watched as he made his way in front of her and held his hand out.
"I can help you if that is what you desire,"
Elena didn't respond. She doesn't know what she wants.
"It's okay to be confused," the boy tells her with a sigh.
He moves his hand away from her before turning around.
"Wait," She calls out, her words sounding like a desperate plea.
She wonders if he heard her, for a moment it seemed as if he hadn't. He turns around to look at her.
"Elliana, is that my..."
Elena's words die in her mouth as she sees the boy smile.
Perhaps if she hadn't been in such an emotional state she would've seen the darkness that hid behind the boy's smile.
"Yes," The boy answers.
A rustle in the woods causes her head to turn, in the distance, she could see Niklaus making his way towards her. She turned back to look at the boy, but he was gone.
It was almost like he hadn't been there from the start.
Niklaus stands in front of her, his starling necklace swings back and forth as he attempts to catch his breath.
"Elena, I had never meant to..." Niklaus pauses looking at her with tears in his eyes that threaten to fall.
"I know," Her voice is quiet, and the look on her face is fragile.
"Does it bother you?" Niklaus asks as he sits near her.
"Do you wish for me to lie?" Elena retorts.
"Elena, I want you to listen to me," Niklaus says as he takes her hands into his.
His eyes bore into hers and his grip becomes somewhat tightening as he speaks.
"You will always be a part of this family. Nothing will ever change this, no matter who birthed you. I swear this to you, my sister, always and forever," Niklaus promises.
He means it, she can see it in his eyes. Tears fall from her eyes and she flings herself into his arms. He hesitates before wrapping his arms around her. He realizes at this moment that it hadn't been her fault that Mikael had taken a liking to her, nor had it been her fault that Mikael chose to hit him.
*
The walk home was long, he fears that he would've never found his sister if he hadn't left when he did. His heart beats faster with every step he takes. Mikael knew what he had done and soon he would suffer. Elena could sense it, but she doesn't say a word to him about it. Her mind was focused on other matters.
She was sure that she had been in the forest of her dreams, and yet when she and Niklaus stood up they were near a pond. Niklaus had ensured her that the pond had been there the entire time when she had asked him of it.
Had she been imagining the whole situation?
Elena and Niklaus walked into the house together, her hand in his. Esther and Mikael hadn't noticed them at first, too ensnared in their own argument.
If it hadn't been for Henrik, Esther and Mikael would've never seen them.
"It was you, you told her!" Mikael roared, anger flashing in his eyes as he looked at Niklaus.
Niklaus takes a step back, removing his hand from Elena's. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Esther removing Henrik from the room. A five-year-old shouldn't have to witness such cruelty.
He's glad his other siblings were not present.
"It was an accident, Father," Niklaus says as he looks at the floor.
Mikael scoffs as he quickly approaches Niklaus.
Niklaus closes his eyes at the sight, silently preparing himself for the incoming blow.
It never came.
He opens his eyes, shocked at the sight of Elena sprawled out on the floor. His eyes slowly moved toward his father, Niklaus had never seen his father look like this before. Regret, disgust, and shock were written all over Mikael's face.
Niklaus quickly rushes to Elena's side. His heart drops when he notices a puddle of blood near her head. Niklaus shakes her as he calls for his mother.
Esther quickly returns to the room, pausing at the sight.
And what a sight it was.
"What have you done?" Esther screams at Mikael as she rushes to Elena's side.
Finn, Rebekah, Elijah, and Kol fill the room at some point, but they hadn't been noticed.
Niklaus looks back to the spot where Mikael had been as Esther rushed out of the house with Elena in her arms.
He wasn't there.
His siblings quickly surround him, all of them asking the same questions in different ways.
"She protected me,"