She wasn't sure how long she stayed in Elijah's embrace. No matter how hard she tried the tears wouldn't stop falling from her eyes. Her nose was tingling from the smell of Jeremy's rotting body.

She needed to move. She needed to keep going.

Pulling herself together, she wiped her trail of tears and got up from his arms.

This house needed to burn. She couldn't be here any longer.

"Get out," she told everyone with an empty voice.

"Elena?" Caroline wondered.

Going back over to the fireplace, Elena struck another match. Everyone needed to leave so she could burn this place to the ground.

"Elena!" they cried.

Elena stared at the burning flame.

"Elena, don't do this," Stefan pleaded.

"We can find another cover story," Damon added. He needed to talk reason into her.

The flame continued to burn.

"You don't have to do this," Rebekah added.

Elena shook her head. "This is the best one.," she answered Damon. "No one will ask questions."

Klaus looked solemnly at her. She had a point.

"If you burn down the house, Elena, it'll be gone," Elijah said cautiously. "What if one day when this is all over, you want to come home again?"

Elena faltered and stared at the flaming match in her hand. Home.

"You won't be able to go back. It will all be gone."

A tear fell down from her eye. Gone. Gone like her brother. Like Aunt Jenna. Like her parents and Ric. "Exactly."

With that, she dropped the match and immediately the flames began to rise. Without hesitation, Elijah grabbed her and sped outside. Everyone followed suit, turning around to watch as the familiar house burned.


She was taken back to Klaus's mansion. Having showered and changed into some pajamas Rebekah had packed her, Elena settled into Elijah's bed.

Her mind couldn't go to sleep. Her body couldn't rest.

Dead. Jeremy was dead.

Elena sat up with her knees to her chest.

Gone.

"Elena," Elijah spoke softly. He laid propped up on his elbow next to her, a hand on her knee for comfort. He waited and hoped for a response. Ever since the burning of the Gilbert house she hadn't spoken a word.

Sitting up, he gathered her in his arms. Tears continued to fall down from her eyes, covering her cheeks.


"I need her to live," Elijah spoke to his family the next morning. His throat had begun to constrict and his statement came out more as a broken plea. He was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. Bracing himself on the back of the couch, he tried to take in deep breaths. Elena was a wreck. She was nothing but an empty shell. "I can't be without her."

Klaus, Kol and Rebekah stood silently in the living room, watching as their brother tried to not fall apart.

"She makes her choice tonight from what I gather," Kol spoke breaking the silence as he remembered Elena talking to empty space. "We need to give her a reason to stay."

But how? They all wondered.

"I-I…" Elijah continued to choke up and tears slipped from his face. Rebekah went over to him, taking him into a hug.

Elena had meant a great deal to their family, but to Elijah…she was everything.

"We get him a headstone," Klaus said staring in space with a multitude of thoughts. "I'll go compel someone to make a gravestone for the Gilbert. We bring Elena there and give him a proper burial. Maybe the closure will help her."

It was actually a good idea. One Elijah was grateful for.

"I'll call her friends," Rebekah said leaving go of Elijah. Having them all there surrounding Elena may be helpful as well.

"I'm going to go check on her," Kol stated, running a hand through his hair. There was this feeling. It was nagging at him, bothering him. Putting a hand on Elijah's shoulder, he walked off to find Elena.

When everyone left, Elijah broke. He placed himself on the sofa, his head in his hands as tears and small little gasps escaped his lips. He sat there in pain. He was upset for Jeremy, cried for Elena, and sobbed for all the evil he had done. He had hurt the one he had come to cherish most. He and his family had taken so much from her. He was a monster.

"Pull yourself together, Elijah," Klaus spoke, breaking Elijah from his moment.

Elijah glanced up to Klaus, quickly wiping his face, and getting up from the sofa. He'd never show his siblings weakness.

"She needs you, mate," Klaus said, walking over to the liquor cart. "She needs you more than any of us."

"We've done so much to her, Niklaus," Elijah spoke to him with his back turned.

"We weren't the ones to kill Jeremy Gilbert," Klaus pointed out. "Katarina did that."

Katarina Petrova. Elijah's blood boiled when hearing her name. She escaped this world too easy. If she still lived and roamed, Elijah wouldn't stop from hunting her and taking his revenge on her.

"Go to Elena," Klaus spoke, now hanging behind Elijah's shoulder. "She needs you with her. Tell her of tonight. Hopefully with closure we can get her to choose transitioning."

Elijah wondered why his brother was showing such kindness. It wasn't like him to do such. He had never seen such finesse in Klaus.

"What makes you care?" Elijah wondered. While it crossed his mind that Klaus may be having alternative motives, he was too tired to put up a fight and figure it out.

Klaus had wondered the same thing to himself earlier. As he compelled a groundskeeper to place the etched headstone of Jeremy Gilbert in a plot, he questioned when he had gone soft. The old mean hybrid killing machine Klaus would have never done this. He didn't show kindness or sympathy.

"We've had our fights and differences," Klaus answered. "We've both done regrettable things. Even through the years…" Klaus swallowed. The way that Elena grieved for her brother chilled him to the bone. "But…"

He never wanted to experience anything like that with his family – the unimaginable loss. He thought they were invincible. But look at Finn.

"You're my brother, 'Lijah," Klaus said softly.

Elijah suddenly understood. Klaus found compassion in Elena's grief. He had understood the meaning of family and of loss. Turning around, he went to go find Elena.

"Thank you, Niklaus," Elijah spoke, putting a hand on the hybrid's shoulder before leaving.


There was a needle in arm, draining pints of blood into bags from her vein. A blood kit was sitting on the bed, open with supplies strewed everywhere.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kol asked speeding over to her and pulling the needle from her skin. She just sitting on the edge of the bed, arm out, letting her blood drain into donation bags.

She didn't say anything, instead just stared at him with empty eyes. Kol, frustrated, quickly put some gauze and pressure over the tiny wound. She went back to staring out the window.

"Elena," Kol snapped. It took her a moment to look back at him. He glared at her waiting for some sort of answer from her. No matter the grief or pain she was in, he wanted answers.

"Klaus needs my blood to make his hybrids. I won't be needing mine for much longer. I'm giving the last he can get."

It sounded so vacant and nonchalant. The thought had crossed Kol's mind that Niklaus had compelled Elena for the donations. But he had seen how Nik cared for Elena's well-being right now. He hadn't mentioned his hybrids in a long while.

"It's all I have left to give."

Kol turned his attention back to her. "Elena, don't do this. Don't give up like this." Kol knelt down to her. "You have so much more in you. You just need give yourself time to heal."

It was as if she wasn't there. Her face was expressionless.

"Please, Elena," he whispered. He was getting desperate. He had never seen his friend this way and he couldn't help her. There had been so many times where in a reversal of roles, she came to his aid. She'd calm him down or happen to say the right thing. And now in her time of need, he couldn't do a thing.

Tears began to fall from her eyes and Kol wiped them away. Before he knew it, she broke down and he swept her up in his arms.

"Just let it out," he coaxed softly.

"I let him die," she sobbed. "It's all my fault. This is all my fault."

It was more than anyone had heard from her the past two days. She was telling him her thoughts.

"Elena, you didn't do a thing," he told her.

"I killed him," she spoke softly.

Kol was confused how she got it into her head she was responsible for her brother's death. From what he knew, Katharine and Silas were responsible.

"Kol?" Elijah wondered from his doorway.

Kol was holding a crying Elena in his arms. It was a difficult for Elijah to see her take comfort from someone else, especially one of his brothers.

"I did this," she whispered.

Both men frowned.

"Elena," Elijah said coming over to her. He knelt down in front of her, waiting until she could look at him.

"Elijah," she whispered with tears falling. "It hurts," she whimpered.

"I know," he replied softly, rubbing a tear away with his thumb. "We are going to get you through this. You will be okay, Elena."

"He's dead," she croaked. It was as if she were a broken record.

"He's dead," Elijah confirmed.

Tears fell faster from her eyes and Kol wondered what the hell his brother was doing. This was getting Elena more upset.

"We're going to put on a funeral for him," Elijah said carefully. "We can give you a place to say goodbye to Jeremy."

Elena blinked her doe-y eyes. Goodbye?

She laid in Kol's arm and stared off in space. Memories flooded her brain of her and Jeremy. Together they laughed, cried, fought, and hugged. She wished to feel his arms around her again, remembering when he embraced her after she returned home.

A shirt was placed in Elena's arms and she looked down to find Jeremy's tee. But how?

"We have a box of his things from the house," Rebekah spoke gently. When did she get there?

"He'll always be with you, darling," Kol spoke gently.

Elena hugged Jeremy's shirt to her chest. It still smelled like him.

"I didn't protect him," she said with her voice cracking. "I didn't take care of him."

"You did all that you could, love," Klaus answered, joining the rest of his family.

It didn't feel real. Jeremy's death was so unreal.

"He's dead," she repeated.

"He's dead," Elijah confirmed once more.


Rebekah helped her get ready for Jeremy's funeral. Picking out one of her black dresses for Elena to borrow, she set it out for the girl while she was in the shower. Rebekah could hear Elena crying.

Walking to the door, she put her hand on the handle and paused. Debating whether it was best to go in, she decided against it and gave the girl some space. Dropping her hand, Rebekah glanced to the door with sorrow and left the room, leaving the dress.


They were all patient with her. It took Elena over two hours to get herself showered and dressed. She broke down over and over again, haunted by the loss in her heart of her brother.

Elijah held Elena each time her knees would give way from the pain. He'd catch her and cradle her in his arms and let her cry until she was ready to stand again; until her body could collect itself and function once more.

"There we go," Rebekah said, tying Elena's hair back. Her short brown hair was starting to get longer. "Ready?"

Elijah and the family were all waiting downstairs for the pair. It was time to get to the funeral.

Elena glanced down at her lap. Was she ready? Was she ready to say goodbye to Jeremy? To make it real, to make it undeniable. Was she ready to let go of her pain and anguish and let what happened lie? Could she?

"Can I have a moment?" Elena asked. It was actually surprising to Rebekah she had spoken words.

Nodding, Rebekah walked out from the room and kindly shut the door behind her.

Once out of sight, Elena shakily got up. She held onto the top of the dresser to stabilize herself. Sometimes the pain was so overwhelming it was difficult to take control of her own limbs. Taking in a deep breath, she looked at her reflection.

Come on, Elena. You need to do this. Pull it together. Stop crying.

She glanced to her attire. She had to do this. She had to say goodbye. Taking a few more deep breaths, she left swallowed the growing agony and pushed it away, burying it back down inside her. Walking out of the room, she didn't look back.


It was a familiar place, the Mystic Falls cemetery. She was surprised to that Jeremy's headstone got placed there. Walking and meeting her friends, Elena found she stood at a familiar sight. Jeremy's gravestone. It was next to the rest of the Gilbert family.

"H-h-ow?" Elena asked looking up at everyone.

Everyone besides Klaus was mystified and bewildered how room was made for Jeremy at the plot.

"You dug up someone else's grave, didn't you?" Rebekah whispered to Klaus in an incredulous tone. She tried to keep her voice soft as the precession went on.

"The groundskeeper did actually," Klaus answered to her, watching as everyone began laying flowers near the headstone.

"What did you do with the other body?" Kol wondered beside him.

Klaus gave a small shrug. "How should I know? I compelled the groundskeeper to deal with it."

With that, Klaus went next and laid his rose down on Jeremy's gravestone. Sorry mate.

When everyone was finished laying their flowers, they looked to Elena. She was the last to say her goodbyes. Her body trembled as she walked up there. Elijah was tempted to go with her, but he knew she needed to do this on her own.

Setting her flower down, she kneeled in front of the headstone. She was saying goodbye to her little brother.

"Jeremy!" little Elena Gilbert yelled in anger. She was 10 and he was 8. He was running around like a maniac and had knocked her paints, ruining her picture she worked so hard on. Before she could yell for her mom, Jeremy had stuck his hands in the mess.

Wide eyed, little Elena jumped off her seat and went running around the house. Jeremy chased her around for what felt like hours, covering her with his colorful little hands.

When Miranda Gilbert came back from the laundry room, she found her two little children in a heaping mess, covered from head to toe in primary color finger paints. They smiled at her, teaming up with a hand clap. Before long, they were chasing her around the house as well.

Elena held back her sobs and looked out in the distance. He was gone. This was all she had left of him. It was only memories now. Getting up, she wiped the tears from her face.

I love you, Jeremy.


It was night time and Elena had requested to be alone all day. She was tired of all the sympathies and she was tired of her own crying. She just wanted to stop the tears but every time she tried; they fell harder. Sneaking out of the mansion, Elena walked down to the long-deserted street of Wickery Bridge. It was getting late and everything in Mystic Falls felt quiet.

Laying down in the empty road, Elena sprawled out looked up at the sky. This was where her life had changed. This was where the supernatural had all stared.

Elena laid there, desiring to feel close to her loved ones. She wanted to feel something-– something more than anguish. Life felt like it no longer had meaning. She felt she had no purpose.

Blinked away her tears, she tried her hardest to focus on the night sounds. There was nothing. No talking, no laughing, no crying. It was just the crickets, the water, and quiet.

You're all I have left, his voice echoed in her head.

Closing her eyes, she remembered Jeremy holding her the night of Klaus's sleepover. If she tried hard enough it was as if she could almost feel his embrace. Almost.

Elena opened her eyes. She found nothing beside her except air.

She took her time walking home. It was something about the quiet that was the only thing that could comfort her. Walking down the road, she didn't stop until she heard a rustling of forest trees. Curious, she stopped, glancing around.

She didn't hear another noise at first. It wasn't until she turned around that she had heard it again.

"Hello?" she called out. It was probably stupid of her to call for someone. It's not like anyone would respond. Trying to use her vampire hearing, she found that she couldn't hear a thing. It wasn't that she couldn't locate a source to the sound, it was that she didn't have the ability.

Fear ran down her spine and she quickly grabbed her phone. 11:28pm.

She was running out of time.

There was more rustling that had Elena look up from her phone. Something was here. Someone was after her.

Dialing for Elijah, she stood there waiting. Pick up. Pick up!


"Where's Elena?" Elijah asked coming down the stairs from his room. He had gone to check on her and found nothing but an empty bed.

"I thought she was sleeping?" Kol wondered.

"She's not in my room," Elijah answered worriedly. A pit in his stomach grew. Feeling his phone buzz in his pocket, he sighed with relief. Elena, it read.

"Elena-"

"Elijah," she whispered. "Elijah, please come get me."

"Where are you?" He asked immediately rushing down the stairs and run out the door. Kol was hot on heels ready to chase after her as well.

"Wickery bridge. I-"

There was some rustling and a loud thud. Elijah's heart pounded.

"Elena? Elena!"


The line went dead and Elijah just about it lost it. He left the house and ran quicker than he had ever before.

"Finn," Elena breathed as she blinked away the black spots. He had blindsided her, throwing her against the trunk of a tree and crushing her phone in the process. Feeling the back of her head, Elena found a large lump and blood. Her head must of hit the tree hard. She had lost consciousness for a moment.

"Elena," Finn growled. He looked rabid. He was bleeding from the mouth like he had just fed and he was showing his teeth. His eyes were crazed, hair a mess. This was the beast she had been afraid of.

Bracing herself against the trunk of the tree, Elena slowly got up. "Finn…what are you doing here?"

Finn sped over to her, grabbing her by the neck and choking her. Elena thought he was going to crush her wind pipe he was squeezing so tight. "I need-…"

Finn dropped her. He stumbled back and held his head. "I need-…"

Elena recalled seeing this. It felt all too familiar. Something was still wrong with Finn.

Before either of them could do anything, Damon and Stefan had appeared, scaring away the Mikaelson.

"Elena, are you alright?" Stefan asked bending down to her.

"How did you guys…"

"You're lucky we were taking the long way home," Damon stated, glancing all around. The Salvatore boarding house was only three miles away. "Let's go."

The two men helped Elena to her feet.

"Damon!" Elena yelled when she glanced up, her eyes tracking a blur. Finn charged at the eldest Salvatore, tossing him deep into the woods. Losing sight of him momentarily, Elena and Stefan listened as Damon cried out in a muffled pain.

Stefan pushed Elena behind him, backing her up against the tree to try and protect her. Finn was speeding around, playing a game with their anxiety. Stefan watched and listened closely, trying hard to track Finn's movements. As Finn came darting out to him, Stefan tried his best to put up a fight. He was the last thing standing to protect Elena. But Finn was strong, almost feral.

She watched helplessly as they fought. There wasn't much interference she could run without her abilities.

Stefan swung and missed a punch, allowing for Finn to grab Stefan, bending him over his knee and breaking his back. Stefan fell to the floor with a thud and Finn resumed stalking back over to Elena.

"Finn…"

"I need you to kill me," he told her in a hurry. Pulling out the white oak stake, he put it in her hands. "I need you to be the one to do it."

Elena looked down at the dagger, confused how he had even gotten this in the first place. Glancing back to him frightened and confused, she took small slow steps backwards. "Why me?" she wondered.

A blinding headache came back and Finn knelt down in pain. "You're the…. only….one…" Finn groaned out.

Elena backed away quicker, keeping sight of him as she moved. Her brain attempted to put the pieces together of what he was saying to her. And then it hit her. She was the only one that could kill him. Esther didn't just tie Alaric's life to hers, but Finn as well.

But Elena didn't understand how Finn didn't die when Ric did. Was it because he was an Original and part witch now? Is that why the dagger was so important and came back into play?

Elena looked back to the dagger in her hand.

"Please," Finn groaned out.

"Finn…"

He was now on his knees, head to the ground, moaning in pain. "I've hurt so many," he cried. He panted and clawed at the dirt.

Finn sped over before Elena could comprehend. Holding her by the neck, he hovered above her. His eyes were red, his teeth ready to bite. "I've hurt so many, Elena," he said fighting his instincts. There was still some Finn left in there.

"I'm sick. I've been infected."

Finn was tackled off of her. Seeing a blur of a suit-cladded man, Elena sighed with relief. Elijah.

"Elena," Kol said quickly checking her over for bodily injuries. She was bleeding from her head fairly bad. Biting into his wrist, he held it out for her. "Drink."

Elena was distracted. Finn was sick? Pieces were starting to come together. Finn was sick. He was drinking from vampires. He was crazed. He was rabid.

"Drink, Elena!" Kol commanded.

Elena quickly choked down enough blood to close her wounds and then ran after Elijah and Finn.

"Don't touch him!" Elena yelled as they stood a distance away from one another. She wasn't sure what kind of bodily contact Elijah and Finn may have made, but everyone needed to stay away.

"Elena-"

She gave a look, silencing Elijah.

"Elena!" Finn yelled. Dropping to his knees, he held his head as his eyes and nose began to bleed. "Do it," he panted. Speeding over to her, he grabbed her from behind. Using a move Klaus taught her, she yanked him over her shoulder and he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Kill me," he panted. "Please. Now."

Hesitating for only a second, she grabbed the white oak dagger and plunged it into his chest.

"Thank…you," he choked out before burning to pieces. Finn and the dagger were finally gone. That was it.

"What just happened?" Elijah asked her and Kol. What had he just seen? Finn was gone? His brother….

Hearing a groan, Elena left her place and ran deeper into the woods. Damon and Stefan were getting up from the forest floor. Stefan shook his head to clear the cobwebs while Damon held his neck and groaned.

"Is that blood?" Elena asked Damon as she saw some residue on his neck.

"Yeah, asshole took a chunk out of me," he groaned. "Now I guess I know how it feels."

Elena went over to him concerned. His wound was healed, not a trace of it besides the dried blood to be seen.

"And you're okay?" Elena wondered, glancing from him to the wound. Was Finn wrong?

"I'm fine, Elena," Damon said pulling away. Shaking off the whole death thing, Damon went over to Stefan.

"What'd I miss?"

"I'd like to know that as well," Elijah stated, fixing his sleeves coming over to them. Walking to Elena, he checked her over "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said with exhaustion falling over her. "I'm fine. I mean, I should be asking you that," she said glancing to Elijah and then Kol. She just killed their brother.

"I have no idea what just went on," Kol stated.

"Look, I-"

Elena stopped. A searing pain suddenly burned around her abdomen. Confused, she moved her hand down to the pain and found blood seeping out of her shirt.

"Get him out of here!" Elijah barked as Stefan's eyes turned dark. Immediately Damon and Kol went after Stefan getting him far away from the scene.

Elena lost the feeling of her legs and Elijah caught her, slowly bringing her to the ground. This was it. It was time.

Oh god.

"Elena. Elena," Elijah called with tears welling in his eyes. He was baffled at what was going on. How did she get that wound?

Her flesh was suddenly torn open on her neck and immediately she began to bleed. Quickly Elena went to cover the wound. She could feel her own warm blood seep over her hand. She was going to die in a puddle of her own blood.

"'Lijah," she croaked.

"Come on. Come back to me. What is happening?" he asked her with tears in his eyes. He watched as she tried to hang on for him, her eyes scared and full of worry.

"Elena," he pleaded trying to take in deep breaths. She was dying right in front of him and he couldn't stop it. Wait. Biting his wrist, he went to shove it against her lips. She needed to drink.

Elena pushed it away as best as she could. It was as if she was fighting with him on choosing to live.

No, she needed to stay with him.

"Its…okay," she encouraged to him, trying to mask her own feelings of terror, before an odd sensation came over her and she closed her eyes letting things go dark.


Elijah sat there helplessly with a bloody Elena in his arms. He gasped and panted and tried to think straight. No, she wasn't dead. He didn't just lose her. She didn't take his blood. "I-I…"

Damon and Kol rushed back to the scene after containing Stefan's blood rage. Seeing a bloodied and limp Elena in the Original's arms, Damon dropped to his knees while Kol stood next to him in shock. "No," Damon breathed out in disbelief. No, this couldn't have happened. No, Elena Gilbert could not have just died.

With anger and determination, Damon sped over to Elijah, pushing him backwards as he stole Elena's body from his arms. With speed he ran to the hospital.

"Somebody help me!" Damon called to the bustling ER.

"Damon?!" Meredith Fell exclaimed. Running over from another patient, she called for a gurney and removed the stethoscope from her neck to check Elena's heartbeat.

"No pulse," a nurse told Meredith as she hooked Elena up to machines.

Meredith looked over to a shellshocked Damon and began compressions to keep Elena's heart beating. "Damon, what happened? How did Elena get hurt?"

"I….I…."

Meredith Fell waited as long as she could to get some sort of back story. When she couldn't wait any longer, she pushed the gurney further inside the hospital and she and her team took Elena away.

Damon continued to stand in the middle of the ER, still attempting to answer the doctor's question. What happened?

Feeling the world around him move, Damon realized he was being spun around. Hands grabbed fistfuls of the front of his shirt and jacket, and he faced a very pissed off Original.

"What did you do?" Elijah ground out, tears fresh in his eyes. "Where is she?"

His possessiveness snapped Damon out of his spell. Pushing the vampire off of him, Damon adjusted his clothing. "I gave her to Meredith Fell. If there is one thing that woman can do, it's help."

Elijah's jaw clenched and he balled his hand into a fist. He was so very tired of Damon Salvatore.

"We have no idea what just happened to Elena. It could be anything-" Damon rambled.

"-guys," Kol tried to interfere.

"If you got your head out of your ass for one second-" Damon exclaimed.

"-Guys!" Kol yelled. Breaking them apart he pointed over to the clock. 12:08am. Damon didn't understand what it meant, but by the look on Elijah's face, he did.

"It's tomorrow," Elijah breathed. It was tomorrow and Elena was supposed to transition.

It finally all made sense. "She died by the same wounds as before," Damon claimed. The shock was overwhelming. She had the same wound to the abdomen like she did when she took the bullet from the deputies in the Pastor's barn, and her neck was bloodied from a bite wound, one his own brother had done to her. The witches had taken Elena away.

"It can't…" tears fell from Elijah's eyes again and he couldn't seem to form words.

Time no longer existed. Elijah wasn't sure what had happened. At one-point Meredith Fell had come out and he knew exactly what she had to say by the grief on Damon's face.

Kol stood in the waiting room flabbergasted. No, she couldn't have just died. Reaching a hand up to rub his head, he realized he had blood on him. His own blood.

Laughing with relief, he covered his mouth and contained a scream of joy. Elena Gilbert was alive. She would be transitioning. She had his blood in her system.

"'Lijah. Elijah!" Kol said shaking his brother for his attention. "Elena is alive."

Elijah's eyes snapped to his brother's. The words of hope.

"She drank from me. During the attack when you had gone after Finn, she had a horrendous head wound. I made her drink from me. She's alive. She's alive!"

Elijah jumped from his chair and hugged his brother. He had saved Elena Gilbert's life. He had saved his life. Brushing the tears away, Elijah moved into action. He needed to tell Meredith Fell. He should probably also inform Damon who had gone home to tell Stefan.

Elena was alive.


Elijah sat next to her, holding onto one of her hands with his own as her body laid on the metal table of the morgue. She looked pale and so fragile. Even in death though, she laid in beauty. Kissing her hand, he patiently waited for her to wake up. He couldn't wait to see her warm brown eyes and that bright Elena smile again. He couldn't live without this woman.


It took another two hours before Elena finally awoke. Gasping for breath, she tried to gather her bearings and understand her surroundings.

"Elena," a familiar voice called. Furrowing her brows, Elena glanced to the source of the sound and found Elijah. His eyes were red and puffy. He looked as if he had been crying. Reaching a hand out to him, she caressed the side of his face. She didn't like seeing him cry.

Elijah gave a cry of happiness. There she was, right in front of him.

"Where am I?" she asked with a raspy voice. Glancing around, she looked at the dark fluorescent room. It was cold and vacant in here. Realizing she was in the morgue, she shut her eyes again. She died.

"I'm transitioning," she spoke, opening her eyes to Elijah for confirmation.

Elijah nodded, silently hoping that was what she had wanted. It had crossed his mind during his wait that she had wanted to die and pass over to the other side. With the sudden loss of Jeremy, he wouldn't have blamed her if she wanted to cross over and be with him.

"Kol," she breathed. Her body hurt. It ached and felt so heavy.

Elijah hovered over her, suddenly worried about a sire bond. Had drinking Kol's blood formed one?

"I drank his blood," she groaned.

"You did," Elijah confirmed. Brushing the hair from her face, he stared into her eyes.

"I love you," she breathed.

Elijah gave a teary-eyed laugh. He had never been happier to hear that.

"I love you so much, Elena," he spoke. Leaning down the two kissed. Elena hummed in happiness as she laid on the cold metal table. She was so tired, she didn't want to move.

Elijah let her lie there for a while to rest and recoup some energy. As he ran soothing motions with his thumb against her forehead, her eyelids fluttered opened and she was filled with guilt.

"I'm so sorry," she told Elijah. Tears filled her eyes and he wasn't sure why. "I killed Finn."

Elijah sighed softly. She did and he wasn't sure why. He didn't understand why his brother was pleading for his love to kill him.

"What happened, Elena?" he asked. "Tell me why Finn wanted you to kill him."

"I'm the doppelgänger," she told Elijah, "Or I was." She closed her eyes and groaned. Why was thinking and speaking so difficult? "Ester didn't just tie Ric's life to mine, she somehow did it to Finn as well."

It didn't make sense to Elijah. If that were true then how come he didn't die before this?

"He's an original. The white oak stake -he had it," Elena told Elijah looking over to him again. She didn't need to see him to know what he was thinking. "I don't know where he got it, but he had it. He gave it to me. He told me I had to kill him with it."

So, his mother must have spelled it so that Finn could only die by Elena's hands. It made sense.

"I'm so sorry," she croaked out again. She felt terribly guilty for hurting Elijah and his family. She had taken their brother away like Jeremy was taken from her. She was a monster.

"Elena," Elijah breathed. "My brother pleaded for you to kill him. You did nothing wrong."

"Klaus will be so mad," she said with a tear slipping from her eyes.

"Niklaus will understand," Elijah assured her. "There is nothing to forgive."

Elena wanted to nod but she was so tired.

"We need to get you out of here," Elijah whispered to her after a few moments. He didn't want to see her on the autopsy table any longer.

"I'm so tired," she groaned.

Kissing her forehead, Elijah sniffled and wiped away his tears. Picking up Elena gently from the table, he sped them back to the mansion.


"Why did he want her to kill him?" Klaus's voice demanded. "Why didn't you bring our dear brother home for us to deal with as a family?"

Elijah had come back with Elena in his arms and Klaus was demanding answers. Kol had come home earlier to tell him and Rebekah that Elena was transitioning and that Finn was dead. Kol explained that Elena had killed their brother with a white oak stake, but he didn't say how or why.

Had she had it all along? Klaus wondered. The idea angered him.

"Niklaus," Elijah said sternly trying to calm his brother down. Explaining all that he knew, Klaus shook his head. Damn witchcraft. And to hell with his mother.

Klaus seethed.

"He was sick," Elena groaned. Letting her eyes flutter open, she winced at the little sunlight that was showing in the room.

Elijah quickly covered the blinds better and went over to her bedside.

"It explains the nose bleeds and the headaches," Elena offered. "He was suffering from hallucinations and slipping in and out of reality. He asked me to kill him to stop him. He knew I was the only one that could."

"Sick with what, Elena?" Elijah asked. This was the first he was hearing of this.

"I have no idea," she sighed tiredly. "All he said was that he was sick…and infected."

Her eyes snapped to Klaus's. Infected?

Klaus stared off in the distance, pensive with thought.

"Did he say anything about the cure? Did he take it?" Rebekah wondered, slipping into the room.

Elena had no idea. "I don't know."

The brothers looked at one another. If Finn was infected by something, that was a personal attack. He was an Original vampire. That wasn't a coincidence.

"I thought you might get sick if you got too close to him," Elena told Elijah. "He drinks from vampires, he said that last time."

Elena had a point. Klaus had helped her remember the memory.

"Did he bite you?" Klaus asked turning to Elijah. "Even give you just a scratch?"

Elijah shook his head. After pulling Finn off of Elena, his brother had barely come near him. He actually had kept his distance when Elijah thought about it.

"Damon was bit," Elena spoke with her eyes closed. Everything was pounding. Her head was aching. "I thought he was sick, but the wound healed."

Elijah sat Elena up before going and grabbing a blood bag. Putting it in front of Elena, he tried to get her to take a drink. She fought it at first. Pushing the bag away she didn't want to drink it. While she wanted to live and she knew she needed to be a vampire, she didn't want to drink blood.

"You need to feed," he advised her.

"Just let me sleep," she pleaded. She was so tired and her body still ached.

"She still has time, brother," Klaus said with a hand on Elijah's shoulder. While it was a bit concerning the girl didn't want to drink blood, he knew transitioning was difficult.

Sighing, Elijah closed the bag and set it on the table.

"I'll be downstairs," Klaus said taking his exit for the pair.

Elena asked Elijah to come hold her. While everything ached, she missed being in his embrace.

Unbuttoning his suit jacket, he folded it nicely at the end of the bed, before slipping off his shoes. Sliding into bed, he held Elena close as she cuddled next to him and slept.


She had decent control. In finally getting her to drink a blood bag and complete the transition, Elijah and his family spent days with her to help her learn to keep control of her blood lust. Even as a vampire, while she desired blood, being conscious that she was drinking it made her squeamish.

Elena turned on her side and sighed. The brightness of the morning shined against her face, slowly walking her up. Bringing her hand to rub her eyes from the light, she felt something on her finger. A new piece of jewelry glistened in the sun's rays.

Staring at the piece, she then turned to behind her, finding a smirking Elijah. He had a daylight ring made for her.

It wasn't gaudy or overbearing like Stefan or Damon's. Rather it was simple. Elegant. A small lapis lazuli gemstone was set inside the middle a silver banded ring. Inside was engraved 'always and forever'.

"I love it," she smiled staring back at her finger.

While the pain of Jeremy and her own death were still there holding her in grief, she was glad for the path she had taken. Elijah and his family were by her side. It was a new kind of family.


A/N: The end! Be on the lookout for another sequel!