Elijah goes back to France to discover that Antoinette was fully prepared for what he came to tell her. And he can't help but question some of her motives.

~The Path To forever~

The last thing Elijah expected was to have Antoinette's bartender call him over to the bar the minute he walked into the building. No, scratch that. That was the second to last thing he expected. The actual last thing he ever expected was to be called by name.

"Welcome back, Mr Mikaelson. Miss Sienna told me to give this to you when you came in." He held out an envelope addressed to him in Antoinette's handwriting.

Mr Mikaelson. The bartender knew his real name. That was certainly interesting. Elijah took the envelope and went up to the apartment he shared with Antoinette. He would pack up his things, and then, if Antoinette wasn't back yet, he would read his letter and write one to her. He hoped it wouldn't come to that. While there were certain issues with their relationship now that he had his memories back, he still thought he owed it to her to break up with her in person.

Except, when he got upstairs, something wasn't right. He looked around, trying to figure out what it was. And then it hit him. His things were all still there, as were some of the things they had bought together, or that belonged to the apartment, rather than to either of them—but all of Antoinette's things seemed to be gone. He walked into their bedroom, where it became even more obvious. Her clothes were all gone, too. It seemed that he was going to be spared from having to break up with her, by her breaking up with him, first.

He sat on the edge of the bed and opened the letter and started reading.

Elijah,

I know how this is going to go. So, I'm making a preemptive strike. The seven years you and I spent together can't begin to compare with the thousand years you had with your siblings. And, maybe you could have had both, if it was just about them. But, it's not. I can't compete with her. I know that. If Elijah Mikaelson is back, then he's also back with Hayley Marshall.

Yes, I knew about her. I admit that my mother kept tabs on your family, a bit. And, I suppose that I should also explain my part in that. Because I need you to understand. I suppose you remember meeting me, before, now. So, you know that I knew who you were from the moment we met. I need you to understand, though, that there was never anything malicious in my intentions towards you. When I first saw you, I honestly thought that you might have been there to finish what your brother had started all those years ago. But then you were acting very strangely. I realized quite quickly that something was wrong. That you didn't seem to know who you were. Which you later confirmed.

I didn't keep the fact that I knew you, and your history, from you out of malice, Elijah. I did it because I didn't know what had happened to you to make you forget. I didn't have any idea what could possibly give an original amnesia like that. I assumed it had to have been an extremely powerful witch. I was honestly afraid of what trying to get you remember could do. So, I kept quiet. Kept your true identity from you.

And I fell in love with the man you had become without your memory of your past and your family. Though, to be fair, I had always had a crush on Elijah Mikaelson, too. And, if it was just about you, and your family, I would have stayed. Would have seen if Elijah Mikaelson could have still loved me as much as Elijah Smith had. But, it wasn't just about your siblings.

I know, Elijah. I know that you came here to break up with me. To tell me that you're going back to her. And it's okay. I understand. But, know that I do love you.

So, here's how this is going to work. I'm moving out. I've left the bar to you. You can keep it, you can sell it, you can burn it to the ground. Whatever makes the most sense to you. And I won't change my phone number or completely ghost you. If you ever need anything, let me know.

But, I couldn't stand here, and look in your eyes while you told me that it was over. I can try to pass it off as trying to spare you from having to say the words. And that is part of it. But, I also admit to being a coward. To not want to have to see you again.

Anyway… Be happy, Elijah. She's a very lucky woman. I hope she knows that. I love you. Goodbye.

Antoinette.

He stared at the letter for several minutes. Part of him was actually glad for it. Glad that he had been spared having to tell her that he was breaking up with her. Especially considering that he wasn't even leaving her for Hayley, but for a memory. But, he knew that he couldn't stay with her, even if Hayley was forever lost to him. It wasn't fair to either of them.

And then something she said percolated through his brain. She knew. She knew that Greta had been keeping tabs on them. She knew about Hayley, and about Hope. It made him wonder if she also knew what Greta had been planning. If she had been a part of that. It would make a sick kind of sense from her perspective. Get rid of Hayley. Get rid of the one person that could have made Elijah completely walk away from her.

Because, she was right. If it was just about his siblings, he could have tried to have both. It was his feelings for Hayley that made staying with Antoinette untenable. She could compete with his siblings, and have a reasonable chance of at least having a draw. But there was no competing with Hayley.

He picked up his phone and called her.

"Elijah… I wasn't expecting to hear from you this soon. I… I thought you would still be in New Orleans."

"I came back to break up with you. I'm not going to lie. You were right about that. But, there's something I need to know, Antoinette."

"What is that?"

"How much did you know?"

"I don't… I don't know what you mean…"

"Your mother is dead. I ripped her daylight ring off and threw her outside. I did this after Niklaus and I managed to get her hand out from around Hayley's heart. Marcellus then went to Mystic Falls and interrogated your brother."

"Roman? Oh God! Elijah, please. If you ever felt anything about me at all, please don't let your family hurt Roman. He's innocent. His only crime was never really growing up and doing what my mother told him to do. He's a good kid."

Elijah had to smile at that. "I know. That was what Marcellus went there to find out. He can compel even an Original. Gave me amnesia that overrode a thousand years of love and devotion to my family. Made me even forget my soulmate." Okay, that line was unnecessarily harsh, but he couldn't help it, right now. "Compelling total honesty from your brother was no harder for him than it would have been for me. So, we know that your brother is not only innocent, but actually has a crush on my niece. Which is ironic, since he was sent there to spy on her for your mother. But, would you like to know what your mother did?"

"I have a feeling you're going to tell me whether I want to know or not."

"Smart girl. She had a witch cast a spell to bind Hayley's werewolf side. A spell that is quite painful. This was done after she had that same witch cut Hayley's birthmark off and sent it in a box to my sister as a message to Niklaus. She intended to do those some things to Hope. My fifteen year old niece. My only regret where your mother is concerned is that I killed her too quickly. As satisfying as it was to watch her burn, it would have been more fitting to keep her alive and make her be the vampire in the ritual to unbind Hayley. So, I just have one question for you, Antoinette. Did you know what she was up to?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for several minutes. Elijah was just about to tell her that he was going to take her silence as his answer when she finally spoke. "I knew that she wanted to bind their werewolf side. Roman called me in a panic, trying to figure out what to do. He didn't want to see Hope hurt, but he couldn't disobey our mother. She… I'm sure your friend Marcellus has figured out the kind of hold that she had over him. I… told him to sit tight. To protect Hope as best he could, and I would try to figure out something to do from my end. I actually thought of calling you, telling you where they were in exchange for your word that you wouldn't let Roman be hurt."

"And why didn't you?"

"I was scared. I wasn't sure you would listen to. I was afraid that maybe it would actually make things worse for him. And…" She trailed off, then.

But, Elijah wasn't going to just let things go. Not now. Not after everything that had happened. Not after he came dangerously close to watching Hayley die. "And what, Antoinette? Was there maybe a part of you hoping that Hayley would die? A part that realized that you could never compete with her if she was alive, but maybe you could compete with her ghost?"

"That's not fair, Elijah!"

"Hayley almost died, Antoinette. Your mother almost killed her. Because binding her never would have been enough. Killing her—killing both of them—was always the real plan. If you don't care for either of their sakes, or for mine, consider that she planned on making Roman watch her kill Hope."

"Oh my God! You don't… you can't honestly think that was her real plan, can you? Elijah, I swear. I… If I had even suspected it would go that far, I never would have… I wouldn't have hesitated. I would have told you everything I knew. I swear. I may not care for Hayley Marshall, and may wish that you had spent the rest of eternity never remembering how you used to love her, but I didn't want her dead. And your brother… After he spared me and Roman, I wouldn't have paid him back by helping my mother murder his daughter. You have to believe me. I can come home. You can drain me, compel me to tell you the truth. Just tell me what you need from me to get you to believe me."

Elijah ran a hand over his eyes. "I can't deal with you, right now. And the last thing I want is to actually see you. But, I may end up sending Rebekah, Kol, or Marcellus to talk to you."

"Of course. And thank you for not including Klaus in that."

"I'm pissed at you. I'm not going to lie about that. But, I did love you. And a part of me still does. It's not enough to compete with my feelings for Hayley, but it's enough for me to not want you dead. I'll be in touch, Antoinette." He ended the call and sat on the edge of the bed, staring into space. He really was going to have to send someone to talk to Antoinette. He wasn't looking forward to that, but he owed it to Hayley to make sure that everyone who was directly involved in what happened to her was properly dealt with. And if that meant having the woman he had spent the past seven years with killed, then that was what he was going to do. Because Hayley and Hope deserved to not have to be constantly looking over their shoulders, waiting for another enemy to come try to take them out. It was bad enough that there were always going to be people willing to use them to hurt him or Niklaus.

His phone rang, then. He glanced at the screen, but didn't recognize the number. Not that that was particularly surprising. After all, he ran away from Hayley before he had a chance to get phone numbers for any of his family other than Niklaus. He sighed as he wondered which of his siblings he was about to get yelled at by, and then accepted the call. "Hello?"

"Have you lost your bloody mind? Where are you?"

"Hello, Rebekah. It's good to hear from you." Granted, judging by how she started the conversation, that was probably going to turn out to be a lie, but it didn't hurt to be civil for as long as she let him.