Disclaimer: As you know by now, I don't TVD. If I did, a great many things would be different. Any recognizable characters, plots, and dialogue belong to L.J. Smith and the CW.

A/N: I continue to appreciate each and every review you send. That make it so that, on the tough days, I still love coming back to this story. This one's a... well, you'll see.

Esther

Esther stood in her protective circle, facing off with four of her children, while the fifth stood at her back. Amid Kol and Klaus spewing their vitriol as Rebekah and Elijah glowered, Esther heard an unfamiliar voice - or many voices - hiss, "The Bennett witches betray you. They work to break the link you created. Act quickly if you hope to fulfill your goal."

Esther glanced around for the source of the voice, but none was evident. However, she did see Bonnie and Abby unexpectedly outside. Their joined hands and the energy rolling off them betrayed their actions. She saw a parchment on the ground and knew that the voices weren't lying to her. Close to the witches, Elena stood watching Esther and her children. She looked as though she couldn't decide where she wanted to be - glancing behind her and then back to the circle and Esther's family.

Esther felt the connection to her spells waver. She turned on her troublesome children. "Have you made a deal with my witches?" she exclaimed. "Did you think you would be able to distract me while they undid my work? I cannot allow that."

"A deal?" Kol said. "What would we have to offer them?"

"They act for their own reasons," Elijah said. His tone was even, and his face was blank. Unlike his siblings, he had taken the lessons about reining in his emotions to heart.

"And I'm sure your doppelgänger's fate has nothing to do with it," Esther taunted. She wanted to see how much humanity remained within her "noble" son.

His cheek twitched, but otherwise he didn't react. "I'm sure Elena's life has everything to do with it," he said. "And their other friends. Oddly, I don't believe they have taken the threat of losing half their number in one fell swoop particularly well."

"It's too bad they don't get to decide how this will go," Esther said.

The voices were whispering to her again, promising the power required to kill one of her children. They told her that they had found a way to interfere with the Bennetts' spell, allowing for part of the link to break, but maintaining the connection between all her children. When they offered a warning that using said power might kill her, Esther shrugged it off. At least, if her children were sent to the other side, she would not have to watch for the rest of her eternity while they tortured and murdered.

She raised her hands, and as she did, unfamiliar power began to crackle through her. It felt like her veins were on fire with the rage of a hundred souls. It was more power than even the entirety of the Bennett bloodline had been able to give her, and Esther reveled in the feel of it for a moment as it built.

Absently, she noticed as Kol stepped back and shot a veiled, panicked look toward Bonnie. However, Esther surveyed her children. Which one should take the brunt of the spell?

She could use Finn as she had intended, but the spirits intended this spell to first hurt then kill. Finn had been nothing but a compliant aide, and she didn't want to cause him more pain than necessary. The spirits whispered that, though this spell was powerful, it was not enough to kill Niklaus at his full strength. Elijah had at least been able to feign nobility and humanity over the centuries. Kol, while perhaps the most sadistic, was her youngest, and she couldn't, after the loss of Henrik kill her baby directly.

Which left Rebekah. Her daughter. Who had once been so innocent and full of love. But that girl had turned to stone through the actions of her brothers, herself, and even the world at large. It hurt Esther to see the complete change in Rebekah. Though she didn't want to use Rebekah, she felt there was a sort of balance in using the female to end this form of life.

She held both hands out in front of her, palms facing Rebekah. The power rushed to focus at a point just in front of her.

At the last moment, Esther closed her eyes. Rebekah was still her little girl, even if she was unrecognizable. What had to be done did not necessarily have to be watched.

The power released.

The sound of bodies hitting the ground never came, though she kept her eyes closed a moment after the spell was cast. She was afraid to learn that she had been unsuccessful.

Esther cracked her eyes open and found all her children were well. They were gathered around a petite form. The figure had brown hair fanned out over Rebekah, who was supporting the girl until Elijah rushed forward.

Finn stepped to the very edge of the line protecting them from his brothers and sister, but Esther couldn't move. That had been her only chance. It took all the magic of the spirits, and they would need to recover before it could be cast again. But her body was already feeling the effects of channeling that much magic. She would not survive the night.

And when Elijah looked up from where he was cradling Elena's head, Esther knew she would be lucky to survive another twenty minutes.

The break in his emotions she had been pushing for had happened. Elena's selfless sacrifice - her death - had broken the curse. But Esther feared that it might have broken Elijah as well. It appeared he had finally come to terms with his feelings for the girl, possibly to the detriment of what remained of his humanity.

"Niklaus," Elijah said. His eyes burned, but his voice was still even. The calm before the storm. "Find a way to retrieve that witch. I want her dead."

Rebekah stood a step behind Elijah, staring down at Elena's form. Kol stood on Elijah's other side, and when he and Niklaus exchanged a glance, he cracked his knuckles.

Niklaus took one last look at Elijah and the wrath that lay in the tension of his body. His eyes wandered over the tender way Elijah's fingers traced Elena's features while glaring at Esther. Then, with a curt nod of his head, he turned to the salt circle.

"Come out and play, mother dearest," he called in a bone-chilling singsong voice. He and Kol stepped ever closer until the torches flared up.

Esther took a step back and collided with Finn, who looked down at her with a blank expression.

"No," she said, "Finn, my darling son. Don't-"

"Now I'm your darling son?" he asked. "When you couldn't even find it in you to, at the least, turn my body over? No, Mother. I know you lied to me when you said you cared then, and I wonder what else you've lied about."

"No-"

With a quick shove, Finn thrust her forward and out of the protection. There was a flicker of a moment before her children descended on her.

Elena

As Bonnie and Abby began to chant, Elena stepped away. She wanted to be near enough to know when it was done, but she didn't want to risk getting in the way. She glanced up at Caroline and Jeremy, who had sat on the edge of the porch, watching as the Mikaelson children prowled toward their mother.

Bonnie had told her Kol's theory, which explained why she couldn't see Elijah among them, but she knew he must be there. She idly wondered which role he was taking tonight: badass, hellbent on vengeance, or calming influence on the others. Maybe somewhere in the middle.

Elena closed her eyes for a moment, and as she did so, she felt a rush of emotions that weren't hers. They were stronger than anything she'd ever felt, and part of her knew they were coming from the vampires currently distracting Esther from what Bonnie was doing. There was rage and disappointment, deep regret and despair, and hurt. There was so much hurt. Elena wanted to cry out when she felt the heightened devastation of the siblings. They were losing their mother again, and more than that, she had come back with the explicit goal of killing them.

Elena no longer had to imagine what that would feel like. She gripped the banister to keep her from falling to her knees, and her eyes snapped open when fear edged into her mind. That wasn't hers either, but she saw Esther's hands raised and energy like black lightning crackled around them. They moved along the lineup of her children before settling on Rebekah, but Elena was already running.

She didn't remember telling her feet to move, but some force was driving her forward. As she ran, she saw Kol and Klaus' eyes widen as they struggled against invisible bonds. She felt more fear slip into her blood, reaching a boiling point before ceasing entirely.

She glanced back and saw that Bonnie and Abby were no longer chanting. The link was broken, and everything she felt was her own again, but still she couldn't stop. She heard Jeremy shout her name, and as she continued to sprint toward Esther, she met his eyes.

He was struggling, but Caroline held him back. He kept trying to shove her off, but to no avail. Caroline's tears glittered in the light of the moon, but she held fast, even while screaming for Elena to stop as well. Bonnie's shouts joined the other two. Elena could barely bring herself to look her best friend in the eye for the instant she did. But she needed to get to the Originals. To Elijah and his family. The need to protect, which she knew wasn't entirely hers, raged. She mouthed her apology before turning back to her quest.

She flung herself in front of Rebekah, whose eyes had gone wide, with her arms spread. Even as she opened her mouth to plead with Esther to stop, the dark spell slammed into her. She knew it was only an instant, but the agony ripping through every fiber of her being felt like it went on forever.

In her time with vampires, she had felt a wide assortment of pain, but nothing had ever felt like this before. Time slowed as she was flung back into Rebekah, silently begging for the torture to end.

When it finally stopped, and the darkness fell over her, Elena was grateful. She had repaid Rebekah. Her honor was intact.

Elijah

Esther's spell arced through the air toward Rebekah. Elijah remembered seeing this magic once before, when Bonnie had sought to kill Klaus. Time seemed to slow down for him as he tried to get to Rebekah. He found he couldn't move, and neither could his brothers. He felt desperation in every fiber of his being to get between his sister and the spell, or at least that she would be able to move out of the way. But none of them could move an inch.

He was frantic to move only five feet to his left. What would normally be possible in the blink of an eye couldn't be done. He knew this would be the end of them all, but that wasn't what drove his fear. His little sister. Bekah. He wanted to save her from any pain he could. But, Elijah couldn't move, and he met her eyes, hoping to convey how sorry he was.

It was as they stared at each other that he saw her eyes go wide and she gasped. An instant later, the spell connected. But it was the strangest thing. The dark magic stopped a couple feet in front of Rebekah, who stumbled back a couple steps, her arms coming up to catch…

Elena?

All of a sudden, Elijah could see her plain as day, but instead of the relief he had hoped to feel once the curse was broken, he felt only despair.

Because, though he could see her at last, he couldn't hear a thing. Her heartbeat, always so strong and steady, was silent.

Whatever force had held them still was gone as the spell dissipated. Elijah ran to Rebekah's side as she lowered Elena to the ground. She didn't say a word as he repositioned Elena across his lap, gently pushing her hair out of her face.

Her eyes were still wide with pained surprise. He couldn't accept the fact that he couldn't hear her heart. Elijah gently pressed two fingers to her throat, but there was nothing. He caressed her cheek before closing her eyes.

He suppressed his grief as he looked up at Esther. She was fading fast in the aftermath of the size of her spell, but he wouldn't be satisfied if she merely passed on from this life. He felt his need for revenge boil up, and he wanted to tear her apart himself, but he also wanted to continue holding Elena.

Without looking away from Esther, he asked Niklaus to dispatch her. At first, it seemed like the barrier she had erected would stymie them, but to his immense surprise, Finn shoved her outside the protection.

As the others fell on Esther and her screams rent the air, Finn came to stand behind Elijah. He rested his hand on Elijah's shoulder and said quietly, "I'm sorry I didn't see sooner that she had changed. I was blinded by my own hatred of what we are."

Elijah nodded curtly, unable to form words.

He didn't feel any sort of relief until Niklaus dropped Esther's bloody heart beside him.

"Let's hope she stays dead this time," he said. Niklaus wiped his hand clean with the handkerchief Finn handed him before he knelt beside Elijah. "Let's get her home before the transition begins."

"Transition?" Elijah asked.

"She took my blood earlier," Rebekah said. "I tried to tell you, but…"

"The curse." Elijah sighed. "She doesn't want that. She never has."

"We can worry about that later," Rebekah said. "For now, let's get out of here."

"I'll get the others," Kol said and sped away to the old house. On the porch, Jeremy shouted at Caroline and Bonnie for not saving Elena. Elijah watched just long enough for the boy's fury to dissolve into despair before he lifted Elena and walked, with her held close to his chest, back to the Gilbert house.

A/N: Well, I resolved the cliffy. Other than that, I'm just... sorry. If you follow my tumblr, you know I keep talking about how the entire plot of this story has gotten away from me. I swear this wasn't where I was going when I started. But I love it anyway, and I hope you still do too.