AN: Also, raspberry ice cream because I'm a raspberry addict when I have to write these two.

He tells her of New Orleans, and of his brother's determination to rule over the city, in the almost empty house of his brother's design. She spends a few minutes walking around, he follows.

"I told you your mother wanted to kill you, right here." She says and he lets out a laugh. He remembers that. She licks at her raspberry ice cream as she enters another room.

He keeps her awake, like he had promised, midnight passes, and they are both relieved. She has a few more hours. So he entertains her and they catch up until sunrise, then they talk of plans and she tells him Caroline is going to stay in Mystic Falls for a few days. She won't be coming with them. He nods. His brother had told him.

"I should go wake up Jeremy and Ric. Spend a few last hours with them. I'll have Jeremy call you when Bonnie wakes up."

She gets out of the chair she had been sitting in for a few hours.

"Elena." He says, and she stops. He moves forward, and she recognizes it as him asking if she wanted a hug. They rarely hugged, he has always seemed too stoic for such, but he could always tell when she needed one. She sinks into it, Elijah is strong and she can be weak while he isn't.

"Don't go after the witch. She'll kill Bonnie. She told me if I tried to get out of it, like turning Bonnie, then we'd both die." She murmurs.

His hug would hurt if she was human, but she isn't, and when he loosens his grip a little, she just increases hers.

"I'm sorry." She apologizes, but she knows he'll keep her safe, it's why she called. Petrovas were never really safe. She might be the exception in a few hours.

She doesn't know how long the hug is, but she knows that she needed it. Elijah is familiar, she loses herself for a little while with his arms around her.

Eventually, she lets go and he lets her move away. He already has her eyes memorized, but he doesn't know when he'll see them open again, so he stares. She doesn't mind.

"I'll see you again, soon. This isn't a goodbye." She promises.

She hates goodbyes.

"No, it isn't." He agrees.

He closes his eyes when she turns her back. He doesn't want to watch her go.