Elijah opened his front door to find Jeremy Gilbert on the other side. It had been three days since they all returned to Mystic Falls, and after taking time to digest what he'd been told, Jeremy had asked to come see Elena. Elijah was happy to oblige him. "Hello, Jeremy. Come in."
"Thanks," Jeremy said before stepping inside. Once inside, he saw a dark-haired vampire that he could only guess was another of Elijah's brothers. He was immediately on edge. Thus far, his family hadn't had good experiences with the originals.
Elijah could tell that Jeremy was worried and immediately set out to reassure him. "Jeremy, you have nothing to fear from anyone in this house. You have my word. This is my brother, Kol."
"Hi, mate," Kol said before sticking out his hand to the kid. Normally, Kol never missed an opportunity to toy with a human and spark fear, but this human was someone his niece loved. Kol would be kind to him.
"Hi," Jeremy said before reluctantly shaking his hand.
"Elena's waiting for you in the living room. Follow me," Elijah said before leading the way to the living room, where they found Elena pacing.
Elena stopped as soon as she heard them enter the room and stared nervously at her brother. "Hey, Jer."
"Hi," Jeremy said awkwardly. He'd never felt awkward while talking to his sister before, but he was now. He wasn't even entirely sure she was his sister. Elijah had said that she was, but he didn't understand this too well.
"Do you want to sit down?" Elena asked as she motioned towards the couch.
"Sure," Jeremy said before following her to the couch, where they both sat. He made sure to keep a small amount of distance between them. He was trying to keep an open mind, but this was weird for him.
Elijah stayed off to the side. He intended to supervise, but he wanted to try to give them some room to talk.
"Do you hate me?" Elena asked. Her uncle told her that he'd explained things to Jeremy and that Jeremy had seemed to understand more, but still needed to be sure her brother didn't hate her.
"I did at first. Bonnie told me that my sister was essentially dead, or trapped in her body until you let her go, and that you refused to do that," Jeremy said.
"That's not true. I've told Bonnie the truth, but she won't listen. She hates me. After this, I hate her too," Elena said bitterly.
"Elijah says that you and my sister are a part of each other. I don't know if I understand that," Jeremy said.
"It's hard to explain. I have the same memories and feelings that she does. For example, Freya Mikaelson is my mother, but I also loved Miranda Gilbert as my mother," Elena tried to explain. She'd felt really bad about that too. She almost felt like she was betraying her mother by loving Miranda Gilbert as a mom. She couldn't help it though.
"So, she became a part of you when you entered her. You're in control though," Jeremy said as he tried to work it out in his mind.
"It's not exactly like that. We're not separate entities or separate souls. We're one, but my personality is more dominant than hers," Elena said.
"So, she doesn't know that anything has happened to her. I know you say you're the same person, but I don't think I totally understand how that works," Jeremy said.
"It took me a long time to work that out myself. It was really overwhelming at first. I had to work everything out in my head, and there was a lot to work out, starting with years of memories that I hadn't had before," Elena explained.
"I think I remember when it happened. You were fourteen. Well, Elena was fourteen. You were my age, right?" Jeremy asked.
Elena nodded.
"I remember that you wouldn't leave your room for over a week. I would hear you crying. That's when it happened, isn't it?" Jeremy asked. He remembered it so vividly now. His parents couldn't figure out what was going on. They had been about to take her to see a shrink. Then one day, she came out of her room and acted like everything was normal.
"Yeah. I didn't realize it was going to be like that. I didn't know what it was going to be like. I didn't really even think about it. I was borderline hysterical before it even happened. I didn't want to do it. I begged my mom not to, but she said we didn't have a choice," Elena said sadly.
"It wasn't your doing," Jeremy said. Elijah told him as much, but he realized now that it truly wasn't. He remembered what it was like for her. She didn't ask for that. She was just a little kid that was put in a bad position. "Why'd your mom do it?"
"To protect me," Elena said.
"I know, but from what?" Jeremy asked. He couldn't think of anything that could be so bad that her mom had to put her in someone else's body, especially considering that Freya Mikaelson was supposed to be a powerful witch. There had to be some other option.
Elijah decided to step in at that point. "Jeremy, before she answers that, I need you to give me your word that you will not discuss it with anyone. In the wrong hands, that information could be very dangerous for Elena." He had yet to allow anyone to know the full story, other than Caroline. Stefan knew some of it because he'd been there, but he didn't want anyone finding out all of it because it could be dangerous if the wrong person got wind of it, like the Bennett girl. However, Jeremy deserved to know why his sister's body had been invaded.
Jeremy nodded. No matter what else, he wouldn't put Elena's life in danger. "I promise.
Elijah nodded his consent to Elena.
"She was protecting me from her aunt. Before she was born, her mom made an agreement with her sister. Her sister, Dahlia, would help her have children and in return she'd give her her first born child," Elena explained.
"That's freaking twisted as hell. Why?" Jeremy asked. He honestly didn't know what was more twisted. That a mom would sell her own kid or that her sister would buy her kid.
"Dahlia wanted power, and the firstborn children in my family line grow in power with each generation. And it gets more twisted. Dahlia didn't just want my mom. She wanted the firstborn child in every generation to come," Elena told him.
"Meaning you," Jeremy realized.
Elena nodded. "Dahlia was evil. She exploited my mom. She used her for her power and basically treated her like a slave. My mom didn't want that to happen to me, so for the first twelve years of my life, we lived on the run. My mom knew it couldn't last much longer though. She knew Dahlia would find us soon. She wanted to find a way to permanently protect me."
"So, she hid you in someone else's body," Jeremy realized. He was starting to understand this. Well, he was at least understanding the logic behind the plan. He didn't agree with it and he definitely resented it, but he understood this woman's logic and desperation. "Why that body?"
"Because it belonged to a doppelganger. Doppelgangers are magical beings. They don't possess magic themselves, unless they happen to end up being witches, but their blood, their bodies are powerful. My mom needed to be sure that the person I was inside of would be able to hold me and I think she also figured there'd be less of a chance of the other person dying," Elena explained.
Jeremy was quiet for a few minutes as he took the information in. It was a lot to wrap his head around, but he believed he at least had a good idea of what happened. He still didn't understand all of it, but he understood enough. "I don't hate you, and I believe that what you're telling me is true."
Elena let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you.
"I'm mad at you though. You lied to me for years, and I get why you did it, but it was still four years' worth of lies," Jeremy said.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to lie to you. My mom made me swear never to tell anyone," Elena said.
"You told them," Jeremy said as he pointed towards Elijah.
"That's because I lost my temper. When I found out Esther was back, I wanted to punish her for what she did to me and my mom. The rage consumed me to the point where I was going to kill her," Elena said.
Jeremy sighed. He could understand that much. If someone had hurt his mother the way Elena's mom was hurt, he didn't know what he would do. "You had Damon compel me, again. You don't get to keep doing that."
Elena bit her lip and nodded. Her uncle had already spoken to her about that. He'd let her know that she couldn't keep using compulsion that way, that there was a time and a place for it, and manipulating people she cared about into doing what she wanted because she believed it was best wasn't the time and place. "I know. I'm sorry. I just wanted to help you. I could see how much the supernatural drama was taking its toll on you, and it was my fault. I just wanted to give some normalcy."
"It wasn't your fault, Elena. You didn't ask for any of it to happen. And, yeah, it sucks sometimes, but that doesn't mean you get to manipulate me into leaving," Jeremy said.
"I know. I promise I'll never do it again. It was wrong. Can you forgive me?" Elena asked.
Jeremy nodded after a minute. "Truthfully, I blame Ric more than I do you anyway."
"Why? It was my idea," Elena said.
"Maybe, but he could've put a stop to it. He was my guardian, not you," Jeremy said. Forgiving Elena was one thing. She was his sister, not his guardian. Siblings did things to each other sometimes that they shouldn't. Ric was someone he should've been able to trust, and now he couldn't.
Elijah cleared his throat. "I'm going to give you two some privacy now. Jeremy, you're welcome to stay as long as you want, and you can come back anytime you want," he said. He'd stayed this long to make sure Elena didn't end up getting hurt, but he knew now that even though Jeremy was upset, he seemed to understand the facts now. Elena wouldn't get her heart broken.
"Thanks, Elijah," Jeremy said appreciatively.
Elijah nodded before leaving the room to give them some space.