Elijah sat on the couch with his wife in his arms. She was sprawled out on the couch with her head in his lap. He was stroking her hair as she slept. She was unconscious, but she was okay. He could hear her heart beating. It was a bit rapid, but it meant she'd be alright. The pain and disorientation had just been too much for her.
Elijah could hardly believe this was happening. He didn't understand how it happened. The only thing he knew for sure was that the woman in his arms was his wife. She hadn't confirmed that fact, but he knew it to be true. Even without her saying their son's name, he knew it. He knew it the moment she looked at him after Jonas restored her memories.
Elena had always reminded Elijah of Tatia. Of course, she had. She looked just like her. It wasn't just looks, though. They had the same mannerisms, the same morals. Elena was fiercely protective of her loved ones, just like Tatia was. It struck him how loyal Elena was to her loved ones. How she was willing to give her life so that they would live. It was a far cry from Katerina, who would have sacrificed anyone to save her own life.
Elijah would admit that he made the mistake of trying to find Tatia in Katerina. She looked exactly like his Tatia, and she was the first doppelganger he'd met. He wanted to see his wife in her replica. But Katerina was a poor imitation. She was an insult. He knew that now. When Elena came along, he knew he had to keep his distance. He couldn't make the same mistake twice. Of course, that all changed a couple of hours ago. Because this time he did find his wife in the doppelganger.
Elijah didn't know much about what happened, but he did know that now that he had his wife back, he would never let her go. His original plan had been for Elena to die at Niklaus' hand, but that wouldn't happen anymore. His brother would not touch his wife. Elijah would kill him first. Of course, killing Niklaus had been Elijah's original plan, but that was done now too. Any plans that involved his wife getting hurt were done. He would not allow any harm to befall her again.
Soon, Elena began to stir. She slowly opened her eyes. When she woke up, she felt a soft yet sturdy surface under her head. She also noticed someone stroking her hair lovingly. It could only be one person. "Elijah?"
"I'm here, darling. Are you all right?" Elijah asked.
"I don't know," Elena said with a shudder. She truly didn't know how she was. Her head felt like it was swimming. Her memories had returned, and it was like she was two different people. She was Elena Gilbert and she was Tatia Petrova Mikaelson. The man that was holding her right now was her husband. Jeremy was her child. That was why she always felt so protective of him, more so than a sibling should be. He was her son and she failed to protect him.
"I meant physically," Elijah said. He knew she couldn't be alright mentally. An entire lifetime worth of memories had just been crammed into her mind. She would be disoriented and overwhelmed at best.
"Oh, right. Yeah, I'm okay. My head still hurts, but it's gotten better," Elena told him.
"Do you remember everything?" Elijah asked.
"Yeah. I remember every second of my life, both lives. I remember what that old hag took from me. She basically scrubbed my mind," Elena said angrily. If Sheila Bennett weren't already dead, she'd kill her herself. She could get past what the bitch did to her, but not to Jeremy. She wanted to tear the Bennett witch apart for hurting her child like that. Jeremy was the first one to get the memory spell. He screamed in agony. Elena had tried to get to him, but Grayson had held her back. All she could do was watch as her little boy was tortured. "I know you have questions."
Elijah shook his head. Of course he had questions, but he knew now was not the time. His wife had barely woken up. She was still dealing with the effects of what she had been through. He wouldn't put her through an interrogation. "It can wait, dear. I'm not going anywhere."
Elena started crying at Elijah's words. He might believe he wasn't going anywhere, but he would. The moment she told him the truth, he would hate her. He would be right to hate her. She'd taken something irreplaceable to him. She'd taken his son.
"Shh. What is it, my love? What have I done to upset you?" Elijah asked.
"It's not you. You didn't do anything wrong. I did. You'll never forgive me," Elena cried.
"That's not true," Elijah said. He didn't even care what she had done. There was nothing she could do that he wouldn't forgive. He might be angry, but he would forgive. There was no other option. "You are everything to me, Tatia. There is nothing that could turn me against you."
"Call me Elena, please. I know that I'm Tatia too but it's just so confusing. I need to settle on one name, and that's the name everyone knows me as," Elena said.
"Very well. I will call you whatever you wish," Elijah told her. It didn't matter what he called her. All that mattered was that she was with him again.
"You don't know what I've done, Elijah. You don't know the depth of my betrayal," Elena said.
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what horrible sin you've committed that you believe is unforgivable. I love you with everything I have. There is nothing that could change that. There is nothing you could do that I cannot forgive. Do you know why?" he asked.
"No."
Elijah gently brushed a strand of hair from her face. "Because whatever you have done, it wasn't out of malice. I know you better than anyone. You are not a cruel person, not unless you are pushed too far. You didn't set out to cause me pain, did you?"
"God, no. You're the last person I would ever wanna hurt, Elijah. I didn't think I had a choice. I'm still not certain I did," Elena told him.
Elijah was about to say something, but then he heard voices from outside. He could clearly hear Jeremy's voice as well as the older Salvatore. "Jeremy is home, and it appears that Damon is with him."
Elena's eyes darkened and she abruptly sat up. Her son was with the man that had recently murdered him. "Hell no! I'll kill the son of a bitch!"
Elijah watched as his wife got up and rushed out of the room. He immediately got to his feet and followed her.
Elena made it to the door just in time to watch Damon walk in with her child's arm in his grip.
"Get off me!" Jeremy practically snarled.
"Shut up and get inside," Damon said as he pushed the kid further into the house.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Elena asked.
Damon looked at her. "Hey, I found him in the woods. He's high as a kite."
"Get your hands off of him now!" Elena ordered before pushing him away from Jeremy. She was successful, but she knew it was only because Damon didn't fight her.
Damon glared at her. "What is your problem? I'm doing you a favor here."
Elena gently took her son by the arm and pushed him behind her towards Elijah. She then turned and glared back at Damon. "What's my problem? I don't know, Damon. Maybe it's the fact that you broke my s... my brother's neck, right in front of me. You stay the hell away from him."
Meanwhile, Jeremy rubbed his arm. It hurt a little. He was also trying very hard to ignore the situation in front of him. He was in a room with both his parents, neither of whom knew that that was what they were. That also made it very difficult for him to forget the fact that he knew that. That was why he was getting high in the first place. He was trying to forget how screwed up his life had become.
Elijah put a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "May I take a look at your arm?"
Jeremy said nothing, but he didn't stop Elijah from looking over his arm. He gently rolled up his sleeve and ran his hand over the forming bruise on Jeremy's arm.
Damon continued to glare at Elena. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. She was supposed to be grateful to him for bringing Jeremy home. She was supposed to forgive him, finally. "Seriously? You're not over this? He's fine."
Elena gave him a loathing look. She wanted to kill him. And she would one day. Damon would not last much longer in this world. He'd murdered her child. It was only by a stroke of luck that he had been wearing that ring. Damon would die for that, and there would be no magical ring to bring him back. "Am I over the person I love more than anyone in the world dying right in front of me? No, Damon, I'm not over it. I will never be over it. You thought that you could bring Jeremy home and be a hero? The only thing you did was piss me off. Stay the hell away from him. I promise you won't like the consequences if I ever find you with him again."
Damon looked behind Elena to where Elijah was looking over Jeremy. "Oh, but he's Okay. It's fine for him to be around the guy who's probably planning on having you killed by this Klaus dude."
Elena stared at him for a minute before actually bursting out laughing. She was still pretty pissed, but what Damon had just said was truly hilarious. In fact, she wasn't sure what was more funny. The idea that Elijah would ever let anyone hurt her, or that Nik, her best friend, would ever take her life. When she thought about it, it was actually pretty hilarious that everyone thought he was so dangerous. This was the man that had painted the walls of her child's nursery before he was born. He literally carved a crib for her baby.
Damon frowned at her. "What the hell are you laughing about?"
Elena shook her head. "It's an inside joke. You wouldn't get it. Now get the hell out. If you come anywhere near Jeremy again, you won't live to regret it."
Damon scoffed at her threat, but decided to leave anyway. "Whatever. You're welcome for bringing him home."
Elena watched him leave and then slammed the door shut. Then she turned back to Elijah and Jeremy. Her focus was on Jeremy. "Are you okay?"
"He's fine. He'll have a small bruise on his arm, but he'll be okay," Elijah assured her.
Elena nodded before looking into her son's eyes. He was definitely high. She could tell by the glossy look in his eyes. This wasn't something she was going to put up with. She barely put up with it when he was just her brother. She certainly wouldn't put up with it from her son. She held out her hand. "Give it to me."
"What?" Jeremy asked.
"Empty your pockets and hand me what you have," Elena said calmly but sternly.
"What? No," Jeremy said.
Elena looked at him sternly. "I am not playing with you, Jeremy. You're gonna hand over your stash right now. This is done! You're not using drugs as a crutch anymore. Hand them over or I will take them from you."
"I suggest you do as she asks, young man. Believe me when I say that she is serious," Elijah said. He knew that tone of voice. That was her mom voice. He'd seen her use that voice not just on their children, but also on Kol, Rebecca, and Henrik at times. His parents were never good at the right form of discipline, so he and Tatia stepped up a lot of the times.
Jeremy cringed a little before reaching into his pockets and taking out what he had. He was a little taken aback by Elena's tirade. He was used to her lecturing him, but this was different. The way she spoke to him now was like... Well, it was like a mother.
Elena took the drugs out of her son's hand. There was some weed and also some recreational drugs. She and Elijah needed to have a long conversation with their son. But now wasn't the time. He was too strong out right now. She also had a lot she had to explain to Elijah. She could only hope that he was right in his declaration that he could forgive her anything. "Get to bed. You're gonna sleep this off and then we're gonna talk in the morning. And tonight was the last time you ever touched this junk."
Jeremy didn't say anything. He just headed for the stairs.
Elena turned to her husband and sighed. "We need to talk."