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Elijah sighs heavily, ignoring the incessant buzzing of his phone which contains a never ending stream of texts from Niklaus. Whom is in the belief the throne of New Orleans is crumbling beneath him without Elijah by his side, which he finds endlessly amusing but does not have the patience for today.
He walks through the streets of New York City at a brisk pace, hands in his pockets, trying to ignore how he needed to feed to fight of the tiredness that hangs on his bones from an entire day of very long meetings with the businesses he owns and the charity foundations he funded. The city bustles around him, a thrum of noise and familiarity that is comforting to him.
New Orleans may be his current home, and the lands beneath the town of Mystic Falls his first home; But he can not escape his fondness for the city that never sleeps.
Spotting a small diner he knows well, he turns on his heel and decides to pick up some food for the plane ride back to New Orleans. Elijah steps over the threshold with ease, spotting the small booth near the back he often occupies whenever he is New York. The owner is a kind elderly woman he once knew when she was but a little girl running around the streets of the city lost and he guided back to her father, and Elijah likes to visit her diner and leave a hefty tip to keep the small restaurant thriving.
The smell of the diner is comforting, it does not have the smell of grease and bourbon like the infamous Mystic Falls Grill, nor the smell of blood and whiskey of Rousseau's, but it smells of warm coffee layered with sickly sweet butter and syrups. Elijah's head tilts to the side, ears picking up on a familiar heartbeat that enters the dining space from the back kitchens. He freezes when he recognizes who's rhythm that is.
Elena Gilbert.
His heart stutters in his own ears and he damns his body for it's lack of control.
She enters the room and his eyes lock on to her faster than he knows himself able to. In her hands she holds four platters at once, balancing them easily as she weaves in and out of the old tables and wobbly chairs. Elijah tenses as her eyes meet his. He does not know what he expects. Disdain maybe. Fear perhaps. Or if he lets himself hope, joy. But to Elijah's surprise, he sees none of this in her dark eyes he knows by heart.
Elena's eyes merely drift by, unaffected.
His eyes narrow on her.
She is human once more, obviously considering the topic of their last conversation over the phone months ago. But...No. There is something different. There is something different about her, she is no normal human.
Elijah's eyes tear into the doppleganger, ripping apart every inch of her appearance, and cataloging every difference. Her smile towards the customer she is currently is serving is bright, full of undiluted compassion he knows her to have but there is no lingering sadness that has always hung around her. Her eyes are different too, there are... innocent. Innocent in a way that Elena Gilbert is not. Her hair is curled naturally once more, but coiled in a way he once knew Tatia's and Katerina's to be, not the ironed version of curls she once wore as a vampire.
Elijah doesn't need to strain his ears to double check that is in fact her heartbeat and not Katerina's; For her heart beat as always been the most known in his ears.
It is Elena Gilbert who stands before him, and that is undeniable.
But there is something wrong about her, something that Elijah can not place his finger on, and something he can not put to words. As she walks towards him, her curls bounce and there is a strange lightness to her walk, her shoulders not hunched and she doesn't hold her arms as if holding herself together.
"Elena," He greets with an decline of his head
Confusion flits across her face, "I'm so sorry, do I know you?"
Something drops in Elijah's chest.
Elena lets out a laugh, loud and unfiltered, sounding happier and so wrong in her voice, "Sorry! I should ask that better. Do you know me?"
His clicks his teeth, head twisting slightly as he feels the unpleasant feeling of not being informed of something monumental that occurred to someone he cared a great deal for.
She waves a hand that holds a notepad towards her head, "Recent amnesiac, side effect of my coma I'm told. I'm guessing my friends, or they said they were, did not tell you?"
Elijah feels rage curl around his chest, because no, no they did not tell him.
He let's an easy smile smooth over his features as he offers out a hand, "Hello there, I'm Elijah."
Elena grins at him and Elijah just knows this situation was not caused by mortal means. She clearly was not told him when she awoke with no memories, and by the sight of her necklace void of vervain, she has not been informed of the supernatural realm she was born into.
"They tell me I'm Elena Gilbert, pleasure to meet you," She says, shaking his hand, "Again."
---
Elijah walks through the Salvatore boarding school with practiced ease, ignoring the way the devil inside of him rages to be let out. In the interior of the main room he knows from many negotiations, sits the entirety of Elena's List he swore long ago to protect. He does not hesitate as he normally would, nor does he pause anad gather information as he is known to do.
Internally at the back of his mind he can practically hear his sister's voice telling him how pathetic he acts when it concerns the dopplegangers, and mentally he corrects the voice because he only acts this way when it is Elena involved.
He keeps one hand in his pocket, motioning dramatically as he enters the room, "Who wishes to explain to me why the lovely Elena is in New York City with no memories?"
Elijah takes great pleasure in the shocked faces of the collection of people Elena cares so much for. And he would be a liar if he said he did not wish to grin with too many teeth in a way that unnerved even normal vampires when the Salvatore brother's flinched so visibly. But of course, Elijah is nothing if not a dangerous man who wades through calm waters with his words as his first weapon.
"No?" He asks again casually stepping down the stairs into the den of vampires and odd group of witches and vampire hunters, "Because I would not be opposed to asking once more, and therefore testing whom has consumed vervain within the last twenty four hours."
The vampires tense and he can taste their fear in the air in a way that is drug to his rage on Elena's part. It is the blonde infant vampire that his brother favors who steps forward. Elijah inclines his head, motioning for her to continue.
"A few months ago, Elena was placed in a magic coma, by this guy called Kai Parker of the Gemini Coven," Miss Forbes says hesitantly, still eyeing Elijah as if he will smack her head off with a flick of his wrist
Which was a reasonable fear to have when it came to his rage, as Elena once knew, but not a fear those upon her List should ever have.
"Actually," The young Bennett witch cuts in, "The curse was tied to both of us. One can sleep while the other lives. Try to mess with it, kills us both. But Kai knew Bennett witches like to defy the odds."
Elijah watches the witch with a dark amusement, endlessly surprised with how cocky witches raised outside of covens could become. When not balanced with Nature and other witches, how foolish they became. Proper covens knew to fear an Original, proper witches knew to put respect behind the name Mikaelson before it left their mouths.
Miss Forbes sends the witch a glare before continuing, turning to Elijah.
"Kai intertwined a second spell to the coma curse," She breathes in, "He knew Bonnie would eventually find a loophole, so he basically put a switch in the spell. Whoever sleeps could either sleep with their memories, or live with them hidden magically from her."
Elijah clenches his teeth. Witches and their hidden side effects.
Something itches in his brain with this story being told. Elena Gilbert would never willingly abandon her memories. She had not willingly turned off her humanity, and nor would she ever do such a thing that bound her to her love and compassion that built who she was. And all of what she was made of came from her memories, came from her memories of her family of which she valued just as much he did his own.
"She choose this?" He asks, voice level
Miss Bennett's nodding head says Elena did, but her pounding heart says other wise.
"Does it matter?" The elder Salvatore sneers, "She's alive. She's awake. That's all that matters."
The rage inside of Elijah Mikaelson is not something he often takes off it's leash he keeps it on. His rage is far more dangerous, and far more known outside of this town built upon his homelands. His rage is not known by the people who sit within these walls, these people think of him as dishonorable traitor loyal only to his brother. These people are fools, save only perhaps by Elena's brother who's eyes are full of rage as he glares down Damon Salvatore much like Elijah feels inclined too.
Elijah turns on his heel, looking at the faces Elena made him swear to protect.
"And you all feel the same?" He demands
Their silence says many things.
Elijah lets the leash on his rage go.
"Who here can remind me of what the deal I made with Elena for the first time was?" Elijah asks as if he was a mere school teacher, "Anyone? No? Mister Salvatore, please, refresh my memory."
If looks could kill, and Elijah not an Original, the stare Damon Salvatore casts upon him would slaughter him where he stands.
But alas.
"To protect her list, she wouldn't run," Stefan Salvatore substitutes, ever his brother's saving grace
Elijah snaps his fingers, shaking his finger as if remembering such a deal he knows he would never forget.
"Ah yes," He says, "Her List."
Elijah turns around again, making eye contact with every shameful person who looks uncomfortable with his words and presence. The only one whom Elijah is sure was against such a plan, is Jeremy Gilbert for his arms are crossed and continues to glare at the people gathered around in the room.
"The List all of which sits inside of this room," Elijah continues, "The List of which, Elena Gilbert took a knife to her stomach for, deliberately ensuring she hit her vital organs so she would have a higher chance of bleeding out faster. She then became the only human who has bested me, an Original vampire, in all of my years. Thus risking the wrath of the one oldest creatures in existence an attempt to protect the foolish names upon her List."
The darkness he denies so often curls delightfully in chest as he sees the group of people pale as he talks, reminding them of who exactly it was that Elena Gilbert daggered. And that it was no small feat and no other creatures in his very long life has ever dared face him, much less succeed. Reminding them that this group of people are very priviledged merely because the actions of one human girl that was never truly the human girl they pretended she was.
"The names upon her List, she would do anything to protect," Elijah knows, "The woman I know, the woman who has bested Originals and died for the ones she loved, would not so willingly give up her memories of all she loves and cares for. So may I ask again, did she give her consent to be awoken?"
Once more, the silence says far more than anything they could come up with.
"It's not like she hasn't willingly gave up her memories before," The witch fires quickly at him
Elijah narrows his eyes at her, "Correct me if my assumption was wrong, but Elena was under the effect of a sire bond at the time and was dealing with the ramifications of her sire dying."
Her face reddens slightly.
"When compulsion didn't work, my magic should've been enough to break the memory spell," Miss Bennett states boldly, "But it wasn't. I required more power than a hundred dead witches. And there is no more powerful witch bloodline than the the Bennett line."
Elijah lets his lips curl into a smile, cruel and deadly.
"And that is the not the first lie you have spoken tonight."
---
Elijah steps off his private plane back into New York City, dialing the phone number he knows well.
She picks up on the second ring.
"Yes?"
Elijah flags down a cab, sliding a hundred dollar bill to the driver and giving quick instructions to the driver.
"Freya, I fear I am in need of your assistance," He states
There is a pause on the other side and the distinct sound of Niklaus's voice along with Keelin's.
"Where should we meet?" His eldest sibling asks
Elijah smiles.
---
Elena looks at him worriedly sitting across from him in a booth at the empty diner after closing.
Her hair is pinned up with a clip, curls falling losely in front of her face. Elijah studies her during every interaction he has with this memory-less version of the doppleganger. It did not take long for him to come to the conclusion that he does not favor this version of her. Elena Gilbert is not herself with her emotions, without her compassion, but she is in turn not herself without her memories, without her past of equal parts loss and love.
"You're telling me..." Elena starts, "She's a witch, you're a vampire, I'm a doppleganger, and she can fix my memories?"
Freya sips idly at her soda, "I think you forgot a few key details, but that's the basis."
Elena tilts her head smiling at his sister, before looking back at Elijah.
"I like her. Have I met her before?" She asks him before grinning at Freya, "Have I met you before?"
His chest wrenches in pain for the woman before him. She does not know herself. She does not know her past. She does not know anything beyond her name. She does not know of the loss that shaped her, nor the love that changed her. A lesser man would let her stay happy without her grief, but Elijah is no Salvatore, and he knows that Elena would never wish to live without knowing her family. Truly knowing her family.
"No," Freya laughs, "We haven't had the pleasure of meeting. But I know all about you."
Elena's eyebrows furrow innocently in confusion.
Elijah smoothly cuts in, "You have somewhat...Of a history with my family."
He swiftly ignores the pointed look his sister sends him.
"I wish for you to understand this is fully your choice, if we continue beyond this point," Elijah states seriously
Elena looks down at her hands in her waitress skirted lap, her fingers are stained slightly from the coffee grounds he smells, and he watches her stare the bite scars on her wrists. Scars she does not remember getting.
"Can we go through it one more time?" She asks timidly to Freya
Freya smiles gently, looking much like Rebekah when she is in one of her better moods.
"I'm going to dismantle both spells on you. The binding spell and the switch on the memory spell. We start with the memory spell because it's more simple in nature, but it's still complicated and dangerous. There is a high chance you may fall back into the coma afterwards until I can unwind the binding between you and this other witch," Freya recites easily
Elena nods along, and Elijah watches her calculate the risks.
"But if I'm asleep...I'll remember my life?"
He hates how hopeful she sounds for something that should never even been considered to be torn from her.
"Yes," His sister supplies, "But I'll likely need some help from another witch of our bloodline to channel a bit extra power. And we'll probably have to the spell in New Orleans so we can have a boost of power off the ley lines there."
Elijah turns to her, disliking that this is the first he has heard of this.
Freya ignores him.
Elena pauses, considering everything.
She pauses, smiling up at Elijah so freely he feels unsettled by it.
"So, when do we leave?"
---
Elena's hands grip the armrests of her seat on the jet.
"I don't think I like flying," She decides, "Did I like flying before? I don't think I did. Because this is terrifying."
Elijah passes her a water bottle of which she takes gladly.
---
He watches as she looks around the Abbatoir in awe, admiring the large fanciful courtyard. She looks very out of place, and it is not because of her waitress uniform. It is because she, as she is now, is so innoccent. She does not know loss. She does not know pain. She does not know what it is like to bleed to death for the people she loves. Elena is not the Elena he knows. Not yet anyways.
"Ah my doppleganger," Niklaus says, entering the courtyard with a dramatic flourish
Elena turns to him confused and mentally Elijah wishes to rip out the throat of those upon her List who willingly agreed to her having no memories without her choice in the matter. She does not even know the man who killed her.
She turns back to Niklaus and thrusts out a hand smiling, having found some sort of answer in Elijah's expression.
"I'm Elena, I have no memories, but you clearly know me," She greets brightly, "I'm sorry, but what's your name?"
The glare Niklaus sends Elijah gives him a headache for he knows he will being an earful for possibly decades over this because Elijah had been the one to advocate for the newly Cured Elena to stay within Mystic Falls and to give her a few months to readjust to being human before demanding her blood so callously.
"Call me Klaus, my dear," He greets, pressing a kiss to Elena's hand as she blushes in a way that makes Elijah fume just as Niklaus drops her hand, "Welcome to my humble abode."
Elena smiles again, and Elijah hates it. It's too sweet. Too bright. Too young.
"It's beautiful," She says before turning back to his brother, "Freya says we made some kind of deal or something?"
Niklaus barks out a laugh, sounding all too much like his wolf side.
"A deal indeed. Your little friends in Mystic Falls would have you believe you took the Cure for love, but we here know you did it for a far more reasonable option."
Elena frowns at him, head tilted like a deer.
Niklaus smirks, "Leverage of course. Of the best reasons, and a choice I applaud you thoroughly for making."
Freya enters the Abbatoir.
"It's time, everything is already set up."
---
Elijah stands protectively behind Elena as she enters the circle of salt. She is so different from herself it unsettles him, Elena knows many things of witchcraft, either from Miss Bennett or from her Traveler heritage or even from the many witches she has faced off against. But now, she glances uneasily at every candle that flickers in the low lit library Freya had deemed her spell room.
Freya sits on the floor, flipping through a few different grimories.
Elijah tenses when he hears Kol enter the room.
"If it isn't my favorite murderer," Kol grins
"Kol," Elijah hisses sharply
His youngest brother sends him a careless shrug of mischief before focusing his attention back on Elena, who looked paler than a moment ago.
"I killed you?" She whispers in shock
Elijah sends his brother a glare he ignores.
"Oh yes," Kol nods along, standing behind Freya hands behind his back, "You and your brother, devious ones you Gilbert's are, I've come to learn."
She frowns, "I'm so-"
He waves his hand, "No matter. I'm here to get your memories back. You are absolutely no fun if you can't even remember our rows and properly banter with me over them. After all what is a Petrova doppleganger without their fire filled tongues, right 'Lijah?"
Elijah's glare darkens further.
Kol absolutely beams.
Elena looks between them confused as ever.
"Are you ready for this Elena?" Freya asks, shutting up Elijah and Kol
Elena looks down at the scars on her arms and Elijah's heart bleeds for her.
She looks back up at Elijah, tears in her eyes.
"I'm ready to know who I am."
---
The second the chanting of Kol and Freya stops, Elena's eyes shift into something Elijah knows better than he knows his own name. Compassion. Love. Hurt. Grief. A mix of every emotion that is entwined with humanity creating such a beautiful soul.
It's Elena.
He exhales in relief.
Then all of a sudden her body drops and he surges forward and catches her before she reaches the ground.
Frantically he looks up at Freya, "What's wrong?"
Freya and Kol share a glance.
"The layering on that spell-" Freya says
"-Positively excessive," Kol sighs
Elijah squeezes Elena's limp form tighter, "What. Is. Wrong."
Kol rolls his eyes, "She's fine brother. We just need to finish unwinding that damned binding spell. It's bloody ridiculous how overly complex they made it. Elena will awake as Elena with her memories by morning and be right as rain."
Elijah's eyes shut as he breaths shakily.
---
He sits by her bedside vigilantly the second Freya and Kol finally finished undoing the coma spell.
Rebekah leans against the door way.
"You two are pathetic," She says in a fond voice
Elijah can't find it in himself to argue.
---
Elena awakes with a gasp, and his fingers tighten around her hand.
Her eyes find his, "Elijah?"
He studies her, looking for the emotions and habits that make her her. She's biting the inside of her cheek once more, her shoulders are tense, and her fingers tight around his hand as her eyes look for the exits of the room.
Elena.
"You remember me? Truly?" He asks in a hushed voice
She frowns for a moment and he sees the exact moment the rest of her memories settle into place.
Elena throws back her head and laughs. And when she does it's bright, it's brighter than when she laughed without her memories, this laugh is hers because she knows grief. She knows pain. She knows enough loss to where no one would blame her for never laughing or smiling again. This laugh is hers because even though she has been through so much, she laughs still. She still finds joy. She still finds the light in the world.
And that light shines through her compassion like a rainbow amongst the darkest of storms.
Elena grins at him, and he freezes as she throws herself at him, arms wrapping around his shoulders into a hug.
"Thank you Elijah," She whispers in his ear, tears wetting his suit, "Thank you."
He knows how terrifying this all must be to her. To know how close she was to never remembering her family. To know that those she cared for choose for her memories to be hidden so she could live and not sleep. To know that if he had not by chance stopped by that diner that day she worked, he never would have known what had happened.
Elijah wraps his arms around her waist and buries his head into her shoulder, squeezing in return.
"I shall always find you Elena," He swears, "I give you my word."
Her arms tighten around him.