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Chapter Text

"Since it is what Princess Kelsey perhaps I will allow it just this once." Elijah spoke lightly to the small child watching as she leaped from the top of the chair into the awaiting originals arms. She let out a gleeful laugh as he swung her around the room fast enough for her enjoyment but not vamping. 

Kelsey giggled all the way until Elijah sat the child onto the couch tossing her slightly watching as she squealed once more. A small tender smile graced his features that was rarely showcased in his thousand years. 

"Thanks Eli." Kelsey stood up on the couch wrapping her small around his waist mumbling a thank you using the nickname she had picked up recently. Elijah's hand went to the top of the small child's head until she was ready to let go of him. 

"When do you think Maria will be back?" Kelsey moved back her heading tilting as she looked up at the original vampire, her eyes twinkling and she flopped onto the couch. 

"She should be back soon." Elijah spoke watching as the child rolled her eyes at him her shoulders dropping slightly. 

"How long does it take to finish a final anyways?" The child pouted and Elijah tried to keep the laughter from coming out. As a human the village children had always been a fun experience to be around. Though his mother often had pressured him to marry and have some of his own he had remained single until Tatia had come around. But as a vampire he very rarely had the pleasure of spending time with children. 

"While I'm sure she will be done soon I must say I thought we were having a lot of fun ourselves." Elijah moved away from the girl shaking his head while trying to keep his lips at a frown. His lip pouting a small bit as he spoke again, "I suppose I will just remain a simple court jester instead of milady's valiant knight like Lady Maria." 

"No wait! I didn't mean to make you said Eli!" Kelsey jumped up once more launching herself at the original where he barely had enough time to catch her. He let out a small laugh at the endearing little child who was looking at him with such an innocence that he had lost long ago even before he had been turned into this creature. 

"You're both my knights, I can have two right?" Kelsey spoke looking at the man whom she clung to and smiled at so sweetly. 

"Yes, yes you can Princess Kelsey." Came Elijah's response as he once more twirled her around the room. It had been four hours since Iris and Maria had left the apartment complex. Iris, being on called, had been called into work unexpectedly while Maria had her last final. 

"Elijah, can I ask you something?" Kelsey spoke her big doe brown eyes looking up at the man that had him nodding before thinking about what a child could possibly be curious about. 

"Do you like Maria?" Kelsey asked watching as the man seemed to freeze at the question his mouth opening for a moment. He wanted to outright deny the accusation but thought better of it. A half truth would be better to tell than an full lie. 

"Of course, we are good friends." Elijah responded and watched as the little girl seemed to tilt her head opening her mouth once more. He could guess what the next question would be but before he could worry about what he would reply with the pair could hear the jingle of keys. 

Kelsey shot off like she had been shot out of a cannon so when Maria opened the door she was greeted with a flying Kelsey. She easily caught the young child a bright smile replacing the tired eyes that she had before. 

"Maria! You're back!" Kelsey yelled happily her hands wrapping around the woman's neck and her legs going to her waist. Maria easily held the girl up as she gently placed her backpack next to the door. 

"And how is the lovely Kelsey today?" Maria spoke bringing the small child into the room where Elijah was. She wondered how he still look immaculate in the suit after spending four hours with the child. Every time she baby sat she would return looking like a storm had come through. 

"Good! Eli's a real fun knight." Kelsey chirped smiling as she looked over at the original in question giving him a little head nod. 

"Ah you've finally been promoted to knight then Elijah?" Maria quipped watching him roll his eyes. She couldn't help but tease the man. She never would have thought he would be so amazing with kids. Considering he had been alive a thousand years without having the ability to ever have any of his own. 

"Yes, the gracious Princess Kelsey has decided to take pity on me and allow me to be her second knight." Elijah quipped back as he looked at the little girl in question with open adoration. Maria felt her breath catch at the innocence of the action. She had never seen Elijah so open with something that could be seen as a weakness. 

"Say, as my knights does that mean your in charge of my dinner?" Kelsey turned to Maria never having been cooked for by Elijah but had by Maria many times before. 

"Of course, what does my liege wish?" Maria spoke watching as the young girl's eyes scrunched together squinting them at her. 

"Lie-" She struggled to mimic the word to ask its meaning, "Lige?" 

"Liege," Maria spoke gently correcting the young girl and explaining, "It's another word for Princess." 

"Oh!" She replied tilting her head tapping her pointer finger to her lips in thought, "I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with chips!" 

"Coming right up milady." Elijah spoke before Maria could heading over to the kitchen to make the child her dinner. It was nearing five in the afternoon and she had ate before he had arrived. Iris had frantically called him after realizing that Maria wasn't home and was taking a final. 

"Thanks Eli!" 

"Goodnight my princess." Maria pressed a soft kiss to the sleepy child who looked up at her blinking. Kelsey smiled softly at the vampire trying to fight the sleep that threatened to overtake her. One blink. Two blinks. Three blinks. Then Kelsey was out dead to the world as she snuggled into her purple bed covers. 

Maria reached up gently sweeping the hair back towards the pillow her gaze softening. She wondered if this was how her mother had felt every night when she had put her to bed as a small child. A small sigh slipped past her lips. While she would never take the cure that the Salvatores had hoped to give her... She did wish there was a way for her to have this. 

"Are you alright El-," Elijah paused looking at the small child from the doorway. He stood his hands in his pockets leaning against the doorframe. Maria's eyes went to the original having not realized that he had been there for goodness how long. 

"Yes Elijah, I'm fine." Maria spoke not mentioning the stumble of his words. She was sure it was hard for him to alternate between Maria and Elena. It had been easy for her to strip away the name when she had left mystic falls but now with him here it had become more and more difficult to not think about her past life. 

Maria walked over to the man her gaze softening. There were many things she couldn't help thinking about when comparing her past life to now. Namely, the original vampire who always wore a suit. Without the Salvatore brothers or Care or even Bonnie to influence her Elijah and her had become easy friends. 

Sure they had always understood each other's motives that had never changed. But, there always had been a certain level of distance because of her friends. Because of the things they did, the things she... did. Or at least the things he believed that she had done. Not that she would ever tell him otherwise. 

She refused to cause the inhabitants of Mystic falls anymore misery. 

She leaned her back against the other side of the doorframe watching how Elijah's eyes followed her. She gave him a smile while tilting her head towards the living room. She lifted her eyebrows and Elijah nodded following her out of the child's room. They closed the door lightly behind them not to disturb the sleeping child. 

"Thank you for taking care of Kelsey today Elijah." She walked into her friend’s quiet living room, only the crackling fire place could be heard as both vampires silenced their footsteps. 

“Of course, she’s a good kid I understand why you protect her so fervently.” Elijah responded watching as she poured two glasses half with bourbon and half with blood. 

“Can I ask you something Maria?” Elijah spoke as she slid the glass to him mulling over the glass swirling the mixture gently. He knew he should talk about those who were coming after her. That he shouldn’t mention the Salvatore Brothers to her, especially considering she didn’t know what he had seen of her dreams. Still, this was the second time she had given him bourbon and he could see wine peaking at the top of the fridge so it wasn’t as if it was her only option.  

“Of course.” Maria replied taking a sip of the mixture relishing in the A- blood with the malt and earthy tones of the bourbon. She drank it slowly, deliberately breathing in its scent deeply before speaking into the glass, “But I want to ask you one in return.”

“I suppose that’s an equal trade,” Elijah paused his tongue running over his teeth and the bottom of his upper lip. He watched as a little of the blood stained her lips, “You have a deal.”  

“Always wheeling and dealing huh Elijah.” Elena smirked at the man leaning on the counter across from him her gaze sharpening on the man, “What do you want to know?”

Elijah tipped the drink up to his lips smirking at the baby vampire, his gaze never leaving hers. Her eyes went down to his lips where the amber and red mixed drink hit his tongue. She breathed in deeply taking a drink of her own to try to mask indifference. 

“I believe that bourbon was the favorite drink of a certain,” Elijah paused remembering they were not in one of their own homes but that of Iris, “brother.” 

“Sometimes the past stays with you no matter how badly you wish to ignore it.” Elena shrugged her shoulders but Elijah tilted his head slightly and then shook it. 

“No thats not it.” Elijah wasn’t asking a question this time, he could tell that she was holding something back from him. He leaned forward on the counter setting his glass down gently on the counter. 

“Sometimes we don’t have a choice when something stays with you.” Elena responded wondering if he would be able to understand her cryptic answer. She also was very aware that her friend had no idea of what she really was. She wouldn’t reveal anything about her past in Iris’s home no matter how much she trusted her. 

“I see.” Elijah spoke through gritted teeth, even all these years later the sire bond was effecting her. It was a testament to the lasting effects and distance that the bond could go. How deep it could run through a vampire… and how deadly to one’s self it could be. 

“And what of the others of your past?” Elijah asked his eyes watching as she licked her lips nervously her gaze looking away from Elijah. 

“What of them Elijah?” Elena responded shortly not liking where this conversation was heading. Flashes of her brother’s corpse came to the forefront of her mind forcing her to close her eyes. She would not cry again in front of the original. 

“I remember of a time where you were willing to die for them Maria.” Elijah responded his hand itching to reach out to comfort the young woman. He stopped himself instead gripping the glass even tighter only barely holding back his strength to stop from shattering the glass. 

“There’s always casualties in war.” Elena responded her voice tense and strangled. She could feel her voice dying in her throat as her body robbed her of the air she normally didn’t need. 

“I can’t imagine the girl I knew believing in that.” Elijah responded prodding further as his gaze sharpened on hers. Her eyes were open but they refused to look at him. He clenched his jaw, he understood her abandoning the Salvatore brothers. But why the others that she had held onto for so long. 

“That little naive girl grew up Elijah.” Elena threw out the words before realizing they weren’t entirely her own. Damon had called her that before, once. She drew a sharp breath her heart beating wildly in her chest. Elijah tensed not believing that those words were her own. 

“Odd, the woman I meet was one of most fearless and compassionate people than I ever had the pleasure of meeting.” Elijah stood drinking the rest of the mixture feeling an odd sense of satisfaction as he watched Elena flinch at his words. 

“Fearless is just another word for stupid Elijah.” Elena responded not even noticing until he was upon her that he was beside her. Elijah towered over her his displeasure evident in his facial features. She always knew when he was upset with her. She didn’t know how she knew, she just did. 

“Maria,” Elijah growled out the name as his gaze burned into her, “I assure you that is not how I see it.” 

“Really because every back home had no trouble believing it.” Elena growled out her eyes widening as she realized what she had said. She shook her head taking a step away from the original and he let her move slowly out of his space. 

“When faced with death your first thought was not your own well-being but those who you talk about now.” Elijah responded his voice deep and heavy. Those she talked about so carelessly now were those she had sought to protect when she first faced the sacrifice. 

“Just because,” Elena sighed her head going back and forth as she tried to figure out what to say, “What do you want me to do Elijah? They don’t want to hear from me.” 

“Do you really believe that those who cherished you, whom you grew up with, would not wish to hear that you are okay?” Elijah took a single large step towards her his hand coming to the front of her on the counter. 

“I abandoned them Elijah.” She whispered staring at his hands and for the hundredth time in his presence she closed her eyes trying to keep the emotions at bay. 

“I have lived for over a thousand years lovely Maria,” Elijah spoke gently her gaze slowly rising to meet his face with those big chocolate doe eyes of hers, “Broken Bridges between family can always heal.”

“I guess you would know something about that, huh?” 

And only then did a small tearful smile make its way onto Elena’s face. 

Maria slipped out the burner phone that she had stashed in her nightstand clenching it in her hands. Her jaw tightened at she stared at the small thing that could hold so much power. In the four years she had spent away from Mystic Falls she had only ever thought about the burner once. After her humanity turned back on she desperately wanted to talk to Caroline and Bonnie again. But she never had the courage to call them. 

"They can't find me." Maria assured herself as she turned the phone in her hand. They couldn't track the burner even if they tried, but she still hesitated. 

Would they even want to hear from her?

The phone clattered to the floor and only then did Maria realize she was shaking. She looked down at the phone watching as tears fell from her face to the floor. She shook her head closing her eyes as she thought about everything they had been through together. Only for her to leave them without so much as a good-bye. 

"I miss them." She whispered admitting something she had not admitted in the four years she had spent away. More tears gathered in her shut eyes as tremors wracked through her small frame and only then did she mutter the words Elijah had told her, “Broken bridges can heal.” 

"I miss them so much." She whispered to herself falling to her knees as she picked up the fallen device. She looked over the device making sure that it still worked. Then she dialed a number that she knew by heart. 

Buzz. 

Buzz. 

Buzz. 

"Hello?" The call was picked up on the third ring and Elena felt her breath catch as she heard the voice of Caroline for the first time in years. She felt a few stray tears fall and she closed her eyes steadying her breathing. 

"Hello? Klaus if this is you again I already told you I don't want to talk right now!" Caroline's voice demanded and Elena heard a scoff come from the other side of the phone. She thought about leaving it at that, letting Caroline think Klaus was messing with her or something. She didn't realize that the two were still in contact let alone enough for her to be scoffing so comfortably at the original hybrid. 

"Hi Caroline." Elena spoke gently into the phone hearing the gasp that came from the other end. 

"Elena? Is that you?" Caroline whispered in disbelief tears welling up in her eyes as she heard her best friend's voice for the first time in so long. 

"Yeah its me Care." Elena responded finally opening her eyes and moving her feet so she rested her back against the side of her bed. Caroline slide down from her bed to the ground her head going to the side of the bed. The girls a perfect mirror of each other as tears welled up in both of their eyes. 

"Oh my gosh." Caroline whispered a smile making its way onto her face, "I can't believe it, its really you." 

"I'm sorry it took me so long to call you Caroline." Elena apologized breathing out a heavy breath as her heartbeat began to slow. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips nervously as she tried to think of what to say. What do you tell someone that you abandoned?

"No, no don't be sorry I'm sure its not your fault." Caroline spoke feeling more relief then she had in a long time, "I can't wait to tell Bonnie and Stefan, gosh Damon will be so excited to here from you."

"Care-" Elena spoke up fearing that her friend was quickly unraveling before she could have a chance to explain. 

"There's so much that I need to tell you about." Caroline rambled her smile lifting up even higher not hearing Elena's protests through the phone. 

"Care-" Elena tried again only for Caroline to interrupt her once more. Elena gritted her teeth refraining from letting out a sigh as she heard her friend ramble on. 

"Damon's been searching for you this entire time, I think he's in California right now but I have no doubt that he'll come right back when he finds out that-" Caroline kept rambling on assuming that Elena would want to come back. That is what this phone call meant right? Surely she wasn't just calling to say hi-

"Caroline!" Elena shouted hearing how Caroline paused realizing that she had been talking far to fast. Caroline stopped her eyebrows furrowing together as she stopped her mouth still open. 

"I don't want anyone to know that I've called." Elena spoke gently knowing how confusing it all must be for Care, "Well I might call Bonnie but I don't want anyone else to know. 

"What do you mean Elena? Why wouldn't you want everyone to know that you're okay?" Caroline shook her head in confusion her eyebrows furrowing together even more. Why wouldn't Elena want to everyone to know that she was okay? Everyone had been so worried when she had disappeared in Willouby, convinced that someone had taken her. 

"I-" Elena paused trying to think of how she wanted to explain this, "A lot can happen in four years Care. There's so much I remember now that I couldn't after I first turned." 

"What do you mean, I don't understand Elena. You love Damon and he's been searching for you this entire time. Why wouldn't you want him to know you are okay?" Caroline rose from her spot pacing around her room as she talked to the doppelgänger vampire. She may not have been the biggest Damon fan, well ever, but she thought that Elena loved him. 

"I can't really explain it all right now Care, but please promise me you won't tell anyone else. Especially Damon." Elena pleaded her voice going up an octave in fear. She didn't know what her Sire would do if he found out where she was. Between Iris, Kelsey, and Elijah she feared he would do something rash. 

Like he always did. 

"Yeah Elena I promise I won't tell anyone." Caroline nodded to herself as she swore to Elena that she wouldn't tell anyone. She didn't like it. It didn't make sense, Elena would never want to hide from the people she cared about yet she had done it for four years. 

Not only that but no one had helped teach her how to be a vampire and goodness knows when she had turned back her emotions on. Wait...

"You turned your humanity back on? By yourself?" Caroline whispered in surprise, she had heard of how hard of an experience it could be for a vampire. 

"Yeah a couple years ago, I'm okay now." Elena softly spoke into the phone her head leaning back to rest on her bed. She closed her eyes as she tried not to think about the dark times she had spent in her first years hiding away. 

"You'll call again right? To tell me everything?" Caroline spoke hesitantly into the phone hearing her mom call for her from down the stairs. She didn't want to hang up if it meat that it would be another four years until she heard from her again. 

"Yeah I'll call you tomorrow Caroline." Elena spoke smiling as she heard the sigh of relief that Caroline let slip past her lips. 

"It really is good to hear from you Elena." 

"Yeah Care, I'm really glad I called." Elena responded back still feeling the tears in her eyes that threatened to spill over, "I've missed you so much."

They said their good-byes and only then did Elena let all of the pain, tears, and joy wash over her. She let out a strangled sob cupping her mouth with her hand to muffle it. She couldn't help it. She had blocked that part of her world ever after she left and ever since Elijah had come back she felt like she had been slowly dipping her toes in the water of her old life. 

"Dammit Elijah.”