Unleashed

Part Four: Return

Part Four: Return

Elijah Mikaelson watched as his brother's witch happily tore through her birthday presents. Some movies from Matt, a charm bracelet from Aidan, the Lockwood boy had gotten matching rings for her, him, and Niklaus. It was Niklaus' gift that gave Elijah pause. He had gotten her a golden apple, something that the witch frowned obviously not understanding its significance.

"Is that...?" Rebekah asked lowly from where she stood next to him just outside of the sitting room that Niklaus, Bonnie, Tyler, Matt, and the wolf pack now occupied. The party had grown boring after Bonnie had done her damage and so they had left, without offering any of her fallen friends assistance and had ended up at Mikaelson Manor with the witch opening her gift.

"It is," Elijah said with a nod. Niklaus had given the witch, The Golden Apple of Idun, the Norse goddess of youth and immortality. It was extremely powerful and extremely valuable. It was used in a number of spells but there was one in particular that it was needed for, a spell that would make a witch immortal, one that was unable to even be cast as the spirits on the other side would not allow it; but Bonnie was beyond the law of the spirits now and Elijah knew that that was exactly why Niklaus had placed the apple in her hands.

"He would never give her something like that unless...," Rebekah was so shocked that she couldn't form the words.

"Unless he wanted her by his side for eternity," Elijah finished, his voice impassive but his mind spinning.

"I knew he was serious about her," Rebekah said, "But I had no idea that he was this serious. But whatever she is now, how does he know that she can't live forever."

"Even if he knew that it was possible he wouldn't take any chances," Elijah said, "You know how he is."

Rebekah had thought that she had known her brother but she would have never expected him to do something like this. Not for Bonnie, or anyone else for that matter. There had to be something that they were missing from the equation. Something that tied the witch to Nik in some way that was beyond the obvious. Rebekah shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She wasn't going to figure it all out tonight and so she decided to change the subject. "What about you?" Rebekah asked.

Elijah frowned raising an eyebrow in his sister's direction. "What about me?" He asked.

"I know that you're very fond of the doppelganger," Rebekah said, not able to hide her distaste as she did so, "You even went as far as to state that she was your motivation for attending Bonnie's party tonight. What I don't understand is why you not only stood their silently as Bonnie worked her magic on her but, you didn't even offer your assistance to the little twit once she had fallen. Why?"

Elijah sighed. He had been asking himself the same question. "I do not know Miss Bennett well," he stated seriously, "However, I know the kind of loyalty and love that she had for those people that she once called friends. Taking that type of thing for granted never has a good outcome. It was something that Elena had to learn for herself even if the way in which she learned it was a painful. And..."

"And?" Rebekah pressed, ignoring the inhabitants of the room who were now arguing over ordering pizza of all things.

"That moment," Elijah said, "Miss Bennett she reminded me of someone. Someone who had lost everything and became a different person because of it. I felt rather foolish as I watched her. Do you know the night that Bonnie's mother was turned I wrote a letter of apology to Elena and not her. I thought of only Elena's suffering and Elena's loss. I realized as I watched Miss Bennett that I was a part of it. That we all were a part of it. We created what she is now and we should all have to deal with the consequences of it, both the good and the bad. The woman, my dear friend, the one of which Miss Bennett reminded me, I had promised her that I would never change a person so good and so pure into something like what we are now and I failed in that without realizing it. I was so busy trying to help Elena cling to her innocence that I didn't realize that I was helping to destroy someone else's. And now, I feel that it is my duty to help Miss Bennett hold on to whatever bit of humanity that she has left."