Forgiveness /3/ TO / TVD

Ch. 16 Goodbyes

Rory looked at the names that remained on her list. It was the names of all the Strix that had helped kill Jackson. She hadn't told anyone, but she had been killing everyone on the list off one by one. She knew Elijah would have a fit if he found out and she was unsure of how Klaus would take it.

Their feelings didn't matter this time, though. This was for her, Hayley and Jackson, not them. Tristan had killed Jackson because he was angry at her and all the Strix had helped him without blinking. They hadn't cared that Jackson hadn't done anything wrong. If they could do that, then she had no problem returning the favor.

Rory quickly folded up the list when she saw Elijah entering the room.

"I thought you were in the bayou," he said.

Rory shushed him, pointing to Hope's nursery. "I just came home to feed Hope and put her and Lilly down for a nap. I'm heading back out soon," she said.

"Stop," Elijah said, putting a hand to her head. "What is this?"

Rory felt his finger slide against the blood on her forehead and quickly moved away. She must have forgotten to wash it off. "Nothing," she said, wiping the rest away. "Probably just got caught on a thorn."

"You've been spending a lot of time with the Crescents lately," Elijah told her.

Rory turned back around to look at him, shrugging. "They need Hayley ever since Jackson... and she needs me," she said. "Do you need something, Elijah?"

The vampire watched her for a moment, before shaking his head. "I just came to check on my nieces," he said. "Niklaus is a little overwhelmed with everything."

"Well, maybe he's right in being paranoid. Seems like everytime we pause to catch our breath, someone ends up dead," she said as she pulled on her jacket. "Hope should be asleep for another hour. Lilly probably won't last that long. Do you mind?"

"Of course not," he said.

"Thank you," she said, and picked up her bag.

"Rory," he said. She turned back to him. "One of the last times we spoke you said there was something we needed to talk about."

Rory nodded as she tried to figure out what to say. The last time she had believed that. But after everything she had done the last few weeks, she didn't see the point. "Uh, there was. But I don't wanna talk about it right now." Then she turned and left.

She couldn't deal with Elijah and his feelings for her anymore. She had been using the prophecy as an excuse to keep anything from really happening between the two of them. He had ruined that when he admitted that he had daggered Rebekah, fulfilling the family part of the prophecy. Him and Klaus wouldn't turn on each other, to that extent at least.

Not having a reason had just led to her avoiding him. As much as Rory loved Elijah, she wasn't sure if she would ever feel that way about him. The night Klaus' sire line was broken had just proven further. She had never felt like she had anything to prove when she was with Klaus. With Elijah she saw how disappointed he was everytime she did something. She understood that he didn't want her to be like him, but judging her for it was getting old.

Not to mention the fact that Klaus almost dying had been one of scariest moments of her life. Whether she was still angry or not, she still loved him and she had realized that.

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Rory had tied one of the Strix to a chair. The vampire groaned from the wolf bite the hybrid had given her. Rory watched her for a moment, before picking up an axe.