This is Us [ Elijah Mikaelson ] 2

forty-nine

"GO!" Penelope shouted, pushing Elijah away. "Go, now; I'll hold him off long enough for you all to get far away-"

"No," Elijah hissed as he gripped her arms. "I will not leave you-"

"And I will not allow you to die," She interrupted him; her eyes and voice were full of desperation. "Please go. I will see you again, my love. I promise you, my lord, that I will see you again. Our souls cannot be apart for long, you know this," She smiled, and he could see the tears in her eyes. "Please, I am not strong enough to completely fight him off, but I can buy you and our family some time to flee, but you all have to go now!" Elijah was about to protest when the door from the castle flew open, and Mikael appeared, glaring at them with a white oak stake in hand.

"You cannot run from me!" He shouted. "I've finally caught you now." Penelope turned from Mikael to Elijah, giving him a look before she pulled him into one more kiss, and he held onto her so tightly that he didn't want to let go. When she pulled away, she gave him one more smile.

"Go," She whispered, so softly, tenderly and desperately, but he wanted to say no. He finally married her, they had just shared their first few days as husband and wife, and now he was being forced to say goodbye again. "Go, please," She pleaded, begging him. Elijah felt a tug on his shirt.

"Elijah!" It was Kol, he tugged on Elijah once more, and Penelope smiled.

"I love you," She whispered with a smile, and he knew that that was the last time he would see that smile from this Penelope. She turned around and glared at Mikael, and Elijah struggled in Kol's grasp as he was being pulled away.

"We've got to go, brother," Kol hissed. "I will miss her too; she will not be forgotten. We must leave-"

"Get out of the way, girl," Mikael sneered.

"No," Her voice was stern. "I will not let you kill them."

"No," Elijah whispered as he broke free of Kol's grasp when he saw his father grab Penelope's throat. Kol and Niklaus held their brother and began pulling him away as Rebekah stood in the distance, watching in horror.

"I said, out of the way," Mikael growled as he shoved a wooden stake into her heart, and Elijah let out an inhuman sound of pain.

Penelope's eyes shot open as she took deep breaths to steady her racing heart. She sat up and saw Elijah's back facing her, and he was still sound asleep. She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes, trying not to let the tears come and to control her emotions. She didn't have a lot of dreams or thoughts about Celeste anymore, sometimes when Elijah would massage her feet, or run his hand across her back and shoulders, or even a soft kiss to her cheek from behind, she'd get a glimpse of one of Celeste's memories in her mind but she forced them away. It was the nightmares of her deaths that always bothered her the most. The pain they all felt in their final moments, some of them were of peace for when Elijah was with her and holding her... but it was the ones like this... The ones where she was forced to watch, to relive, those moments when she was forcefully taken in front of him, and there was nothing he could do to help her. Those were the ones that bothered her the most.

She sat up, letting the blankets fall, and grabbed her phone. It was four in the morning, and she knew that there was no going back to sleep for her. So, carefully, she slipped out of bed, quietly grabbed a nightgown, and slipped it on before making her way out of their room and down the stairs. She went to her purse and took her Kindle out, then to the couch and pulled the fluffy blanket from the back before quietly making her way outside. Setting her things on the patio swing, she took the lighter from the table and went to the firepit. Elijah had cut some fresh wood yesterday, a sight she loved. She enjoyed watching his muscles contract and tense as he moved to chop the wood into pieces. Putting a few logs into the pit and squirting a little fluid on it, she lit it up. It wasn't a massive fire, not like the ones Elijah burns for when they sit outside at night, but it was big enough to give her some more light and to keep her warm as she read to the ambiance of the wildlife and crackling fire.