Elijah Mikaelson & The Dragon's Quest

Chapter 45

The hour was late as Charlie, Angelica and Elijah back to the Mikaelson estate surrounded by the Dragonetti vampires in SUVs and the Grumman. The Dragonetti helicopter flew Freya directly home to Mystic Falls. The SUV piloted by Charlie and one other SUV peeled off from the pack of vehicles and drove directly to the private airfield where their Leer Jet would soon touch down carrying their most precious cargo. As the small plane alit on the tarmac and taxied to a stop in front of the AEM hangar, Angelica and Elijah stood outside of the vehicle waiting for the jet door to open. When it did, Rafe and Albee Dragonetti emerged first followed by Henrik Finn. Upon seeing his parents, Henrik Finn's face lit up in a smile and he shouted for them.

Henrik Finn bounded down the steps, ran around his vampire bodyguards and across the tarmac. Elijah stepped forward then knelt down as Henrik Finn reached him and jump into Elijah's waiting arms. Henrik Finn wrapped his arms tightly around Elijah's neck and his legs around his waist. He was overcome with emotion and began to cry, burying his now tear-stained face into Elijah's chest. Elijah hugged him and talked to him, telling him how much they missed him and how much they loved him but Henrik Finn only squeezed him tighter. Elijah entered the back seat of the SUV still holding Henrik Finn and Angelica sat down next to them, tears streaming down her own face as she stroked her son's hair as she and Elijah were reminded that their extraordinary son was still just a five-year-old boy.

Rafe finished loading the luggage into the back of the SUV then entered the front seat next to Charlie. Albee jumped into the second SUV with the remaining luggage and the SUVs left the tarmac. As they drove toward the Mikaelson home, Henrik Finn's sobbing lessened as the boy fell asleep in Elijah's arms. When they arrived home, Elijah and Angelica changed him out of his travel clothes and into bedclothes being careful not to wake him. They put Henrik Finn to bed and decided they would talk with him in the morning to be certain everything was alright with him. Managing all those emotions was difficult on one as young as the empathic Henrik Finn.

The nearly two weeks spent apart from their son felt like an eternity, and they were all exhausted. Elijah and Angelica each showered and readied themselves for bed. They slipped under the covers and their synchronous sighs of relief signaled their collective delight at being back in their own comfortable bed, in their own house, with the hope that things would now get back to some semblance of normal. Elijah wrapped his arm around her as she nestled into him and laid her head on his chest. He rubbed her back and thought about the new life that was growing inside of her and he thought of destiny and how not once, but twice now, a power greater than himself had entrusted him with a miracle destined to save the world from some impending evil.

As they were drifting off to sleep a faint knocking was heard on the door that connected their room to Henrik Finn's room. Elijah motioned for Angelica to remain and he rose out of bed and walked over to the door, opening it. Angelica smiled as the rays from the nightlight in Henrik Finn's room brightened their room, illuminating both father and the son in that doorway, the light capturing the most perfect moment between the two. Henrik Finn proceeded to ask Elijah if he could sleep in their bed tonight even though he is supposed to sleep in his own bed. Elijah knelt down and kissed his son on his head, then carried him piggy back to their bed. Elijah lay back down, wrapping his arms around Henrik Finn and Angelica as they nestled in on either side of him. Angelica reached out and held Henrik Finn's hand, resting them over Elijah's heart.

Angelica asked Henrik Finn whether he liked the Salvatore School and he told them he did but he would rather learn at home, he found the school boring. Angelica told him that he did not have to go to the Salvatore School if he didn't want to and they would continue his lessons as before. Henrik Finn smiled as this seemed to lift a great burden from his small shoulders.

Henrik Finn then added that his little sisters and brothers would need him so it was better he was home anyway. Both Elijah and Angelica looked at their son and then at each other, not certain of how he would know something that they had so recently learned. But Henrik Finn closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep, and Elijah and Angelica realized they had a great deal more to discuss with their son in the morning.

Elijah held his family protectively in his arms and pondered how fortunate he was to have a family that loved him. He finally allowed himself to feel worthy of their love even though he knew a monster lurked inside of him. Angelica and Henrik Finn had both seen his worst nightmare, but they did not fear him, they did not run from him, and they did not judge him. Instead, they continued to see him as a loving and protective husband and father.

As Elijah reflected upon that, he realized that if they accepted and loved him for what he was then it was time that he did the same. Elijah would use that monster to protect his family from the real dangers in the world to ensure their survival; that was his commitment to his family. In the moments of twilight, Elijah found himself in that white hallway once more, face to face with his barbaric self, the monster inside. For a moment, he and his monster stared into the other's eyes, locked in a gaze that signaled understanding of their collective mission. The monster nodded at Elijah and stepped back as he slowly closed the red door. As he drifted off to sleep with his wife and son under his protective embrace, Elijah rededicated himself to the eternal vow that echoed in his thoughts, his commitment of Always and Forever.