Who: Elena & Jenna What: Reuniting When: Day of the network post for her arrival. Where: Elena’s apartment Rating: TBD
Even though Elijah had told Jenna that Elena was here being told vs seeing for herself were two very different things. The confirmation on hearing from Elena took a small weight off her chest. Now if only Jeremy would show up because even though the two seemed like they didn’t need her with the secrets and how they had taken care of themselves, she still felt better knowing where they both were. She was trying very hard to be the guardian her sister had wanted and that the kids deserved, but it was not an easy task.
Still, Jenna had to see for herself that her niece was okay, especially when the call and how Elena had sounded was still in her mind. There was also the fact of how Elena had talked, which brought some concern to the woman. Even though she knew from Elijah what was waiting for her back home, she wanted to hear from Elena what she knew. The fact Elena was ahead of her and the message had her feeling on alert for more being added to the pile of information. Did something happen to Elena as well? Jeremy? The thought only made her move a little faster on gathering her stuff, heading to the apartment that was Elena’s. Jenna knocked on the door, stepping back as she waited for an answer. She made sure before coming that she looked composed after the shocking news she received, wanting to be here for her niece and not the other way around. Jenna had gotten used to having her niece and nephew under one roof. Only here she was knocking outside an apartment rather than a bedroom or bathroom door, waiting for Elena to open and it felt weird in a sense.
Elena spent far too much time in front of the mirror as she waited for Jenna. She wasn’t trying to look good. Elena was being paranoid about whether or not Jenna would see her and instantly know she was a vampire. Of course she knew logically that was a ridiculous idea, but that didn’t stop the panic she felt.
After taking a breath at the door, she put on a smile and then opened the door to find Jenna standing there. Her heart ached - she never thought she’d be able to see her aunt again. The practiced smile faltered and she closed the distance to give Jenna a hug. Elena’s eyes stung from the threat of tears.
Jenna had learned a lot from Elijah and she had let it all settle before deciding to reach out to Elena, which had been hard considering all she wanted to do was check on the girl. Still, she wanted to let Elena tell her about her situation even if she knew and it had broken her heart to know the circumstances in which Elena and Jeremy had ended up. She knew many pieces were missing, and she wanted to hear it from Elena so she had needed a moment to collect herself.
The beautiful young woman in front of her had gone through so much and she felt like she failed as an aunt and guardian for both her and her brother. Still, this was not about her, knowing how Elena must be feeling on seeing her, especially with the fate waiting for her at home. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” she told Elena, brushing her dark hair and comforting her as she hugged the young woman tight. “I’m here now, you can let it all out,” she knew her niece well enough to see that she was holding it together. Not letting her go from the hug. “I got you,” she said softly.
Elena let herself cry for a few moments. She couldn’t help it and the overwhelming feeling of sadness, she knew, was also due to being a vampire now. She worked hard to pull herself back from the feeling so she could actually form words and sentences.
Eventually she pulled back, sniffling, and wiped at her face. “Sorry. It’s just - it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.” She still had no idea how to tell Jenna anything. Part of her wanted to do what she always did and lie - keep it from Jenna. But that hadn’t exactly gone well in the past.
“I… what do you know about home?” She asked as she ushered Jenna into her apartment.
Jenna let Elena cry, soothing her back as she held her, knowing the young woman needed this. Knowing from Elijah about her death and some of what came after, she could only imagine how Elena and Jeremy were both doing. The two were stronger than anyone she knew, especially Elena, but there was still a point when enough was enough. She would need to thank Elijah later for the heads up because her breakdown was allowing her to be the support system she always tried to be for her niece and nephew. “Hey, sweetheart, you have nothing to be sorry for, okay?” She said, moving her hand up to wipe Elena’s tears away that she had missed when wiping her face. “I’m sorry that I failed you and Jeremy both and were unable to be there for you two like I should have been,” she said, blaming herself for everything that had happened after her death. Yes, Jenna knew there was nothing she could’ve done. Klaus killed her and that was not on either of them, but she felt like she let her big sister down and the two remaining family members that she had left.
Following Elena into the apartment, she wrapped one arm around the younger woman’s shoulders, moving them both to the couch. Jenna wanted to keep her niece near in case either of them needed a hug, knowing this talk was both needed, but would probably hurt as well. “I know what Klaus does to me. The killing, turning, and then killing me again,” she swallowed saying that, pushing the sadness, anger, and other emotions that were trying to come through to the side. “I know what happened to you,” she said softly, reaching a hand over to brush her thumb against Elena’s cheek. “The vampire thing may be terrifying and still wrapping my head around it, but never in a million years feel I’m scared of you. I love you the way you are whether it’s human or not.” Jenna didn’t think even for a moment her niece would do anything to hurt her, and she wanted Elena to know that, especially if she feared how Jenna would react. “What do you know? I don’t want to risk spoiling something that will happen for you later.” Elijah gave her what she needed, knowing Elena and Jeremy had some type of future. Jenna was going to miss it all and that broke her heart, but she didn’t care as long as both kids who she loved more than anyone were living their lives.
Elena felt a complicated mix of emotions. How was it fair that someone else told Jenna what had happened to her? Shouldn’t that be something she was meant to tell people in her own time? What if she wasn’t ready for Jenna to know? What if Jenna had reacted poorly? The lack of choice and control - a feeling Elena was very familiar with by now - made her bristle as she sat there. She was stunned into silence for a moment as she tried to process everything. She had to work to keep her anger from bubbling up too - something that she was still working on. While she managed not to yell at Jenna - Elena’s ire was directed more to Elijah or Damian anyway since she suspected one of them told her - she was stiff on the couch.
“I guess you already know everything I do then.” Because it wasn’t like anyone told her anything about the future. The only thing she knew was there were some vampire kids and that Bonnie and Damian become good friends. Neither of these things did Elena think Jenna meant.
Jenna could see the change in body language on Elena. Taking a small guess on what may have been the cause for it, Jenna wished she had lied, but she couldn’t do that. Considering everyone had lied to her constantly over and over, she would only be a hypocrite if she then didn’t stand by her own beliefs about being honest. “If this is about me being told, then blame me for that. I pushed to know due to where I was coming from, and I didn’t want to be lied to anymore.” Jenna wasn’t going to throw Elijah under the bus for telling her, knowing she had put him on the spot. No, if Elena wanted to get mad then Jenna would take it. Jenna had been kept in the dark enough, and she refused to let that happen again. Part of her had wanted to ask if Elena would have told her, but she didn’t want to know the answer, especially if the answer was to keep her in the dark.
“No,” she shook her head at the comment. “Not at all. I want to hear everything because while I know minor details on certain things like about my death or what happened to you, I don’t know the full story.” Jenna told her, tilting her head as she looked at the young woman in front of her. “As for the not wanting to spoil anything that’s because I don’t know how far any of this is in the future and I don’t know how much you know about the people who have been here from home or about kids from vampires.” A concept that she was trying to wrap her brain around.
Elena closed her eyes and took a few breaths. This was perhaps the first truly upsetting thing that had happened to her since her arrival apart from learning she was a vampire. And that had been tempered by the fact Damon assured her things would be fine - if Damon said it would be fine, then it would.In fact, there was a part of her that wanted to ask Damon what he thought of this whole situation. Maybe she would, but she fought and won over the urge to do it now.
Opening her eyes, she looked at Jenna with a softer expression, but one that clearly showed her age despite Elena’s normal ‘respond like an adult’ stance she had taken on over the last year or two.
“There's a lot I want to tell you.”
Elena spoke about Jenna’s death, but from her perspective. How she had been blindsided that Jenna was going to be used like that. How much it hurt to watch. What happened after with her and Jeremy and Alaric. In fact, Elena sat there and told her all about the Originals and Klaus’ hybrids and who died and who didn’t. It came out like a sudden monologue where Elena wasn’t sure she could even stop. She had thought about telling Jenna all these things all the time. She had written about it all in her journal too.
And then she got to the part where she and Stefan were fighting. How things were getting complicated with Damon and then the crash happened. “And all I kept thinking was it wasn’t fair to Matt. That he just - he’s had to deal with all these terrible things because of me and the world I dragged him into. And so when Stefan showed up, I made him save Matt. Matt didn’t deserve to die because of me. And I was ready, you know? I was ready to die.” She paused. “...but then I didn’t.” Though she had no memory of what happened back home.
She did, however, have memories that had come back to her of when Damon had compelled her those two times.
Jenna could see the young woman in front of her and saw her niece who had dealt with more than most in a short period of time. This felt like their old selves on open dialogue with no secrets, which is why she was so hurt to find out not only she was the last to know, but how everyone felt she had to be protected. As if she was the child, and that hurt more than anything. She kept her eyes on Elena, reaching a hand over to comfort the young woman as she spoke. Jenna said nothing only listened to everything said, making notes in her head.
When hearing about the Originals, she listened a bit more about them considering before coming here she had a long and interesting conversation with Kol over the network who had taken her mind off everything she had learned from Elijah. She needed that before getting the new load of info from Elena. “That’s a lot,” her brain was trying to figure out where to start. Taking a deep breath, she reached over to pull Elena close, holding her as she had when she had told Jenna about vampires. “First off, I’m so sorry you dealt with this and that I wasn’t there to protect you. I’m sorry you had to see that. I’m glad you had Ric there for you and that he took care of you and Jeremy for me.” Was where she decided to start. “Thankfully, Klaus is not in town because I don’t think I could deal with that. How do you feel about the siblings being around?” Her focus was more geared towards Kol and Elijah considering they were the only two Jenna had talked with, but she wanted to hear what her niece was feeling. Not voicing her thoughts or feelings since that was not her place right now. Even with her disagreeing with some things Elena was telling her, she kept her mouth shut for the moment, wanting to give Elena the space to talk.
“I’m sorry about you and Stefan,” but Jenna knew from Elijah about Elena being with Damon and how Stefan ended up with Caroline. “Being here, how are you feeling about both boys?” As much as she did not like Damon, the fact was as Elijah said, he would watch out for her and Elena deserved that. “I’m sure Matt is thankful for the choice you made, but is also beating himself up more than anyone for the whole incident. I’m glad you’re okay even if it’s as a vampire, Elena.” She hugged her niece tight, kissing the top of her head. “You listen to me Elena Gilbert,” Jenna told her softly but firmly. “From what you told me, I tried to take out the witch to save you. I want you to always fight no matter what, okay?” She moved to make her niece look at her. “I may not have a future other than here, but I’m fine on knowing I’m dead and that I miss out on so much as long as I know you and Jeremy have amazing lives. So, I never want to hear ever again how you were ready to die, okay? I love you, and I’m glad I get to hug you again.” Her arms wrapping tight around the younger woman, glad right now for her being a vampire with how tight she was holding Elena.
“I don’t know.” She said about the boys. “I mean, when I came here, I’d gotten into a fight with Stefan. We’d been arguing a lot and I’d been starting to agree more with Damon on some things. And then I come here and it’s just Damon and he’s so…” She trailed off, gesturing with her hand. She wasn’t sure how to explain it, but he was nice and safe feeling and things she hadn’t considered of him when they first met. “But then I’m like, is it just because I’m stuck here? Am I that shallow? And doesn’t that make me as bad as Katherine?” Which was a big worry of hers, truth be told.
She looked at Jenna and almost argued about the dying thing. She hadn’t wanted to die, she had just been ready to. Like something in her mind had clicked and she accepted the inevitable, especially to save Matt. It felt like a choice, which was something Elena often lacked in having. But she wasn’t sad to be ‘alive’. Sure, she still was struggling with being a vampire, but she didn’t want to kill herself or anything.
Instead of saying anything of that, Elena nodded to Jenna. Yes, she understood.
Jenna listened, and she felt normal in a sense on hearing about boy issues, and this time it wasn’t about her own love life. “He’s so what?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as she waited to hear Elena put it in words rather than assuming. Though she had a good idea of where this was going, especially due to what she learned from Elijah. As much as Jenna wasn’t a fan of Damon, she trusted her niece and knew Elena was a smart woman. In the end, this was her choice to make and she would support her no matter what she decided. “First off, you will never be anywhere near Katherine's level in any way whether in terms of the men or anything else,” Jenna told her with a small smile before pulling her legs up on the seat with her, facing Elena better. “What about Damon has you looking at him differently?” Jenna knew her niece needed to see for herself that she wasn’t shallow or that this was only because of being stuck here. As much as she hated it, she wanted her niece happy with whoever.
While she knew what Elena had meant, the image of her niece dead was all her mind could focus on, which resulted in her reaction. That was not something she wanted to think about. Her only two remaining family members left and Jenna didn’t want to think about either of them being gone. A small smile appeared at the nod, thankful for that because this was all she could do. Back home, she couldn’t protect them, and here….well she would attempt, but also knew, there were many others better suited than her to do that. Plus, she knew Elena, from hearing about home, could take care of herself as well.
Her first reaction to Jenna's question of ‘he’s so what’ was ‘so not Stefan’ but that didn’t really actually say anything. Instead, she took a second to figure out how she wanted to describe Damon.
“When I became a vampire, you can remember when you’ve been compelled. Which means I remember meeting Damon first in Mystic Falls. I remember a few things actually that he made me forget because I was with Stefan. And I guess - I don’t know - it’s like he sees me as someone capable? Not that Stefan treats me like a child or anything. It’s just different.” Elena wasn’t sure she was making any sense, but that was her answer.
Jenna listened to Elena, taking in this information. As much as she hated the fact that her niece had been compelled, she didn’t say anything. She figured her niece had probably dealt with it once whatever had been compelled had returned. Also, told Jenna if she ever did return here as a vampire besides the one incident Elena had told her about during her quick lesson on vampires, she’d know if there were other incidents of it used on her. Instead, she stayed quiet even after Elena stopped talking, thinking over in her head the best way to approach this. “I have never hidden how I feel about Damon,” Jenna started, holding one hand up before her niece could interrupt to argue or anything. “I’m just saying, while I have never been a fan during my time of knowing him, I know you and trust your judgment. I get it’s different and sometimes different is good. I think deep down you know what you want, Elena. May not be ready to admit it or haven’t figured it out yet, but you know somewhere inside of you what you’re wanting.” Jenna smiled, thankful for how she could give her niece some advice. It was one of the positives of this place, allowing her a chance to be with her family. Now if only Jeremy would show up, she’d feel even better. “All you can do is follow your heart and see what happens, depending on what it wants to do. While I’m always going to try to be here to listen, this is a decision you need to make.” No one but Elena could make the decision that seemed to be on her niece’s mind. That, and also, Jenna knew from her own experience that once someone started being for or against someone, then the person was only more attractive or not as interesting anymore.
She let out an exhale like maybe she’d been holding it in for a long time. Jenna had a way of putting things into perspective and making her feel better. Elena leaned forward and pulled her aunt into a hug. “Thanks, Aunt Jenna. I really needed to hear that.” She really did.
Pulling back, Elena was smiling more easily again.