"you'll be alright, eden sommers. you're not alone anymore."

—

Jenna was rightfully terrified, and Eden hugged her sister tightly in the Salvatore living room. Eden stuffed aside her own fears of the place as Jenna cried into Eden's arms.

"I mean, I've...but it was Ric, and..."

"It wasn't Ric," Eden soothed, running her hand up and down Jenna's back. "Ric is just as much a victim of Klaus as you are." She pressed a kiss to Jenna's temple and cupped her face in her hands. "You want to come to my place? Elena's there, and Elijah." At Jenna's flicker of confusion, Eden smiled a bit. "They're talking through issues, I'm very proud. We can watch Disney movies and eat pancakes. Klaus can't hurt us there."

Jenna sniffled, nodding. "I'd like that," she said softly, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry...I thought I could handle this but Ri-Klaus held a knife to me and it was Ric's face and I...it's all so much, Dee."

Eden nodded, wiping away her sister's tears. "Nothing will happen to you, Jenny. I swear it. We can have you go to Grimmauld if it'll make things easier. No one will touch you, okay?"

Jenna nodded, letting out a shaky breath. "I'm happy you told me about all of this before," she told her sister. "I just...I went back to get an assignment I left. I was going to be in and out. But Ric—Klaus showed up and he forced me into the room and made me call Stefan and..." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Stefan saved my life. I...I think Klaus would've killed me."

Eden tensed, pulling her sister into another hug, a dark look crossing her face.

She'd go to Europe that night. Get a wand from Luna.

And when she returned, she would kill Klaus.

—

Eden didn't end up leaving the Salvatore house, but Stefan stood near Jenna and Eden in case Damon tried anything suspicious and Rose kept him out of the room, but only after offering both girls a comforting hug.

Elijah texted Eden about an hour later, informing her that he and Elena would both return to the Boarding House and to stay put. She responded with a text stating that she wanted to return to the Wizarding World to get a new wand and that when Harry came back, she would.

He sent a response of how proud he was of her and how far she's come in the time they've known one another.

Jenna fell asleep on Eden's lap while Elijah was on the way and Eden ran her hand softly through her hair, watching as Damon finally entered the room, bickering with Stefan about Elena.

Eden sighed, resting her head against the sofa, wishing she were home eating pancakes with Elijah. As the thought crossed her mind, Damon shoved Stefan into the bookshelf, and Jenna jolted awake, looking around fearfully.

Eden calmed Jenna and glared at the brothers but didn't have a chance to say anything when Elena entered the room. Elijah followed close behind her, his eyes searching until they landed on Eden, and then Jenna. Both girls smiled weakly at him.

"Stop!" Elena shouted.

"You're both children," Eden rolled her eyes. "I hate men."

"Amen," Jenna nodded, cuddling against Eden's lap again.

"Now you invited him in?" Damon questioned, glaring at Eden's boyfriend.

"Elijah and I have renewed the terms of our deal," Elena responded cautiously. "And no one is touch him again. Eden needs him."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Eden needs a psychiatrist and a mental institution."

As the words fell from his lips, two things happened:

1) Jenna sat up and glared at him, opening her mouth to retort something that would probably make even Draco Malfoy squirm.

2) Elijah sped across the room, holding Damon up by his neck.

"Say something like that again, I will not hesitate to kill you, do we understand one another?"

Damon swiped at Elijah's hand, gasping for breath, but Elijah only raised an eyebrow. "I should kill you now," he said coldly. "Standing before me, after what you put my Eden through. I should tear you limb from limb and make you eat them." He tossed Damon to the floor carelessly. "But I won't. Jenna has suffered enough tonight and Elena requested I don't hurt you. For curtesy alone, you remain alive." He kneeled down next to Damon. "So much as look at Eden again, and I will ensure your heart is torn from your chest and fed to your brother, do I make myself clear?"

Damon nodded, glaring at Elijah, who stood, adjusting his pants again.

"Apologies," he looked to the remaining occupants. Both Eden and Jenna had matching open-mouths, shock written on their face — and heat rising to Eden's cheeks — while Stefan and Elena watched in concern. Rose stood with wide eyes against the wall, trying not to draw attention to herself.

"Now, if Damon does as told, the two of you," he looked to Stefan and Damon, "will come to no harm at my hands. I only ask for one thing in return."

"What?" Damon croaked out, standing again.

"An apology."

"A what?" Damon asked.

"Uh oh, think you damaged his brain with your choking," Jenna commented, stealing the words from Eden's lips. The sisters high-fived.

Stefan and Damon looked at each other and then back to Elijah.

Stefan made the first move, walking past the sofa where Eden and Jenna sat, standing in front of Elijah.

He sighed before beginning. "I'm sorry for the part I played in your death," he apologized. "I was protecting Elena. I will always protect Elena."

"Go team Stefan!" Eden cheered with a raised fist. "Ten points to Stefan-dore."

"Stefan-dore?" Jenna asked, looking to Eden curiously.

"Like Gryffindor, but he's not cool enough to be in an actual house, so he's in his own little broody house."

"Nice."

"I know, I'm so clever."

"You really are," Jenna nodded. "They should take notes."

"I'm saying," Eden agreed. "I've been telling Elena to take notes, but I think she's failing three classes, she'd never make it through Eden Sass School."

"Is that what you're calling it?" Jenna asked curiously.

Eden nodded. "I am," she stated. "In my head, Jeremy's a third year with a decent grade, but Elena's got a full T. You've passed though, you had the education when it was created. You're a better student than anyone." She then added. "Except Harry and Draco. They have competing sass schools."

"Oh, lovely," Jenna nodded, taking everything the girls were speaking about very seriously. The other occupants in the room watched the conversation in either amusement or confusion. "Well, good job, Stefan, you'll get there eventually."

Both girls looked back to everyone else, as if they hadn't just had an entire side-conversation by themselves.

Elijah was the first to speak, seemingly accustomed to Eden's derails in conversations.

"I understand, Stefan," he nodded to the younger Salvatore brother, sparing a glance to Eden.

Stefan turned to Damon expectantly, as did everyone's eyes, but he shook his head.

"The sacrifice is going to happen, Damon," Elena spoke up. "Bonnie will be able to kill Klaus without hurting herself. I'll take a blood-replenishing potion from Draco, so it'll be good enough to bring me back. I told you I'd find another way. And I did."

"Is that true?" Damon looked to Eden, and she tensed under the scrutiny.

"Eyes, here, Salvatore," Elijah spoke cooly. "You can address me with your questions. It is true."

"And you're trusting him?" Damon asked Elena, jaw clenched.

"I am."

"So do I," Jenna spoke loudly. "And since I'm the legal guardian here, I get more say than her boyfriend's brother. I trust Eden and Elijah more than you, Damon, and I'm perfectly willing to watch you get beat up if that's what's helpful."

Damon's eyes flickered to Jenna, and Elijah's did too. Eden could feel Elijah's appreciation for her sister swell in his chest and he nodded politely to her.

"Your opinion is moot, Jenna, you're barely involved."

"Say that again," Eden stood, taking a step to Damon. "I dare you."

"What, gonna hide behind your pretty boyfriend?" Damon asked with narrowed eyes. "You never could fight your own battles, Eden. Everyone fights them for you."

Hurt flashed across Eden's face and then fury filled her gaze. "I'm going to kill you, Damon," she glowered at him. "I'm getting a new wand tonight and when I come back, the first thing I'll do after killing Klaus, is kill you."

She glanced to Jenna, handing her Elijah's keys. "Take his car back to my place, I'm going to call Harry."

She walked past the rest of the group, only squeezing Elijah's hand in passing, before walking from the Boarding House entirely.

—

In hindsight, Eden really shouldn't have left the house.

Elijah was there, she was safer there.

"There she is."

Eden tensed, looking back with wide eyes at the British voice. She only knew one person who would bring a Brit here that she wasn't already aware of, but her fear quickly became relief and then confusion.

There, in dimly lit street corner under the stars and waning moon, her entire life fell apart.

"How...but..."

"Take your time, love," the man walked closer to her, standing an arm's length away. "My name is Nik. I've been waiting a very, very long time for you."

Eden shook her head, tears filling her gaze. She was feeling...safe in his presence. Calm. Complete.

Like she'd been waiting her entire life for him too.

Like the shared breath between them was all she needed to fill her lungs, and the sound of his voice was the only one she'd ever need hear.

"No," she whimpered, shaking her head. "You can't be...but I've already got...Elijah's my..."

"It's not complicated, sweetheart," he told her, tone etched with amusement. "My brother and I share a soulmate. Surely, he mentioned this to you. If you're so...in love."

"I...that's not possible," Eden argued, her voice failing her.

But it was, wasn't it?

She felt as safe with him as she had with Elijah. An instinctual feeling that she'd be safe with him. That he was...

But he wasn't.

Was he?

He couldn't be.

"Elijah makes a game of life, love," his voice was a tad softer now, a hint of pain that wasn't there before, "he'll show you his hand but never the deck. Don't think because you're connected to him that it will change for you."

Eden took a step back from him, trembling. "But I...why didn't I notice? Before when-when you were...but you're...and I...I would've...this must be a trick. Some...some sort of spell or—"

"—Is it truly so terrible that we're soulmates?"

"You're trying to kill my niece and almost killed my sister!"

He hesitated. "Yes, well, the world isn't sunshine and rainbows, but we're both well aware of that, aren't we, love?"

"Stop calling me that."

He took a step closer to her, his face less hidden by the light.

She hated the somersault her stomach did at the sight of him.

Dirty blonde curls, blue eyes that seemed to pierce through her mind — or were they green? The lighting made it hard to tell, but they reminded her of an ocean, nonetheless, deep, endless, bountiful — and a toned, leaned build.

He was smirking, but so differently to his brother. Dimples and full lips, less adoring and more of a predator to prey.

"This isn't how I imagined meeting you," he confessed. Was there a flicker of shyness in his gaze? No, that couldn't be right. "I thought I'd sweep you off your feet. Show you the world. Seems as though my brother's already got his hands on you." His jaw clenched. "Fret not, I'll just have to show you how much better for you I am."

"You're not — he's — I..."

"Speak, sweetheart," he took a step closer to her, and their height difference was the same as she and Elijah.

Elijah.

Oh, he would feel so betrayed by this. He would hate her for feeling like this.

She didn't want to feel like this.

She had to find a way out of it.

"You're thoughts are all over your face, love, just take a moment to accept what's happening." He sighed. "I promise that your life will be infinitely better if you just accept this."

"Accept this?" Eden scoffed, looking up at him in disgust. "I will never accept you. I will never accept this. You're a monster."

Something flickered in his face, and his expression hardened at her words.

"Is that so?" He asked in a low voice, leaning his face inches from hers. Her breath hitched. "Ask my brother how long he's known you were mine. Then we'll see who the real monster is."

And then Klaus Mikaelson was gone.

—

Eden sat in the Leaky Cauldron next to Harry with a full mug of butterbeer in her hands, wishing she'd never left London in the first place.

"Okay, rewind," Pansy waved her hand from her seat across from Eden. "You and this Elijah are soulmates and his brother just told you that he's also your soulmate, and Elijah has known your entire relationship?"

Eden nodded numbly.

"I'm going to break his face," Pansy shrugged, running a hand through her short bob. "I'm going to take my wand and carve it into a stake — think about how much cooler it'll look that way, anyway — and I'm going to stake him through his bloody heart. Everyone in agreement?"

Eden didn't have it in her to manage more than a small smile, and unsurprisingly, Luna was the only one to respond from her seat next to Pansy.

"Perhaps we're not privy to the entire picture," she suggested. "Just last week, I'd forgotten to close the phoenix vivarium and nearly lost an eye."

"Fair point, lovely," Pansy agreed, "I should cut out his eye."

"How are you taking all of this, Harry?" Luna asked patiently, and the trio's eyes moved to Harry.

He was tense, staring down at his own butterbeer — which Pansy mumbled about letting go to waste and took both his and Eden's for herself — before looking to Eden.

"Have you spoken to him?"

Eden shook her head. "I saw Klaus a few minutes before you came."

Harry nodded. "Has he called you?"

Eden shrugged. "I turned off my phone."

"Come here," Harry pulled her to him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. "We'll figure it out, bon. We always do."

—

"I know Ollivander had a particular way of assigning wands, but I've found that setting three at a time helps to pull yourself to the correct one," Luna began, tucking her own wand into her messy curls and grabbing three wand boxes.

Pansy and Harry stood next to each other by the door, speaking in low tones, and Eden stood in front of the counter.

It was strange, to be back here again.

It didn't feel as eerie as her first trip to Ollivander's — though, that could be attributed to the lighter paint job and charmed lanterns hanging above the ceiling; Luna's touches, of course — but it was just as daunting.

To get a new wand was to receive a new identity.

She felt eleven years old again.

Small, timid, afraid.

Eden wanted a new wand, she knew it was time, but an illogical part of her believed that a wand wouldn't choose her at all. What if she was so dark now that the other wands didn't want her? What if she'd lost touch with her magic so much so that she could no longer wield a wand?

Eden fiddled with the first box, barely taking the wand out before shaking her head. It made her feel dirty, wrong.

"Not that one, then," Luna commented, waving her hand and the wand flew back into place down the hall. "There's no rush, Eden Sommers, your wand has been waiting for you. I can hear it. It's just as scared as you are."

Eden glanced up to her friend, eyes filling with tears at her observant friend. Always kind and supportive, her heart filled with love for Luna.

Tentatively, she looked down at the second wand. Before she even reached her hand out, she shook her head. Her hand was on fire even nearing the wand. A sure sign to stay away, to retreat, to keep herself clear from the wand.

"Not it," Eden looked back to Luna. "Felt like I was about to touch fire."

"Not to worry," Luna said airily, waving her hand and two more wands appeared. "Try the last and then these."

Eden nodded, reaching down to the final of the first three that Luna had set out. It felt...better than the first two, but not quite right. An itch in her mind, but the wand wasn't scratching it.

"Closer?" Luna asked, reading Eden's face. "Here, let's try more Rowan wood."

With another wave of her wand, the three on the table were sent whooshing back and three more appeared. "Dragon, like your old wand, unicorn, and phoenix."

Eden looked to Luna and then down at the wands. Her eyes kept drifting to the dragon heartstring, the core she'd had her entire life.

But something was wrong with it.

It... wasn't her anymore.

Dragons were ferocious and temperamental and quick to draw. They were brash and reckless and protective. She still harbored those qualities, but they didn't define her anymore.

So much had changed since Eden was eleven.

She'd been tortured and mutilated and defiled. She'd been through war; loved and lost, bled and cried. She'd fought with her heart on her sleeve, and she'd come out more broken. She'd been subjected to some of the worst atrocities a person could come up with — and she'd come out the other side.

"Try this," Luna held up the second wand. "It's calling for you."

Eden looked to Luna, then to the wand, and slowly wrapped her hand around the hilt, feeling a surge of warmth rush through her once the wand bound to her magic.

Tears welled in her eyes as she was overcome with...

Forgiveness.

Understanding.

Loyalty.

Devotion.

Love.

She was loved.

This wand loved her.

It didn't misunderstand her intentions, it didn't feel tormented by memories and live in nostalgia.

It knew her.

This wand was made for her.

"Pheonix feather," Luna spoke softly. "Rowan wood, phoenix feather, twelve-and-a-half inches," she supplied. "It was the first phoenix I collected, actually. May seventh, only a week after the war."

Eden looked at Luna tearfully and felt a rush of emotions overcome her.

The wand was as new as she was. As unfamiliar with the world and navigating everything in it as she was. It wasn't tied to Fred; it wasn't tied to Remus or Hogwarts. It hadn't whispered in her ear for dark magic.

It understood her reasoning for defending those she loved, and it would defend them again, but it would not ruin her.

And she would not ruin it.

"Thank you, Luna," Eden spoke shakily. "I didn't...I..."

Luna walked around the counter and pulled Eden into a tight hug, running her hand through her hair softly.

"You'll be alright, Eden Sommers. You're not alone anymore."

—

Eden returned home after falling asleep in Grimmauld Place — though her nightmares returned for the night, which only fueled her remembrance of why she'd left in the first place — and Harry promised he, Ginny, and George would be back the following day.

That gave her time to confront Elijah, ignore Klaus, and tell Jenna everything that happened.

All in time for Fred's birthday.

Surprisingly, the thought didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.

She didn't want to put it all into the wand, but it definitely felt that way.

Having something that was entirely hers in her new life, untouched and scorned by anyone else...it made her feel more at ease than anything else.

And it hummed each time she held it in her hand. An extension of herself, not something she was trying to connect with.

It simply understood her and guided her with gentle feelings and soft stirrings.

The first thing Eden saw upon entering her floo was Elijah.

And the rage that punched through her was like a bludger to the gut.

"Did you know?" She asked in a low voice, glaring at him.

Tears were gone. Eden had no more time for tears. Eden was so sick of crying.

So tired of being held hostage to everyone else's emotions. She was so tired of being tired and helpless and sad.

"I'm not sure I understand—"

"—Don't," Eden cut him off icily. "Lie to me. Did. You. Know?"

Elijah's eyes flickered closed for a moment before he opened his mouth. "I wanted to tell you, Eden, truly, but you have to—"

"—I don't have to anything," Eden countered angrily. "I am so tired of everyone telling me what I can and cannot do. You lied to me, Elijah. Did you know the whole time? Every part of our relationship?"

Elijah didn't respond and she took his silence for what it was.

"Is he my soulmate, too?"

Elijah sighed. "It's...not that simple."

"What do you mean 'not that simple,' Elijah? It either is or isn't. He either is or is not."

Elijah took a step towards her but Eden shook her head.

"Stay where you are," she addressed him quietly, but there was no tremor in her voice. She wondered, for a moment, why she didn't feel hurt by his betrayal, but the small voice in her mind made her realize that she'd come to expect it.

Everyone she'd met in Mystic Falls had betrayed her.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Elijah would, too.

"I am your soulmate, I am, but you...are Niklaus' Valinn." At Eden's crinkled brow, he explained. "It means chosen. For as long as werewolves have existed, their strongest have had mates," his nose crinkles up at the term. "It sounds barbaric in such context, now, but I suppose you've become accustomed to halves of a soul. Niklaus can explain this to you in greater detail, he...purged every library of contents regarding the subject."

A forlorn look crossed Elijah's face. "The only thing he sought answers for more than his connection to you, was the breaking of his curse. When a werewolf becomes one with the moon, they are often bonded only to the moon. It...doesn't happen much now, with wolves nearly extinct, and in many terms, the word has lost meaning. But a Valinn is the moon's chosen. It's said that once every bloodline, there is a true Valinn to the wolf. You...are Niklaus'."

Eden's head was spinning. Slowly, she sat on her sofa, confusion swimming thorugh her mind.

"But...it's not like our bond?" She asked in confusion.

Elijah shook his head. "No. Ours is magically induced, it cannot be chosen, it's created by our souls, but it...could be unbroken. Potentially. With catastrophic consequences that I will not delve further into —"

"—Katherine already explained it to me. She had to do it with her soulmate. I wouldn't do that."

A flicker of surprise, then a brief pity surged through Eden — his emotions, she was sure — and he nodded. "Your bond with Niklaus...it was revered when we were children. Even in villages where werewolves did not dwell, everyone knew about the wolf and his Valinn. It's written in stars, etched in the fabric of one's essence, it is...incomparably and admittedly," pain tore at her insides, both of their emotions, she realized, "very different than the bond you and I share. But that...does not make our bond any less important. Without me, you would not be the same, and that is also true for me. I would not be the man before you if anything happened to you, Elskan. I do not wish to exist in a world where you do not, but...it is possible." There would be...emptiness within you, but one could move on from the loss of a soulmate."

Another hesitation.

"It's not possible for Niklaus. To exist in a world without you. I will do anything and everything to protect you and love you and be at your side, and you are destined the same for me. But with Nikalus..."

"Like Sirius," Eden whispered, emotions flooding her. She sat back against the sofa, eyes filling with tears. "Remus, my werewolf friend, he...when Sirius died, he was...different. Sadness followed him everywhere. It's like it hurt to breathe. And Tonks was his soulmate, like you and I, but I never...none of us realized..."

Her heart went out for Remus first; to endure such pain without Sirius for years before joining him in death. And then her heart, begrudgingly, went out to Klaus.

It seemed as though he'd known her upon meeting her. And if what Elijah said was true, then he'd always known about their connection. How had he known?

How much pain was he in without her?

"I love you," Elijah kneeled in front of Eden. "I...I'm sorry I didn't tell you about all of this sooner. I didn't wish to overwhelm you. And, selfishly, I didn't want to share you."

"Had you told me, we could have better prepared for this," Eden countered. "I could've...prepared for this. How long have you known? How long has Klaus?"

Elijah's face flickered. "Niklaus has been having dreams of you for centuries. Since we were human."

"Did you know it was me?" Eden asked tearfully. "When we met, did you know?"

Elijah met her eyes and answered softly. "I did. I didn't know you were to be mine as well, truly, but I...knew you belonged to Niklaus."

"I belong to no one," Eden responded firmly, tears slipping from her eyes. "Not Dolohov. Not Klaus. And not you."

Hurt worked over Elijah's face and he shook his head minutely. "You're not thinking clearly, this is a lot to take in and you're overwhelmed. We can speak on it in the morning, and —"

"—Would it hurt me, too?" Eden whispered. "If Klaus died? Would it wound me the same as him?"

Elijah hesitated. "That's hard to say. You haven't established a connection yet, if you hadn't seen him in person then —"

"—I saw him today."

Elijah's eyes flickered closed. "I was hoping to avoid that."

"And have me never know?" Eden asked. "Didn't I — didn't I deserve to know? What if it did hurt me as terribly as it would him? Can you say with complete certainty that —"

"—I was hoping to find a witch that could —"

"—What, dispel my connection to him? Pretend that he was nothing to me? I may not — fuck, Elijah, I may not know him but he knows me. How could you...you know what it's like to have this, to have such an intimate connection and to break it because of...jealousy? Spite?"

"Eden, if you'll allow me to—"

"—How could you have continued our relationship if I'd never known? Would there always be something missing and I'd never know what but you would? Is there something else you're hiding from me? Some life-altering decision that I'm not privy to, despite it being my life—"

"—That was never my intention, Eden," his voice was raising now, annoyance flickering over his features.

"But it was the solution, yeah?" Eden countered. "Your poor, sad, tormented soulmate won't notice if another piece of her goes missing because you're there to pick up the pieces and glue them back together. So what if a part of her is never found. As long as you get what you want."

Elijah's face twisted and his hand clenched into a fist. He took a few deep breaths, calming himself. "I never indented to hurt you, Eden. I love you. I...I was trying to protect you."

"I think you were trying to protect you, Elijah," Eden shook her head. "The fact that you couldn't bring this up to me proves that you do not trust me enough to love you the way that I do."

His gaze snapped to hers. "You still love me?"

"Love isn't conditional," Eden softened. "Of course I do. But right now, I don't trust you. Our entire relationship has been based on trust and if that's all been a lie, then...I think you should go."

Eden's words hung in the air. The silence was thick between them.

The glass fractured, a tiny fragment in their perfect window to the perfect bubble they'd existed in.

He didn't trust her enough to tell her.

And she didn't trust him enough to listen.

—

SO not a breakup but a pause hehehe oops it hurts because I love them smmmmm. BUT WE GOT KLAUUUUSSSSSSS AHHHHH and I promise we'll get more. I hope you guys liked the difference between their bonds, Klaus will explain it more too.
Also hope you guys don't think Eden's overreacting, she's just so sick of people lying to her and doing "what's best for her" (sounds like she and Elena are in similar boats tbh) and this was the last straw.
Hope you guys liked the wand scene!!! Actually, if anyone's a nerd about wands like me, she had a Yew wood and Dragon heartstring before, which were associated with the dark arts, protectiveness, and ferocity, and now, with a Rowan wood and phoenix feather; the wood has never been dark, its rigid in ownership and beliefs, still protective, but more original, level-headed, and open-minded, which I feel like Eden is on the path to becoming! So. That's fun.
Lemme know what you all thought!!!!!!
Also who else wants more pansy and luna lol? My little sapphic babies.