SUMMARY: "Maybe in another life we'll get our happy ending..."

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He hates himself for what happened to her.

Every single moment that passes, every second that he lives without her, knowing that it's his fault that she's dead, Elijah is consumed by guilt. It's unlike anything he's ever felt before in his entire one-thousand-plus years of living; instead of just slowly eating away at him, this... this swallows him whole. It makes him wish that he were dead.

Hayley wasn't supposed to die. Ever. It's just not something Elijah was ever going to allow. The plan was that as long as he were to live, if she needed it, he was going to protect her, but... he ended up being part of the reason that she's gone instead. If he could go back in time to that bloody farmhouse, if he could relive that moment all over again – this time with his memories – he would make sure that she lived. He would take her place and die for her if it were necessary (he would die for any of his family, because that's what he's supposed to do). If he could go back... she would be alive right now.

But he can't go back. It's just not possible. And so he gets to live with the fact that she's dead, that it's his fault, and that she's never coming back. Now Hope is left without her mother at the young age of 15.

Elijah's haunted by Hayley now. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees her, he sees the look on her face when she thought he came to her rescue, and the way she looked when she realized that he wasn't there for her at all, because he didn't really remember her, his love for her, or her love for him. He hears her voice, saying his name. And he remembers not caring about her at all.

No... in that moment he didn't even know her as Hayley Marshall, someone he loved and cared for since the moment he met her over 15 years ago, but instead he knew her as Andréa, the woman he met in France, the one he'd danced with – someone he knew for only a day. And when he saw her in that farmhouse, he'd... felt betrayed by her, felt that she had only been in France to spy on him, felt that she was just working for this family that he knew he had but didn't remember, one he didn't want to be a part of.

If only Elijah had known how much he was going to regret letting her die to save Roman's life instead, how much he was going to regret getting rid of his memories in the first place. Of course, had he known that letting Marcel and Vincent take away the memories of his loved ones would technically result in Hayley's death, he would've never done it. He would've struggled to stay away from Klaus, especially, but also Rebekah and Freya and Hope and Hayley and New Orleans in general, but he would've figured it out. He never should've rid himself of the memories, no matter how hard it would've been to keep them otherwise.

But he did get rid of them. And in the process he fell in love with another – Antoinette. And she's nothing like Hayley ever was, but he loved her so. Because he didn't know better. Because he didn't know that he'd already given his heart to someone else, someone who he just couldn't let go even when he should have. And when he found out about Hayley, he didn't care. Because he didn't have those precious memories of their time together. And he didn't want them, didn't think he needed them.

But he got them back anyway, and now those once precious memories are just painful. Every kiss, every look, every touch... they all play on repeat in his head. The memory of her invades his thoughts, his dreams; she haunts him. And in these dreams, she's harsh and merciless, making him feel the guilt and the pain he knows he deserves to feel for being the reason she had no choice but to sacrifice herself.

"I died because you chose to forget about all of us," she tells him in another one of his dreams, and she sounds so angry, so sad. "I died, unloved and forgotten by you. I died, knowing that you weren't there to save me, knowing that you didn't really remember me – not the way you were supposed to. I died, knowing that I would never be held or kissed by you again, never... never loved by you again, because you didn't know or care about who I was."

She paces around the room here, touching his shoulder as she passes by his seat. He doesn't feel it, of course; she's not real. He opens his mouth to speak, but she doesn't let him.

"I died knowing that I'd never get to see my daughter grow up," she whispers, stopping in front of him. "I'll never get to see her fall in love like I did, or have a family of her own. I'll never get to see her grow stronger, never get to see her conquer the world. I'll never get to see her. You don't have any idea what that's like, Elijah."

He often wakes up from these dreams feeling worse than before, but knows that he's just the one coming up with the words she says. The dream version of her isn't real, no matter how true her words are.

In any case, there are good dreams, too – ones where they dance slowly, wrapped up in each other. And after, she says, "If we're designed to meet each other in another life, just know... I'll be waiting for another dance", and then she kisses him on the cheek, just like she did in France.

There are ones where he's holding her close in the early hours of the morning, the sun reflecting in her eyes and illuminating her hair, painting her golden – it makes her look like some sort of angel. And then she's looking into his eyes, caressing his cheek, and she's whispering, "Maybe in another life we'll get our happy ending..." before she kisses him on the mouth. "Maybe in another life..."

But he always wakes up too soon. And when he does wake, he is always immediately aware of the absence of her beside him, followed by the intense guilt, and then by the pain of her loss.

He gets reminded that he will never see her again. Not in this life. And if she's lucky, not in another, either. They were doomed from the beginning anyway. Though that never stopped them from falling in love.

But Elijah truly does hate himself for what happened to her, doesn't know if he can ever get over it. He blames himself, and will always blame himself. The pain of what happened will follow him around for the rest of his life.

But... when he makes a decision, he knows that the rest of his life will only be just a day longer, and nothing more. Over a thousand years of living is more than enough. It's so much more than Hayley ever got, anyway.

His decision is to die by Klaus's side when Klaus is left no choice but to end himself for Hope's sake. Elijah knows that he'd have absolutely no purpose without his brother, and he can't stand living another moment after everything he's done and everything he's been through anyway. He knows that he doesn't deserve to keep going – doesn't deserve to have even gotten this far, but he also knows that he doesn't deserve peace either, and perhaps dying would give him that peace, quiet his mind for once.

However, either way it just... feels right for him to end this way. So, with the white oak stakes in their hands, Elijah and Klaus both drive one each into each other's hearts simultaneously. And that's it for them. A thousand years comes to an end in a single instant.

But it isn't the end.

Hayley is there waiting for him on the other side. She's gazing at him as if she can't quite believe he's there, but then she smiles. She smiles, as if she's forgotten what he did. Or perhaps she's just forgiven him, but Elijah doesn't know how she ever could.

She reaches out her hand for him to take. "It's about time," she says, grinning. "You've kept me waiting for a while now. Hope gave you my message?"

"Hayley," he utters, and he tries not to let his voice break, but he thought he'd never see her again, never hear her voice again. He doesn't deserve to be here with her, seeing her smile like this at him. "Hayley, I–"

"It's okay, Elijah," she interrupts, shaking her head, smile still in place. "I forgive you."

"But how?" he asks desperately, taking a small step towards her. "How are you able to forgive me after... everything that has happened to you because of me?"

Her hand falls to her side, but she moves closer to him, her fingers brushing his when she's close enough. It feels impossibly real, as if they were alive right now. But that's not the case at all. They're dead – they're somewhere else now, somewhere Elijah knows nothing about except that he shouldn't be here because she is so much better than him and he shouldn't get to be with her. He shouldn't get to be happy.

"Because I love you," she replies, and takes his hand in hers finally. "I've always loved you, Elijah."

She kisses him. And when she pulls away, he doesn't know what to say. He tries looking for the words, but he comes up with nothing. She's back to grinning now, taking a few steps backwards, her hand once again outstretched towards him.

"And what happened there no longer matters," she declares, nodding at her own words. He stares at her, speechless, as she gestures for him to take her hand once more. "This is another life, so come and dance with me again. I've been waiting for you for too long."

A moment passes, and finally, he takes her hand, pulling her in close.

They dance together under the stars, and he tells her how much he loves her, how much he's missed her, how sorry he is. But Hayley forgives him over and over again. And it's a relief to hear, it brings Elijah some peace.

It's been a little over 15 years since he met her, and what a rollercoaster that was, but it was some of the best years of his very long life. And now, in another life, they've finally got their happy ending.

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