A/N: How I thought 3x09 should've been between Elena and Rebekah. I know we see a little bit of a thing between the two of them later on in season four, but I just didn't much care for how Julie Plec had Elena stab Rebekah in the back. Ugh, I hated it. I feel like they really could have had a real friendship. Anyway, thank god we have our writing material to fix the mistakes of the actual writers. Haha. / Enjoy. :)

She could do it—she had to. Out of everyone in the plan to bring down Klaus Mikaelson, there were only two people that Damon was absolutely certain were going to ruin their plans: Stefan and Rebekah.

Stefan was a loose cannon by himself—what with his compulsion and his ploy to fool Klaus into giving him back his freedom; he'd have been capable of doing anything, revealing anything under Klaus's almighty thumb. But Rebekah? That was her brother, the only one, aside from Elijah, she's ever known. That seemed like the more pressing issue at hand. With that in mind, she and Damon had come up with the idea to remove her entirely from their blueprint. She hadn't felt good about it, but it had to be done...Right?

"You just need to get close enough," Damon had told her, offering up the silver dagger laced with the powder from the white oak. "Call me when it's done."

It had to be done. Rebekah was only going to screw things up for them, Damon said, and it was better to remove the one problem they could take care of so there were less likely to encounter hiccups during the ordeal.

Elena just continued to repeat this in her head and when she finally managed to confront Rebekah, she had talked herself up enough to be able to carry out this mission—or so she thought.

But when she walked into the room and saw Rebekah in her red dress and completely did up, Elena's morality reared its head and she caught herself immediately second-guessing herself.

"Getting a headstart, huh?" Elena covers up her nerves with a smile she isn't sure sits well on her face.

Fortunately, Rebekah only spares her a glance before smoothing down the wrinkles in her dress, smiling to herself.

"Embarrassing truth?" She calls out, clearing her throat. "This is my first high school dance."

That made it so much worse. Steeling her nerves, Elena stepped forward.

"Ever?"

Rebekah nods, clearly on edge. "I never really had time for high school before. Nik and I were always moving around—running. Anyway, I didn't want to leave anything to chance. Have you heard any more from him?"

Elena doesn't hear her at first, far too consumed with her own haunting thoughts of what she needed to do for the sake of their plan. The weight of the dagger in her back pocket weighed heavily.

"Elena?" Rebekah calls out to her, startling her out of her reverie.

"N-No," She grimaces despite herself and takes the necessary steps to reach her. "But I'm sure that when he does return, he'll do it with flair."

"And Damon and my father are all set with their plan?"

She nods.

Rebekah parts her lips to ask something but quickly stops herself and shakes her head. "Don't tell me. I don't want to know, I just—I want to go to the dance and leave the rest to Mikael."

Elena feels a pang of guilt hit her, but it's almost like a tidal wave the way it continues to hit her.

"I know this must be hard for you," She spills, trying to find the courage she had before she walked in here. "So, thank you for helping us get Klaus back into town."

Rebekah is looking at her oddly, but Elena isn't sure if its because she senses something off or if she's curious if she feels as bad as she says. She tries not to speculate, but the anguish was enough to overwhelm her regardless.

Finally, she says, "Just be careful. I've been running for a thousand years for a reason. Mikael is not a good person and he definitely can't be trusted." She pauses, shakes her head and heaves a sigh. "No one in my family can."

It's bad. It's all so bad. The urge to vomit is high and the weight of the dagger is enough for her to want to toss it in the nearest ocean just to get rid of the vast amount of shame encompassing her soul. Damon's words call me when it's done swim around in her head and she has to remind herself to breathe, lest she fall apart at Rebekah's feet.

"Are you okay?" She asks, reaching out to touch her arm and Elena almost flinches back.

But when she raises her head to meet Rebekah's eyes, it's her that has tears in them.

"Are you okay?"

"I—" She's at a loss for words and Elena waits, patient, more than okay with letting time pass by. She's not ready, either.

"Y-Yeah, it's just—" She breathes shakily and this time, it's Elena who reaches out to comfort her. Rebekah smiles. "I've spent my whole life loving and hating my brother with equal measure. I just never thought I'd be the one to help drive a stake through his heart."

Quietly, Elena agrees. And then, her morality angel is back and reality is falling down and Elena knows that she can't screw this up. She won't. And it wasn't for lack of pushing through her doubts of who will screw up the plan first, it's just that Elena isn't this person. She cares too much. And despite it all, she knew that Rebekah wasn't this person either. They both knew what was at stake and what they had to let go to survive—and this was Elena Gilbert letting go.

Wordlessly, Elena steps back and grabs the dagger from her back pocket. Rebekah's eyes widen and she follows suit, looking from Elena to the dagger with an equal look of betrayal and mortification. Before she could form the venomous words past angry lips, Elena hands her the dagger carefully, the handle facing her.

She doesn't move to take it and narrows tear-filled eyes at the offending doppelgänger.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Elena breaks—like a dam with a crack in its heart and the words came spilling out of her like a rushing waterfall. She admits to her plans to dagger her, pointedly leaving out Damon's name, and how it was solely based on an inkling that she'd end up betraying them in favor of her brother—of the unspoken oath of family.

Rebekah is quiet, merely listening to her go on until she'd finally had enough and stopped her. She's sobering up now, having bore witness to the truth through tear-filled chocolate orbs. She's trembling now and Rebekah almost wants to laugh. Elena is scared, clearly horrified by herself and her earlier intentions. Rebekah can see, despite what she's said, that it wasn't her decision to remove her from the chessboard—no, Elena is not conniving and wicked. She knows this.

She bares witness to the pain behind Elena's eyes, the reluctance, and the drastically deep-set exhaustion. Elena is tired; tired of the scheming and the deceit. Rebekah knows this because she is, too. She wants it to end, too. Living under her brother's rule and never truly knowing peace and love—even friendship.

"Elena,"

She visibly flinches at the sound of her own name falling from the Original's lips, but Rebekah only shakes her head. Stepping forward, Rebekah gently takes the dagger from her outstretched hand.

Finally, she says, "I do not fault you. And I'll accept this dagger as an apology and I forgive you."

Rebekah is tired, exhausted with being the mightier species, and so she rips a page out of Elena Gilbert's morality book because that is what turning over a new leaf should be—starting over. Heaven knows, she hadn't been the best of company to her before.

Both girls were cut from the same cloth. Both craving normalcy, love, and acceptance. Elena was offering her all of it and more and Rebekah would've been a fool not to grasp it with both hands.

And she did so, eagerly.

The weight over her person is released and Elena felt lighter than she had before, knowing she made the right decision. Damon, of course, wouldn't have been pleased—her friends would think her insane, but as long as her conscience was clean, she didn't care.

"We will take down your brother, Rebekah," She affirms, finally finding her voice. She met her gaze evenly, her shoulders squaring. "But only by your terms and on your word alone."

Rebekah's brow furrows, clearly stunned by the conviction in her voice and the willingness to hand over any and all ropes to her.

"But your friends...And Damon—"

Elena shakes her head. "Your terms." She repeats.

It was quiet for several minutes. Elena allowed Rebekah the time it took to compose herself before she slowly nods her head, her blonde curls bouncing. Offering her a fleeting smile, Elena pulls something out of her pocket and holds it out to her. The metal of the locket shining in the light.

"My mother's necklace." Rebekah is shellshocked, barely able to hold back the tears as Elena gestured to her neck.

"May I?" She asks. "It was originally yours. It's only fitting you should be the one to wear it."

Rebekah is all-too excited and spins around, pulling her golden locks to the side so Elena can clasp the necklace in place. The locket falls at the base of her throat, cooling her heated skin and causing a genuine smile to settle on her face.

"Thank you, Elena," She says after she collects herself. She spins back around, practically glowing as she asks, "I do have a habit of, as you lot call it, jumping the gun but, I would hope that this means we're on equal footing now?"

Elena laughs softly, touching Rebekah's arm with gentle fingers. Rebekah's happiness is infectious and Elena catches herself returning it tenfold.

"Friends, Rebekah," And she means it. Even with the impending doom that lay ahead of them and the issues she would later face with her friends—she means it.

"This means we're friends."