Nadia goes to the principal (a Kalijah story)

by Wandering princess

In which twelve yearold Nadia gives Henrik Mikaelson a black eye, principal Elijah and her mother turn out to have history together and aunt Caroline ends up kneeing a famous artist's balls, yeah sometimes being Nadia Petrova can be hard. a Kalijah AU story with a few hints ok Klaroline in the background

1. part 1: Nadia goes to the principal

Small inconvenient with the server, had to repost again sorry about before

Nadia goes to the principal (a two shot)

Little Nadia Petrova hated, absolutely hated, elementary school.

Sitting in a chair the principal's office next to a bruised Henrik Mikaelson wasn't her idea of a perfect Friday afternoon but the stupid zadnik deserved it, in fact if he so much as moved his mouth again she wouldn't be held accountable for his hospital bills, Nadia might have been twelve but she had a black belt in karate, her mama had raised no weakling.

Why hadn't her mother just let her continue on with tutors and private professors like they had done in Bulgaria?, then she wouldn't have to be so far from her mom all the time, not to mention there was that little idiot of Mia that followed her everywhere and all those older boys like Henrik that liked to pick on her just because she was the new girl.

Nadia really missed Bulgaria sometimes, she missed the taste of the food, the smell of her home in Lovech and the beautiful homey feeling of the city of Sofia. if only her mother's dad hadn't gotten sick, they would both still be home, happy and perfect, Nadia hated how her mom wasn't happy in America, she hated the woman she was supposed to call "aunt" who looked just like her mom but couldn't compare, she hated Chicago and how other people gawked when they walked around town, she hated the air, the houses, the stupid American accent they all had, hated the kids in school that made fun of her for skipping a grade, but most of all she hated that this place made her mother even more unhappy than that time when her father died.

So overall when after a week in her new school Henrik Mikaelson for no good reason had seen fit to mock her cruelly, trip her constantly and pick on her after school just because she had been upstaging him and answering all the teacher's questions, the little girl just about had it with him and his little older-boys-that-bully-Nadia-club and in a terribly gutsy move for a child her age, Nadia punched Henrik in the face and proceeded to apply everything her mother had taught her on self-defense and karate.

Which was why her mother, Katherine Petrova, was now being called to the principal's office "So sorry, it's my daughter's school, you know how it is" she had told the board of directors with whom she was having a Skype conference after receiving the call, all of them nodded in understanding, most of them having family as well and knowing that the little Petrova heiress was a handful. Katherine sighed, apparently little Nadia had gone all out on some kid in school and left him bruised and blue all over. It would have been a minor thing had said kid not been the brother of the current principal, gosh, Katherine loved Nadia but sometimes, just sometimes, she hated how hot tempered her little girl could be.

"Mama! It wasn't my fault I swear, that little prick had it coming, tell them mama" Nadia cried throwing herself into Katherine's arms dramatically as soon as she had crossed the threshold to the principal's office, speaking rapidly in Bulgarian and launching herself into a tirade of explanation and complaints, her brown hair blurring as she hugged Katherine's waist like the spoiled girl she was "his friends were saying I must be an alien to know so much, said my accent sounded like I'd swallowed something bad and then he tripped me, like about four times, he was so mean mama please don't be angry, it was all his fault because he pushed me, I was so angry, I don't like being pushed and you said never to let anybody push me around"

"it's okay Nadia, I'm not angry" Katherine replied back in Bulgarian with an unusually soft tone hugging her daughter back, realizing that this boy she had punched was probably the one Nadia had been complaining about to her for the past few days, Katherine had told her not to let this kid bully her and to stand up for herself, well there went her motherly advice, Nadia had given someone a black eye "Now don't cry, mommy is here remember, mommy will fix this"

Then someone else in the room cleared his throat and Katherine's attention was pulled from the child in her arms towards the man sitting in the principal's chair, hearing that voice she was hoping never to have to hear again in her lifetime "Katerina?" Elijah whispered slowly in disbelief, Katherine could not believe her eyes, of all the private schools to enroll Nadia in, dammit someone up there really had it out for her, because there in front of her looking as crisp and handsome as ever was the one man she had sworn to forget and the reason she had once upon a time left Chicago in the first place.

"Elijah" This wasn't possible, he wasn't supposed to be here, his family owned half of New Orleans for heaven's sake, why was he here?, Caroline had told her Elijah was working at New Orleans State University, not in Chicago, realizing her slip, Katherine straightened her posture "I'm sorry, you must be mistaken, my Name is Katherine Petrova, I'm Nadia's mother" Katherine replied with an air of coolness she didn't feel walking towards the center of the room and extending her hand for him to shake while Nadia looked at Henrik with a haughty expression.

Henrik glared at Nadia, while the little girl just gave her a look that said my-mom-is-going-to-make-sure-you-pay-little-prick and Henrik just rolled his eyes and returned her look with a roll of his eyes as if saying "bring it"

"Yes of course" the principal said nodding returning from a well-deserved shock and regaining his composure "Nice to meet you Mrs. Petrova, I'm Dr Mikaelson, seeing your surprised face I imagine that the school neglected to mention principal Fisher's recent maternity leave, I apologize for the omission" Elijah assumed shaking her hand unemotionally, pretending Katerina's presence did not disturb him in the slightest way, playing the part of the authoritative man he was perfectly " but never mind that, you are here because of another matter altogether, shall we begin discussing Nadia's misbehavior in school today?"

Elijah would be lying trough his teeth if he said it was the first time he had ever seen this woman, of course not, but Katerina had always been fond of playing pretend and right now was no different, he regaled her with the most inquisitive expression over, both elated and horrified at her being there. she was wearing a loose white buttoned top and a beige blazer with simple pair of well fitted jeans and complimentary shoes, her hair was held loosely in a low ponytail and the only jewelry she wore was a simple golden chain, the twin of which her daughter appeared to wearing, nothing remarkable, in fact she was dressed as every other young working mother he had met so far, modest but authoritative, except of course that on Katerina every piece of clothing however banal, looked remarkable, still he couldn't resist to look her over once again. Long gone where the leather pants, high heels and tight tops that used to make him squirm with desire a long time ago, the woman in front of him was a far cry from the feisty party girl he had met in his college years, this one no longer had that spark in her eyes, that thirst for life he enjoyed so much in her was also gone, her smile was less flirty and more forced as she bravely defended Nadia's motives for hurting his younger brother, it was plain as the day that the little girl meant the world to her. And Elijah hated himself.

Just as Katherine hated him too, she told herself again and again that it didn't matter that the bastard looked every inch the Greek god he had been in college, or that he still wore those suits so sinfully even a nun could be tempted, she wasn't the stupid girl she had been back then, she promised to herself when she married Trevor, that nobody would ever hurt her again, not like Elijah did and yet here she was ogling him while he remained stupidly impassive, just like old times, well figures some things never changed right?.

She was glad Caroline was coming down from New York that weekend because suddenly she had the urgent need for a night out, screw sobriety, sobriety was for women who didn't have to deal with Elijah Mikaelson, Katherine quickly started to make contingency plans in her head, all she needed was a babysitter for Nadia, a car fast enough to cross two states in one night and a bottle of good bourbon, her conscience agreed, strong drinks that's what she needed, now if only this meeting would go by a little faster.

Katherine sighed remembering her days in college, life had been so simple then, and loving the man in front of her had come so easily to her too, well not so easy at first, but that had been the charm of him, and she had to admit it pai…irked her to no end to see him again and not have any emotion show in his face.

Katherine had met Elijah on her freshman year in Columbia, she had been just eighteen, happy, feisty, stubborn and with a perchance for getting in trouble using the excuse of "enjoying her freedom", daughter of a middle class family never quite happy to play by the rules she liked to take every chance she got to break them, and break the rules she did, in every spectacular fashion she could of course there was Elena, her "good" twin, who never did anything wrong, rooming with her under the pretense of keeping her out of any trouble and being the perpetual spoilsport, but it hadn't mattered so much to her at the time, after all Elena was her sister.

Before Elijah everything had been so much fun for her, parties everywhere, kissing boys whenever she wanted, drinking until she passed out, studying very little and enjoying very much, college had been the good times. There were always guys that wanted to hook up with her, parties that wanted to invite her and many, many bartenders to hassle constantly for free drinks.

After all what was wrong with being happy? and if partying and tequila made you happy, shouldn't you take every chance that was offered to enjoy them?, that was what college was about right? "New experiences, taking chances, embracing opportunities" she had screamed once from the top of her sorority building after kissing a random frat boy, the world was young and so was Katherine, ready for anything and so filled with fire she ignited everything around her.

Then she had met Elijah, the serious teacher assistant, who at the time had been interning under her Economics professor and apparently liked to have no fun whatsoever, he had been twenty five and Katherine, or Katerina as she used to be called before, had made a bet with her friends "I bet you twenty five bucks that none of you can get Mr. stick-up-his-ass there to unwind" she had giggled to Pearl and Emily.

"He's a Mikaelson Kat, that family is uptight to the core, take it from me you'd have better luck getting a rock to dance the boogie than with unwinding that one" Pearl had chuckled under her breath nudging Katerina with mirth while a disapproving Emily shook her head.

Katerina had been confident she would prove them wrong, I mean who ever could resist a little fun when it came in her very nice, smiling, tied-with-a-victoria-secret-ribbon package, all guys fell for it and this Elijah person would be no exception.

Except he was.

After all, Elijah was no saint either, he knew all about girls like Katerina who thought they could seduce the life out of any hot blooded male and honestly he was over it, but day by day, he swore that the brat tried his patience.

Katerina always sat too close, struggled a little too much after class and suddenly had begun appearing in the same places he frequented, passing off flirty innuendos as normal conversation when she knew he could overhear her, dressing up particularly against the dress code, asking him questions in class with that seductive voice of hers because she knew that there he couldn't just ignore her, but never once approaching her prey directly, just being her regular Katerina self and luring him in by driving him crazy. Of course he knew it was a game for her, she was a little flirt in need to be taught a lesson that was all.

And it was about time to teach the little freshman that if she wanted to play in the big leagues she better be prepared to lose against the home team.

Suddenly, he turned the tables on her, her, Katerina Gilbert, the girl that had no fear, and by the holy trinity the man was a bloody mastermind when it came to getting her all hot and bothered.

All Elijah had to do was pay attention, stand a little too close to her during the lesson, under the pretense of helping the professor with struggling students, leaning over her notebook to point out where she failed in the equation and casually brushing his fingers on the back of her neck slowly, whispering the instructions a little too low, taking every casual opportunity to touch the sensitive parts of her skin, man, until meeting Elijah Katerina had never known her shoulders where a turn on spot, or her arms, or any part of her anatomy that he could take advantage off while pretending he was still being his very proper self, he even liked to feign that it was all in her head.

What she hated most was that he paid attention to her weaknesses and used them against her, this was how he had found out that when he wore his darkest suit she usually bit her lip more and that his blood red tie shut her up better than any scolding because it took everything she had to pretend she wasn't having "fifty shades of grey" kind of thoughts in class.

Then he started experimenting with her name, "Katerina would you answer the question please" or "Miss Katerina I noticed you looked a bit distracted" or sometimes simply calling her name and pretending he had forgotten what he wanted to tell her, he used her name as a weapon, the bastard, trying on different tones, styles, modulating the inflection of his voice to make her name sound like a caress, or an endearment, or in some cases a full blown booty call, until he found one particular tone that made her smile or bite her pencil too much, or clench her fists in anger, he seemed to enjoy it too, unsettling her when she least expected, walking just past her casually on the hall only to touch her hand as he passed her.

And man he was good, he was terribly good, so good that Katerina often wondered if he had a kinky side under all those suits.

So that was how it had begun, a game between a teaching intern and a freshman, who could get the other to run for a cold shower first?

Sometimes it was Elijah and sometimes it was Katerina, one would just push the other to the painful point of wanting to have sex against the wall consequences be damned and the other would just smile in triumph and walk away before anything could happen feeling a sense of perverse vindication.

Caroline thought it was borderline masochism.

Klaus thought it was crazy as hell

Elena tried to talk her sister out of it

Rebekah wondered if her brother was stable

Pearl and Emily told her it just wasn't worth the lack of sex

And Finn simply asked where Elijah had acquired that sadistic streak nobody knew he had

Sadism, masochism, insanity, psychosis, whatever it was that summarized the sexual tension game that Katerina and Elijah played, certainly made for a good show, for her it was cat and mouse, chasing and running, chasing and running, for him it soon became chess, where the objective was to make the opponent give in first, the unspoken rule was always the same, who could get the other to crack first.

But all that accumulated lust has to have a bursting point somewhere in time and for those two, the end of the game came during one Friday night in a random nightclub.

That night Katerina had gone out alone, Caroline had been busy with Tyler, Pearl and Emily too swamped with finals and Rosemary, well she was out distracting Trevor and pretending she didn't hate Katerina, as it was the resident party girl wanted to let some of the tension of her shoulders go, she had spent the whole day in Economics having to watch Elijah in his sexy black suit speak about European capitalism and communism in third world countries while all she wanted to do was get up, pull that red tie of his with all her might and kiss him, why did he have to wear that tie?, he had many of them, probably all the colors and patterns known to men if what Rebekah ranted to Caroline was to be believed, but no, he just had to be all proper and serious and hot "Life is sad, Thierry baby hit me with your best shot" she sang as soon as she entered the club, perching herself at the end of the bar.

"Rough day Katy Kat?" Thierry wondered putting a drink in front of her "poison du fleur, my new invention mixed just for you, want me to make your night better? I can pester the DJ for you babe just say the word" see this was what a normal guy did when he wanted to get laid, buy a girl a drink, call her by stupid nicknames, flex his muscles, show off his bartending skills, not say "katerinahhhhh" with a super low voice and touch her neck and make her all hot and bothered while not doing anything about it. Come to think of it maybe she needed more tequila.

"know what Thierry, I think I'll take you up on that, tell the DJ I want to dance all the way to my grave" she shouted over the music sending the bartender her best come-hither look "and darling be stud and mix me something with lots of tequila, tonight I really, really want to forget my troubles"

"Anything for you Katy Kat" And not suspecting anything was wrong with Kat, Thierry gave a signal to the DJ.

Katerina smiled, forking over her cellphone instructing Thierry to call Caroline if anything happened and proceeding to drink and dance like a girl on a mission, this was how Elijah found her, dressed in a slinky black number with her high heeled stilettos carving a path of fire across the dance floor, drawing the attention of every man in her vicinity with her inviting smile, normally he wasn't the kind of man that went to nightclubs if anything he hated them, but Kol was another matter and his younger brother had felt that it would make a nice joke to send Elijah a picture of his favorite freshman dressed to kill and being eyed like a prey by the wolves around her.

That night marked the end of the game, neither knew how it happened but one minute Katerina was dancing with a guy swinging her hips seductively and the next minute it was Elijah at her side, whispering "Katerina" in her ear so seductively that she felt Goosebumps travel through her body, the guy she was dancing taking one look at Elijah simply scurried away leaving her in the middle of the dance floor with a very serious Elijah, turning around Katerina saw that he was dressed casually for once, black t-shirt, black pants, no suit, it was the first time she ever saw him without the suit, yet he didn't say anything, just let her stand there appreciating him while he did the same and then of course, without warning he was kissing her.

And after came the forfeit, the best part, in both Elijah's and Katherine's memory had always been that part, the long awaited forfeit. That moment after the kiss in which he decided enough was enough, roughly pressing Katerina against him and moving to the rhythm of the music without asking her for permission to dance with her, or touch her, or kiss her. Then unable to keep her wits about her anymore Katerina had whispered those faithful words into his ears "Screw the game Elijah, I'm throwing in the towel"

That was the best part, the end of the game and the start of war. The moment they stopped playing games and began to date at last.

She was something else in his world while they were dating, crazy, bipolar, explosive, she made him rethink himself five times a day, sometimes she kissed him for no reason and sometimes he kissed her for no reason too, he liked her thirst for life, how she would push him to be less uptight, Katerina had an innocence about her that was refreshing, always reminding him to enjoy the good things in life and she in turn liked how he accepted her for who she was, how he kept her grounded and made her feel like the only girl in the world.

Elijah was everything for Katerina, he was the one, the guy she wanted to wake up to every single morning, she wanted to be boring with him, read books, learn how to cook just to see his face when she made him breakfast, he made her want to believe that life wasn't as crappy as she knew it was, he made her happy, she wanted to make him happy too, just so he would stay with her and keep the warm feeling in her chest alive, she liked to watch him in the morning and hear his voice drone about algebra during her classes, she liked the way his smile softened when she walked in the room and how his eyes darkened when she talked to some other guy. For the first time in her life Katerina was in love and she didn't care, because as long as Elijah was there, then there was hope for her.

He never knew how much he meant for her, even while he was feeling the same, Katerina was his whole world, he would have done anything for her just to see her smile like she did to him, she made him calmer, happier and what more could he ask for.

But nothing can be perfect forever and sadly for Katerina and Elijah their complication came in the form of Klaus, Elijah's beloved brother.

You see, Katerina had a good friend, the already mentioned and well cherished Caroline, who was bubbly, enthusiastic and more than a little OCD when she put her mind to something, they had been good friends since childhood and for both Katerina and Elena, Caroline was the sister they never had, for the better or the worse Caroline was almost a Gilbert for all the amount of time she spent with both the good and the evil twin. Caroline was a nice girl, with bright blue eyes and charming personality that was very loyal to her friends. In fact if Katerina had to name a friend she liked over the rest, she would name Caroline, who never let anyone down and liked to party and go shopping better than the rest of Kat's friends.

Klaus really liked Caroline, but he also had a very nasty way of showing it and Katerina protective friend she was, often told Caroline "not to tangle with him", because she knew of Klaus's reputation very well, he was the "wreck everybody in your path" kind of guy, despite the fact that he was her boyfriend's brother, Katerina didn't want her sweet best friend to get hurt by a guy who was more self-destructive than a time bomb.

Caroline naturally heeded her friend's advice and rejected Klaus's advances, over and over and over, hoping he would get the hint and stop trying to ask her out, honestly, Caroline would have gone out with him, if only he had gotten his act together and showed that he was serious about winning her over, but back then Klaus had been an immature twenty something man that preferred to take out his frustrations on someone else's happiness, this time his target became Katerina.

Klaus's vindictive actions brought forth the beginning of the end for Elijah's love and in Katerina's case, it shattered her completely.

Back then It had been a stroke of pure luck on Klaus's part, finding out that Damon Salvatore and Katerina's twin sister where having an affair, he didn't know what was better to hurt his nemesis with, the fact that Damon was the brother of Elena's actual boyfriend, or the fact that he could count on Elena being Katerina's twin to give Elijah the wrong impression.

In the end it was both, but Klaus was thoughtless in his little revenge plot when he purposefully had Elijah "accidentally" walk in on Elena and Damon having sex, he had not known he was alienating himself from both his brother and the girl he fancied in one swoop, how could he?, after all Katerina was just another party girl and Elijah would get over it.

Katerina had pleaded, begged Elena with all her might to tell Elijah the truth, used every ounce of groveling she had, but her sister had claimed she loved Stefan at the time and admitting to Elijah she had been cheating on Stefan with Damon, just for Katerina's sake , didn't seem like it had that much appeal.

Katerina's reputation with guys on campus was bad enough already, the fights with Elijah just got worse and sadly the only ones willing to stick up for her where Caroline (who knew Klaus had done it out of revenge and swore to hate him for all eternity) and ironically Stefan who while he didn't actively believe her (Elena cheating? No way) still defended her by default.

Elijah in turn broke her heart, claimed she was liar, a cheater, nothing more than a common whore, claiming he should have known it would come to this because that was the kind of girl Katerina really was, he then told her that it was all a game and proceeded to recite the general ruse all men spew when they are hurt. She wasn't worth it if she went around being easy with scum like Damon.

And just like that what was once a beautiful relationship shattered under the weight of tiny lies.

Katerina cried, god knows the first week was the hardest, Caroline had tried to be there for her the best she could but Kat knew the sunny girl would never understand the depth of how hurt she felt, still her friend did her best and for that Katerina swore one day she would repay her, funny how our first heartbreak has the power to shatter us so badly, mark us so deeply we never seem to think of love in the same way again. Nevertheless Katerina was a survivor, she had gone through her share of crap in high school, she had grown up in a home where nobody understood her, fought for her chance to get into Columbia, Kat was no stranger to the term "getting back on the horse", it was what she did, she endured, but still in her heart Katerina knew that from that day on, she would always hate Elijah for shattering her one last shred of innocence, for killing that part of her that still believed in true love.

Yet she told herself that Katerina Gilbert was not a mopper, once the original shock of Elijah's words and betrayal had passed, she refused to let anybody see her sadness, she got up, wiped her tears, applied her makeup and swore to herself and to the world that no matter, how, no matter what, she would never be hurt like that again, she wouldn't allow herself to be.

Elijah saw her pretend time and time again, still reeling from the anger of her supposed betrayal he refused to cut her some slack and the nail to the coffin came in the form of Trevor Petrova.

Trevor was a recently graduated business mayor, who had been dating Rosemary, one of Katerina's frienemies yet it was a known fact around campus that he had been in love with Katerina since day one, Trevor was a good man, kind, considerate and thoughtful, but he was also ruthlessly smart, he was the kind of man that knew when an opportunity was there for the taking and what better way to be Katerina's hero than to offer a shoulder to cry on after her terrible breakup with that evil ex of hers.

Yes, Trevor Petrova was smart, he had seen Katerina's vulnerability when nobody else had and without any bad intention, simply took advantage of it, she was hurting, he had the power to make the hurt go away, she needed to get away and he needed her, it was a win-win situation "I will never treat you badly Kat, I worship you, come with me please there is a world out there to discover, my family runs a textile empire in Bulgaria and I am expected to return soon, I cannot leave you here muse of my heart, just think about it, you will live like a queen, away from everything that has ever hurt you, with servants and jewels and enough time to do whatever you wish, say yes my love, say you will marry me"

And because Katerina had been young and hurting, she had looked into her suitor's dark eyes and seen the most practical solution to all her problems, even if it was a little mercenary, she figured that if she couldn't have love, at least she would have wealth. So she said "yes!"

And in the whisper of a drizzling wind, Trevor spirited Katerina away to Bulgaria in order to introduce his new bride to his family.

Funny also that with Katerina gone, Elena's affair with Damon came to light a lot faster than it would have if Kat had stayed in Chicago, after all, when the rumors of his girlfriend hooking up with his brother eventually reached Stefan, Elena could no longer use the "my evil twin did it" excuse and it sucked because Katherine was no longer there to take the brunt of all Elena's failings just by virtue of being the bad sister, for once in her life Elena was on her own.

After the scandal of Elena's little two timing act broke loose in the sorority where she roomed, it didn't take long for word of it to reach Elijah and the realization of it hurt like hell. Because while Katerina's sudden disappearance had been quietly disregarded as one more student to drop out of Columbia, Elena's love triangle with the Salvatore brothers had been a rumor spread like wildfire.

Elijah had looked for her. Called, Emailed, even tried going to her parent's home but to no avail. He had asked Elena and Caroline, Emily, Rosemary and even Pearl, but sadly all they could tell him was that Katerina had decided to marry Trevor Petrova out of the blue, Pearl had been the most forthcoming if slightly mean when she told him the news "Really professor Mikaelson you didn't know?, oh well I suppose it's normal, she just left so suddenly after getting engaged" the Asian woman told him feigning indifference to his taken aback face "Trevor wanted her to meet his family you see, I don't know much about Bulgarian culture and such but I imagine it poses a challenge for Katherine, becoming Trevor's wife, they are both so young, I understand that with a man as eager to please her as Trevor, she will be very happy, but then again you already know Katherine loves a challenge she can sink her fangs on, don't you professor?" with those last words Pearl had turned her back with indifference and sauntered over to her next class, leaving Elijah to feel like an ass for hurting his Katerina in that way.

And just like karma, the boomerang effect of his ploy to get rid of Katerina came back to bite Klaus in the butt in the form of Caroline's friendship with the future Mrs. Petrova, because while Katherine Petrova was turning into a grade A bitch, a part of her refused to forget the nice things Caroline had done for her when she needed a friend the most, things that not even her own sister had done, so Katherine used her feminine wiles, moved some strings and sweet talked Trevor into offering Caroline some incentive to travel to Europe permanently and Trevor ever indulgent towards his future wife agreed to it. This was how the idea of studying in Greece had been planted into Caroline's head, an idea that after Katherine's marriage became a reality.

And that was the end to it naturally, Katherine got married to Trevor far away from home, sending plane tickets only to her parents and a select group of good friends so they could attend, (though she vindictively forgot to add her sister Elena to the guest list) Caroline managed to earn a scholarship to study in Greece thanks to Kat's contacts and soon all contact from either of them with Elena or their other college friends became very small.

For Elijah life promptly went on, as it did for his siblings. He never heard from her again. But every once in a while something would remind him yet for all intents and purposes, the woman he once loved was married and in another country, he had no right to think of her.

Elijah went on and got his teaching degree, and later a PhD, began working up the pedagogic ladder in New Orleans state university while working on the side with Finn in the family business and once in a while accepted to do his old classmates favors and fill in during their lectures or jobs just to fill the monotony.

Katerina on the other changed her married name to Katherine in order to cut ties with her old life, she found that while being married to Trevor was certainly glitzy, it was also boring, she had nothing to do or work on and after her first year of marriage, partying and shopping soon got old really fast.

It was then that she met Nadia, Trevor's daughter, her husband while not really forthcoming with information on Nadia's origins had admitted that one of the reasons his family had wanted him to marry so young was because he had been careless during his teenage years and Nadia was the result, Katherine learned that the little girl had lived all her life from nursery to nursery and later sent to a boarding school, like an unwanted orphan it was no wonder that she had latched on to Katherine's leg as soon as they met and while Katherine had never been the maternal sort, the Katerina side of her found herself at home when Nadia was around.

Nadia gave her a purpose other than being a trophy wife for Trevor; she smiled and laughed as though Katherine was her real mother, always so happy to finally have a mom that she tugged at Katherine's heartstrings over and over. It was then that Katherine began to fall in love again, this time she fell in love with a little girl that called her mama, it was maternal love, a feeling so warm it made her smile constantly, something she hadn't felt since she had been naïve and crazy.

Once again, someone became Katherine's whole world and this time it was pint-sized Nadia, who loved, adored and cared about Katherine in a way only a child ever could, so Katherine basked in her adoration, doing all the things she always wished to do if she had her own children. Katherine took Nadia shopping, signed her up for contemporary dancing, self-defense, karate, taught her how to wear makeup and played guitar hero with her on the mornings they wanted to annoy Trevor.

And Nadia loved Katherine, she loved her like she would have loved her true mother, she loved to watch comedy movies together and crawl into Katherine and Trevor's bed like she had seen children do on TV, she liked Christmases and birthdays and all the celebrations that made her childhood so magical.

Katherine didn't love Trevor, but she learned to like him as a friend, and they were a family, a pretty one, just Trevor Nadia and her, the Petrova family, it sounded nice, even when she didn't look old enough to be Nadia's mother, Katherine felt that if this was how life intended to carve her path, then she had no complaints.

The could have been happy, so happy, just the three of them, if only Trevor had kept his promise and been faithful to Katherine, if only he had loved Nadia as much as she did, if only he had not gone to his mistress that night Nadia had taken ill, then perhaps that drunk driver wouldn't have killed him. Leaving her a widow at twenty six and the guardian of a pre-teen child.

Which was why she had come back to Chicago, Katherine loved Bulgaria but she felt that now that she was a widow a visit to her own parents was long overdue, just for a short amount of time she had told herself, legally Grayson and Miranda where nothing to Nadia but Katherine wanted the little girl to know her mother had family too and that it was time they met their adoptive grandchild in person. Besides Petrova industries was brokering an expansion in the states and it was as good excuse as any to settle down in Chicago again for a while.

"Well I guess this concludes our meeting for the day, Mrs. Petrova, I trust that in the future Nadia will be try to be less explosive in her behavior and per normal procedure report any sort of victimization she suffers to a teacher" Elijah announced clearing his throat and bringing Katherine out of her trip down memory lane, Katherine nodded "still while her anger was justified she still gave a student a black eye"

"But professor" Nadia whined crossing her arms over her chest

"And I am not saying this because said student is my brother, if anything Henrik I expected more from you than to find you bullying a new student" Elijah leveled Henrik with his best disappointed look, making Katherine smirk, oh how did she know that look, she had been subjected to it a few times in the past and knew that once Elijah wanted to make you feel guilty, all he had to do was look at you with that stern crestfallen face

"So what will the penalty be then?" Katherine huffed impatiently, he could see in the way her eyes darted briefly around the room every five minutes that she wanted to leave as soon as possible, time might have changed the woman in front of him but Elijah still knew those little tells in her body language like the back of his hand "I assume it won't be a suspension, Nadia has perfect scores and a spotless permanent record, I don't think being suspended would help if all she was trying to do is defend herself"

The small tapping of her shoe, the brief perusal of her manicure indicating she wanted to clench her fists, the way her body was angling to the exit almost as if preparing to run, it made him smile a bit, his Katerina was still there after all "I agree, so this is why I am giving you detention, to both of you"

"What? No Lijah" Henrik protested "that's not fair, pipsqueak there was the one to go all hulk on me"

"Who are you calling pipsqueak, mayka Katerina do you see why I hit him" Nadia protested too, cursing Henrik in Bulgarian knowing that the other people in the room wouldn't understand it.

"Nadia, for Tiffany's sake this situation isn't up for discussion, I love you but you crossed the line today" Katherine sighed examining for the first time the purple bruise around Henrik's eye closely, how had her little girl managed to land such a perfect punch? She had no idea, but one thing was for sure, it must have hurt like hell "look at him that shiner is going to need weeks to heal" not that she wasn't proud of Nadia, I mean, the kid had managed to do what countless other females in history had wished they could do in the past, and that was to sock a Mikaelson square in the face, only this one was the wrong Mikaelson.

"Two weeks, every day after school, detention for both of you!" Elijah said leveling both children with a silencing look "you Henrik, because you let your friends pressure you into picking on the new student and you Miss Petrova because here in this school we have zero tolerance for violence, regardless of the gender that perpetrates it, am I making myself clear?"

"Yes professor" both of them mumbled in unison at the cold words of Elijah in principal mode. Then both adults forced the children to apologize mutually and smiled when the matter was over.

"Well then, now that it is all settled, I believe we have nothing else to discuss" Elijah concluded with a nod dismissing them.

"Come to think of it look at the time, we should get going, Nadia has rock climbing practice in a few hours and I need to get her into the protective gear" Katherine said pretending to look at her watch and angling for a rapid exit trying with all her might to keep the "normal parent" façade, resisting the long buried urge to be snarky with him, just pretend it's not Elijah Kat, pretend it's just another teacher, just another teacher, repeat after me, just another teacher.

Getting up and gathering her daughter's things Katherine politely said goodbye hoping Elijah wouldn't try to stop her from leaving, but just her luck just when she was walking out the door the man saw it fit to call her back "Mrs. Petrova, may I talk to you for a moment in private?"

Dammit, dammit, she was so close to getting away, Elijah of course had done it on purpose, waiting until Henrik left and she had already settled Nadia to leave, he knew Katherine was going to run as fast as she could, so selfishly he played the old trick of the "private" parent teacher talk.

"Of course, Nadia why don't you go ahead and wait for me in the lobby, I'll be right out cupcake" Nadia nodded and skipped down the hall after Henrik, leaving her mother in the office with a very handsome principal Mikaelson.

"Close the door Katerina" was the first thing Elijah said as soon as the child was out of sight, and suddenly there it was, the stubborn light that had always defined Katerina in all her glory, but this time, she was looking at him with all the force of her anger, he knew she hated him, but for a moment, he really did not care.

"And if I don't? may I remind you Dr Mikaelson that we are here to discuss my daughter..and my name is Katherine, Katerina died a long time ago, you should know" she threw at him like a sharp pointy knife, dropping all pretense she had kept in front of Nadia, letting her distaste seep into her tone and reach it's intended target.

"Should I?" he shot back, letting her know that he blamed her too "tell me Mrs. Petrova is there anything else I should know apart from your illustrious surname?"

Katherine snorted seeing the controlled way in which he asked the question "you really haven't changed at all haven't you?" she said circling a chair and refusing to sit own "still the same moralistic bastard that thought he could belittle my choices like a pro, well guess what? I have changed" she announced fearlessly looking at him straight in the eye and hoping he got the message "and this time Elijah, I'm not about to fall into old habits"

"Back to first name basis madam?, then let me be the judge of that" Elijah replied well enough advancing slowly towards her "it's always nice to see an old friend after seven years, I suppose the years have improved your countenance Katerina, or perhaps marriage did that?" he whispered coming up behind her, using a very formal tone but managing to make her shiver all the same, Katherine turned around in the blink of an eye and took a step back

"yes marriage did me quite a few favors" she replied offhandedly, he was too close, the door to his office was open and Katherine's self-preservation instincts where screaming into the high heavens, she needed to leave before she gave in and pulled Elijah by his tie, just to see if his lips still tasted as they did back in college, still she tried to keep her cool when she said "is that all Elijah?, where you hoping for a happy reunion? Because I have things to do and Nadia is waiting"

Elijah could see something simmering under that streak of impatience she wore like a glove, in fact if he were thinking with his head, he would let her go on her way, pretend he hadn't seen her, he was already dating a perfectly acceptable woman, never mind the fact that he couldn't even remember Hayley's surname with Katerina standing before him looking at his tie as if she wished it would sprout flames, how many times had he not imagined a moment like this?, he always thought the first thing he would tell her if he ever saw her again would be ask for her forgiveness, he didn't expect to feel that irrational sense of jealousy that came with seeing the silver ring on her finger, he knew of course, after reading Nadia's school file, that the little girl's father had died more than a year past, which meant that for whatever reason, Katerina still felt attached to her dead husband.

Because the wedding ring was still there and every time he thought of the words to apologize, the piece of jewelry mocked him, reminding him that her heart belonged to someone else and not him, the man was dead for Pete's sake and Elijah still felt jealous of him. This was why he was baiting her into showing her anger.

But Elijah knew that going there was playing with fire, so against his wishes he nodded "yes, tough I am surprised, I never took you for the maternal sort"

"Serves to show how little you knew me" Katherine replied mocking turning to leave, because of course he never thought her the maternal kind of girl, nobody did, but Elijah's hand shot out and held her back.

Katherine's eyes widened and she tried to break free from his hold, but Elijah didn't let her, his eyes softened for a moment "I do feel bad for what happened back then Katerina, I know it won't mean anything to you and that you probably have every reason to hate me, but I am sorry"

"You are right on that, your words don't really mean anything to me" she snapped, covering her hurt with a snide tone trying to tug her arm free once again

Elijah pulled her back and in a moment of temporary insanity he whispered "I know" and then she kissed him, almost as if to prove appoint, he pulled her to him then, doing that thing he had wanted to do ever since she had stepped into that office, not letting her have the upper hand, kissing her like a thirsty man in a desert, and Katherine responded at his touch with the passion and hunger she had forgotten she possessed, right then it didn't matter that the door was open, that Nadia was waiting or that Trevor was dead, that Elijah had a girlfriend or that his family would frown upon what he was doing.

They were kissing and that was enough.

But then Katherine's eyes snapped open "dammit we can't do this" she said more to herself than to Elijah, who in turn nodded a little out of breath

"You really should go Katerina, before I'm tempted to make it happen again" a man had to admit to weakness when he came across it, else how was he supposed to overcome it? And Elijah had just discovered that like good wine, the taste of Katerina's lips had gotten better with age.

"This here was a lapse of judgment" Katherine nodded then looked at him with daggers in her eyes "actually this never happened, we never kissed, I never gave in, got it Mr. Suit?"

Elijah groaned in frustration "Katerina pleased leave"

And leave she did, in a huff, and once again decidedly disgruntled, thanks to that kiss, she would be having dreams about Elijah again, during her marriage it was the memory of him, now the real thing decided her psyche wasn't damaged enough thanks to him and kissed her back like that, damn why did he have to kiss like a sex god?, why?.

"Hey mamma ready to go?" Nadia asked innocently getting into the car, Katherine nodded and once they were far away enough from the school the inquisitive preteen turned to her mother with narrowed eyes "now are you going to tell me what's up with you and principal stuffy or am going to have to ask aunt Caroline?"

This started as a drabble, then evolved into a one-shot, then I said screw it, let's make it a two shot, Kalijah is freaking hard to write, seriously, doing them justice is like very hard, because Elijah is Elijah, he's a very (very) old somber vamp and Katherine is Katherine and she's such a hard to pin down character, I wanted to write something that shows all her facets, the woman, the fighter, the survivor, the party girl and the mother she never got to be for Nadia, this was fun, but hard, very hard, I love Kat, but after tis two shot, I think I'm sticking with Klaroline, Kalijah complexity is out of my league. Also zadnik means ass and mayka means mom both in Bulgarian