Elijah heard the slamming of the door before he actually saw the woman in question. For all her grace and poise, she seemed to be unable to walk through a door quietly. He attributed it to her need for attention. She certainly liked to be heard.
He was in his study, reading over some papers that should help with their search. Yes, it probably could be classified as betrayal of his brother to help her hunt for the cure. She was Niklaus's greatest annoyance, after all, and when they succeeded she would trade the cure for her freedom. But Katerina had ensnared him five hundred years ago, and for some reason he could not dare to turn down her plea for help. She needed him, and he needed her. Elijah was madly and terribly in love with Katerina Petrova, and he was well aware of it. Thankfully she loved him back.
The beautiful brunette sauntered into his study, carelessly tossing her purse onto the sofa while walking his direction.
"Is that the newest information? My contact said that he would send over the files last night. There should be an exceeding amount of data in there." Katerina said, coming behind his desk and behind him. He felt her weight settle upon the arm of his chair. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder, presumably to read along.
"Yes, this is all of it. There seems to be a decent amount that we can work off of. The common factor throughout everything seems to be Canada..." Elijah placed a hand on top of Katerina's. They seemed to be hitting a dead end with their findings. His siblings weren't volunteering any information; Kol had simply told him that he was being an idiot, and Rebekah and Niklaus wanted him in Mystic Falls before they would actually say anything. Katerina's contacts were not being all that helpful either. She would need to do some persuading in order to gain more intel.
"Canada, again? That's not a large area whatsoever. We could probably scour every single inch of that place in, I don't know... A hundred years?" She said sarcastically, her voice tinged with impatience.
"Well, if we had the assistance of the Mystic Falls group and my siblings, we could probably get it done in twenty five." He rubbed her hand gently, knowing that she was desperate for this cure. It was her freedom, after all.
"Right, and that would go over well. What, would we waltz up to the Boarding House with cookies and plane tickets? Would that be before or after your brother rips me into a thousand pieces? Because we both know that he absolutely would, given the chance." Katerina sighed, resting her forehead on Elijah's shoulder.
"You are thinking about this too much, dear. Take a break for one evening. We will find the cure."
Katerina slid off of his chair and stood, walking to the couch and picking up her purse. "Elijah, we both need a break. Which is why I hope you have a clean set of formal wear on standby."
"You know I do, Katerina. Why?" Elijah folded his hands and rested them on his chin.
"I patron the gala and silent auction in support of the Children's Hospital every New Year's Eve, and this year you get to make an appearance as my date. Nelson has kindly agreed to be our chauffer for the evening, so be prepared to leave promptly at six. Black tie, obviously." Katerina smiled as she waltzed back out the door.
"I assume I have no choice in the matter?" Elijah shouted at her receding footsteps.
"None whatsoever!" She laughed, her footsteps going up the stairs.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Glancing over once more in the mirror, Katherine smiled. She had gone for a black and red ombre one-shoulder gown with a large ruffle on one side, paired perfectly with red peep-toe pumps and silver accessories. Checking once more to make sure her updo was secured properly, she nodded before grabbing her clutch. She was absolutely perfect, and with a good twenty minutes to go!
There was a door that connected hers and Elijah's rooms; though they had been sleeping in the same room for ages by now, they kept their belongings in separate rooms simply because of spacial issues. So what if she had too many shoes for his closet? Katherine liked to look fabulous.
Opening the adjoining door and sashaying in, Katherine appreciated the sight of Elijah in a tuxedo. He was an Adonis in formal wear. Not that those suits of his that he normally wore were not fabulously yummy either, because they were. The man just pulled off a tuxedo impeccably. Her partner-they had chosen the term 'partner' to define their relationship as 'boyfriend and girlfriend' didn't sound right, and options from there were limited-was standing in front of a mirror buttoning his vest, an untied bowtie hanging around his neck.
"You look beautiful, Katerina. Then again, you always are." Elijah said, making her smile. While she had received many compliments from her many lovers over the years, his seemed to give her butterflies without fail.
"Thank you, 'Lijah." She met his eyes, blushing slightly under his deep gaze. Walking over to him, Katherine situated herself between Elijah and the mirror, taking his bowtie in her hands and proceeding to tie it.
"I am perfectly capable of tying my own tie, Katerina." He chided.
"I know." She said. "But since I want to tie it, that means that you cannot." Finishing up, Katherine smiled and patted his chest. "All finished. And your vest is doing things to me, so go cover it up with a jacket before we don't make it to this gala."
"Katerina..." Elijah was unamused. If they continued on the current track of conversation, they were not going to be dancing at the gala tonight, that was for certain.
"Come on, dear! I can hear Nelson waiting for us!" An evil smirk graced Katherine's lips as she watched Elijah put on his suit jacket, and then grasped his offered arm to escort her downstairs.
-0-0-0-0-0-
The couple had been at the charity ball for over an hour already, and Elijah was marveled at how well known his love actually was. He had known that she was charming; he would have had to have been a blind man to have missed that. The difference was that she seemed to genuinely enjoy the event, as opposed to the many that he had seen her endure. At time, she would smile in a way that Elijah had only seen her do at their home.
The gala was different in that some of the current residents of the children's hospital's families were in attendance, and a few former residents that were old enough to attend were present as well. This was the crowd that Katerina seemed to frequent the most, and the one where her smile was shown. From the conversations he had listened to, Katerina's 'grandmother'-that she so happened to be almost a spitting image of-had often volunteered with the children. Naturally, this was something that he had been totally unaware that she did. Katerina had always seemed to be so callous towards human life.
It was on the dance floor that Elijah finally got his chance to ask Katerina why, and her answer was one that he had not expected.
"I had a brother and a sister that died when they were very young. Their names were Teodor and Yuliya, and they were only a year apart in age. Teodor was hemophiliac. One day he fell out of a tree, and the internal bleeding was just too much. He was dead by the next morning. He was only four years old." Katerina took a deep breath as she spoke of her long-dead siblings. It had been five hundred years, but she still thought of her family every day. "Yuliya was eight when she started showing problems. Everything seemed minor at first, but it got to the point where she could not get out of bed in the morning, she was in so much pain. One morning I went in to rouse her, and she wouldn't wake up." Elijah could still see the haunted look in her eyes, knowing that she had been deeply affected by her sister's death. "Yuliya most likely had leukemia, but as it went untreated there was no chance for her. Had my siblings been born in this time, they would have both survived to live long lives. That's why I have made a point to visit the patients and support the hospital monetarily. It gives other little kids like Teodor and Yuliya a chance." She shrugged, and kept on dancing.
Elijah was moved by her speech about her siblings, and he knew that she was genuine about everything she said. Though she may have not cried, her vocal inflections were enough to express her emotion.
"You, Katerina, are a highly underestimated woman. Anyone who accuses you of being unfeeling is a fool." That was all that he could dare say while dancing the waltz at a gala, but it was exactly what Katerina needed to hear.
-0-0-0-0-0-
It was tfifteen minutes until the New Year, and Katherine and Elijah were back in their townhouse. The gala was most likely still going on, but it seemed right to spend their first New Year's together as a couple in a place that meant something to them. They were currently back in Elijah's study, Katherine's heels kicked off on the floor, and Elijah's jacket shed upon the coat-rack. Glasses of champagne sat half-drunk on the coffee table while the couple sat together on the couch.
They chatted for a while on meaningless topics; small talk and just little things in general. It was easy, between them. But soon enough the clock struck twelve, and Katherine popped up and kissed Elijah mid-sentence while he was still rambling on about some inane thing. It took him a moment to respond to her kiss, but they were soon swept up in a moment of sweet passion.
"Happy New Year, Elijah." Katherine smiled at the man she loved. God, she loved him. She did not even know how to express just how fully she loved Elijah Mikaelson. He was truly one of a kind, and he had her heart.
"Happy New Year, Katerina. I hope the coming year is just as lovely as these past few months have been." He tended to be a man of few words, hence the lack of a grand declaration. But he did dearly love Katerina. He had loved her for five hundred years; nothing was going to change that.
A smirk creeping it's way onto her face, Katherine shifted for her position beside her lover to one straddling him. She kissed him deeply once more, before tracing her fingers across the outlines of the tie that she had done up mere hours before. Leaning into his ear, she whispered, "Your vest is still doing things to me. What are you going to do about that?"
Needless to say, the vest was soon off, shortly followed by the rest of their clothes, and Katherine and Elijah rang in the New Year in a way that was intended for only them.
For that one evening, and for the next few weeks to come, both Elijah Mikaelson and Katherine Pierce were finally home.
AN: Happy New Year, everyone! This was meant to be a mindlessly fluffy oneshot that made you die of gooey feels. Yes, it got a bit angsty, but I had to temper out the fluff somehow, so blame that. The title of the piece comes from the song "Home" by Gabrielle Aplin, and it is just absolutely lovely.
For those of you who read my Klaroline/Kalijah fic "A Tree Called Life", I'll be updating that in like...thirty seconds from now. So Chapter 5 will be up for you lovely people to read!
Thank you so much for reading! Any questions/comments/critisicms may be left in a review!
Again, Happy New Year!
-Abi