Some theme music suggestions:
For the ball scene, I had "Bed Of Roses" by Bon Jovi playing - I know it's not even remotely fitting, but in my mind they're always dancing to this song...
Chapter Two – September 1950
The dress was of a deep burgundy red. It had a tightly fitted bodice and a full, stiff skirt that reminded her pleasantly of her dancing tutus; it was made from chiffon and a few other fabrics Katerina couldn't even tell the name of and all in all it was more exquisite and more expensive than anything she'd ever worn in her life. She was almost glad she would have to give it back – she would have been scared to keep something so precious in her wardrobe.
Caroline was already fully prepared and looked like a film star in her silvery blue dress and her artful updo. She had quite a talent for hairdos and such; right now she was busy wrestling Katerina's long curls into something fit for a dance, muttering curses under her breath when they refused to do her bidding.
"Care, you do realise that I don't want to look like a poodle," she joked feebly, anxiously watching her friend's doing in the mirror.
"Oh, damn," Caroline said with biting sarcasm in her voice – clearly she was as nervous as Katerina was. "You should've said that earlier."
"Just give it up, Care. I'll do my dancing hair-"
"Oh no, you won't," Caroline snapped, pulling her hair up into a shape Katerina had never even thought of doing her hair. "You are not just gonna look like you do every day. You're going to the ballof the year, Miss Petrova."
Katerina sighed. "Why do I have the feeling you're scared?"
Her friend didn't reply, just wrenched a few last pins into the hairdo and stepped back. "Tadaa," she said lamely, lacking her usual optimism. She was pale underneath the rouge on her cheeks.
Katerina stared into the mirror, trying to take in how unfamiliarly elegant her reflection looked back at her, her curls turned into large waves that flowed over her back with the front part pinned back neatly. Her lips were painted red with Caroline's lipstick. "It's beautiful, Care."
A tentative smile tugged at her friend's lips for a moment. "Thank you. Now get into that dress and come on."
.
~ö~ö~ö~
.
The room was as huge as it was gorgeous – Katerina had never seen such splendour before. Gigantic flower bouquets and garlands hung of the walls and the polished marble floor was a jewel all of its own. The hundreds of lights glittered in the champagne glasses that were carried around by innumerable waiters in tuxedos.
"What year is it again, 1750?" Katerina whispered to Caroline whose smile looked rather unconvincing. "You'd think we were in Buckingham Palace or something."
Klaus, walking on the far left next to Caroline, gave a low chuckle. He looked great, his curls shining like dark gold, and his smoking fit him like a second skin. Only his reckless smile seemed a little misplaced, a smile like that did not belong into a world as disciplined and tidy as this one.
His siblings looked just fit for the whole place. Kol wore perfectly groomed hair and a mischievous grin; his sister floated next to him in an olive green dress, looking like a sulking goddess.
Only Elijah looked surprisingly… normal. He was the only one who didn't look like a dressed-up little boy, probably because he always wore suits and neat hair, even his tie seemed to be a constant part of him. Katerina couldn't help thinking he looked hot, though she gave her best not to notice. What she did notice, though, was that he looked almost as troubled as she and Caroline, and she couldn't understand why. He belonged in places like this, with his expensive tux, not borrowed like her own clothes, his stiff posture, his place at a fancy law school, his education and his shiny shoes.
Still, he seemed uneasy, especially when two men came walking towards them.
"Mayor Lockwood," Elijah greeted the older of the two. "Mister Lockwood."
"Elijah. Kol. Rebekah. Oh, and the lovely Caroline," the Mayor greeted jovially. "Niklaus," he then added in a much colder tone.
"Mayor," Klaus gave back, looking back at the older man defiantly. "Tyler."
Katerina caught Elijah throwing his brother a warning glance. Tyler Lockwood glowered at the second-oldest Mikaelson, looking rather murderous underneath his handsome features.
"Hello, Rebekah. Caroline, nice to see you again," he said, turning to Caroline with a much friendlier look on his face. Klaus's smile had vanished entirely.
"And who's your lovely company?" the Mayor inquired quickly, turning back to Elijah, clearly trying to distract from the two alpha-wolves fighting for their territory next to them.
"Katerina Petrova," she answered before Elijah had even opened his mouth, tired of being ignored. They lived in the 20th century, damn it; he could talk to her if he wanted to know her name.
"From our mother's dancing school," Elijah added, sounding a little sour.
"Well, I hope you'll all enjoy yourselves," the Mayor said and turned away to greet new guests, practically dragging his son along as he went. Katerina watched them go, wondering what the hell all that had been about.
"I'll get us a drink," Kol announced and disappeared in the crowd.
Katerina suddenly felt overwhelmed by the situation. Why had nobody told her what exactly was her task tonight?
"Care?" she whispered, turning to her friend for support, but Caroline seemed to be quite occupied with herself. She looked deep in thought and stroked absent-mindedly over the flowing fabric of her skirt.
Rebekah fingered her beautiful silvery-blonde curls, looking around herself in an obviously bad mood. Katerina didn't know her well enough to tell why, truth be told she didn't know her at all, but clearly she disliked not being the centre of attention.
A couple of other guests trailed past, greeting the Mikaelsons respectfully. Elijah, as always, made the perfect impression of the family patron, knowing everyone by name, shaking hands and smiling his pleasant, self-assured, aristocratic mask of a smile. Somehow he even found the time to inform Katerina and Caroline briefly about whoever they were talking to. Rebekah gifted the more handsome men with a dazzling smile; Klaus looked sullen and absent-minded and if he did descend to greet someone, it was cold and short-spoken.
"Matthew Donovan, heir to his parents' paper mill up North," Elijah said quietly, while his sister chatted to the young blond man who'd clearly found her approval. Katerina couldn't help noticing how jealously both Elijah and Klaus eyed the two of them. Suddenly she felt slightly sorry for the rich girl for whom she usually held nothing but slight contempt and envy – Rebekah had everything, looks, talent, money, education. But right now, she wondered what it had to be like, growing up with two older brothers like them and, even worse, a mother like Mrs Mikaelson.
"Where's your brother gone to?" she heard Caroline ask in an almost… upbeat tone and Katerina could hardly resist the urge to turn around and stare when she heard Klaus actually chuckle and reply cheerily: "Well, I hope he's not inflicted his charms on some poor defenceless girl, because then he'll never return and I could really do with that drink."
Caroline laughed.
Katerina was not the only one who had noticed her friend's small victory; she caught Elijah and Rebekah sharing a surprised glance.
When nothing happened for another few painfully long minutes, Katerina decided to busy herself with admiring the beautiful crystal chandelier that flowed down from the high ceiling towards the floor in a cascade of tiny glass shards. It almost appeared to be in motion, painting millions of colourful little sparks all over the huge room.
"No need to look so nervous," a quiet voice near her ear remarked amusedly, making her jump. "All you'll have to do is dance a little, and I hear that you do extraordinarily. Apart from that, as sad as it is, my mother merely requires you to look gorgeous and I don't see how you could disappoint anyone in that regard."
She frowned and answered reluctantly: "I'll… take that as a compliment."
Elijah smiled. "Why, yes, it was a compliment."
Luckily, Kol returned with delicate champagne flutes filled with sparkling liquid before the situation could get even more awkward. She took one, throwing him a grateful smile.
"Alcohol, thank God," Klaus muttered, taking two glasses and handing one to Caroline with a conspiring smile. "Drink up, you'll need it."
Rebekah, alone again since Matthew Donovan had returned to his dancing partner, cast her brother a sideward glance. "What's got you all cheerful, Nik?" She grabbed Kol's hand and added loftily: "Come on, Mother asked us to dance, we might as well. This ball's boring me already."
Her oldest brother's eyes followed her with a displeased expression and he said, turning to his brother: "Quite right, we can't just stand here all night."
The next moment, Katerina felt herself follow him onto the dance floor, still feeling tense and nervous. Her hand in his felt strange, not exactly unpleasant, but yet she was oddly aware of his touch. She tried to concentrate on the dancing – luckily the band was playing a waltz, so she didn't have much opportunity to make a fool of herself.
"Please, you must ignore my sister. As much as I love her, I guess that when it all comes down, she is a spoiled little princess," he said abruptly, but despite his irritated tone, he couldn't quite hide the fond smile on his lips.
"Your mother doesn't look like the kind of person who spoils people."
"Why, no, she doesn't," he answered, sighing. "But I'm afraid Niklaus and I did a splendid job all by ourselves. I suppose to some extent, it is understandable. She was heartbroken when our oldest brother died…"
"You had an older brother?" she blurted out, regretting it immediately. "Sorry, I didn't want to be nosy-"
"Five years older than me," he cut her off with a mild smile. "His name was Finn, he and his wife were killed during the Blitz."
"I'm sorry," she muttered, avoiding his eye.
"It was a long time ago," he answered very quietly, but she didn't believe his
indifference for a second. "Anyway, Kol's the only one who's never had a… weak spot for Rebekah. And I…", he cleared his throat and adjusted his smile, "I honestly don't know why I'm boring you with all this, my apologies."
Katerina didn't know any reply that would have been even halfway as eloquent and polite as his always were, so she just didn't say anything – though that was probably even ruder.
The band picked up a quicker tune and she hoped he'd give up the small talk to concentrate on his dancing, but sadly Elijah Mikaelson was far too good a dancer to get confused by a foxtrot.
"So, you've been at my mother's school for how many years, exactly?"
"Since I'm ten, so a little more than seven years," she replied quietly.
"That is a long time," he commented. "Don't you miss your family?"
"I used to miss them a lot when I was younger, especially my Mum. But I'd miss ballet more, I guess. And sometimes I see them during the holidays."
"Your family must be proud of your achievements." Katerina caught herself wondering whether he talked like that to people he was close to, too, and whether it wasn't exhausting to be this… formal all the time. She knew she wouldn't have been able to keep it up for longer than five minutes.
"They are, especially Mum. They never really expected me to do well, we're just an immigrant family after all," she answered.
"Your family comes from an Eastern country, I take it."
"My family's from Sofia. We left when Bulgaria entered the war. I was eight, I don't actually remember much. I mean, I remember Sofia a bit and our home and I still speak Bulgarian, but it's all a bit vague."
"Was it difficult learning English, if you don't mind me asking? I imagine it must be, with a mother tongue so different from it. My parents had us learn Russian, and it was hell," he said, still in his pleasant tone.
"You don't have to apologise for every single sentence," she replied, slightly annoyed for some reason. "It was easy enough for me, maybe because I was so young. And English is quite simple, really, the grammar's fairly easy to learn."
Caroline and Klaus passed them by, and when she glanced back at Elijah, she saw a surprised, almost hopeful look on his face.
"What is it with you and your brother?" she asked without thinking. When she realised whatshe had just said, she felt the strong urge to slap herself, but decided it was too late to take it back anyway, so she elaborated: "Whenever he shows the slightest hint of being happy, you look like God knows what had happened."
"Is it so surprising that I'd want my brother to be happy?"
Well, he's not the kind of person you'd wish happiness so much. Katerina grimaced and tried to put what she was thinking nicely, but there was no way. So she just shook her head.
"It's not, of course it's not. He's your brother."
"You're not a very good liar, Katerina," he said, still watching his brother. "I know what you mean, he's not the most… amiable person in the world. But he has his qualities, believe me. My brother is a very intelligent man and probably the bravest person I've ever met in my life, besides… there was a war raging all over the world a little more than five years ago, so you might want to adapt your idea of a decent person. Everyone in this room older than twenty-two is likely to be a murderer."
Katerina frowned, slightly taken aback. Who would have thought Elijah Mikaelson would be so cynical? "That includes you, Mr Mikaelson."
"It's Elijah, please, unless you'd like me to suffer a nervous breakdown," he said, then his voice turned very quiet and very tense. "And I never did exclude myself. I went to war, too, though I was at the front for less than two weeks. It still is enough to keep me from sleep at night, I fail to imagine what Niklaus must go through."
Her brain was having trouble keeping up with all the information. Suddenly a lot of things made sense – she'd heard of returned soldiers who were aggressive or depressive. Both fit on Niklaus Mikaelson. It also explained why his older brother was so weary around Klaus, watching him like a bomb that might go off any moment – because in a way that was what he was.
Desperate to change the topic – what had she been thinking to bring it up in the first place? – she grasped for the first straw she could find.
"You learned Russian?"
He grimaced, yet when he answered his tone was a little less tense. "Well, it's a far cry from perfect, but more or less acceptable. My French is much better, as is my German. I used to hate the lessons, but now I couldn't be more thankful for them. They spared me most of the war, I was ordered to handle communication with the other nations; apparently they believed I was more adept at talking than fighting."
Katerina couldn't suppress a little laugh – though she didn't doubt that Elijah was physically able to hurt people if he had to, he really did look like someone who would try to talk his way out of anything.
"What's so funny?" he demanded, something like a smile on his face, but smaller, less pompous, more…. real.
She felt her cheeks flush and she shook her head. "Nothing."
Another dance began and they took a moment to adjust to the new rhythm, which thankfully spared her any more questions.
.
~ö~ö~ö~
.
About an hour later, they were standing near the huge staircase leading up to the gallery and the private rooms of the Lockwoods. The champagne was starting to make her feel slightly dizzy. Klaus and Caroline stood a few feet away. A faint glow had appeared on Caroline's cheeks and Katerina was astonished to see how quickly her friend's anxiousness had disappeared. She couldn't help thinking that Caroline, too, seemed to fit into this place more and more.
Katerina had started a tentative chat with Rebekah Mikaelson, discussing their upcoming performance of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, when suddenly the chatter in the ball room broke off for a moment and several heads turned towards the gallery.
Tyler Lockwood had appeared on the landing, looking rather dishevelled. He was clearly drunk, but he made his way down the stairs towards Klaus and Caroline admirably quickly.
"Wait here. Trust me, the clearer you stay of the two of them, the better," Elijah muttered, looking worried, and hurried to his brother's side where he whispered intently into his ear. Caroline joined Katerina.
"Care, what's going on?"
Caroline glanced from Elijah and Klaus to Tyler and back to Katerina, then seemed to make a decision and replied quietly: "Look, last year there was a dreadful accident and the Mayor's wife-"
"What do you mean, an accident?" Katerina interrupted, frowning.
Caroline sighed, throwing yet another glance towards the Mikaelson brothers. Katerina followed her look to see that Tyler Lockwood had reached them.
"That you even dare to turn up here-" Tyler growled, starting towards Klaus.
"Tyler please, whatever business it is that you have with my brother-" Elijah began, slowly stepping in front of his younger brother.
"You know exactly what," Lockwood hissed, scowling at Elijah instead.
Katerina couldn't help admiring the eldest Mikaelson – he didn't even flinch, just went on in his calm tone: "Again, please, be civil, you know the importance this dance has for your father."
"I don't care about my father," Lockwood snarled, taking another step towards them. "There's another thing we have in common, isn't that right, Elijah?"
Caroline watched them, then very quietly started to talk without taking her eyes off them.
"Carol – Carol Lockwood had some kind of argument with Klaus in her husband's study, I honestly don't know what it was about. I told Elijah he'd been gone for ages and we went looking for him. We got to the study the exact moment Tyler did. When we got inside, Carol was dead. She must have tripped over the carpet, anyway, she hit her head on the edge of the desk and apparently, she cracked her skull and then she was dead, just like that." Caroline looked shaken even by the memory. "Klaus looked a mess, he was white as a sheet and shaking like mad, he didn't even seem to hear us. And Tyler, he just lost it, he went for Klaus, yelling he'd pushed her and that is was his fault." Caroline drew a shuddering breath. "It was awful, I really thought Tyler was going to kill him and Klaus – I don't think he had any idea where he even was, he was looking right through him. I don't know what would've happened if Elijah hadn't stepped between them…"
"Did Klaus have something to do with it?"
The blonde stroked a stray curl behind her ear, her blue eyes oddly wide. "No. Of course not."
He had something to do with it, Katerina thought, wondering why she wasn't even surprised. The only thing that shocked her was that Caroline – who had never kept a secret in her life – was lying for him.
"I can't believe you never told me that," Katerina hissed, staring at her friend in disbelief. "I thought we were friends, the times we've asked you what the hell happened last year and you never said a word-"
"Elijah made me swear I wouldn't say anything, I'm sorry, Kat. But I promised."
"Why would he make you promise that if Klaus had nothing to do with it?" Katerina asked angrily, glancing at the Mikaelson brothers that were arguing with Tyler Lockwood – that was to say, Tyler was seconds away from starting towards Klaus who stared back stonily and didn't say a word. Elijah stood between them, trying to reason with the Mayor's son, not very successfully so by the looks of it.
She felt a sudden rush of disappointment. She'd believed him, damn it, his whole act of morality. And all the while, he'd been covering up a murder.
"Because everyone would want to believe that he had something to do with it," Caroline answered, her eyes shimmering with tears. "It's the sort of thing you'd expect of him, and it wasn't his fault. It wasn't, Kat, believe me, if you'd just seen him – even if he did push her, he had no idea what he was doing."
Katerina just shook her head at her friend and turned away in time to see Tyler Lockwood aiming a punch at Klaus. Elijah tried to stop him but was too slow; Klaus, however, caught his fist and gave it a quick, brutal turn that might have dislocated his shoulder. Lockwood groaned in pain, but managed to wrench his hand free from the older man's grip and lunged himself at him again. He wasn't half as good a fighter as Klaus was, but he was strong and fairly fast. His fist made contact with Klaus's jaw. The next second, Elijah was by his side, pulling Tyler away from his little brother.
Katerina couldn't believe the other guests were just standing by, even Kol didn't move. Rebekah, however, jerked her arm free from her little brother's grip and hurried over to Klaus and Elijah, looking angry and scared.
"Stop it, for Heaven's sake, what are you doing?" she yelled, pulling Klaus backwards, away from Tyler who was still trying to wriggle free from Elijah's grip.
"Where's the mayor?" Katerina whispered hotly, looking around them. "Why's nobody doing anything?"
Caroline gave a helpless shrug, eying the scene in front of them.
"The Lockwood's rooms are upstairs?" Katerina demanded and Caroline nodded.
"Kat, guests aren't allowed up there-" she said, but Katerina was already running up the staircase, holding up her skirt so she wouldn't trip over it – though she was fairly sure she'd fall flat on her face before she'd reached the top of the stairs anyway. She wanted her dancing shoes back more than ever.
She hammered against the first door she found, when no response came, she turned to the next until finally, the Mayor opened, his hair looked ruffled and there was burgundy lipstick smeared across his jaw. Katerina didn't really need the sight of the halfway undressed woman sitting on the desk to understand what was going on. He stared at her in disbelief, visibly torn between his confusion that she was there in the first place and the embarrassment that she'd caught him in the act.
"Ah, Miss, er… you're Mr Mikaelson's dancing partner, right?"
Katerina tried to catch her breath and answered in a tone that couldn't be called anything other than rude:
"Yes, I am; there's a problem with your son and you have to come down right now."
"A… a problem with my son?" the Mayor stuttered, staring at her.
"Yes! We need your help. Tyler's having a row with Niklaus Mikaelson," she informed him and stormed back down the stairs.
"Tyler, what is going on here?" he boomed, and half the room flinched. Elijah looked up at Katerina, something like surprise in his eyes.
She returned to Caroline and watched as the Mayor approached the little group. Elijah cautiously let go of the Mayor's son while Rebekah dragged her brother back another few feet to put some more distance between them. The Mayor started talking to both of them, but it was Elijah who answered while his brother stood by motionlessly.
Caroline sighed. "Thank you, Kat."
"I didn't do it for you, Caroline," she answered coolly, watching the Mikaelsons, especially Kol. He just stood by, so far away that he couldn't possibly be seen as a part of this family. She had the strong impression that he wanted nothing to do with his three older siblings.
.
~ö~ö~ö~
.
"Well, I am sorry you had to witness this. I'm afraid things like that have the tendency to follow in my brother's wake."
"Yes, I heard," she gave back, a little shocked at how cold her voice was.
"I'm sorry?" he replied smoothly, handing her another glass of champagne.
"Caroline couldn't really keep her little secret from me anymore given the situation."
"Ah," he muttered, a small, regretful smile on his lips. "The demise of Carol Lockwood. A tragic loss, she was a wonderful woman."
"Yes, you sound very touched indeed."
"I am. I liked her," he answered quietly. "But you have to believe me, her death was a dreadful accident."
"So if it was an accident, why did Caroline have to keep her mouth shut?" she demanded, clutching her glass. "Though I'm impressed that you could shut her up."
He chuckled. "And I am impressed that she didn't tell anyone. I must admit I expected she would." Elijah sighed and emptied his own glass.
"You must not judge my brother, Katerina – he has seen horrors that you could not even begin to imagine. He was there when the Allies landed in Normandy; he fought countless battles in those two years." He looked at her and seemed to understand that she wasn't convinced.
"I… I remember how I prayed and bargained and begged for him to survive and come back, and sometimes I wonder if this isn't some cruel joke of the universe. Something became of my brother, something terrible, and every once in a while I'm not sure whether he really can still be saved. But what sort of brother would I be if I turned my back on him when he needs me most?" His voice had gone very quiet; she could hardly understand what he was saying.
There was some deep, raw emotion in his eyes, one that she couldn't quite place. Love maybe, or sadness. Hope. Desperation. She couldn't tell.
Then he forced a smile on his lips, one that didn't look very real to her.
"Well, I must not lose hope," he replied in a more upbeat tone. "After all, I might be the only one who hasn't given up on him yet."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Katerina muttered, glancing at Caroline who was dancing again, an ever so slight smile on her face. Klaus was talking to her, and his eyes looked more alive and warm than she had ever thought possible.
Elijah sighed. "In that case, I hope Miss Forbes knows what she is getting herself into."
Katerina shook her head. "Why do you believe him to be deserving of so much forgiveness? Even though you think he is such a danger to the rest of the world."
"Oh, he's a danger to me as well," he answered calmly. "But no matter what happens, no matter what he does – he will always be my brother."
She nodded slowly, trying to make sense of the man in front of her.
"Even if he kills people," she whispered.
He pierced her with a solemn look, then bowed his head slightly. "No matter what he does. There is nothing I value higher than my family."
"Your morals are a little twisted," she remarked, smiling against her will.
Elijah raised a brow at her reaction. "Yes, I suppose they are. Would you do me the honour of another dance or shall I let you be?"
"No. I have no idea what I should do, standing around here all alone," she replied.
He almost returned her smile.
.
~ö~ö~ö~
.
Where the ballroom had been splendid and pompous, the garden outside was quiet and of a more subtle beauty. The hedges were neatly trimmed and there were roses of all sorts of colours. There were hundreds of little lanterns scattered across the garden.
The stars gleamed like tiny pearls scattered on black velvet and the moon was nothing but a thin white line on the horizon.
She was freezing in her dress, but she didn't actually care. It was beautiful.
"You know, I think I'm actually glad to be here," she said quietly. "It's...it's an honour."
He just smiled. "The honour's all mine, Miss Petrova."
Katerina felt herself blush, a shade of burgundy matching her dress going by the heat level. She stared at the gravel underneath her shoes and tried to hide her smile.
*Author's Note*
Early update because I don't have much access to the internet next week.
So… a lot of information. Not too much, I hope… Heavy focus on the relationship of Elijah and Klaus. What can I say, I watched a few episodes of The Originals and was more and more intrigued by their fantastic dynamics. It took me a long time to figure out how I could make this relationship work in an All-Human AU, and actually I chose the whole epoch because that way I could give Klaus PTSD.
I hope you enjoyed the interaction between Elijah and Katerina, I put a lot of effort in writing their scenes. Hope it doesn't seem rushed to you, but they did have instant chemistry from what we know from the show, so I didn't want that much build-up there.
Oh, and then there's Tyler – please let me have your opinion on Tyler! I'm really insecure about writing him, but I think he turned out okay. More or less.
I put a lot of thought into the dresses, people – Katerina wore a burgundy dress when she met Elijah, Caroline's dress is obviously from the Original's ball and Rebekah wore a gorgeous green dress at that ball that I loved to bits and pieces.
