Part 11

The natural order

2 months earlier

"What do you think you are doing?" I snapped as soon as Kol Mikaelson stepped outside, this time the servant had allowed me wait for him in front of the door.

"Good morning to you too," he replied and raised his eyebrows. "Is something wrong?"

"The apples," I snapped. "Why did you send them, I thought I made it clear that I'm not interested…"

"Woah, woah, slow down," he cut in and raised his hands in surrender. "I thought you like apples."

"I do, but that's not the point. First of all, how did you know where I live?"

He bit his bottom lip.

"I….asked around."

"You asked around?" I repeated and crossed my arms. "Is that supposed to make me feel flattered?"

He grinned.

"Well, that depends…"

"Just stop it," I snorted. "I don't know what kind of game you are playing, but I want no part in it. I don't want anything from you."

He was quiet for a while before replying, he wasn't grinning anymore.

"I sent you those apples because I wanted to somehow repay your kindness and you said you don't feel comfortable accepting expensive gifts," he stated calmly.

My eyes widened.

"What? What kindness?"

He turned his head away and crossed his arms.

"You came here to make sure that I'm alright. That might not sound important to you, but it was to me. Despite of what you might think, I don't often meet sincere people who don't seek my company just because they want something from me. When I do meet a person, such as yourself, I try to show my appreciation. Obviously I chose the wrong way to do that."

I was speechless and my face was turning red, I had certainly acted like an idiot.

"I apologize for invading your privacy," he continued and turned to the door. "I won't bother you again."

"No, wait," I sighed. "Please."

I was more than embarrassed when he turned to look at me.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to act like…an ass. I just thought…"

What had I thought, that a man who could have any woman he wanted would spend his time trying to seduce me by sending me few apples? That didn't sound ridiculous at all…

"That's alright," he replied smiling. "I have a bad habit of acting before thinking, but I really didn't mean any harm, I only wanted to show you that I appreciated your gesture."

"It was nothing really," I muttered. "Anyone would have done the same."

He shook his head.

"Not according to my experience."

We were both quiet for a while and stared at our shoes.

"So…" I muttered after an awkward silence. "I better go now and let you have some breakfast. Thank you for the apples."

"You are welcome," he replied and held out his hand. "Friends?"

I couldn't help but smile; his hand felt a little cool when I shook it.

"Friends. Just don't send me any more gifts, if my aunt finds out…"

"She doesn't want you to have male friends?" he asked.

"No, I have male friends, but she doesn't want me to have friends whose last name is Mikaelson."

I regretted immediately for saying that, I really was an idiot.

"I see," he stated. "May I ask why?"

I shook my head.

"Never mind, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sure if she would agree to meet you she would see that you're not a bad person, but that's not going to happen, I know her well enough. What I am saying is that we can be friends, but it would sort of have to be… a secret."

He smiled.

"I understand, Miss Aberdeen, and no need to worry, I'm very good at keeping secrets."

Elsa was completely numb when she washed Rosa's body and brushed her long hair. Father Kane had given her a beautiful white dress, it fit Rosa perfectly. She looked like an angel, even if she was lying on a modest bed in the cellar of a church. The room was dark, despite of the few candles, but Elsa didn't care, she needed to do this last thing for her beautiful girl. Gently she crossed Rosa's hands over her chest and weaved daisies into her hair. Father Kane had promised to look after the body until the funeral, but Elsa couldn't bring herself to leave Rosa, not before she would be finished. She didn't want anyone else to touch Rosa.

"You deserved better than this," she muttered. "If your father would have bothered to show up…"

She couldn't finish her sentence, it filled her with bitterness. Not that it mattered if he would have showed up; vampire's blood couldn't heal consumption any more than witchcraft could, not if the person was meant to die. In those cases the healing potions did ease the pain, but in the end magic didn't shape the natural order of things. As Marilou had so helpfully pointed out when Elsa had begged her to find some way, witches were the servants of nature and they had boundaries that couldn't be broken.

People were meant to be born, live and die, that was the natural order of things. Elsa had even considered looking for someone who practiced dark arts, but that kind of magic always came with a price. She had heard plenty of stories about people who had been brought back from death by using dark arts. Those stories didn't end well, she knew that. Forcing the soul to return the body from the other side was unnatural; it damaged the soul or even shattered it, turning a person into a monster.

How could she ever do something like that to Rosa? Father Kane had been right; she was in the better place now. She was safe from people like Kol Mikaelson. Elsa knew that he would come after her; she had taken his toy from him. She wasn't even slightly scared; she had nothing left to lose. Except her life, but at the moment death didn't scare her. In fact, she hoped that he would come after her; she was strong enough to cause him some serious pain before he could kill her.

The thought filled her with dark satisfaction; she wanted to make him suffer for toying with Rosa like he had. He would have used her like some object before throwing her away or draining her; he had even manipulated poor Rosa to think that she loved him. Of course that wouldn't have worked if Elsa would have been honest with Rosa about everything.

She had tried so hard to protect the girl, she hadn't told her about anything supernatural. Rosa hadn't known about witches, vampires or werewolves, but now Elsa couldn't help but wonder if she should have told her. Unfortunately it was too late; she had no choice but to live with her mistakes. Not for long though.

"It's alright, sweetheart," she said and kissed her forehead. "Rest, I'll fix everything."

She looked at Rosa one more time before blowing out the candles. Father Kane was waiting for her upstairs.

"She's ready," Elsa said, her face was completely callous. "Can I trust you to look after her?"

"Yes, of course."

Elsa nodded.

"Thank you, Father. For everything."

She didn't feel anything when she walked out. The walk home was long but she didn't stop or hesitate, someone needed to pay. It was almost morning, the sun would rise soon. Finally she reached the small house she had called home. It wasn't a home anymore, not without Rosa. She stopped in front of the door when she saw the figure lurking in the shadows; it seemed that this would all be over sooner than she had thought. She had no problem with that, she was ready.

"Show yourself you miserable coward," she hissed.

The figure stepped towards her, she gasped in shock when she recognized him.

"Damon…"