In case anyone has had trouble keeping track of my vague references of passing time, Evangeline is approximately 17 weeks pregnant.

Chapter 25: Staggering

Evangeline pulled the blankets more tightly around her as she slept. That voice continued to echo in her dreams.

Follow… Follow… Follow.

A woman laughed lightheartedly and ran through the trees. "Follow me."

"But where are we going?" Elijah laughed as he ran behind her.

"Somewhere no one else can find us." She twirled around and stared at Elijah with wide, mischievous eyes.

Evangeline jerked awake instantly from shock.

Tatia. It was Tatia. Her blithe laughter haunted Evangeline's ears.

Evangeline got dressed and ran outside into the frigid morning. "Tatia," she shouted wildly, but no one answered. She ran further into the trees and shouted again. "Tatia, where are you?" She tripped on a root and fell to the ground. Tears sprang to her face and into the dirt. "Why do you keep torturing me?" Evangeline pounded the frosty grass and lay unmoving in the silence.

"Do I torture you?" A woman's voice echoed behind her.

Evangeline shot up and stared into the eyes of the wild, beautiful woman. "Well, yes, if you must know. You keep plaguing me with your memories."

"I only meant to help," Tatia answered flatly.

Evangeline would have thought she was still dreaming if it hadn't been so cold outside. "You… you're the one who brought me here."

"I did." Tatia stared at Evangeline with a lackluster expression. "And now you are safe."

Evangeline shivered slightly. "Why are you helping me?"

"It wasn't for you." Tatia looked away.

Evangeline suddenly understood. "For Elijah?"

Tatia continued to look away and closed her eyes tightly. "I cannot rest until I make amends."

"You loved him, didn't you?"

Tatia turned and stared hard into Evangeline's eyes. "I loved them all, Evangeline."

Evangeline peered sadly at the ghostly, beautiful woman. "With everything you did you help me there's no way you can doubt you've made amends for any wrongs you did to Elijah."

"I hope so." Tatia smiled dolefully. "Thank you for that. You've given me the first breath of hope I've felt in several hundred years." She closed her eyes and began to fade into the breeze.

"Will you ever be back?" Evangeline stood and called out to Tatia's wispy figure.

"I'll come when I'm needed until I can finally be at peace." She vanished completely, and Evangeline suddenly realized how alone she truly was.

Three days passed, and the others searched the mountains every waking moment they could spare. Elijah had been missing since he and Tyler separated, but Elena and Matt wouldn't give up hope. Matt traveled with Bonnie, checking several times a day to see if Evangeline had somehow strayed away from her protective barrier. Even channeling the power at the witch house hadn't broken it. The fact that her location was so well cloaked from the locator spell gave them all hope that she was indeed alive.

On the fourth day Bonnie and Matt sat on the forest floor to perform yet another locator spell. Matt suddenly shouted to Elena and Jeremy, who were nearby. "It's working. Bonnie's found Eva; get over here!"

Jeremy rushed over to Matt's side and watched the blood slowly ooze across the map of the mountain range and finally stop. Elena shouted to Caroline to find the others before joining Bonnie.

Bonnie studied the map carefully. "Tyler's the fastest. He could probably get there in thirty minutes if he ran the whole way."

"He shouldn't go alone, in case this is some kind of trap." Elena bit her lip.

Caroline and Tyler arrived, followed by Damon and Stefan. Damon smirked, "So what'd we miss?"

Several miles away Evangeline carefully hiked down the mountain with as many provisions as she could comfortably carry from the safe house. It astonished her how high she had climbed in the dark and was grateful that she hadn't been able to see much on her departing journey. Her mind had been consumed the past few days, thinking about her family, and thinking about Elijah. As jealous as she might have been that Tatia had been Elijah's first love, after talking with her in person, seeing how sad she truly was, Evangeline only felt sorrow for her long, lost ancestor.

She'd gone nearly a mile when a sharp pain in her side sent her sprawling to the ground. Evangeline gasped as she looked at her palm. She'd pierced it on a limb as she tried to steady herself mid-fall, and blood trickled out onto the surrounding plant life, but Evangeline was more concerned with the pain in her lower abdomen. With all the talk about vampire crossbreeding the last worry in Evangeline's mind had been a miscarriage, but the threat of one in such a forsaken place scared her half to death. She felt so petrified she couldn't even bring herself to move from the cold and bloodied ground beneath her.

Evangeline curled up and stared blankly at a nearby tree when she heard the all too familiar voice.

"Get up, Evangeline. You must follow."

Evangeline didn't think twice. Though the cramping pain showed no signs of ebbing she managed to pull herself up against a tree.

"Follow, Evangeline," Tatia's echoing voice called with greater urgency.

She stumbled to the top of the hill. On a neighboring peak several hundred feet away the sun brimmed around Tatia's diminishing figure, but Evangeline couldn't stand another second. She collapsed to the ground and clutched her side in pain. Another figure climbed into exactly the same spot where Tatia had been moments before. The sun glowed around him majestically, and Evangeline knew she must be hallucinating. "I love you, Elijah," she spoke softly to herself.

Suddenly the figure was gone, and Evangeline closed her eyes.

Elijah had nearly given up when by some miraculous design he heard Evangeline's delicate whisper from the hilltop. He spotted her on the adjacent hill and flew swiftly to her side. Dirt caked her hair and clothing, and he could smell the blood around her hands. "Evangeline."

Evangeline opened her eyes immediately and let out a surprised cry. "Is this a dream?"

Elijah pulled Evangeline up to hold her but stopped at her cry of pain. He swiftly bit his wrist and pressed it tenderly to Evangeline's lips. Within a few minutes the pain in her side had diminished and the cut on her palm had healed.

Evangeline sat up slowly and traced the sides of Elijah's face with her fingers. "I love you," she murmured softly.

Elijah held her tightly in his arms when a tiny thump sent him backwards in a wave of shock.

Evangeline's hand flew to her stomach, and she let out a tiny gasp. "The baby kicked. That's the first time I've ever felt it." The two of them stood completely still as they felt two more tiny kicks."

"Unbelievable." The gravity of what Elijah was feeling beneath his hand filled him with an unspeakable sense of awe. At that moment the entire world no longer mattered. Everything in his life was right in front of him.