January 11, 1001
One day till the full moon.

Elena arched her back as she straddled her husband. She smiled wickedly as she purposefully rolled her hips, controlling how deep he was inside of her, his needy growl for more only encouraged her to clench her inner core muscles, giving him a firmer squeeze on his very erect manhood. If she was being honest with herself, she really had no idea how much longer she could keep enticing him like this with her body. With one final lift upward, just slightly, to encourage him to keep flicking his calloused thumb over each of her taut nubs of two very erect nipples before finally sliding inch by exquisite inch down onto his perfect cock.

"By the Gods Elena, are you trying to kill me?" Elijah gasped out as she twitched her sheath muscles around his member. That was the final trick she had been hoping would ignite a fire in her perfect loving husband Elijah Mikaelson. He uttered a lust filled growl of need.

The same normally cooled and collected Elijah now was unable to contain his need any longer than necessary, and he flipped them both over so he was on top this time, Despite her best efforts of trying to keep him buried fully inside of her so she could greedily relish the feel of him, he pulled all the way out till only the tip pushed against her clit before he forcibly pushed himself all the way in. Elena couldn't help but moan in utter pleasure.

"Lijah yes!"

Her hands sought something, anything, of him to touch as he repeatedly penetrated deeply into her. She wrapped a single leg around him, urging him deeper into her. She long ago gave up wondering how he had so much stamina to keep up the relentless pace, but he never once let her down. He never left her unsatisfied, and she did her best to ensure he never did as well. She could feel the tension in her body building and she knew instantly what was coming, trying to forestall it worked occasionally but not this morning.

"Oh God I… I'm gonna," Elena cried out, already feeling herself coming apart. It was too soon. She wanted, no needed, it to last just a little longer. But her body knew what it wanted and how could she deny it that? Still she resisted.

"Lovely Elena. Just let go. I've got you," Elijah grunted out with each long thrust deep inside of her on every syllable. Her body rocketed to the heavens with sheer pleasure, then it was suddenly just too much when it finally hit her. From her core radiating outward, it was as if an Aurora Borealis had suddenly exploded behind her closed eyelids. Her body spasmed helplessly with each successive wave as her orgasm rolled through her like a rogue wave. She rode every peak and valley of the cascading wave front. If someone asked what her name was that very instant, she probably couldn't make her mind work out a coherent answer. He had rocked her world, and she lacked the simple worldly context to express it any way better.

Feeling her come undone underneath him was what finally sent him over the edge, too. After one final thrust, he buried himself deep inside of her and let his seed erupt inside of her with a guttural roar. He made to pull out but Elena, not having that so, in silent protest wrapped both of her legs tightly around his waist in blatant refusal. He didn't want to pull out either, but still they had much to do before their community returned to the caves to wait out the upcoming full moon. So he waited until what he thought was reasonable time before looking into his wife's enticing brown doe-like eyes.

"Elena, sweetheart, are you going to keep me like this?"

Elena refused to unwrap her legs from his lower body. Instead, she shook her head in mock refusal. He started to speak when she silenced him with a finger pressed gently to his kissable lips.

"I want to feel your hardness lessen first before I let you pull out of me, my husband," Elena murmured before pulling his face down to caress his lips with her own before kissing the corner of his pressed, smiling lips.

"You are very demanding, my wife," Elijah chuckled, which only elicited a giggle from her, which almost restored his own hardness at knowing how her smile made her face look so beautiful every time their eyes would meet through the course of their day. He never told her how many available men's eyes in their village followed her, too. They were slowly learning one black eye here or busted lip there and they learned never to look at her twice the same way. The latest batch of immigrants were proving to be more of a nuisance. Even the day they arrived felt like an ill omen had descended on their community. For one thing, the werewolves had returned from their other hunting grounds a season too early. Hunting for game wasn't as productive as it had been in previous years.

"I don't think you'd begrudge me of this, now would you?" Elena asked playfully, just as he pulled back to look down at her. Only she could clear his troubled thoughts away, like she was doing right at that moment. He considered asking how did she know how to do it, but he quickly let the matter drop. Elijah could see that her hair was mussed from their lovemaking, but he had never seen a more lovely creature. It still amazed him that he was so lucky to have Elena Mikaelson as his wife.

Regrettably, all good things must come to an end and they both had a lot of things to do. With one final peck on her check, he climbed off her and stood up, moving to put on his clothes for the day. A tiny part of her that recalled the easy life Elena Gilbert once had, living a much more modern world than was her current reality, wanted to lay back in bed and enjoy the sight of seeing him dress himself. However, she had her own chores to do. So with a groan she sat up as well. She felt like she was forgetting something, but she was always like this before they moved into the caves.

Dressing as well, she pulled her dress into place when something she wanted to talk to her husband in private the previous night came flooding back into her mind.

"Elijah, I really don't like how Lokar seems to have such a strong influence over Henrik like he does," Elena said, still trying to decide how best to approach the topic. Family was important to the Mikealsons, and that is one of the things that made her fall in love with Elijah. Maybe it was an unfair advantage. She knew that was an important matter for Elijah as well from the first hand knowledge she gained knowing at least three of the Mikaelson siblings in her former past.

Elijah paused in tightening his belt to look at his wife with concern. "Is there anything specific that makes you bring this up?"

Elena waved her hand in apology. "No… It's just that Lokar should have been named Loki for what I've seen of this boy." Henrik and he were about the same age, with Lokar being almost a full year older than he. The look Elijah was sending her way, she knew she had to give him something but the problem was that she didn't exactly have a good example. It felt like she was grasping at straws, so the reason she picked only made him smile at her in mild amusement. Which made her want to hit and kiss him at the same time.

"Well, just the other day I saw him encouraging Henrik to climb the great white oak to the second level of its branching for a better view of the village."

"Did he get up safely?"

"Yes, but why does that matter?" Elena asked, feeling rather confused herself.

Elijah sighed and pulled her into his warm, strong arms. "Before your arrival my little brother Henrik was trying to climb the white oak tree like Niklaus could do easily. Henrik wanted to follow his older brother and almost cracked his head wide open when the pile of rocks he stacked to reach the first branch rolled out from under him. He was just too short to reach it. Our father tanned both his and Niklaus's backside for it. Since then, Henrik has grown significantly and there are not many children around his age in our village that want to play with a child of a witch."

Patting his shoulder in silent understanding, they finished dressing before he gave her final kiss on the lips, hinting at the desire to spend the day in bed with his wife he wanted to experience as well before he departed to oversee the temporary move preparations. Elena, still feeling that she was forgetting something, went in search of her sister Rebekah. They had to prepare the morning meal, and she needed Rebekah's help to draw water from the newly dug well.


"I'm serious, Ella. This time I'm gonna kill him." Rebekah declared in a murderous hiss as Elena tried to hold back her laughter while holding the water bucket steady for the next water skin to be filled.

"Bekah, you're not going to kill your brother as much as I would like to throttle him myself. Kol is still your brother and what is family?" Elena said with a sad sigh. Kol what just being Kol and if it was not whatever was going on now, it would be something else in a week. Ironically, she'd come to love the little troll just as much as Rebekah had come to love her new sister.

Rebekah's refusal to answer her sister-in-law almost made Elena laugh at the childish behavior, but in the last year alone, Rebekah's body had more than blossomed into the same youthful body she recalled from her previous life. The problem with being told second hand or even firsthand stories about people Elena had slowly realized growing up no one really remembers all the details of when important events occurred. Case in point when Elena was trying to bring future Rebekah on board with killing Klaus and in a moment of weakness the Original Vampire version of Rebekah had explained the events leading to their mother Esther turning them into blood drinking immortals. Remembering exact dates and times were not really a matter of importance to people eking out an existence in the late tenth century. It still amazed Elena that in her rather short life, despite dying once already, she was technically experiencing life in not two but four different centuries and she was far from being immortal.

"Family above all," Rebekah answered mulishly.

"Always," Elena pressed, which earned her a growl of irritation with her sister-in-law, then it was replaced just as quickly with a rueful shake of her sisters head in mild annoyance.

"And Forever," she finished, then added. "Happy now, big sister?" Rebekah asked, holding open the next water skin. Elena waited till she finished filling it before answering.

"Very much, little sister," Elena said, teasing they had grown closer after she married her brother. As much as she sometimes missed Jeremy, she had always wanted to have a sister. While growing up, Bonnie and Caroline had been the closest thing, but at the end of the day, they always went back to their own families. "Now please tell me why you seek the untimely death of our brother. What has the little scoundrel done now to raise your ire with him?"

"He threated to hex Orin into next week if he ever looked at me again. Nik was no better. He had a private chat with him and threatened to leave him tied to a tree during the next full moon so the wolves will eat him if he ever uttered one word to me," Rebekah sniffed.

"They are just overprotective of you, Bekah. They don't want to see you get hurt," Elena said finally.

Elena placed the nearly empty water bucket on the ground, she needed to refill it anyway, then wrapped her sister in a tight sisterly embrace. Rebekah, as best as they tracked people's birthdays in this era, would be turning seventeen this coming October. When she first arrived just over two years ago Rebekah was still a preteen aged girl and if Elena hadn't for a fact known how she would look as she grew into her womanhood she still would have guessed that Rebekah Mikaelson was a very beautiful person, but it had taken going into the past for Elena to see her inner beauty as well.

"They should let me get hurt. How am I supposed to know how to deal with a broken heart if I can't give it to someone first?"

It didn't help that on this occasion, she agreed with Kol and Niklaus that Orin should stay away from their sister. Elena would have suggested firing him out of a cannon, but she didn't think her new family would get the jist of what she was referring to, not to mention she didn't think they had been invented yet. She didn't want to hurt her new sister, she just needed to be tactful in her approach. It helped that Orin himself had already given her the very ammunition she needed.

"Good question Bekah. I just know my brother Jeremy was overly protective of me, too, and he was younger than me. I can only imagine what it must be like for you being younger than all but one of your brothers. Um… Bekah, I know you're hurting right now and feel like your brothers are interfering with your life, but can I share a few things with you?"

"M'kay," Rebekah mumbled into her soiled shoulder. It took Elena a moment to realize that she'd been crying, and that almost broke Elena right there. It made her want to go find Orin and punch him in the throat after what she found out about his recent activities, even more so since she now had a better understanding of how much of a crush Rebekah had on the hapless worm. Maybe she could get Kol to hex him just as a warning to all the other creepers, but Elena knew that would be like opening Pandora's box. Kol loved his sister and family, but if she didn't already know better, she'd think Loki himself had fathered him.

"Bekah, you are a very beautiful young woman and you will find someone. But you should know you don't need a man to make yourself feel special since you already are. Just give it time."

Bekah sniffed and pulled away to look into Elena's reassuring face.

"Really! But-"

"I mean it, beauty is one thing, but I know you Rebekah Mikaelson. I see the intelligence that resides behind those bright eyes. Having both makes you a force to be reckoned with, mark my words. Okay, there is one more matter that I need to share with you and you're not going to like it and I'm only doing this because I love you both as my friend and my sister."

"Sounds rather ominous, Ella. What's this other matter?" Rebekah asked, curious but still all business-like.

"Yesterday I saw Orin coming out of the small huts on the outskirts of the village, the ones with the bright red doors," Elena said in her best neutral toned voice she could manage considering the circumstances. With the arrival of the latest group of immigrants, their numbers had increased nearly eighty additional heads to feed and shelter. It was impossible to pack everyone into the caves during the full moon now and they have had to resort to fortifying a few of the stronger longhouses as well as moving a few of the people into the two outposts. Fortunately, being a member of the Mikaelson family always meant they would have a spot in the underground cave network. Many newcomers were talking about starting a new fortified village somewhere else. So far Jarl Mikaelson had little to say on the topic but even Elena could see the merit of splintering the group so tthey are not competing with themselves as well as Ansel's Pack for resources.

There were other huts with similar red doors, but they all offered the same services and it was related to the oldest profession in recorded history. It still took Rebekah a moment to process exactly what Elena was trying to tell her without being too implicit about doing it. Right when she saw the fire ignite behind those bright blue eyes, she knew instantly she scored a direct hit.

"That! That little worm! I… I'm gonna kill him instead!"

"I think you might have to get in line, Bekah. I and at least two of your brothers might be the ones to take the first crack at the asshole," Elena laughed, picking up her bucket again.

"He told me that for a pretty girl like me he was more than willing to wait for me and have no other besides me!" Rebekah added, clearly hurt and angry at the implied insult to her character and naivete. It was almost enough to make Elena want to join in making the miscreant pay, but fortunately, he hadn't done anything with her sister, so Orin could live for now. Elena took a mental note to keep an eye on the hapless youth.

"Well, you dodged a bullet… Um, I mean an arrow with that boy as a suitor. Trust me when I say you deserve much better, Bekah."

"Damn right I do! Com'on we need to finish filling these water skins before father or mother yells at us," Rebekah said, shaking her head, but Elena could see that her sister-in-law's mood had improved rather remarkably.


January 12, 1001

Dear Diary,

We are back in the cave network to wait out the supernatural cursed individuals the full moon brings out once again. Despite my encounter with Jade, I can't bring myself to label them as beasts, even though my father-in-law has no qualms about calling them that. To me, they are people, however cursed as they are and yet, like us, they are just trying to make a living in this world. Granted, they can be violent and aggressive, but supernatural or not they are still just people. Now on to other matters. I can't shake the feeling that I forgot something important, but I'm drawing a complete blank on what it might be. I must have unpacked and repacked my pack of necessities I bring with me every month and inventoried every item inside. I hoped that by writing about it in my journal it might jog my memory, but so far it hasn't. Maybe when I'm almost done, I might have an idea. It's not like I want to leave the cave to retrieve whatever it is until tomorrow, anyway.

After talking to Rebekah about her issue with her older brothers scaring off possible suitors, not that Orin was a catch- if anything, my sister could do far better. When I mentioned my brother, I had actually had to struggle to remember what he even looked like, and that bothered me. The same thing has happened with other people, like my adoptive parents, over time since I've lost them as well. I think that I can remember every detail about them, but how can I be sure if I'm right? What's worse is that I don't even exactly remember what Jeremy's voice sounds like. I think I remember in my dreams sometimes, but how can I be sure? I don't know if it's part of what the Spirits of Nature did to me to help me adapt to my new life or if it is my own subconscious trying to protect me and I really don't care for either case. I only have vague little details that I can reliably remember, such as his smile or how he would hold his drawing pad just so no one could get a clear view of the latest work.

Both Elijah and Rebekah each know how much I miss my brother not to forget our parents either, but I feel bad that I can't ever really tell them the full truth. It would only complicate things and many of those things I'm trying to change for the better. If I'm supposedly a so-called Child of Destiny, I want to have a say in what shape that destiny will take.

My first aim in achieving that is to prevent Henrik from being killed by the werewolves. The problem is that as he has gotten older, the more independent he has become. But don't all teenagers do that? The problem is that the outside world is a dangerous place at times. Especially during the full moon and the few days leading up to it as the native inhabitants that have triggered their curse either by accident or on purpose grow more and more aggressive.

I don't know if I'm suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, but even I find myself wanting to go out and just tear into someone for no reason. That urge scares me and I don't like that side of myself, but I have to sometimes remember that the eleventh century is not without its perils. And maybe I'm just learning to cope in my new home. I can say people are far more aggressive in the past than in my time. They just seem to accept it as a matter of life and I'm afraid that I am beginning to accept it as well.

Not to say that I will ever approve of beating someone for nothing more than simply existing and the bruises that occasionally appear on Nik's body with growing frequency for no apparent reason makes me want to murder my father-in-law sometimes as well. Rebekah once shared in confidence after I'd officially joined their family that on one particular night, after a rather severe beating that left her brother crying himself to sleep, she felt she needed to do something to protect him. So one night she had stood over her father's sleeping form with a knife trying to build up the courage to kill the man that tormented her older brother so. Ironically enough, it was my own husband who'd woken for reasons he couldn't quite describe other than the odd feeling that he needed to wake up. Fortunately, he did, and stopped his sister from committing an act that surely would have torn their family apart. I don't know if the Spirits of Nature that Ayana is always talking about did this, or divine providence that stopped her, for which I'm innately grateful. Bekah is my sister, and she is a far cry from the Rebekah I know in my own past. I want her to stay that way too.

Before I go, I just realized that it's been some time since I've tallied them but I need to count up the tick marks I make in the cover of my journal every evening, or morning if I forget. At some point I might just stop the practice of marking each day since I'm going to spend the remainder of my life living in the eleventh century with my new family, but by my latest count I have been stranded in the past for exactly two years, three months, and eighteen days. I won't bother trying to factor how long I knew Elijah, Nik, then Bekah back in my time as compared to how long I've known each of them now in this time. Perhaps it was fitting of fate that Elijah Mikaelson was the first I Mikaelson I'd encountered in both time periods, and I'm not counting the time I was cloaked with Ayana's charmed bracelet. I wish sometimes that she'd let me use it again. I kind of liked being invisible at times, especially when I just wanted a break from all the chores we must do on a daily basis just to survive, but that would be childish right? It's hard to believe that I've known the Mikaelson's longer than I've known the Salvatores and that really doesn't bother me since I'm now a Mikaelson as well. Family is forever and we stick together no matter what life or the world throws into our faces.

As much as we are trying to avoid it, we need to deal with the growing unrest of some of the newcomers to our little corner of the new world. They were promised a world rich in resources and the like, but Ayana had warned Mikael about the upcoming dry season and still he'd chosen to ignore her sage advice. The next group of settlers arrived and they've had several months to integrate themselves into our community. Some have adjusted while others have not. It's not like we are starving, but we are eating the preserved meats and grain we stored from our last harvest faster than expected.


February 25, 1001

Elena awoke feeling already tired, and that was never a good sign. She had so much to do today, yet she smiled as she felt her husband pull her into him so she could feel his front pressing into her back. As much as she wanted to spend some more quality time in the sack with Elijah, the need to get up and start the day. Her commitments sat on her sore chest demanding her unbridled attention. Sex last night had been incredible, and she highly doubted that she'd ever grow tired of it or him.

She turned her head and accepted a long, sensual kiss before breaking away. Then looking up into his face, his eyes danced with desire and she felt a sinful need to pull him back down for another when her promise to Tatia came rushing back.

"Morning Lovely Elena," he smiled and even that made her heart skip a beat. She didn't know how he could do that to her with a mere look that spoke volumes.

"Good morning my husband," Elena purred, drinking at the sight of him. Even though she had been feeling out of sorts for the last week, maybe it was just stress. Last night during supper, her father-in-law had spent most of the night discussing the needs of increasing the fortifications of the outpost since both outposts' populations were growing. They already had built another longhouse at the same outpost she pretended to be waiting for Tatia and Ayana so long ago, and with the growing numbers it made sense to expand them into villages. Their own village was more akin to a town. Not as big as what she was used to in the twenty-first century, but impressive nonetheless.

Elijah had once told her that his father had dreams of building a fiefdom in the untouched wilds of a new world with him as its head.

"I know that look, you have things you must get about, don't you?" Elijah sighed. She knew what he wanted, so did she for that matter, but there was only so much sunlight during the day.

"Regrettably, yes, I need to get up and help Bekah with preparing our breakfast meal. But then I want to check in on my cousin Tatia and see how she and little Irina were doing."

He gave her one final squeeze, which oddly hurt, but his kiss to her temple did help soothe the ache just a bit.

45 Minutes Later:

"I promise Bekah, I'll be back to help prepare for our midday meal. I just want to check on my cousin and see Irina." Elena said apologetically as she folded her apron neatly before placing it on the table to wait for her return.

"You better or I will make you do all the cooking next time?" Bekah huffed and Elena only returned the look she perfected over the years. It was nice to know that it still had the same effect as it had before traveling back in time.

"I know. I know that probably is more of a veiled threat to our family if anything else, but seriously, I have never met a woman who could burn perfectly good food the way you do," Rebekah teased.

"So cooking is not one of my strengths," Elena said, feeling defensive suddenly. It must have reflected on her expression when Rebekah hugged her, apologizing.

"Sorry Ella, I didn't mean…" But Elena interrupted her with a laugh, which surprised both of them, especially for Elena. She was feeling moody this morning, and she really didn't know why.

"Are you alright? You don't look well?"

"I'm fine. I just felt a little sick to my stomach this morning."

"I noticed you didn't finish your porridge this morning, but wasn't going to bring it up. Perhaps you should speak with mother?"

Elena blanched. She had an odd relationship with her mother-in-law, not hostile, just a feeling that she was being watched for some reason and she didn't understand why. She thought it was because she might have deduced her Petrova Magical bloodline, but she never brought the matter up. She hoped that Ayana might have said something to Esther to deter her, but she wasn't sure.

"Maybe if I'm not feeling better around lunch time, I will speak with her or Ayana if I can't find our mother. I'll be right back I promise," Elena called as she headed for the door.

Tatia and Lodur Residence:

Elena could hardly believe how big Irina had become since the last time she had time to see her. Tatia looked exhausted, but motherhood suited her ancestor. Her daughter was a perfect blend of Tatia and Lodur in appearance wise. However in temperament, Irina took more after her mother, and Elena didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. For some reason, she just knew that boys would be chasing after her when she was older. Tatia was working by a table cutting up what appeared to Elena to be some indigenous potatoes for stew. Elena was kneeling on the dirt floor watching the nineteen-month-old toddler.

"She's beautiful, Tatia. You must be very proud of how much she's progressed so far and she's not two yet."

Irina was playing with a wood carving that, on closer inspection, Elena recognized that it was a very accurate representation of a wolf. Tatia must have been watching Elena when she confirmed what she suspected, not that she should be surprised.

"Your brother Nik craved that for her. It's become her favorite plaything," Tatia explained. Elena had the fortunate experience of watching her brother-in-law take a piece of wood and in a matter of hours he could carve almost anything you asked of him. Sometimes it was really hard for her to take Klaus, who ruthlessly killed her aunt and then sacrificed her to free his wolf side with the artistic carrying brother Nik. She hated what he'd done, but she loved him, too. Irina perked up and after awkwardly climbing to her feet, she wandered over to her mother, holding out the wolf carving to her. A thought struck, and Elena mentally phrased the question in her mind before asking.

"Does he come by often then?" Elena said in the best neutral tone she could manage. She had a feeling she already knew Tatia's answer, but she needed to hear her say it.

"Yes… He started coming by after Lodur started spending more of his time at one or the other outposts with the other guards. We hardly see each other ever since-" Tatia's breath caught and Elena put a hand over her Doppelgänger's own.

"I'm sorry Tatia, I know people's behavior can seem harsh when they are in mourning, but-"

"He blames me for losing his son, Elena! I don't know what to do about it?" Tatia's strained raised voice was rather alarming to Elena, not once had she heard Tatia sound as she did just now.

"Tatia, it wasn't your fault. It's just the way things happen!" she blurted, really not meaning to.

"How can you be so sure?" Tatia paused, then in a whisper asked a question she wasn't supposed to. They had agreed never to bring it up, but she wanted to know. "Unless there is something you know about the future you could share?"

The hopeful look her Petrova ancestor was giving her made Elena want to agree and reveal everything, but something inside of her told herself that it might be unwise to share everything. It wasn't as if she knew the entirety of what transpired that led to the creation of the Original Vampires, as well as the vampire species itself. She only knew of it from what future Rebekah and Elijah had shared with her when they were quasi allies against Klaus.

Feeling like she was making a terrible mistake, she explained about the creation of the vampire race and the fact they used Tatia's Doppelgänger blood to create them. She didn't share the specific details of who or more accurately what Klaus' father was and how Esther created the Sun and Moon curse to bind his werewolf side.

"So they, I mean the Mikaelson family, became immortal? Even Esther too?" Tatia asked, amazed.

"I don't think so. They never mentioned that she had become like them." Elena said, knowing it was a partial lie. Rebekah had even told her that their mother had remained a witch. "The Elijah I knew in my time only said that both he and his brother Niklaus were competing for your hand. He only mentioned that you had a single child."

"This is all interesting to know. Ayana warned me never to ask about it, but I must confess, I did find it strange that you seemed to know at least a few of the Mikealsons. How does it even relate to it not being my fault?"

Elena opened her mouth to speak, but stopped with a contemplative expression. Why had she revealed so much when part of her didn't really understand it herself? She was trying to change it so the future wouldn't happen as it did and as far as she could tell she was changing history. None of the Mikealsons from Elijah to even Mikael himself ever mentioned that Elijah had been married or that Tatia Petrova had a cousin who while older looked strangely identical in appearance. She was supposedly a Child of Destiny, wasn't she? She needed to get off this uncomfortable topic and move it elsewhere.

"In my time, medical science has advanced to a degree that we have entire professions that treat children specifically. They're called pediatricians. Ayana told me that while your daughter was born without problems, your son was born with problems that even if the umbilical cord had not wrapped around his neck that way, he still would have had life-threatening problems."

Ayana had confided that to Elena recently, and she had been wondering if she should mention it to her supposed cousin. Now it looked like she was going to do just that.

"What do you mean life-threatening problems and why did Ayana tell you, but not me?!" Tatia demanded, raising her voice enough to startle both Elena and Irina, who promptly started crying. Tatia acted on reflex and picked her crying daughter up to console her while she waited for an answer.

"Tatia, your son's lungs were, for whatever reason, not as developed as Irina's were. If he had been born in my original time, we have machines that would have helped him to breathe until he was strong enough to do it on his own. There wasn't anything Ayana could do. I demanded to know why and she tried explaining to me that as a witch she cannot interfere in such things. As to why she didn't tell you, she wanted to wait until enough time had passed so it wouldn't hurt as much," Elena explained, already knowing that it wasn't enough. She was feeling sick at the moment and wondered if worry was upsetting her stomach.

"Well, I'm going to go have a little talk with her right now!" Tatia exclaimed, turning to leave.

"Tatia wait!" Elena pleaded as she stood abruptly and a wave of dizziness suddenly hit her and she stumbled slightly, knocking over a bowl of potatoes Tatia had been cutting all over the floor.

"Elena?"

Elena, holding the edge of the table to keep her balance, slowly sat on a nearby chair, rubbing her temple with one hand as she tried to recover her sense of balance.

"Elena, you look pale. Are you alright?" Tatia asked, concern quite a reversal in how she was only moments before a part of Elena observed dryly.

"It's nothing I've just been feeling off for the last couple of days. It will pass. It always does if I give it enough time," she explained.

Tatia peered down at her with her patented 'thoughtful expression' pursed lip Elena had learned meant she was piecing something together, but it was the odd smile which replaced it that made Elena's breath hitch.

"For a few days, you say? What other symptoms? Nausea or fatigue too?"

"Y… Yes, how do you know that?"

"Um… just a hunch. One more tiny question for you: have you had your monthly recently?"

Elena's breath caught, and she instantly went into denial. NO, this is a mistake! Tatia can't be suggesting what I think she is. Can she? I should know. I can't be, it's not possible. After all, I'm taking Esther monthly potion. But as she silently fought with herself, she considered all the symptoms she was having. Yes, she did bleed, but it had been spotty at best and the nausea only occurred during the morning hours and all but disappeared as the day progressed.

Tatia smiled and held out a single hand to pull Elena to her feet. It amazed her how strong Tatia had become, but it made sense considering Tatia had been responsible for taking care of her child for some time now.

"It looks like we can kill two birds with one stone. Come on, let's go see Ayana," Tatia declared.

"Wh… Why?" Elena asked weakly, dreading to put to words what she had yet to accept.

"Because Elena Mikaelson, you are most likely pregnant!" Tatia beamed.


February 25, 1001
Ayana's Spellchamber

Rebekah led her sister-in-law and Tatia through the cave passages to Ayana's Spellchamber. She felt rather put off that she had to carry the only torch, but Tatia was carrying her daughter and Elena seemed to be preoccupied with whatever was bothering her. She, by lucky happenstance, had caught them just before they could have departed their growing community for the short trek to the cave entrance.

At the time, she'd been annoyed that she might have to prepare the midday meal herself and was about to express her annoyance of that fact to her sister. It had become routine to them to work together, and each of them had grown to appreciate the other's presence. Enough that Rebekah didn't know how she had lived without Elena in her life. Not for the last time did she ever regret that her older brother had fallen in love with her best and only friend. So it was perfectly in her rights to chew her best friend/sister out for leaving her with the family's food preparations. But that went by the wayside when she really took a serious look at the dazed look in Elena's eyes. Tatia refused to say what was the matter, but didn't discourage her demand to accompany them to Ayana's Spellchamber either, which Rebekah found rather encouraging. She'd slowly started to make conciliatory overtures of being somewhat civil around Elena's nearest living relative only for her new sister's sake.

As they neared the final few turns along the familiar path, she tried to puzzle out what could be the reason for Elena's dazed look. She'd promised to go see Rebekah's mother or Ayana if she didn't start feeling better. Rebekah, at the time, hadn't wanted to say anything, but she'd noticed that for the last couple of days, if not for the last two weeks, her sister had looked tired and moody at times.

As they passed through the antechamber, Rebekah's gaze swept over the far cave wall speculatively. When she was younger, she often thought of carving her family's names into the very rock itself but had forgotten the idea. But maybe if she enlisted her older brother's help, together they could make it a reality, she thought absently.

Still leading the way, she was the first to step into Ayana's Spellchamber but came to a dead stop when she found her own mother having what had been a rather animated discussion with her former mentor. Why hadn't she heard anything? Then the scent of burnt sage filled her nostrils, and she understood fairly quickly what its presence meant.

She felt a slight twinge of guilt for interrupting, but she learned to hide her feeling from her parents. It sometimes worked.

"Rebekah, what is it? We're busy discussing something important," Esther started, but stopped when she noticed that her daughter wasn't alone.

"Tatia? Elena? What are you three girls doing here? Is little Irina not well?" Ayana spoke up, taking charge of the conversation as she moved closer, but stopped when Elena shook her head. Still in denial, Rebekah realized.

"Um… I don't know how it happened. I've been so careful b… but I think I might be pregnant?" Elena said brokenly and tried not to cry when Esther's crestfallen expression only made her feel like she had let her mother-in-law down somehow, and that fact bothered her.

"How exactly have you been careful?" Ayana asked cautiously. Everyone else but Rebekah missed the nonverbal exchange her mother had with the other witch. Rebekah was curious too. Her father had in the last several months started to ask Elena and Elijah why hadn't they given him a grandchild yet. Her mother always tried to change the subject and sometimes succeeded, but lately it had gotten worse.

"I've been taking a monthly potion a week before my period and I did this time, but I've been feeling off for several days now. It was Tatia who suggested that I might be pregnant. So we came here to learn the truth," Elena explained. Ayana shot a hard glare at her former pupil, but Rebekah noticed that her mother looked worried and she didn't understand why. She looked at Tatia and her daughter and wondered if her mother might be worried a similar tragedy might befall Elena if she was indeed pregnant. She prayed to the Spirits that wouldn't be the case, her brother was too good of a husband to treat his wife like Lodur was treating his Tatia.

Ayana smiled at her former ward and motioned for Elena to lie down on the bed as she gathered some ingredients. "Let's first verify that you are indeed pregnant before we start speculating what went wrong," Ayana said reassuringly. Rebekah noticed the tension that had been building eased with the witch's words and she wondered maybe Ayana might attempt to bring out her magic, but she instantly knew asking her would offend her mother.

Elena did as she was told and laid down on her back, pressing into the uncomfortable bed, not that she minded. She had come to accept that the comforts of her former life didn't exist yet. Then she and Rebekah waited. All the while trying to remain calm, but after noticing her discomfort, Rebekah picked a stool, then sat beside her sister, wanting to reassure Elena that everything would be fine. Rebekah took her hand into her own as they waited.

Ayana approached them with four candles and a smoky quartz crystal large enough to fit comfortably inside of Rebekah's fist that was suspended from a silver chain. After placing the candles in the opposite corners of the bed, Ayana suspended the crystal directly above Elena's womb. Rebekah watched in fascination as the witch started to chant.

"Ostende nobis si haec femina in utero suo portat postero Mikaelson generation em."

Even before Ayana could complete the spell invocation, all the candles roared to life, shooting a jet of flame nearly a foot into the air before settling down. Rebekah noted the pleased expression on Ayana's face. Her mother briefly seemed worried, but once she noticed Rebekah watching her, she quickly changed it to something not so easily discernible as the previous one. Rebekah was pulled from her thoughts when she noted that Ayana had continued and had repeated the last spell of invocation.

"An puer vel puella erit?"

Rebekah, thanks to her mother's tutelage, had enough theoretical knowledge of how magic worked, so she wasn't all that surprised to see Ayana release her spell and lean heavily against the bed frame.

"Well now, it seems that congratulations are in order for both you, Elena and Elijah," Ayana breathed once she regained enough composure to speak.

"A baby?" Elena asked, more for herself than anything.

"Babies, you mean; or more accurately a boy and a little girl too," Ayana corrected.

"I… I um… are you saying I'm having twins?" Elena asked dubiously. Her gaze shifted from Rebekah to Tatia before refocusing on Ayana's calming face.

"Yes… Why do you seem so unsure about this?"

"I… I don't know. I took the potion this month…" Elena trailed off as if she was struggling to remember something and when she did, she sighed, sagging deeper into the bed with a groan.

"Elena?" Rebekah asked when it finally occurred to her she had said nothing so far.

"I was preoccupied with getting Elijah's and my belongings ready for our monthly trip to the caves and I set the potion bottle out to be included. But I must have been distracted or something because I don't actually recall packing it away with everything else," Elena answered, sounding rather frustrated with herself and Rebekah didn't understand why. It wasn't like nobody else had forgotten something they meant to take with them for their monthly night stay in protective caves.

Rebekah was about to voice that thought to her sister when her father's voice echoed off the rocky interior.

"What is everyone doing here?"

"My husband, it seems that our newest daughter and son have done as you have insisted and made us both grandparents," Esther stated rather stoically, which confused Rebekah. It almost sounded like she was resigned to the fact that their family was going to be expanding in the somewhat near future and she couldn't understand why her mother was behaving this way. Yes, they might not have a better growing season this year like the last season, but surely they could make it through, right?

Oblivious to Rebekah's inner monologue with herself, Mikael's expression quickly shifted from the grim one he had upon arrival to a mixed one of utter joy and most likely pride in his son for giving him a grandchild. Mikael took Rebekah's place, much to her annoyance, and that is when she noticed that her brother Niklaus was present.

Having nothing to do as her father and mother started peppering Elena about her newly discovered pregnancy, Rebekah motioned for him to follow her into the antechamber to give them some privacy. Another thing she'd learned in her many failed attempts of triggering her magic, burning sage worked both ways; sounds could not enter or leave the intended area while the sage was left burning.

"So it's true then both you and I are going to become aunts and uncles to Elijah and Ella's child?" Klaus asked. His normal cheerfulness seemed somewhat muted, Rebekah observed.

"So it would seem, but you're incorrect. It's not a single child but children. Elena is a lot like her cousin besides appearances wise. Elijah and Elena are expecting twins. Now, with that out of the way, what is the matter? Why do you look like you did when father burned your last wolf carving when he accidentally found you working on it?"

Not for the life of her could Rebekah understand her father's dislike of his son. Was it because he took more after their mother's hair and eye color? But if that was the case, then why didn't he treat her the same way? Their father had always been so critical of her brother's artistic talent. To this day, she still had the wood carved knight he made just for her to keep her safe from the thunderstorms that kept her up at night when she was younger.

"NO! Bekah, it's nothing like that and don't speak of it again. Father just learned from a messenger there was a surprise raid by some of Ansel's pack near one of the outposts. We lost nine people who were outside cutting trees down for expansion of their growing populace there. Tatia's husband Lodur was one of those slain."

It wasn't hard for Rebekah to guess why both her older brother and their father would be there, since on the way to the caves both Tatia and Rebekah had greeted Klaus on their short journey. Her father must have asked Klaus where Tatia was. She felt bad for Elena's relative she barely tolerated. Nor did she really know why the seemingly unwarranted dislike, but she would never wish this sort of thing on someone. She sighed as she leaned against the rock wall. They might have to wait for a while. Thanks to the torch Klaus had still with him, the flickering light cast shadows on the far wall. A recent renewed promise to herself returned to her, and she looked over at her older brother.

"Nik, would you mind if I borrowed your knife?"