Jeremy considered how he had sensed Elena behind him while he waited for his sister to answer his question. He'd felt her approach only after the last vampire he dispatched breathed their final breath and the battle lust waned just enough for him to think clearly.

"Jer, what have you done?" Anna asked, the darkest part of him wanted to snap back at her 'it should be rather obvious', but even he couldn't mistakenly miss the concern which peppered the heart of the question.

To be honest, he didn't entirely know why he found this dream so appealing in that instance. It wasn't until hearing the tense voice belonging to his girlfriend that he finally turned away from his battle lust to face them.

In retrospect, he felt still holding the bloodied wood stake might account for their matching expressions.

After he allowed the offending weapon to slip from his grasp, the wood stake fell haphazardly to the blood-soaked earth. He tried to mentally process what he saw.

He didn't know if he could still refer to Anna as his girlfriend, being a literal ghost had severely hampered any possibility of shared intimacy between them.

Anna? Lena? What are you both, doing here?"

The expression on Anna's face looked too familiar on her eternally frozen youthful features. But why was she with her sister? Jeremy really wanted to know. Anna once explained that a vampire who was psychically strong enough could enter someone's dreams, but how was his sister here?

"Jer, do you mind if we go somewhere else with less… uh… blood and gore?" Elena asked carefully.

He didn't precisely know why but the feeling that he had earlier returned. She was real… somehow, but how was it possible?

Caroline and Damon, in one of his less than dickish moments had tried to describe the mechanics of a vampire entering a person's dream.

"Um… sure what do you have in mind?" Jeremy asked, looking around at his handiwork. It had felt good dispatching all of these vampires. For some reason it felt right.

"Somewhere we are both comfortable, I assume Anna doesn't object?"

Anna still shaken by the tableau of death around them simply nodded in acknowledgment… or agreement… Jeremy wasn't entirely sure.

"Okay give me a second… Let's try this on for size," Elena muttered to herself.

Before he could ask what she meant, the world around them shifted. The momentary burst of vertigo made him grimace with nausea, but it faded before it became too much of a problem. Keeping his eyes closed, he waited for it so it was hard to note the odd shifting going on in his head, the only thing that was normal was the odd itching on the back of his hand.

Figured that even in his dreams he had to deal with a rash that even Bonnie and Abby couldn't figure out even with all their magical tomes.

The stupid itching was starting to drive him bat shit crazy. Not for the first time he seriously considered asking one of the resident vampires in their temporary refuge for some of their blood.

Not that it would matter.

He didn't know how, or why, but he knew that vampire blood would have little to no effect. If anything, he had the strangest feeling that the itch would only grow in intensity.

He pushed those thoughts out of his head and returned his attention to his sister, but froze when he took in their surroundings. It was home, right down to Aunt Jenna's car keys absently tossed onto the dining room table. The same place she would inevitably find them when she was searching for her keys the next morning.

Memories of Jenna followed by all of the other relatives they lost too soon for his liking flooded his mind; the pieces were finally coming together, and he didn't like the picture they formed.

"Elena, I'm really starting to believe you — and I know that makes me sound a little crazy, but I have to know. If you really did travel back in time more then once, like you said you did, why did you let them all die?"

Elena stared at him for a long moment.

"Do you really think so little of me, Jer?" She asked when she was finally able to respond to his question.

Then his sister — despite be an Original Vampire and married to the family of monsters — did something so very characteristic it helped to remind him that perhaps, just maybe, his sister was still around.

He watched, bemused, as his sister wrapped her arms protectively across her lower abdomen.

"What are you laughing at? This isn't funny!" She demanded.

He managed, with great effort, to stop laughing anymore at her expense. His sister, for as long as he could remember, could sometimes become insecure about herself; especially after their parents died. He used drugs to ease his pain, but his sister had put up a tough front for everyone else. Only, he still heard her crying almost every night after the funeral.

"Listen… This is hard for me, too. But try to see it from my point of view. You could have stopped a lot of things from even happening."

"I know Jer… I know. Trust me, I've accepted what happened to me both in the present and in the past. That doesn't mean I didn't at least try to save mom and dad."

Jeremy gave his sister a look that made her cross her fingers over her heart. An old habit of hers from when they were kids. Whenever she was about to share something that was important to her. He didn't miss its significance in the present.

"Jer, I swear I tried to stop the accident from happening. Do you remember what Liz said her investigation determined about the accident?"

Jeremy hated even thinking about that fateful night and the days that followed. But even he had wanted to know the reason his father lost control driving over Wickery Bridge.

"Yeah, she said something about a sudden freak rainstorm flooding several alternate roads they would have taken back home so they had to take a longer route home instead. But then that stupid bridge has always had a notorious drainage issue which made the roadway slippery after excessive rain."

"And not many people in town were even aware of the problem," Elena finished for him. It wasn't until their parents tragic death that the Founder's council finally decided they needed to do something about the bridge. Last he heard the council were still raising funds for the renovation project.

"I tried, in my limited abilities considering the predicament and distance I was operating from, but I did somehow get Dad to take the faster route home, but then the rain started and didn't let up. Jer, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but despite me being this Child of Destiny crap the Spirits of Nature were not going to allow me to alter that part of my past. No matter how much it has hurt both of us."

Jeremy watched his sister carefully it felt like he was missing something and when it finally did, he refused to back down from it now.

"Hold up! What do you mean by 'Child of Destiny' or your 'limited abilities'? Now that you mentioned this it brings up another point I need an answer to how you are even in my dream? Or are you and Anna a figment of my imagination? Because if it's the latter—" Jeremy left his sentence unfinished as he considered what he would do if this was just a very vivid dream?

There was an awkward moment before both his sister and his former girlfriend started laughing. He didn't like being laughed at either, the more cynical side of him observed.

"Sorry Jer… But to be perfectly honest I was actually rather curious myself, just how long it would take until you would ask that particular line of questions," Elena said by way of appeasing his somewhat battered ego.

It helped a little, but he wasn't going to tell her that right at the moment either.

"Happy to oblige," he drawled, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, Lena, how are you doing this? Damon, dick head he is, compelled me not to pull out the stone dagger until told otherwise. So how in hell are you even conscious? Aren't you supposed to be dead…ish?"

"That is part of a rather long story, so I'm going to try something I've only done with Anna. Hopefully it will help show you… almost firsthand… but I promise — time permitting — I will explain anything you see and want to understand better in greater detail. Alright?"

Jeremy regarded her warily before glancing over at Anna.

"I think you'll want um… what did you call them… visual memories?" Anna asked, Jeremy watched as his sister only nodded in agreement, further confusing him.

"Jer. I've only had parts of her story explained and I'm still trying to process everything. But I think you will have a better understanding of things involving your sister this way," Anna advised.

Taking that as her cue, Elena started to explain how she was going to show him her past.

"It started right after Klaus made his first human kill and his true parentage was finally revealed to the family," his sister nodded.


January 1, 1002
Night of the full moon:

"Is this what our hometown was really like back in the past?" Jeremy asked, voice laced with wonder.

"Yes, it made me think about a number of things when I was sent back here. Like for instance it probably would take an archaeological survey in our own time for anyone to realize that colonists from Europe made a life here. Come on," not waiting for a response, Elena turned and walked away from the village that had once been the home she shared with her husband and trusting her brother would follow. "We can talk on the way."

"Where are we going exactly?" Anna asked.

"Oh… Just to — what in the past — was a particular outpost of a sort. I originally claimed to have arrived from the old world," Elena paused, knowing that wasn't enough of an explanation, "Bonnie's ancestor Ayana thought it was the best way to introduce me into their community instead of me coming right out and saying I was from the future."

"Why?"

Elena hadn't really intended to come to a complete stop, but her brother's question halted her stride. Jeremy had to sidestep or he collide with her. Being a vampire, or a former one in Anna's case, she easily avoiding becoming a jumble of arms and legs on the ground.

"What?" Elena found herself asking.

"Why didn't you just tell them that you were from the future it might have changed things in the future?" He asked, dead serious.

Elena believed him, yet she couldn't formulate a response. Fortunately for her sake, Anna provided a satisfying response.

"Why?" She scoffed. "Because she's a woman. You're thinking like a man from the twenty-first century. It wasn't until the last century that humanity started to consider woman more than second-class citizens or even their husband's property."

Her brother had that defiant look in his eye and Elena could almost guess what he was going to say, so before he said it she interrupted to save him from embarrassing himself any further.

"Jer, Anna is right. If I had decided to spill everything they would have banished me from the village or called me a heretic. Perhaps both, the point is that even back than equality of the sexes was nonexistent. I was really lucky to have found a husband like Elijah who listens to me and respects me like he does. Come on, we need to catch up to my past self so you can see for yourself," Elena sighed.

Being in a memory of her own, Elena found it rather convenient that she only had to remember the Outpost and suddenly they were standing within its log walled perimeter. She wanted to show her brother a little more about how simple things were back then, but perhaps now was not the best time to do it she thought.

Even though this was a memory it still felt unsettling to see herself from an outside perspective, but if she thought about it deeper it had been even more unsettling when she watched her younger self over the last eighteen years of Elena Gilbert's human life.

She couldn't help smiling at the visage of her former friends whose bodies had been reclaimed by nature herself. Time, with exception to immortals like her and others, would erase evidence of their existence.

"Ella, why do you say we have to leave?" Romana demanded.

Elena missed her long dead friends. She had matured into a fine young woman and her husband Anton stood protectively beside his pregnant wife. Not that he could have hoped to stop Elena from draining both of them. Which is why she had gone out of her way to feed herself enough animal blood that she didn't feel the urge to feed.

"It's no longer safe for any of you to be here my friend. Anton, Allison I know that you both suspect something. Why else would you be shielding her from me? It's okay you can speak freely with me."

It was Allison who spoke for the young couple.

"Your mother in law has cast upon the world a dark plague, Elena Mikaelson. Why the Spirits of Nature allowed such a travesty to be created, I have no idea!" Allison declared, her voice accusatory. Thanks to her knowledge of the future the young witch wasn't wrong, but as a Child of Destiny she also knew that Vampires, as they would become known were needed.

"She did, Allison, I will not dispute that with you which is why I need for all of you," Elena paused to hand over Tatia's sleeping daughter to Anton who, though he accepted the child readily enough, looked rather perplexed as to why Elena had her cousin's child and Tatia was no where to be seen.

"Take Tatia's daughter and this," Elena handed over the leather satchel she had slung over her shoulder to Allison. The young witch grunted from the weight hidden within the bag.

"Then return to the old country and find a place to live out your days in peace."

The young witch looked dubiously at the Original Vampire and the weighed sack acting on a hunch Allison flipped the leather satchel open to reveal the Gold and Silver coinage Elena had collected for their journey and life afterwards. Not that she seemed all too surprised by the contents.

Anton and Romana were still coming to terms, accepting that they needed to flee. The fortune Elena was handing them was more than enough to start fresh.

"You've given us the means not the reason Elena Mikaelson," Allison pressed.

Elena sighed. Privately, she understood that Ayana was to be trusted, but what she was about to do would reveal too many secrets about herself and the future of the world. Still she had to trust Ayana that everything would work in the end. Holding out her hand Elena opened her mind to the young witch for the first time since they were introduced.

She felt the witch touch her mind and sort through her memories.

Elena guided her as best as she could, but trying to hurry things along she might have revealed more than she wanted to when the witch suddenly snatched her hand back with a gasp of incredulity.

"You're!" Allison gasped for air, trying to compose herself.

"Allison! What did she show you?" Both Anton and Romana asked in unison. The witch first eyed her friends then Elena before peering down at the satchel of coinage before she sighed in resignation with a hint of trepidation and awe masking her inner most feelings as to what Elena had shown her. Not everything but enough to hopefully gain the witches support.

"Elena will tell you what you need to know. For now I'm going to go confer with your father, Adric, about his preparations in getting our long ship ready for our journey. And Elena, I still have many unanswered questions but I will do as Ayana has laid out," Allison said before moving towards where Adric was busy getting their provisions ready.

"Ella, what is going on I still don't understand why you have Tatia's daughter or —" Romana started, but quickly surrendered to Elena's reluctant compulsion she placed upon her two friends. Elena watched as a mere spectator as the younger version of her self crafted the compulsion that would shape the reminder of Anton and Romana's lives.

"Romana and Anton you will calm yourselves and remember everything I say once I release you do you understand?" Elena said testing her compulsion on them.

She'd been practicing it on a few of the people in the village in her own preparations, she still wasn't sure how she had compelled Jade that night she killed him but tonight she wasn't taking any chances. The compulsion she had placed on Adric and the men he selected as the crew of the long ship had worked without any sign of it breaking.

"Yes, we understand," her friends said so robotically it made Elena's heart clench that she was doing this, but she had no other choice.

She just prayed that they'd forgive her at some point when they moved beyond this world.
Would the Spirits of Nature deny them access to their memories?

Elena hoped they wouldn't be so cruel. What she was doing felt bad enough even now, looking at this from an outsider's perspective, Elena still felt that way after a thousand years of wondering what if.

"Good… It's no longer safe for you or your growing family to remain in this new world. You feel the need to eventually settle in the eastern lands of the old world. You will raise Tatia's daughter as if she were your own and… and you will adopt the Petrov name as your surname from this day hence do you understand?"

"Yes we understand," they repeated as before.

"Ayana's daughter will meet you upon your arrival in the old world my friends. I'm truly sorry that I had to do this, but without both of you I wouldn't exist. I know that doesn't make any sense now, but someday I hope you understand why I did this. Now go, you need to get ready for your journey."

Once free of Elena's active hold of their minds, they made their tearful goodbyes to her and turned to help Adric as well. Leaving only Allison who had returned while Elena was still compelling her friends.

"Adric says the preparations he and the other men have made are almost complete. We should be able to leave tomorrow at first light. Elena, I will do as I promised earlier I… I just have so many questions?"

"I heard. What I have already showed you should suffice."

"Yes, but — no you are right, knowing too much could cause more harm than good. I'm still trying to understand the implications of how your mere presence here, in what for you is the distant past, has already shaped our world."

Elena hugged the witch to herself but released quickly when Allison flinched at her touch. Mentally she chastised herself both then and now, watching how things had started to unfold nearly ten centuries ago.

"Fair winds and following seas to all of you and have a safe journey," Elena said before disappearing in the manner her kind would become known for in later centuries.

Elena watched the scene, then smiled weakly at the stunned looks of her brother and his ghost girlfriend.

"Is… Is that how the Petrova Bloodline ended up in Bulgaria? Are you telling me that Katherine Pierce's Bulgarian bitchiness is thanks to you?" Anna exclaimed, stunned.

"Yep," she sighed, popping the 'p'.

She glanced at her brother, noted his resemblance to a pet gold fish caught upside down in the fishbowl, and took pity on him.

"Come on, let me show you one more thing from today before I ask an important favor."

"A important favor?"

"Yes."

She shifted the memory scape around them, revealing a more recent one rather than elaborate further. The last time she had seen it there was a lot more dust built up.


January 1, 1002
Aryana's Spellchamber
Night of the full moon:

Elena didn't fully understand how she managed it, but somehow they arrived moments before the memory version of herself.

"What is this place? I don't remember seeing this place when Ric and I explored the caves below Mystic Falls before?" Jeremy's mouth hung open, awed by the impressive spectacle of her former guardian's place of power.

She knew she would need to return this place to its rightful owners, but that peace offering would only be possible once she escaped from Damon's naïve attempt to protect her from her own family.

"This place… it belongs to the Bennett Witches' Bloodline. It needs to be returned to them in the near future, it's been a long time coming in that regard," Elena sighed, gaze lingering on different spots throughout the chamber.

It was exactly as she remembered it. She let her eyes slip upwards to admire the vaulted ceiling. She would not be surprised if it were a perfectly shaped dome geometrically speaking. The large crystalline structure hung from the center, similar to a chandelier.

It served a greater purpose than providing light.

She noted the dim light with a frown that was likely caused by the newest additions to the chamber. When she finally lowered her gaze to look at them she felt her breath catch.

The pain hit her fresh.

"What!? Ayana, Esther what have you done with Tatia and my children?" Memory Elena shrieked.

"Lena what is going on now what is with that statue of you and are those your kids too? I mean wow! That is some craftsmanship to carve that out of a single piece of stone." Jeremy murmured into his sister's ear. She would have reminded him that this was only a replay of one of her memories, but decided to answer his question instead.

"Jer, when I first found this chamber — so long ago for me now — I found that exact same statue and had no idea what it was this memory of mine will help explain it and lay the groundwork for the next memory I still need to show you."

"Another memory? Why am I suddenly wanting to ask are these just memories of the past or are you going to show me, the visions of the present and what might be in the future? All done in a single night, too bad it's not Christmas than, right?"

Elena shot her brother a first a puzzled look that quickly morphed into a glare.

"No smart ass, this is not A Christmas Carol and stop ruining my favorite Christmas book with your comparisons and pay attention!" Elena hissed, earning a stifled giggle from Anna who — until now — had remained quiet while watching the memory unfold.

"Calm yourself child! Your cousin and your children are quite safe I can assure you of that!" Esther snapped by way of greeting her daughter-in-law.

"BULLSHIT!" Elena practically screamed, voice echoing off the vaulted cave ceiling. "My cousin and children are encased in stone! Release them at once!"

Elena winced involuntarily as she watched her memory self collapse to her knees, clutching her head in pain.

Esther lowered her hand and nodded to her former mentor to take over for now.

"Elena, getting upset will do you no good! Rest assured, they are perfectly safe in that form even more so while they are confined to my Spell chamber for however long, but they will be returned to you at the appropriate time. There, however, are still are a few important matters which must be addressed," Ayana said from behind them.

"Yes, one of them being, did you do as we asked?" Esther asked before her daughter could press on with her own questions of them both.

Elena watched as the memory of herself nodded her head. "They will be on their way back to the old country at first light tomorrow morning."

"Good, Esther, Elena, I will need to go outside to collect a few herbs we will need for the binding ritual tonight. But I have finally finished it just in time for tonight."

"Is that?" Jeremy asked, and Elena could only nod her head in acknowledgment.

"What… What?" Elena managed to get out before Esther picked up the remainder of the conversation.

"It's called a moonstone daughter. Witches have used much smaller stones to craft binding spells but for this particular curse and the individual we'll need the largest stone we can find and enchant. Given time restrictions this was our only possible option. Now, I really must get those herbs before it is too late!" Ayana explained.

Elena watched as she handed the offending moonstone to Esther before shifting her attention back to her stone encased children with a worried expression.

If Elena hadn't revisited these particular memories, she would have missed the other physical exchange made between the two witches, while her attention was focused on the plight of her friend and children.

They all waited until Ayana had collected her tools and made her departure before they resumed their conversation.

"Are you really going to bind Nik's werewolf side, mother?"

"I'm doing what I'm doing for the well being of my family Elena, just as you would for your own children." Esther said, motioning towards her stone encased children. Her mother-in-law's eyes seemed to linger on Tatia before shifting her attention back to her confused daughter-in-law.

"But it's not his fault! It doesn't matter who his real father is, right?"

Esther smiled at her second eldest son's wife, but there was a look of resignation in her own eyes as well.

"No, it does not and I'm happy that my children and my son's paramour feel the same way about Niklaus. Mikael, on the other hand doesn't feel the same as all of you do. Yesterday he coldly informed me that he had already tracked down my lover Ansel and killed him with his bare hands and if I didn't do something about my abomination now he would do the same to my son." Esther choked out, clutching her fist over her heart in anguish.

"Mother!" Elena exclaimed and rushed to her mother's side. Her mother flinched at how quickly she'd moved and Elena apologized before continuing.

"He killed my Ansel, Elena! It has been years since I sought the comfort of his bed, yet my husband punished my former lover, nonetheless. I forbade him from knowing his son even when he was older and could sense the truth that Niklaus was his and not my husband's offspring! He threatened to… to." Esther choked out a sob. Elena did what any woman and mother would do she comforted her grieving mother-in-law.

"What did Ansel threaten to do?" Elena asked softly still trying to comfort the older witch.

"He threatened to take him far away from all of us, I couldn't allow that it would be… Then he would be beyond my protection and I couldn't allow that not without other precautions in place, so I compromised. I crafted a certain ring as a gift that freed him of the waxing and waning of the moon. Ansel, although he wasn't happy, accepted it for the time being."

"Mother, I… I."

"Now they will never meet like I wanted them to at some point," Esther stated in a harsh, bitter voice before turning to face one of Ayana's work benches.

"All I need is time to make things right! Elena, can I ask you to tell my children something after it's finally safe from her threat?" Esther asked carefully. Which puzzled Elena that she hadn't picked up on it even back then, Elijah had learned his precise way of speaking from his mother. Ironically enough, even her brother picked up on what she had misheard over a thousand years ago.

"Lena, what did she mean by-"

"Quiet! You will miss this part!" Elena hissed, cutting him off.

"Once the curses are all broken, and the threat is passed, tell them I'm sorry," Esther whispered so low that even with her enhanced hearing she had trouble hearing it.

"Curses, broken, threat. What are you talking about?"

"Elena, there is one more thing I must say."

"Yes?"

"I know."

"What?" Elena didn't know why, but even now she still remembered how the sudden chill she experienced had felt like her heart being frozen solid.

"It took some guess work and when I pressed Ayana about your origins, she all but confirmed it!"

"Esther I… I."

"Two Petrova Doppelgängers in the same time period? Highly improbable. Don't worry you will wake up in time to help guide your younger self back to the past after Niklaus breaks his damnable curse!" Esther hissed and spun on her heels much faster than Elena thought feasible.

Elena's hand reflexively tried to cover her own chest, but her long dead mother hadn't struck at her instead she had struck as she had. The Obsidian Black Stone Dagger was firmly lodged into her chest, while Esther eased her rapidly greying daughter to the cool stone floor of her mentor's Spell chamber. Esther calmly slit Elena's palm to collect some of her blood into a copper dish she'd pulled from a concealed pouch in the folds of her dress.

"Elena?" Jeremy voice intruded, but Elena for now waved him dismissively away. Even now, the memory was still raw, especially considering what she learned afterwards.

Esther looked up at Ayana's return.

"It's done Ayana. She will be asleep until the next emergence of the Petrova Doppelgänger — I should say Elena Gilbert — about five hundred years from now. That should be more than enough time."


She wasn't quite ready to show them her final memory yet so she reformed her old bedroom around them.

Anna and Jeremy sat side by side on her bed while she picked at her window seat and carefully watched them digest the memories she had shown them.

Elena worried it might have been too much for either of them to handle.

"It was always supposed to have been you." Anna stated for them all, for which Elena was grateful. By his expression, her brother was still trying to find the right words to ask.

"Yes," Elena spoke plainly, so there was no chance of them mishearing her or coming to a different possible conclusion. Not that she knew how, but humans have been surprising her for centuries, so why should now be any different?

"Why? I mean, if she knew you were from the future, then how?" Jeremy asked still having trouble believing everything he's seen since his own dreams were intruded upon.

"How did she get the time frame wrong? Easy, she made an assumption and based everything from that flawed datum point." Elena rubbed her face in her hands before looking up at them still perched on her bed.

"Look, Petrova Doppelgängers are extremely rare, we only come around every five hundred years give or take a decade here and there. Even for a powerful witch — like Esther was at the time — that is still a very long period for a mortal to consider in the grand scheme of things. It never occurred to her that I was the Doppelgänger that came an additional five hundred years later."

"You're telling us that Klaus was always meant to break his curse, and you were the Petrova Doppelgänger he would need? What about Katherine?" Jeremy asked, starting to sound more like himself.

"Yes, as for Katerina she was, for all intents and purposes the spare. To this day I have no idea how the Spirits of Nature, or Fate, or whatever you want to call them arranged for Katerina to be in England right at the same time my husband and brother-in-law were in the area. If I wasn't a vampire, I would get headaches just thinking about it."

"Would using Katherine have worked?" Anna asked.

Elena shrugged. "Maybe, but curses can be tricky things both to set up and to break. As it should be obvious, I wasn't exactly conscious so I don't quite know the exact spell phrasing either Esther or Ayana used when they bound Klaus's werewolf side later that night."

"Elena," Jeremy asked, but Elena could see he didn't know how to ask what she'd really been waiting for, yet she would wait. Being daggered, she'd learned when to use patience when it was really called for.

"Elena, why did this all have to happen? I mean, if Klaus was supposed to break the curse nearly five hundred years later by using you of all people… I feel like something is missing from this equation?"

Elena stood up with a smile on her lips as she motioned for them to join her. Anna seemed to be holding back something that she might need to coax out of her later. Filing that in the back of her mind, she brushed off her clothing before looking at her companions' clothing with a critical eye.

"What?!" They both asked in perfect sync. Which only made Elena's smile grow brighter.

"Nothing, but Jer you're right. There is something missing, and you did ask the most important question. Why? Why did all of this have to happen? I have another memory which I acquired while I was Astral Projecting. For the occasion, I think we should change our clothing to better match my intended destination."

Jeremy and Anna exchanged a dubious look before Anna shrugged her shoulders as if to give him the go ahead.

"Where are we going sis?"

"First, no cracks about being a little ostentatious or literary minded. I like books. You should already know that!"

"We do, look are you going to tell us?" Anna groaned.

Elena worried her lower lip as she watched them rise to their feet. She drew a quick breath, held it for a second before letting it out in a rush.

"A Christmas Party!"


December 24, 1914
New Orleans

"Well, I have to give it to you your brother-in-law, mass murderer or not, really does know how to throw a lavish party," Jeremy drawled as they surveyed the atrium's Christmas decor then the mingling party guests with an appraising look.

"You know Jer, he would just take that as a compliment rather than an insult, right?" Elena mused.

Finding herself relaxing, she conjured up period appropriate clothing for the three of them. It had taken a little more doing but the flutes of Champagne she added tasted like the real thing, so there wasn't much complaining.

"Yeah well…" Jeremy paused to drain his flute before holding it up for his sister. Elena was severely tempted to just slap her little brother on his head when she also noticed Anna holding up her empty flute as well.

"Fine, just go easy, alright? I might have crafted these illusory drinks a little too well I'm actually feeling a slight buzz, myself." Elena warned before mentally refilling their glasses just as they had been when she first conjured them for appearances' sake. Anna looked thrilled.

"Do you know this is the first drink I've had since I died? I mean, I'm almost tempted to ask if you could conjure up something like those appetizer trays they have circulating around." Anna beamed then unobtrusively looked about the main courtyard where the party was in full swing with people milling about the courtyard in their finest outfits.

Elena sighed in resignation then placed her own flute — half full of bubbly champagne — down to concentrate, after a moment a silver tray with a variety of goodies appeared out of nowhere.

"Here," Elena offered before picking up her own drink as Anna excitedly passed her glass to a smirking Jeremy.

"Oh, God! Thank you. Are… Are those smoked cheese cubes and-"

Elena sighed, mentally kicking herself that she should have thought to ask if it bothered Anna she didn't need to eat or drink anymore. But she had let the matter drop when Anna had voluntarily mentioned that she no longer craved blood anymore since becoming a spirit.

"Well, enjoy them, I'm going to go look around. I'll be back before you know it!" Elena spoke over her shoulder as she made her escape. She tried her best not to laugh at her brother's pained expression when Anna suddenly slapped his hand away from a particular appetizer she must have set her sights on.

A part of her wished that they had gotten a longer chance at love. Even though it felt like a lifetime ago, she still remembered her last serious talk with them about what type of life he would have if he couldn't let Anna go.

Elena caught a glimpse of red from the corner of her eye and turned to follow it; Rebekah was as beautiful as she remembered.

Melancholy suddenly struck her, reminding her of all the time she lost out on by being physically separated from her family for so long. Though, technically she was present. If memory served correctly she 'slept' in the locked coffin directly across from Finn somewhere below her feet.

It wasn't the same.

The day Elijah felt Ayana's pull to collect her body from the caves beneath Mystic Falls she had been overjoyed. Finally she was reunited with her family, if not in spirit then a macabre physical sense.

At the time she had thought everything would go as planned. Finn alone had been daggered when she regained her ability to Astral Project and explored New Orleans.

She had had to be careful about physically touching witches that would sense her presence if she even lingered too long. Other than that she had been free to explore.

Before she discovered the cold war brewing between Klaus and the witches.

Kol's alliance with the witches had shocked her to her core, but at that moment she was unconcerned with their former war.

She was there for another reason.

Right on cue, not that it would change considering this was all just a replay of her own memories, Elena watched as the memory of herself made her way through the crowd — careful to avoid bumping into anyone from her own perspective.

It was rather comical to watch the rather one sided dance her past self had to endure.

Elena wanted the opportunity to watch with a fresher perspective now that she understood a little more than she had the first go around.

"You're here with my brother. A word of advice? A witch as lovely as you has no business dating Kol," Rebekah cautioned the attractive blonde wearing a modest green sheer dress popular at the time.

The blonde witch nodded, acknowledging the warning before responding, "Oh, it's not really a date."

"You can do better," Rebekah tutted, touching the witch on her arm.

Elena watched as Rebekah walked towards the stairs to stand with their family. Where Klaus, Elijah, Kol and Marcel all drank champagne and arranged themselves for the flustered photographer standing a ways from the base of the stairs.

Rebekah smiled as she joined Marcel, and Elena couldn't help smiling at the couple. She couldn't begrudge her sister from wanting to have someone care for her like Marcellus did. He had made great strides to repair their relationship after Klaus undaggered Rebekah for having the audacity to defy her older brother. More power to her sister but that would be addressed once they were reunited.

Not that Rebekah deserved the heavy handed treatment Klaus was renowned for.

To change her mood, Elena sought out the one person she missed even now in the present. Elijah — like her — was frozen never to age past the day when Mikael stabbed all of them at a family meal.

Elijah waited at the top of the stairs for the family picture to be taken. The empty space at his side called to her, making her heart ache. She should have been there.

She would have, if not for the dagger in her heart.

She stayed long enough to watch the flash of powder before making her way back.

Anna — and maybe Jeremy — had eaten almost every appetizer on the silver tray it seemed, leaving not much of anything for her to sample, but she had other matters on her mind at that moment.

Apparently, so did her little brother.

"Okay, Lena what is so special about this Christmas Party?"

"I was watching this party the last time I was here — back in nineteen fourteen — what happens is not as important as the reaction of one of the guests here. We are going to wait until this particular person leaves and follow him or her to wherever they end up tonight."

Jeremy looked as if he were about to ask a question, but the sound of glass being tapped to draw everyone's attention stopped him.

"Remember, don't focus on them, focus on the audience," Elena reminded them.

"As you know, when the Mikaelsons arrived in Louisiana, we brought with us the tradition of the holiday bonfire season. Now, we invite you choice few to join us in our family's own tradition of writing wishes for each other and burning them for luck. The holidays are a time for celebrating family, and friends," Klaus stated before shifting his gaze first to Marcel, then back up the stairs to where Kol was watching with mixed emotions.

Klaus held up his glass in preparation to give a toast.

"It is especially gratifying in times when treachery runs deep. To know you have someone you can trust. A toast, to you, my sister."

Elena couldn't help glancing at her sister's reaction.

"To Rebekah!" All the guests cheered.

What happened next made her heart clench but seeing her husband bracing Kol with his arms pinned behind him at the top of the stairs was heartbreaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the disturbance! But, what's a Mikaelson party without a little squabble?" Klaus exclaimed before producing a silver dagger and stabbing Kol in the heart with it. Rebekah, who's watching from the stairs, smiles devilishly up at her brother's betrayed expression.

"These are the very people you consider family, Lena?" Jeremy asked in stunned disbelief to her family's drama playing out above them. It was an acquired taste, but she wasn't going to permit herself to be distracted now.

"Yes, Jer, but more importantly did you see any odd behavior from the audience?" Elena inquired.

"Other than all the stunned and shocked faces of everyone here no, well… there was one," Jeremy said before Anna interrupted.

"Her!" Anna exclaimed, pointing at the hastily retreating blonde witch, her sister had been talking to earlier.

"Good catch! Come, we need to follow her, follow me!" Elena said and matched pace with the fleeing witch. She ignored the gasp of alarm when she passed through a large man who would have blocked her path. It still took time to make their way outside with a memory version of Elena right on their heels.

They followed the witch as she quickened her pace through the mostly vacant streets, but there were still enough of the local populace that could have slowed them down. One advantage they held, Elena already knew what their quarry's ultimate destination.

Jeremy and Anna tried to ask what was so important with this witch, but Elena — more than once — told them they needed to find out the way her past self had over ninety years ago. Elena didn't need to look to know her brother was annoyed with her not straight up telling them.

Anna seemed content to wait.

It didn't take long for them to reach their destination. They arrived just as the door to the foreboding building closed behind their person of interest.

"What is this place?" Jeremy muttered to himself, but Elena heard him easily enough.

"It's a place that holds a long forgotten secret that in a very short while I will need to save my children."

"Lena?" Jeremy asked, shooting his sister a concerned look.

"Come on we don't have much time," Elena said instead of what he really wanted her to talk about. Hopefully they would have time later to discuss it right now she needed for them to witness it for themselves.

Elena hated this place the first time she ventured inside. Her feelings on the matter hadn't changed in the slightest even while revisiting her own dream. They did allow the memory apparition of herself to proceed before them as they followed close behind.

"What is going on with this place? Who are these women?" Anna asked.

"They are witches the local coven don't want in the general populace for various reasons. Either they are a threat to others or to themselves, regardless this place is warded from witches to keep them from leaving. At least without the aid of another witch; someone that is tied into the wards of this place."

This was it! Elena knew they were standing in front of the locked door that will hopefully give Jeremy enough to help her escape from the Salvatore's foolishness before it's too late. Taking a deep breath, which was ironic since this was still just a memory.

Elena and her companions stepped into the door as if wasn't there.

Elena's eyes darted to the far corner her past self had secreted herself into before returning to the spectacle unfolding before them. The blonde witch was meticulously rechecking the white chalk runic symbols she'd drawn along the salt barrier. In the centre was a coffin, but unlike the others this particular one had a large glass panel which would allow anyone to see its occupant. Right now it was currently empty, but Elena knew that wouldn't be the case for much longer.

"Elena, what is going on here?" Anna asked but froze when the blond witch who up until then hadn't uttered a single word spoke up.

"What are you doing here? Whoever you are, be aware that I can see you," The witch said, standing up.

"Can she see us?" Anna whispered to Jeremy who looked as stunned as she did. His only response was to look directly at Elena who shook her head to reassure him that it wasn't possible.

The witch sighed and turned to face the corner where Elena had stood decades before, but not before her intense green eyes lingered on the door directly behind where Elena and her companions had sequestered themselves.

"Well? I'm waiting?"

"H… How can you see me?" Elena's past self asked, stunned.

"I saw you at the party, if you must know."

"How?"

"I'm a firstborn. You don't know what I am capable of. Who are you?"

"I'm Elena… Elena Mikaelson: wife of Elijah Mikaelson."

The witch, for once, looked stunned before composing herself and offering up a smile which at the time Elena had thought rather odd, that was until the strange woman spoke again.

"Hello then. My name is Freya, Freya Mikaelson. I guess that would make us sisters-in-law then."

"Yeah, I guess that also means we have a lot to discuss," Elena attempted to laugh, but it came out as more of a hiccup.