Caroline fluffed her curls, getting them to sit just right as she stared into the water's reflection. Some would consider it impractical to trek all the way out to the Falls to fix her hair, but…

The young blonde bit her lip. But there was something about what she saw when she looked into the water. She saw herself, of course - and maybe it was just some odd light refraction illusion - but she always thought who she saw appeared a little more confident. As if the version of her in the water was just a bit stronger and wiser.

Whatever, so it was a little silly, but it wasn't like she was hurting anybody. It was just the town legends getting to her, that you could see your true self in the Falls.

The chime of her cellphone pulled her out of her thoughts. 7:25 its clock announced cheerfully, and she knew she should get going. Caroline gave her hair one last pat and winked at her reflection.

"Wish me luck with the other brother, kay?"

She whirled around, heading back toward school, a slight bounce in her step.

Caroline Salvatore had a nice ring to it, didn't it?

Her chest screamed in agony, and she couldn't process if it felt like it was burning or freezing. If it was being crushed or split open.

Her breaths were ragged and wet, the taste of copper on her tongue. Was she dying?

I don't want to die!

She whimpered, the words only sounding in her head, her lips twitching uselessly.

The roar of the falls was in her ears and still the formation of the rocks funneled his voice to her.

How could she have ever thought she wanted that-that monster.

He was laughing at her. As if her death was amusing. Crowing about how she took care of his cleanup for him. Why it wouldn't even be an animal attack. Just another sad teen suicide.

Her tears were burning against her face that was rapidly going numb and cold.

I don't want to die…

Caroline had lived a very long time. Centuries upon centuries. Long past anyone she had come to care for, human or supernatural. They all left her in the end, either taken from her while she was elsewhere, by foolish enemies that paid for their crime thrice over, or by their own will, wishing to take their final rest.

She didn't begrudge them that, though it made her existence rather lonely. Loves had come and gone. Friends and partners and companions. So, selfishly she took the most comfort in herself. Catching glimpses of the other lives she could have led.

Never though, had one cried out so strongly that she could hear them.

The voice was young, so young, and dying. Dying while having barely lived at all.

Caroline frowned, unthinkingly reaching out to the dying girl, and to her surprise, she fell through the water.

"Hello, Caroline."

She blinked rapidly, unsure how she had gone from dying to…whatever this was. There was nothing but blackness and one other figure. And she forgave herself for her no doubt idiotic expression considering said other figure was herself!

The other her smiled, looking a bit amused. And Caroline bristled at the apparent condescension. She opened her mouth, about to snap something rude, but they read her irritation and their expression became a bit apologetic before smoothing into solemnity.

They spoke hurriedly before she could.

"I wish I could better explain things to you, Caroline, but you don't have much time. Your body is still dying and once it does you'll lose this opportunity to choose."

"Choose? Choose, what?" Caroline's brow furrowed, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "Is this like Harry Potter?"

They looked momentarily confused before recognition sparked. "I suppose that is somewhat accurate, yes. Unfortunately you cannot return. You are human with no magic of your own, I am sorry to say that you'll just pass out again and die. Truly, this time."

Caroline frowned, the hope she hadn't even realized was blossoming crushed in her chest. She crossed her arms, glaring at them. "Then, what? You'll go?" She meant it sarcastically, but at the slight shift in the other her's face, she shrieked. "What, is this body snatchers?!"

"No, our bodies will swap places. Mine is not human and will survive the process, while yours will be destroyed." She spoke quicker, cutting off Caroline's indignant questions about what the point would be then. "Your soul however is strong enough. It will be able to pass through."

She was still confused and frustrated. "But you just said that your body will be going to where I am."

"There are infinite versions of you Caroline and infinite worlds for them to inhabit, as is the case for everyone. Your soul will find its best match."

Appalled, Caroline retorted, "I'm not going to steal someone's life!"

The other her stepped closer, expression soft and a bit proud. "It won't be theft. Two souls can't occupy one body, wherever you end up, that version of you will have already passed on. Now, I understand this must be a lot for you to process and it's a momentous decision, but you're almost out of time."

As if her words were a signal, the blackness surrounding them seemed to crack and shudder.

Panicking, Caroline began to ramble, words tripping over themselves. "Okay, okay, so like second chances. You go to me. I go to like some coma patient version of me or something. And no one gets hurt? They're already dead. I'm basically dead. And-and you're whatever you are?"

"Yes," they nodded.

Caroline ran shaking hands through her hair and took a deep breath.

I don't want to die.

The ancient woman kept her eyes closed through the journey, though she felt her arrival. Water and rock and blood suddenly assaulted her senses where there had been unnerving nothingness before.

With the last connection she had with that odd nexus of worlds she sensed that the other her had also arrived safely. She even got the impression that good things awaited her.

Good luck.

Even as part of her was wishing the other version of her well, the rest of her was processing the events that had occurred in this world. Perhaps, it was a bit duplicitous of her to not have warned the young girl that she would get a semblance of her memories, but she didn't want to be clueless. And there had been no time to offer the necessary reassurances.

Standing up, Caroline squeezed the water out of her hair, absently noting she would also need a change of clothes. Above her, the cackles of some obnoxious young vampire cut off.

He flashed down, severely invading her personal space as he stared wide-eyed at her.

"That's impossible!" He spat. "You were dead."

Caroline's lip quirked. "For centuries now," she drawled.

He spluttered. "But I compelled you! You were just some useless, weak little girl!"

Her amusement quickly faded, events the girl herself hadn't known had happened flashing through her mind.

Expression dark, her arm shot up to crush his throat.

She had no tolerance for rapists.

He dangled in her grip, weakly clawing at her arm as he choked. She contemplated tormenting him, the type of suffering she could bring down on his head.

But then she thought of the girl he had assaulted and chased to her death. The happiness that girl now had an opportunity to have. Recalled ancient memories of her own beast of a husband. The being she had become after her friend defied nature to help her. And she decided she and the girl both deserved better than to dwell on this cretin.

"Feel fortunate," she told him. "You're not worth my time to torture."

With no fanfare she plunged her other hand into his chest and ripped out his heart. She didn't bother to watch the light fade from his eyes, simply chucked both his corpse and heart into the woods like the trash he was.

Let the animals have a feast.

Caroline twirled her pen, wondering for the millionth time how the other Salvatore could tolerate going to school. She had to be here because the whole town knew who Caroline Forbes was. Mass compulsion wasn't worth it when she was choosing to stay.

After all, there was an unusually high occurrence of supernatural drama here and she wanted a front row seat. At least that part was interesting. Plus, she considered it a bit of a homage to the other version of herself that she carried out some of the girl's dreams. And winning Miss Mystic Falls was actually somewhat amusing.

Not to mention the worried murmurs she had overheard from the rest of her "friends". Originals? Doppelgängers? Curses? This supernatural world sure had some fascinating things.

And with some fantastic acting (if she did say so herself) she passed herself off as an accidental turning in the aftermath of what Damon had done. (Oh my god! He-What did he do to me? What's happening to me?! Please, don't kill me!)

It certainly won sympathy points from Elena and her disdain for Damon got Stefan to be, at least publicly, quiet about his concern for his vanished brother. It also helped that no body was found.

Caroline smirked, amused by her own thoughts. Those animals sure ate well that night.

Still, despite supposedly being a new supernatural now, the others mostly kept her on the outer edges of their drama. Perhaps as some misguided attempt at protection. But while it made information gathering a little harder, overall it made her life much more convenient. The less time she had to spend acting like a teen aged girl the better, really.

Her eyes shot up as Alaric walked into the room, pen now still and firmly gripped in her hand. Her instincts were blaring that something was off.

She watched with curious eyes as the man asked what they were learning, flipping through one of his notebooks. Odd. Alaric leaned toward the disorganized side, but he rarely forgot his lesson plans.

One of the girls in the front row, Dana she believed, reminded him that they've been covering the 60′s as the silence stretched.

"Right. The 60′s," he repeated, still not sounding particularly prepared.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched him spend a long moment staring at Elena, an abnormal interest in his eyes. It didn't seem to be lecherous, and Alaric hadn't sent that type of warning bell ringing, but if she was wrong…

Her grip tightened, near cracking the plastic shell of her pen.

"The, uh," he coughed as he turned to write on the board. "The sixties."

Her eyebrow rose as she watched the man literally write 'The 60′s' on the board. That was useless.

"-wish there was something good I could say about the sixties, but…" He turned around, continuing to fail at teaching. "Actually, they kind of sucked. Except for the Beatles, of course. They made it bearable. Uh, what else was there? The Cuban missile thing, the uh…we walked on the moon. There was Watergate."

Elena apparently took pity on the man.

"Watergate was the seventies, Ric. I-I mean, Mr. Saltzman." She hurriedly corrected as several people stared.

"Right. It all kind of mushes together up here, the sixties, seventies. Thank you, Elena."

And though Caroline continued to observe the man, he didn't do anything else suspicious save lecture with little coherence. Continuing to mention random things that occurred in the sixties. Seeming to just list them as they came to mind.

At the end of class, she waved the others on when they glanced questioningly at her, mouthing that she had a question as she gestured toward Alaric.

Leaning back against one of the front desks, she watched as the man shuffled some more papers around. Managing to read some of the print, she was pretty sure he was just trying to get rid of her.

Too bad.

Clearing her throat, she called, "Mr. Saltzman?"

He looked up, a quickly smothered flash of irritation on his face.

"Yes, what is it?"

She cocked her head, wondering how she was going to play this. She was around 98% positive now that this was an impostor. Possession, illusion, shapeshifting, something to that effect. And if it were any of those things, even if he had an informant, he couldn't know much about her. Being on the outskirts was once more to her benefit.

Well, I was just complaining about boredom…

She rushed forward, slamming the man against the chalkboard, her forearm pinned across his throat. There was shock and barely hidden rage in his expression.

Her eyes dilated, noting with rising interest that she couldn't compel him.

"What are your intentions with Elena? Are you some kind of pervert?"

Whatever Klaus had been expecting from the blonde baby vampire it hadn't been this.

Although her audacity was rather infuriating she hardly knew who he was, and her reasoning was arguably admirable. He did value loyalty after all.

So, deciding to go along with it, he reminded her he was on vervain. Then, made up some nonsense answer about being particularly concerned about Elena, name dropping himself as a reason.

Her eyes were still narrowed and suspicious, but she backed off after a moment, letting him fall from her grasp. To maintain his ruse he allowed the landing to be awkward even added a little stumble. Just for effect.

She smiled at him, a surprising and delightful amount of malice in her expression. "Of course, Alaric. Rest assured though, if I discover you lied to me and you have nefarious reasons for watching Elena…Well, let's simply say I will delight in feeding you your internal organs. For decades, if I have to."

With a little parting wave, as if she hadn't just delivered a gruesome (by human standards anyway) threat, she turned and strutted from the room.

Klaus leaned back against the chalkboard, staring after her, a little intrigued despite his better judgement.

Perhaps, he should start looking into backup vampires? He might actually regret killing that one.

Making her way down the hallway, Caroline processed what she had sensed when she tried to compel Definitely-Not-Alaric.

Vampire and wolf.

A hybrid.

Her eyes flashed gold as a smirk curled on her lips.

Fascinating.

Title translates to "Twin Spirits" aka "Soulmate" in Arabic. Arabic was the closet I could get to Egyptian which has one of the oldest stories involving the concept. Ancient Greece does as well, but I'm trying not to repeat the languages used in the titles.

Considering how this one turned out, I'm quite pleased that "Twin Spirits" really fits though: both soulmates and parallel selves. Also, if you're curious, I imagine the formerly dying Caroline went to some All Human AU where she'll get her happily ever after with that version of Klaus ;) I'm a sap, what can I say?

3/15/2020 Mini-sequel additional content below.

Caroline went for a run as soon as classes were let out, some of her best thinking done while feeling the earth fly under her paws. Not only did the sense of freedom and peace appeal, but as a wolf her mind was at its most perfect balance of human intellect and bestial instinct.

Today, both halves of her were aligned in their fascination with Alaric-not-Alaric. The fact that she couldn't compel him…Well, it had never happened before. At least not without prevention measures.

See, humans and even other vampires were too weak to keep her out. Wolves submitted when sensing the alpha within her. Only witches were inherently safe thanks to their magic.

So, it had been a peculiar feeling when Caroline learned vervain was harmful to the vampires of this world as the plant meant nothing to her. When her friend turned her she had called upon the great Yew tree for immortality, the sun for power, and the blood for life.

And when nature sought to balance her existence: the sun burned her, blood had to be taken to maintain her vitality, and only the Yew could send her to her final death. When she triggered her wolf, the sun no longer burned but wolfsbane became doubly potent. Once due to her wolf and once as the flower that grew at the base of the Yew.

Logically, Caroline realized vervain must have grown near whatever component anchored the turning of vampires in this world, but it still meant nothing to her.

Which meant whoever was pretending to be Alaric was…her equal.

Caroline leapt over a fallen long, slowing her pace as she grew nearer to her house.

An equal. What a terrible and marvelous thing to have after over a thousand years.

Klaus left the Salvatore Boarding House feeling rather amused by the children's plans to kill him. He could admit the witch was strong especially with the backing of numerous members of her bloodline, but she was also untrained. It was obvious in the way she wielded her power. So much so that even he, who didn't have near the fascination with magic as Kol, could compile a list of her mistakes.

And the absence of the young blonde vampire was also worthy of note. So far, of all his doppelgänger's bumbling would-be protectors, only she had sensed a threat from him, and even had the daring to confront him about it. Rather naive, but she certainly exhibited the most discernment and ferocity of the lot. Yet they excluded her.

Frankly, Klaus had few more incompetent enemies. They even claimed it was for her protection and utterly failed to grasp how close she had come to being his vampire sacrifice. Only his own interest removed her from the list.

He shook his head, an idea forming as he headed back toward Alaric's apartment.

Caroline smoothed the lines of her outfit, eyeing the fit in the mirror. She had to give the other version of herself credit, the pink Jackie O style suit was an excellent choice. And if she had to go to the Decade Dance to keep up appearances, at least she wasn't going as Uninspired Hippie #75.

Knock Knock Knock

Her brow furrowed, she wasn't expecting anyone. Curious. Emitting a little thoughtful hum she made her way down the stairs to the front door. How interesting, she thought, suppressing a smirk as she spotted her visitor through the glass.

Pulling the door open, Caroline leaned against the entryway, eyebrow raised.

"Alaric, what are you doing here? Chaperones are supposed to arrive early, aren't they?"

He smirked. "In shifts, actually. And I'm here to escort you to the dance. It was decided that no one should be alone while Klaus is supposedly in the area."

"I see," she answered, donning the expected expression of concern, concealing her amusement. Not only was that a more logical plan than any she had eavesdropped on, but she quite certain that the two of them were in on the same joke. That this impostor before her was Klaus himself.

"Well then, my lady?" He extended his arm to her, actually surprising her with his unexpected playfulness.

She took it though, allowing the man to guide her off the porch and toward his waiting car.

"You know," she started, tone arch, "right now you're doing a rather poor job convincing me that you're not some kind of sexual predator."

He actually stumbled slightly as he turned to look at her, his mouth slightly agape.

"I assure you, I most certainly am not." He even sounded offended too, apparently not that kind of monster, but his expression smoothed out as he continued. "Though if you think that, then this is rather reckless of you."

Caroline had to twist her amused grin into something more savage, having not been so entertained in decades. "Is it? My mom's the sheriff and I'm a vampire who made my threats quite clear earlier. But who am I to stop you-"

She paused as they reached the passenger seat door, her arm still entwined with Alaric-Probably-Klaus. Should she or shouldn't she? Yes or no?

It was the sensation of actually being alive, so delighted by this newfound equal, that drove her toward the more impulsive choice.

Peering at the man out of the corner of her eyes she finished her taunt, "-if you want to dig your own grave, Klaus."