"What is she doing here?" Elena asks upon seeing Sage enter the Salvatore boarding house.
"She-" Damon starts before getting cut off.
"I want Finn." Sage says, rolling her eyes at Elena, not in the mood for small talk. Seeing that girl with Finn had soured Sage's mood wholly and she was rather impatient to get him back.
"But he has a girl-" Stefan comments, looking a little confused. He still didn't fully understand who this woman was and why she was in his house.
"No, that girl is probably another cruel trick from Niklaus, a plaything to keep Finn docile." Sage retorts fiercely, glaring at Stefan.
Stefan shifts his gaze to Damon, who merely shrugs at him, also not sure how to deal with the unyielding vampire. "That 'girl' is his mate... I don't think it works like-" Stefan tries carefully.
"No, she's not his mate. She's delusional or compelled and Finn's family has obviously talked in on him, tormented him until he believed their vicious lies." Sage snaps. "As soon as he sees me, everything will be back to normal, he will remember our connection." Sage declares, obviously putting an end to their argument.
• • •
"My dear Elskan, do you have to hang that godawful picture on the mantle?" Elijah asks, scowling a little at the framed photograph that now adorned their living room.
"Yes, I told you it would serve as a reminder for you guys to not act like idiots." Luna replies, smiling sweetly at her grumpy mate.
"Just wait until you see the picture I took of you guys last night."
After the extensive tour to see all the damage the Mikaelson men had done, Luna had made them pose in the living room, encouraging them to look as remorseful as possible as she took the picture.
Elijah huffs, knowing he wouldn't win this, if he were to move the frame one inch, he would face the wrath of his mate and most likely spend the next fifty years sleeping on the floor instead of next to her.
"I think I will call it 'the Idiot Gallery'." Luna hums, kissing Elijah's cheek before running off to gloat with Rebekah.
• • •
"What does a 'mate' entail?" Alaric asks, looking as confused as the rest of the gang.
"Soulmates." Sage grits, tightly clutching her glass. She ignores the small cracks that were starting to appear in it.
"Soulmates." Bonnie repeats, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "What is that exactly?"
"I'm not sure about human and vampire soulmates, but soulmates supposedly have an instant connection, they complete each other. Soulmates are meant to love, cherish and protect each other till the end of their lives." Stefan explains while pacing a little in the room as if giving a presentation.
Sage scoffs.
"It sounds like marriage." Caroline comments, looking a little dreamily at the idea of having a soulmate.
"This runs way deeper. You don't divorce or break up, you are inseparable. The bond is sacred and it transcends anything you've ever experienced before. It is giving everything of yourself to the other, without expecting anything in return." Stefan rambles, reciting the information he had read in one of the many books from their collection.
"You've been hitting the books, Stef." Damon comments.
Stefan rolls his eyes, after Luna's revelation he had been researching everything he could on soulmates. He must confess that he had looked up ways to break the bond, maybe find a way to spare Luna heartache if Damon did end up killing one of her mates.
"So, it's meant to be?" Elena asks, gaze flashing over to Damon for a second.
"Yes, the chances of meeting your soulmate is very unlikely, but not impossible." Stefan replies, ignoring the sympathetic look Caroline shot him.
"And Finn is Luna's soulmate?" Matt asks warily, awkwardly eyeing Sage who was snarling at the mere suggestion.
"Here's the punchline, they're all her mates." Damon replies, chuckling humorlessly.
"All?" Elena asks, hoping she misheard Damon.
"Finn, Elijah, Klaus, and Kol." Stefan defines.
"No way." Elena says, indignation and judgment clear in her voice and expression. A human girl couldn't have all four Originals as a soulmate, she just couldn't. That would mean she held power over the four most powerful vampires, Elena didn't want to believe that.
"That can't be real! Soulmates are supposed to be two people!" Sage snaps, not able to control her anger anymore. She hadn't believed in soulmates, but she thought what she and Finn had come close to it. The thought that the girl who did not only bewitch her Finn also had the other Mikaelsons wrapped around her fingers infuriated her. Sage hadn't forgotten Rebekah's snide warning, even Rebekah, the elitist bitch, seemed to like her.
"I'm pretty sure you would change your mind if you had seen the damage they did to their own home in her absence." Damon comments, fixing himself a drink. He ignores the dark look Sage threw him, although Sage was a lot stronger than him, she was outnumbered right now and would probably refrain herself from doing anything rash.
"Was it that bad?" Bonnie asks, not sure what to imagine. Thinking of the mansion, she could only imagine the house the way she had seen it at the ball.
"There were people staked to the walls. Cars were flipped and columns destroyed." Damon replies calmly. "Need I remind you, she had been gone for only four hours?"
"About that, so you kidnapped the soulmate from four Originals?" Alaric deadpans, he was about to throw Damon out of the nearest window. How could Damon, with all his bad plans, survive all these years was a mystery to him. "Idiots, both of you."
"They should have killed you." Caroline mutters, not as a threat but as a statement. It would have been the most logical thing in her eyes. If her one person who was meant to be with her was kidnapped she would have instantly killed the culprits. this didn't sound like the Niklaus she knew, he would have probably killed their entire town.
Caroline didn't understand that Damon and Stean were still alive. She guessed it must have something to do with Luna.
• • •
"Did you just hit me with a frying pan?!" Niklaus exclaims, rubbing his cheek, where the burn mark was already healing. He had snuck up on his mate, hugging her from behind. Luna had been busy preparing tonight's dinner with Finn, and Niklaus was in dire need of some love and attention.
"You startled me!" Luna accuses, turning around to face Niklaus, still holding the frying pan up.
"Put it down- Put the pan down!" Niklaus shouts, pointing at the stove. Getting hit once with a piece of cooking equipment was enough for him.
"Why are you still shouting?!" Luna replies, not sure why she was shouting herself. 'Probably the adrenaline' she reasons.
"Please tell me you weren't going to serve that, love?" Niklaus asks, looking in disgust at the white stuff that was now scattered on the floor.
"Are you seriously judging my choice of food, Dracula?" Luna replies, giving Niklaus a disbelieving look.
"Why would you eat tofu when you can eat steak, it's like me drinking a Bambi instead of an Amber."
"We also have steak. Maybe you should try it sometimes, Stefan didn't mind the bunny diet." Luna teases, knowing full well Niklaus would never go for the vegetarian lifestyle.
"Ugh, do not mention him." Niklaus rolls his eyes, lifting Luna up and placing her on an empty spot on the counter.
"You're going to have to see him tonight." Luna reminds him gently, placing her hands on his shoulders to steady herself.
"Hmm, twenty times, right?" Niklaus asks, referring to the promise the Salvatores had made, at the suggestion from his mate.
Niklaus takes one of the cookies that were placed on a drying rack, eager to try one of the sweets his mate had been preparing all afternoon.
"Down boy, those are for tonight." Luna warns, bopping Niklaus's nose, before taking the treat from his hand.
In reply, Niklaus growls playfully, tugging lightly at Luna's earlobe with his teeth.
• • •
"Let's get back on track. So, a dinner? In the lion's den?" Alaric asks. Frowning, he thinks back to the last dinner he had with an Original. The dinner ended with Elijah holding a dagger in his heart, which unfortunately was of little use as they had pulled the damn thing out.
"Yes, Luna seemed rather insistent on it. She wants to create some kind of peace." Stefan replies.
Elena scoffs, Niklaus had caused her tremendous suffering and now he wanted peace? Because his soulmate asked him to? She didn't buy it. "What if it's an ambush?" Elena asks.
"It could be a genuine offer. I mean she seemed nice." Bonnie offers.
"Nice? She did hit Matt knockout with a baseball bat." Elena replies narrowing her eyes slightly at Bonnie, not understanding why Bonnie would defend a girl she barely knew.
"She apologized for that, and I did try to kill her mate... so I guess it was a natural reaction?" Matt comments, shrugging.
Elena huffs moodily in response.
"So we're all going?" Tyler asks, not liking the idea of having to play Niklaus's lapdog again. His sire bond was gone but Niklaus wouldn't know that.
"Yep, we can see what this whole 'peace' thing entails. If things get out of hand we can always use Wolf boy and Bonnie the Teenage Witch."
"Are we even invited?" Bonnie asks, scowling at the nickname and the way Damon said 'use'.
"Of course you are. Now, no more questions. Time to put on your fancy shoes." Damon replies, wagging his eyebrows.
• • •
"Why didn't you let us kill them, again?" Kol asks, from his seat at the dining table. He was busy folding napkins on Luna's orders, Niklaus had wanted to help him, but Kol had growled at him. If Niklaus wanted to help, he could find his own chore.
"Because you would be bored out of your mind." Luna replies while checking the oven for the correct temperature. "Besides that, I think once those guys get their heads out of their asses they could be quite useful allies. Maybe even friends." Luna suggests lightly.
"So, does this dinner require for me to be polite?" Kol asks, frowning a little at the prospect of having to make polite conversation with the men that kidnapped his Luna.
"Preferably...yes." Luna deadpans.
"Thank you, Finn." Luna presses a kiss to Finn's cheek after placing the tray, with the buns he had made, in the oven.
"I also helped..." Kol remarks, looking expectantly at his mate.
"Of course you did, sweetie. Thank you." Luna presses a kiss to the crown of his head. Luna wasn't going to mention how Kol almost dropped the batter twice and let the bread burn beyond saving. He tried, which was what counted.
• • •
"Elijah! What's the password for your laptop?!" Rebekah shouts, entering the living room.
"What do you need my laptop for, sister?" Elijah asks while flipping through his newspaper.
"I need to look something up, a new hairstyle for tonight." Rebekah replies. Although she could care less about the Salvatores, she still wanted to look her best.
"Use your own."
"Elijah! Unless you have porn on there I see no reason why you can't let me use it." Rebekah retaliates, quirking a brow.
Loud laughter could be heard from the kitchen, probably coming from Kol or Niklaus.
"Fine." Elijah grumbles, taking the laptop from his sister's hands. Elijah bent over the laptop, hopefully shielding the screen from his sister's sharp gaze, and he tried to enter his password as quickly as possible.
"Your password is 'Luna'?! Pathetic!" Rebekah laughs loudly, before taking the device from Elijah, leaving him in the living room, accompanied by several roars of laughter from his siblings.
• • •
"Finn, can you please zip me up?" Luna asks. Luna had seen him stop in the hall, peeking inside.
"It would be my pleasure." Finn replies, blushing slightly at being caught.
Finn walks up to Luna and smiles shyly at her in the mirror. His fingers trace the bare skin of her back. Bending forward, he places a kiss on her shoulder blade. "I apologize for intruding." Finn murmurs against her skin.
"I think you're mostly remorseful for getting caught." Luna replies, smirking.
"Certainly, but now I do get to help you out, which feels more like a reward." Finn replies, placing a kiss on her shoulder, slowly making his way towards her neck. He suddenly remembers what he came for and tugged lightly on the fabric of her dress. Slowly he pulls the zipper up, making sure to caress every bit of skin along the way. "You're absolutely stunning." Finn whispers against her neck in between kisses.
"Finn?" Luna asks, her voice in a slightly higher pitch than usual.
"Yes, my love?" Finn rumbles, obviously pleased with their current position.
"I advise you to halt your activities unless you want me to reschedule tonight's dinner." Luna hums, biting her lip.
"I would wish nothing more, but I shall restrain myself, for now." Finn replies, before reluctantly disentangling himself from his mate and stepping back. His self-control was limited and his mate looked way too tempting at the moment, but he also knew this dinner was important to her.
• • •
"Don't you look...spruce." Luna comments mildly, taking in Kol's very flashy shoes.
"A bloody idiot is what he looks like." Rebekah replies, grinning upon seeing Kol's annoyed expression.
"Fits his personality rather well, hmm?" Niklaus hums, nipping at Luna's jaw.
Kol sulks a little before flashing back upstairs to find some more appropriate footwear.
"They're here!" Luna exclaims excitedly upon hearing the doorbell ring. She was looking forward to moving past the feud between the Mikelsons and the Salvatores. Luna frees herself from Niklaus's grip, straightening her dress a little.
"Are you sure, Elskan?" Elijah asks, cupping Luna's cheek to look into her eyes
"I'm sure, 'Lijah. I just want there to be peace of some sort. Besides that, if anything were to go wrong, I have four very handsome and strong protectors." Luna replies, leaning into Elijah's touch.
Rebekah clears her throat.
"And the most incredible and gorgeous best friend in the whole world, who I would definitely hook up with, if necessary." Luna adds, grinning at the blonde.
"Thank you." Rebekah answers, smirking triumphantly at Elijah.
Elijah growls a little before pressing a possessive kiss to Luna's lips, making sure his mate knew that hooking up with Rebekah was out of the question.
"Well well well, look who came to their enemy's door, bearing gifts." Niklaus comments as he opens the door and sees Damon and Stefan, the latter holding a gift bag.
"Nik, stop flirting with our guests." Luna complains, walking up to the door.
"I wasn't-"
"Hmm, we all know you and Stefan were very friendly in the '20s." Luna teases, pushing past Niklaus and stepping over the threshold.
Stefan blinks, not sure how to respond to this allegation, so he decides to just keep his mouth shut.
"It's great to be here." Damon says, smiling a little. The last time he had been here his heart was almost ripped out, so he wasn't feeling too comfortable right now.
"Did Stefan tell you to say that?" Luna asks, smirking a little at Damon's faltering smile.
"Maybe, but you look very lovely, Luna. As always." Damon compliments, smirking at Luna and pressing a kiss to her hand.
Low growling can be heard from the Mikaelson men behind Luna and Damon quickly drops Luna's hand. Damon also takes a step back, as a precaution.
"Is that for us?" Luna asks, looking interestedly at the bag Stefan was holding.
"Naturally," Stefan replies smoothly, handing Luna the bag.
Luna opens the bag curiously, finding a little glass jar with some powder in it. Stefan had kept his promise, he had wrapped the bottle with various colorful ribbons. Besides the jar, there was a small box.
Luna takes the box out of the bag, looking questioningly at Stefan.
Stefan smiles encouragingly, which made Luna open the box, to reveal the silver necklace that had belonged to Rebekah and before that the Original witch.
Luna smiles gratefully at Stefan, before handing the box to Rebekah, who seemed immensely pleased to have her necklace back.
"Alright, that's enough." Niklaus complains, pulling Luna back inside. His mate had smiled a little too much at the Salvatore for his liking.
"Alright, Salvatores, two ground rules. You don't look at my mate and you don't touch her, got it?" Niklaus asks while puffing his chest out a little. He had spared them, he wouldn't be so kind next time they tried anything.
"How can we not look at her?" Stefan asks apprehensively, not sure how that would work.
"I know that she's gorgeous, but you will do your best." Niklaus replies, narrowing his eyes at Stefan.
"Not what I mean... but alright."
"Are you done proving you're the alpha male?" Luna deadpans, rolling her eyes playfully at Niklaus's demands.
"I don't have to prove anything, love. I am the alpha male." Niklaus smirks, nipping lightly at Luna's jaw before peppering a few kisses down her throat in apology, he knew she was tense and his territorial instincts didn't always make things easier.
"Please, tone it down on the PDA." Damon remarks, rolling his eyes at the lovey-dovey stuff.
"Tone it down on... your face!" Finn retaliates, narrowing his eyes at Damon while making a rude gesture. Yes, he too would rather not see Niklaus nipping at his mate, seeing as he should be the one doing that, but that didn't mean he would let Damon be rude towards his family.
"Nice one, Finn. You tell him!" Kol encourages, patting Finn on his shoulder. Alright, the insult hadn't been great, but Finn got points for his convincing delivery. The middle finger was also a nice touch, something Kol had proudly taught Finn after seeing someone do it in the streets.
"Children." Luna mutters under her breath.
"What are they doing on our property?" Rebekah snaps, her eyes landing on an approaching group.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember inviting the kids to this conversation?" Luna deadpans when she recognizes Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, Tyler, and Matt.
Luna glances briefly at Tyler, who is already staring at her. This was the first time she saw him in this universe. He looked tense, which worried her slightly.
Alaric throws his hands up in an exasperated gesture, he didn't like to be included under the term 'kids' by someone half his age.
Finn's jaw clenches as he lays eyes upon Sage. He wraps an arm around Luna's waist, pulling her closer. His territorial instinct was kicking in and his inner vampire was basically shouting at him to get his mate away from the door and away from the intruders.
Sage in turn looks at Finn, smiling lovingly at him until she sees that he wasn't looking at her at all, but at the girl from the bar. She would love to run up to him, beg him to wake up from this delusional dream, but she holds back, knowing that the evening is still young and she can't ruin it until she's invited in. Damon explained that Luna decided who came in, so for now Sage should play her part and be polite to this bitch and Finn's awful family.
Rebekah holds her tongue but looks suspiciously at Sage, ready to rip her head off when she is given permission.
"You're a kid yourself!" Elena retorts indignantly, to which she receives an elbow to the ribs from Bonnie, who had urged her to be polite.
"No, I'm 21. An adult." Luna deadpans. She was anything but happy to see the Mystic Falls gang at her door. Of course, Damon had to change the plans and she worried about what he had been plotting.
"Don't be impolite." Damon teases, smirking at Luna's irritated expression.
"Impolite? You're impolite. You bring six people, unannounced! You know what that is? Poor manners!" Luna replies
"No, but seriously, I don't think the cake I made is big enough... Damnit! Why are you people like this? Do we even have enough plates?!" Luna rambles heatedly before storming back into the house, looking thoroughly annoyed. She had wanted this dinner to be perfect and she had worked out all the details, and because of Damon she now looked unprepared.
"You have some nerve, upsetting our mate like that." Kol glowers menacingly at the Salvatores.
"We're so sorry, Damon told us we were all invited." Caroline offers, smiling apologetically at the Mikaelons, who were all looking unamused at their guests.
"Luna, love. Please come back!" Niklaus shouts whilst still glaring at Damon.
"No! I have to search for more dessert!" Luna's shout is distant and the slamming of several cupboard doors can be heard.
"Elskan, you need to come back. We can not invite them in." Elijah replies, grimacing a little upon hearing Luna's disheartened tone.
The clacking of heels on marble becomes louder as Luna reappears, holding a big empty basket.
"Weapons." Luna states, putting the basket on the doorstep, looking pointedly at Damon, who was first in line to enter.
Rolling his eyes, Damon procures several stakes from his suit pockets.
"Seriously?" Kol asks when he sees Damon pulling out a tiny stake from his front pocket.
"That's it." Damon declares, smiling innocently at Luna.
Luna raises her eyebrows, to which Damon sighs before retrieving another two stakes from the back of his pants.
"It's a dinner, not war." Rebekah deadpans, looking unimpressed at Damon and then disgusted at the two stakes.
"Same thing." Damon mutters.
"Come in, Damon." Luna says, stepping aside.
Elijah halts Damon momentarily upon entering.
"My mate seems to believe you possess some redeeming qualities. That's the only reason you're still walking and talking, Salvatore. I suggest you don't disappoint her." Elijah warns.
"Lijah, remember what we talked about. Don't threaten our guests before appetizers." Luna sighs, briefly brushing her fingers over the lapels of his jacket.
"She's really got the four of you on a leash." Damon comments, smiling innocently at Niklaus.
"Damon, sweetie." Luna starts, holding back a sigh.
Kol growls upon hearing Luna use his pet name for the stupid Salvatore.
"I can't keep saving your ass from my mates. So I suggest you keep your little remarks to yourself." Luna smiles sarcastically at him before turning her attention back to Stefan, waiting patiently for him to empty his pockets.
Luna smiles gratefully at Stefan when he takes off his jacket to show her he was clean from any further weapons.
• • •
"You really went all out, Safari Sam." Niklaus comments dryly, looking a little disturbed at the number of weapons Alaric had been carrying around.
"Can never be too sure." Alaric shrugs, waiting patiently for Luna to invite him in. Although he didn't need an invite it was good manners, which he did possess, unlike some other people.
"Please come in, Alaric." Luna smiles.
A/N:
For Stefan's soulmate explanation I used some of the information from the Soulmate Principle page from the Vampire Diaries Novels Wiki. I only took some of it, because most of the information doesn't apply to Luna's relationship with her mates.
I giggled very much at Finn's little insult, too cute.
Thank you all for the kudo's and the comments, warms my heart :)
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Lots of love,