Previously in "I'll Still Be Here", Finn and Elijah talk to Klaus about giving Raphael a chance for Rebekah's sake.

Chapter Seventeen

1000 Years Earlier…
"Finnegan, Elijah; please do not go too far to find the berries," Esther warned her two eldest sons as they grabbed the two buckets to take with them so that they could get berries for her in order to make pie.

"We won't, Mother," they replied in unison, giving her matching smiles filled with gentleness.

Esther eyed her sons suspiciously. "Very well then, off you go. Just make sure you don't fight over which bush has the most berries, like the last time."

"Yes, Mother," they replied in unison once more before turning and walking out the door.

"Do you think that Mother knows what we're really up to, brother?" Finn asked once they were out of hearing range of Esther.

"No, but we're not going to tell her either," Elijah replied.

Finn nodded. "I feel like we're doing something wrong, though. I have never disobeyed Mother before."

Elijah sighed. He knew that Finn always did as he was told. "Will you relax, Finnegan? I know you feel like its disobedience, but you shouldn't think of it that way."

"Sure, whatever you say, Elijah."

Before Elijah could respond to his older brother's smart-aleck comment, he was struck speechless when he saw the beautiful brunette approaching them, asking in a ragged voice, "Excuse me, but would you happen to know where I might find the Chancellor family cabin?"

Elijah smiled at the brunette. "Indeed we do, love. It's located just down that road, the first one on the left."

The brunette returned his smile. "Oh, thank you so much." She shyly approached him and took his arm. "Could you escort me there? I'd hate to go there unaccompanied."

Elijah was about to answer her, but Finn interrupted him. "Elijah, what are you doing? We don't know this girl. The least you can do is introduce yourself and find out what her name is."

"Right, thank you, Finnegan," Elijah said. "I almost forgot my manners." He looked at the girl. "Before we help you, love, I think it would be best to make with the introductions. My name is Elijah Mikaelson and this is my brother, Finnegan, also known as Finn."

The brunette smiled at Elijah then gave a brief curtsy. "It's very nice to meet you, good sir. I am Marlena Chancellor." Marlena then blinked. "Did you say Mikaelson, as in the sons of Mikael and Esther?" She curtsied again. "My apologies, I didn't know you were coming."

"Please, you do not have to curtsy before us," Elijah said, guiding her back to her full height. "It is very nice to meet such a beautiful woman out here."

Marlena smiled at them. "I could say the same about the two of you."

"Men are not beautiful, kind lady, but thank you for the compliment," Elijah told her.

Marlena smiled. "You're very welcome."

"I will not keep you, milady, so I pray you had safekeeping for your long journey to arrive here," Elijah said.

"I did, and thank you, kind sir," Marlena said with her cheeks filling with heat.

Elijah watched as Marlena walked away and looked toward his brother. "Don't start, Finnegan, I swear to God."

"Oh, kind sir," Finn said, mimicking a feminine tone.

Elijah growled at his brother's mocking tone. "Finnegan, I told you not to start! Do that again and I'll sock you one! I don't care if you're older than me, I'll still do it!"

Finn was about to respond when a redhead beauty walked by, her green eyes smiling at the elder of the two brothers before she turned back to the conversation she was engaged in with the second redhead that Finn noticed. Elijah noticed Finn looking at the redhead that walked by and smiled at him, forgetting his earlier anger. "It looks like someone was struck with Cupid's arrow."

Finn glared at his brother. "That is so not true! I was just…distracted by her, that's all!"

"You don't need to lie to me, Finnegan," Elijah said. "You are definitely interested in that girl that walked by."

"I'm not lying!" Okay, yes, I'll admit that she's beautiful, but I'm not going to tell Elijah that, Finn thought to himself.

Elijah grinned. "Yes, you are. Look at you, you're blushing." He elbowed him playfully. "Finnegan's in love."

"So what if I am? Mother will never allow us to find our mates," Finn reminded him with a stern look.

Elijah nodded. "That shouldn't stop you from talking to that girl, brother."

"I know, but…"

"But nothing," Elijah said. "Look, if Mother asks, I'll tell her you stopped to help one of the neighbors. I know that I've never lied to her before, but you deserve this, Finnegan, more than you think."

"Alright, fine. Thank you, brother," Finn said before they went about their task, getting the berries for Esther.

As they continued to pick berries, Finn thought about the redhead. She was beautiful, more beautiful than the flowers that bloomed in the spring, and he'd give anything to talk to her, possibly more than that.

Meanwhile…
Marlena arrived at the Chancellor cabin and saw her quite pregnant aunt, the wife of her uncle on her father's side. "Aunt Lillian? Is that truly you?"

Lillian turned. "Marlena!" she exclaimed. "We weren't expecting you for a few days."

Marlena smiled and hugged her aunt. "I know you were, but I thought I'd come early." She smiled again and looked at her belly. "How is my cousin faring? Not too much pain, I hope."

"None at all, and they are doing just fine," Lillian said with a sheepish smile.

"What do you mean, they?" Marlena asked with a shocked voice and look. "As in, you are expecting twins?"

Lillian nodded. "Yes, my love, it is twins."

Marlena hugged her aunt. "Oh, I'm so happy for you! I can't wait to meet the little darlings!"

"Neither can me or your uncle," Lillian said with a laugh. "Please, though, come into the house and I will fix you a bowl for supper."

Marlena smiled. "You don't have to ask me twice."

Hayley jolted up out of her slumber, gasping. Oh my god. How could I not remember that? Climbing out of bed, the pregnant werewolf padded out of hers and Elijah's bedroom then went downstairs to the kitchen. Elijah saw her leave and, not sure what was happening, followed after her. "Hayley, what is it? Are you all right?"

"How could you not tell me that I was that Marlena you encountered 1000 years ago?" she demanded softly so as not to wake the others in the house.

Elijah sighed. "I wasn't sure if you'd believe me if I did. I also didn't want you to think I was comparing you to her, because although you resemble her, you're much different from her."

"In what way am I different from her?" Hayley asked.

Elijah bit his lip nervously. How was he going to answer her without saying something that would anger her? Deciding he'd worry about that later, he said, "She wasn't half as beautiful as you."

"I mean, was she a…?" Hayley asked.

"If she was, I wouldn't have been able to tell. She left shortly after her aunt gave birth to her twin cousins, just disappeared as if she had never been there. I never saw her again, and I later learned that she had drowned on her return voyage to her country," Elijah replied.

Hayley silently gasped. "Oh my God, that's terrible."

"It was, especially for her family." Elijah then went back to another memory, this one going back to the time that Rebekah had met Alexander:

1114 A.D.
Elijah found himself walking through the village known to everyone as Rome today, his eyes soon falling onto the familiar form and he held in a gasp when he saw the familiar dark brown waves of hair. It cannot be, he thought to himself. Marlena is dead.

Not sure if he was hallucinating or not, Elijah followed her down the street and as he did, the girl turned around and saw him. "Is there a reason that you're following me, my lord?"

"It's just that you look like someone I knew a long time ago."

"Oh. Well, I am sure that she was beautiful, but it does not cause you to follow someone because you are reminded of the past, does it?" the brunette asked him.

Elijah felt embarrassed. "My apologies, my lady; I didn't mean to trouble you."

"No, don't apologize," she replied. "I don't get much company."

"Why?" Elijah asked.

"Because people are frightened of me," she replied in a whispered tone.

Elijah reached out and took her hand. "I see nothing frightening about you. I see a beautiful young lady that any man worth his salt would love to have on his arm."

She smiled at him, her hand curling around his. "And what if I wanted to be on your arm, my lord?"

Elijah smiled as well. "Then you would make me the happiest man on the planet." He lifted her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing her knuckles. "Forgive me, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Elijah."

"Mine is Penelope."

"Like Odysseus' wife in the myth," Elijah said. "She waited over 20 years for him to return from war, refusing suitor after suitor."

Penelope's head tilted to one side. "Exactly how old are you, my lord?"

Elijah hesitated. How was he going to explain this to her without frightening her? He then pulled them into an alley to ensure their privacy. "Before I tell you, I must know if you'll still consider being on my arm."

"What is going on, my lord?" Penelope asked, her voice lowering to a whisper filled with a bit of a frightened tone.

Elijah then decided to show her his fangs. "I am a vampire, Penelope. I have been for some time. That's why I appear to be young, but I am actually older than I seem. My whole family was turned by my mother, who was a powerful witch." Her hands reached up to gently move over his fangs, pricking the tip of one finger and quickly retracted them before rushing away. "Penelope, wait!" Elijah called after her, using his human speed to catch up with her.

Penelope looked over her shoulder to see him following her. "Don't hurt me, please!"

"I don't want to do that, but I don't want you exposing my secret either," he said, finally catching up to her and gently grabbing her arm.

Penelope looked at him. "I doubt anyone would believe me if I did, so your secret is safe with me, my lord. Of course, we worship gods, so they'll think you're a god."

"A god, huh? What else do you think I am?" Elijah said with a slight smirk on his lips.

Penelope smiled. "Well, with your strength, you can even be an emperor." She blushed. "I hope I'm not giving you a big ego, my lord."

"I appreciate the compliment just the same," he told her.

Penelope smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, my lord." She then leaned in a bit so that their faces were inches apart. "I'm very glad indeed."

Elijah met her halfway and kissed her, hearing her moan softly against his lips as she returned it, deepening it as they continued.

Present Day…

"So you see, you've always had me from the first moment I saw you, even in your past lives," Elijah said softly to Hayley as they stood in one another's embrace in the darkened interior of the mansion.

Hayley smiled. "I guess this means that we were destined for each other."

"Yes, I guess we are," Elijah said. "And I couldn't be happier to be with someone as beautiful as you, Hayley."

"And I could never be happy with someone that isn't you," she whispered.

Elijah smiled and kissed her. "I love you, Hayley."

Hayley returned his kiss. "I love you too."

"Why don't we go back to bed, hmm? We have an early day ahead of us tomorrow," Elijah suggested then swept her, pregnancy and all, into his arms and blurred them upstairs, to their room.

Author's Note: So many plot twists. I know I'm terrible to have Hayley be a doppelganger, but I hope its okay. More of Hayley's past life to come to light soon!