Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Arcadia.
Arcadia was sitting beside the small ravine, her knees pulled up to her chin as she blankly stared at the water. She heard footsteps behind her and she sighed.
"Hello Elijah..." she said calmly, not looking back at the vampire who raised an eyebrow.
"How did you know it was me...?" he asked. It had been a few days since Klaus had told her what happened and she wasn't her usual, perky self. She shrugged, picking at the grass in front of her.
"I dunno. Lucky guess I suppose." she said, tossing the dead grass back down. "You can sit with me if you wish, unless you don't want to get your suit dirty or anything." she told him, shrugging again. He chuckled quietly and sat beside her.
"I'm not worried about my suit, Arcadia.." he said gently. And she raised an eyebrow, finally looking at him.
"Do you own anything other than a suit? Damn, if that's your casual I wanna see your formal.." she muttered and he rolled his eyes.
"Arcadia..." he started but was cut off by the little raven haired vampire beside him.
"Why weren't we ever close?" she asked him, looking out over the river again. He blinked, tilting his head curiously.
"What do you mean?" he asked, studying her face. She shrugged, taking a strand of her hair into her fingertips.
"Well, Klaus and I are.. were? whatever.. we have been best friends.. sort of. Rebekah is like a little sister. Finn is like an older brother, not that I've seen him again. Apparently he took the dark sides cookies or whatever. Kol and I have this weird flirtationship thing that will never amount to anything. Then there's you and me." she said, looking at him as she tilted her head to the side. He shifted slightly, not knowing where this was going exactly. She shrugged and continued speaking. "I mean, you were always just.. there. We spoke and such but we never had a specific relationship like I do with the rest of your family? Why is that?" she asked him. He took a deep breath and leaned forward, licking his lips as he cleared his throat. He could feel the emotions that had overtook him in his human life resurfacing as he sat with her and he didn't know what to make of them. Was he going to pursue whatever could be between them? Would she let him? There was really only one way to find out.
"Arcadia.. may I.. confess something?" he asked her, gaining her attention once more. She nodded, looking over at him, her deep, green eyes looking up at him curiously. He took another deep breath, lately he found himself out of breath when she looked his way. "When we were.. human.." he started, looking out over the water. "I had feelings.." he stated, trying to find the right words. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well no shit, Elijah. We all have feelings. Still do unless you've found a way to turn them off permanently." she said dryly. He shook his head, leaning towards her a bit. Their faces were now merely inches apart as he saw her eyes slowly flicker to his lips and back up. "Elijah..." she muttered before he couldn't take it, he had to kiss her, even if was just for a brief moment. He put a hand on her neck gently, running his thumb along her jaw as she leaned forward a bit. Then, he leaned down a bit and kissed her gently. It wasn't a rough kiss, or a sweet one. It was intense yet gentle, so full of raw need and longing that she was taken aback but she kissed him back as she put a hand on his arm, closing her eyes. He pulled back when he heard footsteps.
"Elijah?" a male voice asked and they both turned to face him. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. A male vampire, dressed in all black with black hair and ice blue eyes was studying her carefully. Elijah sighed softly, wishing Damon hadn't have come.
"Hello Damon." he said, getting up and holding out a hand for Arcadia as well. She took his hand with a small, grateful smile and got up, brushing the dirt off and looked back at Damon.
"Hi. Who's this?" he asked as a young woman walked up behind him. Arcadia's eyes widened slightly when she saw her. It wasn't Katherine, she knew that much but she looked just like Tatia did so it must have been Elena. Elijah glanced at Arcadia between looking at Damon and Elena again.
"This is a friend of my family's." he said simply, not knowing if Arcadia wanted them to know who she was. Damon raised an eyebrow at them.
"Well that can't be good." he muttered and Elena gently nudged his arm.
"Damon, be nice." she said to him gently before walking up to Arcadia. "Hi, I'm Elena Gilbert." she introduced herself. Arcadia nodded and took Elena's outstretched hand, shaking it slowly.
"She looks just like her, Elijah.." she said, her eyes never leaving Elena's face. Elijah nodded, knowing who she was talking about but he stayed silent. Elena pulled a little face.
"I know, Katherine. I get that a lot." she said. Elena was trying to see if this newcomer was going to pose as a threat and Damon was standing protectively behind her. Arcadia laughed, letting Elena's hand go.
"Oh no. I meant Tatia. The originator of the petrova doppelganger line or however you want to put it." she said and Elena's eyes widened.
"You knew her?" she asked the female vampire who nodded. Damon's eyes narrowed at her.
"Who are you?" he asked, stepping forward. Arcadia smiled brightly at him, shrugging.
"I'm Arcadia, Arcadia Petrova." she said. "I would be happy to explain if you wish. Perhaps a better place than the woods though?" she asked and Damon nodded slowly while Elena was staring at her with wide eyes.
"Uh, yeah. We could go back to the boarding house and uh, Stefan, my brother will be there also." he told her and she nodded, smiling.
"See you there." she said and they walked off. Elijah turned to her, raising an eyebrow.
"You want to tell strangers what happened?" he asked and she shrugged, starting to walk.
"Maybe not all of it. I'll just tell them how I'm related to Elena. Besides, what's the worst thing that could happen?" she asked and he grunted softly, following her.
"They can actually cause quite a bit of damage." he said, making her roll her eyes. "Arcadia, now would be the opportune time to talk.." he said, looking at her. She looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.
"We're talking now, are we not?" she asked, chuckling. He sighed, grabbing her wrist and spinning her to face him.
"Arcadia.. please do not act like what happened was nothing.." he said and she sighed softly.
"I know it wasn't nothing, Elijah. And we will talk, I promise, okay?" she asked, looking up at him. He nodded and reluctantly let her go. "Now are you coming with me to the Salvatore's boarding house or am I going by myself?" she asked. He raised an eyebrow.
"I don't trust them. I'm going with you." he said and she snorted, walking off again leaving him to follow. "That doesn't mean I trust you either!" he said and she laughed, taking off with her vampire spee, leaving him rolling his eyes yet again and running off to follow her.
Damon walked into the living room with Elena on his heels.
"Get ready, Stef. We have company." he said. Damon couldn't shake off the feeling that he'd seen this Arcadia Petrova before, he just didn't know when or where.
~1951~
Damon walked into a diner in a busy little town in Texas and sat down. He was clad in tight blue jeans and a white tee shirt. He had a black leather jacket and his hair slicked back. A female vampire walked in and sat across from him and he sighed, sitting back.
"You know I don't like Texas, Cade. Why are we here?" he asked her. Arcadia smiled, leaning back.
"Why they have the best milkshakes in the state, of course." she said, with a slight Texan accent. He smiled at a waitress who giggled a little and Arcadia snapped her fingers. "Hey. Focus, D." she said and he rolled his eyes.
"But I wanna have fuuuun.." he said, drawing out the word. She sighed, leaning back.
"You can have fun later. You don't technically have to kill just for fun ya know.." she said and he gave her a look.
"Yeah yeah. You're old. You used to kill for fun, blah blah blah.." he said, grinning at another waitress before looking back at the small vampire sitting across from him and sighing. "Look, Cade. The thing is we've been travelling together for fifteen years now. You know me and I'm not going to change anytime soon. And really, I don't see why you won't do what I do? It's so much fun!" he said, making a hand gesture that made her laugh. She shook her head and sighed, taking his hand.
"I think we should go separate ways." she said, playing with his ring as she did lots of times. He raised an eyebrow.
"Are you breaking up with me?" he asked. She snorted, smirking.
"In order to be breaking up we would actually have to be a couple. And there is no way in hell that I'd date you." she said, grinning. He smirked.
"That's my Cade." he said, kissing her hand. She looked down, smiling a little.
"You're like a brother to me. And I love you. But I think you'll be better off on your own rather than with me." she said and he tilted his head, dropping his cocky look for once.
"Cade are you in trouble?" he asked, looking a bit worried. She shook her head, smiling a little.
"No. I'm not. But you know I don't stay with the same people for long.." she said and he nodded, letting go of her hand and leaning back.
"Well, if you ever want to see me you know where to find me." he said, putting on his usual smirk. She nodded, smiling sadly and caught his eye.
"Damon, you will forget about me. You have lived the past fifteen years by yourself and you have been happy, well, other than the searching for Katherine thing which I am terribly sorry about. When I leave this diner you will take one of those waitresses over there and make her one happy girl tonight. Understand?" she asked, compelling him. He nodded, a blank look was on his face.
"I will forget about you. I have lived the past fifteen years by muself and I have been happy. When you leave the diner I'll make a waitress a happy girl tonight." he repeated robotically after her. She stopped and pulled back, blinking. "Who are you?" he asked curiously. She smiled a little and kissed his cheek.
"I'm no one. See ya later D." she said before walking out, leaving a confused Damon sitting there.
Damon poured himself a drink, still trying to remember where he'd seen this foreign woman before. Stefan walked in with Elijah, Elena, and Arcadia following him.
"Alright. Explain now." Damon said, raising his glass up to them. Arcadia rolled her eyes and sat down.
"Where do I begin?" she asked rhetorically. Elijah stood near the door, watching her carefully. Stefan snorted, rolling his eyes.
"The beginning would be nice. I mean, unless you want to purposely confuse us. Oh wait, you've already done that." he said, pursing his lips. Arcadia raised an eyebrow at the younger Salvatore.
"Watch it, bud. I could easily rip those pretty green eyes out." she told him. He glared slightly and sat back. She sighed and leaned forward as Damon came and sat down on the arm of the chair Elena was sitting in.
"Just start from the beginning and tell us." he said. She looked up at Elijah and smiled a bit before leaning back and looking at them.
"Well, it started about one thousand years ago..." she started.
A/N: Hello! I didn't die! I know it's been a bit since I last updated but here's the next chapter! It's long so I hope you all like it! Remember that reviews help me update faster!
-marie