A/N: Thank you so much for your kind responses, it really keeps me going to know that you like it and want to read how everything will go on. Since I told you that the next chapter was almost ready, I couldn't think of a good reason why I should withhold it, so here you go. Sadly it won't be standard that updates are coming this fast, but I will try to give you every week a new bite of it.

Quills and Inkwells: Thank you, I'm glad they all are who they supposed to be and that you like it so far. To be honest, I have a rather far sketched idea where I want to go with them, but all to often the characters do it their way. So let's see what happens.

Guest 1: Thanks, I think Nadia belongs to Kalijah somehow. I am open for suggestions but I can't promise to realize them, since especially Kat does what she wants to do. But if you have any ideas you ant to share, feel free ;)

Lanie: Yeah, I wish, too. The authors really missed an opportunity *deep sigh* I'm glad you love it.

Guest 2: Here's the update ;) I think a little cozying up is more than necessary, if they happen to spend time in one house. Granted, it will be a big house, but still... I don't think Nadia will make it all too easy for him, but Elijah is a big boy, he knows what he's doing. Or so I hope.

geminigurl89: Thank you, I'm glad to here. You don't have to wait no more, here's the next chapter.

ElijahsKaterina: Here it is ;)

So, enough of chitchat, palaver and flubdub, let's go on with the story.

Elijah stalled his car in front of the house and made his way to the front door. He was relieved to escape Katerina's minion for a while. She was nearly as strong-willed as Katerina herself and there was something about the two of them that let Elijah stop short. Right now he had no nerves to think about it. At least Katerina had taken the potion to buy some more days. Now he hoped his plan would work out. But before that there was something else he had to take care of. Elijah knocked at the door which was opened only seconds later.

"My favourite original. What brings you to this little town? Holidays?" Damon welcomed him in his own way, leaning in the doorframe.

"I am here to fetch up some of Katerina's clothes. Do not bother yourself by getting them yourself, just tell me where I can find them." Elijah stayed calm, even if the thought that Damon could have tortured Katerina stirred his blood.

Damon narrowed his eyes. "I don't think Katherine has any use for them in the near future. You know, with lying on her deathbed. Does it really matter if she wears Prada or Gucci while dying?"

For the second time of the day Elijah grabbed someone's neck and shoved Damon against the wall. "Be careful, Damon. I am in no mood to make any deals for anyone's safety or to play any of your games. I will take Katerina's possessions with me and if you are only as half as smart as your brother, you will not try to prevent me from doing so. It might end with your heart far away from the rest of your body." He tightened his grip for a few moments before letting Damon fall to the floor and stepping over the younger vampire inside.

Stefan just came down the stairs, noticing Damon coughing on the floor, and nodded towards Elijah. "So you're here."

"Would've needed you a minute before, brother", Damon said and sat up.

Elijah and Stefan ignored him. "I am here to fetch Katerina's belongings. Would you be so kind as to show me where they are?" the older vampire asked.

Stefan nodded shortly again and pointed upstairs. "I put her things in one of the guest rooms. Some clothes, bathing stuff; not much. I think she had a bag, but if you need something to carry her stuff, call me."

"Wow, wow, wow, give me a sec", Damon interrupted while clumsily getting to his feet again. "What's going on here? Why do you need Katherine's stuff and why are the both of you talking like old drinking buddies?"

"Stefan informed me about Katerina's current condition and I will take her with me. She will not die of old age if I can prevent it", Elijah explained coldly and turned to the stairs.

Damon's mouth hang open when he looked at his brother. "You told him? No, no, no way. Katherine will stay here where I can watch her suffering. It's the least thing she can do after everything she did. She turned Stefan and me, she turned Caroline, and she tried to kill Elena. Multiple times. And she did kill Jeremy. So why the hell, Stefan, are you helping her? Did fucking her turned your brain to pudding?"

Elijah paused. Katerina had slept with Stefan? He had said he did not love her anymore this way but Elijah knew Katerina's charms. If she wanted something, she would get it. But he knew that Katerina's feelings towards Stefan did not matter, not for him. He would help her either way. He would try to save her life and then leave her living it. Knowing, that she was alive, had to be enough.

Without paying any more attention to the quarrelling Salvatore brothers, Elijah climbed the stairs until he found a neat guest room. It did not look as if anyone had used it for the last three weeks but a bag lied on the bed next to some clothes and other small things. It was not much but it contained the essential utensils to go as fast as possible without being slowed down by too much luggage. Katerina's go-bag, obviously. Elijah put the items inside the bag and shouldered it; he'd better hurry, Katerina should wake soon.

Back in the hallway, Damon was gone. Elijah could hear him drinking in the salon. Stefan was the only one awaiting him. "You found it. Good. Just take care, that Katherine doesn't let it rain blood once she's fully back in the land of the living." The younger brother smiled crookedly.

Elijah answered the smile briefly. "I will try to. But Katerina always did what she wanted to. At least since I know her." He remembered the stubborn girl who rode out when the clouds where thick and grey only because she would not let the weather destiny her day. He really hoped that this girl still was somewhere beneath this Katherine façade. There was only one way to find out.

Stefan shrugged. "I guess trying is worth a lot. And I know her thick skull. So… good luck. With everything."

Elijah nodded in appreciation and closed the door behind him. It was time.

When Elijah entered Katerina's room again, she still was asleep. But change was noticeable. The thick grey streaks in her hair had vanished, as did her wrinkles. Her hands on the blanket seemed stronger again and the sleep almost gave the impression of a way younger version of herself. More peaceful. Just contradictory to the vampire sitting at her side. Nadia threw him the same glances she used to when he first entreated and Elijah did not have the slightest idea why that was so. He did not remember her. Her features seemed similar to Katerina's but maybe that was her Bulgarian origin; he noticed the same accent Katerina had had when she had come to England all those years back.

"How is she?" Elijah asked, putting the bag beside the door and took a seat on the other chair in the room. He fought the urge to take Katerina's hand to comfort her; suspicioning that Nadia would try to take his head off and he did not want to explain Katerina the death of a friend of hers when she woke.

Nadia snorted. "At first she seemed to be in pain but she wouldn't wake. It passed. Now she almost looks dead if it wasn't for her heartbeat. How long will it take for her to wake up again?"

"Soon." Elijah sighed and leaned back. "Look, I do not know you but it would do Katerina no good if the both of us are fighting each other in this particular situation. She is going to need our help and I guess you have her trust when she agrees to have you around her while she is that weak. Katerina Petrova is no one to give away her trust easily."

"No, she isn't." Nadia proudly rose her chin, partly challenging the original. "And she has no reason to mistrust me. After all, I'm-"

"Nadia?" Katerina's low voice interrupted her and both vampires turned their heads. "Goddammit, I'm feeling weird. But not worse, that should mean something." She inspected her hand, now all age dots and wrinkles gone, and smiled a little bit. "Much better, to be honest. So, when are we going now? Can't wait to get out of here."

"A jet is waiting for you at the nearest airport. For both of you" Elijah added with a stern look to Nadia. "There is some business I have to take care of now, but I will meet you in London later. From the airport you will be brought to a hotel, where a suite will be prepared. The next day we will be travelling by car. Once we took residence, we will meet my witch. With a little bit of luck it all will be settled within two or three days." He pointed to the bag waiting at the door. "I picked up your belongings at the boarding house. Damon was not too pleased to say the least, but I do not think he will bother you again."

"Thank you, Elijah. For being here" Katerina said with a small, honest smile. "But don't you think I forgot the months before. Still… It's something I can work with."

Elijah bit back a chuckle. "I would not have thought anything else, Katerina. Enjoy your journey and do not worry: the staff on board is compelled to fulfil your every wish and to forget you were there once you landed. There will be nothing to fear about. But promise me one thing, Katerina: Do not run again. It would neither be the right time nor the right place to start our game of chasing all over again."

Katerina grinned at him and bowed her head. "As you please, my lord."

With one last smile to Katerina and a cold nod towards Nadia, the original vampire left the room. Better his brother knew he would leave town for three weeks before he found out by himself.

"Oh, I love the luxury of having enough money for champagne on a private jet" Katerina sighed, leaning back and enjoying the view. She sipped on the flute and nodded in approval. "And it's quite a good one. But you look as you're being transferred to jail. So what is the hair in your soup, oh sully daughter of mine?"

"Why do you trust him?" Nadia blurted out. Since the jet had started, she was sitting there with her arms crossed and her brows furrowed. "He has hunted you for five hundred years only so he could deliver you to Klaus. And now all of a sudden he wants to help you? I don't believe him. And I can't believe you're believing him."

Katerina smiled a smile that could almost be considered shy. "That's why you don't know the full story, I suppose. You're right, he chased me, but I don't think it was for Klaus. Not all the time at least. Three years ago he had me caught in a tomb underneath a burned church. I was at his mercy and yes, he compelled me to stay there for Klaus but when I managed to escape he didn't try to find me again. I think he didn't really wanted to sell me out but his brotherly duty or something like that forced him to. That's why I asked him to help me with the cure and again he didn't gave me over although he easily could have. I trust him because once upon a time he was the only person I could trust. When my father had me shipped to England, I was all alone. I had to leave you behind and yet I couldn't understand a word in this foreign language. The people were strange and their culture with them. It was a hard time learning everything and when Trevor brought me to Klaus's court, I could barely manage to talk without embarrassing myself." She shrugged and put the champagne glass back on the little table. "Elijah was patient. Every day he taught me another few words and answered all the questions I had. He was there for me when nobody else was."

"But that was five hundred years ago, mother! He was nice to you because Klaus probably told him to. Or so you weren't afraid, what do I know?" Nadia threw her hands in the air and shook her head. "I don't get it, really. What about the time after you fled? Klaus slaughtered your family, our family. Do you really think that Elijah didn't help him?"

"I never asked him and I don't intend to do it now", Katerina said quietly. "Look, Nadia, I won't force you to understand. But there was a time when I loved him and maybe I still do. Yes, after all that was between us. I would appreciate if you would try to accept his help. I'm not used to originals helping me."

"Do you have an idea what his plan could be? A witch in England?" Nadia ignored her mother's plea. First she wanted to see if Elijah was worth their trust. Right now she doubted it with all her heart.

Katerina shrugged. "He's twice as old as I am; no idea what he was doing in England before I went there. But I believe him that he has a plan. He wouldn't show up without at least having a roughly sketched plan in his mind."

"Back then in England when did you learn that Klaus wanted to sacrifice you?" Nadia pulled her legs onto the seat and leaned against the window. If she had a few more days with her mother, she wanted to use them. There was so much she still didn't know about her.

Katerina was quiet for a few heartbeats, running her index over the edge of the glass. "Quite late, to be honest" she finally said. "At first I was even stupid enough to fall for him. Don't look at me like that! Klaus was handsome; at least to the eyes of a Bulgarian peasant girl who didn't know better. He seemed brave and adventurous and reckless and he could be charming. I should become his wife; father probably would have exploded from proud if he had heard that an English lord was interested in me. Of course no one could know of you and that saved your life. Klaus wouldn't had let you alive if he knew that you were my daughter. Well, he wrote to one of father's friends in England to officially ask permission for our marriage; or at least that was what I should believe. Elijah kept me company while my husband-to-be was hunting. Not with horse and dog, of course. Elijah walked me through the gardens, talked with me and kept me busy. We even played like kids and for the first time in forever I felt okay since I left you behind. I remember Klaus showing up covered in blood once in a while and of course I was disturbed but he and Elijah would reassure me. After some time I realized that I feared Klaus, feared the future I was supposed to share with him. Instead it was Elijah's company I sought. I felt save with him, really save." Katerina fell quiet again, looking out of the window. "One night I heard them talking. About a sacrifice planned for the next night and my role in it. I did hear that Elijah asked for my life but I also heard that Klaus refused to spare my life. And Elijah didn't contradict. So I ran." Katerina shrugged as if it didn't matter. Truth was, that her hands started shaking so she hid them in her lap.

Nadia watched her mother. She wanted to reach over, wanted to reassure her, but she knew all too well that Katerina would never allow her to. So she only asked: "Elijah tried to save your life? Why? And how?"

A ghostly smile played around Katerina's lips and let her almost seem like the girl from back then, full of life and hope. Waiting for the adventures the world had to offer her. Believing not only in love, but in true love. That kind of love that could last five hundred years and more. "Because of love, little dummy. He truly did love me but I didn't trust him enough. How could I believe that he would stand up to his brother when he never did before? So I used Trevor's feelings to escape. I think Elijah hunted me because of this lack of trust in the first place."

"You're evading. How did he plan to save you?" Nadia felt that this part was important. She couldn't pinpoint a reason but in the last few decades she had learned to rely on her gut. It couldn't be a coincidence that Elijah sent Katerina to the place where he once failed to save her human life only to make in up now. There had to be a reason.

"Dunno. He never told me and I never asked. It's not like we had much time to chat lately, you know?" Katerina took her champagne again. "Time's changed. I changed. And I do trust him with my life today. Not only because I want to. I trusted him when I searched for the cure; back then he was the one who didn't trust me enough. But who could blame him?"

"You still love him." It wasn't a question but Nadia sounded confused. "But what about Stefan? Two weeks ago you would have done anything to regain his forgiveness."

Katerina snorted. "Stefan… I did love him back then when I first came to Mystic Falls. But since I started aging so fast he was the only friend I had. And I enjoyed it. Having a friend, I mean. It's not something I'm used to. So yes, I wanted his forgiveness. And the sex with him… Man, it was good, really good. But more in a kind of friends with benefits way than romantic. I'm a woman after all and I have needs."

"I really would prefer not to talk about your sex life. That's weird", Nadia said, holding her hands up defensively and scrunching her nose. "But if this Elijah-guy tries to hurt you in any way, I will rip his heart out."

"Oh, don't worry." The older woman grinned proudly and winked at her daughter. "I'll help."

Seems like poor Elijah won't have the easy way but oh well, then we all would be bored, right? Looking forward to the next chapter, there will be a little more mother-daughter-time (something I couldn't get enough on the show). Hope you all like it as much as I do.