A/N Since today I had my second to last exam this semester, I thought I celebrate with you by uploading the new chapter. I really hope you like it. If so, you can tell me. If not, please do so more than ever, because I want you to enjoy this story.
Guest: Thank you, I'm glad you like it. Kalijah without even the slightest of smut? No way ;) Only be patient.
Elijah's face remained absolutely calm when Niklaus turned into a raging hurricane, throwing things around and yelling loud enough for the whole quarter to hear. "You have to be gotten mad, Elijah. Mad! After five hundred years you demand her freedom just as in the night back then before she vanished? How dare you? Because of this… shrew I had to wait another half a millennia before I could break this bloody curse. And now I should give up my revenge? Why?"
"Because it is me who is asking you, brother." Elijah leaned against the doorframe, watching Niklaus with wary eyes. "I never asked you for anything. I always put your happiness before mine. And now it is you who should have my back. It is the only favour I ask of you, brother. Grant Katerina her freedom. Grant her permission to come into this city without you or your minions harming her."
"You didn't learn anything, did you?" Niklaus stopped in his pacing long enough to throw Elijah a piercing glance. "That bloody woman broke your heart once and don't you try to deny it. Why shouldn't she do it again? I need you here, Elijah. Marcel still has to much influence and those damned witches… I need you and your nose for diplomacy. You know well enough I'm more a man of swords than of words. Or at least fangs." Niklaus grinned for a moment.
Elijah adjusted his sleeves and rolled his eyes. "You always need me. That is the point of this conversation. You need my help to regain power over this kingdom of yours. But what if I would deny you this help? Only in turn because you are denying me some kind of yours?"
Niklaus groaned and pointed at his brother. "You're blackmailing me."
"Why yes, I am. Don't say it is an unfamiliar trait, Niklaus. Now, how would you feel about an offer of mine? You are granting Katerina's safety in any way possible and in turn I will help you to overthrow Marcel. After I returned from a little journey." Elijah allowed himself a short smile. He knew that Niklaus was more occupied with his personal game of thrones than with his revenge on Katerina. And he also knew that he needed Niklaus's permission before he returned with a hopefully newly turned Katerina at his side.
His brother looked at him with narrowed eyes, for once silent. Eventually he scoffed, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "You had planned this all along, didn't you? After five hundred years of chasing that woman you want her freedom. Why? She isn't the same as back then in England. So why are you so desperately trying to save her?"
Elijah shrugged slightly, avoiding Niklaus's gaze. "Somewhere deep down is a fragment of Katerina. I have to believe this. Niklaus, you know as well as I do that I am not a man who gives away his heart easily. After Tatia… there was a long time no one I trusted enough to let in. And then she came. It was not her resemblance to Tatia. Well, maybe that way I wanted to know her better. But even back then she was nothing like her. If it had been any other girl, I might never have asked for her life back then. But I did and you refused. Now I ask you again, brother. Grant me her life and I will never forget it. Do not and I will never forget it either. I will turn my back to you and this town and you will never see me again. It is your choice."
It was quiet for a few long minutes in the now devastated room. None of the brothers moved, none spoke. They could have been mistaken for statues if it hadn't been for the blinking. Eventually, Niklaus sighed and raised his hands in a defeated motion. "Fine. I don't like your so called offer and don't you dare think I wouldn't enjoy myself when your little dove shows up. I have some catching up to do and I won't be extra nice to her, understand? Better she has a good sense of fear. Without fear she's kind of rebellious, don't you think? Won't need that while I'm conquering a city."
"One of her many virtues" Elijah smiled and turned to leave. "I will return in three weeks. Try not to wipe New Orleans from the map, would you?"
Katerina simply dropped her bag when she entered the suite. "I assumed that Elijah wouldn't have chosen some cheap double room, but this… Have to admit, I wasn't prepared. It's a shame we're only going to stay for a night." She sighed and let herself fall onto one of the king-size beds.
"It's okay" Nadia stated and gave the suite only a quick glance. "I would rather work on healing you, but I guess we can allow us to be idle for one day."
"Will you light up? Please?" Katerina groaned and sat up again. "London is a wonderful city in a beautiful country. If you want to do something cultural, we could visit Whitehall or I could show you how I snuck out the Tower once. Or…" Katerina waved a card, "we could use Elijah's credit card on Oxford Street. I'm partly sure he doesn't want me to walk around naked so he won't mind. Admit it, you want to get back on him, even if it's just by spending his money." Katerina winked at her daughter.
"Oxford Street is crowded. It would be more difficult to protect you there than here" Nadia pointed out. "Even if your enemies don't know that you're human, you have enough of them. It's too high a risk."
Katerina scoffed. "Please. I didn't cause trouble in England for at least a century. Maybe only a half, but you know what I mean. Do you really want to keep me from shopping? I only have one jeans with me and three shirts. That's not even near enough." She did not like being a human who could be pushed around. Not at all. And when Katerina Petrova wanted to go shopping, you better let her.
"Aren't you hungry? Or tired for that matter? We were on that jet quite a while and there wasn't much of food but for champagne." Nadia wanted to avoid bringing her mother in danger even if it meant to upset her. But she simply refused to trade Katerina's life for a blouse.
Katerina grimaced. She was hungry for that matter, she only wanted to grant Nadia this victory. She was just about starting to lie when her body betrayed her. Her stomach started to growl and from Nadia's smirk she could tell that vampire senses weren't necessary to hear it. "Fine. We're looking for a nice little restaurant, okay? Italian, perhaps?" And yes, she also was tired since it was late afternoon and she was awake for almost twenty-four hours. But she had never felt more alive and Katerina didn't want to waste the time she was given.
"Let's use room service instead, alright? I know you don't want to, but please. For me. Plus, Elijah wouldn't approve it if you die on my watch. I like my life, you know?" If Nadia was honest, she couldn't care less what Elijah thought; he had no right to worry about her mother. But she knew for sure that he would kill her if she didn't prevent Katerina's death. Not to mention that she wouldn't want to stop him, if it had been her fault.
Katerina groaned. "Fine. You order something, I'll take a shower. Need to scrub this hospital smell away." Then she would go shopping the next day. Only a little bit of fluttering eyelashes and Elijah wouldn't dare to turn her down. Who knew where he would bring them?
Although she had to admit enjoying the warm water on her skin. The bathroom was decorated in a clear style; uncomplicated white marble, big mirror and clean taps without so much as a fingerprint. Katerina felt how the stress fell off her shoulders for the moment. She was glad to escape Damon's impending revenge for now, hoping that she could pay him back once she was a vampire again. Or at least when she didn't age anymore.
It was around noon in Mystic Falls but here in London the night already lurked at the edge of the sky. Even if Katerina wouldn't fess up to Nadia being right, but she was too tired to go shopping right now. She hated flying, always did, and the champagne did have its effect on her. But a quick shower and something to eat should settle her lightly spinning head. Katerina could not help but think about Elijah. How did he know? She was virtually sure Damon had informed Klaus; not coercively to kiss his ass but simply to make dying harder for her. However he would never have told Elijah and she couldn't imagine Klaus telling his brother either. So who then? Not Nadia. Her daughter clearly wasn't too impressed by Elijah's charms and she couldn't blame her. Not Caroline, either. She liked the blonde although her crush on Klaus was something Katerina didn't fully understand, but she wouldn't contact Elijah. Apart from them there was only Stefan who could have talked to the original. But would he? And the better question: why should he? Sure, he had been nice to her since she was dying, even tried to make it easier for her. But consoling her and saving her life were two quite different things. She wouldn't deny it: she had done some terrible things. Partly to survive and partly just because she could do it. Stefan had no reason to save her, especially since his friends wouldn't be to happy about it. It was something, Katerina really hat to figure out.
Turning the shower off, she slipped into the bathrobe that hung on a hook beside the mirror. The dark blue cloth was smooth, as were the towel she used to dry her hair. There was a hairdryer but Katerina wasn't in the mood for it. Beside her there was only Nadia in this suite and her daughter really did see her worse. It felt almost like freedom to not worry over her style. Sure, she liked to tart herself up and until she wasn't sure Elijah was absolutely honest with her, he wouldn't see her like this, but right now she didn't want to wonder if she had to be Katerina, Katherine or even Elena. She just wanted to be.
Nadia hadn't been idle while she was in the bathroom. Diverse plates with food had been brought in and on the bed even was something that seemed like shopping bags of the one or other designer. Nadia had been standing at the window and now turned around to look at her. "I didn't know what you would like, so I chose a little bit of everything. And since you wanted some new clothes, I ordered them. The hotel service really is good I have to admit. Size should be fitting, otherwise I'm sure they take it back."
"Elijah's credit card?" Katerina asked while looking through the bags. Nadia again proved herself her daughter. The clothes were magnificent and similar to her style: rather dark colours like black, blue and purple, tight jeans, a pair of heels and one of boots for the chillier days that awaited them. Katerina hoped to get the opportunity to wear them.
"Of course his credit card." Nadia frowned and crossed her arms. "Do you like them? I thought it a reasonable compromise for arguing with you doesn't help at all."
Katerina sighed and nodded. "I do like them. And we both get what we wanted, so why should I complain? Besides, it shows me once more you really are my daughter through and through. Present someone with a fait accompli and don't bother the consequences. Good. I just hope you brought something for yourself since you don't have to pay for it."
A mischievous smile appeared on Nadia's lips. "Needless to ask." She sauntered over to the plates and picked up some grapes. "Help yourself, the chicken gets cold. Do you have any idea, where Elijah wants to go? When he talked, it seemed as if you should know the place."
Katerina shrugged, dropped the shopping bags onto the floor and chose some of the cheese. "It's not like I was on vacation with him in the past. The only time I know of when we were simultaneously in England was in 1492, roughly. Most time I spend at Klaus's court at Hever Castle in Kent. Not far from here. Originally the Boleyns owned it, but I guess that didn't stop him. I wouldn't put it past Elijah that he bought it. Or required it in another form. Maybe his witch lives near, I don't know. What I do know, is that I won't wear a corset. I've had enough of them for the rest of my life, trust me." She flopped onto the sofa and sighed. It was silent for a while until Katerina spoke again. "Have you been to Bulgaria lately?"
"No." Nadia sat down on the armchair let her legs dangle over the side. "Don't get me wrong, I want to see home again. But the last centuries I was too occupied with looking for you. Maybe when everything is settled. We could go together. If it has to be, we could even take Elijah. It's not like I have to talk with him or anything"
"I haven't been there, either. After I found my family slaughtered, I never returned but for searching you. When I didn't find you, I turned my back to the past and moved on. But... Only to have considered the worst case scenario, I want you to bring me to Bulgaria. If I have to be buried, I want to be buried there." Katerina didn't look her daughter into the eyes while talking. She would rather not be dead-dead but you could seldom choose. And at some point she eventually wanted to go home.
Nadia only nodded. Even she had considered the possibility of losing her mother again, but she wouldn't let it happen easily.
"There is something that's on my mind for quite a while", Katerina admitted, mostly to change the subject. "With Elena being alive, you had to have a child. What happened to my grandchild?"
Nadia turned stony-faced away. "I gave birth to her and gave her to my younger sister, before I started looking for you. Honestly I don't want to talk about it right now."
Katerina stayed quiet while studying her daughter's face. It hurt her that she obviously was hurt in the past, but at present Katerina wouldn't push her further. "I had a younger sister, too. Deniza was much better-behaved than I could ever become. She was sweet and kind and she always laughed. But she cried when Father send me away and I had to promise her to send letters regularly. I don't know if she ever got them but it felt good writing everything down. When we were little, we always dreamed of adventures. We built forts in the wood and played all day until mother decided we had to behave like proper woman. What it meant was basically that we had to learn everything a wife in Bulgaria had to know. Little of that came in handy in England later." She shrugged and pulled herself up to get another bite of the cheese. "When you say younger sister, you mean adoptive younger sister I assume."
"No, not quite." Nadia cleared her throat. "More like younger half-sister. It seems that your father brought me straight to my father back then. He already had a wife and a son who was two years older than me. I knew that I was different because his wife never liked my, but I think I was about thirteen when he first told me the whole story of you. I decided to search for you, but he wouldn't allow it until I was old enough. But then I did go."
"Wow. I wouldn't have thought that my father would bring you there. I mean, I told him Hristo's name, but still. And I'm sorry that your stepmother couldn't love you the way she should. The way I had should." Katerina had known, that Hristo already had been wed; he had told her himself after she confessed to being pregnant. She hoped that he at least had been there for his daughter. "I guess that's why you were still in touch with Travellers as a vampire. Usually witches of any kind want nothing to do with vampires."
Nadia nodded. "Father understood that I had to search you, so he brought me in contact with a vampire. So I started. Even if my stepmother was a bitch, I had a father and siblings who loved me. And I knew somewhere I had a mother who loved me, too. That was enough."
Okay, the ending maybe happend to be a tiny bit cheesy, but I loved the bonding-time (after spending Elijah's money, but who could blame the girls?) What do you say to this part of Nadia's history?