After the wedding ended, everyone headed back to the house to change for the reception.

"So where are you going on your honeymoon?" Anna asked Selina. "You never told me."

"Paris," Selina said. "Just like the good old days, only this time he won't stick me on a boat and send me away."

"Speaking of 'the good old days,' Anna said, "You should take some of the time you're there to ease Elijah into finding out about your past, you know? Because I assume you haven't told him all of it yet?"

"Of course not," Selina shook her head. "He still thinks that Lonely Heart was someone else that made me her unwilling goon."

Anna burst out laughing. "That is hysterical! But you know you have to tell him everything some time."

"I will," Selina said. "Just not now."

"That's why I think you should ease him into it," Anna said. "So he's not blindsided by everything at once."

"I'm not going to spend my honeymoon telling Elijah how evil I was," Selina said. "That's just not gonna happen!"

"Who's gonna watch Lucy?" Anna asked. "Do you want Stefan and me to?"

Selina nodded. "If you would, thanks."

"Do you want me to keep a lookout for Nicky and if he comes to visit, send him away?" Anna said.

Selina shook her head. "I know he's going to come by your house while I'm gone, and as long as somebody's there when he's visiting Lucy, it's okay. You don't have to send him away."

"All right," Anna nodded. "He and Stefan went out and did something today. It was Stefan's idea."

"Helping Roxie with her campaign?" Selina asked. "That seems to be their cause for the moment." She went into her closet and slipped on a dress that would allow her to move and could get messy without it being such a tragedy.

"It's cause of Sam and Lucy," Selina said when Anna gave her a questioning look. "You never know what two year olds will get into."

When they got back to the yard for the reception later that day, everyone seemed to be in the mood to party. Nothing went wrong until they brought the cake out. Selina and Elijah obliged everyone and fed each other pieces as was expected, but afterward, things went downhill, at least in Amelia's eyes. It all began when they heard a shriek as people ate their cake. Selina turned just in time to see Sam shove a piece of cake right against Lucy's face and put a fistful of caky frosting in her curly blonde hair. In turn, Lucy climbed onto a chair, grabbed another unattended piece of cake and threw it at Sam.

"Aren't you going to go over there and stop them?" Elijah asked. "Lucy could hurt Sam badly. You do remember that, don't you?"

"It's just cake," Selina said. "If they start throwing punches, sure I'll intervene, but for now it seems like they're having more fun than we are." She looked him over. "I wish you would have changed you clothes," she said. "Don't you own anything that doesn't need to be dry-cleaned?"

Elijah shook his head. "As a matter of fact, I don't, so if you were thinking of doing to me what Sam and Lucy are doing, I would advise against it."

Selina rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said. "Get into the spirit of things, would you? No one's eating any more cake anyway, and we don't want to let it go to waste."

"How is throwing it any better?" Elijah asked.

Selina shrugged. "I don't know. It just is." She picked up a plate and aimed the piece of cake at her mother, who turned just in time to be hit square in the face with it. Not being able to see who'd done the throwing, she aimed blindly and hit Selina's father, who in turn hit her back and pretty soon, everyone was throwing cake and other food at each other.

"Well, this is nice," Elijah said. "Just the dignity we wanted."

"Oh, come on," Selina said. "Lighten up, would you?" She threw a pice of cake at him and it hit him square in the face. He wiped whipped cream frosting out of his eyes and glared at her. "What did you do that for?" He asked.

"I don't know," she said, taking his hand and getting some whipped cream onto his finger and sucking it off. He tensed. "Are you all right?" She asked, grinning.

Elijah cleared his throat and went to pull Lucy off of Sam. "I think it's about time we ended this," he said. Lucy let of a shriek of anger, but Elijah's firm hold on her calmed her down. "Get Sam," he said to Selina, who picked up her son and carried him into the house after Elijah.

"I think we should give them both baths before we send them on their way," Elijah said, looking at Selina over Lucy's head. "Don't you think so?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "Otherwise the bees might get way too interested, and we don't want that." She looked Elijah over. "And you might want to give yourself a rinse too. Do you want to do it alone, or do you need my help?"

"You've helped me quite enough, thank you," he said. "I can manage on my own."

"Oh, come on!" Selina called as he carried Lucy off to the bathroom. "I was only fooling. Can't you take a joke?"

They didn't have any trouble getting either of the kids clean, and when Elijah came out with Lucy, Selina held one of her children's hands in each of hers and marched them out to the car. Elijah stayed home. "You're going to stay at Aunt Anna's while we're on vacation," she said to Sam and Lucy. "Try to be good and not kill each other, all right?"

Lucy looked a little sad. "Okay." Sam just nodded. When they arrived at Anna and Stefan's, Anna opened the door immediately. "Two for the price of one," she said, looking down at them.

"Look," Selina said, "I could always drop Lucy off at your mother's if you think it'll be too much for you."

"Oh, no," Anna said as she gestured for the three of them to come in. "We've handled the two of them together before. It's a healthy challenge."

Selina grinned. "Well, if you're sure."

Anna nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. Now will you just go? I know there are things you'd rather be doing than standing here talking to me."

"Well, I didn't want to be rude," Selina said. "But since you brought it up..."

"Go," Anna repeated. "Or I will throw you out myself."

"All right, all right," Selina put up her hands and backed out the door and down the front steps, and then ran to her car when Anna wasn't looking out the window anymore. Then she put her foot on the gas pedal and raced home.

When Selina got inside, she didn't see anyone right away. "Elijah?" She called. "Are you here? Did you go out? I know I got back fast, but I obeyed all the traffic signs, I promise." She hadn't obeyed any of the traffic signs actually, and had in fact had to compel a cop that had pulled her over to go along his merry way and not give her a ticket. It had been her only option; he never would have understood that she was driving so fast because she really wanted to go home and have sex. So she'd done what she'd had to do.

She cleared her throat and called out again. "Elijah? Where are you?"

Just then, he came striding out of the side hallway, grabbed her by the arms and backed her up against the wall. He wasn't wearing a shirt. "What took you so long?" He asked. He was breathing hard and his eyes looked crazy, but at least all the cake frosting was cleaned off him.

"But it didn't take me long," Selina protested. "I was going so fast I had to compel my way out of a ticket and everything!"

He put a hand over her mouth. "Stop talking!" He barked. "I don't want to hear another word out of you."

She frowned and tried to speak around his hand, but nothing came out. Then, he took his hand off her mouth and kissed her deeply. When he pulled away, she felt as if all the breath had been sucked from her body. She gazed at him, swallowed. then hesitantly reached out to stroke his abs with shaking fingers.

He moaned leaned forward to kiss her again, reaching one hand up to run his fingers through her hair. The other he snuck under her blouse and around to her back where he undid the clasp of her bra and then slipped it off and threw it on the floor, then slowly stroked her breasts with the tips of his fingers after pulling off her shirt. He lowered her to the floor and began rapidly kissing her neck. She moaned and then he moved his hand up her thigh and under her skirt to rub her panties. She moaned loudly and wiggled her hips to get her skirt off and then let out a squeal as his lips touched the hot skin of her inner thighs.

"You're doing this on purpose," she breathed. "What would your good twin say?"

He grinned wickedly at her and slipped off her panties. As his tongue entered her, she bucked forward again and again and again. Just when she thought she'd get a break, he got up on his knees and unzipped his pants, his manhood jutting proudly from behing his zipper. The sight of it made Selina's eyes widen and she let out a pleased moan. He let her stroke him for a moment or so before he impaled her to the hilt, making the whole room (even if it was actually just a few of the windows) shatter around her.

Eventually, they had to stop and take a break. They were both covered in sweat and breathing hard. "You're really mean, you know that?" She said when she turned to face him.

"What makes you say that?" He said, moving a damp strand of her dark hair off her right eye. "I would say I'm pretty nice, considering what I just did for you."

Selina scoffed. "Oh, please. Don't act like you didn't need that as much as I did. I don't believe that for a second. You may be a highly evolved man, but you're still a man."

He nodded. "And you may be a highly evolved woman, but you're still a woman. And if I've learned one thing over the years its that deep down, all women are the same. They all want the same things: love and marriage. And you've got them, so why is it that you still act like you did years ago, being proud and stingy? If a man makes love to you and you like it, it's all right to say so."

Selina shook her head. "What would it matter?" She asked. "You're so busy praising yourself I doubt you'd even notice."

He put his fist to his chest. "You just put a knife in my heart," he said. "It hurt me so much," he said sarcastically.

Selina narrowed her eyes. "Oh, shut up!" She got up to go reach for her skirt, but he pulled her back down again. "What's the rush?" he asked, nibbling on her ear.

"Well, don't we have somewhere we need to be?" Selina asked. "Or were we planning on spending our entire honeymoon having sex on the floor of our living room?"

Elijah heaved an exaggerated sigh. "I suppose you do have a point," he said. He looked her over. "Although I will say you look much better this way." He came to stand behind her, running his fingers down her bare back.

Selina grinned. "I tell you that all the time, but you don't listen. It's all 'clothes this' and 'clothes that.' Humor me a bit when we get to Paris, will you?"

"Maybe," he whispered in her ear. "If you behave yourself."

She grinned. "You never want me to behave myself. Admit it," she said cheekily. She picked her clothes up off the floor and began putting them on while Elijah did the same.

Elijah said, "So are Sam and Lucy safely away?"

Selina nodded. "Now do we go and get the plane and go to Paris?"

"Almost," Elijah said. "Alistair called while you were gone. He wants us to come by so he can give us our wedding present."

"Oh, how thoughtful," Selina said. "I wonder what he got us. I hope it wasn't a toaster oven. We have like, three of those, although I have no idea why."

"I believe it's more imaginitive than a toaster oven," Elijah said. Just then, the phone rang. Selina went to answer it and the conversation ended after less than a minute. "That was Alistair," she told Elijah. "He says that our present is on the boat, when we arrive there."

"Are we taking a boat? I thought we'd be taking the plane," Selina said.

Elijah shrugged. "Well, I suppose we could take a plane, but I thought a boat would be more pleasant. It's up to you, though."

Selina shook her head. "I don't mind. If Alistair says our present is on the boat, then we should take the boat."

"And do you want to leave now?" Elijah asked her. "I don't see anything preventing us since Sam and Lucy have been sent off to Anna and Stefan's."

"Well, all right," Selina said. "Let's go!"

When they arrived at the boat, everything was silent. "Yours is nicer than Nicky's," Selina observed as Elijah helped her down into it. "Very elegant yet homey."

He grinned. "That's what I was going for," he said. But as they entered onto the boat, something happened. The room began to shift and twist. There was a jolt. Selina fell and hit her head on the wooden edge of a small table next to the sofa. She sat up woozily and reached for Elijah. "Something's happened," she said. "Something very strange. I don't know what..." She lay back down and closed her eyes again.

"What seemed like several hours later, she heard a voice and felt air on her face. "Are you all right?" Elijah's voice asked. "You fell." He picked her up and put her on the sofa.

"Did you see the weird thing that happened here?" She asked. "Everything was all shifty and twisty and-" She looked around the room, now covered in art deco furnishings when it hadn't been before. "Where are we?" She asked.

Elijah handed her the note he'd found on the breakfast table. "It's from Alistair," he said. "Would you like me to read it to you?"

Selina put her hand on her head as Elijah brought her some ice. "Sure," she said. "Why not?"

Elijah took the note back from her and cleared his throat. "Elijah, you told me that you were taking Selina to Paris for your honeymoon and that gave me the idea for your gift. I have always believed that the two of you were separated too soon, although I wouldn't go so far as to say the wrong decision was made by either you or Selina. It was an unfortunate situation for everyone. However, I have decided to temporarily give you a chance to see what life would have been like if you would have been able to stay together. When you arrive in Paris, you will see the the city as it was when you left it behind so many years ago, rather than it is today. It's only temporary, however. When your honeymoon ends, so will your time in the twenties. Do with it what you will. I hope you enjoy it, and be sure to say 'hello' when you see me.

I wish you all the happiness in the world and hope you'll be able to meet with Astrid and me for dinner sometime when you return.

Alistair."

"Well, that's sweet," Selina said. "I really didn't expect him to get us anything, considering how weirded out he was when he found out we were together." She took the note from him and read it over. "This is so cool! We're in the twenties now! He's giving us a chance to fix what we screwed up before!"

Elijah sat down next to her and took Alistair's note. "I really don't think that's what he means," he said. "I don't think we'll be changing history. We just...get a repeat of what we were like back then."

They heard a horn honk and Elijah said he was going to go see the captain to ask where they were headed.

"We know where we're headed," Selina said. "Paris. Alistair's spell wouldn't make us go to a completely different place."

"Well, maybe you can help guide me through this," Elijah said to her. He looked overwhelmed. "You seem to understand what Alistair's done better than I do."

Selina shrugged and shook her head. "No, I'm as clueless as you are, but unlike you, I can go with the flow. Surprises like this don't throw me out of whack. This is just an adventure for me. If you'll just lighten up, I swear things will be easier for you."

Just then, there was a knock on the stateroom door. Selina called for the person on the other side to come in, and it appeared to be a steward with a bottle of wine and two glasses. "Will you be wanting this now?" He asked them. "Or should I wait until later?"

"Oh, we'll take it now," Selina said. "Thank you."

He nodded and put it and the two glasses down on the table, pouring some white wine in each glass before nodding briefly to them and exiting the room without a word.

Selina handed Elijah his glass and then took hers. Elijah eyed the wine nervously. "I don't see what your problem is," she said. "You've dealt with witches before. You've seen magic performed. Alistair knows what he's doing. I'm sure everything will be just perfect. We should be grateful that he didn't have Helene do it. With that slipshod finger of hers, who knows where we might have ended up?" She giggled and took a sip. "Oh, this is good," she said. "Elijah go on and try it. I think you'll like it."

Gingerly, Elijah brought the glass his lips and took a small sip. "You're right," he said. "It is quite good." He watched her drink hers, grinning the whole time. He then took up the bottle and asked her to push her glass back toward him. "Would you like some more?" He asked.

She nodded. "Sure," she said. "I wouldn't mind another glass. How sweet of you to ask. Or is it?" She grinned.

"Well, I assure you that my intentions are entirely honorable," he said.

She grinned. "Well, that's a shame, really. I would be perfectly all right with it if they weren't." She downed her second glass rather quickly. When she reached for a third, Elijah held the bottle out of her reach.

"No, no," he said. "Remember what happened with our engagement champagne. Do you really want what happened then to happen again?"

She grinned and shook her head, taking off her skirt and her top and ambling towards him, pushing him back on the bed. "No, I don't want what happened with the engagement champagne to happen again," she said. She straddled him and brought her lips down to his. "If I'm gonna make you happy," she said, "I wanna remember it. Just like you will for the rest of your life!" With surprising dexterity, she undid all the buttons on his shirt and ran her hands up and down his stomach. Then, her hips grinded against him and he let out a moan that made her grin widely before she slowly unzipped him, pulling off his trousers and throwing them in a crumpled heap at the foot of the bed. Then she leaned down and began slowly licking up and down him. He just leaned back, shut his eyes and let himself enjoy it. After awhile, though, he was so full of need that he moaned and leaned forward to kiss her again, reaching one hand up to run his fingers through her hair. The other he snuck around to her back where he undid the clasp of her bra and then slipped it off and threw it on the floor slowly stroking her breasts with the tips of his fingers.

She grinned. "Seems like you want a turn, huh, Tiger?"

He nodded and she moved off him so he could put her underneath him. He kissed under her jaw and down her neck before giving each of her nipples a squeeze. The pain was shocking, but wonderful, and when he swished his tongue around her belly button, Selina felt warmth invade her entire body. He ran his hands and tongue over her thighs and when he brought his tongue inside her, she squirmed violently. She wanted to scream. Her body was filled with need for him. "Come inside me!" She whispered desperately. "You're killing me!"

But he just smirked. Even as he licked her, he kept his eyes on her face. That smug sparkle in his eye and that know-it-all grin he wore were repulsive to her, and made her want to kill him, but at the same time, they were both so arousing that-

She didn't have time for another thought as he pushed into her and they became one. She let out a shriek of ecstasy and gripped him tightly. His hands were all over her body and it seemed like she didn't have a bone left in her. She was languid and warm and weak. All she could do was gasp for air as the world came back into focus again.

He was smirking again as he loomed over her. "Are you all right?" He asked her.

All she could do was nod. He detached himself and suggested she turn over so he could rub her back. "Maybe you should rest now," he said. "We still have lots of time in Paris. You don't want to wear yourself out too early."

She grinned and sat up. "Well, you know that island you and Nicky and I got Roxie and Vince from? My sexual stamina is legendary there! Or have you forgotten that?"

Elijah leaned forward and whispered with his lips right against her ear. "I might have forgotten," he said. "But I can't wait to be reminded."

When they finally arrived in Paris, it was early morning. The sky was still dark and a crescent moon lit their way as they parked the car in the garage and went inside.

"It's a warm night," Selina said. "Do we really want to waste it in here?"

"What else would we do?" Elijah asked. "Aren't you tired by now? It's almost three in the morning."

Selina shook her head and went to open the floor-length, gold brocade curtains. "Of course not," she said. "I'm still very much awake." She turned abruptly to face him. "What would you say to a swim? I see a pool out there."

"Well, there's no one around to bring the suitcases in," Elijah said. "Everyone is asleep and we should be too!"

"We don't need the suitcases," Selina said. "It's just water. Only prudes wear bathing suits in the water."

She stripped off her clothes one last time and pulled the glass sliding door to the deck open. "Come on," she said, grinning. "I'll race you!"

"Wait a minute!" He called after her. She turned around to face him. "What?" She asked. "Don't try and tell me that we have to go to sleep instead. It's not going to happen!"

Elijah shook his head. "No, it's not that." He strode up to her and boldly looked her over. "I just need one last burst of energy to follow you into the pool," he said, stripping off his clothes and following her in. She ran eagerly and then paused at the edge, a fine tremor suddenly going through her body.

"I was wondering when you were going remember that you were afraid of water," Elijah said. "Or is your fear selective? Like sometimes you are and sometimes you aren't?"

She cleared her throat, but didn't look at him, her eyes still locked on the clear blue water in the pool. "Well, it depends," she said quietly. "When I suggested we go for a swim, I really meant sexy time in the water, which isn't really the same thing as swimming. If you're holding on to me, there's a much slighter chance that I'll drown."

Elijah decided to humor her and got into the pool first, helping her ease slowly into the water, then holding on to her as they let the cool water cradle their naked bodies. She lay her head on his shoulder, her eyes turned up toward the stars.

"So this was your house back then?" Selina asked. "I'm starting to remember. I'd forgotten. But I never knew you had a pool! Are there other things around here that I don't know about?"

"Well, I didn't tell you about the pool or the bar or anything else that you'd consider fun because you were a very impressionable young lady back then, and any hint that I was fun would have taken you off the straight and narrow path I worked so hard to put you on."

"I hate to break it to you," Selina said. "But it wasn't you that inspired me to be good. It was the threat of your father. It was your encouragement that helped me stick to the goal, though. If I didn't have your example to follow, I'd have probably been a goner a long time ago."

Elijah nodded. "I don't doubt that," he said. "Even right from the beginning, you've always thought you could handle everything, even when it was obvious you couldn't..."

It had been a day just like any other day, and now it was ending. People were getting done with work and heading home to their families for a nice quiet dinner and a relaxing evening. The air was calm and quiet. Elijah walked down the street, stopping for a moment to admire a juggler that was amusing a crowd of onlookers before walking on. It was impossible to find a taxi at this time of day, so he usually avoided going into the city around closing time, but today, it had been unavoidable: Anna had dragged him to some new film, The Jazz Singer, that was supposedly remarkable because it had sound and people talking! She'd been impressed, but he hadn't. It had been a complete waste of his time.

Just then, there was the sound of a crash followed by a high-pitched squeal. It sounded like there had been an accident. The noise was coming from nearby. The shrieking continued, which made it easy for Elijah to locate the person doing the shrieking. He found her in the middle of a street, struggling with a man who was attempting to take her purse. Her too-short skirt also had a rip in it and blood seeped from a wound in her thigh. Otherwise, she seemed unscathed. He watched in amusement as Sera wrestled the unfortunate purse snatcher and, Elijah presumed, attempted rapist, to the ground and began pummeling him. After a bit, however, he cleared his throat.

"What?" She asked him, looking up. "If you're here for the reason I think you are, you can keep moving. I've got this under control."

"Are you sure?" he asked. "That cut looks painful. Don't get me wrong, but I heard your shrieking from two streets over and it sounded like you were in some sort of distress."

Sera grunted as she knocked the scrawny, watery-eyed man under his jaw. "I'm a woman who's in distress, but I can handle this. Have a nice day." She turned away dismissively, but he didn't leave as she expected him to.

"That cut looks very painful," he said. "And your dress, it's ruined. If you come home with me, I can help you. Maybe let you rest a bit. And I can run over to Niklaus' to get you another dress to change into."

"Well, isn't that a sweet offer?" Sera asked, smirking. Then she sobered. "What's in it for you? You wanna cuddle a little before you give me my new dress?"

"No!" Elijah said, looking horrified. "I just want to make sure you're all right. You've just been through something very unpleasant and you should have someone make sure you're safe. Please just come with me. After you've changed, I'll send you back to Niklaus' or whatever you want. But I can't in good conscience leave you out here like this. I can't and I won't." He held out his hand. "So will you come?"

She took his hand and looked up at him with something like wonder. "What are you?" She asked him. "You're not a man, that's for sure. You're too nice. In my experience, men understand 'no' as meaning 'yes' and 'get lost' as meaning 'take me, I'm yours'. None of the men I've met have ever actually...cared about me."

"Not even Niklaus?" Elijah asked. "I'll talk to him about that."

Sera shook her head. "Oh, no. You don't have to do that. I'm okay with how things are between Nicky and me. It's good enough, I guess for a woman who made the mistake of falling in love with the wrong type of man to begin with. It seems to be all I'm good for."

To his surprise, a few tears squeezed out of her eyes. "Are you all right?" he asked. "Why are you crying?" He paused. "Well, that's a ridiculous question, isn't it? You want something that you're clearly not getting."

She nodded. "Well, it's not like I deserve what I want, anyway. I've done too many bad things to deserve love."

"Oh, I'm sure you're exaggerating," Elijah said. "You may be rough around the edges, but that doesn't mean that you aren't worthy of love. Now let's not talk any more about this and go home to get you cleaned up."

"What?" Selina asked when she noticed that Elijah was looking down at her.

"Nothing," he said. "I was just thinking about back then. Or now. However you want to look at it. You know, I've always wondered what you meant when you told me you'd done too many bad things to deserve love."

"Oh," Selina giggled nervously. "I was talking about the Lonely Heart thing," she said. "You know, how she took me and forced me to be her unwilling apprentice?"

"So she did!" Elijah said. "Why didn't you just tell me that from the beginning?"

She shrugged. "I don't know! I just had no idea how you'd react!"

"Well if it wasn't your fault, if you were forced into working for Lonely Heart, you have nothing to worry about. It was smart of you to want to leave town to get away from her then," Elijah said. "Those last two murders she forced you to commit were particularly brutal. No wonder my father caught on to you."

Selina suddenly froze, then got out of the circle of Elijah's arms, swimming to the water's edge and boosting herself out of the pool and putting on her clothes. "I'm tired," she said. "I think I want to go to sleep."

Elijah got out of the pool and followed her, but she didn't acknowledge him until they were both in the bedroom. "What's the matter?" Elijah asked. "Was it something I said?"

Selina sighed and shook her head, stripping off her clothes, putting on a rose-colored night-gown and getting into bed. "I have to tell you something about the murders that put your father on my trail: Lonely Heart didn't have me commit those. They were done by someone else. I tried to explain once, but no one believed me." She lay down on her pillow. "Can we not talk about this anymore?" She asked. "It's not something I like to think about."

He nodded. "Of course," he said, turning off the light and getting into bed beside her. "Good night," he whispered. "Sleep well."

The next morning, Selina grudgingly shuffled to the kitchen after Elijah opened the blinds and practically pulled her out of bed.

"So what would you like to do today?" He asked her. "Any ideas?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Well," she said, "I wouldn't mind getting some more sleep."

Elijah looked at the clock on the wall. "It's noon," he said. "Pick something else. Anything at all. Anything in this whole city."

Selina thought a moment. "I really don't know," she said. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well," Elijah said, "I was thinking that maybe we could go shopping."

"Shopping?" Selina repeated. That wasn't what she'd expected at all. "Why? Do you need a new suit or something?"

"You'll see," he said, a smile curving his lips. He called out a name and a man in a black driver's uniform and hat came into the room. "I will go prepare the car," he said. "Where will we be going?"

"To the shopping district," Elijah said. The driver nodded and scampered off, and then, after she'd dressed, Elijah told Selina to shut her eyes and led her out to the car, helping her in the backseat. After a bit of driving, and Elijah constantly telling Selina that she had to keep her eyes closed, they arrived at their destination and he helped Selina out of the car, telling the driver to wait. They stopped in front of the first store and Selina opened her eyes. "Chanel?" She gave him a strange look. "But this is a women's store! Are you trying to tell me something?"

He nodded. "Yes. See anything you want and I'll get it for you."

Selina's eyes widened. "Oh, my god. You aren't serious, are you?" She felt faint but managed to keep herself upright.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I am. Just a little surprised, that's all. Look, it's a really nice offer, but you don't have to."

"I know," he said. "I want to."

She blinked and took a deep breath, sitting down on a chair at the cafe next door. "I need to think about this," she said. "I know you mean well, but I just..."

He sat down across from her. "It's all right," he said. "If you don't want to, we won't. It was just an idea. I thought it would be a nice surprise for you."

She looked up at him. "Just a minute," she said. "Shush. I might be able to work through this."

"Do you need to go back to the car?" Elijah asked.

"No," Selina shook her head and stood up. "Let's keep walking so I can at least see what's in the windows for when I finally come around."

Elijah looked at her oddly but took her hand and led her down the street. She looked in the windows, but didn't say anything, instead muttering words he couldn't quite understand under her breath.

Selina for her part, knew Elijah was there, but had other things on her mind, other people she needed to deal with. Well, they weren't people necessarily, but they were problems whatever they were. On either side of her stood a girl and a woman. Both were herself. The girl wore a lavender hoopskirted gown and had her hair up in ringlets, while the woman's hair was blonde and cut short and she wore a black, fringed dress that ended just below her knees.

"Why are you here?" Selina asked them under her breath. "Go away!"

"It's not that simple," the hoopskirted her said.

"True," the other nodded. "We're here because we're worried about you."

"There's nothing to worry about!" Selina whispered through her teeth. "Go away."

"Are you sure?" The flapper asked. "He told you he wanted to buy you things. How can that not worry you? How many times have men told you that you're the best and they want to buy you pretty things, and then next thing you know, you're in their bed when the wife they conveniently forgot to tell you about comes home unexpectedly and finds you naked with her husband under the covers?"

"Elijah wouldn't do that!" Selina said. "Besides, we're married already. This is our honeymoon!"

She looked angrily at the hoopskirted girl. "And just what's your problem?" She asked what seemed to be the fourteen-year-old version of herself. "Are you upset that Elijah wants to buy me things too?"

"Well, that depends," she said. "Is his mother dead?"

Selina shook her head. "No, she's still alive."

"Is she scary?" The teenager pressed.

"Oh, yes," Selina nodded. "Beyond all reason, sometimes."

"Well, there you go," the girl said. "He might like you now that you're here, but how do you know that he's not just offering to buy you all this stuff as a way to pacify you so that you don't complain when he leaves you with his scary mother while he goes off on adventures and sees other women behind your back?"

"That wouldn't happen," Selina said, locking eyes with the teenager. "Elijah's no James McIntyre, or whatever that son of a bitch's name was that wanted to take you out from under Damon's nose. He's a good man and I love him. He's not up to anything. He just wants me to be happy. So the two of you can take your cynicism and and your doubt and stick it where the sun don't shine, because I'm tired of hearing it!"

They disappeared and Selina felt a touch on her shoulder. "Are you all right?" Elijah asked her. "You've been muttering under your breath and looking angry and I was beginning to get worried."

Selina shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Well, now I am. I just had to give myself a little pep talk, that's all."

Elijah nodded, hugging her to him. "Well, as long as you're all right," he said. It was then her eye caught sight of a dress in a store window. It was light blue and the bodice was covered with silver webbing. "Could I have that?" She asked him.

He nodded. "Of course." They went into store and he waited while she tried on the dress (which just happened to fit her perfectly).

"Would you like to wear it out?" The saleslady asked her.

"Sure," Selina said. "I can do that?"

The woman nodded. "of course." She rang up the price on a cash register, Elijah paid and Selina skipped out of the store with him following behind her. Then she turned to face him. "I'm going to need shoes, you know. And maybe a necklace. But I'm not going to ask for too much, because-"

Elijah nodded, stopping her midsentence. " It's all right," he said. "We'll keep looking. You'll get everything you want."

But true to her word, Selina hadn't asked for much. Just the dress and then a diamond necklace and matching purse to go with it.

"Let's see the Louvre tomorrow," Selina said that night. "I'm in the mood to look at some art."

Elijah nodded. "All right. And before we leave we have to remember to go up to the top of the Eiffel tower too."

"Oh, do we have to?" Selina asked. "You do know how high that is, right?"

He nodded. "I do. But I'll be holding on to you the whole time and I promise I won't let you go. If we don't go, you'll just be depriving yourself of one of the most beautiful views in the world."

She grinned and got into bed. "I keep waiting for Nicky to come barging in here and yell at us," she said. "But then I remember that he's gone, so he won't. Alistair picked a good time period, didn't he? We're in a place where nothing could go wrong."

Just then, the door burst open and Mikael strode in. He looked at Selina and he looked at Elijah, then a grin broke out over his face. "Well this is a nice development," he said to Elijah. "I've been chasing after this woman for years and finally, you put her in a position where she can't get away. Good job, son."

"Actually, Father," Elijah said, "That's not why we're here."

"Well, why else would you be?" Mikael asked. "I can't think of any others."

"Actually, it's because we're-" Elijah began, but Selina cut him off.

"We're here because I have something I want to say," Selina said. "You have it all wrong. I know what murders you're attemping avenge and Lonely Heart didn't even commit those. It was someone else. Someone who wanted to hide behind Lonely Heart's notoriety to conceal their own crimes. You should be looking for the real killer, not nosing around here chasing after someone who hasn't done anything."

Mikael scoffed. "You think you haven't done anything? Is that what you think? I beg to differ. Dozens of couples over the past ten years have been found dead with your signature on them. I can't just discount that." He grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her along with him. "You're coming with me," he said.

"No!" Selina strugged. "No, let me go!"

Elijah grabbed hold of her other arm and soon she was caught in a tug-of war between Elijah and his father.

"Let her go," Elijah said. "At least until you can prove your claims beyond a shadow of a doubt, which if you knew her at all, you'd realize you wouldn't be able to. She's a good woman."

Mikael let her go and pushed her into Elijah's arms. "All right," he said. "I'll give you a week. And if in week I'm not convinced of her innocence, I'm taking her with me. Is that understood, Elijah?"

Elijah looked down at Selina. "Yes, Father," he said quietly.

"All right," Mikael said, and left.

Selina sighed and sat down at the table again. "Well this totally isn't how I thought our honeymoon would go. He's not gonna move in here with us, do you think?"

"Don't worry about it," Elijah said. "Just stay on your best behavior, then he'll get bored and leave."

"I don't know," Selina said.

Elijah got up and went to grab the phone, carrying it over and dialing a number. "Hello, Alistair? We're having a bit of an emergency," he said. "Would you come to my house right away?"

When Alistair finally arrived, the first words out of his mouth were, "I was waiting for this to happen."

"You knew this was gonna happen!" Selina burst out. "Why in the world did you send us here if you knew his father was gonna show up?"

"Because I know you," Alistair said. "You're always going on and on about stuff that happened in the past that you wished could have been changed even if it wasn't for the best. Especially that first fiance of yours, Damon Salvatore. I don't think life would have been good for you if you'd stayed with him."

"Oh, don't I know it," Selina said. "I've already had that experience, thank you."

"And when Elijah told me that he was going to send you on the boat, I knew that that was something you'd dwell on as well, the both of you. Yes, it was sad that you had to part when things were going well, but at least I know and you know that being sent away kept you alive. Would you rather be happy for a short time and dead, or miserable for a short time and then happy for a long time?"

Selina sighed. "The second one, I guess. So now that we understand what you were up to with this little gift of yours, Alistair, what are we going to do about Mikael?"

"The only thing you can do," Alistair said. "Be on your best behavior until I figure out a way to deal with him. And I'll find one. I promise."