The girl lay on the floor, brown hair spread out in a fan across the wooden boards. A large wolf was at her side, nudging her gently with concern. Her eyelids flickered and she groaned softly. The wolf whined.

Her eyes opened. She sat up slowly, turning her head to take in every detail of the room. A slow smile spread across her lips. She stretched out her arms and gently caressed her skin, relishing in the sensation of warmth that enveloped her. It had been so long since she'd been able to feel like this… over a thousand years since she'd felt the sun on her skin and been present in her own body.

The wolf growled, watching her. She smiled and turned to him, reaching for him.

"My love… it has been too long." He recoiled from her sharply, snapping at her fingers. She looked hurt by his rejection. "My love, please. I know these are not ideal circumstances but soon enough I can restore your original body. I can return to mine, or I can remain in this one if you prefer it. We can be together. We have this opportunity, but I need to restore the balance first."

She got to her feet, letting out a groan of delight as she relished in the feel of her muscles. This body wasn't quite as welcoming as her old one, it lacked the familiar electric tingle of the magic in her veins. In the back of her mind she felt a strange buzzing sensation and when she tried to explore the recesses of the mind for anything that might be of use, she found herself oddly locked out. Perhaps the girl was stronger than she had anticipated…? No, that was ridiculous. It was simply a matter of adjusting to the limitations of this new body.

The wolf moved between her and the door, taking on a defensive position. She frowned. Could she really have been so easily usurped from his heart by… a child? A weak defenceless little girl? She was aware that he'd developed a softness for the girl but she didn't think he would have forsaken her so easily.

"Move!" The wolf snarled. She let out a noise of aggravation and flicked her hand at him with the intention of throwing him across the room. Nothing happened and she clenched her fists. She was beginning to get even more aggravated with this new form. The joy of having a body restored to her was quickly waning to be replaced with annoyance. Of all the bodies to take, naturally she would get stuck in the body of a useless teenager.

"Move Ansel!" she grabbed the wolf by the scruff of his neck and threw him as hard as she could. He didn't go far but he landed with a thump against the bed, momentarily dazed. She took hold of his limp body and dragged him to the bathroom.

"I'm sorry but this needs to be done. If you won't help me, then you can stay in here until it's over." She closed the door on him and turned back to the room. Her eyes came to rest on a ring box on the bedside table. She frowned and came over, picking it up. She opened the box and examined the delicate ring nestled inside.

"Oh my Elena… what have you done to my sons?" She sighed and put it back down. A scrap of paper with a few scribbles on it caught her eye instead. She read through, her frown growing. Directions for a bonding spell? "Well we can't have this…"

She tore the paper to pieces. Inside the bathroom, the wolf was making a fuss so she left the room quickly, looking around. She could faintly hear the sound of voices from downstairs. She felt an ache deep inside her, a long buried maternal instinct awakening. She wanted to go to them, to wrap her arms around them as she had done so many times in their youth.

But no… she had to focus on the task at hand. This was an opportunity, one that could not be wasted.

She looked down the hall and noted a door with two sentries posted outside. Surely…

She strode down the hall, trying to recall her observations of the girl. Even the slightest misstep could expose her and she could not allow that, not before her task was done. The two guards glanced at her and bowed their heads, stepping aside to let her in. Once again, she found herself marvelling at the amount of power this girl possessed. To bend vampires, witches and wolves to her will? It was unnatural. She almost laughed at that. Everything about the girl was unnatural, her very existence represented a flaw in the natural order of things.

She went inside the room. As she had expected, it was the nursery. She ran her fingers over the wooden furniture, the leather books, the soft down of the collection of plush animals, relishing in the contrast of textures.

From the cot, a soft wail arose. She stiffened slightly at the sound which stirred up a number of lost memories. She went to the cot and carefully lifted the infant into her arms. The child was beautiful, she could not deny that. She could see traces of Kol in her features and as she looked down at the baby, her heart fluttered for a moment. She closed her eyes, quelling the feelings growing inside of her. A breeze from an unseen source stirred her hair and she heard the faintest whisper of warning. She ignored it. The ancestors of New Orleans were powerful but she was not one of them, she was not bound by their laws and by taking a human body, they could not drive her from the mortal plane.

The door opened and she looked up sharply.

"Elena?"

At the sound of that voice she almost wept. Although she had made herself content over the centuries watching her children from the other side, she had never looked for Freya. At first it was because she told herself that Dahlia would have hidden her from view. As time passed, she was forced to admit to herself that it was her own fear that stopped her. She knew that seeing her daughter would bring her only pain, that seeing her suffer would make her own suffering infinitely greater. And if she looked and saw her happy? While that may have assuaged her guilt, it would have made her suffering grow for entirely different reasons. But seeing her now, in front of her, she couldn't keep the feelings at bay.

"Freya…" the word slipped out before she could stop herself.

"Are you alright? You don't look great."

"I'm… I'm fine."

"Okay… I was just going to feed the girls before I went to bed. I thought you were asleep, I know you've had some rough days."

"It's okay, I can do it. You run along." Freya gave her an odd look before handing over the bottles and leaving.

She settled into the rocking chair to feed them, taking her time. She knew she needed to wait until the building was quiet, if any of her children were awake there was a risk that they might hear something and stop her from doing what she needed to do. Had any of them looked in on her, they would have seen only a picture of domestic bliss that she was quite pleased at having constructed. The mother, her child nestled lovingly in her arms. It was a beautiful moment and one she was sure Elena would have appreciated.

Please don't do this.

The thought rose up from somewhere at the back of her mind and faded as quickly as it had appeared. She frowned. It was almost as though… but no, the girl was a simple human with no real power inherent in her. She certainly wasn't strong enough to resist the oblivion that had settled over the mind to make way for the possession.

The house grew silent and she rose from her seat, carefully holding both children in her arms. She left the room. The corridor was dark. The guards were gone for which she was grateful. No need to complicate matters further.

She went down to the courtyard. It was bathed in moonlight from the almost full moon, painting it in shades of silver. It didn't seem right. Dark deeds deserved shadows, darkened corners. A water feature was set against one wall, a stone lion spitting water into a pond. She sat on the low wall that surrounded the water and gently trailed her fingers over the smooth surface. One of the infants squirmed slightly in her arms, her eyes opening.

"Shhh child. Be still…"

She shifted so she was knelt on the wall. She closed her eyes, murmuring a silent prayer to the gods to forgive her.

Please Esther… please don't do this… they're just children!

She pushed the voice further back, burying it her in the shadowed recesses of her mind. She carefully lowered the children into the water. As the cold liquid soaked through their clothes, they began to squirm and whimper. She felt the familiar chill, the presence of a ghostly figure. She lifted her head and from the corner of her eye saw the figure of Genevieve standing nearby, watching her.

"Please Esther, these children are innocent. Do not do this!"

She ignored the young woman, gritted her teeth and submerged the infants. They struggled weakly, too small to really defend themselves. In the back of her mind she could hear Elena screaming, begging and pleading at her to stop. She ignored it, holding the tiny bodies under the water, watching the bubbles rise and waiting for the moment that they went limp.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered. "I'm sorry… but I must do this…"

In her hands, the children fell still, the bubbles stopped rising and their bodies went limp. Elena's begging had stopped and instead was replaced by a steady sobbing.

A/N: How much would you hate me if I went on a three year hiatus round about now?