Thank you for the reviews, favs and alerts :) Here are answers for your questions: yes, right now the body jumping spell would be her only way to have an adult's body. And about Owen, Eva might at some point find out what happened to him.

Blue eyes just smile to the world
Full of dreams and with fascination
Too soon she saw that her hands were chained
And pulled without any freedom

Within Temptation – Blue Eyes

Chapter 31

Father's love

I struggled to keep my eyes open; I had never felt so exhausted. Kol had placed me in front of him on his horse, my back was leaning against his chest and his arms were around me, I would have certainly fallen down without him. Neither of us had said a word after leaving from Agata's cottage, Klaus had ridden to the opposite direction with his witches and Arianna. I hadn't been able to really look at her, even though Klaus had compelled her as soon as I had been back in my own body. Now I was small again and I would most likely remain so for the rest of my life. Fortunately I had no strength left to worry about that now, I felt weak and dead tired.

"Are you alright, midg…Eva?" Kol asked.

"Sure," I murmured sleepily and leaned my head against his chest. "And you can call me midget if you want to, I am not offended."

"Good to know," he replied, trying to sound casual.

I truly hoped that I hadn't ruined our friendship; I didn't want things to be weird between us. I wasn't an idiot, I knew that the kiss we had shared had been simply an act of pity to him, just like it had been to Klaus, but to me those kisses had been much more, something to cherish and reminisce during the endless lonely nights. That was more than I could have asked for and I would just have to settle for that.

"Are we…still friends?" I asked quietly.

"What? Of course we are."

He sounded a little tense; I hoped that he meant what he said.

"You do not have to worry," I muttered. "I am not planning to harass you or anything; I want things to be like they were before."

He was quiet for a moment before replying.

"Listen, Eva, I want you to know that I am very, very flattered, you truly are a special girl…woman. In different circumstances, I would be more than honored to…"

I knew that he was trying to be polite, let me down easy or something like that, but his words didn't really help me, being turned down was never nice. Not that I had much experience about that, not since Owen. But in this case I could only blame myself; none of this would have happened if I would have kept my feelings to myself. Or better yet, not develop that kind of feelings at all. How easy it would be if one could simply choose what to feel.

"I love you, Eva," Kol sighed. "That will never change."

"I love you too," I murmured, my eyelids weighted a ton. "I am so tired…"

He tightened his embrace protectively, I didn't like being so weak and unable to defend myself, but I had no doubt that he would take me home safely. I was barely awake when we arrived to the villa; he dismounted holding me gently in his arms. The sun hadn't risen yet, but it would soon, I hoped that everything was alright with Klaus, papa and Rebekah. I felt terrible for making them to clean up my mess; I would certainly deserve to be punished. My head was leaning against Kol's shoulder when he carried me to my room, for some reason seeing my small furniture and the dolls on the shelf depressed me.

"Alright…" he muttered and removed the covers before placing me on the bed. I blinked sleepily and looked at him; after a brief hesitation he bent down and kissed my forehead. "Rest, darling."

I smiled; he had never called me that before. He smiled too and touched my cheek before tucking me in. I sighed and fell asleep almost immediately. I had no idea how long I had slept when I heard Rebekah's voice coming from somewhere far away, she sounded upset.

"She is resting, Bekah…" Kol was saying, I heard the door opening and someone entering my room. I could tell almost right away that it was Rebekah, she walked over to my bed and sat down next to me. For a moment she just sat there, I was too weak and tired to open my eyes.

"My poor baby…" she muttered while stroking my hair. I couldn't react; no more than a second later I was asleep again.

"Eva? Eva? Please, wake up, Eva."

Slowly I opened my eyes and saw papa's face, he was looking down at me with a worried expression.

"Hey," he said, his hand was stroking my cheek.

"Hey," I muttered, my voice was hoarse.

"How are you feeling?"

I really wasn't sure what to say, I felt weak and disoriented.

"I…I am fine."

I could tell that he didn't believe me; he was worried and felt sorry for me.

"You must feed, sweetheart," he said gently. "You have slept for three days."

"What?" I gasped. "Three days?"

"Yes."

I tried to lift my hand, but I couldn't, I had never felt so weak and it scared me, was my body damaged?

"Papa…" I said pleadingly, hoping that he would help me.

"It's alright, sweetheart," he assured and scooped me up, placing me on his lap. I tried to get my fangs out, but I couldn't, he had to bit his wrist in order for me to drink. I couldn't remember ever being so thirsty, eventually he had to pull his wrist away, I wasn't able to stop by myself.

"I am sorry," I muttered and curled up against his chest.

"That's alright," he replied. "Are you still hungry?"

I nodded.

"Alright, I will get Niklaus or Rebekah here…"

"No, wait," I pleaded and wrapped my arms tightly around him. "I…"

He stroked my hair and waited patiently for me to continue, I wasn't sure what I wanted to say, but I didn't want him to leave.

"I am sorry," I said quietly, I was too much of a coward to look at him.

"It's alright," he said calmingly. "I understand why you did what you did, but what I cannot understand is why you did not come to me first, you could have died."

His tone of voice was calm, but I could hear that I had hurt his feelings. I swallowed and pulled away from him, he deserved at least an eye contact.

"I am sorry, papa, please forgive me. I know I was selfish and stupid, I am not going to make any excuses."

He sighed, but his eyes softened a little, he tucked a stray hair behind my ear.

"Of course I forgive you, sweetheart, but I want you to promise never to risk your life like that again."

I nodded.

"I promise."

He smiled and kissed my forehead.

"Thank you. If anything would have happened to you, I would have never forgiven myself."

"What? No, no, it was my decision, it was not…"

"I should have known it was you when the guards brought you to Demetrio's villa," he sighed. "I noticed how scared you looked, but I thought that Arianna was simply worried about facing her father after disobeying him."

I shook my head.

"No, how could you have known that it was me? I made that mess all by myself."

He looked distressed.

"I wanted to get you out in the second Rebekah told me what had happened, I heard you crying out for me…"

"No," I said firmly and looked into his eyes. "It was my mess, I am grateful for all of you for getting me out of it."

He looked at me warmly and touched my cheek.

"That is what families are for, sweetheart."

I smiled and rubbed my cheek against his shoulder, I was more than happy that he wasn't angry at me. I had no idea if Kol and Klaus had told him about what had happened before I had run away, but I hoped I wouldn't have to talk about it anymore. There still was one thing I was curious about, but I hesitated before asking about it.

"When I was in Arianna's body, Demetrio said something…" I started cautiously. "About… you and her."

Papa's expression tensed, I regretted for bringing the whole thing up.

"But that is none of my business," I added quickly. "Of course you have the right to do…whatever you want with whoever you want."

He was quiet for a while; I hoped that I hadn't invaded his privacy. The reason why I was so curious was that during all the years we had lived together, I had never seen papa shown any particular interest towards any woman. I wasn't sure at all how I would feel if he would find a companion. Of course I wanted him to be happy and I knew I was selfish, but I wasn't very thrilled with the idea of sharing his love.

"We…had a conversation," he stated rigidly. "She is quite…a vivacious young lady."

I lowered my head, I felt guilty.

"I did not mean to hurt her," I muttered. "She…just happened to be there."

"She is fine now," papa assured. "She does not remember anything about the whole thing."

"That's good."

I didn't know what else to say, the whole thing was strange when I thought about it. I almost started to giggle; I had chosen a great loan body.