[Chapter updated in January 2024]

A/N: It's been a while since I last updated but I promise you, I haven't abandoned this story. I figured the start of 2024 deserves a fresh little something for all the Kalijah fans. We're still here, even all those years later. I also want to thank you for your continuous support and feedback. It means a lot to me.

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She had been thinking about the last night – or rather about the conversation with Elijah – for a long time. He could not remember her and yet her conversation had a quality that she had not felt for a long time.

Of course, it had only been superficial topics. After all, to him, they were strangers and he believed she was just a tourist. And yet he had been earnestly interested in her answers all the time. He was genuinely interested in talking to her, without hoping they would perhaps end up in bed. And one has to believe her when she says this thought isn't uncommon when it comes to men. Men in bars usually don't just gift a drink and start talking if they weren't hoping for something that usually contains a very specific 'something'.

Somehow she felt foolish that she liked this stupid conversation so much. She should not feel flattered that he had noticed her (and not another person in this bar). That he had bought her a drink, something she had never seen him do before. He played for his audience but rarely interacted with them the way he had done with her.

That didn't mean Elijah was still somehow attracted to you, Katherine. Why should he, he doesn't even remember you!

And yet Katherine was confident enough to believe that her beauty was naturally striking. Why wouldn't it lure a man towards her? Even if they were speaking of Elijah who didn't just follow his basic instincts. But perhaps he does by now. She has no idea, after all, what kind of man he is without his memories.

As much as she resisted, she thoroughly liked that she had been noticed by Elijah. At the same time, however, the pain of their separation flared up again.

So many years had passed and yet the encounter with him triggered something in her. It made her remember what he had meant to her. How he had made her feel.

Memories that should belong in a box, hidden in some kind of cellar.

But she really shouldn't be sentimental. This was a mission, after all. Speaking of…

There was no way around meeting Elijah again. Even if it was probably better to leave this conversation to be just this one single direct interaction with him, she would most likely not achieve success if she only played the mysterious stranger. Sure, perhaps that would increase Elijah's interest but one cannot be certain. And a pure possibility alone was not enough.

Not when she had Klaus breathing down her neck. Not when there's the possibility that he's watching her. The thought alone made her feel uneasy and caused her to immediately go through her apartment to check if there was anything unusual in there.

She turned each pillow over and even rummaged through her closet just to make sure he wasn't hiding somewhere. Which, of course, is totally stupid, but her paranoia forced her to.

Under other circumstances, her curiosity about this changed Elijah would not be great enough to accept the danger of Klaus. Under other circumstances, she would run; no matter what Klaus promised her, you could not trust him.

But she knew, was actually pretty sure, that he had a close eye on her. He could even be trusted to monitor her and have some kind of tracker attached to her. After all, he had enough witches under his control who would certainly grant him this little favor. There's no way he would entrust her with something as important as returning his brother to their family without making sure she was supervised the entire time.

It made her want to barf.

Katherine quickly closed all the curtains of her otherwise sunny apartment (call it a useless sense of security) before she sat down and tried to think.

If Klaus wanted to see progress, she needed to be more quick and efficient. Otherwise, she risks getting a visit again which was something Katherine wanted to prevent.

Okay … let's think.

It was really not new to her to pick up and flirt with a man who could be useful to her, and it was usually no problem. But this man of all people was… difficult. They had history and although she didn't want to admit it he still … meant something to her.

Part of the reason why he decided to end their relationship was because he feared she was deceiving him. Which was complete bullshit because she didn't have any secret agenda. He knew what she had wanted, namely his position to work out a deal for her. She never made a secret of it when she decided to contact him.

He did her injustice by accusing her of wanting to take advantage of him and somehow, it had given her some kind of satisfaction to know that despite his beliefs and fears, he was wrong. That she hadn't done anything unrighteousness. That she wasn't as corrupted and ruined as everyone wants to think. That she was worth saving.

But if she does play him now, he would be right. He could obviously not remember but Katherine is sure that at one point, he will. And if that point is reached, he will remember everything. Including how she played him. He would be convinced that he made the right choice, that she couldn't be trusted.

And she couldn't have that.

So think, Katherine. What is something you could do to make progress but which won't let you look like a mendacious person once he remembers? What would make him want to interact with her but wouldn't be too much? What wouldn't be looking manipulative?

It was actually pretty sure that most of the actions had to come from him because then you could not accuse her of anything.

Even if she could, of course, create an incentive, because there was something that she could certainly take in her hand. Something that would be appropriate and not quite so noticeable that it would seem suspicious.

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The next evening she went back to the bar. She didn't dress up more than usual, and didn't wear any extraordinary clothes – she is, after all, not going to a party or trying to seduce anyone. Which meant that her casual clothes had to do. She was just herself, which should be enough. And if she's honest, she still looks better than most visitors in this bar or even in this town.

She ordered two beers at the bar, and despite not being a beer drinker, it was a necessary evil that she had to accept. After all, one had to create a few similarities and she had seen him drinking that brand of beer. Perhaps the desired conversation would be more easy then.

Speaking of conversation: Katherine had tried her best to prepare herself. To settle into her role as a tourist who has never met him before this trip to Manosque. She had thought about practicing her performance in front of a mirror to make sure everything was going according to her plan. She was a 'bit' perfectionist and she didn't want to have multiple efforts. It had to work perfectly the first time. However, she quickly figured out that this might not be the right approach. It would give her a false sense of security, at least until something unexpectedly happens. Then, chances would be high that it would throw her off track for a few seconds which could be enough for Elijah to note that something was going on.

She had therefore only roughly considered something and decided to improvise the rest which hopefully won't turn out as a mistake.

Until now, however, everything seemed to be going as it had been observed the previous evenings. While Elijah played, she kept herself in the background, trying to not raise his attention just now. Even after she had gotten the beers she had ordered, she waited for Elijah to take a break before she made her way to him. He was sorting through some papers when she showed up next to him, focused on staying calm and not forgetting her role – which was admittedly difficult because he looked forbiddenly dashing in the white Henley he wore.

"Hello."

He looked up in surprise, apparently not having noted her approaching and the hint of a smile played along his lips as he seemed to recognize her.

"Oh, hello." He put the pieces of paper back on the holder of the piano before he stood up from his piano stool to speak to her at the same eye level.

"I brought you something", she handed him the beer in her left hand which he took with one raised eyebrow, probably wondering what the reason for this was. "I wanted to return the favor for yesterday's drink and I hope you accept?" a genuine question because she still found it difficult to assess this new Elijah.

"Why thank you, but you really didn't have to return the favor. I liked doing it, I certainly didn't expect anything in return." He assured her and sounded sincere. It made her wonder what exactly made him want to buy her a drink and even initiate a conversation. She's sure she's not the only frequent visitor/listener in this bar.

"Well, I like to return the favor," she offered him a smile which certainly wasn't a forced smile. Even this conversation somehow felt … natural. "Cheers?" she lifted her bottle and thankfully, Elijah returned the gesture. Both took a sip from their respective bottle whereby Katherine tried to ignore the specific taste of beer which wasn't really to her taste.

That would already be done.

So that no embarrassing silence arose, Katherine resumed the conversation relatively quickly.

"You had to get back to work so fast yesterday," her hand caressed the piano to show what she meant, "That I didn't have any opportunity to even ask for the name of the very generous man who bought me a drink. I hoped to find out today so I could say properly thanks again."

This should be a good start and would also tell her what he called himself. Maybe he had given himself a different name than Elijah. Perhaps he now went by 'Theo' or 'Daniel' or something entirely different.

"You're right. I apologize for not introducing myself, but somehow I didn't notice." Because interacting with her felt so familiar? Because he somehow knew that they already knew each other? Katherine assumed that she was not going to find out.

He moved his beer to his left hand before he extended his right hand to her. "My name is Elijah."

So it is Elijah after all. Somehow it was nice to see that he kept his name and didn't completely invent himself new.

Her eyes fell on his outstretched hand, which he had given her to greet her.

So far, she had studiously avoided touching him in any way; although touching was the key to creating familiarity, a short touch here, a short touch there. Decent, of course, but people tended to have more trust in a person when you touched them briefly on the shoulder, hand, or upper arm.

It is probably quite obvious why she had avoided this so far. She didn't want this kind of familiarity, a healthy distance has never hurt and it is better for her.

Nonetheless, it would be viewed as impolite if she just ignored the hand that he had extended to her which is why she took it. His handshake was as she knew him; not lax, but he radiated the authority known from him. Which in this case was probably something he didn't express consciously.

"Nice to meet you, Elijah." She bit down on her tongue to not add any additional comment such as 'a nice name' and then made sure to let go of his hand as quickly as possible without seeming suspicious.

"And with whom do I have the pleasure?" He, again, sounded genuinely inquisitive about it which suggested that he really didn't seem to have a clue who she was.

Of course, she knew that this question would come, and it was the logical consequence after being asked his name. Katherine had also thought about it. What name should she give him? The French version of her name? Catherine Pierre? Her original name, the one he always liked to use? Katerina? The name she usually uses? Katherine?

She wanted to lie to him as little as possible, even if the French version of her name was not a lie, after all, there were people who called her that. However, she always kept in mind that one day he would remember everything. To name him another name was therefore not really an option because he would see it as a blatant lie and another reason why she wasn't trustworthy.

So only Katherine and Katerina remained.

Katerina was of course very obvious, it was the name he always chose for her. He met her as Katerina and somehow, that name stuck with him, no matter that she chose to go by a different name by now.

However, there were two good reasons why she would not introduce herself as Katerina.

On the one hand, she had concerns that this name might trigger something in him, maybe he would start to remember completely. He must have recognized something about her, otherwise, she could not explain why he had bought her of all guests a drink. Katherine, however, wasn't sure if it would be good for her if he started to remember. That should be a task his family has to handle, not her as it could come with risks. She had no idea how long Elijah was already in this memory-less state, she had no idea what he had done since then. She couldn't assess how he would react upon starting to remember who he truly was, what he was capable of, and what he might have done since he chose to get his memories erased; perhaps the true reason why he had picked such a drastic decision in the first place would bubble up again and one never knows what the true trigger for that choice had been and what that caused him to feel.

She didn't want to get in the danger zone.

On the other hand, she also didn't want to introduce herself as Katerina as some kind of self-protection. Hearing him say her name like this – although he probably won't remember to roll the 'R' as he used to do – could bring back even more memories and she wasn't sure if she could endure this.

It was surprisingly difficult enough to interact with him because all the interactions or conversations went through her mind hours later. He was a person who was hard to forget because he did hold a meaning to her even though he believed it to be different…

This is why she chose to introduce herself as the person she was, the person she identified herself as: Katherine.

"My name's Katherine." No last name because he also didn't introduce himself with his last name (if he could even remember it).

Not having to mention a surname was also convenient for her as it came with fewer risks. 'Katherine Pierce' might trigger something in him as well, a 'Katherine Pierce' also might be recognized by others because she had no idea what Elijah did when he wasn't in the pub playing the piano. Perhaps he had friends he talked to? If he tells them that he had met a 'Katherine' it wouldn't be as striking as if he tells them he met a 'Katherine Pierce'. Although Katherine didn't think she was some kind of well-known celebrity, she was cautious about her identity.

"Katherine-" he repeated the name, his gaze still curious on her although she believed he tried to classify the name on his tongue. "-it's a beautiful name."

That comment made her involuntarily smile although she quickly tried to hide that response. Instead, she politely thanked him the way every person would react when receiving a compliment on their name.

"Okay, Elijah." It was strange saying that name out loud again, even more so to say it in front of that man himself. "Now that I know your name, I can again thank you again for the drink. It really surprised me. Positively."

Oh, if only he knew how much she was surprised by this deed.

"It really wasn't a circumstance. Aside from that, it should probably be me to thank you for returning the favor even though I truly had not intended for you to repay me in any kind." A statement that seemed to be important to him because he again let her know that he indeed didn't have any ulterior motives behind buying her that drink.

"Don't worry, I wanted to." Now, how to keep this conversation going? The actual agenda was over. You bought me a drink, I bought you a drink, we're even now. Topic finished and everyone back to their respective spot.

Only with the difference that their conversation could not stay there. It needed to develop, to move further.

Sure, now would usually be the time to start flirting, which was typically a breeze. A few ambiguous sentences, a glance here, a 'random' touch there. Only with the difference that she did not want this.

It would be a lot easier if he wasn't Elijah.

"I was wondering…" She chose her words wisely, wanting to push their conversation in the right direction. There was something else she wanted to say but decided against it before the words left her mouth. "how long you're already playing here? I suppose a solo man show is quite rare." Her words were accompanied by a slight smile that might elicit him some secrets.

It caused Elijah to chuckle shortly before he eyed the beer and then returned his gaze back to her, his index finger swiftly scratching over his cheek.

"It's probably no fascinating story. I wanted to visit this town and I came in here to buy a drink. While I was waiting for my drink, I discovered this piano in the corner. It was a bit dusty and covered but somehow I had this desire to play it. It wasn't exactly polite, but I went over and folded up the key cover, sat down, and started playing. Please don't think I'm crazy, but there was this connection somehow as if it was meant to be. And the owner of his pub, Baptiste, was impressed by my playing and asked me if I could imagine playing here regularly."

"And so you did," Katherine concluded, still fascinated by the turn of events. She cannot picture normal Elijah wanting to play a shabby piano in a pub and then even agreeing to play regularly in there. He would probably take such an offer as an insult, even if he wouldn't voice it out loud.

"I'm sure you have many fans," Katherine added as she kept her gaze on Elijah. She didn't know why she chose to say this. It was actually rather stupid. Concentrate, Katherine!

The corners of Elijah's lips lifted slightly and he almost looked slightly sheepishly.

"I think people like the music. Although I'm of course well aware people don't come here to hear me play."

Is he really sure about that? Because Katherine knew there was one person in this room that specifically only came here to hear him.

"Well, I can only speak from my perspective. I was surprised to discover life-piano music when I first came to visit. But it was a nice surprise."

The words left her lips fluidly, not giving a hint away that she truly was astounded by the entire arrangement.

She seemed to have flattered him somehow because he did smile again. Not in the polite, casual way; it was a smile that reached his eyes. An honest joy. An expression that she had rarely seen except for the moments they shared a moment.

Somehow she found it adorable.

Damn it.

Was that really necessary?

To mask this confused reaction, she took a sip of her beer and wondered why she a) reacted to him in that way and b) why she acted so awkwardly. She struggled, not being able to lead their conversation anywhere fruitful without having to flirt or without having some kind of non-neutral reaction.

Was it really possible to mess this up so badly?

Sure, she could ask him if he wanted to show her how to play piano but this was neither the right location nor was it the right approach. It would just remind her of certain things plus she was also sure it was no good idea to risk being (almost) alone with him. Although alone time would probably be the key to success, Katherine simply didn't want to be alone with him.

Surely Klaus would understand.

…

Who does she fool? Of course, he wouldn't.

"Uhm, I don't want to take more of your time…", she started while thinking of a good way to end this conversation before it got awkward but also keeping a door open.

The next question he would certainly misunderstand at the beginning, but nevertheless, a part of her was quite interested to see how he reacted to it.

"I was planning on going out for dinner tonight…" As expected, Elijah seemed to be slightly puzzled about the start of this sentence as his words caused Elijah to tilt his head, apparently seeming like he considered something. It was interesting in a way that he didn't seem to be interested in the potential thought of spending time with her outside this pub. Which she definitely found strange. But perhaps that's only her interpretation because she didn't really want him to consider this some type of date. Before he could voice his objections, however, Katherine quickly raised her hand.

"Oh, no, not what you think. Don't worry." She quickly added that she definitely wasn't asking him out. At least not yet and hopefully never.

"I thought that you might know a good place? I would appreciate a tip."

Elijah was indeed able to make a recommendation, which she took as an occasion to finally say goodbye on the grounds that she was starting to feel hungry and thanks to him, now has the ideal restaurant.

It was hopefully an elegant safe before she found herself in an embarrassing situation although she did ponder if he would have actually declined her invitation if she truly had asked him out. What was the reason for it?

Did he subliminally have a grudge against her? Even if she could not comprehend that, because he has been quite friendly and open-minded towards her so far. Surely he wouldn't initiate a conversation by buying her a drink if he somehow didn't like her.

Or maybe it was something completely different: Maybe more was hiding behind the supposedly unsuspecting facade.

It definitely gave her something to think about as she put the still-half-full bottle of beer on the bar and then proceeded to leave the club.

In the background, the music began to play and as she walked outside, she noticed that he had not answered the one question about how long he had been there. Intentionally or accidentally?

Don't give it too much thought, Katherine. Don't let him drive you crazy.

Even before she had entirely left the club, she had already taken out the phone from her bag to go look for the address of the restaurant although she did not plan on visiting it this evening as she was looking for a different type of meal. Something more nutritious for a vampire. And hopefully also a way of distracting her mind.

While searching for the address on the internet (and its opening hours), Katherine subconsciously noticed a woman who was entering the pub. Katherine didn't really pay attention to that person, despite her instincts telling her that there was something different about this woman in comparison to the usual visitors of this place.

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A/N: Please consider leaving feedback as it keeps my muse for writing alive.