If you recognize it, I don't own it! I own the OCs and a grumpy cat named Ella (yes, after the movie Ella Enchanted. I was nine).

"What the hell are you doing here, Miriam?" Damon demanded. He was obviously in a bad mood after Elena hugged Stefan instead of him. It had been tragic to watch.

"Oh, cause I planned to be kidnapped, thrown into a trunk for hours on end, and fed on by the vampire who, by the way, I watched get his head smacked off his body!" seethed Miriam. She was tired, hungry, and achy. There was blood on her shirt, which she would have to get out before returning to her friend.

"Smacked off his body?" Damon paused at that.

"Yeah, like a freaking ping pong ball," Miriam mined smacking a ball with her hand. "It was gross."

"It really was," Elena agreed. She and Stefan had pulled apart and came closer to Damon and Miriam. The four of them went outside, away from Elijah's body.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Stefan asked.

"Miriam Sanchez," Miriam said.

"How do you know Damon?"

"Uh, it's a long story."

"Miriam here knows things," Damon said with a smirk. "She calls herself a Knower."

"A Knower?" Elena asked, sweetly confused.

"That's not a real thing," Stefan disputed.

Miriam sighed. "Do you really want to make me prove it? Cause I will, Stefan Salvatore. I will spill your deepest, darkest secrets in front of your brother, your girlfriend, and God. Freaking try me."

He held his hands up in a placating gesture. "I'll leave it alone."

"Little brother, I would believe her," Damon slung an arm around Stefan. "She's the real deal. That being said, how didn't you know what was going to happen today?" Damon demanded of Miriam.

"I knew it was going to happen, I just wasn't paying attention," Miriam reached behind her and undid her failing braid. She took the hair tie and pulled her hair into a bun. "I was working the Masquerade Ball and wasn't paying attention. I bumped into Elena just as she was about to be kidnapped. The poor compelled human took me, too."

"Wait, you knew this was going to happen?" exclaimed Elena. She looked hurt.

"Yeah, but I should have ran the second I realized who I had run into."

"You could have stopped it from happening!"

"Did you get hurt? Rose slapping you doesn't count because she warned you several times to shut up, and so did I. You did that to yourself," Miriam pointed out. "If they were going to hurt you, I would have stopped it. Ask Damon."

"Enough chit chat. I'm going to run back inside. You three get in the car," Damon ordered. He flashed inside the mansion before anyone could protest.

Miriam and Elena took the back seats and Stefan got the passenger seat. By the time they all settled in Damon was back. He drove them off the abandoned property and onto the main roads. The three hours that it took to drive back to Mystic Falls went by quickly. Elena and Miriam slept the entire way back, both exhausted.

Damon shook Miriam awake when they pulled up in front of her building.

"Can you get in? I noticed that you don't have your phone with you," Damon said as he helped her out of the car.

"I left my phone at home, and my apartment key is here," she pulled it out of her pant pocket. "Weirdly, no one searched me. They weren't very good kidnappers.

"Will you be alright?" he asked.

"I think so…" Miriam thought about what was going to happen next in the plot. Before she could chicken out, she added, "Hey, come get me tomorrow before Stefan calls Elena."

"What?" Damon looked confused.

"It will make more sense tomorrow. I don't have a car, and I'm not walking again, so pick me up. I'll be waiting."

He shook his head. "You're a strange one, Miriam Sanchez."

"Yeah, I know. See you tomorrow!"

Once upstairs Miriam immediately shed her dirty clothes. She knew some tricks to get blood out of white clothes; she had to clean her borrowed clothes before giving them back. Grabbing a change of clothes, Miriam jumped in the shower. It was cold, because Mr. Boggs was a jerk, but it was still nice to get clean once again.

Her cold shower was quick. She changed into her warmest set of pajamas, then made herself a sandwich for dinner. After eating, she sat on her bed and began to think about all the strange differences that happened that day.

Miriam knew that just by being present she would change things, but she didn't expect Elijah to respond so… oddly. He had made her drink his blood, and had treated her with a tenderness that Elena hadn't experienced. He had forgiven Trevor, but then said that biting her was the offense that warranted a death sentence. He had called her his mate. Miriam didn't know what to make of that statement. According to her knowledge, Elijah never had a mate. He had a series of tragic loves (Katerina, Hayley, Gia, Antoinette) but never a mate. Baahir had explained the concept to Miriam: there were romantic and platonic soulmates. Romantic soulmates were very rare. Baahir had only met a handful of mated couples over his 800 years of life. Baahir and Miriam were platonic sibling soulmates, which apparently was very common. There were also platonic soulmates in which the two formed a child-parent type of relationship. This was probably the bond that Klaus and Marcel had. First and foremost they would be father and son.

Miriam doubted that she was Elijah's soulmate. He must have been mistaken, or maybe she had heard him incorrectly. She wasn't that lucky. She wasn't that original character who fell into her favorite story and was immediately worshipped as a goddess by the protagonist. She wasn't the original character who was brave and fearless and confident that she could change the story for good. She wasn't the original character who lived out the rest of her life with her favorite characters. Miriam wasn't that lucky, she knew that… but she wished she was.

KOL

Oh, gods! Stuffy Elijah was also Miriam's mate. Kol was pissed. It was bad enough that he was going to have to share her with Finn, but now Elijah! If Kol had been undaggered, he would have thrown things around in anger.

He could feel Finn's curiosity, and Rebekah's, at his sudden burst of emotion. Kol explained to his older brother that they now had to share their mate with Elijah. Finn was initially shocked. After he recovered, he wasn't too cut up about it, probably since he agreed with Elijah on moral grounds. Finn did share some apprehension at the rising number of siblings he had to share his mate with. If Rebekah wasn't so painfully straight Kol would fear that she too would claim Miriam as her mate. With three brothers mated to Miriam, Kol had a sneaking suspicion that Niklaus was also her mate. It would be an exceedingly rare soulmatch, but Kol had seen it with some witches and humans before. Vampires, despite their claim otherwise, were really no different than the other creatures that walked the earth. Vampires (and werewolves) just felt emotions and connections more strongly than humans and witches. Klaus, as a hybrid, probably had the strongest emotions out of all of them. It was no wonder that he was easily triggered by things like betrayal.

Kol wondered how it would work if the fates placed all four brothers with Miriam. Elijah, for all his nobility, was just as possessive over things he deemed his as Niklaus was. As close as the two brothers were, Kol knew it was impossible for them to share affection for the same woman. He had seen it with Tatia and Katerina. Elijah and Klaus were volatile on their own, but add in their youngest brother? Kol, brushed aside and labeled the wild one, didn't feel like sharing the one thing that was supposed to be his and his alone. Kol refused to share her with Elijah or Klaus… but he was willing to share her with Finn.

Finn, Kol would reluctantly admit, had gotten better the past two years. He no longer moped about morality and sin and other such boring subjects. Finn's mind was clear for the first time since he had been daggered 900 years ago. He was actually enjoyable to talk with. He agreed with most of Kol's plans regarding what would happen once they were undaggered. They both agreed that they needed to grab Miriam and take her somewhere for her to recuperate. She was slowly fading, and both Finn and Kol were worried about her. They also agreed that Klaus needed to be daggered for several centuries. Kol wanted to kill him, but Finn had talked him out of it. He pointed out that being alone in a box while all his siblings were alive and breathing and together would be a more impactful way of hurting Niklaus. Kol felt some guilt at that, but pushed it down.

Kol's conscience hovered over Miriam as she slept. Her bite wounds had closed once Elijah had fed her his blood. The action had been one of his wiser ones, along with killing the filth that dared to bite her. Kol had to confess, he wished the vampire was still alive, because Elijah's method of execution had been much too quick.

"Angel, I know you have your own plans, but we would really like to walk around and breathe air again," Kol whispered to her. He didn't enter her dreams, because he could tell she was planning something, and after the day she had, she needed rest. Soon, though, he would need to convince her to find their coffins and undagger them. He had a list of complaints for both of his older free brothers, and was looking forward to punching Niklaus in the face.

Miriam had woken up, dressed, eaten breakfast, and was waiting patiently by the time that Damon knocked on her door. She threw open the door and smiled at him. "Ready!"

Damon rolled his eyes. "You look well-rested."

"I am." She had a dreamless night, which differed from most of her nights. She found that she missed her strange dreams and the strange, featureless men that resided in them. "You ready for today?"

He shook his head at her. "So you know about Klaus?"

She nodded as she locked her door. "I know more about him than you could possibly know. He's real, by the way. I know you're going to lie to Elena later, but you need to believe it, because you shouldn't underestimate him."

They walked down the stairs and were almost out of the building when Mr. Boggs came out of his apartment to leer at her.

"Maria, you have my rent yet?"

"I'm only overdue by a couple of days. I'll have the money in two days," she promised, and ignored the fact that he called her by another wrong name. She needed to meet with her friend that she took the waitressing job for and get the money from the job. She was trying to not dip as much into her grocery funds, but it was causing her to be late on her apartment rent.

Mr. Boggs tutted. "Miss Sand-chez, this is the second month you're late. Unless your john here can pay you enough today, I'm gunna have to call the authorities."

Miriam's jaw dropped at both the fact that he thought she was a prostitute and Damon was her client, and at the fact that he was threatening to alert the authorities after only two months of slightly late rent. She didn't dress provocatively! Today she was wearing brown boots, dark jeans, a white shirt, a green army jacket, and one of the colorful scarves Baahir and Philip had sent her for her birthday. Nothing about her clothing screamed 'prostitute'! In fact, she dressed more conservatively than she would normally like just so she wouldn't draw attention to herself. She knew there weren't many people of color in rural Virginia, so she tried to dress how she knew her Catholic grandmother would have liked her to dress, and she always made sure that her cross was front and center. The little gold cross didn't protect her from vampires but it did protect her from nosy middle-aged white women. All Miriam had to do was flash her church smile at them and say 'God bless you' and the women smiled back and left her alone.

So his comment about having a john rankled. She wondered if Mr. Briggs picked on her because she was a single woman. She knew for a fact that James Scottsdale two doors down from her was going on his fifth month of late rent. She didn't know if Mr. Boggs liked to bully her because he was misogynistic, or racist, or both.

Damon must have been insulted, because he grabbed Mr. Boggs by his sweaty shoulders.

"Hey, listen here you piece of shit," Damon compelled Mr. Boggs. "You will give her a week's extension on her rent, and her future rents, for as long as she lives here."

"And turn my hot water back on!" Miriam tugged on Damon's sleeve.

"And you will turn her hot water back on, pronto, because you're such a good fucking guy. Got it?"

"Got it," Mr. Boggs parroted, then retreated back into his apartment.

"Wow, Mysterious Miriam. You are surrounded by a bunch of dicks," Damon noted as they climbed into his car.

"Do you count yourself as a part of that bunch?" she teased.

"Oh, of course," he grinned at her, but then became serious. "Why don't you just move?"

"I can't afford anything else," she admitted. "Otherwise I would have moved after you set fire to my first apartment building."

He looked uncomfortable. "If… if you need money, I could write you a check..."

"No, Damon, but that's sweet of you," she ignored his scoff at the word 'sweet'. "A check wouldn't work because I don't have a bank account. You need a photo ID, like a driver's license and a social security number, both of which I don't have."

"How can you not have those two basic things?" he questioned.

"One day I'll explain it all, but the short answer is because the Powers That Be Suck. Regardless, I have a plan to get what I need. Hopefully it won't be too long now."

"Hmm," was all he said about that.

They arrived before Elena got there. Damon led Miriam into the living room. "Can I get you something to drink? Scotch, tequila-"

"Water or juice?" Miriam smiled sweetly at him when he frowned at her declination of his choices. He rolled his eyes at her and went to the kitchen. Miriam wasn't completely stupid or ignorant about her physical situation. It probably wasn't in her best interest to drink alcohol with her weight being so low, and after being drained of a good portion of her blood the previous day.

"You!"

Miriam spun from the painting she was looking at to see a pale Rose gaping at her.

"Me," Miriam said cautiously.

"What are you doing here?" Rose sped forward until she was only an inch away from Miriam.

"Whoa whoa!" Damon was suddenly there, pushing Rose back. "Only hosts get to intimidate guests, and you aren't a host. Leave her alone."

"You don't know what she is!" insisted Rose.

"She's a human girl that weighs maybe 100 pounds soaking wet. I think I can handle her," Damon said dryly. He tossed a water bottle to Miriam, who fumbled it.

"She's Elijah's mate! She's the reason Trevor is dead!" shouted Rose.

"What?" Damon turned slightly so he could see Miriam while still keeping track of Rose. "Is that true?"

"I wouldn't lie! He fed her his blood, then killed Trevor for feeding on her," Rose glared at Miriam.

"What does it matter?" Damon asked, leveling a firm look at Rose. "Elijah is dead, I killed him, thus avenging the death of your friend. Even if Miriam was his mate, he's dead, so it's a moot point. Chill out, Rose, if you want allies here."

Rose humphed, and strode from the room.

Damon turned to Miriam. "Was what she said true?"

"I think?" Miriam shrugged. "He acted weird, different than how he should have according to my knowledge. And she was right, he did kill Trevor because Trevor bit me."

Damon sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Well, it's a non-issue now."

There was a knock at the door, and Damon left to answer it.

Miriam sat down heavily on one of the plush couches. She stared at the unopened water bottle in her hand, like it would give her the answers she was seeking. She knew that Elijah was still alive, so the 'issue' of him being her mate was still very much a present issue to Miriam. If she was his mate- no! She wasn't going to play the 'what-if' game. Her life demanded her to be realistic and live in the present, not fantasize about the future (which really sucked, because she was a romantic at heart).

Damon came back to the living room with Elena, Rose, and Stefan. Elena said a hesitant hello and Stefan greeted her politely, if coldly. Miriam could tell that neither knew what to do with her.

The following conversation was fun to watch for Miriam. Rose called Elijah the Easter bunny, and Stefan said that Klaus was known to be the oldest vampire. Their facts were slightly off, and it was funny to someone who knew the entire story.

Afterwards, when Elena had left for school and Stefan had followed not soon after, Damon turned to Miriam.

"How much of it did we get right?"

"Klaus is real and he is coming for Elena. He is very dangerous, for a multitude of reasons. Getting near him will be difficult."

"Excuse me," dabbing furiously at her eyes, Rose left the room. Damon looked at Miriam, who motioned to the empty space Rose had just occupied.

"Go after her," she encouraged.

Damon did, and returned several minutes later. "Road trip, ladies! We're going to go find the Big Bad. M and M, you up for a trip to Richmond?"

It's the reason I came," Miriam grinned and followed them to the garage.

The car ride had been awkward. Rose wasn't willing to talk to Miriam. Miriam wasn't willing to talk about her past. Damon wasn't willing to talk about his feelings for Elena. Miriam didn't know who was the most relieved to finally reach Richmond.

Rose navigated the car to an underground parking lot.

"Back entrance. How convenient," Damon noted.

"That's the point. We can't all have little daylight rings."

Miriam spotted a backdoor. "Hey, I'll catch up with you guys later."

Damon acknowledged her words with a wave of his hand, before addressing Rose: "How do you know this Slater guy is even here?"

Miriam rolled her eyes and left the parking structure.

She walked around the building until she was in front of the coffee shop. She crossed the street to where the guitarist had set up. She didn't have to wait long for Elijah to stroll up. When he saw her his jaw went slack and his confident stride faltered.

"You," he breathed.

"Me," she smiled tentatively. "After your business here, can we talk?"

"My… business?" he questioned.

"Yeah, spying on Slater, Rose, and Damon. I've got a lot to tell you and not a lot of time."

"Alright," he watched her warily. "There is a park a couple blocks over. Would you be amiable to a stroll?"

"Yes. And try not to kill the cocky one. He's my ride home," Miriam walked in the direction of the park without looking back. Her heart was beating furiously. She couldn't believe she had just done that! She, little Miri from Arizona, had just initiated contact with Elijah! She was actively trying to change the plot. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, making her breathe heavier. Her fingers tingled, but somehow it felt nice.

Miriam had calmed down some by the time Elijah arrived. He grinned slightly at her.

"Hello again. My name is Elijah Mikaelson, but I have a feeling you know that already."

"Hi. My name is Miriam Sanchez," she held her hand out to shake. She should have seen it coming, but he grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it like freaking Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Her cheeks flamed. He smirked.

"Miss Sanchez. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"S-Same," she stuttered, thrown by the gentleman act.

"You had something to tell me?" he asked as they began to walk. The day was beautiful. People were taking advantage of the weather. Joggers passed them. Young families with strollers and picnic baskets were plentiful. Dogs chased balls. Frat boys chased frisbees. Young couples tentatively held hands and blushed at each other. Miriam enjoyed the atmosphere. She promised herself that when she was able to spend her afternoons free and not cleaning houses, she would go to the park more.

"It's a long story, and I'm afraid I don't have much time until Damon wonders where I am. But I've been given knowledge of the past, present, and future. I would like to help you and your brother," she said as clearly as her cotton tongue allowed. She was trying to keep from spilling every piece of information about the Mikaelson family she knew to Elijah.

"I'm sorry to say your knowledge is incorrect. My brother and I are currently at odds with each other," he said neutrally.

"Yes, but what if I said that he didn't actually put your siblings in the ocean?"

Elijah turned to look at her sharply. "They live?"

"All of them, yes. Klaus was lying. His end goal is to unlock his werewolf side so he can be whole, not to torment you. He loves you," Miriam said sincerely, "even though he sometimes does questionable things."

Elijah looked blown away with her revelation. "Why tell me this?"

"I want your family to be whole. I also want to lower the body count. You and Klaus cause a lot of deaths over the next month or so," Miriam informed him.

"Yes, that sounds like us," Elijah said absently. His eyes cleared and he narrowed his eyes at her. "No one is that altruistic. Simply wanting less death is not a reason to intervene in a family manner that does not affect you. Why are you getting involved?"

"I have several reasons for getting involved. My knowledge extends twenty plus years into the future. You die, so does Klaus, and Finn, and Kol, though his death is only temporary. You don't know this yet, but when one of you Originals die, their entire line of vampires die too. My soul brother is from your line, and his mate is from Kol's. I want them to survive. I want all the vampires who die when you Originals die to live. I got involved to help Klaus free his werewolf side, because no one should have to live with part of their being locked away. I also got involved because your family had the potential to hold power for centuries, but didn't. I want a different ending to the story that I know, and I'm willing to get involved to do that."

They walked in silence for several minutes.

"What do you want from me, specifically?" Elijah finally asked.

"I want you to compel when you could otherwise kill. Slater doesn't have to die. Compel him to cut ties and move to Vancouver for a month. I also need you to act like I haven't just told you a lot of the future," she added sheepishly.

"That's going to be rather difficult to do," he said dryly.

"I know, but if too much changes, then I can't help any more," it was a hard thing for Miriam to admit aloud to someone who she needed to trust her, but she knew telling him that she had limitations would be for the best. "And…"

"And what? You haven't shied away from telling the truth so far," Elijah smiled slightly.

"You might want to get in contact with Klaus. I know that you two aren't talking, but maybe opening up a channel of communication would be beneficial to you both," she suggested.

"I will take that under consideration," he said, and Miriam knew that he wasn't just saying that. He actually meant to think over her words.

Miriam's cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket. It was Damon. She answered.

"Where are you?!" Damon shouted. "The freaking coffee shop exploded and Rose is freaking out in the back of the car. We need to go!"

"There won't be a second attack. I'm on my way back. I'm roughly fifteen minutes away," Miriam turned and started to walk in the direction they had come. Elijah followed.

"Did. You. Know?" Damon snarled.

"Yes, but nobody got seriously hurt," Miriam pointed out.

"Who are you with?"

"A contact. Believe it or not, I'm on your side, Damon. I want Elena to survive. I want you and Stefan to survive."

"Be back in fifteen or I'm leaving you here," he hung up.

"Your friend sounds very emotional," Elijah said unemotionally.

"He is. He means well most of the time."

Elijah didn't say anything, but he didn't seem to agree with her.

"Hey, I wanted to ask you about something you said at the house," Miriam looked up at Elijah, who nodded at her, prompting her to continue. "You told Trevor that I… I was your…"

"Mate, yes," Elijah thankfully finished her sentence for her. "You are. I'm not sure how much you know about vampire mates."

"A little? My brother is a vampire and he explained the process to me."

"I realize that life for the both of us is extremely busy right now, but I would like to check in on you frequently," Elijah stopped walking and pulled her to a stop. He grasped her hands in his. "I have lived 1,000 years without you, but I find myself reluctant to part from you for even a moment."

Miriam nearly swooned at that statement.

"I want to know you better, Miss Sanchez. Will you give me the opportunity?" His eyes were so kind, so sincere. Miriam couldn't believe this was real. She wasn't that girl. Her two years in the alternate universe had proven that good things didn't happen to her.

She wanted to tell him he was insane. She wanted to shake him until he admitted that his claim of her being his mate was just to mess with her head. All of the negative things swirling around her head tried to push the word 'no' out of her mouth.

Instead of no she ended up saying, "Yes."

He smiled, and the action lit up his face. He was truly beautiful. She had always had a crush on the actor that played him- she was a sucker for his smirk- but the real thing in front of her was ten times as charming. His voice was smooth and elegant. The confidence just exuded off him. His eyes, though. She could get lost in his eyes. They held a millennia of wisdom and a depth of emotion.

She could feel herself falling for him.

Miriam gave him her address and they exchanged phone numbers. After a moment's hesitation he also gave her the number he had for Klaus.

"It would not be wise to call him. However, if you ever are in a position where you need to call him, I want you to have his number."

She promised not to call the number without talking to Elijah first. Miriam wasn't confident enough to go rough and set up a meeting with the hybrid. She didn't have a death wish.

She said goodbye to Elijah, who kissed her hand again, and went back to the underground parking lot.

The instant Miriam stepped inside Damon had her pinned to the wall. "Why didn't you warn us?"

"Would you have believed me?" she snapped. "I did what I thought was best. You're fine, Rose is fine. You got some of the information you needed."

"Yeah, and you could tell me the rest of it," he needled, pushing her harder into the wall.

"But I'm not, unless I think it will keep someone alive," Miriam raised her chin and tried to project confidence, when she was truly scared.

"Tell me, because it's your life you need to think about," he hissed.

"Slater will call you later," she spat. "He'll answer your question."

Damon searched her eyes before slamming his fist into the concrete wall next to her head. She screamed. He pulled away from her.

"You need to start pulling your weight, or you become useless," Damon growled. "Get in the car."

Shaken, she did what he asked.

The drive back to Mystic Falls was as awkward as the drive to Richmond. When Damon pulled up to her building, he barely stopped long enough for her to get out before he was zooming away.

Miriam rolled her eyes at his dramatics. It's not like he died!

"But if he keeps this behavior up," Miriam muttered darkly as she climbed the stairs to her apartment, "I'm going to ask Elijah to stake him."

ELIJAH

Elijah watched as his mate walked away from him. Not following her killed a part of him, but he knew it was for the best. His mate probably wouldn't appreciate being kidnapped and locked in a safe house across the country. He wanted to protect her, but he could tell that she wasn't the type of person to shy away from finishing what she believed was her duty. Somehow, his family had become her duty to fix. He wasn't sure if he should feel honored or horrified at the prospect.

Still, she felt she was duty-bound to protect his family, and Elijah was duty-bound to protect her. He pulled out his phone and called his most reliable body guards. He would have Miriam followed and protected from here on out. His special mate might have knowledge of the future, but she had already proven that she wasn't infallible. She had been kidnapped with the doppelganger, and he was afraid something similar would happen in the future.

Elijah finished the call to his employees, then hesitated.

If Miriam was telling the truth, his siblings were alive. Niklaus lying was not a huge shock, but the fact that he led Elijah to believe that he had murdered their family… Elijah didn't know how to forgive him. On one hand, Klaus wasn't the great evil Elijah had believed he was an hour ago. On the other hand, the deceit hurt more than if Klaus had actually buried their family at sea.

Either way, Elijah knew he would have to talk to his brother, and soon.

Miriam had given Elijah much to think about, regarding the future of their family.

That night Miriam dreamt of Elijah.

They were at a fancy restaurant. He was wearing a suit more elegant than the ones he usually wore, if that was even possible. She was wearing a beautiful yellow dress that felt like silk and looked like spring. She had yellow and pink flowers in her hair and a wedding ring on her left right finger.

"When I dream I never see your face. Why is tonight different?" she asked as she took a sip of champagne.

"We have finally met face-to-face. According to the mated vampires I have met, sharing dreams before and after meeting is common," Elijah said.

"Are my dreams images of the future?"

"Of a sort. The dreams are a possibility. They are meant to entice the couple, to deepen the connection between the two. Why are you frowning?"

"I have the faceless dreams with other men," she admitted. "Three others."

"You must have three other mates besides me," Elijah mused. "I wonder who they could be…"

"I still don't fully believe it," Miriam whispered. The concept of a soulmate was such an odd thing to a human from a different universe, even with Baahir and Philip's relationship as an example. A small part of her hadn't believed Baahir and Philip's relationship was destined in the stars. It was a beautiful visual, but too fanciful to a girl that had seen a lot of death.

"I do," he said firmly. "You are my mate, Miriam. That is not something I claim lightly."

"I believe your words, I just can't believe it's me who's your mate," she leaned across the table. "Elijah, I'm not that lucky."

He also leaned across the table. He grasped her hands in his and brought them to his mouth. He pressed several kisses to her knuckles before lowering her hands back to the table. "Precious, you have no idea how lucky you are. You have me and three others as mates. You said you had a brother, and that he had a mate. All of us are on your side. All of us make you extremely lucky. Now, please, stop doubting our connection. I have waited far too long for a mate to have her disparage herself."

"Okay," she whispered. "I'll try."

Elijah smiled at her. "That is all I ask. I know this connection won't be easy, but I want it to work, Miriam. You are an answer to a prayer I released to the stars an ago, when I still believed that the gods had good intentions."

His words jogged a memory. Over two years ago she had sat on top of a hill in front of a homemade shrine to her parents and grandparents, and begged that they send her someone to love her. They had certainly come through!

"Will I remember this dream when I wake up? I don't think I retain much memory of my dreams with my s-soulmates," she stuttered on the word 'soulmate' but valiantly pushed through.

"I believe so. Now that we have met, I think that the memory of these dreams will stay with the both of us. But enough talk about serious things," he rose from his seat and held out a hand for her to take. "Let us enjoy this dream for as long as we sleep."

Miriam smiled and took his hand.

They danced outside, beneath the stars, to music only they could hear. He held her close, and she felt cherished for the first time in a long time.

When she felt herself begin to wake up, she didn't despair. Even if she didn't see Elijah during the day, she could see him at night.

AN: Thanks for reading, all! Please leave a review, they're the ambrosia of authors.

QUESTION: When should ratings go up in stories? This story is at a T rating now, but there is some stronger, potentially triggering content coming up (nothing too graphic) and I want your opinions before I change the rating to an M.