I do not own TVD or TO.

This is the soulmate AU where the first words they say are somewhere on your body. Not necessarily a new idea, but I'm pretty sure the interpretation is.

Enjoy the first chapter. I'm thinking there will probably be between 5-10 chapters long. Then again... I said DWTH would be 20...so... we'll see.

Elena's internal organs shook with fear. It curled in her abdomen and pulsed through every cell of her body.

She was certain her captor could smell it. Vampires could smell fear; Damon had said it made the blood sweeter. Still she was determined not to let her body shake.

It was a rather pointless endeavor. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she paced back and forth over the dusty floor. Her mouth was open slightly. She forced it closed and clenched her jaw when she heard the footsteps.

She knew he could read the fear in her face; she used to be excellent at hiding her emotions, but the past year had broken her of the habit. Lifting her eyes to the stairs she saw him freeze in his tracks. She could only assume that he was Elijah.

His eyes grew round when he saw the woman his brother had been hunting for five hundred years. Clearly Rose had been lying. She couldn't be human. Before the doppelganger could even blink he was in front of her.

She inhaled sharply when his hands grasped her upper arms. It wasn't painful, but it had been enough to surprise her. She was pretty sure his hands were the only thing keeping her from trembling.

His eyes scrutinized her features.

Elena's gaze fell to his mouth when he slowly leaned closer. Her breath caught in her throat. He seemed to hover over her lips for an eternity before lowering his face to the smooth column of her throat. She heard him take a deep breath as he inhaled her; as he identified her scent.

"Human," his voice was a soft whisper as he straightened up. "It's impossible," his eyes lifted in contemplation before settling on her with a soft smirk. "Hello there."

The skin behind her ear tingled: a tickling sensation along her hairline. Elena forgot how to breathe.

"Will you just tell me what it says?" Elena giggled. She was at the annual cheerleading sleepover; once a year they all stayed together at one of their houses. That year it was Elena's family lake house.

"How did you get so unlucky?" Caroline took a swig from the bottle of whiskey they had lifted from Grayson Gilbert's private stash. "Most people can read their own soul marks."

"I didn't get a say in where it went," Elena rolled her eyes. "You're clearly too drunk to read." She took the bottle from Caroline when she started to sway and turned to her other friend. "Come on Bonnie…" she paused long enough to take a swig from the bottle, "… what are the first words my soulmate will say to me?"

Bonnie dutifully leaned forward when her best friend lifted her hair. She read the elegant script that flowed along her hairline: "human. It's impossible. Hello there."

"Those are some weird first words," Caroline snickered. "What else is there besides human?"

"Maybe her soulmates expecting a golden retriever," Bonnie whispered.

"Or a nightingale," Elena giggled.

"A what?" Caroline snorted.

"It was the first thing I could think of," Elena shrugged.

Her eyes were wide.

"We have a long journey ahead of us. We should be going." Elijah held up his finger towards Trevor. "One last piece of business and we're done."

"I've waited so long for this day, Elijah," Trevor smiled nervously. "I'm truly, very sorry."

"Oh no," he waved his hand dismissively, "your apologies are not necessary."

Elena wondered what her captor could have possibly done to anger him. She had a feeling Elijah was not a man one wanted to cross; power and authority radiated from his shoulders.

"Yes, yes it is." Trevor nodded decisively. "You trusted me with Katerina and I failed you."

Figures, Elena swallowed and watched the exchange, even my soulmate knew Katherine first.

"Yes," Elijah hummed, turning to glance at Rose, "you are the guilty one and Rose helped you because she was loyal to you," his smile was genial, forgiving, "and that… now that I honor." He returned his attention to Trevor, his eyes narrowed. "Where was your loyalty?"

Trevor trembled. "I… I," he stammered, his eyes turned pleading, "I beg your forgiveness."

"So granted."

The relieved smile was still present on Trevor's face when his head was torn from his shoulders.

"You…" Rose cried striding forwards. She was immediately stopped by his raised hand.

"Don't," Elijah lifted an eyebrow, "you are free, Rose, do not throw it all away by doing something foolish now."

Elena stared at his hand for a moment not quite comprehending the situation. He was a vampire… an Original, whatever that was, according to Rose. She felt her terror starting to recede. It returned with a vengeance when he lost his patience and took her hand.

"Come," he was about to pull her along when she spoke.

"No," Elena swallowed nervously. It was time to find out if the tingling was a fluke. "What about the moonstone?"

His eyes darted from her face to his tingling wrist and back again.

"What did you say?" His heart stuttered in his chest. A thousand years had gone by; more than a thousand years. The words had been etched into his skin in an unfamiliar hand with unknown letters. Had he finally found her? If so than the universe had a truly perverse sense of humour. Was he simply destined to fall for every woman who wore her face? Or had his mind somehow known that she would be a doppelganger?

Elena repeated her question in a whisper. When his eyes moved she followed their path to his wrist. She could see the edges of letters peeking out from under his sleeve… very familiar letters. It was a hand she saw every night when she wrote in her diary.

It wasn't a fluke. This man… this ancient being was her soulmate. She could see the realization in his eyes. It only grew in intensity when she raised her hand, slid her hair over her right shoulder, and exposed the elegant writing along her neck.

Elijah's hand brushed a few strands of silky hair out of the way. His fingertips ghosted over his handwriting; it extended from her ear and swept along her hairline.

His eyes narrowed when he spotted the red stain over her back and on her right arm.

She had to be human. She had to be a doppelganger. Elijah's head reeled with the new information. He couldn't give her to his brother he knew that much. The desire to keep her safe from everything overcame him; the need to punish those who had done her harm was all encompassing.

"Who did this to you?" He flattened his hand over the small of her back.

"Katherine," Elena shivered as his hands ghosted over the wounds that had healed.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Elijah sighed. He would make Katerina suffer greatly when he finally found her.

First though he needed to ensure she was safe, and she was not safe with him. He could smell the vervain rising from the locket around her neck; perhaps one day he would ask how she came to be in possession of his sister's necklace.

Slowly he trailed his hand up her back. He heard her sharp intake of breath when he deftly caressed the nape of her neck. He knew he was running out of time when he heard the blundering rescuers outside the house; there was a chance, however slim, that they would succeed.

Elena blinked when she felt her necklace fall into his hands. "What are you doing?"

His palm sizzled under the vervain filled trinket. In the blink of an eye he was in front of Rose.

Elena couldn't hear what he said to the vampire, but when he was done Rose shook her head as if coming out of a daze.

Elena's eyes widened when he stood before her again. His fingers under her chin were gentle.

"Forget what you know about our connection," he compelled her quietly. "Forget our conversation. The last thing you said was about the moonstone." He replaced her necklace and took a step back.

"What do you know about the moonstone?" He stepped forwards.

"I know that you need it, and I know where it is?"

"Yes."

"I can help you get it," her heart beat erratically.

"Tell me where it is," his pupils dilated slightly.

"It doesn't work that way," she shook her head with more bravery than she felt.

"Are you negotiating with me?" The corner of his mouth lifted in an impressed smirk. He looked at Rose from the corner of his eye.

"It's the first I've heard of it," she shrugged.

Elijah leaned closer and attempted to compel her again. His eyes fell to the necklace at her throat. "What is this vervain doing around here?" His voice danced with amusement as he tore the trinket from her neck and threw it into a corner.

Elena gasped when his hand grasped her chin gently. She knew he was compelling her when the truth fell from her lips.

"Tell me where the moonstone is."

"In the tomb, beneath the church ruins."

"What is it doing there?"

"It's with Katherine."

"Interesting," he stepped back. His head spun around when he heard a noise. "What is that?"

"I don't know," Rose shook her head.

"Who else is in this house?"

Authority dripped from his mouth. Elena was certain she would have answered without compulsion if she had known.

It had to have been a fluke; strange when she thought of how odd the words had been. How often would someone come up to her and say that?

"No, Damon," Elena shook her head and backed away. "I won't do it."

"Come on Elena," Damon followed after her. "He's dangerous; he needs to be put down. You know he'll be coming for you now."

"I won't do it," she pushed the dagger away.

After remembering what he'd made her forget she should have wanted to drive a knife through his heart. Her soulmate wanted her to forget his importance to her; she didn't stop to question how she remembered the compulsion. She was too angry to think about it right then, but not angry enough to hurt him.

She wondered if he had done it because he wanted to hand her over to Klaus, and it was easier without the possibility of forming an attachment. Their wording had been very careful; she knew there was a loophole in their deal. She was not offered protection, but she still couldn't harm him.

"I won't," her jaw clenched tightly.

"He will kill both of us," Damon nodded to Stefan, "and take you. You'll be handed over to Klaus when the time is right, and then you'll be dead. You have to do this," he took a menacing step forwards and pushed the blade into her hand. "You know you have to do this."

Elena gritted her teeth when his pupils dilated.

"Stefan won't let you die."

Elena wondered if she was imagining the desperation in his eyes. Did he know she remembered? She figured the memory had something to do with the dagger hidden in her back pocket. Maybe he didn't realize what had happened.

"No," she shook her head, "he won't. He'll feed me his blood to heal me, and I'll kill myself and become a vampire, just like Katherine did." She took a deep breath as her heart stuttered. "So unless you want that to happen again, promise me the same as before. Promise me that you won't harm anyone that I love… even if they've harmed you."

She wasn't sure why she felt the need to harm the ones that had harmed him. He had proven that he was more than capable of protecting himself.

Elijah tilted his head down and smiled. "I'm going to have to call your bluff Elena."

She nodded once sadly before plunging the chef's knife into her gut. A loud gasp fell from her lips. She used one hand to brace herself on the door as she stared in shock at the protruding handle. Blood poured from the wound when the blade clattered to the floor.

"Okay," he rushed to the door only to be stopped by the barrier, "okay," his roar was desperate to his own ears. "You can have your deal, just…" he beat against the invisible wall, "… let me heal you."

"Give me your word," Elena gasped.

"You have it," he swore. He could see the life draining from her eyes. "You have my word."

Elena stumbled forward into his warm embrace. She felt a tear slip down her cheek that had absolutely nothing to do with the gut wrenching pain; the pain had all but disappeared. In the back of her mind she knew that was not a good sign.

Her eyes were glued to Elijah's face as the life drained away. His body desiccated under her gaze as Stefan pushed his bleeding wrist into her mouth.

Elena toyed with the dagger in her hands and waited. She had wanted to pull the blade out immediately; after all Damon had only compelled her to plunge the dagger into his body. She had left him though. She'd needed time to think through everything.

She still didn't know why he had compelled her to forget their first conversation.

She had gone to the basement when Damon had told her he would let Bonnie die if it came down to a choice between the girls. She wouldn't let her friend die. She knew the only one who could help her now was him.

She scrambled forwards onto her hands and knees and leaned over.

"Elena?" He gasped and tried to sit up. He could barely breathe. The air in the dusty room seemed to close over him.

He grasped the back of her neck and summoned all of the strength he could muster into the compulsion.

Elena had just enough time to curse herself for not drinking vervain before he forced the memory from her head again.

"Where do I fit in to all of this?" Elena crossed her arms and watched him pull out a small box.

"The final part of the ritual," Elijah lifted the lid. "Klaus must drink the blood of the doppelganger… to the point of your death."

"And that's when you come in," Elena leaned over to take in the bottle.

"This is an elixir that I acquired some 500 years ago for Katerina," Elijah stared at the bottle. He was glad she was human and couldn't hear the way his heart skipped a beat. It certainly helped the lie that the bottle was from the right century; Elena didn't need to know that concoction had been created by Jonas after she had made it clear she would go willingly to his brother. "It possesses mystical properties of resuscitation."

"So I'll be dead…"

"And then you won't."

Elena lifted her eyes to the stairs when there was a loud crash. Damon was breaking the china on the upper level.

"You'd think he'd understand why I'm willing to do this," she shook her head.

Elijah couldn't resist asking. The question had been eating him alive since she'd made her decision. He had wanted to take her from Mystic Falls when the words had matched, but he thought she would be safe. He should have known Niklaus would get word of Elena's existence. By the time she had woken him again the time for running had passed them by; Niklaus would hunt her to the ends of the earth.

"I'm the key to breaking the curse," Elena shrugged. "Klaus is here because of me. If I don't stop him then he's going to hurt people. It's that simple."

She was a wonder. Elijah had been more than impressed with the way she handled herself in the face of those who could kill her. She was a born negotiator.

"You know there is a possibility this elixir won't work. I don't want to mislead you." Elijah placed the bottle on the table.

"I know the chance I'm taking," Elena lifted her gaze to his intense eyes.

"You don't have to," he frowned. "There is another option."

Elena shook her head quickly. "No," her eyes narrowed, "I don't want that. I never wanted that." Her neck twisted towards the stairs. "I'm going to go and talk to him; he's clearly not taking this well."

She held the necklace tightly in her hand and opened the door. She had been expecting to find Elijah, so she was more than taken aback when it was Klaus on her doorstep.

"Might I have a word love?" He motioned to her porch swing.

She watched him warily as she stepped around and perched on the swing. His lips were quirked up into a smirk that made her blood run cold.

"What do you want Klaus?" She released her necklace and wrapped her fingers around the chain of the swing. Damon had told her he'd removed the dagger from Elijah; she had honestly been expecting to find the Original in her bedroom at some point during the night. She had made sure her necklace was securely around her neck; she knew she wouldn't be able to stop him, but she had wanted answers first before he took her memory again.

"What do I want?" He tilted his head and scrutinized her features Dark circles ringed her eyes. "I want many things, Elena, an endless supply of your blood, an army of hybrids, world domination… the list goes on and on. I think the more accurate question is: why are you here?"

Elena didn't say anything. She didn't have to.

"Elijah threatened to wake someone very dangerous to me," Klaus frowned. "In exchange for this person's eternal slumber he wanted one thing. Can you guess? Judging by the circles under your eyes you were expecting him to show up yourself."

"No," she shook her head.

Klaus pulled the locket from her neck before she could shift an inch. The chain creaked as she was pushed backwards onto the swing.

"I wonder if you'll tell me what memory he wants you to forget permanently," he chuckled. "No matter, if he ever found out I knew he'd release him and I can't have that. So," he caught her chin and compelled her, "you need to forget now."

I do so love reviews.

I guarantee he had his reasons.