Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries, but I do own the ideas behind this story and it will be published on Kindle Worlds when it is finished. It may not be shared without my permission. It IS the sequel to All This Time, which is published on Amazon under my real name, Mara A. Miller, and I have a friend who is a Google queen. Please don't ruin it for everyone; if I find it shared somewhere other than FFN the story will be taken down again in a heartbeat.

Author Notes: My life has been crazy. I miss you guys. I'm going insane because I have Head Over Heart on preorder right now and it's not completely edited/finished yet. I'll get it finished since I'm the NaNoWriMo queen (Taaroko's exact words to me earlier), but I figured I at least owe it to you guys to let you see it while I write it. Updates are going to be slow until May 31st. I also want to see how season 6 ends and I need to reread All This Time. Because of real life crap I currently don't have a job, and my mother has told me not to worry about one until August so I can spend the summer writing.

Trust me. Updates will be coming, and they will be coming fast after I get through this editing/writing hell with HOH2.

Thanks, always, to Taaroko for being my co-writer, my beta, my friend. 3 She has a lot of input in this story even though she's not actively writing any of it.

Prologue

One Thousand Years Ago

She couldn't move her arms.

Why couldn't she move her arms?

Slowly, Tatia started to wake. Her back ached and she tried to sit up only to find she was in an upright position, but not of her own volition. Her body wouldn't stop shivering.

"Good." The sound of that voice made the hair on the back of her neck stand. "You're awake. We can start now."

"Esther?" she asked, finding she could hardly find her voice. She couldn't remember what she was doing before she passed out. She must have passed out because she didn't even remember closing her eyes. "What…what's going on?"

"You are a vile thing who relentlessly tried to win my Niklaus and Elijah's hearts. You're nothing more than a slave and a whore." Esther spit in her face. "No matter, I have my uses for you."

Tatia looked down. She had no clothing on what so ever and her shoulders and legs were bound to the great white oak tree in the middle of the village. Her eyes widened in fear as she looked around, praying someone would notice what was happening. How could they not?

Not one person was in sight.

"Esther—I don't understand! I was only trying to protect myself and my daughter." She tried to fight the bindings against her, but it was no use. They were too tight. "I only cared for Elijah! I never wanted attention from Klaus!"

"That still didn't stop you from trying to manipulate him first," Esther said with a scowl when she grabbed Tatia's wrists. "At least my boys have the sense not to marry a dirty slave whore."

"But Elijah loves me! He promised to take care of me and my daughter," she said, her tears welling with tears. "I'm so sorry if I've upset you or—"

"Be quiet!" Esther hissed as she turned around to pick something up next to the tree on the ground.

"What—" Tatia started to panic when she saw a large, jagged knife. "Esther, what are you doing? My daughter! Freya—you can't—"

Tatia cried in pain as Esther pulled the blade across her wrists. She tried to pull her arms back but Esther was much stronger and forced her to hold her arms out.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she sobbed.

"If you truly care for Elijah, then you should be pleased to know your sacrifice will ensure his immortality."

Tatia tried, and fought, so hard, to pull her arms back and get away when Esther started to chant something unrecognizable and undecipherable but it was pointless when she started to lose consciousness.

"Oh, thank the Gods you're alive."

Tatia shrieked and scrambled across the dirty wooden floor away from Elijah. "Don't touch me!"

Blood caked to her wrists. Her head wouldn't stop pounding. Her eyes darted around the room, to Elijah, and to a kind witch she knew as Ayana, and then back to Elijah. He looked awful with a blood stained shirt that had a huge hole in the middle around his stomach.

"Tatia," he said in the soothing, rich voice that she had fallen in love with. "All is well. You're—"

"Well!? Nothing is well!" She shrieked. She held her bloody arms up. "Your mother did this to me!" She tried to stand but immediately fell back, only to be surprised when Elijah caught her.

"Look," he said, covering her with some furs, before he gently lifted up her arm. "Only blood. No wound."

"Get away from me," she said, pulling away from him in fright. "I told you not to touch me."

Elijah's hands were shaking now. "I know you're terrified, what Mother did is unforgettable but I must insist you calm yourself before—"

"Tatia," she span around to look at Ayana. "Elijah, you both must be still."

Tears started to run down her cheeks. "Ayana?" She felt wobbly on her legs and didn't stop Elijah when he finally came behind her and adjusted the furs over her shoulders. "What did Esther do to me?"

"A ritual," Ayana said. "She tried to sacrifice you."

"What?" Tatia gasped. "No!"

Ayana slowly walked up to her, holding her arms out. "Come here, child."

Tatia nervously looked at Elijah, but he nodded to her, smoothing back some of her hair before he kissed her temple. She didn't hesitate any longer and went to Ayana, wrapping her arms around her.

"Oh my," Ayana said as she patted Tatia on the back as she sobbed onto her shoulder. "Your humours are imbalanced, causing your strange behavior. They are stronger, more violent. They will fall out of alignment at the slightest provocation. You must take care to govern yourselves."

"So she is like me," Elijah said. "I never would have thought my blood would cause this."

Tatia pulled back quickly. "B-blood?"

Ayana smoothed some of her wild, long hair from her face. "Yes, Tatia. Blood."

"Esther cut my wrists. She drained my blood until I…How am I alive?"

"You're becoming what my siblings and I have become," Elijah said gently.

Her gums ached and her ears felt like they were on fire now. "I don't—Elijah, what happened to me? I thought I died."

"You did," Ayana said sorrowfully. "Which is why you must complete your change."

Tatia screamed like a frightened rabbit when Ayana pulled out the knife and tried to scramble out of Elijah's arms when he wrapped them around her. Somehow, she was stronger, and she managed to get away from him.

"There is no need to be afraid," Ayana said as she cut her palm. "I'm simply offering you my blood. I told Elijah to offer his to you, and so you must drink mine."

"As I told you before," Elijah said gently as he slowly approached her and took her hand, "all is well."

Something about the blood in Ayana's blood called to her. Her gums ached furiously.

"No—I can't."

"You must drink my blood," Ayana said.

"But—"

"Do you trust me, Tatia?"

She could have laughed in his face had she not been so terrified. She stared up at Elijah with wide eyes, but she didn't need to think too long about her answer.

"Yes," she said, unwaveringly. "But—Freya—my daughter—"

"I assure you she is safe," Ayana said, holding up her palm. "Now drink."

Tatia no longer could think about anything else as the scent of the blood called to her. She hesitated only a moment before she took Ayana's hand and pulled it to her mouth.

Suddenly everything felt better. Her head and her gums no longer hurt. She felt something strange move around her eyes as she drank the blood, but it tasted so much better than she would have ever imagined.

"That is enough," Ayana said, pulling her hand from Tatia's mouth.

"That was—" Tatia stared at her hand longingly, but then looked up at Elijah in surprise. "Am I actually hungry for blood?"

"What's this!?"

Frightened yet again, Tatia looked up and immediately whimpered when she saw Esther standing in the entrance of her family home. She clenched her fists at her side. Niklaus stood beside his mother, his mouth slightly ajar as he probably realized for the first time that Tatia was still alive.

"I thought I killed you," Esther said angrily.

Suddenly angry, Tatia took a step forward. "You did." She gripped the furs closely.

Esther threw her hands up and looked at Elijah with a look of disbelief. "If I had known you would just change her too I would have slit her throat. She can't stay like this."

"Don't you think you've done enough to this poor girl?" Ayana hissed loudly.

"Mother, I will not allow you to hurt Tatia anymore. She is under my protection—" Elijah started, but then fell to the ground and cried in pain as Esther held her hands up and looked at him intently.

"What are you doing to him!?" Tatia asked. "You're hurting your son!"

"Mother," Niklaus said, pushing past her. "Enough! I fully support the decision they made to undergo a native tradition."

"Tatia is a whore and a slave," Esther said in an annoyed tone. "I don't know how many times I must remind you of this, Elijah. We never supported the idea of you bringing slaves into this family."

"Stop!" Tatia finally roared. She felt something change in her mouth and around her eyes again as her anger overtook her senses. "You're hurting him!"

Charging, the only thing she could focus on was the undeniable urge to sink her teeth into Esther's neck. She almost managed it, too, until she felt something plunge into her chest.

"This situation has been out of control from the moment Elijah brought up the notion of marriage," Esther hissed as Tatia fell to the ground in pain. "I'm so relieved I'll finally be rid of you."

Tatia's head exploded in pain and everything went black.

This time Tatia woke to the soft sounds, familiar sounds of a humming girl, who gently ran her hands through her hair.

She sat up fast. "Freya?"

Her ten year old daughter startled. "Momma! You're awake. I thought you never would."

Relief coursed through her as she pulled Freya into her arms.

"You need to stop dying," Ayana said.

"I'm still not—" she looked at Freya hesitantly. "Esther!" She pulled Freya closer. "Where is she? If she comes anywhere near my daughter—"

"It appears Esther was not so honest with Mikeal," Ayana said as she sat next to Tatia on the bed of furs. "Niklaus was a wolf before Esther did the spell to make her family change."

"Momma, you're shaking."

She needed to still herself, she thought, as Ayana's earlier words came to her. "I have a lot of questions," she said."

"Esther used your blood to bring this curse. Your blood is what will break it."

"But my blood is no longer what runs in these veins!" Tatia said in confusion. "It is Elijah's!"

"No! It is not! But neither is it yours. It never was."

"I don't under—"

"Listen, Tatia!" Ayana said with an urgent tone in her voice after she stood again. "You are the crone. You must find the mother and the maiden. When you are all together, look to see the true faces beneath the matching reflections. Once that is what you see, your blood will break the curse."

"What does that even mean?"

Ayana quickly walked to a window near a line of dangling trinkets and looked outside. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you more. Take Freya, and run."

Mystic Falls, 1865

Two weeks after the battle of Willow Creek

"I can't watch this."

Tatia came to a sudden stop as her friend froze on the path to an abandoned plantation. "Allegra…" she said as tears welled up in the other woman's eyes. "I want to make sure—"

"I just can't," Allegra sobbed, yanking her hands from Tatia's grip.

Tatia thanked the higher powers that Allegra did not have the hearing of a vampire when she heard the flames roar to life. "At least I managed to find this place again. Johnathan Gilbert assured me she would get the proper burial she deserves so she can be with her ancestors. Ayana will be able to care for her."

Tatia slowly approached her sobbing friend and took her hand, pulling her toward her. Allegra resisted only for a moment before she gave in and cried on her shoulder.

"I just—"Allegra paused in an attempt to regain her breath. "That poor woman. Those poor children!"

Tatia noticed one of the many nosey upper class socialites of Mystic Falls staring at them, no doubt gleeful at the thought of perhaps spotting another witch to roast, and so she started to move Allegra away from the crowd to a more secluded area in the woods at the edge of the property. Tatia had been watching Emily Bennett for months now, intrigued when she heard about a pair of identical sisters who were guests at the Salvatore estate. Twins weren't uncommon but once she discovered rumors about demons haunting the town she had to explore the area.

She watched Rikard, the stupid fool, get caught after he attacked a woman. Rikard as always was an informative lackey when he confirmed her suspicions the twin Peirce sisters were actually her fellow doppelgangers when he couldn't tell if she was herself or Katerina Petrova. When she actually started living in Mystic Falls, she learned the other girl, Elena, had actually become engaged to Damon Salvatore.

"We should leave Mystic Falls," Tatia whispered. "I can't stand to deal with this town's crazy for executing innocents any longer. It is bound to call unwanted attention to itself eventually and it's making me very uncomfortable here."

Allegra sniffed, dragging her feet a bit as Tatia continued to make her walk. "But the power—"

"No," Tatia said firmly. "You'll have time to put her to rest once the hysteria has died down amongst the townsfolk. If you don't keep your wits about you my disguise may vanish. What will we do then?"

Emily Bennett had been a truly powerful witch, and that only made her death all the more tragic. Two weeks ago she had used a device to send Elena Gilbert back to her time, wiping the memory of everyone who came in contact with her during her adventure to the past. Thankfully Allegra had power herself that only grew throughout the centuries via body hopping and extensive spells to slow down the aging process. She was also still the reason Tatia and herself retained their memories after Emily sent Elena home. Being mistaken for Katherine Peirce could have disastrous consequences where twenty-six vampires had been trapped in a tomb only a fortnight ago. Tatia appeared to everyone as the blonde, blue-eyed baker's daughter.

"I shouldn't have done that spell to protect our memories," Allegra hissed. "In fact, I should undo it right now!"

"What would we do then?" Tatia questioned incredulously. "We might endanger ourselves by not keeping our memories. Having them protects us."

"Tatia," Allegra said, "we both know there is no possible way Niklaus would set foot in Virgina when he is busy building a life further south."

"No matter, doing something as careless as letting our memories be wiped is out of the question." They were finally out of sight in the woods. "If anything, this only makes me more determined to help my fellow doppelgangers."

Allegra scoffed. "We've been hiding for nearly seven hundred years and you have yet to actually successfully manage any of your plans. Besides, Elena is not even born yet."

Tatia scoffed indignantly, pushing some of her blonde curls from her face. "That doesn't mean I can't make plans to put that self-righteous—"

"Oh, you mean like the plan you made once to help Katherine's daughter have an easier birth once they discovered the child was breeched and she was in labor for nearly two days?" Tatia clenched her jaw together as Allegra spoke. "I barely managed to pull the babe from her before she died."

Sniffing, she smoothed invisible wrinkles in her dress. "She lived because of the vampire blood."

"And she still has never forgiven you. You doomed—quite possibly may I add—this Gilbert girl to the same fate as Katherine's if Niklaus ever finds her."

"Well, there are ways I can help with that since I know she will be born—"

"Were you not listening to me when I told you that if you do anything to interfere with Katherine or Elena's lives that you could cause a time paradox?"

Witches and their time paradoxes, Tatia thought bitterly. She'd heard Emily give Elena that very kind of speech before. At least she could rest assured that Elena's fiancé, Damon Salvatore, was safely immortal and was now helping Emily's children get to safety with their uncle and brother.

But, as she stared at Allegra, she could not deny that she had a point, and that her logic was infallible.

"Very well then," Tatia sniffed again. "I'm fairly certain I heard them mention Elena traveled one hundred and something odd years into the past. A hundred years isn't that long when you're as old as the both of us."

"I'm relieved, that for once, we can agree on something."