Maeve sighed and slumped into a chair. She was tired from lifting up all the Mikaelson siblings from the ground and carefully putting them back in their chairs. Not long had past since Esther's escape from the room, when Klaus' phone rang again.

Seeing the caller ID she answered it immediately. "Hayley."

"Maeve? Esther is..."

Maeve cut her off immediately, knowing Esther, she knew there was very little they could converse before Esther might try to sabotage the conversation. "Do the spell I taught you and leave." as expected the call ended immediately. She glanced at the siblings once again. She helped herself with a plate full of food and sat down to eat.

Slowly one after another the Mikaelson siblings began to stir and regain their consciousness. Rebekah was the first to awake and sit up, looking around the room. "What happened?" she inquired in a hushed and groggy voice.

"Do you know who I am?" but it wasn't Rebekah who responded. It was someone else who did. 

"Iona?" Maeve glanced to her right, at Finn, who looked as if he was in a daze. His eyes met hers, tears brimming in them.

"I'm Maeve, Finn." She responded. "Do you remember?" He took another moment to himself before he responded. "She killed her? Mother killed Iona? I don't believe this."

"You have to. The real story is now yours, Finn. The story your mother polluted to keep you all from the truth of your past. Iona's blood is on your mother's hands."

The other three siblings woke up as well. Klaus looked at his siblings. "Where's Esther?" he asked the room.

"She left. Body jumped. Are you okay?" 

Klaus looked at Maeve for the first time since waking up. Elijah and Kol did the same. They finally had the answers they all seeked for months. All the unexplained behaviour, inclinations, bonding, all of it finally had an explanation. 

Everyone stared at each other in silence, no one speaking a single word. "You must have questions." said Maeve, breaking the silence.

"How long have known about this?" asked Klaus. "How long have you known about our past? Our story and what Esther did."

Maeve hesitated to respond but she did nonetheless. "Since I was pulled to the other side." her words were met with a cold stare and disappointed sighs. "Iona reached out to me and explained everything." Maeve gestured everyone to settle down so she could speak.

"Iona told me this story of five siblings who would always chill in her small cottage outside their village. How the only sister liked spending time learning crafts and new dishes. The two  youngest brothers who would be in her witch workshop the whole day long. The middle child with a huge heart and a big smile and skills with brush unlike anything she had ever seen. The witch and her house became an escape for all of them from the man they called father. The eldest who rarely spoke or mingled with anyone else but couldn't stop talking to her. Slowly with seasons the two feel in love with one another. A pure gentle love. This all changed when the youngest brother passed away. Iona warned their mother of what would become of her children that remain if she were to seek the dark forces to help her. But the mother was determined to please her husband. And in the end she did begin the spell. When Iona was going to tell them of the dark forces and stop the spell to protect the siblings, their mother ended her life in the middle of the forest."

"I remember..." recollected Finn. "The morning after it happened, I went into the forest and found her...lying o---on the gro---ground de---" he couldn't finish the sentence without his voice breaking. He buried his face in his hands and sobbed. "How could I forget her."

Maeve turned her head away from Finn, feeling his pain in his words and continued. "Esther casted a spell that as you would transition, you would forget the witch that saved you. She concentrated the spell as strong as she could on Finn but forgot that she wasn't a person that meant something to just Finn but you all as well. That's why when you all saw me, I was never a threat as much as others, just a person was curiosity. It was because you remembered her." Maeve sighed.

"But Finn..."

"The reason he wanted to die was because his brain might have hidden away Iona but his heart and soul remembered. His desire to die came from the soul's memory of her. The will to be with her."

"How could she do this?" murmured Finn to himself. 

"That night as Iona watched the spell take effect she willed it to the skies and nature: "Whenever a Mikaelson sibling truly needs help, a serene witch shall always come to protect them."

"Why did you hide it all from us?" asked Kol. "You could have told us."

"It wasn't the right time. I wanted Esther to defend her actions and knowing enough about her I know she would pull a stunt of this kind."

"So you hid everything from all of us." concluded Elijah. "You waited for the exact moment when you could finally declare this secret."

Maeve understood the underlying words that Elijah swallowed instead of saying out loud. "Elijah I needed Finn to be here as well for the truth. He deserves to have his memories as much as you all."

"Now what? What did you accomplish from all of this." asked Rebekah.

Maeve turned to Finn with a hopeful gaze and said, "Finn? What have I accomplished?"

Finn looked at her, the new found sense of perspective was sharply reflecting through his intense gaze. "I have to go." he said and hurried out of the room.

"I did what Iona asked of me." she said. "I brought the siblings together."

"Did you because he just ran away." Kol pointed out.

"He'll be back. I know it."

Silence fell over them all. "Hayley should be here soon. I came for the dinner and now I will take your leave. Very precious jewel to take care of. Currently in the protection of Patrick the Vlatka." she said with a chuckle.

"Stay the night." said Elijah immediately and hastily. "It's almost midnight anyway..."

"I'm a big girl, Elijah. With claws and fangs and a few deadly spells at the tip of my fingers."

Elijah glanced at her with a knowing look. "I insist. Caroline should be here too from her midnight stroll. You two can catch up as well."

"If you insist." replied Maeve with a sheepish smile.

Rebekah and Kol exchanged a side eye before softly and discreetly whispering, "stubborn kids in love." in perfect sync.

The clock showed 5:00am. Maeve tipped down the small flight of stairs and went straight into the kitchen. Her stomach growled as she looked through the cabinets to find something she could eat. Most of the cabinets were empty, and those occupied were only filled with bags of blood. 

"What did I expect from a house full of blood suckers!" muttered Maeve to herself.

"A plate of aglio olio pasta and garlic bread." a voice spoke from behind her. 

Maeve jumped surprised and quickly turned around. Her rapid movement caused her to collide with the door of the open cabinet. She touched the part of her head and rubbed it softly easing the sharp quickly fading pain.

Elijah reacted just as quickly and reached out to check. His hands reached up to touch her face, but he paused. His eyes met hers and the closeness and the silence settled between them.

Elijah stole his eyes away from Maeve and took a step away.

"The plate of pasta is in the dining room if you wish to eat it." Elijah said, "I'll leave you to it."

"Elijah" he stopped at the threshold at the sound of her voice. "Join me?"

Elijah turned around. "I know we have a lot to talk about. Please."

Silently both walked into the dining area and sat across from one another.

Elijah pulled a chair out for her and took a seat on Klaus' chair. Maeve immediately went in to devour the pasta, moaning.

She ate half of the pasta on her plate and turned to him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Everything. Lying, hiding, running away."

"Why did you run away?" Elijah looked at her with a softened gaze.

"I didn't know what else to do?" Maeve confessed. "I—I jus—I just knew I had to do something."

"So you gave up everything you worked so hard for, fought the world for, in a single conversation you had with a dead ancestor for us?"

The weight of Elijah's words crushed Maeve, making her avert her eyes.

"Don't steal your gaze from me, Maeve." said Elijah with a force.

"I had to do it. It's my destiny."

"Your destiny is to be an Alpha by your brother's side be the most powerful witch and write history."

Maeve licked her lips holding back in tears. "Elijah, I had to do it. After everything you all have been through, I don't even know—"

Elijah rolled his eyes at her and cut her off, "I am tired of having to go in circles with you." He stood up fast, making the chair drag on the floor as it slid a few inches back. "What must I do to convince you that you are not a burden, you are not a chore that we do because we have to."

Maeve stood up and faced him with equal strength, "all this time it made me wonder and you all as well about the quick connection we formed. I had answers and excuse me if I wondered whether everything that has been the case so far about the Mikaelson and Maeve team has been real or just an outcome of a prophecy. I wondered if the trust, faith, willingness to do anything between Nik and me is real or just him projecting her suppressed emotions for Iona. Same for Beks and Kol. And you..." she chuckled lightly, a failed attempt to show her teary eyes.

"I began to question if you truly held feelings for me or was it—" she paused before continuing, "was it just an age old connection."

Elijah looked at her strangely. He closed the distance between them in two quick steps. He placed his hands on both sides of her face, forcing her to look straight in his eyes.

"There exists no connection between me and Iona, other than that of acquaintances. You and me are a different thing. Have always been. I haven't felt as strongly and as deeply for anyone as I have since the day I spoke to a frightened hybrid inside a tacky apartment in a strange little town I once called home. You listen to me, Maeve, no matter who or no matter what may come and whatever prophecies be told, you are my greatest strength and my ultimate weakness."

Maeve gazed at Elijah, her mind blank and heart racing at Elijah's words. "I—I—" she stuttered with words, barely a few sounds coming out from her lips.

Elijah waited for a few seconds before he closed the gap between them and kissed her. Maeve melted into the kiss, a feeling indescribable coursing through her veins at the touch of his one hand tracing her spine and lips claiming hers. Her arms reached up and tangled into hair at the base of his neck and then to his shoulders to grab onto something in fear of her knees buckling and making her lose her balance.

Elijah used his speed to push her against a nearby wall. A low grunt escaped his mouth at the feeling of her hands tracing his jawline and then his neck. He wrapped a hand around her neck forcing her to throw her head back.

He leaned in close, his nose tracing a line from her jaw to the base of her neck where he began planting kisses.

Maeve pushed him away from her. Both panted as they looked deep into each other's eyes.

"Upstairs?" asked Maeve. Elijah grabbed her hand and sped them to her room.

************************************
Wow! It's been a long long time.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope this new year is great and wonderful for every single one of you.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Hopefully I can keep my promise this time of not ghosting you all for months at a time.

Take care everyone!

Raven :)