Warning, mentions of incest. One shot for now.

10th century

"Thank you for coming with me," Cilla said smiling. "I would have been fine by myself, but you know how ridiculously overprotective Nik is."

"No," Elijah replied. "Niklaus is right; it is not safe for you to run in the woods by yourself."

Cilla sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Not you too. I am not a child, 'Lijah."

"I know," Elijah murmured tensely. "That is the problem."

Cilla tilted her head and looked at him with her blue eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know," Elijah managed to reply after clearing his throat. "I am sure mother has explained these things to you."

Cilla bowed her head.

"She… She has explained something, but you know she does not wish to spend much time with me. I think because she does not want to anger father."

Elijah bit his bottom lip; he couldn't bear to see Cilla sad. He couldn't understand why their father was so harsh on Niklaus and Cilla. Perhaps Mikael had never laid a hand on Cilla, but he had always treated her coldly. She suffered when she saw Niklaus suffering.

"So," Elijah continued after a moment of silence. He was hoping to change the subject. "What exactly are we doing here?"

Cilla smiled at him.

"We are gathering herbs."

Elijah raised an eyebrow.

"Why? I thought that Kol usually helps mother with those kinds of things."

Cilla shook her head.

"These are not for mother. I promised to help Ayanna."

"Ah, I see."

"Yes, I am hoping…"

"What?" Elijah asked when she didn't continue.

"I am hoping that she would accept me as her apprentice."

Elijah's eyes widened.

"What? I thought that Kol and Finn were the only ones of us who have inherited mother's gift."

"They are, I don't posses any gifts. I am hoping that perhaps I have enough skills to become a midwife."

"Cilla," Elijah said gently. "You have plenty of skills; I don't want you to ever doubt that."

She smiled and touched his shoulder.

"Thank you, 'Lijah. You have always been so kind to me."

Her words made Elijah to bow his head. Once again he was ashamed. What was wrong with him, why was he feeling like this? Cilla was his sister. She was a kind and gentle girl who trusted him. She was smart, beautiful and full of life. She was… She wasn't his and she never would be. Yet he had loved her for as long as he could remember. When they had been children, he hadn't been able to identify his feelings for her, but now… No. No, no, no. She could never be his, not the way he hoped.

"There!" she suddenly announced and pointed at the tall tree by the river. "Wait here, I need to climb."

"What?"

She grinned at him.

"Come on, 'Lijah, surely you know that the best leaves are near the top."

"Are you sure it's a good…" he started, but she was already climbing. "Be careful!"

"I will, I have climbed before you know."

Elijah bit his bottom lip; he didn't like this at all. He remembered one time many moons ago when Cilla had been playing in the woods with Niklaus and Kol. All three of them had climbed in a tree and Kol had playfully pushed her. She had fallen down and hurt her arm. Elijah had been unnecessarily angry at Kol for hurting her. He had always felt a very strong need to protect her.

"Got it!" she announced.

"Good. Please come down now."

"I'm coming, but you really should come up here, the view…"

The rest of her sentence turned into a scream as the branch she was standing on cracked. She lost her balance and fell into the river.

"Cilla!"

Elijah jumped after her and dived. The moment before he found her was the most horrible moment of his life. She had hit her head and she was unconscious when he got her out of the water. That wasn't the worst part. She wasn't breathing.

"No… Cilla, no…"

He couldn't lose her, he couldn't. She needed to breathe. Desperately he pressed his lips against hers, praying for all the gods to give her back to him. If they would do that, he would never ask for anything else. Suddenly she started to cough.

"Cilla! Thank you… Thank you…"

He had never been more relieved in his life; gently he helped her into a sitting position and kissed her forehead.

"My Cilla…"

It took a while before she spoke.

"I suppose I'm not much of a climber after all," she murmured.

Elijah smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"Please don't ever scare me like that again."

"I will try my best not to." She paused and pulled away. "You saved my life. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me," Elijah muttered. "I would do anything for you."

She tilted her head and gently touched his cheek. For a moment they simply looked at each other, his heart was pounding as she leaned closer.

"'Lijah…"

"Cilla!"

Elijah startled when he suddenly heard Niklaus voice.

"Cilla!"

She smiled at Elijah before pulling away.

"Here, Nik!"

Elijah stood up before his brother saw them. This was for the best; thankfully Elijah hadn't crossed any line. She wasn't his and she never would be.