Disclaimer: I do not own Elijah or any elements from the Vampire Diaries/the Originals. I do, however, own my OC Eternity and any elements from my up and coming novel. Please review! I'd appreciate it a lot! Thanks and happy reading!

Manosque, France was a beautiful little southern village that Elijah found himself drawn to, once he had decided not to pursue his mysteriously forgotten past. Having known only his first name, he had to relearn what it was to be a vampire, which he got his education from a beautiful nightwalker vampire named Antoinette.

It was after she left him behind and he had chosen to not pursue his past, choosing to instead chase after her, that he make the journey to the quaint little town. He had wanted to settle down there with the lovey female vampire and live in peace, away from the ghosts from the past that had been chasing after him.

Antoinette had been surprised to see Elijah in the little bar, after leaving him months before in New York City. She had taken up preforming as a piano player there and was quite popular. Upon confessing that he had come to be with her. They had begun a romantic relationship, living in peace and joy together without the burden of his past lingering over them.

He had found a wonderfully simple existence, also as a piano player in that same little bar. He had even gone so far as to compel the owner to give it to him - and his lover. Elijah enjoyed playing there every evening, playing for the audience whom all flocked there to listen to the mysterious and handsome gentleman's music.

Yes, he was happy and tranquil in his new existence as an amnesiac vampire; playing, feeding, and spending his time with Antoinette. He was certainly not hurting for company or for simplistic joy, now that his past didn't haunt him. Now that he had let it go.

Then one night, his past returned in the form of Klaus Mikaelson, whom had come to try and reclaim his lost brother that Elijah refused to be. He had failed to convince him to return to his old life, choosing his new existence over the old one.

Soon after that, a beauty like no other appeared while Elijah played, catching his eye immediately. She stood at the bar and watched him through the crowd of patrons. She was stunning with a shining grace that seemed too otherworldly to be of this world. Her pale skin and even paler white hair shone and shimmered under the low lighting of the establishment. Her sapphire blue eyes were ancient and striking in the wisdom that shown there.

This mystery woman was certainly unlike anyone he had ever seen and he was immediately drawn to her in a far more profound way than anyone else, even Antoinette - and they hadn't even interacted yet. It was fortunate that his lady wasn't there to see him gazing at the strange and yet familiar woman with a captivated stare, as if he was entranced. Antoinette would be none too pleased with him otherwise.

Then like a ghost, she vanished from sight as quickly and suddenly as she had appeared, leaving Elijah to wonder if she had been there at all. Perhaps he was going insane, he thought to himself, a side effect of his amnesia?

A little while later, he returned to the small apartment he shared with his fiancée, Antoinette, as the mysterious beauty remained on his mind. He tried to distract himself by talking of his upcoming wedding with his lady, trying to hide his fascination with the other woman from her. He didn't want her to know. He wanted to believe whatever had transpired had been nothing.

However, there was a surprise knock on the front door of the apartment. Curious as well as wary as to whom was calling so late, Elijah went and opened it. As if his mind had summoned her, there she was on the other side of the door, that pale beauty from the bar. She looked furious.

Before he knew what had happened, she slapped him hard across the face and then proceeded to grab him by the jacket he wore, pushing him back into the apartment. There was an angry growl rubbling through her as she did.

"What the hell did you do, Elijah?" She raged at him, while he remained dazed and confused.

Recovering upon hearing his name fall from her lips, he looked at her suspiciously.

She released him and carried on in her yelling, "I went away on a mission for a moment and I come back to a broken family, forced apart, because of the Hollow! Worse than that, I find out that you had Vincent and Marcel compel away your memories!" She sighed as the rage left her and as a result, her voice became small and sad, "Compel away...me, us!"

Elijah didn't understand what she was trying to say, but he wouldn't since this fiery woman was someone from his forgotten past. He rubbed the side of his face that still stung from her slap, as he gazed at her, her broken expression having him feeling almost guilty. Almost.

"Look, whoever you are, I don't know you," he responded quickly. "I'm sorry that you came all this way to assault me for whatever you're babbling about, but I think you should leave."

He could feel Antoinette come up beside him and reach for his hand in comfort and perhaps in feeling territorial, but the mystery lady saw it and growled warningly at her, "Stay back!"

Immediately, his fiancée moved away out of fear.

Not liking the way this woman from his past treated the woman he loved now, Elijah became more insistent. "I don't know what it is you want," he told the pale beauty coolly, "but quite frankly, I don't care. Whatever we were, that's not my life anymore. I have a new one here. I have a business, a home, a fiancée, and I am happy. Please respect that and go."

The mystery woman's broken expression turned into one of devastation that then turned into a cool rage. She glanced at Antoinette, as she said to him, "A fiancée? Well, good luck in marrying her since you are a married man already." Her eyes returned to him, watching his shocked expression with mild amusement.

"What...You?"

"Oh yes. My name is Eternity Mikaelson," the otherworldly lady introduced herself. "It's a long story, but I am your wife. I came here after Niklaus failed to bring you home. I thought I could do what he could not and convince you to return to New Orleans with me, to put our broken family back together again."

Elijah couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had a wife? Where had she been all this time then? She had said she had been away when he had his memories wiped away from his mind. Why had she waited all this time to come? What had she been doing that kept her from preventing his erasure of identity?

He had so many questions. However, as it began to feel as if his sanity was slipping away, like before when he had gone searching for his past, he immediately rejected it - rejected her. He didn't want to feel that desperate and devastating insanity again. Ever. He feared it, he loathed it.

"I'm sorry you came all this way, but I'm not interested," he told her with finality. "I'll call a divorce lawyer or whatever, to set you free, but I'm not going anywhere. I am staying here, away from that toxic family of misery and woe, I suggest you get away from them too. They're poison and I refuse to be a part of it."

Eternity sighed sadly, "Oh, my love, you know so little. Fine. I'll leave here tonight, but I'm not leaving this quaint little village without you and should you leave it, I'll give chase until I finally wear you down, until you finally give in. I'm not giving up. This is far from over."

With flawless grace, she turned and walked out the door, closing it behind her.

Elijah immediately felt a vague sensation of devastation, watching her go. It felt as if someone had their fist around his heart and was squeezing it tightly. Yet, he tried to ignore it, as he turned to Antoinette, who obviously didn't know what to say or do with the revelation that he had a wife to whom he had sworn to spend his life with once upon a time.

"Hey, don't worry," he comforted her, taking her hand in his and kissing the palm. "I'll figure out how to get a divorce and then we can start our life together."

"You would choose me over her?" Antoinette asked, surprised. "She's something special, a being from a distant place. I can tell. Yet, you wish to be with me instead?"

He nodded with a determined look, "That woman, no matter how special, is from a past that I don't want anymore. I want what I've built here with you. I want our future. I want you."

Antoinette smiled softly, and she seemed to accept what he told her, but there was still some uncertainty in her eyes. It was understandable. Eternity, whatever she was, was rather remarkable. He understood her uncertainty over his choosing the ordinary instead of the extraordinary, as not many would.

"I love you, Antoinette," Elijah murmured to her, kissing her lips tenderly. "I am yours...forever."

He had tried to not think about the otherworldly woman. He hadn't attempted to believe that Eternity had been serious when she said she wasn't leaving without him. He had thought that she would leave eventually. He should have taken her words more seriously, he soon realized.

For night after night, she would show up, just to stand at the bar and watch him with a small, almost knowing smile upon her pink lips. Every time he moved to meet her there, to tell her to leave, she would vanish into the crowd and then disappear completely, leaving him frustrated...with his ever growing curiosity about her and about their supposed life together. He wanted to know, but tried hard not to, afraid of the slip into insanity in chasing after any part of his forgotten past. Therefore, Elijah wanted her gone, yet he could never catch her.

She would come and stand at the bar to watch him, even when Antoinette was around, playing the piano by his side. His lady was displeased to see the other woman there and her uncertainty that he would remain hers only grew the more she witnessed the way her lover and his wife stared at each other. One time, Elijah purposefully made out with his fiancée in front of Eternity, in an attempt to dissuade her from continuing to show up there as well as prove to Antoinette that he was permanently hers.

The display hadn't worked and Eternity carried on coming, waiting for him to crack.

Finally, he had enough and began to strategize a way to trap the mysterious beauty that had been tormenting him for weeks. He wouldn't let her get away again. He had to stop the madness, to tell her to leave and never come back, despite the pain he felt in his rejection of her.

One night, while he played at the piano, Eternity showed up as always, standing at the bar and watching him watch her. She grinned at him flirtatiously whenever their eyes would meet this time, adding something new to her endless torment of him. Despite his determination to resist her plot to drag him back into his old life, her seduction was infectious, because he found himself automatically returning her subtle flirtation with his own lopsided grin - charming and libidinous.

Determined to trap her once and for all, Elijah waited for just the right moment, the moment she would try and flee into the crowd. When he saw her preparing to turn and make her escape, he used his vampire speed to intercept before she could even walk away from the bar. With a wicked smirk at her surprise from the change in their game, he used that to his advantage, grabbing hold of her and speeding away to the darkest corner of the little bar.

Pushing her against the wall, he held her firmly by the throat and glared down at her as he growled, "Why do you insist on coming here every night? Why haven't you taken the hint that I'm not interested in you or the past you're trying to bring me back to?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm but a simple patron come to enjoy the music," she responded coyly, gazing at him without fear, only amusement.

He tightened his hold on her neck, but still she did not show fear of him. "That's bullshit," he hissed in frustration. "You're here to drive me crazy! What do I have to do to get you to leave me alone?"

She shrugged, "You know what. Come home."

Growling in frustration, he came nose to nose with her as he hissed, "I. Am. Not. Going. Anywhere. With. You."

"Then I shall remain until you change your mind," Eternity shrugged again.

He became desperate then. For a long time, he had sought answers to his forgotten past. Yet, he had come up empty at every turn, until he had been forced to stop the search or else lose his mind. But now, here was a woman who was from that past he couldn't remember, whom he had been married to and probably happy with, as happy as the miserable Elijah Mikaelson could be anyway. Part of him wanted to give in, wanted to know her, but his fears and his determination to keep his much happier present intact kept him from doing so.

However, just as he was about to reiterate that he wasn't going, Eternity stopped him by pressing her mouth to his in a sweet, but brief kiss. "Please, just consider it," she murmured as she pulled her mouth from his.

"Why do you insist on this?" Elijah asked softly, surprised by her kiss, her touch familiar upon his lips.

"Because I love you," she replied just as softly, "and you shouldn't be here. It's my fault that you are and I want to fix that. Just consider coming home, please?"

With that, Eternity slipped away from him and disappeared without a trace, yet again, leaving him utterly frustrated...and intrigued.

To Be Continued...