The Originals's Sister (The Vampire Diaries Fanfic)

14: Dangerous Liaisons

At first the woman said nothing, just looking down at the space in front of her and then back up at her daughter, silently telling her to come over. Maddie bit her lip as she considered the request before slowly walking back across the room, resisting the urge to squirm under the interested gazes of the five Original vampires around the room. The question Esther asked when she was finally there surprised her, to say the least.

"What is your name?"

Of all the things she had expected this wasn't one of them. Maddie crinkled her brow and tilted her head ever so slightly, she opened her mouth to object or question the reasoning behind this strange demand, but one 'look' from the Original Witch made the words slip away from her. After another moment of unnerving silence the girl figured it would just be best to answer, it was after all a rather simple question "Maddie Donovan."

Esther didn't correct her or agree with her, she just asked the question again. "What is your name?" Her eyes never left Maddie's face, watching confusion appear in her features. Just as the girl was about to reply, Esther interrupted, shaking her head 'no', knowing her stubborn daughter would just end up saying the same thing as she had the first time. "Just think for a moment." She instructed, her tone firm but not at all angry.

Maddie frowned again when she was cut off. She been about to repeat herself, but it seemed that Maddie Donovan might not be the answer Esther was looking for. What else am I supposed to say? I only have one bloody name! She thought to herself before realizing that wasn't entirely true. Legally she was Maddie Donovan but biologically she was Maddie Mikaelson. Is that what she wants to hear? The witch couldn't help but think it wasn't, it just didn't feel... Whole somehow, not wrong really, but not quite right. As she combed through her mind in search of anything that might help make the answer known, something occurred to her. Mikael had asked her this same question before homecoming, and despite her fear towards the man she had managed to give him an answer he approved of, one that she decided to use now. "Madelyn Mikaelson."

To her relief Esther smiled, nodding softly with approval. "That's right," She agreed, something akin to relief in her voice. In the back of her mind she noticed how Madelyn had changed accents to match her own again as she spoke, finding it funny that she couldn't say it with the fake voice she had created for herself. She paused to consider what question she wanted to ask next, realizing that unless she phrased it right, her daughter would find some way of turning it back towards her 21st century life instead of the one she was born into. The spell she had cast weeks ago would have slowly been giving her daughter back her memories one by one from the moment she had left their time, but Esther had no idea in what order they would arrive or even how much her six-year old would have remembered with the limited about of memories that came with the age. The Original witch had been keeping an eye on her youngest from the otherside and she had realized that though the memories were coming back, Madelyn thought they were just dreams, or visions of some sort. She suspected that on some level the girl must have at least suspected that they were more than that, but she was sporting an airtight case of denial. The pieces of the puzzle were all layed out for her but she didn't put them together in fear of what she might see. It is a mother's job to do what is best for her child, not always what they want. Esther thought to herself as she took a step forward and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her daughter's ear. "And when was Madelyn Mikaelson born?" She asked, using the gentlest tone she could conjure up. She knew this revelation would bring this fabricated life Maddie Donovan lived down in a single strike, but it had to happen so her family could be whole again.

Sure enough Maddie's face was at first a mask of confusion, confirming the denial that Esther had theorized. I don't know when I was born... What does it matter anyway, Esther wouldn't know when I was born, she wasn't even alive! Slowly though, understanding started to flood the blue seas in Maddie's eyes. She had no idea when she was born, but she wasn't the only one who had been called Madelyn, the little girl in her dreams shared her name. She was younger than seven years old in every scene she had seen, just like the days before I came here. Everything made sense, Rebekah's protectiveness, Klaus' strange need to annoy her, the questions he always asked, the way the girl looked so familiar to Maddie, and her reaction to Mikael, even Elijah's stunt with Damon by the door earlier that night! Even with things suddenly falling into place she shook her head fiercely and muttered. "I don't know." Esther tilted her head ever so slightly and frowned sending Maddie a disappointed look that made the younger witch squirm. She wasn't used to such looks, having grown up for the past ten years with no dad and an invisible mother in the form of Kelly Donovan. Never the less, she immediately changed her tune, saying, "Those were just dreams, visions." Though even she could hear the resolve in her voice breaking into tiny pieces. A lone tear made it's way down her cheek as she tried to fight what she knew to be true. Esther watched sadly, moving her hand to Maddie's cheek and brushing away the tear with her thumb.