Mismatched // Elijah Mikaelson

XI

All colour drained from Zari's face as she stared at Elijah, she could almost feel the pain radiating off of him as he told her to leave for her own good, even though she ruined the chance of redemption of his family.

'Come on,' Zari whispered and everyone could hear that her voice was shattered, something they hadn't heard before, 'Elena, Jeremy, Anatoly.'

And as they walked outside, the Originals could still hear the question Anatoly asked Zari. 'Why do you care?'

'I don't get what you mean,' Zari replied.

'Since when you let people in, Za'Rijah? You never cared before. You told me, caring, loving, is for weak.'

Zari's laugh was soft and hollow, 'I suppose I let myself be weak, Anatoly. Time for change, isn't it?'

'You were wrong.'

Zari shrugged, 'Maybe. But if I don't let people in, I don't get hurt. And then, I never have to feel this pain again.'

'That's a very lonely life.'

'No, Anatoly, that is my life. And I've gotten this far, so I think I'll be fine.'

***

'You've gotta get out sometime, Zari,' Elena muttered as she leaned against the door. And even though Zari would deny it, Elena could hear her sobbing on the other side of the door. 'At least let me inside.'

Elena sighed as she finally heard the lock of the door moving, there Zari was, wrapped in the covers of her bed. Elena sat down next to her, 'What's wrong?'

Zari wiped away her tears and quickly pulled herself together, 'I just... I just miss Alaric... he'd know what to do. He always knew what to do. He was always better with people than me, I never quite... I never quite grasped why people did things.'

'I think he's just hurt,' Elena told her kindly.

'Who? Alaric's dead, remember? You do remember that, right?'

Elena grinned, 'I wasn't talking about Alaric, I was talking about Elijah.'

'Elijah? Why does he have anything to do with it?'

Elena raised her eyebrow at the utterly confused girl, 'Oh come on, all that talk about not quite getting people, that was about him. You hurt him and you don't know what to do.'

'I have no idea what you're going on about,' Zari huffed stubbornly.

'Don't you dare lie to me,' Elena sternly scolded her, 'If anyone has experience with love troubles, it's me. So, fess up.'

'You can't... you can't tell anyone. Not Damon or Stefan or Caroline... Not Bonnie and not Jeremy. No one.'

'Cross my heart.'

Zari sighed and leaned back against the headboard, hugging her covers. And now, she let the first tear roll down her cheek. 'I... The night Esther asked me to... to come and see her, she told me that I was her family's redemption. She told me, that I was Elijah's soulmate.'

Elena gasped, 'But that's-'

'Amazing,' Zari finished, yet another tear rolled down, 'That's what everyone says. Amazing. Maybe that's also what it should be. But it's not.'

'But you like him, I see the way you look at him.'

Zari pulled the covers closer and whispered softly, 'Yes. Yes, I like him. That, however, does not matter. I don't want my fate tied to anyone, I don't want it set in stone.'

Elena frowned, 'It's not like it's written down word by word, right?'

'You're not getting it, Elena. To you, a soulmate, is like a dream come true. But my fate has been decided for me once before, by a prophecy. And I hated it.'

'What happened?'

'My father believed in a prophecy, one that stated that his heir would be the man stabbed by his blade, the man that would survive. And that man came, he was stabbed and he fell of a cliff... But he survived.'

'That's...' Elena hesitated when she realised what word she was about to use.

'Amazing? Not for me, that man was not his heir yet. So, my father decided that he should be married into the family. My eldest sister was nowhere to be found and everyone knew my other sister was more into girls. I was the only one left.'

Elena looked at her with pity in her eyes, 'Your father forced you to marry that man.'

'Yes, he did.'

'How old were you?'

'Twenty-two.'

Elena frowned, 'Why didn't you stand up to your father?'

Zari snorted, 'Oh believe me, I tried. But my father, he was very powerful and dangerous. You didn't want to mess with him.'

'So now you're scared of prophecies, because you're afraid that it will force you to do things that you don't want to. You're afraid that you can no longer decide your own fate.'

Zari nodded, 'It's so stupid.'

'No, it's not. It actually makes a lot of sense. Maybe you should just tell him, what you just told me.'

A laugh escaped Zari's lips, 'Have you forgotten what I told you already? I don't do love.'