I was dreaming.
At least, I was pretty sure that what was going on right now could only be a dream. If it wasn't, then I should probably start looking into mental hospitals or something quite similar.
Okay, since I wasn't making sense, let me rephrase that. I'm in the past. Like the actual freaking thing.
I was wearing the same clothes someone of a lower standing would wear in the early middle ages and I was confused as hell.
"Well, well, well, look at that," a boy around my age grinned evilly, sharing a laugh with his friends "The village orphan all alone in the woods. What are you doing here, girl?"
I glared at them in contempt "Gathering firewood, what does it look like?"
The leader of the group took a step forward "Mind your tone. What do you think, boys, should we teach her a lesson?"
I stumbled back a few steps at the lewd grins on their faces and one of my hands automatically wandered to my curiously flat stomach. Wait, how? I wasn't pregnant in this dream?
"Leave," I hissed, trying to defend myself against the hands about to grab me. I really didn't want a repeat performance of the stuff that happened after my fifteenth birthday.
Suddenly, a new voice entered the fray "You heard the lady. Leave," he said, sending the others scrambling away. Why I didn't know, but I was glad.
"Thank you, sir." I kept my head down submissively, trying to act more period like.
A hand tilted up my head gently "None of that now. I'm Finn Mikaelson."
I gave him a small smile. I couldn't give him my real name, could I? What do I do? What is- "My name is Sage, my lord."
"Sage," he tested "I like it. And you may call me Finn. I'm not one for properness if it's not called for." Finn leaned towards me conspiratorially "Don't tell my siblings. They think I'm their boring, rule-abiding older brother."
I giggled quietly "You have siblings, my l- Finn?"
"Too many," he bemoaned jokingly "I have four younger brothers and one younger sister."
"That's a lot," I remarked, thinking about my own, nonexistent family.
"They are terrors," he smiled fondly "What about you?"
My smiled turned sad "My family is dead. I moved here to start afresh, but a young, unmarried girl without a family- a man, isn't appreciated," I sneered bitterly. Why was I telling him that? What makes it so easy to talk to him?
"Those boys-"
I shook my head "Nothing I cannot handle. Now, excuse me. I have to get the firewood."
"Allow me to help you," he offered "You shouldn't have to do such hard work alone."
I rolled my eyes "Because I'm a woman?" I spat, not quite thinking of the possible consequences such behaviour could have. After all, he was from a rich family.
"Because even us big, strong men sometimes like to have a companion to share their suffering with," Finn answered, not at all bothered.
Over the next few days, we talked a lot. About everything and nothing, until I woke up again.
"That was weird," I murmured to myself.
"What was?" two voices chorused. My head snapped up and soon I found myself staring at Niklaus and Elijah.
"'Lijah," I grinned "When did you get back?"
He smiled and came over to hug me "A few hours ago. You got bigger."
I raised an eyebrow "Thanks," I grimaced sarcastically "That's something every girl wants to hear."
Niklaus burst out laughing, making us stare at him as if he lost his marbles.
"I don't know how you did it, little witch, but you changed my brother here for the better," Nik grinned.
I tilted my head and shrugged. My stomach growled, making me sigh and stand up.
"Right," Elijah blinked "That's the reason we came in here in the first place. We have some food for you."
"Nice," I nodded and went to grab it.
"So," the older brother drawled "I heard the first thing you asked Niklaus here was help with your homework." Even though you couldn't hear it, his eyes held more than a little spark of mischief.
I held up my hands in surrender "In my defence, Ric wanted to give me a book, but he was possessed by your little brother over there before he could give it to me. Plus, I was already late on that assignment."
"I told you to put your schoolwork first, no matter what or who came along," Elijah scolded.
"Oh, excuse me," I mocked in annoyance "I just thought that you might want your fucking family back. Plus, the fact that Niklaus' wolf is locked away actually hurts me quite a bit."
"It hurts you?" they echoed "Why?" Elijah added.
"Because it's screaming inside my head. It's so annoyingly loud that I can't really tune it out and believe me, I tried."
Niklaus mustered me as someone would a bag of mysteries "The full moon is tonight, if possible, we could do it then?"
I nodded in thoughts "Hm. Do you have the werewolf now?"
"Yes, that one vampire helped," Niklaus said, gesturing with his hand.
"Good. Then we have everything that the ritual calls for." I closed my eyes, my thoughts wandering back to my dream. That was weird, almost as if the interaction really happened, but that's impossible, right? I don't even know if Finn really looks like this. Sage, the name I gave him, came out of nowhere. It felt wrong to give him a fake name, but what could I do? Maybe one day, I'll tell him who I was. It's really confusing. For a moment, I thought I could feel a small pull in my chest, but why? What the hell is going on with me? "You know what? I'm still pretty tired, so I'll catch some more sleep. Wake me up a few hours before the moon is at its highest point."
"Sure," Elijah agreed, staring at me, deep in thoughts. What was going through his mind? Did he know? No, how could he? It was just a dream. Just. A. Dream.
I fell back asleep within minutes and found myself in the same area as last time, but now it was inside a house that looked very homely if smaller than the manor (that was too big anyway).
"Sage?" a still familiar voice called from the outside.
"I'm in here, Finn," I shouted back, finishing my cleaning.
"Hello," he grinned at me, leaning down to kiss my cheek.
I froze up and stared at Elijah and Niklaus' brother with wide eyes. After a second or two, I blinked "My apologies. Hello," I smiled weakly "How have you been?"
"My brothers are teasing me, saying that I always sneak off to meet a lady friend and to just introduce her already," Finn sighed.
I snorted "Well, they're not wrong, are they?"
Finn hesitated "That's not it, but over the last few months, I've felt a connection, like something is tugging is close, right here." He pointed to his heart, his face turned down.
My eyes widened and I tilted his head up "I've felt that as well, but not while I was here. Finn, there's something you should know." I told him my story, about his brothers and him and basically everything he needed to know.
"Why did you introduce yourself as Sage?"
"Because I needed you to think of me like that. I can't have your siblings know the name, Meagan. It's too modern for this time. If you want to, you could call me Meagan in private," I offered quietly, aware of just how much I heaped onto him.
"Hm. I think I'll call you Anne," he finally decided with a smile "Don't worry about what you told me, it'll all be alright."
I catapulted into his arms and kissed his cheek excitedly "Thank you. I was afraid that you'd leave," I whispered close to his ear.
"Never," he smiled, pressing me to him closer "We've known each other for months now - or rather one day for you."
"No, it was months as well, but only a night passed in the future. I don't really understand it," I corrected him.
"Very well, we have known each other for a few months and we like each other. I won't just leave the most interesting young woman in this village," Finn assured me.
"Thank you," I breathed and suddenly the colours swam before my eyes "I have to go, Finn. But I'll see you soon."
"Be careful," he called after me and I shot up in bed. Seriously? Why in the world does that keep happening? How do I know him for months already, when I only started dreaming of him after... after Niklaus brought the coffins to town. Gah! This is so frustrating...