AN: this is my first take at a one shot, it's pretty short but I just got a quick idea and thought it would fit. But hey, this maybe could one day happen?
xx
"Mom?" Lizzie said, coming into my room.
"Yes?" I turned around to face her.
"Where are we going today?"
"Anywhere you want," I smiled simply and threw something into my bag. Lizzie and Josie are here visiting over spring break. Alaric says that they hate me not being there with them in school. Lizzie is always annoyed and taking it out on others while Josie keeps it bottled up. He says that they're doing okay, though. These monsters keep invading the school and causing trouble, but he keeps reassuring me that they have it handled.
I've been traveling everywhere lately, desperately searching for any answers to prevent my girls from merging in a few years. I've got some leads, but most of them go straight to dead ends. Bonnie has tried to help, she still is but she has a life of her own and I don't expect her to keep it on hold. Elena and Damon are happy together, too. They're living in New York, she mentioned something about Damon possibly opening a bar. It's tough work, searching no stop for answers, but it keeps me busy and I get to see the world, which is as a plus.
But it's lonely.
Right now we're in St. Petersburg. It's not exactly the most ideal place for the girls to travel to so they could visit, but I need to be here because I might of found a small lead, and at this point, anything can help.
Being away from the school used to be a lot harder, but now with daily calls from Ric and even the girls updating me on how everything is going, makes it a lot easier.
Lizzie and Josie apparently made friends with Hope Mikaelson, well Lizzie always had this rivalry with her but now they seem okay. Lizzie is getting close to a boy named MG, but always says she likes this boy Raf. I tell her that she should give MG a chance. I've met the boy before and he seems really sweet, but I get that she's going after the bad boys, I mean, I have. Josie said that she used to have a crush on Raf and would rant to me about how Lizzie had dibs, but she has her eyes set on her ex-girlfriend who is being kind to her. I tell her to follow her gut and do what makes her happy. They all seem to have formed a friend group at the school with a bunch of kids, they fight the monsters together.
They're doing fine.
Ric is still shaken up about when Jo came. I wonder how she reacted when she found out that I filled in for her as their mom. Ric told me that she was grateful, but I know that she wished it was her who got to see them grow up and become who they are today. Lizzie and Josie always told me how sad he looked, I knew it was because of losing her, but a girl seems to of caught his eye recently. Emma, the school's guidance councilor.
He's doing fine.
My friends are fine.
My family's fine.
"Well, Josie and I wanted to check out the museum, if you're interested," Lizzie suggested.
"The Hermitage?" I asked.
She nodded.
"Alright then," I agreed. "Why not you grab Josie and get ready? We'll leave in 45 minutes."
"Thanks mom, you're the best!" Lizzie smiled. "Josie! She said yes!" She yelled, running down the hall.
I chuckled softly and went to find something to wear.
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"The Hermitage museum," Lizzie stepped up and told the cab driver. Lizzie was always bold, she reminded me of myself in that way. Josie reminded me of Jo, though. She was kind and caring, something I know Lizzie can be. Lizzie has a big heart, she just has to let other people see it.
The cab driver drove us there, I sat in the front and the girls sat in the back. They had started a video diary last time they visited me in Italy, so they continued it in the cab.
"So now were in St. Petersburg!" Lizzie said, facing the camera out the window and then flipping it to face her and her sister.
"It's so beautiful!" Josie awed and took the camera to show from her side of the car. "There are so many different people here."
"We're heading to the Hermitage museum now," Lizzie took the phone back and faced it at both of them. "Daddy said that it was cool there and that we should visit."
"In the last entry we were in Italy, now were here in Russia. It's different, cold definitely, but it's still amazing," Josie smiled. "Everywhere we go is full of art, music, and culture."
Art. Music. Culture.
"And don't forget the absolutely genuine beauty," Lizzie flipped her hair and struck a pose.
Genuine beauty.
And you can have all of it.
All you have to do is ask.
We pulled up a second later and I thanked the driver and paid him.
Lizzie and Josie paused their video diary and looked at me with concerned eyes. "Mom are you okay?" Josie asked.
I nodded and pointed to the museum, changing the subject. "Take a look girls."
"Holy shit," Lizzie slipped.
"Lizzie!" Josie hit her arm.
"Lizzie," I warned.
"Sorry but I mean look!" She pointed out in front of her.
"It is amazing, video diary it Lizzie," Josie smirked and nudged the camera.
The girls ran ahead to start shooting the next scene in their video diary. Last time, when they finished they put all of the clips together for one whole 'episode'.
This place was beautiful. It looked like it was made out of pure gold because of the sunlight casting on it's normally sea green color. Millions of little designs filled the walls and the pearl white pillars were there for support.
"Mom come on!" Lizzie yelled.
"Coming!" I ran up to them, being careful not to fall in my heel boots.
We entered and got our tickets. We really had no clue where to go, but they didn't want to get a tour so we decided to figure it out ourselves.
"So now we are inside," Lizzie started.
"It's even better inside, people have real talent," Josie summed up.
"I saw this sculpture thing that was like—up to the ceiling," Lizzie pointed up.
"How can someone even build that?" Josie wondered aloud.
"There are some things here that are totally weird too," Lizzie said a bit too loud, causing people to look at her with a disapproving look.
"Lizzie, honey, quiet down," I laughed lightly, coming up near them.
She scoffed. "Oh well. Yeah, but there are things that I wouldn't even consider art here."
"Lizzie shush," Josie kicked her leg.
"Art can come in all shapes ways and forms, it—"
"Oh my god!" Josie screeched.
"What?" Lizzie and I asked.
"Hope and Landon are outside!" She said, showing us her texts.
As if on cue my phone started to ring. "Ric whats up?"
"Where are you?"
"I have no idea," I told him honestly, looking around. He knows I'm here with the girls, they called him while we were waiting for a cab.
"Can you come meet us at the front?"
"Us? Why are you here?"
"A little surprise. We needed a break," he smiled into the phone.
I smiled brightly. "Yes, yes we're coming!"
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"Hey there!" I ran and hugged him.
"Hey Care," he hugged back.
"I didn't know you were coming!"
"We wanted it to be a surprise."
"Well it is! I haven't seen you in ages!"
"Daddy!" Lizzie hugged him, followed by Josie.
"Hey Hope, Landon," Josie smiled and hugged her friends.
"Hey guys," the girl smiled.
Landon waved awkwardly.
"Oh Landon this is Caroline Forbes, Lizzie and Josie's mother," Ric introduced.
"Well technically she isn't our real mom," Lizzie clarified. Ever since they met Jo, they have been a lot more cautious and caring about her title and my title. They always have to make sure people know that Jo is their real mom and that she loves them. Which is a good thing, Jo is amazing and I'm so lucky to have raised her girls.
"Hi Caroline," the young boy with dark curly hair greeted.
"Hi Landon," I smiled.
"And Caroline you've met Hope," Ric added.
I moved my eyes to the girl next to Landon.
She looked like him around the eyes.
"Yeah we've meet before, nice to see you again Hope," I smiled loosely.
She smiled but I could see a sad expression behind her stare. "Nice to see you too, Caroline."
"Can we keep going? I want to see more and Josie and I need more footage," Lizzie urged.
"Lets go," Ric pointed them along.
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The kids got along well, they all were in the twins's video and they pointed out the most simple things. Landon and Hope branched off eventually to see something together, while I stayed with Ric and the girls.
"Oh look!" Lizzie pointed in front of us. "Landscapes!"
The two girls ran down the hall over to a bunch of landscapes on the walls.
"Look at these things!" Lizzie showed the camera the images on the wall. "They look so real!"
"Well these people are talented. Hope you could probably paint like that," Josie turned to Hope who was approaching with Landon.
"Yeah, I wish," she scoffed, admiring the art on the walls with the same expression as before.
Landon moved down to whisper something in her ear and she nodded slowly and wrapped her hand around his.
"Are you guys talking in code?" Lizzie asked, scrunching her nose.
"Nope, just had to tell her something," Landon answered.
"Was it about me?" She said, obviously somewhat paranoid.
"Yes, Lizzie. It was about you," Hope rolled her eyes.
Ric laughed. "I'm so happy those three get along now."
I nodded blankly.
"Care you okay?"
"Yeah, why not you take them and head somewhere else? Im going to take a minute to actually um—admire these, I can see that they're getting restless."
"If you need anything, call me," he reminded me and ran to the four in the center of the room. "Come on guys lets head to the next room."
When they left I was alone in the room with only a few other people admiring the landscapes. Each one was different, unique in their own special ways.
Lizzie was right, they looked like real life photographs. Someone actually sat down and painted these. They were all originally a bottle of paint and an idea in someones mind.
I walked up to one that stood out to me, it was grand and the colors started off dark but turned brighter towards the top. It stood out amongst the rest. There wasn't much information about it, but it seemed to have a deeper, maybe darker, meaning.
Something in the corner caught my eye. It was a scribbled out signature that was blended in with the dark colors of the paintings ground. I walked closer, as close as I could and managed to make out the name.
My heart stopped and butterflies arose in my stomach.
Did you do these?
Yeah um—actually one of my landscapes is hanging at the Hermitage... Not that anyone would notice.
I noticed.
It was very Klaus. It reminded me the painting we were looking at when he said it, except it was darker. He must of been going through a rough part of his life.
My breath hitched and I reached up and touched it (I know I'm not supposed to), feeling a chill go down my spine which made me jump.
What the hell was that?
"You okay?" A female voice asked me.
I turned around to see Hope entering the room. "Yeah—I'm fine."
"Whatcha looking at?" She asked quietly, walking up towards me and her fathers painting.
"Oh um—"
"This one seems to sort of, stand out," she realized, looking around at the rest.
"I think Josie was right before," I looked at her and she looked at me. "You can paint like this."
Her lips formed a tight line and her eyes scanned the painting, falling to the name scribbled in the corner. A single tear fell down her cheek. "Dad…"
I felt tears start to rush up as well but I kept my posture right and my eyes fixated on the painting. "He told me about this, he said that one of his landscapes was hanging at the Hermitage, not that anyone would notice."
"How couldn't we notice," she let out a light chuckle. "It's beautiful."
"I know."
We stood in silence for a moment before she spoke.
"Do you miss him too?" She wondered, looking at me.
I hesitated and looked down to the floor. "Yeah, I do." That was the first time I admitted it out loud. "I know how much you do."
"Of course I do, he's my dad, my mentor…" she looked down too. "I miss him every day, my mom and Elijah too. We may not of spent that much time together but I cherish and replay those moments every day. I'm not following in his footsteps, no. He wanted me to be better, and I'm going to keep doing that at the Salvatore School."
I nodded and wiped a single tear. "You're doing great."
"He told me about you, you know."
I looked down at her. "What?"
"He said that you were the first girl to put up a fight, the first girl he saw as a challenge. He said that you were beautiful and full of light," she smiled. "He also told me that you encouraged him to talk to me again, you know, two years ago."
"I did, it was wrong of him to discard you like that. I've always been good at smacking sense into him," I chuckled.
"Yeah you are," she nodded. "I know that I, or even we, will see him again someday. Both he and my mom told me to live my life to the fullest and thats what I'm going to do."
"Thats great, Hope. He would appreciate it," I smiled.
She walked up to the painting, like me, totally disregarding the fact that there are signs everywhere saying not to touch, and placed a light kiss with her fingers to the canvas. "I love you, dad."
I wiped another tear and smiled at her. "He loves you, Hope."
"I know. Oh and one more thing," she grabbed a thin, velvet box from her bag. "I found this in his room back at home with a post it note on top. I think that he meant to give this to you awhile ago," she smiled before moving to walk away. "I have to find Landon and the twins, I'll see you later Caroline. Maybe we can share stories some tie."
"I would like that...bye Hope," I waved and looked down to the familiar box in my hands. I opened it slowly, revealing a orange sticky note that Hope must of put inside.
Caroline,
You threw this bracelet at me during a ball we hosted for the reunion of my family in Mystic Falls. You said stuff to me that night that no one has ever said before. You were bold and brave, and I admire that. I wasn't lying either, despite what you may think. You are strong, beautiful and full of the brightest of lights. I enjoy you still. One day you will show up at my door and I'll show you what the world has to offer.
But that doesn't have to be today. I just want you to know that when you are feeling alone, or that your life isn't fulfilling you, that I'm here. Always. So please accept this bracelet, I know I'll see you again one day.
However long it takes,
Klaus
I sniffled and slid down against the wall next to the painting.
He wrote this years ago! He probably didn't feel this way before he died… he met a woman and they 'mused about art'!
Klaus was the only one who ever saw me as something more. Tyler was a dick, Damon was a dick, Matt was a dick and even Stefan was a dick.
But he wasn't, at least not to me.
I carefully picked up the note and revealed that shimmering bracelet again. I clasped it on and admired it in front of his elegant painting.
I wiped my tears and stood up, leaning to touch the painting one more time.
I miss him and I'll admit that now.
We'll meet again, I know it. Hope was right. I felt that same chill again, but this time it was soothing, almost as if it was his fingers running against my back.
'I'll never forget you either, love.'
I jumped at the whispered. I have to be hearing things.
"I'll see you again," I said aloud. "However long it takes."
'However long it takes,' his angelic, whisper filled my ears.
Maybe I'm not hearing things.
I looked at it one last time before walking away.
Soon Ric and the girls will be back at the school and I'll have to continue my search, alone.
Ric's doing fine.
My friends are fine.
My family's fine.
The girls are fine.
Hope and Landon are fine.
And I'll be fine, eventually.
I'll see him again.
AN: I don't know it was just a random idea ;)
I always wondered if she did actually see his landscape hanging there. I have no clue what it was of or if he actually signed it with his own name, but it's go to imagine right?
And I wanted to add a bit of Legacies in there because I love Lizzie and Josie's character and they brought a lot into the journey of this little one shot haha. I don't know a video diary just seemed very Lizzie? I guess? Halfway through I decided that I wanted Hope there to see the painting too, so I had her and Landon come. Since I loveee Handon. Plus Lizzie and Hope are friends, which is good.
Thank you 3