"Daddy, tell me a story."

Klaus had already kissed his eight year old daughter goodnight and knew this was a ploy for her to stay up longer. But he couldn't refuse when he knew she'd been having nightmares lately and didn't even want the light turned out. So he lowered himself onto the bed and put his arm around Hope. "All right, my little monkey, just a quick one. Would you like to hear the story of the beautiful, brave werewolf girl again?"

Hope sighed and actually rolled her eyes at him. "Not every story has to be about Mommy," she said indignantly. "Or Uncle 'Lijah or Aunty Beks. Or you."

Klaus tried to keep a straight face. "Then what would you like the story to be about?"

"Princesses and dragons. With lots of kissing," she said matter-of-factly.

"A love story between a princess and a dragon?" he replied. "Very well."

Hope giggled. "Not the princess and the dragon. The princess has to kiss the prince, silly."

"Well, I can do one better. My story is going to be about a king. A king and a beautiful queen."

She nodded. "Okay."

As Hope settled into his side, Klaus began. "Once upon a time, there was a king—"

"What was his name?"

What was his name? "His name was N—Rick."

"That's not a very good name for a king."

"I think it's a fine name for a king. Once upon a time, there was a king whose name was Rick. Now Rick was very, very sad, because on the day he was born, he was cursed by a witch. Not a good, kind witch like Hope Mikaelson, but a nasty old crone who hated for other people to be happy. So she cursed him to appear in the form of a beast to everyone else, even though he was really only a man. She warned that he would never find true love, that he was doomed to be feared and hated forever. That made him very sad and very angry as he grew up, and he was so angry he forgot he really wasn't a beast. He would growl and roar and frighten people so much, sometimes they dropped dead on the spot."

"I don't think I want a story about King Rick. He's yucky."

"Just wait. He might grow on you," Klaus replied. He stroked Hope's hair and continued. "As time went on, Rick grew more and more lonely. His family had all gone away and he had no friends. He wanted to marry and have a family of his own, but every woman in the land ran away as soon as he talked to them. So he wrote to all the queens and princesses in the adjoining kingdoms and invited them to come to his castle."

Hope nodded. "Good idea."

"He thought so," Klaus said with a smile. "So all the noblewomen from lands near and far came to visit. Because he didn't want to scare them, King Rick arranged for his major-domo to bring each one in turn to the throne room, where he had a large painting of himself on the wall. He watched from the shadows as the ladies, each one more beautiful than the last, came up and inspected the painting. Some screamed, some fainted, some fled the room entirely, but none of them could stomach looking at him for very long. Finally, they were down to the last one. He realized how hopeless his plan had been when he saw her enter the room. Queen…um…Candy was the most beautiful of all, with long golden hair, large, sparkling green eyes, and beautiful full lips."

"What did she do?" Hope asked, her own eyes large.

"She stepped right up to the painting. She didn't scream. She didn't faint. She didn't flee. She simply said, 'Oh, how sad he looks.'"

"He has to marry her," Hope said, then stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Klaus forgot his story for a moment. "What have I told you about sucking your thumb?"

"Daddy, go on," she replied, thumb still in mouth, squirming impatiently. "Please."

He sighed. "Entranced by her beauty and courage, Rick approached her quietly. 'You don't see a beast?' he said. She looked at him then. He could see curiosity in her eyes and sympathy, but not the fear and repugnance he normally saw in others. 'I see a man,' she replied. 'He's angry and frightened. But he's still a man.'"

"Did he fall in love with her?" Hope said. "Did she fall in love with him?"

"He tumbled madly in love with the queen. So madly in fact that he decided he would keep her there until she fell in love with him. That is why he had her locked in a room in his castle."

Hope frowned up at Klaus. "I still don't like him. How will she fall in love with him if he locks her away? I bet she missed her family."

"I see you're much smarter than King Rick," Klaus told his daughter. "But he was so desperately lonely, and so desperate not to be seen as the beast, that he made a terrible mistake."

"I hope Queen Candy told him how dumb he was."

"Don't worry, she did. Every day when he came to visit her, he brought her gifts. Books and puzzles and flowers and chocolates. But she threw them all back at him. 'I can never marry a man who is selfish and cruel and cowardly. I can never marry you!' she yelled. After a while, she stopped throwing things at him. He noticed she read the books and ate the chocolates. She listened to his stories and told him about her home. So he began to hope that maybe he could win her heart. 'Please tell me what I can do to gain your hand in marriage,' he said one day. She stopped and thought about it for a while. 'That is for you to decide,' she told him.

"If she doesn't tell him, we're never gonna get to the kissing part," Hope said forlornly.

"I'll try to get there as soon as possible." Klaus chuckled softly. "In the meantime, Rick thought carefully about what Candy had told him. He decided that if he proved how brave he was, she would be so impressed she couldn't help but fall in love with him. That's why he set out on a quest to rid the land of all the dragons that lived in the furthest corners of his kingdom."

Hope sat up. "And did he?"

"He certainly did. Even though they tried to singe his hair off, he fought and fought and fought until he had slain all but one of the dragons in the land, which lived on the top of the tallest mountain. Ten days it took him to reach the top, and there he found the dragon in its lair. It opened its immense jaws and hurled great balls of fire at him, but Rick managed to dodge them all. Closer and closer he got, until suddenly he jumped onto the great beast's back, and with one slice of his sword, Rick lopped off its head."

"Cool," Hope said. She flopped onto her back on the bed. "Did Candy fall in love with him for being so brave?"

"Rick returned to his castle triumphant. But when he presented Candy with the dragon's head, she burst into tears. 'You are brave, but you are not kind,' she said. 'You hurt everyone and everything you meet. Not only did you slay this innocent creature, but you rage and roar and frighten people to death.'"

"Aww," Hope said. "What did Rick do?"

Klaus took a moment to cover his daughter with the comforter. "He was sad for a while, but then he thought to himself, 'If she wants me to be kind, I'll be the kindest man in the world.' So he made sure that he always smiled at the servants and spoke softly instead of yelling. He said please and thank you and never complained. He stopped to talk to people in the street and listened to what they had to say. Everyone in the kingdom noticed how polite and gentlemanly he was."

"Candy must like him now."

"He hoped his kindness would make her like him more," Klaus said. "But when he pointed out how nice he was being, she merely said, 'You are kind, but you are selfish. You do these things for yourself, not for others.'"

"Poor Rick," Hope said in a weary voice.

Klaus smiled down at his daughter. "I told you he'd grow on you."

"I just want to get to the kissing part," Hope mumbled, rubbing a hand across her eyes.

"So did he," Klaus went on. "This time, Rick was certain that if he showed her that he really was generous and thoughtful, she'd surely fall in love with him. It was then he called for his major-domo. 'Find all the beggars on the streets and give them gold. Find the sick and heal them. Make sure all my subjects are happy. Whatever I have is theirs.'"

"Now did he kiss her?"

"Well," Klaus said, thinking ahead, "he took Candy for a walk one day to show her his kingdom. Everywhere they went, his subjects would drop to their knees, kiss his hand and say, 'Your Majesty, thank you for the beautiful clothes. Thank you for my stomach stuffed with food. Thank you for my warm, comfy home.'"

Hope wrinkled her nose in thought. "Did he pay them to say nice stuff about him?"

"He didn't have to," Klaus replied. "They were grateful for his generosity. But alas, Candy just shook her head at him. 'You expect to be rewarded for giving away the things that mean nothing to you? You are generous, but I cannot marry you.'"

Hope blew out a long, tortured breath. "What does she want?"

"That is exactly what Rick wanted to know. 'I have done everything you asked,' he said. 'I have strived to prove myself worthy of your love, and yet you reject me still. What more can I do?'"

"What did she say?"

"She said, 'You can let me go.'"

Her little thumb making its way back into her mouth, Klaus' daughter closed her eyes. "I'm not sure I want Rick to marry Candy anymore," she said.

"King Rick was sad, to be sure. But he thought about what she said, for seven long days and seven long nights, until finally he realized he would have to let her go. So he went to her room and told her she was free to go home. And you know what Candy did then?"

Hope's eyes flew open. "Did she kiss him?"

"Not quite," Klaus said. Noting the disappointment on his little girl's face, he added, "True love isn't won that easily. But she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big old hug. Well, Rick didn't know what to do because he'd never been hugged before. So he just stood there, his heart beating fast, until Candy broke away. She thanked him and started packing her things, and the next morning he watched her carriage as it drove away from his castle."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Hope shook her head. "They're never gonna kiss, are they?"

"Let me finish. Poor Rick was sad when Candy left, and he grew sadder as the days went by. He couldn't eat more than a mouthful, he didn't speak more than ten words a day, he stayed up all night moping around his castle. He went to her room and sat there, staring at the books he'd given her and wondering what she was doing now that she was back home. After a whole month of non-stop moping, he grew weak and sick from not eating or sleeping, and his major-domo grew worried. 'Your Majesty,' the man said, 'if you go on this way, you'll die.' 'I don't care,' Rick told him. 'Better to die of a broken heart than live without her.' The major-domo begged his king to write to Queen Candy. 'Her heart is kind. She would return if she knew you were dying of love for her.' But Rick wouldn't hear of it. 'That is why I will never tell her,' he said. 'She's happier without me. To have her return out of pity would be to imprison her yet again. I'd rather die.'"

"Daddy," Hope said, frowning up at her father, "this story sucks. Seriously."

"Language, monkey," Klaus said mildly. "Eventually, Rick's major-domo decided to take matter into his own hands. He wrote a letter to Queen Candy, telling her that the king was very ill and might die. As soon as she read it, Candy ordered her carriage, packed her bags and set off back to Rick's kingdom."

With a fist pump of her tiny hand, Hope said, "Now you're talking."

"The moment she arrived, she dashed from her coach, ran up the steps of the castle, up many flights of stairs, right up to Rick's bedroom, where he lay in bed too ill to even raise his head. 'Don't die!' she called out as soon as she saw him. 'I'll marry you. Please don't die!' But Rick shook his head. 'You don't love me. How could anyone love a beast like me?' It was then he saw the tears falling from Candy's beautiful green eyes. 'I do love you,' she said. 'I've loved you from the start. But I couldn't marry a man who treated others as if he were a beast. I will gladly marry you now.' As soon as Rick heard that, he leaped out of the bed so fast he nearly knocked poor Candy over. He took her in his arms and kissed her lovely mouth, and they both laughed out loud because they were so happy."

Hope's eyelids were fluttering shut by this time, but she murmured, "Yay, they kissed."

Klaus chuckled. He thought his little girl would be more enthusiastic, seeing that he'd finally got to the best part. Hopefully, that meant she'd be out like a light in a minute. "A month later," he went on, his voice just above a whisper, "they had the grandest wedding anyone had ever seen, and they combined their kingdoms and ruled together, and everyone was happy now that the king had learned what was truly important."

Without opening her eyes, Hope asked him, "Did that break the curse?" She yawned loudly before adding, "Did King Rick turn back into a man?"

"Not even true love can fix everything. Outwardly, he still looked like a beast to others. But they weren't afraid of him anymore, because he was always polite and kind, and he purred now instead of growling. Rick didn't care anyway. He knew Candy saw the real him, and that was all that mattered."

"Did they…live happily…ever…"

Klaus looked down at his daughter, who by her breathing seemed to have drifted off to sleep. "To the king's constant surprise and delight," he whispered, "they did live happily ever after." He made sure Hope was securely tucked in, kissed her forehead gently, then got up. With careful steps, he began to make his way towards the door as silently as he could.

"Daddy?"

Klaus walked back over to the bed. "You were supposed to be asleep. What is it, monkey?"

"I didn't mean it when I said your story sucked. I think it's a good story."

"Thank you." Klaus tucked the bedcovers under his little girl's chin one final time. "Goodnight and sweet dreams."

"And Daddy? I know your story was really about you and Cami."

Tapping his little girl on the tip of her nose, Klaus grinned. "You're far too clever for me."

Hope grinned back. "I'm happy you found her so you don't have to roar and growl and scare people anymore."

"So am I, monkey," he replied, "so am I."