PROLOGUE

"Don't you understand? I'm asking you for help!" Caroline cried, throwing her hands up in the air as she glared down at her soon-to-be ex-husband.

Klaus, however, merely sneered down at his beautiful blonde wife as he downed another shot of whiskey, refusing to acknowledge the liquor as the drink for the brokenhearted. "My dear, if there was anything you knew how to do better than planning a party it was to charm you way out of situations that would have otherwise given a coronary to those less fortunate." he replied, slamming the shot glass down as he waved at the bartender - quiet in his movements - to pour him another.

Caroline glowered. "Is this you way of saying no, Klaus?"

"Whatever happened to Nik, sweetheart?"

"Oh, don't you dare call me that!" the blonde spat out, taking another step closer to the man who she had once loved with her entire heart, "you don't have any right to call me that! You foul and belligerent - "

"Since when did you open a thesaurus, love?"

Immediately Caroline's face became stone cold and the warm blue of her eyes were now as icy as the frozen pools in Monet's backyard. Her posture, which had previously been as rapid as fire, was now as rigid as a board and her lips were pressed together so tight that the full plumpness of her lower lip was enveloped. "How dare you," she spat out, her jaw clenched as her hands balled into fists by her sides.

Klaus outwardly appeared completely unaffected by his wife's anger but on the inside he winced at his callous choice of words. For despite everything the two had hurled at each other in the past few weeks, Klaus could not shake the damn feeling of affection he still felt for his feisty and spirited blonde and no matter how hard he tried to end the divorce as abruptly as he could, he still found ways - legal and legitimate ways - but ways nonetheless to hang on.

As he downed his fourth - or perhaps fifth - whiskey, Klaus merely raised a brow at the fuming woman before him and shrugged. "It was your idea to hang on to the ridiculous piece of farm property. Had you not, then I would have left you a rather grand inheritance but seeing as you do enjoy taking on pet projects that inevitably fail - "

"Oh? Are you referring to yourself?" she retorted, voice cool and level as her inner queen bee gave a jump of satisfaction at seeing Klaus's face blanche to her snipe.

"Taking your anger out on petty observations now, love?" he replied, his body language completely at ease but his eyes telling another story.

Biting down on her lip, Caroline couldn't believe the short end of the stick she was receiving from fate and destiny and whatever other deity that observed people's lives had granted unto her. She had been married for seven years to one of the wealthiest men in the world and right on the tailcoats of her damned divorce, her father's land was now being seized by the government. Of all the luck in all the world…

Taking a deep breath, Caroline forced herself to swallow whatever pride she was clinging onto and looked at her husband right in the eye. Despite the fact that she'd coached herself into hating the cockiness that resided in the stormy blue orbs, she couldn't help but be comforted by the confidence he held in knowing that he would always make sure those around him were safe and well. Except her, apparently.

"Klaus," Caroline began, her voice restrained and soft as she tightened her fists, "I understand why you don't want to help me, considering our current situation and all but…I don't know, out of remembrance of the past or whatever other crap your ant to conjure up, could you just please give me some leeway as of right now? I mean, did you really think I knew my own overseer was going to lynch the money right out from under my nose or - "

"I always did tell you Robert Johnson was a shady man but you never did listen to me." Klaus cut in casually, knowing full well he was testing his wife's patience. His wife. He would cling onto that name for her for as long as he could.

Instead of rising to Klaus's jab, Caroline merely took another deep breath in, viewing her father's legacy more important than some silly grip she held onto her own hubris. "Please," she said out, her voice low but firm, "I'll pay you back - you know I will. Charge me whatever interest you want - thirty percent ,forty percent, I don't care. Do fifty if you'd like. This is my father's land, Klaus. It's been in the Forbes family since 1846 and I'm not about to lose it because a few government officials want to snatch it up with their greasy little take-out plumped fingers, " - Klaus couldn't help but suppress a grin at Caroline's crude description - "and I'm not going to let them," she finished, her cornflower blue eyes now blazing. "It's the home I was born on and it's the home I'll pass onto my children and grandchildren. I won't allow anybody to take it away from me, especially not some uniform wearing ass whose been locked away in an office storage for ten years. Trust me," Caroline added, giving out an indignant huff, "If I had the time, I would raise the money all over again myself but seeing as they only gave me two days…" she trailed off, letting out a billow of air she didn't know she'd been holding, Caroline sighed. "What do you say?"

Klaus paused. The bartender took this time to quickly refill his shot glass with whiskey before scurrying away again, afraid the electric passion between Mr. and Mrs. Mikaelson would somehow kill him if he got too close. Downing the shot, Klaus was quiet for a few more moments before looking up into the wide blue eyes of the woman he both resented and loved.

He frowned.

"No."

Caroline's jaw near dropped to the ground. "No?" she repeated, her voice incredulous. "What do you mean, no?" she cried out, stomping her way closer to him so that the two were only centimeters apart. "You've got, like, billions tucked away and you won't even lend me a damn few thousand for the land that's been in my family for generations? You're being a complete dick right now!"

"Sweetheart, in case you recall, I have never been one to deny you anything - not even a divorce," Klaus replied, and though his voice was stoic and casual, if one listened closely enough, one would easily be able to detect the hurt undertone. "But this is where I draw the line - and perhaps I'm doing it to be a right damned bastard or maybe I'm doing it because I want to prove a point. I don't know," he said, "but I do know that it's that piece of land that caused everything terrible between us and I'll be a fool if I let you somehow sabotage the miracle that's being handed down to us."

"Miracle?" Caroline repeated, "you think me losing my family's land is a miracle? What kind of moron are you?"

Klaus's eyes flashed at Caroline's scoff and the blue darkened now to an almost piercing indigo. "Careful there, sweetheart - I've killed others for far less."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Please Klaus - I've known you for over nine years. Your threats don't scare me."

"True, but the loss of my money does."

"I don't need you or your damned money!" Caroline threw back, "I'm not asking you to pay for my shoe shopping spree or to buy me a damned castle in the Netherlands - I'm asking you for…for common decency!"

Her shriek caused a few of the bar's attendees to turn and face them but Caroline remained unfazed. Klaus, however, raised a brow as he began to pull his wallet from his back pocket; placing a few bills on the table, he stood up from the stool and began walking out. The furious clicking of Caroline's heels behind him assured Klaus that she was still furious but he couldn't really care about that right now - all he could care about was the fact they had a meeting with their respective lawyers in four hours and all he'd wanted was to get good and drunk before Caroline came around with her ridiculous request. He knew for a fact if she kept at it for another fifteen minutes, he'd cave and give her the money - along with anything else she would ask for.

It'd taken him immeasurable will power to cut her off from his money because she was still Caroline and she deserved every luxury the world had to offer. But the advice of his lawyers had pierced him and so had Elijah's grave warning and words; there were few things in the world that caused Klaus to doubt himself but when it came the little blonde that was just full of light and strength, he couldn't help but question his judgement.

He wasn't refusing to lend Caroline the money to save her father's land simply because he loathed her or because he was a heartless son of a bitch (well, partially), but it was that goddamned piece of fucking land that had sparked the conversation that had consequently blew up in a frightful battle which ended in Caroline demanding for a divorce. One he had agreed to give her.

The biggest mistake of his entire existence.

Damn it all.

Rounding a corner, Klaus suddenly stopped and turned to look down at his wife and he was suddenly hit by a whirlwind of emotions he couldn't even begin to describe or distinguish. All he saw in the present moment was the girl who had stolen his heart away at age eighteen with her beauty, strength, wit, and charm - with her optimism and sometimes romanticized nativity that Klaus wouldn't trade for all the treasures buried under the sea. He saw her light and her hope, her acceptance and her love…he saw the eyes of his first born and only son, Henry; he saw the laughter of when he had playfully spun her around in his backyard during a summer fair Caroline had put together to raise money for charity. He saw the wonderment of when he first took her to Paris; of the love, lust, and passion of when they first made love in his grandiose bedroom at Mikaelson Manor in Mystic Falls…he saw the tears of happiness she shed at their wedding, and the tears she had secretly cried after he had coldly informed her he had filed for divorce. He saw in those eyes, in her face…Caroline.

And in that moment, Klaus decided he couldn't ever let her go.

Not that he was ever really planning on it.

Looking into those melted pools of sapphire, Klaus gave her a small smile. "Sweetheart," he began, "would you be willing to call off the divorce if I offered you a very sincere and very true apology?"

Caroline scoffed. "You really think an 'I'm sorry' is going to fix everything?"

"No. But I do think it'll make you drop the divorce petition."

"And what'll we do afterwards?" she asked back, not missing a beat. Her question in itself, however, gave Klaus a great feeling of relief for it wasn't a definite and flat out 'no'.

Giving her a wolfish grin, Klaus wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling a struggling Caroline against his body. "Well, then I figure I have the rest of my life to spend making it up to you. What do you say to that?"

"I say that's a cliche and you're going to have to try better."

"Always so demanding," Klaus replied, voice amused before his countenance turned serious. "Would you take an 'I love you' as an olive branch, then?" he inquired, holding his breath as Caroline bit down on her lip, the gears in her head turning back to the morning of February 24th, 1937.

A/N: I know, I know - I really should finish up Glory of the Queen before I start anything else but this little idea just creeped up on me! It'll be a short story, I promise! I just wanted to get some Klaus/Caroline out there in celebration of TVD's 100th episode (belated on my part, I know). Anyway, read and drop me a review to tell me what you think!