I own nothing.
This is just a little something that came to me one night, it's my first story in this fandom, and my second all together so go easy on me. :)
Of all the gin joints in all the world
Caroline was sitting in a random pub, in a random city, in a random little country in the south of Europe. She looked at her reflection in the mirror behind the bar and sighed. The same warm blue eyes, straight nose, the same pale face framed by soft blond waves. It was the same face she was used to seeing in the mirror for the past two centuries. It was her 200th birthday. Well not exactly, but the 200th anniversary of the day she became who she was supposed to be. On this day very day, 200th years ago, Katherine Pierce gave her the best gift she possibly could have, without even knowing it. She slightly raised her bourbon glass, smiled wistfully and said "I hope you're having fun wherever you are, Katherine".
It was funny, in another life, her and Katherine could have been friends, but the Katherine she knew was a world class bitch and yet also someone she would always remember with a slight smile on her lips. She thought back to the long forgotten time of her humanity, to the self-concious little girl she was back then, to the kind of life that was awaiting her and she once again realised how lucky she was to have become who she now was. And she had the two most unlikely people to thank for it, Damon Salvatore for giving her his blood, and Katherine Pierce for killing her.
The world was rapidly changing, but she remained, old and yet young, a frozen moment in time. She had seen her mother die, she had buried too many of her friends, and she had seen this world become something else, something new. The day Elena Gilbert died was a sunny Monday, she was 83 years old, a wife, a mother and a grandmother to a loving family. She had had two epic loves in her life, and both before she was 20 years old, but when she got her chance to be human again, she decided to leave it all behind, she choose one long fulfilled human life with a good man who could give her the family she craved and who adored her until the day she died. She asked them all to give her a chance to live the life she wanted, and the Salvatore brothers said goodbye to the woman they loved, as did Caroline.
None of them saw her for a long 60 years, they kept tabs on her, and only came to say goodbye. They walked in the door, three young strangers her family had never known. Bonnie and Jeremy, by then an old sweet married couple smiled at them warmly but said nothing. They made an excuse, she doesn't remember which one any more and went to say goodbye to the girl, as that was how they would always remember her, who had shaped all of their lives. An old woman with warm chocolate brown eyes greeted them warmly and asked of them only to be happy. She died that night.
After that came other funerals, Bonnie's, shortly thereafter Jeremy's and finally Matt's. These they attended, watching from afar, and this last one signified the end of an era, the end of the Mystic Fall's gang. After this, Caroline said goodbye to the Salvatore brothers for the time being, and went on to travel the world and see all of the art, culture, and cities a madman once told her awaited her. It was amasing to realise this was over a century ago. She kept in contact with Stefan and Damon of course, they were family after all and she would see them once every decade or so, they would drink and reminisce and raise a glass for the friends they remembered with fondness. And every time, it would hurt less and less, because time does indeed heal all wounds. They all lived and loved and made new friends and learned that grief was a natural thing to accompany an eternal life. All in all, life was good.
The door suddenly opened and a gust of wind ruffled Caroline's hair. She brushed her hair out of her face and looked at the newcomer. Her lips quirked into a smile. This world is a rather small place when you live forever, you are bound to run into a familiar face sooner or later. She raised her glass and laughed a 17 year old girl's bubbly laugh and went for a line from a movie of a long gone era.
"Of all the gin joints, in all the world, he walks into mine."
Klaus Mikaelson smiled that wicked grin of his.
"Caroline, love."
This was meant as a one shot, but I left the ending open in case I wish to get back to this story. I am relatively new to writing, so any and all comments are very welcome.
Cheers!