A/N: This is basically a very short little story about how I managed things happened after the TVD finale, with Caroline in focus. I would also like to take this opportunity to share that I know the Klamille and Klaroline-shippers have been at each others throats ever since the beginning of The Originals, and I think that's a little sad. Either way, all the stories that have been told in this universe have been beautiful. And Klaus deserved another love, just like Caroline deserved to find her happiness after Tyler, and it's sad that they both had to lose their loves, but that's the world of vampires I guess. Either way, Klamille was a beautiful ship too, and I'm not afraid to admit that as a Klaroline shipper, but Steroline was a beautiful ship to, and it just turns out that maybe those two weren't fated after all. So be kind to one another, and respect each others ships, because they could mean a lot to some people and we should all respect that. So, hope you guys like this, tell me what you think.
One day, they were all going to die, but Caroline never would. And while part of her was heartbroken by that knowledge, another part felt that it was okay. She wouldn't change a thing about her life, even the parts where she lost her mom, and Tyler, and Stefan, because her life was beautiful exactly the way it was.
It had been eight years since Stefan sacrificed himself and put an end to the tragic life of Katherine Pierce once and for all. Eight years since Elena woke up from the curse and Damon became human, eight years where a lot of things had happened and it was all beautiful.
In the beginning, Caroline visited Stefan's grave most every day, or as often as she could. And on those days she couldn't make it, Damon would go, or Elena, or sometimes they all went together and even though it was sad, those were some of her fondest memories that she knew – no matter how old she got or how many decades or centuries she lived – she would never forget them. Eventually, as time passed, it wasn't every day, but at least once a week and she hadn't been lying in her wedding wows, she would love him forever and remember their love for the both of them. And at first it had been tough, grieving his loss and moving on, but life moved forward and she knew better than to linger in the past.
Elena and Damon eventually got married, it was a beautiful summer-wedding held at the boardinghouse and of course, Caroline was Elena's wedding-planner and co-maid-of-honor. Ric stood up as Damon's best man, and it was a small ceremony, only for close loved ones. They lived in town now, in a new house built on the lot where Elena and Jeremy's childhood home had been before Elena burned it down when she flipped her humanity-switch. It was Damon's wedding-present to Elena, and Caroline had demanded to be let in on it because she knew that Stefan would have wanted to be part of it. Elena had quickly moved through the ranks at the hospital after she finished her medical degree five years ago, and was now chief of surgery at Mystic Falls Hospital. She loved it, even though the work was taxing and it often resulted in late hours and long days. Damon had started his own garage in town, and Caroline knew that while part of it was because he enjoyed the work, another more significant part was that it was his way of honoring, Stefan. They had two kids with another one on the way, and Caroline loved seeing her friends so happy. They already had two boys, Stefan (the oldest at five) and Enzo (three), and now they were having a girl. They were naming her Jenna and she'd be arriving in a few months. Caroline was already aunt Caroline to the boys, and she was Stefan's godmother, (Bonnie got Enzo), but she'd dibbed Jenna.
Matt was now the Mayor of Mystic Falls, and of course, Caroline had been the one to run his campaign. He ran unopposed so it wasn't like she had to put in all that much effort, but she still did because it's who she was and she wanted Matt to have the best campaign in the history of mayoral-campaigns. He was married too, to a woman named Charlotte that Caroline loved and adored because she was pure and sweet all the way through, and exactly the kind of woman she had always hoped Matt would end up with. They had a five years old daughter they named Victoria, "Vicky" for short, and Charlotte was eight months pregnant with their second child, a boy this time, and Matt had told her they were naming him after Tyler. FYI, Caroline was godmother to Vicky too, and if she could manage it, she'd be the same to baby Tyler.
After it all went down eight years ago, Bonnie took off on a whirl-wind tour of the world. She traveled the globe on her own and sent home postcards and letter where she described everything. It took her awhile after losing Enzo to get back in the dating-scene and Caroline understood that, better than almost anyone, because Enzo had been Bonnie's epic love and there was just no getting over that. After a couple of years, and after seeing pretty much everything the world had to offer, Bonnie decided there was no place like home and she moved back to Mystic Falls. But she still traveled, except when she traveled now she took her whole family with her. She'd met a man in Dublin, like her he was a witch, and like her he'd lost his own epic love. And, Caroline thought, that was why the two of them fit each other so well. Because even though they loved each other deeply, they both understand that love the other still carried for the one they lost. His name was Vaughn, and at first he hadn't been real happy to discover one of Bonnie's best friends was a vampire, but when Bonnie filled him in on the whole complicated story that was our life, he eventually settled into it all. He met the twins and he had never met ciphoners before, so he found them incredibly interesting and didn't mind being a ginny-pig whenever the girls wanted to try something. The twins loved their Uncle Vaughn and those feelings were returned. Bonnie and Vaughn even took the girls to Ireland once, to Vaughn's hometown, and they came back explaining all they'd learned about druids and the history of Irish witches and Vaughn's coven. Bonnie and Vaughn wouldn't be doing any traveling for a while because Bonnie was pregnant with their first child, they didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, but only because they wanted it to be a surprise. Either way, they had already picked out names. Eliza (after Vaughn's epic lost love) or another Enzo (after Bonnie's), and that was beautiful all on its own. The baby boy or girl was due to arrive sometime between Elena and Damon's baby girl and Matt and Charlotte's baby boy. It was a year of babies.
Ric was seeing someone too, one of the teachers at the school they ran, a school they started for their girls and kids like them. Her name was Adriana, and like Ric she was human, nothing supernatural about her, except for her keen interest in the occult and all that came with it. She'd been around vampires more than once, knew her fair share of witches, and had dabbled in hunting when she was younger. Now she was just happy to be teaching these kids how to fit into the world, and helping them grow into themselves. She was the perfect counterpart to Ric, and she adored the twins, and they loved her too. Ric had told her once, six years ago, that because of everything that had happened and everything he'd gone through, even if he met another woman and fell in love, that he would never marry again. His first wife had faked her death and turned into a vampire, his girlfriend after that was sacrificed in a supernatural ritual, then when he was marrying his would-be second wife, she was killed on the alter while she was saying her wedding wows and she died in his arms. As for his and Caroline's engagement, deep down they had both known that it wouldn't work out, but it still hurt him when things turned out the way they did and he didn't want to put himself in a position where he was open to that kind of hurt again. That too, was something Caroline understood better than most anyone. She'd been married once, and on her wedding night her husband had died to save her, and everyone and everything she loved. So, she understood the fear of opening up one's heart to the possibility of that level of pain again. Even so, that conversation had happened a long time ago and clearly there was something about Adriana that made him change his mind, because they were getting married in three weeks and the twins were her bridesmaids. To Caroline's surprise and utter astonishment, Adriana had asked her to be her maid-of-honor, and Caroline considered it an honor and a privilege so she hadn't hesitated to accept.
The twins had thrived at the school, they had tons of friends and was doing well in their lessons. They were in their teens now, and it wasn't lost on Caroline that it would only be a few more years before they were the same age she was when her entire world was altered. But, her girls had never been like ordinary children, they were born extraordinary little miracles and would continue to be so until they took their final breath. Each year that passed, she felt herself letting go of them a little more, but she suspected that was only natural for a mother as far as their children were concerned. But she knew, no matter what happened, they would always be her babies. She'd told them about their biological mom, Jo, and she took them to her grave where they put down flowers every time they went there. And when they went, they did it as a family. Caroline and Ric, and the girls, and now she thought that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea if Adriana came with them too. Jo would have been happy to see Ric find love again, and especially with a woman like Adriana.
Another figure that drifted in and out of their lives were Valerie, and Caroline didn't mind that. Valerie had become a friend, and she was another way for Caroline to remember all that was good about Stefan. They talked about him a lot when Valerie was in town, and she'd sit with the girls and explain to them what it meant to be a ciphoner and she taught them spells and how to use their powers without hurting others. And after each one of these lessons, Caroline could tell they really meant a lot to her daughters. Valerie, even though she was now a vampire and had unlimited amounts of magic coursing through her blood, knew what it was like to be different and have no magic of her own. They could relate to her in a way that meant everything to them.
Yes. A lot had happened in the past eight years, and one of those things was Klaus' daughter, Hope, coming to the school. She was a sweet and incredibly gifted child, a few years older than the twins, it had surprised her a little when the three of them made such fast friends. It shouldn't have though, in their own way they were all just as special, unique. And it was strange at first, seeing this little girl and knowing Klaus Mikaelson, the big bad, original hybrid was her father, but the family resemblance was definitely there. Hope was a talented artist, she was stubborn and fiercely protective of the people she cared about, and she'd told Caroline once that all she wanted was for her whole family to be back together again.
Some years ago, Haley had explained the entire situation about the Hollow and how the Mikaelson-siblings could never be together again because of it, and Caroline hated that. So much of what had made Klaus, Klaus, was his love for his family, no matter how twisted it might have been at times, but she still saw it as something beautiful.
One day she'd been outside during school break and she'd seen Lizzie and Josie sitting with Hope as she was doing another painting, and she had thought it, but she forced the thought away almost immediately. The Hollow was just another spell, wasn't it? Another sort of magic, dark and twisted undoubtably, but just magic none the less. Her girls were ciphoners, they could ciphon it away and restore the Mikaelson-family to what it once was, but Haley had told her about when the Hollow overtook Hope and what it did to her daughter. Even though she felt for them, she was a mother first and she wouldn't put her kids in that sort of danger, no matter how selfish it might seem. So, she had forced the thought away, shoved it in a dusty drawer somewhere far inside her mind and locked it away for safe-keeping.
Then it came, only a few months ago, Rebekah calling her and asking her to go to Europe. Klaus wasn't dealing well with being permanently separated from his family, his daughter, and he was handling it by going on killing-sprees. Because of the part of the Hollow residing inside her, Rebekah couldn't intervene personally, so she wanted Caroline to do it for her.
It had seemed an odd request to begin with, seeing as Caroline hadn't seen or spoken to Klaus in too many years to count, but as Rebekah pointed out in their short call, he had always had a weak-spot for her and Rebekah was desperate. After taking some time to think it through and discussing it with both Ric and Haley, Caroline had decided to help and she'd gone to Europe to pull Klaus out of whatever funk he was stuck in. What met her wasn't pretty and it wasn't like he snapped out of it the second he saw her, it took time and a hefty effort, but eventually she managed to snap him out of it and got him to see how he was going about things in an entirely wrong fashion.
They talked for a long time when they reunited and he came back to himself. He told her about the woman he'd fallen in love with in New Orleans, Camille, or "Cami" as he called her, and how he'd lost her just when he thought he might have a shot at his happy ending. In return, she told him about everything that had happened in Mystic Falls after they left. He already knew some of it because of Stefan's visit to New Orleans when Raina was hunting him, and she told him that she'd come to him looking for help when things were at their worst in that scenario. Then she told him about the Sirens, how Damon and Enzo had been ensnared and Stefan made a deal with the literal devil to save her girls, which caused him to turn off his humanity and go on another ripper-bender. She told him how Stefan killed Enzo and Bonnie gave Stefan the cure, and how at the last minute Stefan had sacrificed himself to save them all from the literal flames of hell, taking down Katerina Petrova once-and-for-all as he did. Like she said, they talked for a long time, and it was mostly her doing the talking, but only because she felt he wasn't in a very talkative mood. They flew back to the U.S together, but their paths separated once they got off the plane, but before they parted she told him that if he needed anything, she was always only a phone call away. He'd come through for her many times before, she'd do the same if he ever needed it from her. Even if he only needed to talk to someone, he could always call and she promised she'd answer. He kissed her on the forehead before he left and thanked her for helping him in Europe. She'd smiled and promised him that until he found a way to get rid of the Hollow for good, she'd look out for his daughter.
It would be a little while later that she found herself walking the streets of New Orleans by his side. They walked in silence, Mardi Gras tearing through the city, but Caroline didn't mind at all. He stopped her on a corner and moved in close behind her as they stood together and watched a street artist paint.
"I stood right here," he said behind her and she tipped her head slightly, not taking her eyes of the artist, "when I called you after we left Mystic Falls. I stood right here and made that call when I told you all I could think about was showing you this city and why I loved it so much. And it was right here, standing where you are now, that I met Camille. She was admiring a painting done by another street artist, and we talked about the painting and what she believed the painter was hoping to portray. She was a psychologist, so she noticed far more emotion in it than I ever did. She reminded me of you, because she was never afraid of me, even knowing who I was or what I was capable of doing, she was never afraid to stand up to me. It's only fitting, I suppose, that this is the place where I would eventually end up again." Feeling the conversation taking turn for the worse, she turned around and grabbed his hand, looking up at him she smiled.
"Obviously, for you to fall in love with her, she had to be something special, and I remember listening to that message. I also remember you once promised to show me the world and everything it had to offer. You promised me that you would be my last love, however long it took, and I wasn't ready then, but I am now. So, come on, hold up your promise and show me the world. I'm ready." She saw his lips turn up in a small smile, didn't wait any longer before she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her back down the street, ready to take on the beauty of the world with Klaus Mikaelson by her side. And as they traveled the world and she showed him the beauty of it all, she carried Stefan in her heart, because he would always be her epic love, and Klaus did the same with Camille, because she would always be his epic love.
"Contrary to popular belief, there are actually multiple ones. Especially for a vampire. The only way to find another one is to let go. And move on." – Lexi Branson