Caroline sighed as she took the Cure from Rebecca. She had been waiting for it for a long time. When she had found out that the Original vampire and her husband were planning to take the cure once Elena and Damon died she had had been surprised. Surprised and slightly jealous.
For all the years that she had known Rebecca, Caroline never felt she could call her as a close friend. Sure they had gone through a lot together. Rebecca had especially come forth for Caroline, once her daughter's had gone through the Merging. But Caroline held back. She had refused to let herself get attached to another Mikaelson.
It had taken Caroline more than 50 years to be able to forgive Klaus for the way that he had died. Sure she felt proud that he had taken the path of the noble sacrifice, but his death had affected her, more than she would care to admit.
She had felt betrayed and broken. When she had mentioned to Klaus that she would have kept him waiting for "a couple of centuries" she had meant it. Ever since they had slept together in the woods Caroline had known that her path would eventually lead her to Klaus.
When she had taken the girls to New Orleans, she had meant to ask for his help. Never in life had she expected for him to be gone from New Orleans. In her mind Klaus was meant to be living his life, leading his empire, waiting for her there.
Eventually she had learned of his return in his favorite city. But by then it felt like it was too late for her to consider giving them a chance. Stephan was back in her life and through all the ups and downs that happened until their wedding day and his ultimate demise she had been happy with him.
When she had opened the school and Hope Mikaelson enrolled as a student, Caroline felt her heart break a little wondering what Klaus was going through. When she had first started hearing the rumors about him going mad, Caroline had felt at loss on what to do.
She wanted to reach out to him. To try and find a way of bringing him back into his daughter's life. But at the same time she needed to concentrate on saving her daughters' lives. So she had made a difficult choice and had stayed away from him until Rebecca called her. It was then that Caroline realized she couldn't stay away any longer.
Following Klaus' death she had felt so devastated she had emerged herself into her work and into saving her children. Losing one of her daughters had been the most horrific experience Caroline had ever been through. Both she and Rick had watched helplessly as one of their girls died, while the other had unfortunately succumbed to the madness caused by the loss of their twin.
By the end of the year both the Gemini twins were dead. Caroline had then considered turning off her humanity again. Rebecca had stepped in. She had compelled Caroline to maintain her humanity and had forced her to go off to explore the world.
Hope had stayed behind at the academy. She had kept a silent watch on Alaric making sure she would get over his grief as well. Following Rebecca's compulsion, Caroline had travelled. She had travelled to Europe, she had gone to Asia, to Africa. She even made it to Antarctica. Still the world felt empty and she was always grieving. As the years passed Caroline adjusted to a life made of travelling. She would sometimes go and hang out with Kol and Davina, who had quietly accepted her into their lives.
Freya and Keelin had been very excited once their son had enrolled at the Salvatore boarding school. When Alaric eventually died, Caroline decided it would be best for her to step down as headmistress. She had then appointed Hope as her successor and she continued her recruiting work for the school.
And so almost 70 years after she had met Klaus, she reluctantly stood by watching as Damon Salvatore drew his last breath while Rebecca and Marcel took the cure. When Rebecca's heart started beating as a normal human heart, Caroline had turned and walked away from her.
She walked through the cemetery stopping to look at the place where her husband was buried. "What would you say to me if you were still around Stephan?" Caroline sighed. She had spent so much time trying to save Jo and Lizzie she had never taken the time to grieve her husband. But as she had travelled the world following Rebecca's compulsion, she had come to realize that she needed to move on from him as well.
With a sigh Caroline removed the wedding ring she had kept around her necklace for all those years. She set the ring on Stefan's grave tomb and walked away. Blinking as she stepped into the sun she smiled. "However long it takes, huh?"
Caroline spent the next decades travelling once more. She visited all the places she had hoped to one day visit with Klaus: Rome, Tokyo and Paris. She even went back to New Orleans several times trying to understand why that city had been Klaus' favorite.
Upon the anniversary of 50 years since Rebecca had taken the cure, Caroline got a call letting her know Bonnie had passed away. She had made her way quietly though the funeral saying goodbye to her old friend. "I was hoping to see you Caroline" An aged Marcel smiled warmly at her. Rebecca had died a few months before and had left him behind with a promise.
"Rebecca asked me to give you this." He extended his hand and gave Caroline a vial of blood. "That's the cure. My wife seemed certain you would wish to use it on yourself eventually." He then turned on his heels and walked away leaving a perplexed Caroline behind.
That night when she got to her hotel Caroline stared at the small vial for a moment before opening it and taking the cure herself. She then made the necessary arrangements to leave the country. She soon found herself trekking the Andes. She eventually decided to stop near a local village and live there for the rest of her life.
One day, years later she went to bed in the evening but stopped herself short when she noticed a small humming bird perched outside her window. The small bird looked at her for a moment before flying away. Caroline smiled for a moment before she fell asleep.
-"Hello love, it's been a while" Caroline looked around herself and smiled. She was wearing the blue dress Klaus had long ago given to her. Klaus was standing beside a door, wearing a tux, his hand extended to her. "Are you finally ready to let me be your last love?"
-"Well I did say it would have taken me a couple more centuries" Caroline smiled making her way to him. "I love you." She whispered quietly to him before standing up on her feet and kissing him.
Klaus smiled at her as he suddenly scooped her up into his arms spinning her while Caroline started laughing finally feeling at peace with herself.