A/N: Hey lovelies! So I decided to do a 25 Days of Christmas thing. But due to this being several fandoms I'll have to post each day separately. Sorry for that. Anyway, this is the belated Day 1 prompt: Ice Skating.
Happy Reading!
xxx
"Come on Nik!" Caroline said.
She was already on the big frozen lake behind their mansion in France. It was mid-december and freezing. The temperature was low enough for Klaus to feel chilly, and he was dead.
"On my way." he replied, finishing to tie the laces of the black sleek ice skates Caroline got him. She came home with a white pair for herself and a black pair for him earlier that week, telling him that they'd have to skate on the lake as soon as the ice was thick enough to do so. He tried to protest, he didn't hate ice skating, but it wasn't his favourite activity either. It was bad enough that they'd be the ones to host the annual Christmas family reunion (Caroline started the tradition a few decades back) this year. Planning was stressful when Klaus was the one to do it. Usually Caroline would jump at the chance to plan the event, but she's been different lately, a bit distanced, not so approachable anymore. And Klaus was worried about her, which was one of the reasons why he agreed to go ice skating with her.
After finally tying the laces he made his way to the lake, cautiously stepping onto the thick sheet of ice before he slowly started skating, making his way towards Caroline. Ice skating was like riding a bike, one never forgets how to do it.
Klaus took Caroline's hand, skating with her across the lake, making shapes, skating in a big spiral.
"Did I ever tell you about how my mom taught me ice skating?" Caroline asked him at some point, her breath forming white clouds as it left her lips. Klaus shook his head no, she barely talked about Liz even though she's been dead for well over a century now.
Caroline looked at him for a moment before she turned away from him, nodding slightly.
"Well, I was six years old and we spent the time between Christmas and New Year's Eve at the Gilbert's lake house along with Bonnie's family. My dad was still with us back then. Elena, Bonnie and I really wanted to go onto the lake, so my mom decided that it was time for us to learn ice skating."
"I'm a ballerina!" Caroline squealed happily as she made another pirouette with the help of her mom. Liz held her hand as she twirled on one skate, falling onto her bum when she tried to stop. Elena and Bonnie started laughing when they saw Caroline's dumbfounded expression at her fall. She tried to get up but slipped again and her friends laughed even harder. Caroline felt tears prickling in her big blue eyes, why did her friends laugh at her? It wasn't exactly easy to get up with the ice being slippery.
"That's not funny." Caroline said, hiccuping as a tear escaped the corner of her eye.
"Elena, Bonnie, it really isn't. Please get back to the cabin, we'll be with you in a minute." Liz reprimanded the other girls who gave her a sheepish look but listened anyway. They skated off the lake and stomped thought the snow back towards the veranda of the lake house.
"Why did they laugh at me?" Caroline asked her mom, big tears leaking out of her eyes and rolling over her rosy cheeks.
"Elena and Bonnie didn't want to hurt you, honey. It just looked funny that you couldn't get up." Liz explained, kneeling in front of her small daughter.
"Will you help me?" Caroline asked, extending her small mitten-clad hands.
"Of course I will." Liz replied softly, taking her daughter's hands as she smiled lovingly at her, pulling her up as she got up herself.
Caroline felt her eyes water, blinking rapidly. That's when it dawned on Klaus.
"It's been 130 years." he said, coming to a stop and halting her in the process. He took Caroline's other hand and pulled her closer, looking at her searchingly.
Caroline simply nodded, allowing the tears to flow freely.
"I miss her so much. I miss my mummy." Caroline whispered, sounding strangled.
Klaus simply pulled her closer, embracing her.
He never got along with his mother, at least not on the several occasions when she was alive. He did miss his brother though, and he felt similar whenever the anniversaries of Kol's deaths came around. He knew that talking wasn't going to help her, so he simply held Caroline, kissing the top of her head as they stood on the frozen lake.