Hi all, this is my first attempt at a one shot. Have a couple of ideas running through my head so let me know if you want to read more and I'll make it into a series.

The series, if it gets that far, will have multiple ships, mostly Klaroline and Steroline, because I'm a major shipper of them. But it really depends on my inspiration and right now I think the only interesting character on the show is Caroline.

To those that have read When Doves Cry and Game of Thrones… do not fear and please don't give up on me I will be updating them. It's just that TVD totally kicked my ass this season and just when I was rooting for the baby plot they go and send Hope away. So since I was using major plotlines to combine and be a driving force behind my stories it all just kind of fell apart and the inspiration just died. Like full on, bullet to the brain, dead.

However, I have started rewatching all the series from season one VD and it's started to get the creative juices flowing again.

P.S. this one shot is rated T. But I am working on another one shot that is possibly, depending on my mood, rated M. So I will see how this one shot does and then if you guys like it, I'll upload the next one. All oneshots will have the rating clearly labelled at the top so you have a clear idea of what you are getting yourselves into.

And on with the show

This oneshot takes place during the Originals. Kieran's Funeral.

xoxoxox

Fuel to fire

xoxoxox

The click of her shoes rounded through the church. Every whisper, sniffle and cough exaggerated and echoed across the cavernous hall. Clearing her throat she rests her crumbled piece of paper on the podium. She looks up to see the crowd of faces staring back at her. Along the walls the images of a man bleeding, suffering and staggering under the heavy weight of his demise was frozen in time. He suffered for peace and was exonerated for it. Yet Kieran tried to find peace and was tortured by the cruel ravaging of his mind.

"I…I…Kieran…" she pauses choking on the lump in her throat. Faces stare at her struggle, some familiar, most those of strangers.

"Kieran and I had our differences, especially since we were the only family we had here. After Sean's death, we only had each other and that frightened us. We were scared of being hurt again or causing the other pain. We should have been closer. We should… I should have… I wish…" she sobs. Unable to control them they wrack her body and her vision of the fine wood coffin blurs.

Klaus shifts uncomfortably in his seat watching as many others to the same. He stills as his protégé hops out of his seat to rush to the aid of the pretty bartender, before stopping and taking his seat again.

His view is unobstructed as a blonde woman walks gracefully up the dais, heels clicking on the marble and dress softly swishing around her thighs. Camille looks up and stumbles toward the woman with soft cries of 'I'm sorry' and 'I can't do it.'

The woman hugs Camille before nudging her towards the pews and she heads back to her seat sobbing into a sodden tissue. The blonde continues up the dais, taking her place behind the podium. Klaus stiffened in his seat.

"What is the matter, brother?" Elijah asks leaning towards him. Hayley leans over Elijah to whisper sharply to Klaus.

"Is that Caroline?"

xoxoxox

"I feel like I have worn black too many times over the past few years, you think I'd be accustomed to grief by now but it is still a stranger to me." Caroline stares down at the crowd unseeing. "I think deep down we all hold onto the childish hope that death, that monster that sits at the end of all our paths, only really waits for the bad guys and villains. So each time we lose someone we love, we feel a little more alone, a little more stranded in a world full of monsters. And it takes that bit longer to build our courage back up to face the world again."

Her breath catches in her throat and she looks down at the coffin. "Kieran was a good man, and a great uncle. I spent my summers in this city, playing down the streets with my cousins, laughing madly at the uncle chasing us. He was always smiling, always laughing. They were the happiest moments of my life, being here." She swipes a tear from her cheek before continuing.

"When my father died, I called Kieran. I told him I wished this had never happened while at this moment in time. He replied that so did all who lived to see such times. But that is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. That is what made me continue to live. To continue to try to live my life to the fullest.

Cami, I know I haven't been there for you during this difficult time, but I will tell you the final piece of advice uncle Kieran ever gave to me. 'Grieve. Then continue with your life. And at times the fact of his absence will hit you like a blow to the chest and you will weep. But this will happen less and less as time goes on. You are alive… so live.'

Goodbye, Kieran" she sobs openly. "You were the best uncle a girl could ask for, the worst dance partner, the best joker, the worst poker player, and the kindest man I have ever had the privilege to know." Caroline stepped away from the podium and retreat down the steps to her seat immediately wrapping her arms around Camille. The priest moved forward to continue the mass and Klaus's view of the ladies is obstructed by the crowd of worshippers and grievers rising to prayer.

Xoxoxoxoxox

Elijah frowns at the twitching, anxious mess that was his brother as they waited for the procession to move further down the aisle. As soon as a gap cleared, Klaus was outside craning his neck for a glimpse of her face again. The crowd milled round as the trumpets began to bellow mournfully and the purple dancers raised their fans as they proceeded down the street. Spotting the bartender up ahead he darts towards her, ignoring the protests of his brother as they catch up with him.

"Where is she?" he demands grabbing Camille tightly by the arm. She snatched her arm back scowling up at him with red, watery eyes.

"What the hell, Klaus? Who?"

"Caroline," he all but snarls at her. She stares up at him in shock.

"How do you know…do you know what? Never mind. I don't care how you know my cousin. I just want to grieve. She's gone. She left right after the mass." She carries on walking.

Klaus stops, falling back as the crowd parts around him. Like a rock in a river, the crowd flows around him and past him while he stands. He catches a glimpse of Marcel steadily walking along the edges of the crowd up ahead, turning, he sees Genevieve striding along the pavement, her sheep scattered throughout the procession. Like a salmon trying to swim upstream, he wades through the crowd to Elijah and Hayley as they flow towards him before spotting a few werewolves bringing up the rear of the gathering and he pauses again.

Never before had the city he loved felt more like a toxic mix of supernatural jealousies and power coups. Dirty, poisonous and dangerous it left a bitter taste in his mouth. She would only add fuel to the fire that was raging in the Quarter.

"Brother?" Elijah questions curiously, he had never seen his brother so on edge, clearly Hayley understands what is going on from her casual stance as she observes from the side.

"Never say a word," he snarls at Hayley eyes flashing before she nods in acknowledgement. Turning on his heel, Klaus marches on in the procession beside his brother and the little wolf.

Xoxoxox

A/N

Let me know what you think. Had to put the little Lord of the Rings bit in, on a bit of a LotR buzz at the moment. I have another one shot in the making.

Also if you have any prompts, suggestions or ideas that you want me to write. PM me or leave it in a review and I'll do my best.

Katy