A prompt for the birthday girl. :)
Katherine wandered through the old mansion, occasionally sipping on a glass filled with red wine. She studied the dusty frames on the walls, containing pictures from her ancestors.
She and Elena had went to Bulgaria, looking for her family's old mansion. It had bothered Katherine that Elena knew so little about her family history, so she surprised Elena with two tickets for a flight to her home country.
The whole flight the usually calm and collected Katherine Pierce had been a nervous mess. It was her first time coming back home and she was anxious of what she might find. Elena had held her hand the whole time and tried to distract her as much as possible, but it had little effect.
When they finally arrived to the old mansion they found that it was uninhabited and slightly rundown. It was a few miles aways from a small town and surrounded by forest. Once Katherine stepped out of the car they had borrowed and stood in front of her childhood house, she choked up and tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Her girlfriend silently hugged her from behind and just held her while Katherine leaned back into her, trying to regain her composure. Elena knew how hard this was for her, even besides her eagerness to teach her doppelgänger more of their history.
/
Now Katherine was walking alone through the corridors with a glass of red wine, which she had found in the cellar.
Elena needed blood, so once she made sure that Katherine would be fine, she had taken off and went hunting in the forest.
Katherine stopped in front of a very old and slightly yellowed picture. Her eyes watered again, as she took in the warm smile of her mother and the stern look of her father. In the middle of them was the little Katerina, smiling the widest of them all with the typical childish happiness.
Katherine carefully stroked her finger over the old paper, as a tear rolled down her cheek. She missed her parents so much.
She dropped her finger and emptied the glass of wine in one gulp. She placed the now empty glass on a small cupboard in the hallway and then continued her way down the hall, a weak smile on her lips as she looked at all the other pictures hanging on the walls.
After she rounded a corner and ended up in front of a closed door, she choked up again, once she realized where the door led. She took a deep breath and then hesitantly opened the door with a creak. Katherine took in the small room with a dusty bed and the dirty window.
The room where she gave birth to her daughter.
It was all too much for Katherine. The usually strong woman sank to her knees and openly cried about all her mistakes and losses in the past.
She wished Elena would be there to hold her, but her doppelgänger was still out on the hunt.
So the beautiful brunette sat there for what felt like an eternity until the tears finally came to a slow stop. As she wiped at her tears, her sight fell on a cardboard, hidden under the bed. She furrowed her brows as she crawled over and carefully pulled the box out.
When Katherine opened the cover, a cloud of dust swirled up, causing her to cough. Once the dust settled back down, she turned back around and her eyes widened as she looked at the contents of the hidden box.
It was full with books. But not any random books. Diaries. The box was actually filled with diaries from her ancestors.
Just as she wanted to take one out she heard the front door open and Elena calling out for her.
"Katherine?"
"Up here." She answered. Her girlfriend appeared in the doorframe in an eye blink.
"Whatcha got there?" Elena asked curiously looking at the box next to Katherine.
"Apparently some old diaries from our ancestors."
"Really? Do you wanna read them?" Elena asked, sitting down next to her.
Katherine bit her lip and shrugged. "I'm not sure."
"It could be interesting to read them. And you wanted me to find out more about our family history. So this could be the perfect way, right?" Elena replied excited. She would love to read them and find out how life was 500 years ago, what kind of problems they had to deal with back then.
Katherine smiled at Elena's excitement. And the girl was right. This could be the perfect way to find out more about their ancestors.
"You're right." Katherine admitted. "How about we take them to the hotel with us? It's kinda too dusty and dirty here for my taste."
Elena laughed at her girlfriend and gave her a quick peck to the lips.
"Sounds perfect. Well, come on. Let's go before it gets dark outside."
Katherine smiled and stood up, taking the heavy box into her arms.
/
They arrived at their hotel half an hour later, where they had a small but comfortable room with a queen-sized bed. Of course it was under Katherine's standards, but the little town didn't provide any luxurious hotels, so this was their only option.
After they both took a shower together and ordered from the room service, they got comfortable on the bed, the box next to them. Elena snuggled into Katherine's side and reached for two diaries, handing one to the older vampire.
Katherine planted a soft kiss on Elena's head, then she turned to open the diary in her hand.
She gasped as she opened it and read the name on top of the first page.
"What is it?" Elena asked, raising her head to get a look at the page.
"It's…" Katherine trailed off sobbing.
"It's what?" Elena said, sitting up in concern.
"It's the diary from my daughter." Katherine finally choked out, eyes never leaving the diary.
Elena's eyes widened and she tossed her own book to the side. She carefully took the diary from Katherine's grip and cuddled closer to her side, as she turned the page and began to softly read out loud.
Katherine wrapped her arms around Elena and rested her head on her shoulder. Staring off into space and silent tears running down her face, she listened to Elena's soft voice reading the thoughts her own daughter had written down.