See You Again
Synopsis: After a long life Rebekah is reunited with her brothers. 5x13 coda.
She's old now, so very old. It won't be much longer until her time has run out. Fate has been kind to her, and it was only recently when her body began failing her, but something has to give. A human body is not meant to live forever, after all.
When she closes her eyes for the last time, it is with Marcel by her side, holding her hand.
She didn't expect the afterlife to be a simple clearing in the woods. The trees remind her of home, so many centuries ago. Before she has much time to take the place in, someone speaks behind her. It's a familiar voice, warm and fond, and one she hasn't heard in decades.
"Rebekah."
She turns, and there Elijah is, a smile on his face.
It's that same smile he used to give her when they were young, the one he greeted her with whenever it had been a while since they had seen each other. The sight of it makes her breath catch.
Next to Elijah, leaning against a tree with a smirk she hadn't even realised she missed so dearly, is Niklaus.
"Hello sister," he says warmly.
They haven't changed. Both of them are exactly as she last saw them, all those years ago in New Orleans when they said their final goodbyes. It feels like centuries have passed since then, instead of the single lifetime she spent without them.
Rebekah lets out a shuddering breath, smiling back at them, and then Elijah is stepping forward to embrace her.
"Elijah," she whispers, burying herself in his arms. She feels his hand coming up to rest at the back of her head, holding her close. It's been so long.
He's still smiling as he kisses her cheek and pulls back. "Look at you," he says softly, tracing the side of her face. Rebekah knows what he sees. She's become an old woman in the decades since they last saw her, wrinkled face carved by time. Elijah brushes back a strand of white-grey hair.
The deepest wrinkles, around her mouth, deepen even further as she smiles at him. "You should see Freya," she tells him.
"We have," Nik says. He's stepped closer, and the corner of his lips curls up as she turns to him. "You looked happy."
Rebekah nods. "Very happy."
"I'm glad," Nik says, still smiling at her.
He lifts his hand a fraction, and that's all the opening Rebekah needs to embrace him.
Her relationship with Niklaus has always been different from the one she has with Elijah, and so is their embrace. Nik pulls her close, burying his face in her hair. She can feel his shoulders relax as he exhales, and holds on tighter, closing her eyes.
"I missed you," she admits as she pulls back, her eyes flickering to Elijah as well. "Both of you."
She had been happy, yes, but that didn't mean she hadn't felt their absence.
There had been moments, many more than she ever expected, when she'd found herself wishing that Elijah or Klaus might have been there. When she suddenly remembered something that had happened in the early 13th century—those years when Kol had travelled far and wide and it was just the three of them—and had no one to reminisce about it with.
Or the day when she married Marcel and neither Elijah nor Klaus were there to argue about who might escort her down the aisle.
She lets out a shaky breath, smiling through the tears. "It's good to see you," she laughs.
Her brothers smile back at her. Elijah takes her hand and squeezes it gently.
"So what comes next?" Rebekah finally asks, wiping away her tears.
"We were waiting for you," Elijah tells her.
Klaus holds out a hand. "Will you come with us?"
She doesn't have to think long about that. She smiles.
"Always," she promises, and takes his hand.
Together, the three of them step further into the forest, towards the light.
A/N: This was written for Day 3 of the TO Appreciation Event on tumblr, 'Writing about your favourite familial ship'. The idea of these three never seeing each other is too painful for me, so I like to believe this is what happens after the end of the show. I hope you like it.
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