Updated 5-13-2019 for grammar.

Hey guys! Thank you SO much to those of you who reviewed and flagged this story, and thank you to all of you who just read it. It means a lot that you like this story, especially since I haven't written in so long.

You might think this chapter is waaaay too long, so you'll have to let me know if you prefer shorter chapters. I'm a little concerned that people won't want to read it if it's too long.

There is some pretty lengthy smut happening up in the rainforest, so skip over that part if it's not your thing! And I *definitely* need some feedback on that because I haven't written any smut since before I even knew was good sex was, so yeah… I need you guys to tell me if I got it right.

XOXO
Eli


Chapter One – Trying to Find Our Way

Somewhere in the Amazon – 2021

Klaus Mikaelson was over a thousand years old. He could conduct himself. He was a force to be reckoned with. He bowed to no one. His father had once tried to control him. It took a millennium, but he defeated him as he did every enemy. He even managed to escape the dungeon of the one creature who could kill him. He was a king. He was always in control. Nothing and no one could ever hold power over him. He was The Original Hybrid. It had always been that way and it would always be that way.

That is, until he saw Caroline Forbes in the rainforests of Peru.

Klaus's façade faded in the blink of an eye. Caroline watched as the gold came out in his hybrid eyes. The next thing she knew, she was slammed against a tree and Klaus was kissing her for all he was worth. They hadn't seen each other in a decade and Klaus intended to make up for lost time. His tongue began to explore her mouth, massaging her own. She bit his lower lip hard with her human teeth and he groaned into her mouth. He lifted up her legs and she wound them around his waist. Klaus kissed her like she was the oxygen he needed to breathe. And maybe he really did need her.

If not, he certainly wanted her.

Caroline kissed him back with equal force. Her hands automatically went to his dirty blonde locks and she pulled so tightly that Klaus growled and pinned her even tighter to the tree. The rough bark dug into her back until they could both smell the metallic blood. Klaus used his supernatural speed to pin her arms over her head with one hand, the other steadily moving its way up her shirt. He ran his sharp nails up and down her rib cage and she wrapped her legs tighter around him as breathy little moans escaped her cherry lips.

Klaus was about to dispose of her tiny shirt when they were, in Caroline's opinion, very rudely interrupted by a man clearing his throat. A few trees away stood a large man with beautiful copper skin and long black hair pulled back into a shiny braid. He wore simple linen clothes in a dull white. There were red and black triangular markings painted onto his rough and withered face. Klaus supposed he was an elder in his sixties. He had a curved bone piercing his nostrils. Around the man's neck was a necklace made of shells.

"I am called Otorongo and I believe you are expecting me. From the way you move, you can only be Klaus." The man's voice was deep, but pleasant. Caroline's face flushed bright red after having been caught in such a compromising position. The man offered her a small smile and turned around, beckoning the couple to follow along.

Klaus growled deep in his throat at the interruption and for a moment Caroline feared for the man's life. However, he gently released her delicate wrists and took a brief moment to memorize her face with her lips swollen from their all too brief kiss. Before letting her down, he leaned in and gave her a soft and tender kiss on the mouth and smiled at her. She smiled back and it was the most beautiful sight Klaus had seen in all his years. She hadn't changed at all. He knew she wouldn't, being forever seventeen, but it was nice to confirm it in person instead of over video chats. "You certainly do have a thing for trees, huh?" she said, laughing.

Klaus smirked as he replied, "I have a thing for you, love." Caroline smiled as they both dusted themselves off and picked up their bags before following Otorongo down a barely visible trail. Klaus tried to take both bags, but Caroline smacked him off and narrowed her eyes as though daring him to say anything. Klaus wisely said nothing.

The Original Hybrid reached for her hand and wound their fingers together, squeezing lightly. He was happy. It was a foreign feeling, especially since losing Elijah and being so far away from Hope. Even though he and Caroline spoke often, he hadn't told her how Hope found him a few weeks prior. He hadn't told anyone.

Hope learned how to astral project at the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted. When she magically popped in, Klaus had been conducting business. Bloody business. She called his name, screaming. Having been caught totally off guard and in full hybrid mode, he turned and screamed at her to get out. In a thousand years he had never hated himself more than in that moment. He had seen the terror in his little girl's eyes and knew he was the cause. Ever since then he hadn't been able to face her, or anyone else in his family either. Caroline was the last person on earth he ever wanted to find out about it, so he kept it to himself, as he had so many things over the course of his long life.

For the moment, Klaus set aside his painful past and focused on the beautiful woman walking alongside him. He knew she hadn't travelled very much in her short immortality. He had once promised to show her the world and that was a promise he was very pleased to finally keep. There weren't a lot of places left for Klaus to explore. He hadn't been on this exact trail, but he had visited this jungle several times.

Caroline looked around in wonder at the lush terrain. As a vampire, all of her senses were heightened. She could hear tiny bugs buzzing all around them, monkeys chattering far in the distance, the calming sounds of the river flowing along. Colors were everywhere – every color. There were flowers and animals and all the vegetation. The jungle smelled of rich soil, fragrant plants, the river, fresh rain drops, everything. The smells were so vivid she could taste the air around her. As they walked along, she couldn't resist running her free hand along everything she could reach. The ground was crunchy beneath her feet while the leaves and flowers were soft against her skin.

Eventually the young blonde came out of her trance and looked over to the man next to her. He had been watching her in awe. She was his own personal goddess: his light in the dark. She turned to him and lightly cleared her throat, somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry, I've never seen anything like this. It's so beautiful." Klaus just smiled at her, so she continued. "Is this the witch you told me about?"

"Indeed. I'll believe it when I see it myself, but the ancient carvings you spoke of should be in a cavern beneath the forest: the ones about the twins. The humans have only recently discovered their whereabouts, but they were used centuries ago by the witches that once inhabited this forest en masse," Klaus shared, having acquired this knowledge while hunting down an old enemy in Chile. That was his life now: hunt and kill his enemies by night and search for answers for Caroline by day. Or vice versa. There wasn't a time clock on murder.

"Well, I certainly hope so, but I have to know, Klaus. How did you get this guy to help YOU of all people? Witches hate vampires, especially Originals," Caroline pointed out as they stepped over several large roots. The question had been nagging at her for days. She knew who and what Klaus was. She knew he had it in him to be a monster and always would, no matter how gentle he was with her and their respective daughters.

Klaus looked at her sideways, somewhat amused. He knew where she was going with this. She was afraid he had slaughtered a whole village of innocents to get his way. He didn't particularly hold it against her because no matter how much he ever redeemed himself, that was absolutely something he would do to get the answers he needed. He still held very little regard for human life. He'd burn a thousand villages if it meant saving Caroline's twins. They were important to her, so they were important to him. It was that simple, but he knew she didn't exactly see it that way. "Do you really want the answer to that question?"

Caroline thought about it as she dodged a giant spider web, grateful that even if some deadly arachnid did get her, the bite would heal instantly. "Honestly, I've asked myself many times how much I want to know what it is you do, but yes. I want to know. Tell me." She took a deep breath, bracing herself for his answer.

Without blinking Klaus responded, "I kidnapped his only daughter and am holding her captive until I see the cavern for myself." Caroline dropped his hand and stopped walking, horrified. Her jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. Klaus stared at her, his face deadpan. And then, to Caroline's shock, Klaus began laughing. "Relax, sweetheart. I did nothing of the sort. If you must know, I bribed him."

Caroline in no way saw the humor in their situation. "You… bribed him? Like, with money?"

Klaus tried to calm himself as he began moving forward to keep up with the witch ahead of them. "It's the twenty first century, Caroline. He actually has several children and I bought the whole family iPhones."

Finally Caroline cracked a smile, grinning widely. "iPhones, Klaus? Seriously?"

Klaus shrugged, taking her hand again. "It was actually quite a low price, in my opinion, but that's what he requested in exchange for our little walk in the woods. I just hope something comes to fruition."

Contrary to Klaus' description, it was not a little walk in the woods. After several hours, the novelty of their surroundings had worn off and Caroline had had just about enough of the great outdoors. She looked up through the canopy in dismay as she realized the sun had nearly set. They were going to have to stop and stay the night. Klaus had warned her to pack for a long hike, but she was so excited to finally be seeing him that she really didn't think about the ramifications of camping in the Amazon.

Klaus was a billion or something. There was no doubt in her mind that he had spent plenty of nights in random forests and beaches and desserts, etc. However, she was a girl of the current century. The closest she had come to camping was the campsite in Mystic Falls, which was actually a series of large sand boxes with electrical outlets coming out of the ground and running water in the bathroom nearby. She was NOT down with sleeping in the dirt. She was hot and sticky and needed a long shower. While her supernatural abilities kept her stamina up and her muscles from aching, they did nothing to keep her from getting grumpy after what felt like walking forever.

"Are we almost there?" Caroline yelled towards Otorongo, who was several yards ahead of them.

The old witch turned around and waited for the vampires to catch up. Klaus noticed he had laugh lines around his mouth and eyes. He really was a very agreeable witch, especially compared to the idiots he'd dealt with in New Orleans and the terror that was The Hollow. For the most part, Klaus didn't notice the black magic that ran through his veins. But at times he heard the whispers that sounded so far away, but that really existed only in his mind. The whispers seemed to grow louder when he was near witches, so he had made sure to keep a fair distance between them and their guide.

"We have lot of kilometers to go, but if we continue it will be much dark upon our arrival. It would be good now to stop and wait for the sun to return," the witch spoke slowly. It was obvious English was not his first language, but Klaus thought he spoke it very well compared to so many others he had spoken with in his long life. He and his family all spoke many languages and dialects fluently, although most had changed and evolved over the centuries.

Klaus nodded his agreement and they stopped after finding decent land on which to settle. He had no problem using his duffle bag as a pillow and laying directly on the forest floor, but he looked up and smirked when he saw Caroline's obvious discomfort. As tempting as it was to tease her about this, he knew she was tired and decided to have mercy on her. He took her pack from her and pulled out a small tent. He didn't say it, but he thought her giant bag contained a ridiculous amount of supplies for a simple hike.

It took him no time at all to assemble the tent for his lovely companion, who smiled gratefully. She stepped into the tent and set down her light blanket and rolled up her extra clothes into a makeshift pillow, leaving the rest of her pack outside as it would have taken up too much space. She marveled at how small Klaus' bag was and wondered how he could possibly get by for a whole night with so little. She felt disgusting and longed for a hot shower. Sighing, she took a bottle of clean water and a wash cloth out and set to the task of cleaning herself up using the many hygiene products she had deemed necessary. While she busied herself getting ready for bed she heard Klaus splashing in the river, obviously not caring about sanitary bathing habits.

When Caroline came out of the tent quite some time later, Klaus had built a small fire next to a large tree trunk he had ripped up to use as a bench. He was using the fire to warm two blood bags from his duffle. He despised blood bags, but he knew Caroline wouldn't approve of him snacking on Otorongo. For a moment he thought how his older brother Elijah would call him a heathen for drinking from plastic. Or, Elijah would have… if he had any idea who his younger brother was. Pushing his gloomy thoughts away quickly, he handed one to Caroline as he looked up to her face. She was now dressed in thin cotton light blue pajama pants with pink bunnies on them and a soft white t shirt. On her feet she wore ridiculous fluffy bunny slippers. Klaus sucked in a breath when he realized she was very obviously not wearing anything under her pajamas. His eyes flashed golden for a moment and Caroline looked away, blushing.

Klaus typically didn't wear anything to bed, but seeing as it was his first night with Caroline, and he didn't want to rush her, he had put his jeans back on, minus the boots and Henley. Caroline looked at him after a moment and her eyes, too, darkened with lust. It had taken over a year for their relationship to turn romantic as she was still mourning Stefan, but Klaus was a patient man and had waited for her to come to him. He noticed when he first saw her on FaceTime that she wore her wedding rings on a chain around her neck. They were still there, but it didn't bother him. After all, he knew all along that he wasn't her first love. He was her last.

Caroline sat down next to him on the log and sipped her B positive. Her eyes closed as she savored the warm, thick, delicious liquid. Klaus watched as the veins under her eyes blackened, completely entranced by her beauty. He memorized her face so he could immortalize it in paint at the earliest possible opportunity. Having been such a nomad in recent years, he didn't paint as often as he did when he was sedentary. When he did paint, he always used one of two subjects: the two girls who held his heart – Caroline and Hope. Klaus quickly drank his own bag and tossed both back into his duffle, knowing Caroline would have something to say about it if he littered the forest floor.

The blonde vampire scooted closer to the hybrid and rested her head on his shoulder, winding one hand in his necklaces and using the other to draw little circles on his chest. He pulled her towards him further and wrapped his arms around her, gently stroking her shoulder and arm down to her elbow. His cheek came to rest on the top of her head as they both stared at the fire. Caroline lifted one leg and Klaus pulled it to rest over his knee, her bunny slipper falling between his legs. His other hand found its way to her thigh and she felt sparks shoot through her at even that light touch. She didn't need supernatural hearing to know his heart sped up.

Klaus wanted her. Badly.

The newly reunited couple sat on the log in comfortable silence until the fire was nothing but embers and the moon and stars the last remaining light. Klaus untangled himself from Caroline and stood in one fluid movement. He held his hand out and offered it to her. She laughed while taking it. "Always the gentleman."

Klaus smirked as he guided her the short distance to their tent. He held the flap open while she crawled in as if it were the door to a castle, drawing bright giggles from Caroline. Once inside, she kicked off her bunny slippers. He joined her, both of them laying on their sides to face the other. Caroline rested her head on his arm while he placed his other on her hip, pulling her close. She felt that same jolt of electricity go through her and settle in her lower belly. She looked up into his eyes from under her lashes and saw that his had turned a deep, deep blue. She leaned up and kissed him. At that moment he knew she wanted him just as badly, and that was all the encouragement he needed.

Klaus moved his hand from her hip and used it to grab her bottom, digging his fingertips into her as his mouth crashed down on hers in a bruising kiss. He bit down on her lower lip with his human teeth so hard that he tasted her blood. She kissed him back with equal fervor, winding her fingers into his hair and pulling him even closer. She swung her leg over his and moved to roll on top of him, but Klaus vamp sped her to the ground, pinning her hands on the sides on her head. She knew from previous experience that Klaus very aggressively wanted to be on top, so it wasn't a surprise. In fact, she had been looking forward to it. As much as Caroline Forbes was a complete and utter control freak, sex was the one place she liked being dominated. The hybrid was only too happy to oblige. It wasn't something she had ever done before, but it worked with Klaus. Everything about him radiated power. She felt the juices pooling between her legs as he lifted her thigh to wrap her legs around his waist.

Klaus gripped her wrists so tightly that Caroline was sure she'd have bruises in the morning had she still been human. He used his body to pin her down hard against the ground. She could feel how badly he wanted her as he ground his painfully stiff erection into her. As much as he wanted to take her as fast and as hard as possible, he also wanted to savor her. He'd had her one time long ago and that had been rough and dirty. He didn't doubt that they would do it like that time and time again, but for right now he wanted to explore.

He pulled up from their kiss and motioned with his head and eyes to keep her hands where he put them. When she nodded, he released her and used both of his hands to knead and caress every inch of her upper body. He kissed her neck and nibbled on her pulse point, drawing a moan from her as she tilted her head to allow better access. One hand smoothly ran down her side, making her shiver as it continued its descent all the way down her body. His other hand moved under her shirt and massaged her breasts, tweaking each nipple until they pebbled at his touch.

Suddenly, he ripped her shirt off, tearing it in half like tissue paper. He kissed his way down her neck to her shoulders and down her upper arms and over to her breasts. She made a small strangled sound when he bit down hard on one of her nipples, using his tongue to massage away the pain. He repeated this delicious torture all over her breasts, shoulders, neck, anything his mouth could reach. Caroline just let her head fall back and held her arms still so he wouldn't stop. She allowed herself to get lost in the sensation of his skin on hers as his pelvis ground into her at a steady pace.

Klaus slowly, teasingly, slid his fingertips down towards Caroline's throbbing core. He gently stroked her lips through the very thin fabric of her pajama pants. He found that she was completely soaked through her clothes and smiled because he knew it was all for him. He continued biting and sucking on her flesh as he played with her. She began to pant and whine. "Klaus, please…" He bit down hard on her nipple to silence her. However, Caroline Forbes wasn't very good at staying silent, so she continued her quiet begging, urging him to move faster. She ground down with her pelvis onto his fingers to try and gain any type of friction and finally he stilled his hand. "Oh God, Klaus, please, don't stop."

Klaus stopped his ministrations long enough to look down at her. "All in good time, love. All in good time," he told her with his characteristic smirk. Caroline was breathing heavily as she frantically nodded her head, silently begging him to continue. After a few minutes, he rewarded her by pulling down her pants and tossing them aside faster than she could blink. Now that he had her completely naked and writhing beneath him, he took a moment to savor the view, hovering over her. He growled deep in the back of his throat as his eyes flashed bright, glowing gold. He supported himself on his elbows as he kissed and bit his way down her body, between her breasts, down her stomach and down to her inner thighs. He bit her over and over, up and down, each time laving his tongue over the rapidly fading bruises, occasionally drawing tiny amounts of blood. He ran his hand down her outer thighs and shins and all the way to the bottoms of her feet, making her curl her toes.

Caroline could barely contain herself. She was on total and complete sensory overload. Every time Klaus touched her she felt like he was leaving a trail of fire and lightning in his wake. Her core was throbbing painfully and she just knew that as soon as he touched her where she needed it she would explode in bliss. It was all she could do to keep from outright begging. She had to bite down on her lip to keep the words buried. She made desperate whining sounds urging him to continue. The closer he got, the deeper her fingernails dug into her palms, eventually drawing blood.

He licked his way up and down her lower lips agonizingly slowly, nearly sending her into tears. She wanted him so badly she could scarcely breathe. She bucked her hips forward and he quickly pinned her hips down with his forearm, his grip iron, though not painful. She let out a frustrated moan and could feel Klaus chuckling at her. He stopped completely and looked up at her, delighted and smiling playfully. "Something wrong, sweetheart?"

She looked down at him pleadingly. "Klaus… please… please, please, please…"

Klaus's smile widened, thoroughly enjoying the moment. "Please… what? Did you need something?" he asked, completely feigning his ignorance.

"I need to come, Klaus! Please for the love of God just make me come!" she begged, throwing her head back onto the hard ground.

"Oh, you want me to make you come? Oh… Hmmm…" He pretended to contemplate her request for a moment while she squirmed beneath him. He returned to his torture, slowly licking up her velvety smooth lips. He did enjoy the grooming of this century. There was nothing interrupting his view of Caroline in all her pink and dripping beauty. He brought his other hand slowly up her inner thigh and gently pushed past her lips and finally entered her with a single finger. He felt her straining against his arm holding down her hips, but she was no match for him, so he gleefully continued to pin her down. He lifted her legs, bending them at the knee so he could gain better access. He added a second finger and she moaned out ohhhs and ahhhs, her heels digging into the ground through her blanket. He slowly, slowly, slowly circled her swollen clit with his skilled tongue. He held his fingers deep inside of her and stopped, looking up at her as though deep in thought. "I'll think about it," he smiled, mirth dancing in his eyes as her upper body trembled in desperate frustration.

He sped up his fingers very slowly as he kissed and nipped all over her mound and lips, careful to avoid where she needed him most. He knew she was close and all it would take was a tiny bit from him and she'd explode. He sped up further and moved harder and deeper, grinning up at her, moving his arm at last so his view of her face was unobstructed. "Come for me, sweetheart." He quickly closed his lips around her clit and circled it with his tongue as he sucked and that was it. The entire world exploded in a flash of light as her orgasm ripped through every inch of her body. Her head went flying back as tears of relief and ecstasy streamed down her cheeks and her screams rang in his ears. Klaus lightened the pressure and helped her slowly come back down to earth.

As her breathing steadied, the hybrid kissed and nuzzled his way up her body until he gently kissed her lips, resting his head on his hand with his elbow on the ground. He slowly removed his fingers from her core and brought them up to her lips, encouraging her to open her mouth. She did and she licked and sucked her own juices off of him. He pulled out his fingers and tenderly stroked her cheek with the back of his knuckles, whispering a loving, "Good girl."

Klaus looked down at Caroline in total awe of her beauty. He was painfully hard himself, straining against his jeans, but he barely noticed. He was so lost in her that the world could have exploded and he'd never know. He gazed down at her flushed face until she eventually opened her eyes and peered into his. He was smiling down at her, dimples fully showing. She smiled back and gave him a tiny kiss on his raspberry lips. "That was amazing. Thank you."

He kissed her in the same way before answering, "You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, love." Deciding it was safe to move her hands now, she brought her arms around his neck and kissed him again. He kissed her back, slowly and sensually. He opened her lips with his own, massaging her tongue as he slid his into her warm mouth. He rolled back on top of her and deepened their kiss. This time he decided not to pin her down and gave her free reign to run her palms all over his neck, shoulders and back. As she raked her nails down his spine, he raised her legs to wrap around him once again.

Klaus thoroughly enjoyed torturing Caroline and looked forward to being able to do so for the rest of eternity. However, for right now, he was done toying with her. He longed to be inside of her. It had been too long and he vowed never to be apart from her for that long ever again. He allowed her to reach down and unbuckle his belt and undo his jeans. She looked up at him, asking his permission to continue as she nibbled on her lower lip. He nodded at her in silent approval before returning his mouth to hers. She slipped her hand into his black silky boxers and found his head dripping with his own wetness. Just like him, she enjoyed knowing his arousal was all for her. She rubbed her thumb over his slit and he groaned into her mouth. She slowly moved her hand down his shaft and gripped around the base. He let her pump him up and down for about a minute before pulling her hand off and vamp speeding his jeans off and tossing them out of the tent.

He settled comfortably between her thighs and kissed her mouth as his head teased at her folds. When she made a small whine, he pulled away from their kiss and gazed down at her. He looked into her eyes, his blue gaze matching hers, and entered her slowly. She let out a short gasp as she adjusted to his size. Klaus wasn't in any hurry and took his time moving in and out of her. She wrapped her legs tighter around him and he let her, leaning back down to kiss her. As he got closer to his own edge, his kiss deepened. Caroline was right there with him, the burning in her core approaching another explosion.

The hybrid's strokes deepened and became harder as he increased the speed. Caroline dug her nails so deeply down his back that he shuddered, moving even faster. She began letting out tiny moans into his mouth with every thrust. Klaus dominated their kiss, twisting and turning their tongues together frantically. He pulled apart and rested his forehead against hers when he came up for air. Caroline looked at him pleadingly. "Klaus… I'm so close. Can I...?"

He was barely hanging on himself, but he had no intention of finishing before she did, so he was grateful that she was ready. He moved a hand down between their bodies and circled his thumb around her clit. He nodded his head frantically and looked into her eyes. He managed to growl out, "Come. Now." And she did as he crashed his mouth onto hers. He felt her walls convulsing all around him and he thrust hard, deep and fast a few more times and he was gone. He spilled his seed deep within her, twitching and shaking himself. He moved in and out slowly as they both rode out their highs. Once they were both completely finished, he rested his head on her shoulder while he caught his breath. Her arms fell from his shoulder and landed above her head as she, too, caught her breath.

After a few minutes, Klaus rolled onto his back, tugging Caroline so her head fell on his shoulder and her leg came to rest across his. In the absence of a pillow he reached over and pulled his duffle beneath his head, resting his hand between himself and the bag. He wrapped his other arm around Caroline and held her close. There were no words. They didn't need any – not then. It wasn't long before her heartbeat slowed and her breathing became deep and steady. Klaus looked down and saw that she was fast asleep in his arms… where she belonged. He kissed her lightly on the forehead and whispered, "Sweet dreams, love," before he himself faded off into oblivion.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Klaus' eyes instinctively shot open as he felt Caroline begin to stir. She yawned and looked up at him through bleary eyes. She made a happy little purring sound and nuzzled his chest, kissing him lightly. Sitting up, she stretched her arms above her naked body while Klaus shamelessly raked his eyes over her pale form. Her eyes met his and she smiled. "Good morning, lover."

He propped himself up on his elbows as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes in a way he found entirely adorable. "Good morning, sweetheart. You're in a good mood this morning."

She giggled before leaning down to kiss him. "Hmmm... I wonder why that is?" she joked. "I guess my night was ok," she teased.

He pulled back and smirked at her, raising an eyebrow. Running a hand through her thoroughly disheveled curls, he said, "You guess it was ok, hmmm?" He forcefully pulled her head to his and kissed her senseless until she was panting into his mouth. He pulled her head back with his hand still wound in her hair and looked at her mischievously.

Caroline laughed out loud. "Ok, ok, ok. I admit it. My night was mind blowing," she smiled, kissing him again.

Klaus kissed her roughly before responding playfully, "Behave yourself and you might have another one."

She giggled and her cheeks took on a rosy hue. "Oh, is that how it is?" Klaus hummed at her and his dimples deepened with his smile. Caroline kissed him again, throwing her torso on top of him and winding her fingers into his hair.

For a moment Klaus indulged her before firmly slapping her bottom, electing a small and surprised yelp from the pretty blonde. "Alright, none of that. It's past dawn and we've a long day. Best have at it." He lifted her off of him, exiting the tent completely nude. He extended his hand to her and looked at her curiously when she didn't take it. "Something wrong?"

She looked at him like he was very slow. "Ummmm, I'm kinda naked in here." Not seeing her point, he gave her the same look she gave him. She continued, "I'm not running around the Amazon naked for everyone to see. This," she gestured to her body, "is for your eyes only, mister." She huffed, annoyed, while he looked at her amusedly. Rolling her eyes, she told him, "Just bring my pack over so I can get dressed in here. Please." Klaus did as she asked, although he made a mental note to tease her about her ridiculous modesty later. For now, they needed to get moving.

A few minutes later and they were back on the trail. Now that they had rested, Caroline once again found herself fascinated by her surroundings. She was paying so little attention that Klaus had to block her path with his arm when Otorongo had clearly stopped. He spoke to the couple in his deep voice. "This is as far as I go. The enter to the cavern is about a hundred meters that way," he said pointing in the general direction of their goal. "You will find your prophecy on wall. I wish you much luck," the witch added politely with a small bow of his head.

Klaus' eyes darkened and glinted dangerously as his posture stiffened. "Prophecy? Nobody said anything about a prophecy." He turned accusingly to Caroline.

Caroline looked at him not quite understanding his outburst. "I told you I heard about carvings of twins, then you found this guy, and now here we are."

Klaus threw up his hands in frustration. "You said it was a lead! I would never have come here to find a damn prophecy! I hate bloody prophecies! No good ever came from a prophecy!" Otorongo clearly didn't understand what Caroline did in that moment, her face falling, so Klaus spun on him. "You! You should have told me this was about a prophecy, witch!"

Caroline pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a long suffering sigh as Klaus continued to rant. Otorongo held up his hands and stepped back from the furious hybrid, although he wasn't intimidated in the least. "You stop now, hybrid, before I make you regret. You ask to come here and I bring you here. That was our deal. What is problem you have with prophecy?"

Klaus made a deep growling sound and took deep breaths to calm himself, doing his best not to rip the man's spine out through his mouth in front of Caroline. After a couple of minutes the blonde vampire crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot, annoyed. She wasn't unsympathetic, but she really didn't feel like dealing with his temper tantrum when she was so close to gaining information about her children, nor did she care what word described said information. "Seriously, Klaus? Do we have to do this now?"

Eventually Klaus turned to the man and said, "I don't like prophecies very much, mate." Otorongo gave him a confused look, so Klaus continued. "The last time a witch told me a prophecy I spent five years trapped in a dungeon."

Caroline huffed, irritated that he was still talking about semantics and not moving already! "Look Klaus, we can talk about your kinks later, but for right now move your ass!" Klaus' opened and closed his mouth like a fish on dry land. Caroline made a shoo-ing motion with her hands to push him along, bossy as ever. "There's information about my children in there! Let's go." Narrowing his eyes at her, Klaus started walking towards the cavern. If anyone else spoke to him like that, they would be leaving without a tongue. He would have to remind her later who was in charge.

After a few minutes, Klaus made a small, amused scoff. Caroline looked at him. "What?" He shrugged dismissively. They kept walking until she looked over and saw his smirk. "No, seriously, you have to tell me what's funny and you have to tell me right now."

Klaus flashed her his dimples as they approached the entrance to the cavern they had been seeking. "Oh it's nothing, love. I'm just very much looking forward to your promised discussion of my kinks." He winked at her when she glared at him before rolling her eyes. Klaus set down his bag, removing from it a large flashlight. Caroline did the same and they began to walk. "Technology really is astounding. You've no idea how annoying it is to try exploring with nothing but a lantern carrying a single flame in the dark. Even hybrid sight only goes so far."

Klaus walked slightly ahead of Caroline, one hand holding hers and the other looking around with the flashlight while she held hers directly in front of their feet. The cavern was somewhat cramped and had stalactites and stalagmites in increasing frequency the further underground they travelled. Fortunately it wasn't terribly long before Klaus stopped them. Caroline had no idea what he was seeing so he pointed at the wall a few feet to the left of their path. The ground was all sharp points, preventing them from getting any closer. Klaus took Caroline's flashlight and pointed it at the wall near his own beam. Klaus nodded with his head for Caroline to look at the wall.

Caroline had to squint to see it because it was so faded from the years, but she definitely saw what he saw. There were carvings along the wall… a lot of carvings. They went on forever. There were words in a language she had never seen and pictures of people and various symbols. Each set of words and symbols clearly formed its own little story. She supposed those were the prophecies. "Oh my God, Klaus. There are so many of them! How are we ever going to narrow this down?"

Klaus considered her for a moment before giving her the obvious answer. "We're going to have to read each of them and pick out the ones that apply."

Caroline put her hands on her hips. "Oh yeah? And how do you propose we do that? There are like a billion prophecies! And what even is that language? I'm pretty sure none of those letters go together."

Klaus couldn't help but smile at her indignation. He found her beautiful even when she was ridiculous. "It's called Aymaran, love. Ancient Aymaran, but that's what it is."

Caroline scoffed. "Ok, so it's ancient Aymaran. That is SO helpful to know! I've never even heard of it, and you told me you've never been to this part of Peru, so there's no way you speak ancient Aymaryan. We're just going to have to write it all down and find someone who does."

Klaus looked at her, offended. "I'll have you know I absolutely do speak ancient Aymaran… However languages do change, love, and these carvings are even older than I am. Now silence your pretty little mouth and give me a moment to translate some of these. And do be a good girl and start looking for pictures that may fit," Klaus ordered her as he held his flashlight up to the wall on the cavern.

He squinted his eyes as he tried to make out the ancient letters. Caroline was right that there were many of them, although definitely not a billion. Caroline pulled out her camera and began taking pictures of each set of stories. They pointed out many potentials to each other, but ultimately decided to move on from each one.

Finally, something caught Klaus' eye. He turned his head to the side, curious about what he found there. He beckoned Caroline over to take a look. The whole thing was very faded and marred by the centuries. It was hard to make out anything for sure, but eventually it started to make sense. There were two figures that could have been women standing together. There was a line beneath them and another figure, this one less defined but probably also a woman, laying down sideways below the line. To the right of the figures was a jagged vertical line that could have been a lightning bolt. The same image of the figures were to the right of the lightning as well, however these were the least clear of all. Beneath all of it were words in the language Caroline couldn't read. After staring for a while and trying to figure out the story's meaning, she asked Klaus to translate and he responded with a distracted hum, clearly deep in thought. Eventually, the young blonde began to tap her foot impatiently.

Though still baffled, Klaus spoke. "I believe it says, "One will live and one will die, while that one's death will bring one life."

Caroline shook her head and looked at him incredulously before asking, "What? Are you sure you got that right? That literally makes no sense."

Klaus took a moment to look over the carvings again, taking his time to translate word for word. "Well, I agree that it's strange, but yes, I'm sure that's what it says."

"'One will live and one will die, while that one's death will bring one life,'" Caroline scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest petulantly. "Seriously?! I think these Aymaran witches prophesized Harry Potter. 'Neither can live while the other survives.' That is so already taken!"

Klaus frowned at her outburst, surprised by her negativity. "I realize it's strange, sweetheart, but prophecies often are. Many times they don't make sense until they've already come to pass. I told you I bloody hate prophecies."

Caroline threw her arms up and blew all the air out of her lungs in a huff. "It means absolutely nothing, Klaus! We already know about The Merge. This wall literally says exactly what we know: one has to die in order to merge with the other. And those pictures aren't any help! Two live girls on top of one obviously dead girl. Two live. One dies. Yeah. Got that, thanks. Add in the lightning bolt that clearly represents the split of The Merge, just like on Harry's freakin' forehead! We wasted an entire trip to find NOTHING but some J.K. Rowling wannabes!"

At this Klaus smirked and couldn't resist teasing her. "Caroline, I'm quite certain Harry Potter came long after these very ancient carvings. If anything that nonsense itself is plagiarized."

"Oh you did NOT just call Harry Potter 'nonsense!'" Caroline shouted, offended at the attack on such a huge part of her childhood… even if it turned out to be nothing like real witchcraft. Although she did run a school for supernaturals, so she supposed there was that similarity. Klaus had absolutely no response and just laughed at her for a brief moment before seeing her genuine annoyance and composing himself as best he could. She delighted him. "Oh, sure, laugh. You're just grumpy because you're so totally Voldemort."

Now Klaus scoffed, although he was only mocking her genuine annoyance. "I most certainly am not. If anything I'm Professor Snape: a man with a dark past who, in the end, wasn't as bad as he seemed. I have layers, you know. I'm not pure evil and I definitely never tried to eradicate anyone with mixed blood."

Caroline's eyes widened. "You know Harry Potter? Seriously? If you know the end of the series where Snape redeems himself, then you read all seven books… and you claim it was "'nonsense?'" She made air quotes with her fingers on the last word. "Reading one book would be enough to call it nonsense. You liked it! Klaus Mikaelson is a closeted Harry Potter fan! Oh. My. God!" Caroline laughed as Klaus stared daggers at her.

"Caroline, for a thousand years my family and I have kept up with politics, fashion, languages, technology, research and yes, popular culture. Without modern knowledge, it's impossible to blend in," Klaus told her, turning his light to the ground in front of them. He took her hand and began slowly leading them out of the cavern.

With mirth in her eyes, Caroline giggled "Okay, Klaus, if that's your story." She could practically hear him roll his eyes as he shook his head. It was certainly no easy task to embarrass a thousand year old Mikaelson, but she accomplished it in the middle of a dark cavern buried deep in the rainforest. They walked along the rocky ground, avoiding the stalagmites on the ground and ducking down on occasion to miss the stalactites jutting down from the stone above. While she was frustrated by their lack of progress, she was finally here, in person, with Klaus.

Life was good.


Mystic Falls – 2027

Caroline and Hope sat in the headmistress's office, the desk piled high with grimoires from all over the world. Freya was busy starting a family with Vince and Keelin and had never been happier. With the vampires gone, New Orleans had reached a supernatural peace even better than the years before. Witch and werewolf business was finally set aside. When Hope wanted to take a large portion of the family's magical library, nobody really seemed to mind.

Freya suspected that Hope wanted to find some ancient spell to bring back her parents, but knowing that was impossible, the older witch decided to let her niece look. One thing Freya had learned about her once lost family was that each of them had to find answers on their own and in their own time. She hoped that while the books would never bring a miracle, maybe they would help the tribrid someday find her own sense of peace.

Caroline set down her book gently and looked to the younger girl. When Hope realized Caroline was staring, she looked up at her and gave the older woman a questioning look. Caroline sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly, considering her words. "How long did you know?"

Hope's eyebrow raised a bit and she scoffed. "What? About you and my dad?" Caroline nodded. "Ummm, only since the day I got here? You'd barely told me your name before you said you knew him and you practically grilled me all about our lives my first week here. Not to mention every time I asked you to tell me about him, you basically started glowing. And you're literally the only person in Mystic Falls, besides me, who doesn't refer to him as 'The Great Evil.'"

Caroline let out a small "Hmph," and shook her head. "You are just like him, you know. Too smart for your own good."

Hope looked at her with a bored expression, having heard this so many times. "I was seven, not stupid." At that Caroline laughed outright before returning to her research. They had been looking through grimoires for slightly over a year and had found very little. It didn't help that Caroline was frequently traveling the world, although each time she came home she brought new reading material.

Without Klaus, she had to follow up every lead about The Merge by herself, all the while trying to find any possible way to bring back the love of her life. Her best lead was still the urn from Cairo. It was frustrating and painful, but both women were determined to succeed. Although as far as Hope knew, they were searching only for a way to bring back her father. It was a burden the twin's parents had to bear alone. Besides, there was still plenty of time. Lizzie and Josie were a few months shy of sixteen and The Merge wouldn't happen until they were twenty two.

No one knew about The Merge except for Caroline and Alaric, save their few friends who had long since left the supernatural world behind. Bonnie Bennet still held an immense amount of power, but had had no reason to use it in a very long time. After Enzo's final death, Bonnie and Jeremy Gilbert managed to find their way back to each other. Jeremy occasionally did favors for Alaric, but mostly they raised their two twin four year olds, the newest Bennet witches. Damon and Elena Salvatore also had a daughter, Stefanie, and a son, Jonah.

Caroline often found herself wishing she still lived in the same world as her childhood friends. The reality was that she didn't anymore, and she never would again. They stayed in touch, but Elena, Bonnie, and especially Matt Donovan, wanted normal, human lives. Caroline would never have that luxury. She was immortal and had no interest in the cure. She often wished there was some way to share with them her relationship with Klaus, but she would never be able to. They knew him as the enemy and they would only ever see him that way, as would anyone who read Alaric's books… which was everyone in the school.

So Caroline had Hope, and together they worked to find a way to bring Klaus back to the land of the living. Hope looked up again from her research and stared at Caroline in contemplation. This time Caroline looked up. Hope took a deep breath before asking the one question that had been haunting her. "Do you think my dad wants to come back?"

Caroline was surprised that this was even a consideration. "What? Of course he wants to come back. He never wanted to die in the first place. He wants to be here to watch over you and protect you… and me… and my girls. We were all supposed to be a family. Given a very strange and partly dead family, but still. That's the way we wanted it, the way it was meant to be… eventually… after we figured out how to-" Caroline suddenly stopped, realizing how close she came to mentioning her dark secret. She laughed to cover up her small gasp. "Sorry, Hope. I'm doing that thing where I ramble, aren't I?" Hope just gave her an amused expression. Sometimes she looked so similar to her father that it almost hurt Caroline to look at her. Looking away, she asked, "What makes you think he wouldn't want to?"

More than a year ago, Hope had confessed to her Uncle Elijah what her mother told her when they met while Hope's heart was temporarily stopped. Elijah had died and Hope tried to let that memory die with him. If she gave into the memories, she was faced with the question of her father's wishes. What if he had finally found Peace and she ripped him away from that for her own selfish reasons? How would she be able to live with herself?

Making a decision she knew was coming, Hope took a chance. "When The Hollow was inside of me, I kind of… died." Caroline gasped, but Hope quickly went on before Caroline could interrupt. "It was only for a minute and then I was back. I heard my dad calling me and came back. But while I was there, I saw my mom." Hope gulped and felt the stinging in her eyes as tears started to form. She took a deep breath before continuing. "She told me that she wasn't dead because of me, but that she was at Peace because of me. All the people she lost were there with her and she seemed so… relieved. I asked if I'd ever see her again and she said I would… but not for a very long time."

Caroline reached across the desk and took Hope's hand in her own as matching tears slowly fell down their cheeks. "At first I thought it was just a hallucination from brain chemicals or something, but my mom gave me a message for my Uncle Elijah. When I gave it to him, I knew it was real. His reaction to it was real." Hope had to stop to sniffle her nose. Caroline handed her a tissue, taking one for herself as well. "Umm, so, I know that Peace is somewhere out there waiting for us… for when it's time. And I can't stop thinking that maybe my Dad found Peace, too. Maybe he's with his own lost loved ones and is finally happy. And if he is… how can I tear him away from that?"

The women sat in silence for what felt like a very long time, each lost in thought. This had never once occurred to Caroline, but now that it had, she immediately knew the conflict the tribrid felt. She had spent an excessive amount of her thirty-something years stuck in her head with thoughts that wouldn't go away. This was one of those thoughts that would nag at her over and over and over. It was heartbreaking.

Seeing the haunted expression on Caroline's face, Hope tried to smile and laugh it off. "You know, maybe it WAS just a hallucination. I mean, nobody knows for sure what happens when we die, right? We learned in history that that's how most religions came to be. People wanted answers to questions that have no answer. I'm sure you're right and he wants to come back from wherever he is. Forget I said anything."

"No, you were right to ask. I have known many people who have died and gone on, some of them multiple times. That's why I'm so sure he's out there somewhere. I just know it in my bones that somewhere out there is a way to bring him back to me. Umm, I mean, to us. To both of us. And the rest of your family. But, yeah, maybe he doesn't want to come back." Caroline let go of Hope's hand and ran her fingers through her hair before resting her elbows on the table. She buried her face in her hands in a very poor attempt to cover the tears running freely down her face, dragging her mascara with them.

Hope got up and went to sit on the hearth. She lit the fire with a quiet, "Incendia." It was autumn and not really cold enough for a fire, but she found the soft crackling sound of the logs soothing. She stared into the flames as though praying the answer would somehow be written in the smoke billowing up the chimney. She curled her knees up and rested her head on them, turning to look at Caroline.

Caroline rested her cheek on her hand and looked at Hope, shrugging. "What are we supposed to do with that question?" she asked quietly when Hope had no response. "God, I have wished so many times that he was here so I could talk to him. Have him give me some magic answer so I know what to do, because sometimes I really don't know what he would say."

Hope suddenly sat up, setting her feet on the ground and looking at Caroline intently. "You know, maybe there IS a way we can ask him what to do."

Caroline dropped her gaze and looked at Hope almost pityingly. "Yeah… if only they had iPhones that could call the dead. Nice try, kiddo, but I'm pretty sure "roaming" doesn't actually cover the afterlife."

Hope gazed at Caroline with a look that screamed, "Seriously?!" When she got no further comment, she realized she was going to have to spell it out for the older woman. "Honestly you are so blonde sometimes." Caroline's mouth opened, offended. Before she could start ranting about fighting stereotypes, Hope kept talking. "How many people do you know who have died, talked to people, and come back?" Caroline had to stop and think. "I'm a New Orleans witch. Talking to dead people is like half our lives. We basically DO have the afterlife on speed dial. I literally just told you that I died and talked to my mom—"

Here Caroline did cut Hope off. "Woah woah woah. You are NOT seriously suggesting that you intentionally die in the hopes that you might come back to life? I hate to break it to you, but you can't exactly guarantee your own magic is gonna work from over there."

"Caroline," Hope began, "we are in a building FULL of witches. Your daughters are witches—"

"Siphoner witches, actually," she corrected.

"Whatever. They can do magic. They took The Hollow out of me and put it in my dad, which, by the way, caused this whole mess in the first place," Hope pointed out, clearly still holding onto her anger about her father's plan to die behind her back.

Caroline stood, hands on hips. "Your father came here and begged me to let my girls do that spell so he could save YOUR life, young lady—"

Hope held up her hands in a calming gesture. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blame them. I just meant that there are plenty of people here that could help us out, and not just your girls. Ms. Tig is crazy powerful and obviously knowledgeable if she's been teaching me."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Ok, practicing humility today? I don't think Emma needs to know that we're trying to bring back Klaus Mikaelson. She's read Alaric's books. He's the one who started calling him 'The Great Evil.' And she's totally in his pocket. She'd tell him in a heartbeat and I really don't feel like getting into this with him. This is OUR task: yours and mine. Nobody here is getting involved in a spell you have no business even thinking about casting. If I let something happen to you, I'd be AFRAID to bring your dad back because he would kill everyone involved and anyone they've ever met… hopefully except for me. It's a bad plan and we are not doing it."

Hope sat there nodding her head while Caroline finished ranting. "Ok, so I'm willing to admit that is a good point. Nobody here can do the spell."

Caroline let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. The thought of losing Hope terrified her every day. "Good. I'm glad you see reason."

Getting up, Hope held her hands in front of her, wringing them together as she walked to the door. "So obviously Mystic Falls isn't going to be an option, but there are plenty of other witches."

Caroline's blue eyes practically bugged out of her head. "Hope Andrea Mikaelson! Seriously? Did you hear a word I just said?" Hope didn't even acknowledge the blonde's near shouting. She began to walk to the door when Caroline stepped in front of her, hands on hips. "And where exactly do you think you're going? You are NOT about to just walk away from me right now."

Hope gently pushed past her and reached for the door knob before addressing her headmistress. "What do you mean where am I going? Pay attention, Care. I'm going to pack a bag. Obviously."

Caroline waved her hands in front of her chest. "No, you are not packing a bag! I am the head of this school and you do not have permission to go anywhere, and especially not by yourself. Your family still has enemies out there and you know that. It isn't even a little bit safe."

Hope looked at the vampire as though she were very slow. "That's why you need to go pack, too. Bring enough for a couple of days at least. Oh, and dress light. It's probably still pretty humid down there."

Hope walked past Caroline and opened the door when Caroline stopped her with a hand on her arm. "What are you even talking about right now? Down where? Where exactly is it that you've unilaterally decided we're going?"

Hope threw her departing words over her shoulder, tossing her read hair aside as she began confidently walking to her room to pack. "New Orleans."

Caroline's jaw dropped as her heavy office door swung closed.