I've been working on how this chapter is going to play out for a little bit and I hope that you like where it goes! I hope you enjoy!
Elijah, Kol, Rebekah, Freya, and Niklaus all sat impatiently in the private jet that took them in the mysterious direction of a place Niklaus refused to tell them.
"Oh come on Nik!" Rebekah pleaded impatiently. "Just a tiny hint?"
Klaus gave his sister a look with raised eyebrows and she sighed, frustrated with her brother's refusal to actually give away anything of where they were going.
"Niklaus," Elijah interrupted, making Klaus glance over. "May I ask how sure you are of this Mave Cross's whereabouts?"
Klaus grinned mischievously. "Trust me 'Lijah, she'll be there."
"And where exactly is 'there?'" Freya redirected Klaus back to the previous conversation and Klaus sighed exasperated.
"Honestly," he said. "Can nobody just enjoy the ride to a mysterious place that only I know of?" He smirked, knowing that an argument was about to ensure soon. Maybe it'll make the time go by faster.
And sure enough, an argument took place with Rebekah complaining to Elijah of "Nik's unfairness" while Freya and Kol still pestered him of where they were headed. Klaus was just glad when the 2 hours were up and the compelled piolet landed the small plane in a clearing just the right size. Nik happily got up, tired of his sibling's bickering, though it was him who started it, while his family followed him with confusion clearly written on their faces.
"Nik?" Rebekah asked as she looked around the green scenery. "May I ask why you brough us somewhere in Colorado?"
Klaus smirked at his sisters correct assumption and began heading in a direction he knew would lead him to another, bigger clearing. "Well sister, if Mave Cross wanted to hide, this is the place she would go."
Klaus flashed to the next clearing, Elijah helping Freya keep up with them, and the siblings stopped in front of a large acre of land that was dotted here and there with the trees that surrounded them. There stood an older looking house with a wooden fence dictating when the property ended, which was surprisingly big to the point where you couldn't see where it went in the back of the property for it was covered by the forest. The house itself looked very homey with its older charm and Rebekah found herself liking the feeling it brought. Freya frowned, still not being able to sense the child's magic. Perhaps Niklaus was wrong this time.
The siblings headed determinedly past the wooden fence and to the house. They also prepared themselves for whatever might meet them at the front door, whether it be friend or foe. The Mikaelsons always prepared.
Soon enough, they were stepping onto the porch, examine every detail while Klaus went up to the door and knocked a few times. With his vampire hearing, he could hear shuffling and the sound of footsteps down the stairs. His heart began to quicken with the prospect of finding a certain brown haired witch on the other side of the door. She was quite the vixen a few years ago.
Just as his siblings were becoming impatient, the door unlocked and opened to none other than Mave Cross. Klaus's eyes looked her up and down before she even realized who was at the door.
Her beautiful hair was still the same, brown and long, though a little lighter from being outside too much. Her bright blue eyes were just a smidge darker than Klaus's. Her lips formed a perfect heart shape across her tan skin with the slight freckles across her nose. She was wearing a simple beige dress that flowed to below her knees with brown, ankle boots on her feet. When she finally realized who was at her door, her blue eyes widened. Klaus smirked.
"Hello Mave," he commented casually.
In response, Mave tried to close the door but Klaus caught it without crossing the threshold. He tsked at her actions.
"Now love," he said, forcing the door to open and Mave to stumble back into the house. "That's no way to treat a friend."
Mave swallowed, obviously uncomfortable with the Originals being on her front porch, especially a certain hybrid that she didn't want to see for a much longer time. "What do you want Klaus?" she asked though, surprised that she managed her voice to sound strong despite her frantically beating heart that she knew everyone there heard.
Klaus had to hold back a growl. Frankly, he was a little upset that she had run away from him, and supposably with their child. He had beaten himself up for a bit when she disappeared, thinking that it was Mikael who had ended her, but this whole time she was alive and with his child. She had no right to run away with something as important as family.
"Well sweetheart," Klaus started. "It seems that my darling sister Freya," he gestured to the witch, "Thinks that when you ran away from me those years ago, it was with my unborn child."
Instantly, Mave's eyes widened and her pulse quickened. That was all the confirmation that everyone needed.
"Where is the child?" Elijah asked calmly but everyone heard the threatening tone underneath. Instantly, Mave grew defensive.
"Away from you and your deranged family," she snapped. Klaus was about to say something rude back when she beat him. "I know about your aunt Klaus," she said, surprising everyone. "That was why I ran when I did. I knew of what she did to Freya," Mave glanced at the witch with sorrow. "And I would die rather than let that happen to my daughter-"
"Ah so it is a girl!" Rebekah squealed and Kol sighed before bringing out 10 dollars and handing it to his sister. Mave scowled but continued.
"If I didn't leave to protect her, Dahlia would've found her, and she would've been taken from me."
Suddenly, Freya spoke up, "How did you manage to hide the girl's magic for so long? Even here I cannot sense it."
Mave smiled triumphantly. "I am a powerful witch, and I used my magic to spell the property. No spell or magic can come in and no signal of magic could go out, meaning-"
"Dahlia wouldn't be able to sense the child at all," Freya whispered impressed. "So she would've thought that Hope was the firstborn when in reality it was your daughter."
"Correct," Mave said with a nod, but then she realized who she was talking to and got defensive once more. "And if you think that I'm going to hand her over to you..." she scoffed. "Then you Mikaelsons are even crazier than I thought."
"Miss Cross," Elijah began but the woman cut him off.
"Look," she sighed, just wanting the vampires to leave. "If you couldn't protect this other child, Hope was it?" At Klaus's stiff nod she continued. "Then what makes you think that you could protect my little girl?"
For once, Klaus was left speechless. He understood why Mave had done what she did, but it didn't make him any less angrier. The girl was still his blood, his family. And he deserved to be her father, despite all of the things he's done.
But, in the end, he sighed and nodded, making Mave release a sigh of relief. But before she could say thank you, Klaus said, almost desperately, "At least let me meet her."
Mave hesitated, searching Klaus's face for any kind of alterior motive, but she found none, and sighed in defeat, but not before asking. "Promise that you won't try anything?"
Klaus slightly smiled. There was the Mave he knew. "I promise," he said honestly and meaning it. Somehow, the child was kept safe for this long, so who was he to take her from a place of safety.
Mave nodded and exited the house, confusing everybody when she began walking toward the trees. "Where are you going?" Kol asked bluntly, making her stop to turn around.
She shrugged. "She likes to play in the forest," she said simply and turned back around to continue walking. The siblings looked at each other before following the young witch. Klaus was next to her in a second, matching her pace.
"And you let her? Despite the danger?" he asked curiously.
Mave gave him a look that said Do you really think I'm that stupid? before repling, "Of course not. The property spell that keeps unwanted magic out also serves as a barrier to her. She technically can't leave the premises, even if someone is trying to force her."
Klaus nodded, impressed, but Elijah spoke up. "You would keep her here as a prisoner?"
Mave gave him a sharp look. "If I have to keep her locked up in order to keep her safe, I will."
Elijah nodded respectfully, silently agreeing with the answer.
"How do you know where she is?" Rebekah asked after a few moments of walking. They were just reaching the tree's border.
Mave gave a small smile. "It's simple," she said. "Just follow the singing."
The siblings looked at each other with confusion before they heard it. It was a little girl's voice, and it was magnificent. Despite such a young age, her voice sounded mesmerizing, even from a distance. Soon, they began to understand what she was singing.
When I was listening to the ocean,
I saw a face in the sand,
But when I picked it up,
Then it vanished away from my hands, oh a oh.
I had a dream I was seven,
Climbing my way in a tree,
I saw a piece of heaven,
Waiting, impatient for me, oh a oh.
The singing grew louder as they walked, until Mave gestured for them to stop and to be quieter. A smile grew on her face as she peaked between the trees and the Mikaelsons looked at each other before repeating her actions and looking around the trees and into a small clearing. There were many animals around, such as bunnies sitting casually on the ground and birds twittering softly to the song that the little girl feeding one of the many deer was singing.
She was a beautiful child, no doubt, but in Klaus's eyes, she was perfect. He instantly fell in love with her dirty blonde locks, similar to his own, falling down to her lower back in natural and beautiful waves. Her bright blue eyes were the exact same shade as Klaus's and completely entranced with the deer she was feeding. She had pale skin with a sprinkle of freckles along her nose, the only feature of her mother as well as the heart shaped lips. All of the siblings thought that she was the spitting image of Klaus, but more peaceful. She had no shoes on and a dark blue, simple dress that complimented her perfectly. Klaus knew that she was about 4 or 5 but she was tiny, even for her age. She continued to sing, entrancing everybody but nobody more than her father.
And I was running far away,
Would I run off the world someday?
Nobody knows, nobody knows.
And I was dancing in the rain,
I felt alive and I can't complain.
But now take me home, take me home where I belong,
I got no other place to go.
But now take me home, take me home where I belong,
I got no other place to go.
Now take me home, take me home where I belong,
I can't take it anymore.
But I keep running,
For a soft place to fall.
The song ended beautifully, and the little girl smiled at the deer when she finished. However, it was only a moment before all of the deer's ears perked up and they jumped away, along with the few bunnies and birds. The little girl sighed and gathered up the flowers she had been collecting.
"Hello Mommy," she said in the same accent that most of the Mikaelsons, as well as Mave, had.
The mother laughed and stepped into view, followed by the siblings, though the little girl was too busy gathering her flowers to notice them. "How did you know it was me?" Mave asked lightly, always happy around her daughter.
"Well you are the only one here that could actually scare the animals off so-" by she suddenly stopped, having stood and looked up to see strangers. She looked to her mother and back to the strangers before suddenly running to behind Mave's legs.
Klaus fought the urge to chuckle at her actions but smiled nonetheless. He crouched down by Mave's legs, trying to catch the little girl's gaze that was intently looking at the back of her mother's knee.
"Hello, my name is Niklaus," Klaus said politely, still trying to make the little girl look at him but she was stubborn, just like her mother was and probably still is. "You have a very beautiful voice, love," he commented.
Mave placed her hand on her daughter's head, causing the little girl to look up at her with nervous eyes. "What do you say?"
The little girl returned her gaze back to her mother's knee and replied with a small. "Thank you."
Klaus smiled slightly. At least he had gotten a response. "Do you like to sing?"
The girl nodded. "Very much."
"What else do you like to do?" Klaus asked, interested by what the little girl would respond with.
Mave once again grabbed her daughter's attention and slightly pushed her over so that she was only half behind her mother. "Go on Madelina, it's okay."
Klaus smiled again at the name. It suited the blonde beauty perfectly.
"Well," Madelina fiddled with her small fingers. "I... I like to sing," she repeated, "But I also like to paint."
Klaus ears perked up at that and he could almost forget his siblings watching the interaction fondly, glad to see Klaus's humanity coming out to the little girl. "You do? Well as a matter of fact, I too like to paint."
"Really?" the girl said, finally looking into his eyes as interest took over them.
Klaus nodded. "Love it actually. What do you like about painting?"
Madelina bit her lip again and looked at Mave, who nodded encouragingly. The little girl stepped out from behind her mother but still stayed close. Klaus didn't care as much since he finally caught the young one's attention.
"Well," she said, getting comfortable with Klaus. "I like it because of the colors, and that I can create something that only I can create."
Klaus was a little surprised at how sophisticated the girl sounded, but was happy at her answer anyways. But before he could ask another question, the girl spoke up, speaking quickly as excitement took over.
"But sometimes- sometimes it gets messy but Mommy fixed that because she made a room just for painting where I can be as messy as I want!" Madelina gave a big smile. "I forget what it's called though-"
"An art room?" Klaus suggested, to which the girl lit up.
"Yes! That's what it was! And I could paint whenever I didn't have to do schoolwork with Mommy and it has a big window where I can look out to the front of the house and see when the sun sets. Sometimes I paint of that but I also paint my imaginary friends!" she finished, very comfortable with Klaus now.
"Oh?" Klaus asked teasingly. "And who are your imaginary friends?"
If it was possible, her smile grew even more. "Well, there are a few that come and go and they're nice, but some came who were mean and I had to make them go away."
Klaus frowned. "And how did you do that?" he asked.
The girl shrugged. "I'm not quite sure. I just thought about it and it happened. They were mean so I had to make them go away," she repeated.
"Well, what about your nicer friends?" Rebekah asked, coming to squat next to her brother. "What of them?"
Madelina smiled again. "Well they're nicer and warn me when something bad is up ahead when I walk in the woods. Like this one time, I almost fell into the stream, but my friend warned me before I could fall so that I could jump out of the way!" she told the short story, which only increased Klaus's frown.
"What are the names of these friends?" Klaus asked suspicious. Imaginary friends don't act like how Madelina was explaining.
She frowned. "I'm not sure of all of them, sometimes they just tell me that they're ghosts but other times they'll tell me their name," she said simply.
"What do you mean 'ghosts'?" Kol jumped in, being more familiar with ghost than anybody else. Mave was frowning at how much Madelina was telling them.
"I don't know. My friends are sometimes sad because of the people they leave behind and how they can't get back to them. Sometimes they tell me about their death if it isn't too gory," she said simply, not understanding the frowns that the strangers wore.
The siblings exchanged a few looks, wondering if this was a part of the magic that the little girl held.
Freya decided to step in with her own questions of the little girl. "And what about magic? Do you know anything of that?"
Klaus gave her a look but didn't stop the question. He also wanted to know the answer.
Madelina nodded excitedly. "Oh yes. Mommy tells me about it sometimes but she doesn't tell me any of the spells she has. She says that it's too early to start spells."
"Can you do any magic of your own?" Freya asked. Klaus frowned but again, said nothing.
"Yes," she replied and paused. "Would you like to see?"
Freya made no hesitation. "Well, if you would want to, then of course."
Madelina nodded and thought for a moment before an excited smile crossed her face and she looked up at Mave. "Can I take them to the lavander field?"
Mave thought for a moment, looking at that pleading face before sighing and nodding her head. "I suppose a small trip wouldn't hurt."
The girl smiled and hugged her mom before letting go and grabbing Klaus's hand. "Come on, I'll show you."
Klaus smiled at how tiny her hand was compared to his and how, surprisingly, comforting it felt. He couldn't feel like this with Hope yet because she was still so young, but Madelina was so full of life and happy that Klaus couldn't stop the joy he felt in his own heart. Even though he wasn't there for the girl's life, he would find a way to end Dahlia so that he could bring Madelina to New Orleans and show her a different side to the constricting world that she lives in now.
It wasn't long before they stumbled onto a field, but being as lavander wasn't exactly in season yet, the flowers were all dead.
Madelina let go of Klaus's hand and ran into the field, sitting down and crossing her legs. She looked back at them. "Are you ready?" she asked excitedly. When they nodded, she smiled and looked down at the flowers. With a graceful motion, Madelina swept her arm outwards, brushing just barely along the tops of the flowers with her hand. She swept it around her legs and watched as all the flowers she touched instantly grew back into life, bringing their bright color back. She placed her hand in her lap and watched as the life continued outwards, bringing back more and more flowers until the entire, huge field of flowers now glowed with life they didn't have moments ago. The little girl smiled, barely having done anything, and stood up to face the others.
"See?" she said. "That's what I sometimes do or maybe I'll help an animal if it gets hurt in the woods." She shrugged again, as if the huge display of magic she just performed was nothing.
Freya was actually gaping, because not even she had this much power when she was taken by Dahlia. Esther's magic, combined with that of Mave's, equaled a large amount that even Freya didn't contain after a thousand years of living.
"Do you like it?" Madelina asked, suddenly embarrassed because nobody had said anything yet.
Immediately, Klaus shook away his slight shock and smiled at his daughter. "It's very beautiful Madelina."
She smiled brightly back, and it was at that moment that the siblings noticed how dark it had gotten since they left New Orleans.
"It is getting late," Elijah stated what they were thinking. "We should begin our journey back-"
"No!" the little girl suddenly intterupted, surprising everyone. She blushed furiously before amending her words. "I mean, maybe you could stay here for the night..."
"Madelina," Mave warned her daughter, giving her a pointed look. The little girl huffed in frustration.
"What? Can't they stay? I never get to see people in the town and nobody ever comes by the house!"
Mave sighed but before she could say anything, Rebekah stepped forward. "One night wouldn't hurt, would it?" Madelina smiled hugely, looking at her mother with a pleading face.
Mave purses her lips but sighed. "Fine. But only one night."
Madelina smiled and launched onto her mother. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" she repeated excitedly. Finally someone she could actually talk to that was different from her everyday mother!
Elijah was bit skeptical of staying but abliged nonetheless to his younger sister's pleading. It seems that all the Mikaelson daughters have a way with getting what they want.
Madelina grabbed Rebekah's hand instead of Klaus's this time and pulled the vampire along. "Come on, I want to show you the new puppy that we got!"
Klaus was watching over his sister and daughter, making sure that they never went too far ahead, when he was taken out of his thouhts by Freya.
"Madelina's magic is even more powerful than mine was when Dahlia took me," she said worriedly, hoping that maybe Madelina could control her powers when she couldn't.
Mave sighed and nodded. "It's because of the magic not only from me but from Esther also. Combining it... you get what Madelina has."
"Is she always this happy?" Elijah wondered, gazing at the excited girl who seemed as if she could never frown.
Mave smiled as she thought about it but shook her head. "Most of the time but not every moment," her smile disappeared as they walked. "When she gets upset, or angry... well, she looses control, so I try to make her as happy as possible."
Mave suddenly stopped and turned to Freya. "Do you think that she'll be able to control it as she gets older?" She asked, knowing that Freya went through a similar thing that's happening with Madelina.
Freya looked across the field at Madelina's small form running to the house, dragging Rebekah along and sighed. She turned back to Mave and told her the complete truth, even if it hurt. "No. If she has this much power as a child, it will only continue to grow as she ages, and one simple mishap could cause her to loose control. I could show you a few tricks that could help her get her magic back in check when that happens, but Madelina is a firstborn, which means that control will be difficult to learn."
Mave looked sad but nodded to Freya, accepting the fact that her little girl would eventually find moments in her life when she would lose it, and Mave didn't know if Madelina would be the same with such power inside of her.
Well, there's the second chapter, and I made it longer just like I promised before ;)
So, you've finally met Madelina, but how will the Mikaelsons deal with not being able to protect one of their own blood? What will Klaus do?
I will probably update very soon, seeing as I'm on a roll with writing today, so try to bear with me. Next chapter, there's gonna be some surprises.. ;)
If you're wondering about the song that Madelina was singing, it's called Runaway by Aurora, and I suggest listening to it.
I hope you enjoyed it!