A/N Thank you for reviewing. This was meant to be a one shot but I couldn't stop writing. I'm not sure how long it'll be, it really does depend on the reviews.


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You know I can't let you slide through my hands
Wild horses couldn't drag me away

Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away

I watched you suffer a dull aching pain, now you decided to show me the same.

I have my freedom but I don't have much time
Faith has been broken, tears must be cried, let's do some living after we die

Wild horses couldn't drag me away

Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day

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Elijah had taken care of Klaus' body when Hayley, without startling Hope, carried her daughter inside.

Hope, in the midst of her tears, had fallen asleep next to her father's body. She hadn't touched him since she let go of his hand, as if she were too scared, but still couldn't part from him. The stars were out when Elijah lifted his brother in his arms, similar to what he had done when Klaus fell asleep as a child. Only his brother seemed much lighter than what he remembered. The hybrid, apart from the grey skin, just looked like he was sleeping.

"Why must happiness for us never truly last, brother?" Elijah asked, despite knowing he wouldn't get an answer.

His family had just reunited. After one thousand years of fighting, arguing, being at war, his family had been happy. Klaus had finally gotten what he had always wanted but never admitted. Unconditional love. His daughter looked to her father as if he were the entire world and Klaus had loved Hope more every day. Elijah had witnessed Klaus' eyes light up whenever Hope skipped into the room as a child, had walked past during the night when he watched over his daughter sleep when she was first born. He had his family and for the first time in one thousand years, he was finally letting his walls come down.

...and it had been taken away in a matter of seconds.

Elijah, now alone, finally let a tear slip from his eyes as he looked down at his little brother. He had placed Klaus in one of the coffins, not knowing what else to do with him. He wouldn't allow Klaus to be anywhere else, not even in death. He would remain with family. He looked vulnerable, something that he never witnessed from the hybrid. Elijah had never expected this to happen, never once thought about Klaus dying. He had never expected to see the day when his brother wouldn't be there.

Klaus was indestructible. Untouchable. He was always left standing against whatever opposed him.

He was Niklaus. He'd always been there, the little devil on Elijah's shoulder, his other half.

Now he was just gone. Forever.

"I'm sorry, brother. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. " Elijah whispered.

I'm sorry that I broke my word.

He half expected Klaus to open his eyes and scold Elijah for being so 'foolish' for actually thinking that he was gone. To tell Eijah that he was 'Klaus Mikaelson, that he always won in the end', but his brother's eyes remained closed, unable to hear the elder Original. With one last look, Elijah slowly closed the coffin, his hands shaking as his brother's face slipped from view. Elijah let out a heavy breath, feeling suffocated as he stared at the wall in front of him. He suddenly felt lost, unable to think of what to do next. This wasn't like him. Elijah always had the answers, but now, he couldn't find the urge to speak. He was the head of the family, he couldn't be seen this weak, not now.

Not when his family needed him most.


"...there's my baby wolf."

Hope's eyes snapped open, body shaking, eyes wide as she shot up. No. It couldn't be. Slowly, she turned her head to where the voice had come from, eyes searching, desperate that she hadn't heard it wrong. She could hear her mother across the hall with her aunt, who still was in complete shock, while he uncle had locked himself away in his bedroom. She had to be wrong. Hope's blue eyes landed on her father, who was leaning against her window frame, looking out onto their city.

He was smiling at her as if the last few hours hadn't happened. As if he hadn't been laying in the compound with a stake in his chest. As if she hadn't felt his cold skin against hers, his lifeless fingers not curling around her own.

"D-Daddy?" Hope finally found her voice, her lip wobbling as he stood a few meters from her.

"You're still here. You're not gone."

He wasn't dead.

Klaus smiled warmingly at her, turning from the window."Not if you open your eyes, sweetheart."

Hope didn't respond, too focused on his blue eyes, identical to hers. They were open, looking back into hers with so much adoration. The pain in her heart disappeared, the knots in her stomach left as she stood up, running over to her father. Klaus' arms instantly opened, always ready to catch his daughter as she jumped into his embrace. Hope's arms locked around him, burying her head in his shoulder, tears streaming down her cheeks when he responded. Like always, his arms wrapped around her protectively, and immediately, Hope felt whole again.

She felt like she could stand without falling once more because he was there to keep her on her feet.

Klaus kissed her temple, holding her close as Hope broke down in his arms. She always tried to remain together, but when her father held her, she didn't feel the need to wear the mask anymore. Her father was there to pick her up and dust her off. He was there to tell her that she would no longer be hurt. Klaus shut his own eyes, hushing her as she sobbed against him. They stood there for a while, her father whispering comforting words to her as Hope begged him to stay. But though the tried to tell herself that he was here, that she must have had a bad dream, a part of her told her that this wasn't real.

This was the dream.

Klaus gently pulled a way, hand cupping her cheek, thumb brushing her tears away. Hope swallowed the lump in her throat, not wanting to ask the question. But she had to know, and knew that her father would never lie.

"What happens when I open my eyes?"

Klaus chuckled, but it wasn't the happy one she heard. It sounded like he was forcing it in an attempt to make her smile. It didn't work, Hope was convinced that she'd never smile again."I'll be gone, love."

"Can't I sleep forever?"Hope asked, voice sounding distant. It reminded her of when she was little, whenever she wanted to stay up with her father, not wanting to sleep because she wanted to hear the end of the book he was reading.

"I don't want to wake up. Not if you're not there. It hurts too much without you. I don't want to live forever without you, daddy. You're supposed to stay with me...with us."

Klaus held her hand, his fingers tangling with hers before he placed a kiss on her knuckles. Hope let the tears slip from her blue orbs. He had to do something. Her father could do anything. He had always promised to fix whatever hurt her, and now, Hope was feeling like she was being torn apart. She couldn't breathe, the pain was too much. Her father just shook his head, his own eyes filling with tears as he held her in his arms, her body shaking but held them back.

"I'm sorry, baby wolf, I can't. I love you, that is something that won't ever change. I love you more than anything in this world."

Klaus kissed her hand once more, trying to keep strong for his daughter."You're going to open your eyes soon, love. Come here."

Hope clung to her father, keeping a tight hold on his hand, trying to keep his warmth."Don't leave. Please don't leave me alone."

"I don't have a choice, baby wolf. If I did, we'd never be apart. Don't cry. Princesses don't cry, especially not mine."

The young hybrid held on with all the strength she had, but she had no power as Klaus faded. Hope's legs gave out, no longer able to stand without her father holding her up.


"Hope? Can you hear me?"

Camille looked over at Elijah as she stood at the doorframe, looking at the hybrid-witch, who gave no reaction. Instead, she just continued to stare at her father's painting the was hanging from the wall across from the king sized bed she was laying on. Her father's bed. She hadn't left the room since she had the dream about her father, the last dream she had, actually. Since then, her dreams had been nothing but blank spots in her mind. Elijah shook his head, a frown on his face as they stared at his niece.

"She's been that way since...it happened. We've all tried speaking to her, but if we even mention her father, she blocks us out with her magic. Even as an Original, i'm not match for her. I was hoping that maybe someone outside the family could get through to her. You're a psychiatrist."

"Not really. Elijah, she's supernatural, it's almost impossible to reach her like this. I can only work with humans, even then i'm still stumped at times." Camille whispered, not knowing if she could be any help.

"She's still a child. A child who has lost her father. We're worried. She is still young enough to turn off the pain. If that happens, we're all at stake. Hope is the most powerful being in this world, Camille, and if she turns her emotions, we might never get her back. She's barely spoke a word for a week."

Elijah, for the first time in his life, pleaded with Camille. The woman had been around Hope since she had been a baby, and the two were good friends. She had never allowed any harm to come to the blonde after finding out that Camille had helped her parents when she was born. When she had heard the news, the blonde had broke down, all while thinking how Hope was reacting. She looked over at the child who was so similar to her father, and even when she was acting as his 'therapist', he was still difficult to pin point. She had seen how close they were, and couldn't imagine how she was feeling. She knew that emotions for supernatural was close to a million times worse than humans. Hope didn't look the same.

The colour in her face was gone, she didn't seem like the strong Hope she remembered. She was curled in her father's bed, looking oblivious to everything around her but the painting that hung on the wall.

Camille felt a lump in her throat, wishing she could take away the pain.

"All I am asking is that you get her to talk. She won't talk to anyone, even Hayley. Rebekah is also lost, Kol is on a rampage. Not even Marcel, her own brother can get through to her. I cannot lose her, I will not fail Niklaus once more. I'm not asking for me, i'm asking for Hope." Elijah whispered, feeling useless.

"I'll see what I can do. But I can't promise anything."

Satisfied, Elijah nodded before gesturing for Camille to enter Klaus' room. He stood for a moment as she slowly trailed into the room, stopping at the end of the bed. Hope, again, took no notice to the new presence in the room while Camille sat on the edge of the mattress. Not wanting to intrude, Elijah slowly walked away, praying that something would get her to acknowledged anyone.

"Hope?"

Camille observed at the hybrid witch closely. She was holding Klaus' infamous sketchbook, something that nobody had ever dared to touch before. It was in her lap, Hope's fingers curled around the edge, holding it as if she was scared it would run off. She was still staring at the painting, as she was getting something from it. Camille let out a long breath, at a loss. She had never had sessions with anyone before, only from what she had read and listened to in class. She just focused on getting her to talk, that was all Elijah had asked of her.

"Everyone's worried, y'know. Elijah says you're not doing so good."

Hope blinked, turning her head in Camille's direction. With no emotion in her voice, her eyes blank, the hybrid witch replied."My father is dead and I have to live forever without him. Do you know how long that is?"

"I-"

"It doesn't. It's never ending. Just on and on and on."Hope rambled as if she were speaking without thinking.

Camille was silent for a moment. Hope was right. She could not die, and had to live the rest of eternity without her father. It would never be the same again. Compared to the rest of her life, she hadn't had any time with him at all. She was terrified. Terrified that in a hundred years or so, she'd forget his face. That she'd lose the pictures she had. She didn't want to forget. All she had of him now was memories. Her aunt and uncles had longer with him, they had over one thousand years of memories, good and bad. She barely had any.

"I can't begin to imagine how you feel. I'm human, and I know-"

"You're right. You're human, you've only got a handful of years left. Grief with humans is different to those who are immortal. You don't live that long, while us, our lives have no expiration date. So when you lose someone, over the years the pain slowly passes and then you die, you don't have to miss them anymore, don't have to deal with it. But with us, especially Kol, Bekah and Elijah, years to them is like...weeks. Can you imagine that? They've lived for one thousand years, the years must pass so quickly to them. I have all that pain to look forward to. Heightened emotions don't help. Pain, Cami, is agony. Sadness is...impossible to describe. Anger is deadly. It doesn't help when you're a hybrid either, because it can so easily get switched off. Werewolves are fuelled by anger, but the vampire wants to cut it off."

Hope angrily growled, her eyes flashing amber for a moment."Sometimes I think that you've been dealt the good hand. You'll die and possibly reunite with your brother and uncle. But me? I only have memories that might fade as I get older, can you imagine that? Thousands, millions of years possibly and only having memories and some things to hold onto that was once his. Having a family is wonderful, don't get me wrong, but i'd rather have my father here than hearing them talk about him. My father was..."

Hope cut herself off as her hands began to shake. She felt cold all the time. Camille moved closer, now sitting on the bed next to her friend and she placed her hand over Hope's in an attempt to make her feel better. But it didn't work. Her hands were the same size as Hope's, they didn't cover her like had father's did. They didn't feel safe or warm. Tears filled Camille's eyes as she tried to comfort the eternal teenager. One thing she did know about grief was that you had to get your thoughts out because, otherwise, they drove you mad.

"What? What were you going to say, Hope?"

The hybrid witch raised her head, running her hand over the front of her father's sketchbook."My father was supposed to be here. He wasn't supposed to die. He needs to be here. He promised that we would all be together forever. We were going to rule the world. Momma, Bekah and I were meant to drive them crazy for all eternity. He and Kol were meant to argue over something stupid while Elijah told them off. Like it always is. Now, it's too quiet. I don't want it quiet. I don't want to feel like this. It hurts and it's cold. He...He never allowed me to be cold, he didn't like it when I was hurting."

Hope clutched the sketchbook against her chest as if that was going to bring her closer to her father. Camille wrapped her arms around the hybrid witch, but Hope didn't feel any better. The pain was too much, it felt like she was going to be torn in half. She blinked a few times, eyes back on the painting her father loved the most. She had made it with him when she was younger, around five years old. Memories of being lifted into her father's arms as he handed her a paintbrush with her favourite colour ran through her mind. Of Klaus trying to teach her how to paint, but instead, the paint ended up more on their clothes and face instead of on the canvas.

But what ended up on the canvas was splatters of paint along with a small hand print and beside it, a larger one. Her own and Klaus'. She remembered Elijah scolding them for ruining a three hundred year old rug, reminding them of a school teacher telling of his students because as soon as he left the room, Hope and her father had burst out laughing when they saw that yellow paint that had ended up on one of the chairs had gotten onto Elijah's suit when he had sat down.

"I'm sorry, Hope. I really am." Camille whispered into her ear.

Hope felt sick as she realized that nothing like that was ever going to happen again. Her stomach clenched, her teeth ground together, and a numb feeling came over her. Being the most powerful being in the world, being immortal, didn't mean anything to her anymore. Not if it felt like this, if it was going to be this way. The pain got worse each day to the point that Hope felt as if she could no longer breathe. Tears slipped from her cheeks as she tried to breathe, but it felt like someone was strangling her, crushing her windpipe. She wanted it to stop. She didn't want to feel like this anymore, but the sobs just kept coming.

Oblivious to the blonde hugging her, Hope closed her eyes.

"Don't cry. Princesses don't cry, especially not mine."

Suddenly her tears stopped.

Her eyes darkened.

The pain, the suffering, the grief, if was all gone.

She didn't feel anything.

"Hope? Are you all right? Come on, talk to me."

Camille frowned when she got no reply again. She could no longer hear the sobbing coming from the hybrid witch next to her. Instead, Hope went still in her arms, and the blonde slowly pulled back. She brushed her long brown hair from her face and tucked it behind Hope's ear so that she could get a good look at her. Her eyes met Hope's, whose usually blue orbs were now dark. They held no emotion. No anger. No tears. Nothing but darkness. Hope tilted her head, staring back at the elder woman as if observing her. A slow grin worked it's way onto her angelic-like face, but it wasn't the smile Camille had been used to.

No.

"H-Hope, this isn't the answer. You can't-"

Camille didn't get a response, instead, she found herself being thrown off the bed. She crashed against the bedroom door, landing on the floor with a painful moan. When she opened her eyes, Elijah was looking down at her in concern. He helped her up, checking her over as he looked around to ask Hope what happened, but found the bedroom empty. She had gotten past him without him noticing. Elijah swore, looking back at the blonde who was shaking like a leaf.

"What happened? Where is she?"

Camille rubbed her neck, looking like she'd seen a ghost."I...I think she turned it off."


If you want to read more, please review. It means a lot and does encourage me. Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes.