Chapter 6: A Second Chance

Troubles of Life

As much as we argue

As much as we fight

We always turn it around by the end of the night

I really do love you

I really do care

I really hope you will always be there…

Zach Watson

"Niklaus! Niklaus!"

"Nik! Nik! Where are you?"

The panicked, shrill voice broke the deafening silence of the woods, interrupted only by the churning of the violent rapids below the cliff where he stood. They were both calling for him; he could hear the tears in her voice as she screamed his name over and over again, and the desperation in his. He could only hope that those tears that she shed over him would disappear once he was gone. That she would be happy again; that they would all be happy again.

"Niklaus!" The grass rustled violently behind him, as they stumbled out into the clearing. He did not turn around. He already knew what she would look like: desperate, hopeful, shocked, angry. Beside her, Elijah would look angry, almost disappointed, the only expression on his face that Niklaus could recognize with a glance. She would have had enough time to read the note he had left, but in truth, Niklaus had hoped that she would not come after him. All he wanted to do was end this suffering he had brought upon her.

Another person broke into the clearing, and rushed forward towards him. Two strong arms clamped down his shoulders, restraining him to the best of their ability, and Nik suddenly found himself facing Elijah, whose brown eyes were wide with worry and quite possibly anger. Emma stood close behind him, tears streaming down her face as she looked at him in disbelief and horror. Why did she look so sad to see him go? Did she not realize what he had done to her? What he had done to all of them?

"Nik, please! Talk to me!" she cried, and his heart tightened at the sight of her in such pain. Even as he was preparing to leave this world, he was still causing all of them so much grief – he could just barely see the tears on his brother's face from where he stood.

Elijah seemed to be thinking the same thing, surprising Nik. He had never experienced anything but the condescending tone of his older brother's voice, the feeling of inferiority towards the firstborn in the family. Right now, Elijah was staring into his eyes, disbelief and sadness reflected back at him, while he looked over his brother.

"Why, brother? Is the crime you have committed so horrible that you believe that ending your own life is the only form of redemption?" Elijah spoke quietly. This was the voice not of Elijah, the stern older brother and Mikael's eldest son, but of Elijah, the brother who cared too much about his younger siblings to stand by and watch as they suffered. Only a few times had either Nik, Emma or any of the Mikaelson children heard this voice: when they were hurt; when they were sick; when he was too exhausted to care about the lessons that their father had repeated endlessly. The voice of his older brother.

Niklaus tried his hardest to keep his tears from falling as he spoke, avoiding both of their intense gazes in favour of staring at the ground. His voice was shaky and broken as he spoke.

"You suffer because of my actions, Emma. Because of what I have done, you are in pain. I hurt everyone I love, Elijah. Henrik died because I made a mistake. Alexander died because of my failures. I'm the p-problem."

He heard them both gasp quietly, and suddenly, Elijah was no longer holding him at an arm's length, but had him wrapped up in an embrace that conveyed nothing but warmth and protection. A sob tore its way up his throat as Emma joined them, and he sank to his knees, taking them with him to the ground. The two of them held on tight as he shook with the force of his emotions, the pressures of their small world seeming a little more bearable as he sat in their embrace. As they waited for him to stop, Elijah and Emma could only wonder with sadness at the torment of their brother must have endured for carrying the weight of his guilt around for so long. When his tremors finally subsided and his sobs lessened into soft gasps for air, they pulled back and looked at him clearly. He looked so much younger than he was, and so afraid that it almost hurt to look at him. Emma let out a shuddering breathe and reached out and grabbed Niklaus' hand. He looked up at her warily, as if unsure of his place and his right to be touched, the tears in his eyes in great danger falling. It tore at her heart to see him so broken.

"Nothing you could do would make me hate you, Nik. Nothing."

"B-but – "

"Stop that right now, Niklaus." Elijah's stern tone forced his attention to his brother, and Niklaus flinched slightly as Elijah reached for his other hand, but he allowed Elijah to grasp on tightly.

"What happened to Alexander was not your fault, nor what happened to Henrik. No one blames you but Father, Niklaus, and damn what he thinks of you. We love you, brother. No matter what. So, will you please come home?" As Elijah spoke, his hands started to shake in their grasp, and Niklaus was mortified to find that the tears he had been holding in had finally started to fall. A wretched sob escaped him, and he fought briefly as Elijah pulled him in close again, his own tears running silently down his face. Emma latched on to the both of them, stifling her own sobs in Niklaus' shoulders. Everything hurt, but in their arms, something told him that the pain would not be permanent. That they would find a way to come out of their misery stronger than ever.

"Thank you." He whispered into Elijah's shoulder, and both siblings allowed themselves a watery smile as they realized that he had finally heard them.

And as the sun of summer filtered down through the foliage, the siblings knew that like everything else they had suffered in their life, this too would pass.