I apologize in advance for the length of this author's note.
Thank you for all of your lovely reviews on the last chapters, I love reading them! I am always so excited when I see that someone says they like the story!
There were a few comments in the reviews that I think other readers might benefit from hearing my answers to.
To the reviewer and other readers who caught my hints about Klaus giving Lizzie extra attention, good eye! That will be addressed in this chapter, and then mentioned again in at least one later chapter. I promise, I'm not making you wait six chapters for a reveal anymore. The reason is a little cheesy, and a bit caveman-esque, but I don't think it's out of character for Klaus to think of.
Another reviewer was concerned about the portrayal of Alaric in this story. Please allow me to reassure you that Alaric will not be abandoning the twins, and I'm very sorry to have given you that impression because that was not my intention. Here are some explanations that may help put your mind at ease: chapters one through six take place in approximately thirty-six hours, though it seems like longer because of all of activity; I think that this is an example of the perspective from which the story is told influences the story-since this story is primarily from Caroline's point-of-view, we see her interpretation of events and conversations, so while the conversation in which Alaric suggests that Caroline go to New Orleans, she sees as a personal rejection of who she is (because that's what she's used to), Alaric would have seen it as a great sacrifice to send his children away for their safety; and so far, the focus of the story has been on finding and rescuing Klaus, now that they've accomplished that, we can start focusing on less urgent, more permanent plot points, which will include Caroline and Alaric working out a custody agreement for the twins; lastly, it's just my bad, because considering his feelings for Caroline, Alaric's presence would hinder my ability to write the story I wanted to write, and going forward, he will have more of a peripheral presence in the story as the twins' father, but in most other respects, Caroline will largely extricate him from her life.
With chapter seven, we're moving on to a new phase of the story that I'm really excited to share with you. Chapters one through six were focused on the immediate goal of freeing Klaus, the next chapters revolve around less tangible, more permanent goals, like building relationships and seeking power.
That said, we meet Hope, Hayley, and Elijah this chapter, and the rest of the Mikaelsons next chapter. I haven't felt as confident about my portrayals of these characters as I have about Caroline, Klaus, and even the twins. For Hope, most of my inspiration for her character (in appearance and personality) comes from season four of The Originals. Please remember that in this story though, Hope is five. With Elijah, I've tried to find a happy medium between the honorable, noble Elijah from The Vampire Diaries and the Elijah who only seems to value the lives of his family that we see on The Originals. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have disliked Hayley since her first appearance on The Vampire Diaries, but she's a big part of The Originals, so she's here in my story. While I've read other very compelling, well-written stories in which Hayley is evil and plotting against the Mikaelsons, and/or Hope isn't actually Klaus's child, I have decided not to do that in my story. I'm trying to keep her in character as much as possible, which to me includes showing some of her negative traits that the show glosses over and pretends don't exist. Also, I don't ship Hayley and Elijah, so that relationship won't be happening in this story. Not only do I think they aren't compatible personality wise, I think that dating your daughter's uncle/your niece's mother is setting up everyone involved to get hurt. And I have a friend whose father divorced her mother and then married her mother's younger sister, so I'm not just basing that opinion on these two characters. I'm very sorry if my not including this ship upsets anyone, and I sincerely hope that you will still read this story regardless.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Disney princess movies mentioned in this chapter, either. Since it's only The Little Mermaid, I don't even own a copy of it. From here on out, let's all please agree that Disney movies are the property of Disney, so that this can be the last disclaimer I have to write on the subject.
Well, that went on forever. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. I have nothing else to say, so please read the chapter now(:
When Caroline woke up, the car was no longer moving.
"Caroline, wake up," Klaus whispered, reaching out and placing his hand on her shoulder.
Caroline groggily pushed herself into a sitting position.
"Are we there yet?" Caroline whined.
"Yes, we're here," Klaus chuckled.
Out the window, Caroline could see that the sky was still dark, which made it impossible for her to tell what time it was or how long she'd been asleep.
They had pulled up to a modest farmhouse surrounded by acres of uninhabited land. They were parked in the driveway of the white, two-story home, which featured a wrap-around porch, tan trim and shutters, and planter boxes full of pink, white, and yellow flowers on every available surface. It was a very pretty house, nothing at all like a property Caroline could have pictured Klaus owning.
"Where are we?" Caroline asked.
"The smartest thing Hayley could have done would have been to take Hope here. I own this house and set it up to function as a safe house of sorts. There are numerous protection spells on the entire property, its location is remote, and no one outside of my family knows where it is. We'll be safe here," Klaus insisted.
Caroline turned around to look at the twins, who were still asleep in the backseat of the car.
"Okay, just let me get the twins," Caroline stretched and unfastened her seatbelt.
Klaus darted out of the car, opened Caroline's door for her, then walked all the way around the car to pick Josie up out of her car seat. The little girl didn't wake up during the transition, her head falling onto Klaus's shoulder when he propped her on his hip.
Caroline shot Klaus a questioning glance, but otherwise didn't react to Klaus going out of his way to choose one of the twins over the other. She decided to write it off as Klaus feeling more comfortable with the twin he'd managed to make a brief, tenuous connection with years ago over the phone.
Caroline opened the other door and scooped up Lizzie, who immediately hid her face under Caroline's hair, their blonde hair falling together over Caroline's shoulder.
She decided to ignore the strange look that Klaus gave her when she turned around.
"Because of the protections spells on the house, each of you will need to be specifically given permission to enter. As the owner, I'm the only person who can do that," Klaus explained.
"I'm too tired to try to make sense of that," Caroline complained.
"You can go right back to sleep as soon as we get inside," Klaus promised as they walked up the porch steps.
Caroline was careful to stand next to Klaus on the side that he wasn't holding Josie, so that she could lean against him, too exhausted and overwhelmed to stand up straight.
"I wish I was still little enough that someone would carry me," Caroline sighed.
"Would you like me to leave your sleeping daughters to fend for themselves and carry you instead?" Klaus asked with a smirk.
Caroline just rolled her eyes.
Klaus adjusted his hold on Josie and walked over to one of the planter boxes full of flowers sitting on the porch. He lifted the planter, revealing the key that was hidden underneath it.
"You have all sorts of security and you leave your spare key on the porch like every family in small town America?" Caroline mocked.
"The planters are spelled; I'm the only one who can lift them. Anyone else who tries will find them unbearably heavy, and have such difficulty lifting them that they will assume they are attached to the porch," Klaus explained.
He took the key, then carefully placed Josie on the porch swing, before walking back to the front door and unlocking it. Once the door swung open, Klaus crossed the threshold and turned around to face them.
"Caroline Forbes, Lizzie Saltzman, and Josie Saltzman, you may enter my home. Please come in," Klaus pronounced grandly.
Caroline walked inside the house, still carrying Lizzie, who had yet to wake up. By the time she'd turned around, Klaus had rushed outside to pick Josie up and was standing with her in the entryway.
The interior of the house looked just like a normal family home. All of the first floor that Caroline could see had light wood flooring and cream colored walls. The room on their left contained a large table with twelve chairs, and on their right was a living room with a sofa, two chairs, and ottoman, and a television placed on a cabinet.
"Shouldn't they have heard us come in?" Caroline asked.
"I would have thought so," Klaus said. "Then again, I also thought all of the commotion would have woken up Lizzie and Josie, and they're still asleep."
"They can sleep through anything," Caroline informed him. "And they're exhausted. They've had a very long day."
"Let's get these two to bed, then we take a look around the house to make sure they aren't here before we make any other decisions," Klaus instructed.
They climbed up the stairs and opened the first door they saw on the second story, intending to put the twins into bed there. Instead, they found that the bedroom had already been claimed by someone else.
The walls were pale turquoise, the curtains were sheer white, the rug was turquoise, and the bedspread was white with a pattern of bright blue and yellow squares.
As they walked further into the room, they were surprised to see two people sitting on the floor behind the bed. One of them Caroline recognized as Hayley, and the girl sitting next to her drawing a butterfly with a blue marker, though Caroline had never seen her before, could only be Hope.
She had red hair, electric blue eyes, and freckles across her nose. Caroline could see Klaus in the look of concentration on her face as she drew.
Klaus was looking at Hope with obvious awe, like he couldn't quite believe she was real.
Caroline and Klaus were both so busy looking at Hope that they didn't notice that Hayley was staring at them, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open.
"We thought there was an intruder," Hayley began, gesturing to her and Hope's hiding place. "I can't believe it. How are you here?"
"Caroline and her children were able to remove the magic that was imprisoning me," Klaus explained briefly.
"But they're so young," Hayley marveled.
"It's quite impressive, isn't it?" Klaus praised.
Caroline had remained quiet during their conversation, not wanting to interrupt their reunion, and not knowing exactly where she stood with Hayley. There had been times when Hayley had been polite to her, but she'd also snapped her neck and left her in a public restroom and hadn't done anything to assuage Caroline's fears that Hayley had wanted to be with Tyler while he and Caroline were still together.
Hope had been watching her parents with wide eyes, and Caroline wasn't sure if she recognized Klaus or if she had been too young when they'd been separated to remember him.
"Hope, this is your father," Hayley told her daughter.
"Hi," the little girl said quietly.
"Hello, Hope," Klaus said through a strained voice.
"And that's Caroline," Hayley said, pointing at her.
"Hi Hope, it's great to meet you. These are my daughters, Lizzie and Josie. They're three," Caroline introduced, pointing at each twin as she said their name.
Hope blinked up at her, then said a very quiet, "hi."
There was a moment of tense silence, before Caroline decided to be the one to break it.
"I'm going to find a spare room where the girls can sleep," Caroline announced, walking out of the room. Across the hall, she found a sparsely decorated bedroom that must be a guest room. She set Lizzie down on the queen-sized bed, taking off her sneakers and tucking her in under the covers. Then she went back to Hope's room, took Josie from Klaus, and repeated the process with the other twin.
"I'll leave you three to catch up," Caroline said, leaving the room again.
She ventured into the bedroom next to the one the twins were sleeping in. The room had beige walls, white lace curtains, and maple wood furniture, with a brown, white, and pink floral patterned duvet on the bed. Using what she'd learned from her search of the Mikaelson's house in New Orleans, she was fairly certain that this was the room designated for Rebekah, but she was too tired to give it much thought.
She yanked her boots off and threw them next to the bed, then dove under the covers and went straight to sleep.
{ }
When Caroline work up, she couldn't remember where she was. She remembered falling asleep in the car. She must still be in the car, since she couldn't remember leaving the car. And somehow, the car had gotten much more comfortable overnight. In fact, if Caroline didn't know better, she could have sworn that she was actually lying in a bed right now.
She had been lying in a bed.
She was in a room with beige walls, white lace curtains, and maple wood furniture. She was covered with a brown, white, and pink floral bedspread, still wearing her blouse and jeans from the previous day, though her boots were on the floor next to the bed.
After Caroline quickly took inventory of the room, her heart leapt into her throat.
She'd woken up in a strange house, and she had no idea where her children were.
As she pulled herself groggily into a sitting position and oriented herself, the events of the previous day came rushing back. She was in Klaus's family's safe house, the girls were asleep in a nearby room, and Klaus, his daughter, and her mother were also somewhere in the house.
She jumped out of bed, yanked on her boots, and ran out the door and down the hallway.
Caroline found the girls in the room next to the one she'd slept in. She paused in the open doorway to see them sleeping side by side in the bed. The last forty-eight hours had been exhausting for them. Caroline checked the clock on her cell phone, noting that they had been asleep for over ten hours, and decided to let them sleep for a little while longer.
Caroline headed downstairs, looking for Klaus. She found Klaus, Hayley, and Hope in the living room. They were having a conversation before she walked in, but as soon as she entered the room, Hayley stopped speaking abruptly, and all three of them turned to look at her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your family time," Caroline apologized quickly and backed out of the room. She heard Klaus call her name, but she ignored him and dashed back up the stairs.
Klaus came into her room only a minute later.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to monopolize your time. I know you haven't seen your daughter in years," Caroline said.
"Caroline, you know you're welcome here," Klaus said.
"I don't want to intrude or overstay our welcome. I rescued you and reunited you with your family. I did what I sought out to do, so as soon as the twins wake up we'll go," Caroline decided.
"You can't do that," Klaus declared.
"Why not?" Caroline asked.
"Your car is still in New Orleans, for one thing. And I worry that you may not be safe if you leave," Klaus confessed.
"You trapped us here?" Caroline asked incredulously.
"That was not my intention, love, I assure you, I only want to keep you safe," Klaus insisted.
"And what has led you to believe that I'm not safe? Or that I'm not capable of keeping myself safe?" Caroline demanded.
"I heard what you told Vincent," Klaus informed her. "About me, about Katherine, about Tyler, and Stefan, and Damon. He knows that I care about you, and he isn't on my side, he's on the side of the person who locked me up in my own dungeon. They will try to use you to hurt me, and I can't let you get hurt in the process."
"I'm sorry, he confronted me and I didn't have time to make up a story, plus I worried that the twins would dispute what I said and blow my cover. I left out a lot of the details, and I purposely tried to downplay how you felt about me, but I'm sorry, I didn't realize how complicated your situation was," Caroline said.
"I know you didn't know, I didn't expect you to. I don't mean to scold you, I just want to make sure that you and your children never become casualties in the wars that I am fighting," Klaus replied.
"Well, I appreciate that, I think," Caroline said. "Who is he?"
"Vincent?" Klaus asked.
"No, the person who locked you up in your own dungeon," Caroline corrected.
"His name is Marcel Gerard. I first met him when Elijah, Rebekah, and I first traveled to what would become the city of New Orleans that you know today. I adopted him, I suppose you would say. I gave him his name, I raised him, and later he turned on me. He took my city from me. When I returned, I was thrilled to learn that he was still alive, but he'd grown accustomed to being king. After years of fighting on all fronts, I was eventually left with no choice but to turn myself over to him in order to save my family," Klaus told her.
"I'm sorry," Caroline said, having no words that could lessen the pain in Klaus's eyes as he spoke of his adoptive son.
"Mommy?" Lizzie asked, wandering into the room.
"Good morning, honey, how did you sleep?" Caroline asked, picking her up.
"Where are we?" the little girl asked, rubbing her eyes.
"We're at Klaus's other house," Caroline explained.
Lizzie lifted her head up off of Caroline's shoulder to look at Klaus. She blinked her wide eyes at him, then leaned away from Caroline and stretched her arms out towards him.
"And it looks like Mom has been replaced," Caroline joked as Klaus took her daughter from her. "You don't have to cater to her every whim, she's more than capable of standing on her own. Feel free to give her to me or put her down if you get tired of carrying her," she said.
"She's an angel, Caroline," Klaus assured her, not looking away from Lizzie's face.
Caroline looked at Klaus holding Lizzie, and when she saw them together, she understood why whenever Klaus looked at Lizzie, especially when Caroline was holding her, he wore a facial expression that resembled a combination between longing and heartbreak.
Lizzie's long golden blonde hair cascaded down Klaus's arm, a shade darker than Caroline's and a shade lighter than Klaus's. Lizzie's soft blue eyes were a shade not at all dissimilar to Klaus's.
Lizzie wasn't biologically related to either of them, she carried none of their genes, but she looked like she could be their daughter.
Caroline was surprised by the intensity of her reaction to this realization. Five years ago, she would have thought that the idea of Klaus having a child was ludicrous, yet today, she not only knew it was possible, but she found herself almost disappointed that she wasn't the one that he had children with.
And if the way Klaus had looked at her while she was holding Lizzie last night was any indication, he appeared to feel the same way.
Caroline's reverie was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. She automatically moved to stand next to Lizzie, framing the girl between herself and Klaus.
When Hayley walked into the room seconds later, it was clear that she had the same thought process that Caroline had just had. Caroline imagined that with her standing next to Klaus, with him holding Lizzie between them, the three of them looked like a supernaturally beautiful golden-haired family.
"Your daughter is waiting for you," Hayley told Klaus.
She looked at Lizzie, perched on Klaus's hip.
"This is Liz, right?" Hayley asked.
Caroline stiffened. She couldn't tell if Hayley had genuinely forgotten which nickname for Elizabeth her daughter was called, or if she was being deliberately malicious.
"We call her Lizzie, actually. My mother was called Liz," Caroline explained, determined not to let Hayley see her upset.
"Sorry," Hayley offered. "We should go downstairs."
In the living room, Hope was sitting on one end of the couch. Klaus sat next to her, setting Lizzie down next to him, then gesturing for Caroline to sit on Lizzie's other side. From her perch on a chair next to the couch, Hayley studied them with an uncomfortable stare.
"So, Hayley, is red hair common in your family?" Caroline asked, trying to end the awkward silence.
"What?" Hayley asked.
"Is red hair a common trait in your family? I just thought that it must be, since I've met all of the Mikaelsons and none of them have red hair," Caroline explained.
"I wouldn't know; I've never met most of my family," Hayley answered. "And you haven't, actually."
"My family recently learned of the existence of our long-lost older sister, who we had presumed dead," Klaus explained. "Her name is Freya, she's a witch, and she has blonde hair."
"Wow, another sibling! Is she… with the others?" Caroline asked.
"She's here, and so are Rebekah, Elijah, and Kol," Klaus said. "It's a long story, but I'll just say for now that they have sustained some magical injuries that must be cured."
"Are these injuries the type that the girls can help with?" Caroline asked.
"How can they help?" Hayley inquired. "They're so young, how do they already have such advanced magic to free Klaus and save the rest of the family? I mean, Hope is so strong and has such powerful magic, but she struggles to control it. What is it that the twins can do that she can't? Can they teach her?"
"Wow," Caroline said to Klaus, shaking her head. "It isn't enough that your thousand-year-old, dead, vampire genetic material can produce a miracle child, of course that child has to be a powerful witch! And she must have the werewolf gene as well, since both of her parents have it…It really is go big or go home with you, isn't it?" she teased.
"And she can create hybrids," Hayley interjected. "She's very powerful."
"I see," Caroline said.
Lizzie took this opportunity to lean over Klaus so that she could see Hope on his other side.
"Mommy, she looks like Ariel!" Lizzie exclaimed.
Both Klaus and Hayley looked at Caroline, silently demanding an explanation.
"It's a Disney princess movie, The Little Mermaid. Ariel is the main character, she has red hair," Caroline told them. Klaus and Hayley nodded in understanding.
"Never give up your voice," Caroline advised Hope.
Hope just giggled and said, "Okay."
Just then, Josie timidly shuffled into the doorway.
"Good morning, Josie, did you sleep well?" Caroline greeted.
"Josie, look, she looks like Ariel!" Lizzie told her twin excitedly.
Klaus pulled Lizzie onto his lap and scooted over to sit next to Caroline, leaving Josie space to sit between him and Hope. Josie quickly sat and studied the girl sitting to her right.
"She does look like Ariel!" Josie agreed.
"Klaus, do you think they can help?" Caroline repeated.
"I think that it's worth a try," Klaus said.
"Can one of you tell me why you think Lizzie and Josie can help, when Hope and witches decades older than they are couldn't help?" Hayley asked.
"The twins' magic works differently than theirs," Caroline started to explain.
"Okay, well if you think they can help." Hayley conceded reluctantly.
She stood up and left the room, directing the twins to follow her. Caroline followed, and Klaus started to leave the room as well, pausing when he noticed Hope still sitting on the couch.
"Why don't you come along with us?" he suggested rather timidly.
Hope stood and approached him, taking his hand as they followed Hayley and the twins up the stairs.
{ }
In the attic were four coffins in an evenly spaced line across the middle of the room.
"Who should we start with?" Caroline asked.
"Elijah," Klaus and Hayley blurted out simultaneously.
Caroline leaned over towards Klaus, one hand on his shoulder to help keep herself balanced, the other against the side of her face to try to keep Hayley and their daughters from hearing what she said or reading her lips.
"Are they…together?" Caroline asked.
"They had a rather complicated relationship, but they did have romantic feelings for each other, yes," Klaus answered.
"And are you okay with that? Because I would totally understand if you were jealous about your brother being in a relationship with the mother of your child, or if him being a quasi-stepfather to your daughter made you uncomfortable," Caroline admitted.
Klaus pulled Caroline around to face him, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Caroline, I do not have, nor have I ever had, any romantic interest in Hayley. I tolerate her and try to get along with her for Hope's and Elijah's sakes. We will always have a connection to each other through our child, but that is all," Klaus insisted.
Caroline just nodded stoically.
"Is that some sort of male vampire trait? Women becoming more attractive after they've had a romantic or sexual relationship with your brother?" Caroline asked, genuinely curious after her own experience with Elena and the Salvatores.
Klaus laughed and shook his head, seemingly relieved that Caroline was no longer interrogating him on the nature of his relationship with Hayley.
"As far as I'm aware, it isn't a species wide affliction," Klaus replied.
Hayley was focusing on the coffins and ignoring them, so Caroline couldn't be sure if she'd heard them.
"Then it's just the Mikaelsons and the Salvatores who have trouble understanding the bro code?" Caroline confirmed.
"I've only ever seen Damon and Elijah struggle with the concept," Klaus agreed.
"And Klaus?"
"Yes, love?"
"Please try to make more of an effort to interact with your daughter. You've been missing from her life for a long time, she has to get to know you again. I will try to keep the twins from getting too attached to you. Hope had to be your first priority. She's your family," Caroline said, the unsaid 'and we aren't' hanging silently between them.
With that, Caroline walked away from Klaus, moving across the attic to stand in between her daughters.
{ }
Caroline watched as Lizzie and Josie worked to remove whatever magical poison Elijah had been subjected to (she hadn't been listening when Hayley had explained).
Contrary to the snide comments Damon would have made if he were here, Caroline wasn't upset or offended Hayley and Hope's presence in the safe house. In fact, she was grateful that they were there, or it would have felt too much like a family vacation with just her, Klaus, and the twins. She was using Hayley and Hope as buffers, and as an excuse to keep her distance from Klaus.
As much as the twins seemed to like him, Caroline had to remind them, and herself, that they weren't a part of Klaus's family. And as much as she might resent them for it, Hayley and Hope were. Klaus may have planned for her to be a part of his family in the distant future, but there certainly wasn't a place for her now, and she didn't think there would be a place for the twins ever. The twins had a father, and it wasn't Klaus. When Caroline thought over what Alaric had told her when she'd left Mystic Falls with the girls so that she could explain it to them, she realized that he hadn't rejected them or forbidden them from returning to Mystic Falls-the hurtful conclusion she'd immediately jumped to as a result of her own experience-he'd merely suggested that they might feel safer and happier somewhere else, where they would be accepted for, even respected for their magic, rather than tolerated in spite of it. Alaric was, as always, trying to do the right thing for the girls, just as Caroline wanted Klaus to do the right thing for his daughter. Right now, she wasn't Klaus's priority, his daughter was, as she should be, and that meant his daughter's mother, who Caroline was pretty sure had hated her in the past and maybe still did, was a permanent part of his life.
Knowing that Klaus had a daughter in the abstract had been much easier than knowing Klaus's daughter. It was easier to feel betrayed and upset by the existence of a hypothetical little girl. It was much more of a challenge to resent Hope, a timid, artistic, red-haired, blue-eyed five-year-old wearing an apple green sweater with a smiling puppy on it.
Hope was standing silently next to her mother, who had her hands clasped in front of her mouth. Caroline wondered if Hope thought it was weird that her mother was in a relationship with her uncle, or if they'd even told her. Then she decided that as far as the Mikaelson family's secrets went, this was a relatively tame one.
Caroline had been studiously avoiding looking at Elijah as the twins tried to revive him, but Hayley's expression implied that they were getting close.
A few minutes later, she heard him gasp for breath and heard Hayley whisper his name. She pulled the twins back so that they wouldn't get in the way of their reunion. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Klaus move to stand next to Hope so that he could be close when Elijah opened his eyes.
From their place against the wall, Caroline and the girls watched as Elijah pulled himself out of his coffin and stood facing Hayley and Klaus. He shook Klaus's hand before pulling him into a hug, then hugged Hayley.
"You found the cure," he praised her.
"Sort of…" she said.
Klaus turned Elijah around to face Caroline and her daughters.
"Miss Forbes, what are you doing here?" Elijah asked.
"Hello Elijah, it's nice to see you again," Caroline started. "My daughters and I were forced to leave Mystic Falls, so we came here, helped Klaus escape from the dungeon, and then freed you from your coffin. Actually, that gives me too much credit. The girls are siphoners, they rescued Klaus, and then you, I just drove," Caroline tried to joke.
"Well, I am very grateful for your help," Elijah said formally.
"Lizzie and Josie, this is Klaus's brother and Hope's uncle, Elijah Mikaelson. Elijah, these are my daughters, Lizzie and Josie," Caroline introduced.
Elijah surprised Caroline by kneeling to the girls' heights and shaking their hands.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, and I thank you for your assistance, Miss Elizabeth and Miss Josephine," Elijah announced grandly.
Josie looked up at Caroline, confused.
"Her name isn't Josephine," Caroline told Elijah, who had already moved away to greet Hope.
"When he says Josephine, he means you," Caroline told Josie. "I'll try to explain it to him."
"Can they heal the others?" Elijah asked Klaus and Hayley.
"It can't hurt to try," Hayley said. "Right? And if they can't do it, then I can continue tracking down werewolf packs."
Klaus approached Caroline and the twins.
"What's the most magic they've ever done at once?" Klaus asked.
"Yesterday, when they broke you out of prison," Caroline said, unable to help herself from laughing a little at the ridiculousness of that sentence and of the changes in her life over the past few days.
He knelt down facing the twins.
"How are you feeling?" he asked them. "Are you tired, do you need rest?"
The girls insisted they were fine, which was more than enough for Hayley and Elijah to start deliberating over which Mikaelson would be revived next.
"Are you all right with this?" Klaus asked Caroline.
"No," Caroline said simply. "Bonnie died from overexerting herself with her magic several times. I won't let that happen to them."
"Then we'll wait. Or they can channel Hope, she's a powerful witch, they can supplement their own magic with hers," Klaus suggested.
"I can't let you risk your child's safety," Caroline insisted, just as Hayley yelled, "Don't you dare suggest using Hope as a pawn in your plan!"
"All of this is for Hope," Hayley continued. "There's no point if she gets hurt in the process. Nothing is more important than keeping her safe."
"And nothing is more important to me than keeping my children safe," Caroline declared. "I want to help all of you get your family back, but I won't endanger my children to do so."
Hayley looked properly chastened as she met Caroline's eyes.
"Then we will come up with a plan that will ensure the safety of all of the children," Elijah ordered. "Hope is family; she is protected by our promise of always and forever. We will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. However, we must also keep Caroline's children safe. We need their magic and we are asking for their help. The least we can do is avoid putting them in harm's way if there's any way we can avoid it."
"We will wait until tomorrow," Klaus decided. "We ask the twins to revive one member of our family per day until they have all recovered. Then we will decide what to do next."
Thank you so much for reading!
As always, I would love to hear what you thought of this chapter and/or the story as a whole, so please leave a review; I love reading them!
love,
charlotte