Altered, Epilogue: Eternity

Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.

Mystic Falls was quiet, the cemetery especially so. Caroline sat on a stone bench and read all the names on the graves that she could see. Too many of them were familiar now. Soon, all those she had known when she was a human would be here. Her eyes rested on the name that gave her the most pain—her mother's.

Liz Forbes died a year after they defeated Silas. It was an accident, a drunk driver that beat a red light. It was nothing supernatural. There wasn't enough time for anyone to save her. She died instantly. It pushed Caroline to leave Mystic Falls. She ran from the only place she knew. It held too many of her memories, too much of them.

Caroline told herself she had always wanted to see the world. She convinced herself it was a smart choice because anyway, she would have had to leave sooner or later when the humans grew older and she did not. She was simply going ahead of Elena, the Salvatores and the Originals. Klaus.

She smiled as his name ran through her mind. He was angry with her for leaving without warning and became furious when it took him an entire year to find her. Caroline took such care to evade Klaus, taking measures that would have done Katherine proud.


It was the fifth of February when he found her. Caroline was sitting on the sidewalk facing the street, watching a house so intently that she didn't notice Klaus until he had already sat down next to her.

"I'm quite torn with wanting to yell at you for running away like that and just letting it all go out of gratitude that you're still in one piece," Klaus said quietly, looking at her intently.

Caroline merely nodded toward the house in front of her, directing his attention to it, "I didn't think it existed here, on this side of things. I always thought that house was something Silas concocted and stuffed in our brains as some demented going away present. It was supposed to be a lie."

"How did you find this place?" Klaus asked as he watched the house with her, half expecting the door to open and a little girl would run out to play on the swings.

Caroline merely shrugged not trusting herself to speak as her eyes slowly filled with tears. She rested her head on his shoulder and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

Klaus shifted and placed an arm around her. His lips pressed on the top of her head as he held her tight. "Why did you finally let me find you?"

"Because it's February 5," Caroline answered softly as her arms went around his waist and she closed her eyes before continuing, "Happy Birthday, Emma. We miss you."


They spent the decade since that day mostly apart. Klaus was as flawed and broken as a man could get, death and violence never far behind. Patience with his imperfections and disorder did not really sit well with Caroline, bringing out her inner drama queen more than once in a while. The months in Paris was when they got along, followed by a year apart with Caroline in Spain and Klaus somewhere in Tibet trying to forget the last argument they had. Then there was a year of bliss in London before Caroline spent two years in New York alone Klaus went off to Alaska.

But no matter where they were in the world, they would find their way back to each other every year on that same date. They never mentioned her again, the little girl that never was, but she was the force that helped them grow closer until Caroline forgot how to live without Klaus.


"I imagined you'd be halfway around the world by now," Klaus said as he closed the door behind him. He looked around and noticed everything was as he had left it in the morning.

Caroline frowned, "Why would you think that?"

"Sweetheart, you've done it every other year or so, in case you haven't noticed," Klaus pointed out, "I don't know if it was some emotional damage or just plain getting our of Mystic Falls that somehow made it easy for you to just pick up and leave but you're no longer the Caroline Forbes, small-town girl who knew nothing but pageants and prom."

Caroline rolled her eyes, "If I recall correctly, mister, you were the one who wanted me to get out there and experience the world, all it has to offer, blah, blah and blah."

"With me," Klaus emphasized, "I didn't mean for you to keep running away from me."

"And we're back to that," Caroline said walking towards Klaus, "I get it. I've been…unstable these past few years but things have changed. We had an argument and knowing us, it won't be the last. It won't be enough to make me leave this."

"Exactly what is this?" Klaus asked crossing his arms on his chest, standing his ground, even as she smiled, laughter twinkling in her eyes.

"Seriously? You want me to spell it out?" Caroline said tilting her head.

"Yes, seriously," Klaus said firmly, "I've had enough mind games to last me another century, so some clarity will be appreciated."

Caroline stepped closed to Klaus, her arms encircling him. Klaus sighed and wound his arms around her as well. She leaned on his chest and whispered, "You and I…we can sit next to other in complete silence and it's enough. We can spend hours just talking about anything under the sun—from paintings to debating about the best reality show on TV. We can dance under the moonlight or in a noisy club and still it feels like we're the only people in the world. You show me the world, all its riches and history, and I show you the humanity in the middle of all of that. All of that is what we have, and even if I know I could, I don't want to try and live without it anymore."

"I'm not a good man, Caroline." Klaus said pulling back a little so he could look her in the eye, "There's a lot I've done that needs forgiveness and my future will be a mess of it, I guarantee you that. But I'm going to be selfish and tell you now that unless you choose to leave me, I won't let you go. I'm done living without you."

Caroline smiled, "Are you saying you love me?"

"I'm saying I do," Klaus said with small laugh.

"I'm saying I do, too." Caroline said as she leaned forward to kiss him.


It was the beginning of the rest of her life. Everything shifted and for the first time, Caroline didn't need to be in Mystic Falls to be home. She stared straight ahead, her lips turning up in a smile when she felt someone next to her.

Klaus sat down on the bench towards the opposite direction, close enough that if they turned a little they would face each other.

"Have you ever thought about it again? Being human, I mean," Caroline asked in a faraway voice.

"Yes," Klaus answered after a long pause, "more times than I can count."

Surprised, Caroline leaned back to face him, "What changed?"

"Holding a child in your arms, being responsible for that life and having someone so innocent trust you so fully out of pure love can change a man irrevocably," Klaus breathed out, "Even if it was just in my head, somehow it still feels real and that I live that life with you, with her and there are so many moments that I wish I'd wake up and this life is the dream. What I would give to see her grow up."

"I never did tell you how I found the house before, did I?" Caroline started, "I went to Bonnie a few months after…after it. I kept dreaming about that life, the little details that came to me about it. Giving birth, seeing her walk for the first time, hearing her first words and watching you be a father. I asked Bonnie if by some chance part of it was real and that I could sort of walk over to the other side and get Emma. It couldn't have felt that way and not be real, you know? And I remember Bonnie shaking her head and just giving me a hug. Then just before leaving I saw the box of stuff Silas left that Bonnie was about to burn and there was a picture of the house, our house. It was the only thing that was real. It actually existed…but that was it."

Caroline turned her attention back towards the headstones. She read one a few steps away from where they were, "Has it been twenty years since we've been here?"

Klaus nodded, "The world has not been the same since it lost the last Bennett witch."


Caroline and Klaus raced to Mystic Falls the second Elena called for help. Another evil, another apocalyptic threat, one or the other, maybe both, threatened her friends so Caroline dropped everything to go to them.

But she was too late. The world was saved but Bonnie died for it. Elena was the one who got there first but with just enough time for her to see Bonnie die in the fire of her own spell.

Caroline found Elena sobbing in Damon's arms as she knelt before Bonnie's remains, a crumpled letter in her hand. Bonnie knew what she was doing. She scribbled a quick goodbye and that she was doing this for all of them. She loved them, no matter where they were in the world. She was saving the world for them.

Stefan came a few minutes after she and Klaus arrived, stricken with grief when he saw the damage was done. Rebekah was by his side, her hand covering her mouth as she gasped when she saw Bonnie. But it was the older man, the lone human who was brave enough to walk towards the body. Matt picked up Bonnie's lifeless form on the ground and carried it all the way to the Bennett home.

Bonnie's funeral a few days later was the only time Caroline could remember that humans, witches and vampires were in the same place, joined in grief over the passing of one they all cared about.

The vampires were the last to leave. Caroline and Elena stood side by side before the freshly dug earth, a new headstone placed over it with the name of their best friend.

"Someday, all the people we know from this town will be gone, we will be forgotten and we can come home." Elena said, "We can all live here. Be a family. I don't want the next time that I see you be at another funeral."

"Matt." Caroline said in a broken voice, "We're going to outlive him too. We'll have to go through this again, Elena."

"Let that be the last then," Elena said, "Promise me that when it's right, we'll come back and live here again, even just for a while."

"If you promise to put up with the crazy vampire psychopath that follows me around," Caroline said tilting her head in the direction of Klaus, who rolled his eyes since he was able to hear everything they were saying.

Elena laughed, sounding much like her old human self, "Deal. I've got my own version of that. I can't seem to shake him either."

Caroline turned to Elena and hugged her friend, "As long as Katherine stays away from this town when we're here, I think the plan is a go. See you when I see you, Elena."


Caroline watched the sun begin to set on Mystic Falls. The sky was a blaze of colors as it slowly deepened into the night. She leaned against Klaus who simply sat there, silently supporting her.

"He didn't need saving, Caroline," Klaus said gently after a while, "Matt lived a long life and death was always his future as a human. He lived a long life, a good and happy one at that."

"I know." Caroline said in a hoarse voice, "But it doesn't mean I wish I could still keep him healthy and happy for a longer time."

"He was at peace in the end," Klaus said, "His family was by his bedside when he breathed his last. There was no pain."

"Good. That's good." Caroline said nodding, "Wait, how do you know this? Last I checked you were with me when this went down."

"Give me some credit, love," Klaus said, "I'm a vampire. Extracting that information hardly requires any effort."

"Who did you compel?" Caroline asked suspiciously finally turning to Klaus.

Klaus threw his hands up innocently, "Just a nurse. It was all very harmless scenario. I was out of there without anyone the wiser."

"Heaven help me," Caroline muttered finally standing up, dusting herself off, "I don't even want to imagine how long after we settle in before you inevitably attract some sort of danger to this town."

"You mistake me for Elena, love." Klaus said placing an arm around her as they walked out of the cemetery, "If I recall, I was the danger back then and the doppelganger was the magnet for trouble. Besides, I'm a changed man thanks to you."

Caroline raised her eyebrows at him, "Really, so you're telling me that no witch, werewolf, vampire or even human wants you dead? No one will come running here when they find out you've settled here and try to detach your head from your body?"

Klaus pressed his lips to the side of Caroline's head, "You worry too much, love. They'd be foolish to try. "

"It's actually the fools who try." Caroline pointed out, "And this time you won't have a hybrid army to command."

"I've got Elijah, Rebekah and you on my side. I don't need more than that." Klaus said

"And Elena, Damon and Stefan," Caroline added, "Hey, it's part of the deal when they decided to be my friend. They protect who I love and I'd do the same for them."

"See. Nothing to worry about. Let them come." Klaus said with a small laugh, "You really can't simply just say those three words, can you? Even after all these years. I'm not complaining just stating a fact that even if you mean them, you have never said it out loud."

Caroline stopped in the middle of the road to face Klaus. He raised his eyebrows in question but didn't speak, letting her take the lead.

"I love you." Caroline said simply.

She leaned in to kiss him and whispered those three words once more against his lips. She said it with no conditions, no questions and no apprehensions. It was the truth, and it has been for a long time that she could no longer remember when it started. And for as long as she existed, she knew it will hold true.


A/N: I hope you enjoyed that. Thank you for reading this and especially for all the reviews. I loved reading them! :)