"Ten Lords a Leaping"

"Alright, are you ready for the Eve of Christmas Eve extravaganza?" Klaus asked as he easily turned the Mercedes into a small airport in the countryside.

Caroline frowned, "You're not taking me anywhere out of the country, are you? Because, I told my mom-"

"No, no, we'll be back on the ground by nightfall."

Caroline nodded as Klaus parked.

Carefully she got out of the car, trying to put the clues together.

"I'll be right back, feel free to look around."

Caroline didn't say anything as Klaus disappeared into the hangar.

She wandered a few paces beside the hangar and was admiring the jets that took up residence there.

She didn't really know anything about planes, except these were probably expensive.

"Caroline?"

Caroline emerged from the side of the plane, "What?"

"We're all signed in, ready?"

"I mean, I guess….Even though I have no idea what we're doing, but sure, sure Klaus, I'm ready to go."

Klaus smiled at her nervous energy.

He led her inside the hangar where they were greeted by a pilot in a bomber jacket, "Alright, are you two ready to go?"

"Mike, this is Caroline, Caroline, our pilot Mike."

"Nice to meet you." Caroline said, extending her hand for Mike to shake.

"Alright, all formalities aside, let's get you guys in your suits!"

"Suits? What suits? Why do we need suits?" Caroline asked quickly as Klaus placed his hand on the small of her back and led her behind Mike. Mike stopped at a wall with different sizes of wind breaker- looking suits and helmets sat on a bench below.

Suddenly, it all clicked.

"Oh, no." Caroline said quickly, "No, no, no, no!" She put her hands up defensively and began backing up, "Skydiving!? SKYDIVING!? Hell freaking no. Absolutely not. No way."

Caroline kept her arms locked tight across her chest as the airplane took off.

She tried very hard to not be afraid.

But it was not working.

"Are you ready to fly, love? Feel the wind beneath your wings and cast every worry into the wind?" Klaus asked with a grin.

Caroline said nothing, she simply scowled at him.

He scooted closer to her, "You don't look entirely happy."

Caroline tried to push him away, but as the plane lurched, she thought against it, "I just…I'm afraid of heights, kind of."

Klaus nodded and watched her nervously look out the plane at the ground below.

"Well, I don't know if you remember this, but you're immortal now."

Caroline sighed and bit her lip, "But, what if my parachute doesn't deploy and I fall to the ground and one of my ribs impales my heart? Or if my head pops off because of the elevation or something?"

"Caroline, these parachutes have an automatic activation device, so if you don't pull the parachute, it does it for you."

She exhaled.

"Plus, I've done this before, a few times actually. I'm practically a pro."

Caroline turned to him suddenly, "Wait…I'm jumping out of a plane with you? Like…you'll be….behind me? All the way down?"

Klaus nodded, "Well, unless you'd like to jump alone…"

"No, no…I just…I thought we'd be jumping with other people."

"We're about ready for you guys!" Mike shouted from the front of the plane, "Are you dressed and ready?"

Klaus gave him a thumb's up in order to avoid more shouting.

"Wait, wait." Caroline said as Klaus rose to put his helmet on, "Walk me through this."

"What?"

"What's going to happen, in case you don't know, I'm really freaking out here."

Klaus chuckled, "Alright, well, we'll jump out of the plane together. And then we'll free fall for about a minute, I will deploy the parachute, and we will sail gracefully to the ground."

Caroline was paling by the second.

"Come on, we're already up here, you'll regret it if you don't jump."

Caroline exhaled again and then stood up, snapped her helmet on and stuck on her goggles. "Okay, okay. Let's just do this."

Klaus shouted something to Mike and then hooked both him and Caroline to the parachute harness.

Caroline gripped the straps that were tight around her shoulders; she squeezed them so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

"Relax love, it's fun." Klaus whispered into her ear, gently putting his hands on her hips and ushering her to the opened side door of the plane.

"Don't let me die." Caroline said, panic stricken.

"Never."

Gulping in one last deep breath, Caroline took two small steps, her toes hanging off the plane.

"On three."

Caroline nodded as her response.

"One."

"Just breathe."

"Two."

"I can do this."

"Three."

Caroline didn't even have a second to think as Klaus pushed them out the door.

The fleeting feeling of having no control coursed completely through her.

The wind pushed her body up into Klaus as he floated effortlessly above her.

Caroline released her hands from the straps and allowed the wind to pull them to her sides.

She was really flying.

The parachute deployed with a jolt, and in only a matter of minutes, they cascaded to the ground.

Klaus landed gracefully on the green turf as the parachute trailed behind them.

Caroline, although her legs were wobbly, she landed firmly.

Klaus unclipped her from him, and Caroline took a step on her own and pulled the helmet and goggles off.

She shook her hair out, and turned to face him.

"Well." She said sternly, locking her hand against her hip, "I can't believe you made me do that."

Klaus pulled his helmet off and took off the parachute backpack, "But, it was something you wanted?"

Caroline hid her smile poorly, "It was somewhere on my bucket list, yes."

Klaus smiled, "Good."

He began picking up the parachute.

Caroline watched him gathering everything neatly.

"Hey." She stopped him, biting her lip before continuing, "Why are you doing all this for me? I mean, I know you fancy me, and all that. But I haven't been very accepting of your advances…." She admitted.

Klaus shrugged, flashing his pearly whites, "I simply want to make you happy, you deserve to feel pure joy, at least once."

Caroline was speechless.

"Besides," he said surely, picking up the parachute, "As I've said before, you'll sing for me one day little bird." He turned and began walking back to the hangar.

"I don't even know what that means!" Caroline yelled after him, "And I'm terrified of birds!"

A/N: Happy Christmas Eve Eve everyone!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday!