Chapter Nine: Fix You

"Tears stream down your face

I promise you I will learn from my mistakes,

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

and I will try to fix you..."

-Coldplay

Ooo0ooO

News that it was safe to return home to Mystic Falls reached Klaus and Anna through Patrick, who had made the long journey to pass it along.

The younger werewolf stayed with them as they went back, holding both twins as Klaus and Anna trailed behind slowly.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think she's lying," Patrick said to the young Hybrids as he carried them along. "I mean, she's a vampire, I'm a werewolf, I get it. Very Romeo and Juliet."

Klaus and Anna both snorted.

Patrick kept rambling on about the dark haired vampire named Emily, who had been the same vampire who had sang at Klaus and Anna's wedding.

Unrequited love, Klaus mused, speaking to Anna through their bond.

Anna's lips twitched. Who knows? Maybe she's just playing hard to get.

Or Patrick has conjured up a rather vivid fantasy, Klaus speculated, lifting a brow.

The female Hybrid shrugged. Let him. He's not hurting anyone.

Klaus gave his mate a sideways glance. He figured she would try to meddle in some way, like she had with Hayley and Elijah. But her gray eyes remained impassive and distracted.

He frowned. He could tell she was lost in her innermost thoughts. He was tempted to delve inside her mind but he knew better than that. Even with this psychic link, they had both agreed to be courteous about each other's own private thoughts. It was made easier by how they "felt" each other through the bond, which Klaus felt was like being nudged internally.

So he gave her a nudge, asking her wordlessly if she was all right.

She offered him a small smile and nodded, but didn't respond verbally.

Klaus's frown deepened.

Ooo0ooO

Three days later, Anna sat alone out on the balcony of the mansion, watching as the sky darkened into twilight. It turned a deep violet color, with streaks of lavender from the remaining sun beams, and darkness crept in ever so slowly.

She thought about the last dream she had, which had been a repetition of the nightmares were her daughter had so brutally slaughtered her father, but then, neat the end, it had changed.

At the end, Klaus had opened his eyes. Pinned to the tree by the white oak stake, he gave no sign he was in pain, since his eyes held Anna's with love and understanding that seemed so out of place as she stifled her screams.

He watched her even as she rushed to him. She cried when she couldn't pull the stake from his chest, and a cruel, mocking laughter escaped her daughter's lips from behind her.

"Like the sword in the stone," Hope had jeered. "And you're no Arthur."

Anna had met Klaus's gaze again, tears swimming in her eyes. "What am I supposed to do?" she asked him, still yanking and tearing at the stake until her fingernails cracked and bled.

Fight... he had whispered to her silently.

And then she felt him die, leaving behind a coldness that seeped into her veins and through her body and soul, until there was nothing but an aching emptiness and the echoing sigh of his final breath.

Anna squeezed her eyes shut at the memory of it all. She wanted to shudder and scream, to curse and shout and tear something apart.

How could this come to pass? Her daughter, her baby...

Annabelle opened her eyes.

It still felt so far off. Although the prophecy had had no strict deadline on when the twins would turn, Anna felt her dreams were providing her with the answers. Years had to pass and her daughter, her Hope, would grow up to believe she wasn't as loved as her brother by her mother. But how could that be? The love that Anna felt for them both burned with the fervor of a sun, a million suns.

So what happens? What happened?

Anna blinked when she felt a tear streak down her cheek, splashing onto the back of her hand.

"You can't hide away from this forever, you know."

Anna drew in a breath, releasing it heavily. "I can try."

Hayley frowned and sat down next to the woman she considered her sister. "Anna, that's not like you."

The older Hybrid laughed bitterly. "Isn't it? My instinct is always to run first."

"I don't think it is anymore."

Anna turned her dull, iron colored eyes to Hayley. "So what am I supposed to do? Wait until the witches decide to take my children, until they mold them into the monsters they'll always see them as?"

"I think I know someone who can help," Hayley said gently, before looking over Anna's shoulder.

Anna glanced back and saw Marcel standing at the doorway, but it was the slender girl who stood half-hidden behind him that caught her attention. Anna stood immediately.

"Davina?" she whispered.

The young witch smiled, stepping around Marcel. They hadn't seen each other since Anna's wedding. "Hi."

Anna smiled softly. "Hi."

Davina blinked rapidly, as though sensing the Hybrid's turbulent emotions before she walked forward, her arms outstretched.

The two women embraced, laughing quietly before asking how the other was. Anna pulled back first, brushing a curl away from the young woman's face.

"I have something for you and Klaus," Davina said, gesturing to a covered canvas.

When Anna glanced at him, Marcel smiled. "He's in the drawing room."

Ooo0ooO

Klaus eyed the painting in front of him, his head tilted to the side. It was vividly detailed, an up close portrait of his favorite subject.

He never worried about capturing Anna's likeness. Even if she was a series of wiggling lines, she would be beautiful. This time, however, he wanted to capture the feeling within the painting, and the feeling he felt looking at it and adding to it.

It was a detailed image of Anna when she was carrying the twins in the last days of her pregnancy. The background was mere shadow and void, darkness seeping into darkness that's broken apart by the opening in the curtains behind her, providing a stream of sunlight that warmed her distended stomach and hands which covered the twins.

Lying on the center of their bed, twined with the crimson sheets, Anna gazed up at the ceiling, her eyes locked on the dust motes the viewer could barely make out in the beam of light. Her hands protectively covered her large stomach, which was exposed, since her shirt was rolled up right under her breasts. And since the view was from the left, the viewer got a clear perspective on the soul mark, wounding its way up her hand and forearm in ribbons of dark blue and gray. Her wedding band and engagement ring glowed in the low light, the sapphire stone nearly transparent from the light.

And he knew its title long before he had begun to put it down on canvas.

Waiting for Hope.

Of course, it was a play on words. It told a story of Anna and Klaus waiting for both their daughter and their son, as well as the feeling of hope they felt whenever they felt the babies move.

His thoughts were interrupted when he sensed Anna close by. He covered the painting with a cloth, knowing it wasn't quite ready to be seen by anyone else yet.

But his head remained titled when he scented more familiar scents following his mate's.

Anna walked in front, her gray eyes unreadable. She was followed by Hayley and Marcel, and lastly by Davina. His eyes strayed to the covered painting Davina held in her hands.

"She said it's something we both should see," Anna explained, moving to his side, reading his thoughts without even delving into his mind.

Davina set the painting down and met both of their gazes before pulling back the cloth that kept it covered.

Anna gasped, her eyes growing wide.

Klaus stilled before taking his mate's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Is it... is that Hope?" Anna whispered.

Davina nodded. "Sixteen years from now."

Anna's nails bit into Klaus's hand briefly, and he felt a flash of distress shoot through her body. "Is that when the prophecy is supposed to come true?"

Davina brushed her hand over the canvas, tracing along Hope's shoulder. "I don't know," she admitted in a soft voice. "That hasn't been...clear."

Anna now looked at Klaus, her storm colored eyes flashing, filled with uncertainty and anxiety.

Klaus put an arm around her, pulling her in close. He kissed her temple very gently and nuzzled her cheek and hair, murmuring words of reassurance into her ear.

Ooo0ooO

The following week found Anna and Klaus in lighter spirits. That was because, at this very moment, they were watching their children walk across the room towards them on their own for the very first time.

Anna reached out for her daughter, ignoring the joyful tears streaming down her cheeks. She imagined an older Hope, reaching out for her mother, her eyes bright and full of love, rather than full of contempt, like how they were in Anna's dreams.

Hope squealed as she grabbed her mother's hands, obviously very proud of herself.

Mason tumbled into Klaus's arms, making them both laugh. "Well done, my son," Klaus said with a smug smile.

Across the room, Hayley stood next to Bennett, watching the scene quietly. She gave the other Hybrid a curious look. "How long did it take for you to reach being full grown?"

"Much faster than a human," Bennett said. "I imagine that the twins will start growing even more quickly."

"Why?"

Bennett shrugged. "I've forseen it."

"But they're growing at almost a human rate now," Hayley pointed out.

"The more in tuned with their Hybrid side they become, the faster they will grow."

"Will they need to kill someone to wake it up?"

Bennett shook his head. "They aren't just vampire or just wolf. They're already both. No, if my visions are correct, they'll age three to four years to one human year."

Hayley frowned. "You mean in about four years they'll be teenagers? Do Anna and Klaus know?"

The witch Hybrid shook his head. "Only Anna. She knows, in her own way, even without me telling her. The bond and residual witch magick has given her visions as well."

"What kind of visions?"

Bennett's already dark eyes deepened to an opaque hue. "Terrible things. But thing is for certain. These things are never...clear."

Ooo0ooO

After a month of walking, Hope took everyone by surprise by saying her first word. Mason was quick to follow and before long, they were calling out the two words again and again.

"Dada!"

"Mama!"

Annabelle sniffled the first few times she heard her daughter call out for her. Klaus had a similar reaction with Mason. They were pleasantly surprised when the twins then switched off the two words, until the house echoed with the calls for Dada and Mama.

It all caught up to Anna every night. Fear gripped her heart as her heart screamed out for her children to stop growing, to slow down just a little. They were already larger than most toddlers, and she knew in her heart that they would keep growing at this rapid pace.

But was she being selfish in wishing they'd stay young for a little longer? Or was she afraid that if they grew too fast, then the prophecy would come to pass much sooner than any of them anticipated?

Klaus turned over, listening to his mate's turbulent thoughts. "Anna," he murmured, reaching out to stroke her back soothingly.

She sighed and turned over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. "What am I supposed to do, Klaus? They're growing so fast..."

Klaus shifted so he could look at her better. "My Anna, nothing will stop this prophecy if it's meant to pass. All we can do is prepare to fight."

Anna blinked.

Fight... dream Klaus had whispered, staked to a tree like a ritual sacrifice.

"How?" she whispered, turning to face each him, tucking a hand under her cheek.

Klaus smiled, rubbing her back still. "Together."

Anna sighed again, but it was relief as some of the tension drained from her body. How could she forget?

You're not alone, Charlie had reminded her.

"Forever and always," she agreed, moving closer into his embrace, letting him soothe away her worries, even if it was just for tonight.

Ooo0ooO

Disclaimer: I do not own TVD or the Originals.

Author's Note: Things are about to speed up...

This chapter was inspired by the song Surrender by Natalie Taylor.

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