Isabella Mikaelson POV

As I followed my brother's car, I soaked up the town. I memorised where everything was so I would never be lost. Obviously it was extremely different from when I was last here, back when this place was the New World, where everyone was healthy and happy and free. That was the appeal. To get away from sickness and death so that we may live out our lives in peace. Ironically we were the ones that brought the death in the end. In the old days, the forest was much bigger and thicker, it used to span from the outskirts of the town, all the way to what is now the Town Hall. The park in front of it was where we lived. Back then it was a large field surrounded by forest with a White Oak tree planted in the middle. It was simple but it was home. My heart ached to go back to that time, where my worries were so far away and my troubles were nearly none existent. But I am also glad that time has moved. I love the modern world almost as much as I love the old world. Mainly because of the literature.

We all had our hobbies. Elijah and I loved the written arts that Alyanna, our old nurse, would show us. She was the only one in the village to possess such items thus the only one who knew how to read besides our mother. Alyanna and Mother would teach Elijah and me to read in secret because Mikael never approved of his children learning such 'unimportant acts'. Finn and Niklaus's hobbies were very similar, for Finn loved to make things and Niklaus had a true gift for painting. Now we would call them artists and sculptures. Back then we only had the pastes we made and the cave walls we wrote our stories on. Niklaus did exceptionally well with what he had. He mainly painted what Finn made. Finn was an inventor at heart. He was forever making contraptions that made life easier around the hut. Finn invented some of the every day objects we use now, not that any would know. He hid is tracks very well. He made things like the table and the chair. Mikael only approved of that because it involved wood work, something Mikael excelled in. He, however, despised painting and deeply discouraged the rest of us from taking up the hobby. He dug into Niklaus whenever he could but was too busy with Kol to ever take much notice of him. Kol was basically a miniaturised Mikael. He loved sword play and carpentry and hunting. He really was Mikael's Golden Boy and would have been his favourite if Rebekah had not been born. Rebekah had a passion for making dresses. Her designs were always very different and complex; she got her ideas from nature. She seemed to see nature in a way the rest of her siblings couldn't. Mikael did not care for dress making either but since she was a girl and his favourite he let it slide. If it had been me he would rather have had me looking at books. Though he never had much time for Elijah and me. He loved us and liked us a whole lot more than Niklaus but we were never important in his life, none of us were.

I was very much into classics. I loved Shakespeare and Dickens the most. They way the could bring old times back to life before my eyes was staggering and I never tired of reading them. I would like to think that Elijah loved them too. I would like to think that Elijah hadn't changed at all and we were still very much alike. I knew it was a fool's hope but it was there in my heart and it wouldn't go away. I had changed so much over the centuries, I'm sure he has too. Thinking about Elijah immediately made me nervous. I would be seeing him any minute now. All these insecurities came flooding back. I was scared mother would turn her back on me but what if Elijah did? I don't know what I would do if he did. It pained me to the core to even think about it, but this idea was also there and it plagued my mind until I reached the long drive way leading to the gravelled round about and my new home.

I stared at the mansion with a dropped jaw. Its magnificence was staggering. Of course Nik would only provide the best for his family. It was the mot wondrous place I had ever seen, including the Cullen'. I had never really stayed anywhere fancy, always preferring the simpler houses but if it meant being with my family I would happily stay anywhere.

I slowly got out of the car and stared up at the building once more. It was a lot bigger when you were standing in front of it. Kol and Nik walked ahead of me towards the big mahogany doors. I followed quickly, not wanting them to notice how put out I was at the house. If I uttered so much as one complaint I knew they would scour the town for another house suitable for my tastes. I would get used to it, as I had to when I was stuck with the Cullen's. That was merely for fun but this was for my family. I would do anything for my family. Before, I thought that self-preservation could actually be on the same level as family but now that I have seen three of them already I realise that nothing will ever compare to them, except Elijah on his own.

Niklaus opened the door and held it for me and they both let through first. I was a very bare front room, not as grand as I had thought it would be but I'm sure the rest of the house will make up for it. Two sets of winding stairs joining to a single corridor that disappeared above me, leading towards the rest of the second floor. A set of double doors was to the right of me and just as my gaze set on them, they flew open and Rebekah ran through and jumped into my arms. I held her tightly as I had before, laughing breathlessly.

"Oh I knew you'd come. I just knew you would. You would never say no to me, not ever. Oh I have missed you so very much and now we can all be a family again." She gushed quickly. I simply smiled and held her tighter still. I heard laughter and turned with Rebekah still in my arms to see Kol and Nik standing there with my bags in hand staring at us with amused smiles. I grinned back then looked towards the double doors once again as Finn made his way through with Sage on arm. I let Rebekah go gently and walked towards him. Sage dropped his arm and stopped walking with him, giving him a moment to greet me. We met and hugged deeply. Besides Elijah, Finn was my closest sibling merely because he was the oldest and somewhat of a father figure for us all. Niklaus would never ever admit it and would slaughter anyone who uttered such a thing but he looked up to Finn just as Kol had looked up to our father Mikael. Finn always had a way with words and before we could compel people, Finn would be our way of getting what he wanted. He could get anyone to agree with him about anything. A dangerous skill to possess if you used it for bad but Finn was not bad. In any sibling relationship there is always one that is better than the other, purer, and kinder. That was Finn. He did not see the better side of our species but he saw a better way to use it. Like I said before, he was an inventor. Always creating new ways to put of immortality to good use. I was very excited to catch up with him. His story telling was just as good as his convincing.

We pulled away and grinned at each other. I kissed his cheek as he did mine and we greeted with merely our eyes, nothing more. Spoken reunions would wait till later when we were all together. Finn then stepped away from me and all my siblings looked up towards the stairs. I followed their gazes and gasped quietly. There my mother stood, with her gentle brown eyes and soft smile, looking at me as if I were the most important thing in her world. I relished in the feeling of being important once again, of feeling wanted and needed. She descended the stair slowly, as if time had aged her bones when truthfully she looked no different than one thousand years before. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and studied me more carefully now, and I saw that she was watching me warily. It pained me to see that my mother thought I would hurt her so I quickly closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around her waist. I instantly felt the safety and comfort of her arms around me and I put my head in neck, breathing in her familiar smells. She stroked my hair and whispered soothing words in my ear much like I had with Rebekah not two days before. Although this whole ordeal feels like a life time. The Cullen's seem so far away and I am happy for that distance. This is what I need, where I belong.

Mother pulled away from me slightly and met my eyes with a watery smile. She tucked some loose strands of hair behind me ears and sighed. "Elijah is upstairs. You should go and greet him before he gets too distressed." She said quietly. I nodded and met all my siblings eyes once more, threw a wink at Sage and ran up the stairs, searching out my twin and finding him in a matter of seconds. I stood outside the room he was in and considered knocking, and then thought about just walking then suddenly I got scared. Do I really want to do this? Because I know that if I see Elijah again I won't leave unless he does so I could be stuck here for God knows how long. I could have walked into a trap by being here. Suddenly the door opened and all my problems seemed to vanish in an instant.

"Hello, sister."