First of all: I'm sorry it took so long. I can write down all the reasons and excuses, but I know you aren't really interested in that, so I'll just say I'm sorry.

Second: This is the last Alphabet Drabble, aside from Q (- Queen) which I will post later on. I had a lot of fun writing these and you can't imagine how glad I was to receive the support I have gotten on this. I really appreciate all those people who have stuck with me - girls, you know who you are. Thank you so much. I owe you big time.

Z - Zugzwang

it's like a game of chess and you
know that whatever you will do—
will make you lose something

.~.

He watched her, the beauty that was Caroline Forbes. He followed her at her shopping rampages through Paris, watched her with prying eyes as she let her eyes linger a bit too long on a male and smiled from afar when she went all neurotic control-freak on someone.

He remembered her, the little, feisty woman. He remembered every dip and curve her body possessed, he remembered exactly where to nibble or kiss or bite to get that particular moan, that particular sound, the mixture between a moan and a whimper and a cry that made him long for her. He remembered the way she smiled at him, the way she would watch his skilled hands as he drew her, again and again and again.

He remembered her—but she never remembered him.

He had promised himself to watch from afar, to look but never touch. He couldn't become close, because he would find them.

But why did he catch himself going to the same party she was attending to? Why did he catch himself getting closer and closer and closer to her with every passing second?

Why did he introduce himself to her?

Why did he ask her for a dance?

On that particular night, Niklaus Mikaelson found himself dancing with the woman of his dreams, the fire, the bright, bubbly Caroline—the only one who had ever loved him and the only one he had ever loved in return.

And they danced, the couple. And he remembered her but she never remembered him. She could only watch the intriguing man and try to figure out why his name sounded so familiar—why his touch felt like he knew her body so well.

.~.

And at night she tried to remember. Because she had seen that face before and she had felt that touch before. She knew that man, those eyes, those hands.

Niklaus Mikaelson.

The name echoed in her dreams and his face haunted her but she could never reach—she could never remember.

And the darkness brought something else, memories of things she had never encountered, memories of things she couldn't have memories of—things she didn't do or saw.

So Caroline Forbes tossed and turned as her sleep fed her things she hadn't seen. Snippets of her life with him, snippets of a life she hadn't lived.

Snippets of a life she didn't remember.

And then it brought her to something else. A basement, a cellar. Something that happened so long ago. Something that made her forget.

She made herself forget.

.~.

She was held down by chains and he—he was held down by seven vampires. Blood oozed from her, soaking ripped clothes. The crimson liquid mixed with the vervain that was poured on her and left burning lines all over her body.

She could hear faint growls that could only come from one person—Niklaus Mikaelson.

'Nik,' she whimpered, eyes searching for him as she failed in getting up.

She finally caught him in her gaze, held down by several men, blood trickling down his body. She pulled at the chains that bound her and his head shot up.

'Caroline,' he murmured, no concern, only love and relief in his voice. 'Don't be scared, sweetheart, I know what I have to do.' He smiled faintly at her.

She shook her head as sobs escaped her mouth. She knew Klaus and she knew what that meant. He couldn't—he wouldn't, would he? He wouldn't leave her alone, he wouldn't do that, he wouldn't let her lose him. He—

'Hey, hey,' an unfamiliar voice interrupted. 'You can't leave the lady without a choice, can you?' A man stepped out of the shadows, into the light, and smiled a wide, toothy smile.

'We can, actually,' Klaus growled, trying to fight the vampires holding him down. 'Free her, Marcel, I've made my choice.'

She saw her only chance, right then and there. 'What are the options?'

Marcel, the amused, ego-as-big-as-the-moon vampire, gave her one of his wide smiles and began to explain. 'Well, since our beloved friend Klaus here doesn't deserve any kind of love, there are only two options. Either he dies, or you do.' He shrugged like it was nothing.

Caroline wanted to sacrifice herself for him. He knew she would. But he couldn't do anything. Marcel knew that if she died, Klaus would be miserable. And wasn't that exactly what he wanted?

Was there another choice? Was there any other way to get herself out of this? Was there anything—anything that could save them both?

'There is a third choice,' she muttered faintly.

Marcel cocked his head to the side at the same time Klaus breathed out a pained "no, please".

'Well, spill it,' the dark-skinned vampire said.

She waited for a bit, her azure orbs locking with Klaus', mouthing I'm so sorry as tears left her eyes. He shook his head, murmuring "don't do it, Caroline, don't do it, please"—but she did it anyway. It was the only way to save them both, it was the only way to let them live.

'He could compel me to forget him,' she told Marcel without shifting her gaze from the original hybrid. 'He could compel me to forget and to leave.'

The King of New Orleans grinned as he slowly rubbed his chin. 'That's even better!' he exclaimed happily, unchaining her. 'The big bad Hybrid has to make the only woman that will ever love him forget.'

She was placed in front of him, gazes locked. The vampires that held him down stepped back, releasing him as he sat upstraight.

He shook his head.

'Do it,' she pleaded. 'It's the only way to save you.'

'I'll get you back,' he murmured. 'You can't get rid of me that easily.'

She smiled faintly, forgetting about all the other vampires in the room as she kissed him. 'I never doubted that,' she whispered. 'I love you.'

'I love you too.'

'Now do it.'

.~.

That was the night he made her forget.

And this night—this night she would finally remember.

Again, thank you all for sticking with me and for reading and reviewing, it meant a lot.

On that note - there is a slight chance I will be starting a fic soon, but I'm not quite sure yet, because I have the unfortunate habit not to finish what I start. It will be Klaroline, of course.