Tentatively Caroline pushed the door open.

"Esther?"

A sigh.

"Come in."

Gingerly the blonde stepped inside then approached the witch where she was hunched over a desk full of ingredients for what seemed like a spell.

"What is it?"

"I'm looking for K-William – uh – Klaus."

Esther blinked back at Caroline like she thought her to be a complete idiot, before shaking her head.

"He went off with Henrik after the men returned."

Damn. That didn't help. She'd already checked Henrik's playroom and they hadn't been there.

In fact she'd already looked everywhere else.

She wouldn't be here – anywhere with Esther voluntarily – unless it was her last resort short of going door to door in the village. Which she hadn't entirely crossed off her list of options just yet.

Caroline sighed.

"Ok. Thanks, I guess."

She'd turned on her heel, ready to leave, when Esther spoke.

"You care for him."

She stopped dead, debating whether to turn back or not.

"But you are not truly engaged."

At that she did spin around.

"How do you know?"

Esther shrugged. "I am very skilled at reading people. And I know my son." She paused. "He cares very deeply for you too."

Feeling her cheeks pink a little, Caroline mentally cursed. She didn't want to give this woman even a hint of anything that was going on.

"What do you care about any of it?"

Esther stood, her back straight.

"I care because the man you call Klaus is still my son. And contrary to what you clearly believe – I do love my children."

Rocking back on her heels, Caroline scoffed.

"Well you have a funny way of showing it, lady."

One of the Original Witch's brows arched and she took a few steps closer to Caroline.

"There is a story behind every story, Caroline, you should always keep that in mind." She cast her eyes toward the desk, inviting Caroline to do the same. "Lives are like spells. All of the ingredients must fit together perfectly, which takes an incredibly long time, if at all, to perfect." She sighed. "Frequently it blows up in your face and you have to live with those consequences; switch out some ingredients for others and can only hope it will work the next time."

Caroline blinked.

She understood the analogy but didn't really get what it had to do with anything they were discussing.

Esther sighed again and turned around a little. Caroline frowned at the woman's back.

"Niklaus' father, he was…"

Since Caroline had met her, she hadn't seen a single real emotion pass the woman's face. With the length of the pause, Caroline wondered if that's why she'd turned her back.

There was an audible swallow.

"Well, you would know." A pause. "He was just like Niklaus."

Caroline frowned. If she liked Klaus' dad so much and they were so similar, why she did she treat Klaus so awfully?

"Interesting… What did you say his name was?"

Esther shot her a grin over her shoulder.

"Very smart. But I am well aware that I did not mention his name."

Caroline grinned back.

She'd tried.

She was beginning to realise, though, that Esther was too smart to be fooled and definitely not by a trick like that.

"How was he like Klaus?" she asked instead, genuinely curious.

Esther hesitated for a second before turning to Caroline again.

A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "He was confident, to a fault. When he wanted something he pursued it without reservation." She seemed lost in memory for a second: "That smile… you know the one."

She did.

And she was no stranger to being lost in it.

Esther continued: "Conversely, these were all things Mikael loathed about him. And, I confess, my husband's hatred only served to further fuel my interest. Not to mention the stark contrasts I began to notice: Mikael, brash and controlling – him, fun-seeking and reckless; almost entirely unbothered by the world around him."

"So you cheated."

"If you mean was I unfaithful – yes, I was. Although truthfully sometimes, depending on my mood, when I think back I often do not know if it was a choice on my part or simply inevitable. My husband, after all, so cautious and tyrannous in this new and still-strange land, and Niklaus' father all confidence as he snuck me out; gave me personal tours, lavished me with attention."

Caroline felt herself take a step back, as if her body felt compelled to withdraw from this woman she was realising she had an uncomfortable amount in common with.

"I was in love," she said simply, a dopey smile adorning her lips.

Please skip the sex, please skip the sex, please skip the sex, Caroline begged mentally.

"And then I found out I was with child," she said after a moment, to which Caroline let out a breath of relief. "I had already been slowly planning on running away with him, which he was euphoric about, however, the baby – Niklaus – forced me to finally take action."

Esther's eyes lowered and Caroline felt a strangely ominous lump form in her throat.

"Ayana knew of everything and she warned me that I was a witch; nature's servant. And she was right, of course. I rushed to his house, tripping over myself in jubilation, so eager to tell him the news; to tell him that I was to bear him a child – he absolutely adored children, you see – and that I had devised a plan for our escape, only to arrive at a household in mourning."

Caroline's stomach dropped, her throat dry. "Mourning? Why?"

Hesitantly Esther's eyes rose to meet Caroline's again.

"He had gone out hunting that morning and been mauled by a bear."

A small cry escaped the vampire's lips and she didn't know if it was for Klaus or because she'd been so invested in the love story, more invested than she'd be willing to admit.

"I was distraught of course. However, bears are incredibly rare here and I accepted it as the message I realised nature was intending to send me – I had a husband and I was to be with him; make him happy. Duly I returned home and informed Mikael I was to bear him another child. To avert any suspicion I made lavish promises about how he would be his strongest, bravest and most loyal son yet." She smiled, and it was laced with bitter sadness. "Of course, Niklaus was none of those things, at least not in Mikael's eyes."

Caroline gasped in realisation.

"That's why he hates him so much? Because your promises fell flat?" she asked in disbelief.

"Perhaps. Though likely it is mainly Niklaus' natural disposition. As I mentioned, he is just like his father – whom Mikael hated almost as much as I'd loved him. So, I suppose, one could say I loved my little Nik more than any of the rest, really." She seemed dejected. "He was so much like his father, it was impossible not to. But to the extent I loved him I was also forced to hide it."

"Or Mikael may suspect something," Caroline guessed with a long breath.

"Precisely."

There was silence for a long moment before Esther sighed.

"Now you know the story behind my story."

Reminded to put back up her defences, Caroline crossed her arms.

"I still don't get something though – if Klaus' dad is dead, why didn't you just tell him?"

"Would he have believed me?" Esther shot back.

Bristling, Caroline scoffed. "Well why do you think I believe you?"

She shrugged. "What reason do I have to lie to you? What reason do I have to tell you at all? Besides," she sniffed morosely, "that I had to tell someone."

Their eyes met and Caroline drew a sharp breath.

For once she saw no manipulation there, no frost.

For once she saw humanity. She saw… Klaus.

So she believed her.

"I'm sorry, about all that. It sounds really terrible," she attempted.

Mostly she felt terrible for Klaus – what had happened to Esther was in the past, but Klaus had still recently been holding on to the idea of meeting his father, and now she would have to tell him that that was impossible.

Of course, that would require actually finding him first.

Esther didn't acknowledge the vampire's words in any apparent way. Instead, she said something entirely different.

"I have discussed the case with Ayana and she agrees with me: your witch friend will be fine. She will be able to return to her own time by herself. Ayana and I have determined that she and the medallion shared an interesting exchange when she activated it: it took her power and she took its ability," she explained. "There is no need for concern."

"Oh," Caroline said, letting a whoosh of air escape as a weight lifted off her chest.

There was no solid reason to trust anything Esther said. But the random way she'd announced it had felt as if, in her own strange way – not unlike the way she mothered – her reassurance had been meant as a reward for Caroline listening to her story.

"And, as planned, we shall depart tomorrow evening."

"Ok," Caroline swallowed, feeling awkward.

She still didn't really like the woman and Esther had clearly long ago lost her ability to properly express affection so, despite what had just been shared, it left them in a very strange situation with a weird atmosphere in the air.

"Um," she said after a solid minute of silence, "I should continue looking for Klaus."

Suddenly something occurred to her.

"You know, tomorrow when you perform the spell and we leave, Mikael will not be there…"

"And?" Esther asked sharply.

"And I just think it would do a lot of good and no harm if you could, in some way, let Klaus know that you don't actually hate him."

Esther looked conflicted between confusion and actual realisation at the truth value of Caroline's statement.

"Maybe as, like, a favour to me," Caroline finished, knowing that wouldn't go down well but attempting anyway.

His whole life he'd been mistreated by both his parents – Klaus deserved to know that he was far from being unloved.

She was going to do whatever she could to make that happen, even if that meant getting scoffed at.

But, to her surprise, Esther only nodded curtly.

Caroline stood frozen, unprepared for a positive reaction. After a second she awkwardly uttered an 'Ok' before finally heading for the door.

As she opened it she heard Esther speak.

"Do not make my mistakes, Caroline."

She was about to turn for an explanation – which mistakes? – when she caught a glimpse of Klaus outside, heading towards her.

Not her Klaus – Past Klaus.

Again he was staring at her with that unburdened smile, entirely enveloping her in the sensation of simply being looked at.

That smile… you know the one.

She had stepped outside before she fully knew it and he approached her quickly, immediately taking one of her hands into his.

"I have been looking for you."

"Oh, really?" she asked, feeling a bit awkward.

It suddenly occurred to her that he'd gone out hunting with Klaus – maybe he had some idea of where he was.

He smiled lopsidedly. "I feel I am always looking for you."

Just wait till you start stalking me in the future, she thought wryly.

"Um, how was hunting?" she attempted steering the conversation, hoping to subtly bring up Klaus and his possible location.

"Protracted. Particularly since I could not stop thinking about something."

"Oh, really?" she frowned. "What?"

His eyes gleamed as he took a step closer.

"That there is something I would very much like to show you."

And, maybe it was his proximity, but she entirely forgot about what it was that she was supposed to be keeping this conversation about.

"W-what is it?"

She watched the corners of his amazing lips turn up into a sly little smirk.

It seems the lady has remembered that it is her birthday.

Her pule beginning to race, Caroline swallowed heavily.

"A surprise," he smiled. "I do think you will like it."

"U-um," she stuttered, her breaths scattered as she desperately tried to think of a way to say no.

With no inhibitions – confident to a fault – he pulled her hand up and held it to his lips, almost making her keel at the contact.

Instantly the sensation of having been left wanting this morning rushed back to her.

"Yeah, ok," she nodded. "Yes."

Somewhere in the back of her mind she rationalised that she had no idea where Klaus was anyway, and that she needed time to prepare herself to tell him about his father.

The last thing she thought of, just before he placed a hand on her lower back, surrounding her in his Klaus-ness, was Esther's warning.

Then – just like that, it was gone, and they were off.