Previously, in "Out of the Darkness," Lexi and Kol share an intimate moment and Kol's daughter, Hannah, arrives in Mystic Falls.

Chapter 50: All the Reasons for…

Mystic Grill - That Same Moment

Amy sat in the booth by the window, taking a swig of the drink she had ordered. She had come here not long after visiting Amelia and Elijah, knowing that her parents wanted their privacy. It was while she was drinking that she sensed a familiar presence and looked out of the window. Smiling widely, she placed a tip for the server on the table and ran outside, her eyes meeting those of her cousin. "Hannah!"

Hannah heard her name being called and said, "Oh my God, Amy, is that you?"

"Of course it is, silly," Amy said. "It's been so long since I last saw you." She noticed that Hannah wasn't alone. "Who's your friend, cousin?"

"Oh, forgive me, I almost forgot that I'm not here by myself," Hannah said. "Amy, this is Isaac. He's showing me where I can find my father. Isaac, this is my cousin, Amy."

Isaac smiled at Amy. "It's nice to meet you, Amy."

"It's nice to meet you too, Isaac," Amy said with a warm, soft smile. She then turned back to Hannah. "You mentioned that you were looking for your father? Have you asked around town?"

"No, but I do plan on it. How are you faring, cousin?" Hannah said as she and Amy headed back into the Grill, Isaac trailing along behind them.

Amy smiled. "Oh, I'm doing very well. My parents have reunited and they're getting married."

"They are?" Hannah said. "Amy, that's wonderful!"

"Not only that, but I got to meet Evelyn, Uncle Elijah and Aunt Amelia's little one. I tell you, Hannah, she is the sweetest little baby in town."

Isaac blinked as he listened to the two cousins talking. "Just how big is your family?"

"It's pretty big," Hannah said. "There's my grandfather, Mikael, my step-grandmother, Eleanor, my uncles Finn, Elijah, Niklaus and Henrik. There's also my Aunt Rebekah and my father, Kol. I also have my Uncle Olivier and Aunt Sabrina. So, yeah, we're a big family." Isaac nodded, the shock still wearing off. Hannah giggled. "You'll be fine. The only one you'll have to worry about meeting is my dad," she told him.

"I know, but still …that's a large family," he said.

Amy giggled at his remark. "Don't let the size of our family overwhelm you, Isaac. Besides, I know that's not why you fancy my cousin."

"Fancy?"

Hannah smiled and took his hand, kissing his cheek. "It's a term we use when we like someone. And I fancy you as well, Sir Isaac. Don't worry. I'll protect you from my father. He might be strong and powerful, but I'm pretty strong myself and I can hold my own."

"I promise I won't," Isaac said as they headed into the bar & grill.

Amy smiled at Hannah and Isaac, already liking how the seeds of romance were already blossoming for them. Though, at the same time, she wished she could have what her cousin was having. Hannah noticed how her facial expressions changed. "Amy, are you all right?"

"It's just …you and Isaac look so happy together and it makes me wonder if I'll get to experience that myself."

"Of course you will, cousin." Hannah smiled then reached out to grasp Amy's hand in her own, squeezing gently.

Amy smiled when she felt Hannah's hand on hers, squeezing it gently. "Well, how about we go find your father? Knowing him, he's probably missing you like crazy."

"I definitely missed him, that's for sure," Hannah said. "Though, I'll be that he's kept himself busy."

"Oh, he has. He met another vampire, a woman named Alexia," Amy replied.

Hannah blinked. "He has?"

"Yes, and he's in love with her," Amy said. "And that means that you'll be getting a stepmother before you know it."

Hannah smiled. "I'm looking forward to meeting her. If she makes Father happy, then I approve of it. I knew that although he loved my mother dearly, he would have to learn to love again eventually."

"And he has," Amy said. "Let's hope it's as wonderful as the love I've seen with Uncle Finn, Uncle Elijah, Uncle Niklaus, Uncle Henrik and Uncle Olivier."

Hannah nodded. "Well, I don't see why it wouldn't be, since you did say that he's in love with her."

Amy laughed slightly. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?" She sighed. "Well, if we're going to find him, we should probably go while there's still daylight, not that I doubt our ability to navigate at night, but poor Isaac is at a disadvantage, since his eyes aren't as capable of seeing in the dark like ours are."

Hannah nodded. "That sounds like a plan to me."

Later

Hannah, Amy and Isaac arrived at a stately mansion in the suburbs, just near the woods. Hannah eyed it curiously, not sure why her father would be staying in a place like this. Amy smiled at her cousin's curiosity. "Well, what do you think?"

"It's a decent enough place," she replied. "I just…never pictured this as the place my father would choose to stay in." She sighed. "Oh well, I guess I'll ring the bell and see if anyone is here."

Taking some deep breaths, Hannah went to the door and rang the doorbell, stepping back and waiting for someone to answer. Within a few moments, the door was opened to reveal Rebekah, who squealed in delight. "Oh, Hannah, you're here!"

Kol, who'd been upstairs with Lexi, paused in kissing his girlfriend when he heard his daughter's name, blurring to get dressed before going downstairs using his vamp speed. Hannah grinned when she saw her aunt and then her father. "Daddy!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Kol smiled at his daughter, hugging her. "Hannah, my sweet blessing, I missed you too."

"I missed you too, Father." She looked over her shoulder at Amy. "Amy told me that you have found someone."

Kol smiled and saw Lexi approach them, now fully dressed. "Hannah, this is Alexia Branson, also known as Lexi. Alexia, this is my daughter, Hannah."

"It's nice to finally put a face to the name," Hannah said, holding out one slender hand toward Lexi, who took it with a smile on her face.

Lexi smiled at her. "The feeling is likewise, Hannah. Your father was telling me about you." Her smile faded. "He also told me that your mother died in childbirth."

Hannah nodded. "Yes, she did. But, my father was there for me. He even told me about my mother as I was growing up, describing her to me and letting me know that she loved me and would always be with me, even if I couldn't see her."

"I'm glad that your father did that for you," Lexi said, her smile returning to her lips.

Kol nodded, having heard what they were talking about. "I wanted Hannah to know that although her mother was no longer with us, her spirit would always be there to guide her and that if she wanted to talk to her, all she needed to do was think of her."

Lexi looked at Kol and went over to him, hugging him. "You're a wonderful father, Kol. No matter what anyone says, you're a great man."

He smiled at her. "You are an amazing woman, Alexia Branson."

Hannah smiled at her as well. "I agree with him, Alexia. You truly are amazing. I can't thank you enough for what you've done for him, and continue to do for him."

"Well, it's not hard when you love someone," the blonde vampire replied. "Your father helped me reclaim the part of myself that I thought I lost."

"And now you have it back," Kol said, smiling at her once more before kissing the tip of her nose.

Kol then noticed the human that was with his daughter and niece. "Who's this?"

Hannah looked at Isaac and then back at her father. "Father, this is Isaac. I met him when I arrived here. I know you're going to get all territorial, but I can assure you that he's a good man."

"Hmm, I'll decide if he's a 'good' man," he said, ignoring his daughter when she tried to block him from walking over to Isaac.

Suddenly, before she could stop herself and not caring if she was exposing her true form to a human or that her father was stronger, Hannah vamp sped herself and Kol to a nearby wall, flashing her fangs at him. "You hurt him and I swear to God, you'll never see me again!"

Kol used a gentle force to push his daughter off of him, baring his fangs at her in response. "You don't get to use your temper against me, Hannah Marie. I'm still your father!"

Hannah hissed at him. "I know you're my father, but I won't have you harming the man I fancy! I'm not a child anymore, in case you haven't noticed, and I am quite capable of making my own choices! As far as using my temper against yours, I can do whatever I bloody well please!"

"You are STILL my daughter. You aren't Ruby and Bridget, nor are you Amy, having gotten the privilege of going off on your own," Kol reminded her without wavering his firm stance.

Hannah growled and was about to say something when Lexi got in between them. "Kol, Hannah, stop it right now. I won't have you arguing, especially not in front of company."

"Alexia…"

"No, Kol, I'm putting a stop to this," Lexi said. "I know you only want what's best for Hannah, and I respect that." She looked toward Isaac, who was sitting on the couch with Amy. "Now, as I said before, I won't have you arguing in front of our guest."

"Fine," Kol said, throwing his hands up in surrender.

Lexi could still sense some tension in the room, especially from Kol. Even though he gave in, something told her that he wasn't exactly having an easy time of this, since no one had ever spoken to him the way she did. "I know you think I'm undermining your authority, Kol, and I apologize if I am, but I just don't want tension between you and your daughter."

Kol didn't answer her and vamp sped upstairs, slamming the door behind him. Lexi shook her head at this and decided to just let him be by himself for a little while to cool off. She then looked at Hannah, who had retracted her fangs and was somewhat calmer. "Don't worry about your father, Hannah. He only acted the way he did because he loves you very much and doesn't want anything to happen to you. I know this isn't what you want to hear right now and…"

"Its okay, Alexia," Hannah said. "I love my father, really, but it's just…sometimes, he treats me like a child, and I'm not a child. I'm perfectly capable of making my own choices." She shook her head. "I never should have come back."

"Your father will come around. Just give him time," Lexi said before she vamp sped after Kol.

Kol was sitting on his bed, angrily running his fingers through his hair when he heard a knock at the door. He didn't need to ask who it was, because he knew from the knock. "Go away, Alexia."

However, Lexi didn't listen and opened the door, meeting his gaze. "Kol, we need to talk."

"If it's about Hannah, I don't want to hear it," Kol said. "She had the gall to use her temper against me!"

"She thinks you're treating her like a child, Kol," Lexi said. "I know that I have no business interfering, but I think you should let her make her own decisions. She obviously likes Isaac; I could see it in her eyes. For God's sake, don't you want your daughter to be happy?"

"If her mother hadn't died so young, none of this would be happening!" Kol yelled.

Lexi didn't like the tone he had taken when he said that. "Kol, please, don't blame this on Daphne. She had nothing to do with this."

"Who the bloody hell should I blame then?"

"No one," Lexi said. "Though, Hannah seems to have inherited her stubbornness from you. I'm not saying you should blame yourself, I'm just pointing that out as an observation."

"You're the stubborn one too. I've never met anyone as incredibly stubborn as you are," he said softly, keeping his gaze on the ground.

Lexi saw him looking down at the floor and carefully approached him, lifting his chin.
"Yeah, well, you'd better get used to it, Mr. Mikaelson, because you're going to be in for an eternity of my stubbornness. It's one of the things that come from being in a relationship with me." She kissed him gently. "I love you, Kol, you have to know that."

"I do," he replied. "And I love you too, Alexia."

Author's Note: This story will be coming to an end pretty soon, and we're both very sorry to keep dragging it on like this. I've enjoyed writing it, but I think it's time that we try and focus on the ups and downs of the New Orleans group when Stella-Luna, Evelyn, Gwendolyn and the others as they take over Marcel's throne.