This is it, guys... the very last one... sigh. :(
Thank you to the Anons, Klaroline (hope you're feeling better!), Anahita20, Marie, Justine and Tricia for another wonderful round of guest reviews! :)
There's an Author's Note coming up afterwards. Gah, I'm saaaaaad! :(
So I think we all deserve one last round of fluff, don't we? :)
YOU GUYS ROCK, ALL OF YOU!
XX
EPILOGUE
NEW ORLEANS
FOUR MONTHS LATER
Klaus and Elijah were in the study, gazing at the fire and sharing a drink in companionable silence. Except for Kol and Davina, they would all be leaving for Pakistan the next day, and everyone else had gone off to Remy's for a farewell round. The two oldest Mikaelson brothers had stayed behind, wanting to enjoy some quiet time before having to spend weeks in the company of their boisterous group of family and friends, especially the newly engaged Damon and Elena.
With an exasperated sigh, Klaus remembered the morning he and Caroline had returned to New Orleans a few weeks ago. They had not quite closed the doors behind them when Caroline's phone had rung, a squealing Elena on the other end of the line to break the news. Caroline had put her on speaker to discuss the upcoming nuptials with Silv and Davina. Elijah, Kol and he had escaped to the kitchen, desperately trying to block out all the giggling and the endless descriptions of how the older Salvatore had apparently lit the entire house with candles, covered the floors with rose petals and played a song that seemed to make every woman on the planet melt, judging by the sheer number of 'Oh my God!' shrieks from the study. For a split second, Klaus had felt a sting inside him. He should have done something like that for his Caroline. Well, maybe he still would. Something a little more classy, though.
"I am indeed grateful that they are sparing us the details of the night that followed this memorable proposal," Elijah had muttered, making his brothers roll their eyes in agreement. As the women's conversation had dragged on, especially when Rebekah had joined Elena on the other end of the line to bring the discussion on flower arrangements, bridesmaids' dress colours and invitation cards to a whole new level, they had finally fled the house and sought refuge at Remy's. Smiling inwardly, Klaus remembered how Caroline had gushed over every detail of the conversation when he had returned that night, lengthily explaining the advantages of handmade paper for the invites and the different sets of fonts that worked best with it – until he had finally reverted to desperate measures. He had wordlessly shed his clothes. With a grin, he thought of how there had been no more mention of handmade paper for the remainder of the night.
The preceding weeks and months had been pure heaven for Klaus and with each passing day, he had grown to love the world they lived in a little more. Caroline's excitement was so contagious that for the first time in very many years, he really felt his adventurous spirit return. As Elijah had once correctly pointed out, Klaus had never lost his zest for living, but his true love of life had been oppressed by his darker side for centuries. Caroline had unearthed it again, and he couldn't have been happier, not only about being with her, which made him ecstatic every single day – even when she talked about wedding invitations for hours on end – but also about rediscovering what he had always loved about the world they lived in. They were small things, like the taste of a langouste he had caught with his bare hands only minutes earlier, prepared on a charcoal grill with nothing but a little salt and pepper. Sitting on a rock and watching the waves while sharing a chilled bottle of white wine. Becoming completely engrossed in a book and losing all sense of time over it. Sketching Caroline's face in a hundred different ways while she was sound asleep, a light smile on her lovely face. Waking up to the sound of the ocean. Smelling nothing but pure, crisp air and a hint of pinecones.
Only one single blemish tainted his otherwise perfect bliss – the nightmares that still haunted him regularly. He was attempting to come to terms with the fact that they would probably never stop. Well, if they were the price he had to pay for his happiness, he would gladly accept it.
After spending two weeks on Maui, Klaus and Caroline had gone on to Ushuaia as Caroline had wanted to visit Jack. The old man had been overjoyed when they were knocking on his door unannounced, and they had spent another week down in Patagonia. With a lopsided smile, Klaus remembered how he had finally had to admit that Jack did know some hidden gems in the area that even he had not been aware existed.
They had left for Poland next, and his heart clenched a little when he remembered the day they had found the old farm in Markushof, the little village now called Markusy. According to the address given on some of the old documents, this was the land had belonged to Caroline's great-grandparents before they had left for America. The original farm house was no longer there, but just like the first time they had come to Poland, Caroline had sensed something. She had cried for a long time that day, and Klaus knew exactly how she had felt – unable to say whether they were happy tears, torn between some strange kind of homesickness and the desire to run away from the place… Strangely enough, he had faintly felt it too, even though it wasn't the village of his own ancestors. It had been hard for him to watch her for he hated to see her crying, but once she had recovered, she had wanted to see everything. An old woman in the nearby village had directed them to an almost forgotten little cemetery which she had explained was an ancient German burial site. Caroline had been stunned speechless at finding a weathered tombstone for Fritz and Wanda Jura who, according to his birth certificate, had been her great-grandfather's parents. She had been very silent for the remainder of the day, just absorbing everything she saw and breathing in the crisp air, closing her eyes often and never letting go of his hand. He had understood and respected her need for silence, and he had been very surprised when she had suddenly asked him to see Bogatovo, the village of his own ancestors. Nowadays, it was a nondescript little settlement near Kaliningrad, but Klaus took his time to describe to Caroline how it had looked when he had first seen it, and the things that had changed over the course of the centuries. Although it had actually not changed at all over many, many years.
"I'm feeling the same thing here," she had whispered, looking up at him with big eyes, "just what I felt in Markusy. Why do you think that is?" He had just silently pointed at their Signum, unable to speak. Their bond… was it still deepening? So much so that they felt one another's roots as intensely as they felt their own?
A thought had taken hold inside him after that day, a question he had not yet shared with his Caroline, and he was not certain he ever would. Would their bond become so strong at some point that once one of them died, so would the other? Apart from the two surviving Pale Blood bearers, was Caroline becoming the one other method to kill him? The strange thing was that he did not mind, not even a little bit. Should she ever die, he would follow her without hesitation, which was why he had decided to keep the remaining Pale Blood bearers alive. He needed a means to kill himself should need arise, and he was well aware that this was an extremely egoistic decision. The Pale Blood could not only end his life but that of his siblings as well. Still, the mere thought of having to live an eternity without Caroline was so beyond anything he could bear that he was not able to help himself. But it would remain his secret. A secret he would share with Elijah, and Elijah only, as he knew his older brother would be the only one to understand his need for an emergency exit. And he would keep a very close eye on the Pale Blood, protecting his family just as fiercely as he always had.
The copies he had crafted of the Original Grimoire had already been destroyed, Bonnie had been compelled, uttering a string of profanities and swearing revenge when she was finally released. Unbeknownst to anyone, Klaus had had her every step shadowed by a reliable ally ever since she had left New Orleans, and he had recently been informed that she had settled near a small village somewhere in Nebraska, for reasons that were yet to be investigated. He would take no risks whatsoever where Caroline's safety was concerned, therefore he would always keep an eye on the Bennett witch's every move.
He had also had a hard time deciding on the primeval manuscript's fate. In the end, he and Elijah had made up their minds. After lengthy discussions, they had agreed to keep it, removing one ingredient from each potion again and confining it to memory. With everything that could come to pass in the world of the supernatural, the Original Grimoire might prove to be of use in the future. One could never be too careful. This time, though, the document would not be hidden in the Vatican again; Klaus had decided that once they were done in Pakistan, he, Elijah, Silv and Caroline would make a side trip to Bouvet Island. This small, uninhabited piece of volcanic rock and ice halfway between South America, South Africa and Antarctica was the remotest spot on Earth, and where better to hide the Original Grimoire than on an island that was probably one of the planet's most difficult places to reach?
Hearing the front door, he emerged from his musings and looked up at Elijah who was absently running a finger over his Signum. Silv and his older brother had exchanged the eternal mark very shortly after the storm had subsided, and if his sister-in-law had been radiantly happy ever since her reunion with Elijah back in France, she now looked almost as ecstatic as Klaus felt every day. And so did his older sibling, only that he was not as openly exuberant as his wife. But Klaus knew his brother better than anyone else, and he could clearly see how deeply happy Elijah was. They both were, and more than once, they had just silently looked at each other and shaken their heads in nameless wonder at how radically their lives had changed for the better.
Klaus raised a brow when he discerned but two pairs of feet approaching the study. Just Caroline and Davina? No Kol? With a grin, he thought about his brother and the young witch, and how they had practically become inseparable ever since Davina had moved into the house. Not too long after that, they had done the deed and from that moment on, Kol had had a hard time leaving her side for more than five minutes at a time. Klaus remembered the morning after it had happened, when the two of them had descended the stairs and almost tumbled over their own feet because they had been completely unable to take their eyes off each other. He knew exactly how his brother had felt, and images of the dream Caroline had given him had flashed through his head all day long. What an unspeakably precious gift that had been!
An instant later, the two women entered the study and his heart swelled at the sight of his beautiful girl, the way it always did. Her face lit up when she saw him, and for the millionth time, Klaus asked himself how he had ever come to deserve this incandescent happiness.
"Niklaus," she said quietly after he had risen to pull her into his arms and kiss her thoroughly, "There is someone who would like to talk to you."
He cocked his head and looked at her quizzically. Was there someone who wanted to ask a favour of him? This was nothing new, but he was mildly surprised that Caroline acted as an intermediary. "Who is it, then?"
She ran her knuckles across his cheek and said nothing, just nodding towards Davina who was busying herself setting up a circle of candles. Caroline turned her gaze to Elijah. "Brother, please stay as well, will you?"
"Of course," Elijah nodded, looking at Klaus and lifting a brow of his own. He rose from his chair to join his brother. Caroline took a few steps back, and everyone watched Davina who had raised her hands and began to mumble. They could all feel the energy emanating from her, and for a fleeting moment, Klaus asked himself whether even Esther had had this much power in her lifetime. He had a fleeting suspicion that the destruction of the Other Side had somehow added to Davina's strength which had further confirmed his resolve to find out more about the creator of the annihilated plane. Well, any sort of power was in very safe hands with the young witch, who, to everyone's astonishment, seemed to even manage to turn Kol into an adult. Incredible.
All of a sudden, the witch's eyes glazed over and her voice changed. She had apparently established contact with someone in the Eternal Realm, making Klaus wonder who would possibly want to speak to him.
And then the floor seemed to drop from underneath his feet.
"Nik?"
He stared at Davina wide-eyed, and a thunderstorm of emotions raced through him. There had only ever been three people to call him that. Bekah, Kol and…
"Henrik?" he whispered, not trusting his own voice. He blindly reached out for Caroline who was right at his side, taking his hand and squeezing it tenderly. "Little brother, is that you?"
"None other," Henrik replied cheerfully through Davina, "and I am here with Ralph, but it would seem that only one of us can speak to you at a time. Is anyone else with you?"
"I am here, too," Elijah choked out, his emotions apparently getting the better of him for once. That's a first!
"Lijah! Brothers, you cannot believe how happy I am to speak with you! I have missed you all so much! But first of all, I wanted to tell you that I am sorry, Nik!"
For the first time ever since he had become a vampire, Klaus felt the urgent need to sit down. His voice was a mere rasp when he spoke again. "What are you talking about, young'un?"
"That night… there… I could not fathom what was happening and why you were there. Why you did not move. I hated you for a moment, Nik, I truly did, because I was incapable of understanding why you would not help me." Klaus once again felt all of his century-long suffering crashing down on him, and there was nothing he wanted more than to pull his little brother into his arms and tell him how endlessly sorry he was. "Then you closed your eyes, and I could see you were shutting everything out. For a split second, I thought you had just left me to suffer alone and yes, I hated you even more in that moment, big brother. But then… they stopped for a little while, and I managed to take a closer look at you to finally realize that you could not move. And you were crying, Nik. You were crying so hard that the tears all but soaked your shirt. That was when I ultimately understood that something must have been truly wrong with you. Just when they started to… well, when they started again, I heard one of them mutter something about how you were going through everything they did to me. I did not know how that was possible, but I believed them. Nik, I should not have felt the way I did for a split second, and I should never have given you the hate-filled look I gave you right before you closed your eyes. When we were still alive, you always said you could read my face like a book, and in that one single moment, before I gathered that you could not move, I wanted you to see that I hated you. Gods, Nik, I am so, so sorry! I know you would have torn them apart had you been able to, and I should never, ever have doubted you, not even for that one second."
There was a long moment of silence, and Klaus felt Elijah's hand on his shoulder. He had to fight the impulse to break down and cry once more over the incredible ordeal his little Henrik had had to go through.
"Do not say that, young'un. I should have made myself move. It was my duty to protect you, and I failed. My Gods, Henrik," he whispered desperately, "I cannot even begin to tell you just how sorry I am. It was my vanity, my hubris that made your suffering possible in the first place. Had I not believed myself invincible and lowered my guard, none of this would have happened."
"No, Nik, that is not true. I have had very many centuries to ponder this, and I have also just lengthily discussed it with Ralph who told me so many things I was not aware of. Mikael wanted to get to you, and he knew that I was the key to do so. You always protected me more fiercely than any of the others, and he knew that if he wanted to truly hurt you, he would need to hurt me. It would have happened eventually. As I said, I have had a very long time to think about it, and I have understood something you need to understand as well." He paused for a moment, and Klaus tried to remember that his baby brother was not really a baby. Not anymore. He was a thousand years old, and even if he had not spent that millennium on Earth, his mind had still developed. "I have suffered, Nik, and I do not have to tell you about it, for you suffered through the same ordeal with me. But my pain was over the second I died and it has never returned. Yours remains to this day. You have suffered for centuries. I know that night still haunts your dreams, Nik, and I cannot take those nightmares from you, nor can I tell you whether they will ever stop. But I can tell you that I am happy here, I am not alone, I am at peace, and you need not to worry about me for a single moment. And what is even more important… I am overjoyed to learn that we were not half brothers. Remember that I love you, big brother. I always have and I always will."
Klaus ignored the tears that were flooding his face. "As I love you, young'un. I have for a thousand years." Then his voice failed him, and he felt Caroline move into his arms, wrapping herself around him and gently caressing his back. He simply adored her for it.
There were so many things he wanted to tell Henrik, so many stories he would have loved to share with his baby brother, but he knew he had to be reasonable. Contact with the Eternal Realm could not hold up forever, even when established by someone as powerful as Davina, and maybe it was better that way. Maybe at some point, the dead had to be left in peace. Something told him he would spend most of the conversation crying, anyway. He would never have hoped to speak with Henrik again, and he needed to wrap his head around the fact that his brother did not blame him for what had happened. Klaus knew that part of him would always blame himself and that he would never be able to completely leave the events behind him. But just as he had begun to slowly heal when he had learned that Elijah had never even thought of putting any blame on him, he would now be able to truly make his peace with himself. Eventually.
"Lijah?" Henrik's voice suddenly sounded.
"Yes, young'un?"
"Have you finally beaten Nik in a sword fight?"
Klaus and Elijah looked at each other, smiling. "The correct question would be, has Niklaus ever beaten me again?"
"You are delusional, big brother," Klaus chuckled, and they both closed their eyes for a second at hearing Henrik's bubbly laughter. Even with Davina's voice, it still sounded like him.
"Brothers, will you promise me something?" the youngest Mikaelson asked, his voice a little more serious now.
"Anything," Klaus murmured, seeing Elijah nod vigorously.
"Never give up on our family, no matter what happens. And tell Bekah and Kol that I love them, too."
"We promise," Elijah said. "Family above all."
"Good. For I will come to haunt you should you ever forget."
Klaus cleared his throat. He needed to be alone, for he felt the breakdown coming after all. "We will meet again, young'un. One day."
They could almost hear the smile in Henrik's voice.
"I know."
Klaus was standing at the panoramic windows that led out to the Vieux Carré, his back to the room, when she entered. Right after his conversation with Henrik, he had squeezed her hand and left the study. When she had been about to follow him, Elijah, who looked more emotional than she had ever seen him before, had just shaken his head.
"Give him a moment, sister. He needs some time to let this settle inside his head. And his heart."
So she had stayed downstairs for a couple of hours, talking to the others who had arrived shortly after, but her thoughts had been only on Klaus. It had been his nightmares that had given her the idea, and unlike earlier times, she had known that it was the right thing to do. She had called Davina from Maui, asking her to establish contact with Ralph who, just after arriving in the Eternal Realm, had set out to find Henrik. It had taken him a long while despite the fact that they were related by blood which had made it easier. When Davina had spoken to Ralph again, he had told her that Henrik was more than eager to talk to Klaus, having spent centuries wanting to let his older brother know that he was sorry for having doubted him.
When she closed the door behind her, he slowly turned to face her. Caroline could see streaks of dried tears on his cheeks, and she resisted the impulse to rush over to him and pull him into her arms.
"You always know just what to do to make me heal a little more, do you not, my angel?" he whispered almost inaudibly. "What have I ever done to deserve your love? How can I of all people be worthy of everything you are giving me?"
Now she did cross the room and stood before him, placing a hand on his heart. "Niklaus, you have done many evil things. But as we have learned, it is always about a person's true nature and what they make of it over the course of their existence. In your heart, you're not an evil man, and your choices in the future will be different from those you made over the years. You're a man who loves so wholeheartedly, who would gladly give his life for the ones he truly loves. Why do you think that despite everything that happened, your siblings are still with you after a thousand years, even after you've put them in boxes and daggered them countless times? And whatever else happened between the lot of you? It's because in their hearts, they know who you really are. They know you're worth it. They love you, Niklaus, and so do I. Endlessly so. You have been concentrating on your dark side for so long that you have completely forgotten how much you are capable of giving."
"But…"
"No," she interrupted, "no buts. I understand that it is hard for you to accept that the Big Bad Hybrid is not the essence of your personality. It's a large part of it, it will always be, and quite frankly, the guy can be pretty damn hot." She smiled when he covered her hand with his. "But the core of your personality, Niklaus, is that fiercely protective brother and husband. The strong, caring man who puts his family above everything else. And that is why you deserve every ounce of my love and that of your siblings."
His eyes closed and Caroline took another step, leaning her head against his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist. His arms came encircled her, and they stood in silence, holding each other.
"Do you remember the day I moved in with you, back in Mystic Falls?" she whispered after a while, feeling him nod. "That day, I asked you to paint a portrait of Henrik, and you said you weren't ready to face him every day. Maybe when we return from Pakistan and Bouvet Island, you will think about it again?"
With a deep sigh, he kissed her hair and tightened his hold on her. "Yes, my darling girl, I believe I will." Then he gently pulled out of their embrace and took a step back to look at her. "But we will not return to New Orleans for a while once we are done in Mehrgarh."
Caroline cocked her head and gave him a quizzical glance. "We won't?"
"I have watched you very closely over the past months, my love, and I have observed a few little things. One of them is that you do breathe differently when we are close to the sea. When I found you in Ushuaia, you told me you had grown to love the ocean, and that is exactly what I have seen every single time you are near it. Your face lights up, your eyes shine and your whole posture changes."
Klaus pulled a small box from his pocket and handed it to her. Curiously, Caroline opened it to find a key on a grey satin band. He sounded a little nervous when he explained. "I hope you do not mind that I made the decision on my own, but I wanted to surprise you. If it is not to your liking, please tell me so, and we will make other arrangements. This… is the key to our new home. It is located in Kahala, one of the most exclusive neighbourhoods of Honolulu. The University of Hawaii is in close proximity, and you will be able to continue your art history studies, or switch to oceanography or any other subject of your choosing. It is not exactly a solitary place, but I imagined you might prefer some more lively surroundings. The house is located directly on the beach, and…"
He didn't get any further when Caroline put a finger on his lips. "You don't have to sell this to me, Niklaus." She kissed him fiercely, almost jumping into his arms and unable to suppress a delighted giggle. "Oh my God, I just love the idea! And I'm sure I'll love everything about the house – our first real place, I mean… our own place, not the family's! Okay, well, we'll probably have to get used to the thought that they'll all come to visit constantly, but… our own home! Thank you, my love!" She kissed him again and once she released him, she stared at the key for a long time. "Wow. We're really going to live in Hawaii. But…"
Now it was he who interrupted her, and she could almost hear the relief in his voice. How could he even think I wouldn't like this? "Don't you dare ask me what I am going to do with my time. First of all, I have neglected my painting for a ridiculously long while, and I am yearning to get back to it. Second, Caligula will come along, and the battles I will have to fight to get him to set just one hoof in the water will be very entertaining indeed. Third, I am very much afraid that you are right and we will not be without our extended family for overly long. And lastly, the Hawaiian Islands do have a supernatural community just waiting to be terrorized." He winked at her and chuckled, although Caroline had the distinct feeling that he was only partly joking.
Scooping her up into his arms, he carried her over to their bed, sitting down and making her straddle him. "I cannot wait to make love to you in the ocean again, my Caroline. And in the sand at night. On the hood of a bloody car. Against a palm tree."
"How about in this bed?" Caroline suggested, giving a happy laugh when he pulled her shirt over her head.
For a long time, there were no sounds but their sighs and subdued moans as they kissed passionately, reveling in the sweetness of knowing that they would finally be able to start a life together, far from dangers and enemies. At least for a while. Her breathing becoming increasingly labored, Caroline mobilized all her willpower to pull back from him for another moment.
"Niklaus?"
"Yes, my sweet little one?"
"If you are not too busy once we live in Hawaii, can you do some research on something?"
He looked at her, intrigued. "And what would that be?"
She swallowed. The Signum had been what had made her wonder whether there was a chance. It had overridden the fact that no one should be able to give Klaus dreams, it had actually brought down an entire world – so why would it not be possible? "Do you remember the dream I gave you?"
Tenderly tucking a strand of curls behind her ear, he brushed his lips over her temple. "How could I ever forget that particular dream for even one minute?" he asked with a loving smile.
"So you also remember how I said that I gave you the one thing I can't really give you?"
Klaus nodded, still not sure where she was going with this. Had her heart still been beating, it would have become arrhythmic by now. She had no idea whether he was going to laugh at her, be mad or simply shrug and dismiss her as a dreamer.
Clearing her throat, she looked at him cautiously. "There is something I would love to give you even more than that, and I would like to find out whether there is a loophole to one very specific supernatural rule that keeps me from giving you that particular gift."
"And what rule is that?" he inquired softly.
"Vampires can't procreate."
His voice had an audible crack to it when he recovered from his shock. Whatever he had been expecting, this had definitely not been it. "Caroline, this is not Twilight. This is the real world."
"I want to give you a family," she whispered. "The one thing you have always dreamed of, Niklaus."
He closed his eyes. "Will you ever, ever, realize that you are all I need, Caroline Mikaelson? You are my family, together with my siblings. I have what I always dreamed of – I love, I am being loved, I am at peace with my brothers and sister, and there is no one I have to fight or hide from. I have dreamed of a life, Caroline, and you have given me that life. I am deeply sorry that the possibility to bear children has been taken from you when you were turned. But… even if that was not the case, I do not think I am what you could call father material." I beg to disagree, Niklaus. "And most importantly, I do not want you to ever believe that I feel incomplete. I never could. Not with you by my side," he said firmly.
A tear escaped her, and he was quick to kiss it from her face. Caroline rested her cheek against his. "Neither do I. And yet, something inside me desperately wants to give you more than just me."
Klaus pulled her into his arms and lowered her onto the mattress. His lips were all over her face, and he kissed her the way he always did when his love for her threatened to overflow his system.
"There is nothing, my Caroline, nothing you can give me that could make me any happier than I am right now, right here, with you in my arms. Look me in the eyes and tell me you doubt me."
His beautiful, dark blue eyes were full of love, promise and honesty. No, there was no doubt. Not a single one. He was deliriously happy, as was she, and it oozed from their every pore. Caroline believed him unconditionally. It was not that she felt she was missing anything, either. It was just her overwhelming desire to give everything she could. To him. For him. For them.
Maybe I can find a way.
Someday.
*** THE END ***
