Oh man guys. It's only been a couple of days since my last update but the words are flowing so I am posting. A couple more chapters after this and we hit the point where we will make a clean break. I almost feel like this story has become a prequel to whatever it is my brain is going to throw at us when we catch up with the modern day. I am so pleased that so many of you have taken the time to follow, favorite and review. They really help me keep the motivation to keep writing. Thank you again. Onward!

I begin to notice a shift in Rebekah. Her cold approach to Marcel seems forced. In the meantime, Marcel is quicker to smile but coiled like a tense spring.

It amuses me that they think I don't know.

It worries me that they think Klaus won't find out.

We've all been down this path before and it didn't end well the first time. I don't imagine it will end any better this time unless something changes. They cannot take the same secretive approach. It puts Klaus on the defensive and he doesn't do well when he's backed into a corner. The wolf in him, although bound and trapped, lashes out whenever he is backed into that corner.

I decide that the best I can do is have a conversation with the secretive couple. Perhaps I can do damage control before anything really starts.

I manage to stumble upon them in a rather...compromising position. She's pinned to the wall with a leg hitched over his hip, his lips on her neck and I thank my luck that I have come in now rather than a few minutes from now. I clear my throat and they leap apart as if they've been burned.

"We can explain," Rebekah states while straightening up.

I raise my eyebrow. "While I am curious as to what sort of jumbled explanation you're going to concoct for this I think I will save you the trouble and just say what needs to be said."

They both swallow in their panic. Marcel's face turns hard. "I love her. I want to be with her. If you can choose to be with Klaus of all people then I should be able to make this decision."

Rebekah steps forward and takes his hand. I smile slightly at the united front they are putting forth. "You don't choose who you love. But other's should not have a say in the decision to act on it."

"It's not me that needs to be convinced. I am not trying to keep you apart," I begin.

Marcel interrupts me. "And yet you support Klaus in almost every way. You don't fight him."

"I choose my battles Marcel. Klaus is a stubborn man. A distrusting man. No one can change his mind over night which is why I wanted to come to you today and ask you both for time. You have never lost my approval but I want you to be able to be together without fear. I want you to have Klaus's blessing, and I am giving you my word. You will have it. But I need time. So please. Be patient."

They both look thoughtful. Rebekah squeezes his hand and nods her head at me. "We can do that."

"But we can't wait forever, Mother. We can't give you forever."

"I'm not asking you to. I am just asking that you be patient long enough for me to convince Klaus that it is not a bad idea. That it is better for you to be together than not. Like I said. It won't be over night. But I can and will get there."

They both agree to it, and I agonize over the rest of the day about how I will accomplish my goal. How do I broach the subject?

Oddly enough, I almost don't have to. As is our habit, Klaus paints in the sunroom while I sit off to the side with a book in my lap. My eyes stare at the page, unseeing, as I ponder my course of action. Klaus's voice catches my attention. "Whatever is bothering you, you might as well be out with it. You haven't held back the truth from me yet. Don't start now."

I give him a tight smile. "No. Never. But I'm afraid I don't quite know how to approach this particular subject."

He chuckles. "Like you approach everything else. Boldly and decisively, damn the consequences. A devil doesn't waste time being hesitant."

"Very well." I close the book and give him my full attention. "I understand that you must have reasoning behind your disapproval of Marcel and Rebekah forming an attachment. I have no idea what your reasoning is. Perhaps it is valid. But the fact of the matter is that they have formed an attachment and I doubt that keeping them apart is going to do anything to save them from whatever it is you're trying to protect them from."

His jaw twitches in barely contained frustration. "I am not blind to their affections. They aren't nearly as subtle as they think they are."

"No they are not." I smile slightly and attempt to lighten the conversation just a bit. "But neither have we lately."

The comment seems to catch him off guard. "They fancy themselves to be in love with each other. I don't think we are under any such delusion."

It's my turn to be caught off guard. I don't know what to make of the feeling that shoots through me. It has no name. But it passes quickly and I know that for the most part, I agree with him. "That may well be true. But I don't think we have to be in love with each other for us to have a certain amount of affection between us. Do you deny that?"

"Of course not."

"Then what is the difference? They have affection toward each other. They want to be together. They're going to find a way to do that whether they get your approval or not. So what is the point of withholding your blessing?"

"I can't afford for them to be weak." I furrow my brow in confusion and he takes that to mean he must explain his statement. "My family has been around for centuries. We have no shortage of enemies. Their attachment to each other makes them weak. Marcellus can be used against her. Or worse, Marcellus has the capacity to hurt her in ways that even our enemies cannot."

His voice becomes harsher with every word as his anger at the whole situation bubbles to the surface. "My sister has never been wise with her choices in her love life. And Marcellus...he is like a son to me. My best friend or as close to it as I can allow. And as a son as an heir, he inherits all of the carnage that we Mikaelson's have left in our wake. He can't afford to be distracted. None of us can."

"I understand," I say calmly in thought. "I don't think you're right but I understand it. Rebekah is your sister. Marcellus is your son. They have love between them that is a different kind then you feel for them but it's love nonetheless. For better or worse we are all family. And family is power. I don't think it makes them weak. It makes them strong."

I stand and straighten my skirt. "They are going to do what they want because they are their own people. In my mind it would be better for them to do it with your blessing than not. At least that way you can better keep an eye on any threats that arise. In secret, they are in fact exactly what you fear. They are weak."

I turn on my heel and leave the room quickly, not wanting to give him a chance to come back with another speech. I intend to let him simmer in my words for the rest of the day.

The last time I tried to convince Klaus of something, it took me several years. Rebekah remained daggered for a total of 52 years before he released her of his own volition. I hope it doesn't take as long to convince him to undagger her heart in the matter of Marcel. I don't know how long they can wait for me to bend his ear.

I try not to bring it up too often. But Klaus and I discuss it several more times as the days march forward.

"I understand. You think it makes them weak. But I still stand by the fact that family is power."

"You can't tell me that if someone threatened Marcel that you wouldn't do anything to protect him," Klaus counters.

"Of course I would! How does that make me weak?"

"You would betray your own self, your very convictions, to keep him out of harm's way. You would become a tool for the enemy."

"I would become unpredictable," I correct. "You look at any creature in the wild. What happens when the young are threatened? The mother becomes a force to be reckoned with. Threatening the one's I love doesn't put me at a disadvantage or a weakness. It emboldens me and makes me dangerous."

"The loss would not be worth it. No matter how dangerous you think you'll become. It's not always enough. And you are being purposely naive if you think otherwise!"

I huff in frustration and change tactics. "What am I, Klaus? Am I not a weakness? To Marcel, my son? To Rebekah, my sister? To Elijah, my friend?"

His eyes flash anger at me. "And to me, your lover? Is that what you want to know? That you have power over me? Because you don't."

"I never said that I did. I did not list you. I know that I'm a pawn in your game. I get that. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy what you can give me even if it's just what we have. That's fine. This is not about you and me. This is about a son and a sister that we share whether you like it or not. And it's about their happiness."

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "I have said the truth as I promised you. I won't bring it up again this year. But you're eventually going to see what I see. Not because I'm smarter than you but simply because I'm right."

When I sit in the kitchen a little while later I find myself with that feeling again. That nameless shot through my body and yet this time it lingers. I don't think I can pretend it's nameless any more but I refuse to acknowledge it to myself. I am a pawn. I am family to Marcellus. Not to Klaus. He has never made me any promises and it is not fair to expect anything of him. So why do I feel this? Why do I feel what shall remain nameless?

True to my word I drop the issue for the time being. I find myself sitting in a jazz club when Lana, the crescent wolf alpha, joins me.

"You gotta love the Big Easy. I don't think I've liked anything so much as jazz."

I smile at her and the easy companionship she seems so adept at inciting. The mark of any good leader, I am sure. "I have to agree with you. I've grown to be quite fond of the music that's been forming lately."

She cocks her head at me. "If you don't mind my saying so, you seem troubled."

I look at her in surprise. "You are quite perceptive."

She shrugs her fur coat covered shoulder. "I have to be with who I am. It's not easy keeping a pack of wolves in line."

I laugh. "I wouldn't think so. I imagine it's much like keeping a gaggle of children corralled."

"Can't be any worse than keeping a family of vampires in line."

I raise my eyebrow. "You do me too much credit, dear Lana. Vampires are very independent creatures. They don't look to an alpha naturally as a wolf does."

"And yet they seem to subscribe to family loyalty just as fiercely." She pauses and seems to look into my soul. "You worry for the future of your little family."

I ponder for a moment whether or not to trust her with my worries. Rebakah and I have not been as close as we once were. She is no longer my confidant and I am in need of an ear. "I do. Of course I do. They are all very stubborn. None more so than Klaus, although Marcellus could give him a run for his money."

She chuckles at that.

I sigh and look at the swirling liquid in my glass. "Something is brewing on the horizon, Lana. I don't know what it is but I can taste it. I don't know if my family will survive it. I don't know that I will. I fear that something is hunting us and I have a couple of ideas on what or who it could be but I have never been one to dwell on the past. I just have a feeling that the past is about to splinter my entire existence."

She nods in understanding. "You will survive it," she says with confidence.

"And how can you be sure of that?"

She looks at me with what I can only name as wisdom. "Because there is something of a wolf in you. The loyalty. The protective instinct. You are a fighter to the core and I for one am glad to have your ear. You have been very welcoming to my people. If you had wolf's blood I would name you a Crescent in a heartbeat."

I can't help the soft smile that rises on my face. "You do me a great honor, dear Lana."

She smiles in return and grasps my hand on the table. "You once promised that you would lend aid to my pack should we ever be in need. I pledge that my pack will come to your aid, should you ever need it."

I squeeze her hand in return. "Your generosity warms me. Your people are lucky to have you," I say with all sincerity.

She releases my hand and reaches up to unclasp the necklace that she wears before pooling the charm and chain into my palm. "If you find yourself lost or trapped or in need of assistance under dire circumstances, turn the moon full, and my people will come for you."

I finger the crescent shaped moon in my hand and look closely at the inner edge that can turn outward to make a circle. "Is it spelled?" I ask.

She nods. "Yes. Keep it close. Keep it secret. If won't do you much good if it is known to be magic."

I look her in her dark eyes and marvel at the trust and friendship that she somehow managed to gain in me in our handful of interactions in the last several months. "Thank you, Lana. I could never repay such an extraordinary gift."

"It is I that is repaying you. There are no debts between friends. While I am at it I'll throw in some tickets to the opera next week. I know Elijah in particular would enjoy the outing with the arts."

My smile turns mischievous. "Have your eye on the noble brother then?"

She smirks as she gets up to leave. "It can be wise to make deep connections with one's allies. Particularly when they were once enemies." She finishes her drink. "I'll send the tickets 'round to the compound."

A few nights later, Klaus finds me in my own room and enters without so much as a knock. "I need to speak with you."

"I said all I need to say," I remind him.

"But I haven't." He takes a breath. "The part where you said it would be better for them to be in the open where I can keep watch over them, rather than them being weakened by secrets...it would be wise to give my blessing for that reason alone."

I remind myself to breathe. It's not exactly an admission of fault, but it is a step forward. "So Rebekah and Marcel...?"

"May fraternize as they please and with our support. I have been concerned about how long we may last here. But New Orleans is our home. We have been here a long time and I foresee a long future here. Perhaps we can afford a weakness or two with our accumulated power in this city."

"They will be very happy and grateful to you I am sure," I smile.

That evening I sit between Elijah and Klaus as we take drinks in one of the jazz clubs. Marcel and Rebekah enter separately, and yet it is clear to those of us who know them well that they didn't wait for a blessing the way I wanted them to. And yet it doesn't matter now. Klaus will give his blessing.

"Look at these two pretending to be apart while so clearly a pair."

Elijah looks at his brother worryingly. "Niklaus, not now. Why must you cause trouble?

I place my hand on Elijah's arm. "It's okay, Elijah."

Klaus stands with his drink and I stand with mine as well. He gathers the attention of the crowd. "I'd like to take this opportunity to draw attention to two people who have been sneaking around behind my back together."

Marcel and Rebakah both tense with worry as he continues. "As we move into a new era, we require more progressive attitudes to match. So, to my loving sister and my right-hand man and best friend Marcel, may they find joy in each other."

I raise my glass. "Here here." The whole room drinks with us.

Klaus smiles. "Enough talk...Music!" The band starts to play again and he heads toward his sister.

As he speaks to her in low tones I go to Marcel. "All good things to those who wait, my son."

"You did it," he says in disbelief.

I smile and hug him and hesitates briefly before hugging me back. "I told you that I would. All I needed was time." I pull back and smile at him to soothe his obvious apprehension. "I'm sure you'll both be very happy together. Always and forever."

I join Klaus on our way back to the table and Elijah's company. "I think I shocked them," Klaus says with an amused smirk.

"Obviously that was your intention or else you wouldn't have made a spectacle of them in public giving them heart attacks," I say in response.

"Can you blame me? It's so easy to rile them up."

I can't help but roll my eyes. But I smile because it seems as though he is breathing easy. He is…happy I think. He has allowed himself to relax. And so have I.

Yet the ever brewing Destruction grows ever closer.