Fear not! Klaus and Julia will get their happy ending eventually. But for the sake of story telling it's not going to be easy.

This chapter nearly killed me. Please let me know your thoughts. (I'm sorry but I don't want to be the only one in pain.)

My chest tightens as I help Klaus straighten his coat and tie. "Are you sure you don't want to go?" he asks me.

"Lana only had four tickets. Elijah adores the opera and I think it's important Marcel and Rebekah get the chance to be a true couple in public. And I would never dream of not letting you go with your family."

"You like the opera too."

"I do. But there will be other shows." I smile. "Besides. I could use some time to myself for a bit. I've neglected a few things around the compound as of late."

He shakes his head in amusement. "I think perhaps you work too much sometimes."

"Says the man who decided he wanted to be king of the supernatural world," I say as I roll my eyes.

"Easier to keep my family safe that way."

"And tonight you and your family can enjoy that security by going to the opera."

"Yes. Security." He smiles what may well be the softest smile I've ever seen on his face. "We finally found a home. We have roots. Rebakah has found someone to be happy with."

"You made your home here over a century ago. Has it not felt like home in all that time?"

"I didn't want to believe it. But here we are. We're still here. We have built an amazing city. We have a place to go back too. We have people who work well with us. For the first time in a long time I feel as though I could call myself...happy."

"Nik!" We turn to see Rebekah at the door. "We need to get going or we're going to be late."

"I'll be down in a minute," he says before she nods and leaves again. He looks at me. "Thank you."

"You should thank Lana. She's the one that got me the tickets."

His eyes bore into me. "That's not what I mean. We have found a home in New Orleans. And we have found a home in you. So thank you."

My heart stutters and I find myself at a loss for words. It's as close to a declaration of love I think I'll ever get from him and I find myself simultaneously elated and saddened by that fact. I dare not let myself hope for more as this is already more than I could've wished for. "You're welcome," is all I say. "You best hurry now or Rebekah will be back up here to have a fit."

He laughs and leans down to catch my lips with his. I smile. "What's that for?"

He smirks. "Because I can. Because I want to." His brow furrows deep in thought while his eyes seem to study mine.

"Nik!" Rebekah's voice startles us from our little bubble.

He smiles and looks back at me. "There's something I want to talk to you about tonight. I'll see you later," he says with promise and kiss to my hand.

He's gone before I even fully register the entirety of our exchange. I decide it's probably best not to dwell on any of it. I can busy my hands in the kitchen as has become habit in the last hundred years.

Someone pays me a surprise visit not long later. "Lana! What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd stop in to see my friend. I heard that Klaus granted a public blessing to Marcel and Rebekah."

I nod. "He did."

"That must be a weight off your shoulders."

I laugh. "It is. But I'm sure my shoulders will find a new weight to carry before the day is out."

She hums in agreement. "Mmm. That's always the way of things isn't it? Particularly for women of influence such as us."

I turn toward the back door and am startled by the unfamiliar face. "Oh! Can I help you?"

The man's calculating eyes send shivers down my spine. "I am looking for a Julia Rochelle?"

His velvet voice and familiar accent sends warning bells off in my mind. "That would be me. Is there something I can help you with?"

His responding smile is cold and the foreboding sense of Destruction I've been feeling for awhile hits me full force. "As a matter of fact there is. You see, I am looking for my son. Elijah. Is he home?"

I swallow as the name in my mind burns red. Mikael. I've heard enough about sadistic man to know that everything is going to change. And I can only hope we survive it. I gather every ounce of courage in my body. "I believe he's on his way to the opera but I can check upstairs to be sure if you'd like?"

"That would be most helpful."

I try to keep him in my sights as I turn toward my friend. "Lana. If you don't mind a rain check, we can pick this up later? I'm afraid I have company."

She takes my hint for what it is and takes her leave. If I need her I'll send for her. "I'll just be a moment," I say to Mikael before I heading toward the stairs, breathing shallowly. I reach the bottom of the stairs and go for the sword that hangs on the wall.

I blink for a moment and Mikael is at my elbow and grasping my arm preventing from reaching the weapon. "You're not as good at hiding your panic as you think you are, Child."

I remind myself that I have been living with the most powerful vampires in the world for over a century. I can summon the strength to deal with another. "Did you want me to fetch your son or not?"

His lips turn upward in what I assume must be his version of a hard smile. "I believe I can handle things myself. But from what I hear Miss Rochelle, you may be of use to me." Without another word, something hard hits my temple and the world goes black.

The sound of an orchestra pulls at my consciousness. A sharp pain in my hands tug at my attention as the world begins to fade back into focus. I am on my knees, kneeling over a beam to which my hands are nailed. My wounds are desperately trying to heal themselves, but can't due to the obstruction. My legs are stiff and I can tell that they have been broken but have managed to knit themselves back together already.

I force myself to sit up further and my mouth opens in a silent scream and the blinding pain in my body. I grit my teeth and take in my surroundings. My eyes fall on a figure several feet to my left...Lana. A beam through her body, her entire being still and motionless. A face serene as if in sleep, but I know that she is lost. My friend is dead. My eyes drift over my shoulder and my heart shatters when I see Marcel, crucified and bleeding.

A flash of light yanks at my attention and the crimson curtain in front of me begins to rise. The lights directed at the stage blind me but my ears are still clear as the audience of the opera house applauds and fills the room with laughter.

I grit my teeth and focus on my hands. I have to get free. The sooner I'm free, the sooner I'll heal. The sooner I can get to my son. I turn my head and grip the cloth of dress in my teeth before forcefully yanking myself from the beam.

Tears sting my eyes and I can't stop the strangled cry that is torn from my throat.

Klaus appears on stage in a flash of vampire speed and I stare purposely at Marcel as my hands begin to heal and the pain begins to dull.

Klaus is quick to Marcel's side and he reaches for the wooden stakes pinning him to the cross before Mikael appears suddenly to shove him to the side. All the while the entire crowd of people laugh uproariously.

"No!" Rebekah shouts and attempts to intervene only for Mikael to grab a wooden stake and thrust it into her stomach before tossing her aside like she is no more than a rabid dog. Applause thunders across the stage.

I stumble to Rebekah's side as Klaus charges his father again only to be thrown yet again. Mikael's fangs sink into Marcel's neck and I scream.

Elijah appears in a rush and surveys the situation as he helps Klaus to his feet. "There's no helping Marcel. We must run."

Elijah tucks his sister into his arms and Klaus embraces me before they both run from the building at an inhuman speed.

We stop and Klaus puts me down as we all turn back to look at the opera house as angry flames begin to consume it from the inside out. Mikael's voice rings out across the stone streets. "The final act of Le Grand Guignol is upon us! Where are my players? Enough running, children! Step out of the shadows so we can finish this tale of sorrows."

Elijah ushers us down a dark alley and Klaus rips into his wrist to shove blood down his sisters unconscious throat. "He's coming," Elijah states.

"Come on sister," Klaus pleads. Rebekah jolts awake and her first thought is for Marcel.

"He's gone, sister," Elijah says mournfully.

My eyes have not left the sight of the flames before me. "No," I say quietly and firmly.

The screams of the people inside are drowned out only by Rebekah's cries. "No, no!"

"All of you must flee the city. I'll hold him off, Niklaus."

Klaus pulls Rebekah to her feet as Elijah tries to pull me from my trance.

I hear Klaus's strong voice laced with a hint of fear. "No. We fight him together."

"We cannot fight him. All we can do is do what we've always done. We deceive him. We lead him astray. Now, I can do that as well as anyone. You take them far away from here. I'll follow you."

"No, Elijah. You can't. You can't, Elijah." Rebekah cries. "This is just...this is my fault."

"No. This is my fault, Rebekah. I am so sorry. I'm sorry. Marcel…" Klaus's voice breaks. The opera house combusts with flame and distantly I hear the fire brigade beginning to descend. "I thought we'd found a home here."

Elijah grabs my arm and yanks my attention away from the fire. "Julia, Niklaus, please. Sister, come." He takes Rebekah in his arms and kisses her cheek softly. "You must leave. Go."

I look at Klaus and his eyes burn into mine as comprehension dawns on his face. "Marcellus," I whisper. I turn and begin to run back.

"Julia no!" Klaus blocks my path and I reach my hand up toward his face.

"You have to run." He shakes his head and I speak in as firm a tone as I can. "I'll come find you."

I kiss him firmly and drinks me in like a man without water in the desert. I pull myself away and it hurts so much because I can taste it. I can taste that nameless feeling radiating back at me from him. "Run."

"Julia." He reaches for me again but I can hear Rebekah pulling him away as I run headlong into the fray.

My eyes tell me that the fire started in the theater itself so perhaps the best way in would be through the backstage entrance that we fled through minutes before. I skid to a halt as I make it around the corner and see Marcel walking out the door. Before I can run to him, Mikael appears out of the shadows in front of him and I scream, "Marcel!" It destroys my one advantage: surprise.

But it is I who is surprised. Marcel and Mikael flash toward me and Marcel grips me in his arms with a hand over my mouth. Mikael smiles cruelly and looks at the man behind me. "Thank you Marcel Gerard. I couldn't have done it without you. My children had gotten adept at hiding from me. I owe you a great deal."

"This is not what I wanted," my son says with a voice of steel and my eyes widen.

Mikael pockets the white oak stake in his hand and ignores the comment. "The City is yours. Consider it my payment to you for doing me a favor. I have no more need of you." With that Mikael turns and walks away.

Tears well up in my eyes and I remember.

"My father despised me, even before he knew that I wasn't his son. To him I was weak. A waste of space. A waste of air and resources. I came to loathe myself, not understanding why he hated me so." Klaus's eyes glaze over in painful memories as he explains the inspiration behind his latest dark painting to me.

"It seems to me that your father has been threatened by you since the beginning."

He looks at me in surprise. "Threatened?"

I smile gently. "How can anyone hate something so much if they are not threatened by it? He did not see you as weak. He saw you for the fighter that you are, for the strength that you had, and it made him feel weak just to look at you. How could he feel like he was retaining his strength if he did not make you doubt your own?"

He looks back at the painting. "That would be comforting if it were true."

"Did I not promise to always tell the truth?"

He looks to the ground and smiles grimly. "You did." He looks back at me. "Then I shall choose to believe you."

He pauses briefly and then breaks the silence once again as I continue to admire his artwork. "I saw that strength in Marcellus. It's why I named him as I did. It's why I took him in. I saw myself in him...but I do not want him to become like me." I look at him and see the earnestness in his eyes. "I want him to be better."

"He will be. Because he has something you didn't." He raises his brow in question and I answer. "A father who is not afraid of the strong man he will become. A father who loves him, and wants him to be better."

My tears fall.