Caroline was not sure she had ever seen a more beautiful sunrise as she had that morning after she regained her humanity. Mikael and Victoria were dead, there was no one to haunt her anymore. The mansion might have suffered some damage to the fire and Damon might have been turned into a vampire, but overall, they were all safe. She turned around to look at her home, from the back there was no sign of the fire that Mikael used to attempt to burn them down. The only trace of Mikael left at all was a scorch mark in the grass, his body haven been taken away at some point.

A noise caught her attention and she turned, Damon was looking at her with wide blue eyes, while a dying Katerina was in his arms. He wasted no time in saying, "Please, help her."

Caroline looked at the doppelganger, her humanity might have been returned but that did mean she had forgiven the woman. She looked back to Damon, "She caused my family a lot of harm Damon, she does not deserve my help."

"She saved Klaus' life." He said, stopping her halfway in her turn away from him.

"What did you say?" She asked, looking toward him.

"That witch out in the woods. Katherine told me to kill her, said that she needed to do one last good thing in her life but she didn't have the strength for it anymore." He replied, looking down at the woman in his arms, "It saved Klaus' life, he owes her."

"I do not owe her anything, there was no guarantee that I would have died without your intervention." Klaus said, suddenly appearing at her side, "I will give her this however, she is doing a fantastic job at fighting the poison. I would have thought she would be dead by now, but I do suppose it has not even been a full day."

"Please." Damon begged and Caroline thought he would have been on his knees if it weren't for the way he was cradling Katerina.

Caroline felt more the man, he was clearly in love with the woman, and that would only lead to his own heartbreak she was sure. That was a decision he needed to make on his own however, "Give her some blood Niklaus."

He looked at her, "My love, she does no deserve it."

"Damon claims she saved your life, let us show her how we are better beings here." Caroline answered, "I want your word however Damon, we never see her again. You are welcome to visit, as I have a feeling your brother and Rebekah are growing quite close and I would never keep him from you. She is not welcome and if we ever see her again, she will not survive that encounter. Are we in agreement?"

"Yes." Damon said without pause, "I will make her understand it all, you will never have to see her again."

Klaus let out a long sigh, "I do not agree with this but I am too happy to have you make to deny your wishes." He said to her and then looked to Damon, "Hold open her mouth."

Damon did as instructed and Klaus bit into his own wrist, breaking it open and dripping the blood into Katerina's mouth. She did not even stir at first but after a moment Caroline saw her throat start to move as she swallowed the blood. Klaus allowed the blood to drip until the wound closed.

"Go before she wakes, I have no desire to speak to her." Caroline told him, her voice firm.

Damon nodded, "Can you tell Stefan I shall write to him soon?"

"I will." She answered and he was gone in a flash.

"I am glad to see your loving heart is on display once more." Klaus said as he placed his hands on her shoulders, "I had missed you so much while you were gone."

"I never meant to cause you or anyone else any pain, I truly did not." She told him, leaning up to give him a kiss, "I shall never turn off my humanity again, I promise."

"I never blamed you, I do not know exactly what Mikael and Victoria did, but I know it must be grave for you to have taken such measures." He said, leaning down and kissing her again.

"Let's go inside. I have more apologies to make." She said after a few moments of enjoying his embrace.

Rebekah was exhausted as she walked down the stairs, she had had to compel both James and Margaret to forget all that happened that night. She had also told them that the reason that Damon was gone was because he had left to join the army. It was a story that seemed the most plausible for the town to believe, he could die in the fighting and no one would ever question why there was nobody to bury. She had left Kol in the kitchen with the witches, knowing he would help make sure Emily's husband recovered from his wounds. So, she went in search of Stefan.

She found him in the front sitting room, looking out of a window that had been broken from the flames, but only minimal fire damage seemed to have made it inside. She cleared her throat to let him know she was there before saying, "I am sorry about Damon."

He turned to look at her, "Is he a vampire now, like you?"

She nodded, "Katherine must have given some of her blood, probably to heal any wounds she gave him from feeding on him. If there was enough left in his body when Mikael killed him, then it would explain how he became a vampire."

"He will live forever then." Stefan replied before shaking his head and looking out the window, "I am not sure I would like that."

Rebekah gave him a small smile that she did not see, "Stefan, if you do not want to remember any of this, you do not have too."

He turned back to her, "You could make me forget?"

"I could. The same as I just did to James and will probably have to do to your father." She told him, stepping closer, "I do not want you to feel trapped in anything."

"I could not be with you if that chose that route could I?" He asked.

She shook her head, "We could be together for a short while but yes, it could not last."

"Do I need to decide right this moment?"

"No, of course not. So much has happened in the last few days, you should take as much time as you need to come to your decision." She explained and came up to grab his hands, "I would never pressure you into anything."

Stefan smiled at her, "Thank you Rebekah."

She returned his smile, "I never meant for any of this to happen to you Stefan, I truly am sorry."

"I do not blame you for anything." He told her, leaning in and giving her a kiss on the cheek, "I am going to check on James and Margaret."

She nodded, "We can talk whenever you want."

She watched as he walked way, heading toward the stairs and she sat down in the the nearby chair with a sigh.

"It could still work out sister." Kol said and she looked up to see him standing in the doorway.

She shook her head, "Since when are you the optimist in the family?"

He smirked, "Ever since I met a smart-mouthed little witch in the kitchen." He winked before turning to walk away.

She laughed and shook her head, if Kol could be happy about the prospect of finding love, then she should be as well.

Elena practically collapsed on the couch in the library, she was sure this was the longest day of her life. She felt as if she could close her eyes and sleep for a week.

So much had changed in the last week, she had lost her father, and yet she seemed to have gained a new family as well. She couldn't even begin to imagine how her life was going to move forward after this. James and Margaret would get married soon, with James taking over the house and lands, and where would that leave her? She knew that James would never leave her homeless or alone, and neither would Margaret. Elijah seemed to care for her as well, his words and actions showed her that. Would he still want her to stay here even with the threat of his father dealt with? The town would have a lot to say about that if they were not married first. Did he even want to get married to her? Would she need to become a vampire for that? Caroline had been a human when she married Klaus but she became a vampire later. Elena was not sure she was ready to be a vampire.

"How are you feeling Elena?" Elijah asked, his voice causing her eyes to open and she looked at him as he took a seat on the other couch.

"Exhausted." She answered honestly and moved into a sitting position, "Is it all truly over?"

Elijah nodded, "Mikael is dead, so is Victoria and Katerina is no threat to us now."

Elena frowned, "Is she not dead as well?"

He shook his head, "Damon begged for her life, Caroline decided to give it."

"Caroline is a truly forgiving person." Elena commented, glad that the real Caroline was truly back with them again, "Will Damon be alright with her?"

"I do not think she would physically harm him, but his heart, that he has given to her and I am not sure she can be trusted with that. That is his choice to make though of course." He answered with a shake of his head.

"I understand." She answered before giving him a smile, "What happens now, between us?"

"I was hoping that you would allow me to court you properly. As for anything that happens after that, it is up to you." He told her, his eyes watching her with affection.

"I would like that as well." She said before adding, "I am not sure I am ready to be a vampire."

"You do not need to be a vampire for us to be together." He told her quickly.

"I would need to be one eventually, or what, you would just watch me become an old woman until I died? That doesn't seem like a fair life to you." She said, and reached out to him, and he gave her his hand, "I am not ready now, but I will be one day. I am only 18, I think I want to grow a bit more before I become stalled in time."

"I will be with you for however you desire." He promised her and gently lifted her hand to his mouth, giving a kiss to her knuckles.

"That is all I require." She told him in return, "I am fairly certain I am already in love with you, the rest is all just formality."

His grin took up his entire face, "I know I am already in love with you."

Her own smile was unstoppable and then she stood up to walk over to him. HIs hands moved to her waist and she bent down and gave him a loving kiss on the lips. He pulled her into his lap and she knew she would be happy doing this for the rest of her life, however long that might be.

A Few Months Later

Caroline smiled at the laughter that flowed from the ballroom as the wedding guests all celebrated. They had offered to host the reception at their own house but the Lockwood's had insisted that it be done here. Rebekah and Stefan were laughing happily with some of the other guests in the corner of the room and it left a smile in her heart. She turned to look as the groom danced with his bride, her white dress standing out in the center of the dance floor.

Klaus' hand wrapped around her waist, "Do you remember our first dance?"

"As a married couple? Or course I do." She replied, turning around in his arms.

He shook his head with a smile, "No, not that one. The one at Bekah's birthday party, the day we officially met."

She smiled and let out a small laugh as he pulled her onto the dance floor, "I do recall it, yes."

"I believe you said something along the lines of, "this is the closest you shall get to me"." He answered, his smirk filling his entire face.

"Are you calling me a liar, Niklaus Mikaelson?" She asked, feigning offense.

"Of course not, love." He said leaning down and giving her a peck on the lips, "I was just referencing it to show how far we have come from that dance to this one."

"There have been centuries of dances in between." She reminded him, "What made you focus on that one?"

"Just something about this moment made me think of it." He answered the smile still tugging at his lips.

"We are not the only one celebrating tonight with a dance." She said, inclining her head toward Elena and Elijah, who were dancing next to the happy couple.

Klaus nodded, "I think Elena will be joining us permanently soon."

"Through the bonds of marriage yes but I think she will wait a few more years before turning." Caroline answered as they danced, "She has time, something I certainly did not have."

Klaus frowned, "Would you have wanted more time?"

"No, it was the right moment for us." She replied, "Elena is still young, let her grow."

"James and Margaret will grow old without her, do you think she is ready for that?"

"I think she will be. Love makes the prospect of forever seem so easy." She told him, and placed a hand on his cheek, "It certainly did for me."

He leaned down and gave her a firmer kiss, "I feel the same way, my love."

"Forever and always." She whispered to him.

"Forever and always." He repeated.

She knew that they were bound to have more enemies in the future, people like them always did, but now, at this time, she had no concerns in the world. The future looked brighter than it ever had before.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story through all these years, or if you are new reader who just discovered it. I appreciate all the support that you have given. I never really thought we'd make it here to the end, but we have. This will be the final chapter of this story, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please don't be afraid to let me know what you thought of the ending.