Chapter 41

Caroline quickly texted Liz to let her know that everything had gone according to plan as the others began to clean up the ashes. Caroline sighed as she looked at the scorch mark that was etched into the floor. "I didn't even think of the flames leaving behind a mark. I'll have to get Mom an area rug to cover that."

"Perhaps there will be a large donation to the department that they will be able to use to get the floors redone, Love." Klaus smiled at her as he pulled her in for a hug. She felt all the tension leave his body as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You were great in that fight, Caroline."

Caroline smiled against his chest. "Thanks, I was pretty badass, wasn't I?" He smiled down at her and, and she could see the pride in his eyes for the way she fought.

Their moment was cut short by Kol, who was studying the wig that he picked up from the floor. "Perhaps I should dye my hair blonde; I thought I looked rather dashing."

"I'll never talk to you again if you bleach your hair." Bonnie stepped up next to him with a grimace on her face.

"Not bleach it, Darling, just a few shades lighter." He looked to Bonnie, who raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him. "Nevermind." He mumbled.

"We should get going so the Sheriff can get back in here in case there is a real emergency." Elijah suggested and began to usher all of them out the emergency door.

When they all regrouped in the Mikaelson living room, Kol popped a bottle of champagne and began passing out glasses. He was about to hand one to Caroline and Matt, but stopped short. "Oh wait, I seem to recall you both saying that you weren't old enough to drink. Shall I fetch some sparkling cider for the youngins?"

"Shut up, Kol." Caroline scoffed and snatched both of the glasses from him, handing one to Matt before taking a large sip of her own. "You know perfectly well that we were only saying that so Matt wouldn't have to go through more of that interrogation."

"What interrogation?" Rebekah spoke up sharply.

"Nothing I couldn't handle, Bekah." Matt placed a kiss to her cheek to reassure her. Rebekah glared at Kol, who smirked impishly, but let the matter drop.

"A toast," Elijah raised his glass. "To the downfall of our enemy."

"And to the progress in getting Henrik back." Klaus tagged on.

They all cheersed their glasses before drinking.

"Speaking of which," Rebekah turned to Kol and Bonnie. "When do you think you'll be ready to break through the ward?"

"It might be a few days before I can master both of the spells I'll have to do." Bonnie said as Kol nodded. "Kol and I figured that it would be best to do the ward breaking spell and then the spell to bring Henrik back right after since Grams said that she didn't know how long the wards would be broken for. I'll need to build up my energy."

"As well as get used to invoking the magic transferred into the necklace." Kol added. "I think she'll be ready by this weekend."

Everyone smiled at the prospect of having their little brother back before the end of the week. The drinks flowed and the conversation was light.

At one point, Klaus pulled Caroline out to the gardens for a bit of privacy. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled closer as they began to walk.

"I really was proud of you tonight, Love. You did very well." He complimented her.

She smiled. "Thank you. It felt good being able to take her on. I finally felt like I could handle myself in a fight."

"I'm glad, Sweetheart."

"Can we keep training though?" She asked, looking at him hopefully. "I still feel like there's more I can learn, more I can do."

"Of course, Love." He stopped and pulled her to him. "We can always refine your skills and there are several different types of combat I could teach you… especially if you keep wearing those outfits of yours."

She laughed at his smirk. "I thought you didn't like those outfits because they weren't modest enough for your old fashioned ways?"

He tightened his grip on her waist. "I happen to love those outfits. I just don't want anyone else getting the privilege to see you in them. That right belongs to me alone."

She shivered at his possessive tone. "As long as you keep fighting without your shirt…"

His smirk widened. "Perhaps that should be the rule for both of us."

She rolled her eyes. "There's no way I'm fighting without a sports bra! Talk about uncomfortable..."

He laughed. "Very well, Sweetheart." He leaned in to kiss her, but when he tried to deepen the kiss, she danced away from him, laughing.

He caught up to her and put his hand to the small of her back as they continued walking.

"So, I've been thinking…" Caroline began.

"Aren't you always?" He teased.

"You love my mind." She shot back.

"I love all of you." Klaus smiled at her.

She smiled back before continuing. "I was thinking about when we talked about my plans for the future."

"You mean for after you graduate?"

"Yes." Caroline nodded. "I think I'm going to wait to go to college. I am going to be this age forever, and I can always go back to school. What I really want is to see the world; I want to know about everything out there before I pick something to study."

"Love," Klaus hesitated slightly. "You don't need to explore the world just because that is what I suggested to you. If you want to go to college with your friends, that's absolutely not a problem."

She smiled at him. "I know, Nik. I'm not choosing this just because you suggested it. You've really opened my eyes to all of the possibilities that are out there waiting for me. I want to see all of them with you. I've been thinking about this for a while, and I know that it's what I want."

"Then that's what we'll do." He gave her a chaste kiss.

"I was also thinking that we could travel with your family." She continued. At his raised eyebrow, she laughed. "Not, like, the whole time or anything. I just figured that you guys only just got back together and would want to spend time together, especially when Henrik is back. I assumed that you'd all want to be around him to reacclimate him and stuff. He can't really go to school anywhere because no one speaks Old Norse. So what better way to learn than exploring, right? He'll be able to see the Pyramids when he learns about Egypt and the Colosseum when he studies Rome. He can experience all of the modern culture along the way."

Klaus stared at her in amazement before pulling her to him in a crushing hug. "Thank you, Caroline. Thank you for accepting my family and understanding how important they are to me. I think that is a perfect plan. Elijah would be thrilled to take on the task of formally educating Henrik, and we could all give him lessons for anything else that he would want to learn."

"Of course, Nik. I love your family too." She smiled.

"And we can make our own shorter trips when one of my siblings becomes too insufferable." Klaus promised. "We'll have our own getaways at least once a month, I imagine. This journey isn't just about showing Henrik the world, Sweetheart, I want to show you everything as well."

"That would be great." Caroline replied, her smile growing. "Thank you, Nik."

"Will your mother be alright with all of this? I know you said that she wanted you to keep up with your education after you graduate."

"We actually had a talk about that a little while ago. I explained everything that I was considering and she didn't seem as opposed to me traveling as I thought she would be." Caroline responded. "I was thinking that maybe she could even meet up with us somewhere along the way. She has a bazillion vacation days that she never uses."

"Of course, Sweetheart. If you can convince her to take time off, she's more than welcome to join us whenever she wants to."

"Maybe Bonnie and Matt will come too."

"Sounds like a plan, Love."

The next few days seemed to drag on and on as they all were eager to free Henrik. Bonnie and Kol were constantly working on building up her energy for the spells. Kol had gotten fed up with Rebekah's constant presence while they were working, so he moved them to Bonnie's house on Thursday to continue working.

Though Caroline wasn't a huge fan of the idea, Rebekah had compelled the principal and teachers at the school to excuse Bonnie's absence. Caroline understood that it wasn't hurting anyone and it really was for a good reason.

She still attended classes with Matt and Rebekah, who Kol had forced out of the house Wednesday morning. They all found it hard to concentrate on their work with everything else that was going on.

Caroline tried to distract Rebekah after school Wednesday and Thursday with more training for the pageant that was in a week and a half. She instructed Matt and Rebekah on the dance they would have to do, and coached Rebekah on the interview that would take place the Friday before the pageant. They also came up with a humble acceptance speech for when she won.

After her practice with Rebekah Thursday night, Caroline made her way to Klaus' room.

"Your sister doesn't know what humble means, does she?" She asked as she flopped beside him on his bed.

He smirked as he put down The Prisoner of Azkaban and turned his attention solely on her. "You're just realizing this, Love?"

"No," she sighed, closing her eyes. "I knew already, but she just was trying to go over the top with the speech we were coming up with. There's a fine line between confident and arrogant, and she doesn't seem to get it."

Checking that her eyes were still closed, Klaus reached over to the drawer in his side table and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "Really, Love? You weren't confident when you won?"

She snorted, "I was, but not to the extent that Bekah currently is."

"I don't know, Love." Klaus smirked as he quietly unfolded the paper in his hands. "You seemed pretty confident what with all the activities you were in charge of: Chair of the Mystic Falls Beautification Committee, Director of the Policemen's Yearly Raffle and head of the school's Go Green Initiative. Quite impressive."

Caroline's eyes snapped open at his words. "Is that my Miss Mystic application?!" She lunged for him, trying to snatch it away. He flashed to the other side of the room. "Where did you even get that?"

He raised his eyebrows at her playfully. "I have my ways, Love." She sped over to him and tried to grab for it again, but he simply held it up out of her reach. "As I was saying," he smirked at her. "You seemed very confident to me. 'When I am chosen, I intend to redefine excellence.' Now, I really enjoy your use of 'when' here instead of 'if.' You wouldn't call that over-confident, Love? No?" His smirk widened as she didn't respond, simply narrowed her eyes at him and put her hands on her hips. "'And above all I promise to aspire, inspire and perspire…' obviously we found a shortage of words ending in '-spire.'"

Caroline rolled her eyes, nodding at him. "Yeah, yeah. It's really very funny. You're hilarious. Just - give -" She tried lunging for the paper again, but he continued to hold it out of her reach, raising his eyebrows at her.

They both stared at each other for a few seconds before they burst into laughter.

"You're not funny." She smiled at him.

"Then why are you laughing, Love?" He grabbed her and pulled her closer to him.

"Because you're ridiculous."

"You love it." He kissed her, pushing her up against the wall of his room. She kissed him back before flashing them onto his bed.

"True."

They didn't hear from Kol or Bonnie until they came back to the mansion Friday evening. They found everyone in the living room.

"Tomorrow. I'll be ready tomorrow." Bonnie said, smiling at all of them.

"Are you sure?" Rebekah stood up, walking over to her friend.

"Positive. I've never felt more ready for a spell. I can do this." Bonnie nodded. "We already contacted Grams to let her know. She said she would be ready with the others."

"What do we need to do to get ready?" Klaus asked, standing up as well.

"Not a lot actually." Kol answered. "We will just need to go to the spot where Henrik was killed tomorrow to perform the spell."

"You'll get Henrik back tomorrow night?" Caroline asked, clearly excited to meet him.

Kol rolled his eyes at her. "Tomorrow morning, STBSIL. You really need to get past your idea that spells always need to be done at night."

Bonnie nodded. "The best time to do it will be at dawn. The transition from night to day will be when the veil to the Other Side is weakest. We'll want to get there an hour before sunrise so I can break through the ward first."

Rebekah's eyes filled with happy tears. "We're going to have our brother back in less than 10 hours." She rushed forward to hug Bonnie. "Thank you so much, Bonnie. This means a great deal to all of us."

Bonnie hugged her back. "This is what friends are for, Bekah."

If Caroline thought the past few days had dragged by, it was nothing compared to the next few hours.

Kol insisted that Bonnie needed to rest, but the others began to prepare for Henrik's homecoming. Caroline, Rebekah and Klaus went to the mall, happy that it was open late on Fridays. They bought several things that a ten year old boy would need. Caroline and Rebekah had fun picking out different clothes that they thought would work for him. After Klaus heard them use the term 'adorable' for the 24th time, he decided to step in to ensure that his youngest brother had actual acceptable clothing options.

Caroline led them to a toy store and helped them pick out several things from the boys sections that would be in Henrik's age range. Rebekah laughed, saying that Henrik and Kol would probably end up fighting over the Hot Wheels track. Klaus agreed and said that it would be best if they just bought two of them.

They returned home around 11 that night and showed off all of their purchases to the others. Kol had to keep shushing them, saying that Bonnie was asleep upstairs.

Sage gushed over the clothes with Rebekah and Caroline. At his brothers' unsure expression, Klaus quietly reassured them that he made sure there were several different options for Henrik that he had picked out. No one was surprised that Kol's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the toy cars. Klaus handed him the one they bought for him, but told him he couldn't open it until Henrik was home.

Time seemed to barely inch forward for the rest of the night. Caroline and Klaus retreated to his art studio, where she tried to focus on a book, and he sketched on the couch next to her.

She closed her book with a huff. "I can't focus on this. I'm too jittery."

Klaus closed his sketchpad sighing. "I am as well, Sweetheart."

"Tell me more about Henrik." She faced him. "What is he like?"

Klaus smiled at her question. "Henrik is the best of all of my siblings rolled into one. He has Finn's wit, Elijah's sense of honor, Rebekah's compassion, and Kol's sense of humor. He was the more fun loving child, and he craved adventure. He's going to enjoy our travels."

"What about you?" Caroline smiled at him. "What does he have from you?"

Klaus thought for a second. "He got his loyalty from me. He loves with his whole heart, and once he gives you his love, you can never lose it. He sees the good in everyone, and brings it out in them. Much like you do, Sweetheart."

Caroline blushed. "Did he have any favorite games I could play with him?"

Klaus laughed. "Most of the games we played as children are not around anymore, but I'm sure he'd be willing to teach you some of them. He was always partial to hide and seek though. Henrik came up with some of the most ingenious hiding spots."

Caroline laughed. "That was always my favorite too! I can't wait to get to know him."

They were both silent for a few seconds before she looked at him seriously. "You're not having any more doubts about him forgiving you, are you?"

Klaus sighed. "I'm trying not to. Honestly, I'm also concerned about what he might've seen of my family and I while he was over there. I know that it is possible for those on the Other Side to watch what goes on over here. I know that he will find out about the things we have done over our lives, but I don't want him to be afraid of us, especially if Ester has been spinning the stories."

Caroline reached for his hand and squeezed it in reassurance. "I'm sure he won't be afraid of you all. You're his family; you said yourself, once you've earned his love, he never takes it away. You might just have to explain some of the reasons for the things you have done. It might take him a little while to understand and accept it, but I'm sure he will."

Klaus nodded. "I know, Love. It's just difficult to think about."

Kol popped his head into the room. "It's time!"

They all made their way into the foyer and out the front door. The trip to the woods was fairly quick. It turned out that Klaus had the mansion built close to where the center of their old village had been located.

There was a hum of excitement and nervousness in the air as they all arrived in the clearing near the caves. Kol and Bonnie went to work making a few different markings in the dirt. They instructed the others to all stand in a circle.

Caroline and Matt hung back, trying to let the family do this on their own, however, Rebekah sent them a weird look.

Caroline shrugged. "We just thought that this should be more of a family thing."

Klaus and Rebekah exchanged a look before walking over to them. Klaus took her hands in his and led her to the circle as Rebekah did the same with Matt.

Klaus whispered in her ear. "You are our family, Caroline."

Caroline smiled up at him and took his hand before Elijah offered her his right hand, Katherine smiled at her on his other side.

Caroline looked at Kol and Bonnie who were wrapping Elena's necklace around their joined hands. "Alright," Kol looked up at everyone. "One ward-breaking-spell coming up. Call to Sheila, Bonnie."

Bonnie closed her eyes. "Grams, are you ready?"

Sheila's voice spoke. "We're all here, my dear girl. You take the lead now."

Bonnie and Kol began to chant, and the wind picked up around them. Caroline watched in amazement as the stars that were visible glowed a bit brighter as the chanting got louder. Her attention was drawn to Bonnie when her voice cut off suddenly and her eyes opened in fear.

"Bonnie!" Caroline called out to her friend in panic.

She was about to take a step towards her when Kol's voice rang out sharply. "Don't break the circle, Caroline! Stay where you are. It's Ester trying to fight back." He turned his eyes to her friend. "Bonnie, you need to focus on the power in the necklace; use it against her. Turn the magic back on her; you can do this!"

Bonnie nodded to him before closing her eyes again. They both began chanting, and the wind increased, whipping the leaves around them.

The necklace wrapped between Kol's and Bonnie's hands began to glow an eerie green color and rise up, pulling their linked hands with it.

"Good, Bonnie! We're almost there!" Kol encouraged her.

Bonnie's eyes snapped open and locked with his. Their voices grew louder and stronger, and the charm on the bracelet snapped away from the chain. There was a loud crackling sound as it exploded over everyone's heads.

"Yes!" Kol yelled. "The ward is down. Go, Bonnie! The next spell."

Keeping her eyes locked with his, Bonnie began a different chant. The wind slowed as the sun peeked up over the horizon. In the center of the circle, a white mist began to form and take the shape of a small human child laying on the ground. Bonnie's voice grew louder and more sure at the sight before her, and the mist began to solidify. The stronger Bonnie's voice became, the more definition the figure gained.

They could see messy brown hair swept across a pale face along with a blue long sleeve cotton shirt with brown trousers. Finally a pair of bare feet became visible. The edges of the body were a bit shimmery still as Bonnie continued the spell.

"Just a bit more, Darling." Kol smiled at her.

Bonnie focused on the boy in front of her, and her voice grew louder and stronger still. With a deep breath she yelled out the last part of the spell and Henrik's edges were firm and definite.

Kol dropped his sister's hand and reached for Bonnie, lowering her into a seated position on the ground.

"You were fabulous, Bonnie." He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Everyone seemed to hold their breath as the spell ended, and they let go of each others' hands, except Caroline. She gripped Klaus' hand in hers as both of their eyes were focused on the boy laying in front of them.

Slowly Henrik's eyes opened, and he sat up. He rubbed his eyes as though he had just woken up from sleeping and looked around at them.

He smiled as he saw all of his siblings gathered around him. His eyes focused on Klaus, and he beamed. "Nik!" Henrik jumped to his feet and launched himself at his favorite brother.

Klaus caught him and swung him around as he hugged him back smiling.

"Bloody wanker." Rebekah sniffed, smiling through her tears. "He always was Henrik's favorite."

The next week was spent helping Henrik adjust to everything about the modern world. Caroline was surprised how quickly he was picking up English. He could already say several key phrases and he knew what they meant.

When Klaus had introduced her to him, Henrik peered up at her and tilted his head to the side as he smiled. He said something to Klaus in Norse that made him laugh.

"What?" Caroline had asked.

Klaus smiled at her. "He says you're much prettier than Tatia, and he can tell that you're kinder too."

Caroline blushed and was surprised when Henrik gave her a hug. "Don't tell Katherine that he said I'm prettier than her likeness." She said laughing.

"Caroline." He smiled up at her, repeating her name from when Klaus had first said it. "Nik wife."

Caroline's eyes grew huge as she looked over Henrik's head to Klaus, whose lips were pressed into a firm line as he tried not to laugh.

"Nik, tell him I'm your girlfriend and not your wife!"

"There isn't really a word for girlfriend in Old Norse, Love." Klaus chuckled as Henrik stepped back from her smiling.

Henrik began to slowly adapt to everything that was around him. Finn was able to help him a great deal, seeing as he himself had recently had to adapt to everything new.

Elijah began tutoring Henrik in every modern subject. Rebekah took him shopping so he could pick out his own clothes. Kol introduced him to video games, much to Elijah's chagrin. Klaus spent a good deal of afternoons playing with him out in the yard. Caroline joined in several times and learned the different games that they used to play as humans. Along with Kol, Bonnie began to help Henrik practice magic again. She was really impressed with how much he knew for his age.

When Saturday came, Caroline and Rebekah left the mansion to get ready for the pageant. Elijah promised that he would have the rest of the family there and properly dressed when it began. Caroline felt relieved that Elijah was there to wrangle everyone else, mostly Kol and Katherine.

She began to organize all of the workers and caterers into groups so that everything was ready for when guests started arriving.

"No! Stop, stop! Those flowers go in the back, as indicated by the floral chart that you guys had plenty of time to memorize." She yelled at three workers. "Yeah, thank you!" She said as they walked away.

She quickly went to change and check on Rebekah.

Caroline found the other girl in one of the upstairs bathrooms breathing deeply. "Rebekah! Calm down." She gripped the older blonde by her shoulders. "You will be fine! Stop that, you don't even need to breathe!"

Rebekah nodded and began to slow her breathing down. "I have never been more nervous, Caroline."

"Come on, Bekah." Caroline smiled at her. "Your hair is fabulous and your makeup is amazing. Now, go put on your stunning dress and show them all what you've got; show them that you are Miss Mystic."

Rebekah took one last deep breath before squaring her shoulders. "You're right. Thank you, Caroline." She smiled before moving back to the dressing room.

Caroline returned her smile before hurriedly putting on her own dress and heels.

As guests began arriving, Caroline felt her anxiety growing. She grabbed an empty glass off a nearby table, smiling at the people sitting there before flagging down a waiter. "Hey! Why am I bussing your tables? I said no empty glasses." He cowered before her as she put the glass on his empty tray.

She casually speed walked towards the string quintet. "Will you guys pick up the tempo? This is a pageant, not a funeral!"

She turned around to see Klaus walking towards her with a smirk on his face. Henrik was next to him. "And how am I doing, Love?"

She smiled as she looked him up and down. "You're absolutely perfect. Thank you. Hi, Henrik!" She smiled at both of them. Henrik waved to her as he looked around at everything in interest. Caroline sighed as she caught sight of a waiter dropping a plate of food on the lawn. "God, I'm so stressed with this. No one seems capable of doing their jobs correctly!"

Klaus pulled her to him and gave her a quick kiss. "Try to calm down; you're doing great, Love. Everything looks fantastic."

Caroline smiled at him. "If you think I'm losing it, you should have seen Rebekah earlier. He was literally hyperventilating." She saw one of the guests reach towards the Miss Mystic tiara that was on display. "I need to go take care of that and introduce the candidates. I'll see you both later." She leaned in to kiss his cheek before power walking across the lawn.

Klaus looked down when he heard Henrik laughing; the boy looked up at him and made kissing faces teasingly. He rolled his eyes and nudged his brother forward to join the rest of the family at their table.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the stage as Caroline's voice came through the speakers welcoming everyone. She explained some of the history of the pageant before beginning to introduce the girls.

"We begin the procession with Valerie Fell, accompanied by Dylan Clark."

Everyone clapped politely for the first girl to walk down the steps.

"I'd give her a 7." Kol said quietly.

Bonnie elbowed him slightly, trying to suppress her smile.

"Next we have Amber Wolverton, accompanied by Hector Zabini."

"Please," Kol sighed dramatically. "5.5."

Elijah glared at Kol. "If you don't stop this childishness, I'll be forced to take you home."

"Yeah," Katherine chimed in. "She's barely even a 4."

Elijah looked at her agape.

"And here's Elena Gilbert, accompanied by Damon Salvatore."

Klaus saw Caroline's very forced smile as she clapped her hands.

Kol smirked. "Definitely a zero."

"Excuse you!" Katherine said. "We're identical."

"Will you two cut it out?" Elijah hissed.

"We better stop, Katherine." Kol teased. "That vein bulging in his forehead is about to explode."

"And finally, Rebekah Mikaelson accompanied by Matthew Donovan."

Rebekah's introduction drew all of their attention as they watched her walk gracefully down the stone steps and meet Matt at the bottom. He offered her his arm and led her to the dance floor.

"10." They all heard a small voice say. Everyone turned to see Henrik smiling at his sister.

They all smiled and turned their attention back to the couples dancing. When the song ended, Klaus excused himself from the table and walked over to Caroline.

"May I have this dance, My Reigning Queen?" He asked her teasingly.

"My last dance as queen… I suppose I can grant you that honor." She giggled as she took his hand and let him lead her to the floor.

"You were wonderful, Love." He complimented her as they began to waltz.

"Thanks. I'm actually happy that my reign is coming to a close. Someone else can run the show for a while." She smiled at him.

He drew her over to the side of the dance floor. "I have a gift for you, Love."

"What? Nik, you didn't have to get me anything!" She said as he reached into his jacket pocket.

She gasped as she saw him hold out the bracelet. The one that she had thrown back at him at the ball.

He gently took her wrist into his hands and began to clasp it for her quietly. Once he was finished, he looked up into her eyes. "I told you once that this belonged to a princess half as beautiful as you, Sweetheart, and I meant it. You are my world, Caroline, and I plan to be with you as long as you'll have me. The design of the infinity symbols wasn't just a coincidence, you know."

She looked between the bracelet and his eyes. "Thank you, Nik. I plan to have you for a very long time. I love you."