Chapter 48

Kol and Nora lounged in her single bed watching the first two Harry Potter movies and eating potato chips and vanilla ice cream all night. The atmosphere in the room was warm and cozy as they lay in each other's arms, both avoiding troublesome topics such as the infamous Mikaelson siblings. Every once in a while, Nora would look up at Kol with a small and loving smile and Kol would press his lips against her forehead.

The next morning, he was startled awake by the piercing high-pitched ringing of Rebekah's phone. Grabbing the phone clumsily, Kol suddenly understood how a mouse felt in front of a cat. What the hell was he supposed to do with the phone? There were far too many keys on that thing. Which one was he supposed to press?

He looked down at Nora and met her half-open bleary eyes.

"Help me?" he said in a half pleading and half apologizing tone, holding the phone out to her.

A groan escaped her as she rolled over to lay her head on his chest. Reaching for the phone, she pressed a key and put it to her ear.

"Who is it?" she grumbled in a hoarse voice, and Kol reached out his arm to grab the bottle of water on the night table.

"It's me," a soft, feminine voice that clearly belonged to Rebekah answered.

"… It's too early for your bullshit."

With that said, Nora took the bottle and handed him the phone. Awkwardly imitating his wife's previous action, he put the phone to his ear.

"Rebekah, what can I do for you?" he asked with a drawl, already wanting the conversation to end.

"How is Nora?"

"She was sleeping quite well in my arms for the first time in almost a century when you woke us up," he responded dryly, earning himself a giggle from Nora who buried her head in his chest. Even with her face hidden, he could feel her smiling.

The phone in one hand, he ran the other hand through her long hair.

"I see…" Rebekah's voice rang in his ear. "My apologies, then. I was calling about Mother's ball. It starts tonight at seven o'clock, in Niklaus' mansion - the one we woke up in. Please, be there."

"Hmmm… And where exactly is that Mystic Falls town?"

"In Virginia. It's… our homeland. Where are you? I could send someone to get you."

Kol barely held back a snort upon hearing this. As if he would ever let one of his siblings know about this place and endanger the lives of Nora's parents. He cast a look at his wife to see her reaction but Nora didn't seem worried about his answer, her hands touching the hard muscles of his stomach through his shirt.

His lips twitched at seeing his darling choosing this moment to cop a feel.

"Kol?"

"Yes, I'm still here." Unfortunately. "No need to send someone. I will be there."

"What about the clothes? It's a ball, and Mother would be most displeased if you show up dressed like some country bumpkin. Should I prepare something for you?"

He furrowed his brow in annoyance and his hold on the phone tightened, almost breaking it. A pinch at his waist had him loosen his grip.

"Look Rebekah, I don't want your help. Last time I did, I got a dagger in my heart. Go butter up someone else. Like Finn. Remember him? You should. If I recall, you had a lot of fun walking around with his coffin three hundred years ago."

Once he was done speaking, he didn't wait for an answer and hung up, glaring at the phone.

"And what has the phone done to you?" Nora asked at the same time her hands slid under his shirt.

He threw the phone on the night table and placed his hands on her hips. "It exists."

"What a horrible crime. What should we do about it?" Nora chuckled, her fingers moving down to play with the waistband of his pants.

"I think you should worry more about its victim. Which is me."

Saying this, he sat up straight, his hands on her hips keeping her on his lap, her chest pressed against his. She adjusted her position a little and grinned at him, leaning in to whisper against his lips seductively, "And what do you want me to do with you?"

"Oh… so many things, darling. So many things." He grabbed her bottom lip with his teeth and briefly sucked on it. His arm slid around her waist. "Perhaps I could show you."

"Please, do."

The atmosphere in the room instantly changed as they started to move together, soft moans and whispered names filling the room.

By the time they finished, the sun was already high in the sky. When they came down the stairs and met with Nora's parents, a light blush spread across her face and her eyes darted around, looking everywhere but at them. Quite amused by the sight, Kol smirked and ruffled her hair.

Eliott watched them enter the kitchen with a frown marring his forehead and pointed at a box on the table.

"It was right in front of our door this morning. For Kol and Nora Mikaelson," he said gruffly. "I don't like it. Why can't it be Kol and Nora Caldwell? It sounds much better than Mikaelson."

Nora ignored her father and peered at the tag on the box.

"That's Abbir's writing," she said after a few seconds. "See, Kol? Told you we could count on Sage."

Opening the box, she explained to her parents, "Sage is our sister-in-law. She's married to Finn, the good brother of the family. And Abbir is one of our subordinates. I asked them to protect you, just in case."

"Because of the doggy-vamp, right?" Elizabeth chimed in.

Kol met Nora's amused eyes and chuckled. Doggy-vamp was indeed a good nickname for Niklaus.

Inside the box laid modern clothes for Kol, two cell phones, and two bank cards. The phone numbers of Sage and Abbir were also written down on a piece of paper stuck to one side of the box.

"Those people are very efficient," Eliott commented as he handed Nora a mug of hot chocolate. "Kol, what do you want? We have hot chocolate, coffee, orange juice, apple juice, and tea."

"Hot chocolate?" Kol said, his tone of voice sounding like a question. Chocolate bars already existed in the early twenty century but they were fairly expensive and troublesome to get. Apart from Nora, no one would ever dare to make them into a drink. Modern time, however, was different as chocolate could be found everywhere. In just a few minutes, a mug of hot chocolate was placed in front of him. It would do until he could get his teeth into a jugular later.

"What are you going to do now?" Elizabeth asked in a serious voice after breakfast. "From what I understand, Kol needs to get used to the twenty-first century, and Nora, no idea if you remember, but you do have a job here. Yesterday, you - or the younger you - were driving home after your first international flight to Europe. I call your job this morning to get you some three days off."

Although Nora loved flying, being a stewardess was never her dream.

"I'm going to resign," Nora responded with a determined gleam in her eyes, "Money is not an issue, Kol and I saved a lot along the centuries." Under the table, her fingers found his and Kol rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. "Right now, I just want to be with Kol. After a year or two, I'd like to go to an aviation school to be a pilot."

"I see…" her mother said in a low voice, her eyes slightly widening in surprise as she was probably quickly realizing that her daughter wasn't the same anymore. "If this is what you really want, we'll support you no matter what, sweetie. And you Kol, what do you want to do?"

Him? Why would he need a job? Even without one, he could easily find things to do, thank you very much.

Waving the question away, he shrugged, "I will be the beauty at home."

Oh, he could already picture himself leaning naked on a beauty recliner, waiting for his wife to come home from work. He would them rub her shoulders - still naked - and seduce her a little into playing a few games. Naked games, forbidden to children.

Yes, beauty at home sounded a really good way to spend the next few years.

While his answer didn't surprise Nora, the same couldn't be said for the two humans in the room. Eliott in particular looked like he was ready to drill a hole inside Kol's skull to see what was inside his head.

"Aren't… ancient men all about bringing the money while their wives clean and cook?"

"Like I said yesterday, Nora taught me well."

"So she taught you to be lazy while she does all the work?"

Bloody hell, the relationship between a son-in-law and father-in-law was more difficult than Kol first thought.

"Dad, this is not what Kol meant," Nora interjected with a frown. "Kol is a caring husband who has always done as much as he could for me."

"That's right Eliott, don't act like that with my vampy son-in-law," Elizabeth scolded Eliott sternly, "He did save our beautiful daughter. Besides, you know perfectly how Nora is. I'm pretty sure she's not the one cooking in their couple."

Kol stifled a laugh. That woman knew her daughter well.

"In any case," Nora's mother continued, her brow knitted, "you can naturally do whatever you want to do. I only have two requests. First, you both don't touch a steering wheel until you take your driving test. And no Nora, your driving license might be valid but I forbid you from touching a car after a thousand years without driving."

"Technically, there were cars in the seventies-"

"A modern car," Elizabeth cut her off with a glare.

"The seventies are not that-"

"No. You might be as old as dust but I'm still your mother and it is my right and duty to worry about you. Second, I guess you two have a lot of money and thus a few houses in your names. It would be nice if you could move. Under the condition that you visit us at least once a week and call every two days. If you don't want to move, it is also fine but please, keep it quieter in the bedroom. There are things Eliott and I don't need to know about our daughter and our son-in-law."

Nora's blush didn't disappear until they got back to her childhood bedroom early in the afternoon. Using one of their new phones, they decided to call Sage.

"Kol? Nora?" Sage answered after two rings.

"Hey!" Nora yelled with an indignant look. "Why is my name coming last? I'm the one you cross-dressed with to join the army in 1940! How dare you betray me like this? My heart is broken."

"Hello to you too, Nora," Sage laughed happily, "glad to hear your voice again. And Kol too, I guess."

These two women would be the death of him one day.

Rolling his eyes, Kol grabbed a peanut from the bag on Nora's lap and threw it directly into his mouth, catching it with his tongue. Humans these days really knew how to live a tasty life. He couldn't help but wonder if it affected the taste of their blood.

"Of course you're glad to hear my voice," he eventually said to Sage, "not everyone has such good luck, you know."

"Damn, I almost forgot what a drama queen your husband is, Nora."

Kol tsked and faked a pout, only to realize she couldn't see him.

At least, it made Nora laugh.

"So much hatred," he sighed and let himself fall on Nora's bed, pulling Nora down with him. "Sister-in-law, you're breaking my heart too."

Nora patted his chest as if to comfort him. "Don't worry honey. You are an original vampire, it will be all good again soon."

There was no missing Sage's muffled laughter on the other side of the phone.

"Instead of mocking me, Sage, don't you want to hear the good news?"

"If it's about you meeting Nora's parents, I already know. Their house is protected though, so no idea what you talked about."

Of course, his soft, gentle, and caring wife couldn't miss such an occasion to tease him.

"My mother offered him rare beefsteak!"

"... Please, tell me he said yes to please his mother-in-law?"

Nora squealed when he pinched her waist in retaliation and said afterward, "Sadly no, but the expression on his face… God, I wish I had a photo to show you."

"Who needs a photo? I can just picture a constipated fish."

The temptation to tease Nora about making too much noise in bed this morning was high but, remembering how long it took for her blush to disappear, he just sighed and waited for the two women to stop having fun at his expense. Only then did he tell Sage the news.

For the first time in nine hundred years, there was no dagger in Finn's heart.

A long silence followed his words. Then Kol's sharp ears caught the sound of muffled sobs. His gaze instantly softened and he placed a finger on Nora's lips when he met her worried gaze.

She didn't need a word to understand what was happening and her lips curved into a sad smile.

"Is it true?" Sage croaked a while later.

"Of course it is," Kol said softly, "I would never lie to you about this. I saw him yesterday before I left to find Nora."

"Is he fine? Did he ask about me?"

"Yes, he is fine," Kol answered the first question easily. "A little angry but our mother is also back so he somewhat calmed down. I guess he's just overwhelmed by everything around…"

Kol stopped talking, realizing that Finn spoke in modern English. Recalling the unfamiliar coldness in his brother's gaze and his own memories of the darkness during the two centuries he spent with a dagger in his heart, an ominous feeling struck his heart.

"Kol? What's wrong?" Nora mouthed when his hands started to tremble.

But he shook his head, not wanting Sage to hear about it yet.

Clearing his throat, he explained vaguely, "Sorry, I was just thinking about how to get Finn alone so that you two can meet. Knowing you, you don't want to be near my other brothers?"

"No," Sage immediately responded, "Back then, Finn wanted to leave them. I don't want to see him and have Klaus dagger him again because of me."

"Alright, I'll just find an opportunity to speak with him alone. However, it might take a day or two because of my crazy mother."

"It's fine. I still need to fly over to the United States anyway."

After the phone call, Kol stared blankly at the screen. Then, slowly, his brow furrowed and lines marred his forehead, betraying his worry. Nora, who was still lying next to him, put a finger on his forehead and tried to smooth the lines.

"What's wrong, honey?"

Kol grasped her wrist and kissed her fingertips one by one before squeezing her hand and giving her a wry smile. "I'm afraid the situation is more complicated than we thought. Bringing Finn back will be difficult."

"How so? Even if he's close to Esther, it's not like they are sleeping in the same room or going to the same bathroom at the same time. If not tonight, you can just catch him alone tomorrow and bring him here afterward."

He shook his head. Although he wished it was that simple, he knew better.

"Darling, I just realized that Finn speaks English."

"Holy fuck!" Nora blurted out, her eyes wide in shock and horror. "This… this is so wrong."

And it really was. If one was aware in a pool of darkness after two centuries with the dagger in his heart… Then what about nine centuries?

Kol's memory of that time was a bit blurred, buried deep into his mind behind all the other dark memories related to the dagger. But he could somewhat recall the coldness he felt. The longer he was there, the more he felt a deep coldness seep into him, into his mind and soul.

However, the feeling of Nora's soul helped him recover once he woke up.

Finn didn't have such a bond. After nine centuries, was he even sane? Or was it that everything he had once been was gone, leaving only his hatred for what his siblings did to him?

"Rebekah wasn't worried this morning so I guess none of them realized it," he sighed angrily, pulling his hair.

"Kol, you are talking about people who never discovered that you were married," Nora retorted disdainfully. "Pretty sure Klaus and Elijah's brains are as useful as a sinking boat."

"At least the boat might still be found someday in the future, unlike their brains."

"Right." Rubbing her temples, she cracked a wistful smile. "Moreover, they left Finn in a coffin for nine hundred years. I doubt they care about him enough to worry about the language he's speaking."

How long had Finn been aware of his situation, unable to do anything but hear the sound around him?

"I'm going with you to the ball, as your wife," Nora suddenly announced him, startling him.

"You do know Nikaus and Elijah will be there too? And let's not forget Esther. Those three together in a room screams disaster."

"I know but since we are not going to hide anymore, let's act a little more extravagant. I couldn't go with you to your last family ball and we both know how it ended. This time, if someone points a dagger at you, I'll burn down Klaus' house."

Kol's reluctance was strong. After all, he did spend centuries doing his best to hide Nora's existence from his brothers, and last time… Well, Elijah did say something about a woman dressing as a man in 1914.

"If Finn sees me, he might think that you are still the same as before. Then we could talk to him about the past and mention Sage."

"But I'm not the same anymore, darling. I've changed."

Sage also changed. If these two ever met again, Kol truly hoped they would make it work. Because he could still remember the light in Finn's eyes when his brother married Sage and his sister-in-law had never stopped loving and looking for Finn.

In fact… Sage might be the only one able to pull Finn out of the darkness.

"Alright, darling. Let's do that."

Yes, Finn speaking English is the biggest plot hole I've ever seen. In The Originals, Finn did say he was aware of his daggered state and his biggest fear was now the coffin but it still doesn't explain how someone daggered in Italy nine centuries ago wakes up speaking modern English. Like, seriously? He was stuck in the dark, with his coffin being dragged all over the world and he managed to learn English? Without seeing anything and hearing far too many languages and sounds? Recognizing some patterns, fine, but speaking modern English? Hell no!

So, for the sake of this fic, we'll just take it as he somehow managed to do that with just hearing English. That, or just think that Klaus was reading a bilingual dictionary to the coffins every time he felt bored. Because coffins and dead siblings also need to be educated ;)