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Chapter 10

Wide Awake

Mystic Falls, Virginia 2010

"I'm your brother, Caroline."

Huh? Wait, what? That can't- Huh?

"Brother." Caroline found herself stating, her voice incredulous, disbelieving. "I have a brother." He must be lying, right? This is just some sick game..

"You do." The stranger-Robb confirmed, his head cocked, keeping a watchful eye on her.

His name, it's so familiar… Robb. Robb. Why do I know that name?

And then it hit her.

Robb. My dreams. The boy in my dreams, the one who took care of his sisters… Who took care of me, my god, he really is my brother… He can't be lying, why else would I dream about him? This is… this is just…

"This-This can't be happening." Caroline stuttered out, her face paler than usual.

"And, yet, it is." Robb, her brother Robb, replied, staring at her with blue eyes that matched her own.

There was silence for a moment as they stared at one another, unsure of what to do next. She examined him, her insides tumbling in turmoil. Here he was, a real piece of her past. Her biggest clue yet. She had a brother. For a long time Caroline had simply thought she had no family, after all, if she did have family, wouldn't they have at least searched for her? But, in all her years, she had never met another member of her family. So she had stopped believing in them, started to think she was just giving into a false hope.

And now…

Caroline continued to stare at her brother. What was she supposed to say? What would anyone say? I can't believe this… Her eyes shifted back down to the scar on his throat, the fang marks.

"You're dead." She whispered, the realization that he was indeed a ghost finally making its way through the confusion in her head. I finally find a member of my family… and he… he… The fang marks seemed to glare out at her. "Did-did I do that?" She asked, gesturing to the fresh-looking scars, her voice desperate and full of shame. Did I kill my own brother?

"No." Robb immediately replied, his face shocked. "Why would you think that? Of course you didn't. My death was the fault of someone else entirely." Towards the end, his eyes grew dark, remembering the monster who ended his and most of his family's lives. Robb brought his eyes back to his sister's face. It was still the same as all those centuries ago. Still the same Caroline, though with a little less knowledge it seemed. Well, no matter, he could help with that.

"I didn't?"

"You didn't." He half-smiled her, trying to provide some measure of reassurance. "That, my dear sister, you can be sure of." Caroline watched cautiously as he approached her slowly, his eyes still glued to hers, as if trying to tell her that he meant no harm.

When one Forbes stood in front of the other, Robb reached out and placed a gentle hand on his sister's shoulder. She froze up for a moment, but did not move away so Robb took that as a good sign and smiled at her. Caroline for her part, felt her heart ache. I have a brother, a family, and he… he seems to care about me. I wasn't just abandoned. Soon enough, she found herself relaxing slightly under his touch.

"You did not kill me, Caroline." He told her firmly. He squeezed her shoulder once and let go, but before he could take his hand completely away, Caroline grabbed it, wanting to keep close to her only known family as much as she could. She just got him; she didn't want to lose him so soon. Robb stared at her in surprise, but returned her grip without a single hesitation.

"How are you here? Why? Have you been here all this time?" She asked after a moment, looking back up at him, the desperate wanting to know becoming too much. Her grip tightened. "How come I do not know you?"

"Well, your little witchling friend helped in allowing me to be here. The witches on the other side also did their part. As you know, only the ghosts of supernatural entities should be here. I died human. They had to pull a few strings on the other side, as you say. It did help that I spent most my life in the presence of non-humans, I suppose. That, and the fact that I have a strong connection to you, sister." He mused, smiling at her amiably. "As for why… I was sent to you by the witches of days long past. They told me you needed help, that you were the only hope."

"Help me with what? And what do you mean by only hope?" The questions were said in a frustrated tone. What the hell is going on?

"I do not know why they are looking to you, Care, but I do know you need help." Robb told her. "You have spent too long a time not knowing, your past should never have been taken from you in the first place." He groused, looking mightily annoyed himself for a brief second.

"My memories? You mean they were stolen from me? I did not just… forget?" Caroline had always thought that she had blocked it all of herself, the thought never even occurred to her that someone else was responsible for her memories.

"Oh, Care, your memories weren't just taken from you. They were compelled away." Caroline let go of his hand suddenly, her mind whirring, the shock clearly getting to her. She turned away, her hands going to her mouth.

"Compelled?" But only the Originals… Her eyes widened in realization. "Klaus." For some reason she knew that it could only have been him.

"Yes." Her brother confirmed.

"But, why?" Why would he do such a thing? Why would he put me through so much pain? How could he? What did I do?

What happened?

"That is something that you must figure for yourself." Robb replied steadily.

"How can I?" Caroline whirled back around and glared at the other Forbes, the frustration of it all making her angry. "How can I do anything when I do not remember?"

"The witches also gave me the power to restore what has been lost to you." He stated calmly, a small smile playing at his lips.

Restore what is lost… restore…

"You mean…?" Before Caroline was able to finish her question, however, Robb had approached her again, and placed a gentle hand on the side of her neck.

"You must forgive me for this, little sister." Robb said, his voice suddenly laden with sadness. "This will not be easy to see; it will be even worse as I am not the one who compelled you, the reversal will be more difficult… but it must be done." He softly kissed her forehead, before pulling back lifting his other hand and placing on the top of her head, his thumb shifted down so that it sat lightly over her forehead. Caroline looked into her brother's eyes, blue meeting blue, her own gaze confused.

"Wha-?" She started, before she was interrupted by Robb's low whisper.

"Remember." As the word slipped from his mouth, Robb's eyes suddenly shone a brighter, unearthly blue and Caroline felt herself getting sucked in.

And then came the blinding pain came, punching a thousand needle pricks into her brain.

Caroline vaguely heard herself cry out, her hands going to her head as the pain continued to batter at her mind. Her knees buckled and she found herself, falling, falling…

Then a pair of arms caught her and Caroline had only a moment to appreciate that fact when the first flash came.

And then she was remembering.

Seven-year-old Caroline ran after her older brother. The eleven-year-old boy had run off into the busy streets of London, chasing the boys who had been teasing her. Caroline didn't want Robb to go alone; he might get hurt.

She was trying to keep up with her big brother when she stumbled over a rock and fell to the floor in a heap. A stinging pain started up in her knee where a deep cut marred her skin. The tears in her eyes were soon rolling down her cheeks and she let out a small gasp of pain.

A moment later, a familiar face was in her line of vision. Robb looked at her worriedly, his eyes deeply concerned.

"You're hurt!" He exclaimed, his hand fluttering around her injured knee. "We should get home. You must be brave now, little sister." Caroline sniffed and nodded, trying her best to brave for her brother. He put his arm around her shoulders and helped her slowly up. Once she was upright, he kept hold of her and guided her down the streets and back toward their cottage.

"Thank you, Robb-Robb." Caroline said quietly, once she had calmed down. Robb had only turned to her with a bright smile and said that it was his job as a brother to protect her.

He said he would always be there for her.

Caroline had been twelve when her father returned home after completing his ten-year. She had seen him on several occasions before, of course, but only a few times, and those times had been brief. Caroline knew this was supposed to be a happy day but it was also shrouded in sadness.

Today was also the day her brother would be leaving for his ten-year; he was to act as Papa's replacement. The point of the fact was that Robb wouldn't be here with her for a long time and Caroline could not be happy about anything today.

She followed Robb outside of the cottage, paling slightly at the sight of two grand carriages in the road. Normally Robb would simply have gone to the London estate to report for duty, but the lords and lady of the Mikaelson family were headed to one of their foreign houses, only stopping in London so that their servants could be taken care of.

Hence the carriages, one was beautiful, intricate and clearly cost a fortune. Caroline knew this belonged to the family. The other, however, was simpler, less fancy but functional. The servants carriage.

It was that day that Caroline had caught her first glimpse of nobility. It was that day that she saw her first vampire. The man that got out of the Mikaelson carriage looked simply magnificent; he wore an expensive looking doublet, had neatly combed shoulder length brown hair and even darker eyes. He was standing straight backed in front of the man she knew to be her father.

"I thank you for your service, Edmund." The vampire lord said, nodding to her father.

"It was an honor, m'Lord Elijah." Her father, replied respectfully.

Caroline turned away from the sight and instead looked to her brother, who was watching the two with rapt attention. He looked paler than usual, obviously more frightened of what was to come than he would admit. Caroline immediately reached for his hand, giving it a small squeeze. He looked down at her for a moment, smiled slightly, and squeezed back. He only let go of her hand when their father suddenly turned to look at them.

"M'lord, if I may introduce to your new servant." He approached them and laid a heavy hand on her brother's shoulder. "This is my son, Robb. He will serve you; his mother has seen to that." When Lord Elijah's dark gaze turned to them, Caroline shifted slightly so that she was behind Robb, peeking out slightly.

Her father looked down at her angrily, knowing that she was disrespecting his good lord, having not even curtsied to him. He was about to reprimand his daughter when the Mikaelson carriage's door opened again.

Caroline only caught a brief glimpse of the man that stepped out, but from what she saw, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He carried himself well, and had a presence that Caroline could not help but to admire.

"Come, brother, I am impatient to be moving on and out of this blasted city." The man called out, his voice almost musical. Soon enough, Lord Elijah was walking back towards the carriage and she was hugging Robb fiercely in goodbye. She held on as long as she could but Robb had to leave her now. He gently pried her fingers off from his doublet, and gave her one last peck to her cheek before turning and heading towards his carriage.

Caroline couldn't bear to watch it so she turned her eyes away, instead looking towards the Mikaelson carriage. As she looked inside it, she noticed the handsome man from before. He was gazing out of one of the small windows, his eyes impassive as he watched the normal passing of time in the city.

When his eyes suddenly turned on her, Caroline fought the urge to look away. She was a Forbes. She was fierce. His eyes met hers and Caroline immediately noticed they were the brightest shade of blue she had ever seen.

For a moment nothing happened, but then the man surprised her by smiling slightly at her, and the hardness in his eyes faded a bit. He raised his hand and gave her a small wave, smile still on his face, showing off boyish dimples, shocking Caroline even more.

Caroline did the only thing she could and waved back, smiling a little for the first time that day.

The next thing she knew, both carriages pulled away, taking her brother and the handsome away.

She wouldn't see either of them until four years later.

Caroline sat next to her little sister, Laura, in the family room, both of them held a thick book on the recent history of the Forbes family.

"Now, my girls, what is the main purpose of the Forbes family?" Their mother, Lucile, asked.

"To serve the Original family." Caroline immediately replied, whilst Laura simply nodded in agreement. Laura would be free of the ten-year, as one child per generation was, so she did not often take her studies seriously.

Caroline, on the other hand, knew the importance of it.

"Good." Her mother said, smiling. "Now, let us move on…"

"Wake up Caroline, wake up! Come on! Do you not remember? It's your birthday! It's not every day you turn sixteen!" Laura shouted, roughly pulling down her elder's sister's blanket, disturbing her peaceful slumber. Caroline opened her eyes, groaning in annoyance at being woken so abruptly. She sighed, knowing that there was no way to return to her surprisingly pleasant dreams.

"I'm going to tell Mama you are awake, don't take too long Care!" Laura bounced off, dark locks flying. Caroline crawled out of bed, picking her favorite blue dress to wear. She even went so far as to wear the thin silver bracelet she had gotten from her brother many years ago; it was her birthday after all, why would she not want to look presentable? She took her comb, and humming happily added the final touches to her appearance.

Her happiness did not last, however, when she realized that she was officially sixteen years old and just what that meant for her. Today marked her last day of freedom, her life would no longer be her own for at least ten years, most likely even more. Girls her age were looking for husbands, not working for blood-sucking creatures of the night. As much as the others told her differently, she would become caged; a prisoner, and for a free spirit such as herself... well, she just hoped she wouldn't break.

"Come in," she sighed as she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Well, there is no need to sound so cheerful, little sister." Caroline whipped her head up, stunned. There standing in the doorway was none other than her brother. He smirked slightly upon seeing the shock in the blue eyes they shared.

"Robb!" She exclaimed, jumping off her perch on the bed and throwing herself at him. His arms automatically opened to catch her, already expecting the attack. Still, he was thrown back a bit when she finally reached him. He chuckled as her arms wrapped around him.

"There's the Caroline I know, always eager to worship her big brother." He smirked, but squeezed her a little tighter, before letting go.

The handsome man turned to Caroline, who averted her eyes. "And who might this fine young woman be?"

"This is my cousin, m'lord, she is to be-" Mary, Lord Niklaus' current Forbes servant began.

"Your replacement." He stated, cutting through Mary's introduction. He slowly approached Caroline, who still avoided looking at him directly. Once in front of her, he paused for a minute, before lifting his hand under her chin, forcing her to look at him. As their gazes met, Caroline felt a shiver run down her spine. She felt herself looking into the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen, with a face to match. She was so caught in his gaze, she almost missed his question.

"What is your name?" He asked, still crushing her with his hypnotic gaze.

"Caroline Forbes, m'lord." She replied, dazed. He took his hand from her chin, only to take her hand instead. He took it to his lips, kissing it lightly, glancing up at her from under his lashes. As he straightened, he smiled charmingly at her.

"It's a pleasure. My name is Niklaus Mikaelson. But you, my dear, can call me Klaus."

And in that first moment, Caroline knew that she was done for.

"Through life, through blood, and through shadow." They chanted together. Caroline was bound now. She was bound to him, to Lord Klaus.

Caroline let Lord Klaus lead her to the center of the ballroom. He turned her slowly to face her and let go of her hand. They fell into their separate lines, beginning their dance. As they stepped forward her eyes locked with his and she felt the electricity between them. Their hands raised and went to each other's, almost touching. As they stepped together, they turned to the other side.

Caroline felt herself being sucked into his gaze, and the world around her seemed to fade away around her. They met each other again in the middle, hands raised, still not touching.

On and on they went, dancing around each other, each teasing the other with their proximity. Towards the end of the dance, Caroline almost yearned to finally be touched. She could tell Klaus must have been thinking something similar as his eyes were practically smoldering. As the orchestra drew the song to a close, Klaus finally made a move and gripped Caroline around the waist, bringing her flush to him.

Caroline felt her eyes drooping as the world around her became blurry. Lord Kol was still greedily drinking her blood, and with a pang she realized this might be her last moment on earth. Feebly, she tried to push him off of her.

Suddenly, Kol's fangs were torn away from her neck, and he went flying back. She would have fallen were it not for the strong arms holding her up. She glanced to the face that belonged to the arms. Bright blue eyes filled with a strange mixture of fury and sympathy stared back at her.

"Klaus... m'lord..." She mumbled, recognizing him even in her stupor.

"Shh, love. It's going to be alright. It's me. You're safe." He said with surprising gentleness. Caroline smiled at him, idly. For some reason, she could not help but believe him; she was safe. She leaned into his chest and his arms tightened around her. Fuzzily, she hid her face in his embrace, letting the warm feeling of being cared for take away her pain.

She closed her eyes, letting her exhaustion overtake her.

"Klaus," She murmured as he pressed another kiss to her lips. She only pulled away when she needed air, but even then she did not step away. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks when she realized what she had done.

She had kissed him. She had kissed Lord Klaus.

Before Caroline managed to get out of her bedroom and away from the person who had been ready to attack her in her sleep, that same person blurred to her, pushing her roughly back down, hand over her mouth. Caroline's eyes widened as she finally made out who was standing over her.

It was a woman. Katherine Pierce.

"Sh, sh, now, dear one. Wouldn't want to wake up your masters, now would we?" The woman's voice was sickly sweet, the menace underneath it showing her for the predator she was. Caroline struggled some more, managing to get a hand up but the woman soon noticed and pinned her down harder, chuckling darkly. "My, my, aren't we feisty? I see why he likes you… Too bad for you."

Caroline opened her eyes to stare at Klaus, tiredly, watching as he sat down next to her, caressing her cheek lightly.

"Why do you affect me so, Caroline?" He whispered, staring deeply in her bright blue eyes. He leaned down to leave a chaste kiss to her lips. "Sleep well, love." The next moment he was gone and out the door.

No, Klaus, she thought, it is you who affects me.

"You shall know my pain, boy." Mikael's deep, gravelly voice said from behind her, his hands locked around her neck.

She felt her blood spike, breathing coming out in short gasps. She met Klaus' gaze, saw his beautiful blue eyes widen in utter horror, saw him begin in his run, reaching out to her. Vaguely, she was aware he called something out, a terrible cry of pain.

But, she knew… She knew what would shuddering gasp, she shut her eyes and felt a tear run down her cheek.

Knowing what she had to do, what she needed to do, she opened her eyes once more, just once, and looked back to Klaus. She would give him this one last thing. She focused on him and, through a shroud of terror and panic, smiled the tiniest of smiles.

Klaus was so close.

Crack!

Black. Nothing. Gone.

Caroline drifted in her black world. She was bodiless, she felt nothing. There was just black. There was no pain, horror or destruction, nor was there happiness or love.

Black. Just black.

And then she opened her eyes and it all came back to her.

She was a vampire.

I love you, Caroline, don't you see?" Klaus said.

A shocked silence followed. He… He loves me? W-What? Klaus could see the disbelief in Caroline's eyes, and knowing he could not turn back and retake what he had said, knowing that he did not want to, he decided to repeat them. "I love you and I can't lose you." He said, sitting back down in the chair, his head falling to his hands, fingers raking nervously through his hair.

"You love me." She stated, her tone factual.

"I do." He confirmed hopelessly as he looked at her in defeat.

"Good, because, you see, I love you as well and it would be a shame for it to go unrequited." It seemed to take a moment for him to fully grasp the meaning of her words, but when he did, the widest, most beautiful smile she had ever seen made its way to him. It was like the sun was shining on his face and the next thing she knew she was pulled into a passionate, heart-felt kiss. Caroline wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, running a hand through his soft hair, whilst his arms were locked around her waist. They stayed that way for a long while until they felt the need to come up for air.

"Caroline Forbes, would you do me the honor of truly becoming Lady Mikaelson?" Klaus asked, in his roundabout way. "I know it is not what you dreamt of when you were younger. We will never grow old together, nor will we have children… But, the world is at our feet, ours to travel and explore… and, I want you at my side, love-"

Klaus was interrupted mid-speech by Caroline's sudden tackle of him and he abruptly had his arms full of bubbly blonde vampire. He met her halfway, pressing his lips to hers, the supposed-to-be chaste kiss turning swiftly more impassioned. His hands ran down her shoulders, marveling at the soft skin, to her waist, gripping her tightly to him, his other hand found its way to her thigh whilst her fingers winded in his hair.

"It took you long enough." Caroline gasped, pulling away from his mouth for a moment to look at him with that look that was both a mixture of disapproval and love.

Her entire family was dead. All of them slaughtered.

But Caroline couldn't move away from them. She couldn't move away from the body of her brother. She had to stay with him. She had to be there for him.

She sat frozen and alone in a pit of darkness and blood.

And then Klaus pulled her away.

Caroline did not know what was happening. All she saw was blue as a comforting haze cocooned her in its warm embrace. She heard whispers of words. You will be happy - you will not remember - you do not know me – you will find your way. And then the memories flashed by and were locked away, deep in her mind.

The black hole of pain turned smaller and smaller as the memories wiped away, but even as they were all locked up, nice and tight and the comforting haze took away her grief, the hole remained, smaller and less noticeable. But it was still there.

It would always be there until she saw those blue eyes again.

For now, however, she closed her own eyes.

Caroline gasped as she awoke, her eyes flickering open, the pain in her mind finally receding as the last flashes of her memories passed her by. She found herself lying in familiar arms, Robb's arms. Her brother. Her wonderful, wonderful brother. She looked up to meet his eyes, her own filling with tears at seeing him again. She recognized him now.

My god. I know now. I know who I was, who I am.

I remember.

"Robb!" She cried, her voice clogged up with emotion. She suddenly reached up and pulled him into a tight embrace. He's dead and he is still watching out for me. She buried her face in his neck, the tears flowing free now. "Oh, I have missed you so much!" She sobbed. "I am so sorry for what happened."

"Sh," He whispered, his arms wrapping around her instantly. Caroline could hear the emotion in his voice, as well. "It is all over now. The fault was not yours."

"Thank you." She said then, her heart filled with gratitude. He had given her back everything. She knew now. She knew what she had to do. She knew who she was.

She was Caroline Forbes, former servant and current fiancée to Klaus Mikaelson.

And she would damn well remind him of that.

Well, that's it for today. I realize that a lot of this chapter is flashbacks. Most of them are direct or slightly rewritten excerpts of TLTLB, however, I added a few new ones because I didn't want to bore you with old material. The reason I put those in there, however, is because I felt it was important to give a little reminder of all the stuff that Caroline went through with Klaus and how much they had meant to each other.

Anyways, I sincerely hope you enjoyed this one. It's what I have been waiting to write since the beginning so I hope I did your expectations justice! I know it must seem odd that I used Robb as the catalyst for Caroline's remembering but, to me, it seemed like Klaus in this AU would be too stubborn and care to much about Caroline to be selfish enough to give her back her memories…

Next chapter: KLAUS!

Before I go, I do want to thank everyone for bombarding my email with all your reviews, alerts and favorites. You guys are amazing and you really made my day:)

Okay, well, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!

RW