Back in New Orleans, the first thing I did was go and check up on Davina's grave and the Soul-Gathering Jade that I had left with her alongside Kol. He placed a fresh rose at her headstone in the holder whilst I pressed my hand against the smooth stone and reached inside with my magic to feel what was going on in there. "How is she?"
"She's doing good." I reported with a smile, feeling that the Jade had almost completed pulling the fragments of her soul back together. "It won't be long now before we can revive her. Her soul is almost finished mending…in fact I'd say in a couple weeks you'll have her back Kol." His face immediately illuminated in the sweetest way imaginable, smiling brightly as he too pressed his hand against her name.
"You hear that Davina? We'll be together again soon. Just hold on a little longer." It looked like someone had been dutifully returning and taking good care of her grave, bringing her flowers and keeping the place clean. We spent a little time there, talking to Davina's grave before then leaving in order to join the others once again, whereby we arranged our plan to rescue Nik from the clutches of his oppressors. Rebekah took on the task of distracting Marcel, arranging to meet with him at the cemetery whilst the rest of us proceeded to Rousseau's where a tunnel would give us access to the location where Nik was being held.
Finn and Kol were given the task of watching Josh, who had been forced to help the family against his will for fear of his life, but I stipulated repeatedly that no one was to kill him. At this I eyeballed Kol since he was the one most likely to lose his temper and give in to his murderous urges and reminded him that Josh was Davina's best friend and that she loved him, so it would be better for him to keep Josh alive. It was as much as I could do for the guy, giving him a smile and telling him it was good to see him again before following the others down the tunnel to where Nik was being kept, our way now blocked by an iron door and a powerful boundary spell that not even I could break in an instant.
Nik was just lying there, completely comatose and didn't even seem to realise that we were there with him as Elijah called out to his brother. My pulse deepened upon seeing him and for a moment, I could only stand there and stare. He looked awful, five years of imprisonment had not been kind to him, and I started to worry how this would have affected him. Would he go on a rampage the moment he was set free? Would he kill everyone he saw as his enemy? It hurt physically to see him in such a state, his lips moving in a catatonic murmuring that was completely incoherent as Freya inspected the boundary spell that kept him trapped inside, saying that she could try to overwhelm it but would need someone to channel. "I'll do it." Hayley immediately offered, glancing to us all before then looking at Elijah. "Elijah, you keep watch." At this point, I gradually sank to my knees and looked at Nik as his eyes stared off into the distance, willing him to at least look at me.
"Nik." My voice called to him softly but with an ounce of power that caused it to echo in an attempt to reach him as Freya and Hayley prepared to begin the spell.
"Lia?" Blinking I glanced their way then cleared my throat, nodding my head to indicate that I was prepared and that I would follow Freya's lead, giving her my hand on her other side so that she could receive an even greater power boost to brutally overwhelm the barrier that locked us out and Niklaus inside. As the chanting began I felt my power assimilate with Freya's, her magic flowing outwards in order to pierce through the boundary spell. Elijah instructed her not to stop for anything before leaving, going to deal with whoever had arrived above ground to keep them from interrupting us here. Freya continued to chant, not allowing Hayley to let go until she had broken through the spell and made an opening. Hayley immediately left to go and help Elijah, and after she had solidified her hold, Freya then released my hand in order to let me go through the boundary in order to get Niklaus.
"Nik! Niklaus, you have to move." My hands reached for him and quickly found that the Tunde Blade was lodged in his chest, but it was wedged so deep that I had no hope of pulling it out by myself. "Nik!"
Having no other option but to grasp him under the arms, I dragged him as quickly as I could through the barrier, pulling with all my might though he was difficult to move whilst Freya held on for as long as she could, holding the barrier aside so that we could pass through freely though it was so powerful that she was continually losing grip. I pulled Nik through just as the boundary closed itself once again, sealing itself shut as Nik started to wake up on his own, gasping and spluttering before all at once, he thrust his own hand through his chest, breaking the bone in order to pull out the blade that was causing him inexplicable pain and torment. At the horrific display I yelped, clamping my hands over my mouth as for a moment, I thought Nik was ripping out his own heart.
He gasped and yelled, writhing on the ground before finally pulling that infernal blade free and finally, rid himself of the agony. "Nik?" Both Freya and I moved closer to him, brushing at his hair and trying to get him to focus as the distant look in his eyes gradually became sharper, more distinct, and after a few moments of softly calling his name, our eyes finally met. "Ophelia…." The quiet murmur of my name was almost reverent, beholding me with wonder and as I felt the first tears begin to fall, I smiled down at him with a hopeless sound, touching his face and hair as Freya recovered her strength.
"Hey." Unable to hide my relief and joy to have him back, my head came to rest against his chest as he brought his hand to feel my hair, breathing deeply as we both just completely lived in that moment, wanting nothing else than to simply exist in the feelings that this reunion brought. Freya gently brought us back to reality, reminding me that Hayley and Elijah were fighting upstairs so I sucked in a deep breath and wiped my tears away in order to resolve myself to what needed to be done. Together we helped Nik to his feet as he was still groggy and disorientated, though he still grasped the knife in his hand. We helped him all the way back up to the surface which brought us out into the courtyard of the compound where we had lived before, only now it was overgrown with foliage and almost completely decrepit around us.
Hayley had managed to get Elijah and Marcel to stop fighting, but in the moment of Marcel's distraction, Nik plunged the knife into his chest from behind in order to give us the chance to escape. For a moment I wanted to help Marcel, feeling guilty for just leaving him like that but Hayley pulled me along with them in order to not leave me behind, so I had no choice but to leave with them. We ran as fast as we could whilst practically carrying Nik through the underground tunnels to where we had arranged to meet with Rebekah and the others, all the while knowing that Marcel wouldn't be too far behind us and likely to catch up. "Nik!" Rebekah immediately stood up when she saw her brother being carried out into the open from the drainage pipe, going to embrace him tenderly as we all exited into the open.
"You can hug him later, we need to leave."
"Marcel's right behind us. Go, go!" Both Freya and Hayley urged us all to get moving towards the cars we had ready, only to find that Marcel had found and caught up to us much faster than we had anticipated. The moment he announced himself, everyone stood on edge with Kol moving to slide himself in front of me in a rather touching display of protectiveness, though probably stemming from the fact I was the only one who could revive Davina which he knew very well. Still, I was flattered.
"You shouldn't have come back. None of you." He informed us stoically, glaring mostly at Niklaus though Elijah received plenty of his ire too.
"That's what family does." Hayley interjected before someone else could make an insult or aggressive comment that would only piss Marcel off all the more. "We fight for each other."
"Yeah so I've heard. Though it didn't really work out for me, did it?" To this Kol lost his temper a little, throwing up his hands in order to dryly exclaim that Marcel had never been a Mikaelson and that he needed to get over this fact since he had a city to run and vampires to deal with. I hit Kol sharply, giving him a mother's glare to tell him to shut up and behave or else. At Kol's baiting, Marcel started forwards however Rebekah then stood in his way, pointedly putting herself between Marcel and her family.
"If you want to kill one of us, you'll have to kill us all."
"Don't push me, Rebekah."
"Then get on with it. Let's end this once and for all."
"That's enough." Finally cutting in, Nik intervened in order to put his sister out of harm's way, though my heart jumped to my throat as he himself faced the prodigy that he had raised, and had eventually fallen before at his hand. "That's enough, Marcel, you've won. New Orleans was our city once and now it's yours. For good."
"Is the great Klaus Mikaelson accepting defeat? Or is this all just another distraction?"
"Neither. In fact, despite your appalling behaviour, I'm offering you a chance at peace." I glanced at everyone in order to see if they understood where Nik was going with this, but all seemed just as perplexed and curious as the rest. By this point Finn had gripped onto Freya's arm, ready to run with her should a fight for life and death break out, and Kol remained lingering close to me as Nik offered Marcel his ultimatum. "Attempt to kill us all, and you will be making a mistake. Any who survived would no doubt return to seek revenge, bringing our enemies back to your city in our wake. And even if you did manage to eliminate us all, one day my daughter would come for you. And her daughter after that. On and on for all your days…an endless cycle of violence you will bring upon yourself. Or…or we leave and we never come back." The offer sounded reasonable to me, but Marcel took it as an insult that Nik thought he had any right to barter with him like he still had something to offer.
"After all that time buried in a hole, you still got some nerve. Yeah well, you stand there with a straight face, and try to sell this like it's your choice. But here's the truth. I could kill all of you right now. And tonight, I would sleep like a baby. Hell that's what you would do." He addressed us all but talked mostly to Nik, driving his point across that he had defeated them all, and would have no qualms about killing us all which made me feel more than a little uncomfortable. "You've destroyed more people, taken more lives, ended more families, than anyone who's ever lived. All because you can. But here's the other truth. Despite being raised by you people…I am nothing like any of you. In fact, I'm proud as hell I'm not a Mikaelson. I beat you all without turning into you. And now you can live the rest of your lives, knowing that the only reason you exist, is because I am showing you mercy. Now go. And don't ever come back." For a moment none of us could believe this was happening.
He was letting us leave? Just like that? A moment passed of stupefied shock before it hit us all at once that if we didn't leave now, then Marcel would indeed slaughter us. I moved quickly at Rebekah's prompting, joining her in one of the cars with Kol whilst the others got into the other. I drove, following behind them whilst taking deep breaths and thinking over everything that had just happened and wondering if it really had been so easy to free Nik and escape. "You don't think Marcel would have really killed us all, right?" I questioned after a while, noticing that Rebekah seemed to be particularly distracted.
"Torn us limb from limb then danced on our graves." Kol supplied rather unhelpfully so I sent him a dry look over my shoulder. "What? Contrary to what he says, Marcellus did in fact learn everything he knows from our family so he is more like us than he thinks."
"Enough Kol. Let us forget about him and that city. We have more important things to focus on from this point onwards, such as our adorable little niece. Come on, tell me everything Lia. I want to hear about everything I've missed these past five years." With a smile I settled into telling Bekah all about Hope and although Kol took little interest in joining the conversation, I could tell that he was in fact paying attention as I talked about their niece whom I had watched grow up as we all drove back to the family house that Hayley had made into Hope's home, waiting for her family to return to her. It was late when we got back, long after dark so the kids were in bed and Mary was in her favourite chair by the fire.
I went in first in order to let her know that we were back and that everything had gone to plan, telling her that it was okay if she wanted to go get some rest. Having no inclination to see the others again, Mary made herself scarce as everyone made their way inside and found places to make themselves comfortable and clean up. I found them each clothes to change into since some were bloody and they had been wearing them for the past five years, so showers and fresh clothes were a definite start whilst I poured wine for us all. Bekah thanked me for the loan of my clothes as she came down and accepted a large glass of red from me and almost downed it all in one before asking for a refill. "So what's this big surprise you said you had for me? You know how impatient I am so do not hold me in suspense any longer, my dear Lia."
Before I could even answer her, the others all came into the front room to join us for wine but then I also heard the little patter of feet come rushing down the stairs, drawn in by the noise of people moving through the house. Hayley and Nik had already been up to see Hope but decided to let her sleep, so when the door was pushed open to reveal a curly haired little boy of four years old, everyone stared at him in shock as he looked up at everyone's faces before suddenly brightening. "Mommy! You're back!" Bekah audibly gasped and for a moment there was a bustle of confusion, some people looking sharply at Hayley however when I put down my wine and lowered myself down in order to open my arms as Lucan ran into them, I beamed as I lifted him up and twirled with him whilst he grinned his little cherub smile at me.
"There's my little man! I missed you so much, but what are you doing awake? It's so late, did we wake you?" I could feel the shocked stares of everyone fixated on me as I held my son in my arms, Lucan naturally sitting on my hip as he hugged me before he then looked to all the strange people in our family room.
"Mommy, are they the people you went to rescue with Auntie Hayley?" He questioned me so I told him it was and moved so that he could see Rebekah, who he immediately recognised from my drawings and paintings so he brightened with interest. "Auntie Bekah!"
"Oh my god…is he yours?" Bekah was completely floored, staring at us both before beaming brightly and moving closer, also putting down her wine in order to meet my son who happily went into her arms to let her carry and cuddle him. "Hello little one, what's your name?"
"Lucan. I'm Lucan. I've waited a long time to meet you Auntie Bekah, mommy told me all about you." With Lucan in the room I couldn't exactly explain everything and thankfully no one demanded to know the details there and then, though Nik still looked completely shocked. I noticed that he held himself back away from Lucan even though the others introduced themselves and even shook his little hand, Freya managing to pry him out of Bekah's arms long enough to hold him herself before Bekah wanted him back. Lucan completely loved meeting these new people, having heard stories about them all and knowing them by face and name since he had grown up seeing their portraits on my canvases ever since he was born. He smiled and answered their questions before beginning to yawn, whereby he then started to snuggle into Rebekah's shoulder which made her fall in love with him all over again.
"Bless him, he must be tired meeting so many people all at one. Oh please let me put him to bed Lia, I'm not ready to let go yet." Laughing softly, I ducked my head as I led the way out of the room in order not to make eye contact with Nik and showed Bekah where Lucan slept. His room was near to Hope's and was filled with different kinds of plants and foliage which grew around his bed and up the walls, small nightlights chasing away the heavy shadows since Lucan didn't like the dark. She put him tenderly to bed and tucked him in with me, giving him a kiss on his head before then grasping my arm in order to pull me all the way back downstairs and once I was before everyone again, demanded to know the full details of what had happened. "You have a child! Your own son! What the bloody hell happened whilst I was asleep?"
"Well, it's a long story and…and it's not entirely a happy one." I admitted, rubbing my neck and picking up my wine once more. I then explained all about Owen, Lucan's father, who he was and that we had been in a serious relationship, that we were even almost married but then he had been killed in the line of duty, leaving me with Lucan. Bekah and Freya empathised with me, giving me their condolences but comforting me that Lucan looked nothing short of an angel and couldn't wait to get to know him better. Elijah also agreed, expressing his sorrow that I had been through so much in their absence and apologised that they had not been there for me. He then kissed me on the cheek and left with Hayley in order to talk. Finn and Kol did not say much, but agreed that Lucan seemed to be a fine young boy and told me that I had been brave to carry on with so much strength despite facing the hardship of loss.
Only Nik said nothing, and it was only after a while that I realised that he was not even in the room, making me naturally turn my head to search for him. Bekah and I had abandoned the wine for something stronger, and when she saw me looking for her brother, she affectionately urged me to go look for him. "You two have much to talk about, and I do not think waiting to say what needs to be said is a good idea. Go on. You and I can catch up properly another time. We have all the time in the world from now on." She then placed two glasses and the bottle of bourbon in my hands before pushing me out the door onto the front porch where Nik himself was sat, alone and contemplative.
"I see my sister has evicted you."
"Yeah, she sure knows how to show tough love." I answered automatically before I felt my throat tighten. "Here. Drink with me." Pouring us both a heavy drink, I made Nik take it with the reasoning that after five years of being trapped underground with barely enough to sustain him, he could do with a pick-me-up. I then sat down beside him on the chair and for a while, neither of us talked. It was a cool night, slightly chilly, but the bourbon soon chased away the feeling of a chill, though my pulse was still roaring through my veins incessantly. I doubted anything would be able to calm that down, so I just drank more.
"You are anxious." Nik said to me finally and I jumped when he suddenly spoke, my pulse spiking once again though he had continued to stare out into the darkness of our isolated and rural home. "I can hear your heartbeat racing." Unable to think of how to respond to that, I dove towards a topic that I knew I could talk about for hours on end without fail since I was a proud and completely enthralled mom.
"What did you think of Lucan?" I blurted out before wincing, feeling like a complete idiot and decided to just drain my drink to hide my sense of embarrassment.
"He has your eyes." Niklaus finally answered after a few moments of consideration for his answer. "And I can tell that he is a gentle, innocent boy, so he has none of your temper. I expect that part of him to be from his father's side." Now I looked at him, risking a glance only to find Nik's expression to be too complex to read. I could not tell if he was hurt or angry, if he was reconciled or pining, I couldn't tell anything because he was hiding it all so masterfully. Feeling like the mention of Lucan's father was a dig, I flinched again but this time, Nik took note of it and seemed to make an effort to physically soften, even allowing himself to relax so that our bodies touched side by side. "And I say that in the highest of compliments. He must have been a very fine man to turn your head."
"He was. He was one of the best." I answered, his relaxing allowing me to feel more comfortable. "I would have been happy. Content. And we had Lucan." After that there was a long silence that stretched between us which allowed me time to gather my thoughts and think about what it was I wanted to say to him, but even then I could not choose a single thought that I felt that needed to be said first. I just could not think which one to prioritise, for they all needed to be spoken.
"Did you love him?" This was one of the questions I knew that needed to be answered, and an answer that Nik desperately needed to hear. I sighed deeply, looking into my glass of bourbon before finally looking at Nik so that he and I could speak freely and truthfully to one another.
"I loved Owen the way Hayley loved Jackson." It was more than enough to make everything be understood, and as the minute expressions of Nik's face changed, I knew that he comprehended my meaning. It meant that I had loved Owen, but not as deeply as I loved him, that I had accepted Owen in order to be happy, but it would have been a pale imitation of what I had truly wanted to feel, a mere sliver of the fullest happiness that I would have hoped to find elsewhere. With him. "Nik I…I still…I…"
"You said something to me once." Seeing that I was losing my words, Nik interjected with his own which allowed me to stop and listen as he had finally turned in order to angle himself towards me, his untouched drink completely ignored in favour of focusing on me. "You said that I had only ever seen you as a pawn or a tool, and that I did not recognise the truth of these feelings which we mutually feel." He reminded me, drawing my mind back to the night of Hayley and Jackson's wedding where I had parted ways with Nik with the intent to never see him again. I flinched, however before I could form the words to apologise for those harsh words, I felt Nik's hand close around mine with warmth and tenderness, causing an involuntary shiver to run through me as my gaze was naturally drawn to his and found myself unable to turn away. "I can assure you. You, sweet Ophelia, have never been a pawn. You are an indisputable member of this family, and I have loved you deeply for a very long time."
Those words. Even as he spoke them I could scarce bring myself to believe them. Could this be real? Was this really happening? I had waited for so long to hear such words come from that man's lips, and now that they were free upon the air I was unable to distinguish what was reality and what was a mere fantasy I had concocted in my head from this endless longing. I blame the bourbon. I could do nothing but sit and stare open mouthed at Nik who was gradually beginning to smirk at me with that arrogant, wolfish grin that made me flutter on the inside. As he moved closer towards me I found myself inhaling sharply, thick swells of emotion undulating within. "Say that again."
"Which part, love?"
"Don't be an ass now of all times, Nik. You know damn well which part, now say it again." I commanded him fervently, putting down my glass and twisting in my seat in order to devote my full and undivided attention solely on him. His smile deepened, still wolfish and bright but softening also, his eyes taking in my features as they seamed to roam attentively over every detail. It felt as if he were making up for lost time with the intensity in which he looked at me, five years worth of reminding himself over every feature and intricacy that my face bore. When his hand rose up to my face, the warmth of his palm and the texture of his skin against mine drew me in further as he purposefully lowered his voice to a seductive whisper as he spoke the words once again.
"I have loved you, my sweetest Ophelia, deeply and unwaveringly, for a long time. A gradual and slow descent into the bittersweet realm of bliss and agony combined. What I speak now is the pure truth, and I say that I love you. A thousand, thousand times, and what I feel for you makes all other romances pale in comparison. I burn for you. Your soul sets mine alight, and without it, there is nothing but the cold, empty darkness that awaits me." The beautiful poetry of his words were both devastatingly romantic and undeniably corny. I loved it. I could not think of a response that would even hope to top such a confession, and so in order to give myself a little more time to think, I reached forwards in order to take Nik by a handful of his shirt and pulled him towards me so that I could press my lips upon his.
He responded quickly and with eagerness, neither of us holding anything back as we finally allowed ourselves to indulge in one another after spending so long in restraining ourselves from taking what we truly wanted. I had so many questions still, so many answers that I needed to settle and quieten my mind, but the deeper I kissed him, the less I heard those questions rattle around in my head. Soon it was quiet and peaceful, and I took the opportunity to fully throw myself into the experience of Nik's lips and hands upon me. My lungs gasped for air, but I was not yet ready to resurface. I held on for as long as I could before finally drawing away from Nik so that I could gulp down a fresh breath of air, exhaling the words I needed to say the moment I had the air in my lungs to be able to speak. "I love you too, Nik. I love you. I love you." I managed to somehow stutter in response, still enthralled by the handsome expression of his feelings for me which made my heart want to burst in my chest.
"Ophelia…" His fingers pulled at my hair and stroked at my face, tender and gentle the way he always was with me. "I am truly sorry for all that I have put you through. I am sorry for hurting you, for making you think that you meant so little to me, for everything that I have done that has ever caused you pain. I give you my word, I will seek to make amends for the past, and attempt to be a man more deserving of you in the future." To this I smiled, closing my eyes so that I could bask in the moment and kiss his lips lightly once more.
"You do not have to change for me Nik. I love you just the way you are, paranoid and violent as you are. These parts of you will just keep things interesting between us, right? I do not expect you to become a perfect knight in shining armour. I was never into all that as a kid anyway. You are my villain. My glorious, bloodthirsty, powerful, kingly, stubborn, strong-willed and sometimes obnoxiously annoying, villain. I wouldn't have you any other way." Murmuring to him gently, I pulled myself forwards until I was perched on his lap, straddling him lightly as my arms draped themselves over his shoulders so that I could look down and deeply into his eyes. "I know that you must have a lot of questions about the last five years, I know I have plenty of my own, but I want you to know that my feelings never once changed. I'll stand by you, Nik, for as long as you need me, and I hope that we can all find a way to co-exist. You and me…Hayley and Elijah…Hope and Lucan…I want you to be part of our family too. If ever there comes a time when I can't be there for Lucan, I'll be happy knowing that he has you to watch over him." All the while I poured out my heart to Nik, his eyes had never once strayed from my face, though they were now wrought with emotion that seemed to overpower his usually coy façade.
"Your son…" Nik began to say, blinking as if awakening himself from a trance, looking at me intensely before his powerful arms suddenly seized me all at once, lifting me in one smooth, sweeping motion. "Your son will never have any reason to fear me. He shall always have our protection, always and forever." Overjoyed with his answer, I launched myself at Nik in order to fix my arms around him in a secure embrace whilst he held me aloft. I felt a whooshing sensation, and when I looked up I found myself deep in the forest, far away from the house where my back was suddenly pressed up against a tree and Nik loomed before me, his eyes glinting in the darkness.
His mouth took possession of mine and I answered passionately, pulse thrumming with excitement as I scrambled to pull my scattered thoughts to order so that I wouldn't fully lose control over myself. Summoning my magic, I created a soft bed of moss underneath our feet and little floating orbs of firelight to keep us warm and build a small pocket of brightness in the garish overshadowing forest. Nik wasted no time in making the extent of his feelings known, and I opened myself to him fully without any hesitation or trepidation. I wanted this. I wanted him. Now that I had him before me, I was determined to not let him escape me this time.
Nik was dominant, yet tender and considerate of his strength with me, however as much as he believed he lead this lover's dance, it was I who had imprisoned him. He was mine now, and I would be damned before I allowed anyone to take him from me. I had him in my grasp, and as our bodies finally became passionately entwined, I endeavoured to keep his heart in the palm of my hand for as long as I would live so that no matter what might happen in our futures, I could rest assured that Niklaus's love for me was sincere and true.