25 Days of Klaroline. Day 25 Christmas.
What a Wonderful Gift.
A Short Klaroline Christmas Story.
Slightly AU. None of the Originals stuff happened, outside of Klaus going there to war with Marcel, which he is winning, duh! Sterilized…whoops! I mean Steroline, never happened. I'm not sure if it will read this way or not but this story is meant to be a slow paced and softly spoken story. Think of the song by Louis Armstrong, What a Wonderful World. It may cause you some tears, moments of awe, happiness and over all Klaroline feels. So be warned.
.
.
.
Caroline stood at the boarder just outside of Mystic falls. The ends of her green and red plaid scarf blew gently in the wind as she stared at the place where she knew the line sat between staying a vampire and having all the magic drawn out of her. Her bright red knitted cap sat firmly on her head keeping her long blonde curls from blowing in her face as her clenched her fists tightly within the pockets of her white fur coat.
She clamped her jaw and let a heavy emotional sigh slip from between her teeth, the heat from her breath in the cold winter evening swirled in front of her face.
She didn't know if she could do this.
No one knew she was here and she preferred it that way, especially after how she left things.
Back in February of this year her Mother had passed away leaving her broken and lost. Her friends tried to be there for her but she couldn't think straight. She had been moments away from turning it off when a sudden thought hit her.
Her Mother wouldn't want that for her.
So instead Caroline snapped Elena and Stefan's necks, it must have been their own grief and concern that allowed her to even get away with it. She packed a bag as quickly as she could, grabbed all her important paperwork, penned a quick note that simply said that she couldn't take it anymore and needed time on her own, before flashing from the town and hadn't looked back.
Well, until today.
As much as in the beginning she resented Matt for keeping her up to date on their friends and the town's lives, she was now thankful. At least she knew what to expect and wouldn't have any surprises when she walked passed the border into town.
Caroline took a deep breath, pulling her hand from her coat pocket and began to walk towards the border with her arm held straight out in front of her.
"Are you sure you want to do that Love?"
Caroline's eyes squeezed shut and her arm dropped the moment his accented sympathetic voice washed over her.
Without opening her eyes or turning around she whispered bleakly, "What are you doing here Klaus?"
Klaus sighed at the sight of her ridged posture and walked up behind her laying his hands gently on top of her shoulders, paying no mind to her initial flinch before she relaxed her body.
"You promised to never come back." She whispered weakly.
"Extenuating circumstances." His warm breath ghosted over her cheek as he whispered tenderly, "I do hope you'll forgive me, but I had a hunch you would show up here today and I couldn't stand the thought of you doing this alone."
Caroline's throat began to close and tears welled in her eyes as she stared at the pathway into Mystic Falls, "But that's what I am. I'm alone."
Klaus felt his chest constrict at the sorrow in her voice and the tears he didn't need to see to know they were there clouding over her lovely blue eyes. "You don't have to be Caroline." Klaus rubbed his hands soothingly over her shoulders, "I'll be here if you want me to be. But if you don't, you only have to say the word and I promise to walk away."
Caroline's huffed laughter sounded pitiful even to her own ears, "You already promised that and look how that turned out."
Klaus chuckled softly before keeping with their hushed tones, "True. But it's the first Christmas without your Mother Caroline and I just couldn't stand you feeling that you had to be alone."
When she didn't reply Klaus assumed he had put far too much pressure on her during this emotional time for her and removed his hands from her shoulders only to gasp quietly as she reached behind her to clutch his hand with a gentle grip.
"Stay." Her whispered plea floated in the air around them before she slowly turned to face him with silent tears tracking down her face, "I can't do this alone."
Klaus smiled softly at her, running the backs of his fingers down her delicate cheek, "Then you won't."
He switched their hands so they could walk into the town while still holding onto each other only to have Caroline freeze. He turned back to look at her questioningly, wondering if she had had a change of heart or her courage to do what she came to do judging by the bag slung over her shoulder had fled her.
"Wait. You do know what will happen to us, to you, once we cross the town line right?" Caroline asked him hesitantly.
Klaus grinned at her and stepped closer using his free hand to wipe away the worry on her brow, "Yes I am well aware."
Caroline's head drew back slightly in shocked surprise, "And you're still willing to go with me?"
Klaus huffed a disbelieving chuckled with a shake of his head, "Caroline, when will you get it through that thick lovely skull of yours that I am willing to do anything for you?" His soft smile curved into a slight smirk and a wink of his eye, "Though I made it a point to survey the area beforehand, just to be sure it was safe."
Caroline laughed lightly with a roll of her eyes, "Of course you did." Her tongue peeked out to swipe her lower lip before her teeth sank into it making it turn white as she released it from her their hold, "Thank you." She watched as he blew out a bashful puff of air, ready to deny her thanks. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, "I'm serious Klaus. Thank you."
Klaus read the sincerity in her eyes as her long dark lashes fluttered and gave her a simple nod as he tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, "Yeah well, we best be on our way wouldn't you agree?"
Caroline sighed shakily, "Yeah."
Together they walked in tense steps to the border line; both took a quick glance at the other before giving a half grin. Then with a deep breath they took that final step into Mystic Falls.
The feeling was odd for Caroline as they walked through the wooded path to the back of the local cemetery. Though by the pale look and the deep concentration on Klaus's face she realized it had to be a thousand times weirder for him.
She wondered what he was thinking, what he was feeling that now he was human, at least for this small moment in time, after over a thousand years of being anything but.
And he did it all for her.
Klaus put himself in the danger, whether he had checked the area out first or not, it was still a risk. A risk that she never imagined he would even think of taking.
And he did it for the sole purpose of her not doing this alone.
Caroline sighed shakily and gulped down harshly at such a thing. Her eyes quickly glanced over to the man escorting her to her Mother's grave on this snowy Christmas night nervously, waiting for him to ask her what was wrong.
That was when it hit her.
He didn't have his normal advantage of his Hybrid senses to pick up on her discomfort or nerves. He didn't have his Hybrid senses for anything at all.
Klaus had left himself completely and utterly vulnerable just to do this for her. Just to be there for her during her first Christmas without her Mother. He came here knowing full well what this journey of hers could potentially cost him; his very life if any one of his enemies knew of it.
Yet he did it anyways.
His words raced through her mind like a bullet.
"Caroline, when will you get it through that thick lovely skull of yours that I am willing to do anything for you?"
"I intend to be your last. However long it takes."
Her heart raced frantically in her chest, nowhere near the sluggish way a vampires did when they were overcome with emotions, making it feel almost foreign as her mind tried to play catch up to what all of this meant.
"We're here Caroline."
Klaus's slightly nervous and on edge voice startled her out of her own thoughts. She glanced up at him and then threw her gaze to the back gate of the local cemetery.
Klaus mistook her edginess as her bravery failing her, "Sweetheart you can do this. I'll wait right over there," He pointed a finger towards a tree a little ways off from where she knew her Mother's grave was, "And if you need me or you need to leave, whatever it is I will be here." Klaus cupped the sides of her face in his hands looking her in the eyes, "But know this Caroline, you are strong. You can handle this with all the grace and strength that I know you possess."
Caroline's hands rose to grip his wrist in a tight hold, her eyes never breaking from his, "Thank you." She let go of him with a tight smile and he watched with pride at her inner strength as she opened the gate and walked over to her Mother's tombstone with a pleased smile at the sight of so many flower arrangements waiting for her. A few of which he himself had sent.
Klaus stood off to the side leaning against the tree, giving Caroline the respect and privacy with her mother's tombstone she needed. It was an odd experience for him, to see her not too far away, to just be able to make out the shape of her lips moving but not able to hear what she was saying.
He placed his hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat frantically from within, knowing that for the first time in centuries it was beating to keep him alive and not just moving the blood around his immortal body.
He drew in a deep breath, unable to sense the things around him as he would have been able to with his keen Hybrid senses but it was strangely more filling in some way. It held more purpose. Not only did this deep breath of air keep him filled with the oxygen his body temporarily required, but it gave him an overwhelming sense of peace, a sense of self.
He could smell and taste the snow that covered the ground and trees in a way he had long since taken for granted.
It was in that moment as he breathed in the air he hadn't required for so long, watching on as Caroline knelt next to her Mother's tombstone laying the beautiful red roses she had brought along with her on its top, that Klaus realized the gift that coming here for her had given him.
That moment so long ago he had told her about, that time with that small simple hummingbird became his own moment of wonder.
Here he stood, the most powerful creature on the planet, reduced to a simple insignificant human man. And yet, as he tilted his head with a soft smile at the beautiful woman who looked over her shoulder at him for the support she needed, he felt anything but insignificant.
He truly felt like the most powerful creature on the planet. More so than he ever had in his thousand years of existence.
As a simple human man; whose heart beat for survival, whose lungs filled with much needed oxygen, he was able to make this wonderfully strong and full of light woman feel safe and secure. He was able to let her know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was not and would never be what she feared the most just as much as he did himself, alone.
Aye, Klaus thought with a peaceful smile, what a truly wonderful gift it was.
.
.
.
Caroline could see the boundary line just a short distance away and tugged on Klaus's arm to pull him to a stop.
"Wait."
His trusting gray eyes looked down at her in concern, not concern for himself she recognized easily, but concern for her, "What is it Caroline?"
Her beguiling blue eyes looked up at him from underneath her long lashes as she cupped his face uttering, "This." Right before her soft lush lips began to caress his own.
Klaus groaned lowly as her lips danced with his, looping his arm around her lower back to pull her tightly against his solid frame as his other hand cupped the side of her face, his fingers twining into her hair peeking out from her red knit cap.
They had kissed before, more than kissed before, in these very woods but this way different. Something about this moment touched them both in a way Klaus had long forgotten and Caroline never even knew existed.
It was sweet. It was innocent. This melding of lips and soft swipes of tongues, hands that gripped frantically but was soft as a feather's touch. Hearts that pounded and lungs that screamed for air all the while lips that never wanted to stop kissing.
Caroline pulled back first, her head resting on his heaving chest as she fought to catch her breath.
Klaus wrapped his arms around her, linking his hands together behind her back as he laid his head atop of hers while he attempted to find his own breath.
Once their lungs calmed to a soothing rhythm and their heart slowed to a steady beat, they pulled back to look at each other searchingly before sharing a soft shy smile and began walking back to the edge of Mystic Falls.
The power rushed back into their limbs the moment they stepped back over the line. Veins crawled down their faces as their eyes flashed red and yellow before they gained control back over their reactions.
Klaus looked over at her, every bit the lost man he was, unsure for the first time in centuries what to do next. Caroline was sure that he thought her kissing him was just something she did in the moment. Here they stood, very much like they had before, both ready to let the other go.
Well, the surprise is on him isn't it? He had given her the one thing she needed more than anything, the one gift she never imagined she would find under her Christmas tree this year or ever again.
He had proven to her that she was not alone. She could have him if she wanted.
And she did. She thought before she flashed over to him, throwing herself into his arms and crashed her lips to his.
His grip on her felt stronger, sturdier than when they had been human. More than that, it felt right in a way she had all but blocked out before. Not anymore. She broke the kiss, leaning her forehead against his as he lowered his head to try and capture her lips once more.
"Take me somewhere."
"Where Love?" He asked in confusion.
"Anywhere." She breathed against his lips as her large round eyes gazed deeply into his, "As long as I'm with you, as long as you stay with me, I couldn't care less."
Klaus read the true and unfiltered honesty blazing from her eyes and it nearly knocked him over. Yes he had hoped, but he had never let himself believe that this would happen on this night.
That she would finally chose him, fully, completely; just as he had long ago chosen her, even before he realized it himself.
Klaus cupped her face tenderly, his eyes changing to a color Caroline had never seen on him before. And then she understood, this is what true happiness looked like in Klaus's eyes.
"I will stay for as long as you'll have me Caroline."
"Hmm. Well then it's a good thing we can live forever. You know; last loves and all that."
Their beaming smiles matched as they gazed happily into each other's eyes, leaning in closer as Caroline whispered against his lips, "Merry Christmas Klaus."
"Merry Christmas My Love." Klaus breathed across her lips before pressing his own against hers once more.
Neither noticed the snow begin to fall, or how the clouds shifted to allow the moon and star light to filter down on them as she broke the kiss and began the walk away from Mystic falls and towards their future.
The only thing they noticed was the feel of each other as Caroline wrapped an arm around his back and Klaus held her close with his arm slung protectively over her shoulder. All the wonder of the world around them swirled and both felt it was purely for them, for their new beginning, for their real chance at never feeling alone or lost again. Even as the reality of the world around them set in they both couldn't help but think, what a wonderful world it truly was.
.
.
.
I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's!
Thank you all for your love and support. This will be my last "new" story for a while since now I will be focusing on the ending to Above All Else as well as the next installments to all my drabbles as well as finishing up the prompts I have been sent. I am still taking new requests and prompts! So feel free to send those my way. ;)
Remember you are not alone. If you, any of you, need anything please don't hesitate to message me on here or on tumblr. I am here. For anything and everything, and always for YOU. 3tinkgemini.
