AN: Inspired by Carina's comment about the cutout scene from 2x07. It's not canon-complaint when it comes to TO, no Hayley/baby plot. And Ansel's speech in the beginning is a slightly tweaked version of what was actually said.
„I've watched you for centuries…You've travelled across the world, seen the greatest monuments, feasted on blood of the world's most extra-ordinary men. Yet, you've never managed to achieve true peace, whether it was Mikael chasing you or your own demons. The only moments of joy in your life were simple pleasures. Climbing Himalayas. Tending to your horses. The happiest you've been…painting, laughing, dancing with the blonde in Mystic Falls…"
The words of Ansel, his biological father, were still echoing in Klaus' mind as he stood at the balcony of his New Orleans house, glass full of whiskey in his hand, certainly not the first he'd had since flashing away from their conversation in the woods.
The happiest you've been…
Was he, ever? After centuries of cat and mouse game he and Mikael had been playing, did he even know what true happiness meant? Would he be able to recognize it?
Dancing with the blonde in Mystic Falls…
However Klaus hated to admit it, Ansel had been right. He was happy in Mystic Falls, even with the constant attempts at his and his siblings' lives by the merry band of misfits or yet another betrayal by his mother. He had broken his curse, Mikael had been killed, his family reunited.. And Caroline…
Was it happiness? Certainly glimpses of it, even he could recognize that.
The fire in her eyes when she defied him.
The ghost of a smile when she tried not to laugh at something he had said.
That light of hers and the darkness simmering underneath, waiting for its time to unleash.
Her soft moans pleading for more of him, ringing in his ears and fingernails drawing blood from his back.
The truth was, no matter how hard he tried, Klaus couldn't stop thinking about her. Wouldn't. He promised to be her last love. He promised to never come back. To give her time, so she would live her life like she thought she needed to and then she would seek him out, finally realizing that was not what she wanted. It would happen.
And he would wait.
In the meantime, he had reclaimed New Orleans and put an end to some half-arsed plot contrived by the witches to blackmail him. Welcomed werewolves back to his kingdom. And now he was just…bored. Even with yet another attempt by his mother to end his family's existence, this ridiculous plan she concocted to put them in human bodies and bring back Klaus' biological father so he would convince him, it was all just so damn…irritating, having to fight her time and again when he knew very well it could only end in his victory, there was just no other way.
Even Kol, while surely enjoying his magical powers for a while, would eventually start seeking a way to regain his Original body. His little shit of a brother reveled in mayhem and bloodlust too much to ever give it up for eternity.
Klaus looked over the city from his standpoint, streets full of laughter and music, bars filled with enthusiastic tourists, life and energy oozing from every corner. He felt like the odd one out. He was a thousand year old hybrid and instead of enjoying life, like only a true immortal could, he was wallowing in this indescribable misery, he had let himself be trapped here instead of appreciating, like his…like Ansel pointed out, simple pleasures.
Reaching for his cell phone, he contemplated his next move. He knew he shouldn't do it, he promised, yet the words haunting him and the whiskey he had consumed encouraged him to search for her number.
There was nothing simple about her or them but she was his greatest pleasure. And he had never promised not to contact her in any way, had he?
Pressing the call button, Klaus put the phone to his ear, wondering whether she would answer or not. Would she be angry? Irritated? Probably.
He decided to risk it for the simple pleasure of hearing her voice once again.
He waited, feeling slight fluttering in his stomach and a rush of excitement speeding through his veins, then there was a sound of someone picking up at the other end and his lips widened in a smile when he heard her familiar sassy response: "Klaus, this better be damn important, I have a Friendsgiving to plan."
"Hello, Caroline."
She answered. It was a start.
