CHAPTER THIRTEEN

IT'S A KIND OF MAGIC

Caroline was buzzing with excitement, which she found surprising considering how hard the day had been for her. After her early morning encounter with Klaus in the kitchen, she had actually done as he suggested. Going through hours and hours of memories, she had finally found he had been right. Nothing that had happened to her so far had broken her, not even close. Standing in front of the mirror, she had never taken her eyes off her own face. Reliving everything from her childhood to the most recent dreams, she had left nothing out. Never for a single moment had she thought of Klaus as a wise man, despite his centuries' worth of knowledge. His less appealing character traits somehow always seemed to overshadow the amazing sides there admittedly were to him. She understood now what he had been saying. She was Caroline. She would always be exactly that, and today she had seen another glimpse of her true self. And again, it was thanks to Klaus. First, he had made her find the adventuress and now, the strong, steadfast woman who could withstand almost anything if she wanted. She would always be able to pull strength and reassurance from it going forward. Why is it always he who shows me who I am?

They were now comfortably settled in their First Class seats at the very front of the large United plane. Caroline was nervous. She had never been on an aircraft before, and now her first flight was going to be to freaking Frankfurt in Germany! The flight attendant handed her a glass of champagne, and she sipped it absently, staring out of the window, taking in everything that was happening outside. She put down her glass and mumbled with mock indignation, "Definitely not Krug. I'm appalled, Klaus. No private jet available, or what?" He burst into laughter, and Caroline turned towards him in surprise. She had never heard him laugh like that, openly and freely. They smiled at each other, and her breath caught. This trip is going to be my own personal temptation hell. Let's hope his siblings will be following us soon. She had found it unexpectedly hard to say goodbye to the three Originals who stayed behind, even though she would see them again in a few days. She had got used to their presence in her life; they might not be as vital to her as her friends, but still… What was it with that weird family that they grew on you so quickly? Especially Elijah. His presence always calmed her down, and he was someone she had secretly begun to look up to. What she admired the most was how he always seemed to keep himself in check, how his impeccable manners never left him.

A short while later, the plane rolled towards the runway. Caroline's eyes were glued to the window. When the engines began to rumble and they started to accelerate, her eyes widened. The moment they took off, her stomach did a flip and she unthinkingly grabbed Klaus' hand. He took her hand in his, and his thumb caressed her soothingly. Immediately, her entire attention was centered on the electricity that was sizzling between their hands. She didn't turn to look at him and instead tried to concentrate on the way they were gaining altitude and everything grew ever smaller. After a couple of minutes, she pulled back her hand, still not looking at him, but painfully aware of their closeness in the confined space. It was going to be a very long flight.

Klaus smiled to himself as he reclined his seat after dinner and took out his book. Caroline was busying herself with the entertainment system, doing everything in her power to avoid his gaze or his touch. He knew he was making her nervous when he was being so close to her, and that knowledge made him grin like an infatuated teenager. Somehow, he had the distinct feeling that he hadn't stopped grinning ever since they left. Her excitement when he had told her about Norway during their drive to DC had been almost palpable, and he loved that trait in her. He gave a small sigh. This trip was important to him in more than one respect. Yes, he needed to find that white oak and discover a way to put an end to the warlock, but he also needed to have her to himself, away from Mystic Falls, for a few days. It was hard for him to be anything other than the Original Hybrid around the town. He wanted Caroline to see what he was like when he lowered his guard. Just a fraction, of course. She had already seen more of his human side than anyone else outside of his family – she seemed to bring that out in him. Last night in the garden, he had almost felt like his old self again, and she had made him forget everything for a second. So much so that the presence of Damon and Elijah on opposite ends of the terrace had almost gone unnoticed, and that was indeed a first. Had they not been watching, he would have done what he had been craving to do for months and kissed her there and then. For he knew she had wanted him to. He sighed again and cast a quick look at her and then at her TV screen to see what she was watching. His eyes widened and he started laughing. She noticed his amusement and turned towards him, taking off her headphones.

"What's so funny?" she asked, a hint of irritation in her voice.

He chuckled and held up his book for her to see. 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. She looked at her screen where Lord Henry Wotton was just meeting Dorian Gray, then back at him. "Seriously?" Putting her headphones back on, she returned her attention to the movie, but he could see her lips twitch. Adorable.

Their layover in Frankfurt was short, but Caroline was soaking up everything around her like a sponge. She never ceased to ask Klaus about whatever interested her, pulling him from one corner to the next, marveling at all the new impressions. She could see he liked that. He liked it very much, if the way he never stopped smiling was any indication. And this was only an airport! When they approached the gate for their onward flight to Tromsø, Klaus went to ask the staff something about their seats, and Caroline was astonished to hear him speak to them in perfect German. Why are you surprised? He probably speaks a hundred languages.

"How do you say 'I'm thirsty' in German?" she grinned at him when he came back.

He smiled. "'Ich habe Durst'. What would you like, love? B positive might be hard to come by right now, although the airport clinic should have some supplies."

"Just a coke, that would be nice, thanks Klaus."

He nodded and left to get her the drink. Caroline sat down on a bench and looked at the people hurrying by. Wow. She was in Europe. Frigging Europe! She tried to wrap her head around it, but it was hard. So many things she wanted to see, and now she was finally starting. In a weird way, he was making good on his promise to show her the world. Maybe they would have time to see a little bit of Germany on their way back.

Her gaze fell upon a group of people waiting at the next gate. They were talking animatedly, obviously having fun, when one of the men dropped something and bent down to pick it up. For a split second, she thought she had seen a small, ugly man with almost black eyes hovering behind the group. She stiffened, jumped off her seat and craned her neck. The bunch of men moved, and… there was no one behind them. She was still staring in the same direction when Klaus returned with her coke.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately. How does he always seem to know?

"Nothing," she murmured, shaking her head, casting one last glance in the direction of the other gate.

"Caroline," was all he said.

"Okay, I… I thought I had seen the warlock, but I am probably just tired."

Klaus immediately went into soldier mode. "Where? Tell me exactly what happened."

She repeated what she had seen, and he pushed the bottle of coke into her hands. "Wait here. I am serious, Caroline. Do not move away from this gate, not under any circumstances. Are we clear?"

"Crystal."

He flashed off at full Original speed; no human eye would ever be able to follow him. Nervously, Caroline sipped her coke and waited. Five minutes later, Klaus was back at her side. "Nothing," he said. "I searched the entire terminal but nothing. I can't feel anything out of the ordinary either."

"Sorry, Klaus," she muttered, "it's probably all the new impressions, they've got me overreacting a bit."

"No, love. I don't think that is it. He is playing with your mind again, and as you are probably a bit more susceptible – lack of sleep, jet lag, foreign country – he is possibly able to invade your head while you are being conscious. Tell me, have you had visions in your sleep again at all?"

She lowered her head. "Yes," she whispered.

"How often?" he demanded.

"Every other night, ever since the first time, that afternoon at your house."

He closed his eyes, obviously fighting to contain his ire. "Why did you not tell me, Caroline?"

"You had enough on your plate, so I didn't want to bore you with that. And the herbs you gave me made the dreams bearable." He looked at her incredulously, but then he surprised her by taking her hand. She let him.

"Is it still the same dream?" he wanted to know, worry in his voice. There was that warmth again that always spread inside her when he was being so… caring.

"Basically yes. There is only one thing that changed lately, maybe a week ago." She swallowed, and he nodded at her encouragingly. "The last face I see, the one who is suffering the most, is no longer Henrik's."

"Whose is it now, love?" he probed, gripping her hand tighter. She looked him straight in the eye, knowing he could see the distress plain in her face.

"Yours."

He stared at her. She was having nightmares of him being tortured? And it bothered her this much? So the warlock had changed the vision. Another message. But Prelati knew that the one thing that really got to him was Henrik, so why was he showing Caroline visions of a suffering Klaus? He had never been particularly afraid of physical pain, not even in his distant human days, and the thought of being exposed to it did not cause him any discomfort, so what did Prelati want to convey? Klaus sighed. Had Caroline told him that she was still having the visions, he would have sped things up considerably. He had to admit to himself that his research had not been as fast and efficient as usual because he wanted to keep her in his house for as long as he could, out of purely selfish motives. There was nothing like coming home and finding her in his study, buried in some book and then bombarding him with questions about what she had read. Or listening to her rants when she couldn't find a particular article of clothing. He remembered how one day he had had to suppress his laughter when he was downstairs in the kitchen, hearing her rummaging through her closet and swearing like a sailor as some black shirt didn't turn up. 'Don't even think of buying me something, Klaus,' she had mumbled, knowing he could hear her perfectly well across the house. 'And risk your everlasting wrath? I would never dare, sweetheart,' he had replied, hearing her giggle at his appalled tone. But as he looked at her now, he could have kicked himself.

"Well, that should be the better alternative – I'm the Big Bad Hybrid after all, aren't I? I can take it," he attempted a feeble joke.

"That's not funny, Klaus."

"I know. Forgive me, love. Bad one. You really should have told me, and I want your word that you won't be keeping any of this from me going forward. Do I have your promise?"

She nodded. Klaus lifted a hand to brush his knuckles across her cheek. "I am so sorry, Caroline. I hate for you to have to go through all of this."

Caroline softened. She hesitantly lifted her hand, covering his. "I can handle it. You will find a way to put an end to this guy, and I will help you. But you will have to open up to me, too. This will be difficult if you keep hiding things from me, like what happened with Bonnie." He cleared his throat and gazed at her cautiously.

"I… will try, sweetheart. There might be some setback or other, though."

She grinned. "Anything else would probably give me a heart attack."

Then their flight was called.

Tromsø was a revelation. The second Caroline deboarded the plane, she was in love with the crisp air, the fjord, the mountains and the lovely little city. Her eyes were shining as she drank everything in, and she wished they had just come here for vacation. Yeah, right. A vacation trip with Klaus. Sounds… good. Crap, Caroline, what are you thinking?

"This is beautiful," she whispered to Klaus when they were on the way to their downtown hotel. Klaus had rented a sturdy offroader, full winter equipment included. "I have never seen anything quite as lovely as this."

"Well, I have." He winked at her. She blushed slightly and quickly changed topics. "Have you been here before?"

"Yes, a number of times actually. I am quite partial to this place, I have been ever since I came here for the first time, which was sometime around 1300, if I remember correctly. Tromsø and its surroundings exude a very special kind of magic, and not in a witchy sort of way. Sometimes I feel like this is the place where everything supernatural began. The history of vampirism actually commenced in the New World, as you well know, with me and my family, but something about this area touches me in a very special way. The only other place that does this to me is actually Southern Patagonia. Ah, just ignore me," he said lightly. "I seem to be suffering from jet lag after all."

"No, I like it when you talk about yourself like that. Almost makes me forget that I'm on the other side of the pond with the Vampire Godfather," Caroline giggled, making Klaus chuckle as well. "So, what's the plan?"

"We will stay in Tromsø for a few days and try to find out more on the exact whereabouts of that white oak tree. An oak is not a common tree in these latitudes, so we should be able to find it. It is supposed to be located somewhere in Northern Norway, but just driving around looking for it would be completely idiotic. There is a university in Tromsø where we should probably start our research. As for the witch I need to speak to… I am certain she will find us in due course. We will move on once we know more and my family arrives."

"Is there a botanic garden in Tromsø? They might be able to help us as well," Caroline suggested.

"Good idea, I will ask at reception later."

"Please tell me you are not fluent in Norwegian too," she said, a grin on her face. In fact, she actually admired his language skills and was idly wondering whether all of his knowledge was solely due to the length of his lifespan, or if he actually was a genius in his own right. Will you stop idolizing him, for crying out loud?

"I'm afraid I am, love," he snickered. "Sorry about that."

"That's okay, C3PO. You are a very useful protocol Hybrid indeed," she grinned, albeit not sure if he would get the reference.

"We're going from Big Bad Hybrid to Vampire Godfather to a clumsy golden robot who gets bossed around by Harrison Ford? What's next? Some whipped Twilight sparky?" he retorted with mock consternation.

Caroline laughed. "Nah. I was thinking more in terms of Godzilla or The Hulk!"

"Oh please," he chuckled. "I'd rather go for that debonair Lucifer from 'Constantine', or if it has to be more mainstream, I'll take Loki – everyone including my sister seems to be swooning over that one anyway."

"And for good reason," Caroline teased, sighing and gripping her heart. "He's divine, no pun intended!"

"You are indeed aware that you are drooling over the bad guy here? And my accent is as British as his, so you can just as well fall for me, love!" Klaus chuckled, and Caroline delighted in his good-natured bantering. He seemed completely at ease, totally different from how he was around Mystic Falls, and she had the feeling that she was getting a glimpse of the young boy persona Elijah had spoken of.

"Ha, you wish!" she grinned, raising her eyebrows.

They had arrived at the Radisson Blu hotel, and Klaus stopped the car, leaning over to her. Very softly, he murmured, "Yes. I wish." And there I hoped the stupid butterflies had frozen to death somewhere over the Atlantic at thirty thousand feet.

They got out of the car while a couple of bell boys busied themselves with their luggage. When they walked towards reception, Caroline grabbed Klaus' arm. "Separate rooms!"

"Forget it," Klaus replied. He held up a hand when she started to protest. "The suite has two bedrooms. No need to panic. And I thought we had established that you were to work on trusting me."

It's not you I don't trust.

After speaking to the receptionist, Klaus had learned that there was indeed a botanic garden in Tromsø. They would visit it first thing tomorrow. Caroline thought that finding a single tree somewhere in the middle of a country full of forests put the needle in the haystack to shame, but what the hell. She had hunted stranger things than trees.

She felt much better after a long, hot bath. The suite was lovely, all light woods and bright colours, and the two bedrooms were separated by a large living room with a sitting area. The floor length windows revealed a breathtaking view of the small port, the fjord and the opposing mountains. Everything was already covered with a thick layer of snow, and Caroline found herself humming 'Winter Wonderland' as she got dressed.

Klaus took her to dinner to a small, very Norwegian restaurant. It was an intimate, cozy place, and the old lady who ran it was so exuberant and welcoming that Caroline felt at ease immediately. Klaus conversed with the woman in Norwegian, and Caroline watched him, fascinated. She had positively never seen him like this. He was charming, graceful, and he even flirted with the old lady in such an adorable way that she went into round after round of giggles. After she left to bring the wine Klaus had ordered, he translated the menu for Caroline, who decided on a mixed fish and seafood platter whilst Klaus opted for venison. When the lady returned with the wine and glasses, she looked warmly at Caroline and said something to Klaus. His eyes locked with Caroline's, and they seemed to sink into each other's gaze for a long moment before he answered. The lady smiled and suddenly, she bent down and planted a kiss on Klaus' cheek. Caroline's eyes popped wide open, and Klaus looked completely thunderstruck for an instant. Then he got up, and Caroline held her breath. He wouldn't… would he? With his usual grace, he took the woman's hand, kissed it and gave a small bow. She blushed and giggled again, then apparently asked for their orders, winked at them both and left.

"What was that all about?" Caroline asked, flabbergasted.

Klaus smiled very sweetly. "She said she thought you looked as beautiful as Freya. She is the Norse goddess of spring, happiness and love. Legend says she had golden hair, ocean-blue eyes and her tears were made of solid gold. Loki was very much in love with her, by the way," he snickered.

"Ahm… and what did you say to make her give you a smooch like that?"

He played with the stem of his glass. "It's very tacky, and you will be rolling your eyes at me again, so I'd rather not say," he teased.

"Klaus!"

He chuckled. "I said that Freya had a lot to learn from you when it comes to joy, happiness and light. And beauty. "

She rolled her eyes on purpose, mumbling, "You can be so cheesy," but even she could hear the subdued swoon in her own voice. What woman in her right mind would roll her eyes at that… and… will I ever stop blushing?

The rest of the dinner went by swiftly. They talked about Norse mythology, which Klaus of course knew everything about, and the old lady was mothering them all throughout their stay. When they finally left, she walked them to the door, gave Caroline a hearty kiss on the cheek and said something to her in Norwegian. Caroline saw Klaus look to his feet in what seemed to be… embarrassment? She nudged him, looking at him expectantly.

"She said you… should take good care of me."

Caroline looked at the old lady with big eyes and saw something that needed no translation. She swallowed, and the woman nodded with a knowing smile. An innately female moment of understanding passed between them, silent advice from an older to a younger woman. It was a beautiful moment for Caroline, something she had never experienced before. She could see Klaus was mystified at the wordless exchange, but he did not comment.

They walked along the marina, and Caroline enjoyed the snow, the cold, clear night air, the view of the warm city lights, the shadows of the mountains afar. "Do you think we might be able to see an aurora borealis around here?" she excitedly asked Klaus who had been walking silently at her side.

"Absolutely. It is the season for them, and there are a few spots around where the view is absolutely breathtaking. We'll probably have to wait for a couple of hours once we get there, but during this time of the year, they are an almost daily occurrence in this part of the world. And it will be more than worth the wait. Have you ever seen one before?"

"No, but it's one of my dreams. It's been ever since I was a child and saw a picture of one in a book." She smiled at him.

He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "Then I shall find the perfect spot for you to see it, my lovely Caroline."

If he's right and this place has a special kind of magic about it, I can only say… it sure as hell is working on me.