They had spent the entire night together, delving into each other both physically and emotionally, Klaus never wanted to let her go; he thought true happiness was out of his reach, that he had done too many monstrous acts in the past that he didn't deserve it.
"Good morning," he spoke, placing a soft kiss on her forehead; her eyes where slowly opening and for the first time, he had spent the entire night with her and she woke up with him beside her.
"Good morning," she said sleepily, a small smile appearing on her lips, "you're still here."
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be," he pulled her into him, placing more soft kisses along her face, "what do you want to do today?"
"I'm actually spending time with Rebekah today, we're gonna shop for a few hours," she pulled herself up into a sitting position, resting her back on the headboard and stretching her arms out, forcing her body to wake up, "what time is it?"
"A little after 11," he spoke, his eyes admiring her bare physique; he traced his fingers along her skin, moving them across her waist and down her hips, "if I didn't have to the meet witches and then Marcel today, I'd be compelling you to spend the day with me in bed."
She chuckled lightly, catching his hand before he moved it any lower than her hips, "keep doing that and you won't be going anywhere."
"Temptress," he smirked playfully, his lips meeting hers once again; he couldn't stop, he was enamoured by her.
"I have to get ready," she spoke on his lips, "if I cancel on Rebekah again, she might kill me."
"Well, I've been on the wrong side of my little sister before, it's not that bad," he placed a long soft kiss on her lips before watching her jump out of bed to escape him.
"You're evil," she spoke playfully, laughing as she walked into the bathroom to begin her usual morning routine, only this time, Klaus followed her in a few minutes later and ambushed her shower, she was happy for the first time in a long time, she could be late.
-w-
An hour had passed before they where eventually ready and sadly, leaving the bedroom; they laughed there way down the stairs, Klaus walking behind her with his arms around her stomach. They entered the kitchen, finding Kol and Elijah sat at the table and Rebekah leaning against the counter.
"Ew," she muttered under her breath, watching as Klaus kissed Elena repeatedly.
"Rebekah," Elena spoke, breaking free from Klaus for a long moment, "I'm so sorry."
"We where supposed to leave an hour ago," her voice sounded quite impatient and somewhat whiny.
"I know, we're leaving right now, I'll grab a coffee on the way," she took Rebekah's hand and pulled her towards the kitchen door, stopping briefly to kiss Klaus, "I'll see you later?"
"Absolutely," he pulled her in by the waist and continued to kiss her.
"Right, that's enough, I'm still attached to you," Rebekah spoke, waving her and Elena's interlocked hands before pulling her from Klaus.
"I love you," she mouthed to Klaus as Rebekah tugged her down the hallway to the exit.
Klaus chuckled slightly as he watched Rebekah grab Elena's coat and bag from the rack and stubbornly hand her them; in return, he mouthed "I love you too."
Elena slipped on her jacket and threw her bag on her shoulder as she exited the mansion; Rebekah decided it was more subtle to take the car, so she slid into the passenger seat beside her and they drove off.
"Can I use your phone?" Elena asked, smiling innocently towards the blonde vampire.
"If it's to text my brother, then no, today it's just about us girls," she kept her eyes on the road, "so, tell me everything!"
"Everything about what?" Elena reiterated, looking over to Rebekah, a sight look of shock spread across her face, "your brother?"
"Well, I don't need all the intimate details, that's just bloody disgusting but what happened last night?"
The two engaged in a long and drawn out conversation about the details of her relationship; Rebekah was slightly jealous of her brother, he had found the love she had been desperately searching for her whole life but a small part of her was happy for him. They chattered on for the entire drive, until the arrived at there destination; she took her to Canal Street, the only mall in New Orleans.
She parked up and they excitedly walked into the 3 floor complex, offering only luxury and brand-name shopping; Rebekah rummaged through her bag and pulled out her purse, "courtesy of my brother."
Elena looked as she waved a credit card at her, a small grin appearing on her lips as she took the card from her, giving it a once over, "he's going to kill us."
They both laughed as they began there shopping trip, they had already covered every single store on the first floor, Elena had 3 bags and Rebekah had 5, she seemed to have the whole shopping thing down whereas Elena never saw the hype of it all; she was having fun and a girls day was definitely needed.
"Can I ask you a question?" Rebekah said as she rummaged through the cloths rack, grabbing anything and everything she could.
"Of course," Elena was just casually looking, picking the odd outfit or cute t-shirt.
"What's next for you and Nik?" Elena stopped her browsing to look over to her, a look of concern in her eyes.
"I'm not actually sure," she paused, shrugging her shoulders lightly, "I can't imagine him to be the dating type and with everything going on here, your mother, the witches and Klaus wanting to reclaim New Orleans, I'll take any supernatural free moment I can get with him."
"It will blow over, Elena," Rebekah spoke reassuringly, sympathising with her.
"Does Klaus date?" She asked sheepishly, her eyebrow raising slightly.
"I've never seen him in a serious relationship, never mind with a human, I have no idea what he considers to be dating."
"I guess we'll find out."
"And you'll keep me updated."
"Yes, I look forward to sharing every small detail about my relationship with your brother to you," she said, her voice filled with sarcasm.
"That's my girl," Rebekah ignored her quip and used it to her advantage, the two girls laughing once again.
"Oh, shoot,' Elena suddenly became distracted and looked down to the watch on her wrist, "i'm late, do you mind taking me somewhere and then we'll grab something to eat?"
"Of course," they left the shop swiftly and walked through the shopping centre and towards the parking lot; they found there car and put all the bags in the boot, "where are we going?"
"I'm going to tell you but you have to promise me you won't try and stop me?" Elena spoke as she entered the car on the passenger side.
"I don't like the sound of this," Rebekah sat down and put the key in the ignition, turning to face Elena.
"Promise me?" She pleaded.
"Ugh, fine, I promise," she had a feeling she was going to regret this decision.
"There's a clinic not far from here, I need you to compel a nurse to drain a couple blood-bags worth of blood from me without any questions."
"Elena, no," Rebekah scoffed, shaking her head slightly, "you are not doing this, Niklaus wouldn't allow this."
"It's not his choice, it's mine, we're going to need all the help we can get against your mother, the witches and the vampires; the quicker all of this is over, the sooner we get to live normal and happy lives."
Rebekah went silent for a few long minutes, starting the car and driving away from the mall, "fine but if he's mad about it, you tell him I wasn't involved."
"Deal," Elena smiled towards her, "thank you for doing this for me, you're a good friend."
Rebekah subtly smiled to herself, she'd never really had a true friend and she was happy to have one in Elena, "you owe me one."
"I'll owe you two," she quipped.
They continued to drive until they reached the clinic, it wasn't far from Bourbon street, it was only small, generally used privately amongst those with decent wealth; Rebekah had compelled the first doctor that had passed her and he took Elena through to the first ward that was available.
He attached the IV line to a vein in her arm and it was drawn into the bloodbags, she had started to feel weaker as she began to fill the second bag; all she had to remember is that it was for a good cause, she wanted her life to start.
Rebekah compelled the doctor to forget they where ever there and they where gone, it was as simple and as quick as that; Elena felt weak as she slid into the passenger seat of the car once more, her head spinning slightly.
"We're going to get some takeout and then I'm taking you home, you need rest," Rebekah drove off once again, heading to the first restaurant that offered a takeaway service.
-w-
They arrived back at the plantation an hour or so later, Elena had already consumed a large, sugary coffee and a chocolate bar with it and Rebekah had Chinese, she was already starting to feel better.
It was only 5pm, they where sat in the living room, devouring the takeout and gabbing once again; Elena's strength was slowly returning to her, the more she ate, the better she felt so she used it an as excuse to over-eat.
"Do you think everyone's okay?" Elena asked, before filling her mouth with noodles.
"Why don't you use your new phone to check?" Rebekah reached into one of Elena's shopping bags and pulled out a box that housed her new phone; Elena smirked slightly out of amusement, she dreaded telling Klaus they abused his credit card.
She spent the next 15 minutes setting up her new phone and finishing what was left of the food, when it eventually worked, she got Klaus' number from Rebekah and dialled it into her phone, pressing the speaker to her ear.
She started to become worried the more it rang and he didn't pick up , it eventually went to voicemail, "try Elijah and Kol."
Rebekah scrolled through her contacts, trying each of her brothers but here was no answer.
"Should I be worried?" Elena asked, worrying regardless.
"I'm sure they're fine, they only had to meet with the witches and Marcel, they're probably just talking and they'll be back soon," she hoped.
"What if they're not fine, Rebekah?" She stood from the sofa and grabbed her jacket, "we need to go find them."
"Calm down, Elena," Rebekah stood from the sofa also, standing in front of her friend, "if they're not back soon, I'll go and look for them but for now, don't worry."
Elena just nodded her head, placing her jacket on the back of the sofa and returning to her seat; she knew Rebekah was right, if they where in trouble, they'd be able to handle it.
"Show me what you bought today," Rebekah suggested, attempting to take Elena's mind off Klaus, "I was too busy swiping Nik's card to notice."
Elena couldn't help but chuckle at her words, she reluctantly agreed and opened up her bags, she finished the day with 7 of them, each of them filled with numerous outfits; they had a show and tell for an hour, both of them admiring there findings from the mall.
-w-
It wasn't long after, that the brothers had entered the mansion, each of them covered in blood; Klaus sighed in relief when he saw Elena, his eyes glowing at the sight of her.
"Oh my god, what happened?" Elena said as she cupped his face with her hands, noticing several cuts along his cheek.
"Long story," he placed his hands on her back and pulled her in close, her head resting on his chest, "nothing we couldn't handle."
Elijah and Kol had walked in behind him, they all looked exhausted; Elijah's suit was torn and bloodied and Kol had a black eye.
"Seriously, what the hell happened?" Rebekah stood from the sofa and joined the group, her arms folded across her chest.
"Marcel," Elijah spoke, as he removed his jacket and placed it on the table, "we couldn't come to an agreement on how to handle our mother."
"So, we just killed about 40 vampires," Kol smirked slightly, quite enjoying there victory.
"Let's sit down and we'll tell you everything," Klaus took Elena by the waist and they all sat around the fireplace, each taking a seat on the sofa and the available armchairs; Klaus looked at all the bags collected around the seating area, his eyebrow raised, "how much did you buy?"
"Oh, erm," Elena shot a glance towards Rebekah, the pair of them sharing in a suspicious look, "not much."
She smiled innocently as they both grabbed the bags and set them aside on the dining table in the room opposite.
"Rebekah," Klaus exclaimed, walking towards her with his hand out, "give me my credit card."
She reached into her pocket and pulled the small plastic card out, handing it over to him, "I'm sorry, dear brother, I thought it was mine."
They both walked back to the sofa, a quiet laugh escaping there lips as they sat down; Klaus stood beside the fireplace, resting his arm against it.
The brothers & the witches.
"I don't understand," spoke Elijah, his frustration apparent, "what is our mother planning?"
Sophie and Sabine stood opposite the Mikaelson family, there stance showing they where ready to defend themselves at a moments notice. They had all arranged to meet at Lafayette cemetery, the only place they could talk privately, away from vampires.
"We're not sure, she went into hiding, she could be anywhere," Sophie spoke, pausing for a long moment and looking over to Sabine, "we overheard the town elders talking about dark magic and how Esther is at the centre of it, they want the French quarter back as much as we do and they're planning on destroying Marcel."
"We can't allow whatever is my mother is planning to go ahead," Klaus sighed slightly out of frustration, he just wanted the day to come where this was all over, "we're meeting with Marcel, we'll have to discuss a compromise, witches allowed to practice magic without interfering with there lifestyle choices."
"Why is Marcel so hellbent on ensuring the demise of your kind?" Elijah broke his silence, curiosity overcoming him.
"You'll have to ask him," the two witches shot a glance towards each other.
"Up until 8 months ago, you lived harmoniously together and then he put the ban up, what changed?"
"It was because of the harvest," Sabine admitted, "we practice ancestral magic here, every few hundred years, we have to appease the ancestors by completing the harvest or they'll take our magic away."
"Dare I ask," Elijah pursed his lips, his eyes fixated on the two witches, "what's the harvest?"
"We have too sacrifice four young witches, one of them was my niece; once the harvest is complete, they're resurrected and the magic continues to flow through the French quarter." Sophie briefly explained.
"And people think vampires are monster," Klaus rolled his eyes slightly, becoming impatient, "so, what happened?"
"I'm sure Marcel will tell you the rest," she spoke stubbornly, "he'll have a different side to tell."
"Maybe I'll be able to get a clear answer from him, I'm growing tired of these games," Klaus spat, his head shaking slightly, "we're leaving, find out what is going on with our mother and your elders, we'll be in touch."
The 3 siblings quickly left the cemetery and waited until they where a fair distance away to start talking; everything within the quarter was starting to become too complicated, there was a vampire matriarch, witches at war and attempting to sacrifice innocent girls and his mother hellbent on destroying all vampires, it was overwhelming.
"I'm wondering why Marcel refrained from informing us about the harvest," Klaus pondered, "he's hiding something."
"We'll get our answers now, Niklaus," Elijah spoke as they continued to walk, it wasn't that far too the compound, they may as well continue on foot, "if the elders are conferring with our mother, my best guess is they're planning on completing the harvest and taking the city back, destroying all vampires in the process with our demise."
"My trust for the witches is severely lacking, Sophie Deveraux can't be innocent in all this," Klaus spoke suspiciously, "her refusal to share her information on the harvest can't be good, everyone is keeping far too many secrets from us, I'm starting to wonder if we should just kill everyone and start again."
"Far too messy, brother," Elijah smirked lightly, "an entertaining idea but not the answer."
Before they knew it, they where stood outside the compound, there conversation distracting them; the gates where already open and Marcel was sat in the courtyard, his vampires surrounding the area, as per normal.
They all entered, Klaus walking ahead at a faster speed due to frustration; he slammed his hands down on the table opposite Marcel, his face nearing his, "no more games, Marcellus, I'm becoming more annoyed by the secrets in this city and I want to know everything."
"Have you been talking to the witches again?" He smirked slightly, breezing over the seriousness of the topic.
"What happened at the harvest?" Klaus asked, watching as Marcel's facial expressions changed, becoming more serious.
"How did you find out about that?"
"The witches I shouldn't be talking to apparently," he stood with a straight back, his arms folding across his chest, "tell me everything."
A small sigh escaped his lips as he too stood up, he was reluctant to share but if the witches fed him any lies then that could mean trouble for him and his regime, he had no choice, "the harvest happened about 8 months ago, I had no idea what was going on until the priest told me they where sacrificing for girls, now I have a thing about kids, that wasn't happening in my town. We got there a little too late, three of the girls had already been murdered but I managed to save one, Davina, leaving the harvest incomplete and the other girls unable to resurrect."
"And that's when you forced the witches to stop practicing magic here?" Elijah spoke.
"Yes, the witch I saved is my secret weapon; she tracks all the magic being used in the quarter and tells me, so I can kill them, there will be no more magic practiced here."
"Where is this witch now?" Klaus asked.
"She's safe, that's all I'm telling you," Marcel put his foot down, as much as she was a powerful witch, he still cared about her.
"Was the harvest working?" Elijah spoke.
"Something was working, the power of the three sacrificed witches transferred to Davina, giving her more power than any other witch I've ever come across in my 300 years spent on this earth. They lied to her, they said they only had to share several drops of there blood for the harvest to be complete, they where excited, thought they where doing a great deed for the witches but when the night arrived, they where slaughtered where they stood, so I don't believe a word they say, if they kill her and she isn't resurrected, I might as well have killed her myself."
"You care for this little witch?" Klaus commented, noticing how abrupt Marcel was being about the whole matter.
"I do," he admitted, 'I've kept her safe for 8 months, another few more and she's free, the magic from the town will cease to exist and we can live without the burden of magic."
"This may be a bad time to tell you that our mother is involved now, she has more than enough power to complete the harvest and kill Davina, she's planning something with dark magic that's going to destroy us all," Klaus shared, all the vampires including Marcel suddenly becoming nervous.
"None of this would be happening if you hadn't come back here, everything was working and now, I have enemies I didn't even know about," Marcel spat.
"Working? You're kidding?" Klaus laughed slightly, "the witches are killing children and starting a war with you; without us, you'll all be dead before the end of the week."
Marcel growled slightly, lunging towards Klaus out of anger; he hadn't really thought it through, which was obvious when Klaus stepped aside, grabbing his neck in the process and slamming him to the ground, within seconds he was back on his feet, ready to attack.
"Enough," Elijah interjected, standing between the two of them, "Marcellus, you can understand our frustration; after all, you're only half-honest with us most of the time and now, you withhold this witch as if she is your property when she may just be they key to stopping the witches all together, including Esther."
"I'm not letting you near here," he spoke, a small growl in his voice.
"Well, let's try it my way then, shall we?" Klaus smirked, using his speed to stand behind one of Marcels vampires, his hand plunging into his chest and gripping his heart; the vampire screamed out in discomfort, "how about you give me the girl and you all live?"
"I like this plan," Kol grinned, appearing behind another vampire and doing the same, "Elijah?"
"I will if I have too," he turned his head towards Marcel, shooting him a warning glance, "this is bigger than you, Marcellus, you have no idea what our mother is capable of, especially with a coven of witches at her beck and call, and I will not risk the lives of my family or of those in this city because you are being stubborn."
"You can't have her," he was reluctant but he wouldn't risk Davina's life.
"So be it," Elijah appeared behind two of his vampires, removing both of there hearts in seconds; there's bodies fell lifeless to the floor and he let the hearts roll out of his hands.
Present.
"We killed most of them, Marcel refused to give up the witches location and they fled," Klaus finished updating the events of the day, "after everything that happened today, we're still not any closer to defeating our mother and the witches or figuring out what it is they're up too."
"Well, you got something," Elena tried to lighten the mood and lift there spirits, "you found out about the harvest and Davina, all we have to do is find her and talk to her, there's only so many places she could be, me and Rebekah will ask around tomorrow."
"No," Klaus immediately spoke, "not with my mother, witches and vampires out to get us."
"Esther won't take me again, she should know better by now and as for everyone else, they've never met me, only Marcel and I'll be with Rebekah if he happens to find me," she pleaded with him, tired of being the only one who can't help, "besides, you have no other choice, you'll be busy tomorrow."
"Why? What am I doing tomorrow?" Klaus asked confused. Elena grabbed his hand and led him into the kitchen, standing in front of the fridge.
"Now, you have to promise me you won't be mad," Elena held both of his hands, staring at him intently.
"I can promise I'll try my best not to be mad," he raised an eyebrow, a small smile curling up on his lips, "what is it?"
"Promise me?"
"Fine, I promise," he caved, patience not being his strong suit.
"Well, I did something," she let go of one of his hands and grabbed onto the handle of the fridge, pulling it open slowly, "like I said, you can't be mad."
She opened the fridge door completely, revealing the two blood bags she had collected earlier on; she looked over to Klaus, his expression was blank and she couldn't read him.
"Is that your blood, Elena?" He shot his gaze towards her, rather than mad, he looked saddened, "Why did you do this?"
"It was our deal," she spoke somewhat jokingly, trying to make light of the situation, "you need hybrids for this battle, Klaus, it's only a bit of blood."
"Elena-"
"Ah," she interjected, pressing her finger to his lips, "you promised you wouldn't get mad."
He took the hand that covered his mouth and held it in his, "I'm not angry, Elena, I didn't want you to do this."
"I wanted to do this," she held onto his hand tightly, her eyes locking on his, "it was my choice and I chose to do this because I want our life to start, I'm tired of you going to pointless meetings that end in bloodshed, I'm tired of your mother and I'm tired of this whole war."
"It's not that simple," Klaus tried to explain, his sadness deepening.
"Maybe not," she shrugged her shoulders lightly, "but at least you'll have more on your side to defend your family, so stop arguing with me, it's already done."
"I'm not happy about this," Klaus said, bewildered by his own emotions, he never thought he'd say that about making more hybrids, "Elena, I love you, not for your blood or more hybrids-"
"And I love you," she interjected, cutting his sentence short to avoid an argument, her hands cupping his face, "this needed to be done so we can move on from battles and bloodshed, so please, make some hybrids and show everyone that the time for talking and diplomacy is over, that there's going to be a change in New Orleans and that the original vampires are now in control."
He couldn't help but feel empowered by her words; in reality, they where sorely lacking in a defence, they may have each other as a family but the witches had there ancestors magic and Marcel had an army of vampires willing to bend to his every need, they needed an advantage too, "we'll head into the bayou tomorrow."
"And Rebekah and I will do some snooping of our own," Elena smiled, her arms wrapping his neck and pulling him into a tight embrace, "we'll get through this, I promise."
Her words pulled on his heart strings, for the first time in his existence, he actually believed the battle would be over and he could live in peace, "thank you, Elena."
"Anytime, I have an endless supply of blood," she smiled amusingly, still trying to make light of the situation.
"I don't just mean the blood," he placed a soft kiss on her forehead, "I mean, for everything, you're incredible."
Her heart warmed slightly at his words, she was trying her best to be the type of partner that Klaus would need, she was being brave and compromising where normally she wouldn't but most of all, she just wanted everyone to be happy, they all deserved it, "I'm always here for you, anything you need."
"Well," he paused he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, "I need a shower, care to join me?"
She chuckled lightly before crashing her lips on his, her hands smoothing around his neck and pulling on his hair lightly, "let's go."
She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the kitchen, walking through the corridor and towards the stairs, they tried to creep past his siblings but failed.
"You two are going to have to move into your own place, you're animals," Rebekah called out as they ran upstairs, both of them laughing at her words; they slammed the bedroom door shut and went straight for the bathroom, spending most of the night together.