In those long hours by her bedside in the small hospital room, Klaus had doubted all he ever knew. Katerina Petrova had been the root cause of his anger for over 500 years, yet why was it that he did not feel an ounce of happiness in his heart when she was so fragile and close to death? Instead, all that consumed his mind was worry, pity, and anger at not being able to help her directly. To be so out of control.
Perhaps it wasn't hate that had driven him all these years, but rather, a sense of deserving. That Katerina deserved to be punished for what she had done, or else it would hurt his pride. He tried to understand how she was feeling, however. He had murdered her parents. He imagined what he would feel if someone killed Rebekah, or Elijah. Would he not feel uncontrollable rage and hatred too? Did he not technically deserve it, too, because of all his sins that seemed to be even greater than those of Katerina Petrova?
Klaus was soon snapped out of his thoughts by movement in the bed at the other side of the room, followed by the sounds of her waking up.
"You're awake," he said bluntly, standing up to check if she looked any better than before. He could tell only by looking at her that she was running out of time. Half her hair had turned gray at this point, and she was starting to get wrinkles under her pretty brown eyes. However, what stood out to Klaus the most was the utter tiredness in her eyes, not caused by lack of sleep but rather the internal exhaustion that came with old age. It made him want to whip out his phone right then and there and hear with Bonnie how far she had gotten in the search for a cure, but he let it be until he got home.
Katherine sat up slowly and looked to her side, up at Klaus, then slightly furrowed her brows at him. "What are you doing here? What am I doing here?"
"You had a heart attack. You're lucky to be alive."
Katherine gasped lightly, quickly spotting the heart rate monitor machine next to her and the countless wires attached to her arms and chest. "I'm running out of time... You said you could save me!"
"I know. I'm doing all I can."
Katherine could see on his face that he was sincere, so she decided not to push it any further. "I want to leave, I hate wearing hospital clothes."
He nodded. "I'll go check you out."
After checking out of the hospital, Katherine headed straight to her borrowed room as the walls were caving in on her, the space around her becoming smaller and tighter until she suddenly fell short of breath all over again. She needed some alone time after what had happened, as that single incident had caused it all to come crashing down at once. It had been steadfast at first. Katherine had always known she was going to die. Hell, she had even tried fast-forwarding it herself, but it was first now it dawned on her that she was truly mortal. She was going to die. She was actually going to die of old age, and then seize into nothingness, left to be forgotten by the world around her. Just the thought brought so much hurt and caused her chest to ache with a different kind of pain as she practically jumped onto the bed and rolled to her side, curling herself around a single pillow as it provided more comfort than she had felt in a long time. She let the tears spill freely now, as she had tried to contain them over the past few weeks, not having been intent on giving into her mortality so easily. But now, she could not help it. She was doubting. Doubting Klaus and doubting Bonnie, doubting herself for doubting them, but most of all doubting her odds of survival.
She wept silent tears as she did not want to disturb anyone. She was never a particularly loud crier - not that she let herself shed tears often, but seeing as everyone else in the house apart from one had vampire hearing she did not want someone to hear her and think she was in distress, disturbing her at this weak moment.
With all of her mishavings lately, she would almost believe the universe had a vendetta against her. No things were as they were supposed to be, making Katherine lose all familiarity and, in turn, her solace. Elijah had broken her heart, and she could no longer find the comfort in him that she used to, and her relationship with her former nemesis turned somewhat frenemy was better, or worse, she hadn't quite figured that out yet. She had newly found out the daughter she had been grieving and mourning for five centuries was alive and looking for a mother that was not her, and worst of all; she was dying. Katherine Pierce the survivor was dying and dying of old age at that.
She hugged the pillow tighter and buried her face in the soft covers, not caring if her mascara would stain the white fabric. She stayed like that for a few minutes until she calmed her breathing, the numbness of her eyes and sheer tiredness of it all making her slowly doze off into sleep as she kept her face smothered into the soft comfort of the pillow that wore her own scent. She did not even notice the quiet steps of the man that had once shaken up her life all those years ago enter the room, pausing only inches from her bed as he looked down at her crumpled, defeated state.
"Katerina," he murmured gently, almost too gently, making Katherine slowly open her eyes again as she cursed herself for neglecting to close the door before she threw herself on the bed. "What's the matter?"
Katherine maintained her position still, her eyes now open, staring directly into the pillow, contemplating if she had the strength to turn around and look him in the eyes. She knew he would tell her current state by the numbness of her eyes and the telltale redness of her cheeks that she had been crying quite heavily. She didn't want him to see her this way, but then when she thought about it, she was not sure if it mattered anymore. After all, the sole reason she was there was because he had caught her crying about her life that was falling apart. He had also had the joy of seeing her as a dependant and pathetic human, so she wasn't sure if she could care about trivial matters such as image or power at that moment. Especially when her end was so near.
Klaus took a seat on the bed next to her when she didn't respond, just waiting in silence, letting her conclude if she wished to tell him or not. He knew by the way she buried her face in the pillow that she was not alright, and he could guess why. That was why he had come to her room in the first place - to give her some good news and to check on her wellbeing, but he had seen her laying on the bed all hopeless, and it made his heart ache for some unfamiliar reason. He didn't know why he cared so much, but he did. He cared enough to simply sit by her bedside and wait until she was ready to talk.
Eventually, she got around to raising herself just enough to lean on her left hand and sit up to look at him eye to eye. It pained Klaus to look into her bleary eyes, although he masked his emotions as he had done for centuries now, even though he couldn't help the thumb that moved to remove a tear that remained hidden in one of her lower lashes.
"The truth?" she asked, her voice unconventionally hoarse, making her clear her throat before she continued. "I'm scared... I don't want to die."
Klaus didn't stop studying her shiny brown eyes even when she looked away and down on the sheets, and he grabbed her hand lightly as a reassuring to what he was about to say. "You won't die. I promised you I wouldn't let you."
Katherine looked down with bleak, sunken eyes at the hand covering hers, and then back up at him, her face full of questions. "Why do you even care?"
Klaus sighed yet again, but it was the second one of the uncharacteristic kind. A regretful sigh as he blurted out something that had been nagging his mind for some time.
"Do you think you could ever forgive me, Katerina?"
He had wondered for a while now. After everything that had happened between the two of them, both good and bad - mostly bad, would redemption and reconciling be too far gone now? She had hated him so profoundly the past five centuries, and had stated her hatred many times so, yet he still asked this question. Because could she truly hate him with all her heart? He knew he had haunted her, chased her around the world and ruined her chance at a normal life, but was he not responsible for making her into the person she was today? Strong, cunning, capable. Without his actions, however much pain it had brought her, she wouldn't have stood where she stood today. Katherine wouldn't have existed. Only a shadow of her real self in the name of Katerina Petrova would have lived, withered away in normality.
Katherine needed a second to realize what he had asked of her before inhaling soft gasps. Rather than feeling angry or confused or offended as she would have expected of herself by such a question, she felt a warmth build in her stomach that suddenly gave a rush through her body, making her feel almost light-headed, yet strangely better as it removed some of the heaviness of her heart and numbness of her mind. The hand that was steadily covering hers carefully grasped her fingers and hugged them lightly, making her breathing both steadier and more breathless at the same time.
And that was all it took. For someone Katherine had thought she hated and had thought reciprocated that hatred to ask for her forgiveness after admitting that he never truly lied about his feelings, to be seen in a new light. One she had not seen him in before. His perfectly shaped face, his dreamy, comforting blue eyes she could gaze in for hours if he wasn't looking back. For her to finally give in to her madness and move her head forward in a rush to softly meet his lips, not wanting to pull away until her death really did them apart.
Klaus was taken aback by her sudden action. He was about to send her a question with his look when he noticed that her eyes were closed and she was focusing all on savoring her stolen kiss, which made his own eyes flutter shut soon after as he realized this was something she wanted, and what he somehow wanted as well. Somehow kissing her made all the pieces fall into place, as if he had been too foolish to realize it sooner. The way her tongue swirled around his and their fingers intertwined and her free hand ran through his hair and his curls and down his shirt as she only seemed to move deeper and deeper with more passion made him realize that he had, in fact, gone mad after all. He cared for the doppelganger more than he thought, as his previous quest for vengeance against her was the furthest thing possible from what he wanted at that moment. He had not expected her to kiss him as a response to his asking for forgiveness, but he accepted it as any other.
Katherine felt ecstatic as Klaus put his hand on her back and pulled her as close as their bodies would allow. The warmth in the lower pit of her stomach had spread to her entire body as she was on fire all over, and she couldn't help but smile against his lips. A sincere and warm smile that could only be the result of the sudden bubbliness and butterflies she felt and had not felt in forever. The warmth of his body radiated, and she was sure he felt the same from hers, and she felt safe, in his arms and his warmth. They were two very lonely people in that room desperate for the slightest signs of affection, having been alone for so long. But right now, they weren't alone. Right now, they shared a connection with the only other person that could truly understand exactly how they felt.
It was when her lips had touched his, and he had pulled her closer, that Katherine realized she had been craving his kiss ever since the last time. For five hundred years, she had hidden her lust and lingering passion for him as they had shattered their love and buried their feelings beneath the exterior of hatred or grudges for half a millennia. It was only now - when Katherine was so close to death, that her heart opened up and allowed her to revel in her long-buried desires.
In the heat of the moment, Klaus pulled her up onto his lap, and she put both arms around his neck and ran them down into his shirt to get closer to him. After only a few seconds in that position, Katherine knew she wanted to feel more - of this warmth and this safety and this bubbly happiness, but she was cut short.
As soon as Klaus noticed she was trying to remove his shirt, he pulled away, detaching himself from a breathless Katherine. He gently grabbed her exploring hands and held them firmly in his, looking up at where she was positioned on his lap and at her pouting lips and glossy eyes. Despite looking a tad disappointed with her questioning eyes and begging brows, she had a new glow to her that she did not have mere seconds before. Her expression was the lingers of a smirk as she still experienced the euphoria of his warmth and security and the happiness that came along with it. Her face was flushed but not from tears this time, and loose strands of her aging hair covered her face as if she had just woken up. Klaus thought she looked close to irresistible just like that, but he restrained himself.
"Why did you stop?" she almost whined, only feeling more frustrated the longer she had to be so agonizingly close to him without being able to touch him.
"Now is not the time," he explained, looking somewhat apologetic that he had to cancel when things started to get fun. Somehow that kiss - or more so makeout session, had awoken something inside him. A deep desire that perhaps had always been there, just overshadowed by every other emotion the doppelganger brought out of him. She had no idea how much he had to restrain himself from going all out with her, but he had to keep both his and her best future interests in mind. "You just got back from the hospital, and we don't know what more your body can handle. It would be a shame to send you back there tomorrow because you cannot walk all of a sudden," he teased.
"I doubt my body can handle another heart attack, but I'm sure it can handle sex. Just once. Please..." she begged as she leaned in so her lips brushed against his yet again, attempting to sway his decision with her breath painting his lips. She hated begging, but she desperately wanted to hold onto the feeling she was experiencing—the small ray of pleasure in her many weeks of misery.
Klaus caught her hopeful, almost demanding expression, but he shook his head in dismissal. "I do want you, Katerina. But what I want even more is for you to get cured."
Katherine sighed and rolled her eyes as she climbed off him and rolled onto the bed beside him, just laying down to stare at the roof. "Way to ruin it by talking about my soon to come death. Not very sexy."
"Come on Katerina, don't be so gloomy," he hummed, laying down next to her to stare at the same part of the ceiling as she. "As soon as I find a second witch to do the spell, we can have all the steamy sex you want," he teased yet again.
Katherine's eyes lit up, and she quickly turned her head to his awaiting eyes. "A second witch? What spell are you talking about?"
Klaus smirked, glad to have finally caught her attention. "Well you see love, the reason I originally came here was to let you know of some great news. Bonnie has found something in one of my mother's grimoires. You're going to live."
Katherine sat up again and looked down at him, eyes now shimmering with hope. "Really? Well let's go talk to her right away and then-"
"Katerina," he cut her off. "Bonnie's asleep, everyone is. It's 1am."
Katherine breathed and laid back down. She had forgotten how late they had gotten back from the hospital.
"You can speak with her tomorrow if you want, although we won't be able to do anything before I track down that witch."
"Oh, okay," she mumbled, blinking a few times as she went back to staring at the ceiling. The adrenaline was starting to wash off of her, and she was getting tired. Her eyelids only got heavier as the time passed, and the two of them continued to lay in silence. Katherine was sure she could still feel his presence as she eventually drifted off to a well-deserved night's rest.