"What is the meaning of this?" Klaus half-yelled as he stormed into the crowded kitchen. He always let the world know when something was bothering him, and this time was no exception.
Rebekah stood by the window, observing something outside when she heard Klaus's voice. She just sighed, not moving from her spot. "Oh bloody hell, here we go."
Katherine looked up from her place on the kitchen counter and narrowed her eyes. She was about to bring a spoonful of cereal to her mouth when Klaus had made his presence known. It wasn't long since she had woken up, so she was still wearing her sleepwear, and her hair was in a loose, messy ponytail. She glared at Klaus, annoyed at him for having broken the morning peace.
Elijah looked up from his newspaper while taking a sip from the small, white coffee cup on the table. He did not seem surprised that his brother had found something to complain about again. He noticed Kol wanted to say something inappropriate by the smug grin on his lips and the way his mouth slightly opened at Klaus's words, so he sent him a warning look to not piss off Klaus's already on the edge mood.
"What has someone done wrong this time?" Katherine snorted.
Klaus simply ignored her as he headed straight over to his brothers by the table and threw the newspaper he was holding onto it, spreading the pages out so they could see properly.
"Look, it looks like..." he began, pointing at the page.
"Mikael," Elijah continued, staring at the picture of his father. The newspaper wasn't from New Orleans, but from Baton Rouge. "He's not that far away."
Katherine jumped down from the counter and walked over to them. "Mikael?" she asked, her mouth full of cornflakes. She tilted her head to the side as she looked down at the drawing in the newspaper and read the text below it. "Man seen ripping out four men's heart before fleeing from the scene... Since when do you read newspapers from other cities?" she asked, the question directed at Klaus.
"I heard word from one of my spies that a vampire was killing vampires close by."
"How did he manage to escape death again?" Rebekah pondered. She had decided to join their little circle around the table.
"Maybe the same way I did... Mother," Kol speculated. "Maybe this was her plan. Not long after she resurrected me and Finn, they disappeared. Maybe that's why we haven't heard from them, because she brought Daddy Mikaelson back as well."
Klaus let out an irritated growl as he harshly closed the newspaper and looked up at his siblings. "Looks like our parents are back, and ready to play."
Katherine sat comfortably in her bed with her nose in a book, smiling to herself as she read the pages. She didn't have anything better to do, and it wasn't like she could go outside. Not outside her room, because Jean and Jaden stood ready to escort her wherever she would go. Not outside on the streets, now that Mikael was running rampage in the area, and not outside of New Orleans, when she and Klaus still hadn't reached an agreement on her current status. She soon spotted someone in the side of her eye and turned to face them.
"Bonnie?"
The girl stood in the doorway with her bags behind her and a grimoire in her arms. "Katherine, I'm just saying my goodbyes. I'm traveling back to Mystic Falls."
Katherine stood up and gave her a slight smile. After everything, the Bennett witch had grown on her, just a little. "Thank you for everything you've done for me Bonnie, you're not that bad after all," she admitted and reached out her hand.
Bonnie took it, returning her half-smile. "Likewise. Goodbye Katherine, I hope things work out for you."
"You too, bye." And with a last smile, Bonnie made her way out the room. Katherine watched as she left, but her figure that had once covered the doorway was soon replaced with that of a blonde Original's.
"So, Katherine. What's the deal?" Rebekah asked, cutting right to the chase as she threw herself on a nearby desk, sending Katherine a questioning look as she dangled her legs.
"What do you mean?" Katherine asked, raising her brows at her in a confused manner.
"What's the deal between you and Nik? You two are enemies, you've always been. What changed?"
"Nothing's changed."
Rebekah tilted her head, sending Katherine a look. "I just need your honest answer on this so I can win over Kol. There's no point in trying to hide it anymore Katherine. Out with it."
Katherine sighed. "To tell you the truth, I don't really know myself. One day he saves me from a suicide attempt, the next I'm staying with him, and-" She stopped herself from saying anything further, not wanting to tell just how far the two of them had gone. Not only did she not want to give any information to Rebekah because of this apparent bet she had with Kol, but mostly because she had not told Elijah yet. She wanted him to hear - whatever there was to tell - from her. She didn't want to hurt his feelings when she knew he still felt strongly for her.
Rebekah looked like she was in deep thoughts, pondering something before asking her question. "Is it love?"
Katherine glanced over at her and furrowed her brows, then looked away, gazing at the floor. "Love? It can't be... Things may have changed, but he still hates me."
"Katherine, that wasn't really a no. If you can't say for certain that it's not love, then you can't say there's nothing between you. Kol and I talked about it, you don't behave as enemies usually do, no matter if you have an agreement or not."
"Rebekah, I don't know what to tell you. You know your brother better than anyone, you must know that he hasn't hated anyone stronger than he's hated me."
"That's not true. Klaus hated our father, Mikael. And how he acts when it comes to father is different than what he's like around you. Is it love?" she repeated.
Katherine thought about it yet again. She had experienced tons of emotions over the past few days, even going full length with Klaus and waking up the next day without regrets despite all he had done to her and her family. She had just accepted their situation to be complicated and couldn't put more energy into stressing over what it meant. Perhaps it was merely lust, or some sick desire brought out by her being human and his aggressive wolf-side. But it could not be love. She knew it couldn't. After everything they had been through, people like them could not love each other. It was simply impossible.
"No, it's not. I don't feel the same way about Klaus that I did with Elijah, or with Stefan. That's for sure."
"Katherine. Love isn't something you can define by your feelings for one person."
"Then what is it?"
"Love is something that is with you for all of eternity, whether you choose to keep it cherished or to push it away."
Katherine took a breath and closed her eyes, her lips almost curving into a faint smile. "Rebekah. Why are you even talking about this? Is it all to win over Kol?"
Rebekah shrugged her shoulders, smirking back at her. "It just came up. Also, about Nik. He hasn't really experienced true love since we were humans. Therefore it might be harder with him, to figure out what you're feeling. He doesn't love the way normal people do. But hey, we aren't normal either."
Katherine stopped for a second to think about what Rebekah had told her. She was wiser than Katherine had anticipated. "What about you then. Have you ever loved someone, Rebekah?"
Rebekah let out a laugh. "Me? Well if you'd asked any of my brothers they'd say I've loved a thousand men, but I know deep down that wasn't real. It was just my inherent need to not feel alone. It's hard for us vampires you know, to find love. That's just how it is."
"So you've really never loved someone?"
"Well, there was one man, from back in the old days. It was kind of a 'forbidden romance', so Nik didn't approve of course. But it wasn't him that ripped us apart, rather my father..." she sighed, reminiscing about the past.
There was a long silence before Rebekah jumped off the desk and headed for the door.
"Nice talking to you, even though I didn't get what I wanted," Rebekah hummed and smiled at Katherine before leaving the room, turning towards the person that stood outside the door. "You're welcome, brother," she said simply. Klaus raised his brow at Rebekah, but she just smirked and walked away, heading downstairs to leave the two of them alone.
"Oh, so many visitors! Right as I was starting to enjoy this book," Katherine exclaimed, acting annoyed before she put down the book she had flaunted and shot a teasing smile at him. "You eavesdropping now?"
Klaus chuckled. "I came to talk to you about Mikael, and I just so happened to overhear your conversation."
"Yeah right," she snorted, her teasing smile still lingering on her lips.
Klaus sighed as his smile dropped slightly. "Do you really think I still hate you?"
Katherine's smile sunk together with her adverting gaze to the bedsheets. "I don't see why you wouldn't."
"Well, perhaps the night of passion we had last evening should lead you to believe that I feel something for you. And that the feeling is not hatred."
"Sex doesn't make us a couple or anything. Sometimes you sleep with your enemies," she shrugged, trying her best to convince herself that there was nothing else to it. That Klaus would never look at her in that sort of light apart from perhaps a current object of obsession that he wanted to acquire. Perhaps sleeping with her made him feel mighty, the idea that he could have even his greatest enemy in his bed if he wanted to.
"I am very aware of that Katerina, or else I would've had a few too many girlfriends by now," he huffed before continuing. "But our connection is deeper than just sex, it's not like that was simply a one-night stand. Over the past few days I've realized that, the more time I spend with you, the more I realize how similar we are. We work too well together... both in and out of bed," he added, which made Katherine suppress a laugh as she looked down again with a smile. He smiled at her before sighing and turning serious again. "And when I look at you… I can see myself in many regards, and understand your pain. I didn't realize it sooner, I couldn't seem to understand then, but now I do."
Katherine exhaled and closed her eyes. He had finally realized what she had known all along. When he had forced her to run and adapt to his own ways, she was molded in his image until she had become his mirror. The pain he had caused her hadn't hindered her from seeing past his facade and understanding his motives. The more similar to him she became, the more she understood why he had done what he did to her back then. She hadn't been able to forgive him just because she knew why he was the way he was, but at least she could understand him. She could feel for him.
She wanted to believe so bad that Klaus felt nothing for her, so she could completely ignore the feelings she had avoided facing for weeks now. The emotions that had slowly crept their way in the more time she spent time with him, and that had only grown stronger when she had realized that in her weakest moments, at her lowest points in life, Klaus had always been the one to help her. He had been the one to give her shelter and welcome her into his family, helped her back on her feet, and given her comfort. It was always him. Back in 1492 and now in the present, it was him despite how he was supposed to be the last person on earth to ever help her. Not Elijah, not Stefan. Klaus.
She began to realize that no matter how their relationship stood, Klaus would always be the one to understand her the best. Elijah constantly looked for his sweet Katerina beneath her new exterior, and Stefan was still in love with the person he had thought her to be. The person he fell for before he found out all her secrets and lies. Klaus was the only one who didn't seem to want another version of her. He wanted her for just the person she was today.
"So what are you saying?" she finally asked, looking up at him with glittering brown eyes.
"I'm saying that… I want you around, Katerina. I want you to see what I once saw in this city over a century ago, and I want you to feel at home when you do."
Katherine couldn't help the bright feeling that forced her lips into a smile, whether she wanted it or not. Living with the Original family, with Klaus, it sounded surreal yet so right at the same time. This could be her salvation, where she finally found her place. However, if this was just another passage in her everlasting life, she would accept that as well. Because it was as if she had never felt safer, more at home. She couldn't explain it. Maybe it was because Klaus had been the primary source of her fears for all her life, so being by his side shielded her from the entire world in theory. And because it was with him her home had been before she was forced to run and leave everything behind.
"I'd like that," she smiled, a genuine smile this time. "However, on one condition."
Klaus raised a brow, folding his arms behind his back. "And what might that be?"
"I turn back into a vampire. If I'm going to see this city prosper, I don't want to be an old lady doing it you know."
"I'll see what arrangements can be made. I too prefer when you're not so… fragile. But don't turn yourself yet or do anything stupid, I still need your blood. I might be able to make a bloodstone of some sort to last after you've turned."
"Fine, I won't turn yet. But don't use too long or I just might."
Klaus resisted the urge to sigh before changing the subject. "Onto what I originally came here for; Be extra careful now that Mikael is close. I know you are very aware of who he is and what he's capable of," he scoffed, and Katherine snorted. She knew what he was referencing. "Just be careful."
She nodded. "I will."