Forgotten Family

by nefariterwnw

AU where Elijah is the father of Caroline, who was placed in a spell to stay young until given up for adoption to the Forbes. She, He, and Elizabeth Forbes all know the truth but nobody else does, so what will happen when the events of the Vampire Diaries happen and Caroline's Father wants to protect her? And what will happen when Klaus shows up?

19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Thank you all so much for reading! Originally I had wanted to continue this story for quite a while longer, but my life has gotten super busy and I don't want you all to wait forever between posts. So this will be the end of the story, I hope you enjoy the ending, I was able to pull it together exactly how I wanted even though it was a little sooner than expected. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.

Elijah woke up just a few hours after he had fallen asleep to his phone ringing, an unknown number told him it was the call he had been dreading. It was too soon, he cursed under his breath as he reached for his phone answering it, as he got out of bed,

"Hello?"

"Hello brother."

"Klaus."

"I have the doppelgänger, the next time the moon is full the curse will be broken. I expect you to find your way to me by the morning." With that, his brother hung up the phone.

"Shit." Elijah cursed under his breath, his mind immediately going to survival mode. He quickly dressed and grabbed all he needed from the cabin he was in before heading over to Caroline's cabin and banging on the door. He hated that he was waking her up, but his other siblings were still in Chicago, and she needed to leave before morning. He continued to knock, until the door opened to a clearly half awake Caroline,

"Dad? What's wrong."

"Get dressed and pack a bag, you have half an hour." Elijah spoke calmly as he walked past her into the house and began to make some coffee and food. His daughter immediately obeyed, picking up on the fact that it was important. Elijah wanted to break, he wanted to yell and scream and break something. Klaus had come too quickly, he hadn't been ready, and now his daughter's best friend's life hung in the balance of him pulling himself together. At least once Caroline woke Kol up she would be safe, he knew he could trust Kol, he just had to get her too him. He quickly packed all the blood bags that his daughter kept in the house, she was going to need them, and Klaus would have a supply for him to use. He then pulled collected everything else she would need, including the location of his siblings, a map, his credit card, extra cash, a burner phone, and a whole assortment of information that he had collected on the location of his siblings and how to find them. He placed them on the table next to the book he had given her when he gave her up for adoption, and then he forced himself to calmly focus on the food until she was ready. She didn't need to know what she was leaving behind, he would take care of Elena, she had to leave before they figured it out. He found her phone and placed it in his pocket, he knew her too well to let her see the many texts she had already received.

Caroline walked out of the bathroom dressed and ready to leave, a bag full of anything she could need packed and ready to go.

"Are you going to tell me why I am packing and leaving at three in the morning?" Caroline asked her father, grabbing a cup of coffee off of the table.

"Klaus called, he is here. I am to report in the morning, and you are headed to Chicago tonight. You need to find Kol, wake him up, tell him everything, let him decided about the others, and then obey whatever he decides next." Elijah explained, he hated lying to his daughter, but he needed her to be safe, the moment Klaus figured out the truth, her heart would be gone from her chest, and he knew he couldn't survive that.

"What?"

"Caroline, please. There is everything you require on the table, including a burner phone with my number in it, money, and the location. There are blood bags in the back of your car for when you wake him up, and everything you require should be prepared next to your book on the table. I need you to trust me. Please. Go to Chicago. Wake Kol up. Then listen to him and don't do anything rash." Elijah was almost begging, an urgency in his voice that made Caroline wonder just what his brother had told him.

"Okay. I'll trust you." Caroline replied, her arms wrapping her father in a hug, that was just as much for her as for him.

"I promise you I will handle everything here, and I will be very careful."

"I feel like there is a missing 'but' to that sentence."

"There is; but I ask that you leave without asking what has happened other than my brother's return, and you don't look back unless Kol decided that the best option is to come back. Take the burner phone and leave everything else, including your friends, to me." Elijah's voice was harsh, and yet soothing. Caroline could hear the stress, and yet she could also hear fear and worry.

"Okay." She didn't want to do that, but she trusted her father more than anyone in the world, and she had to trust that he knew what he was doing. Which meant leaving everything behind, and finding her uncle, and letting him decide what to do.

"Thank you. Now, you need to leave." With that, Elijah reached around her and grabbed her bag off the floor, taking it out to the car. Caroline went to the table and grabbed the pile of items her father had prepared, she placed the address of her uncle's body in the burner phone, and she walked out to the car with the items and the book her father had given her. She didn't turn around, she didn't look back, she said goodbye to her father and drove. Even when she realized she hadn't even looked at her actual phone, she didn't look back. She had made her father a promise, and the only way to save him was to get her uncle to help. So she drove towards Chicago, faster than she should have, in hopes to make it before it was too late.

Elijah reported to Klaus a few hours later to find that it was exactly as he had expected. Klaus had Elena under heavy guard where nobody could get to her, and was living his life normally until the full moon. He wanted his brother for no other purpose than a distraction and a way to not be alone. So Elijah was forced to watch as Klaus played around with the Salvatore's and their attempts to save her. Klaus was enjoying it all and Elijah was trying his best to be patient. It had only been a few hours, and Elijah was already more on edge than he had ever been. He was trying his best to act as if he was totally loyal, when in reality he was counting the minutes on the clock until it would be the time when Caroline should be waking Kol up.

Chicago traffic was not what Caroline wanted to experience after a twelve hour car ride, but at least it had meant that she was close. The building that her families bodies were kept in seemed to be an old storage building, that very clearly was only owned by one person. There was no security, no cameras, only a code on the gate and a lock on the door. Her father had provided the code, and Caroline easily snapped the lock off the door before she began walking through the big building, trying to find a group of caskets. It didn't take her long as they were at the center, surrounded by other items, they seemed to be protected. She pulled each of them out into the center of the small area, before opening the first she came too. There was a chance she was going to have to pull out her photo, but she wanted to try and identify them first. The first casket she opened was very clearly her aunt Rebekah, she looked beautiful even in her desiccated state, her golden hair falling perfectly around her face, he dress accenting her beauty in a way that proved to Caroline that her aunt had known exactly how to get what she wanted. Caroline reached back up and closed the casket, moving to the next one. She opened it to find who she assumed was her uncle Finn. She had never seen a photo of him, but he was definitely not Kol and that meant it had to be Finn. He looked like he was in pain, and it made Caroline want to remove the dagger, but her father had been very specific that Kol had to come first.

"I'm sorry." She whispered before reaching up and closing his casket as well. The third casket was locked, and she remembered that her father had told her to ignore any locked caskets, so she moved on to the fourth. She knew that it was going to be Kol, so she opened it slowly, as if she was trying to put off the inevitable, her being here meant that her worst nightmare was taking place, and she couldn't be there to try and help. Since she was thirteen her uncle Kol had been her backup plan for when the worst happened, being here meant that the worst was happening, and she didn't want to accept it. Yet, she lifted the lid, and pulled the dagger from his chest, placing it in the bag on her shoulder, before sitting on the floor to wait for him to wake, she wasn't sure how long it would take, but she knew that she had to wait.

The air was stuffy. That was the first thing that he realized as his body began to wake from its coma. There was someone waiting, he could hear the person shift around as if they were uncomfortable. He could smell blood, it was close, not fresh, but still there. He slowly opened his eyes, the light in the building causing him to blink a few times to adjust to it. He realized then that there was a bag of blood laying on his chest, he grabbed it and a bit into it, sitting up as he drank. He looked at the girl that was sitting on the floor. She looked familiar, but he couldn't place how. She was young, no longer human though, so while she looked young he knew she could be quite a bit older than she looked. There were tear stains on her face, and her eyes were reddened, as she looked up at him. She looked desperate, afraid, and yet determined, that was when it clicked, she looked like Regina. Yet her eyes held depth like his brothers had, so he decided to take a well-thought-out guess as he finally forced his voice to work,

"Hello, Caroline." at his words she looked surprised for a split second, before she forced a smile,

"How did you know?"

"You look exactly like your mother, but your eyes hold the pain of the world, as Elijah's do."

"So I've been told."

"Where exactly is Elijah? I am sure you are very capable, but I also know that only he would be able to find our locations from Klaus." Kol asked, he was surprised that she had woken him, but he also knew that it probably meant that his brother needed help.

"Klaus found us. Dad is faking loyalty because Klaus doesn't know about me, but he wasn't able to finish preparing his plan to stop Klaus, and so he sent me here. He told me that I am to do as you say, that you will know what to do, and that you will protect me." Caroline explained to her uncle. Kol showed understanding, as he climbed out of the casket, and stood leaning against it.

"What other information do you have?"

"Not much. There is a new human doppelgänger and Klaus is trying to break his curse. Dad was trying to kill him, but I don't know how, but then his plan was foiled because Klaus showed up early. Dad always told me that he would only send me away if he didn't think he would make it, though, but he has to make it. We have to save him." Caroline got a pleading look on her face that almost broke Kol's heart.

"Okay. Well. I agree. We cannot let your father be killed by our monster of a brother, but we also cannot just run in there without a plan or all of us will be killed by our monster of a brother, which would destroy the point. So we have to really think this through. Elijah was correct in thinking that he can kill Klaus, but I learned last time I was awake that Klaus is not the actual monster."

"What do you mean?"

"Our dear departed mother, who happens to by lying in that locked casket, placed a curse on him. If we can find the right person, we can break the curse, then nobody will be hurt."

"And nobody will have to kill their brother." Caroline added. The words made Kol take a double take. They were words his brother had spoken once upon a time when they had decided to hide Caroline. They shared a compassion beyond anything Kol could understand.

"Right. Not that I wouldn't enjoy placing a dagger through Klaus' heart, nobody will have to kill their family member."

"What about the others?"

"Well, as for Esther, the witch that we are going to use is going to lock her soul on the other side, and as for the other two, I'm not sure. Rebekah would be loyal, I think. But, I am not sure about Finn."

"What did Finn do to get daggered in the first place?" Caroline asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"He didn't like who he was, and he started to try to find a way out, Klaus got annoyed, so he daggered him."

"Then why don't you trust him? I mean, I get not liking what you are, especially when you didn't choose it. I hate being a vampire, I mean, I'm better for it, but I hate it. I hate the feeling of hunger that never goes away, I hate the danger it puts the people I love in. I hate the fact that all my life dreams were ripped from me in one night, because someone wanted revenge. Besides, this world is evil, and harsh, and being told you have to live in it forever, after so long…"

"You make a solid argument."

"Besides, if he becomes a problem, we have the daggers…"

"Very well. We will wake them both up, then we will find the witch that I am thinking of, go to mystic falls, and break the curse." Kol answered, after he finished Caroline got up and went to one of the caskets, opening it and pulling out the dagger, he realized it was Finn.

"He looked like he was in pain. I didn't want him to have to wait any longer…" Caroline whispered as an explanation for her quick actions. Kol only nodded, watching her as then she moved at a slower pace to the other casket and pulled the dagger out of his sister's body. He was in awe of his niece. She was more than he had imagined, and she had a strength that could be seen behind her demeanor, as if a storm could come at any moment. She was kind, and seemed like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders, and yet never let it change who she was. She was definitely Regina and Elijah's daughter. Kol then sat next to her on the floor talking about nothing important while they waited on the other two. Behind his calm demeanor, he was hoping with everything in him that they would be fast enough, and that they wouldn't reach Mystic Falls to find the body of Elijah waiting in the aftermath.

Elijah sat in the empty house, Klaus had gone to deal with the Salvatore's for the third time, and Elena was asleep in the basement with multiple guards. She was scared, and he had tried to avoid going down to see her. He was hesitant to let himself relax. He had gotten a text from Caroline telling him that she had woken Kol, which had calmed his nerves some, but he knew that his chances of getting out of this uncertain situation had gone down more and more with every moment. Klaus was on edge, and the constant attacks from the local vampires were making it worse. Which meant that Elijah was walking a very thin line, a line that lay between life and death, a line that lay between his daughter and the other side. He knew that the chances of him getting out of this alive had fallen greatly when Klaus had shown up early. He also was well aware that if Klaus found out about Caroline, he would never see tomorrow. Elijah knew that his fate was very uncertain, he just hoped that Kol would make the right decision when it came to Caroline. Elijah could forever be okay with dying by his brother's hand, but he would never be okay with Caroline getting hurt. Klaus would have to kill him, before he ever let him touch her.

Finn and Rebekah awoke within a few hours, and Kol handed each of them blood bags to fulfill the hunger he knew they had. Kol then explained everything, he explained how Elijah, and he had hidden Caroline, how Elijah had made a plan to kill his brother, how he had discovered the curse. He explained about the new doppelgänger, about Klaus' plan to break the curse, about his threats, about Elijah being stuck there trying to keep Klaus busy. He then introduced Caroline to his siblings. Rebekah barely heard who Caroline was, before she had wrapped her niece in a hug, Finn was smiling at her tears forming in his eyes.

"You look just like your mother." he mumbled, while Rebekah hugged Caroline.

"That's what dad said." Caroline responded to him,

"What are we going to do about all of this?" Finn asked, looking at Kol.

"I have a witch that I think can break the curse when Klaus is weak, so we get her ready, then we go and hide out until Klaus breaks the curse, when the spell is in action, we break the curse and stop Elijah from killing him. Then we pray that it works, because if it doesn't, our brother can no longer be killed." Kol replied. While Kol explained, Rebekah let her niece go and Finn then hugged his niece. Caroline had a smile on her face, but Kol could still see the worry in her eyes.

"So, where is this witch?" Rebekah asked.

"Right next to us." Kol replied, each of his siblings and his niece getting confused looks on their face.

"Kol, have you gone mad?" Finn asked, hesitantly.

"No. In that casket over there is the body of our mother, if one were to open that casket successfully, mother placed a spell from the other side that will use that power to bring her back to life. She did this before her death, that if any magical power is done near her body it will bring her back. Well, she learned this by listening in on Regina training me one day."

"You are not about to tell us to resurrect that monster." Finn asked in disbelief.

"No. What I'm telling you is that the most powerful witch we ever knew performed the same spell, except she performed it to resurrect her magic rather than herself. She placed her magic in her daughter, so that when her daughter experienced magic, it would bring to life her mother's power inside her. She did this so that her daughter could protect herself. Regina listened to the spirits, she was attuned to the earth, she knew what was coming, and she put to action plans to protect her daughter from what our mother was creating." Kol explained.

"So, you're saying that Regina's magic is in Caroline." Rebekah concluded.

"Yes. Just recently Caroline was turned into a vampire, which was magic, but I don't think it was enough, but if you remember, she is linked to Elijah, and the magic that brings us back to life from a stake in the heart would have added to the magic of the vampire and most likely given Caroline her mothers magic."

"Vampires cannot do magic." Finn stated

"No. They can't create magic. But Caroline won't be creating magic, she will simply be performing a spell with her mother's magic that is laying in wait." Kol replied.

"So you are saying she can perform one spell, with her mother's magic, before it's gone, and then she can no longer create magic again." Rebekah asked, glancing at her niece, who remained silent as she looked at the ground.

"Exactly."

"So, you want her to cast an advanced spell with the bit of magic that she has, when she has never cast a spell before and cannot practice beforehand?" Finn asked in disbelief.

"No, I want her to open herself up to magic and the spell. I plan to get another witch to summon her mother to perform the spell through Caroline. While Regina performed the spell to not physically resurrect her, it is her magic, therefore she should be able to perform the magic through Caroline."

"You've gone mad." Finn said, walking to the other side of the room in frustration before continuing to speak, "We grew up with magic, Kol, and never has anything like this even been possible, let alone within the laws of nature. This is a fever dream, it's not possible to do."

"Finn, it wasn't possible to live forever when we were growing up, either. Magic is constantly changing, and I know this can work."

"How do you know it will work?" Rebekah asked, her skepticism getting the best of her hope.

"Caroline, have you ever met your mother?" Kol asked, looking at his niece.

"Yes, once. Sheila Bennett cast a spell that let me speak to her."

"Have you ever felt magic, or power run through you?"

"I guess, the night after dad let the Salvatore's stake him, but dad said he didn't know what it was." Caroline answered, she finally had looked up from the floor to meet her uncle's eyes. Kol, motioned his hand towards his niece before he looked back to his siblings. Rebekah only nodded slightly.

"Fine. But we need a backup plan." Finn stated.

"We will come up with one on the way, the other witch is in Mystic Falls, and we need to get there soon, tomorrow is the full moon." Kol answered.

"Then let's get a move on." Rebekah motioned, walking towards the door.

"My car is outside."

"Car?" Finn asked, confused.

"After we make plan B, I think I am going to need to update all of you on the world." Caroline laughed as she led the way outside.

The car ride from Chicago to Mystic Falls had been used well for the group, they had come up with a plan for if everything went wrong, that consisted of them running as Katerina had, then Caroline had done her best to explain the world to them. They had talked and gotten to know one another, and she had listened while the siblings told stories of the old days. It felt like she had the family she always wanted, and that made her happy, but she couldn't get her father out of her mind. He was walking a dangerous line, a line she had put him on. If they were too slow, or if she failed, he paid the price. He had given everything to keep her safe, and now she had a chance to save him, but she didn't know if she was ready.

"You can." Finn's voice spoke softly from the passenger seat next to her, Kol and Rebekah had fallen asleep in the back,

"I can, what?"

"You can do it, the spell."

"What if I can't? If I fail, I lose him, and I can't lose him. He is all I have left. He is the person that saved me from myself, he picked up my broken pieces and put me back together. He showed me what love is, what family is. He held me when I cried, and he made everything okay again. I can't lose my dad. He is all I have left."

"You have your adoptive mother."

"It's not the same. I mean, I know she loves me, and I love her, but she isn't my mom, and she isn't…"

"She isn't him." Finn finished for his niece. He knew all too well what his niece was going through. A parent could make or break you, and there was no such thing as a replacement. Even if you had an amazing parental figure, nothing could ever change who your parent was to you, good or bad.

"I can't lose him, but I know he will die without a second thought if he thinks it will protect me." Caroline had begun to cry, her tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You won't lose him."

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, I do. I won't let you lose him. I promise you, Caroline, I will not let Klaus kill your father. No matter what, I won't let you lose him to this." Finn promised, fighting tears himself. He had failed before, he wouldn't fail again. He had failed to protect his siblings from this curse before, from the curse of eternity, from the curse of vampirism. He had failed to protect Regina from his mother, he had failed. He wouldn't fail again. He would protect his family, he would save them. They fell into silence again as the miles of interstate flew by. Each of them trapped in their own thoughts, both focused on Elijah and Klaus, both focused on what was to come at the end of this road.

They made it to Sheila Bennett's house about midday, they needed to be ready before sunset so that they could get into position for the moment. They all went to the door, Caroline knocking as Finn and Kol scanned their surroundings. The door opened, and Sheila met Caroline with a smile,

"Hello Caroline, please, all of you, come in, we haven't much time." At her words, the group quickly entered the house.

"Thank you for letting us in." Kol said politely, as they all sat down in the living room. Caroline shared the couch with Sheila while Rebekah and Kol took the chairs, Finn electing to stand in the doorway instead.

"The spirits informed me of your coming, they were speaking of a spell."

"Yes, that is why we are here. Allow me to introduce us before we get into that. I am Kol, the youngest Mikaelson, this is Rebekah, and Finn, we are Elijah's siblings and Caroline's uncles and aunt."

"I had guessed that you were related. I am Sheila Bennett, Elijah chose me to protect Caroline." After the introductions, the group proceeded to explain their plan to the witch. They each told parts of it and made sure that nothing was left out, they couldn't risk any mistakes. Once they had their plan in place, they spent the afternoon preparing for it and getting everything together. Then just a short time before sunset, they all made their way to the site that Klaus had chosen for the spell. They sat, hidden in the darkness, Kol, Caroline, and Sheila on one side of the clearing, and Finn and Rebekah on the other side of the clearing. Sheila had cast a spell to hide her heartbeat, just to make sure that none of them were found. They had set everything up for their own spell, and were watching as Klaus' witch set up for her own. Not very long after dark, Klaus, Elijah, and the Doppelgänger showed up. Elena was placed at the center of one of the large circles on the ground, fire surrounding her. Eventually, Katerina was brought from the woods by one of Klaus' men, and placed next to her in another of the circles, finally another random person that none of them had ever seen before was placed in the third circle. The group hidden in the forest knew that it would be the werewolf. They sat in silence, watching as everything was finished being set up. Klaus and Elijah exchanged words occasionally, Klaus seemingly happy, and Elijah seemingly uncaring. The plan was in play, Sheila and Caroline would focus only on the spell, Kol would be a buffer in case anyone tried to get to them. Meanwhile, Rebekah and Finn were to get Elijah away from Klaus. When Klaus' witch began her spell, so did Sheila. The wind created by Sheila's hidden within the wind of the other spell. Caroline stood in the middle of a smaller circle, her eyes beginning to glow in power, after a moment you could see the outline of another, start to appear beside Caroline. Kol tried his best not to be distracted by it, and turned to face his brothers. Klaus was not yet being affected by the spell, as Kol watched him take the lives of the werewolf and Katerina. Elijah stood alert as his brother began to move towards the doppelgänger. Caroline had warned them all that she had asked her father to protect Elena. Kol could just make out Finn and Rebekah slowly moving towards their brothers, and he hoped that they could time it correctly, that they stopped Elijah and finished the spell on Klaus, he wasn't weakened yet. Kol glanced back at his niece, and saw that Regina could now clearly be seen and that she had begun to perform the spell, he looked back to his brothers just in time to see Klaus hit by the beginnings of Regina's work, and Rebekah grab Elijah and stop him from doing something rash. Kol saw Finn tell Rebekah and Elijah both something, but he couldn't make it out, but when Rebekah started to argue with Finn he got nervous. Thankfully after a moment Finn won and Elijah and Rebekah ran over to Kol's side, that was when he realized what had been decided. Finn stood ready for if Klaus broke from the spell, the stake that Elijah had been holding firmly in his hand.

"What the hell is he doing?" Kol asked Rebekah.

"He said for us to get to safety, that if it didn't work, he would delay Klaus for us to get away." Rebekah answered.

"Klaus will kill him!" Kol spat.

"He knows." Elijah answered him, sadness filling his words. He then looked up and saw his daughter, power pouring off of her, standing next to his wife, both of them chanting a spell that Elijah had never heard. He looked back at his brother, fear in his eyes, "What are you doing?"

"Mother cursed Klaus, he isn't actually evil, Regina is breaking it through Caroline." Kol explained.

"What if it fails?" Elijah said, his eyes once again fixed on his daughter and wife, but his question pointed towards his brother.

"We run, until I can find a way to kill Klaus." Kol answered, before turning his attention back to his brothers in the clearing. Rebekah fixed her eyes in the same direction, but Elijah looked towards his family. Kol watched, every muscle in his body tense,

"Elijah." Kol spoke.

"Yes?"

"If the spell fails, get them out of here, all of them, including Rebekah. I will wait for Finn." Kol spoke, the unspoken 'if he makes it' hung in the air.

"Okay." Elijah spoke, he wanted to argue, but he knew that it wouldn't help. Today he was going to lose a brother, there was no changing that, he just didn't know which one.

Caroline sat on the back step of Sheila Bennett's house, they would have to head to the spell location soon, but she needed a moment to prepare herself. There was a strong chance that not all of them were going to make it out of this alive. The family she had always wanted was going into a fight that they were almost definitely going to lose. She wasn't ready to lose them all.

"You know now are the times in life when I like to take a minute and smell the flowers." Her uncle Kol's voice lifted her from her thoughts, as he walked past her down the steps and into the garden, bending to smell flowers as he went by them.

"So you said in one of your letters, I don't get why nature is so important, though."

"Witches are one with nature, that is where their power lies."

"Okay, but you are not a witch, not any more anyway, so why do you care."

"Regina was a witch, Ayanna was a witch, The man I was, was a warlock. Those people are no longer with us, but they are one with nature. I find I remember them best when I am in nature. I also remember that this world is bigger than just me and my problems." He then moved back to the steps and sat next to her, his arm wrapping around her back and pulling her into a hug before speaking again, "You will find all you need, everyone you miss, and a reminder that there is more, all in the smell of the smallest flower. Let it be a reminder that it will all be okay."

When the spell finished, Caroline fell to the ground, her father next to her in a second pulling her to her feet. Sheila stood next to Rebekah, ready to be carried away if needed. Kol stood at the front of the group, every eye was on the two brothers in the clearing. Klaus dropped out of the spell. The group in the trees that could each tuned their hearing to see what would be said, the absence of the wind allowing them to do so,

"Klaus?" Finn asked, his voice was strong, none of the fear he was feeling able to be heard in it.

"What did you do!" Klaus roared, standing quickly.

"Klaus, we broke a curse that mother placed on you, she was controlling your mind. Calm down and think for a moment, push her out of your head." Finn tried, his empty hand held out in a calming gesture. Kol's entire body was tense, Elijah stood ready to run, his hand on his sister to make her do the same if needed.

"You stopped me from breaking the spell! You will die for that!"

"Klaus. Just take a minute, think. She is controlling you. She made you weak, she made it to where you couldn't stand up to father. She wanted you to be under her control. She is using you. Shove her out of your mind, her control is broken. Regina broke the link." Finn tried to explain, but the hand that held the stake gripped it just a little tighter. Klaus lunged at Finn, the two locked in a fight, Kol moved a step forward, his eyes locked on his brothers,

"Remember the flowers, Caroline, that's where we will be. Get them out of here, Elijah." At his brother's words, Rebekah grabbed the Bennett witch and Elijah grabbed Caroline before leaving the clearing. Kol then ran to join the fight with his brothers. His help tipped the scales for a time, both Finn and Kol working perfectly together against their brother. But when Finn blocked one of Klaus' attacks, he dropped the stake in his hand, Klaus catching it and swinging it straight at Kol, landing it directly into his brother's heart. Finn threw his brother across the clearing, catching Kol, before he hit the ground. The white oak of the stake shined in fire that still lit the clearing. Finn laid his brother's body down, stepping back just in time before the stake lit on fire and engulfed his youngest brother. Tears streamed down his face as he stood grabbing another stake of wood from the ground, he turned to face Klaus. He was on the ground still, his body kneeled as if he was screaming at the ground, his hands clutching his head. Finn realized what was happening, the spell had worked, it had just taken a powerful reason for Klaus to be able to shove her out of his head. Finn returned to Kol's body as the fire died out, he knew that Klaus would be up in a few minutes, but he didn't care anymore. He had failed, yet again. His mother had taken more from him. He held Kol's body as tears fell down his face. After a moment, Klaus rushed over, his voice breaking as he spoke,

"No. No. no. what have I done. No. Kol, please, no." tears were falling quickly down his face as he kneeled on the other side of Kol's body, pulling him into his chest.

"It wasn't you. It was her, this is her fault. Her curse. Her." Finn spoke, his voice struggling to work. Elijah and Rebekah appeared in the clearing a moment later, Rebekah immediately beginning to cry as she ran to her brother, Elijah just stood in silence, his shoulders dropping as if yet another weight had been set on them. Tears flowed from the siblings' eyes as they all mourned their brother. Klaus broke in front of them all, and each of them were able once again to see the boy they had known then. When the world had been right, when they had only their lifetimes, and yet that was forever, before they had lost anyone they loved. Before they knew grief. It had been a thousand years, though, and each of them knew grief and heartache as old friends.

"Kol." Elijah whispered, his voice pleading as he fell to his knees, the weight becoming too much to stand under.

"What did we do to deserve this?" Rebekah asked, looking to the sky as if she was talking to the other side.

"We were born children of Mikael and Esther. We did nothing but live." Finn answered.

Caroline sat with Sheila in her cabin, her father had brought them here before leaving to go find his brothers. Caroline had protested, but he hadn't listened. So now she waited for what seemed like forever for her father to return, fear that he would never come lingering like a shadow in her mind. After about an hour though, the door opened, and Elijah, Rebekah, Finn, and Klaus walked in, Klaus carried a very gray body on his shoulders. Caroline stood in fear, glancing at her father before returning her eyes to Klaus,

"The spell worked. He just needed a reason to shove her out of his mind." Elijah explained. That was when it all registered with Caroline, the body was Kol. He was gone. Tears filled her eyes as she ran to her father, hugging him like the world was ending. He returned the hug without a second thought, tears once again filling his eyes as well. Klaus set Kol down on the couch, and placed a blanket over his body, none of them needed to be looking at it. After a moment they all settled into seats at the table, Sheila excused herself to go home, Elijah offered a ride, but she declined saying she had already called Bonnie to pick her up. The family sat around the table in silence before Rebekah began to tell a story about Kol, after that the night was filled with stories and memories of before things had gone so very wrong. Elijah held onto his daughter's hand as if she would not be there if he let go, Caroline didn't mind though, she didn't want him to go either.

After the funeral and a burial next to Henrik's grave, the group settled in as a family. The little clearing that held cabins for Elijah and Caroline soon saw the creation of three other cabins. Finn began to teach at the high school, and Rebekah decided to go back to school and experience it for real. Klaus and Elijah each did their own things, Elijah ran his business work, and traveled as little as possible, while Klaus took a more hands-on approach to a business, meaning he was rarely at his cabin for more than a week at a time. The group tried their best to stay out of the supernatural problems that came and went throughout the years, but as always, they occasionally couldn't help it. Each of them tried their best to move on, but if anyone watched closely enough, they would see each member of the group visit their brothers or uncles graves at least once a week. They were a family, and they fought for each other no matter what came, and eventually that little town of cabins continued to grow as each of them found people to love and bring into the family. As time went on, the brokenness of the Mikaelson family began to heal, but none of them ever forgot all they had gone through. Elijah tried his best to remember to live his life to the fullest as Kol had. Klaus tried to have fun, and make jokes, and not take life too seriously, as he remembered his little brother doing so often. Finn worked to allow himself to love as deeply as his brother had. Rebekah tried her best to do well and be kind, as Kol had always wanted her to. And Caroline planted a flower garden, and everyday she would walk through the flowers and smell them, and she would read the letter from her uncle that her father had read to her before everything had happened, she would remember the conversation she had had with Kol, and she would thank him for giving her the family she had always wanted, and for saving her father, when he hadn't had to.