~Recap from Chapter 11~

"How am I alive?" Finn asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that I thought I lost you and now you're alive." Sage replied with tears of joy in her eyes.

Finn smiled back at her then remarked: "I think I know someone who might know what's happening."

"Who?"

"My mother."

~TGITW~

Chapter 13: Being Human (Part 1)

MYSTIC FALLS. 2010 A.D.

They had spent hours waiting for his mother. She had left Mystic Falls without a trace after failing to kill her children. But she did leave a way for Finn to contact her.

Even then, they had to wait for her to get in touch with them. By then, Finn had collapsed, and they had to hide out in a motel. Sage watched her lover tossing and turning in a feverish state. She was feeling helpless when the doorbell rang.

Sage opened the door and found Esther outside.

"Where is he?" Esther voiced out anxiously.

Sage led her to the room where her eldest son was.

Esther knelt by the bedside. With one hand, she grasped his hand and with the other she stroked his face.

"Finn," She called out gently.

For a minute, there was no response, then Finn opened his eyes slowly.

"Mother?" He was feeling delirious and wasn't sure if what he was seeing was real.

"It's me." She assured him as she continued stroking his face. "I'm here now. Everything's going to be all right."

Finn nodded then drifted out of consciousness again.

Esther casted some healing magic over him and waited until the spell took hold.

Standing up, she turned to Sage and demanded: "Tell me everything that has happened."

~TGITW~

Ever since the ball, Matt and Rebekah had gotten closer with one another. The night had ended well for both of them. Each feeling like they were seeing who the other truly was.

Apart from being an Original, Rebekah was just like any other teenage girl. She had dreams about the future that would never come to past because she was a vampire. It was one of the reasons she acted the way she did. Deep down, she just wanted to be a normal human.

Over the past days, they had several conversations over the phone and text. Today, they had arranged to meet up.

Matt waited nervously for Rebekah to meet him at the Mystic Grill. Unknown to Rebekah, he had also invited Faith to join them.

Hearing Faith talk about her history with the Mikaelsons made him pity the girl. It was obviously not her fault, but she carried a lot of guilt about being the cause of turning the family into vampires.

Matt hoped that by hearing each other's side, they would come to an understanding.

The door to the restaurant opened and Rebekah walked in. Seeing her, Matt waved her over to him.

Rebekah smiled and sat across from him.

"Hi Matt."

"Hi Rebekah."

He waited as Rebekah ordered a drink from another waiter.

"Look Rebekah," Matt began. "It's been great getting to know you these past days."

"You as well." Rebekah grinned back at him.

"I understand that your family and Faith are not exactly on the best of terms."

Rebekah's face soured at the mention of Faith's name, but she didn't interrupt Matt.

"I think you guys need to talk and understand her reasoning behind everything."

Rebekah had a bad feeling about this.

"What have you done Matt?" She asked suspiciously.

Matt grimaced and replied: "I set up a meeting for the two of you to talk. She'll be here soon."

Rebekah slammed the table in anger and stood up. She towered over Matt who cowered into his seat.

"You had no right to do that!" She snapped at him. "Why are you even standing up for her? She is the worst kind of human there is!"

"Look, she had no choice in the matter…"

"Oh, is that what she told you?" She questioned him sarcastically.

"Yes! She tried to stop it from happening Rebekah. It was your mother that used her and made you all vampires!" Matt's voice raised to match Rebekah's.

"She is a liar and slut!" Rebekah cried out in resentment. "She played with our emotions, killed our mother, then ran the second she was found out!"

Rebekah was steaming mad, but all Matt could do was look at her in bewilderment.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?!" Rebekah pointed at Faith who had just entered the diner.

Faith stopped in her tracks, conscious of the couple staring at her.

Rebekah walked over to Faith, glaring at her venomously.

The love the Mikaelson sister had for Faith had turned to hate.

Faith looked down in shame. Rebekah must blame her because it was her blood that changed them. She had tried to save them all and instead, she had been taken by Esther, tied up and drained of her blood. She had tried to change the future only to be the very reason it happened.

Rebekah stopped right in front of Faith and paused. She looked as if she were about to attack Faith right there and then. But she didn't. Without saying a word, Rebekah marched passed Faith and left the diner.

~TGITW~

She tried to stab him. Caroline Forbes tried to stab Kol Mikaelson to death. He couldn't believe it.

Kol had followed Caroline out of the bar that night. He had persuaded her to talk with him.

They talked. She laughed. Man, he had loved hearing her laugh. It was like music to his ear.

Everything was going on great until something distracted Kol. That was when she tried to stab him with the white oak stake. If it weren't for his brother, Niklaus, rescuing him, he would have been dead. This time forever.

Yet as much as he should feel vengeful, he wasn't. The "old" Kol would have been plotting a lifetime of pain for the cheerleader by now.

Instead, Kol found he couldn't hate the girl. Instead, he admired her spunk. She was no fragile damsel in distress. She was a sassy woman who would not hesitate to stand up for herself or her friends.

Kol even found it endearing the way Caroline's feelings showed on her face. The girl wore her heart on her sleeve. Kol smiled as he pictured the different expressions Caroline made when she was annoyed, excited, or upset. The only three he's seen so far.

He wondered what he had to do for her to show him more expressions. Kol laughed inwardly at the thought then shook them away. They had more pressing matters at hand. That same night Caroline tried to stab him, they discovered that their mother had linked them.

He and his brother had managed to stop her from completing her ritual. But that did not mean she had given up. Quite the opposite in fact. For now, she had disappeared, supposedly laying low. But if he knew his mother at all, he knew it would make her even more determined.

Now they were searching for her again. And this time, they will put a stop to her plans altogether.

~TGITW~

Over the years, Elijah had gone through every scenario in his head about how and why Faith acted the way that she did. The not-knowing part was frustrating. He wished he could confront her. He wished he could get answers. But he knew that wasn't possible.

After centuries of not getting even a hint of her whereabouts, they had no choice but to assume that she was dead. Yet here she was now. In this small little town of Mystic Falls.

To think she would appear before them during the Mikaelson ball. When she approached him, he just about lost it. All the emotions that he had been supressing had swirled up within him. His pent-up rage suddenly unleashed and directed at her.

He didn't realize it until he saw her, but his love had turn to hate.

He hated the girl who made him fall for her.

He hated the girl who used them and abandoned them.

Most of all, he hated himself for hoping she would still come back all those years.

But if she had really cared about them, she would have come back. She would have found a way back to them.

If she had really loved him, she had every opportunity all these years to look for him. But she didn't.

Seeing her made him realize it. He hated Faith Mikaelson.

~TGITW~

By sunrise, Finn's fever was completely gone. He was sleeping soundly with no sign he was ever sick.

Esther sat by her son's bed pondering over all that had happened. From what Sage had told her, Finn should be dead. But here he was, completely human.

It was the most shocking thing to have occurred. Overnight, Finn transformed from being an Original vampire to a normal human. There was no trace of vampirism in him at all. He was fully human.

Esther thought deeply on the matter.

If there was another way…if there was another way that didn't mean killing her children…she needed to find it.

She needed to know more about this Faith Mikaelson, who she was and how she was involved in all this.

It was the strangest thing. Esther had little recollection of the girl. She knew they crossed path over two millennia ago. But for the life of her, Esther had hazy memories where the girl was concerned. It was as if someone had manipulated her memories. That or her coming to life had affected it somehow.

For now, she must hide Finn from the others. If they knew that something could make them human, who knows how they would react. Some might be willing to turn back but most of them, especially Niklaus, might not be so willing.