The ones that love us never truly leave us.
124 candles. In three groups, one small circle enclosed by two bigger circles a couple inches apart; the two circles could be told apart by the chalk underneath them. Caroline looked down at the circles, her hands in her pockets, her hair falling over her face everytime the wind let down. Elena was beside her, so was Bonnie; Stefan, Damon, Jeremy. Enzo. Matt, Alaric, Elijah, Hayley. Rebekah, Kol. Everyone they now clung to to keep from going insane, and for support. Although some of them were ghosts now. Her teal eyes came up to the one who was standing across from her, away from her friends. But had as much right to be there as any of them now.
She knew how much he'd lost.
The wind was gone now, and it was dark in New Orleans.
"Are you ready?" Klaus asked her, and she nodded, remembering how much she liked his accent. It gave her comfort, something familiar and understanding, someone who would be there with her until the very end.
He took a few steps into the circle and bent down, to light the first candle that was in front of him.
That one was for her mom.
The second one was for her dad.
The third one was for his father.
The fourth was for Henrik.
Caroline continued to watch the candles be lit, marking each one for a dead loved one. The fifteenth was for Lily. The twentieth was for one of Klaus's friends he'd lost along the way, Magellan.
It was scary that the age most of them looked, and they had lost 124 people. And not even that little of them. She was grateful Bonnie was still alive though. Elena was starting to age, Damon beside her doing the same. Stefan had lost Valerie, although it was a long time before that that they were together again. And she was standing beside him. Enzo was standing beside an elderly Bonnie, and he still hadn't aged a day, even though he was as old or older than Damon. It didn't matter.
They'd all lost enough people to know what grief felt like. So she asked Klaus to have a candlelit vigil with all of her loved ones and his to remember them. Like Stefan had done that night. She never forgot that night, which made losing her mother all the more terrible. Klaus had accepted without pause.
All the candles had been lit, and Klaus quickly appeared by Caroline's side. She slipped her hand through his arm and gazed as the lights of the candles with him, glancing at him once or twice to see if he was alright. She felt his eyes doing the same when she looked away. Klaus took her hand that was slipped into his other arm and held it, thinking of everyone he'd lost, and what it did to him.
He'd never really forgotten a soul who'd died, when they'd known him. At least when he cared about them. And he was sure Caroline felt the same way.
Caroline's head rested softly on Klaus's shoulder and he sighed in resignation, resting his head on hers.
Liz would never know she was finally happy with someone who deserved her.
Henrik would never get to meet the woman who had turned out to be the love of his life. Klaus knew Henrik would be glad to have met her. And so as they watched the flames flicker, they both hoped in some small way that the ones they lit the candles for came to be with them.
A rough thousand-year old hand reached for a slight, young hand. They joined.
