Previously: The sight we walked in on made my blood boil, while my heart felt like it had been ripped out and stomped on. Klaus had Tatia pinned to a tree and he was grinning down at her. The doppelganger saw me over his shoulder and smirked, pushing herself closer to Nik. My teeth clenched together in anger but I could feel the stinging in my eyes, and I knew I needed to get out of there. I couldn't focus on what they were saying, I couldn't hear Nik when he turned and saw me standing there with his sister. Instead I turned away and ran. I forced myself to move at human speed until I was out of sight and then I flashed away, mindful not to enter the werewolf territory. I reached an empty field and sat down underneath an old willow tree, and finally allowed my tears to fall, unreserved.

I was so confused. I was mad. I was heartbroken. I felt betrayed.

Before I let myself think, I waited for myself to get all cried out. That took longer than I am willing to admit, but once I was done I lay back on the grass, staring at the stars twinkling in the night sky. A flash of Nik hovering over me underneath the stars before he entered me flashed through my mind. I forced it away. After a deep breath, I thought about what had happened. Honestly, as soon as I'd seen him with that tramp, I couldn't really remember what had happened. It was like the world had frozen. All I could see was her pinned to a tree and all I could hear was his laughter playing on a continuous loop. But when I forced myself to focus I remembered that his amusement hadn't been light-hearted, it was dark and threatening. His expression hadn't been happy and lustful, it had been angry. When he had seen me, he hadn't looked guilty, he looked worried and confused. Tatia had looked smug, but before she had seen me she had looked almost terrified.

I sighed in annoyance, what had I done?

Tatia had manipulated me and I had let my insecurities get the best of me. I had seen them together and assumed the worst. A part of me continued to believe that Nik couldn't possibly love me over Tatia, at least not now. But I had to remember that my Nik, from the future, remembered me from this time. He had known me and it was his memory of me from when he was human that led to him to pursue me. I needed to talk to him. I stood up, brushed the dirt and grass off my clothes and flashed back to the woods, coming to a stop before walking into the village at a human pace. It was quiet and I realised then that it must have been later than thought. In a slight panic I headed in the direction of the Mikaelson hut, relieved that I could still hear Ester and Bekah preparing dinner. Henrik, Finn and Kol were in there too, though it just sounded like that meant the rest of the men weren't back from hunting yet.

I went back to mine and Katy's hut and found it empty, which was odd and a little concerning. I hadn't seen her in almost a day now. I focused my hearing and was relieved to hear her speaking in the Mikaelson hut. I assumed Bekah had invited her over seeing as she had been unable to come on our walk earlier. Seeing as I didn't feel like talking, and I wanted to catch Nik before he went inside for dinner, I hung back in the trees, waiting and listening. I was beginning to think he would never show when I heard the sound of Mikael berating Nik.

'I am tired of telling you, Niklaus. You need to get better at hunting if you ever hope to provide for your own family. Your mother and I will not feed you for your entire adult life, boy,' Mikael spat and I rolled my eyes in irritation.

I hid behind a tree as they passed by and grabbed Nik's arm. To stop him from making a sound, my hand covered his mouth and I held my index finger up to my lips to indicate that he needed to be quiet. The surprise in his eyes quickly ebbed away into relief and we shared a smile before I started to lead him to the very place I had run from earlier. When we arrived at the water, I turned to look at him with an apologetic expression on my face.

'I'm sorry for running away earlier.' I couldn't look him in the eyes, 'I guess there's still a part of me that is worried you still like her and when I saw you together my mind assumed what was happening rather than taking in what was actually happening.'

He took both of my hands in his and I looked up to him in surprise.

'It's I who should be sorry. I haven't told you of my feelings and it has led to you believing I am torn between two women and that is not the case.' His eyes were so sincere and regretful, 'you captivated me as soon as you arrived and it confused me. I tried to force myself to remain loyal to Tatia, but it was to no avail. Our first night together, being with you, felt so natural and electric in a way I have never experienced before. After that, I felt guilty and was fighting with weather or not I should tell Tatia, seeing as we weren't technically together. But then my father punished me and you were the one who cared for me and put a stop to it. No one has ever been there for me like that before, not even Elijah.'

He pressed a kiss to my forehead when he saw the pain on my face at the reminder of Mikael's torture.

'That led me to realise that not only was I physically attracted to you, I also cared for you. But still I wasn't sure if my feelings for you outweighed my feelings for her, which was why I asked you to the feast yesterday. As soon as I saw you, my heart beat so furiously in my chest after being away from you for three days that I knew then. I've never had such a reaction when seeing Tatia. You make me happy without even trying. You make me feel complete and you fit in my life as if you were made to be there, Arianna. I love you.' He admitted softly, tears forming in his eyes; similar to those that were falling down my own cheeks.

'I love you too, Niklaus.' I told him.

His smile was brighter than the sun as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine in a tender kiss that made my heart expand with love and happiness.

'I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner.' He said when he pulled away, 'when you came across us earlier, I was telling Tatia that anything that may have existed between us was over and that I no longer wanted to court her. She was furious and told me that she would make sure you and I were never happy together. She threatened you and I didn't think before I pinned her to that tree. When you ran a part of me was worried you were afraid that I would hurt you.'

'Nik, I know you'd never hurt me.' I kissed his cheek in assurance, 'Tatia knew what she was doing. She's probably feeling threatened herself because neither you or Elijah are interested in her now.'

'Most likely.' Nik smirked at the possessiveness in my voice. His eyes were lustful and I saw him glance down to my lips.

'How long before you have to return?' I asked him, biting my bottom lip in anticipation.

'I'm sure Elijah will cover,' he didn't seem to really be paying attention to me, as we both moved towards each other as if drawn by a magnetic force.

My lips moved against his with passion, possession and want. I bit his bottom lip gently, silently telling him to deepen the kiss, which he did with a growl that made my knees go weak. When he lowered me to the grass we shared a soft smile before he pushed into me, moving in a rhythm that was very different from when we first slept together in this century. The first time was full of lust, need and the desire to be wanted. This time was about cementing how we felt about each other, about showing how much we loved one another through the slow rhythm, the tender kisses and the gentle caresses we each shared. When we had both reached our release Klaus rolled off me, pulling me with him and I lay across his chest, both of us content to lie in silence and just appreciate the peace of the moment.

Xxx

'I haven't seen you for twenty-four hours, Ari! Where have you been?' Katy cornered me as soon as I entered our hut. I had only just left Nik and was still revelling a little in the time we had spent together.

'I was with Nik and before that I was sulking because I saw him with Tatia, but it turns out it was a complete misunderstanding.' I waved off her worried expression and sat at our dining table, picking up one of our apples and eating it.

'Honestly, I have come close to killing her so many times since we've been here. She's a manipulative ho-bag, how can they not see that?' Katy grumbled and I shot her an amused look, 'what?'

'Need I remind you of a couple of gentlemen that go by the name Salvatore?' I smirked at her sheepish expression.

'I didn't have my humanity on then! What's her excuse?' She huffed, but she couldn't help joining in on my laughter.

'So what happened to you today? I haven't seen you since the feast.' My grin widened when she blushed.

'Well Elijah bought me back here, but when I saw you and Klaus cuddled up together I thought it would be best if we gave you space. So we went to the creek and fell asleep on the grass under the stars. When we woke up, Elijah had to head out to do his chores and somehow Kol convinced me to help him and his mother with the cooking. I was worried when Bekah joined us and told me what you had both seen.' Katy gave my hand a squeeze and I sent her a bright smile, genuinely happy after the talk I had with Nik.

'It's fine, like you said she's manipulative.' I shrugged, 'listen Katy I've been thinking about how we're going to say goodbye to them when we have to leave.'

'Me too.' She took the seat across from me, both of our moods suddenly very serious.

I told her my theory, that I they would have their memories in the future. When she seemed sceptical, I told her about the memories that had been flashing through my mind the past few days; meeting Klaus, him finding me the day after, coming across Bekah when we were tracking Stefan and Nik, and Klaus' willingness to put her past betrayal behind him after half a millennia and move on. I was relieved when she seemed to believe me, and I think we both felt relief from the pressure of having to make up a lie to tell them. We could tell them the truth, and compel them to believe something else to avoid suspicion until they were transformed themselves. After all, they couldn't know that they were going to become vampires ahead of time, and we couldn't compel them to forget us completely because that left the risk of someone in the village asking about us, or Anaya saying something. This was the best plan. All we had to do now was wait until the night we were to leave and compel them before the moon reached its apex.

/

'The future?' Nik repeated, his eyes critically observing my expression searching for any hint of deceit.

'Yes. Katarina and I are from the future, and in that future we know the both of you.' I said, unable to stop myself from wringing my hands together nervously.

'Know us how?' Kol asked—we'd gathered everyone except Finn and Henrik to reveal this information to.

'Well we have different relationships with all of you. I'm romantically involved with Elijah, Ari is with Klaus, and the rest of you are like siblings to us.' Kat explained, looking a lot more confident than I did, but I knew she was just better at keeping her anxiety from showing.

'How far into the future?' Bekah questioned, her voice hesitant. I wondered if that was because she was having trouble believing us, or because she had a feeling that our answer wouldn't be a good one.

'A thousand years.' I answered honestly, 'give or take. When you first meet us, we won't remember this meeting, because we'll find each other before we get sent back to the past. Fifty years pass before that happens.'

'How is that possible? You cannot be from a thousand years into the future.' Elijah scoffed, but Kol seemed to believe us. But of course, he'd seen our other form.

'We're immortal beings, Elijah, the very same that you four will be soon.' Kat said gently, knowing we couldn't go into specifics.

'Can you show us?' Nik asked and my eyes found him for the first time since I admitted where we'd come from.

His blue eyes were shining with… acceptance? It made my heart clench with hope as Katy and I shared a nod. I took a deep breath and allowed my vampire face to reveal itself, knowing that Kat was doing the same beside me. Kol wasn't surprised, more interested than anything else. Bekah was shocked, but thankfully not afraid and Nik and Elijah were taken aback. My face returned to normal and my eyes fell to the ground, afraid of seeing fear or disgust in Nik's eyes.

I blinked, surprised, when Nik's index finger lifted my chin and bought my gaze to his. I felt my eyes sheen over at the love shining in his blue eyes—it was the same way he looked at me in the future, with pure, unconditional love.

'You're beautiful, Arianna.' He murmured, his thumb stroking over my cheekbone.

I didn't know what to say, so I placed my hand over the one he held to my face and turned to kiss his palm. He smiled gently and entwined my fingers through his, pulling me to his side.

'Why are you telling us this now?' Kol asked once Nik and I had returned from our "moment."

'Because we will be returning to our time tonight, and we wish for you to know the truth before then.' Kat said, her arm around Elijah's waist.

'We must compel you to forget what we are, and where we came from.' I admitted, feeling Klaus' body stiffen next to mine. I went on to assure them all before they could get too angry, 'it won't be for long, I promise, when the time is right you'll get your memories back.'

Klaus relaxed a little, but I could tell the idea of having to forget everything for even a small amount of time wasn't agreeable to any of them. Not to mention having to wait a thousand years to find us again.

'Okay.' Bekah said, her smile becoming reassuring when our eyes turned to her, 'I trust you both, and I know you wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't necessary. I'm happy for you to temporarily tamper with my memories.'

'Me too,' Kol chimed in.

Nik and Elijah didn't need to say anything; we both know they would do anything that we needed them to do. In many ways, my relationship with this Nik was already close to what we had in the future. I leaned up and kissed his cheek, his stubble gently pricking my lips, and the warmth radiated from his skin, making me powerless to stop my eyes from fluttering shut for a moment.

'Let's do this.' Kat murmured, her hand squeezing Elijah's.

We decided to only have one of us to compel everyone; it meant that the story they were being told to believe would be exactly the same. If two of us were doing it, we risked the possibility of details slightly differing. They were all told to believe that we'd decided to move onto another village and to forget the truth we'd told them that evening. They would remember when they were going through their transition of course, and we didn't know when that would be exactly. Once it was done, Katy and I flashed away, leaving them in the stretch of forest close to their home as we met Anaya by her hut, where she was waiting for us to do the spell. She already had the ingredients and she was confident in the spell she had created to send us back. I knew it was going to work; if my Nik had remembered me from the past that had to mean we successfully returned to our present.

Anaya started the spell, adding the vials of blood she'd taken from us to the wooden bowl in front of her, and I took Katy's hand in mine, squeezing comfortingly as we started to fade from existence. I didn't fight it, I didn't fear it, I embraced it with open arms, eager to see my husband and family again.

/

'Ari?' Katherine's voice led to me opening my eyes, not realising that I'd even closed them.

I looked around, noting we were in the same room we'd been in before we'd been sent back; an old abandoned warehouse where Ester and Finn had us cornered. Only, they weren't here anymore. No one was here.

'We're back.' I smiled, pulling Katy's hand towards the exit and into the streets of New Orleans. It was the middle of the night and we were in one of the few parts of the city that was actually quiet at night.

It didn't take long for us to reach the compound and when we did I took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar scents of home. Nik's paints probably still drying in his art room, Elijah's collection of books, Kol's magical ingredients that he collected even though he couldn't really use them, and the increased scent of cotton assuring us Bekah's clothing collection had probably grown in volume while we'd been gone.

Before Katy and I could take another step, the sound of four people whooshing into the room reached us, followed by their appearances. I found Nik's eyes first; his relief, his love, his gratitude shone in his blue orbs. I felt my own eyes fill with tears, but before I could flash over to him my arms were full as Bekah and Kol pulled Kat and I into a group hug.

'I'm so glad you're back sisters.' Kol murmured, sounding a little choked up, though I was sure he'd never admit it.

'We've missed you so much.' Bekah added, her voice wrought with emotion. I hugged them both tightly, having missed them too—we may have been with them in the past but it wasn't quite the same.

'What happened to Ester and Finn?' Kat asked once we'd been released, wiping tears of happiness from her cheeks.

'Destroyed. We took measures to ensure she will not be able to return, nor will Finn.' Kol assured us, but he didn't elaborate. I shrugged it off for now, much more interested in being in my husband's arms than pressing for the specifics.

My eyes found his again and I was in front of him quicker than you could blink. He held his arms open and I wasted no time in diving to his warmth, inhaling his scent and feeling my bones melt as I fully relaxed into him.

'It's good to have you home, my love.' He murmured, his voice thick with emotion.

My face nuzzled into the crook of his neck, happy to be back, in the arms of the man who was my home, 'It's good to be home, Nik.'

And I'm going to leave it there! I hope you liked this series, I've had it sitting in my drafts for a while now, I got so close to finishing a while back and until recently I was unsure of how to finish it. But I'm happy with this ending— Katherine and Arianna are home, and that's all that matters, the rest is just details!

Xoxo

VampireGirl1797