Chapter 13: Choose Life

*****The Next Day*****

Rebekah opened her eyes as sunlight poured down on her. Blinking, she tried to focus her sight and heard her brother's voice. "You're okay, Rebekah," Klaus assured her. "I have you."

He held out his hand to help her step out of the coffin. "What the bloody hell happened?" Rebekah asked.

"Aurora had you trapped at the bottom of the ocean," Klaus said. "It took a day to get the coordinates from her and Tristan."

"Did you rip out their hearts?" Rebekah asked, angry.

"No, we came to an understanding," Klaus said. "They have left town and won't bother us again."

Rebekah gave him a glare. "And that's enough for what they did to me?" she asked.

"For now," Klaus said. "We have other things to do."

"Like what?" Rebekah asked, following him to the car he rented.

"Like plan our big brother's engagement part," Klaus said with a grin.

Rebekah was stunned. "Elijah is going to marry Buffy?" she asked.

Klaus nodded. "Yes," he said. "The new immortal slayer will be a Mikaelson. Now our enemies will pause a long time before moving against us!"

Rebekah gave him a disapproving look. "That isn't all she is, Nik," she said. "She makes Elijah incredibly happy, and she accepts us."

"I know," Klaus said. "I am genuinely fond of the slayer, and I couldn't have found a better person for our brother to love if I tried. It doesn't mean that I can't celebrate all the other advantages she brings to the table."

Rebekah shook her head. "You are shameless," she said in disapproval.

"I have a plane waiting for us. We will be home by nightfall," Klaus said.

*****New Orleans*****

Haley went into the courtyard to see if Elijah was awake. She knew he was engaged to Buffy and wanted to celebrate his engagement with a Thanksgiving party. After talking it over with Jackson, they decided to celebrate the holiday with the wolves. However, they would make a brief appearance at the party before retiring for the night. It was a little awkward for her, but she knew Elijah had moved on completely. Every day, Jackson showed her how much he loved her, so Haley was finding it easier to let go of Elijah.

There was someone laying in the courtyard. Alarmed, she moved quickly to investigate and saw Cami staring with her eyes open and no life left in them. Sickened, she reached for the note that was clearly attached to the body.

Your slayer took my arm, so I took your friend's life. But don't worry. She'll come back to you. Sincerely, Lucien.

"Elijah!" she called out. "Elijah!"

Buffy roused and elbowed Elijah. "Wake up. Someone is yelling for you," she mumbled, sitting up.

Elijah got up and grabbed his robe since he now slept in the nude. Buffy pulled on his dress shirt and buttoned it up and ran a brush through her hair.

"What's going on?" Willow asked, opening the bedroom door.

"Shut the fuck up!" Faith called out.

"Get your asses out here!" Hayley yelled. "We have a problem. Cami is dead!"

That announcement got everyone but Faith out the door. "If they're dead, what can I do?" Faith wondered as she went back to sleep.

Buffy ran down the stairs to Hayley's side; Freya was right behind her. Both of the women were looking down in horror at the sight of Cami's lifeless body.

"There was a note," Hayley said, handing it to Elijah, who read it and passed it on to Buffy.

Buffy read the note aloud. "I am so going to kill him a body part at a time!" she fumed.

"She's not dead," Elijah said. "He fed her his blood. She'll wake up a vampire, a part of Klaus' line."

Buffy groaned in disappointment. Then she looked at Willow and said, "I expect you to find a way to make him suffer for a long time."

"Niklaus is going to be very upset," Elijah said with a sigh. "Lucien did this because he knows how important Cami is to all of us."

"Are you sure that he just didn't kill her?" Willow asked. She didn't see any bite marks, but her neck was clearly broken.

"Our kind of vamps don't normally drain someone they want to turn," Elijah explained.

"So how do we wake her up?" Willow asked.

"She should wake up on her own. If she wants to live, she'll drink blood and be turned," Elijah said.

"Our engagement party is in two days," Buffy said. "I want this clown put down, caged, or cursed in two days."

"I will get it done," Elijah promised her.

"Well, you two deal with Lucien. We're going to raise Kol today," Freya said.

Willow nodded. "It's time. Let's get dressed and have breakfast. Davina will be here in a bit," she said.

She and Freya left. Buffy looked at Cami and then at Elijah. "You stay with her while I get dressed. Then I'll take watch," Buffy said. "We don't want her to wake up all alone."

Elijah agreed. After Buffy walked away, he gave Hayley a curious glance. "What brings you here so early?" he asked.

"I actually wanted to speak with you," Hayley admitted. "I talked to Jackson. We're going to spend Thanksgiving with the wolves, but we'll make an appearance at the party."

"Your wolves are welcome at the party, particularly the men," Elijah said with a grin. "Buffy's slayer friends are all female."

Hayley laughed. "I'll let a few of the guys know," she said. She started to turn to leave and then looked back at him. "I really am happy for you, Elijah."

Elijah gave her a warm smile. "Thanks," he said. "She makes me incredibly happy."

"And she doesn't take shit from your brother," Hayley added.

He laughed. "An added bonus," he said.

Cami stirred and opened her eyes. Memories rushed back, and she sat up with a gasp. "Lucien!" she called out.

"You are safe, Camille," Elijah said, reaching out and putting his hand on her shoulder.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, Cami," Hayley said.

"For what?" Cami asked.

"Lucien killed you," Hayley explained.

Cami had been around vampires long enough to know exactly what that meant. "He fed me his blood? I'm in transition?" she asked.

"Yes," Elijah said, nodding.

"Oh, God!" Cami said, visibly upset.

"If you want to live, you'll be a vampire," Elijah said.

Cami stood to her feet. "I need to go home," she said.

"Come on. I'll take you," Hayley said. "There's time."

"It will be all right, Camille," Elijah assured her.

"I'm dead, Elijah. It'll never be all right again," Cami said, obviously devastated.

Elijah knew his brother wasn't going to handle this newest development well.

*****Several Hours Later******

Freya, Davina, and Willow were finally ready to bring Kol back. The ashes were in the middle of the pentagram. The three of them took three corners and began the spell, and the power built in the old church. Lightening came down and hit the jar. Then Willow stepped forward and deviated a bit from the script. Shouting unknown words over and over: "Rwy'n rhoi bywyd I chi. Rwy'n anadlu bywyd i mewn i chi."

The ashes formed a body, and she kept saying the same words. Freya looked at Davina in confusion. Davina shrugged, not understanding or recognizing Willow's words. It wasn't Latin or Sumerian. Then Kol's body was completely formed. Willow reached down and touched his chest, saying the words once more. Electricity shot through his body as he gasped.

Kol was alive again, and Davina called out his name. "Kol!"

Kol blinked, not believing that he was back with Davina and two witches that he didn't know even though one looked very familiar. Then he realized that one of them was Freya—it was his big sister back from the dead.

"We did it!" Willow said excitedly.

"What were you doing there at the end?" Freya asked suspiciously.

"Oh, well, I—" she paused, trying to figure out what to say.

"I'm alive?" Kol asked.

"We brought you back!" Davina said, excitedly. "I told you I would find a way." Then she was kissing him, and he was kissing her back.

"Davina, how about you let him stand up?" Freya said dryly.

Davina pulled back, beaming in happiness at Kol. She stood up and held out her hand for his, and then he was standing.

"Kol, this is our new witch friend, Willow Rosenberg," Davina introduced.

"The witch who's got the Other Side all nervous?" Kol asked, grinning. He held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Willow took his hand and encased it in both of her own for a moment and then nodded as she felt him. "It is good to finally meet you," she said. "Your brother Elijah has just gotten engaged to my best friend, so we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

"Elijah is getting married?" Kol asked in surprise.

Frey nodded and stepped forward to hug him. "It's good to see you in your right form," she said. She'd known him in a hijacked human body, but she'd never officially met him in his original form. Of course, she had seen him at a party once a very long time ago, but he didn't know who she was then.

"Nice to see you again, sister," Kol said. He looked around, frowning. "Where's Bex?"

"Klaus is bringing her home now, so she should be here very soon," Freya explained.

"Let's get you to your brother, and I'll tell you what you've missed," Davina said.

Willow took a deep breath. That spell had taken quite a punch.

"Are you okay?" Freya asked as they fell into step behind the two love birds.

"Yes, that just took a lot out of me," Willow said.

"So what did you do there at the end?" Freya wondered.

"I was just worried something would go wrong. That the Other Side might try to hold him back," Willow said. "So I pulled really hard with this life spell I came across in some Welsh text of Giles."

"Do you really think it was needed?" Freya asked.

"I figured it was better to be overprepared rather than disappoint everyone if we couldn't pull this off," Willow explained. "We regenerated a body and restored his soul. No small feat."

"But we did it," Freya said, reaching for Willow's hand.

Willow smiled at her. "Yes, we did," she said.

Elijah was party planning with Buffy when they returned to the compound. "They did it," he said as he spotted his baby brother walking toward him. Smiling, he stood to his feet, holding onto Buffy as he did.

Buffy grinned, happy to see a guy walking with Davina that looked exactly like the portrait.

Kol stepped closer to give his oldest brother a tight hug. "I hear congratulations are in order," he said. He glanced at the woman next to Elijah with open curiosity.

"Yes, this is my fiancée, Buffy Summers," Elijah introduced.

Buffy surprised him by going for a hug instead of a handshake. "I'm so happy you are here!" she gushed.

Kol winced at the strength of her hug. "That's quite some muscle you got there," he observed.

"Oh, sorry. I forget sometimes," Buffy said.

"You're out of practice, little brother if a hug by a slayer causes you pain," Elijah said with a smirk.

"Maybe you can save some of those hugs for me," a voice behind them said.

They all turned and saw Rebekah back in her original body. Buffy grinned, glad to see her whole and well.

Rebekah ran to Kol and hugged him tightly. "Ease up, sis. I'm not as strong as I used to be," Kol said.

Rebekah pulled back and looked at him carefully. Then her eyes widened as she realized what was different about him.

"You're human!" she exclaimed.

Kol looked startled at her words and looked at Klaus, who was equally stunned.

Klaus put his hand on his brother and nodded. "You're completely human again," he said. He turned and gave Willow a dark look. "What the hell did you do to my brother?"

Willow beamed excitedly. "I wasn't sure I could do it, so I didn't wanna say anything, but I found this Welsh spell that was all about brining life back. I tweaked it a bit and thought that it'd be cool to bring Kol back as human, so he and Davina could continue the Mikaelson family line. You know. Give Hope a little cousin or something—someday. I mean, Davina is super young, but she's such a cutie, and I like her so much," she said, finally running out of breath.

Kol felt a stab of real joy and moved toward the redheaded witch, who he didn't know at all, but she had given him such an incredible gift.. He put his hands on her cheek and gave her a long kiss. "Thank you!" he said after he pulled back from a bemused Willow.

Then he grinned and ran to twirl Davina around. When he put her feet down, he began kissing her.

"Why did you do that?" Klaus fumed. "Now he's vulnerable to all our enemies!"

"Hey, I can take care of myself!" Kol protested.

"I can take care of him just fine," Davina added, glaring at Klaus.

"We all take care of each other," Buffy said pointedly. "Klaus, isn't it wonderful that your brother has a new chance at life? How about you thank Willow and congratulate your brother?"

Klaus gave her a dirty look. "Don't you have a party to plan?" he asked sourly.

"Oh, it's planned," Buffy said. "Now you and Elijah need to put down Lucien before I go and turn my slayers loose on this city. He's done pissed me off for the last freakin' time!"

Kol grinned, enjoying his future sister-in-law. She was so tiny and fierce.

"Buffy's not like other women," Davina murmured to him.

"No?" he asked. Davina shook her head and smiled at Buffy, who treated her like a person and not a freak.

Rebekah hugged Buffy. "I cannot believe it! You and my brother married! Do I get to be a bridesmaid?" she asked.

Buffy felt a pang of guilt. "Well, of course! I hadn't thought about it yet. Dawn's going to be Matron of Honor since she can't be a bridesmaid. Willow and Faith are going to be bridesmaids for sure." She looked at Freya. "Will you be one, too? Then we can have Xander as a groomsman." She paused and looked at Elijah, who was giving her an indulgent smile.

"Do I get to pick my own best man?" he asked.

"Well, I figured it be Klaus and now Kol as a groomsman. And Marcel. We're short one, so you'll have to make a friend. Or pick Tristan," Buffy said with a smirk.

"After you killed his favorite protégé?" Elijah asked.

Buffy looked sick. "Oh, God! Killed! We didn't tell him," she said, looking at Elijah and glancing at Klaus.

Klaus saw all the women but Davina look at him and then look away. "What?" he asked.

"We have some bad news," Buffy said. She stepped back, and Elijah moved to stand in front of Klaus.

"Lucien did something to get back at us for Buffy taking his arm," Elijah said.

Kol grinned. "You wacked off Lucien's arm? I wish I could've seen that!" he exclaimed.

"Klaus, it's bad," Willow warned.

Klaus was already angry at Kol's change in status, and now there was something more. "What? What's happened? Tell me!" he demanded.

"It's Cami. Lucien killed her—"

Klaus cut him off with a roar. "No!"

"She's alive," Buffy said quickly. "He gave her his blood."

Klaus closed his eyes as relief coursed through him. Cami wasn't dead. He hadn't completely destroyed another person he loved. "Did you give her blood?" he asked.

Elijah shook her head. "She went home," he said.

"Without completing the transition?" Klaus asked, upset.

"You cannot force this on her, brother," Elijah said. "It is her decision."

"Like bloody hell!" Klaus said, storming out of the room.

Davina shared a devastated look with Rebekah. Cami was their favorite.

Kol felt a bit lost at all the pain floating around. "I feel like I've missed a lot," he said as Davina threw herself against him and started to cry.

*****Cami's apartment*****

Cami was looking through her family photo albums. She missed her twin brother so much. If she died, she could be with him again. Her uncle, too. She turned another page and then sensed someone watching.

"Are you okay?" Klaus asked from her balcony door.

"No, Klaus, I'm not. I'm dead," she said woodenly. She turned another page of the album, trying to ignore him, but his presence filled up every part of the room—damn the man. He had pulled her into his world and changed her for all time.

"May I come in?" he asked.

"You know that you can," she said in a cool tone.

"Yes," he acknowledged as he came in and sat down next to her, seeing her photos.

He waited in silence as she kept turning the pages. Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore, and he reached for her hand. "I'm so sorry, Cami. I didn't want this. I tried so hard to keep you away from all this, from me," Klaus said.

Cami looked into his broken eyes and smiled. "It's not your fault, Klaus. I can never resist the bad boys," she said.

"Do you hate me?" Klaus asked.

She shook her head. "No. I hate Lucien. He played with me like a cat with a mouse, and I thought I was free," she said. "I should've gone home or stayed with Buffy. I made the foolish decision to go back to work. This isn't your fault, Klaus."

"I will make him pay for this!" Klaus vowed.

"You can't keep punishing your friends who turn on you, Klaus. It's why these things happen," she pointed out. "Buffy and Willow will punish him in some inventive fashion, I bet."

Klaus flashed her a dimpled smile. "You're probably right," he said. He reached inside his leather jacket and pulled out a bag of blood. "I need you to drink this now."

Cami glanced at the blood and then stood, moving away from him. "I'm not sure if that's what I want, Klaus," she said.

"What do you mean? You don't want to die! I know you. You have too many things to live for. You have to drink this and live!" he said.

"Live my life preying on others?" she asked in disgust.

"That isn't who you are. It needn't be who you become," Klaus said.

"But that's what vampires do, right?" she said.

"I've known some who didn't. Some who didn't become monsters," Klaus said, thinking of his sweet Caroline.

Cami noted the smile and was curious. "Who? Who do you know?" she asked.

"Well, Josh for one," Klaus said with a smirk. "I know you love that boy. It's why I've not killed him."

"You like him, too," Cami said with a glare.

"There's been a few others like him or Marcel. Some who find being a vampire gives them more strength and grace than they ever knew they could ever have," Klaus said.

Cami was silent as she considered it. Finally, she looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "I'm so tired, Klaus, and I don't want to always be fighting. I miss my family," she admitted.

Klaus pulled her against him. "They're not going anywhere, love. They don't want you to join them before it's your time," he said. "I knew your uncle quite well. He was a fighter, and he would want you to fight."

"He didn't choose to be a vampire," she pointed out.

"He was a priest. It wasn't something he could do, but you are not him!" Klaus insisted. "I'll be your family. Hayley, Davina, Marcel, Elijah, Buffy—we all want you to stay in this world with us. Choose life. Choose to live!"

Torn, Cami looked at him as she considered what she really wanted.

******To Be Continued******