Last Time on 'A Forgotten Time' people died, other people argued, and another person's deep dark secret was revealed. Who knows what will happen in this chapter. Well, let's get to it, shall we?

I do not own 'The Vampire Diaries' though I do own this plot and any original characters.

I did include one scene from TVD that does not belong to me. Everyone should recognize it, and I do not claim it as my own. Ok, now that that is out of the way.

Please enjoy the new chapter. =)

Chapter 23: Cluttered Minds

The past few days had passed quite awkwardly, especially since Mikael's return. I tried to avoid him as much as I could, most likely because of the hostile air that always surrounded him. The most mellow I ever saw him was when he was talking with either Rebekah or Ester, never with anyone else. He was also calm when he was working, forming metal into blades and other pieces.

The drama that had occurred in the town square still left an echo of whispers and gossiping amongst the villagers. Tatia walked through town with her chin and nose high since, trying to show that she wasn't affected. Benjamin though, showed quite the opposite. He was depressed, his head down with everything weighing on his mind. As I walked down the street, I passed him. He suddenly looked up at me, and I saw something I could only describe as the 'Lost Puppy Look'. He looked guilty and sad. He seemed to be waiting for me to say something or maybe smile, but I just kept walking. I didn't know how to treat him anymore. And the fact that he was one of Elena's ancestors creeped me out a little bit.

I continued walking down the street, contemplating the plight before me. As I walked, I came upon Rebekah, she smiled at me and motioned for me to follow.

"Come on, Henrik. Our brothers are fighting again." She said as Henrik and I followed to see the scene ourselves. Klaus and Elijah stood in front of us, both armed with sharpened swords. They both chuckled at their audience's arrival.

"Oh, look. Sister's arrived, to watch my fast approaching victory." Elijah said, messing with Klaus.

"On the contrary, Elijah." Klaus countered, as he struck at his brother. "She's come to laugh at you." He finished as he knocked down Elijah's belt. Everyone laughed, including myself. Quickly though, the laughter ended as Ester and Mikael approached.

"Relax, Mikael." Ester said trying to soothe her husband's temper. "Niklaus means well."

"That is precisely my problem." Mikael replied. He stepped forward towards the two boys and took the blade Elijah had and then faced Klaus. "So . . . why don't you teach me that trick, young warrior?" Then he quickly throws a blow at his son. Klaus parried as best he could and then tried to talk to his father.

"Father, we were just having fun." Klaus almost stuttered, trying to explain.

"We fight for our survival, and you find time for fun?! I want to have fun! Teach me. Come on! He yells, a blow with almost every word.

"Father, it was nothing." Klaus said back gasping for air as he tried to dodge and block his father's attacks.

Mikael growled and kept swinging his sword and dealing another blow. He kept throwing strategic swings until Klaus's sword was knocked out of his hands. Mikael then tripped him and he fell to the ground. He then held the point of his blade mere inches from Klaus's throat. All the bystanders tried to hide their gasps, some were not so successful.

"You are foolish and impulsive, my boy. What? No more laughter?!" He demands, still holding Klaus at sword point.

"You've made your point, Mikael." Ester intercedes, trying to back him down as best she could. He yells out in anger and then drives the sword into the ground, right next to Klaus's head.

"Some days, it's a miracle you're still alive . . . boy." He stood and walked away, not glancing back at the mess he made behind him. I heard many people sigh once Mikael was a distance away. Still, no one spoke for a while, after a minute or so I stepped forward and offered Klaus a hand up. After a second of realization, he took it. He wore this look of shock, guilt and fear. He barely acknowledged me before walking off towards the woods, with his sword, siblings and neighbors left behind him, completely forgotten.

I sighed as I shook my head and looked back at Rebekah and Elijah. "What was that?!" Elijah looked at me, but he didn't speak, then he turned and walked back into the house. Most of the people who had come to watch the debacle had now walked away and the only people left was Rebekah, Henrik and myself. They looked between each other before either of them said anything to me. Finally it was Rebekah who spoke.

"Father doesn't like to be embarrassed, or have himself made fun of. Father can be quite prideful. His family must be the best, and Niklaus making fun of Elijah was public embarrassment, which also embarrassing to father. And when he gets mad, there is really no way to stop him. He can take things too far, and if you try to interfere, you're the one who ends up getting hurt. My father can be a good man, just as long as he's not angered." She tried to explain in a hushed voice. Henrik nodded along, not saying anything. It was interesting how she added on at the end that he was a good man. Maybe it was because he was her father. You had to respect your father here, whether you agreed with him or not, or even liked him. I nodded and we all started walking. I kept walking around town aimlessly just trying to clear my head after all that. It was a few hours before I returned to the Mikaelsons house.

"Oh, because it's my fault that father yelled at you! You shouldn't haven't been messing around!" As I walked into the house I was shocked to find Elijah actually yelling at Klaus in the middle of the living room.

"You should have at least defended me! You're my brother!" Klaus shot back at him, both being very red in the face.

"Your brother, huh? Well you haven't acted like much a brother to me the past few months, have you Niklaus?!" He demanded. "Messing with my bed frame, tricking your chores onto me, stealing the girl I love?!" Elijah listed them off, the last one with the most bitterness in his voice.

"I didn't steal the girl you love!" He shouted back with almost equal bitterness. "She doesn't love you. She doesn't cares about you at all. She just likes the attention you give her, she comes to you when she's not getting enough. I told you that she is a user and that you deserve someone better than her!" Klaus tried to explain to him, but Elijah just seemed to get more upset. His face got more and more red until suddenly his fist came flying out of nowhere and hit Klaus in the jaw and spilt his lip.

"Don't talk about her like that! Don't you ever talk about her like that again!" He shouted and then the boys stormed in opposite directions, again.

"That escalated quickly." Henrik said once it was quiet in the room. Then Rebekah turned to me with a very concerned expression.

"I'm going to go talk to Elijah, see if I can calm him down. Do you think you could check on Nik, please?" She practically begged me. I sighed, there wasn't really a way I could turn her down in this situation. I nodded and walked out the door, the same way Klaus went a mere minute ago.

It didn't really take much guessing to figure out where Klaus would be. It only took a few minutes for me to get to the pond, and when I got there I saw Klaus sitting with his feet soaking in the water. I took a deep breath, knowing how much I didn't want to do this. I then pushed myself forward, siting a foot away from him, putting my feet in the water as well. Klaus looked over and he seemed almost surprised that I was there sitting with him, but he didn't speak.

"Are you ok?" I asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. When he turned I saw his lip was split and bleeding. I quickly pulled out a handkerchief from the waistband of my skirt, dipped it into the pond and reached to wipe away the blood. He pulled away at first, but after I gave him a look of concern he turned and scooted closer so I could reach it. I don't know why I cared so much. I mean, he was a monster. I avoid eye contact as best I could as I cleaned the blood from his face.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked when I was almost done. For some reason, being around him just made all of my filters go away. I started saying things that I wasn't sure where they were coming from or if I really wanted Klaus to hear them, yet still they came.

"As much as I want to deny it, I care about." I said, "You were trying to warn your brother, even though you knew what you said would make him angry. You even took a hit for it." He grimaced as I pushed the damp cloth against his cut. "I'm upset with you, but I admire you for that, and for what happened with your father this morning. He had no right to treat you that way, but you still took it, and you didn't suddenly go around yelling at people or hitting them afterwards." I shook my head and then turned away, not knowing what else to say.

"Caroline." Klaus said, taking my hand in his, trying to get my attention. I was doing my best not to look at him though. "Care, I . . . I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you." He said squeezing my hand in his. I could bring myself to pull my hand away. Finally the urge to look him in the eyes broke past my resistance. I looked at him and I saw remorse, guilt and sadness. This was something new altogether. I had seen so many things from him over the time I've known him. I've seen the blood thirsty monster of being the original hybrid. I've seen the manipulative scumbag who wanted everything he couldn't have. I've even seen the desperate man that he can be for the support of his family. I've seen that man from my time. In this time I've seen him playful and honest, and alive. Enjoying life. But this is the first time I've ever seen him look so sad, depressed, guilty, and really feeling those emotions. It's not him faking to get his desired outcome. It's all genuine. He truly seems to mean everything he says, and I don't know how to respond. No one has ever spoken to me like this before. Like every breath and syllable uttered means the world to him.

"Then what did you mean?" I asked looking back at him. The look in his eyes just seemed to tear through my walls. It felt like his heart would crack if I didn't at least give him a chance to explain.

"I meant to protect you." He answered quietly.

"How is kissing someone else meant to protect me?" I tried my best not to sound accusatory, but I was not as successful as I'd hoped. I could see it in his eyes that my comment hurt.

"Tatia . . ." I felt a flare go up inside me, as I made a noise of disgruntlement. "She told me that the next full moon she would tell the werewolves that you were responsible for Prudence's death, and have them target you, while in wolf form." I was dumbfounded.

"She would blame me for Prudence's death?! She killed herself, in hopes to join her family!" I was now really mad, and then I stopped to think for a second. "Wait, so then you kissed her?"

"She said if I kissed her, then she wouldn't go through with her plan. She promised she wouldn't tell anyone as long as I did it then and there." He answered with an ashamed look on his face.

"And of course she came up to you when she knew I would be looking for you soon. If she was actually going to do it, she wouldn't have come to you first with a demand." I replied thinking about it all out loud.

"She wanted us split apart, and that's what she got." He answered, shaking his head. "I really am sorry. I should have seen through it. Subconsciously I reached my hand up to his face. When my skin touched his, I felt the buzz go through my veins. The one that's always there whenever we touch. He must have noticed as well because he was looking at me with hopeful and yet questioning eyes. After a second I withdrew my hand, with a bit of shock of what I was doing. This is the man I was going to kill, and here I am having a conciliatory moment with him.

"I forgive you." I heard the words come out of my mouth. He seemed to be searching my eyes for a minute, to check if I was serious, and then he pulled me into his arms.

"Thank you, Caroline." Somehow a smile crept across my face and I pulled myself closer into his embrace.

A/N: And my gift to you, is a nice happy ending of a chapter after all of the fighting at the beginning. Please tell me what you think!

Thanks for reading my story. =)

DramaticInvisibleGirl