Summary: What if Caroline had died when Lizzie and Josie were only 5? What if Cade was after them, so Stefan brought Lizzie to the only person outside of Mystic Falls that Caroline would trust?

Lizzie grew up as Elizabeth Mikaelson, the heretic princess of New Orleans, the original hybrid's younger daughter, Hope's sister and a Mikaelson, but on a seemingly ordinary day an mystery appears at the door, and old memories must be brought back to light.

A: I don't own TVDU or any character. Sorry for my English.

There was a bright July night when the blanket appeared at their door, when it all started. The city was finally calm, the factions were at peace at the moment, and the hybrid king was watching his daughter sleep, safe and protected in her father's kingdom.

Then, Freya's protection spell alerted him that someone was in the compound, and with his fangs ready, Klaus took one last look at the young tribrid asleep in bed, then went downstairs to investigate. However, he stopped in surprise when he saw none other than Stefan Salvatore with a blonde little girl who looked only a few years younger than Hope asleep in his arms.

"Well, good night, old friend, what brings you here today?" Klaus asked, completely aroused by the situation.

"She's dead."

"Who's dead?" Klaus asked, but no more words were needed, Stefan's lost look said it all. "N-no...no...who?!" Klaus' hybrid eyes activated.

Caroline was dead.

"Calm down. I will explain everything to you, but first I need your help."

"Stefan, if you don't tell me right now who killed Caroline, I will~"

"She's her daughter." Stefan said quickly, pointing to the little girl in his arms. "Lizzie, named after Caroline's mother. The Gemini coven cast a spell to move Alaric and Jo's twins into Caroline's indestructible womb, but now Sybil, a siren, and Cade, the leader of the devils are after them, especially Josie. As long as Lizzie is with Josie, she's in danger too."

"Explain, now." Klaus said, calming down a bit looking at the sleeping little girl in Stefan's arms, she reminded him so much of Hope and himself, when he had no one.

"Alaric has Josie, but he doesn't want Lizzie. Sybil wants to give them to Cade, the devil...they're five, Klaus! It's too dangerous, too cruel... They have protection spells on them, but they can't be together, they can locate them more easily if they are together, they're Gemini witches... I brought Lizzie to the only person outside of Mystic Falls that I knew Caroline trusted, and to the most powerful and annoying family to ever live. Caroline died to keep them safe, but I need your help to protect Lizzie."

Klaus' face showed a thousand years of emotion, and looking at the little princess without a castle in Stefan's arms, the daughter of Klaus' apparently dead soulmate. Caroline...Caroline...she was dead...gone...forever...he knew he was gonna hunt and torture every single person that played a role in her death, but now, now he needed to fulfill her last wish, he needed to protect the last piece of Caroline that was left.

"Elijah!"

Elijah Mikaelson stormed down at the sound of his younger brother's scream. Despite everything, despite Klaus' paranoia, despite what had happened to Hayley, who had died a short time ago in the hands of some witches, Elijah still loved him. After all of this, Elijah still cared about Klaus, and he knew Hayley's death at the hands wasn't his fault, Klaus had been just as devastated as he was.

"Niklaus, what~"

"Caroline Forbes is dead, this is her daughter, magically placed in her womb, and now hunted by the king of hell, apparently."

Klaus spoke quickly, spinning around the room and plotting his revenge. They killed the queen, now they'll need to deal with the fire of the kingdom.

However, as soon as little Lizzie opened her pure blue eyes, Klaus' heart softened. The little siphon witch said:

"Uncle Stefi? What's happening?"

"Oh, hello there, love. My name is Klaus." Klaus smiled, speaking in a calm, quiet voice.

Lizzie smiled softly, not knowing the circumstances that called for her presence here. But still, when Klaus reached out to touch her hand, she started unconsciously siphoning him. Klaus, of course, was not affected, being the original hybrid.

"Sorry..." Lizzie said.

"No problem. Your powers are a gift, princess, and you are perfect, never be afraid to show what you are capable of." he said, then turned his attention to Stefan, "She's a siphon...how extraordinary."

"So, will you help us?"

"I'm not doing this for you, or for any other being from Mystic Falls. I'm doing it for the young Elizabeth and for Caroline." Klaus said and Lizzie jumped from Stefan's arms into his. The brown-haired vampire just smiled.

Klaus had been a little surprised when Lizzie hugged him, but then he relaxed and hugged her back, like he had done with Hope just a while ago.

-- --

~over 12 years later~

"Princesses, breakfast is ready!"

Hope and Lizzie Mikaelson, of nineteen and seventeen years old, the youngest Mikaelsons and daughters of the original hybrid went downstairs, where their father sat at the stove flipping a pancake.

Their Aunt Freya was on the sofa with their uncle, apparently debating the possibility of a dove now entering the room.

"Freya, seriously? We're having this conversation now?"

"I'm just saying, considering the placement of the window and the time of year, it would be about 70%."

"No, it would definitely be 55%, math is my thing. We multiply the number of pigeons on the street by the date of the year, then divide by the number of people in the house."

"No, because the doves are attracted to the magnetic field projected by the witch, so~" Freya then stopped, looking at Hope and Lizzie who had just entered the room, a smile appearing on her face. "Oh look at my favorite nieces."

"Aunt Freya, we are your only nieces." Lizzie said, hugging her.

"I know, but still. I thought we should practice some more spells this afternoon, what do you think?"

"Only if they're the dark ones." Hope joked, hugging Freya at her turn.

"Hey, if you're still giving out hugs, why don't you give your old dad a few too?" Klaus said, with his arms outstretched and Lizzie and Hope immediately threw themselves into his hug.

It was only the three of them, only the three of them against the world. The hybrid king and his two hybrid princesses, or a single father with his two daughters. This hug meant more than a thousand words, it was a portal to happiness, peace, strength, love and peace. Klaus had promised his girls the world, and he was going to give it to them. His little heretic lioness and his little tribrid wolf, they were his world, the heirs of his kingdom.

Klaus had never lied to his youngest daughter, Liz knew she was adopted, but she didn't care, she was a Mikaelson, she may not have been born a Mikaelson, daughter of Klaus, but she was born to be a Mikaelson, daughter of Klaus. She had asked at one point about her biological mother, and Klaus had told her the truth: that she had died at the hands of evil people who wanted to hurt Lizzie as well, but they couldn't because the Mikaelsons were protecting her. He told her that her biological mother was the love of his life, he told her about Mystic Falls and left no detail out, he told her about the murder, the doppelgängers, everything bad he did...and to his surprise, Lizzie had understood, and had actually shown interest in it, she loved him no matter what he had done, and understood his reasons. She also knew about her twin sister, Josette, raised by their biological father who didn't want Lizzie, but she had never contacted Lizzie, so she hadn't either. She had a sister, she had a loving but sometimes overprotective father, she had aunts and uncles, she had a kingdom at her feet and a city to call home. Josette hadn't cared, so neither had Lizzie.

No one knew it, but sometimes she would catch her father staring blankly, or drawing portraits of a blonde woman, Lizzie's mother, and then burning them. She remembered the day Stefan dropped her off at the Mikaelson compound, and two weeks later she started calling her father "Papa", but Hope became her sister immediately.

However, on a seemingly normal afternoon, while Lizzie was sorting out outfits with her Aunt Rebekah, while Hope was painting in one side of the room and laughing at them, a figure entered the compound.

"I'm going to see who it is. Then maybe we'll take Marcel's helicopter to Paris for a quick shopping spree, Elizabeth. We can also take Hope to see the Louvre or the musée d'Orsay." Rebekah said, grinning at her nieces then leaving the room to go see who was at the door.

Hope moved next to Lizzie, who is resting her head comfortably on her sister's shoulder.

"What are you painting?" Lizzie asked the older girl, who showed her the drawing.

It was a gorgeous view of New Orleans from the balcony of Hope's room, where Lizzie slept most days, talking late into the night with her sister. Every detail was perfectly done, shining in the golden light, it showed the power, the struggle, the truth and the end, it was amazing…Lizzie smiled at her older sister, her protector, her best friend in the whole world. They spent every moment with each other, they shared everything, they lived everything together, they were united no matter what, they loved each other.

"It's...it's wonderful, Hope. It's gorgeous." the heretic smiled.

"It's a gift for dad for Christmas. I hope he will like it."

"He adores us, and have u seen our walls, Hope? They're full with your art, and you paint amazing, he will love it."

Hope smiled, a pure smile, a smile reserved only for her family.

"Thank you."

However, this moment was interrupted by Rebekah calling Klaus' name from the door. Hope took Lizzie's hand and they walked over to their father and aunt, only to find him with tears in his eyes, a table broken on the ground, and a familiar blonde woman in the middle of the room.

"You're not real! You're sent here to trick me! It's not real!" their father yelled at the woman, pacing around the room as Rebekah looked at the woman strangely.

"Explain, now." their aunt's eyes were dark.

"I don't know...I just woke up next to Bonnie's house a few days before. It took me a while to find out what happened, and apparently I've been dead for twelve years. I talked to Alaric and I already have saw Josie and Stefan told me about Lizzie, I'm so sorry they don't know each other... But Klaus, it's me, and I don't care if you believe me or not, I just want to see my daughter. Our daughter. You raised my daughter, and apparently you did an amazing job, thank you, Klaus."

"Our daughter", if only Caroline hadn't died, if only she hadn't told Klaus to leave Mystic Falls, if only they were together, if only they had a future together.

"Done, tell us something only Caroline would know." Rebekah said.

"Woods. Mystic Falls." Caroline said grinning at Klaus.

"Love..."

Another tear fell down Klaus' cheek, but he didn't hide it, he didn't wipe it away, his girls had shown him that he was strong, that it was okay to have emotions, and that he was perfect just the way he was. And suddenly, without even realizing, he kissed Caroline, and she didn't pull away.

"Papa?"

A voice came from down the hall, and there stood Lizzie holding hands with Hope, looking confused at the woman who had just kissed their father.

"Is she…?" Caroline asked. "Elizabeth..."

"Yeah, and you are...?" Lizzie asked, moving next to her father.

But she already knew the truth, she'd known it all along, she'd seen the portraits drawn by her father, heard the conversations in the dark, and the scene before her didn't lie: the woman before her was Caroline Forbes, her biological mother.

"Hi" Caroline smiled sweetly. "Hi, LizzieBear."

Lizzie looked at her papa, and then blinked. Before even realizing, she threw herself into Caroline's embrace, which was joined after a while by Klaus and Hope. Klaus, Caroline, Hope, Lizzie...they were like a complete family.

"How is this possible?"

"I don't know, but it is. I love you so much, Lizzie, and I'm so sorry I didn't get to be a part of your life, that I didn't get to raise you."

"It's alright, I got the best parent possible and the best family, the best dad, the best sister, the best aunts and the best uncles." Lizzie said, smiling at Rebekah. She knew exactly what she was doing.

"I know. Klaus raised you, he's your father, the father of my daughter." Caroline smiled, kissing Klaus long on the forehead. "You raised my daughter, and I couldn't be more grateful. You're her family, and..." Caroline paused, looking at Hope, then continued: "And you're Hope, I guess, I heard so much about you...12 years ago, but still. You look so much like your father, you both do. You both look so much like Klaus." Caroline said, looking at Hope and Lizzie.

And it was true, they both looked so much like Klaus. Lizzie may not have been related to him, but she was certainly his daughter. Hope had the same eyes as him, the same sweet but venomous smile, the same texture and shade of hair, but Lizzie walked like him, acted like him, wore her father's necklaces around her neck, along with the Mikaelson family crest and a friendship talisman made with Hope when they were nine and eleven.

"You're so beautiful, Elizabeth. You both are, you and Josette."

"So you saw her."

"Yes, I saw her...her and Alaric, who hasn't changed a bit, sadly. And she's taking after him...which doesn't change how much I care for her, for both of you, but still.. ." Caroline said and Klaus' eyes turned yellow.

"They never contacted me, they never cared. Maybe I'll get to meet her at some point, but not soon, because she's not my family right now, and he never was." Lizzie said and Caroline just nodded in understanding.

Lizzie looked at Klaus, and then hugged him. He was her father, her papa, always and forever.

And so, the years had passed...Caroline had finally moved into the complex, bouncing between Josie and Lizzie, who had now moved with Hope to London for Art and Design college, and Caroline couldn't be more proud of her girls: Lizzie and Hope. The Mikaelsons were as wild and loving as ever, and Klaus' arm around her waist and the new wedding ring on her finger officially made her one of them. She still had a lot to recover from her family's life, and she still had some strings to untangle, but she was finally happy.

And now, as the entire Mikaelson family sat down at the table in the compound, Lizzie and Hope between her and Klaus, Caroline knew that these 12 years she had lost didn't really matter, because she had finally found her way, she found her family.