one more chapter to go

"Hey since I'm dead now...maybe we should visit Klaus!"

To be fair Caroline's guardian ghost really hated Elena. And Mystic Falls...Having brunch with Elena in Mystic Falls was just below having sex with Elijah's mother in her list of things she would never do in this life or the next.

"Oh dear God NO" Caroline snapped with way too much force making Elena look at her weirdly

"Care I know you don't like Damon but it's my choice, I thought you would be happy that I'm happy"

"see this is why I want to go to New Orleans! I would rather visit the genocidal hybrid that actually cares about you than listen to this Irish bull!" Katherine groaned "Stop torturing me Caroline! I'm begging you"

"Sorry, didn't mean for it to come out that way, I just need time to adjust, that's all" Caroline replied in Katherine's direction. then looking at Elena she amended "...adjust to your situation with Damon, you know its all so...new for me"

"Please kill me now" Katherine groaned "You are worse than SHE is"

Katherine didn't stop her begging/complaining/badgering...especially not when she was "forced to stick around while the mystic falls gang" came up with yet another stupid way to eventually kill themselves...and Caroline if she kept helping them.

"Next week is Mardi Grass...I bet Klaus would like it if you flashed him for beads" Katherine said the next day while flipping her outfit from a replica of Elena's bland garb to a flashy masquerade domino

"I said freaking NO" Caroline screeched "thanks for putting the image in my head, now I'll never look at beads in the same way again"

"Because it will make you horny?"

"Kat stop it! I'm trying to not think about Klaus!"

"I want you to think about Klaus cupcake" Katherine snorted "He's the best sex you'll ever get in YOUR WHOLE ETERNITY"

""I know part of this guardian spirit gig thing means that you need me to be happy but newsflash" Caroline spelled out with a glare "Sex doesn't equal happiness" Caroline groaned again bringing her hands to cover her face

"if your really think that then you haven't ridden an Original's body hard enough"

"ughh I can't I just can't...just..stop talking Katherine"

The next day she popped up it as Caroline was in the middle of a conversation with Stefan and Damon, the bitch just popped behind Stefan wearing another Mardi Gras costume and smiled "You know you could be having hot hybrid sex right now Caroline...think about it you could be in the middle of hot sweaty pornographic possibly kinky sex"

"And Damon thinks that the only way to protect Elena from herself is to have Bonnie encase her in that barrier spell" Stefan continued to tell Caroline because apparently this Kai thing was serious trouble.

"Sex with the second oldest and most knowledgeable male in the free world...you could be bagging him!...if you wanted to!" the ghost sang saucily

"Seriously? I said no!" Caroline shouted out loud making Damon and Stefan do a double take

"sorry geez didn't think you were still sore about bunny eating" Damon grumbled putting his hands up in the air .

"are you okay Caroline?" Stefan asked and Caroline cursed Katherine for being only visible to her

As the days passed Katherine began upping her game both in outfits and Klaus related comments... if Caroline told her to be quiet, she would suddenly appear dressed like a drag Queen and begin to pantomime the conversations of her friends Ru Paul style. If they were alone she would start extolling the virtues of a visit to New Orleans and the entire original family until Caroline screamed, heck Katherine even started dishing running commentary on her sex life (Scratching the itch with your daily happy meal does not a sex life make cupcake) WHILE SHE WAS HAVING SEX.

And then after being on Caroline's case non stop, being a professional sociopath expert at playing mind games, Katherine played her best card.

She left Caroline alone.

For three whole days.

Knowing fully that left to her own devices Caroline's mind would stew over her problem and think it deeply and trough eventually obsessing over said problem, because while Katherine really considered that the only asset Klaus could bring to a relationship with Caroline could be the mind blowing sex, she knew that Caroline had insight into Klaus's ughh "feelings" (which to Katherine's ghostly eyes he didn't have any intention of showing to anybody EVER even if by grace of the triple goddess he DID have such a thing as a heart). And as someone with insight into Klaus Mikaelson's non existent tender side Caroline might see more in him than what everyone else saw, if she agreed to have sex with him Caroline MUST have seen something in the hybrid genocidal maniac right? Because experience taught her that goody two shoes Caroline only had sex win non-meals if they meant something to her (with the exception of her human days, frankly Katherine was glad she killed stupid-easy-to-compel Caroline)

Katherine knew Caroline didn't need just the physical aspect of life to be happy unlike her, Caroline actually wanted and liked to form connections to people, she got to know them. So she probably knew a deeper version of Klaus than everyone was aware of. Katherine would bet her favorite Manolos on it.

So all she had to do, was plant the idea, hammer it into her conscious and once she was gone, Caroline's own head would do the rest.

Caroline did just that, the first morning she woke up Katherine-fee it was weird, after almost a year and a half filled with snarky commentary everywhere she went, Caroline thought a lack of Katherine would feel like heaven...but it didn't. (Katherine couldn't metaphysically blink herself away from Caroline's general geographic location, as a guardian ghost she was somewhat tied to whatever city boundaries her charge was in, but Katherine Pierce was an expert at bending geography to her will, and Mystic Falls was a big place when you wanted to avid someone)

the morning went fine...well sort of fine. And then Caroline walked out of her house and to Bonnie's.

The suffocation was almost unbearable as soon as Bonnie and Elena started talking and without Katherine around to criticize them Caroline was left with too much silence in her mind, silence was filled with her own negative thoughts, she never realized how much energy she expended on mentally finding comebacks to Katherine's snarky comments until Katherine wasn't there to distract her anymore and lacking her usual distraction, while battling off unsettling realizations, her thoughts latched into the next best unhealthy thing that could fill the morbid silences of her mind.

Klaus.

And for once since she was alone, Caroline allowed herself to think about him...And only him.

She thought about Klaus, in a rational way, then in an irrational way, then in a fantastic-in-another-life-if-he-werent-a-mass-murderer way. She thought about the Egyptian mummifying rituals, and the prophecies of the Romanian seers and the Indian witches' lore on soulmates, about the kind way the Buddhist monks spoke about the future they saw for her. She thought about the Mexican Santeria girls who did dark magic to find their soulmates.

She thought about the hugs she received from the worshipers of Hecate, in Greece. In the dead of the night Caroline thought about Hades and Persephone.

The more time alone she spent, the more Caroline stewed on it, forcing herself to answer questions that he himself might ask her if and when she eventually showed up at his doorstep. Was she ready? Was she sure? Did she realize what going to New Orleans entailed? Was he what she really wanted?

Caroline had to see him face to face to make sure.

And then Katherine came back, all smiles and sunshine asking if they could go to Klaus land now?.

Okay so she caved, it was either New Orleans or an exorcism and it was hard enough to find freaking witches who could even sense Katherine, finding a paragon of magic who could get rid of her would take eons. So she caved and for the second time in a row, got into her car and drove away from Mystic Falls and to the nearest airport. Leaving her friends a couple of voicemails and an I'll-be-back-eventually post it note in Enzo's fridge.

"OK so what am I going to say? Do I just show up at his place unannounced and go 'hey Klaus my new ghost bff who happens to be the bitchy doppelganger you chased for five hundred years thinks I really need a dose of hybrid dick, mind letting me ride yours for a few days? Just until I run out of orgasms' Cuz I can see how that's not going to make him paranoid" Caroline said sarcastically as she walked down the airport pretending to be talking to her Bluetooth.

"Pff first of all Care Care, Klaus Mikaelson must have his house better secured than the pentagon, two, even if he didn't there's this multitude of ughh people, that would get in the way if you did and third, I thought we agreed on seeing the parades first!" Katherine cheered blinking herself a show girl outfit "Rule number one in catching a man: you don't go to him, he must come to you, now come on I know just the right warlock to fill you in with his whereabouts"

Turns out Katherine's warlock friend was the assistant of the freaking mayor, Marty Dupont was a fly under the radar that knew just everything about everyone, he belonged to a coven of witches mostly made up of Tulane sorority girls who acted more like magic groupies than anything else and he seemed to be thrilled to host Caroline, which according to Katherine was the best way to blend in while they enjoyed Mardi gras, what with Marcel and Hayley and who knows who else fighting it out in the French quarter, hanging out with the Theta Phi coven was like hiding in plain sight. Plus Marty even scored Caroline an invitation to a masquerade that Marcel Gerard of all people was holding to get in Hayley's good graces.

Dressing up was the best part because while she'd been to masquerades before, she'd never been to one where costumes were mandatory and she had the perfect one she wanted to wear.

"and I was like omg, I'm not that fat you looser" Marty said as he led Caroline out of the car "you see why I asked to go on a break right?" Having long recovered from the shock of seeing Caroline's costume he was babbling about his latest girlfriend drama

Caroline replied adjusting her mask and patting him in the head like a puppy"well I hope today you makeup with her Jessica sounds like a...catch"

"She sounds like a bitch" Katherine snorted "Ughh Marcel could you be more tacky? A feeding party?" She said rolling her eyes as they gave Marty's invite to the doorman seeing the amount of humans attending

"Oh la la mother of dragons" Caroline heard a male voice whistle as soon as she entered the room. Immediately a couple of "why didn't I think of that" and "I volunteer as her Khal Drogo" followed from both male and female.

"I think I'm making an impression" Caroline said taking Marty's arm and dragging him to the gaggle of giggling girls from his coven by the open bar, walking like a queen, pretending the attention was her due and never betraying how nervous she felt inside at the prospect of seeing Klaus.

"Of course you are cher, it isn't every day one gets to see a Daenerys Targaryen copy this close" Marty joked about her costume and immediately was drawn into a game of thrones debate with the other witches and the bartender "hey Cami, bring a drink for ma belle tourist Khaleesi, she's here for Mardi make her feel like a Queen" Marty shouted loudly making the blonde steampunk girl behind the bar shoot Caroline a dirty look

Soon a dark and handsome vampire Katherine identified as the famous "full-of-crap-ass-kisser Marcel approached the bartender for info on her, when he got none, he came straight to her and Caroline played dumb just for fun... "so Khalesi what brings you to the Big Easy, it's the first time I see you around here and normally vampires don't come to New Orleans just for fun"

"oh Marcel, Still the same ass you were in the eighties" Katherine snapped sticking her tongue out

"I came to see a friend during the holidays" Caroline replied putting down her dragon mask trying not to snicker "then I realized I didn't known where he lived because the jerk never actually gave me an address so I convinced Marty to do a tracking spell.. One thing led to another and here I am, as his date while he makes Jessica jealous" She half lied rolling her eyes and raising her glass "plus I'm nowhere near to getting laid and feeling very frustrated...but meh the night is young"

"And we are getting you some!" Katherine agreed brushing imaginary lint from her translucent Maergery Tyrell costume.

"well I could always help you up in the getting laid part darling, any girl would be jealous if a man had you as their date" Marcel laughed but was interrupted when a manicured hand shot out and held his wrist before he could touch Caroline

"no you won't, not if you value your liver and your good standing with my brother" Rebekah interrupted before he could dig himself in a hole "This one is trouble trust me you really don't want to end up like her last boyfriend"

"Why does everybody bring Tyler up like that?...so big deal I've got terrible taste in men, sue me" Caroline grumbled "Nice to see you too Rebekah , love the bat girl ensemble by the way, let me guess one of your brothers came as Bruce Wayne?" Caroline couldn't resist trowing out in a passive aggressive way "

"Probably Elijah, I used to be a perfect Selina Kyle you know" Katherine sighed blinking herself Anne Hathaway's cat suit "the Cat and the Bat, I miss those days"

"and Caroline how nice? Last thing I heard you had a psychotic break and disappeared after your mother died, flipped the switch and went underground is the rumor"

And with that Caroline began laughing, almost spilling her drink into Marcel and letting the musical sound of her laughter reverberate "oh lord is that what they said? A psycho break? Seriously? Let me guess..Damon did that...no wonder Bonnie kept bringing care packages to my place after I came back" Caroline kept laughing "oh man like I'm weak enough to flip the switch after a family member dies? Do I look like Elena Gilbert to you? Okay okay that was mean but come on Rebekah that's like the funniest thing ever"

Klaus heard her laugh before he saw her, she was telling stories about the places she'd been to in order to make peace with Rebekah and he could see the people around them hanging on her every word and whispering about the beautiful newcomer baby vampire that seemed so at ease insulting the deadly Rebekah Mikaelson in her own turf, but the moment she saw him, lo and behold a genuine smile of fondness crossed her face "Klaus" she whispered falling silent subconsciously bringing a finger to touch her lips

He noticed the gesture and his eyes automatically went to her lips "hello love, fancy seeing you here" He said taking her hand "interesting and as beautiful as ever"

"Oh no, not this again Nik, hello I'm here still, Caroline are you even listening?" Rebekah tried to interrupt the sexually charged staring match "Nik, I'm going to bed a human...Nik Marcel just came out as a cross dresser...the witches just spray painted your favorite artworks...Nik stop looking at her dammit"

But Klaus ignored her and Caroline held out her hand "well you do owe me a shirt" was all Caroline's brain thought of saying feeling suddenly very nervous "I mean not that I came here for a shirt..because Mystic Falls has lots of shirts but New Orleans has better ones and my mom is dead and thought just that I needed to put on a shirt that didn't reek of the life I had when she was alive because every other shirt was suffocating, but I didn't want to bother you aaaand I need to shut up now" Caroline babbled mortified

"So you came here...because you felt suffocated" Klaus tried with a barely disguised smirk "My condolences for the passing of your mother" he added more solemnly

"Its fine she's in a better place" Caroline said sadly " And yes I felt suffocated no that's not it..I mean I came here to see you...as a visit.. For Mardi Gras "

"What happened to you blonde distraction?"Translucent Katherine guffawed at her side "just tell him you want to have stamina defying sex! He said he liked your honesty"

"When did you arrive? I would have made arrangements if I knew you were coming love, you know you could never be a bother" he said noticing the way Caroline tensed not knowing it was at Katherine's words "provided you don't have any ulterior motives"

Caroline let out a dry laugh licking her lips"not the kind you think"

"Yup, her ulterior motives involve using your body as her personal amusement park...not killing you" Katherine pouted conjuring an invisible dagger and pointing it at Klaus

Caroline wanted to follow Katherine's advice, she wanted to just say to hell with it and pull Klaus in for a kiss, but looking at his face, perfect lips, wary eyes and feeling the tension humming between them she knew she couldn't do it, she wasn't Katherine "I came to tell you that I'm sorry, I think I needed to see you in person for that, I'm sorry for...everything okay" Klaus opened his mouth to say something "just let me finish" Caroline interrupted him "mom dying it just drove a point home, and I kept telling myself that because you were an evil bastard I was justified in not apologizing, but I'm not, this is for me, not for you, when you treat someone who is kind to you badly you make amends, that's how my mom raised me" then looking around and realizing that almost the entire house was staring at her she sighed "this isn't working I'm not making much sense right?"

"Maybe we should continue this conversation in private sweetheart, I feel I am suddenly overcome with concern for your well being, last time I checked the only times someone decides to make amends to me in particular is when they are preparing for death"

"I am not considering suicide Klaus! Why is comunicating with you so hard? Fine lets go" Caroline grumbled crossing her arms over her chest "Might as well spill my guts somewhere else"

"oh come on talking? Who needs talking? Skip to the sexy times, talking screws up everything" Katherine protested following behind as they flashed away.

In secconds they arrived to a mansion that had the Mikaelson seal stamped all over it, like Katherine predicted it was surounded by hybrids and like Katherine predicted they were all on their guard as soon as they saw Caroline, a unknown beautiful blonde vampire dressed like a goddess strolling next to Klaus into his home? That had trouble spelled all over.

He was leading her by the hand and Caroline could not stop obsessing over how warm his hand was, she felt herself stuck in a paradox when he closed the door to what could only be Elijah's library. The smell of burnt sage was always a sign that Elijah owned the place Katherine had once told Caroline.

"Now you talk and however much I enjoy you Caroline if I find out that you are here on the bequest of your friends..." or in a plot to harm Hope (he couldn't even bring himself to say it, he was a father now, Haley was married to Jackson but he was a father and his first concern was always Hope) "then so help me sweetheart"

"I don't want anything from you" Caroline blurted out almost like reading his thoughts as she walked inside the very stuffy looking library watching him flinch she amended "not anything that you don't want to give at least...the point is, I'm not here to ask you for something, or distract you from someone's murder plot or to beg you for something that would benefit my friends...I'm just here because..."

" Because...?" Klaus was honestly puzzled, here she was, the girl of his dreams, as he predicted on his doorstep minutes away from asking him to take a chance on her and he was this close to lashing out and ruining it, simply because it was too good to be true "Out with it love, your motives can't be all that bad"

"Because I wanted to make sure the apologies were out of the way...and that I could llook at you in the eye when I did this" And just like that Caroline flashed up to him and kissed him without thinking much about it.

It took Klaus less than a second to respond to her impulsive kiss, but the moment he did, Caroline groaned in pleasure when his tongue asked for entrance into her mouth, unlike their romp in the woods, this time Klaus and Caroline took time to savour each other, escalating the kiss as slowly as possible until Klaus's wolf got the better of him and her brought his hand up to rip the front of her dress apart "I might owe you another costume along with that shirt after this sweetheart" he whispered into her skin trailing his lips down her collarbone

dimly Caroline was aware of Katherine cheering like a one direction fan in the background but in the corners of her mind she knew that Katherine hated Klaus and as much as a voyeur she claimed to be, watching him have sex with a friend of hers was nothing shot of nauseating, so all her bets were of invisible Katherine floating behind the door shouting loud enough to get Caroline to hear her.

Screw Katherine Klaus was doing that thing with his tongue around her breast again! "It's okay, you can always replace my entire wardrobe with your shirts" she gasped feeling his incisors graze the side of her in agreement "see..I did have ulterior motives...this..this is too good"

Klaus chuckled darkly "don't think you escaped that little talk we need to have...but for now, it can wait" and then went back to ripping her dress apart "have you gotten more beautiful since I last saw you Caroline?" it was his turn to growl when she unbuttoned his shirt in order to caress his muscles with her dainty hands pulling him to her with force

"Maybe I just wore better Lingerie" she whispered in his ear

"blood red, always been your color love" he hummed kissing her again and appreciating the red lace confection that covered her strategically once the Khaleesi dress was torn to shreds in the ground " it would also look better discarded in my bedroom floor"

"You mean to say we'll actually make it to a decent bed this time?" she teased in a gasp kissing his muscles and licking the beads of sweat that begun to appear down his perfect abs

"trust me, decent is not the word any woman has ever used to describe my bed"

to use Katherine's words, the rest was history. No really, they banged loud enough for Kol to complain. And he didn't even live with Klaus. Katherine knew that Caroline was a screamer but come on, she sounded like the entire porn industry was camped out in the psychotic hybrid's room. Katherine had to listen to his hybrids' tacky music to cover the trauma.

Part of Katherine was cheering for Caroline's good fortune (Klaus Mikaelson's love was like the world's most coveted health insurance) but now that they were getting it on, Katherine's existence was for the most part...boring.

Considering that on Mardi Gras week whenever Caroline managed to resurface, she was always being carried bridal style by Klaus (yes ladies and gentlemen Caroline Forbes proved to the entire New Orleans magical community plus Rebekah and Kol that there was actually such thing as sex that left you unable to walk). So now Katherine was left to her own devices to either hang out in the Mikaelson Mansion or explore New Orleans on her own ghostly devices.

That was until Elijah Mikaelson returned from his trip abroad just in time to watch as the woman he thought long dead rattled out her personal brand of snarky comments in his family's breakfast table.

"Come on Caroline, just one tiny push down the stairs, I know you don't like the supercalifragilistc magical wolf vampire troll princess over there" Katherine said pointing to Haley who was talking to Klaus outside in the garden "if she'd insulted me like that, I'd have poisoned her, made Klaus' horses drag her body trough town and danced on her grave...instead I'm graciously pointing out that pushing her down a flight of stairs would be really satisfying"

She was translucent almost eerily so, wearing a dress that would not be out of place in a Milan runaway, if Elijah closed his eyes, her voice alone could make him believe she was actually there, yet despite him thinking it was an hallucination, it was obvious that his brother's blonde lover could see her from the way she was laughing.

"I'm not a bad person, I like to think I have more class than Haley"

"If I may ask Katerina what did Haley do that warrants a push down the stairs?" He spoke naturally, as tough he saw ghosts like her all the time, if it was a hallucination, at worst Caroline Forbes would've think him eccentric at best a man with a sense of humor.

Instead he saw Caroline's eyes widen "you can see her" she gasped "she's a spirit in crossroads, nobody else apart from me should be able to see her" she looked from Katherine to him then back to Katherine taking in his every feature and heaving a sigh of defeat as tough she expected as much "You are Elijah aren't you?"

"No Caroline anybody else but him! Please" Katherine groaned "Please don't say it, please don't say it"

" And you are Caroline Forbes, Nikalus's intended, now would you please explain why you are so comfortable with the ghost of Katerina Petrova and why she is here in our breakfast room?"

"oh of course, bad manners sorry, Katherine is my guardian spirit, she got stuck in the crossroads between heaven and hell so for lack of a better job, she's guarding my safety, that's why I'm the only person that can see her, other people just sense her or hear her voice at best..are you sure that you can see her?"

""She is wearing Prada from the 1999 spring collection and limited edition Channel heels from their first debut as a consolidated brand"

"Wow, you know your designers as well as Katherine does..it's spooky" Caroline laughed "it's just so funny, the witches said that only other person that's supposed to be able to see her is her soulmate"

Elijah looked at Katherine's ghost and this time he was the one who's eyes went wide.

I love sass queen Katherine! one chapter to go, now questions questions, next chapter I'll tie up the loose ends left in this chapter, this was halfway written already so I tried to write fast, sorry I didn't include Katherine's meeting with the underworld leader, you'll see him in the next chapter promise..