Sorry about the delay. I know I said once a day. I am going to try and stick with that, but weekends might be a little more difficult. However, I have planned out how I would like to write out the first phase of this fic so perhaps, I can keep to my word.

Please review! I hate to beg and I won't blackmail you, but I would love to know what you guys are thinking. You can PM me if you want, I will definitely respond. Until then, enjoy.

Lisolotte

"Tell her, Charlotte. Please, she has to know. I won't ask anything more of you," Gloria pleaded.

Charlotte was the only one who could see her, but everyone noticed how she had stopped short of Kol. "Not right now, Gloria. Please," Charlotte pleaded.

"Gloria?" Rachel said incredulously. "No one mentioned my grandmother. Where is she? I was told I needed to work a spell for the Originals. I would not mind having a debt owed to me by the Originals. I don't want anything to do with my grandmother."

There was a hard edge to her voice that surprised everyone in the room. This is exactly what Charlotte had been trying to avoid. She knew that things between Gloria and her granddaughter had been tense. She hadn't realized that Rachel knew nothing of the woman's demise. This made the situation quite complicated. So much worse than it had been before. Charlotte had meant to fulfill her promise to Gloria. Only, she had planned on doing it when there were less things for her to worry about. One day with the Mikaelsons and she was neck deep in problems.

She slowly turned to Rachel. "You are needed to work a spell for the Mikaelsons. A rather important one at that," she started. "Your grandmother was the one that recommended you to us. She said you were the most experienced witch she knew," a sad smile crossed her face and she stepped closer to Rachel, ready to catch the girl or take her anger: whatever the reaction might be. "Gloria is dead, Rachel. That is why we needed you instead of her. Her last wish was that we tell you how much she loved you."

Rachel started to shake her head violently. "Don't try and tell me that. I won't believe it. Don't you think I want to? All I have wanted in my life is to truly believe that she loved me. That woman could not love another human being. I know it's wrong to speak ill of the dead, but I am glad she is not resting peacefully. I hope she has to watch me every day and see how happy I am without her in my life."

Charlotte saw the betrayal that Rachel carried with her in every cell of her being. Gloria had spoken to her before of the strained relationship between her and her granddaughter. She was glad for that. She would not want to have to have one, or both, rehash the whole thing in order for her to understand. It also meant that the rest of the people in the room need not know anything more than Rachel was willing to say. Rachel and Gloria had been incredibly close, until the girl's sixteenth birthday. It was at this time that her powers began to fully bloom and that was what drove them apart. Rachel was an incredibly strong witch and the opportunity of it tempted Gloria to use it to her own advantage. Now, nearly 20 years later, the wound still bled for Rachel. The betrayal was so painful that she was still raging to this day.

Charlotte gave Rachel a sad smile and said, "It feels better to say it, doesn't it?" Rachel nodded meekly, tears now running down her face. "It only feels better for a while, Rachel. Believe me. I have been carrying around some of my anger for over 1000 years. It hasn't healed me. It has eaten me up inside. Every single day, I am unhappy. It is to the point that I cannot stand to be around other people. I have effectively become a hermit. Is that what you want out of life, bitterness? Because let me tell you, it is cold comfort. No matter how wronged you feel."

Rachel looked at Charlotte, but stayed silent. Almost as if she didn't know what she could possibly say to respond to what Charlotte was saying. She knew the vampire was right, but that didn't mean she wanted to listen. What good did it do to forgive someone who was already dead and who she could never see again?

"I can help you, if you want," Charlotte offered. "I can give you the opportunity to say goodbye to her properly. It wouldn't mean that your slate was clear with the Mikaelsons, they would still owe you a favor. I would just be fulfilling a promise I made. Do you want it, Rachel?"

"Yes," Rachel said in the tiniest voice. Jeremy, with his human ears, couldn't even hear the response, but he saw how the group visibly relaxed once the vampires heard her say that one word.

True to her word, Charlotte helped Gloria to appear one last time to her granddaughter. The two spoke quietly to each other apart from the group and the vampires tried politely to hear none of what passed between the two. Two hours later, Gloria kissed her granddaughter goodbye and nodded in thanks to Charlotte. Then, she was gone.

Rachel went off with the Salvatores, Gilberts, Klaus and Kol to look at what she would need in preparation for the spell. Rebekah and Caroline went off to find food, for themselves and Elena; the boys could fend for themselves.

That left Elijah and Charlotte alone in the room that had moments before been full to the gills. The silence fell heavy between them.

"Nice advice you gave to that girl, Lottie. Too bad you didn't take it in to consideration yourself," Elijah whispered harshly. His face was a mask of rage.

"I'm too far gone, Elijah. 1000 years is a long time and the hurts done then are too deep to be forgiven."

"Surely, you cannot believe that," he responded. "Your deepest wish to reconcile my family, but you cannot forget your hurts."

"Don't start with me."

"I don't want to start anything. I want to end this. After 1000 years, Charlotte, I just want peace. I want the life that we all dreamed about. I want to wake up happy and amazed at the beauty in this world. I don't want every single one of us carrying our bitterness and guilt around like a weight. Cannot you not help me achieve that?"

"Enough," she said tears forming in her eyes. "I can't do this right now. And I won't. Allowing them their goodbyes has tired me. I must feed. Another time, Elijah."

"You mean, after we are done with all this business and you go back to hiding from all of us? Would that be a good time for you, Charlotte? I tried to give you time to be ready. Surely, 1000 years is enough time to calm down enough to talk."

"It will never be enough, Elijah," she bit out. "I died that day. You cannot possibly imagine how I felt. Don't pretend that you have been waiting for my sake."

"Enough," Elijah said tiredly. "I will keep waiting, then. I will wait forever if I have to, Lottie. I meant every word I said to you."

Charlotte could not bring herself to respond to his last remark and instead of doing so, simply left.