A/N: okay, so we will be seeing the other side of the conflict a lot more often as the time comes closer for them to interact. A month has passed since the last chapter and we might see more time pass in between chapters. please read and review.


Rebekah started the ignition and drove off with the top down and her hair flowing in the wind. God, she loved convertibles.

In the weeks since she had left New Orleans she had talked with Hayley at least once a weak; just because she had wanted to take some time for herself didn't mean she didn't want to check in on her best friend and niece. They were two reasons she was glad she had finally given Klaus another chance when she had thought he was unsalvageable. He had caused her so much hurt over her thousand years, killing any man who might dare take her away from him, but he could never take Hayley and Regina from her; no one ever could.

In between driving and calling, Rebekah had taken the time to write to Matt. God, how she missed that boy though of course he was a man now. Smiling, she got off at her exit and thought of their time in Europe. It was an experience she would never forget; Matt had given her the opportunity to be a true friend and she had given him the opportunity to see more than his little corner of the world. They would love each other forever for that, even if they weren't soul mates.

Rebekah had thought about visiting but didn't want to go someplace where her brother could easily find her and drag her back to NOLA. She needed this time apart to really think about what it was she needed to take out of this life. There could never be any children; her brother had proven that she couldn't protect the men she loved from him so long term relationships were out. All that left was herself; what would she do with herself to finally find some semblance of inner peace?

That was why she was here in California, checking out her old stomping grounds of the late 19th century before she had been staked in the 1920s and put into a ninety year slumber. She hadn't been here since then; this is where she came to lick her wounds after Marcel's betrayal. She had picked herself up by her bootstraps and found some way to be a strong and fierce woman and that was exactly what she needed now.

Who was Rebekah Mikaelson but the love sick girl with low self-esteem? The blonde didn't know if there was anything under that layer, but she knew if she had to that she would build from scratch. There had to be more to life than this all consuming desperation.


Klaus downed his drink as he watched Regina playing outside. Hayley saw him there by the window and knocked on the open door. Not that it was possible, but she didn't want to find out what would happen to someone who snuck up on the original hybrid.

"You want to tell me why you're in here instead of outside with your daughter?"

"What would I know of playing with a ten year old," he demanded. "What good am I for her?"

"Oh," Hayley drew out the vowel and pursed her lips together. "So that's it; you're isolating yourself from the one person in the world who loves you unconditionally because you're moping after your brother and sister."

"I don't mope," Klaus seethed.

"You're doing a great impression from what I can see," every word rolled off her tongue slowly and with a mocking attribute. "It's not like you're their father. They have the right to come and go as they please; to do as they please. Why not focus your attention on the one who really needs it?"

Klaus filled his glass and downed it again before smiling menacingly. "Why not mind your own business, love?"

Hayley scoffed before turning to leave, quickly changing her mind and facing off against him one last time. "There's only so much time left before she stops idolizing you and sees you for what you are; a sad, lonely little man who is so afraid of rejection that you never let yourself love. How do you think she's going to feel when she realizes that she's not the exception? That you would rather run her off like you did all the others? Because she might be a hybrid too, but that doesn't mean she's going to choose to turn one day.

"How are you going to feel when she's gone from this world and you never did right by her before it was too late," the wolf questioned him before leaving to attend to their daughter.

"I'm not worthy of her love," Klaus whispered as he saw the blinding happiness reflected in his daughter's smile as Hayley chased her around the yard. "I never have been."


Stefan rolled over Phyl and bound her hands, kissing her up the side of her neck; lingering on her nape as she giggled in hysterical fits. "Uncle! Uncle," she cried and tried to beg out of his hold. The past month had really given the two some time to get to know each other.

When Stefan refused to let her up the witch did the only thing she could think of an orbed across the room, coalescing at his desk where she swiveled back and forth in his cushy chair. "Hey, this is really nice," the blonde got distracted.

Stefan narrowed his eyes and vamp sped over to her, surprised to find the chair empty and to see Phyl leaning in the door way. He growled and launched himself at her, frustrated when he found her gone in less than the blink of an eye.

"Down here," she called and Stefan ran down the stairs to see her helping her sister and cousin with their things. Over the past four weeks Caroline had tracked down the property deeds and had found that the land and house had been entrusted to the Warren line. There had been considerable wealth to the trust at one point but years of property taxes and living without tenants had nearly drained the accounts. Denny had checked in with her mother and aunts, letting them "know" about the family history she had uncovered in Virginia so far. Learning about the property had convinced Piper to take care of the paperwork for the property though she hadn't known the real reason why the girls wanted to claim the house. Now that the paperwork had cleared the girls were getting ready to move into the mansion and settle in.

"Chicken," he accused her with a sparkle in his eye and Phyl ducked her face down to her chest with a mischievous smile. "Maybe," she replied, "but we really need to get these things over to the house and set up. See you there," Phyl said and orbed out with a stack of boxes.

"I hate it when she does that."

"Just wait until she's been doing it for another seventeen years," Payton sympathized. "It's a pain."

"Well, I'm off too," Denny said. "See you guys for dinner," and the witch-cupid hybrid blazed out with her own share of boxes.

"Nope, still jealous," the vampire said more to himself as Payton laughed.

"That probably won't change soon. Just wait until she gets a new power," Pay advised.

"What? You guys get new powers," he griped and Pay just laughed and waved as she orbed out with the rest of the stuff. "Cool, but so unfair," the vampire with great hair griped and then decided to go hunt before dinner. He had never seen any of those girls cook and he really didn't want to go through dinner hungry.