Part 13 & 14

Part 13

Family Dinner

The family gathered together for dinner.

Klaus. Hope. Haley. Jackson. Rebekah. Marcel. Kol. Elijah.

Eating and laughing together.

Faith smiled as she soaked in the scene before her. She had never felt happier. Here she was with her family and they were laughing and reminiscing with no worries or fears on their faces.

Beside her Elijah gave her a glance and clasped her hand in his. He too was smiling and gazing at her with affection.

All was finally right with the world.

xXx

After dinner, Kol pulled out an old karaoke machine with a mischievous grin.

The moment Faith saw the machine, she jumped out of her chair and rushed towards him in excitement.

She bombarded him with questions of how he came to obtain it. Kol chuckled and answered her questions calmly before finally handing her the microphone.

By then, the rest of the family had encircled them with curious looks.

Kol kept the grin on his face as Faith chose a song and the music started. He alone knew what his family was in for and he couldn't wait to see their reactions.

Faith began singing passionately but missed every note. You didn't have to be a professional to determine that she was tone deaf.

All around the room, the Mikaelsons' faces were a mix of surprise and amusement.

Klaus was grinning in surprise and by the middle of the song, he was clutching his sides and howling with laughter.

Kol kept edging her on but had been laughing hysterically when she wasn't paying attention.

Rebekah, Hayley, and Jackson smiled, trying to be polite by hiding their amusement.

Elijah was pleasantly shocked. This was a side to Faith he had never seen before and he loved that he got to know another thing about her.

Finally though, Elijah took the mic away from her and passed it on to Hope.

As he ushered Faith away from the karaoke machine, he teased her light-heartedly: "My love, I love you, but that is the first and last time you'll be singing."

Knowing he was joking, Faith playfully punched him back.

xXx

What started out as a simple kiss was being replaced by an insatiable hunger.

Elijah kissed her aggressively, pushing her against the bed's headboard.

Faith responded with equal lust, gripping Elijah's neck tightly.

It wasn't until Elijah's hand started unbuttoning her top that Faith snapped out of her daze and started panicking.

Sensing her nervousness, Elijah pulled back and asked: "What's wrong?"

They both took a second to catch their breath then Faith scratched the back of her head and avoided his eyes.

"The truth is…" She paused and pursed her lips, a habit Elijah noticed that she did whenever she was nervous or embarrassed.

"The truth is…" She started again, still avoiding his gaze. "I've never slept with anyone."

Elijah's eyes widened in shock. Then he thought she was joking. When he realized she wasn't, he tried to appear serious but was unable to hide a soft chuckle.

"Hey! Don't laugh," She shoved him and threw a pillow at him. "You try growing up in a conservative, religious family! They tell you all sorts of horror stories and shame you to it!"

She grunted embarrassingly and folded her arms defensively.

Elijah smiled at her then whispered.

"It's fine. I'll wait until you're ready."

Part 14

Sanctuary

Another enemy of the Mikaelsons comes back and an all-out supernatural war ensues.

In the middle of the fighting, Elijah and Faith get separated.

They look frantically for each other in all the chaos.

When they finally see each other, relief flood their senses and they run to each other.

They embraced each other than pulled back to see each other's faces. They examined each other, trying to figure out if the other had been harmed in any way. Discovering the other was fine, Elijah pulled Faith into a kiss.

It was a kiss filled with hunger, passion, and longing. They kissed as if the very act gave them life. They kissed not wanting to be apart because for them, the kiss was like breathing in air. Like they've gone too long without air, and it was only through the kiss that they could finally breathe.

xXx

In the end, Klaus decides to pay the ultimate sacrifice to save everyone, especially Hope.

Although Elijah was willing to commit suicide with him, Klaus did not want that. In many ways Klaus had changed. He had become sacrificial. And it was all because of his brother Elijah and Faith, the woman he loved more than anything in the world. Because of them that he had come to know what it meant to truly love, and now had something worth dying for. Someone worth dying for, his daughter, Hope.

Klaus stared at the evening sky littered with stars very much like a Van Gogh painting. Even though Klaus knew he was going to die, he was strangely calm. At a time like this, a quote from one of his favourite novels came to mind, "To die will be an awfully big adventure." Accepting that death was not the end but the beginning of a new adventure strangely put things into perspective.

He smiled melancholically as he pictured his family's faces one more time.

Then he picked up the white oak stake beside him and plunged it into his heart.

xXx

His brother was gone.

Elijah had wanted to go with Niklaus but even that choice had been taken away from him.

He punched the wall in anger, ignoring his bleeding knuckles. Across the room, evidence of wreckage followed him. When he found out that Niklaus was dead, he had vented his anger on the furniture leaving only shambles behind.

His heart felt like it was shredded into a million pieces. He howled in agony at the weight of his loss.

Faith approached him cautiously, her fingers trembled as she reached out to touch his face. She was scared that he would turn away from her but he remained still. She touched his face gently, her warmth against his and the tears started to roll down his face.

He was hurt and she knew it.

They stood silently like that for goodness knows how long. Not needing any words, their actions and eyes communicating their thoughts and feelings.

Only with her could he be vulnerable. Only with her could he cry like this.

She was his sanctuary.