Chapter 17: Fireworks

Once and for all, I would like to thank my reviewers for all your love and support throughout this process! All of you guys are awesome! Here are chapter 16's reviewers: Amy (Guest), ZapharaKnight, Klaroline-teenwolf, caritobear, nikmik (Guest), Guest, Falcon100 and MyloveforKlaroline.

This is it: the final chapter. I had a lot of very angry reviewers last week so, guys, I hope this makes up for it:

It was 2:35 am in New Orleans. Caroline should have been fast asleep but she couldn't close her eyes without seeing Klaus' face. Thankfully, she wasn't in the United States at all. She was in Paris and there it was past 9 in the morning. Lazily, Caroline got dressed and walked down to the small grocery store, where she headed straight for the frozen food aisle and scanned the freezers with an expert eye. She was looking for Ben & Jerry's but all that was available were nice ice cream brands like Carte D'Or, Magnum, and Häagen-Dazs. Damn, does nobody in the City of Love ever go through a bad break-up and need to eat their feelings?, Caroline thought.

Giving up, she grabbed a carton of the chocolatiest ice cream she could see and then found a bottle of white wine. She noticed the cashier giving her a sympathetic smile as Caroline paid with Euros she'd compelled from the bank.

When she got back to the apartment, she flopped on the couch with her groceries and chugged down half of the wine. It didn't help.

Everything had just gone so wrong that summer: Sophie, Bonnie, and Tyler had all passed away, she'd had to leave her mom, and she'd lost the one person who was left: Klaus. Worst of all, it was all her fault. She'd murdered, she must have disappointed him and for the past few days, she'd driven herself crazy as to how. If Caroline could undo all her mistakes with Klaus if only just to get a minute more with him and feel a little less like crap, she would wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, time travel didn't exist. She was in Paris, broken hearted and a college drop-out before she'd even begun. This was the 19th year of her life. How could she last through eternity?

Klaus was probably in even more agony than Caroline but he had little time to dwell on it. As he had predicted, the Quarter was chaotic after Marcel was found dead. Luckily, nobody had guessed that the killer was Klaus' sweet blond girlfriend who'd organized the Historical Society Gala and seemed just as scared of Marcel as anyone else. Slowly, New Orleans had warmed up to the idea of having the Original Hybrid as a leader, particularly as he'd begun campaigning with the city council for three times the amount of blood drives as before.

Another problem which occupied his mind was Hayley and his unborn daughter. Rebekah had left in mid-September for Elijah's villa in Italy, leaving Hayley and Klaus alone. They weren't exactly the perfect roommates. Hayley liked beer while Klaus like vintage scotch. She liked rap, he liked Mozart, Debussy and Frank Sinatra. Hayley ordered two cartons of pizza which she would consume over half a week and leave lying around and he tasted the best of New Orleans cuisine every night. Most of all, they were in total disagreement over their daughter's fate. They never began by talking about it but whatever the original subject, it always ended with shouts, tears and often death threats.

Hayley was terrified at this point. She was 19, pregnant and the father was Klaus. What kind of world would she be bringing the baby into? Klaus wanted her to become a werewolf and then turn her into a hybrid so she could live forever like him. Ultimately, Klaus was the one with most power and he would make the choice. There was little Hayley could do. But still she fought. Every day, she reminded him of the horrors of killing, of being unable to control yourself when it came to blood, of being sired to someone you loved, and of trying to break the sire bond. She tried to hint at the beauty of being alive and human and, yes, she brought up Caroline quite a bit even though she knew it was a sore spot. When December arrived, Klaus remained unmoved.

On December 12, 2011, the baby was born. They named her Delilah Aria Mikaelson- they'd both agreed after months of debate. It was an emotional day for both of them. After Hayley's water had broken, they'd rushed to the hospital where they'd waited until the contractions became frequent enough to be moved to a hospital room and finally got the pain medication Hayley had been yelling for. Then came the hours of patience as doctors and nurses filed through the room, checking on her but telling her that she wasn't ready yet. The last half was full of pushing, screaming, cursing and eventually, a new baby girl.

Hayley had gotten to hold her and nurse her before she passed out from exhaustion. Klaus was turned towards the windows, waiting to be guided to the nurse's station so that he could sign the necessary paperwork and leave. But the nurse offered him the baby and he couldn't think of suitable way to refuse. He looked down at her little face for the first time. She was kind of cute. She looked like Hayley with her nose and little mouth. But her eyes were his, though he knew that all babies' eyes were blues, the shape was his. He put her beside the bed but he stayed beside her, enraptured. He'd never thought about being a father before. When he was a child, fathers weren't dads like they were now, Mikael least of all. Observing the man he thought was his father day by day, he understood that children weren't a joy, they were a duty.

But Delilah didn't seem like a duty. Yes, she was his heir but she was also his child, a member of his family just like Rebekah or Elijah. Just like Henrik, he thought. Why had he thought of Henrik? Henrik was dead because of him. You want to kill her, rebuked a voice inside his head. Just then two things occurred to him:

A father isn't supposed to doom his child to the fate his father doomed him to.

A father isn't supposed to have to bury his child.

Klaus found some paper at the nurse's station and scribbled a note before jumping into an empty cab and asking to be driven to the airport.

Christmas Eve, 2011

As the private jet touched down in a small airfield outside of Florence, Klaus opened the small window and saw that a small reception committee had gethered. He stepped out of the plane only to be close to tackled by Rebekah. "Nik!" she exclaimed. "Happy Christmas Eve!" as if it was the first one ever in the history of the world.

Behind her, Elijah waited serenely to shake hands with Klaus. Next to him, his hand on the small of her back, was Katherine. "You remember Katerina, don't you, brother?" Elijah growled, obviously not certain that Klaus wouldn't kill his girlfriend.

Katherine didn't seem a bit worried. She tossed her hair and smiled coyly, kissing Klaus on both cheeks. He barely nodded at her.

Klaus barely said anything throughout and after, he shut himself in his room. That's where Rebekah found him a couple of hours later. She didn't beat around the bush: "Hayley called the day she was released from hospital, freaking out. She said you'd just left and you wrote a note saying that the baby was to live a normal human life. Why would leave like that, Nik?"

Rebekah had expected him to crumble into her arms just as he had when he was a boy. But he stayed erect, totally passive. He stated, "She's my family. I can't watch her live and die but she doesn't deserve to be what we are." As he saw her eyes become confused, he lost his temper. "I had to leave, don't you see, Rebekah?!"

She nodded vigorously and pulled him into her arms, where she held him to her chest, rocking him softly. She remembered months ago when she'd been certain he would never be capable of love. What had changed? Caroline, she realised. Caroline had saved him this summer. Maybe she could again:"I hope you've been with Caroline since you left the hospital."

He straightened, erasing any kind of trace that he'd been crying. He shook his head. "No, why?"

"She's going to be at the New Year's Eve Ball next week."

It was December. Caroline hadn't noticed until now, the day before Christmas, when snow began to fall over Mystic Falls. In fact, she might not have even noticed the icy white blanket if she hadn't been waiting for the soaking wet man on the sofa to wake up. She'd stared at him for an hour before finally moving to look through the long windows of the Salvatore Boarding House. Watching, she'd heard the birds go quiet as dark clouds gathered above them, finally dropping the snow they held.

As if by magic, this was the exact moment when Stefan spluttered and opened his eyes. Caroline was by his side in an instant with a fresh cup of animal blood. "Caroline?" he said incredulously. "What happened?"

Caroline herself didn't quite know but she answered anyway, "You disappeared. Nobody's known where you were for months. We all thought you'd left because of the..."

"Because of Elena," Stefan finished morosely before indicating that she should go on.

"Well, a few months ago, I started looking for you and I realised that something was wrong. I spoke to Lexi's ghost and even she had no idea where you were but that she had no idea where you were, only that you had to be around Mystic Falls. I tracked you down and you were in the lake in a box, unconscious," she finished. Unspoken was her question, What the hell were you doing in box?

But Stefan was still very inquisitive and he refused to answer any of her questions before she answered his. Reluctantly, she told him everything from the town's recent tragedies to the latest breaking news on CNN. He noticed that she was avoiding any mention of what she'd been doing all summer. Finally, he asked, "So what's been going on with you? Why aren't you in college?"

Caroline tried to say "Nothing," but Stefan knew more than anyone what a bad liar she was and gave her a look. "Don't freak out but I've kind of been in New Orleans all summer... with Klaus."

"Oh, um, what does 'with' mean?"

She bit her lip. "Well, we didn't hook up until halfway through the summer."

"Oh," Stefan repeated.

Caroline was relieved. Confident that Stefan wouldn't judge, she explained, "We ended it. Well, he ended it. He couldn't deal with me or something. I guess if you've spent a thousand years without any human feelings, a relationship would be hard. But I'm over it."

In her eyes, Stefan could see that there was more to it. Something must have happened to make Caroline that bitter. Even back in the spring, he'd seen the quiet intensity of their connection. How Klaus couldn't ever say no to her, how Caroline couldn't hate him no matter how many times he hurt the people she loved. He'd never thought that anything would come of it because of how devoted Caroline was to Tyler but after whatever happened in New Orleans, he had trouble seeing how either of them could possibly let go.

Still, Caroline was obviously hurt and he moved to another subject.

They spent the next couple of days at the Boarding House working on Stefan's recovery. Caroline decided that they should hunt three times a day while Stefan got stronger. It was good for her to be back with her friend, usually spending nights getting drunk and watching over-the-top action flicks. The subject of Klaus was more or less completely avoided except for once, when a very waisted Caroline spent half an hour comparing him to Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter.

Stefan felt kind of bad that Caroline was spending so much time helping him so he offered to train her to fight. They came back after one of these sessions to find a letter addressed to Caroline Forbes. She picked it up and opened it as she walked inside. It read:

You are cordially invited to

The Mikaelson New Year's Eve Ball

Time: 8pm

Place: Villa Katerina, San Angelo, Italy

Please RSVP by December 26, 2011

"Seriously?!" exclaimed Caroline. What game was Klaus playing? She almost checked her room for some kind of creepy stolen dress. Hadn't he said he never wanted to see her again? She was about to throw the invitation in the bin when Stefan stopped her.

"I thought you said Klaus was in New Orleans."

"Yeah, but Elijah is in Italy," Caroline said dubiously.

"Villa Katerina, huh?" he said, barely raising his usually serious. "Honestly, I think you should go. Don't you want to show Klaus what he's missing?"

"No!" said Caroline. "I just can't!

"If you want, I'll come with you. Come on, since when does Caroline Forbes miss a party because her ex is there?"

She had to admit, she was tempted. Subconsciously, she was already planning her out. "Fine," she groaned, searching her phone for Elijah's email. She knew she wasn't being smart but she couldn't resist seeing Klaus again. After all, what could go wrong?

New Year's Eve, 2011

Out of the corner of one eye, Klaus was watching the door of Elijah's Villa. What must have been hundreds of people kept pouring in but it was never the blond beauty he was waiting for. He kept trying to snap himself out of it, try focusing on the people he was talking to, but he was incapable of stopping the dart of his gaze every few seconds. He pictured her walking in and in his mind's eye she looked exactly like she had over a year ago when he told her he fancied her. It seemed childish now because he felt so much more than mere fancying. He loved her. It was for this reason that his heart lept every time he thought he saw her approach and it was also his reason for trying to avert his eye.

Finally, over an hour into the party, Caroline strode into the ballroom, looking totally confident and relaxed. She was dressed to kill. Her makeup was simple but striking and her hair was straight and tied back with a jeweled pin. Her gown was silver, with a bodice stitched with sequins and tiny crystals and a full skirt of shimmering organza. To Klaus, she looked like a star lost on the Earth. He began to stride towards her but her escort, Stefan, led her away. Klaus wasn't sure if he'd noticed him.

Half an hour later, Caroline's original fear of entering a party which Klaus would surely attend had subsided a bit. Maybe, she thought, he isn't here at all. He's probably in New Orleans. Slowly, she began to enjoy herself. She sipped cocktails - champagne was sure to bring up memories of You-Know-Who- and watched attentively as Stefan flirted with Rebekah after Caroline had assured him that Matt and Rebakah were over. As they excused themselves to join the waltz in the middle of the room, the hopeless romantic in her began to speculate about their future. She was so enraptured in her daydream that when someone tapped her on the shoulder, she jumped, spilling her drink all over the unfortunate man. Amid cries of "I'm so sorry", she began to try and mop him up. The man stopped her, saying "That's quite alright, love."

It was only then that Caroline looked up and found herself staring into Klaus' amused face. She froze. Her knees turned to butter. Her heart began to pace at five hundred miles per hour even though she didn't need it. She felt like she ought to run before risking offence, feeling as if she'd invaded his space. She couldn't move, though, under his quiet gaze. Coolly, he asked, "Would you care to dance?"

Slowly, she nodded, looking down at her feet. Hand in hand, they walked onto the dance floor. His arm fell onto the small of her back and her hand brushed his shoulder. As the dance began, she faced him, her expression as neutral as she could make it. His eyes fell on her like a wolf onto his prey.

But she wasn't prey. She was a strong and fearless vampire who honestly didn't have to tolerate Klaus' hot and cold crap. Without giving him any warning, she pulled herself out of his hold and stalked out of the room. She could hear him behind her. When she disappeared into a quiet, ill-lit room, he followed calling out, "Caroline!"

Finally she stopped and faced him. "What do you want from me?" she cried.

"I could ask you the same question, love. Surely you must have had a reason to come here tonight."

"If I did, I was wrong," she retorted. "This was a mistake." Caroline turned on her heel and would have left if Klaus hadn't stepped into her path and forced her to stay and face him. She let out of groan of frustration. "Let me go!" she ordered.

"No!" said Klaus, unsure of what he wanted her to do or say but fueled by a want for her.

"God! You're infuriating! One day, you're telling me- no, compelling me- to leave and the next you're trapping me. I am so tired of your crap!"

Almost abashed, his arms dropped to his side and took a couple of steps away from her. An apology hung in the air, unspoken but acknowledged by both parties. "That day, when Marcel died and I compelled you to leave, you have to know that I was doing what I thought was best for you."

She scoffed. "How the hell could you believe that sending me away from you was good for me? You couldn't deal and you didn't even have the decency to break up with me normally: you had to take away my free will," accused Caroline. She wasn't shouting anymore. In fact, her words were hardly louder than a whisper but they cut him deeper than any screams could have. "And, like the idiot I am, I thought that if I saw you again - if I saw you happy- I could move on.

"Caroline, I'm-"

Putting up a hand to quiet him, she said, "No, let me finish. Over the past few days, I've imagined you being here with Hayley and the baby, all of New Orleans at your feet and that dimpled grin of yours all over your face. I would see you and think 'It's better this way' and I'd leave for some place exotic like Hawaii. Maybe I'd even meet a new guy. But the second I saw you, I realized that I will spend the rest of my immortal life in love with you. But we can never be together. We've hurt each other too much." Caroline closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The door beckoned her towards the light, the music and the safety of the ballroom but she had to say something before she left. "I'm ready to leave this room and never see you again but I can't without knowing why you did what you did. How could you make me leave the moment I needed you the most? I'd just murdered somebody! I spent weeks and weeks blaming myself for ruining what we had but then I realized that people who love each other don't leave when things get tough. Why did you run away?" The last question came out in a fit of sobs.

Klaus wished he could hold her and comfort her but her eyes were full of venom. "I thought it was for your own good. You were in danger in New Orleans, I thought I was corrupting you and that it would be for the best if you left. The thing I admire most about you is your light; I couldn't be responsible for you losing it."

Caroline frowned, then nodded. She murmured a "thank you" as she opened the door to leave.

Every bone in Klaus' body told him that he couldn't let her go that easily. "I love you," he called out, confident as anything. "Do you still love me?"

She smiled a little sadly and said, "Of course. I will always love you" She turned on her heel but his hand caught hers, pulling her gently to face him. Their eyes met, two pairs of blue eyes both in love with the person in front of them. Then, impulsively, Klaus traced his hand along her neck and leaned in to kiss her.

Their lips met as the crowd outside cheered, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Then there were fireworks.

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Thanks for reading,

Brianne