A/N: Ehh...not super pleased, but this is a theme that will keep popping up through the rest of the story seeing as Klaus has some difficulty with it. Don't you all worry though, its not all angst and sadness for these two. I plan to write some happier and more amusing chapters for the next few updates (Chapter 13 and on)! Enjoy, and, as always, review if you can! All authors, myself included, really, really appreciate feedback:) Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries

Lessons of Love, Chapter 12: Caroline to Klaus, part 6

"Forgiveness means letting go of the past." Gerald Jampolsky

Today was a somber day for Caroline Forbes. She got up early, dressed quietly and snuck out of the house. It was before 8:30 when she pulled up to the graveyard in her car. Normally, Caroline would have just used her vampire speed but, while she needed to visit a particular grave, she was in no particular rush to. She took a deep breath before exiting the vehicle, a single rose in hand.

Today was the late Bill Forbes birthday and it was a somber day. Caroline's heightened emotions seemed to be reflected in the early May weather as grey clouds filtered the sky. She relished in the quiet and the dreariness, making her feel almost human as she walked up to her father's resting place. Almost.

"Hey, daddy," she whispered, kneeling down onto the dewy grass. "I miss you and I wish you were still here. Prom was a week ago and Tyler was supposed to come home to take me but he backed out the day of. I still went, with Klaus of all people," she said with a smile. "I was voted Prom queen.

"I got my official acceptance to UVA and I committed on Monday. I'm going to be a cheerleader for them. You always told me I would go there, ever since we went to that basketball game when I was little and I couldn't stop talking about the cheerleaders. It was always your dream for me to go to college. Nik doesn't get it, but that's okay.

"He's coming around. It turns out that he's not so evil after all, he just needs a friend. I think you would of liked him, daddy," she said as the tears started to fall on her pale cheeks. "Yeah, he's a vampire but its okay because I'm a vampire, too and I will need a friend to go through forever with. But, I'm more than just a vampire, daddy. I'm still your little girl and I love you; I will always love you even if you didn't completely understand me. Happy birthday, daddy," she finished, laying the rose on the grave and blowing a kiss towards the headstone before running away. She sped towards her car, eager to get away from the graveyard that was covered in headstones and reeked of death and bled with sadness. She was at the gate when she ran into, what felt like, a brick wall.

She looked up in confusion and saw that it was Klaus standing there. He studied her with a concerned expression before she buried her face in his shirt and cried.

Alarmed, the hybrid wrapped his arms around her as he looked about and felt for any danger. Not that anything could be dangerous to a vampire, especially an Original hybrid.

"It's his birthday," Caroline whispered.

"Who's birthday, love?"

"My dad's."

"Oh."

"I wish he was still here."

"Why?" Klaus asked. "He did terrible things to you, Caroline. He left you when you were little and when he came back, he tried to kill you."

"No," Caroline corrected. "He was trying to help me, at least he thought he was. I forgave him."

"Why?" Klaus asked again. Caroline had told him all about what had happened between her and her father and he did not understand how she could just simply forgive someone who had done such terrible things to her. It just did not make sense to the hybrid.

Caroline pulled away and looked up at him. She could see that he could not understand and she didn't expect him to. After all, Mikael had not been a very good father to Klaus.

"My father made me who I am. Not me as a Vampire- that's Katherine's fault. He taught me my morals and what I should value and to stick up for what I believe in. I am who I am because of my father and I love him for it."

He rolled his eyes and growled low in his throat and Caroline realized that she might of said the wrong thing, but she did not take it back. Not today.

"Look, I know you don't understand and I don't expect you to. But my father was my father no matter what he did to me and I still love him because I needed him. I might not have been around for a thousand years but believe me when I say that no one is better without their parents," she said, repeating what she had told Abby only a few months ago before the witch-turned-vampire ran out again. "You should forgive Mikael and move past it. He made you who you are. You're strong, you are a fighter, Nik, and you don't give up. But if you can't forgive him, you should just let him go.

"I'm not saying its your fault. You couldn't control whatever happened. But at some point you have to realize that people make mistakes and you have to learn to forgive them for it. It isn't easy, I know, but its necessary. No one can hold a grudge forever, Nik, not even you."

When it became apparent Klaus was not going to respond, Caroline sighed as more tears came to her eyes and fell slowly down her cheeks.

"Never mind," she whispered, burying her face back into his chest. She wished that she had gotten more time to spend with her father. She wished that Klaus had gotten to know at least one parent who had loved him just as unconditionally as her parents had loved her, and vice versa. But wishful thinking was not going to do either of them any good, so, Caroline just held on to him as he slowly wrapped his arms back around her.

Today might not be the best of days for the forgiveness talk. But, even in her moment of weakness, all Caroline could do was try and Klaus was grateful for that. It was times like this when he could see the light radiating from her, and her willingness to share it made Klaus a better man.