A\N: I've gotten such a great response to this story! Thank you guys for the reviews, follows, and favorites!

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"There is a place between saying goodnight and good morning,

Where I always hope we will meet."

It was a nice morning, warm and sunny, Hope would have enjoyed it a lot more if her father wasn't raging about the night before. "You aren't leaving this house for the next month!"

"Now that just seems like overkill," she said, grabbing one of the apples from the tray on the table.

"You stole a car," he reminded her, as if she could forget with him yelling about it.

"They left a seventies special edition twister mustang out on the street," she bit into the apple, finishing in a mumble, "That's begging to have your car stolen."

"Hope, you know better," her mother cut in, great now she was getting a lecture from both sides of the breakfast table. "And you were speeding. Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Probably significantly more so for someone without supernatural healing," Hope said, fully aware of how it would irritate her parents. She couldn't help it sometimes, it was just too easy to push their buttons.

"Hope," her father said, his tone ended the discussion. "One month."

She sullenly accepted the punishment, glaring down at crescents her fingernails cut into the apples smooth skin. "Nik!" her aunt's cheery voice rang from the balcony above. "Come up here!"

With a final irritated exhale her father stood and stalked up the wrought iron stairs, it was a wonder that staircase had survived all these years. Hope couldn't help but think that despite the month of boredom before her it had been worth it. She bit into the apple to hide her smirk.

Klaus walked into the parlor his little sister had taken over for party preparations. "I swear, Rebekah, if this is another..." he trailed off as he saw what she had wanted to show him.

"How do I look?" Lizzie asked, smoothing down the skirt of her peach colored gown. The seamstress stood with his sister, admiring her own work.

"Stunning," he told her. It was true, he tried to keep his smile in place as he spoke, she looked beautiful.

She gave him a knowing look, "You're worrying about something, aren't you?" she set her hands on her hips. "That's your worrying face."

"I don't have a worrying face," he said as Lizzie raised her brows in disbelief, sometimes she was too intuitive for her own good.

Ignoring his protest, she insisted, "What is it?"

"It's very grown up," he explained cautiously, "I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

She shook her head with a little laugh. "You always fret over such silly things, daddy," she hopped off the dais she had been standing on, planting a kiss on her father's cheek before she began to twirl aimlessly around the room.

They seemed silly concerns to her, but he looked at her and still saw his little girl, he did not appreciate the way men had begun to look at his little girl. And, while he was worried about Josie and Hope, it was Lizzie that concerned him the most. Always putting others before herself, the wrong person could take advantage of that kind of goodness.

"We need to get started on other dress," Masha announced in her thick Slavic tone. Klaus hadn't been sure about the woman at first, it had, of course, been Lizzie who gave her a chance.

They had been in Moscow, Hope, the twins, Rebekah, and him, when Lizzie gasped in delight and took off in a sprint. Even though he was much faster than her she was smaller and weaved through the crowd with ease, when he finally caught up with her on one of the more rundown streets he had been too relieved to notice what had caught her attention. After his "that was dangerous never do it again" speech she had pointed to the cracked front window of a dingy clothing shop.

He had tried to persuade her to look somewhere else, in one of the dress shops in the nicer part of the city, but the nine year old Lizzie had insisted. An old bell rang over the door when they entered and a few moments later a woman in her early twenties with icy grey eyes had appeared from the backroom.

Lizzie had walked up to a faded and patched jacket with complete awe, and before he could understand her fascination she had pressed both hands to the piece of clothing and they had begun to glow, pulling magic straight out of the material itself.

"Stop that, ребенок!" the woman snapped, marching forward to pry the jacket out of Lizzie's hands.

Her irritation hadn't fazed the child, she had thrown her arms around one of her legs. "You're magic! Make my dress magic too! Please?"

"Shush," she hissed at Lizzie, before Klaus could 'explain' that Lizzie could do and say as she pleased his daughter had wheeled around.

"I want her to make my dress, daddy!" she must have seen his hesitation because she threw out her argument before he could tell her no. "She's good! Her magic helps."

Klaus looked over the old clothes scattered around the shop again, "Protection spells?" he guessed.

She set the jacket on the counter, smoothing out the crinkled material. "You come here, all you see is pretty buildings and expensive things, you don't see the violence we live in. Many people suffer, if I can help," she pressed her hands to the jacket and for a moment the threadbare fabric shimmered brightly before it faded back to normal. "Why would I not?"

"I want her to make my dress, daddy," Lizzie said, jumping up and down in excitement.

"We're leaving tonight, sweetheart, I hardly think that's enough time to make a dress..." and there was certainly nothing suitable for his daughter to wear already made.

Tears had welled up in her eyes, and Klaus had caved. "Okay then," he turned to the grey eyed woman. "My daughter seems to have her heart set on you."

"Spoiled," she had commented as she folded the jacket and set it back on its shelf.

He grit his teeth, he couldn't kill her in front of the children, he had reminded himself. "And I would be willing to pay a good deal if you could accompany us back to the States and make something presentable for her."

She looked amused as she began to organize one of the tables covered in piles of odd pieces of clothing. "You want me to go to America to make little girl dress?" she shook her head with a huff of exasperated amusement. She turned to him, considering him for a long moment before she shrugged. "When do we leave?"

Over the years his initial dislike towards Masha had faded and he had come to, not enjoy exactly, but appreciate her presence.

His sister's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Where is Josie?"

Lizzie closed her eyes, poking at the psychic link they shared. "Sleeping."

Klaus didn't even have to look at Rebekah to know her eye was twitching. "Tell her to get in here, or I swear she is wearing something off the rack."

Lizzie snorted. "We all know that's not true," she said before she turned and skipped out the door, calling over her shoulder. "I'll go wake her up."

Klaus's smile slipped as soon as she was gone. Things would be different soon, and he wasn't ready for the change. After twelve years Freya had finally found a way around the spell blocking their memories, and that night after their eighteenth birthday party they would finally remember who their birth parents were.

"It's not just Lizzie's wooers that have you worried," Rebekah voiced her unwanted observation as usual.

"I haven't the slightest what your talking about," Klaus left before she could prod any further.

Lizzie twirled down the hall towards her sister's room, watching the skirt of her dress swish around her. Masha really was talented, she had never made a dress Lizzie didn't love absolutely. Her smile twisted into a frown as she prodded at the link and found she could feel nothing from her sister, it was radio silence.

She hated it when that happened. It meant she was talking to him. Whoever he actually was. It worried her sometimes, so much so she even considered breaking her promise...

Her phone rang and her smile came back brighter than before when she saw the name on the screen. "Hey, Kol."

"Hey, Liz," he said, the voices that buzzed in the background quieted abruptly. "Is Josie there with you?"

"No, she's sleeping still," she said, pausing for a moment before she asked happily, "Are you calling to tell us you're almost here?"

He sighed heavily, and whatever meager hopes she had had were dashed, "You know how I feel about that city."

"I know..." she sighed herself, "I just thought, since it is our eighteenth birthday, and that's like a big deal, and you missed our last birthday too..." For a moment she considered if what she was about to say would work, then she added, "and you made it for Hope's eighteenth."

There was a beat of silence. "You did not just play that card," her uncle said incredulously. "You know damn well I don't think of you and Hope any differently," he said genuinely before he added in a mutter, "You're all annoying."

"I just..." Lizzie's voice shook. "I really wanted you to come."

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice less sure as he heard her sniffle.

"I know, it's just... I miss you," she finished quietly, miserably.

She held her breath, waiting for his reply, "Damn it," she heard him huff in defeat before he said, "I'll be there."

She shrieked in joy. "Great! Masha has your suit ready. I'll see you in a few hours!"

"Oh, you manipulative little brat—" she hung up on him, continuing happily down the hall. Kol was easier than most of her family to guilt trip, and she so was not above taking advantage of that. After all, if he came home more often she wouldn't have to trick him into it.

The warm, floaty feeling told Josie she was dreaming, and that meant... She smiled as his fingertips ghosted across her face. "Wake up, mon chéri."

She opened her eyes with a soft smile, he stood over her, one knee on the edge of the bed. "But if I wake up you'll go away."

He laughed, threading his fingers through his dark hair. "That is an excellent point."

She sat up in the unfamiliar canopy bed, looking around the large, mostly empty room. It was pretty in its simplicity, with wood flooring and white washed walls. The sound of water drew her attention to the doors to her left, they opened onto white sand, blue water glittered further down the beach. It reminded her of Athens. "Where is this?"

"Navarino," the word rolled off his tongue beautifully. "Have you never been?"

"I've been to Athens," she said, slipping off the other side of the bed and ambled to the door. She noticed immediately how secluded the place actually was, not a resort as far as she could see either way down the beach.

"Athens, beautiful city," he came to stand next to her, leaning against the doorframe beside her. "Though often crowded and I use this place mostly when I want to escape from other people."

"I see, so you're showing me this so I'll know where you'll be and won't worry when you disappear?" she arched a brow at him.

He raised his own challengingly. "I wanted to show you because I get tired of people quite frequently, and I wanted you to know where we would be going when that happens."

She looked out at the ocean so he wouldn't see the pleased smile she couldn't quite help.

You're mad at him! she reminded herself. Scoffing at him, she crossed her arms and forced herself to stop smiling. "Funny you saying that, considering," she bit out.

"You're angry with me."

No shit!

"Two months," she growled at him, turning away from the beach to glare at him.

He sighed, lifting his hands in a placating gesture, that only succeeded in pissing her off more. Two months of no contact and he thought he could show up in her subconscious and placate her?

She jabbed his chest. "Don't tell me you have a good reason because what on earth could keep you so damn busy when you're dead?!"

"Trying to be less dead," he shot back casually.

Less dead... She felt hope and fear rise in her chest, the immensity of emotions over what he had said threatened to crush her heart. "You... you found a way?"

He grinned slowly, and all of her anger and fear drain away. It hadn't seemed real until then, the promises and discussions about what they would do once he was back among the living. But it was real, it was going to happen. She gave a breathy laugh, her hands cupped his face and his set on her waist.

It was a perfect moment, if he would just lean in and—

He stepped back from her abruptly, her hands fell back to her side as his left her waist.

Damn it! That could have been perfect, why did he refuse to make a move?

The room around them began to change, the colors dulled, the scene around them started to fade. "I believe our times up."

She ignored the deterioration of the dream. "Why won't you kiss me?"

He smiled at the question but didn't reply. The moment Josie felt herself being tugged back to reality he ducked forward, kissing her sweetly on the cheek.

Josie blinked at the sunlight coming from the window, Lizzie stood there, thing the curtains back so the entire room was bathed in natural light. "Get up, lazy pants. It's a beautiful morning."

Normally her sister's cheeriness so early in the morning would have annoyed her, but she only smiled. "It is, isn't it?"

"Masha needs to finish your dress, so," Lizzie pointed to her double French doors that stood open, "Scoot."

Josie shook her head, standing from her bed and headed for the hall. But her sister's voice made her paused, "You're seeing him again?"

She didn't turn, offering over her shoulder, "It's nothing to worry about." before she walked away.

Bonnie hurried down the hall of the Armory basement, the latest attempt to break Enzo's curse clutched in her hand. It would work this time, even though she told herself that every time, the tiny bit of hope she still held onto was the only thing that kept her from giving up completely.

Not that it hasn't felt pretty hopeless at times, twelve years and twenty-nine failed cures weren't exactly motivating. And then, even if she broke his curse, she would have to get him to turn his humanity back on.

She paused outside the cell door, looking through the thick, steel mesh reinforced, glass. He seemed calm as he laid on the hospital bed, some days he paced and snarled like a caged animal.

She pressed her hand to the scanner, waiting for it to blink green in recognition and the door to slide open. Enzo sat up immediately, sitting at the edge of the bed. "Hey, doc, what are you shooting me up with today?"

She held up the vial, "Drink."

He took it without argument, after so long he had stopped fighting her attempts at fixing his mind, maybe it was just that after so many failures he didn't see any harm in humoring her.

Nothing happened at first and Bonnie began to wonder what she had done wrong. Then the tremors started in his hands, he held up one and watched it shake with an annoyed look.

His eyes turned black, the veins under his eyes faded in and out of sight. Ink colored liquid dripped from his eyes, then his ears and nose. The tremors turned to full on convulsions, he fell from the bed onto the floor, his blood splattered across the grey floor as he shook.

Bonnie winced, stepping away from him. She hated to see him hurt, but it was worth it if it made him himself again.

Only a moment later the convulsions stopped and he went limp.

She stepped forward, watching his blood splattered face carefully. "Enzo?"

His eyes opened, and he laughed. The sound sent her heart plummeting. It hadn't worked, just like every time before.

She turned and left the cell, locking the door behind her and ignored his taunts as she left.

Caroline waited in the main room, map already laid out across the table, she looked up at her, sympathy in her eyes. "We can do this later," she offered but Bonnie could see that her friend was anxious, and hopeful, to get it done.

Ric walked down the stairs, amber talisman in hand. "You ready?"

She nodded, taking the talisman from him, and waited as Ric cut into his wrist, reopening the wound yet again, and let his blood drip onto the map. Closing her hand around the amber she grit her teeth as she channeled her ancestral line.

The rush of magic was always overwhelming no matter how many times she did it. Droplets of blood rolled across the map in different directions, ending up in five locations.

She dropped the talisman, the outline of the triangle shaped amber marked her palm. "I'm sorry," she murmured.

"It's not your fault," Caroline said, and Bonnie didn't miss the undertone of self blame in her friend's voice.

Ric wrapped a new bandage around his wrist. "We'll try again next week." Almost a decade before, after things had quieted down, and the immediate threat seemed to have disappeared they had started trying to find the twins. They had been doing locator spells everyday in the beginning, until the first time Ric passed out from blood loss and they decided it could only happen once a week.

She watched him disappear back up the stairs and into his office. It couldn't be easy not knowing, at least she knew Enzo was safe, Caroline and Ric didn't even know what continent their kids were on.

"Thanks, Bon," Caroline said quietly, cleaning the blood off the laminated map they had gotten for the spells after they had ruined the first three.

"We'll find them," she told her adamantly.

Care tried for a smile that didn't quite work out. "Of course we will."

Bonnie was sure they were alive, but if she tried to sense anything pass that it all got fuzzy. That could be a good thing, if someone was going out of their way to protect them, or a very bad thing, if they were being hidden as weapons to be used. Hopefully they would find them soon, Care and Ric had already missed so much of their lives.

Bonnie would have to figure out how to get around whatever magical block had been put on Lizzie and Josie, but it seemed a rather daunting task considering she had read through every spell book in the Armory and found nothing that could help her find them.

Sending them away had seemed the best choice at the time, but after twelve years they all began to wonder if there hadn't been another way.

Klaus sat in his office, flipping through the photo album Rebekah had insisted they start keeping when Hope turned four. Lizzie and Josie didn't start appearing in the photos until almost half way through the album. Riding bikes, painting, staring at their birthday cake in shock...

They had found out eventually that their birthday was one of the things that had been blocked out, they remembered their age but not the date itself, so they had decided to celebrate it on the day the twins had found him. Because not celebrating at all was completely unacceptable.

Their seventh birthday had been shock after shock for them, he remembered the two getting into a heated argument about what flavor the cake should be before Klaus told them they could simply get two cakes, Lizzie had stared at him in shock while Josie had smiled in a way that even he had to admit was nothing less than devious.

The thought of his daughters remembering a family they had had before them was utterly terrifying. The thought of them leaving to find their biological family was terrible, the thought of them leaving permanently was unbearable.

"This won't change anything," Klaus looked up at the sound of his brother's voice, his brother who had decided to walk in uninvited. "Tomorrow we will still be a family, regardless of what they remember."

"I'm not in the mood for one of your inspirational speeches," he shut the album, standing from his desk to set it back on the shelf. Could none of his siblings mind their own damn business?

Of course they would still be a family, and if Lizzie and Josie's birth parents decided they wanted to edge them out of their lives, well, he'd just have to kill them.

"There," Josie said as she finished securing the gold circlet on her sister's head. "Now it won't fall off."

"I'm worried about you," she said softly, concern bright in her blue eyes.

Before she could respond the door opened and Masha stepped in, her ash blonde hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, wearing a simple grey dress that was just barely formal enough for the occasion. "It's time."

Josie nodded, linking her arm with Lizzie and walked out to the top of the large staircase that led into the ballroom. She looked to her sister, silently asking if she was ready, at her nod they started down the stairs.

A hush fell over the crowd, she couldn't help but like that part, that their presence could silence an entire room full of people— powerful people.

They were such perfect opposites, her sister with her honey gold curls spilling over her shoulders and down her back, her peach pink A-line dress and the warm smile that almost never left her face. Josie wasn't warm, she was cold and harsh, and it showed. The black dressed hugged her and flared out at the hips, the Queen Anne neckline open enough to show the obsidian inlaid choker she wore. Her, admittedly unnatural, platinum blonde hair was pulled back in a thick French braid. A circlet rested on her head as well, silver instead of gold.

Yes, they were opposites, but they went together beautifully, like the sun and the moon.

She wasn't surprised to see that Kol waited with their father at the end of the staircase, it figured Lizzie had convinced him to come.

The band picked up as they stepped onto the ballroom floor. The first dance was only the four of them moving with easy elegance across the floor. When she was younger it had been intimidating to have the most elite members of their society scrutinize her every move, but as she got older, and grace had become a second nature instead of a strict practice, she had forgotten the insecurities. Because, even surrounded by the most powerful and wealthy, she was above them all.

The song ended and Josie gave a practiced curtsy, her father bowed in kind.

The floor filled quickly with the guests and the next four hours were a flurry of shallow conversations and business opportunities that she knew she should pay attention to. She talked with people she cared nothing for, the police commissioner saying how wonderful their help with keeping the supernatural population in line had been, the mayor asking her what her thoughts on an organization of some kind or another, endless other conversations that would be forgotten by morning.

When she finally had a moment to breathe she slipped into one of the empty halls of the house they used solely for events such as these. Once she stepped out of sight a flood of information hit her, she stumbled at the force of it, falling against one of the pillars that lined the hall.

It's time, his voice echoed in her head.

Lizzie found her uncle in one of the halls, sitting against the wall, his tie had been thrown on one of the tables next to a vase full of tulips.

She leaned against the wall across from him. "You're missing all the fun," she joked dryly. As much as she loved dressing up and the dancing these parties always made her stressed, surrounded by people just waiting to see her stumble. Not to mention trying to remember all the businesses daddy owned or funded or held shares in, Josie was much better at that sort of talk.

"What a shame, it's always fun to watch my brother's remind everyone of their superiority," he tipped his head back, downing the rest of the liquor he'd had in his glass.

"Careful, Kol," she said seriously, "Someone might think you're bitter."

A grin broke through his brooding look as he laughed. She laughed with him.

The pleasant sound was cut short, she doubled over, unable to get any air into her lungs as pain spiked through her head. She felt hands on her shoulders, steadying her, and a voice speaking, but it was all very far away, the pain blocked out everything else. Black spots buzzed in her vision, and everything she heard was distorted, like she was underwater.

Then suddenly it all stopped, and Lizzie felt horribly empty.

"Hey, Liz, what's wrong? Liz."

She blinked, focusing on Kol's worried eyes. "It's... It's not there," she breathed.

"What do you mean? Liz, tell me what's wrong," he demanded.

"The link," she explained faintly. "It's gone."

Josie kneeled in the circle drawn in the earth, the bones set out in front of her all that remained of his body. The full moon reflected off the murky water of the bayou behind her, she could feel the wolves life forces even as they stayed at a distance, wary of the magic they must have felt since she started the ritual. It didn't matter, she could channel them without contact while they were in their animal forms.

The needed information came to her as she worked, pouring the blood over the bones while she spoke in a language that she didn't understand. Fire burst to life on the ring around her.

The whimpers of the wolves as she tugged at their life forces might have pricked at her conscience, but the spell had already consumed her entirely. Power rushed through her and the words became harder to speak, a trail of blood streaked down her neck from her ear. If she had been any other kind of witch the process would have already taken her life.

Her voice almost broke as the pain in her chest worsened, but as she watched flesh began to blossom across the bones, it spread and knit itself together. It was hard to believe she could actually succeed, that she could bring him back, but the muscle formed, then skin, and when the slow process of his body healing itself was finished it was him laying there.

With a final burst of energy she completed the ritual. Once the magic wasn't rushing through her she collapsed to the cold earth, she wondered if it had worked before darkness swallowed her thoughts.

Lucien opened his eyes, air rushed into his lungs for the first time in what felt like an eternity, he had forgotten what it felt like to breathe. He stood up, laughing in utter joy. He was alive.

He looked around him, noticing mens clothes set in a neat pile. Lucien glanced at the witch he had used to complete the spell, she must have left them out for him.

It would be easier to kill her and ensure nobody found out about his newly acquired life. But, she was extremely powerful, and it was never a bad idea to have a powerful witch on his side. And, well, she was a gorgeous little thing, he had to admit. As he dressed he assessed his options, if the risk outweighed her usefulness.

Finally he decided to keep up the charade, after all, if he had manipulated her into reviving him surely he could convince her to keep that pretty mouth of hers shut.

He picked her up off the ground, noticing the blood staining her pretty porcelain skin, he dipped his head to run his tongue along the thin trail. A growl spilled from his throat, how good blood tasted was another thing that had faded in his memory and he was tempted to take a bite, but he doubted she would appreciate waking up with teeth marks decorating her smooth skin, and after all the time he had spent to convince her that he wasn't trying to use her he wasn't going to risk ruining it all to satisfy an impulse.

"You're a very lucky witch," he told the unconscious girl. "I think we're going to have fun, you and I."

Soundtrack:

Scene seven:

Kings and Queens and Vagabonds — Ellem

Scenes nine & ten:

Poison in the Water — Von Grey

A\N: I will be updating this hopefully at least once a week. There's no klaroline interaction in this chapter, it's kind of a slow burn so bear with me. Anyway I hope you liked this chapter, thank you for reading, and, of course, I always love reviews. The quote is J. Iron Word