Sorry for the late update! Not trying to drag out the suspense, I've just been really sick the past few days. Thank you for your patience and support!


Elijah straightened his cuff while he waited in the town square of Havensbrook, Massachusetts. He had been with Katherine when he received the call from Klaus. Klaus had sounded distressed so Elijah thought it would be best not to make him wait longer than necessary.

"Elijah," Klaus said, coming up behind Elijah.

Elijah turned around and hugged his brother, "Niklaus."

Elijah held Klaus by the shoulders while he studied his brother's face. A few days had passed since their return to Mystic Falls with the cure and Elijah had been in a hurry to tell his beloved Katarina that Klaus had granted her a pardon from her ancient offense. He had never seen his brother look happier then when he left him in the company of the adored Caroline, but every trace of happiness had been purged from his face.

"What's wrong?" Elijah asked, "Caroline, is she?"

"She's fine," Klaus said, but the sharpness of his words indicated that Elijah had found the source of the problem.

Elijah took a deep breath, hoping there wasn't a trail of bodies following Klaus from Mystic Falls starting with all of the young blonde's closest friends.

"Tell me, brother," Elijah pressed, grabbing Klaus's shoulder and squeezing it sympathetically.

"She's human," Klaus said, "Permanently."

"And you left her?" Elijah asked, "Without a word?"

"Oh, there were several words," Klaus said with a bitter smirk.

Elijah flinched, he knew his brother too well to imagine that he left without leaving a fair number of scars in his wake as he pushed the poor girl away.

"Why did you leave, Niklaus?" Elijah asked.

"Because it's for the best." Klaus said, "She's safer with me gone."

"That was just as true when she was a vampire." Elijah said.

"Yes, but now she comes with an expiration date," Klaus growled, looking agitated.

"So rather than have a great love for one lifetime, you chose to walk away?" Elijah asked, "Why?"

"It's none of your business, Elijah."

Elijah decided that it was best not to aggravate his brother.

"What do you want from me?" Elijah asked.

"I want you to go back to Mystic Falls," Klaus said, "Make sure she stays safe."

"And where will you go?"

Klaus looked out across the small town, his eyes lost in the wearying years to come.

"I think it's time to go home."


Caroline stood on the front porch of her childhood home holding the handle of her suitcase. She felt like a different person than the girl who left the house with the same suitcase two weeks earlier. She was a different person. That girl was a vampire with a future of forever stretching out ahead of her. Now she had nothing, was nothing but the stupid girl who believed that she was the one thing someone who cared about nothing cared about. She could see now that all her first instincts about Klaus had been correct. He was dangerous and foolishly she had handed him the power to break her heart. She was such a fool to think that she would be anyone's exception.

She raised her hand to knock on the door. It felt so strange to knock on the front door of her home like any other stranger. She hesitated. Coming home was as good as admitting that she was wrong about everything and accepting the mess her life had turned into was real. She hated the idea of admitting that the first man who had made her believe that someone really could love her forever was just another liar.

But what other choice did she have?

So, she knocked.

The door swung open.

"Mom," Caroline managed to choke out.

No explanation was needed. Liz Forbes wrapped her wayward daughter in a warm hug and let her sob against her shoulder. Once the first waves subsided, Liz led Caroline inside, pulling in the suitcase. She didn't say "I told you so". She didn't want to be right. She wanted her daughter to be happy, but if Caroline couldn't be happy then Liz hoped she'd at least be safe.

After tucking Caroline into her bed and making her tea, they sat in silence for a long time. Caroline didn't seem to want to talk and Liz wasn't about to push her. She drank her tea and went to sleep. Liz moved off the bed, but she didn't go far. She dragged an old rocker into the room and sat watching over her daughter as she slept.

She'd always tried to be a good mother. She'd tried everything she could think of to protect Caroline. She even applied tough love, though it broke her heart to do so. But despite all her efforts her perfect little girl still got broken.

Liz decided then and there that if she ever saw the awful Original who had made her baby cry, she was going to give him a talking to, or shoot him. She wasn't entirely sure which.


The world looked slightly better when Caroline woke up in her own bed. She considered apologizing to her mom, telling her that she was right all along, but it wasn't necessary. Her mother knew that some things were better left unsaid and Caroline found herself once again grateful that she could rely on her mother for unconditional love. She'd doubted her mother's love only once, when she found out that her daughter was a vampire, but they'd gotten past it and came out stronger on the other side.

"Do you want to talk?" Liz asked.

Caroline rolled over and saw her mom sitting in the rocker that she'd always dragged in whenever Caroline had gotten sick as a little girl.

"Not really," Caroline said. Her insides squirmed as she thought of Klaus's hands touching her, his lips, the way he made her feel like no one had even been loved as much as he loved her. The memories were all tainted now by his scornful words and the hollowness he'd left her with his absence.

"Okay," Liz said, "Do you need me to get you a blood bag?"

"No," Caroline said.

"Care, you need to eat," Liz protested.

"No, mom, it's not that," Caroline said, "I'm not a vampire anymore."

Liz Forbes burst into tears. It was one of the few times Caroline had ever seen her mother cry, and as her mother threw her arms around her and tears brimmed to the surface of her own eyes, Caroline thought for the first time that maybe being human again wasn't such a bad thing.


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