"Why the alcohol? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but you were a bit rude as well. Am I rubbing off on you?" Katherine said as Caroline entered the bar. She took a breath before sitting down opposite the brunette. How was she supposed to go about this? "Now I'm concerned, you look as if someone died. And not in a good way." Katherine handed Caroline a shot. She drank it and decided to just get it over with. "Elijah's here." A lot of different emotions crossed the doppelganger's face. Hurt, hope, anger, sadness and then resolve. "Oh." Katherine said as she reached out for a shot. And another. And another. Caroline understood the girl. Hearing that your ex who didn't even come to say goodbye was in the proximity could be kind of a big thing. Especially since Elijah wasn't aware of Katherine being alive.
"What is he doing here?" Katherine asked after her fifth shot. "Teaching. He's a history professor." Caroline observed Katherine. "He heard my voice, didn't he? What did you tell him?" "He thinks you're Elena. And he also asked me to have coffee with him. I'm meeting him Monday. I'm sure that I can figure some things out." Katherine downed another shot. "How about you ask him why he didn't visit me on my deathbed. Depending on his answer, he'll either find himself in a world of pain, or fun." Caroline looked at the brunette in question, waiting for her to explain. "It's possible that Klaus didn't tell Elijah about my condition. I don't think it beneath him. No offence." "I'll find out on Monday. I promise."
"Looks like you started a party without us." Kol said as he and Bonnie entered the bar. "I hate you." Caroline said when Kol sat down next to her. "I was just having some fun. Besides, you should've seen how confused everyone was." "It's about time we find this damn grimoire, because I really do want to smack you in the face. Repeatedly." Caroline responded. "I'll hold him." Kat said with a wink. "Moving on to other subjects, Elijah's back. And we are still none the wiser as to where the next clue is." Bonnie mediated between the trio. "I made a list." Katherine said proudly, taking a piece of paper out of her bag. "You made a list?" Bonnie asked in disbelief. "I'm more than a pretty face, you know." "That's a lot of places." Caroline said, taking the list from Katherine. "Don't tell me that. It was a bitch to write. Luckily, Kol helped me out with the sorting." "We put the ones from the middle ages first, given that it is more likely for our next clue to be there. Now it is all about doing research and figuring out what the rest of the riddle means." Kol continued.
"Between the three of us, I'm sure we'll come up with a solid lead soon. And when we do, Bonnie and I will go on an adventure." Katherine said with a grin. Bonnie almost choked on her drink. "You're not actually serious, are you?" She asked. "I'm not going out there alone with only a ghost for back up. Caroline is getting a degree. You're coming with me." Caroline and Kol caught each other's eyes and both laughed. "You're actually agreeing with this?" Bonnie looked at the blonde vampire. "Kat has a point. She almost died. And I really do want to get my degree, but I'm coming with. I'm sure I'll be able to catch up. Besides, we don't even know where to go yet."
"That's settled then, but for now, we drink." Katherine raised her glass and drowned her sorrows. Elijah better have an excuse or he would feel her wrath.
"So, Kol. Jeanne d'Arc?" Caroline casually asked Kol. "I was hoping you wouldn't have noticed." "What about her?" Katherine was suddenly alert again. "Was she your girlfriend?" The brunette continued, noticing the look on Kol's face. "She wasn't my girlfriend, but I did care about her." There was a hint of sadness in his voice. "What happened?" Bonnie asked. "You know the story. She was the Maiden of Orléans. A heathen, a hero, depending on which side you were on. I've already told Caroline that I fought on both sides, both for the English and for the French. I loved being on the battlefield. In the end, I'd sided with the English. The story tells you how the English captured Jeanne and burnt her at the stake. What the story left out, is that she wasn't just a heathen. She was a witch. And I was the one that lit the pyre. Jeanne spent a month or two in captivity and in that brief time, I got to know the maiden. She was a hero, fighting for what she believed in. I admired her. We exchanged tales. She told me about her childhood, about growing up and learning how to fight. Jeanne had to hide her magical abilities, she had to hide who she truly was. No one understood. And she was scared of what would happen if she were found out. Until she met Estelle. A lone traveller. Estelle was just like her, an outcast, a witch. Estelle made her believe and taught her how to use her magic. But then Estelle was taken from her. The English took her from Jeanne. She swore to avenge her and to make sure that no one ever had to go through that sort of pain again." It was silent for a moment while Kol collected his thoughts, thinking back on the time he spent with the young woman. "Jeanne was strong, she fought until the end." Kol's voice was laced with emotion. Bonnie covered Kol's hand with her own. "Why did you light the pyre?" She whispered. "I had no choice. She told me about the voices, whispering to her. Jeanne did her best to ignore them, she chose to honour Estelle instead of being consumed by the darkness. She begged me, Jeanne made me promise to light the pyre, to end it. I compelled the king to sentence her to die by fire. It was the only way to stop the darkness."
"You did what you had to do." Caroline whispered, wiping a tear away. "She was one of my best friends. It's been quite some time since I've thought of her. And Elijah mentioning her in class, it just made me remember." "I'm sorry." Katherine said, raising her glass. "To Jeanne d'Arc." Bonnie and Caroline followed her example.
"Where did the darkness come from?" Bonnie asked a moment later. "I never really figured out. It's possible that it had to do with the magic she had attempted to use. She wanted to bring Estelle back, but wasn't successful. All she ever said was something about purple." Kol, Caroline and Katherine both looked at one another in realisation. "Why are you all looking like the world is about to end?" "The woman in purple." Caroline whispered and Kol recounted the story about the witch who had warned him about her.
"That's quite scary, but I've never heard about her either. I'll ask my grams if I ever see her again." "I've had enough sad stories for the night. Can we just drink it all away?" Katherine suggested, holding out some more shots. "Yes please." Bonnie and Care responded.
***Almost is Never Enough ***
"So, Elijah Mikaelson?" Elodie asked on Saturday morning. "Please, not so loud. I'm a bit hung-over." It had got really late last night and plenty of drinks. Katherine had compelled herself and Bonnie a room in one of the dorms. Katherine's resourcefulness never ceased to amaze her. "You know the sexy professor. How?" "They lived in our town for a while, before moving to New Orleans." Caroline said while she grabbed some coffee. "Oh no, you're not getting away with this. He's a vampire for crying out loud." "An old vampire, might I add. Look, he and his family grew up in my hometown, only a couple of centuries before us. They moved back for a while. Stefan had known Elijah's sister and brother in the twenties. We hung out for a while and then they left." Caroline glossed over the details. She didn't want to get into the Originals' history, not without consulting them first. If there was one thing she knew, it was not to piss off an Original vampire. Besides, Kol had mentioned that the Mikaelson's were rather found of their anonymity, unless they introduced themselves as Original vampires. And since Elodie and Marissa were pretty much entirely in the dark on vampires and werewolves, it might not be the best idea to clue them in. "And what about this Klaus? From the woods? When are we going to meet him?" Why was that girl so persistent? "For your sake, I hope you don't." "What's that supposed to mean? And when you say old, how old are we talking about?" Elodie continued. "Let's just say that Elijah is old enough to have participated in the Hundred Years War, and they're not exactly the kind of people you want to cross." Caroline watched as Elodie's jaw dropped. "Isn't that nice. Maybe you should just forget about him, Elo." Marissa commented. "You don't think I have a chance?" Elodie looked at Caroline for reassurance. "Elijah has a thing for brunettes."
"Please do not utter that name too loud." Katherine said as she entered the room, not even bothering to knock. "You know Elijah as well?" "I know him a whole lot better than Carebear over there." Bonnie smiled from behind Katherine. Marissa hugged the former witch. Elodie nodded her head in greeting. "You dated?" Bonnie and Caroline both looked at Katherine, wondering what her response would be to the redhead. She was supposed to be impersonating Elena. "No. But I am his type." "Maybe I should dye my hair." Kat snorted. "As if that would help." "I called dibs, Elena." Katherine flipped her hair back and smirked at Elodie. "That's extremely childish. Besides, you don't want to be part of that family. Their sister would eat you alive. Speaking of Rebekah, where is she?" "Travelling, apparently." After that, the conversation turned towards other subjects. After breakfast, Caroline, Bonnie and Katherine headed to the library.
Monday came all too soon. They'd spent quite some time at the library, looking for graveyards and gates of hell, but hadn't found anything useful. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Caroline was also combining this with her class assignments. And it was only just the first week.
"You do realise you're having coffee with Elijah right?" Katherine said from Caroline's bed, whilst flipping through one of Caroline's textbooks. "What are you, my day planner?" "No, I'm your best friend who's telling you that you shouldn't wear jeans when meeting Elijah." Caroline turned around to look at her. "It's coffee." "With Elijah. Who, may I remind you, is an Original with impeccable taste." Caroline suddenly felt a bit conscious about her outfit. Katherine made it sound as if she was meeting royalty. "Then what am I supposed to wear? It's not a date, it's just something casual." The brunette got off the bed and walked towards the closet. She looked through Caroline's wardrobe and pulled out a taupe, latte coloured dress with a Henley styled bodice and a white floral lace and netted skirt. "This." Katherine handed the dress to the blonde vampire. Caroline looked at it for a moment and put it on. It was cute and casual.
"You look good, Care." Katherine said. "It's too much." Caroline turned towards Katherine, suddenly a bit insecure about the dress. "No it's not. This is Elijah. Suit and tie are his MO. Trust me on this one, would you? I've known him for a very long time." Caroline nodded. If anyone knew how to dress for Elijah, it would be Katherine. After all, she'd known the guy for five hundred years. "Alright. I better get going, don't want to be late." Caroline looked in the mirror one last time before leaving. "Don't forget to ask about the you know what." Katherine said as the younger vampire left the room.
"Miss Forbes, you look lovely." Elijah said when Caroline approached the coffee shop. Katherine was right, he was wearing a suit and tie. "Thank you, and please, call me Caroline." This seemed surreal, who would've thought that she'd be having coffee with Elijah Mikaelson. "I trust everything is alright in Mystic Falls." "I guess. Without the supernatural beings, things have been rather quiet." "Your mother must be pleased by that." Caroline laughed at that. "She enjoys it sometimes, but there isn't a lot happening now." "So, what are you studying?" Elijah turned the subject away from Mystic Falls and on to the girl. He wanted to get to know her, he wanted to find out who this girl was. After all, she was the one that made his brother, the one who had spent a thousand years in the dark, fall in love with.
"Organismic and evolutionary biology." Elijah looked at her in surprise. "That's an interesting choice." Caroline smiled at him slightly. It was clear that he hadn't expected her to study that. "You expected me to major in broadcast journalism or something right? Why would I want to go to college? I have an eternity and yet, here I am, trying to hold on to the plans I made as a human." She was different than he remembered her. Not that he had spent much time with Caroline Forbes. He recalled her as being an ordinary girl who had captured his brother's eye. Katherine had also told him about her, saying that she was nothing special, just your plain old, round of the mill vampire. A bit timid, not one to speak her mind. She'd also described her as bubbly and cheerful, painfully optimistic and quite delusional at times. Yet, Katherine had also seen a strength in her, a resilience. It was the same thing Niklaus must have seen in Caroline. "Actually, I find it admirable." Caroline bit her lip, feeling bad about judging him. "Sorry, it's just, some find it rather stupid." "It's okay for you to want to hold on to something of your human life. But if I may ask, why biology?" This time, Caroline laughed.
"Everyone asks me that. Back at Whitmore, my roommate was murdered by a vampire and one of the professors had signed the autopsy report and ruled it a suicide. Elena and I investigated it and found ourselves in a microbiology class. I found a study partner and I found that I could actually do this. And then Harvard happened. No compelling my way in, they actually offered me a scholarship. My mom was so proud." Caroline didn't know why she was telling Elijah this, but she wanted him to understand that this was important to her. "What about Elena and Bonnie?" "Elena's a vampire, so she has all the time in the world. And Bonnie, well, that's another story." Elijah heard a hint of sadness in her voice. "I heard you mention her Friday. Is she ill or something?" "How much do you know about the whole Silas/cure thing?" Caroline asked, wondering whether Elijah had stayed into contact with anyone. "Honestly, I have been rather busy in New Orleans. But please, I would love to hear what happened."
And Caroline told him. It actually gave her a way to bring Katherine in the conversation. "And here I had always believed for Tatia to be the first doppelganger." "Yeah, it was quite the revelation." Silence hung between them for a moment. Caroline tried to muster up the courage to ask him. "Elijah, may I ask you something?" "Of course." "Why didn't you visit Katherine on her deathbed?" Elijah hadn't expected her to ask that. It had been over a year, and it was still an open wound. Not a day had gone by that he didn't feel the emptiness that Katerina had left him with. "Why do you ask, Caroline?" "It's just, you seem like an honourable man. And Katherine had sort of become my friend. I forgave her for killing me and while she may not have been a good person and while she may have done some terrible things, she deserved a goodbye. I once told Klaus that anybody capable of love, is capable of being saved. He told me I was hallucinating from the werewolf bite, but I still believe that. And for all of her flaws, she did love you." Elijah started to understand why this girl had found her way into his brother's heart. She wanted to believe that there was good in everybody. She also had a certain light inside her, a capability to forgive people who had done terrible things to her.
"You are right, you know. Anybody capable of love is capable of being saved. I hope you remember that. And Katerina did deserve a goodbye, I just wasn't able to give her one." "Why?" Elijah smiled sadly. "Because I only found out about her death when it was already too late to say goodbye." Caroline looked at Elijah, trying to make sense of what he was saying. "Klaus didn't tell you?" She couldn't believe that. How could Klaus do that to his own brother? She suddenly felt guilty about her time in the woods with Klaus. "He didn't." Elijah saw the turmoil in the girl's eyes. "I can't believe he could do that." "It isn't entirely his fault, Caroline. Klaus believed that I didn't care much for Katerina, not anymore. He believed that she had betrayed me as well." Caroline shook her head. "Don't. Don't try and make Klaus look better. He is the one that is to blame." Elijah was a bit confused, he didn't quite understand why Caroline was making such a big deal out of this. Maybe Katherine had truly become someone that she cared for. "I'm sorry, Elijah. Both of you deserved a goodbye." Caroline knew it wasn't fair to take this out on Elijah. But Klaus would hear from her, despite the fact that she had sworn not to talk to him, ever again. She loved Katherine, and as her friend, Caroline owed it to her to yell at Klaus. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time. It were things like these that made Caroline realise that she and Klaus couldn't be together. It was also things like this that made her sad for something she might never have.
"Thank you, Caroline." Elijah got up. "It's getting late. I have some things I need to do. Maybe we can do this again sometime?" Caroline got up as well. "I guess we could." And Caroline meant it. He seemed like a kind and honourable man, a good conversationalist and someone it wouldn't hurt to have at her side if need be. Besides, she already made friends with one Mikaelson brother, another wouldn't hurt. "Here's my number. And I'll see you on Friday." Elijah handed her his business card. "See you then." Caroline left.
Katherine was lounging in Caroline's room when she returned. "So?" "He didn't know. Klaus didn't tell him. He was sorry he didn't get to say goodbye." She saw the relief in the doppelganger's eyes. Katherine hugged the blonde. "Thank you for asking." "That's where friends are for, right?" Caroline smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm sorry." Katherine had noticed the hint of sadness in the younger vampire's tone. "What are you sorry for?" "You know why. I'll leave you to it. I have a date." She said with a wink and headed out, leaving Caroline to do call Klaus. "Give him hell for me would you?" And with that, Katherine shut the door.
The brown-haired vampire made her way to the dorm room she had compelled for herself and put on something pretty. It was time to reconnect with an old flame.
Klaus
Elijah hadn't called yet. Klaus kept staring at his phone, waiting for his brother to give him his first impression of Caroline. "Waiting for a call?" Cami asked. "I am. Could you get me another drink?" The blonde human smiled at him and put another glass of bourbon in front of him. Finally, his phone went off.
"How could you?" It wasn't his brother's voice greeting him on the other side, no, it was the one from a very upset blonde vampire. "I have done many things, love, you're going to have to be more precise." While Klaus was happy that Caroline finally decided to call him again, he had no idea what she was talking about. "Katherine." "What about the dead doppelganger?" Klaus had a vague idea to what the subject of this discussion might be. "You didn't let him say goodbye." "I'm sure he's over it. Why would you even care?" So his brother and Caroline had talked about his former flame. "You spent five hundred years hounding her, just because she didn't want to die at eighteen. You killed her entire family, just because you didn't get what you wanted. She may not have been a good person, she may have done terrible things, but if she hadn't met you, she would've had a normal, human life with her daughter. You took that away from her. You helped made her into the person she had become. You owed her something. The least you could've done is give her that." He was surprised by the pain and disappointment in the girl's voice. She was angry, but it wasn't just that. The disappointment cut deep. The sadness as well. "I told you before, Caroline. I'm a monster. I do terrible things to people that cross me. I sacrificed people for my own personal gain. I put my siblings into boxes. You honestly think I care whether my brother got to say goodbye to the girl that he once loved?"
Caroline
This was infuriating. Caroline knew that Klaus was just lashing out, was trying to cover his feelings by acting as if he didn't care. As if it didn't affect him. "I do." Caroline answered resolutely. "Do what?" "Think that you care." Caroline heard Klaus' chuckle from the other end. It was an empty one, though. "You're delusional, sweetheart." "Then maybe I am. Maybe I am delusional to think that beneath those thousand years of loneliness and pain and betrayal, there is still something human left in you. Sorry I bothered." Caroline threw her phone across the room in frustration. Why was he so infuriating. And why did she even care? He was a crazy hybrid, an alpha male and incapable of showing even the tiniest bit of love. She sighed out loud, putting her hands in her face. Maybe she should just forget about it all. Forget about the stupid last love thing. He would never be the man she wanted him to be. She should stop trying to hope for him to become someone he's not. Perhaps he was too far gone to actually be saved.
I am so sorry for the late update. I've just been really busy with work and college and it's just getting crazier and crazier. I have a presentation next week and I have two papers that still need to be written. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. And my apologies that you had to wait almost two months for a new chapter.
Some thanks to the lovely reviewers
Lu Mach, thanks for the positive review, I'm glad you enjoy my story :)
hmkarr16, hope you liked the interaciton between Caroline and Elijah and don't worry, Elijah will figure out that it's Katherine and not Elena ;)
holberly, merci beaucoup :D
Hazel21, soon, Klaus and Caroline will see each other again soon, it'll probably be the next chapter
gothicpoet0615, I'm sorry to leave you waiting for so long again. I'm a terrible updater and working on several stories is making it even harder to update soon
Thanks everyone for reading and for being patient. I'll try to update sooner, but I can't make any guarentees.
Lovies,
Zoë