Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.
Cards on the table—Klaus was so into BDSM.
She had to admit…she kind of liked being submissive…if it weren't for the fact that he thought he was doing his duty and she wasn't sprawled ungracefully over his lap. Supper is awkward because he's staring at her openly, willing her to meet his gaze and she's pointedly ignoring him, sitting closer to Kol just to spite him. Kol seems to find it amusing and plays along, letting his arm brush along hers, smirking at Klaus like a cat who ate the canary. This only serves to irritate him further, and Caroline feels the burn of satisfaction at the sight.
Bastard.
With the dawn brings a new task, one more dangerous than rummaging through Esther's things for a ring she can't find. When Kol first told her where to find the last ingredient, Caroline thought he was nuts.
"We can't go there," Caroline says pointedly, "Kol…there are werewolves living in that village, they'll kill us!"
"Not if they don't see us," Kol tells her mischievously, "All we need to do is retrieve the flowers at the center of their village, the last ingredient for the ritual."
"Even for you, this is kind of reckless," Caroline points out skeptically.
He just stares at here expectantly, an eyebrow quirked.
Caroline stares back at him, huffs a sigh and looks at him, "Where is this village anyways?"
"Not even our hunters come this far," Kol muses as they walk, which they've been doing for a least a mile now. The forest around them was dense and quiet, great fading branches littered with green foliage was closing in around them like a great green claw. There were crickets in the distance, the smell of stale water from the nearby swamp. It was still cold, but spring was beginning to thaw out the winter chill, shaking it from the landscape around them. Kol cautioned her to be silent, the wolves had excellent hearing and though he was a witch, he couldn't fight them all off. They reach the village before the sun reaches its apex in the sky, a rundown scattering of wooden homes, layered with mud and straw to keep in the warmth.
"There," Kol says quietly near her ear, the two of them crouched along the tree line as they watched the villagers from a distance. At the center of the village was a slim scattered of flowers, they grew without limit or pattern along the edges of the houses, around the stables, through the trees. "Leave it to my Mother to ensure the most vital part of the ritual is heavily guarded by bloody thirsty beasts."
"Do you think they even know the value of them?" Caroline asks softly.
"Doubt it," Kol replies, "which is why nobody will notice a few missing." He cracks his neck thoughtfully, eying the wolves, "Right…you sneak around the back, grab the closest flowers you can find and grab as many as you can, I don't want to have to come back here for more. I'll keep them busy."
"Wait what-…" Caroline doesn't get the chance to protest as Kol darts off into the trees, and as she watches, the villagers turn to him, distracted by the sudden movement. A man steps from the stables, covered in dirt and sweat, his sandy hair wild around his face as eyes as green as the fresh spring grass watch Kol thoughtfully.
Klaus's Father.
He had to be…Klaus had the same jawline, the same hair color.
Oh right—Kol.
Caroline darts for the village, crawling on hands and knees to keep beneath the tall withering grass as she snags at flowers wherever she can find them.
"You aren't allowed here," the man in the distance spoke, watching Kol, "You know the truce…it isn't safe here for you."
"Oh don't mind me," Kol announces, "Just out for walk."
"He's on our land," one says, "He's fair game."
"No," says the man at the front, narrowing his gaze at Kol, "we've already killed to many of their kind during the full moon…if we act now as human they'll come for us all. We're better than this."
"I don't care Ansel," the other says, "I say we send them a message."
One darts for Kol without warning, and he uses magic to repel him—then another, and another and Caroline has more than she can carry so she darts back for the trees, catching Kol's gaze as she runs.
"You know I think I've had enough air," Kol tells them, before running in the same direction.
It is a useless endeavor though, as Caroline soon discovers. Before she can make it over the hill she is shoved into a tree with brute force, the flowers tumbling from her arms. The woman before her snarls viciously.
"You can't hurt me," Caroline tells her, frightened, "you can't do much of anything until the full moon."
"I don't need claws to kill you," the woman tells her, wielding a dagger near her face. Then her face erupts in agony, and she screams, clutching at her head. Behind Caroline, Finn appears, hand outstretched, eyes focused. "Get the flowers—hurry," he tells her firmly, his voice laced with anger.
"Thyra!" Kol shouts, holding off villager after villager, "Now!"
It takes her only a couple of minutes to grab everything she dropped, stumbling back behind Finn before another wolf lunges for her. Kol appears at her side, and the three stands together as Ansel appears among them.
"You were told not to come here," he says to Finn pointedly.
"Forgive my wayward siblings, I'll ensure they've been reprimanded soundly," Finn replies, glowering at both Kol and Caroline hotly. "We meant no offense and I assure you nobody anticipated such bloody stupidity from anyone in our village."
"These woods are not safe," Ansel presses, "I made that truce with your village to ensure their safety and I can't promise they'll be safe if people keep breaking the rules and crossing onto our land."
"I assure you it won't happen again Ansel," Finn says, catching both Kol and Caroline by the arm and dragging them away from the village, back towards home. When they'd gone far enough for Finn's comfort, he stops and rounds on them, anger flashing across his face, "What were you two doing?"
"Cats out of the bag now Thyra," Kol shrugs sheepishly, "Might as well tell him—we need a second witch anyways…I can't perform that spell on my own without help."
"What spell?" Finn narrows his gaze as he looks at Kol, "Tell me you haven't been meddling in Mother's grimoire again—Kol you know those spells are dangerous, you're not nearly experienced enough to handle them!"
"Your mad—the both of you," Finn announces as he gazes down at the spell Kol copied from his Mother's grimoire, "this kind of magic is old, and very dangerous—if we get this wrong, she could end up anywhere."
"So let's not get it wrong then," Kol argues, "We have everything we need, we just don't have the binding object, the thing that connects you to where you came from."
"Where are you from anyways?" Finn asks suddenly, watching her curiously, "If you are not from here….and you didn't flee our homeland from plague…then where are you from? You have such strange ideas and customs….I knew there was something odd about you."
"I'm from the future," Caroline admits, "I know that sounds crazy, but I'm from centuries into the future. Your Mother sent me here, I don't know why but your Mother doesn't want to send me back so I'm finding a way to do it myself."
"If my Mother doesn't want you to return from wherever it is you claim to be from, then you shouldn't," Finn warns, "I'm sure there's a perfectly logical reason as to why she refused you."
"Finn when will you stop clinging to her skirts like a child?" Kol scolds lightly with a roll of his eyes, "Let's just help her—how often do you dislike her control over Niklaus…the things he does, the things she's done to him to ensure he won't get himself killed?"
"What she did was for his own good," Finn narrows his gaze darkly, "Niklaus is out of control."
"If you don't help me," Kol says pointedly, "I'm going to tell Mother what you stole from her."
Finn blanches visibly, meeting Kol's gaze, "you wouldn't dare."
"You don't think I don't know that you openly tried to murder our Father with magic?" Kol says, "I saw you poison his cup."
"He's cruel to our Mother I was only trying-…" he trails off, takes a deep breath before sighing, "Fine…I'll help you."
"There's a good lad," Kol says with a smirk, patting his shoulder as he passes, "Let's look for the ring shall we?"
That evening, what she did not realize was that all her hard work would be for nothing. While she expected betrayal from Finn, it wasn't Finn who betrayed her. As she emerged into the warmth of the hut, Caroline noticed the heavy silence over the room. Esther busied herself with supper, Rebekah was by the fire, prodding at the kindling to encourage the flames to brighten.
"Hey," Caroline smiles at her, dumping firewood next to the hearth. Then she smells it, a curious odor but familiar. As her gaze turns to the flames, she realizes what she's looking at, and horror etches across her face, "No!"
"I'm sorry Thyra," Esther's voice says from behind her, "But I cannot allow this madness."
"You," Caroline meets Rebekah's gaze angrily, "you told her."
"I overheard you and my brothers—you have to understand…I don't want you to leave….and that spell is dangerous, you could all get yourselves killed trying to perform it! So you see I had to tell her, I had no choice!"
"Where's Kol?" Caroline asks, panic racing through her blood.
"Outside with his Father," Esther doesn't meet her gaze as she works, "Mikael is very upset with his behavior as of late. You went into the wolf village—I would know—I planted those flowers myself."
"No," Caroline whispers, horror across her features as she runs out of the hut, shoving past Klaus as he enters. She is light on her feet as she runs through the village, spotting Mikael in the distance, Kol on his knees, blood seeping down his back.
"NO!" Caroline shouts, grabbing at Mikael's arm when he moves to swing again, the whip cracking in the air. "No stop!" Caroline shouts, "It's not his fault!" In that moment, two things happen—the first—when he brings the whip down a second time, he has no time to halt his movements as Caroline shields Kol with her body, one arm outstretched in fear, the whip ripping across the back of her dress and leaving a bloody trail in its wake. Caroline screams out in agony, the shock of pain unbearable.
"Foolish girl!" Mikael shouts, yanking her sharply away from Kol and tossing her to the ground, "How dare you interfere!"
"Please!" Caroline shouts, tears streaming down her face, her gaze upturned as she looks at Mikael, "Please stop!"
He lifts the whip and stares at her, prepared to strike again, and Caroline braces for the pain to follow. It never comes, and when she opens her eyes Mikael is walking away stifling, the whip in his hand. She is too afraid to move at first, but before long she crawls towards Kol, weeping as she goes. "I'm so sorry…this is all my fault."
They lie there on the ground together quietly, catching their breath. Neither moves for fear of the searing pain that would follow, until they here footsteps and Klaus's fearful voice. "Brother—Thyra!" He crouches at Kol's side, horror in his gaze as blood coats his fingertips, examining the wounds on Kol's back. Then his gaze finds Caroline's, and the travel the length of her back. There is violent rage across his face, and cold and mirthless moment when Caroline is actually scared of Klaus.
"Enough is enough," Klaus snarls, on his feet, charging towards the hut as Rebekah runs past, wielding hot water and clean towels. Esther is with her, and just before Caroline passes out she can hear Rebekah's weeping, her gentle fingers brushing against her forehead, the sorrow and the regret dancing in her eyes.
When she wakes next, Esther is singing. She is lying in Ayana's hut, her back bare while Esther soothes the pain across her back with a healing salve that saps away the pain and eases the burn on her skin.
"Do you know why I stopped you?" Esther asks her, her voice gentle as the wind across a summer sky. When Caroline doesn't answer she continues, "I stopped you because you would have died should you try to return. You would have killed yourself and both my sons."
"I just wanted to go home," Caroline weeps quietly, "why won't you let me go?"
"That spell required my blood," Esther explains quietly, ignoring Caroline's words, "all my most powerful spells do—a failsafe in case someone stole from my grimoire." She lays clean white strips across her back to bandage the salve against her skin, smoothing them gently with sad eyes. "You are a good apprentice and would have made an excellent witch Thyra…but your confidence in your abilities is overestimated. If you had read the spell in its entirety you would have known about the failsafe—even Kol failed to notice it." She smiles wanly, "I enchanted the pages so hide it from anyone but a Mikaelson witch, and even then, you would need to be trained to read the inscription." After a beat she adds, "Understand that you would have died had you returned home. I do understand what you were when you came here but you were imbued in dark magic…something I do not understand. You were unnatural and upon arrival that magic was ripped away from you. You became human…most likely because whatever created you then does not exist now. If you had tried to return, there would be no magic to save you because the magic you had before would be gone."
Well shit.
She would have made it home only to suffocate to death in the middle of nowhere.
Fucking Katherine Peirce.
Leave it to that psychotic bitch to kill her a second time.
Caroline closes her eyes, the sound of Esther's humming as she works is soothing despite the anger she feels towards the woman. The next time she wakes, it is not Esther who is tending her bandages, but Rebekah.
"Leave me alone," Caroline scowls, flinching away from her touch.
"I have to clean them," Rebekah presses quietly, "If I don't they'll fester and you'll get sick."
"Then have you Mother do it," Caroline mutters, irritated with the other blond.
"She can't," Rebekah says after a beat, "Nik got hurt—he challenged my Father and….it didn't go well for him."
"He what?" Caroline starts to sit up, cries out and slumps back down on the little bed of furs.
"Oh stop that," Rebekah scolds lightly, "now your bleeding again!" she is quick to spread salve over the wounds that break open with Caroline's sudden movement before adding, "Niklaus was angry for what Father did to you…when dawn came he challenged Father…Father won—and he…" Rebekah pauses, inhaling sharply at the memory, "he pinned him to a tree with Rakul…put the blade through his shoulder."
"I'll kill him," Caroline says in quiet horror, the anger burning in her blood, "His own son…how could he do that to his own son!"
"You know," Rebekah says idly, "for two people who have no interest in each other…you certainly do get riled up when one of you is wronged." Rebekah finishes her work, sighing as she looks at Caroline, "and anyhow…" she pauses again, like what she has to say was something horrible and difficult, "I tried to kill him once…he would have killed Niklaus if I hadn't stopped him. I picked up Rakul and threatened him with it…and later that night while he slept…I stood over him with one of his hunting knives in my hand…the only reason I didn't slit his throat while he slept was because Elijah woke and stopped me." Then she takes her hand, meeting Caroline's gaze, "Never tell anyone I told you that—only Elijah knows—we kept it from Niklaus…I didn't want to trouble him."
"Can you imagine what danger you'd be in if you had?" Caroline says after a long while, "they would have hanged you."
"Mother wouldn't have allowed it," she replies quietly, "we would have fled…finally free of my wretched Father."
It is days before she can walk, the agony of her wounds leave her breathless. Esther doesn't ask much of her, she helps Rebekah get water, prepare supper, wash clothes. In the late afternoon she sits in the garden and plants flowers—it is a pass time she's come to love…it's peaceful and has become her sanctuary away from Mikael, a man she can no longer stomach to look at without wanting to flinch or tear his eyes out. From within the hut, she can hear Klaus moaning in his sleep—a fever has taken him.
"I'm coming," Caroline calls as she hurries inside, grabbing a wet wash cloth and smoothing it over his forehead, "I'm here Nik…I'm here," Caroline coos softly, checking his wound, cleaning it gently before rebandaging it. Esther was in the woods gather a special kind of flower that would seep the fever from his body and cleanse the infection—magic of course, she was fairly certain it would be.
"Thyra," he breaths softly, feverish eyes blinking open as he looks at her through a haze of pain, "Thyra…"
"Caroline," she smiles wanly—she's never told anyone her real name before. She hopes he doesn't remember it—she doubts he will. The fever will probably drive it from his mind. '
"Caroline…" he says softly and she smiles, his fingers tracing her lips when she does. "Would that I could make you smile like this all the time."
"You do more often than you think," Caroline tells him, batting away his hand gently as she works to cool him down. She recalls the night Elena Gilbert stole her prom dress and Klaus made sure she had an excellent replacement…or the night he gave her that lovely blue dress…or even that heart stopping night he danced with her and he promised that one day that little town she lived in wouldn't be enough…
Seriously…she had fantasies about that for weeks afterwards—it was super hard just pretending to hate him when all she wanted to do was jump him and tear off his clothes. That was right at the beginning though, when she wasn't sure what she felt when she was close to him, why she had all those butterflies in her belly, why looking at him intimidated her.
Klaus was a man, and she didn't know how to react. She'd dated guys before of course, but Klaus wasn't just another guy…he was cultured and he was smart, he was well read and he was handsome…and she was just some small-town girl trying to survive high school and college and here he comes on his not-so-white horse, trying to sweep her up and carry her off into the sunset.
Or at the very least to Tokyo…or France…or Paris…or wherever.
He frightened her, he intimidated her, he challenged her…but most of all, he wanted her—how often was she everyone's second choice? She was his first…he chose her over everything else and nobody had ever done that for her.
Now here he was, out there getting into sword fights to defend her honor. "What you did was crazy," Caroline says gently, "you could have been killed," she pauses and adds upon seeing the hurt and embarrassment dancing in his eyes, "and thank you…nobody has ever stood up for me like that."
It isn't long before he's back on his feet, wrestling with Elijah, running through the woods with Kol—teaching Henrik to use a hunting knife. Above her the sky is beautiful and blue, the breeze is cool and refreshing and the flowers perfume the air. Caroline has always liked the forest, but she wondered…not far from this village, perhaps a few miles was where Mystic Falls is founded. What was there now? A bunch of trees perhaps? Another village?
"Thyra!" a voice whispers from the brush, "Thyra—get down!"
"Henrik?" Caroline turns with a curious frown, ducking down beneath the brambles and foliage with him, "Henrik…what are you doing out here?"
"Following you," he says honestly, "you always walk the same path each day…always in the same direction—where are going?"
"I don't know," Caroline says tentatively, "Just wandering I guess."
"Well you very nearly wandered into deer trap," Henrik tells her, nodding towards a patch of thick foliage layered with thin branches and brush. "Beneath that is a hole Father and I dug to trap deer."
She can see them in the distance now, a flock of deer wandering the wooded areas nearby. Henrik must have seen them and feared she'd scare them off. "We'd be going hungry tonight if you'd startled them," he points out.
He teaches her about the kinds of traps the villagers set out in the woods, what to look for, where to step and where not to step. It was better to stick to deer paths and not wander in the foliage, stay away from the denser areas because the wolves tend to roam those places. Never stray far from the village without someone with her—never wander alone unarmed…there were more than just wild animals in these woods, there were people who would kill her simply because she came from the village. Men who would rape and murder her just for spite.
They walk together back to the village, Henrik helping her cut fruit from nearby trees to fill her basket, walking with her to gather fresh water from the stream to boil, wood for the fire…he was truly a kind young man.
It was a shame she never knew him better…in the days to come she would remember him, carry his smile in her heart and never quite recover from losing such a kind soul to the darkness of the world.
In the darkness, there is a dim light.
Above her head as she sleeps, the morning sunlight is seeping through the brick and mud above her head. Kol snores loudly beside her, Rebekah rolling over in her sleep as she struggles to block out the sound. Caroline rolls away from him, right into Elijah's arm. She grunts, making a face when he chuckles, amused by her sudden mistake.
"Ow," Caroline makes a face, "move your arm."
"You rolled onto my bed," Elijah points out, "I would suggest you take comfort in the bedding given to you." Though ever the gentlemen, he slides over to give her more space and she graciously takes it. Caroline loved having room to sprawl, and usually it was Nik and Rebekah who had to deal with that…however at the moment, for some weird reason he wasn't present.
Neither was Henrik, or Finn…or Mikael.
"Where is everyone?" Caroline whispers, rolling onto her side to look at Elijah.
"Hunting," Elijah says, "Father took them before dawn out into the woods."
"Would you two please be quiet?" Rebekah chimes in groggily, "some of us are still trying to sleep."
Caroline takes the hint, smiling apologetically at the siblings before climbing to her feet and dusting off her skirts, shaking the hay and dirt from the hem. She grabs an old brown woolen apron from near the door and ties it on, quickly braiding her hair over her shoulder before heading outside to go and get water for boiling. Her hair has grown long since she came here, nearly reaching the middle of her back now in thick wavy locks. Without the magic of a hair dryer or mousse, Caroline is forced to use old school methods to tame her wild hair. Water, a comb, and a little bit of wax to tame the frizzy bits. She hums while she works, risking life and limb inside the little wooden hut where the chickens were housed to retrieve eggs, risking fingers to feed the goats, haul water up by the bucket to bring to Esther so she can start breakfast.
"Good morning Ayana," Caroline beams as she approaches the hut, smiling at her friend. Ayana though distant has proven a good friend to her, always kind…knowledgeable, she reminded Caroline very much of Bonnie.
"Staying out of trouble?" she smiles cheekily at Caroline as she passes.
"Trying to," Caroline grins at her with a little shrug, stepping around Mikael as he chops wood to set the buckets down near the door of the hut. He hasn't looked her in the eye since the day he accidently hit her with his whip. Sometimes she thinks he feels guilty, other times she isn't sure he cares at all.
"Mother!" Nik's voice breaks the peaceful slumber over the village, his cries of alarm frighten everyone as Caroline straightens and turns to look at the boy slumped in Klaus's arms, blood staining his tunic. "Mother! Come quick! Help me!"
Esther bursts from the little hut, fear and panic on her face as she takes in the sight of Henrik sprawled in Klaus's arms. Caroline is left speechless as Esther pushes past her to examine her son. Klaus weeps silently, brokenly as he says, "I'm sorry…I didn't know he followed me…."
Esther feels for a pulse, her heart sinking as tears burn at her eyes and choke the screams of sorrow from her lungs. She looks up at Mikael and shakes her head forlornly.
"You went to see the wolves again didn't you boy?" Mikael rages angrily, glowering hotly at Klaus, "This is your fault! Your brother is dead because you!" He is a whirlwind of rage, and Caroline has never seen him so vicious as he backhands Klaus to the ground, rage and sorrow and hatred pouring off of him in waves. Then come the tears, and she watches him drop to his knees, clinging to his wife and dead child in such deep and unending sorrow Caroline can't seem to hate him in that moment.
"I'm sorry…" Klaus weeps brokenly, bloody fingers sliding over Henrik's pale face, "I'm so sorry…"
The funeral is a time of mourning and silence. Mikael spends most of his time deep in his cups after they burn Henrik's body on a traditional funeral pyre. Klaus keeps to the woods to evade his Father's wraith, driven from his home, he can't even sleep in doors. Ayana takes him in for a while, lets him sleep by her fire and Caroline brings him food and blankets. Esther fears Klaus near Mikael, she worries of what he might do. This is why Caroline is sent to find the flowers she uses to keep him asleep. They worked like a charm too, making him sleep off his anger and his drunkenness so he is easier to be dealt with.
"Mother is watching us again," Rebekah says dully, sitting by the stream, one hand on her knee as she braces her chin upon it, "The sparrows."
Caroline is sitting beside her, her gaze turned up towards the flock of birds in the trees around them, "she does that a lot lately."
"She's frightened," Rebekah says, "that wasn't any normal wolf attack…we all know it. Niklaus got our brother killed and yet I can't find it in me to hate him. He should have never wandered so far into the wolves' territory—if he hadn't, Henrik would still be alive."
The night Henrik was put to rest, Caroline witnessed Rebekah's wraith firsthand. The most passionate of the siblings save Klaus himself, Rebekah screamed and raged at her brother, violently slapping him repeatedly until Esther herself had to stop her. Tears stained her cheeks and her vibrant blond hair was a mess of tangles before it was over, Rebekah ran off and it took Caroline ages to find her. Days later, Rebekah still won't talk to Klaus, and now she sits by this same stream where Caroline found her before, staring drearily into the river.
"Klaus didn't know he was following," Caroline says quietly, "and believe me when I say nobody could possibly hate him more than he hates himself right now."
"Klaus?" Caroline says tentatively, stepping into Ayana's hut to find him sprawled on his back, an empty bottle of wine on the floor beside him. "That's not going help."
"Says who?" he mutters bitterly as his gaze finds hers, "I certainly don't feel much at the moment."
Caroline cleans up the mess, scowling at him lightly as she goes. Then she helps him up, yanking his shirt over his head to examine the scars on his shoulder where Mikael had injured him. "There almost healed," Caroline says, tentatively looking it over with gentle fingers.
"I should have died," he says darkly, looking up at her, "Henrik would be alive right now if I had."
Caroline stares down at him, cupping his face gently in her palms, "then I would never again have the pleasure of seeing your face Niklaus…of hearing you laugh. You did not kill Henrik, you didn't even know he was following you and I know you never meant for him to get killed—you are a good man—I believe in you Nik…I know you can do the right thing because I've seen it with my own eyes. You're the guy who writes me poetry and plays with his brothers…you are kind and you try to be generous when Mikael isn't being a total dick-…" she cuts off at the strange look he gives her, most likely because of her wording, "and you are…" she trails off, lost for words. "You are….you…." she licks her lips, struggling for words, "I like you…a lot. I can't bear the idea of you dying….I can't bear the idea of not having you at my side every day and I want to tear Tatia's hair out for hurting you. I want to kill Mikael for beating you…because I see the good man you are—I just wish they could see it too. I know Rebekah sees it…she's just really mad at you right now—she get over it though." She kisses his forehead, freezes when he tilts his head upward and catches her lips with his, unable to process what he was doing.
He was kissing her…actually kissing her.
She was kissing him back.
Her fingers slide into his hair and she deepens the kiss, pleased when he responds. His hands find her hips and pulls her down to him, their bodies sliding against the fur on the floor, lying side by side as they kiss. His hands cup and squeeze and caress over the cloth of her gown, Caroline scarcely able to breath with all the fire burning in her blood at his touch.
Shit…even when he's all muddy and sweaty she still wants him.
Now that takes talent.
When his hands find the hem of her skirt, sliding warm fingers up the skin of her bare thigh, she lets out a little moan of pleasure, wants those fingers in other important places, needs them there.
"Arhgghm," a voice interrupts, Ayana clearing her throat pointedly as she stands in the doorway with her back turned, idly staring up at the sky.
They jump apart so quickly Caroline nearly rolls into the fire. As it was, the hem of her gown is singed as she smacks away the flames that lick at the fabric before jumping to her feet and straightening her skirts, blushing as bright as a tomato.
Oh wow, she is so stupid.
She scolds herself when she leaves, unable to meet Ayana's gaze as she goes. What if he was just using her as some kind of booty-call to feel better? Maybe he didn't feel the way she did? Maybe he was using her? After all…it's what she feared of him back in Mystic Falls. It's what drove her away from him partly, the fear that he might just be another Damon Salvatore…another man to cast her aside like a broken toy when he got bored with her. Though she knew he was a good man…what parts of Klaus lurked in Nik? She never really got to know him that well back in Mystic Falls…she was too busy driving him away from her.
But she knew the Nik here.
She knew he wouldn't use her like that.
Yet for the next couple of days she was dodging him like a quarterback in a football game. One time she'd literally dove into a bush to hide and dragged Rebekah in with her—much to the latter's displeasure.
"What is going on with you two?" Rebekah demands irritably.
"I may have…made out with your brother," Caroline says sheepishly, unable to meet her gaze.
"Made out? What's that?" Rebekah asks curiously.
"Well…you know…I kissed him…a lot," Caroline explains.
Rebekah blanches visibly, a blush brightening her cheeks as she looks away in understanding, "I see…and…did you lay with him?"
"No!" Caroline blushes hotly, "we just…kissed a lot….and now I'm not sure what I want because I'm not sure what he wants and…" she pauses for a moment, staring at the forest floor in thought, "I knew this guy once…and he really hurt me….he cast me aside like a broken toy when he got bored with me…used me as a means to an end and I swore I would never let that happen to me again…"
"And you're afraid Nik will do that to you," Rebekah says in understanding before catching her friends gaze, "Thyra…that is not my brother…he is an honorable man and despite his many flaws…I know him to be a good man and he would never do that to do you."
Caroline nods, toying with the leaves of the bush they hide behind nervously, "you think so?"
"I know so," Rebekah says pointedly and then grows serious as she adds, "Please…don't hurt him. My brother is sensitive and loves deeply and passionately…if you don't care for him please don't torment him as Tatia did."
Caroline smiles reassuringly at her, "I won't."
"Can you fetch these for me?" Esther asks her one day as the bright noonday sun shone overhead outside. "You'll find them south of here, about a mile's walk—they grow by the river."
"Hemlock?" Caroline frowns at the list, "what do you need that for?"
Hemlock was often used many things, one of them being transformation. It could be used a symbol of rebirth is spell work. Why did this all sound so familiar? Why were there warning bells going off in her head?
"This…" Caroline frowns, staring at the list, "I feel like this is familiar…"
"It wouldn't surprise me," Esther says with a soft smile, "when you came here…I fed you tea—do you remember?"
"Yes," Caroline frowns nervously, not liking where this was going.
"The tea had magical properties…one of them was to sooth your nerves…the other acted as a means to blur your memories."
"You wiped my memory?" Caroline asks, horror etched across her features.
"Not wiped—not all of it, just enough to ease your mind and help you adjust here," Esther reassures her, "it is better you do not remember your past so that you might better accept your future."
"I don't understand…" Caroline says worriedly, panic racing through her blood. It was starting to make sense now, the bits of pieces of her scattered memory as they slowly slipped away from her over the past few months. Esther took her memories slowly, slow enough that she wouldn't notice until it was too late.
"Forgive me," Esther says gently, cupping her cheek, "It was for your own good—after you tried to steal from my grimoire I knew I needed to act quickly…the tea you drank…I made it stronger. I needed to know you wouldn't risk your life so recklessly ever again."
For a brief time, she just stared at Esther like the witch had gone crazy. Then she sits by the fire, tears burning in her eyes, "I just want to go home."
"I can't do that," Esther says apologetically as she offers her another cup of hot tea, "but I can ease your pain…drink…and you will feel no more sorrow about what you cannot recall…this will be your home and we shall be your family."
At a loss for words, as despair clawed at her heart…she drank the tea.
And then she forgot.
She's walking in the woods later that afternoon, a basket over one arm and a walking stick in the other. Behind her she hears the sound of hurried footsteps, sees Niklaus running after her, wild blond hair in the wind, that coy smile on his face. "You left the village so quickly…" he calls as he approaches, "I haven't seen you in days it feels like."
He makes her heart skip a beat every time he smiles at her.
Her Niklaus.
"I was…" what was she doing? Gathering Hemlock for Esther, sharing lunch with Rebekah, gathering firewood…. "Your Mother sent me to gather some herbs."
"Let me accompany you," he says earnestly, falling into stride beside her, "You shouldn't wander alone in these woods."
"Good thing I brought enough food to feed you too," Caroline smiles, motioning to the basket in her arms.
They walk for ages it feels like, the wind in the trees, the smell of foliage and flowers and moss along the rocks of the river as they trail along it, searching for Hemlock. When they find it, he helps her gather some of it, tucking it away neatly into the basket before sprawling out with him along the side of the river, eating slices of peaches and sharing a loaf of bread. They drink blueberry wine and sunbath against the rocks along the river, Caroline listening to the sound of his breathing as he naps beside her. It was so peaceful here in the sunlight, the rush of the river and the song the birds in the trees. She curls against him, her head on his shoulder as his arm curls around her, anchoring her to him as she listens to his heartbeat.
"Are we ever going to talk about what happened?" he asks after a beat, his fingers curling in her hair.
"I'm afraid," Caroline admits quietly, unable to meet his gaze, "I knew this guy once and he used me…and…"
"I wouldn't do that," his voice is sharp as he cuts in, stiffening against her.
"I know that," Caroline says reassuringly, "I just panicked."
"Thyra," he says gently, turning onto his side to face her, his fingers curling beneath her chin as she looks up at him, "I will never do that to you."
"I'm afraid," Caroline whispers softly.
Of course, she was scared…but he didn't understand the extent of it. Though her memories have faded and turned into nothing but mere shadows of dreams, she can still see flashes of the Klaus she knew, of the man with the cruel smile and the flashing golden eyes, the man with the coy smile and the unending charm…which was which?
She was so confused.
He leans close, sliding his lips against hers and she responds, she can't help herself. There was joy in kissing him, lying here at his side in the warm sun and simply enjoying his presence. When the sun dips low, they walk back to the village hand in hand, Klaus pressing kisses to their clasped hands, grinning as he tells her stories of his boyhood and the troubles he and Elijah got into in the woods. Everything felt so normal, so safe.
Caroline was happy like this, happy with this man, happy with this village…she never wanted to leave.
But sometimes happy endings aren't so happy.
"To the harvest," Esther smiles warmly, toasting to her family with goblet outstretched. They all drink deeply, revel in the roasted meat, the cheese, the bread. There is laughter and there is dancing under the moonlight outside, a bonfire roaring with life as Caroline and Nik turn and twirl and sway to the music. He sneaks kisses and drinks deeply from his goblet, sharing the sweet tasting wine with her, licking the taste of it from her lips even as the crowing of others around them laugh with amusement and joy.
In the shadows Caroline and Klaus sneak off while the others celebrate the autumn harvest, and he presses her against the side of a tree, sliding his hands under her skirts, hoisting her up in his arms as she curls her legs around his waist. Her heart races with love as they kiss, passionate and slow and deep as they rock against each other, his body hardening against hers, teasing her from within his breeches.
"Niklaus put her down and come dance with us!" Rebekah scolds, laughing when her brother nearly drops Caroline in embarrassment, blushing brightly. Caroline squeals and drops her skirts, scowling at Rebekah for interrupting them.
"Leave it to my sister," he mutters as he adjusts his pants and blushes when Caroline notices the evidence of his desire for her.
"Take a few breaths before you go out there maybe?" Caroline suggests with a blush and a grin.
"I'd need more than a few breaths to put this to bed love," he says to her as he meets her gaze, "I hardly think standing so close to you is helping either."
Caroline giggles as she kisses him, nibbling at his bottom lip, tugging gently, making him groan in desire as his hands catch her waist and push her back against the tree. She laughs as she evades him, a challenge in her eyes as she runs back towards the bonfire and the rest of the village.
"Minx," he grins wickedly and follows, snatching at her skirts as she runs to evade him.
These would be the last moments they shared as humans, blissfully unaware of what awaited them. In the years that would follow Caroline would look back at those moments as one of the best times of her life with him, when they were human and in love, when they smiled and laughed and nothing troubled them.
She would miss it.
They sit around the fire inside their hut in the early hours of morning when the village had gone to bed, drinking wine as they lie by the fire, sprawled near each other telling stories. Rebekah had already begun to doze off, her head in Elijah's lap. Esther was smiling as she listened, cleaning up and preparing for bed. Her gaze drifted across each of them, watching them drink deeply from the goblets they held, taking the wine she offers each of them in turn and drinking it promptly. Caroline is half asleep, lying back on the furs beneath her as she lets the warmth of the fire carry her off into sleep.
This peace is short lived however.
It begins with a scream, Rebekah is screaming and she doesn't understand why, but when she sits up, her vision blurry and her stomach turning she knows there is something horribly wrong. The taste of wine in her mouth is bitter and coppery, and she realizes with quiet horror that it must have always tasted that way…had she masked it? When her gaze settles on Elijah, blood seeping from a wound to his gut, Mikael wielding Rakul…she staggers back and trips over Klaus, who stirs drunkenly and sits up, horror in his gaze as he sees what's happening. He cries out when Mikael strikes Rebekah next, charging forward, struggling to wrestle the sword from his grip. "NO!" he roars as Rebekah crumbles to the ground, "NO!"
Caroline scrambles to her feet, shielded by Kol when Mikael overpowers Klaus and runs his through with a vicious gleam in his eye, shoving his body to the floor.
"NIK!" Caroline screams, struggling to get past Kol but to no avail, his determination to shield her keeping her behind him.
"No!" he snarls at her, "stay back—Father…Father stop this madness!" His magic is useless against Mikael but he tries anyways, only to be overpowered by Esther. When Mikael runs him through, Kol crumbles to his knees in pain and collapses sideways.
She was cornered now, Mikael charging forward, determination in his gaze. "No…please…stop!"
Her pleas go unheard when his blade pierces her chest, Caroline gasping in shock and pain, horror in her gaze as she clutches with bloody fingers at his tunic, "Please…stop."
He doesn't stop, not till Finn is dead, his blood seeping into the ground beneath him. Caroline's last moments are these images, her beloved Niklaus dead by the fire, Rebekah sprawled like a broken doll near Elijah…Kol gasping for breath as he reaches for Caroline's hand in a kind of effort to comfort her, fear and sorrow and rage in his eyes.
It felt like falling asleep after that, her hand in Kol's, the siblings scattered around the fire as Esther wields a dagger and stabs Mikael, watches him collapse to the ground as well.
"It is done," Esther announces aloud, gazing down at her fallen family. "Forgive me…" she whispers brokenly, her gaze on her children's faces, "I had no choice."