Hello again! The response to this story is starting to slow down which I suppose is to be expected. That being said, I am going to try to keep the decent pace and rhythm that I seem to have already so that those of you who read but just don't tend to review aren't missing out on anything. I'm not going to hold this story hostage for ego boosts. ;P Besides, I am really looking forward to sharing what I have planned even if getting there takes time. So thank you to all of my lovely readers! Happy reading. :D

I've been neglecting my rounds in the city with all of the drama that has been going on, so I make it a point to visit the Garden. What I learn is most disturbing to me.

"I have news," the raspy voice of Peter, one of the vampires I speak with, says.

"Well don't keep me in suspense."

"Marcel was here. And the Original was with him. The pretty one."

"Rebekah?"

"Yes." He struggles to swallow the little bit of blood I have brought him. "The way they were talking...they're going to try to bring down Klaus. Lock him up down here with the rest of us to rot."

The anger and disappointment I feel is deeper than any I've felt in a long time. "Anything said about me?"

"Marcel did mention that you knew too much. But that you had skipped town a long time ago. He hasn't seen you since that night you marched out after he cursed the pack you run with."

"Hmm. Perhaps it's time that changed." I look at him thoughtfully. "I think the time for freedom is fast approaching Peter. If Marcellus is planning something, I have to act quickly."

He forces a smile. "That's the best news I've heard in the last two decades."

To say that Klaus is furious about this turn of events would be an understatement. "Arghhh," he yells as he tosses a heavy oak chair across the room.

"Niklaus," Elijah chastises.

"Save it brother. Our little sister is conspiring against us, and all you can say is 'Niklaus'?!"

Elijah and I continue to sit calmly. "I had been hoping we could deal with our witch problem first. But I am afraid that the vampire problem is a little more pressing at the moment. We take the compound and then we have those resources."

"And what? Reveal our alliance?" Klaus inquires. "The whole point of keeping our cooperation private was to keep the witches in the dark."

"So once you have the kingdom back we stage a fight. We declare a false war between the vampires and the werewolves. It's not far fetched. The witches will think we are distracted and will be more likely to make a crucial mistake."

Klaus sighs and sits heavily in the seat across from me. "Then we divide and conquer. Elijah will stay here and continue keeping an eye on Hayley. I don't like it, but she is obviously most comfortable with you, and in her condition, stress is probably the last thing she needs."

Elijah seems to be surprised by the concern Klaus is showing. But I am not. It is clear to me that Klaus already loves the unborn child, and a grudging respect for the woman who carries her.

"Julia and I will face Marcel. I doubt he'll be expecting to see us standing together. I'm certain that he and Rebekah will be so unnerved by it that they will start to panic."

Given that Marcel knows that I know what really happened in 1919, I am certain that the panic they feel will be tremendous.

Hayley enters with one hand resting protectively over her stomach. I look up at her and smile. "Did you have a nice lunch with Eve?"

"Yes, thank you. But I don't understand," she says. "She won't tell me much about you. I gather that you've been around for longer than Marcel has. That you raised him like a son. Something that I had thought only Klaus did. But how did you come to the werewolves? To know my family?"

I shake my head. "A story for another time, dear. And it's a story that only I can tell. I am not a werewolf, and I didn't feel it was my place to tell you much about your people, just as Eve doesn't feel it's her place to tell you of me. But we will talk. I promise."

She nods and I am struck again by how much she looks like her mother.

The relieved laughter in the room is contagious. A little girl with a patch of jet black hair finally cries for the first time as her father hands her to her mother.

"Oh. Hello there, Andrea Lebonair."

The parents coo over their new born daughter a little more before the father looks to the woman as my side. "Lana, would you like to see her?"

Lana's smile grows wide. "I would love to."

Father reaches down and begins to hand the little bundle over. "Meet you alpha, little one."

Lana laughs as the little girl's hand catches on her hair. "Oh aren't you precious."

She brings her over towards me and I smile down at her even as I try to keep a hold of the rambunctious two year old boy in my arms. Lana rolls her eyes. "Calm down, Baby Devil. Look. This is Andrea, the newest member of our pack."

He scrunches up his face and hides it in my neck, much to the amusement of all of the adults in the room. I smile at the proud parents. "She's beautiful. You made an amazing little girl."

And now that amazing little girl is a full grown woman about to become a mother herself. Will wonders never cease?

I look back at Klaus and smirk. "I think perhaps it's time to put the rumor mill to good use. Word of my presence in the city is bound to make Marcel nervous."

Klaus smirks in return.

Elijah sighs. "I do wish that the two of you would try diplomacy first. Rebekah is bound to be happy to discover that Julia is alive and well."

"Somehow I doubt that Elijah. If you recall, Rebekah wasn't exactly peachy keen with me after being daggered for fifty-two years. She shut out Marcellus and me for a while. We never quite went back to the way we were before."

"Even still. War is a messy business."

"It is also inevitable, brother," Klaus reminds him. "We are already at war. The only thing left to do now, is to win."

And thus we continue planning. For the return of the king is imminent, and I will have Marcellus on his knees begging for my forgiveness.