It was cold the night Niklaus Mikaelson died. The sky was silent, the stars weren't sparkling as before, because a light in this world was gone. The birds started singing loud and wild, alerting the world of a star that fell and wouldn't return to those that grieved. It was just them and Elijah's screams that wouldn't stop. The wind was blowing at the windows, warning the ones that were still standing, for now, of the storm that was to come. A storm that when it arrived, it was almost imitating Nik's cries of pain these past years. The world almost stopped moving the night Niklaus Mikaelson died, but that night wasn't today. Today he was still breathing, still fighting for the moment. Today he was still there.

in a golden morning, not long ago*

Freya was smiling so hard, Keelin and Henrik right next to her. The baby in the blonde's arms was peacefully sleeping. A new life was found, a new heir, a new Mikaelson. They needed to protect him at all costs, to protect his innocence, his love for joy, because theirs was taken from them a long time ago. Despite, right now they felt complete, Keelin was looking with adoration at her son, her little baby boy, ready to protect him from the world, as well as Freya. Freya, whom Keelin was ready to protect as well, to care for regartless. It was her turn to be loved, to be cared for, protected by someone other than herself.

Henrik was peacefully smiling next to them, thrilled by the idea to be an uncle to a child just a few years younger than him. Vincent just left the room, to give the family, now complete, some alone time.

Henrik was looking with admiration at his oldest sister, that practically raised him, that has been so strong, as always. He couldn't believe how amazing his sister had been, how strong. He knew she was the most wonderful woman on this planet, he admired her so much. She was so powerful, she even brought life into this world.

"Are you alright, my love?" Keelin put her right hand on her wife's forehead, while the left one was on Henrik's.

"I couldn't have been better. Is the laptop ready?"

The other woman nodded, opening the video camera on the laptop in front of them. The biologist's siblings faces appeared on it, with Niklaus in the middle. A thousand of questions popped in once, the siblings living in New Orleans happy to met their new family member, their beloved nephew.

"What's his name?"

"How are you, Freya?"

"How many pounds does he weight?"

"How was the birth, Freya?"

"How's his health?"

"Is he healthy?"

"How are you feeling, sister?"

"The name?"

"Are you feeling well, sister?"

"How is Keelin?"

"Do you like the baby, Henrik?"

"What's the baby's name?"

"How is our beautiful nephew?"

Freya started laughing, then slowly adressed to her family.

"We are all feeling fine, wonderful, actually." she took a break, in which her eyes started sparkling so hard you could not hold your smile while looking at them. It was pure happiness, pure love. It had a light that could never be extinguished. Keelin smiled as well from her place next to Freya on the bed, and her joy could shine up the whole world. Henrik was in Keelin's arms, looking at the baby in Freya's like at an angel. "We want you all to met our son, Niklaus Mikaelson-Marlaux. Nik" she said, while looking at the one that their son was named after, her blonde little brother. Her favourite sibling.

Niklaus was her favourite sibling, from the moment he was born. She never thought she would love someone much more than she loved Finn when they were little, before Elijah was born, but she did. And as sad as it was, as Finn grew up, he distanced himself from Freya and grew closer to their neglecting mother. She would never say it (for her siblings' sake), but Niklaus was her favourite, out of all, he was the ray of sunshine she needed. He was her first baby, the first sibling she was old enough to raise.

"Really? Oh, Reya. Thank you~ thank you so much." Klaus looked so surprised, yet so amazed by the news, a few tears in his eyes.

"We could not think of a more perfect name, Nik." Keelin added.

Henrik was jumping up and down, while Elijah was looking lovely at Niklaus, such as Rebekah and Kol, all overjoyed by the new Mikaelson soul and his name. Their smiles were so high, so powerful, as if they didn't have a care in the world. Even if the distance was keeping them away until Klaus would need to go to England, it was like they were all in the same room, in the same country, together regartless, always and forever. Always and forever, for their Niks.

present*

Caroline knew the way she reacted to Damon and Elena wasn't okay, but it was justified. Stefan had Sheila, Bonnie's grandmother and almost his adoptive one to take care of him, but Damon was his brother, the one he used to look up to when they were kids, and he didn't even need to take care of him 24/7 as Elijah used to do for Klaus, he just needed to be there. At least talk to him once a month. But he didn't, not for a moment, and Caroline was sure Damon hasn't seen Stefan in years and years. After all, Damon only cared about himself and Elena, as always. He was quick to start dating Elena after Stefan's accident, he didn't even wait one week to date the girl his brother saved.

Caroline exhiled and got her white heels on. Today her mother wanted to go to the Grill, where some old friends would be. Tyler included. The young woman was glad she could avoid seeing him until now and was able to miss the event where she would have been made to interact with all the people she used to know, but now she couldn't invent excuses anymore.

Tyler left a dark place in her heart, but she wasn't 17 anymore, she wasn't a high schooler he could manipulate anymore. If she needed to interact with him, she would show him how strong she had become. As she brushed her hair she thought about Klaus, about what she would do when he would eventually leave this world. She had never been so attached to a patient before, she had never thought about a patient as a forever part of her heart before. She cared about the patients she had before, but she cared as a nurse, as their caregiver, not as something else. Klaus was special, he was different from any other person she has met before.

Caroline wished and knew that there was a way Klaus could heal or live a little longer, steal a few more years from this lifetime. She knew there's always another way. Somewhere, written in some forgotten language, in some city lost in lava likely lies buried the secret to having everything they want, all at once. But they were never gonna find it, because they weren't special, they didn't have magic or any kind of powers to help them. They were human, and humans got hurt, got sick, and sometimes never woke up. It was reality, and it wasn't fair. Caroline would give almost anything to reset the clock and make Niklaus live. Maybe in some other universe they would have the life they deserved, maybe in some other world they would have children, a house, a dog and a cat. They would see the world. But it was not that Universe.

Caroline let out a breathe she didn't know she was holding. Her hand was shaking a little as she looked in the mirror. They say you become the person your teenage self would have trusted and she did. She was everything she wished to become and more. So when she walked into the Lockwoods garden, she wasn't anything else but confident. Her childhood friends and her own family had failed her a long time ago, but she was not going to fail herself.

Tyler was standing next to the fountain chatting with Elena, while Damon was over to the bar. Caroline passed by them not even giving them a glance, because in her thoughts about the ones that used to be her friends some worries accoured, some worries about the ones that were almost friends to her now. Did Elijah understand how to feed Klaus his nutrients? Were Freya and Keelin able to call as often as they wanted? Did Klaus get enough rest, did his meds help? What if something happened and they weren't able to contact Caroline? Keelin and Freya went back to the UK, and the hospital was close to Nik's house, but what if? What if something happened, they don't get to him in time and Niklaus~ And Niklaus dies? What if he dies and Caroline is in a completely different state? What if he dies and Caroline isn't there to hold his hand, to whisper him kind words and to make it hurt less?

With those dark thoughts in mind, she watched as she looked at her phone, the ID called making her heart skip a beat:

"Elijah".

Author note: Hi, I'm sorry I've been gone for so much time. Sometimes inspiration, time and will are hard to find, but my love for writing never left my soul. I will try to keep writing this story, I hope I will manage to as well. I'm not sure, but I hope . I want to thank all of you that enjoyed my stories, all of you have a special place in my heart and always will have. Thank you so much

I will try to return to updating the fics and posting new ones, I will try, and I hope I will succeed as well. I can't make any promises, but I will say that my passion for what I'm doing will never die. Maybe I will update again, sooner or later, time will tell. I do wish to, very much.