Only a few minutes had passed since they left the Salvatore Boarding House, and Stefan found himself just beyond the city limits of Mystic Falls. Confusion clouded his expression as he glanced back at Caroline, who was stranded on the other side, and the car they had left running idling beside her. "Why aren't you coming?" he called out.
Caroline felt frustration boil inside her as she cursed under her breath, slamming her hand against the hood of the car. She made another attempt to cross the invisible line that separated her from freedom from the small town, but an unseen barrier stopped her in her tracks pushing her a few feet back from the line. "I… oh, I'm going to murder someone!" she growled, anger radiating from her. Why can't things go her way? She wanted to leave, she needed to leave. "I think a witch has put a spell on me to keep me from leaving the city. I'm completely stuck!"
"Who would want you to stay in Mystic Falls, Caroline?" Stefan wondered aloud as he turned back to her, realizing there was no point in leaving the town without her. She hesitated, caught between her mounting frustration and the unsettling secret she had uncovered about herself—the persistent feeling that she might be a Mikaelson. Deep down, she was plagued by the fear that the very person who wanted to confine her to this small-town nightmare could be connected to the Mikaelson family, the family that scared both Salvatore brothers to their core. The uncertainty of how Stefan would react to her potential lineage gnawed at her, leaving her grappling with a mix of anxiety and dread.
It had only been two days since the storm that Elijah and NiKlaus tore Caroline away from the spot where they buried their child, a spot she wanted to spend every moment she could at. She wasn't alone; her older brother, Elijah—whom she had dropped the "in-law" from since her wedding—stood a few feet behind her. "Thank you for being here with me, Elijah," she whispered, her hand pressed to the earth, tears brimming in her eyes as she struggled with the world around her, the devastation of losing her infant and everything else that seemed to surround her.
"Of course," Elijah replied gently. He paused for a moment before lowering himself to the ground beside her. "I'm sorry that Niklaus couldn't be here with you, Caroline." He knew that Niklaus was occupied elsewhere in the village, addressing a matter at their mother's request. "I'll always be here for you if you need company and Niklaus can't be that person for you," he assured her, he promised her.
She offers him a faint smile in appreciation before resting her head against him, seeking solace. "This grief has changed me forever; I'll never be the same," she confides, keeping her hand pressed to the earth. This small gesture of putting her skin against the earth made her feel closer to what she has lost. "It feels like this pain will never lessen." And if she was going to be honest, she was unsure if she wanted this pain to go away as it reminded her of the person she lost.
Elijah frowned. He understood that no words could ease the younger woman's pain; some wounds take time to heal as the elders would say. Although Caroline couldn't see it at that moment, he believed the weight of her grief would eventually lighten as time passed. He knew it would never go away, their child would always be with them, be a part of them but the pain would lessen. So, he chose to sit quietly beside her, offering solace in their shared silence.
Caroline's eyes filled with tears as memories of her son's gravesite flooded her mind, enveloping her in sorrow. To her astonishment, she felt unable to let the tears fall; they remained trapped. Her mind was numb, pushing back against the overwhelming pain that loomed over her. She yearned to see her son's face, to remember his name, to hold onto any detail about him that wasn't tainted by the chilling nature of death and the earth that covered him. She believed she had managed to turn off her emotions, but they were stubborn, refusing to be silenced for long. Her detachment lasted mere hours. Caroline's gaze wandered to Stefan, standing a few feet away, worry etched on his face. When their eyes met, she realized he had noticed the tears brimming in her eyes—there was no point in hiding her anguish. "These memories are hurting you," he said gently, his words like a gentle breeze in a tempest. "What are you remembering, Caroline?" He sincerely wanted to support her, even though he felt uncertain about how to do so.
An intense wave of emotion surged within her, igniting a powerful urge to cry. The spell had succeeded; after all her years of effort, it had finally worked. "They're my family. If these memories are true, they're my family," she admitted. Yet the unvoiced thoughts—the feelings of rejection that made her believe she wasn't wanted, and the deep yearning for family—remained locked inside her.
Stefan's eyes widened at her hushed revelation, noticing how Caroline's gaze dropped to the ground, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Who is?" he asked softly. Stefan had a feeling what she was about to say.
"I knew him as Niklaus, not Klaus," Caroline answered, her voice barely audible. "I became part of the Mikaelson family when I was human; Niklaus was my husband, and I was his wife. He loved me, Stefan. He cherished every part of me and I him." She exhaled a shaky breath, she could recall the small touches NiKlaus and her shared before marriage, how he made her heart beat faster by just smiling at her. "Elijah was my older brother. I have fleeting memories of the other siblings, though their names escape me."
The realization hit him like a bolt of lightning—Caroline was a Mikaelson. She was one of the Originals, the missing Original. "That's why you could compel Damon," Stefan said softly, remaining rooted in place. The new revelations didn't frighten him; in his eyes, she was still Caroline.
"I didn't realize I could do that," she began, her voice soft yet tinged with a hint of panic. As she reflected on it, she was fairly certain she had never done anything like that before. "I was just angry with him. Your brother knows how to push my buttons…" Damon loved to push everyone's buttons.
"Since it seems you're stuck here, what..." Stefan began, but faltered mid-sentence as he heard footsteps approaching the car.
Caroline pivoted on her heels, poised to confront whoever dared to approach from behind. As she turned, she was met by the striking figure of Rebekah Mikaelson. With her long, golden hair cascading down her shoulders and piercing blue eyes that sparkled with mischief, Rebekah exuded an air of elegance and confidence. In that moment, a flood of memories washed over Caroline—images of her wedding morning, when Rebekah had lovingly styled her hair. The name that escaped Caroline's lips was filled with recognition and emotion: "Rebekah."