The sickening sound of the sword plunging through her heart made everything in him freeze for a moment. It was all just too much; the image of the same weapon being used in the same way that made him what he was now killing his mate was too much. Especially as he took in the appearance of his own mother taking the life of the one woman who completed him, Mikael surely watching on from a distance.

He flitted to her as she began to fall, catching her in his arms and bringing her gently to his chest. He fell to his knees slowly, his eyes only on her as she looked up into his eyes, shock and pain warring in hers and on her delicate features.

“Nik…”

“Hush, love,” he said in their ancient language, his eyes flittering over her, memorizing every inch of her face as his hand came to cup her cheek. “Don’t speak. I have you. I’m here.”

“Don’t forget me,” she breathed, struggling for breath as she looked up into his eyes. She longed to reach for his face one final time, but her limbs were heavy. She was dying. Tears, one after the other, slid down her cheeks.

He swallowed against the lump in his throat, eyes wet with tears which spilled over onto his cheeks and fell to his love’s face. She was dying. His voice was hoarse but full of passion as he spoke to her in slow whispers, his hand caressing her hair as his eyes bored into hers. “Like the coast could forget the ocean, or the lung could forget the breath, or the earth could forget the sun. I cannot forget you, love, but memories are not enough. I will do everything in my power to bring you back to me.” He sealed his promise with a kiss to her forehead, closing his eyes as he felt the life leave her as he heard her breathing and heartbeat stop.

Pain immobilized him, and it was only the help of his brother, Elijah, that caused him to move some hours later. But his words stirred the drive and determination within him to a new focus that would last one thousand years. “We will bring her back, brother. And we will avenge her. Always and forever, that was our pledge. And we will stick to it.

~

Time as an immortal when one had lost their mate goes by painfully and slowly. But for Niklaus, this time was used putting all energy into getting his mate back. He was impatient, though, and so when Elijah and he had finally figured out exactly what their mother had done to keep Isa’s soul from him, it felt like far more centuries had passed than actually had.

The information was collected in bits. First, they found that Isa’s resurrection had been bound to the the curse that trapped Klaus’s wolf within his body, lighting his body in an internal, aching agony every month on the full moon as his body was compelled to ignore the call it so longed to give into.

Then, they gathered information on the curse itself. A moonstone was required for a witch to chant the words which would channel the power of the full moon into the stone used to curse him in the first place. Rings of fire circled a vampire, a werewolf, and a human doppelgänger, all of whom would have to be sacrificed to unleash his wolf.

This, in turn, called for more research into a doppelgänger, and it did not take much for them to learn of the supernatural being. Then they were off. Niklaus and Elijah scoured the world for a doppelgänger, but none was found. It was not yet time. Niklaus was impatient, but with his brother by his side and supporting him, he was able to calm himself to delve into the research again. This was only after he put out the word to all he could for any doppelgänger to be caught and him notified—and he gave them a drawing of Tatia, whom they’d discovered was actually the first doppelgänger of the Petrova line, whose blood was used to turn their family, and thus whose line would need to be used to break the curse.

In the heat of this discovery, Klaus had almost but not quite forgotten his mate, at least quite distracted from the pain. Until one night, he found himself in despair. With a bottle of alcohol already drunk and the second one nearly empty in his clutches, he turned to his brother, tears in his eyes. “What good is all of this to me if I cannot bring her back? We don’t even know if we can. For all we know, these breadcrumbs are designed by Mother to lull me into a false sense of hope. How is this is all connected to my Isa?”

“Niklaus, calm yourself,” Elijah said steadily, the voice of reason as always between the two. “From what I have read, it would seem that in breaking your curse, your mate’s body will become available to us in some way, and the spell valid. I am not sure how yet, brother, and I do not have the spell. I did not want to tell you any of this until I was certain…”

“Until you were certain it was even possible to bring her back at all,” Klaus finished for him, slumping into the chair in the room. He looked up at his brother, still clutching to the bottle in his hand before taking a swig. “You should have told me.”

“I didn’t want—“

Niklaus smirked. “You did not want to inform me of this turn in your research until you had concrete proof because if you fed me false hope only to be wrong, I would not only end my own life but yours as well. Yes, brother, I am well aware.”

Elijah swallowed, brow creased as he took in his brother’s bitterness. He was a shell of the man he’d been when his mate was alive and well, and his main motivation behind helping Niklaus was to bring that man—his brother—back. “No, brother, I did not wish to tell you because if I had given you false hope only to be wrong, I could never live with myself.” He looked down at him, resting his hand on his brother’s shoulder and watching as he swallowed at the contact. His voice was even softer as he continued, “After the hand you’ve been dealt, brother, you deserve to be reunited with her. I only hope that it can be on this plane and not The Other Side that it occurs.”

He left the room then, leaving Niklaus to his pain and the numbing solution of alcohol.

~

It was not until 1473 that a breakthrough reached the two brothers.

The second doppelgänger was born Katerina Petrova.

It was only Elijah, of course, whom had held his brother back once the news had reached them. “We must wait as long as we can, brother. If she gives birth to a child, then there is hope for another doppelgänger should something go wrong. For now, we will gather the moonstone, the werewolf, and the vampire.”

With logic like that, it was hard for Niklaus to refuse. After all, if he did not heed his brother’s warning and their attempt failed, then his Isa’s soul was doomed.

So as much as it pained him, they waited a further seventeen years until, in 1490, news of her birth to a daughter reached them. During that time, they had found the moonstone, and gained a trusted witch whom they’d guided through the needed proceedings for both the curse ritual and Isa’s revival spell, which Elijah had found one hundred or so year ago. As soon as they’d heard of her pregnancy, they had gained intelligence through their witch as to her whereabouts, and had sought a vampire and werewolf for the sacrifice as well.

They left that night, and stole her away.

All went as planned. The human doppelgänger was no match for the two of them, and nor were the werewolf and vampire, subdued as they were until the last moment. Klaus killed all three, ripping the werewolf’s heart from their chest and staking the vampire before turning to Katerina and draining her until not a drop of blood was left in her body and the breath had long left, her heart puttering to a stop.

His brother watched on, the perfect picture of both calm and anticipation, arms crossed over his chest as he stood next to the witch. Niklaus waited after the thud of Katerina’s body hitting the ground met his ears, and yet there was no change in him. He looked up at the full moon, his eyes closing as he felt the pain as strong as ever.

They had failed.

Throwing his head back with a shout of heartbreak, he raced from the scene and unto the town unsuspecting, his rage and pain propelling him forward as he slaughtered the village. Elijah found him hours later, sitting in a fountain, the water long bloodied and bodies all around him, blood still dripping from his mouth. Niklaus, hearing his approach, looked up and as his hollow blue eyes locked with his brother’s, his pain and rage caused him to sink back into the water as the tears streamed down his cheeks.

They had failed, and now, it seemed, his mate was doomed.

Niklaus became a recluse in the dwellings he shared with his brother. Elijah, feeling the pain his brother had almost as his own, had killed the witch in his own fury and self-anguish. He had been so sure, so positive. There was something they were missing, but what?

Niklaus spent less and less time within the house, and more and more out and about unleashing his torment on others—humans, wolves, vampires. Anyone. Elijah made no move to stop him, both understanding his pain and respecting it. There was no fear of their parents, as Niklaus had sought their end the first one hundred years after that night before finally succeeding. And so he let his brother roam free as he tried to bring himself back into the mind frame he knew he needed. It was only him who could keep his brother afloat.

“Niklaus,” he called softly as he watched the man in question walk toward the door a few nights later. His brother stopped but did not turn, instead inclining his head as he waited, tensed and angry but at the same time lost and broken for the words to come. “We will try again. We will do more research, gain more understanding of the curse, perhaps of the doppelgänger’s role—it seems they are most important in all of this. And then we will wait for the next doppelgänger and try again. I will not give up, brother, even if you do.”

Elijah did not think Klaus would speak at first, but then, a few minutes later, he heard the simple, hoarse words “thank you” leave his brother’s mouth, before he straightened again and walked out the door. Determined and focused once again, Elijah nodded to himself and began his search for answers.

He would find them. He had to.

~

Centuries passed until, in the 1700s, they found themselves in New Orleans with Rebekah. Elijah had long ago promised to keep the existence of Isa a secret, and thus, even now, they had to tread lightly in her company, which of course put a damper on research. Klaus had lost himself over the centuries to his bitterness and anger, now a much different man to the one he was seven hundred years ago when he had his mate by his side, no matter how short a time that had been. Elijah often found himself longing to be able to step back into the past. If he could have, he would have done more to keep her alive just so his brother, her mate, would not be this way. Just so their family was not so broken as a whole, lines dividing them.

On this night, Niklaus and Elijah found themselves alone in the house. Rebekah was still in mourning after Klaus had killed her beau in retaliation to her teasing about him having no one to love and no one who loved him. Elijah had jumped in to stop her, defending Klaus, but the bitterness had caught up with him and he’d slipped out to pay his sister’s beau a visit. With the house to themselves, this was Elijah’s chance to enlighten Niklaus on the discovery he had made.

Klaus was on the balcony, overlooking the city that he and his siblings had built. He was thinking of his Isa. He smiled softly at the thought of her, holding his glass of bourbon to his lips as he leaned over the balcony railing.

Sensing Elijah’s presence as he quietly stepped just outside the door, he murmured, “She would have loved it here.” He barely spared his brother a glance as he spoke the words, instead opting to look down at the glass of liquor in his hand. “The atmosphere… She would have really loved it here.”

Elijah swallowed and looked down, before he walked to his brother’s side. He leaned over the balcony, looking at Niklaus as he took the glass from him and drank the rest of the bourbon before setting the glass on the nearby table. “She will love it here, brother. When you show her what we have built here, she will love it.” He looked at his brother, whom kept his eyes pointedly in front of them. “I have the answer, Niklaus.”

The sandy haired man’s head whipped around, and he simply stared at his brother beside him. Blinking and swallowing, he looked away, leaving for a second before returning with two glasses of bourbon, one of which he handed to Elijah before standing again beside him. “And?” The words came nonchalantly, falsely uncaring.

Elijah frowned, immediately considered for what exactly was going through his younger brother’s mind. “Niklaus, I’m not sure you grasp exactly what I’m saying—”

“Oh, I do,” Klaus replied, voice dripping with bitterness as he cut him off. He took another swig of his glass. “I’m just struggling to see the point of it all anymore. If it were not for my love for her, she would not be dead by our mother’s hand. Perhaps she is better off outside of my reach. Perhaps my love really is the poison Rebekah swears it to be.”

“You cannot be serious,” Elijah intoned, voice growing louder in his disbelief. He ignored the Rebekah comment; he’d deal with that in a moment. “Klaus, she is the only one who can save you from what you have become.”

Klaus’s jaw clenched as he turned to his sibling. “And what is that, brother? A murderous fiend intent on extinguishing the life of thousands for no reason? Why would my Isa love me when that is what I am now?”

“That’s not what I meant—”

“Yes, it is,” Klaus said, pointing at him with the hand holding his glass. Elijah looked toward the empty bottle beside him and then the almost empty one back inside. “Don’t try to fool me, brother. My mate died because of me!”

Elijah stepped forward, his voice fierce with passion as he spoke, his hand clasping Niklaus’s shoulder as he looked dead on into his younger sibling’s eyes. “No, Niklaus, she would have died anyway; you know Mikael was planning on slaughtering the entire pack. Your love for her made no difference.”

Klaus shook his head and tried to turn away, but Elijah held his shoulder tightly, forcing him to continue looking at him. “Brother, I look at you and I see a broken man. A broken man who commits unspeakable acts just so he can feel something.” He took a deep breath. “I do not condemn you for that, Niklaus. And Rebekah would not either if she knew the circumstances. Do not listen to her. You must do everything you can to survive. For her, for your salvation. Because whether you like it or not, she is your salvation and you are hers; the only ones who can save either of you from what you have become is the other. She will see all that you have endured, and she will love you for the strength you had to endure and break your curse to revive her.” He continued to look into his younger brother’s eyes as he let go of his shoulder.

Klaus looked into his brothers eyes, jaw clenched as he swallowed and turned away. He blinked and the tears in his eyes slid silently down his cheeks. His voice was shaky when, several minutes later, he replied, “What have you discovered exactly?”

Elijah closed his eyes, breathing out a silent sigh of relief. He turned to face the same way Niklaus was, out to the city before and below them. A small smile graced his features. “The doppelgänger must be spelled beforehand,” Elijah began, taking a swig of the bourbon in his hand. “She must die by Isa’s hand and hers only. You will drain her of her blood, but she must awaken again. That is when Isa’s body will become accessible. Our witch will cast the spell for her body to become visible on this plane once again, at which point in time you will have to mark her as she will be tethered to this earth through you. Only after you’ve marked her will you feed her your blood in replacement of hers and turn her. She will transition into the only other hybrid on earth, and will use the doppelgänger’s blood to complete the transition. As her revival is linked to your curse, she must kill her in order to unlock her gene and become as immortal as you will be after the curse is lifted. Neither of you will need daylight rings, and you will be reunited for eternity, unable to be killed.”

He finished his bourbon then, slowly, waiting for Niklaus to come to terms with all that he’d told him.

The response came minutes later, Klaus’s voice stolen away by hope so fierce the words came in a whisper. “You are certain?”

“Positive.”

Klaus nodded to himself, and finished his bourbon as well, turning to head back inside. “Brother,” he began, pausing at the door. Elijah turned and met his eyes. “Thank you.”

Elijah smiled. “Niklaus, as one who has also loved and lost, I understand completely. For you to have lost your mate is not something I have experienced, but were I ever to, I know you would do everything in your own power to help me as I have helped you. But that is not why I have done this. I pledged to you that I would help, that I would be there for you in whatever capacity needed. And that I would not give up even if you did. Always and forever, brother; they are not mere words but a promise.”

Klaus swallowed, his lips pulling up at the corners. Always and forever.

Elijah smiled as his brother whispered the words, most likely without even knowing. The smile still on his lips, he turned and entered the house once again, this time with his brother beside him as they sat together. After over two hundred years of lost hope and frustration, it seemed things were finally going right again. Passion and hope reignited, Klaus dragged himself from his pain, opening himself up again with the promise renewed for his love’s return. It may take centuries, but now that they knew exactly what had gone wrong with Katerina, they both knew that they would not allow such a mistake to occur again.

Isa would be returned to him. And that fact was all that mattered.

Elijah watched as his brother became more like his former self, and smiled. Yes, it seemed Isa truly was his brother’s salvation, and he hers. All they had to do was wait and prepare.

~

Another three hundred years passed, and finally, word came of the third doppelgänger, Elena Gilbert. Gathering the werewolf and vampire, Elijah and Niklaus made their way toward their hometown. They’d agreed beforehand that Elijah would appear to be on the doppelgänger’s side for the sake of gathering as much intelligence as needed. They knew their name would be well-known, and as such, they would have heavy opposition.

“Rebekah’s little Salvatores will no doubt kick up a fuss,” Klaus said to him brother.

“They are easily dealt with, as is the Bennett witch. Rebekah is not in town, and after all the upheaval she caused by transitioning the younger Salvatore, I doubt they’d call on her for assistance.”

“Well, Stefan might. Though,” Klaus smirked wickedly as he turned to his brother, “I’ve heard that our dear sister’s very life is on the line were she to ever step foot in Mystic Falls again. It seems Stefan’s transition and subsequent changing of Damon did not go over too well with the older Salvatore.”

Elijah smirked as he walked, looking down for a moment before looking back at Klaus. “It is the ritual you must concentrate on, brother. I shall handle everything else.” He stopped him, his hand reaching to his forearm as he looked meaningfully at his brother. “It will work this time, Niklaus.”

Klaus nodded, walking off. Elijah watched after his younger brother before turning and getting into his car to drive the rest of the way there separately—also as planned. News of the two Originals’ arrival in town would hit quite soon to all vampires residing there, and it would do well from the very beginning if they were to seem as opposed to one another as possible.

The coming weeks were spent preparing in their own ways. Another moonstone was obtained and then Niklaus readied his werewolf and vampire as Elijah cemented himself in the opposing side’s offensive. They waited for the next full moon, which fell on the anniversary date of her death—at least by day and month. The visit from the raven-haired Salvatore did not faze him in the slightest, his backup werewolf and vampire close. His witch he kept closest to him, as she’d worked with them for some years and she was likely the most vulnerable of his people. She’d spelled herself to revive no matter how she was killed, and she habitually took every defense she could against vampires if the Salvatore brothers were to try to transition her.

Elijah’s news that the doppelgänger would be easily obtained on the night was pleasing, and they organized for Klaus to do so himself. He was more determined than ever, anticipation high, and so he wanted to be on top of everything.

The night of the ritual, everything was in place. Klaus came to Elena’s house, and as expected the brothers were there. Neutralizing them, he compelled the Aunt to let him in and then stole away with the girl in his arms, his mind on what was to come. He could feel the thrum, the devastating pain of being denied transition, but more than that he could feel his wolf, his vampire, his entire being alight with anticipation. Tonight was the night. It would all go as planned this time, he was sure of it.

Elijah took his place by the witch’s side just as he had five hundred years ago as she first spelled the doppelgänger to resurrect just a few minutes after her ‘death’ by Klaus’s hand. It was only after her revival that Isa’s could occur. Elijah’s eyes were watching his brother like a hawk as he paced agitatedly, impatient to begin. He’d compelled the girl to be quiet and comply, making things a lot easier. Klaus’s eyes kept shifting to the moon, watching as it steadily rose in the sky until finally it was time.

Elijah and he shared a look and nodded at one another as they brought the vampire, the werewolf, and the human doppelgänger to the middle. Klaus gave Greta the moonstone before turning away again, choosing not to watch as the witch began, waiting for the nod from Elijah and her to begin.

Once received, the power of the full moon now channeled to the moonstone, he stepped forward, the fiery rings surrounding his three sacrifices diminishing one by one as he stepped first into the werewolf Jules’s ring. Quickly killing her, he ripped her heart out before moving onto a vampire Elijah had found him a few months prior. The stake pierced the vampire’s heart, killing her, before finally Klaus turned to Elena. With a smirk on his lips, he sauntered to her, the flames once again abating as he crossed over. He grabbed her, pulling her to him, and bit into her neck, draining her of her blood quickly.

Nervously, he pulled from her and looked up to the moon, pleading with everything in him for this to work. Sure enough, his bones began to break as he transitioned, but he welcomed the pain.

“Yes, yes!” Klaus yelled, glancing toward Elijah, who was grinning just as ecstatically, as he felt the wolf within him take over his body. Finally, after a thousand years, he was there. He was euphoric. It had worked. On this night, he would bring his Isa back to him and they would have their forever. At last.

He turned to Elijah, at war with himself though it was no real battle. As much as he wanted to rampage the town, his need for Isa was greater. Elijah looked at the witch, who nodded and with a shared smile, Niklaus stepped up to Elijah’s side.

“It worked,” Elijah exhaled with relief.

“Yes, brother, it did,” Niklaus replied, grinning. He could feel the pull to his mate, meaning that his love’s body was now accessible. Elijah then turned to the book he’d brought and gave it to her. She read over the spell once more, nodding to the two Originals, and they stepped away to allow her to prepare, Elena’s reawakening interrupting them before they could converse more privately.

Immediately, Niklaus was compelling her once again to simply sit where she was. The two Originals at that moment were instinctively alerted to the coming of two of their own kind, and with a quick exchange, the witch had cast a spell to make sure the two Salvatores, and any whom they might have brought with them, could not venture any further.

Now she was awake, the two brothers turned to the witch and nodded. She opened to the spell and nodded back. Niklaus came to stand next to his brother once more, nervous anticipation clawing at his insides as he looked on, waiting for the moment his eyes would fall upon his love once again after one thousand years of loneliness.

The chanting of the witch faded in the background as a white light appeared before him. He’d seen this only once before, the night he’d met his Isa and found his mate in her. As the white light gave way and his love’s body became visible, his eyes filled with tears and momentarily closed at the steady and strong sound of her beloved heartbeat once again filling his ears. How long he’d waited to hear it again.

All he could see was her. He’d never meant to fall for her, but as his eyes fell on her body and he surged forward to catch her in his arms, he could not see himself ever having not. Over the last millennia, he had spent many a night drunk just to see a psychedelic silhouette of his love, never quite believing that he’d see her ever again, be able to hold her ever again. He breathed in her scent like it was his lifeline, tears streaming down his face now, but he didn’t care. An avalanche of emotion crashed into him as his wild eyes took in her features, drunk them in.

He had to convince himself that this was no trick of light as it had been in the past. That before him, in his arms, he was really seeing her, really holding her. His mate, his Isa. God, she was beautiful.

He reached forward to touch her cheek, the breath leaving him when he touched real skin. Dear god, she was actually here. He bowed his head over her, looking at her in what could only be described as loving awe. His eyes took in every inch of her porcelain skin, stopping for a long few moments to stare at the scar on her chest that had taken her from him. His fingers reached and traced it. Swallowing, he continued on, her naked body so pure and beautiful that he himself felt purified just from looking at and touching her.

“Niklaus,” was the low call from his brother, and he glanced at him. “Perhaps you should cover her, brother; we have company.” He nodded toward the woods, and Niklaus’s eyes followed their gaze.

He nodded, removing his jacket and shirt and slipping them over her before gathering her right back up into his arms again. For a while, he’d no idea how long, all he could do was look. Unti it came to him that he needed to act, and gently, he slowly leant down to press his lips to her chilled neck. Kissing her there, he breathed her scent in once more before letting his fangs descend and his vampire visage take over his face. He bit into her, the taste of her blood making his eyes roll back into his head. He drained her of her blood before sealing the mark and biting into his wrist to feed her his own blood.

With a relieved sigh, he watched as she responded and his blood entered her body. He gave her as much as he could before extracting himself. Taking one final look at his human mate, he reached down, his hands bracing around her neck, his thumbs caressing her cheeks before he broke her neck and say back on his heels, kneeling at her side.

He then picked her up, and with one look at Elijah, he left with her for their lodgings. But not before he told his brother to kill any who tried to follow. Satisfied with the nod he received in return, he turned away and left them there, his only thoughts on the woman in his arms who was slowly becoming a hybrid to join him forever.

~

Niklaus watched her as she lay on their bed, waiting for any sign of her awakening. He could not bring himself to sleep, still scarcely able to believe that his dreams were right before him while he was wide awake.

Slowly, she was making her way home to him. He could feel his pull to her growing stronger and stronger as she herself strengthened. In his hand was a glass of blood, needed after the amount of blood he’d lost giving her life.

Downstairs, Elijah had the doppelgänger, waiting for the moment his sister would come down the stairs to complete transition. They had spoken, and Klaus had asked for his presence. After all that his brother had done for him, he could not imagine denying him audience at the moment their vow was fulfilled. A vow Elijah had never given up on, even—or perhaps especially—when he had.

His attention was drawn back to the beauty laying before him when he felt the bed shift, breaking through his thought process and making him look down at her. A small smile curved his lips in the softest smile to have formed there since before her death bar when he thought of her. His heartbeat picked up just a little as his mind registered that it was nearly time. She would wake a hybrid soon. He leaned forward where he sat on the bed beside her form, his gaze intense and unwavering on her, waiting for the first sign that she was waking up.

It came soon enough.

First just the twitch in a muscle, then a slight frown marring her face, her lips pursing. And then her eyelids fluttered and a low moan broke from her throat as her face crumpled, her parted lips drawing in breath as her back slightly bowed. She gasped and then her eyes slowly opened, her hand slowly coming up to rest against the skin of her chest, just where her heart lay underneath. The frown on her face deepened as she blinked slowly before she sighed her mate’s name.

Klaus was unmoving. He had watched as she’d awoken, and then it hit him just as her eyes opened. She was alive. She was back, in this plane, forevermore. After one thousand years alone, without her, he was alone and without her no longer. A soft huff of breath left his body in a relieved laugh, a truly happy smile gracing his face, lighting up his eyes. The weight of the guilt and anger and pain of living without his other half lifted just as she’d sighed his name, eyes shifting to meet his.

The floodgates opened for the both of them.

Flying up into a sitting position, she simply stared at him, mouth open. “Nik,” she repeated, her breath hitching with the sob building in her chest, and tears, having welled in her eyes, now slid down her pale cheeks. He was a mirror of her in his own emotional snowstorm, and they reached for each other at the same time as he breathed her name in return.

Their eyes closed and hot skin met hot skin, another sob leaving her as his throat was suddenly strangled with emotion. Passionate frenzy filled them then, the relief and adrenaline kicked in, and they drew back for a second before coming closer again, only this time their lips met.

Their bodies melded together as his hands met her thighs, bringing her to straddle him as she raised onto her knees over him. Her hands clutched either side of his face, his one arm secured around her waist, the other gentle rested against her cheek. They turned their heads to the side as their need grew, deepening the kiss as hands now moved to free their bodies from any fabric separating them. The only words coming from their mouths were breaths of one another’s name.

Soon, clothing had been ripped from the both of them, falling all around them on the floor. Klaus pushed his mate back into the mattress, settling above her and they looked at one another once more for a few seconds before Klaus, unable to keep himself away from her any longer, swooped down to press his lips to hers. She sighed into the kiss, her arms weaving themselves up to wrap around his neck, his at either side of her body, bracing himself over her.

Wordlessly, he settled between her thighs as they fell open for him, and he squeezed his eyes shut at the feel of her hot and wet against him, for him, his breath leaving him. He forced himself to open his eyes again as he pressed himself against her entrance, looking into her eyes. She knew what he wanted and nodded once, a small smile curving her lips. He leaned his forehead against hers, and with a groan torn from his throat, he slowly entered her.

The feel of her after so long wrapped around him was the purest pleasure he’d ever known. She whimpered and drew her legs up to wrap around his torso, and his moan was strangled as he buried himself slowly deeper and deeper into her. When he could go no deeper, he opened his eyes and looked into hers, both of them smiling at one another, tears in their eyes of joy and disbelief that they were really, truly here together—a hope so long felt, but never thought to have been possible. They spilled from Klaus’s eyes as he withdrew slowly before pushing in again, and slowly, he made love to her.

He had claimed her already one thousand years ago, and there would be more time for that later. This, right here, right now, was not about any of that. It was reassurance and love, pure and simple. It was coming home. He cherished her, made love to her so sweetly and passionately, as only he could though as no one ever dreamed he was capable of. But she was his salvation, he could see that now. She brought this out of him and no one else. There would never be anyone else.

He was cold and deadly to the world, but not to her. Never to her.

He lay open-mouthed kisses on every inch of skin he could reach, sucking and nibbling, smiling into each and every one. When her walls fluttered around him, he drew back to look into her eyes and watch her, their eyes connected as he whispered, “I love you.” He joined her as she tightened around him and gave the same sentiment back, reciprocated as it always had been and always would be.

He fell on top of her, staying for a moment as her arms wrapped around his form before he rolled them so she was laying over his chest, her head resting over his heart. He breathed his lips to the top of her head as their breathing slowed again.

Isa looked up at him, resting her chin on his chest. She took a moment to simply take in the glorious sight of him before she spoke in a whisper. “Hi.”

He swallowed, a smile stretching across his face slowly, as though it was not used to such an expression. Though of course, it wasn’t. “Hello, love,” he replied and her eyes closed as a smile blessed her face. All he could do was stare.

 “I never forgot you. I couldn’t, no matter how much I wanted to… sometimes.”

The words came blurted from his lips, and he bit his tongue as soon as they came.

She smiled, reaching up to cup his cheeks as she leaned her forehead against his. “I know you didn’t. I was with you every second of the past one thousand years, Nik. I never left your side, not once.”

He swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that; knowing she was right there beside him but not able to see her or interact with her… while she watched as he lost himself in his anger and bitterness and depression.  “I think… I felt you. I saw you, some nights, when I had finished two bottles on my own… I thought you were some psychedelic vision, but… perhaps some part of me was telling me what my subconscious already knew.”

She smiled and traced a single finger on his cheek, making him sigh. His hand lifted to rest of hers, holding it as he brought it to his lips and kissed it, his fingers lacing with hers. “I love you,” she whispered.

“And I you, love.” She lay back down against his chest and they stayed that way for a little while longer before he remembered Elijah’s presence downstairs. He moved to get up and dressed himself quickly before turning back to his questioning mate. “You need to complete your transition. Come, love,” he said gently, reaching his hand out for hers. Without hesitation, she took it.

Soon, they were both dressed and, with his arm curled around her waist, they made their way down to Elijah and the compelled doppelgänger. Elijah looked up upon their entry, and seeing his relaxed and elated brother before him with a small but shapely brunette tucked into his side, his eyes softened and a smile graced his lips as he looked to Niklaus. They shared a moment, nothing needed to be said in the time as their eyes told their own stories and everything that needed to be known.

Klaus turned to his mate, stepping back from her but still holding her hand. “Drink, love,” he told her quietly as she watched her eyeing the doppelganger in front of her with hunger. “Drink until there is not a drop left in her body and her heart has stopped. It’s the only way for you to stay.”

That was all she needed to hear. In a flash, she was in front of the girl, her hand holding the back of Elena’s neck as she bit down hungrily and drank, pulling heady gulps of her blood down her throat, a moan building in ecstasy. She could feel the change completing itself, growing more and more until it could grow no more and the girl was dead. She dropped her to the floor and turned to Niklaus once more, a smile on her face as their eyes met.

The last signs of tension fell from him as her immortality was secured, and without a word, feeling the call of the moon, they grabbed one another’s hand, identically wicked grins on their faces as they left for the forest outside together as they would forevermore.

~

They returned the following morning to find Elijah sitting in the living room, a book in his hands. He looked up at them through his eyelashes as they entered, and with a smile, he closed the book. Setting it on the table before him, he leaned forward as the mated couple settled into a chair, Isa on Klaus’s lap.

“Brother,” Niklaus began, a smirk on his face, though Elijah could see it was decidedly different from the one that had frequently appeared to mask the pain he’d felt the past millennia. In this one, he saw happiness and fulfilment, not a broken façade of nonchalance. “I trust all is well.”

“Quite,” Elijah said with a nod. “I plan to return the doppelgänger’s body to the Salvatores later today. They are, of course, heartbroken by her death, but alas I see this as only a benefit for them. The dalliances of a doppelgänger can only bring the negative. I can’t say I foresee any problems in the future.”

“Fantastic,” the fairer-haired one replied. “Then with no troubles, we shall be leaving soon, I imagine. I fancy showing Isa the city we built. Join us, would you?”

Another smile. “By all means.” He turned now to Isa, who watched them interact with a smile on her face. “I do not believe we have been formally acquainted. I am Niklaus’s older brother, Elijah.”

She nodded. “It is most certainly a welcome sight to be able to finally interact with the one who helped my Nik all these years in his quest to revive me. I thank you for that.”

Elijah shook his head. “No need. It is everything I would do for Niklaus, and he would do for me. A sibling’s greatest joy is to see his other siblings happy. I can see that now, and so I know all we endured was worth it.” He glanced at his brother in an almost ‘I told you so manner’, earning himself a quiet “sod off.” And yet, they also shared a smile.

Isa eyed him. “I am not quite so sure it is merely the obligation of a sibling that led you to do as you did. After all, Rebekah and Kol were certainly no help in the matter.”

“They were not made privy to the situation,” Elijah replied evenly with a small smile, watching the two of them.

“Still,” she said, quieter now. “Thank you.”

He knew she was thanking him for so much more than merely his help with the act. She had witnessed how, over the thousand years, her mate had fallen from that which he’d once been to a bitter and broken, hopeless man and likewise witnessed how the presence of his older brother was the only thing to keep her Nik afloat—particularly in the latter centuries. When all hope was lost, he had kept at it when most others would not simply because of the man that her Nik had become as a method of releasing his anguish.

With a simple nod, the moment of understanding was over. Nothing more was said then as the approach of someone of the Original vampire species was heard. All three tensed, and got up from their seated positions, Niklaus pushing his mate slightly behind him as Elijah came to stand beside them in preparation for defence in case it was needed.

Perhaps one of the Salvatore brothers had come upon them for revenge or a well-meaning plot of rescue for Elena.

But instead, they heard the click-clacking of heels as the vampire entered and came straight into the room they occupied. For a few moments, the trio eyed the newcomer as she did them.

“Rebekah,” Klaus sighed, eyes tightening at the sight of her with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Stefan called,” was all the blonde woman offered as she eyed her brothers.

“Oh, I bet he bloody did,” Niklaus drawled, hand curling into a fist at his side as he threw a smirk at her. She glared at him frostily before turning back to Elijah. Isa’s anger rose at this, but she grit her teeth together, trying to control herself. “If something goes wrong, he’ll go crying home to mommy.”

Rebekah ignored the dig, instead walking closer to eye the brunette behind her brother. There was a slight frown on her face as she took in the scene before her. The newcomer smelled obviously of her brother, but she could not make sense of Klaus’s position of protection in front of her. She continued to look at her as she further explained, “Said you were going to kill the latest doppelganger to become a hybrid again.” She eyed the body on the floor, “Hm. The original one was so much prettier.” Then she turned back to look at Isa. “He did not mention the revival of a girl though.” She turned to eye her brothers. “So who is she?”

Elijah looked to Klaus, whose eyes flashed to his brother before returning to their younger sister. There was a minute or so of silence before the words came, strong and confident. “My mate.”

Rebekah snorted. “Bollocks.”

“Rebekah,” Elijah warned, stepping forward just slightly.

She looked at him for a moment, mouth slightly agape and her eyes tight as she scrutinised them. “Surely you’re not trying to tell me that he’s spent the last one thousand years trying to revive a long lost love, are you?” She chuckled. “I don’t believe it.”

“Well, dear sister,” Klaus said, his jaw locked with anger as he eyed her penetratingly, drawing her eyes from Elijah as he stepped forward only slightly. “You’re going to have to. Is it really so difficult for you to believe that she is my mate?”

She didn’t even blink. “Yes. You are incapable of love, of real affection for another unless it’s a means to an end to get what you want.”

Isa couldn’t handle it anymore. With a low growl bubbling in her chest, she flew at Rebekah and pinned her against the wall back at the entrance she came from. “That. Is. It,” she growled at her, her hand constricting around the blonde Original’s throat. Her voice was low and gritty as she spoke. “I have watched you for the past thousand years continuously put down my mate over and over again to the point where he blamed himself for my death and lost his faith in the steadfastness of my love and his worthiness of me and of happiness. You have no idea how much I wish to rip you to shreds for what you did to him, for the verbal torment he suffered under you for so long.”

She took a deep breath through flared nostrils, swallowing hard against her anger. “But,” she gritted out, forcing the words, “at heart, you are my Nik’s sister. And as much as I want to see you suffer, I cannot hurt him with your loss and neither can I do the same to Elijah, who helped him through all these years and carried him when he thought hope to be lost forever. But I will only grant you this once. So if you want to continue living, the hurling of insults will stop now. Do you understand me?” At the nod, she sneered and threw her to the ground, eyeing the blonde as she spluttered for breath before flitting back to Klaus’s side.

He wrapped his arm around her, smirking as he eyed his sister. He felt vindicated, and the words that had come from his sister’s mouth now meant nothing as he kissed his mate’s forehead and breathed in her scent. He had her back, and she deemed him worthy and loved him just as much as he did her. That was all he needed.

And he had to admit, witnessing the werewolf temper in his mate for the first time was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.

When the blonde had recovered, she eyed the three of them warily. Looking to the sandy-haired Klaus, she swallowed. “I’m sorry, Nik,” she whispered.

He blinked, eyeing her. “I cannot say all is forgiven, sister, but it will be one day.”

She nodded. “In that case, you need to know something…” she trailed off, unsure of how they’d take her words. Elijah nodded for her to continue and she sighed. “Damon and Stefan… they’ve gotten their Bennett witch to bring Mother and Mikael’s back from the Other Side.” She eyed Nik and his mate as they both reacted more-so than Elijah, Klaus’s arm tightening around Isa’s waist. “They’re coming for you, Nik.”

~

Klaus didn’t know what to think. On one hand, his parents were no longer a threat to him or his Isa. They were immortal now, truly. There was nothing on earth that could kill either of them. But at the same time, the last time the four of them had met—under the guise of granting the younger couple’s wish of Isa’s transformation—it had not gone well.

Klaus flinched at the image of his own mother thrust the sword which had given him and his siblings this life into his mate’s heart, killing her. That image would haunt him forever.

The warm hand of his mate on his forearm sent him flying back into reality, and he inhaled sharply as he looked down at her. Her worried gaze pierced through him and he smiled and drew her into his arms, resting his chin atop her head.

“Are you all right?” she whispered.

“I will be,” he promised her, tightening his arms around her momentarily before stepping back and letting all but her hand go. They turned their attention to Elijah and Rebekah, who were speaking of what exactly she’d heard from the brothers.

But Klaus was skeptical. “And you’re really going to betray them for me?”

Rebekah sighed. “We may not get along very well, Klaus, and I know I have said hateful things about and to you in the past. But you are my brother.”

He breathed in slowly, brow puckered, and then he nodded once, bringing his mate with him as he came to sit down on the loveseat. “So,” he intoned, leaning forward as he looked between his siblings. “Are we going to come up with a plan or play bloody verbal Ping-Pong all night?”

~

It was some time later when the four of them reached the clearing Klaus had used not twenty-four hours previous.

Rebekah had informed them of the plan she’d helped the Salvatore brothers with. Bonnie would raise the Original parents there in the field and then help them eliminate Klaus, and anyone else who stood in their way. The revival would occur tonight as the Bennett witch would need the full moon’s power to channel. Only the four of them would be waiting.

It was nearly time. They surveyed the area for a few minutes before they felt the two Salvatore brothers coming, where they quickly ducked back into the fringe of wood downwind to watch. As soon as Esther and Mikael were reawakened, they’d come out. The only thing Isa had requested was that they speak with them first. She had a few things to get off her chest.

Klaus could not deny he was nervous, though on the outside, he was a picture of perfect calm and swaggering confidence. To those who didn’t know him, he was unhinged and nothing fazed him. To the three in his presence though, this was not the case.

He held his mate close to him, her arm around his waist as they waited in the trees. He was tensed, waiting for the onslaught he knew was coming on both his person and his emotions. The last time he’d faced them was when he’d killed them, about one hundred years after his Isa’s death. Mikael had smirked in his death, his Mother solemnly silent and accepting of her faith. She knew pleading would fall on deaf ears. He’d killed his mother with the same sword she’d used to kill Isa and give him and his siblings this life, and found satisfaction in staking his father with the white oak stake, watching as he burned.

He’d wished for a scream, perhaps two. Something to give him that feeling of wicked satisfaction he imagined Mikael had felt watching him lose his mate. All he’d gotten was a low growled groan reverberating through the man’s chest before his skin had greyed and he’d burned to nothing.

He was hoping for a little more this time. A roar of rage, perhaps, when he found out that the stake would do nothing because he and his mate were immortal. And he would look on with the same smug smile of deviant satisfaction that Mikael had one thousand years previous.

He was buzzing with anticipation.

Soon enough, three figures entered the clearing.

They watched silently as the three set things up, and the scene before them transformed to an imitation of the previous night. When the white light again faded into the appearance of the Original parents, the foursome waiting in the woods all tightened grimly. Each had been touched in some way negatively by them, and the sight before them after nine hundred years was not easy.

But they grit their emotions back, and stepped out.

“Well, well,” Klaus said, a smirk on his face as he looked to the surprise on the five’s faces. “What do we have here?”

“Niklaus,” Esther began, turning fully to face them all.

He grinned with malice, stepping in front of his mate. “Mother. I must say, I never thought I’d see you or Mikael again. But perhaps it’s a good thing. After all, my Isa never got her revenge, and she is more than entitled to it.”

“I wouldn’t be so quick to think of your victory this time, Niklaus,” Mikael interjected, eyeing them all. “You had us at a disadvantage last time. But here, tonight, is the full moon.”

Isa chuckled, stepping out from behind her mate. “No power of yours will be able to kill either of us now. Klaus broke the curse and I have completed my transition. We cannot be killed,” she told them haughtily, a smirk lighting her face, “and yet you can.”

There was a streak of fear in Esther’s eyes, and she looked to Rebekah and Elijah. “You wouldn’t let him take our lives, would you?”

Elijah eyed her, scrutinizing. “And why ever would we not, Mother? What could have changed in the past nine hundred years to change my mind from the position I’d had when he killed you last. As I recall, he did not do so alone.”

“No,” Mikael said, “he poisoned you against us as well.”

Rebekah smirked. “I’d say you did that all on your own,” she told them, mirroring her brothers and Isa as she stepped forward. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she eyed them, and then looked at the Salvatore brothers.

“Rebekah,” Stefan began, a frown on his face. “Why would you—”

Her eyes softened for but a moment before they hardened again. “I didn’t have all the facts, Stefan. My brother was well within his right to seek retribution against our parents. And I support him in breaking his curse. It was the only way to bring the one who completes him back to this plane.”

Klaus smiled at her. “Thank you, sister.” He turned to the others, the tone of his voice brightening, a devious smile on his face. “Now,” he began chirpily, looking between them all and rubbing his hands together. “Where shall we begin?”

But Mikael’s attention was on his brunette mate. He stepped forward, making Rebekah and Elijah do the same. His eyes did not move to them however, his focus completely on Isa. “Are you going to make him fight all your battles for you, you pathetic little imp? Pity, really. I had longed to fight you properly, so that I may hear your whimpers as I rip your heart out. Even if I cannot kill you, I will make you live in fear.”

But she only sneered. “I would love to see you try. I don’t need Nik to fight for me. I can fight my own battles. You’re the pathetic one. Whenever there is more than one in the fight against you, you flee.”

He chuckled darkly, taking another step forward. He was gleeful. “Is that so?”

A wicked smirk curved her lips as she wordlessly nods.

“Well, how about we test that theory?”

A growl burst from her lips and she launched herself at him. Rebekah and Elijah made a move to go after her, but Klaus held his hand up to them. Let her have this.

“What happened to talking first, love?” Klaus asked with a smirk as he watched her easily take the stake from Mikael. He let her go with it, hanging back; he’d killed his parents the first time, seemed only fair to allow her to do it the second.

“Fuck it, Nik,” she growled back and she grunted as she dove for Mikael. Elijah and Rebekah had stolen Esther away and had her trapped so she couldn’t move but only watch. “They’d not listen anyway, so fuck it.”

He smirked at her. “That would be the werewolf temper, love.”

She grunted and lunged forward, arm outstretched with the stake. It grazed Mikael’s arm, but the proximity meant he had the advantage, and he swung his arm around her, bringing her back up against his chest. In his hand was the stake, and his hand and hers were both outstretched grasping the stake as he tried to bring it closer and closer to her. She growled as he slowly did, casting a glance toward Klaus to see him watching on with an expression unreadable. Their eyes stayed connected as she grit her teeth and growled low in her chest, and in a flash she had turned in Mikael’s arm and laid a bite on his skin viciously, making him cry out with pain. Still moving lightning-fast, she took the stake from his hand and plunging it into his chest, kicking him down on the floor. She stood over him as he greyed and burst into flames, her breaths slowing, much as Klaus had nine hundred years ago.

When he was nothing, she turned slowly to eye Esther. A glint of danger and anger in her eye, she stalked toward her and ripped her from her children’s arms, pushing her onto the ground and pressing her foot against her throat.

“You,” she spat, the word a growl. Her foot pressed down harder on the woman who had once been like a mother to her, and she enjoyed watching her gasp for air. Angry tears welled in her eyes as she spoke venomously. “I have watched my mate suffer for the past one thousand years because of your actions, unable to comfort him. I have watched as he has lost hope time and again, falling to the prayer of alcohol just so he can see a vision of me to keep him from finding someone to kill him. I have watched as he has begged and pleaded and failed and killed just so he could feel something all because your husband wished him dead.”

She looked toward him then, a small smile on her face, one that he gave back to her. His throat was closing against the pressure of emotion he felt building in his chest, his love for her so strong while he watched her avenge not just her death, but his pain.

She was a vision. A perfect vision of white, and even buried underneath all the pain and suffering and hatred, she was all he could see. Uncovering him, making him feel incandescently loved. Lighter.

“All of that,” she gritted, “it ends today.” And she took the sword that had been used to kill her, which Klaus had brought with them, and plunged it through her heart, watching as, much as she had, the Original Witch’s back bowed from the impact as she gasped for painful breath after painful breath. She swallowed and almost looked away, the familiarity almost too much for her. But no. She had to watch, she needed to watch.

She waited to move until the woman underneath her was long dead, her face stoic as she turned to her mate, and their siblings. She left with Klaus and Elijah, the three of them allowing Rebekah, who was crying soundless tears, to grieve in peace, the Salvatores and the Bennett witch long gone.

“So,” Isa said after a minutes of silence. The two brothers looked to her. “How about New Orleans? Ready to stir up some trouble?”

Elijah chuckled. “Brother, I do believe we are going to find our hands full with this one.”

Klaus smirked. “Fantastic.”

~

“You were right,” Isa said, stepping out onto the balcony to join her husband, leaning against the railing with a drink in hand. “I do love it here.”

He smiled, stepping closer and wrapping his arm around her. “I knew you would, love. You are… far too much like me.” He smirked.

She chuckled, an identical smirk lighting her eyes and gracing her face. “Speaking of…”

“Hmm?”

She took the drink from his hand and put it down on the table next to hers. “I could think of a few things we could do to take advantage of the empty house… what say you?”

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately. “I say… lead the way. I will follow you no matter where you go.”

The moment became tender, and she smiled softly, taking his face gently in her hands and kissing him. “I love you.”

“And I you,” he whispered. “You have made me a better man, a happier one. Elijah was right. You are my salvation.”

Later, they would unleash themselves upon the town and feed, racking up the body count ‘til no one was unconvinced that every rumor about the pair was true. But right now, right here, when it was just the two of them, there was no need for violence.

Right here, he would say tender and loving, cheesy sweet things to her that he never had and never would to any other being on earth. Some may have scorned, but she—she smiled.

“And you are mine,” she said tenderly. She took his hand, and pulled her behind him as she reentered the house, taking him to their room. There, they bared their souls for one another, as they would forevermore.

The scars would never be gone, not completely, but together, they could finally heal.

Their tale was the darkest fairytale in the dead of night, but in it, they found one another and salvation.

~ The End ~

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