Enigmatic Finales: A Klaus Mikaelson Story {8}

Chapter 24: Love Is Not Enough

~Hayley POV~

The return of her son was more than a little emotional and Hayley had taken some much-needed time to fawn over him. They were in the study where Hayley had yet to release him from her tight hold.

"I missed you so much," Hayley said as she took Elliott's face in her hands, determined to never part from him again. "I can't believe you're here!"

"Nor I," Klaus said as he hesitantly approached the two. "It's really good to see you again."

"Are you kidding? It's better than good!" Hayley exclaimed.

Hayley and Klaus were practically vibrating with excitement, but Elliott didn't seem to share their sentiment.

"Aren't you mad at me?" He asked the two, eyes flitting between his parents. "I turned my back on you, on our entire family! All for a girl."

"Honey, I will never judge you for who you love," Hayley said as she ran her fingers across his cheek. "If anyone is a testament to the heart wants what it wants, it's your dad and I."

Klaus laugh as he sat beside him and brought his son in for a tight hug, "You're young, this is the time to make mistakes. A thousand years in and I'm still not sure I learnt my lesson."

"I love everything about you, kid," Hayley told him. "Nothing and no one can ever take that away."

She joined the hug and breathed a peaceful sigh at her dysfunctional family brought together under one roof, her son clinging onto her for dear life as tears spilled from his eyes.

"I'm so sorry Mom, I wish I never left, I wish I never—"

"Shhhhh, don't worry about that, you're home now, kiddo. You're home."

~Fiore POV~

Elliott's arrival had put a halt on Anastasia discussion, and I decided to take the time to talk to my timeline counterpart. She was standing on the balcony overlooking the French Quarter, a smirk on her lips once she noticed my presence.

"Comforting to know the French Quarter is the same in every timeline—boozy, trashy, and full of life," she said, earning a laugh from me.

"There's a reason we always come back to New Orleans," I replied and suddenly her smile disappeared. "It appears I struck a nerve."

"You would know," she said with a mirthless laugh. "I've only been here once. I don't return anywhere. I don't have anywhere to return to. I don't have a family. Not a real one anyway."

"What about Silas?"

She scoffed, "I heard you and him mended fences. Not an option for me. If Silas is what counts for family, then I'm glad to be alone. I'll settle for knowing that at least in another life I am living a picturesque fantasy."

"My life isn't perfect either," she rolled her eyes. "I'm serious."

"I know you are, that's what makes it so silly," she replied. "You live in the Mikaelson compound with your husband and daughter and still got to be the most powerful being in existence. You got to have it all, so even if it's not perfect, it's pretty close."

"A power that I don't even know how to use," I said with an exasperated sigh. "Anastasia could never have taken someone like you. All it took was a death hex and a splitting spell and I became her property. That's why she chose me because I was the weakest. The one she could control."

The two of us stood side-by-side, silently longing for the life the other half until Fiore spoke up.

"What a pair we are," she said with a smirk. "It sounds like together we would make the ultimate Fiore. The one who really does have it all."