The Originals One-Shots

The Arrival

 Hayley pulled up the building, and asked Hope, "You ready?"

 Her daughter nodded in response.

 It was a perfectly sunny day when they arrived at the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted. There were some children playing out on the grounds, with Alaric Saltzman dutifully keeping a close eye on them. He smiled and waved when he saw Hayley and Hope.

 "I'm glad you got here safe," he said as they came over. "I told the Headmistress that you guys would be coming soon."

 "You're sure you have more room for one more student?" Hayley asked.

 "You kidding? We always have room for more kids. Caroline loves having them all here. How about I take you guys up to her office? I think she'd like to meet Klaus' daughter."

 "Come on, Hope," Hayley said, taking her daughter's hand.

 Hayley looked around with surprise as Alaric led them through the halls. She couldn't remember ever being to the Salvatore Boarding House while she was in Mystic Falls, but she would have imagined it as someplace dark and dreary. This school seemed quite the opposite.

 "You seem surprised," Alaric remarked. "Not what you were expecting?"

 "No, actually, it's not," Hayley replied. "I honestly would have imagined a little more dark and creepy, given that it's school."

 Alaric laughed. "Believe me, it used to be pretty dark and creepy around here."

 Finally, Alaric opened a door and said, "Oh, Headmistress. Your newest student has arrived."

 Caroline Forbes looked up from the work on her desk and smiled at them.

 "Hope Mikaelson?" she asked.

 Alaric nodded. "That's the one."

 Caroline got up from her desk and came over to shake hands with Hope. "It's nice to meet you, Hope. I'm Headmistress Forbes. We're so happy to have a new student, and I hope you'll like it here. Have you shown her around yet, Alaric?"

 "Not yet," Alaric said. "I thought you would to meet her first. Hey, Hope, while you mom is talking to the Headmistress about enrolling you, do you want to come to take a look around? I actually have two daughters who go to school here. They're a little younger than you, but they can help me give you tour."

 Hope looked up at her mother.

 "It's okay, sweetie," Hayley said. "I have to talk to the Headmistress for a few minutes, anyway."

 Hope shrugged and said, "Okay,", and let Alaric lead her out.

 "Wow," Caroline said, watching her go. "That's Klaus' daughter."

 "Yeah. Um, she's not usually like this," Hayley said. "You know, this quiet and withdrawn. She's not a bad kid, she's just...been through a lot."

 "It's okay. I get it. Alaric told me things had been pretty rough down in New Orleans."

 Hayley sighed. "Like you wouldn't believe. It would take too long to tell you about right now, but the point is that Hope and I had to get out of New Orleans."

 "So...Klaus isn't in the picture anymore?" Caroline asked. "Or the rest of the Mikaelsons?"

 "I don't think they'll ever be in the picture again," Hayley replied, "Not with everything that's gone down. I needed someplace safe to bring Hope, and this seemed like a good place."

 "Well," Caroline said, "If there's one thing we know about here in Mystic Falls, it's how to fight supernatural creatures. You're welcome to stick around, you know. You can stay here in Mystic Falls."

 "I think I will," Hayley said. "I don't want to leave Hope."

 As they began to talk more about enrollment, Hayley thought, Everything will be all right. It has to be.