The One You Once Were

A part of always and forever?

When I returned to the town, I found a dead Esther and a crying Rebekah. Klaus tried talking to his sister in a calming manner, telling her how their father had killed Esther before his eyes. He stopped talking for a second when he saw me approaching.
"Caroline!", Rebekah stormed off to me, surprised and happy at my sight. I offered her my arms for a hug and she hid her crying face in my bouncing locks. Gently, I stroke her hair, exchanging looks with Klaus, who did seem very apologetic. We didn't need words to get across what we were trying to communicate, which made it much easier in Becka's presence.
I'm sorry for the fuss, he apologized quietly and I raised my eyebrows. I didn't mean to lie.
I get it. You don't want her to hate you. It's okay, I assured and he was immediately calmer now.
So you won't expose me?, his eyes asked. I couldn't exactly shake my head but I made it clear that I wouldn't.
"I thought you were gone!", my friend cried in the meantime. I held her close, knowing she had not had it easy the past days and was grieving right now.
"I decided to stay a while longer to assure you all were okay.", I replied and felt her hide her face on my shoulder. "What happened here?"
Oh, you pretentious liar, Klaus silently snickered at my words.
"It's my mother! Father has killed her in front of Nik.", the blonde sniffed and moved back from me to wipe her tears away.
"Are you going to bury her?", I asked and she nodded quickly.
"I need that to let go of her.", Rebekah forced herself to smile. "We are dead anyways. I just didn't expect mother to go so soon."
I followed her to Esther's dead body while Klaus got out a shovel and started to dig her grave. We didn't talk much during the process and dropped the life-less body into the dark pit without words either. When Klaus had just finished covering the hole with mud, Rebekah raised her voice.
"I know, you think she hated you Nik, but she did not. She did fail you and what she has done was horrible but she was afraid. I could never betray you like this nor would I ever leave you behind.", she told him.
Well... give it a few centuries and your thoughts will unfortunately change just a little bit.
"Nor will I.", Elijah made his way out of the forest and joined our little group. Wait. Was that it? Was this when they made their bond?
"We stay together as one.", Rebekah said and offered Elijah her hand. He took it while Klaus got a hold of her other one. "Always", the girl swore, "and forever."
Oh my god. I had just witnessed something very memorable! This was kind of an honour.
"Caroline.", Elijah and Klaus offered me their hands.
"You want me to join you?", I gasped in surprise. Klaus nodded pleadingly. "But you don't even really know me."
"We have centuries ahead of us.", Elijah brought to the table. "And we certainly won't abandon you."
"Besides", Klaus grinned."I'd like to think, I know you better than others."
I chuckled. He did. But how was I to explain my immortality to them? Or my different habits? Could I really stay with them always and forever? There were so many problems that came with this. So many things I had to consider. History could change. I could too. Was this the right thing to do? Or was I to erase all this anyways? Just go back to the future, hoping I would find my way back to him?
"Love?", Klaus' voice reached my mind. "Please?"
I took his hand and squeezed it tight. The other I offered to Elijah who gladly accepted, closing the circle.
"Always and forever.", we all repeated.

For a moment, we stood silent. They had no idea, what greatness they'd just started and how much impact they had on the future. I just hoped I didn't mess it up too much.
"So what now?", I interrupted the quiet. "We can't exactly stay here. Not to forget, this all is toxic due to the memories."
"True.", Elijah admitted. We all let go of each others hands, only Klaus kept mine tight and interwined our fingers behind his back. A small smile crossed my lips. "Caroline, one thing you do ought to tell us before we go where ever our paths will lead us.", the older brother than added. "How did you survive father's attack?"
"He wasn't after me. It was farely easy to trick him into thinking, I was dead. I am sorry I could not save you though.", I apologized.
"You know, the more important question I find to be what is going on between you guys?", Rebekah grinned, pointing at me and Klaus. "You've been acting all friendly since she got here the first time and now, I'd even presume you two are super lovey-dovey."
Klaus and I shared a look.
"What would you call us?", he asked. I wasn't sure if the concept of dating in my understanding already existed so I took some time before replying.
"That depends on what you feel for me?", I tilted my head.
"Whatever it is, you two do share a very profound bond, which we of course fully support.", Elijah gave us a smile and Klaus kissed my hand. What a charming guy. I really did love him. Else, I wouldn't do all this for him.
"How about we travel to the next town, search for shelter there?", Elijah now suggested and we all shrugged our shoulders.
"Our siblings are scattered in the winds and father is off somewhere on a rage so we have limited options.", the other female mentioned. She was not wrong. The other siblings were off doing whatever, probably sucking a lot of blood. Finn, who I remembered to be one of the most passive siblings, was probably not that man yet and while I did remember at least Kol returning to the Mikaelson bunch, he wasn't here now to accompany us. I wasn't sure of how long I was going to stay here, set aside the pact of always and forever I had just gotten myself into, but I was most definitely not looking forward to being hunted by Mikael. Don't get me wrong, I loved being here with the siblings and especially Klaus but we were talking a thousand years of changing time. If I changed too much, history would turn out to be a paradox and who knew what would happen then.
"We should pack and get on the road.", Rebekah said, looking at the sky. "It seems it is going to rain soon."
"With the incredible speed we have, it does not take long to travel such distances. We should be able to go in a matter of seconds.", Klaus said, ready to leave this place.
Rebekah on the other hand suddenly looked worried. "What about Caroline? She is human, isn't she?"
I saw Klaus opening his mouth to contradict her statement but I furtively gestured him to keep quiet. Instead, I offered my friend an innocent smile. "Klaus can just take me with him, it should work. Do not hold back due to my presence."
My boyfriend gave me a confused glance but said nothing. His sister only nodded relieved and then ordered all of us to pack, which we of course immediately attended to do.
Klaus and I didn't have much, there wasn't anything he wanted to take with him so urgently since most objects held bad memories now and as for me, I didn't really have stuff here in the first place. I did however decide to take my clothes from home with me because those jeans had been new so there was no way I was leaving them behind.
"Love, why did you lie to Rebekah?", Klaus tried to start a conversation but then added: "And what are those?" when he saw my clothes.
"First, usual clothing, nothing you need to concern yourself with and second, I had my reasons.", I answered while stuffing jeans and shirt into a bag.
"Which are?", he questioned curiously and I chuckled at the cute tone he was bringing to the table.
"I'll tell you some day eventually.", I grinned, which made him pout at me. I laughed and rushed over to give him a peck on the cheek. That seemed to very much lighten his mood once again. "I really will tell. Promise.", I said. But first, I had to figure out what I would say. I couldn't exactly tell him I was from the future, no matter how much I wanted to.
"Fine. But I dare you if you won't! I don't want us keeping secrets. That is what tore my family apart in the first place." His eyes wandered around the room, looking at his childhood home for one last time.
"I'm aware.", I mumbled and took his hand. "We should go. This place has brought you such misery. It's only fair to leave it behind "
He gave me a loving kiss on the palm of my hand. "There were some good moments too. A lot involving my siblings.", he offered a big smile. "Some involving you."
"How are you so sweet?", I chuckled and kissed him quickly, which soon turned into a longer exchange of kisses.
"Get a room you two.", Rebekah laughed as she walked in on us. "Or rather, don't because we really must leave at once."
We let go of each other and looked at the ground. I felt my cheeks slightly blush and my friend laughed at our startled sight.
"As much as I adore seeing you two like this, we should go.", she went back to a serious choice of tone and opened the door. "I will miss our home but we have to run. I'm almost certain father will follow us."
I nodded, sighing. "Let us take a leave."
We all made our way out of the town, leaving their childhood home behind. Who knew what came next for us. Or how long I was going to stay. My most important goal right now was to keep Klaus alive, to find a spell, which could fix everything and to figure out how I was going to settle things with Silas in the future.
Phew, that was going to be a lot to do!

Hey guys,
So apparently my story is eligible for the Wattys? Should I enter? Because I'm really not sure.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you next week!