Forgiveness /3/ TO / TVD

Ch. 9 Christmas

Rory sat on the picnic table, out in the bayou. Hayley and Jackson still hadn't came home, and she was getting a little annoyed. She stood up as she saw them walking out of the woods.

"I know you two needed time away from me, but I kind of eventually thought you would come home," she told them.

"Right, to the apartment Elijah compelled somebody to rent us, and the bedroom that looks in on his library," Jackson said.

Rory crossed her arms over her chest. She looked at her sister, who was uncharacteristically silent. "What? What do you want me to say, Ror? You're my sister and I love you, but you still love him," she said.

"Klaus is the father of my child. No matter what happens I'm always going to care about him some way," Rory told them.

"And Elijah?" Hayley asked.

Rory gave her a look. "What does Elijah have to do with this?" she asked.

"I don't know, but I do know you and I know when something is going on. I see the way you two have been looking at each other," Hayley told her.

"Nothing is going on," Rory snapped. Then sighed. "Look, this is the first Christmas we all get to spend together. The first Christmas we really get to spend with Hope. I just want a quiet night with my family. That family being you guys and my daughters. Our family. And if their house is on fire, for one night I will let it burn. Okay? Just please come home and give me that. I just want our normal family with none of the supernatural crap for one night."

They looked at each other for a moment, before the Kenners nodded. "Okay, we'll meet you there," they agreed.

Rory smiled. "Okay," she said.

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After receiving a text from Hayley, Rory ran over to the compound. She pushed Hope's stroller into the courtyard, Lilly trailing behind them. "Hey, I got your text. What happened?" she asked. Freya was sitting on the couch, the Kenners standing next to her.

Hayley turned to see the four year old looking at her witch aunt with concern. She picked up Lilly, smiling. "Why don't we go upstairs for a minute?" she asked.

Rory mouthed a 'thank you' as Hayley left the room.

"She got jumped. Three vampires, all dressed like yuppies," Jackson told the hybrid.

"The Strix," Rory guessed, sitting down next to the witch.

"Yeah. She needs your blood," Jackson said.

Rory bit into her wrist and held it up in front of Freya's mouth. Freya gladly took it.

"You okay?" Rory asked the werewolf. He nodded. "Kinda hard to ignore it when someone needs your help, huh?" she asked. Jackson looked at the ground.

"They took it. The Serratura," Freya said once she had let go of Rory's wrist. "I was meeting with a witch from the bloodline who built the lock. I was hoping she could help me destroy it, but it's not possible. She said the only way to get rid of it is to use it. We have to get it back and lock something else away. Anything but my family."

"Wait. Why don't we pay Tristan a visit and ask him really, really nicely?" Rory asked.

She turned when she heard footsteps. Elijah walked into the room. "I'm afraid we may have a far more urgent problem," he said.