Return and Remember

Remembering

Caroline sat on her bed, holding the picture he drew months ago. Tears fell on her neatly drawn face and Caroline grunted as she gently wiped the stains away. She had lost everything. Her boyfriend was gone; her best friend was now a vampire; her ex was dead; and the council was hunting her. To make matters worse, he was gone.

She laid down, clutching the picture to her chest. This was the only keepsake she had left, except for the dress. She turned her head to her closet where it hung gracefully. She remembered how beautiful she felt when she slipped it on that night. She envisioned the look on his face when he saw her enter the room.

Tears fell down her face and onto the bed as she remembered. She was so rude to him, and yet he continued. He was being pleasant that night. He walked up to her and said, "Good evening." She almost answered back, but her nerves fell through the floor. All she had to reply was "I need a drink." She did not really need that drink, but her strength seemed to have left her the moment he spoke.

Then when danced with him, she felt like Cinderella, and still she was rude. She put down his compliments and his charming ways to get her to talk to him. She remembered how she felt in his arms. She felt like she was the only one in the room. He made her feel special. She tried to avoid his eyes, not because he was Klaus, the evil hybrid, but because he was Klaus, the man. The man who was making her knees weak and her courage falter.

Caroline lifted the picture to eye level and gazed at the lines that were so carefully drawn. She remembered walking outside needing to get away from the party, and him. She had found a horse outside, and she stood there watching with a smile on her face. She loved horses. Though she had never ridden one before, she still admired them. Then she felt him coming towards her, she knew it would not be long before her strength would falter, and her nerve. He started up a friendly conversation, and still she tried to shut him down. She had refused to talk to him until he told her why he invited her there. His words echoed in her mind. "I fancy you."

She could not believe what he said. "Is that so hard to believe?" "Yes" she had answered because nobody "fancied" her. She was not the belle of the ball. She was not the girl men come running after. "Why," he had said. "You're strong, full of light, I enjoy you."

Caroline sniffed. "He enjoyed me." She said as she traced the picture and the tears fell harder. She flashed again to that night. He had taken her to his study and showed her his artwork. It was then she began to realize, not only did he make her feel beautiful, but he could also make beauty. Caroline wept harder at the words of his promise. "I'll take you." He would have taken her away from everything. All of the Elena drama, and her inadequacies which had kept her there for years.

She remembered scolding him and the look of pain on his face. She closed her eyes and pictured the look she had caused. She did not want to say those words, but she could not help it. He had been so kind to her all evening and she shot him down at every turn. She had told him she was spoken for, but that night she wished she wasn't.

Caroline rolled over and placed the picture beside her, like it was him, and draped her arm over it like she was holding him, and finally after weeks of running and settling down in a small out of the way town, she finally drifted off to sleep, dreaming of that night and the good moments with the hybrid Niklaus Mikaelson.

Caroline was deep in her dream, when a voice came out of the darkness, waking her.

"If you could go back and change moments in time, would you?"

"Who said that?" Caroline called out in the dark.

"Knowing what you know now, would you change events in the past to protect him and those you love in the future?"

"I guess..." Caroline answered uncertainly.

"That is not an answer, Caroline." The voice came again.

"Who are you?"

"Answer the question, Caroline."

Caroline didn't even hesitate this time. "To save him, I will." She answered into the dark.

"Then return and I wish you luck and Godspeed."

"Wait, what are you talking about, and who are you?"

"There is no time to explain everything now, Caroline. I am sending you back."

"Back where, I don't understand."

"Back to that night, you wanted to do things differently. To give him a chance, I am making that happen for you. I believe you can do great things, Caroline Forbes. You can get through to him, in a way no one else can. All you have to remember is this moment, and how you felt when you thought all was lost. Caroline, you need him as much as he needs you. You were sent to him, and he to you. When your friends say that it would never work, when they try to tear you two apart, remember these words, and you will make it through. Never give up on him, Caroline. Do you understand?"

Caroline nodded, tears falling down her face, as she replied, "I understand."

"Then return, and remember."

"How long will I have?" Caroline asked, clutching the picture tightly.

"You have forever, Caroline. When you return, none of this will have ever happened. The only one who will know what is to come will be you. Are you ready?"

"Yes, I'm ready." Caroline replied, closing her eyes with a small smile.

"Return, and remember." The voice said again, and the world went black.