••••••

The sound of knuckles hitting against the wood jolts me awake. The pen and journal that was on my lap slips off to the ground as I move forward in shock.

My eyes travel up to a sleepy Klaus, who's leaning himself on the doorframe. "Did you sleep here all night?" he asks and I nod, yawning in the process.

"Yeah," I tell him, picking up the items that fell. I stand up from the rocking chair that's located in Hope's abandoned nursery. "I, uh, couldn't sleep so I was writing in this journal." I raise the book to show him before tossing it on top of the dresser along with the pen.

Honestly, I stayed in here because I was scared I would fall back into relapse if I were to sleep on that bed. It just reminds me of that week of pain and sorrow I went through.

When my parents died, Elena got me into writing in our diaries and it helped for awhile until I stopped. Recently I started writing again, except this time it's for my daughter.

Klaus stands up straight and extends his hand out. I gracefully accept it with a smile and he pulls us back into our bedroom.

He stops us and places his hands on my cheeks, cupping my face. "You know I love you, right?"

A smile tugs on my lips, "Of course I know that," I then break our eye contact and look down at our intertwined fingers. "I just—I miss Hope and I miss..."

"You can say his name."

I look back up at Klaus and exhale a breath. I search his eyes for any source of anger or anything that resembles his hatred for this certain person knowing that it's a touchy subject when it comes to Klaus, but there wasn't any.

"It's not just Damon, Klaus. I miss Bonnie too. I didn't even get to say goodbye to either of them and it's—" I cut myself short as tears threaten to spill. I blink, hoping to get rid of them and I turn away from Klaus.

I hear him sigh next to me, our fingers almost separating until he pulls me back and now I'm facing him again. "Don't turn away from me. Please."

"I don't know what you want me to say." I shrug and my eyes travel down to the floor. "Look at me," he says and I don't budge until he grabs my face once more, "look at me."

His eyes bore into mine, deep lines appear on his forehead as every hint of worry and concern washes all over his entire face. "I watched you, Maya. I watched you fall down the wrong path and I cannot let that happen to you again."

"Klaus—"

"Maya, over the years, I've had my share of friends, enemies, lovers, losses, and triumphs. With time, they all begin to run together, but you will find the real moments are vibrant. The rest just fades away. Your pain will fade."

I smile sadly at his response, pulling him closer to me. My arms wrap around his torso and my cheek rests on his chest. "Thank you, Klaus, for everything." I whisper, my voice barely audible and I pull my head back to look up at him, "I mean it."

He returns a smile and places a kiss on my forehead. He pulls away and I lean upward, closing the distance between our lips and connect them. When we detach ourselves, he gives me his famous smile which causes me to return one.

I walk out of our bedroom because Klaus had to get ready for the day, and to the railing that looks down upon the courtyard.

Hayley stands there while munching on a couple grapes that were placed on a huge table filled with other breakfast foods. Furrowing my eyebrows, I make my way down the stairs and greet her.

"Are you pregnant again?" I ask her while picking up a croissant and taking a bite. Hayley widens her eyes in thought, "I don't know."

I feel myself grow pale and I glance at her, almost choking on my treat.  "What?!"

Her face breaks into fits of laughter, mockingly pointing at me for my reaction. My lips turn into a straight line as I glare at her with folded arms. "That wasn't funny."

"Yes it was," she laughs again then calms herself, "but, uh, this..." Hayley points to the table filled with food, "was here this morning. It didn't come from me."

Klaus comes down the stairs and greets the two of us. "Which restaurant's missing a compelled chef?" Hayley questions.

"It's certainly a card I've played in the past, but I had no hand in this..." His hand gestures to the food on the table and frowns slightly.

"Hmm. Well, then, I guess we have Elijah to thank?" Hayley puts her hand on her waist while her other hand pops another grape in her mouth.

I turn my head when I hear footsteps behind me. Elijah steps into the courtyard and joins us with a puzzled look on his face. "This wasn't my doing..."

I frown as I glance down at the delicious food below me, "Then, where did this all come from?"

The silver lid on the platter suddenly begins to rattle, and I jump in surprise, letting out a squeal and nearly dropping my croissant. Klaus snickers at my reaction then lifts the platter that releases two birds and I immediately try to duck to avoid being hit. "What the hell is that?" I ask, placing my tasty pastry on the table, not feeling so hungry at the moment.

Inside the platter reveals a piece of folded paper and Klaus picks it up. He reads it with a non-amusing look then looks up, "An invitation from our mother."

§

I plop myself on my bed with a sigh, laying on my stomach with my palm on my chin as I stare out to the balcony where Klaus stood. He turns around and places the invitation from earlier on a end table nearby.

"We have enough enemies here. And now, the war for our home is to be fought against my own family." Klaus says.

"She tried to kill our daughter, Klaus. Adding one more person to the list of who to murder can't hurt, right?"

Klaus smiles at my response and his head quickly turns when Elijah steps in the room with Hayley behind him, "You will do no such thing. Esther's a master in the art of possession. We know whose body she currently inhabits. We must decipher her intentions before she finds a new host."

Klaus rolls his eyes at his brother, "Well, her last invitation was an assassination attempt on all her children. I think we can assume her intentions are decidedly foul."

"Well, then. We have—" Elijah checks his watch, "this afternoon to prepare for the worst." He then leaves the room and I watch as Hayley rolls her eyes. Klaus catches this and grins while saying, "The bloom is off the rose, I see."

"Shut up." Hayley mutters with a smile before exiting the room and closes the door behind her. I sigh and flip my back against the bed and stare at the ceiling. A presence comes to my view, grinning down at me like he usually does.

Klaus hovers over me and before I could even question his actions, his lips places itself on mine. The necklaces that dangle from his neck hits my chest and I gasp lightly at the cold substance touching my skin. His tongue swipes itself into my mouth the second I let it go ajar.

Without looking, I slide off his leather jacket, my hands slide underneath his black shirt to get a feel of his skin. Klaus pulls away and I pant heavily, trying to gain back my steady breathing.

He dives in again, kissing down my jawline. "When Esther comes..." My words fall into nothing when he reconnects our lips and I move my head to the side to disconnect, "I'll go with Hayley somewhere." I complete my sentence.

He gives me a look of confusion, pulling himself back up so I can fully see his face. "What do you mean?" he asks.

"What?" I ask him, not understanding why he's confused with my statement. "Maya, you are staying here."

"Why? It's supposed to be a family thing with you, Elijah and your mother." I remind him, but the confusion on his face never leaves. "What?" I ask again.

"How many times must I remind you that you are family. I want you to attend the dinner. With me."

I give him a look, softening my eyes. He removes himself off of me and lays down next to my side. I take this opportunity and climb on top of him, straddling his waist. "If you want me there that badly, I'll go." I smile with a hint of amusement in my words.

I give him a kiss before he could have a chance to respond, then I get off of him and the bed. I stand up, running my fingers through my hair.

"Where do you think you are going?" he questions, sitting up with his feet dangling off the side of the bed. "I'm going to get ready." I tell him and walk to the closet to find something to wear for the evening.

"The dinner is not for a few hours, love. We have time to kill." Klaus tells me, following after me and into our walk-in closet. I notice the leather jacket is back on him and he leans himself on the doorframe.

"And how should we do that?" I ask him, my fingers deliberately touching every fabric of dresses I own.

"I have plenty of ways. I can show you my top favorites." Klaus grins and I roll my eyes, "Maybe another time." I give him a playful smile before turning my attention back towards the clothings.

§

I walk down the stairs with my high heels clicking with every step and I walk toward the main dining area. My ears listen closely to the voices, "Are these outfits really necessary?" I hear Klaus say with a large amount of annoyance.

"Appearance is a way of showing respect, Niklaus." Elijah replies, "Mother will be more likely to surrender her true intentions."

"Well, I doubt her guard will drop just 'cause I'm dressed like a bloody lawyer." Klaus fires back and I walk in, his eyes immediately fixating on me.

His eyes rake up and down my body and I take this time to admire his choice of clothing. His body leans behind a chair that's head of the table. The chandelier above him shines greatly to see his white buttoned up shirt against his skin covered with his suit jacket and grey tie. A smirk plays on his lips that keeps growing as his eyes darken. I glance down at my dress, which is nothing more than a short fitted red dress that ends just above my knees, topped off with a random pair of black pumps I stole from Rebekah's wardrobe.

"Hmm, I suppose I should take back my words of this play of dress up..." He looks at his brother then back at me, "Suddenly I don't mind anymore."

I walk over to him and roll my eyes at him. Klaus pulls me in closer and greets me with a kiss on my cheek, casually mentioning how good I look in this dress. I smile warmly, heat rising up to my cheeks at his compliment.

"We need every advantage we can get, Niklaus." Elijah says after a moment, lighting up some candles that were on the table. There were six seats, two at the ends, and two on either side of the table. It was occupied by a table cloth draping on top and various amounts of empty plates, glasses and silverware.

"You always did excel in diplomacy. Just know, if she tries anything, I'll tear her new body to pieces." Klaus remarks and a dark-skinned man walks into the room, laughing dramatically as if he heard every word that was said.

I furrow my eyebrows, not expecting a man to waltz into the room.

"You two haven't changed a bit!" He looks at Elijah, "Linens and silk to disguise your pathetic self-loathing." He then turns to Klaus, "And you—despite the arrogant façade, you're still the same paranoid little boy, full of hate and fear."

I narrow my eyes at him, preparing to bark something back when Elijah beats me to it, "Forgive me, I don't believe I've had the pleasure."

The man feigns offense. "Oh, you mean you don't recognize me? So much for the unbreakable bonds of family, huh? Always and forever indeed."

Klaus begins to scowl when realization hits him. I stand there and look at Elijah, who seems to be just as confused as me.

"It's been a long time, Finn." Klaus spits out in anger. I widen my eyes, not at all expecting another dead Mikaelson to rise from the dead in a different body.

"You..." Finn points to me, "look oddly familiar although I can't pinpoint it exactly. I have been vacant for most my life." he says and Klaus snorts at this. My only guess is that he's referring to Klaus keeping him tucked away for so long.

"Maya. Maya Gilbert." I remind him, but I can't expect him to remember me too much. Our last interaction was me trying to kill him and his siblings... funny how that ended up.

"A Gilbert..." he thinks for a moment before smirking and spreading his arms out wide. "Now that the introductions are out of the way, let's eat!"

Moments later, Elijah pours Finn a glass of wine, which he wafts under his nose. "What an aromatic bordot." Finn says.

Klaus takes a seat at the head of the table, I sit next to him and Elijah is across from me along with Finn placing himself next to the eldest Mikaelson.

"Well, it was a challenge to find a good pairing. What wine goes well with treachery?" Klaus states.

"Don't pout, brother. Tonight is meant to be a happy occasion!" Finn replies then whispers something in one of the servers' ears and I knit my eyebrows in curiosity.

"What exactly are we celebrating?" I ask him and my fingers grab my glass of wine, which I gladly take a sip of.

"Why, my return, of course! Remember, I spent nine hundred years—" He looks at Klaus for confirmation, "—right? Lying daggered in a box. I'm rather enjoying this new body. Strolling about your lovely city that, uh, you've made your home. But, do tell me—what'd I miss? Regale me with your contributions to society! Medicine? Philosophy? Art...? Or, have you two merely cut a path of destruction across time?"

"The last time we met, you were helping our mother try to annihilate the lot of us! Let's not throw stones in glass houses." Klaus points out.

"And if I remember quickly, the lady over there played a huge part in annihilating us." Finn points at me and I gulp once again. "Distracting you and all... Tell me, how did you two become kindling spirts?"

"That is none of your business." I tell him with a glare.

Elijah seems to notice my discomfort and changes the subject right away, "Are we expecting another guest?" he asks and gestures to the caterers placing another two plates, glasses, and sets of silverware at the table.

Finn points at the other end of the table, "Mother will sit at the head. And, as for the seat across from me, that's reserved for another of our clan. Care to wager an educated guess? How about a paranoid one?"

"Well, there's no way Kol would listen to anything other than his ego." Klaus gives him an amused grin.

"And yet, our mother has made such a compelling argument that even he, the wildest of us Mikaelsons, has seen the error of his ways and accepted his new form with vigor! Change, dear brothers, is inevitable."

"You would dare face us as a mortal? The only thing inevitable is your death." Klaus grabs ahold of a knife and throws it at Finn, which he easily deflects it with magic, causing the knife to instead embed itself into the chair at the head of the table.

"Oh!" Finn removes the knife from the chair with his magic, his finger moving ever so slightly and the knife holds itself in mid-air. I didn't even blink twice when I realize the knife is pointing directly at my neck and if I were to move forward, it'd touch my skin. "And her death is inevitable too."

I gasp in fear and inhale deeply, freezing in my spot, too scared to make another move. Then, the knife clatters on my plate and when I look up, Klaus has his brother's neck wrapped around his hand, pushed up against the wall.

"You can throw any threats you want at me, brother! But not her!" Klaus retorts, keeping his hand steady on Finn's neck. "Do I make myself clear?" he lowers his voice.

I stand up from my seat afraid of what might happen next. Finn starts to laugh but gets cut off by oxygen supply when Klaus tightens his grip. "Do not make me repeat myself."

"Niklaus, would you please release our brother." Elijah gets up from his seat with an annoyed expression plastered on his face. I realize that Finn could easily fling Klaus away if he wanted to, but he didn't and I wasn't sure why.

Klaus releases him but the anger in his eyes never leave. Finn bends over to grasp that wind of air before straightening himself up. "Seems I've hit a nerve," he chuckles once more, "but now that I have your attention. We have much to discuss."

§

Esther ended up coming in fashionably late and the sight of her rendered me speechless. She wasn't in her usual body, of course, but in one of the body's of the Harvest Girls; Cassie.

Earlier Finn kept ranting on how terrible Klaus and Elijah were and at that point, I completely blocked out everything that came out of his mouth.

"Why don't you say what you came here to say, so this wretched night can end?" Klaus says while leaning back into his chair.

"It pains me that you and Elijah look at me with such disdain. I wish you could see that my every action has been to protect you!"

Klaus looks up at his mother incredulously, "You actually believe that, don't you? I knew you were a liar, but now I see you're utterly delusional."

"If you can forget the hatred that you cling to and remember all the times I've mended and healed you." she says and Klaus laughs sarcastically, but Esther turns to Elijah.

"Elijah, do you recall the day Niklaus challenged your father to a duel? Did I leave your brother to die alone? What did I say, when you came to me and asked me to help him?"

Elijah sighs, "That you would rather die than to see any of your children suffer."

It goes silent for a moment and I look at Klaus to study his features. He's deep in thought, most likely revisiting the memory his mother reminded him of. I begin to wonder how he can remember such vivid memories from one thousand years ago... I can barely remember what I wore yesterday.

"The necklace." Klaus comes back to realization and stares back at Esther furiously. "It wasn't spelled to protect me. It made me weak."

I look at him confused, but then remember about the necklace he's talking about that he told me about earlier. It's something his mother gave him as a child that supposably was supposed to protect him, especially from his father.

"I sought to protect you from yourself! If you had killed your father in that duel, or anyone else in the course of your life, you would have activated your curse!" Esther replies back.

Klaus angrily slams his hand down on the table and I jump in surprise. "You ruined me! You left me to suffer at the hands of a father who valued only strength!" he tells at her.

Esther looks at him with a guilty expression, "I kept you from becoming a beast for as long as I possibly could!"

Klaus stands up from his spot and yells in anger and hurt, "Oh, you lied to me! To hide your own transgressions because of your own fear! My whole life, I sought the approval I was denied by the man I thought was my father! You turned me into the weakling he hated."

Elijah and I rise to our feet and I step backwards while he paces anxiously. Esther gulps and looks guilty under Klaus' furious glare, unable to look him in the eyes.

My heart thumps against my chest as tears threaten to spill from my eyes. I was well aware of Klaus' past but having him relive those thoughts and express them out loud gives me so much pain for him.

"Look at me! You rant and you rave about the monster I have become, but you, Mother—you are the author of everything I am." He finishes.

I walk over to him and take his hand in mine, squeezing it in comfort. His eyes meet my teary eyes and he gives me a sad smile.

Our fingertips disregard when Esther faints in her death and slumps over. Elijah manages to catch her before her head hits the table, and he looks at us shocked.

§

Esther ended up switching bodies to another witch and offered Klaus and Elijah to join her in becoming witches just like Kol and Finn. The thought of Klaus in another body with magic running through his veins gives me an odd feeling. I could never imagine Klaus... not being in his hybrid-body.

I stand in the courtyard with Klaus, Elijah and Hayley. My red dress still clinging onto my body, not having any time to discard it. I sigh heavily as Klaus starts to rant.

"Of course she used those damn birds to make her offer!" Klaus says and Elijah cuts him off, turning to Hayley, "Besides the offer of rebirth, what else did she say?"

Earlier, Hayley was with her the time Esther took ahold of the body she now occupies. "I don't know. She rambled a lot. She blamed the two of you for what happened to Hope, to Maya, to me..."

Klaus instantly appalled by this response and stops his pacing so he can stare at her in the eyes. "Well, I hope you're not thinking of taking her offer?"

Hayley looks down at the floor and swallows a guilty gulp. I sadden my eyes and sit down next to her.

"Hayley! I'm talking to you!" Klaus shouts once more. Hayley lets out a sigh and gets up on her feet, glaring at him. "What do you want me to say, Klaus? My life was stripped away for carrying your child. So, yeah, when your mother offers to wipe the slate clean, excuse me if I'm tempted."

"Hayley..." I mutter in sadness, not knowing that part of her perspective until now. She died because of me and I took away the chance of her ever having a family or a life of her own.

She ignores me and turns to Elijah, "By the way, thanks for your help tonight, Elijah. I'm sorry that it takes me being in danger for you to even talk to me." Hayley states before storming off.