Outside the boundary spell, Elijah, Rae and I were trying to get Klaus to put the white oak stake down.

"Nik, don't," I told him. "Put it down."

"Elijah, get Kaylin and Rae out of here," Klaus told him. "You shouldn't be here for this."

"Put it down and let's talk," Elijah told him.

"There's nothing left to say," Klaus told us. "It's time to end this chapter, get rid of the dark magic once and for all."

Hope walked closer. "Dad? What's going on here?"

Klaus looked at Elijah. "Get them out of here."

"Your death is not the answer," Elijah told him.

"Death?" Hope repeated. "What are you talking about?"

"They put it into Klaus," Rae answered. "He told us that they put it into something safe, and instead, he used your first transition to trick all of us."

"So what happens, you just kill yourself and the magic goes away?" Hope asked.

"And you didn't even ask any of us," I told him, hurt but knowing he was only trying to protect us.

"I don't need permission to save your lives," Klaus replied.

"Come back with us to New Orleans, Niklaus," Elijah told him. "We'll find another way."

"We all know that's not gonna happen," Klaus told us. "Hope... Kaylin... Rae... I'm sorry. I've made my decision."

"And I've made mine," Rae told him, easily using her psychic power to get into Klaus's head and make him fall unconscious.

Hope, Elijah, Rae and I looked at each other in shock, breathing heavily.

**********

We had taken Klaus back to New Orleans, where he was chained up in the dungeon. I knelt next to Klaus, checking the veins on his arms. Rebekah, Elijah and Kol were standing behind me.

"Just when I thought he was showing the vaguest signs of maturity, our brother makes a unilateral decision that leaves the rest of us stewing in his melodrama," Kol told us.

I gave him a look. "His death is not a melodrama."

"Well, he's spiraling," Elijah told us. "This energy feeds on anger, and Niklaus, as we know, has enough to set the world on fire."

"How many times are we going to play this game?" Kol asked. "Right, calamity and doom approaches our brother, and then all of a sudden, a trapdoor appears, and poof, he escapes. He's a cockroach that will outlive us all. And we're immortal."

"And what if it's different this time?" Rebekah asked. "What if he figures out a way to end it all?"

"I don't think he would notice or care that I wasn't there to witness it," Kol pointed out. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going home."

Kol left the dungeon.

"He'll be back," Rebekah told us.

"Will he?" I asked.

Rebekah left the dungeon to go after Kol.

**********

I walked upstairs to see Freya with Hope and Rae, who were trying to find a way to fix this.

"Your dad is strong, but that works against him here," Freya explained. "The energy will feed off of that strength. He'll quickly go mad, and it won't be long before he's unrecognizable and impossibly dangerous to all of us."

"Okay," Rae told us. "Well, how long does that take? Days?"

"More like hours," Freya answered.

I nodded, trying to be numb. "So today."

"Yeah," Freya answered.

Hope sighed. "All right. Then we're gonna have to pull the darkness out of him, divide it up again."

"And then we end up where we started, with the family scattered to the corners of the world until something calls them back," I told them.

"Well, then we keep him asleep, okay?" Rae asked. "He won't be angry when he's asleep. We'll just brick him up in the head garden. That'll at least slow it down."

Freya looked between the three of us sadly in sympathy. "I need you to hear me on this. There's not enough magic in the world to slow this down."

**********

Hope, Rae and I had gone down to the dungeon to check on Klaus, only to find him gone.

Marcel walked toward us. "So it's true."

"We have to find him," I told them.

"It's Mardi Gras out there," Marcel told us. "The streets'll be packed to the rafters."

"Well, he'll be the one foaming at the mouth and ranting," Rae told us.

"Yeah, exactly," Marcel told us. "Which is why I don't think it's such a good idea for you three to be out there."

"It's better than me and Rae being fatherless and Kaylin becoming a widow," Hope replied.

We walked outside into the Mardi Gras festivities, looking for Klaus.

Marcel followed us. "Hey, Kaylin. Rae. Come on, Hope. We all know firsthand he's up against. The voices, the rage."

"He's in this mess because he's trying to save us," Rae told him. "Just like always."

"Look, you put him down, he got back up," Marcel told us. "You put him down again, the same thing's gonna happen."

"So, what Hope's an orphan at 15?" I asked. "Rae loses her stepfather? I lose my husband?"

"God, you guys are always saying that I need someone to take care of me," Hope told him. "Well, who's gonna take care of us if he goes? Not just me, but Rae and Kaylin, too? Uncle Elijah? You? No, of course not, because you have your own never-ending life to live."

"So, Marcel, just go and let us have our last moments with Klaus," Rae told him, using her psychic power to get into Marcel's head to make sure that he didn't follow us while we walked off to find Klaus.

Marcel tried to follow us but Rae's mind control wouldn't let him. "Kaylin! Hope! Rae!"

**********

Hope, Rae and I found Klaus in an alley, walking closer.

"Nik?" I asked worriedly. "Come on. Let's go home."

"Dad?" Hope asked.

Klaus's mind was clearly racing as he fought for control against the Hollow, trying not to hurt us. Rae could see what he was being tormented by, worried, using her psychic power to make him fall unconscious. Hope and I caught him from falling, looking at each other and Rae worriedly.

**********

Klaus was standing outside on the balcony.

I walked toward him. "Don't make me murder you while you contemplate killing yourself."

Klaus turned to face me regretfully. "Kaylin. If you're here to stop me, then..."

I shook my head. "I'm here to spend what little time I have left with my husband. Wherever we go, it'll have to do. I know why you're doing what you're doing, Nik. I know you're just trying to save me, and to save Hope and Rae, and the rest of your family. But I would very much rather you have told me that you were gonna sacrifice yourself, but then again, Stefan didn't warn me that he was going to do the same the day he died, so..."

"Kaylin..." Klaus trailed off.

"I'm used to it," I told him. "I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to my brother, Nik. Just let me have the day to say goodbye to you."

Klaus slowly nodded in agreement.

**********

Klaus and I were sitting in Rousseau's, drinking, both of us devastated but trying to salvage a good day of goodbyes.

"What was it about our relationship that you enjoyed the most?" Klaus asked.

I thought about the right way to answer, sighing. "The way we were so much alike. The way, how even when we were good, or even when we were bad, we always did whatever we possibly could, together. How we were able to bond over broken, psychotic families." Klaus chuckled. "And how you would chase me around in Mystic Falls when we were fighting. That was the fun part." We smiled slightly. "Say goodbye to Hope and Rae, Nik. Give them real closure."

Klaus looked down, sighing sadly. "Closure is a myth."

"Look, what you're doing is noble, Nik, but if you don't say goodbye, if--if you leave Hope and Rae with questions and pain and anger, you'll haunt them, like you used to haunt me," I told him. "And I don't think that's your endgame."

"I don't know how to say goodbye," Klaus admitted.

I chuckled without humor. "Well, I'm a little too good at goodbyes. I've had to say goodbye to you, my brothers, on multiple occasions. One of you stands, walks to the door, but doesn't turn back, even if their heart aches for just one more look, one more moment, but you'll know that the not looking just means... I'll never forget you." We looked at each other sadly with tears in our eyes, kissing slowly and passionately. I stood, taking his hand in mine. "Come on."

Klaus nodded.

**********

Klaus and I returned home, where Elijah was talking to Hope and Rae.

"We'd like a moment alone with our daughters, please," Klaus told him.

Elijah nodded. "Of course."

Elijah left us to talk to Hope and Rae.

**********

Klaus sighed heavily. "Hope, Rae, please, scream, yell, break something if you have to. Just don't look at me like that."

Rae shook her head. "This isn't right."

"A father protecting his daughter and his step daughter?" Klaus asked. "I'd say that's exactly right."

"Elijah was willing to take the curse completely," Rae told him.

"And what kind of father allows another man to die for his wife or children?" Klaus asked.

"The kind that loves them," Hope told him.

Klaus walked closer worriedly with tears in his eyes, all of us close to crying. "I love you. I love all of you. It's the way of the world. Children bury their parents. Wives bury their husbands. It happens every day, every hour. It's a truth this family has avoided at a cost."

"Yeah, well, we just got you back, so why does it have to be today?" Rae asked.

"Listen, I have not lived an honorable life, you know that," Klaus told us. "But doing this, taking the darkness into myself, so no one else is afflicted by it... that is an honorable death, and I can do that. I can do it, because you've helped me feel something that I never thought was possible. Unconditional love. My daughters. My wife. You're my heart."

We were all crying as we embraced tightly.

**********

We heard the others downstairs.

"You remember when he stopped sleeping?" Rebekah asked. "He was so paranoid someone was plotting against him, he would wander the halls at night listening at our doors."

"That night he almost caught me sneaking out of our room," Marcel agreed. They both laughed. "I think I was hiding in that crawl space for about 12 hours."

We heard Freya. "Um, Keelin just got back."

We heard Keelin. "Just wanted to say hi."

Marcel and Rebekah spoke together. "Hi."

We heard Elijah. "You know, he always had a prescient eye. He was extolling the virtues of Vincent van Gogh when the world decided he was a madman with a severed ear."

"Wait, do you remember that April Fool's in Copenhagen where he compelled a circus troupe to follow you around?" Rebekah asked.

"Also known as the most challenging 36 hours of my long life," Elijah told them.

Marcel laughed. "No, no, no, no, no. The worst was when he would get drunk, and get it in his head that he was gonna set the world ablaze with his paintings, and then he would actually set them on fire." Everyone laughed. "That was the weird thing. What was his phrase?"

Elijah, Rebekah and Marcel spoke together. "His inspirational rampages."

We heard Kol. "His drunken collection was always my favorite. I should have known this was going to be redundant."

"Brother, bourbon's never redundant," Elijah told him.

"The prodigal brother returns," Rebekah told him.

"Yes, well, as much as I hate to admit it, you were right," Kol told her. "We should honor our brother's sacrifice. And if Nik's time is up, then, I guess I didn't want to miss my chance to bitch and moan. Because he is a tremendous ass."

Klaus, Hope, Rae and I walked in to join everyone.

"That he is," Klaus agreed. "But he oh-so-secretly adores his youngest brother." He embraced Kol, pulling away. Everyone was looking at him. "Well, don't stop on my account. If this is to be my funeral, then, let's get on with it."

**********

In the dining hall, we were all sitting around the table, eating, drinking, finding the means to have a good last couple of hours for Klaus, managing to laugh and reminisce about that past. Hope, Rae and I were even smiling. Freya popped a cherry into Keelin's mouth. Rebekah pushed Kol playfully. I wrapped an arm around Hope and Rae. Everyone raised their glasses to clink them together and drink.

**********

Everyone was still having a good time, except for Hope and Rae, who were now despaired as much as I was.

Marcel walked over to sit next to the girls. "I will never abandon you. And even though I can't always be around, if you so much as breathe my name..."

Hope nodded, managing a small, sad smile. "I know."

"Thank you," Rae told him.

Marcel, Hope and Rae embraced.

"All right," Rebekah told us. "It's time for an old-fashioned wish burning ceremony."

**********

In the courtyard, everyone was burning their wishes. The somber air had returned, as everyone knew that Klaus was going to die soon.

Klaus took a deep breath. "You know, as much as I've savored the joy of tormenting you throughout the years, I must confess you all mean everything to me. Your loyalty and counsel and your love is probably the only reason why I've survived as long as I have. Which is how I know long after after I'm gone, you will all come together, time and time again, to take care of each other. And that is why I'm not afraid for your future."

Elijah sighed sadly. "We're bound forever to those whom we share blood. And while we may not choose our family, that bond is our greatest strength."

Klaus managed a small smile. "Though, I may be leaving you tonight, this is not the end of the Mikaelsons." He looked at Rae and me. "Or the Salvatores. Always and forever."

We all repeated. "Always and forever."

Klaus took a deep breath. "I need a moment."

Hope, Rae and I walked toward Klaus as he stopped at the door.

"I want to go with you," I told him.

Klaus shook his head. "I don't think you should."

Hope was crying. "Rae and I'm gonna make you proud. I can't promise that we won't go through a period where we get irresponsible tattoos and date older men, but we're gonna go back to school, and we'll be okay. Because I'm a Mikaelson, and Rae's a Salvatore."

"And I promise you, we're gonna do right by both those names," Rae told him.

"I know you will," Klaus told them. "I love you." Klaus, Hope and Rae embraced for the last time, crying. Hope and Rae pulled away, slowly walking away. I turned to Klaus, crying. Klaus held me in his arms, crying. "I love you... more than all the days and nights, deeper than the oceans and the skies."

"I love you, too," I told him. "More than I've loved any other man. You've always been my life, Nik. Ever since we met. How do we do this?"

Klaus leaned his head against mine. "I wish I knew. Hope and Rae will need you more than they ever have. You're the only parent they have left, Kaylin."

I sniffled, taking a deep breath. "I promise you that I'll take care of them. Like I always have. And I always will. They can't lose someone else. I know they can't lose me. Till death do us part, right?"

Klaus chuckled sadly. We kissed for the last time passionately and devastatingly, pulling away, slowly letting go. Klaus hesitated, taking my advice from earlier, walking toward the door, stopping, but not looking back, both of us aching from the pain, for more time, before Klaus finally had to leave. I looked down, sighing shakily.

Elijah walked toward me. "Kaylin." I turned to face him. "There's something else we need to discuss. I'll be there to die by Niklaus's side. I'm going to redefine always and forever. I'm going to follow him from this adventure to whatever lies beyond. Everyone else has already gave me their blessing."

"I get why you want to die, Elijah," I told him. "Because of Hayley, because of Nik. But what about Hope and Rae?"

"They'll have you," Elijah answered. "They'll have Marcel and Rebekah and Freya. I even looked Kol in the eye and I told him if he doesn't look after the three of you, I'll come back and haunt him."

I managed a small smile, nodding, embracing Elijah goodbye. "Take care of him if you can. Somewhere in the afterlife."

Elijah nodded in agreement. "I promise you."

We pulled away. I watched as Elijah walked out, even more devastated but knowing that we could heal and come back from this, though we would never be able to forget them or replace them, never even wanting to.

And I would always honor my promise to be there for Rae and Hope, and always take care of them.

Even if they were gone, we would never forget Klaus and Elijah Mikaelson.