March 6, 2028
Kaitlyn's POV

I wake up, just like every other day, to the sound of my alarm blaring. My phone lights up on the nightstand to show it's 8AM already. The date? March 6th, 2028. Monday.
I barely got any sleep last night, twisting and turning, feeling sick to the stomach with nervousness for the inevitable that awaits me today.

Sixteen years. It's been sixteen years since I've last heard or seen them, sixteen years since Him. I know I was very confident and carefree yesterday when I told Kol I'm not worried or scared about this but I was lying and I think he knew that too.
Reluctantly, I get out of bed and get ready for the day. It happens to be the first day of this school session today, meaning I have to make this big, Headmistress speech to the students and teachers. As of now, I have no material prepared because last night I was too busy very possible scenario of what today might look like, to even get to writing the speech. Guess I'll just have to wing it.

With that thought, I walk downstairs to greet the family. I see Ric and Ryan in the kitchen as I walk in.
"Excited for the first day?" Ric asks.
Ryan rolls his eyes, "oh please, Ric, there's nothing to be excited about. Even if school was out, I got dragged to school all summer either by mom or the other two psychopaths that live here with us," he answers.
"Hey, I just wanted to spend some time with my son. Is that a crime now?" I reply to him and I get coffee in my thermos.
"No but there's other places to hang out in. even staying home would've been better. Don't see why we had to spend mother-son at school, with your nose buried in paperwork," he answers again, "anyways, I'm off for my run. I'll meet you guys at school." He kisses my cheek, grabs him school bag and rushes out the door.

After I'm done getting my coffee, I turn to Ric to see he's already looking at me. I give him a half-hearted smile and he reciprocates it.
"Nervous?" he asks while sipping on his own coffee.
"Not really. Well I don't know. There's definitely something different but I wouldn't exactly call it nervousness. It's more of a fear. I have no idea how today might turn out. There's endless possibilities," I shrug.
"It's okay. I'll be by your side the entire time and Kol is going to be there too. You've got nothing to be worried about," he says as he walks to the sink and places his coffee cup there.
"Yeah I guess you're right."
"I always am," he answers with a playful wink.
I roll my eyes at him, "I think I just visibly saw your head grow bigger," I reply with a teasing tone.
"Yeah yeah, whatever. You ready to go?"
I let out a sigh, "as ready as I'll ever be," I say as we both walk out the door and get into Ric's car, headed towards the School.

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About 15 minutes later, we reach the School and it's already bustling with students and teachers alike. As we walk out the car and head towards the entrance, I check to see a 'Good Morning' text from Lizzie saying she and Josie left for school at 7 this morning, as the Talent Show is tomorrow. Josie has this secret performance planned out that she has been rehearsing for, for the longest time but she won't tell anyone what it is. Lizzie, on the other hand, took up the responsibilities to make sure all things run smoothly, from decoration to guest list and what not. It's safe to say Lizzie is like a mini-Caroline ever since the kids spent a few months with Caroline after the entire Hellfire thing.

As we walk into the school, we are greeted murmurs of 'Good Mornings' from the students and teachers we pass down the hallway. I pull out my phone's notes app to not down some pointers for the speech when I see a text from Kol saying they're headed our way and will be here soon. Suddenly, all the nervousness that I was pushing aside comes rushing back. My hands go cold and I start to feel my knees go weak. It's pathetic to think even after all this years, the Mikaelsons have such an impact on me. He has such an impact on me.

"Hey, you sure you're up for this? You look pale," Ric asks me, clearly concerned.
I turn to him and give him a sad smile, "yeah I'll be fine. No backing out now. Kol says they'll be here soon."
As if on cue, I see Kol, Davina, Freya and another brunette walk in and head towards us. I'm guessing the brunette is Hope, then.

"There you are!" Kol says as he gives me a tight hug and whispers into my ears, "it's gonna be okay. I'm here for you, doll," before we pull away from the hug.
He then stands next to me and looks back at his entourage.
"So I guess introductions are in order, then. This is my beautiful wife, Davina. She was so excited to meet you that she dragged us here before the others were ready to head out. Moving on, this is Freya but I guess you already knew that and this! This is my dearest niece and your future-student, Hope."

"It's so fine to finally get to meet you!" Davina beams at me.
"Yeah, I agree. It's great to finally be able to put a name to the face my uncles and aunts won't stop talking about," Hope joins in with a smile. She has the Mikaelson smile, I must say. And they told her about me? What did they tell her about me? Now, I'm curious but I decide to push out the thoughts for now.
"Trust me, the please is all mine," I reply to them with a smile.

"By the way, congratulations on the wedding," I say as I turn to Davina again.
She thanks me and Kol continues, "yeah you're about a few years late but thanks. Now where's the wedding gift?"
I playfully roll my eyes at him, "I am your gift, Kol. Isn't that what you told me too when I asked for my gifts?" I ask with a raised brow.
He rolls his eyes at me, "you and your good memory. Pathetic."
We all laugh at his remark.

Just then, I see them. The rest of the entourage walk in through the entryway. My breath hitches in my throat as my eyes land on him. I don't think they've noticed me yet as a pillar is blocking their way.

I quickly turn to Kol's direction, "right, well I have a welcome speech to make. So I guess I'll see you guys afterwards for the tour. Alaric, here, will keep you company till then," I give them a smile and leave the group, walking towards the auditorium.

Phew. That was a close call. I get up on stage and stand by the podium as the school bell rings and people rush into the auditorium from all directions and settle down into the chairs set opposite the stage.

"Good Morning, everyone. Welcome back to school for the 2028 session. It's so good to see you all again after summer break. I hope this year runs as smoothly for all of us as the past ones have. To the seniors, you know how things work around here. I ask you to be welcoming towards the newer students and help them navigate around campus. The teachers are always around for any questions any of you might have. Same goes for me and Headmaster Alaric. Our offices are always open for you," I continue, "well then, without further ado, I guess it's time we officially start the first day back to school. Go be the exceptionally magnificent bunch that you are!" I finish my speech and the students burst into cheers, as they all walk to their classes.

I look around and don't see any of the Mikaelsons around so I guess Ric didn't lead them here. With that thought, I take in a long breath and release, trying to calm my nerves and then back into the hallways.

After looking for them for a while, I find them outside the library. I guess Ric started the tour without me then and it's a good thing he did because now I get to skip all the awkward greetings this way.
I join the group as Ric tells them all about the facilities we offer from our libraries.
"There's over 2000 volumes of books present here, practically on all kids of supernatural that have ever existed. Journals, grimoires, biographies and what not. It's all present here and assessable to students," Ric tells them.
"Yes and most of these were kind donations from people who wanted to be a part of the school in some way or the other, although most of these come from Damon Salvatore and his sources," I chime in, making my presence known.
All their heads quickly snap towards me and the newly added members of the entourage all look at me as if they've seen a ghost.

I give them all a small smile, "I'm sorry I missed bits of the tour. I had a welcoming speech to make. Let me welcome you now, to the Salvatore Boarding School for The Young and Gifted. I hope we can please you with our faculties and other facilities here," I go on professionally.

Before I can go on or they can see anything, I get interrupted by a voice.
"Mom, there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! Lizzie has been chewing my ear off about how you need to go and finalize some decorations for tomorrow. Will you please go see her before she reminds me once again to remind you? I don't understand why she can't even do it herself," he huffs.
"Yeah okay, calm down. I'll go see her after I'm done with this tour," I answer.

That's when he realizes I had company. He turns towards them, "oh I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you were in the middle of something,"
His eyes then land on Kol. "Uncle Kol? What're you doing here this early? Don't tell me mom convinced you to hang out with her at school too," he jokes.
Kol lets out a slight laugh, "Hey kid. I'm actually a part of the tour. We're here to enroll my niece here," he answers, pointing towards Hope.
Ryan then turns to look at Hope. "Hope? You're Uncle Kol's niece? You're a Mikaelson?" he asks her, clearly exasperated.
"You two know each other?" Freya questions.
"Yeah I ran into him at the Grill the other day when I was there with Uncle Marcel," Hope answers.
So I guess the other new face here is Marcel, Rebekah's fiancé.

"That means..." Ryan trails off, looking at Klaus.
"You! How dare you show up here?!" he practically yells at Klaus' direction. Klaus looks up to meet his eyes and wears a guilty look on his face while the others look clearly shocked by the sudden outburst and Kol has an amused smirk on his face.
Before Klaus or anyone else can say anything, I turn to Ryan, "Ryan! That is no way to talk to someone! Apologize right now and go back to your classes this instant," I scold him.

While I understand his reaction knowing he is very protective over me and the twins, especially since Chris' passing away, I don't condone of such behaviour, even though some might think they deserved it.
"But mom-"
"No! Don't even try. Apologize and go to your class," I repeat, cutting him off.
He huffs and turns into their direction again, "I guess I'm sorry for that. Well, actually, I'm not but I'm only apologizing because my mother asked me to," he says and walks away before I can say anything more.

As he walks away, Kol lets out an amused chuckle, "Gosh, I get more and more proud of this kid with each passing day," he says.
Davina lightly elbows him and I shoot him a glare.
"Mom? That was your son?" Rebekah asks curiously.
I nod, "yeah. I'm sorry about that. I don't know what came over him," I say.
"Well, I guess we should continue with the tour, right?" Ric contributes to the conversation, changing the topic before more questions arise. 'Thank god for that,' I think to myself.
I slowly nod, "yeah we should continue, I say, leading them towards the Stefan Salvatore Memorial Hall, that's just past the library.

I open the door and to the hall and head inside, "this is the Stefan Salvatore Memorial Hall. It's filled with some personal archives of the Salvatores, Bennetts as well as some of mine and Ric's books too."
I turn to look at Hope, "feel free to look around," I tell her and the others too disperse into different directions, curiously looking around.
"Stefan is dead?" Rebekah asks sadly.
I nod, "yes. It's been nearly a decade since," I reply with a sad tone, as well.
"What happened?" Elijah then asks.
"He died doing what he did best, being a hero. He sacrificed himself to save his wife, his friends and this town from the Hellfire that Katherine Pierce had led here, seeking revenge," I answer him.

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3rd person POV

"Wife?" Klaus asks slowly, finally breaking his silence. Stefan got married? And died the same day? Who did he marry? Was it Kaitlyn? Is that why she stayed back and never left town like the rest of her friends. His breath hitches at the thought of Kailyn getting married to someone and let alone Stefan, of all people.

"Um yes, he married Caroline Forbes but unfortunately, passed away on the very same day," Kaitlyn replies, looking down as tears threaten her eyes. Alaric slowly rubs the side of her arm, in order to comfort her knowing Stefan wasn't the only one she lost that day. They both remember that day so well. It's been a recurring nightmare for them ever since. They nearly lost the twins that day and Kaitlyn did lose her best friend and her fiancé while Caroline lost her husband.

Klaus lets out a sigh of what seems like relief before his expressions turns sad again, matching the others'. Stefan married Caroline. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't notice a connection between them. A connection he knew all too well. A connection he had with the woman who was standing a few steps away from him. She was so close still and even after sixteen years, she still had the same impact on him. Just like before, his dead heart would speed up at the mere sight of her. She was standing so close by but still so far out of his reach, he thought to himself.

He gets snapped out his thoughts when he notices most of his family had walked out of the room and Rebekah looked back to motion for him to follow along. They quickly joined the rest in the school's kitchen as Alaric and Kaitlyn explained how the kitchen was always available to the teachers and residential students, as well as the other students during school hours. With the kitchen being at the very end of the hall and the accommodation centers being beyond that, Alaric leads the group into Kaitlyn's office to talk over about the admission paperwork and other details.

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As they enter the office, Kaitlyn sits down on her chair and Alaric goes to stand by her while Klaus, Hope and Hayley take the chairs on the opposite side. Elijah, Marcel and Freya settle down on the couch while Kol leans against a bookshelf with Davina by his side and Rebekah looking around the office.

"So Hope, now that you've looked around, what do you think? Are you interested in joining?" Kaitlyn asks.
Hope immediately nods vigorously and her parents let out a chuckle, seeing her reaction.
Kaitlyn smiles at her, "well then I guess we should sort out through the paperwork," she says as Alaric hands her a stack of papers to sort through.

"Full name?" Kaitlyn asks.
"Hope Andrea-Rose Mikaleson."
Hearing her middle name, Kaitlyn stops for a brief second before she continues noting down the information again.
Rose? As in, from Rosalia? Kaitlyn's middle name?
She shakes off the thought from her head and continues with her questions, "Species?"
"Tribrid."
"And are any of your sides triggered?"
Hope looks down hearing the question, "yeah I triggered my werewolf curse a while ago," she replies, sounding ashamed of it.

"Oh, you know, my son is a hybrid, himself," Kaitlyn tells her and Hope looks up hearing what she had said.
Hayley gives Kaitlyn a grateful smile, knowing that she was just trying to comfort Hope.
"How did he trigger his curse?" Hope asks curiously.
"Well, I don't think it's a story for me to tell," Kaitlyn replies.
"Oh yeah I'm sorry I just-"
"No no, it's okay. All I'm trying to tell you is that this Werewolf side of yours is as much part of your gene as the other two are. It's a part of who you are. There's nothing to be ashamed of about it. If anything, you should embrace it. And that's exactly what we plan on helping you with. I assure you, no one here is going to judge you or discriminate against you depending on what supernatural species you belong to. You will all go to the same classes, have lunch in the same cafeteria, live in the same dormitories and be friends with each other, regardless of petty matters like your supernatural species," Kaitlyn assures her in a comforting manner.

Hope nods and her parents give Kaitlyn a grateful smile.
Before Kaitlyn can continue any further, Rebekah picks up a frame from Kaitlyn's bookshelf and turns it towards her.
"Is this your husband with your son? And is this a wedding photo?" she asks curiously.

Klaus feels his heart drop at her questions and turns around to get a look at the picture his sister was talking about.

Kaitlyn looks up from her paperwork, "that's my ex-fiancé, actually. He's Ryan's dad and no, it's not a wedding photo. It's an engagement photo from when he proposed to me," Kaitlyn answers.
"Ex-fiancé? You didn't marry him? Elijah chimes in.
"Brother-" Kol tries to stop Elijah, knowing it's a sensitive topic for Lyn and she has had her fair share of reminiscing her past for a day, she didn't need to discuss another one now. But before he could say more, Kaitlyn cuts in.

"No I didn't get the chance to marry him because he died two months after the engagement. If that's enough questions about my personal life, maybe we can move on with what we're actually here to discuss," Kaitlyn replies in an exasperated tone.

"My apologies, I just-" Elijah tries to apologize but gets cut off by the door to Kaitlyn's office bursting open and two girls barging in without a care in the world.

"Here you are, all holed up in your office! Did Ryan not tell you to come see me so you could approve the decorations?" the blonde girl yells at Kaitlyn.
"Liz, mom is clearly busy right now so maybe we should come back later. We're sorry, mom and dad," the brunette tries to reason with the blonde.

"Mom?" Rebekah asks at the same time as Klaus asks, "Dad?"
The two girls then turn to look at Rebekah and their eyes trail off to Kol, who was standing beside her, smirking.
"Uncle Kol! Why didn't you tell us you were here? We would've come greet you earlier!" the blonde rushes towards Kol.
"I got here yesterday. You weren't home when I stopped by and I thought your parents or your brother must've told you by now but I guess not," Kol replies, "anyways. Girls, meet my wife Davina," Kol introduces.

"Hi it's nice to meet you," Josie greets politely.
"What she said. And oh my god, Uncle Kol's descriptions do you no justice, you're so pretty! Uncle Kol really got lucky to have you," Lizzie compliments.
Davina lets out a chuckle, blushing at her remarks.
"That I surely did," Kol brags.

"Okay if the introductions are over now," Alaric says, drawing the twins' attention back to him and Kaitlyn, "we were jn the middle of something, girls."
"Yes, and I'll come see the decorations after I'm done, Lizzie. You don't have to worry about it. Now, meet Hope Mikaelson. She's joining school soon. You guys mind showing her around?" Kaitlyn asks the twins, trying to get them out of the room, along with Hope because she could only imagine the conversation that was about to ensue soon.

The twins nod, "yeah sure, mom. It's nice to meet you again, Hope," Lizzie goes on.
Josie, however, looks frozen in her spot.
'Mikaelson?' she thinks to herself. As in, Klaus Mikaelson? The ex-boyfriend that left her mom heartbroken?
While Lizzie wasn't aware of her mom's past relations with the Mikaelsons, except Kol, Josie had read her mom's journals and she knew the entire story. And now they were back in town, enrolling his daughter into their school? Why did her parents not tell them about this?

Josie gets snapped out of her thoughts as Hope gets up from her seat and Lizzie grabs onto Josie's hand, dragging her out of the office with Hope following closely behind.

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As the twins walk out of the office with Hope, Kaitlyn hangs her head and massages her temples, waiting to see who asks the evident question first.
It's Rebekah who breaks the silence again, "you have more kids?" she asks.

Kaitlyn looks up at her, "yeah they did call me 'mom' so I thought it was pretty obvious but guess not."
"But they also called him," Rebekah points at Alaric, "dad. He's the father? You're with him?" Rebekah continues with her questioning.

"Yeah he is their dad. And no, I'm not with him. The twins aren't biologically mine. It's a long story but the eBook version is that Alaric's wife was killed by her psychopath brother and during that time, she was pregnant. So magically, the babies got transferred to me because of some protection spell Jo had cast on the babies and then five months later, I gave birth to the twins. So I am their birth mother but not their biological mother." Kaitlyn elaborates.
"Yes and after the twins were born and Lyn decided to adopt Ryan, we thought it'd be best if moved in together and co-parented the kids together," Alaric chimes in.

"Ryan is your adoptive son?" Klaus then asks.
Kaitlyn nods, "yeah I started dating his dad when he was 4 years old so he basically grew up seeing me as a mom-figure. After Chris passed away, I decided to officially adopt Ryan and bring him into the family," she goes on.

"Oh," is all Klaus says then. So none of the kids were biologically hers. Yeah she had dated other people after him, he didn't expect her not to but not only that, she was also engaged to some guy. Even though he had no right to, Klaus couldn't help but feel some type of way when he heard about this other guy. Yeah he had seen other people in these sixteen years too but she fell in love with this guy. She fell in love after him while he couldn't ever love someone after or as much as her.

"Anyways, here's some paperwork to fill in with Hope's information," Kaitlyn hands the file to Hayley, "you can take this with you and send it back to us when you're done. For now, I think this meeting was enough and as we're constantly getting interrupted or getting off topic, it's best if we continue this some other day," she says getting up from her chair.
The others too stand up from their positions, understanding what she was hinting at.
"Now I have some decorations to approve for the show and some other things to check out, so I'll see you all later," Kaitlyn says as she hold her office door open.

"Um what show are you referring to?" Hayley asks her as they start to head towards the door.
She almost expects Kaitlyn to ignore her or be hostile towards her or hate her for the past she had played in the past but to her surprise, Kaitlyn has so far been more nice to her than she has been to Rebekah or Elijah. Kaitlyn has ignored Klaus' presence for the most part, with her precise and professional replies to his questions but honestly, that was expected.
What wasn't expected was Kaitlyn being nice to Hayley, of all people.

Kaitlyn gives her a genuine smile, "oh, we're hosting a talent show at school tomorrow," she says, handing Hayley a pamphlet with the show details, "my daughter Josie is performing as well and Lizzie has sort of elected herself as in-charge of decoration and all the other organisation stuff, much like her Aunt Caroline used to," Kaitlyn comments with a chuckle.
"Sure sounds like Caroline," Klaus chimes in.

"Josie is performing and you didn't tell me? I want to see her perform!" Kol complains, pointing accusingly at Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn lets out a chuckle, "yeah sure, stop by to see her performance tomorrow. The show starts at 5 PM. Josie will be happy to see you. Maybe you can bring Hope along, if you want," she offers.
Kol nods, "sure and obviously Davina too," he says in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Actually, do you mind if we all tag along?" Freya speaks for the first time since the tour had started.
Kaitlyn looks at Alaric and he gives her a reassuring nod.
"Yeah sure, no problem. The more, the merrier. So I guess I'll see you all tomorrow. Maybe you can get here a little earlier so we can sort through the rest of the details and officially enroll Hope," Kaitlyn offers.

Hayley nods and thanks her. So does Elijah, Freya and Davina while Kol gives her a tight hug.
Before Klaus can approach her, she walks out of the office, headed towards the auditorium again.

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Klaus hangs his head in a defeated manner. What did he expect? Did he think she'd jump up and down in joy when she sees him? Of course she reacted the way she did. For the most part she ignored him and didn't even spare him a second glance as she walked out of her office.

And the worst part is, although it was expected, it didn't hurt any less. No, if anything, it hurt way more than he had expected it to.

What Kol had said you as true. She was different now. She had a separate life of her own now that didn't depend of the Scooby Gang or the Mikaelsons.
It was her own life. She had kids. She had a family. She had fallen in love again and although Klaus found that thought disturbing, what hurt more was that she was stripped away from this love too. She was left alone again and he wasn't there to help her through it. He wasn't here but Kol was.

Kol was a significant part of her life. He was Uncle Kol to her kids. It hurt, not only Klaus but Elijah and Rebekah as well that their Rose had trusted Kol to be a part of her life, her family but they weren't a part of it.
But then again, they couldn't blame her for it as they were the ones who left and never reached out afterwards. It was their fault that Lyn had pushed them out of her life and put up her walls so high that they didn't think they could push through them that easily. All they could do now is try to make amends and be there for her now, while feeling guilty for their past actions.

They head to their cars after getting Hope and then drive back to their mansion.

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"Well I'd say that went well," Kol states in a playful manner as they all walk into their home.
"Yeah I think so too," Hope comments, "Lizzie and Josie were really nice to me. I'm excited for this!"

Hayley gives her a small smile, "Hope why don't you go upstairs and freshen up while we talk out here?" she recommends to Hope, who nods and walks upstairs to her room.

As soon as Hope is out of sight, Rebekah lashes out.
"That went well? Is that what you're going to call it? She didn't even try to make conversation with most of us. She was being nice to Hayley but from what I could tell, she bloody hates the rest of us. She was so hostile towards Elijah, Nik and I. She has changed," Rebekah goes on.

"Can you blame her?" Kol replies, " I mean, if I were in her place, I would even refuse to have the meeting and she still did it. She went through with the meeting and accepted Hope into her school. She didn't have to but she still did it anyways. As for being nice to Hayley and not you three, it's because she always said she doesn't hate Hayley. I don't know how she doesn't but she doesn't blame Hayley for anything that happened back then. She is only hostile to the three of you because you're the ones that abandoned her. Because you're the ones that she felt owed her at least a simple goodbye. Not like any of that matters now. We all know Lyn. We all know she doesn't hold grudges and is the most understanding, forgiving person ever, so I'm damn sure she'll end up forgiving you three as well, very soon, not that any of you deserve it but that won't stop her. So until she does forgive you, try not to mess things up and make things worse for Hope, especially you, Nik," Kol points towards him.

"Now if any of you need me, I'll be upstairs with my wife," Kol finishes as he walks upstairs with Davina.

The others stand still for a few minutes but then scatter across the house as well. All except one. A certain Hybrid stayed still in his spot, replaying Kol's words in his mind.

She blamed him. She was mad at him. She thought he owed her at least a goodbye, if not anything more. It was him that she felt rage and disappointment towards.

Kol was right.

Everything has changed...

And Klaus was determined to make amends and not make the same mistakes he once had. He won't let her slip away any further. He would first win her forgiveness, then her trust until eventually...he would win her back.
He was determined to get the girl this time.