May 2, 2017

"Happy birthday, my littlest wolf."

Hope awoke rubbing her eyes, a whine escaping as she stretched her tiny legs, though she shot up as soon as she saw what Klaus had in his hands.

"For me?" she shrieked, reaching out to grab the stuffed animal that awaited her. She hugged the tiny wolf made of patches of her old clothes tight to her chest, giggling and wiggling her feet. "I love it!"

"Feliz aniversário minha menina linda," said Yara, kissing her forehead. "Tem certeza que é o único presente que você queria?" (T: Happy birthday my beautiful girl. Are you sure this is the only present you wanted?)

"Sim Mãe, eu só queria um lobinho!" (T: Yes, Mama, I only wanted a little wolf!)

Klaus smirked, eyeing Yara. "Then... you'd be opposed to the other presents waiting in the kitchen–" he caught Hope as she shot like a cannon out of the bed, effortlessly turning her upside down, "which you can open after you brush your teeth!"

She giggled, trying to swat him away. "Papa, put me down!" She put her hands on the ground, managing a handstand for a moment before she sprung up, skipping to the bathroom.

"How do you think she'll react?" murmured Yara.

"When does she react to anything poorly? I think we can expect five cartwheels in a row."

She leaned onto his shoulder. "And you? Today is a big day."

He managed a weak smile. "It is also a reminder of why we're here, hidden away. What if it doesn't work? What if the witch we've hired proved duplicitous?"

"You said it yourself. Stefan Salvatore was your friend. If he trusted Valerie Tulle, so can we. Besides, we're paying her far too much for her to prove traitorous. The girl has found for us all the wolves we needed and extracted their venom painlessly. Today, we get your siblings back."

"I don't think I've seen you this excited since you snuck out to watch Brazil play Netherlands in 2014."

"And you recall I came back in a foul mood because they lost. This is exciting. We won't have to be hiding here anymore. We can live elsewhere with them, all of us protecting Hope. Somewhere peaceful. She's five, it's time we amp up her curriculum. She's accelerating so fast... she can already write, do basic addition and subtraction, she forms full sentences and she's so curious... we need her to be able to go to school or at least have better access to materials so I can teach her at home. And that bracelet they made for her won't keep her magic suppressed much longer. She needs Freya, Kol, and maybe even Finn to start teaching her to use her magic. We can't keep asking her not to do anything, we can't limit her when she wants to heal all the injured animals outside. She needs this and so do you."

"And you, love? What do you need?"

She smiled sadly. "I want to be able to go to New Orleans and see my boy again. Even just to talk. It's been five years. That may not seem so long to us but it is quite a while."

Klaus very well remembered what a toll it had taken on her. For the first few months they were in Brazil, she cried when she thought no one was watching, especially when she believed him to already be asleep. He figured to lighten the mood, "You once kept me out of your bed that long. To me it was an eternity."

"Well, you've been in my bed for five years now. Does that make up for it?"

He kissed her, cupping her face. "More or less."

Hope inhaled her breakfast, a slice of pão de queijo (cheese bread) and a glass of fresh milk. She requested that her next birthday have beignets, which Klaus responded to by sliding a tray of them toward her, causing her to squeal with delight.

"You made them?" she shrieked, stuffing one in her mouth.

"Anything for my littlest wolf," said Klaus. "Though, to be honest, your mother did the majority of it." He smirked when Yara narrowed her eyes. "Really, all I did was give the idea and bring the ingredients. And criticize a bit."

"Obrigado, Mãe," chirped Hope. (T: Thank you, Mama.) "These are good presents."

"There's more than just this, meu amor," said Yara, sitting beside her. "We made a few more things for you. But before we get to them, we'd like to discuss a gift that is... not yet here."

Hope tilted her head, the sugar from the beignet dribbling down her mouth, which Klaus cleaned with a napkin. "Someone is bringing it to us?"

"Someone is helping us get it. You remember what we told you about your aunties and uncles, right?"

She nodded. "That they are like Sleeping Beauty and are waiting for someone to rescue them from their sleep."

"That's right, my sweet girl. And the day has come that we can bring them back."

Her eyes widened. "I can meet them?"

"Yes," said Klaus. "You'll be able to see their faces and match them to the stories we've told you. Would you like that?"

"Yeah! So I can do magic. Can I? Can I, Mama, please?" The two shared a look and nodded. Hope removed her bracelet, holding her hands over her stuffed wolf, which rested comfortably on her lap. It started to hop on its own, heading over to Klaus and nuzzling against his face.

It had been a long time since Hope had started displaying signs of magic. A long time that it had already been necessary for her to have lessons. Klaus and Yara knew she was capable of great things, but only if she learned properly.

Hope spent the day opening her presents with Yara while Klaus went into town to meet Valerie, who had come without a drop of vervain in her to abide by their agreement: payment to bring their supplies and siphon Rebekah's curse along with her submitting to compulsion to forget where they were and how she'd helped them. Simple.

The little girl remained quietly in her room while they drew the coffins out, administering the injection to cure Freya (which they'd acquired soon after their return to Brazil) while Valerie siphoned Rebekah's hex.

The blonde awoke with a gasp, clutching her chest and wheezing, looking around fearfully when she didn't recognize her surroundings. Being drawn out of the Chambre de Chasse she created must have given her whiplash. Five years away from the real world was a very long time. It had been startling enough for Yara to enter New Orleans after Klaus found her in Brazil. The world was different, she was different.

"Freya," said Yara gently. "You're okay, it's us. How do you feel?"

"Good," she said. "Did you get the ingredients?"

Klaus nudged forward the bag of wolf venom that Valerie had brought. "Good," said Freya, accepting Yara's hand to climb out of the coffin. "I need to begin. If I can't turn all that into a cure, Elijah's going to die."

"How long will this take?" asked Klaus.

"At most, an hour. Assuming he lives that long." She dug into the bag, using a piece of chalk to draw a seven-pointed star on the floorboards, then placing a vial of venom on each point. "Venom from the seven packs." She passed a bowl to Klaus. "Your blood, please."

He bit into his hand, draining it as Yara offered a small box of magical objects, something sent in pieces by Cami to prepare for this day; after all, their original owner was Kol.

"It's going to take all of my strength," said Freya, "and more than a little luck, but it should be enough to fashion a cure."

"Should?" asked Yara. "What do you mean 'should?' Listen, Gia's already on her way here. If she arrives and Elijah is dead... if he dies, I might die. You told us five years ago that this was the exact recipe you needed."

"It should be," repeated Freya. "No one knows for sure. But we have to try. I don't know what else could work."

Valerie left with her money as soon as Rebekah was cured. Yara paced beside Klaus, who sat at the kitchen table eyeing Freya as she chanted rhythmically, waving her hands over the bowl and the vials of venom, preparing them for their combination.

"We will be able to leave as soon as they are back," he muttered. "Will it even be safe?"

"We've managed so far. Anyone who has come close, we've ended. Alistair Duquesne, the Strix vampires who came checking for Elijah, that one sireling of Cortez that made it to Penalva– the closest anyone ever got. We have found out about them before they arrive, we have struck before they can do damage. Your strongest sirelings have been killed, either by you or by me. They'd be idiots to keep coming, you've seen how it's slowed down throughout the years. They know the Originals aren't gone and they know they aren't going to get them. After today, we can live somewhere less isolated and we will have a great deal more manpower to keep us safe. The white oak–"

"Was left behind in the Compound. Marcel could have it."

"If he has it, he won't use it. He has a bite that could end us all. There is no need for white oak. And you know he won't risk Hope or I. As long as we don't engage, it'll be fine. We won't go back to New Orleans to live. I'll get our things, only what matters, and I'll try to make amends. He let us go, Klaus. He could have said only Hope and I would be free, he could have demanded you show your face to keep us safe and you would have done it because you would never have risked calling his bluff. He could have bitten you and let that be the end but he released us. He let that anger end there. And it will stay that way, because we aren't going back to New Orleans."

Everyone was in agreement with that, once they were all awake.

Elijah was cured and Rebekah was awoken, the two scarfing down helpings of empadão with blood bags while Hope asked them a million questions, hugging her tiny stuffed wolf to her chest.

Klaus let Freya channel him in order to place Kol and Finn's souls back into their bodies, the spell preserving them even though they didn't get to be in the Chambre de Chasse. Yara hoped they hadn't felt much time pass in the pendant. No one seemed exceptionally addled when they were upright. Maybe it had been pleasant, maybe the wait had been short.

"What's the holdup?" asked Kol when, in the evening, they were watching Hope open the rest of her gifts. Yara had made her new clothes, Klaus had bought her a new art kit and carved an easel for her from scratch, and one of their neighbors had knit Hope a flower hat. "We ought to be on a private jet to Saint-Tropez now that we're together." He snatched from Elijah a newspaper Yara had offered, "You can catch up on the last five years when we're on our way– I can assure you haven't missed much."

"We have our niece to consider," said Rebekah, grinning as Hope attempted a handstand with her hat.

"Kol has a point," reasoned Freya. "We need a new hiding place; this house cannot accommodate all of us."

"We're not going anywhere just yet," said Klaus. "I want one day of peace with all of you and my daughter before we uproot her."

"Any delay is a risk."

"We've already got a plan in place," said Yara. "We will leave, that is a promise. Klaus and Hope will travel while I go to New Orleans to speak with Marcel and get some of our things. If he sees me, he'll know we're safe. I imagine he's had enough time to cool off and at least inform me if we still have anything to worry about before we fully settle anywhere. I doubt it; all the enemies that could have come have been close and we've ended them."

"Yeah!" chirped Hope. "Mama and Papa take turns being superheroes to get rid of the bad guys."

Yara nodded. "That's right, my love. Anything you want to say to your aunts and uncles?"

Hope stared shyly at her feet for a moment. "This is the best present in the world."

Rebekah and Freya both 'awed' as Finn, Kol, and Elijah smiled. "Can you say it in the other languages you know?" challenged Klaus.

She giggled. "Este es el mejor regalo de todo el mundo. Este é o melhor presente em todo o mundo." She counted on her fingers, Spanish and Portuguese. "Outro?" she asked Yara. (T: Another?)

Yara assented. "You know more, don't you?"

She held up her fingers to show she knew a little bit. "C'est le meilleur cadeau du monde entier."

"Very good," praised Elijah. "English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. You are a very smart young lady."

Hope curtsied playfully. "Thank you, Uncle 'Lijah."

It was only once she was asleep that they revisited Kol, Freya, and even Finn's anxious need to leave Brazil at once to find a safer place. Kol wanted to go back to his travels, and it seemed his discussion of it was persuading Rebekah to follow him. Finn was finally preparing to go off and live in New Zealand. Freya, on the other hand, wasn't ready to settle down and she wasn't eager to travel for fun, either. Her plan was go off and obtain more venom to have a cure in place if they ever needed one again.

Elijah seemed to be the only one who wanted to stay, just until Gia got there. They would keep Klaus and Hope company while Yara was in New Orleans, and then, they'd go live together in Manosque, something they'd apparently wanted to do for a while. Eventually, Elijah assumed Freya would be the one to come back and teach Hope. After all, she'd taken care of her the most when she was a baby. She loved her like she was her own daughter. She wouldn't be able to stay away for long.

And though Yara had been most upset with Elijah and Freya, she didn't want to hold grudges. She still hated what was done to Davina, she hated what Elijah had done to Marcel, but what sense was there in being bitter and hostile? It didn't set a good example for Hope about forgiveness and vengeance. A lesson could be learned while still acknowledging what had happened. She understood why they'd done it, and she couldn't claim she'd have done something all that different if she'd been in their shoes. (When it came to Marcel, she definitely never would have killed him, but with Davina, she could admit it was less certain, given Elijah and Freya had never been as close to her as Yara and Rebekah had.)

Hope was saddened by the flood of departures the following day, but didn't stay upset for more than a few minutes once Kol and Rebekah promised souvenirs. Even Finn said he'd visit if he could, and might teach her a spell or two if she progressed as a witch.

She was very easily excited upon Gia's arrival. The woman had brought for her an old violin in case Hope wanted to learn, and played 'Happy Birthday' on it as a late treat. Yara left the following morning for New Orleans while Elijah and Gia helped Klaus and Hope transition first to a house in Texas. If the situation was still dire, they'd bounce a second time. If not, Yara had already found a secure home and a good school district.

Only one person knew she was coming. She'd kept in touch with her friends through letters, hearing how Hayley and Jackson were running a healthy pack, how Josh and Aiden had recently gotten engaged and how Aiden's brother Nick was now in college studying to be an engineer. Cami was the one she spoke with the most. She had her own practice while still working at Rousseau's, and had been happy to prepare Marcel for a chat once Yara arrived unannounced.

Walking through the Compound saddened her. She snuck in through the Bayou, entering via the tunnels that led her up to the mess left behind by the angry sirelings who'd been out for blood. All their memories, broken. Furniture in disarray, paintings torn, several rooms apparently had been torched. It was a miracle the Compound hadn't burned down.

Her foot crushed a picture frame, glass crunching as she knelt to pick it up, sadly admiring a photo taken of Marcel and Klaus at the opera. She carefully removed the photograph to tuck into her jacket.

"Didn't think I'd see you here again."

She let out a sigh of relief, tears nearly springing into her eyes. "It's good to hear your voice."

"It's good to hear yours, too," said Marcel, coming closer. "I see you got Cami to drop the bomb and say you were here."

"I figured she would be the only one that might keep you from getting upset."

"I'm not upset if you're here alone. I just want to know why."

"To see you. To get our things."

"So... it happened, didn't it? You fixed them? You were able to pop out of hiding... my guess is that it's time for Hope to stop living like Rapunzel wherever you were."

"Yes, it is time. She's a beautiful girl." She showed him her lock screen, a picture of Hope with her face painted like a tiger at her fourth birthday. "Fluent in three languages, learning a fourth. She's just as smart as you. My two brilliant children."

He half-smiled. "I'm glad you didn't die. I kept wondering if Elijah would succumb. Made sure to watch The Strix's movements so I'd know if anything happened. I would have had no way of knowing."

"You would have," said Yara. "Klaus and I had an agreement. If anything happened to Elijah and I died, he would have reached out to you." She laughed weakly, "Under a white flag."

Marcel didn't look thrilled to hear this, perhaps only because he didn't wish to imagine her dead. "Are you happy, Yara?"

"No," she admitted. "I feel some happiness seeing my little girl grow, being with Klaus. But there are things missing. This city is one, but I can live without it. The one I've struggled to live without is you, and Davina, too. I know I ought not even mention her but I did mourn her, Marcel. I mourned both of you for a while. It was harder to show it; I had to stay strong for Hope, couldn't let Klaus know how sad I was. I adapted but it wasn't easy. I wanted a life with both my kids. I wanted you to know Hope. Now, I'm not sure it will ever happen. But..." she shrugged. "I can survive that, too. I just want to make sure I leave here knowing we aren't being actively hunted anymore. By you or anyone."

He shook his head. "Nah, I never sent anyone after you. I knew they were all linked to Klaus, so I took the white oak, have it hidden. I wouldn't risk Hope. The sirelings weren't happy that I let you go in the first place. This house was the site of a bloodbath when they tried to rise against me. A lot of them left when they saw they just weren't gonna win. A few I stopped from going after you. And some, I heard, tried and never came back. I take it that was your doing?"

"Me and Klaus took turns, yes. We were the only ones we could rely on for protection. There was no chance for interacting with the other supernatural communities. Speaking of which... is it peaceful here? I'd like to know. Maybe... things will be okay from now on."

Marcel shrugged. "The witches practice differently now. Vincent is a good leader. A lot of them left after the Ancestral Well blew. All the bad ones, good riddance I say. The wolves are good, Hayley says they've had a few leaving the pack but they're mostly single young men or women who seem to want more out of life. No one is sure why they're going but they are and it's been fine. The vampires are doing good. The Strix aren't here anymore but they're doing their thing out in the world. The organization is a lot different without Aya or Tristan in charge. For better or worse, I'm making it what Elijah intended. Improving civilization as a whole instead of some cult of ego-maniacal sociopaths."

Yara let out a snort. "Yeah, I see that." She sighed. "I want to apologize again, on behalf of everyone. We all did awful things, a lot of them can't be taken back."

"You don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong, Yara. I'll always forgive you, just as you'll always forgive me. You don't need to worry about me. I don't wish you any suffering. As long as you all stay out of New Orleans, we're good. Whenever you decide to tell Hope about me... tell her she doesn't need to fear me. She never did."

"May I hug you, Marcel?"

"Of course, Yara."

She pulled him into her chest, sighing and tiptoeing to kiss his cheek. "You'll always be my boy," she murmured. "That is a promise. No matter how far apart we are, no matter what stands between us. I would die for you and kill for you, I would do anything to keep you safe and happy and healthy. You are my first pride and joy and my love for you has strengthened with each year I've been blessed to be your mother. You will always have a home with me."

He silently helped her pack, escorting her back to the airport and leaving before he could see what terminal she was headed to, for her privacy. She made it to Texas in the evening, and was greeted with cupcakes Hope had made under Gia's instruction.

"What a lovely surprise!" said Yara, dipping down to kiss her cheek. "My beautiful girl, these are going to be delicious, I already know."

"Did you bring more presents?" asked Hope curiously.

"Not really, they were things we already had. How do you like this house?"

"It's pretty! And Papa says we can get a dog if I'm good, so I can learn to take care of it." She tiptoed to whisper, "But I want a horse."

Yara smiled, winking at Klaus over Hope's shoulder. "I think your Papa could be persuaded to choose a horse over a dog, he loves horses."

She spoke with Elijah, Klaus, and Gia once Hope was asleep, letting them know the situation in New Orleans. The little she'd seen didn't concern her. And if Marcel's words were to be considered the truth (which she did think them to be), their beloved city was peaceful. No one was coming for them. At last, they could be safe.

"Mama?"

"My love," said Yara, motioning for Hope to join them in the living room. "Couldn't sleep?"

"I feel weird," she murmured, curling up beside Yara, her head on her lap.

"You're cold as ice," said Yara worriedly, pressing her wrist to her forehead. "What do you feel, baby?"

Klaus came closer as Hope as she said, "I had a dream about a bad man. He was hurting these kids and I think he hurt me, too. I feel dizzy. And my head hurts."

Elijah immediately stepped out to call Freya. Gia brought forward a throw blanket, trying to warm Hope up.

"She's never been sick," said Klaus when Elijah turned the speaker on for Freya's voice to ring out. "Not even a cold."

"Then it must be a magical affliction," said Freya. "But I have no idea what it could be, how anything could have affected her just because she moved."

Yara felt a rustle in her pocket, reaching in and pulling out a note. "It's Vincent," she said, reading silently. "He knows what's wrong with Hope. He can cure her... but we have to go back to New Orleans."