One Year Later

"Klaus?" Caroline called out, walking along the beach. She spotted him up ahead and quickened her pace when she saw him slow to wait for her. She linked her arm through his and smiled when he leaned over to kiss her temple.

They walked in silence for a while and finally he stopped and they sat down on the sand, the waves crashing against the shore, but not coming close enough to get them wet.

"How is she?" he asked, looking out onto the ocean, squinting as the sun settled into his eyes.

"She's good. She was very…demanding and maybe said some things to Stefan that she might regret later, but you know him, he won't hold it against her."

Klaus laughed softly. "Why do you think I left the Castle? The last thing I needed to hear was my sister screaming during her labor."

Caroline nodded. She herself had regretting staying behind while Rebekah gave birth to her and Stefan's first child together. Rebekah could be sarcastic and mean spirited in general, but add the hardships of labor and she had downright scared Caroline.

"I think she broke my hand," Caroline said, lifting her left hand to show Klaus the outlines of the already forming bruises.

Klaus laughed softly and kissed Caroline's hand, his thumb moving over the silver ring on her ring finger. He loved looking at her wedding ring, loved knowing that she was his and was always going to be his.

Their wedding had been small, close, intimate. Only his family and some of the people from the town were invited. They'd only been married a few months now, wanting to wait until after Rebekah and Stefan had married, and also wanting to get to know each other more. Caroline had looked stunning in white silk and Klaus had felt like the luckiest man in the entire world. He still did.

After everything that had happened with Elijah, Mikael and a few of his guards went to retrieve Elijah's body to be buried in the family plot next to his other brothers. While Elijah had shamed the family name, he was still Mikael's son and Mikael made sure that he was laid to rest in the proper place.

"I went to see him today," Klaus said after they had sat there in more silence. Caroline had rest her head onto his shoulder while he held her hand linked through his.

"Do you still dream of him?" she asked. She knew who he was talking about – Elijah. It had been almost a year to the date of his brother's death. And while they both knew he had deserved his fate, he was still Klaus' brother and killing your own brother was a hard burden to bear.

"Some nights," he replied. "The other night I dreamt of us as children. When he died he said he missed those times the most. So do I, sometimes."

Caroline knew all of this, she'd heard this before. There had been nights when Klaus had awoken screaming from a nightmare and she had helped coax him back to sleep, sometimes with her words and other times with her body.

"Perhaps he is at peace now," she said, as she always did. She did not have many kind words to say about Elijah, but she knew that even these small ones that she could offer helped Klaus' conscience.

"I love you," he said, leaning his head towards hers and pecking her lips softly. "I do not regret what I had to do because it brought me to you."

Caroline smiled and brushed her nose against his. "Well, thank you, for finding me on this beach…for rescuing me. For making me feel worth it all."

"You are worth everything, sweetheart," he replied, and sighed happily.

"It's getting late, we should get back. Don't you want to meet him?"

"Ah yes, my new nephew," Klaus said, standing up. He took her hand in his again as they headed back in the direction of the Castle. "Have they decided on a name?"

Caroline shook her head. "Not as of when I left them to come find you," she answered. "They were speaking of perhaps naming him after one of your brothers, but Damon and Stefan were also talking about naming him after their father."

Klaus nodded. It had been nice to see Damon finally come around and try and fix his relationship with Stefan. Having only one brother left himself now, Klaus knew that it was important to the two of them to be back on good terms.

"I'm sure whatever they decide will be good."

Caroline squeezed his hand. "And what about us? Are you thinking of us having kids someday soon?"

Klaus shrugged. "Of course we will have children. But after everything I went through to get you, I think I'd like to have you to myself for just a little while longer."

Caroline giggled and dropped his hand. "After everything you went through, huh?" she said, starting to quicken her pace into a jog. "Well, how about we see if you can catch me, my lord, and then we shall see if you've earned me to yourself for a little while longer."

She took off at a full-blown run and Klaus smirked, picking up his pace as he chased after her.

The End.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has read this! I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll be bringing in a new fic in soon, hopefully, so I hope to see your continued reviews and love!

Also, an INSANE thank you to Katie (cicadaa) for being my beta on this fic and pushing me to push myself and deliver the best writing that I could.

Don't forget to review and let me know how you liked the ending!

You can always find me on tumblr at klausykins

Love you all! -Kady