So, this idea just popped into my head the other day and it wouldn't leave me alone until it was written. I think this my fifth klaroline standalone one shot. I am actually rather pleased with how this turned out, which happens very rarely to me so I sincerely hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

Before I continue on, I would just like to state that I am not in any way, shape, or form, trying to get into religious debate and I mean no offence to any religion or culture by this story. Any religious symbols used were simply done so for fictional purposes.

Warning, I am pretty sure the following constitutes as fluff ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own TVD.

Heavenly

When she fell from Heaven, it was not because she was evil nor was it because she wanted to rebel, rather, it was because she was lonely. Too long had she watched from above, watched as the humans lived, loved, and died.

Sometimes, as was required of her angelic duties, she would walk beside them, guiding them in the right direction. But she was only half there, in the humans' world but not a part of it, never a part of it.

So, after waiting for hundreds of years, observing, only ever observing, she decided she would take her immortal life into her own hands. She stood up in the clouds and did something many angels feared more than anything; she cut off her wings and tumbled towards Earth, falling thousands of miles until she hit the ground.

She did not die from the experience, as any other creature would, no, she was immortal, invulnerable. She was weak, yes, but alive and for the first time since she opened her eyes many millennia ago, she was a part of the world.

When she stood on her own two feet, she looked down at her new body. Angels were vaguely humanoid in shape, but they were larger than any of Earth's beings. Their Grace encompassed their entire bodies, making them glow in an ethereal light, and being creatures of godly power they towered over everything. But the most impressive part of any angel was their wings. Each one of her brothers and sisters had their own unique set, with feathers of all colors and all sizes.

Though she was still an angel at heart, and her Grace still intact, she no longer had her former body. The body she had now was new, the result of falling to Earth. Quite simply she now had the body of a human. Her Grace was now hidden deep within her, but even she could tell that it was not completely hidden from others' eyes. Her pale skin still glowed somewhat, the beauty and purity of her soul too much for her new body to hold completely.

She found herself checking for any other signs of her true heritage. For the rest, it seemed she was just like any other human. Her wings, her once beautiful gold wings, were gone and yet she could still feel them protruding from her back. She could feel the phantom of her wings swathing around her and sometimes, only sometimes, she felt she could see their shadows.

Despite the deep sadness she felt at losing the most beloved part of herself, she knew it had been necessary in order for her to live the life she had always yearned for.

The first years of her life on Earth, she wandered from place to place, exploring. She soon found out that, though she looked like a human, she was not one and would never be. She would never age and she would never die. She was immortal. She eternal. Just like the Earth. Just like all other angels, fallen or not.

It made her sad to realize that, even when she walked among them, she was not truly part of the humans.

The loneliness that made her fall in the first place was never quelled.

So she continued her journeys, wandering through wars and dark times, always alone. She met many people, helped as many of them as she could, but kept moving. She crossed seas and climbed mountains and still she felt as if something was missing.

She only found out what it was a hundred years later. She had been wandering through one of the many human nations, this one known as Italy. Despite the many varying human tongues, she had no trouble communicating with them, for she was an expert on all of them.

Eventually she reached a town that was rumored to be plagued by creatures not of God's creation. Vampires. She had encountered them before on her journeys and had been quick to dispose of them. Angels were not only protectors and helpers, they had also been born warriors, and the creatures had been no trouble for her.

When she entered the town, she immediately sensed something amiss. The town was shrouded in darkness, and she knew there had been bloodshed here recently.

She searched around, not finding anything notable until dusk came. She had been searching in the woods when she heard it. It took her a moment to realize what it was. Someone was screaming; they weren't screams of fear or terror, no, they were worse, much worse. They were deep guttural cries of agony.

Someone was in horrific pain, and she knew she might be able to stop it. She followed the bellows, the Grace quaking at the thought of one of God's creatures in that much pain. What she found, however, surprised her greatly.

In a clearing deep in the woods, she found a man on his knees, his hands covering his ears as he screamed out strings of words.

"Stop! Stop! Please, enough! Get out of my head!"

The man was not just any man, however, he was a vampire, one of the first one's to roam the Earth, one which they called an Original.

For the first time since falling, she found herself at a loss. Part of her wanted to leave the man here, for he was not really a man, and therefore no worry of hers. But the other part of her, the part that her brethren had always called too soft for their kind, broke on the inside as she listened to his tortured pleading.

It was that part that won over when she finally saw his face. It was not the blood filled eyes that she noticed, nor was it his fangs. No, it was the fact that it was a face she recognized.

She knew this man for, once, when he was still human, he and his family had been under her charge, under her protection. Niklaus was his name.

She had been tasked with watching over them, making sure that they went unharmed by the 'wolves that ruled their village. It had been around this time that she had chosen to fall; only she hadn't realized that falling also meant giving up on her duties, meant leaving the various humans, people, that thrived under her supervision without guidance.

She had failed them all, she realized. She had been the one thing an angel was never supposed to be. She had been selfish and in the process she had caused unnecessary pain and death to human life. It was all her fault. It was her fault that the 'wolves had gotten out of control, her fault that his father wanted to be stronger, her fault that his mother had agreed.

It was her fault that the vampire race had been created.

And now it was her responsibility to correct her mistakes, to ask for repentance.

She approached the man, already dreading what she would have to do. She did not enjoy inflicting harm or bringing death, but, in this, she had no choice. She crouched beside the man, and gently brought the palm of her hand to his forehead, ready to rid the world of the vampire plague. Only, as she did so, she felt something she had never in all her time expected to feel.

A soul. A human one. It was far away from the surface, hidden but it was there. She immediately knew she could not kill this man. Vampires may not have been one of God's creatures, but humans were and she would never bring an end to a human soul.

Instead, her mind touched his and she found herself looking through his eyes, seeing his memories as he remembered them. There was darkness, bloodshed beyond compare, and, yet, there was also emotion, so much feeling that it barreled into her unexpectedly.

She saw his hate for his father, his love for his sister, his brothers. She saw his hate for the idiocy of humans, his love for the beauty of life. She saw everything. She saw the nightmares and hallucinations that had haunted him since the day he had murdered the Hunters, near half a century ago. It was the Curse of the Five, she knew, and she also knew that she had to put a stop to it.

Niklaus had been her charge and she had failed him miserably. She could not ignore his pain, not when she was the cause of it. She had felt his soul and knew there was a chance at redemption for him. He was still young now, still ruled by his emotions, but, she knew, one day, when he was ready, he would redeem himself.

She decided to help him in his first step to reach this.

She cradled his handsome face in her delicate hands and met his frenzied, blood-filled eyes.

"Sh, now, Niklaus." She whispered gently, watching as her Grace caused his fangs to retract, the blood in his eyes to recede. He calmed in her hands. "I am so sorry for all the pain you have felt."

She then leaned forward and pressed her lips to his forehead. The reaction was immediate as the phantom of her wings wrapped around them both, forming a protective shell. Her Grace flowed from her lips and deep inside him, giving light to whatever it touched. She soothed his pain, pushing it away and found the black center of the Curse. She eradicated it, purging it from his blood for good. She knew that the effects of her action was far-reaching and that somewhere, someplace, one of the Five had made his first vampire kill.

She gasped when suddenly his mind touched hers. This was something that had never happened to her before as humans held no such power; only eternal beings could intrude into others' mind. It reminded her that despite having a human soul, he was still a vampire.

'Who are you?' His voice asked, floating softly in her thoughts. His voice sounded wondering as he marvelled at the purity, the goodness of her own soul. Not to mention the sheer age she was, the eons of life she had experienced.

She pulled her lips from him but did not move from him completely, and instead leaned her forehead to his, meeting his hooded eyes with her own. Her lips curved into a small smile as she listened to his thoughts.

'That, my dear Niklaus, is a story for another time, in another place.' She answered, before she began gathering her Grace back to her, her eyes beginning to glow with the immense power of it. 'This will not be the last time you see me.' She found herself promising him. Finally, when she was completely gone from his mind, she took a deep breath and pushed him from her own. Her entire body glowed with heavenly power for the briefest moment, illuminating invisible wings. She knew the sight must have been blinding.

When she was back to herself, the first thing she saw were Niklaus' closed eyes as he fell into an unconscious state. When he woke, she knew he would barely remember their encounter. She found herself saddened by this fact but she knew it was for the better. He was not yet ready.

She lay him gently on the grass-covered ground, her wings folding away from them. As he lay sleeping, she realized he looked peaceful, younger and more like the human he had once been. She traced the contours of his face with her fingers, marveling at the beauty of it. She wondered what it must be like to be as he was. What a life he must lead.

Knowing it would not be long before he woke, she put her palm flat against the side of his face, smiling once more at him, before leaning down and brushing her lips for the briefest moment against his cheek.

His eyes fluttered at her action but did not open.

Aware that it was long past time to leave, she stood and turned away, returning to her unending wandering. It was not yet his time. She knew that, should she redeem him now, absolve him of his sins, he would only fall back to his old ways. It may not happen immediately but eventually it would all become too much for him once more and more innocent blood would be spilt. So, much as it pained her deep to her core, she would have to wait until he was well and truly broken, until he hit the bottom of his black abyss.

Only then could he have a chance at redemption.

In the meantime, she would watch over him, helping him where she could. Despite the desperate sadness she felt at realizing her own helplessness, a part of her also rejoiced for she had finally gained something she had not had since falling from Heaven.

A companion. One that would never age and never die. Just like the Earth. Just like the other angels.

Just like her.

Many centuries passed and still she watched over him, over Niklaus. When he reached just over a thousand years in age, she knew that he was nearly ready. She had followed him all over the world, saving people where she could, cleaning up his messes. Sometimes, very rarely, only when it was called for, she would appear to him, and gently guide him in the right direction.

As the years passed between her visits, she saw him getting darker, more vengeful and bloodthirsty. It broke something inside her to see his soul become so tarnished; it had once been so pure when he had been human all those centuries before. Her only consolation was that despite all the evil that shrouded him, she could still feel his soul, hear its protesting screams.

With every visit, she held onto the hope that he was getting closer and closer to his final redemption.

It was when she followed him to Mystic Falls that she realized it was not long now, that his time would come soon. So, instead of hiding in the shadows as she had done for so long now, she hid herself in plain sight; she allowed herself to live amongst the humans, befriending the ones that he would be coming after.

She would show him the devastation he had caused in his long life and she would give him a choice. It was only when he lost his family, both old and new, and when he was truly alone, that she finally approached him to do so.

Because now she could understand. She saw it now, the motivation that had brought him hurtling down his dark path. He was lonely, he always had been. Just like she always had been.

They were both alone and she knew she had a chance to fix that. For the both of them.

She came to him after the death of his younger brother, when a witch, her friend, locked him in a barrier, in an attempt to keep him from taking his revenge. She approached him slowly, her heart aching at the sight of his tears.

"Caroline." He said in greeting, using the name she had chosen for herself when she first fell, the one she still used. The true names of angels could not be spoken in any Earth tongue. Though none of her friends here knew of her true heritage, she knew that the vampire standing across from her was aware. He did not remember their many meetings over the centuries, she had made sure of that, but she also knew he was not lacking in intelligence. He had sensed her otherness, had a brief sparkle of recognition when he had seen her. He had been watching her closely ever since he came here, waiting for a sign as to who she was.

She glanced to the body on the floor, saddened by yet another death. Only, Kol's death would also have caused the death of hundreds of other vampires. She had felt them all, her sense perception wider than that of humans. Many of them had been killers, but there had been innocents in his sire line as well.

They had all still had their human souls.

There was nothing she could do. Even angels did not have the power to bring back the dead.

She looked back up to him, meeting his eyes.

'Do you see now, Niklaus? Do you see the pain that is being caused?' She asked, tendrils of thought reaching out to brush against his. If he were shocked at this, he did not show any signs of it. Instead, he just kept her gaze with his own.

'I knew it was you. I met you somewhere before, in a half-forgotten dream.' His thoughts answered hers, as his face remained impassive. But she could see the turmoil that was plaguing his mind, just as clearly as she could see the room they stood in.

'Yes. Yes, you have. But not in dream, dear Niklaus.' She smiled gently and reached out into his mind to unlock his memories, the ones she had hidden away from him. She watched as he remembered the many times she had come to help him, observing the way his mind lingered on their very first encounter in those woods all that time ago.

'What are you?' The question flew into her mind and she had to smile at the possibilities he came up with. These days, people had lost faith in the heavens, even when the evidence stood right before them. Instead of answering, she took a step forward and put her hand out, touching the invisible barrier created by the Bennet witch. She pushed her Grace out and it shattered, causing the air to shimmer for a moment.

It was only his thousand years of experience that kept him from showing his shock. It was his curiosity that kept him from going immediately after the ones who had put him in this position.

"I am giving you a chance." She said aloud, opening the phantom of her wings wide, blocking them from view of the rest of the world. To anyone looking in, they would only see an empty room.

"Why?" He asked, his voice gruff. "You can't possibly think I deserve one?"

"Because you feel emotion like no one I have ever met. There is a part of you that is human, Niklaus. I've seen it." I always have. She stared silently at him, allowing him to come to his own solution. He was broken now, dying on the inside from all the pain that came with living eternally. It made him lash out in bursts of anger, rage. It made him kill without visible remorse.

He lifted his hand almost hesitantly, reaching out to her through where the barrier used to be. He smiled in small triumph as his fingers crossed it and put his hand on the side of her cheek.

"You truly are full of light." He whispered to her, causing her Grace to stir up in her in unexpected happiness, making her skin glow just enough to prove she was not human. She allowed herself to enjoy the simple touch of another being, something that had always been kept from her, something that was foreign to her. She had always been his silent companion. Not anymore.

"I was never alone was I?" He asked her, his eyes wide and hopeful, younger than they had been in the entire millennium he had lived.

'No.' She smiled, sending the thought to him. 'Are you ready?' She asked him, aware that he would know what she was asking.

'Yes.' This time is was she who reached out, bringing the palm of her hand calmly to his chest. 'I don't want to be alone, anymore.' She barely heard his trailing thought as she leaned forward, pushing her Grace through her fingertips and into him. It found the black spots in his soul, the guilt, the agony, all that had been haunting for so long and pushed them away.

As she was doing this, she felt his mind entangle with hers until she could no longer distinguish whose thoughts were whose. She felt a bright light encompassing them as her Grace swirled through them both.

She felt his hand cover hers on his chest, holding her tight to him.

It was in that moment that she realized something essential, something that she had ignored before. It was the reason he had always been able to touch her mind so easily – almost as if he was meant to. It was the reason she needed to save him. It was the reason she had been so lonely, it was the reason he had been so lonely.

It was the reason they both fell.

The answer was laughably simple, really. Almost obvious. They were two parts of a whole. One being. Meant to be.

When all the black was gone, all the darkness, only then did she pull from his mind. But not completely. No, he held desperately onto a small part of her Grace, a small part of her that he would always keep. But, it didn't matter, because she had a small part of him as well. They would never again be alone.

They kept hold on each other, neither saying a word, but both knowing that nothing would ever be the same again. But not in a bad way, and this was something that they also knew. So, when he leaned towards her and touched his lips gently to hers, she did not pull away from him. She would never pull away.

'Not alone.' Whether this was her thought or his, she would never know. She did not know where Niklaus ended and Caroline began.

They were immortal. They were eternal.

They were different. They were the same.

But the most important, the most vital thing was, they were together.

FIN

That was so much fun to write. I love all that kind of mystical stuff (O.o see what I did there?). SPN fans probably saw the similarities between angel!Caroline and the angelic mythology in that show; that's because I took some inspiration from there, though some parts of my angel mythology are different. Part of this also story stemmed from the idea of soul mates, another idea I have been wanting to expand on.

I realize that I didn't really use their, or any, names very much. I did this because I wanted to focus on the emotions and not so much on either individual. I hope it was still a fluid read, though!

Anyways, I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!

RW