A/N: Shortest prologue ever. I'm sorry about that. It's going to be a short story, maybe three parts, but it's a bit too long to post it as a one shot. Most of it is already written, I just need to connect a few scenes together and decide if I'm up to writing some smut, so you won't have to wait long for updates. I shouldn't be asking what you think given how short this prologue is, but I'm greedy, so I'm asking anyway :D Review pleeeaaase!

Disclaimer: they're not mine. Well, I guess Klaus's daughter is, but I don't know if it counts.

Rating: T for now, might go up, not sure yet

Spoilers for 4x20, The Originals, and 4x23, Graduation

Prologue

New Orleans, November 2013

"A werewolf?" the Original Hybrid asks in a deceptively quiet voice, the one that suggests hearts are about to be ripped out of chests.

"Yes."

"How did this happen?"

"You should be thankful. Had she been born a vampire or a hybrid, she would stay an infant forever."

"Thankful?" he repeats, his eyes flashing a dangerous gold.

The witch clearly doesn't understand what this means. Not only does his newborn child run the risk of triggering her curse and having to turn on every full moon for the rest of her life, she's also mortal. And what could be worse than that? When he heard her first cry not two minutes ago, he realized that he's been fooling himself all along. This creature is not a means to an end, someone he can use to secure his throne, someone he can discard once she's become useless. She's his daughter.

And he loves her.

The realization gives him pause and he shakes his head in dismay.

Damn it.

He doesn't need another weakness. Certainly not now. And certainly not one that can be killed so easily.

The only thing that could save her is becoming a hybrid. But Katerina is dead and Elena is a vampire, meaning there's no human doppelganger blood left in the whole world. He briefly considers the possibility that another doppelganger might show up someday. Elena didn't have any children before she turned, but it's entirely possible that Katerina's daughter had more than one five centuries ago, and her descendants after her. The Petrova line likely didn't end with Elena, there must be dozens – hundreds even – of cousins all over the world. But he dismisses this flicker of hope just as quickly as it appeared. Even if his theory proves to be true, it will probably be centuries before another doppelganger is born, and his daughter doesn't have centuries. 90 years at best. Given the world they live in, his money's on less than that.

A low growl rises from deep within his chest at the thought.

She will die eventually. There's no way around it.

He can't remember ever feeling this powerless.

He wishes with all his might that he could just stop loving her and save himself from the unbearable pain when she inevitably meets her end.

He can't.

TBC...