Hello! I'm so happy to share my first fanfic (short, but still) with you all! I've been thinking a lot in the past 6 years and finally I'm ready to publish my most intimate ideas. Well, as english is not my first language, tell me if you see any grammatical error. Hope you'll like it! Review and tell me what you think, please! Really need some incentive to write more :)

PS: Klaroline is my weakness. Best ship ever! (Let's kill Stefan haha)

UPDATE: Hey, guys! I can't believe in all the reviews I'm receiving! It's so incredible! You rock! I'm writing another OC, not necessary a sequel of this story. Do you want me to post it? Since I'm really busy this year I'm not planning on writing a multi chapter, but depending on how you're going to react on this I can make something bigger! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

PS2: I'm going crazy! Really need to watch Season 6! Counting the days...

Love, Ju

"You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep spring from coming." (Pablo Neruda)

10 years later. 10 years and nothing has changed.

Standing in front of a rustic mansion in neoclassical style, she tried to organize her most intimate thoughts, repressed for so long. The sound of birds echoed in the morning of the first day of spring, bringing peace to the place. The green grass and the smell of jasmine made her wonder if she was at the right door.

That certainly does not look anything like a vampire captivity.

But among all homes in New Orleans, it was the most beautiful.

"Perhaps one day. In a year, or even in a century, you'll turn up at my door and let me show you what the world has to offer. Mark my words. Small town boy. Small town life. It won't be enought for you."

It seemed like a place where he would live, where he would keep his paintings and drawings. A place tremendously refined. She imagined herself there, living with him, sharing pancakes and blood bags in the morning. Obviously a less lonely life.

The house remembered him. His love for art, culture and everything the world has to offer.

Genuine beauty, like he said a decade ago.

"No...I'm dying."

"And I could let you die. If that's what you want. If you really believe your existence has no meaning. I've thought about it myself once or twice over the centuries, truth be told. But I'll let you in on a little secret. There's a whole world out there waiting for you. Great cities, and art, and music... genuine beauty. And you can have all of it. You can have a thousand more birthdays. All you have to do is ask."

He saved her. In so many ways.

"I don't want to die."

"There you go, sweetheart. Have at it. Happy birthday, Caroline."

For a minute, she felt sad. Cowardly, to say the least. So many years trapping feelings that eventually exploded like an atomic bomb.

And then, on that last day of winter, the icy coldness that followed her for so long melted. Melted as the sun on the glaciers, as the end of a rainy and dark period.

Finally, she felt free. And everything was colorful.

Like the flowers ended the gray winter, she waked her dormant feelings. If she were human again, probably would have fainted by now. Her heart was beating so wildly she could hear every beat, every fast pace just because she was there, inches from him. At the same time, never in her brief vampiric existence she felt so afraid. Not even when he left her in the woods, unprotected and confused.

(But she needed that time alone, to think).

Rejection. Would he still want her? What if there was another...? Others ...?

"I'm not talking to you until you tell me why you invited me here."

"I fancy you. Is that so hard to believe?"

Fear.

She turned her back to the door, a cowardly attitude among many previous. But she could not give up, not again. She was tired of lying to herself, lying to her friends, lying to him. He needed to know the truth and, this time, all of it. Caroline was living in the comfort zone, but she wasn't that type. She wanted to live, to laught, to cry, to travel. Then she heard his voice, far away. A short echo that was growning every second.

"Yes, you can organize the annual ball this year, Rebekah. Just like the last 10..."

That voice. All she wanted was to hear him saying her name, as in so many other times.
Screaming, sighing, a choir of baroque angels: Caroline.

She missed him. She missed him so much.

"Yes!"

"Why? You're beautiful, you're strong, you're full of light. I enjoy you."

Steps. Closer and closer.

Now she could smell his scent; a mix of wood and citrus. She was pleased of having heightened senses, or this such unique essence could go unnoticed.

"Hang on."

Stiffer than a stone, she remained stagnant. If she moved, he probably would hear anyway. At that moment, her heart seemed to have skipped out of her mouth.

"I'll see you later, Bekah. Now, I need to solve something here. Try not to drive Elijah crazy until then."

Great. Closer. The steps were becoming stronger. He knew she was there.

A few hours ago, Caroline left Mystic Falls without at least a suitcase. She wrote a quick note to her mother and, like a blow, went to the airport. The adrenaline...

She never felt more powerful, more full of herself.

Oh, the things he does to her. Even being a vampire, she was feeling alive.

"You like being strong, ageless, fearless. We're the same, Caroline."

Free like a bird in the spring.

Altought, the feeling of rejection was still there. She remembered the gaze that he had reserved just for her in distant days. She knew it was unique, but refused to believe at that time. She was afraid. Trapped in her own feelings.

The naive Caroline Forbes, daughter of the local sheriff, would not be able to attract an ancient hybrid. Always the last option, always the least important, trying to stand out from the crowd with her strong personality.

It was never enough.

Then, when she least expected, he was looking at her. He seemed more mature, but still the same. The same mesmerizing blue eyes, the same smirk.

That same look, only hers. Just for her.

"Just to be clear, I'm too smart to be seduced by you."

"Well, that's why I like you."

And in a blink of magic, she felt the spring sprout. This time, she allowed to see the beauty of it. The beauty of love.

"Klaus," she said in a whisper.

A whisper, summarized in his mere name, expressing so many emotions. So many words could not be spoken, only felt in that brief exchange of glances.

She never wanted to leave again.

One, two, three, four... five seconds and he didn't say a thing. He stared at her in disbelief, wondering if she was nothing but a mirage.

Or a miracle.

Not even in his most incredible fantasies he imagined her there, at his door, so determined to say something. To confess.

"Caroline. What are…"

Silence. Missing words. Too many toughts.

"Ten years ago, you told me something. You said that maybe in one day, in a century, I would show up at your door and let you show me what the world has to offer."

Such a distant memory that now seemed more alive than ever.

"I've never really been anywhere."

"I'll take you. Wherever you want Rome. Paris. Tokyo?"

"So, finally I'm here. Would you still take me to Paris, Rome or..." she smiled, remembering his exact words.

Klaus looked at her laughing, too. Knowing what was coming next, he completed. "...Tokyo?"

Their sound turned into a single laugh, so rare and nostalgic for both of them.

Before he could answer yes, that they would travel around the world; all five continents; towns and exotic cities, she interrupted him.

"If I weren't here today, you would wait me for another ten years?"
Taking a step ahead, Klaus touched her soft skin. God, how he missed touching her. Smoothing her golden hair, smelling her sweet smell.

"Because of you, Caroline, It was all for you."

Mesmerized by her strength, her light, he smiled again. This time, he smiled like never before in years, or centuries. He smiled like that for the first time in his whole existence.

He, the Big Bad Wolf, was trully happy. Now he was complete.

Nothing, not even the power he'd always dreamed of, would ever compare to what he was feeling now.

"I know that you're in love with me…and anybody capable of love is capable of being saved."

She was right. Anybody capable of love is capable of being saved.

"I will always wait for you, love. However long it takes."

"You'll never have to loath the darkest parts of yourself that care for me in spite of all I've done. I will be gone and you'll be free. I just want you to be honest with me."

"I love you, Klaus," she said finally.

The spring would, forever, be all seasons in one. There was no darkness anymore. No cold.

Only light.