Author's note: Thank you for all of the kind reviews you've been sending my way; I'm so happy you're enjoying my work! This is the final chapter in my story; I'm curious to see how many of you figured out the ending I've been building up to!

In other writing news, I posted the first chapter of a new AU Klaroline multi-chap called The Price of Ambition. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

"Don't think. Believe. Trust your heart, not your brain. Don't think. Feel. Believe."
― Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

Klaus can count on one hand the moments in his long life that truly terrified him. Two of those moments involved Caroline — when Esther stole her memories of him and now the uncertainty of someone hiding in her home, lying in wait. Fortunately, he'd been invited into her house on numerous occasions, so he was able to race across the threshold in time to see Caroline being held at gunpoint by a sharp-eyed woman who looked vaguely familiar. Vicki. Tyler's fling.

He considered the situation critically, calculating whether his enhanced abilities would save Caroline before her assailant could fire her gun. Unfortunately, he realized that even with his superior speed, he couldn't guarantee that he could dispatch Vicki before she fired at Caroline. At such a close range, she would hit her target with ease. He stood there, momentarily paralyzed while the women stared each other down.

"Vicki?! What the hell is wrong with you," Caroline shouted, her hair-trigger temper on display despite the hint of fear Klaus detected in her piercing blue gaze.

The small, black handgun in the woman's hand never wavered, even though Klaus easily saw the tense lines of her body radiating rage without reason, but with deadly purpose. "You uppity bitch, always thought you were better than me," she shrieked, her voice cracking as she swore, "I put up with a lot of shit from Tyler, but I figured the way he used to talk about you was alright because he'd already fucked you and said you weren't good enough for a repeat. But now he won't shut up about you and suddenly he's telling me how much he respects you or some shit!" She disturbingly bared her human teeth into a snarl as she warned, "Bitch, you better back off — or I'll make you back off."

The perplexed look on Caroline's face compounded Klaus' guilt as he realized that by compelling Tyler to respect Caroline, he inadvertently put her in danger with this deranged woman. "Vicki, I haven't had anything to do with either of you since the day I caught him cheating on me with you. I don't have any control over what Tyler says or does — he's a selfish bastard and frankly you two deserve each other." She seemed to be struggling to remain calm as she said quietly, "Just walk away, Vicki. He's not worth it."

"I cannot stress enough the perilous situation you're in, Vicki. Leave now," Klaus growled, taking a step toward Caroline so that the barrel of the gun was now pointed at both of them. He could hear Caroline's heartbeat increase as he put himself in danger, and he wanted to soothe her but thought better of it when Vicki turned her glassy stare toward him.

"Well, look at that. The fancy Brit sticking up for you too? Damn, bitch, I always knew you were a slut," Vicki spat, pointing the gun squarely at Klaus' chest. "If I can't have my man, you don't get one either," she vowed, her index finger lightly caressing the trigger.

Now that the gun was safely pointed away from Caroline, Klaus felt his muscles bunch as he prepared to attack Vicki, but before he could make his move, Caroline let out a panicked yell, and tackled their assailant. She managed to land several furious punches before she seemed to realize that she should be grabbing the gun instead. As both women grappled angrily for purchase, Klaus could only watch in stunned silence, afraid to intervene and accidentally hurt Caroline. When the gun went off, both women stiffened and he rushed forward with a strangled noise at the base of his throat.

He was relieved to see Caroline kick Vicki away from her until she landed in a bloody heap, and then rushed toward him where he scooped her up into his arms. "Sweetheart, you're alright. It's going to be alright." As he gently kissed the top of her tangled blonde curls, reassuring them both that she was safe, he pulled away slightly to stare at her intently. "Why did you risk your life like that, love? I'm nearly invincible; a gunshot wouldn't have killed me."

"But I didn't know that for sure," Caroline answered shrilly, "and I didn't want you to get hurt!"

Klaus felt his heart quicken at her confession. He still had a chance. "Caroline, I want you to know that I —"

Unfortunately, his romantic confession was cut off by the gurgling sound of Vicki's breathing. As they looked down at her, wheezing as blood poured from the bullet wound in her neck. "Shit," Caroline swore, grabbing the towel off of her kitchen counter and holding it against the wound to staunch the bleeding. "Call 911!"

The towel bloomed red, and Klaus could hear how Vicki's heart was slowing to a halt. "Love," he began softly, "it's too late." As Vicki stopped breathing, Klaus tenderly pulled Caroline away, cradling her against his chest so she wouldn't have to look at her attacker any longer. She took a shaky breath, clutching at his forearms until her nails broke skin.

He gently rubbed her back, making soothing noises and hating how helpless he felt in that moment. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll take care of this."

Suddenly, her whole body seemed to convulse and she cried out in pain. She slipped through his arms, collapsing to the tile floor and writhing in agony. Terrified, Klaus knelt beside her, not understanding what was happening. When she finally raised her head, her normal bright blue gaze had been replaced by a ferocious gold. And then he knew.

She shuddered, slowly coming back to herself, breathing hard. He watched in awe as the gold slowly receded from her eyes, leaving behind the familiar blue. "What the hell," she asked hoarsely, allowing Klaus to pull her up from the tile.

"Love, this will be difficult to hear, but apparently, you were an untriggered werewolf." He watched as confusion mixed with panic warred with each other across her lovely face.

Shaking her head, Caroline replied, "What?! That's a thing too? But...how? I mean, no one in my family...we're all just...normal..." she trailed off, clearly distracted by something. "Wait! My dad — he used to disappear on these monthly camping trips when I was a kid and I was never allowed to go with him. One time I was playing in the garage while he was away and found all of his camping gear still in storage." Her blue eyes flashed as something else occurred to her. "Their wedding rings! He threw a fit when my mother ordered silver."

"Also, his hunting accident," Klaus began gently, "it would have taken a hunter's silver bullet to end his life."

In a daze, she nodded, "My mother and I never received a copy of the autopsy. It was all very rushed, and at the time, I didn't think anything of it because I was in shock, but it sounds like they may have been covering up the murder of a werewolf." She gave a hopeless sigh, rubbing her forehead tiredly as she told him, "I always thought I understood my place in this world, and while the life I led was simple, it suited me. It fit who I thought I was. And now..."

He reached out for her, his heart breaking at the uncertainty he heard in her voice. Before he could comfort her, her forehead suddenly creased and she squeezed her eyes shut in pain. Her yelp of agony caused him to pull her to him, quickly examining her for obvious injuries. Frustrated that he couldn't detect any physical damage, he tore into his wrist with his teeth, intending to feed her his blood to try to heal whatever was hurting her.

As Caroline pressed her fingers into her temples, her eyes flew open, surprising him with the wild, feral gaze. "Klaus! It's you! It's still you and I'm still me. Again, I mean," she shouted joyfully.

Confused by her nonsensical words, he worriedly said, "Sweetheart, I don't understand." Frowning, he added, "I think you should take some of my blood just to be safe; you bashed your head quite soundly during the struggle with Vicki."

She laughed, her voice suddenly tight with tears as she confessed, "I remember you...and me. I remember us." At his gasp of surprise, she leaned forward, gently holding his face in her palms as she softly said, "Right before your bitch of a mother stole my memories, you told me that despite how short our time together had been, every moment had meant more to you than you could say. That you fell in love with me." A tear slipped down her cheek as she leaned forward and sweetly pressed her lips to his.

Klaus responded eagerly to her kiss, scarcely letting himself believe that this was real. That his Caroline remembered everything they were to each other. Gently breaking the kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers. "How is this possible, love? When Esther first took away your memories, I exhausted every supernatural contact I had and they all told me that it was impossible to restore what was lost because you were human."

"But that's not entirely true. Esther had no way of knowing that I had the werewolf gene. Once I triggered my wolf, it must have broken her spell," Caroline reasoned.

He shook his head, flabbergasted that it hadn't occurred to him before to check her lineage for any supernatural occurrences. He had just assumed that she was human. "You can't imagine...even when I thought all was lost, I still believed we could start over and eventually get back to where we were."

The smile she gave him was blinding, causing his heart to thud in his chest as she said, "I remembered something else too. I didn't get the chance to tell you this before — Klaus, I love you too."

He surged forward to kiss her again, pouring all of his passion into their embrace, unable to form words to describe how happy he was in that moment. Caroline remembered everything they shared; she was safe and whole and his. Refusing to let her move too far from his touch, he moved his lips just a fraction away from hers to whisper reverently, "I love you, sweetheart."

Caroline wiped her damp cheeks, her voice tight as she tried to get her emotions under control. "So now what?" Blushing prettily under his question brow, she stuttered, "I — I mean, um...we're almost done with the restoration at the mansion, so I'll be back to overseeing the antique streetlamp refurbishing on Main Street. I can't imagine you'd be interested in sticking around for that."

"Don't be absurd, love. I wish to be wherever you are." Gray eyes swimming with emotion, Klaus recalled something he'd done on impulse when he had been seeking out supernatural contacts to try to undo his mother's spell. "However, if you're keen on undertaking a sizable challenge, I happen to know that the new owner of Belton House needs his 200-year-old boathouse restored."

Blue eyes widening, her mouth open slightly as she registered his words, she playfully shoved him and said, "You bought Belton House! I can't believe you remembered I used it as part of my thesis project on historic preservation!" He delighted in watching her clever mind already begin parsing the details of such an intricate project as she excitedly told him, "It's a significant structure added during the late Romantic period and its unique stick work structure will require significant sourcing know-how to expertly match the patina. And don't even get me started on the slate fish scale tile roof..." she trailed off, flushing when she noticed his indulgent smile.

"So, it sounds like something you're interested in," he asked, kissing the tip of her nose.

Caroline gave him a coy smile, lacing their fingers together as she told him, "Yes, but let's make a small detour first."

"Where?"

"My father's cabin. I think I need another painting," she told him with a sly smile that took his breath away.