A pianist played soft jazz in the corner of the dimly lit bar. Caroline watched him swirl a glass of bourbon in his hand, her palm pressed against the side of her cheek. A resigned expression was on his face as he stared into his glass. This wasn't the Klaus Mikaelson she knew. This place that he had taken her to wasn't the place she had imagined, this subdued bar in the shadows. He'd promised to show her the world. He'd declared that he would be her last love no matter how long it took. This morose Klaus Mikaelson wasn't declaring a thing. He was giving up.

"What you're doing isn't noble," she said softly.

He glanced up at her, a confused expression crossing his face. What had he expected her to say? That she wholeheartedly approved? Was that what he was seeking from her, approval, justification?

"I'm doing this for…"

"Don't say for Hope. She just lost her mother. Now she's losing her father." Caroline felt sorry for the girl, losing her mother in such a terrible way and taking on the monstrous Hollow. Now her own father was contemplating ending his life, leaving her to be an orphan if he went through with his crazed plan.

"It's the only way," he said.

Caroline studied him. He was convinced that he had to die in order to destroy the Hollow, to protect Hope.

"I don't know how to say goodbye," he whispered, his voice breaking.

"Try this," she said. "Don't."

"Caroline," he began, but his voice trailed off.

"Stefan was a martyr," she cut him off. Klaus's face fell at the mention of his former friend. " I loved him but he put the weight of the world on his own shoulders. He took all of the world's problems upon himself. He sacrificed his own happiness for others. He sacrificed his own life. The Klaus Mikaelson I knew wasn't a martyr. He was a king."

She saw something stir in the depths of his blue eyes.

"The king of New Orleans," she went on. "He was always up for a challenge and he never accepted defeat. He defied death."

"There is no other way, Caroline."

Has it ever occurred to you that that is what the Hollow wants you to think? Haven't you thought that it's possessing you to commit this terrible act, that it's disguising it as heroism? It's making you seek death. I don't think that's your endgame."

She jumped as he slammed his glass on the bar counter. Anger flashed in his eyes.

"This isn't a game Caroline! If I don't do this, the Hollow will never be destroyed. It can't be siphoned into another person. This evil must end with me."

"You're right," she said, putting her hands up placatingly. It has to end, but not with you. There is another way, a better way."

"Then tell me," he snapped. "You seem to have all the answers."

It's making him angry. The longer Caroline studied him, the clearer it became that this delusion of self sacrifice was the work of the Hollow and that the anger was the Hollow's anger, not his own.

"There's a stone called the Phoenix Stone. It was used to trap vampire souls. I think it could be used as some kind of containment vessel to capture the Hollow. Alaric has it locked up in the Salvatore Boarding School. Josie and Lizzie can siphon the Hollow from you to the stone and keep it trapped there forever." She watched him mull this over.

"I've been thinking this through," she went on. "All you need is a container. This way, no one has to go insane. No one has to die. No one has to say goodbye."

"You said this stone captures vampire souls…." He began. "What if it captures mine?"

"We'll think of a protective spell, something to tether your soul and just take the Hollow."

"That sounds quite advanced for two little girls, even siphoning witches."

"Bonnie will help."

Klaus laughed bitterly.

"I highly doubt the Bennett witch will come to my aid."

"She will. I already asked her," Caroline countered. She had had time to think this plan through while Klaus was busy trying to find closure. She'd made several phone calls to Alaric about the stone back in Mystic falls, which thankfully hadn't been destroyed as everyone previously thought, and to Bonnie who had returned from Paris. She'd done her research. Besides, closure was a myth. And if it wasn't, Klaus's death wasn't the closure that Hope or anyone else needed or deserved.

"Elijah absorbed some of the Hollow as well," Klaus said after a pause.

"We'll siphon it from him too," Caroline said, hope rising within her as she saw the anger leaving Klaus's eyes and being replaced with something akin to his old fighting spirit. His lips curled into a tentative smile and warmth filled his eyes as he gazed at her.

"You're remarkable love," he said.

"And don't you forget it," she replied, smiling.

"This calls for another drink," he said, waving the bartender over. His face and voice had become more animated. His entire demeanor changed. "A toast," he said, lifting his glass to her after the bartender had left them with two new drinks, him another bourbon, and her a martini. "To the Queen of New Orleans."

"No," she said. "To no goodbyes,"

"To no goodbyes," he said. They clinked glasses and drank. They set their glasses down simultaneously and looked into each other's eyes.

There he is, she thought as he smiled at her with the devilish grin she knew and loved. She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.