Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries.

Note: Caroline is the first Valkyrie and Klaus's "mate", so to speak. Also, Klaus has no love-ties to Tatia or any Petrova doppelganger. And all the events of the series up to, but not including, the finale have happened, regardless of Caroline's involvement.

Epilogue

150 Years Later
Mystic Falls

Klaus stood in front of a house that he had paid to rebuild, which was absolutely ridiculous since he wasn't the one that had destroyed it! But he wasn't one to upset Caroline; not only was she fearsome, but he loved her more than his own life.

She'd told him all about her fight to get his body back, to figure out how to bring him back. She'd said with a certain amount of self-disgust mixing with pride, "I was so desperate to take you back that I made a promise to a Petrova. The doppelganger should hold it in high esteem that I even bothered to not simply torture it out of her."

Of course, he'd known the truth. She'd been taken in by Elena's loyalty, something Caroline had only seen with Klaus before then. However subconsciously, she'd wanted to make the girl like her, though that was idiotic, considering she was a human.

Not anymore, Klaus thought to himself as he gingerly reached out to push the door open. He wasn't surprised when he was stopped by that damned barrier, standing there like some kind of confused imbecile. He wished he was more like his Caroline, who could walk into any building she pleased. I suppose there's something good about being the daughter of gods, he mused silently.

"Don't worry, Nik; I'll go in. I'm absolutely sure that she's there," the blonde said from his side, her hand resting briefly on his arm before she pushed open the door.

He flinched forward, reaching his hands out for her as she stepped over the threshold. He hated to admit that the time that she had been "dead" made him want to curl around her as a protective barrier, standing between her and so much as a mosquito bite.

Her smile nearly undid him, that near-violent light in her eye. God, but she was perfect. "I'll be fine; she isn't nearly powerful enough to do anything to me. Besides, we have an understanding."

When she disappeared within the house, he remained on the porch, pacing back and forth as he tried to hear what was going on in the house. Surprisingly, her steps were so light that they didn't make a sound that his powerful hearing could detect.

But, after a few moments, a storm began to brew, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He was immediately in front of the open door, calling out to her. "Caroline?! Caroline!"

A blur of color and he found himself face to face with one of the Salvatores. "Hello, Klaus. Good to see you again."

"Stefan," he snarled, instantly bristling at the sight of his old friend. "Where is Caroline?"

Elena, hair waving around a face split in a smirk, showed up behind him, holding his broken-necked mate. "Her? Well, she's right here. Not in such good condition, but not quite dead. Yet."

Roaring, Klaus threw himself at the doorway. "She protected you, Elena! I would have killed the lot of you! Now you dare to turn on her?"

"Oh, hadn't you heard?" Elena said in mock surprise. "Elena's dead; I killed her myself. Damon didn't fare much better, either." She turned her gaze up to Stefan, whose eyes, Klaus now noticed, were completely glazed over. "I needed a rippah; they got in the way." Then her eyes moved back to him and he recalled seeing that same light in the eyes of a young mother over eleven-hundred years before. "Niklaus, I can't believe you thought she would be safe from me!" she laughed as she played with the blonde's hair, watching him just as she had before he'd met Caroline.

"Tatia," he snarled just as a witch stepped out from behind him, throwing a mixture of vervain and wolfsbane over his head so the four of them could disappear.

He had lost his Caroline.

-.-.-.-.-

Sequel in the works! Had to get that out before you kill me. XD 9/9 complete! Thanks for reading!