Nikolai Mikaelson
Here lies a beloved son, brother, and friend.

Rebekah trembled upon reading the words, ensconced in stone before she sank slowly to the soft earth below. She still refused to believe it was real. Even when it was solidified in front of her in such a permanent way, it still seemed to desolate to be real. How was it possible that Rebekah could lose yet another brother. Rich, anguish-filled, wracking sobs, shook her entire body as she broke down in front of the headstone. She didn't see how she could ever come to terms with his death. She had a hard enough time with Finn, and she wasn't nearly as close to him as Kol. Kol had been her other half, her counterpart, the part of her soul that she couldn't breach on her own, and now he was gone. It left her cold, empty, desecrated as if she'd never be whole again and never wanted to be. If he didn't exist then part of her would never, and could never even hope to.

Fiery rays from the sun beat down harsh on Rebekah's forehead, she and Nik had been going at it for three hours now, her muscles were screaming from exertion as she swung the powerful blade over her head and brought it crashing down in a near miss in front of her. Breathing was heavy and bating, her entire body was covered in a slick sheen of sweat. Perspiration dripped heavy from the tip of her nose and down her temples. Strenuous sinew aching from the blows she'd taken and the jabs she'd hoped to meet their mark in her brother's armor.

"N-Nik...please...can we take a break?" She had to pause, for a moment her sword dropping to the ground with a dull clatter, sunlight reflecting magnanimously and iridescent from the reflective side of the blade.

"No little sister." He drew his own sharp and degrading against her neck, making her jaw clench and her swallow hard, never sure exactly how far Niklaus was willing to go. Her parents, her brothers, they'd always claimed he'd never complete the act, never truly hurt anyone, he was a teenager, as were they all, and his brutality, was an act, just a phase. But Rebekah never believed them. There was a steely glint in the pools of fervor in his irises that begged to differ. That offered the possibility of sadistic tendencies yet to come to bloom. "How do you ever expect to improve if you continue to give up when it gets difficult? Pick up your sword! Prove to me that you're not utterly worthless." His timbre low and gravelly as he commanded her.

Rebekah's features scrunched up in a harsh scowl, she'd never enjoyed being berated by him, tendons stretching taut around the handle as she picked it up once more and concentrated hard, her pride taking a blow. "I am not worthless Niklaus. I'm not."

"Then prove it."

Lashing out, jarring mannerism, she threw her upper body behind every finesse movement, ever thrust and hit, he gave a growl of derisive frustration because she was finally proving to be an audible threat. Which was what he'd asked for, but also what he regretted, not liking to be beat. Nik gave back twice as hard, trying to get the upper hand and put her in her place, to strike her down a few levels. He struck her hard across the clavicle with the upper portion of the blade, sending her plummeting to the ground, and for the flash of a furious screeching, white-knuckled moment, Rebekah's viridescent gaze was blinded by fear as she swore Klaus was about to plummet the dagger into her soft flesh.

"Thats enough brother. You've made your point." A cool, level voice sounded, a hand reaching out to grip Nik's in a terse and painful grasp, bringing him back to reality as he withdrew, never once dropping his sword, anger hard-strung on his features as he glared at his brother and then back at Rebekah, still sprawled on the ground in shock before he took off back towards the village.

"Come sister, don't take offense, he's simply jealous that he'll never obtain your good looks." Handsome, charming grin on Kol's feature, a minute flicker of worry as he offered his hand to his fallen princess.

"I..I need to..." She was disturbed, and hurt by Niklaus's brute force, she loved her brother more than words could say and hated to feel disavowed and humiliated by him, she bolted in the opposite direction, mirroring her former opponent, her sword in hand once more as she drove herself deep in the woods.

Kol became apprehensive, shouting for Rebekah to return, growling in irritation that she couldn't simply do as he said for once instead of trying to assert himself. Cursing her, his brother, and himself for all intents and purposes, he went after her. Giving her time to clear her head, he knew how Rebekah operated, but that didn't mean he'd leave her alone out there. She could be incredibly stubborn, as much as a mule, and he'd hardly let her dig her heels in. He'd drag her back by her flaxen locks if he had to.

Buried deep in the woods, Rebekah had an incredible resignation to fight to prove Nik wrong. She wasn't just an irritable little girl. She was Rebekah Mikaelson and she was just as capable of being a brazen fighter as any of her brothers. Tirades, lashing, her arms mechanic as she pivoted and spindled in the dank shadows of the trees, using her arms as the catapults to the swords hefty bow. She had invisible enemies, cutting through to the bone as they all fell by one by one. An honest to god smile took form on her features, twisting into an acerbic prideful monument to the attainment she'd achieved by this simple game and testament to her abilities, until it came crashing down with one accidental miss. The sword had hit the nearest tree, embedding itself in the trunk, and Rebekah, tugging wildly at it, had underestimated the force of her pull, enough that it swung out and sliced the soft, mallow flesh of her stomach, splitting the seams of her long, hand-crafted dress, the plush powder blue stained with rivets of scarlet as she doubled over to the floor.

He could hear the faint sounds of steel whipping through air, and knew his sister must be close by, "Rebekah! Come on sister, don't play this game with me! I know you better then you know yourself." He rolled his eyes at the end of the quip, chuckling if she actually thought she could hide from him. He'd be in the spot before she processed it herself. The sudden thud and dull silence however, filled him with an eerie dread. The small hairs on the back of his neck stood on edge as he jolted forward. "Rebekah..." Impertinent impatience laced his timbre as he broke into a run. The trees marking him as an enemy, an obstacle between him and his wounded sister. He felt a heavy burden in his gut. An immense loathing that she was hurt and he could feel it. The taste of metallic blood sat on his tongue, fire in his veins as he sprinted until he finally met the clearing where she was nursing her wound.

"No...No! NO! NO!" His cries were furious, smoldering with agony of losing his darling girl. His hands instantly went to her shoulders and he slammed her against the trunk. "You idiotic...how could you...I can't lose you Rebekah. I c-can't." He was so angry with her, so heated that she could be so selfish to do this to herself, to let someone get under skin to the point that she made an impugning action. "How could you be so foolish!?" He cried out, shaking her harshly, his eyes stained with water, his face scrunched and awash with the disintegrating agony. There was so much blood, pools of it, viscous and heavy on the ground between them, dripping from her beautiful lush lips, that now seemed to fall defeated and liable with fault.

"I'm s-sorry brother..." She herself was weeping, salty trails mixing with the horrific macabre in her mouth, making her cough and sputter, she was so heavy, everything felt dark and too hard to breath, it was too hard to manage.

"No...you will not die on me...No! Rebekah, god dammit stay with me." He was gritting his teeth in the horrifying surrealism, that this was in no way possible, that this must be a nightmare, there was absolutely no way he would accept the garish death of Rebekah. He swept her up in his arms bridal-style, and began the trek out of the woods, his forehead bowing down to hers, their essence mixing, her hand moving to cup his cheek and hold his gaze aloft to her own weak one. "Don't leave me, please, Kol."

"Never." He laced his fingers through her own petite and heart-breakingly weak grasp, and walked her out of the forest, no other goal in mind but rescuing her, saving her at any cost. Losing Rebekah was not an option, he felt he would cease to exist along with her, the epitome of unfounded depression, he could never back from the blackness, or breach the chasm that was an existence without her, because it meant nothing if she wasn't there to share it.

The sword lay forgotten in the clearing, stained with her blood, a ribbon of ruby dripping singularly to the forest floor.

"What am I to do now Kol!?" She yelled out loud, her voice choking and gripping tightly at nothing in particular, fists simply clenching on air. "You left me behind. You promised you'd never leave me...and now..." Weeping, broken, all facade of novelty leaving her behind, she broke down on to the surface, grasping at straws, the burning undulating flame of melancholy crashing over her in waves. She felt as if Kol was the last beacon of hope she'd had, the only thing to hang onto the, the wide smile that punctuated the darkest nights, the moments when she hardly felt she could breath, he made her feel alive, made her feel like it was okay to breathe again. Now she was stuck in a pale dream with nothing left but the liquidation of her tears falling hard on everything he'd left behind. "You promised me...Kol...you promised me..." her words weak and soft, as if repeating them would make some reason concrete behind why this had happened, he was the freight train in her life and his death had broken her heart irreparably.

"Kol! Stop! What are you doing?" Giggles fell like peals of melodic harmony from her mouth, agape in a wide smile as her brother teased her from under the covers. Her smile faltered however when the yelling came back in full blast.

"Mikael, you are nothing more than a blatant fool if you think this is the first and only time Niklaus is going to lash out like this! Even his own brother recognizes that there is brutality. I have to do something about this, Elijah and Finn, they see it." Her mother was screaming, her voice was taut, and Mikael brought a heavy fist down on the table as the argument continued and raged on making Rebekah jump.

"When will it stop...?" She cast her large baby blue orbs towards her brother, hopeful that he'd have the answers.

"I don't know Rebekah...but don't listen to them alright? Focus on me. We all know I'm the most handsome in the family anyways. Shouldn't be too hard." Rouge wink accompanied his words and earned him a playful swat from his sister. Her grasped her wrist and a moment faltered between them before he kissed the back of her hand gentle and sweet. "Tell me your dreams sister. Think not of our parents, just you, only you."

This was what she loved about Kol, he was the only sibling that ever took the time to get to know her, through and through, he made her feel like she had purpose. "Okay. I want to...be a mother. I want to have a big family, like our own, but I'll always be there to protect them. They'll never hurt one another, I won't allow it. A little girl that looks just like me. Blonde hair, but bright green eyes, and she'll know not of evil, or heartache, I want her to be young, and full of light, beautiful, I want her to see the world the way I once did, and never have it ripped away from her." Her gaze trained on their clasped hands.

She lifted her gaze when Kol's finger brushed under her jaw to match their vision. "You are full of light Rebekah, you illuminate every room you walk into. Tell me more..." He simply listened as his sister went on about the multitude of dreams, and wishes she had, and how he so wanted to grant each and every one of her desires, no matter how silly, how fleeting, or on the opposite hand, incredulous. The way she talked when she was passionate about something, the small flickers of happiness, he wanted to capture them each and let them flit around a jar like fireflies, and when the night got too dark or too still, he'd relinquish it one by one so she could harbor each moment and let it fill her with warmth.

Her speech became unfiltered, she knew Kol enjoyed her jubilant fortitude when she got off-track, and the fight in the background seemed like nothing more than a foggy buzzing sound. "What are you smiling at? You think my dreams are silly and childish don't you?" She queried, suspicious gaze in her blue eyes.

"Not at all. On the contrary I think they're...magnificent, full of hope. Just like you."

She placed what she'd come there to do on the gravestone. She'd kept it all these years, all these centuries. It was a very old and bedraggled leather-bound necklace, Kol had made it for her, the charm was a horse, a white one, with crystal eyes, her palms damp with her tears as she rested it on the grave site.

"I made this for you." He told her on her sixteenth birthday, he'd taken her aside to their spot near the lake. No one else went their or knew it existed, but if you stood in the right spot under the large oak tree, you could see a perfectly shaped tree branch, just sturdy enough and wide enough to play host to two kids. It's where they ran to when they were upset, and always looked there first when trying to find one another. He tucked it inside her outstretched palm. "Oh...Kol...it's beautiful." She whispered, revealing a leather clasped necklace, with a pearly horse hanging from it that he'd carved himself from wood and painted. Implanting a small crystal for it's eye.

"Remember when you told me, if you could be any animal in the world it would be a horse?" He quoted with an eager grin.

"Right, a horse so that I could always run away when it got too hard to bare, but still have beautiful silky hair." She giggled, at the girly memory.

"Yeah except I thought about it...and I think there's a bit more to it than that." Her brother began, continuing at the look of mild vexation on his sister's features. "I think you'd want to be a horse because they're majestic, endowed with an ethereal grace, and not only could you run when you wanted, you could sprint, gallop, flee, and nothing else would matter in the world but the way it felt to run and escape. To be filled with the pretense of adventure, the wildness and the untamed beauty of a prestigious beauty as such. It's quite fitting to you, angelic." He whispered, holding her hand in his.

"I.." Rebekah was rendered speechless at the thought he'd put into it, until she thought of the proper response, "Kol...I would never run unless you were running with me."

"I can't forgive you for this Kol." She trembled, her fingers shaking with trepidation, "Why couldn't you...why couldn't you t-take me with you...?" Her words were weak and faulty and she knew she was being past the point of childish, but all she wanted to feel was the gentleness of his hands clamoring her, seeking calamity and clarity when she was down and broken. Kol was the one that picked her up when she fell and sought to heal her and make her feel better. Sure they fought, they were bickering siblings at the heart of it all but it was all from a dearest and deep desire for their love for one another.

It didn't mean she loved Nik or Elijah any less, and had one of them died her grief would take it's toll in it's own form. But Kol understood her the greatest, by losing him she was losing a part of herself. She felt she'd have to trick her body and must genial movements into functioning, every move she made was a sharp jab that Kol couldn't do the most simplest task, and in turn she would have to force herself to breath, to move, to feed, to do anything that took any effort at all. As if everything around her wasn't quite as it seemed and had all lapsed into some quiet desolate dream.

The only form of solace she could possibly find within the entire realm of sadness was that when her time came, Kol would be their to greet her in with open arms.

"Welcome home, little sister."