"It was supposed to be a one-time thing, a mistake. But, to vampires, life is blood and blood binds."

A/N: So... here we are, this is the last chapter. It feels pretty surreal to post it, to actually switch this story's status to 'complete', but it also feels pretty satisfying as this has been my first time writing something multi-chaptered. I have worked on this story for over a year and to think that it has, at last, come to an end leaves me feeling something between proud and emotional. In a lot less words: I'm a mess, but a very happy one.

Of course, none of this would have ever been possible without your support, so thank you to each and every single one of you for reading and reviewing this story time and time again, keeping my motivation going. I truly appreciate you all more than words can convey for sticking with me until the end.

This story will always be my baby and will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Hope you enjoy,

Giulia.

"Bonnie!" Caroline is the first one to desperately cry out, running towards the middle of the clearing and launching herself on her best friend's body.

No matter the fact that she knew that there would be consequences, she still refuses to believe that Bonnie is actually dead; and for good, this time. Not even because she loves her—which she does, so much—but because dammit! Bonnie Bennett deserves a lot better than this.

So the blonde wraps her arms tight around the other girl, still as stone against her, and lets big, hot tears run down her cheeks, as unstoppable as a tidal wave.

They are so close, that that's when she finally hears it.

Tu-thump. Tu-thump. Tu-thump.

Is she hallucinating?

"What–what is that?" she murmurs confusedly, turning around with wide, wet eyes and finding Klaus and Elena standing right behind her.

The brunette is crying softly on Damon's shoulder, and both Salvatores look pained as their gazes rest upon Bonnie's seemingly lifeless body. The hybrid is the only one who's smiling, a small, genuine smile that has Caroline part her lips in wonder.

It's as if, right in that moment, everything suddenly falls into place.

"She's in transition," he answers, easily, eyes locked on the blonde's face, drinking in her every reaction.

"She... what?"

The baby vampire immediately spins around again, laughter bubbling up her throat and past her lips as she hugs Bonnie's body even closer to her own, keeping her friend safe in between her arms.

"She's alive!" she exclaims through a fresh set of tears—one that has a completely different meaning and purpose than the previous one—before her voice lowers to an almost imperceptible whisper. "You're alive," she repeats in a sigh, her whole being immediately feeling lighter and brighter.

Klaus looks on from a few feet away, his heart warming at the joy displayed on Caroline's features, replacing the devastation that was there just a few minutes ago.

His plan has worked, and his blood was powerful enough to sever the connection between the Bennett witch and his Mother's spell, turning the former into a vampire as the life that Esther had blackmailed her with slowly and inevitably ebbed away.

He won.

However, for the first time in his long, long existence, he doesn't feel the need to gloat or celebrate, the need to take credit for his own win, because all that truly matters is the young blonde currently kneeled on the ground, smiling contently and radiating happiness–

–radiating light—life–

–into him.

All that matters is that she—that they—will be okay.

:

:

With Caroline's help, it takes Bonnie a little under three weeks to adjust to her new immortal life, mourning her lost magic while skillfully mastering her new abilities.

Of course, initially, the former witch was nothing if not hesitant and confused (never scared, though, not Bonnie), but then started to get the hang of it all rather quickly, convincing her bubbly, blonde friend that she would soon become a much better vampire than Elena or either of the two Salvatores could ever hope to be.

Even Katherine, surprisingly enough, decided to join their Intro to Being a World-Friendly Vampire—because the course deserved to have a proper name, okay?—lessons after a while.

Although she would have never had it any other way, being turned again after having lived so many months as a human took quite the toll on the older doppelgänger, and Caroline was more than happy to land her a helpful hand. The two of them had grown somewhat close throughout everything that had happened and, after all, weren't they both going to find themselves in New Orleans eventually?

But ah, that was where the problem lay. Or, well, sort of.

Rebekah moved back to Louisiana as soon as Esther had been defeated, not exactly eager to spend any additional time around the Mystic Falls gang, while the other two Originals stayed behind with Caroline and Katherine, not once approaching what the baby vampire deemed to be a rather crucial subject.

Did Klaus still not trust that she would willingly leave her old life behind and go with him? The whole situation was driving her positively insane.

And it's with these thoughts swirling around her extra busy mind that Caroline mindlessly enters his—their—bedroom, after having spent the whole day practicing a few last things with Bonnie and Katherine.

The hybrid is already there, having just changed into clean clothes after more than three hours of painting. He immediately notices that something is bothering her, taking in the listlessness of her movements and in her troubled features.

Automatically, he frowns.

"Are you okay, love?"

His voice breaks her out of her reveries, and she turns to look at him with slightly widened eyes.

After a moment, she sighs.

"Yeah, just..." the blonde trails off hesitantly, fidgeting under his expectant gaze as she shakes her head.

"Just?" he presses softly, moving closer until they are standing right in front of each other.

There is genuine concern clouding his deep blue irises, and that's what finally gives Caroline the last, needed push into determination, prompting her to admit what has been on her mind for days upon days now.

"Just—" she takes a deep breath, "when are we leaving? I mean, not that I never want to come back to Mystic Falls, because I will so drag you here to visit my mom at least once a month, and I am eventually going to miss Bonnie and Stefan too, but–"

She doesn't get the chance to finish her sentence, however, because Klaus' lips are suddenly engulfing hers, his hands tight on her hips as he gently pushes her backwards until her shoulders hit the wall behind her. She is immediately taken aback, eyes wide and confusion dictating her thoughts and actions for a brief instant before her mouth finally and eagerly starts to reciprocate the gestures of his, tongues brushing together languidly.

Her fingers are tracing delicate patterns against the rough skin of his slightly stubbled cheeks, all words and thoughts far away from her mind as she lets herself get lost in him and with him, when he eventually draws back.

She is dazed for a few more moments, still holding onto him. She has never experienced anything as effortless as being with Klaus before, anything that has ever felt as utterly right. And while she refuses to be the kind of girl who stops being herself once in love, the truth is that she had never really been herself before Klaus.

"What was that for?" she asks quietly after an unnecessary breath.

His answering smile is everything; all teeth and dimples and blinding, genuine–

–beauty–

–happiness.

"I have been waiting for you to ask me that," he finally replies, a grin on his face.

Caroline frowns, half perplexed but also half amused.

"For me to want to leave?"

He nods, his fingers curling around her slim wrists to bring her even closer, until their foreheads are touching.

"And you couldn't have just brought the topic up yourself, because?"

"You know why, Caroline," he says, seriously but with lingering affection laced in his accented tone. "Everything will always be up to you."

The baby vampire smiles in response, worrying her bottom lip in between her teeth for some moments as she thinks.

"I appreciate that; really, I do. But relationships are based on compromising. The last thing I want is for you to feel like you always have to walk on eggshells around me, like we always have to do what I want. Sure, I will banish you to the couch for a number of days yet to be determined whenever I don't get my way, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't fight for yours."

"You are my way, Caroline," his words tenderly waft over to her, their gazes intensely locked together. She is done counting how many heart attacks Klaus and his perfect speeches would have been the cause of by now, had she still been human.

His warmth–

–and isn't that funny, when everything is supposed to be dead cold inside of him, when it had been so for centuries?–

–envelops her protectively as she slowly trails her hands up his face, intertwining her fingers through the small, dark blond curls that she finds at the nape of his neck and that she so much loves to play with.

"And you're mine," she speaks again, her voice loving but serious, "which is why your happiness matters to me, just as much as mine matters to you. I don't have much left here, I don't want to remain stuck here. If your life is in New Orleans, then so is mine."

She runs her nose along the side of his before letting their lips meet once more, gentler this time, savoring each other's taste, each other's presence—each other's whole essence.

When they separate again, although only slightly, there's a wicked gleam shining in Klaus' deep blue eyes, and a lopsided smirk is curving a corner of his invitingly rosy mouth.

"I don't just have a life in New Orleans, love," his look is smoldering, burning hot into hers. "I have a kingdom."

Despite the goosebumps that she can feel rising on her skin, Caroline still manages to mockingly roll her eyes at his usual pretentiousness.

"Then I guess it's time the King goes back," she quips.

"No," he corrects her, voice confident and as soft as silk.

A large, warm hand wraps around her left cheek, the tips of the hybrid's fingers mindlessly twirling through the golden locks of her hair while his thumb strokes along her throat, rejoicing in the strong pulse of her jugular as it pumps blood–

–because didn't it all start with blood, after all; with a fiery passion and with marks as red as fire that are still branded on their necks, now bared for everyone to see and know–

–throughout her dead but alive (so alive) body.

"It's time the Queen arrives."