3rd person POV

It was another 14 hours later when Klaus finally stepped out of the witch's mansion with a heavy heart, knowing what awaited him.

"There you are, finally. Rose has called five times already. We should head back soon, Niklaus," Elijah starts to ramble as Klaus just stands before him with a blank expression on his face, "Niklaus, are you listening to me?" Elijah asks, shaking Klaus' arm and breaking him out of his daze.

"Huh? Yeah yeah I heard you. They um...they don't have a solution, Elijah. Apparently Lyn and Caroline stopped by here earlier too and the witches gave them the same answer. It's inevitable, Elijah," Klaus tells him. Klaus' heart was aching and screaming for him to tell Elijah what he had learned and to go back to his love but he knew he had to do this. He had to do it for his loved ones- his siblings, his daughter, his soulmate.

"So what were you doing in there all this time?" Elijah asks in a confused tone.

"I...I have some work to do, Elijah. You should go back to Mystic Falls and be there for Kaitlyn, brother. I'll see you later," Klaus says and ask he goes to walk away, Elijah holds onto his arm and stops him.

"Niklaus, what is it?"

"It's nothing you need to worry about, Elijah. Just go back and watch over Kaitlyn and Hope for me, until I come back," Klaus pleads as slight tears start to pool in his eyes.

"What are you hiding? It's not me that Hope and Rose needs now. They need you. What work could possibly be more important that her?" Elijah asks, raising his tone slightly.

"I can't tell you that. But believe me, brother, this is for the best of us all," he says as he shoves his arm away from Elijah's grip but Elijah is quick to vamp speed before him as soon as he turns away.

"I am not letting you walk away from this again, Niklaus. Not again. Not her," Elijah states sternly.

"Elijah, you have stood by me for over a thousand years. You have supported me through it all, every time I messed up, every time I put us all in danger, you've always believed in the goodness in me and never left me alone to fight my demons. And then I found that again in her. She means the world to me, brother. She is everything to me and for once, I want to prove to you both that all you did for me wasn't for nothing. Let me do this, Elijah please," Klaus pleads with tears spilling from his eyes.

"Do what? All I've ever done for you...we've ever done for you, was because of our own love and faith in you, brother. You have nothing to hide from us," Elijah comforts Klaus and it was as if the ache in Klaus' heart had intensified in a split second.

"I'm sorry, brother. Just watch over them for me," Klaus says and before Elijah can say anything else, Klaus snaps his neck and Elijah's body falls limp against Klaus' hold, "I'm so so sorry," Klaus whispers as he lays Elijah's body down on the ground and places a small envelope inside his suit pocket for when Elijah wakes up.

As Klaus gets up to leave, his phone starts to ring from Elijah's suit pocket and Klaus hesitantly reaches out to see his love's name flashing on the phone. He watches it ring a few more seconds before it dies down. Soon enough, though, it starts to ring again and when Klaus' heart gets to the best of him, he answers the call, wanting to hear her voice just one more time before he probably ruined everything forever.

"Nik," he hears her whisper as soon as he answers the call, "Nik, you there?"

"Love," Klaus speaks hoarsely as tears spill down his own eyes, "I'm here. What's wrong?" he asks as he hears sniffling from the other side, as if she was crying.

"Oh god Nik, it's...it's Lizzie. She's deteriorating, Nik. She was fine a few hours ago but now...she's throwing up blood, Nik. She's so weak and Josie...the darkness is getting to her too and I can't think of any solution. Please tell me the witches knew something to help with this," Kaitlyn practically begs from the other side of the call.

If Klaus thought the ache in his heart was bad before, it had gotten a thousand times worse now, as he heard his love cry on the call with him. All he wanted to do was go back to her and hold her in his arms, tell her it'd be okay and that they'd save the kids. But he knew he couldn't go back because if he did, he wouldn't be able to leave her again.

"I'm sorry, Love. They...they didn't have a solution," he whispers into the call and hears a sharp inhaling sound coming from the other side.

"Nik, I'm sorry too then. I'm going ahead with my plan. I know what you're going to say but we've exhausted all the other ways and the twins are at their worst right now. I can't let this go on any longer. I...I'm sorry but I'm doing it," she tells him and it's as if Klaus' world starts spinning.

"Mi sol, no please do not," he goes to say but Kaitlyn cuts him off.

"I am so so sorry, Nik. I don't know if I'll even get a chance to do this again but I have to go through with this for my kids. I love you so so much, more than anything . I will, Always and Forever, Nik. But I am sorry. I hope you understand," she says before hanging up the call and Klaus just blankly stares at her 'disconnected' caller ID where her smiling face flashes on the screen one last time before the screen goes black as Klaus crushes the phone in his hands with frustration and anger.

"I love you too, more than anything. Always and Forever," he whispers to himself as he throws the phone away in anger, takes one last look at Elijah and walks away, headed to chase one of the many leads the witches had listed down for him to pursue. He hated having to leave behind his people but he knew this was the only way. He knew he would still have all those memories to cherish but he also knew, all he was leaving behind in return were just shattered promises.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
Mystic Falls

Back home, everything was a nightmare. Over the few hours, Dark Josie had broken free and attacked some school staff, leading to Alaric having to evacuate everyone from there while Kaitlyn remained with Lizzie, who was getting worse by the second. She had fainted during lunch and when she woke up two hours later, her eyes were bloodshot, entire body aching and over the course of some more hours, Lizzie started to throw up blood. Freya had casted a spell to take away the pain but the blood won't stop, leading to Kaitlyn having to feed Lizzie her blood, mixed with some food, in order to keep her healthy and healed while they prepared for what came next.

Kol, Alaric and Damon rush into the Mikaelson mansion and are greeted to the sight for everyone else standing in the living room, all wearing a solemn look on their faces. Lizzie was lying on the couch, laying her head on Caroline's lap and her feet over Hope's lap while Bonnie, Freya and Davina were crammed in a corner, speaking in hushed tone while arranging candles.

"What happened?" Alaric is the first to break the silence.

"Lizzie is puking blood," Hope tells them as the three men gasp.

"What are they doing?" Damon asks as he points at the witches.

"They're preparing a spell," Kol whispers, realizing what was happening, he looks at Kaitlyn, "you're really doing this?"

"Doing what?" Alaric asked in an alarmed tone as a lightbulb goes off in Damon's head.

"No no no, did I mention, no! You're not doing this, Lyn!" Damon yells at her while she looks down at her feet, fighting tears.

"It's the only way, Damon. Elijah and Nik didn't find any solution either," she whispers in an almost guilty tone.

"The spell is ready. You sure about this?" Bonnie asks as she walks back to the group.

"I'm not but it's the only way left so I have to do this," Kaitlyn says as she turns to walk into the circle. Before she enters it, Kol holds onto her arm and turns her to look at him.

"We're going to be here the entire time and you're going to go find Jo and get help and come back to us, okay?" he tells her, sounding like he was almost trying to convince himself rather than her.

"You're not going to try to stop me?" Kaitlyn questions in a shocked manner.

Kol chuckles sadly, "I know you won't stop. Not when it regards them. But you'll be fine and you'll come back here. I'll make sure of it. Plus, I'll leave it to Nik to be furious at you when he gets back."

Kaitlyn looks back at him with tears in her eyes, "He knows. I called him, told him about this and hung up on him. He probably hates me right now."

"Maybe. But he also loves you more than anything else in this world. Besides Hope, of course. And he nearly sacrificed himself for her once so I think he, of all people, understands why you're doing this," Kol reassures her and Kaitlyn smiles at him.

"When did you get so wise?" she jokes as she slightly nudges him.

"Being your best friend is probably brushing off on me," he jokes back, "now go be a hero. Not the kind that sacrifices themselves but the kind that saves the day and comes back victorious, okay? I love you, Sunshine. We all do," he says as he places a small kiss on her forehead and walks back to the group.

By now, Freya and Davina had moved the entire setup to the mansion's backyard where everyone was now gathered around. All except Lizzie who was too sick to get up and Elena and Hope, who had stayed in with Lizzie and Stefanie.

Kailyn lies down in the center of a star shape of candles that surround her. Bonnie lights the candles on fire as she, Freya and Davina link arms and start to chant a spell.

The candles start to burn brighter and the wind picks up as everyone holds their breath, waiting to see what happens next. Damon wraps his arms around Caroline as they watch the scene unfold while Kol holds onto Ryan in a comforting manner. Marcel holds onto Rebekah as tears spill down her eyes and Alaric just stares blankly at the scene ahead.

After a few seconds, Kaitlyn gasps for air and then her body goes limp against the ground as the wind suddenly stops and the witches stop chanting.

"It's working, I...I can't feel her anymore," Davina states as the other two nod.

"What now?" Ryan asks, scared for his mother.

"Now we wait...we have until the candles burn out for her to get the answers. A second later and we could lose her there," Freya answers and everyone tenses.

"But we won't let that happen. Lyn will get the work done before the candles burn out. She's a fighter," Bonnie reassures everyone, including herself, as she walks back to where Enzo stood and they head back to the school together, to keep an eye on Dark Josie. Freya walks back into the mansion to check on Hope as Kol walks towards Davina and they settle down on the ground, next to the burning candles. All that could be done now was wait. Wait for things to work out. Wait for things to fall back into place.

Author's Note

A short filler chapter for what comes next. I'll be honest with you guys, I might've cried a little when I drafted this chapter and honestly, there's more tears coming with the upcoming chapters, so hold on!