thirty. love will lead to light

The New Orleans air was sticky as you stepped out onto the terrace. The party was in full swing below despite it being well into the hours of the morning. Elijah had thrown this party for The Faction, a thank you for keeping the peace between vampires, werewolves, witches and humans, he said. Not that they could have really stood against you. Your family had ruled New Orleans for decades, long before the people in power in the human born were even born.

"This is where you've escaped to," Klaus said, appearing behind you, his arms wrapping around your waist and pressing a kiss against your shoulder.

"I'm hiding from Kol," you admitted. "He wants to have a drinking contest. He invented something called a Grasshopper, and it is...strong."

He chuckled. "Yes, I'm aware. I've had three," he said casually. You rolled your eyes.

You stood, leaning against him, in a comfortable silence as you watched the party below. You saw Marcellus and Rebekah dancing and smiled. Rebekah had finally forgiven him for letting her be daggered so he could be changed into a vampire. You knew they were secretly together, though how they kept it from Klaus, you weren't sure. The love between them was so obvious.

He growled softly, and you knew he had seen them. Maybe he did know more than they thought.

"I told them to end it," he said. Yes, he definitely knew more than they thought.

"I don't care," you said. "Leave them alone."

"Why does she continue to defy me?" Klaus grumbled.

"Because you're not her father," you said, rubbing your hand on his arm. "She's going to do what she wants. And what she wants is Marcellus."

"Rebekah doesn't know what she wants," Klaus said.

"She wants to not be lonely anymore," you said.

"She's never been lonely a day in her life," he said. "She has us."

"How foolish of her to want something other than her brothers' company?" you rolled your eyes. "Nik, you don't understand. You can't. You have me. You've always had me, from before we were vampires."

"And I will always have you," he said firmly.

"That's all she wants," you said. "She wants someone to love her as you love me."

He sighed. "Fine, I'll let them have tonight."

"And tomorrow and every day after," you added for him.

He turned you around in his arms, a smirk on his lips as he caged you in against the banister. "Only you would dare to command me," he said. "Perhaps because only you have the power to make me want to obey."

You wrapped your arms around his neck, smirking slightly. "Maybe because I know how to make it worth your while."

"Oh? And what will you give me if I comply with this demand?" he asked.

"What do you want?"

His eyes roamed your face for a moment before his smirk morphed into a smile. "I want you to marry me."

"What?" that stopped you short. You had not expected that. While you had been engaged since you were human, neither of you had ever felt the need to follow through with the formalities once you were transformed. You knew how you felt, and you knew your love was true. He already called you his wife often without a paper deeming you so. He was yours and you were his.

He stepped back and got down on one knee. You were too surprised to realize the party below you had gone quiet. "What are you doing?" you whispered.

"I am making you mine in every way," he said. "Over nine hundred years, we've witness civilizations rise and fall, seen empires crumble to dust, yet through it all, my love for you has only grown. With each passing century, you have been my strength, my confidante, and my greatest love. You have been mine as I have been yours. And in the echoes of our love story, I cannot imagine another nine hundred years without you by my side. I have considered you my wife for longer than I have been as I am now, but I want it to be written in the stars. I want my name to forever be tied with yours. Will you marry me finally?"

Your eyes fluttered opened as you heard the front door slam shut. Klaus was lying beside you, a smirk on his face as his arms tightened around you.

"Sleep well, love?" He asked innocently.

You looked at him suspiciously. "Did you give me that dream?"

He pretended to look affronted. "Would I stoop to such efforts?"

"Yes," you rolled your eyes. "Not that it isn't a good memory, is there a reason you're reminding me of that night?"

"Well, I know I have finally won your heart again, but just in case your rendezvous with the Salvatore boys last night caused any doubt in your mind, I wanted to make sure your heart won the day," he leaned forward to kiss you.

You sighed, your hand moving to run your fingers through his hair as you kissed him back. You knew there was no chance of that. Last night had obliterated the line in the sand between you and Damon into an ocean.

Klaus seemed to notice your mind drifted as he rolled your over, leaning over you, his lips never leaving yours. His leg moved between your legs, his thigh pressing against your core. You gasped as you felt the surge run through your body. You had forgotten what it felt like, when he touched you like that.

He released your lips, leaning his head up to meet your eyes. You could see the question in them. So far, you'd stopped him from going too far. You'd let him kiss you, and hold you as you slept. But your heart was still holding you back from moving further. You weren't sure what was holding you back. You didn't know what this doubt you felt was. Damon had told you last night that you were firmly Team Mikaelson again, and he was right. So why were you so hesitant with Klaus?

Before you could say anything though, the bedroom door swung open. "I hope you're decent," Rebekah said, walking in, covering her eyes.

Klaus rolled his eyes as he moved off of you. "There is such a thing as knocking, Rebekah. It's not a new invention."

She removed her hand from her eyes and glared at him. "As if you deserve any consideration," she said. "I meant that for your better half."

You laughed as you sat up, smiling at her. "Good morning, Rebekah. You're up early."

"I haven't slept," she said. "I think I figured out where the wood from the white oak tree is."

"Well, don't keep us in suspense, sister," Klaus said, sitting up against the headboard.

"The Salvatore family was in charge of the wood mills," she said. "I went to the town archives and spent all night looking through the records. For such a boring town, they do keep a lot of notes."

"What did you find?" You asked.

"It's the bridge," she said. "The Wickery Bride to be exact. The tree was cut down and make into that bridge when the river expanded."

Your eyes widened, exchanging a look with Klaus. The bridge was built in the exact spot Klaus had confessed his love to you, the place you had always found peace, long before it was a river. "So we have to burn it down," you said, looking back at Rebekah. It saddened you to know that the spot that still brought you solace needed to be destroyed, but it was to save your family. You didn't have a choice.

"Unfortunately, they've been renovating it, and the revealing is today," she said. "I figured we would go and check it out, and then torch it tonight." She walked over to your closet and started rummaging around until she settled on a white and blue floral dress. She tossed it over to you. "Get dressed."

"Why do I have to come?" You frowned. You knew Damon would probably be there as a founding family member, and you didn't want to see him after last night.

"Because it will look less suspicious if you come with me," she said, walking towards the door. "We're leaving in 10 minutes, and while I know that's more than enough time for my brother, I do hope I don't have to smell him on you for the rest of the day."

You blushed as Klaus glared after her. "Remind me why I haven't daggered her again?" He asked.

"Because what happens to one of you happens to all of you," you reminded him as you went to climb out of the bed. He tried to hold onto you but you pushed him away. "I need to get ready. I have no doubt your sister will come back in here in 10 minutes to drag me out."

"My sister, the Original cockblock," he sighed dramatically, rolling over onto his back as you went to go get ready.

• • •

There was a crowd gathered when you arrived at the bridge. "I'm going to go talk to the mayor, do you want to come?" Rebekah asked.

You saw Damon arrive with Alaric and his doctor friend, knowing you would probably have to run some kind of interference for Rebekah so she could find out the details of the bridge. You needed to be sure it was the white oak before you burned it down. "You go ahead," you said, crossing your arms and waving at Damon. He waved back, a tight smile on his lips as they walked over.

"Be careful," Rebekah said softly before walking away.

"Y/N," Damon said. "Should I be worried to find you here with Barbie Klaus?"

You rolled your eyes. "Given that you slept with her, is that really what you want to refer her to as?" He looked affronted as you looked away at Alaric. "You look terrible."

He let out a laugh. The woman beside him looked at you in slight shock. "Yeah, I've had better days," he said. "How's it going in the devil's lair?"

"Oh you know, it's hot," you said.

"Yeah, I'm sure it is," Damon smirked at you as you rolled your eyes. "So Rebekah's up to something, I see, she's been snooping around in places she shouldn't be. Any chance you're gonna tell me what she's up to?"

"She's not up to anything," you lied.

"Right, and we should believe you because...?" Damon looked at you suspiciously. It was difficult to see how far you'd come with him, but this was where you were now. Your family against his.

"Tell me again, why are we here?" Alaric asked.

"Ric, the world can't stop just because you're an accidental psycho killer," Damon smirked.

"Real sensitive, Damon," Meredith said. "Do you have any tact whatsoever?"

"Damon isn't big on sensitivity or tact," you told her. "But what's this about you being a psycho killer, Alaric?"

"Oh right, you aren't really in the know anymore," Damon said. "Long story short, apparently our resident history teacher is the one killing all those Founding Family members. The story is old Gilbert ring turns people into psycho killers."

"Okay, so definitely out of the loop," you said, slightly in shock.

"We don't know that it's me," Alaric said.

"He's in denial," Damon told you. You looked at Alaric closely. You'd never heard of a magic ring turning someone into a killer, but then, magic was always tricky.

Carol walked over to your group. "Alaric, I'm so glad you're here. Did you bring the sign? The restored Wickery Bridge sign, I mean. The history department promised me you would have it today."

Alaric looked confused for a moment. "No, I don't have the sign actually. It slipped...slipped my mind. I've been busy."

"Well, it's not an emergency," she said, looking as if even she didn't believe her words. "We'll just unveil it when the bridge is complete."

She left you and Alaric sighed. "Get me out of here."

"With pleasure," Meredith said, leaving with him.

"So," Damon said after a few minutes. "This is awkward."

"It doesn't have to be," you said, holding out to a sliver of hope that maybe you could be on opposite sides and still be friends. Maybe it was naive of you to think so, but it was hard to just cut him off completely.

"Until you leave the Devil's lair, yes it does," he said, looking past you. "Huh."

You followed his gaze and froze, seeing someone you hadn't expected to see ever again. "What is she doing here?" You asked softly.

"Damon Salvatore," Sage said, joining you both. "My favorite student."

"Sage, my hottest teacher," Damon smirked. "What are you doing here?"

"Just passing through," she said before looking at you. "Y/N, I see you keep better company these days."

"Sage," you greeted. "I see you're just as clever with your words as before. No one just passes through Mystic Falls."

In truth, you didn't really have a problem with Sage, though the feeling was not mutual. Klaus and Rebekah had hated her, but Finn loved her and that was enough for you. The only vampire Finn had turned back then. As the first born, you and Sage got along quite well. But when he was daggered, her attitude towards you changed. It had been centuries since you'd last seen her.

Rebekah joined you. "Look what the cat dragged in."

"Maybe not better company then," she looked at you before smiling tightly at Rebekah. "Rebekah. What a happy surprise. Daggerless I see."

"Easy there, Rebekah," Damon said. "You know she used to beat men for sport."

"She always was quite common," Rebekah said. "What are you doing here, Sage?"

"Just passing through apparently," you supplied.

"Well, I heard Finn was finally freed from that casket your rageaholic brother Klaus carted him around in," Sage said.

"Oh, Finn. You just missed him. He left town and didn't tell us where he was going," Rebekah said.

"Oh he probably went looking for me," Sage said. You felt for her. 900 years and she still felt the same love for him. You could understand that. After all, a thousand years had not changed your heart either. Unfortunately, unlike Klaus, Finn was not eager to remain amongst the living.

"Or, quite possibly, he forgot all about you," Rebekah said.

"I doubt that," Sage said, glaring at her,

"Oh? Because he didn't seem to mention you. Sorry you came all this way for nothing. Have a nice life," Rebekah said before looking at you. "I have an errand to run. I'll meet you back at the house?"

You nodded and she left you quickly. Sage smiled tightly at you. "God, I hate that ugly elitist Original bitch."

"Careful, I'm still older than you," you snapped. "And you may have beat up men for sport, but you've never beat me."

"Down, kitty," Damon said. "So what gives, Sage? Finn, really?"

"He's my one true love," Sage smiled for real this time. "He turned me so we could be together forever. Then Klaus daggered him and locked him away and I've been waiting ever since. Of course, it didn't have to be quite so long."

You rolled your eyes, crossing your arm. And this was exactly Sage's problem with you. She was always convinced that if you had stood up for Finn, Klaus wouldn't have daggered him. You had tried to tell her that Klaus didn't listen to you about the daggers but she didn't believe you. She thought you could have convinced him to undagger Finn for her. It had caused a fight, and eventually, she had left. Rebekah and Klaus were all the more happy to see her go. Elijah and Kol were indifferent towards her. But you were pretty sure having her stay gone was one of the reasons Klaus didn't undagger Finn sooner.

"As I told you before, there was nothing I could do," you said.

"Oh please," she said. "You had him wrapped around your finger. I'm sure you could have convinced him."

"He has shown a tendency to heel at her call," Damon added unhelpfully and you glared at him.

"Not when it comes to the daggers," you said.

She smiled slightly. "That's neither here nor there anymore. He's undaggered and I'm sure I'll find him soon enough."

"You should probably hurry then," you said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough," you parroted her words before looking at Damon. "Let me know if you need help with Alaric. Regardless of our...situation, I do consider him a friend."

He nodded before you walked off. You weren't in the mood to rehash age old arguments.

• • •

Stefan had called you the next morning, asking you to meet. You walked into the library of the Boarding House as he was reading a journal. "Hey," you said.

He looked up at you. "Hey, thanks for coming," he said.

"You said you needed my help," you said, sitting across from him. "I should warn you now. If this is about Damon, we've reached an impasse."

"It's not," he said. "It's uh it's about me." You looked at him in question, waiting for him to continue. "You said you could teach me control."

You were a bit taken back. You had offered to help him, but given your conversation with Damon last night, you didn't think Stefan would take you up on it. "I did," you said slowly.

"Look, Damon is...Damon," he said. "I know he's trying to help, but I think there's a bit too much history between us for him to help me the way I need."

"I get it," you said, sitting back. "I'm not gonna lie to you. It's not going to be easy. There will be times when you want to kill me even. Just remember I'm over 800 years older than you." You smirked slightly.

"You told me before that Klaus helped you gain control?"

You nodded. "In the beginning, when I first turned, I didn't have any control. It took us a long time to rejoin civilization because of me. I know you're not his biggest fan, but he was there for me during that time. He never let me feel like I was out of control, and he guided me. I learned and I think you can too. It's just gonna take us some time...and patience."

Your phone beeped and you pulled it out to see Klaus had texted you, asking you to meet him at the Mystic Grill. You looked up at Stefan. "I know Lexi helped you in her way, but I agree with Damon. The Lexi method works for you until it doesn't. We need to work on moderation. For now, when you're jonesing, call me. I'll be like your sober sponsor." You stood, smiling at him slightly. "You'll get through this Stefan. I'll make sure of it."

He looked at you gratefully.

• • •

You walked into the Grill and took a seat in a booth. Klaus had texted you again, telling you he'd be a few minutes late. Matt walked over to you. "Hey Y/N, what can I get for you?"

"A bourbon please, Matt," you said, looking down at your phone. You noticed he was hovering and looked up at him questioningly.

He was standing there awkwardly looking at you. "Look, I know it's not really my business, but Caroline is a really good friend to have."

You smiled slightly, seeing what he was doing. "Yes, I know," you said. "But I don't need friends I have to worry will stab in the back for their other friends."

"She didn't want to do it," he defended.

"But she still did," you said simply. "Look, I appreciate you defending your friend. And I'm not mad at her, really I'm not. But I'm just not interested."

"Well if it isn't the first Original pet," Sage walked over suddenly, sitting across from you. Her eyes grazed over Matt as you bristled. "Is this your meal? Does it come to go?"

"Maybe you should get back to work, Matt," you glared at the vampire across from you.

"Yeah I'll uh, I'll get you that bourbon," he walked away quickly.

"He's rather scrumptious, isn't he?" Sage commented.

You rolled your eyes. "What do you want, Sage?"

She hesitated for just a moment. "I wanted to come see you. I've actually wanted to for a while now actually. I heard you weren't with Klaus anymore and I thought maybe you'd finally left him. But Damon informed me you had your memories compulsed away."

"Memories or not, I'd have thought I'd be the last person you wanted to see, given how we ended things last time," you said suspiciously.

"Come on, Y/N, that was 900 years ago," she said.

"Why did you want to see me?" you asked. Matt came back and dropped off your drink. Sage watched him walk away before looking back at you.

"Well, like I said, it's been 900 years, give or take a decade," she said. "And it took me a long time to deal with everything that happened, but I realized it wasn't your fault. What I said to you, it wasn't fair."

Now you were even more suspicious. She had told you point blank that it was your fault Finn was locked away in a coffin, that you could have helped him if you wanted. She had even hit you for it. "Right," you said slowly. "You're right, it's been 900 years and shockingly, I didn't suddenly become stupid overnight. What game are you playing, Sage?"

"No game," she said, sitting back. "I'm serious, Y/N."

"So I'm just supposed to believe that after 700 years, you want to apologize to me?" You scoffed.

"We were friends once," she reminded you. "Is it so hard to believe I'd want to make amends? Especially since it was your not so better half, not you, that took my Finn away?"

"That didn't seem to stop you from blaming me before. Besides, I know it wasn't my fault, and I have never lost a single moment's sleep over it or you," you rolled your eyes. "So I don't really care if you've finally realized it had nothing to do with me."

"We both know Klaus would have moved heaven and earth for you, Y/N," Sage said. "A blind man could have seen that. It was disgustingly adorable how much that man burned for you."

"Not when it came to the daggers, as I told you then too," you said. You knew how Klaus felt for you, especially then. You were pleased that others saw it too, in an egotistical way, of course.

"I guess that's where we'll agree to disagree," she shrugged. She could see from your face that you weren't impressed with this 'apology' and smirked. "How about I give you a peace offering?"

You looked at her questioningly. "That depends what it is."

"Well, you're probably going to hear this from Rebekah, but I helped Damon...find out some information from her," she said.

"Rebekah trusts you even less than I do," you said, looking at her intently. "She would never tell you anything even under tor....wait. Tell me you didn't."

She looked almost guilty for a moment before schooling her face. "You know I was always rather exceptionally skilled at it," she said with a smirk.

You scoffed. No one could enter dreams and thoughts the way Sage could. Sometimes you had wondered if she had been a dormant witch before, her skill at it almost supernatural. "You're an idiot for trusting Damon over us," you said.

"I actually think it's rather brilliant," she said. "Damon handles Rebekah and Finn and I can ride off into the sunset."

You laughed. "You don't know, do you? You didn't glean from Rebekah's mind what's actually happening right now? Either you must be slipping or Rebekah outsmarted you."

"I highly doubt that," she said, but you could see the worry etched in her eyes. "What did I miss?"

"Why should I tell you? Why don't you go ask your friend Damon?"

"Y/N, please," she reached out, putting her hand on yours. "You know I love Finn. I did this for him, so we could be together. That's the only thing I care about. Damon said they'd leave Finn out of whatever they had planned. You have to understand that. You feel the same for Klaus."

You looked at her for a moment, debating if you should tell her. On one hand, she did this to herself and truthfully, while you never held the same disdain for her that Klaus and Rebekah felt, Sage didn't really mean anything to you, not anymore. Once, you had been friends, allies even. The firstborn of the Originals. She was the only one of the firstborn you could tolerate. Aurora and Tristan, Rebekah and Elijah's respectively, annoyed you to no end as Aurora constantly threw herself at Klaus and Tristan indulged her. Lucien, Kol's first, was a bit more tolerable but just barely. But Sage had been...a friend. You knew her love for Finn was strong as was Finn's for her. It was the whole reason he had changed her in the first place. While you no longer had any love lost for Finn, he was once a brother to you too.

"Esther joined them together," you finally told her. She deserved to know she would lose Finn, regardless of whatever Damon had planned. "What happens to one happens to all, and Finn...well, he wants to play sacrificial lamb. Your friend Damon will kill him to end the rest of them and Finn will let them."

"No," she said, her eyes widening in horror. "He wouldn't. He wouldn't leave me like that."

"I'm sorry," you said truthfully. Because you did feel for her. You knew how you would feel if Klaus ever did the same. Even when he sent you away, it felt like a part of you died. You weren't sure how you would make it if he was no longer in the world.

"We have to stop him," she said softly. "I need to talk to him."

"Yeah well, now that you've helped Damon, you'd better hurry because you're running out of time," you said. You chugged the rest of your drink, and stood up. "I'll see you around, Sage."

"Y/N," she grabbed your hand as you started to walk away. "They know. About the wood in the bridge. That's what Rebekah is after, isn't it?"

You weren't surprised she had changed sides so quickly. You believed her when she said she'd do anything for Finn. "Okay," you said, pulling out your phone and putting it to your ear.

"Hello?" Rebekah answered.

"Hey, it's me," you said. "I need you to meet me at Wickery Bridge. Now."

• • •

You stood next to Sage as Rebekah spilled gasoline over the bridge, your arms crossed as you waited to burn it. Rebekah came back over and tossed a match at the wood. It reminded you of all those years ago, when you had stood by the first white oak tree, watching your new family burn it to the ground. You had felt a sense of finality then, as if Klaus and the others were now truly immortal, part of the very fabric of the world. Klaus had always been your world, but now, he was eternal. It almost felt the same now as it did back then, though the heat from the flames did not feel like they would burn you alive along with them. Now, you didn't need Klaus' hand on yours to remind you that you were safe.

You heard the car stop behind you, though you did not turn. You didn't have to guess who it was. Rebekah smirked at Damon as he walked over. "Your grand plans always seem to get ruined, don't they? Sorry to disappoint you. Again."

"You set me up," you turned to see Damon glowering at Sage. You could feel the rage radiating off of him, as hot as the flames.

"No," Sage said. "I'm just looking out for myself."

"I told you I'd save your creepy boyfriend," Damon snapped.

"And you lied to me," she snapped back. "The Originals are linked. If one dies, they all die. Did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

"Three guesses who filled you in," Damon glared at you.

"It's not my fault you don't mind screwing your 'friends' over to get what you want," you glared back.

He sped over to Sage and wrapped his hands around her neck, trying to strangle her. "I should end you," he said.

She sped out of his grasp, twisting his arm behind his back. "I'm 900 years old, Damon," she said in his ear. "You're not capable of ending me. Do you really think I would risk Finn's life for one of your petty revenge fantasies?"

She pushed him away from her. He rounded on her, a tight grimace on his face. "Let me tell you something. Your long lost love has a suicide wish. So when mama witch linked them together in a spell, he's the one who volunteered to die."

You could see in his face that he was trying to throw her off guard, revenge for what she had done. But Sage just smirked. "He won't for long."

"Why? You think he's gonna change his mind for you?" What is with you delusional Original groupies? What they feel for you is not love." Damon scoffed, his eyes meeting yours. You knew he didn't mean just Finn and Sage and you bristled at him implication. "He didn't want to live. Not for you, not for anyone. He doesn't love you, Sage. And when I do find a way to kill those Originals, I'll start with Finn."

He turned and stormed off to his car, driving away. "Well, he's a bit dramatic, isn't he?" Rebekah said before turning to face you, clapping her hands together. "Well, now that that tedious business is all done, I say we go celebrate with a drink. Not you Sage, you can leave. You're still a tramp."

"Rebekah," you admonished her.

"What? You know what she did to me," Rebekah said.

"I wouldn't have if you were a bit more pleasant to be around," Sage said. "Don't worry, I'm not interested in getting a drink with you anyway."

"Good, then you should leave," Rebekah said cheerfully. "Run back to whatever hole you crawled out of. I'll tell Finn you stopped by."

"I honestly don't know how you put up with her," Sage told you. "Thank you, Y/N. Maybe I'll look you up after I find Finn."

"No," you said.

"What?" They both asked at the same time then glared at each other.

"You're not going to leave," you said, smirking slightly. "I have a better idea."

• • •

Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it! I know I changed things a bit and made Lucien from Kol's sire line. I kind of had to to keep the possibility of the originals plot line.

Sorry I know I'm so slow with these updates I thought my schedule had opened up but unfortunately work has been crazy and then I got hogwarts legacy so I've been glued to that lol I'll try to get more updates out sooner! Thanks guys!