Enigmatic Finales: A Klaus Mikaelson Story {8}

Chapter 12: Unforgettable

~Grace POV~

Grace had continued making the rounds on her party in the hopes of finding out any clues about her mother's disappearance but so far she was coming up empty. The twins were sitting with their parents and waved Grace over, no doubt to the next bout of recon.

Both Caroline and Alaric were good candidates for her mother's secret keeper. Alaric was her mother's ex-fiancé and again, noted enemy of Mikaelson state. Caroline had been a good friend to her father, but an even better one to her mother. She hadn't been able to definitively rule out any of the Mikaelson siblings, so she really was hoping for more luck with the Saltzmans.

"There she is, the lady of the hour!" Alaric greeted as she joined them.

"Congratulations Grace." Caroline added with a warm smile.

"When we turn 16, I want a party as big as this one." Lizzie remarked. "Actually, twice as big, there's two of us."

"Lizzie!" Caroline scolded.

"I don't know Care, I seem to remember you also going equally crazy for your 17th birthday." Stefan said with a grin.

"You mean my first birthday after I literally just died?" She retorted.

"This is a party guys, maybe less talk about death?" Josie suggested.

"Agreed." Her father added in support.

"You're right, you're right." Caroline said with a grin. "Let's talk about how beautiful you girls look! Purple and silver is an ingenious combination."

"You ever used it for one of your numerous parties before?" Grace asked, hoping for something to slip through the cracks.

"Not that I can remember." Caroline replied. "But I wish I had because you guys look perfect."

"You really do." Alaric added. "I can't believe we've made it all this way. I'm so glad you girls managed to patch things up."

"Me too." Grace added as she brought her best friends into a tight hug.

"Me three." Said Josie.

Lizzie looked between the two of them and rolled her eyes. "You know I'm just here for the hors d'oeuvres, right?"

~Hayley POV~

Hayley was watching proudly as her daughter pranced around the party like the belle of the ball that she was. It was a relief to be able to have a night like this after the uncomfortable amount of hardship they'd gone through during the Fiore phase. In fact, the only thing that would've made that night perfect was if Elliott could have been there to celebrate with them too. But tonight was about Grace, and Hayley was going to keep it that way.

"Enjoying the party?" Elijah asked as he joined her, a drink in each hand.

"Better now that you're here." She replied as she lay a kiss on his cheek. "But honestly, I'm just glad that things seem to be going back to normal, you know?"

"I'm happy you're feeling in better spirits." Elijah said with a content smile. "And in the interest of keeping those spirits up, would you like to dance?"

"As long as you can keep up."

Elijah led Hayley to the dancefloor and the two took a moment to just be enamoured with themselves. They had overcome so much, so for them to be standing there, no evil looming over them was truly a great feat. The dancefloor was getting crowded now, with Grace and her friends, the Mikaelson siblings and of course Amelia and Klaus.

Hayley glanced over at them and smiled, happy to see Klaus enjoy some semblance of joy. But when she matched Elijah's eyeline, he seemed only to be upset.