Original Vampires, Welcome to New Orleans (The Originals Seasons 1 and 2 Fanfic)

Chapter 20: The Mikaelson Family All Together

Several hours after the events in the diner...

Rebekah hung up a wreath on the outside of the door, coming into the spacious country home.

'Well, isn't this place nice?' Rebekah said cheerfully, coming inside. I was on the couch in a pair of sweatpants and one of Elijah's shirts, reading a book, and Elijah was standing at the fireplace, while baby Hope was in her portable crib just happily gurgling with a toy in her hands. I raised my eyes to see Rebekah come in with a wine bottle. 'Nik must have compelled a wine lover to keep it up because I found a 2005 Bordeaux. Fancy a sip?'

'I appreciate the sentiment, Rebekah,' Elijah said softly, 'but I do realise when I'm being handled with kid gloves.' She put the bottle down and looked at her brother.

'How are you feeling?'

'Patronised,' he said sharply, turning around to look at her, and looked down at Hope momentarily. 'I am here to protect you.'

'I know you mean to, Elijah. I know you and Lilliana both do.'

'And yet you found it necessary to render me unconscious before bringing me here.'

'Well, you weren't yourself, and I needed to get us out of that diner. What happened back there?'

'I don't know,' he admitted. 'Niklaus sent me to protect Hope. My job is to keep her safe.'

Later...

The three of us were outside, Rebekah and I stacking wood and Elijah on the front porch of the house, siting next to Hope in a baby rocker.

'It's all right, Elijah,' Rebekah called. 'She won't break. Everthing you did was in the name of protecting her. I'm not worried.' He picked Hope up out of her rocker, and she let out a squeal.

'Is that what I think it is?' he asked, sounding amused.

'It's bonfire season, and I am reviving a family tradition, especially since we're all going to be together.' He stood, with the baby in his arms.

'Only because we're fleeing from one of our deranged parents,' Elijah quipped, but it wasn't in a joking manner. 'Another family tradition.' He walked towards her, and I came forward to join them. 'It's a peculiar thing. Never to be tired yet forever exhausted with the sameness of things. Why is our family always at war?'

'I don't know, but being away with her made me see things differently,' Rebekah said, touching the baby's hand as she gurgled happily in Elijah's arms. 'We're not so bad. Not the monsters that our parents think we are.' Just then a car rolled up the laneway and came to a stop in front of the house. Hayley got out just as the vehicle stopped and ran up to the four of us, Klaus slowly following behind. Hayley slowed, looking at her baby with shock in her eyes. Elijah walked forward a few steps, and handed baby Hope to Hayley. She took her in her arms and cradled her softly, then turned to Klaus, who looked almost confused, but then Hayley placed Hope in his arms and after adjusting her a bit, he looked down at her with a soft smile. A father's smile.

'Curse on the first born?' Rebekah asked as she finished stacking up the wood in a conical structure. 'What the bloody hell is that supposed to be?'

'Well, according to Finn, our sister Freya didn't die of plague. She was taken as payment by our aunt Dahlia, who then cursed all Mikaelson first borns for eternity.'

'Is any of this true?' Hayley asked.

'It is if we are to believe Finn,' Elijah replied, rolling his sleeves up, 'who learned it from that bastion of truth, our mother.'

'Well, no wonder Finn hates us,' Rebekah said. 'He lost the sister he adored and instead got a judgy pack of siblings, who found him unbearably dull.'

'So, is there any chance of running into your loony Aunt Dahlia any time soon?' I asked.

'Fable's over a thousand years old. Dahlia's long dead,' Elijah said.

'Like Esther?' Hayley replied. The mood went quiet for a second as Hayley and Elijah locked eyes.

'No one's going to hurt Hope because no one's going to find her,' Klaus said. 'That's enough wood, Rebekah. You'll burn down the whole bloody state of Arkansas.'

'Well, we're just missing a key ingredient,' she replied.

'No, we're not,' Nik retorted.

'Yes, we are. Back me up, Elijah.'

'I suspect Niklaus would rather choke on the ashes,' Elijah replied with a cheeky smile.

'What are you all talking about?' Hayley asked.

'Well, before we light it, we write down our wishes for each other to burn for luck. It was Kol's favourite part when we were kids.'

'Further evidence as to why we should ignore it,' Klaus replied.

'Hope's first bonfire season,' Hayley said. 'I like it. We're doing it.' She walked away, and Rebekah smiled in satisfaction.

Later...

Elijah was silently stacking wood, when his thoughts wandered to the red door. Lilliana running, screaming from him. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Rebekah's voice.

'Elijah.' She was holding out a small hand towel to him. He took it, saying a quiet thank you, and mutely wiped his hands. 'What is it you see when you go away like that?'

'Things I've done, images of who I was.' He handed the towel back to his sister. 'Another gift from Mother. I can't turn it off. I suppose it's her way of demonstrating I'd be better off taking her deal.'

'To leave your body behind?' she asked him as he brought a bag full of wood parts over to the table nearby and set it down.

'To start over, live a mortal life, have a child of my own if I choose. I know that's what Lilliana wants.'

'Cursed as your firstborn if we're to believe the story.'

'Not if I am no longer Mikaelson blood. See, this is the beauty of Mother, Rebekah. Sometimes, even her darkest deeds possess a logic that's difficult to refute.' He sat down at the table and she sat down a moment later.

'That's a lovely fantasy, Elijah. For both you and Lilliana.'

'Rebekah, you and I both know what Mother is capable of. Now I do wonder if she would relent and leave us be. Now, what if all that Mother needs is a victory?'

'Let her find it somewhere else. She wants all three of us, including your girlfriend.'

'She has Kol. She has Finn. Perhaps in the end a simple majority will do.'