Clara Forbes had always been acutely aware of her fate, of the legend attached to her. She'd somehow always known of her destiny to love four men, so she wasn't surprised when she felt the tugging of her heart the first day she met Elijah Mikaelson. The two shared an instant connection as if some invisible force was pushing the two together.
Clara had seen his face before in her dreams. For as long as she could remember, Clara had always dreamt of four men, four brothers, and the lifetimes they'd lived. She'd seen the world build itself from the ground up, from nothing but huts and spears to monumental skyscrapers and modern technology. It was fascinating to her, and also one of the reasons why she majored in History for her diploma. She'd graduated top of her class, mainly due to her hard work and long hours, but also due to the continuous dreams of the four brothers.
She met Elijah in New York, just outside of Times Square. It was the first day of actual snowfall, the Mikaelson was immediately drawn to the girl with snowflakes caught in her eyelashes. He instantly thought she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, with the unusual light yet dark blonde curls that fell below her shoulders. Her eyes were unlike any he'd seen, with a dark blue ring surrounding a light bluish-silvery color and perhaps little flecks of green if they caught the light just right. She was the most exquisite thing he'd ever laid eyes on, even more so than Katerina Petrova and Tatia that came before her. He felt as if the breath had been stolen from his lungs the moment they locked eyes. He could see every moment of their future together, her head on his shoulder as he played her a tune on his piano, her feet in his lap as they read on their couch, and dare he say it, he saw her in a gorgeous white dress, making her way down the aisle on the day of their wedding. He knew from that moment on, that he'd do anything to keep her safe from the dangerous history that lingered around his last name.
Now, Clara hadn't told him of the fact that she was to be shared among his brothers, not until they sat down for dinner on their first anniversary. It wasn't her brightest idea to tell him in public or with a rather sharp knife sitting next to his hand, but over wine was the easiest way she could think to break the news. After one very loud outburst, Elijah had calmed enough for Clara to explain. He was less than thrilled at the idea that he had to share his Ástin with his brothers, especially Niklaus. His younger brother had never been good at sharing, and the knowledge of sharing Clara with him only set him further on edge. He would never fully trust Niklaus with Clara, not with all of the bad blood between them.
It had taken a few weeks for Elijah to get used to the idea of sharing Clara. The girl had given him his space, not wanting to push him on the matter, knowing what would happen if he rejected their bond. She wanted nothing more than to help heal the various wounds between the brothers, for them all to live in peace with each other.
As time went on, Clara began to dream of a house in which two of the other Mikaelson brothers would sit and wait for her. The youngest and eldest brothers told her she'd dreamt the house for them as a way to be together even though they were separated by the cruel intentions of Niklaus Mikaelson. She'd been informed of how their deranged brother daggered them and then dropped them at the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen again. It hurt knowing that one of the men she was destined to love was cruel enough to enslave his siblings to a black horizon for centuries.
Kol and Finn spent their nights with Clara educating her on their past, while she also learned of their vastly different personalities. She'd spend every other night with one brother. On her nights with Kol, he'd let her into his mind, showing her the times when he could do the most wonderous things with his magic. On one night, in particular, the usual setting of the grand house with a wrap-around porch changed into that of a beautiful meadow with the most astounding flowers. Kol recognized it instantly, it was the meadow that he'd grown in Henrik's memory, filling it with his favorite flowers. That was the night Kol knew he loved Clara and vowed that once the dagger was removed from his chest, he would do whatever it took to keep Clara safe.
Finn was harder to crack. He had walls built up so high, Clara doubted that even the sunlight could penetrate them. For weeks, Clara just sat in silence and just watched him, noticing the haunted look in his eyes. The first night that he opened up to her, he showed her the black horizon he'd been walking in for years. Besides the sound of his footsteps, the only thing Finn could hear was was his pleas for Klaus to remove the dagger from his chest. After that night, he let Clara in. The girl was slowly starting to knock down his walls. Every night they spent together, he would show her a memory from his past, one memory he dreaded the most was that of the last nights he spent in the old world, but he'd shown Clara anyways. He'd shown her the kidnapping of his cherished older sister Freya. He explained to her how that single event sealed his future, how his mother would constantly threaten him of the secret they shared over Freya, and how because of the trauma of watching his sister be ripped away from them that he was afraid of getting close to his younger siblings, so afraid of losing them the same way he lost Freya all those centuries ago. Clara had seen Finn in a new light that night, a different version than what Elijah had briefly mentioned.
In the year following Clara's revelation about their destiny, Elijah had informed her of the curse he was trying to help Klaus break and the history behind it, as well as the history of the Doppelganger and her involvement in the ritual. He also informed her of his past involvement with both Tatia and Katerina Petrova, something he realized now was nothing more than a schoolboy crush, and nothing compared to what he felt for Clara.
The two's return to Mystic Falls had been planned for months, carefully going over every possibility and detail. Clara was aware of the fact that this was a cover-up for Elijah to kill Klaus, and that she'd be using her sister and her friends, but the most important thing to her was the bond she shared with the Mikaelsons. She knew the cost of this, of her fate, but for once in her life Clara was doing something for her and not her family.
