The Visit

Chapter One - The Homecoming

It had been five years since the Cullen's had left Forks, leaving Bella behind without looking back. Since that day, Bella had grown within herself and her surname was no longer Swan, it was Mikaelson.

Bella had fallen into a deep depression when the people she thought loved her left her, and that had led to Charlie revealing some information he would have preferred to keep hidden; Bella was not his biological daughter. When Bella had first been told about her true parentage, her depression had only worsened, she felt as though she had less people than she did before, and that list was already short to begin with. That was until Charlie had pointed out that this was a chance for her to start over, far away from the toxicity the Cullens had left behind in Forks.

Bella had learnt of her true surname, Isabella Dawson, and the names of her biological parents, Sarah and William. The only thing that Charlie had left from the adoption was the signed and stamped form that legally gave him and Renee the parental rights to Bella, and that was how she knew her biological parents' names. When Bella had asked why her parents gave her up, Charlie had sadly explained that they had been killed and she was inserted into the foster system, she was four months old when they adopted her from an orphanage in the French Quarter.

Once she had been told, it had only taken Bella one weeks to decide that she wanted to visit the place where she was born. Much like she had done when she first suspected the Cullens, she dove into research about the whole new family that could be out there. Charlie was very grateful that the research was keeping Bella occupied.

Bella had packed her things and sold her truck, with Charlie's permission of course, so she could afford the plane ticket and hotel she would be staying in when she arrived in New Orleans. She didn't get much from the truck, but Bella would not use any money from Charlie's retirement fund like he had initially suggested. When packing her things, her ID fell down the side of a loose floorboard, and that was how she discovered her birthday gifts stashed underneath the floor. She had picked up a tidy sum of two thousand dollars for the car radio at the local pawn shop, and somehow she couldn't bring herself to feel guilty for selling it.

If someone would have told Bella that she would be happy the Cullens were gone when they first left Forks, she would have called them insane, but five years later she couldn't be happier.

When she had first arrived in New Orleans, she had fell in love with it immediately. The streets were so alive, a complete polar opposite of Forks. She found a hotel in the French Quarter and unpacked her things. The next thing she did was start asking questions, looking for any person who knew anything about her biological parents. Inside she was hoping that she still had biological family out there, but she found nobody. Her second night in New Orleans, she had met the Mikaelsons, and that's where Bella's happy ending started.

...

"Ugh, can this flight seriously take any longer? You did say that Forks was actually in America right?" Kol asked, closing the plane window shield more forcefully than necessary. Bella rolled her eyes at her brother-in-law, even after a thousand years alive he was still impatient.

"Kol, I seriously don't understand you sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy that you are coming to support me this weekend, but please don't break the plane." Bella chuckled and shook her head.

Bella watched as Kol sneakily checked the plane window shield for damage before he answered.

"I am happy to be here, love, anything for my dear sister-in-law." Kol said genuinely. Kol had truly changed since she had become a Mikaelson. No longer was he childish and petulant, he was a helpful and caring young (ish) man.