little mikaelson ⚜️ the originals

33

Pulling away ever-so-slightly, he took a good look at her face. She was paler than she was as a teenager, indeed, but she still had the same freckles dotting across her cheeks and the same dark hair that she's had since the day he had adopted her into his care. She was just as beautiful to him then as she was to him now.

"What's the matter, princess?" Klaus asked in a coo, reaching up to wipe the stray tears that fell from his baby's cheeks. "What's all the fuss about, hmm?"

Sniffling and trying to compose herself, little Darla rubbed her eye with a little fist before answering.

"Th-The b-b-bad men g-got you," She stuttered, trying to calm her tears. "And it was all my fault!"

"Hey, now," The hybrid whispered, sitting down in the patch of flowers and placing her in his lap. "Nothing is your fault, baby. I'm alright. I'm here. Nothing is ever going to happen to me, okay? Daddy's here."

Darla, finding peace in her father's soothing voice, cuddled into him and relished in him wrapping his arms around her and holding her closer.

"Th-They w-w-wanted to h-hurt me s-so they c-could hurt-t you, but y-you w-wouldn't let th-them." Darla explained through her hiccups while Klaus continued to wipe her tears. "Y-You l-let them t-take you, daddy!"

The nightmare was starting to make sense to Klaus in that moment. The conversation from the previous night, her mood, the fact that she was a little girl in her dream... She was scared that someone would use her as leverage to get to him.

"Darla," he spoke seriously, but tenderly nonetheless. "I'm going to tell you something very important, and I need you to be a good girl and listen very carefully, okay?"

Sniffling once more, Darla looked up at her father, already hanging onto every word.

"I will never let anything happen to you, do you understand that?"

"B-But what if―"

"And I won't let anything happen to myself, either."

This seemed to ease her nerves and anxieties about the whole situation, so he continued.

"There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that can take you away from me or me away from you. Not anymore, okay? We are family, darling, and a family is a family for always and forever. No one is going to hurt us, and if some bad guys try to, they will be handled and you will never have to worry about them again."

"Promise?"

Looking down into her big, brown eyes, Klaus felt himself making a vow that he meant with all of his being.

"I am going to keep you safe forever."

Klaus, if he was being honest, didn't really want to leave the dream. He had missed so much of his daughter's life, and this was the closest thing he could ever get to being there for her during that time of her life. So he made the most of the time he had left. He took in and locked away the feeling of what it was like to hold the little girl, he finally calmed her down and ceased her tears, and even picked some of the pretty red and orange flowers that they were surrounded by. But soon, a warm looking bright light came into their view, and Klaus knew that his time with his child was up.

So, he stood up, placed her on his hip, and took a good look at her for a moment.

"I am sorry for missing so much of this, Darla," He said with an overwhelming sincerity. "I am so sorry I couldn't be there for you for oh, so long."

"It's okay, daddy." She replied with a smile that was as sweet as honey. "You're here now."

And with one last kiss to the forehead, Klaus walked into the warm light and was transported back to reality. To him and his teenage Darla Hope sitting in her room, surrounded by the familiarity of their own home. Opening his eyes that now had tears in them, he looked up at the young girl and saw that she was in a similar ― if not the same ― state.

Darla jumped on her father in a hug, much as she did in the dream, and let her tears flow.

"I love you, daddy."

Cradling her head with one hand and holding her close with the other, Klaus closed his eyes and replied with everything Darla needed to hear.

"I love you too, Darla. Always and forever."