SHE PROMISED ( the originals )

0031. IF WE'RE GOING TO ARGUE, I'M GONNA NEED BOOZE

SHE PROMISED
( part two, chapter thirty-one )

ELLE SIGHED QUIETLY, PULLING THE DRESS lower on her body. "Do I have to wear this?" she asked as she followed her mother. "I've never really been one for dresses and heels. I'm much more of a denim and Converse kind of girl."

"Don't you want to make a good first impression?" Esther asked. She was dressed in a pretty, dark dress.

Elle didn't respond as she continued to follow Esther down the many hallways, and as they got closer to the designated room, they could hear arguing coming from in front of them. She could hear Elijah as clear as day but she couldn't hear Klaus; was he even there or had he gotten too bored already?

"Oh, my darling son," Esther said sarcastically, a mischievous grin on her face. "I've missed you too." Finn rose to greet them, pulling out chairs for them both.

Klaus made immediate eye contact with Elle, who quickly ducked her head and looked down at her lap. She fiddled with the lace of her sleeve and twirled her ankle under the table. This was the first time in months that they were seeing one another and they didn't exactly leave off their friendship on a high note. "So what's the meaning of this?" Klaus asked, pointing a lazy finger at Elle.

Finn tilted his head at his youngest brother. "I stated it earlier, didn't I?" Finn asked. "Don't you recognize your own sister? Yes, it's been quite some time but you should be able to recognize your own blood."

"Am I supposed to be under the impression that this girl is supposed to be our sister?" Klaus seethed. "Last I checked, you were the one who killed Katrielle and blamed it on the wolves." He aimed it at their mother, who sat at the head of the table.

"And why do you think I would do such a thing?" Esther asked, her voice eerily calm. "I wouldn't harm 一"

"Harm your children?" Klaus finished. "Please, we've all heard this."

"Nik," Elle said quietly, clenching her fist. "She's telling the truth." He let out a scoff. "Just... think about it, okay? When I woke up from my... coma, I was twelve. Your sister, Katrielle, was twelve when she supposedly died. I woke up in a town called Mystic Falls, Virginia 一 a town that a thousand years ago, you all were born and lived in."

"That's merely a coincidence then!" Klaus shouted.

Elijah was surprisingly being quiet, just watching Elle. Silently, he knew Elle was telling the truth – Katrielle Mikaelson and Elle Mitchell both had the same brown hair, wild and untamed even though she tried desperately to keep it braided, the tiny birthmark just peeking out from her sleeve, and the same hazel eyes, ones that he had seen so many times. "Niklaus," he said softly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Listen to her."

The younger brother was ready to throw his glass across the room but he did as he was told. He scrutinized the witch before him. She still looked the same as she did when he first met her: brown hair that was so flyaway, it refused to stay braided; eyes that were like lightning, never missing a thing and so spirited; soft and gentle lips that seemed to always want to smile; and that single red feather earring dangling from her left ear, always twinkling in the light. Klaus had to admit that he did see Katrielle in her 一 he almost called her Katrielle once 一 but it couldn't be her. His little sister died a thousand years ago, but yet this was her, living proof that she did not die that dreaded night.

"Why don't you say what you came here to say, so this wretched night can end?" Klaus demanded.

Esther sighed. "It pains me that you and Elijah look at me with such disdain. I wish you could see that my every action has been to protect you!"

"You actually believe that, don't you?" Klaus said incredulously.  "I knew you were a liar, but now I see you're utterly delusional."

"If you can forget the hatred that you cling to and remember all the times I've mended and healed you." Klaus let out a sarcastic and hearty laugh, but Esther ignored him, looking over at Elijah. "Elijah, do you recall the day Niklaus challenged your father to a duel? Did I leave your brother to die alone? What did I say, when you came to me and asked me to help him?"

Elijah sighed. "That you would rather die than to see any of your children suffer."

It was quiet for a moment before Klaus muttered, "The necklace." He suddenly glared harshly at his mother. "It wasn't spelled to protect me. It made me weak."

"I sought to protect you from yourself! If you had killed your father in that duel, or anyone else in the course of your life, you would have activated your curse!"

Klaus slammed his hand on the table. "You ruined me! You left me to suffer at the hands of a father who valued only strength!"

"I kept you from becoming a beast for as long as I possibly could!" Esther said guiltily.

Klaus slammed his hand against the table once more, rising to his feet and raising his voice to shout. "Oh, you lied to me! To hide your own transgressions because of your own fear! My whole life, I sought the approval I was denied by the man I thought was my father! You turned me into the weakling he hated." Esther lowered her gaze, quietly gulping, and Elle squeezed her fists tightly. His voice... his yelling... it was so like Joseph's. "Look at me! You rant and you rave about the monster I have become, but you, Mother 一 you are the author of everything I am."

Esther, with a flustered look, suddenly began to gasp as if she couldn't breathe. "Mother!" Elle said, jumping out of her seat and rushing to Esther's side as she slumped in her chair, fainting. Elijah managed to rush over before her head could hit the table, and he looked over at his siblings in surprise.

A/N: wowwie wow wowzers
this is sooo bad ;-; every time i
wrote them actually reuniting, it
ended up badly and this is actually
the best version of all of them

but happy new year, everyone!
i hope you guys had a lot of fun
and were SAFE and did NOT
DRINK AND DRIVE. also, i
haven't said this before, but
january 1 is actually elle's
birthday!!! so happy bday to my
little baby!!