Above It All " SEQUEL TO ABOVE ALL ELSE "

Chapter 2

"That's just it Elijah. Family." Caroline huffed as he completely missed her point. Keeping her voice as calm as possible, not wanting Klaus to intervene just yet, but still needing to get her meaning across, she stepped in closer as she tossed her arms out to the sides. "I mean seriously! Do any of you even have the slightest clue how lucky you are?"

"How do you figure?" He cocked his head to the side questioningly.

Caroline shook her head at how clueless these Original vampires could be. You'd think that after being around for as long as they had they would have figured a few things out by now.

Her large dazzling eyes beseeched him imploringly, her voice a soft melody as she spoke, "After all this time, all the centuries that you've all lived through, no matter how many times you have all literally stabbed each other in the backs," The slight reprimand that carried within her tone told Elijah quite well on just how she felt about such a thing, "you still have each other. You are fortunate enough to have lived as long as you all have and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have family out there if and when you need them. That no matter what any of you have done to each other, you can count on that simple fact. That if you called, the rest would come running. Some of us are not and will never be so lucky." Caroline ended with a melancholy sigh, her eyes gravitating towards Klaus as he smiled and laughed with Kol and Stefan.

Elijah silently digested her words as he stood by and observed her as she gazed at his brother with a stunningly tender eye. "You are wise beyond your years, Miss Forbes. Though I do believe you are wrong on one underlying account."

"Oh?" Caroline turned to look at him with a friendly smile on her face due to his softly spoken words, "And what underlying account would that be?"

Elijah pressed his lips together to withhold a chuckle at her blatantly ribbing at his choice of wording. Instead he straightened his cuffs and took on the wise tone he often used with his younger siblings, "Family is typically composed from blood yes, but true family is those for whom we love and honor. As they too gift us with those same precious feelings as well." Elijah nodded his head towards the opposite side of the room where his brothers and Stefan still sat, "I believe your family is closer than you think."

Elijah's lips cracked into a half smile when Caroline discovered just whom he was speaking of. Glancing back to his brother just as Klaus bit into the woman's wrist once again he turned a worried glance towards Caroline with a clearing of his throat, "I know that you are young in your vampire years, but you do understand that the delicate art of feeding is only simple that; feeding."

Caroline laughed breathily, "I was just thinking about exactly that before you showed up. I think I'm starting to understand that books and movies tend to glamorize things." She turned to look at him with a soft, honest smile, one he was sure had been what had captured his brother's eye from the start, "But thanks."

"Yes, the more modern spin of our life style does tend to lean towards the romanization. While the classics of days past leaned more towards darker tales of suspicion and superstition."

"Huh." Caroline uttered, causing Elijah to furrow his brows in question, "I just realized that the parallels between The Brothers Grimm tales and how you and your siblings can be sometimes really are something else."

Caroline's eyes widened in surprise when Elijah began laughing near hysterically.

"Please excuse me Miss Forbes, but the darker fairytale comparison just caught me off guard. Quite pleasantly so." He smiled as he still chuckled, glad to see that this young woman his brother was so enamored with was not only a beauty but had a keen and cunning mind to match.