Through Another's Eyes
Title: Through Another's Eyes
Author: mystic_blue17
Summary: [MINISERIES] Life is full of experiences when you have forever or if you are dating someone who is immortal. (based on teasers/speculation for 420 and going forward into the spin off) Klaroline through the years from other people's point of view. Chapter 1 is Camille.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or plots nor do I plan on receiving any profit from writing about them.
A/N: Alright kids this is my biggest endeavor yet. This is basically what I would do if I was the writers going forward with the Vampire Diaries and the Originals. Julie Plec are you reading this? The fans want klaroline! The story isn't over!
A big thank you to anyone who reviewed, favourited, alerted A Night to Remember. Really every bit of support helps. I especially want to address the people who put ANTR on alert. I'm sorry to tell you that I think that is a one-shot. I don't have any plans to continue that fic. I don't know if I made that clear and honestly I'm not sure where to take that next. This miniseries is probably going to keep me occupied for the next bit so hopefully you all like it as much as ANTR, if not more. As per usual I haven't read any spoilers/see other promos, nor do I intend to. So this may be extremely off. But I need to write it.
Chapter 1- Camille
The first time she hears her name is as he whispers it in his sleep. This night was especially hard on him. He tossed and turned for the past hour. For her own safety, she retreated to chair off to the side. He eventually started to calm down.
When he said the two words "Mother. Henrik." she could hear the anguish raw in his voice.
In his sleep he took a deep breath, smiled ever so slightly and almost sighed out the name "Caroline". His arms reaching for a body, curling around a pillow. She sat frozen, planted in her seat watching the scene before her.
Camille turned the corner to see the only other regular female of the house, her shoulder hunched and shaking. She could hear the sobs that Rebekah stifled, trying in vain to cry without anyone noticing. The sadness came off the girl in waves.
"Rebekah, what's wrong?" she asked, her steps bringing her closer to the original vampire.
Rebekah's eyes shot up. Her emotions fighting for dominance on her face. There was such sadness and embarrassment in the girl but her pride and hurt won out.
Rebekah hissed "Just because my brother let you into his bed, do not mistake that for being part of this family."
Camille recoiled. Her words were a stark contrast to the heart broken girl before her. Her mind understood this was just a way of lashing out. All too suddenly to her human eyes, Elijah was in the room placing a hand of Rebekah's shoulder.
"Come now Rebekah. There is no need to be rude."
"No Elijah. She has no business being here." Rebekah then continued her rant listing her shortcomings. In the midst of his younger sister's tantrum, Elijah turned and gestured to her that she should leave the room.
On the way out of the room, Rebekah's monologue took a turn. "She is worse than Caroline! At least Caroline was one of us."
Elijah's eyes darted to her even she could see the nervousness in his face. Seriously who the hell is Caroline?
It was in the hot heat of summer that she decided she needed to recharge her batteries. She walks into his studio to announce her newly formed plans "I need a break from this place. The temperature is getting to me."
He turns from his canvas to look at her, a smile tugging at his lips at the sight of her but she already knows his answer. It has not changed despite the time that has passed since she last asked him to take a vacation with her. "I can't take you."
In all the years they had been together, they had never gone on vacation together. He had left town to 'attend to business'. She had left to visit her family and friends. But any time she wanted to go away together, it was not a good time for them to go away.
She sighs "I know. Your attention is very high in demand here."
"I'm afraid so."
"Maybe some day?" she asked optimistically.
But she has already lost him to his painting once more. She paused and looked at his latest piece. It was much smaller in size than what he usually did. It was pink lips on the verge of grinning.
It was funny she didn't recall every wearing that particular shade before.
He drove her to campus after she had spent the night at his place which was becoming more and more of the norm. It was a delightfully normal thing for them to do as a couple.
"Music sucks now." She said flicking through the radio stations rapid skipping over commercials and talk shows.
He smirks at her.
"Urgh I swear people are just not putting any effort in at all." She switches the radio to an oldies station. She smiles in satisfaction as the sounds of Neil Diamond crooning about a sweet Caroline. The chorus begins before his hand forcibly switches off the radio.
"Hey!" she interjects, thinking he was acting playfully. "I was listening to that."
It takes one look at his face to realize he is not joking around. A few short minutes later, he parks the car on campus, gives her a soft kiss and then pretends as if he doesn't see her bewildered look.
"So what are you thinking for your birthday?" he asks as he fixes himself a drink.
"Before you say anything, I know you can't leave with the way things are now but I'm thinking about leaving town for a bit. This city has been running me ragged the last couple of months." She paused waiting for him to nod in his understanding. "I would also like to remind you that I am an adult who can make her own decisions but since you are you, I will concede to taking a bodyguard of your choosing."
His mouth opened and shut. His demeanor was contemplative. "Are you sure you want this for your present?"
"Yes."
"Well then who am I to resist the birthday girl?" he smiled the effect of his dimples on her were still as devastating as the first time she met him. "You can take James or Roz."
What she didn't tell him was that she intended on going to Mystic Falls to see the place where he lived. She wanted to know more about the man that she had come to love. When she arrived bodyguard trailing behind her, she set out to survey the town. She felt assured knowing that James was not wise enough to realize that this research trip was not for her thesis but for the man he pledged his allegiance to.
In a twist of fate, she found herself in the Bennett household. She asked questions of the father of one Bonnie Bennett, of the one of the most powerful witch lines according to the originals themselves.
She was surprised to see how normal the Bennett house was. The couch worn by many hours were spent sitting and talking on it or watching TV. The walls were lined with pictures of a beautiful young girl through the stages of her life. Camille paused, her interest piqued at the face of Katherine or the newest doppelganger, Elena. She stood smiling with Bonnie and third girl all looking the picture of pretty but normal. "That was the trio in high school. Bonnie, Elena Gilbert and Caroline Forbes."
Her heart did a funny shudder at that name. "I'm sorry did you say Caroline?"
"So we are thinking like a spring wedding before I get crazy busy at work."
Camille smiles at her friend, Meghan as she wrapped up a 20 minute verbal gush about the new developments in her life. She was absolutely glowing in her engagement. Camille catches his eyes from across the bar. He and her friend's fiancée playing a casual game of billiards. She suspected that neither of them wanted to stick around for the girl talk portion of the evening.
"Enough about us. What about you guys? I feel like you have been together forever." Her friend questioned bringing Camille's attention back to the conversation.
She shrugged "About 5 years on and off actually. Not quite forever."
"So any wedding bells in your future?" Meghan peered curiously.
Camille had no honest answer for her long time friend. "I don't know if I am the marrying type." The truth was that if you are in a long term committed relationship with a vampire and you are human promising to only love each other for forever or at least as long as you will live can be more than a little daunting.
Thankfully her friend continued the conversation without any prompting on her behalf. "Well if not marriage, then kids? You would be a great mom Camille."
"Thanks." She responded simply. Meghan meant well and if she was dating a regular Joe this was exactly the conversation they would have. But she wasn't. She was in love with the original hybrid.
Later that night as they was getting ready for bed, he rubbing a towel over his slightly damp hair after his shower and she taking off her jewelry, he approached her at her vanity, kissed her shoulder and whispered into her skin "You know I can never give you that."
She sighed turning her head slightly to the side to lock eyes with him. "I know. I knew that getting into this relationship with you."
"Yes but things that don't matter when you are 21 can matter when you are almost 27." He said sagely.
They break up one week later when it is clear that they just can't pretend any longer.
One night, she sleeps with a gorgeous southern human with chocolate eyes and skin to match. They were a set up from one of her 'normal' friends. She finds comfort in the fact that he is everything she wants right now even if he is pretty much the polar opposite of the man she thought she would spend the rest of her life loving.
Four weeks later, she takes a pregnancy test and is pleasantly surprised when the result is positive.
Her fingers hover over his name in her phone. She hasn't been able to delete it from her phone. Her call connects to the man who has to come first in her life now, the father of her child.
The next time she sees him, she is in a wedding dress a few hours after the ceremony. He catches her coming from the kitchen where she snuck a bite of cake.
"Hello." His voice startles her. It's funny how she could still pick his voice out in a crowd.
"Hi." She answered somewhat tentatively.
"I suppose congratulations are in order." He says. She can hear the awkwardness in his voice. Not regarding the sentiment but rather of reflection of his discomfort in social settings.
"Yes" she lets out a little laugh. "Thank you."
"You look happy." He says simply.
"It's not where I thought I would be a couple years ago but this is good." Her eyes twinkling at him.
He nodded solemnly.
"You look good too. All you limbs intact. Not too angry or sad." She joked voicing her own observations.
He shrugged. "Depends on the day I suppose."
"Camille! " The laughing voice of her new husband cut their conversation, the ring of cutlery tapping against glass singing in the air. She smiles turning to the direction of his voice.
When she looks back to Klaus, he is already gone.
She lives her life. She loves her man and the boy they created together. A few years later, she goes through another labour for their daughter.
Sometimes on the night of a full moon, she thinks that she can hear the faint sound of a wolf howling. She looks back on her years with Klaus and wonders how her life would have been different.
But when she comes home to a house full of light, laughter and normalcy, she knows that she was never cut out for that life. She may know the secrets of the darkness but she was never meant to stay there.
She sees him one last time. Her body used to laying in bed, her body has succumbed to age. A knock on the door jars her from her view from her window. Her troop of children, their children and even one expecting the next generation have left briefly.
Her eyes fill with surprise when she sees his face.
"Hello."
"Hi."
"I hope you don't mind that we are dropping in." She sees over his shoulder the top of her blonde hair. She smiles.
"Of course not." She waves them in. Her eyes darting between the man she once loved and the person accompanying him. "Hi I'm Camille."
The figure moves forward "Hi I'm Caroline."
She feels her mouth forming an "o" as the pieces click together. "It's nice to finally meet you." Caroline smiles and Camille almost feels the room brightening up.
"Same here."
"His drawings didn't do you justice. No offence." She said sideways to the man.
He laughed. Camille watched as Caroline swept into the room, nudging his shoulder on the way throwing him a decidedly sassy look.
"These are for you." She said extending a gorgeous floral arrangement.
"Thank you." She accepted them graciously, smelling the sweet scent.
The conversation flowed easily as Camille asked about his family and she told him about hers. Too soon, visiting hours were coming to a close. A nurse came around and conveyed the appropriate message.
Camille smiled at the picture the two of them make and said to him "Were you always this beautiful?" Caroline let out a laugh and he just looked bashfully at the both of them. Caroline moved back to give them a moment of privacy.
"I'm really glad I got to see you."
He gripped her hand in his. His smooth hand a marked contrast to her own weathered with age. It had been literally decades since they last held hands.
He then leaned over, kissed her on her temple whispering his goodbye. He let go of her hand and moved to the door but before they could leave, Camille beckoned Caroline back.
When she got close, Camille whispered "Thank you for letting me love him."
Caroline touched her arm and looked sincerely into her eyes and said "Thank you for loving him when I couldn't."
As they leave, Camille follows them with her eyes. He intertwines Caroline's right hand with his left and she sees the glint of a band on his hand. She cannot fight the happiness she feels when she realizes that he found someone he wanted forever with.
A/N: I have literally been thinking about this since I heard that there was going to be a spin off. So how do you like my Camille? I didn't want her to be Caroline 2.0 so I tried to make her more intellectually his match. Did it work? What did you think? I am also working on something like this for Elijah. It probably won't be as long just a little supplement to the story. Hopefully some of it landed with you guys. Please feel free to comment! I also planned out a scene where Camille straight up asks who Caroline is. But I kinda like the fic without the direct question. But review or pm me and I will be happy to send it to you or depending on your feedback I'll add it here as like a Camille part 2 or something. Let me know!