•From A Cradle To A Grave•

Aphrena started having a flashback of when she was writing a letter with Hayley by her side writing her own. Hayley had convinced her she should write something for her girl to read what was on her mind right now some time down the road when she was old enough to understand. She also thought it'd be fun for them to do it together.

"Writing a love letter to one of your many suitors?" Klaus asked as the twins stopped and looked up to him unamused. "So who's the lucky recipient then- Jackson or Elijah?" He asked and they just went back to writing. "And you my little wolf don't tell me you're writing me one." They laughed softly as Hayley blushed slightly.

"And the award for biggest ego goes to...puppy," Aphrena said as they both laughed. Aphrena remembered from what felt like a long time ago that she once called him puppy with fangs.

"Oh. Heh heh." Hayley exclaimed as the baby was being quite active. It seemed the little girl loved when her father was around.

"How are the littlest wolves doing?" He asked. Hayley smiled at him as he was growing a large soft spot for the children.

"Do you want to..." She asked putting a hand on her stomach. He looked unsure at first then smiled. "Come on," she said grinning. He knelt down and put a hand on her stomach cautiously.

"Oh!" He says as he feels the baby kick.

"You feel that?" Hayley asked.

Aphrena smiled. "That's your little girl." She moved a hand over her stomach and felt her baby girl kick that spot. She smiled down at her stomach as Klaus smiled at the two then removed his hands.

"Right. I'll leave you two, to your secret letters then," he said as he walks out. As soon as he was out of earshot Aphrena looked at Hayley, smiling.

•••

"Dear my littlest Bella, Faith or Nadine.

To my beautiful baby girl, your uncle just asked me and your aunt if we are writing love letters. I guess in a way I am. Your aunt and I never knew our real mother. She sent us away when we were young and the family that took me in kicked me out as soon as they found out I was something they hated most in the world. So, I never will know what it felt like to carry me or even raise me. But your aunt thought we could write you and your cousin a letter. So, that you could know how unimaginably happy I am that I get to have you at this very moment, how much your father and I can't wait to meet you.

He always wanted a child and never knew he could have one. You're granting him that wish, and I guess I am as well. And I want to promise you three things you will have that I never did, a safe happy home, someone to be there for you and tell you they love you and will never stop, and someone to fight for you no matter what, at all cost. In other words, a big family. So, there we go my sweet baby girl, the rest we're gonna have to figure out together.

I love you, your mama."

•••

When Aphrena was brought back to the world as of now she realized she was restained to the sacristy and screamed out in pain. The pregnant wolf struggled and thrashed around at the intolerable pain. "Let go of me, you insufferable bitch!" She gritted out.

Aphrena was pushed down yelling out in pain wanting someone, anyone to help her. Wherever Hayley is she is probably in just as much danger and that scared her. The witches try to calm the vampire down but all she felt was the pain.

Aphrena screamed out once again.

"Help! Please. Someone!" She shrieked with all her energy. She started feeling the contractions closer and closer causing more pain.

The red-headed bitch grabbed a knife and look towards her. "You should know this brings me no joy. I promise I'll make it quick," she said. Then they threw a blanket over her lower half and she screamed in pain as she propped herself up. "Let's begin shall we?" She asked.

"No, no!" The doppelgänger shouted trying to resist. But she had to, she pushed so hard it felt like she was on fire.

"One last push. The baby is almost here!" Genevieve turned to a few witches. "Make sure Hayley isn't giving them to much trouble." And they left. Aphrena sat up and screamed so hard her throat hurt, she could only imagine what Hayley felt.

"No, no!" She shouted as the baby was headed out and the mother-to-be knew she would lose her.

"I can see her!" One of the witches shouted.

"Okay. Now push." Aphrena did again. "Gently, gently!" Genevieve screamed at her making the wolf angrier. "There," the red-head said as The brunette collapsed back down gasping for air. Abigail grabbed Aphrena's baby and she moved to see her baby girl. It was quieter in the church with the baby's crying echoing throughout.

They cut the umbilical cord with the knife and wrapped her in a blanket. "You have a beautiful daughter," Genevieve said. Aphrena could feel tears running down her face as she looked at her little girl. "We will have to start the sacrifice as soon as the moon sets with the morning sky."

"Please, please can I hold her?" Aphrena begged breathlessly as she sat up. The witch took pity on her and handed the baby over to her mother seeing no harm in letting her hold the baby just once.

"The other baby is fine and ready shall I tell the witches to continue?" A witch asked to which Genevieve nodded. Genevieve chanted lowly but Aphrena was to distracted to pay attention.

Aphrena smiled weakly looking down at her daughter as tears streamed down her face. "Oh look at you. My beautiful baby girl." She smiled weakly.

All the sudden her head was pulled back and a knife slit her throat, causing the doppelgänger to gasp for air and lose her grip on her baby. Then they quickly shoved some wood they found into her chest making sure it hit the desired area before pulling it out.

Abigail grabbed the baby as the mother died, grey veins spreading across her body.

She was desiccating.

•••

Once Elijah entered the church after waking up he saw Hayley and Aphrena laying together with slit throats. He went to Aphrena picking her up and sitting down, putting her head in his lap. Nik held Hayleys hand in his and kissed the back, tears streaming down his face at the agony of losing her.

Elijah allowed the tears to flow as he look at his mates body which shows grey desiccated skin with very prominent dark veins.

"No, no. No. Don't leave me, please. I never wanted this." Elijah cried over her body. He lost them both. His daughter and his mate.

Eventually, the tears stopped and an aching pain in his chest appeared; a void of where Aphrena belonged.

She should have healed by now, she couldn't have died. But she didn't and she is.

They both were gone all four of them. The Original brushed Aphrena's hair out of her now pale and desiccated face, wishing he could have done something.

"They're gone," was all Niklaus could say. The tears came back just before Klaus noticed his brother was bitten.

He bit into his wrist and walked over to his brother to offer him some to which he took. Elijah laid his mate back down next to Hayley peacefully like they would have wanted.

"How?" Elijah muttered still in shock.

"I was bested." Klaus admitted.

"You were bested? You were bested?! My invincible brother?" Elijah asked anger seeping through his voice.

"They took the babies, but there's still time. We can save them," he said.

•••

The brothers walked to a graveyard where the witches have held everything hoping to find their children. "The tombs are empty, the grounds are deserted. They're not here." Elijah said angrily, he lost his girlfriend and he couldn't bare the thought of losing his child as well.

"This is the only place they can be. We'll keep searching," Klaus said hopefully.

"They are not here, Niklaus. We're wasting time," Elijah told him.

"Their harvest was here, the reaping was here. They are about to perform a ritual which will feed their ancestors for centuries, ancestors who are buried here!" Elijah shouted turning around to face a statue and after a while he pointed at it. "This statue. We've passed by this 3 times all whilst going in the same direction."

Elijah touched a tomb before coming to a conclusion, "They have fabricated some kind of illusion." He told his brother.

Klaus vamp-sped up on top of a crypt, looking out at what the witches had created for them.

"That's one word for it."

•••

It got light out as the boys continued their search and still found nothing. Elijah knew Aphrena well enough to know she would have wanted him to help protect his and Klaus' child, she would have wanted them to be happy and she would have wanted her baby safe.

Elijah wanted to get to their daughter and save her like he could not do for his daughters mother and his girlfriend.

"It's ingenious," Klaus said snapping Elijah out of his thoughts. "I can see them, I can feel them and yet they are not real."

"There has to be a way. Even if we could just push through," Elijah said thinking.

"What we need to do is focus," Niklaus said calmly.

"My only focus right now is our children and their safety, do you understand me? This, all of this, this is the world that you created, Niklaus," Elijah said aggravated.

"Brother." He said trying to stop Elijah from exploding.

"All of your scheming, the enemies that you have made every single day of your miserable life. What results did you expect? That our children would be born into a happy life, that the mothers your best friend and mate would be alive to know their daughters, that we could live and thrive as some sort of family?" Elijah yelled out angrily.

"That was your fantasy, brother, not mine!" He gritted out.

"No, brother. This was our hope. This was our family's hope, and now they are gone. Do you understand? I...let this person in." Elijah said on the verge of more tears. "I let her in. I don't let people in." His voice cracked slightly in pain at the thought of Aphrena. "You knew this, and you've taken her from me. I needed her, and you've broken me." Elijah walked over to sit on a bench and Niklaus followed after him.

"You can tell your daughter how much you cared for her mother when we save her."

•••

Aphrena woke up with a gasp and Hayley next to her. She wondered why didn't I heal faster? She looked down to see the grey skin vanishing. Did I actually die? How am I back?

Aphrena felt the nature tug at her mind, her werewolf giving her strength and she felt the hunger for blood. And finally she felt her soul pulling her to her child.

"Hayley?" Aphrena asked. Aphrena noticed her still lying there and began to panic. "Hayley! No, no no. Hayley, no please don't be gone. Please." She begged.

All the sudden the wound healed and Hayley gasped, scaring the shit out of her twin. The transitioning hybrids hand went to her fragile neck and Aphrena smiled down at her softly.

"You survived little one. We're still alive and kicking." Aphrena put her head in her lap as Hayley panted. "Shhh, it's ok." The doppelgänger brushed back a few hairs from Hayley's face before she swiftly got up and out of her lap, swinging her legs over the table.

"What's happened?"

"That I do not know."

Hayley looked around frightened then all of the sudden what happened came back to the girls.

Aphrena put on a game face and looked over at Hayley to see she had a look on her face saying she was ready for the kill.

•••

"We're running out of time."

"Then we move faster." Klaus urged his brother.

"Or smarter," Aphrena said while walking in making the boys turn to see the girls awake from their death.

"Aphrena," Elijah said.

"Hayley," Niklaus said.

"Can't kill us that easily." Aphrena joked with a weak smile. Elijah walked up to his doppelgänger cautiously while Klaus continued to stare at Hayley, trying to figure out what was happening to them.

Elijah grabbed Aphrena's head, looking deeply into her eyes as if he still couldn't believe she was here.

"How are you here?" He asked.

"I woke up before Hayley and the grey veins were disappearing, I don't know how. But we can- we can feel them. Their here. I can feel my baby." Aphrena said. Hayley still hadn't fully processed everything, leaving her sister to talk.

"You both died with the baby's blood still in your system."

Aphrena and Hayley nodded slowly.

Aphrena who was killed via Elena's car crash had her body acting up. Each side of her didn't know what to do with each other and before it could hurt her the witches made sure her vampire side kept the most prominent so that she could live and be stronger. But with her second death each side balanced each other out due to the baby's tribrid blood.

Klaus turned to Elijah as he told him, "they're in transition."

"Which means they have to drink the blood of the children if they are to survive," Elijah said with a horrified look.

"To be reborn a hybrid," Klaus said in finalization.

"I don't care about what happens to me right now. We're gonna go find our daughters." Hayley spoke up for the first time before leaving with her two twins and the two brothers following after her.

Hayley, Aphrena, Elijah, and Klaus are rushing through the illusion cemetery to get to the babies while Genevieve and the rest of the witches get into place for the sacrifice.

"Nouvelle vie, nouvelle âme, mélange avec nous." They witches chanted together.

The twins, Elijah and Klaus turned the corner to see Genevieve and another wich holding a knife above the babies heads, ready to offer their third and fourth sacrifice.

"No!" Aphrena and Hayley yelled with wide eyes.

Elijah picked up an urn and lobbed it at the witches, which slammed against Genevieve's hand and knocked the athame onto the ground.

The four take the chance to run at them but Monique and Abigail hold each other's hands and channel the ancestors' power to throw them backwards while Genevieve ran to find the athame.

"La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur... La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur..." Abigail chanted.

"You fools!" Monique shouted. "To come against us in our place of power in our strongest hour? You don't face three, you face us all!" She felt she had already won. To her this wasn't even a battle worth worrying about with all the support they thought they had from the ancestors.

Klaus and Hayley run in the opposite direction of Aphrena, while Elijah continued to rush straight towards them, in hopes of overpowering them.

Aphrena found Genevieve picking up the athame, and started to use some of her new magic to keep her from using it against the baby. She once again knocked the knife out of the witches hand and onto the ground. Isabel took the chance and magically took a hold of her neck and threw her into a stone wall.

The doppelgänger quickly let go and ran toward her daughter and niece, but Genevieve weakly rose her hand and casted a pain infliction spell on the tribrid, which made her fall onto her knees in pain.

Aphrena watched as Klaus broke off a spike from the wrought iron fence, and forcefully threw it toward Abigail, which impaled her through the stomach and killed her, breaking the connection that she and Monique had to the ancestors.

Hayley quickly advances on the young witch but Monique had already realized she had to get this done and fast so she ran to grab the athame to finish the sacrifice herself while simultaneously using her magic to block the Hayley and now Klaus and Elijah who tried to vamp towards her using a wall of fire.

"Noooo!" They yelled.

As Genevieve regained her strength her pain infliction spell got better, keeping Aphrena from interfering.

Just as Monique was about to sacrifice Klaus and Hayley's child, she's hit with the Devil's Star, which embedded itself deep in her stomach. Her body was quickly covered in cuts causing her to cough up blood before falling to the ground.

Klaus, Hayley, and Elijah turned around to see that Marcel was the one who saved the girls but before they can say anything, Marcel vamp-sped to the newborns who sat in a large woven basket, and then vamp-sped away with them causing Klaus to follow after him.

•••

Elijah, Aphrena, and Hayley shackled Genevieve in one of the tombs to get information from her.

"Why?" Aphrena asked with a furious look in her for brown eyes.

"The Ancestors left me no choice-" The witch tried to defend herself.

Hayley and Aphrena looked appalled at what the witch was implying. "You were willing to sacrifice innocent babies for more power?" Hayley asked from the right side of her sister, eyes blazing in anger.

"No, not just power! It was the Ancestors' decree! It was her decree." She lowered her voice.

Elijah grabbed Genevieve roughly by the face causing the shackles to rattle as he forced her to look at him straight in the eyes.

"It was whose decree?" He asked sharply.

Genevieve smiled weakly in amusement. "I'm surprised you have to ask." She laughed. "After all, you were the one who convinced your siblings to consecrate her on New Orleans soil." She revealed.

Elijah let go of her, visibly disgusted, when he realized who she's talking about.

Aphrena scowled while Hayley looked stunned. "Esther." Aphrena growled out. "It's her, isn't it?"

"So, not even death can stop my mother from seeking the annihilation of her own flesh and blood."

The witch shook her head anxiously. "This isn't the end. As long as those children live, the witches of New Orleans will never stop coming for them." She started to cry. "Esther will never stop coming for them. It has been decreed- your babies will be consecrated among their ancestors. They will not live."

Aphrena, Hayley, and Elijah just glare at her as her eyes began to bleed profusely.

"They're coming for me, I can feel it. I failed them. Understand- I just wanted to live. Tell Klaus... I'm sorry." The woman sobbed as she started to choke on blood.

Hayley growled at the woman. "There's no way in hell were apologizing for you." She told the witch before sighing and stabbing her in the stomach with the athame. "And I'm not sorry."

Hayley walked out of the tomb, Aphrena lingering with Elijah just a few steps behind as he was about to leave before noticing her staying.

"'You should know this brings me no joy.'" Aphrena sneered plunging the knife deeper before walking out with Elijah by her side.

Genevieve died, still restrained by her wrists against the cold stone wall.

•••

Klaus and Elijah sat in Aphrena's room, while said girl and her sister sat with their newborns curled up to them in the separate chairs.

"We should have felt our mother's hand in this," Klaus said, annoyedly. "We should have known she would not be bound by anything as obvious as death. And now she has control of the witches. They will never stop."

"No."

"Nor would I expect the Guerrera wolves to back down. Rena, Hayley, and the children are wolf royalty, and as such, they are a threat to Francesca's claim to the leadership."

Unbeknownst to the brothers, the twins were listening to them talk from the nursery with forlorn faces.

"They will never be safe." He mumbled sadly. "What was it you said to me earlier? That I have made enemies every day of my miserable life? Well, the worst of them are within these borders, brother." Elijah sighed in frustration, clearly feeling guilty as Klaus looked away from him. "I have brought into my world weapons they can use against me. And I have dragged you into it."

"Then we will arm ourselves! Brother, we have fought every adversary in this town, and we have won. And we'll fight them again, no matter who they are! We will make this home a fortress," Elijah told him, determined to convince his brother they'll be okay.

"I will not have them live their life as prisoners." Klaus protested.

"Then we leave here, together. All of us." Elijah offered.

Klaus shook his head. "Wherever we go, however far we run, those who seek power and revenge will hunt us! They will hunt them. The babies have inherited all of our enemies with none of our defenses," Klaus told his brother.

"So, whether we stay, or we leave- we condemn them," Elijah said, hurt plastered over his face not knowing what they could do to protect their children.

Hayley suddenly appeared in the doorway with the baby in her arms while Aphrena stayed sitting in her chair after quietly telling Hayley her plan. The doppelgänger knew there was only one solution to their problem and it killed her to do.

"Mama is gonna do everything to protect you. Anything and everything my little angel." She promised.

"There's a third option." Klaus and Elijah looked surprised as they turn to face Hayley, who looked absolutely heartbroken after her talk with her sister. "Rena and I grew up in a warzone. Our parents thought they could protect us. But, in the end, they were slaughtered, and I spent my childhood alone and unloved while Aphrena had to grow up with no one." She looked down at her daughter and smiled at her, while trying to hold back tears.

"I made a promise, to my baby, and to myself, that she would not grow up like I did. And so did Aphrena. That they would grow up safe, and loved. And yet, here they are, on their first day in this world, with a grandmother who is bent on sacrificing them-" Hayley paused as she sniffled, the tears falling freely which broke Klaus' heart. "And t- two mothers who have to drink the blood of their own babies to survive transitioning into a hybrid and a tribrid. And we're the ones who love them the most." Klaus and Elijah just look at her, saddened and devastated by their current situation. For once in their lives they had no clue what to do. "Aphrena and I thought the only thing to do is... send them away... while we stay behind and clean up the mess that we've made," She told them.

"No!" Elijah protested to the idea. "This is insane, Hayley. You heard Genevieve- so long as they live, those babies will be hunted."

Klaus suddenly stood and joined Hayley and the baby in the doorway. "Not if no one knows they live."

Elijah looked confused as he glanced between the two parents. "What is it you intend to do, brother?"

Klaus looked down at Hayley who just looked down at their daughter. "Whatever it takes to save our family."

•••

Aphrena stood on the balcony of her room looking over the street with a mournful look on her face. It was hard to process everything that happened today and the thought of having to give up her daughter for however long killer her.

Elijah came from behind her and she immediately turned around and started crying into his chest.

"I know Rena. Shh." He pat her hair down, holding her tightly to his body. The doppelgänger rested her forehead against his chest trying to calm herself down.

"This is all shit. I- I don't want to give her up Lijah. But I- I know- I know I have to. And it hurts. It hurt so much." She admitted.

Elijah pulled back and wiped the tears from her eyes. He smiled a small smile while looking into her water brown eyes he adored.

"It's okay Rena. It will all get better once we fix this. Now how about I help you pack and then we can finalize your transition."

She nodded. "Okay." She gulped as Elijah slid his hand from her cheek down her arm and intertwined their fingers together.

•••

Aphrena rushed around the room packing up the bags for her child. She found the her letter and tucked it in the baby bag securely.

Elijah lifted the baby out of her cradle and into his arms. Aphrena looked away as Elijah gently stuck the baby's finger with a pin to release a large drop of blood causing her to cry out. Reluctantly, the new mother kissed the blood off of her finger to complete her transition.

"I'm sorry my angel." She apologized when the baby continued to whine at the pain. She kissed her daughter on the forehead while Elijah watched, his hear aching for himself and his mate.

***

A crowd of people gathered for a candlelight vigil for the deceased community members. A gloomy Hayley and Elijah arrived at the memorial wall.

"They will be watching us. All of them. The four of us leaving together will draw too much attention. I will go with Aphrena. Take your mourning public when we are gone."

"I don't imagine that will be too difficult." Elijah agreed. "Grief, after all, is grief."

Everyone, Francesca included, watched the two approach the memorials where on the plaques they said 'Baby Mikaelson.' The new mother and father had tears forming under their eyes as they stared at the plaques. Hayley bent down and looked over the plaques for a while.

Not being able to hold it any longer, the hybrid broke down into tears and kissed her fingertips before touching them to the plaques that announced the death of her daughter and niece. Elijah, who had been standing behind her, held out a hand to the woman. Through her lashes she looked up at him before taking his hand and getting up.

Elijah pulled her into a hug as they cried over the loss of their children.

•••

On a country road, Klaus and Aphrena sat on the hood of Klaus' SUV, holding their swaddled daughters, waiting for the person who would be taking the girls for them.

"In what world would they be safe without their fathers?" Elijah asked. "Who can protect them better than we?"

"There is one person."

A car pulled up to two, and Rebekah stepped out with a smile on her face upon seeing her brother, her best friend and her newborn nieces.

Klaus smiled back before greeting her. "Hello, sister."

"Hi Bekah."

Rebekah looked between the two girls, staring at them in wonder.

"Oh, they looks like their mothers." She smiled mischievously, trying to lighten the mood. "Maybe there is a God after all."

Klaus and Aphrena laughed. "Well, they do have a hint of the devil in their eyes. That's all Elijah and I." He joked.

"Let's hope that's all they got from you guys." Aphrena added caressing her babies peaceful face.

"I need a witch you can trust to cast a cloaking spell," Klaus said with a sudden serious tone.

"I'll get one." She assured her older brother.

"No one can ever find them."

"I know what to do, Nik." She promised. "Perhaps we'll get a white fence." She told them. "I think that would be lovely."

"This city would have seen you both dead." Klaus started. "But, we will have it your home. And every soul who wishes you harm will be struck down, just as sure as our blood runs in your veins."

"You will return to us." Aphrena promised the girl's. "That is a promise I know I can keep my little angels."

Klaus kissed his daughter on the forehead. Aphrena held onto her baby just a little bit tighter before closing her eyes, a tear falling as she kissed her daughter forehead. She pulled back just watching the little girl stare at them in childlike innocence unaware of the horrors of their world.

Klaus carefully handed the baby over to Rebekah before Aphrena handed her baby over as well and as soon as his hand were clear he reached into his pocket and sat a tiny wooden knight that he carved for Rebekah a thousand years ago on the blanket that covered his daughter since her hands were no longer free.

Rebekah teared up at the sight which made Klaus smile softly. "In spite of our differences, Rebekah, there is no one I would trust more with our children's life." Klaus hugged Rebekah carefully and kissed her on the cheek. "Be happy, sister."

Rebekah smiled tearily. "They will be happy, Nik. I promise." They smile at each other before Rebekah tilted her head in curiosity. "What's their names?"

Klaus glanced at Aphrena with a smile before looking back at his sister.

"Do you have any names in mind?" Aphrena asked Klaus.

"Hope. Her name is Hope."

"And what about you?" He asked back.

"Her name is Harmony."

As Klaus and Aphrena started to cry, Rebekah quickly walked away and safely buckled the babies in.

Aphrena quickly turned to Klaus and gave him a hug. With the hybrid rubbing her back soothingly and his cheek on the top of her head.

Check out Second Chance WHICH IS AN ALARIC FANFIC CO WRITTEN BY ME AND MONA bloodymikaelson
It's on her profile so just click her tag and see if you like the book. And due to recent events Alaric is now played by the handsome Jensen Ackles.

Also! Harmony is her name. It's cute.

ALSO ALSO this was sad. If you look past the parts where the baby doesn't really fit in. I mean I tried but that last scene was not fit for two children.