20. Do Not Go Gentle

Klaus stood in his painting room, busy painting a wall, when he felt Rebekah enter the room.

"What took you so long?" Klaus asked his sister, without turning towards her.

"Alaric didn't want to hand over the stake" Rebekah replied, pulling the last white oak stake out of her jacket pocket, "Luckily, I'm quite the charmer".

Klaus faced his sister and smirked seeing the stake, "That's it?".

Rebekah walked over to Klaus and forwarded the stake towards him, "The last of the white oak stakes that can kill us, do you want to do the honors, or shall I?", Klaus grabbed the stake from Rebekah's waiting hand and very eagerly threw it into the fireplace, "Well, that's that, then".

Klaus turned back to his painting, "Pack your bags, we're leaving".

"Today?" a slightly shocked Rebekah asked.

"Why not?" Klaus asked, "There's nothing keeping us here, we'll grab the doppelganger, convince Lily to come with us and be off by sunset".

"But tonight's the decade dance" Rebekah reminded.

"So?" Klaus asked.

"So, I'm head of the committee, we have to go" Rebekah insisted.

Klaus turned to Rebekah, "I'm not going to any dance".

"If you're taking Lily out of this town, the least you can do is give her one last night with her friends" Rebekah retorted, "Please? I have big plans for tonight, just go for me, if not for me, then go for Lily, give her a magical night Nik, she deserves it".

Klaus thought about it for a moment, "Okay, fine" he finally said, "One last hurrah".

Rebekah smiled, "One last hurrah, Nik".

***

"So Alaric is trying to pull himself together, why is that a bad thing?" a confused Caroline asked Elena, the two girls in the school gym, getting it ready for the decade dance.

"I just--I wish there was something I could do" Elena admitted.

"Hey" Lily greeted her sister, walking over to her with a chandelier in her hand, "Where the hell am I suppose to hang this again?".

Caroline looked at the chandelier in disgust, "Argh, you know what?", Caroline took the chandelier from her hand, "If your new bestie wanted to hang this monstrosity she should've shown up to do it herself", Caroline handed the chandelier to another girl, "Just no".

"Wait, Rebekah isn't here?" a suddenly worried Lily asked.

"Nope" Caroline confirmed, just as her eyes landed on Jeremy and Matt standing on the ladder, hanging the stars from the ceiling, "What are you doing?! You can't just hang them, they're supposed to trickle down".

"Trickle down" Matt mocked, letting out an amused laugh.

"Look at them, all bromancey" Caroline observed, as Lily pulled her phone out of her phone and tried to reach Rebekah.

"Yeah, I asked Matt to help Jeremy readjust" Elena informed, "He got him his old job back at the Grill".

Caroline turned to her best friend, "That was nice of him" she said, but if you listened carefully, there was a tone of suspicion in her voice.

"Mm-hm" Elena agreed, "Jeremy's got a lot on his mind, the whole thing with Alaric has got him really stressed out".

"You sure it had nothing to do with witnessing you and Damon getting hot and heavy in a skeevy motel?" Caroline asked.

"I didn't tell you so you could torture me" Elena said, as Lily lifted her head from her phone and looked at Elena in shock.

"You had sex with Damon in a motel?!" Lily asked.

"No!" Elena immediately said, "We didn't have sex, we, kissed".

"Does Stefan know?" a worried Lily asked, knowing this will definitely hurt Stefan.

"No" a suddenly guilty Elena replied.

"Wow, you are one horrible person Elena Gilbert, you know that?" Lily snapped, glaring at the doppelganger infront of her.

"Lily" Caroline warned, while Elena looked at her in shock.

"Can you for once not take her side?" an annoyed Lily told her sister, "She claims to love Stefan, she gives him hope about their future and then she goes on and makes out with his brother, playing with not only Stefan's feelings, but also Damon's, how do none of you see how wrong this is?!".

"I'm not doing this deliberately, Lily" Elena defended.

Lily scoffed, "Of course you're not Elena, when do you do anything deliberately, you just bat your eyelashes at guys and they just fall at your feet, right?", Lily turned to her sister, "If you really are Elena's best friend, then as a best friend, tell her how wrong she is for stringing both the brothers like this", Lily looked at Elena, "And from what I see, it makes you no different to Katherine".

"I am not Katherine" a furious Elena snapped, "I'm nothing like her".

"Really?" Lily asked, "Because correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Katherine also string both the brothers along, and we all know what they did to their relationship, and now you're doing the same thing what she did, turns out Stefan was wrong, there is no difference between you and Katherine, you're exactly the same, stringing the two brothers along for you own pleasure without caring what this will do to them".

Not wanting to be in Elena's company anymore, a furious Lily walked away from her sister and the doppelganger, leaving her sister behind to think about her words and Elena to glare at her retreating figure in fury.

***

Liz leaned against Lily's door and with a smile on her face watched her daughter rush to get ready for the decade dance happening in a few hours.

"If you're struggling Lily, then it's okay to ask Caroline for help" Liz said, as Lily let out a frustrated yell while doing her hair.

Lily looked at her mother, "Or, I can ask you" she retorted, "Please mom, help your hopeless daughter".

Liz chuckled, "Fine" she said, walking over to her daughter, "But just so you know, your hair would have a much better chance if Caroline did it".

"Caroline is busy getting ready herself" Lily pointed out, handing her mother the curling iron, "And also, you're not that bad, give yourself some credit".

Liz let out a laugh, "So, whose your date to this dance?".

"When have I ever gone to these decade dances with a date, mom?" Lily asked, fixing her make up while her mother fixed her hair.

"So you didn't ask Klaus?" Liz asked.

Lily looked at her mom through her mirror, her eyes wide in shock, "Caroline told you?!".

"Caroline told me" Liz confirmed, "In her defense she thought you had already told me, and I'll admit, I am slightly hurt that you didn't tell me".

Lily let out a guilty sigh, "I wanted to tell you, so badly, but the truth is, I was scared of how you were gonna react".

Liz sighed, "Does he make you happy?".

Lily nodded her head, "So happy, mom" she admitted, a small smile on her face as she remembered the original hybrid.

"Are you in love with him?" Liz asked.

Lily shrugged, "I don't know what love is" she admitted, "How can I know what I feel for Klaus is love or just attraction his bad boy image?".

"It's simple Lily, if he makes you the happiest you have ever been, if your eyes search for him everywhere you go, if your heart feels restless till he comes infront of you, if your happiness lies in his and if in sadness he's the one you want to be with, then it's love Lily" Liz said, she kissed the top of her daughter's head, "Now it's for you to decide, are you in love with Klaus or not?".

"I'm scared mom" Lily whispered, "What if I give him my heart and he breaks it?".

"Where there's love, there's going to be a little heartache as well, Lily" Liz said, "But if you two are truly meant for  each other, then no amount of heartache will be able to keep you two apart".

***

Lily's Outfit

"Lily!" an excited Tyler greeted his best friend, walking over to her at the decade dance.

"Ty, hey!" Lily greeted, hugging the Lockwood hybrid, "I missed you, it's been so long, where have you been?".

"I'll explain everything but first dance with me" Tyler said, before Lily could even think about protesting, Tyler had grabbed her hand and dragged her to the dance floor.

Lily let out an laugh as Tyler span her around and then dipped her down, "You seem in a good mood" Lily noted, as Tyler pulled her up.

"I'm just happy to see my best friend" Tyler said.

"I'm happy to see you to, Ty" Lily said.

Tyler and Lily's dance was cut short as Klaus walked over to the duo, "Where have you been, mate?" he asked Tyler.

"I just got back in town" Tyler informed, his mood suddenly foul seeing Klaus here.

"That's funny" Klaus said, "I don't recall giving you permission to leave in the first place".

"Klaus" Lily warned.

Klaus looked at Lily, then back at Tyler, "You don't mind if I cut in, do you?" he asked Tyler.

"No" an annoyed Tyler said, "It's fine".

As Tyler stepped back from Lily, an annoyed Lily looked at Klaus, "Is this whole alpha male thing really necessary?".

"Just letting people know who the real alpha male is" Klaus defended, "Come on, one dance", Klaus forwarded his hand towards Lily, "I won't bite".

With a shook of her head, Lily placed her hand into Klaus's and let him spin her around before he pulled her against him and the two slowly started swaying to the music.

"You would have loved the 1920s, Lily" Klaus said, "Girls were reckless, sexy, fun, they literally used to dance until they dropped".

Lily laughed, "Sounds like my kind of decade".

Klaus smiled at Lily, "So, I'm leaving town tomorrow" he said, making Lily look at him in shock, "Have you decided an answer to my proposal?".

Lily sighed, "I can't just leave town with you Klaus, I already left my sister and mother once, if I do it again, they will hate me".

A disappointed Klaus nodded his head in understanding, "Then perhaps one day, in a year, or even in a century, you'll turn up at my door and let me show you what the world has to offer".

"I can't leave with you, but can't you stay here with me?" a hopeful Lily asked.

"Why?" Klaus asked, "Why do you want me to stay, Laya?".

"Why do you want me to leave with you, Klaus?" Lily asked.

"Because Laya, I'm--".

"Klaus!" a panicked Stefan called out, rushing over to the two werewolves and interrupting their conversation.

"What do you want now?" an annoyed Klaus asked.

"Your mother's back" Stefan informed, suddenly alerting both Klaus and Lily.

***

Klaus, Lily and Stefan, met up with Damon, Jeremy, Bonnie and Bonnie's date Jamie at the school's empty cafeteria, where Bonnie was attempting to fight Esther's magic.

"She does this all the time, right?" a concerned Jamie asked, while looking at Bonnie who was busy chanting.

"What's taking so long?" an annoyed Klaus asked, "All boundary spells have a loophole".

Matt entered the cafeteria, "People are walking right out of the dance, past the barrier" he informed, while glaring at Klaus.

"If Matt and I can leave, we can stop Esther ourselves, we just gotta find out where she is" Jeremy suggested.

"That's literally asking Esther to murder you and Matt, Jeremy" Lily said.

"Lily's right, it's suicide, Jeremy" Stefan added.

Klaus suddenly speeded over to Jamie and held him in a choke hold, "Suicide would be disappointing me", he looked at a concerned Bonnie, "Now, work your magic, witch, or I'll start killing people you fancy".

"Let him go" a furious Bonnie demanded.

"Not until you get us out of here" Klaus retorted, continuing to strangle Jamie.

"This isn't going to make her work fast, Klaus" Lily snapped.

"Exactly, Bonnie doesn't give a damn about us" Stefan reminded, "The only reason she's helping right now is to save Caroline and Tyler, you start killing people she cares about, she'll tell us all to go to hell".

"So stop strangling the poor guy!" Lily snapped.

Klaus looked at Jamie then at Bonnie, and after a moment finally let Jamie go.

***

Bonnie entered Alaric's classroom, she ripped a map from Mystic Falls from the wall and placed it on the teacher's table and turned the desk lamp on.

"Here" Damon said, entering the room with a vial of blood in his hand, Lily and Klaus both right behind him, "Jeremy made a little Gilbert blood donation for your locator spell".

"I have to do this with you three lurking over me?" an annoyed Bonnie asked.

"You're still mad at me for what happened to Abby" Damon realised, "Let me apologize, I'm sorry Elijah forced us to turn your mother into a vampire to save Elena's life, didn't exactly have a choice".

"Wrong" Lily said, "Elijah never asked you to kill Abby, he just asked you to stop his mother from channeling her and Bonnie".

"How else was I supposed to stop Esther from channeling them?" an annoyed Damon asked.

Lily shrugged, "Could've figured it out if you used that non existent brain of yours" she taunted, making Klaus let out an amused chuckle and Damon glare at her.

"Lily's right" Bonnie agreed.

"Words, I never thought I'd hear you say" a slightly shocked Lily admitted.

Bonnie ignored Lily and looked at Damon, "There's always a choice, whenever you make one, someone else suffers".

"Facts" Lily said.

"Shut up" Damon snapped at Lily.

"Alright enough" Klaus said, "Let's cut the dramatics and begin, shall we?".

Bonnie snatched the vial of Jeremy's blood from Damon's hand and poured it over the map of Mystic Falls and started chanting, but nothing happened, the blood barely moved.

"Esther is fighting me" an extremely confused Bonnie realised, wondering how was the original witch doing that.

"Esther couldn't possibly have this much power unless she's channeling something" Klaus said.

"A hot spot" Bonnie realised.

Realization suddenly drew on Klaus, "Get the humans ready, I know where she is".

"Where?" a curious Lily asked.

"The old cemetery" Klaus informed, "The very place I killed her a thousand years ago".

"It will be very ironic if you kill her at the same place tonight" Lily pointed out.

"Yes it will" Klaus said, before taking Lily's hand in his and walking out the classroom.

***

Stefan, Lily and Klaus stood by the barrier Esther had created around the school that stopped any and all supernatural creatures from stepping out of Mystic Falls High's boundaries.

"You now, this is your fault" Klaus told Stefan, "You set us on this path when you released my mother, I wonder if revenge will prove worth the cost".

"Oh, I'm done with revenge" Stefan informed, making Lily look at him with her eyes wide in shock, "As far as Esther we've stopped her before, we'll stop her again".

"We are strange bedfellows, you and I" Klaus said, he pointed towards all the decorations around them, "You know, all of this reminds me of our time together in the 20s".

Stefan let out a humorless chuckle, "You say that like I'm supposed to have happy memories about it".

Klaus chuckled, "Well, there were moments, real friendship, brotherhood".

"Well, he already has a brother" Damon said, walking over to the trio, "Not to be, you know, territorial or anything".

"Oh, no, of course" Klaus said, "The Salvatores and their unshakeable bond, I wonder what will happen when Elena finally makes her choice, will we see you shake just a little bit?".

"If their bond shakes because of Elena, then these two are even bigger idiots then I thought" Lily said.

"Really?" Stefan asked his best friend.

Lily shrugged, "Family above all Stefan, even love".

Stefan and Damon exchanged a look between them, while Klaus looked at Lily, an unknown expression on his face hearing Lily's words.

"It's done" Bonnie informed, walking over to the group and breaking them all out of their thoughts, "Esther's not fighting me anymore, the boundary spell is broken".

Klaus waved his hand and realised Bonnie was right, so without wasting even a second, he sped towards the old cemetery.

"Thank you, Bonnie" a grateful Stefan told the Bennett witch, "For everything".

"I didn't do it for you" Bonnie said, walking away from the two brothers.

Once Bonnie had walked away, Lily walked over to Stefan, "Did you mean it?" she asked, making Stefan look at her in confusion, "When you told Klaus that you're done with revenge, did you mean it?".

"I meant it" Stefan assured.

"What changed?" a curious Lily asked, "I thought you were hell bent on making Klaus pay".

"I was" Stefan admitted, "But then I realised I don't want to put you in a position where you have to choose between me and Klaus".

"You stopped your revenge for me?" an overwhelmed Lily asked, Stefan simply nodded his head, "Thank you".

"Don't thank me" Stefan said, "I did it so I don't have to lose my best friend".

"And you never will" Lily promised.

"I know" Stefan smiled.

"As much as I'd like this soap opera scene to continue, we have a girl to save" an annoyed Damon told Stefan.

While Lily rolled her eyes in annoyance, Stefan gave Damon a small nod, he took a step towards his brother, before turning to face Lily one last time.

"About what you said" Stefan started, "About family above all, that is true, but no one would blame you if once in your life you decided to be selfish and choose love".

"I'm not in love with anyone" Lily stated.

Stefan chuckled, "We both know that's not true, Lils".

Stefan and Damon both speeded away to go check if Elena was okay, while Lily stood there, thinking about Stefan's words, was she actually in love?

***

Lily reached the old cemetery with her sister, and by the time the two Forbes got there, Klaus had taken Esther's dead body, who Alaric had stabbed, everyone else was gathered to say goodbye to Alaric, who Esther had tried to turn into a original vampire hunter like Mikael, but Alaric deciding he wasn't going to complete the transition.

After sharing an emotional moment with Elena, both the doppelganger and Elena stepped out of the crypt, and that's when their eyes landed on Bonnie, Jeremy, Meredith, Matt, Caroline, Tyler, Lily, Damon and Stefan, all here to say their last goodbyes to their history teacher.

After exchanging a look with Alaric, an emotional Elena walked over to Stefan, while Alaric stayed standing on his spot, after looking at everyone for a moment, a teary eyed Alaric turned around and went back into the crypt, to isolate himself to die.

***

While Lily decided to spend the rest of the night with her sister, Klaus walked into the room where he kept all his coffins, opening the one Esther had trapped Rebekah in, Klaus proceeded to take the dagger out of his younger sister, he then walked over to the coffin he had kept Esther's dead body in.

"Your trap failed, mother" Klaus said, "I live, and I will go on living, let your beloved spirits try to preserve you again, I dare you to come after me, I will build an army so big no one will ever touch me, my survival will haunt you through eternity, you will never destroy me!".

***

Presenting 2x20 of Fire & Flame!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Rebekah using Lily's name to convince Klaus to come to the decade dance?

Thoughts on Liz's advice to Lily about Klaus?

Thoughts on Lily and Klaus's dance together?

Thoughts on Stefan's advice to Lily?

Thoughts on everyone mourning Alaric's death?