"Here" Caroline mutters handing Claire a hot chocolate. Claire smiles brightly at her sister. The two of them sit in rocking chairs on the back patio of the plantation. 

They can hear the hybrids mingling with themselves, keeping each other busy as it's too early for any of them to sleep. Claire could easily hear Archie amongst them, he's become very popular among the hybrids. 

"I'm happy you're here," Claire said looking at her.

"I should have been here sooner" Caroline gave her a stern look. Claire smiles and looks down at her drink. She swirls the liquid in her cup.

"If it wasn't for Asher and Bonnie's constant pestering, you wouldn't know," Claire told her in a hushed whisper.

"Why?" Caroline asked gently. "Why are you so adamant about keeping me away?" Claire clenches her jaw and screws her eyes shut. One of the things she hated about being pregnant, she felt as if she had the enhanced emotions of a vampire. "Claire-" Caroline whispers grabbing her hand.

Claire quickly stands up and moves away from her sister. Caroline sighs and sets her own drink down. Her eyes follow Claire as she paces before leaning against one of the pillars. It's obvious Claire is struggling to hold it together and it broke Caroline's heart.

"I don't feel... in control anymore" Claire whispers. Caroline frowns her eyebrows and stands up. "Before coming here I've always felt that I had at least one hand on the steering wheel in my life, that I had some kind of control no matter how little it was. Now... I just feel... powerless" She whispers.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Caroline asks softly as she leans against the pillar beside her. Claire looks at her with tears in her eyes.

"I'm scared, Caroline" She whispers with a broken smile. "I'm fucking terrified." She corrects her self with a laugh. 

She looks out into the property. She liked where they lived. She liked the smell of the horses. She liked looking out and see them grazing in the pasture. She liked hearing the hybrids having a good time. It helped calm her, however, tonight felt different.

She felt the gates that held the pain, stress, worry, and fear she had locked up open wide despite how hard she tries to keep them closed. She blames Caroline, her sister always had a unique way of getting to what Claire is truly feeling. Claire wipes away a stray tear, trying to keep it together. 

"This place, it's not safe," Claire whispers hanging her head shamefully. "Not in the slightest. No matter how many hybrids we have, no matter how hard we try to protect this place, to protect ourselves, I feel like it's all just an illusion." She pauses to take a deep yet shaky breath. "It was my decision to come here, I convinced everyone that it was a good idea. Now we're here and we haven't been safe since McKinley." Claire presses her lips together and shakes her head. She stands more on her feet and away from the pillow. She feels the anger surfacing and before she knew it she sent a punch to the pillar. 

"Hey, don't do that" Caroline quickly reached out and grabbed her sisters' wrists before she could break her hand.

"I know it's not safe yet I keep my daughter here, I convince more people to come and join us which puts them in danger," Claire says looking into her sisters' eyes. "All I can think about is if someone gets hurt or someone dies because of my decisions." Finally, her voice cracks and the tears begin to fall.

"Hey, hey, calm down" Caroline quickly pulls Claire into a tight hug. She doesn't let go no matter how hard Claire struggles. "Relax. Breathe, Claire, breathe" Caroline whispers. Claire ends up sobbing into her sister's shoulder, clinging onto her like a lifeline.

"And these witches, they're trapping us here." Claire cried. "We can't use magic because Marcel will know and if he finds out we're breaking the rules then all hell will break loose and so many people are going to die" Claire sobs. "I don't want my decisions to cost people their lives."

"Shhh, shhh" Caroline whispers swaying them slowly.

"Klaus and Kol are always out" Claire adds on. "I know what their doing is apart of the plan, that there just trying to find a way to keep the witches from snapping and figuring out a way to take down Marcel but I just... I want them with me and I know that's selfish but-"

"Hey," Caroline said sternly. She forces Claire back a little so they look in each other's eyes. "It is not selfish to want to be with the ones you love," She told her slowly hoping her words reached through her thick skull. "Claire, you have to calm down, ok? You're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders and you don't have to. You shouldn't." She tells her.

"I don't know what to, Care" Claire whispers. "I feel like everything I do or try to do just causes more tension. I'm scared that I'm going to do something which will mess everything up and next thing I know I'm dead and I don't have just myself to worry about I have this baby to protect and I feel..." Claire can't finish as she starts to sob again.

Caroline grabs her sister and leads her back to the seats. There's a bench that they sit down on. Caroline holds onto Claire tightly.

"Claire-" Caroline tried to comfort but Claire had more to say.

"Remember when we went up against my father's old coven?" Claire asked.

During their sophomore year of college, Claire realized that Hanna and Noah didn't destroy Noah's old coven. Not all of them. They left two members alive. Noah's brother, the man that ultimately killed him, and his sister-in-law.

Noah's brother, Lucas, and Lucas's wife, Diana, had found Claire at McKinley. They wanted to kill her. If they did, then her magic would flow into Madelyn. Since Madelyn hasn't tapped into her magic, she's not apart of the South coven. This means all Lucas would have to do is kill Madelyn after Claire and he could get the power he believed he deserved.

In an attempt to draw Claire into a trap, Lucas and his wife kidnapped Caroline and Enzo. Claire knew it was a trap and went anyways. Bonnie followed her and stayed with Claire despite Claire trying to convince her to let her confront them alone. In the end, the two of them went up against Lucas and Diana.

Armed with an enchanted bracelet that gave her almost unlimited amount of magic, Claire took on her aunt and uncle. Claire ordered Bonnie to get Caroline and Enzo, to free them. While Bonnie did just that, Claire handed the last of her father's family.

It was close but Claire conquered them. Two of the final members of the coven died by her hand. Both of their magic flowed into her body just like her father's magic had done when he died. Now, Claire only had to siphon a bit of magic to do great things.

However, the magic she inherited was not pure. It had been plagued with decades of darkness and expression. That didn't change when it flowed into Claire. While Claire can't do any harm without a source to trigger the magic inside of her, she can still feel it's darkness.

"What about it?" Caroline asked frowning her eyebrows.

"I feel like if I siphon, even a little bit, I'll lose" She whispers. Caroline's face falls into sympathy. She knew what her sister meant. She knows Claire is worried that if she siphons, if she uses magic, then she's going to lose the internal battle that rages inside of her between the light and the dark.

"You will not lose," Caroline said sternly. Claire sighs and moves slightly away from Caroline. She puts her head in her hands, rubbing her face stressfully. "Claire, you are a good person."

"I've killed, Caroline," Claire said looking at her.

"So have I," Caroline tells her. "So have your mates and Enzo and every vampire." Claire sighs looking away from her.

"You will not lose because you love," Caroline said. "You love your family, you love your friends and you do everything in your power to protect us."

"Except when I ask you to come into one of the most dangerous cities for our family" Claire laughs shaking her head.

"Yeah, you asked us to come, you didn't force," Caroline said. "You need your coven with you to stay grounded, to keep yourself from falling into the darkness. You need your mates to keep you sane, to remind you of that love you share with everyone. You need your hybrids to ensure you and your family's safety. You need me to make sure you keep a level head. And we need you because you're the glue that keeps us all together."

"You don't need me" Claire whispers. Caroline laughs making Claire look at her.

"If I didn't have you, I wouldn't have gone to college." Claire went to say something but Caroline beat her to it. "The only reason I went to college was to encourage you to get out of that town. If I didn't go to college I wouldn't have met Enzo, we wouldn't have helped him escape. If it wasn't for you the most of the Mikaelson's would be dead, Asher and Rebekah wouldn't know each other, the Mikaelson's that would still be alive would be tearing each other apart, the hybrids would still be a slave to the full moon. The original group of hybrids would be all dead because they would have gone against Klaus and he would have destroyed them."

"Well, when you put it like that" Claire mutters. Caroline smiles and hugs her sister.

"You are a very important part of this family. You hold us together and we hold you together" Caroline said. "It's a system, it's a family. You needed us, not just you but your mates needed help so we came. It's that simple. I can't promise that no one will get hurt but I can promise that no one is going to regret coming here to help you and the family."

"I should have told you sooner" Claire smiles at her. Caroline smirks nodding. 

"But hey, I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere."

"Good" Claire whispers. Caroline looks past her. Claire follows her gaze to see Klaus standing there. Claire sighs as Caroline stands.

"I'm going to go see how Penny is liking everything," Caroline said leaving to give the two of them space.

"I had no idea your stress, your fears and worries went that deep" Klaus says after a moment of silence. Claire takes a breath and slowly releases it.

"Neither did I to be honest" Claire laughs and wipes her tears. "Once I started talking to her I just... I just couldn't stop and I kept thinking of more and more things that scared me."

Klaus nods and slowly walks over to her. He sits on the bench but keeps a distance between them. He didn't know if she is still angry with him, he didn't want to push his luck.

"I understand how important this situation is," Klaus says. Claire looks at him but he keeps his gaze out into the pasture. "I understand that we need to take down Marcel not just for the witches but for our family. I know we need to take back the city and I know we can make this place our home. It will take time but we will make New Orleans a safe place for our family. I promise you." Klaus said looking into her eyes. She gives him a small smile.

"I trust you" She whispers. He smiles slightly.

"As important as everything going on around us is, it is not more important than us," He said shifting so he was facing her more. "Claire you are, without a doubt, the love of my life. You've shown me how to love, how to trust, how to see the value and the strength in family." He shifts closer to her, satisfied when she lets him. "I've been so caught up in everything that I haven't been paying enough attention to our family."

"Klaus-" Claire says but he shakes his head.

"Don't give me excuses. There's a time for work and diabolical plotting and then there's a time for family. Please forgive me, my love" Klaus pleads. "I won't try to control you. I'll make time for you and Madelyn. It's my child you're carrying and I need to take care of you."

"I have four other mates to take care of me," She tells him with a smile.

"But I do it better" Klaus smirks. She smiles and he takes a leap of faith. He pulls her against him, happy when he lets her. He pulls her onto his lap and holds her close to him, his head nuzzling into her neck. She giggles as she hears him practically purring in comfort.

"I love you" Claire whispers kissing his head. He holds her even tighter.

"I love you too, sweetheart" He mutters kissing her neck.