~
As we come bearing gifts we see our friends, those very few that survive our demons
~
But in our nightmares lurk, the thought of all we lost, fallen friends and their legacies we will not forget
~

The Mikaelsons with Scarlet included ,end Christmas Eve together by sitting in the living room and watching the fire die out. As one by one they all retire to their rooms first Hope. More like Hope was to be carried to her room by Klaus as she had fallen asleep in his arms after he told her the story of her first Christmas at the abattoir. Once Klaus had returned to the room Freya was to excuse herself and she too called upon sleep. This was swiftly followed by Kol, and then later Scarlet was to decide to call it a night. After all even the strongest have to reclaim their sleepless nights

But as Klaus and Elijah sit alone, they begin to talk about their futures. Elijah later retires to his and Scarlet's shared room to find Scarlet fast asleep. But Klaus decides to stay up for awhile longer, in a hope for his brother's happiness he sits alone to pray that Scarlet was not to be taken from them. He did not know what damage her death could do to their family and most of all how much it would crush Elijah's fragile heart.

The talks him and Elijah share are filled with hope and love as Elijah wishes that his love could live a normal life but with the benefits of immortality. Klaus too wishes for Scarlet's life but cannot bring himself to tell his brother that his love's life could run short.

But tomorrow they would come bearing gifts as all normal family do, but this family is not normal. They are extraordinary people that stand by each other till their dying breath run out. So for one more day they will act like the rest. They will love and cherish memories of a lifetime, because time is not on their side anymore and this maybe the first and last time Scarlet comes bearing gifts for the Mikaelsons.

Life is too short, but not when you're immortal. But when you are like Scarlet your life is constantly growing short and then eventually horrible things catch up to us. In Scarlet's case the Christmas turkey is the last of her concerns. Because the prophecy was catching up to her along with it's reader, Celeste.

~
Truth be told it was to be the best Christmas yet
~

The morning began with Hope rushing to get dressed so she could wake up her father along with her uncles and aunts.

But as she came from her room into the hallway she heard laughter coming from the main living room. "Merry Christmas, Hope" they broke out as Hope came closer to the room. At that point she realised that this day would bring hope and happiness to her family.

Klaus, Kol, Rebekah and Freya stood around the Christmas tree as Elijah and Scarlet stood hand in hand guiding Hope to her big pile of presents that sat in front of the tree. Hope's face lit up as her father and Aunt Rebekah parted from the circle to make a path for Hope. Soon Niklaus sat in one of the many arm chairs surrounding the room.

They all followed Niklaus in sitting in the chairs around the room and watched as Hope picked out her presents to open. Starting with the biggest Hope created a giant pile of wrapping paper and gift tags. "Thank you" she yelled out as she opened each present followed by the name of the person the gift was from.

After a good hour of tidying up Hope finished her breakfast prepared by Klaus and collected some of her stuff together in a bag. Scarlet had promised Mary that she would take Hope to her cabin.

So after dropping Hope off, Scarlet left and told Mary she would return after dinner. But Elijah and Klaus waited for Scarlet's return before Klaus would set off for the day. Soon Scarlet pulled into the driveway of the abattoir.

"Merry Christmas, Love , it's nice to see you got back in one piece, I must be off now" Klaus said as Scarlet made her way through the front entrance over to where she had left the Mikaelsons to drop Hope off at Mary's. "Merry Christmas, Nik don't get into too much trouble today" Klaus smirked and within seconds he was long gone from the abattoir.

Elijah stepped closer to Scarlet and held out a small winter's blue gift box with a thin silver bow. Scarlet closed her eyes for a brief moment and took in a breath of the cold air, before Elijah said in a soft tone "Open it". Scarlet did as she was told and opened her eyes to face Elijah and then looked down at the gift, took one end of the bow in her hand and pulled. The bow undid itself and fell to the floor. Just before Scarlet could reach to get it Elijah said "Don't worry about that it doesn't matter" Scarlet nodded and continued to open the present.

She removed the lid gently to revel a small folded piece of delicate paper. With one hand she laid the box upon the nearest table and unfolded the note. The note read:

Dearest Scarlet,
Christmas only comes once a year and lasts but one day,
But my love for you comes once a lifetime and lasts forever.
Merry Christmas,
Always and forever yours,
Elijah

Scarlet smiled with a single tear running from her cheek as she look up into Elijah's soft hazel eyes. Elijah wiped the tear from her eye and handed Scarlet the gift box and inside laid a beautiful diamond and silver wild rose ring. Suddenly tears flooded from Scarlet's eyes as Elijah went down on one knee and took the rind from the box. "Will you Scarlet Lily Rose do me the honour of becoming my wife?" He sad smiling up at Scarlet as she nodded in delight. "Yes, yes of course I'll marry you!"

Klaus phoned Scarlet shortly after her and Elijah embraced each other with a hug ,saying that he had made plans to pick up Hope from Mary's. So the couple spent the rest of the day together and just enjoying each other's company.

And that was the day, a normal day for an extraordinary family but our tale is far from over there are still many tales to tell before Scarlet will face her match...