Legacies: Cherish Me Forever

Summary: Set in Legacies S1 when they were in the middle of Miss Mystic Falls and Hope was breaking down after finding out that the dress she was wearing was what Klaus had given Caroline. After Kat comes back to life, she helps Hope get back into control and brings Klaus and Damon back to life.

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        It was a dismal night, as a human Katherine appeared after escaping a prison world. Everyone had thought that she'd been destroyed, but she'd actually ended up in a prison world, having to deal with Kai. Though she'd been in a prison world, she knew what she'd missed, so she knew that Hope needed someone like her to help her. Hope was alone. No one knew even a fraction of what it felt like to be what she was, but also be grieving from the loss of her whole family. But Katherine knew it all too well. She'd dealt with that for 500 plus years. And even after everything Klaus had done, Katherine wouldn't leave his daughter to feel alone like he and Katherine had felt. She didn't care that she was Klaus' daughter. Hope had nothing to do with the past between Katherine and Klaus. Besides, she'd forgiven him on her deathbed. Plus, she hadn't watched Hope all this time not to step in when Hope needed someone like her. And it would honor Klaus and Elijah's memory. 

        After appearing outside the school, she went in search of Hope. That's when, inside, she saw Hope starting to lose it. She understood, since she recognized the dress Klaus had given Caroline years ago. It was in the middle of Miss Mystic Falls, she realized. That meant if she lost control, it wouldn't end well. So, she did what she could. She walked over to where she stood in the middle of the dance floor and put hands on her arms. 

        "I need you to breathe, Hope. It's okay. It's going to be okay. Let's just get through this."

        Hope did as the stranger instructed, and she eventually was able to stay in control. 

        "Who are you?" Hope asked. 

        "Katherine Pierce. Your dad ruined my life, but I forgave him on my deathbed. The stories probably say I'm the bad guy, but no one knew me before your dad turned me into something I'm not. But your Uncle Elijah knew me well enough that he believed I could be saved. And I was. I had a daughter too once, and being reunited with Nadia, even for just a little bit, made me want to be a better person. Nadia saved me from myself like you did for your dad. And despite all the terrible things I've done, I'd never harm a child or the daughter of my former enemy. If you can learn to trust me, I can help you. Alaric means well, but he doesn't know even the fraction of how it feels for us to have no family left. I know he's being cautious when it comes to what magic is taught here, but once in a while, to get what you want or need, you have to dive into a little of Dark magic. I can bring back your dad, and I'll try to bring back Elijah. He was my first real true love. Then there was Damon, too."

        "What are you doing here?" Hope questioned. "How are you here? You were dead."

        "I was, but I finally found a way to escape a prison world," Kat informed.

        "I'll trust you if you can bring my dad back."

        "Good. We'll do it after the humans have gone home," Kat agreed.

        Later that night, Hope and Katherine were in the cemetery, Kat knelt on the ground by Klaus, her hands above him, as she did a spell to bring him back to life. Hope stood not far away, keeping an eye out for any danger or someone that might try to interrupt Katherine bringing her dad back to life. She didn't care about the consequences. If Katherine could bring him back, then she'd be happy. That, and it would mean that she could trust her, despite what the stories in the library said about her. Like her dad, the stories called Katherine the bad guy, but her dad was what had made her into the bad guy, chasing her for 500 years for revenge that he never succeeded in getting. But he'd changed, just as it seemed that Katherine had changed. After all, she figured that the old Katherine never would have wanted Klaus brought back. This version of Katherine wanted him back, almost as much as Hope did. That meant that Katherine truly had forgiven her father for what he'd done. 

        A few minutes later, Katherine had succeeded in bringing him back and had fed him some. 

        Klaus had been in what seemed to be peace, for what seemed to be quite a while, when he was sucked out of there against his will, which he knew meant that someone had brought him back to life. 

        When Klaus looked to see Katerina by him, human, he knew it had been her, since he'd known before she'd died that she'd been descended from Travelers. During the talk on the phone with Damon, Damon had mentioned that little part of information, so he knew that Katerina had to have found a way to make her magic active. He also knew that she'd found a way to be alive again. 

        "Katerina?" he inquired. 

        "Don't be mad. I know why you did what you did, and I would've done the same for my daughter, but I also would've found a loophole first. I'm alive due to ending up in a prison world. Since I know what you did to keep everyone, including Hope safe, I thought it would be time to bring you back. Especially, when Hope deserves to have her father, when she can't have her mother, or even Elijah for that matter. I can trap The Hollow in a prison world. It won't get out. I'll be sure that it doesn't."

        She helped him, as he sat up. 

        "Then do it," he replied, trusting her for once. Maybe Katerina was what they'd all needed, back when they'd had no other option, it had felt like. 

        She was happy that he'd agreed, and soon she had done what she'd said she'd do, so Klaus was finally free of The Hollow. Now, the world was safe from it forever, whether something happened to her or not. 

        Afterward, she helped him up. 

        "Now, I have someone else to bring back. I won't try bringing Elijah back, since he found peace, and I wouldn't take him away from his present love. However, Damon hasn't been dead long. I can bring him back."

        Klaus understood. He knew Katerina would never go against Elijah's wishes, just as Klaus never would. He also knew that Katerina had once loved Damon, just as she'd loved Elijah, and it seemed like she still loved both of them, even in death and after. 

        After realizing all of that, Klaus went to be with his daughter, and they both left the cemetery. While they did that, Kat worked on her part, and soon was knelt by Damon. Then she did, as she had with Klaus and, once that was done, she forced some blood she'd had Hope give her for Damon, and turned him. Then, with her wrist that was still open from when she'd fed Klaus, she forced her blood down his throat, completing it. She knew he would probably hate her for one, bringing him back, two, for turning him back into a vampire, and three, her coming back to life. If she couldn't have Elijah back though, she had to have Damon back. Damon had been her ultimate creation. Her equal. Whether he hated her or not, they were the same. Besides, she couldn't have a human Damon to protect her from any danger, because he'd just get himself killed. A vampire Damon was much more better at protecting those that needed it. And being back in this town, Katherine knew that soon, she would need protection from something or someone. 

        After she knew that he'd had enough, she took her wrist away. However, even though she knew how to bring the dead back to life, as well as how to conceal things, she didn't yet know how to heal herself. She'd concealed her wounds that she'd gotten from the prison world because of Kai, but she didn't have much strength left to conceal them, so she didn't bother. Between the wounds she'd gotten from Kai and feeding both a hybrid and a now newly turned back vampire, it had begun to take a toll on her. Besides, it was Damon. He couldn't resist playing the hero, whether he cared for the person or not.

        When Damon woke up after being pulled out of the peace he'd been in with those he'd cared about, he realized how and why. One, Katherine was alive again and two, she'd brought him back as a vampire. He knew what he was, since he could smell her wounds, before he saw them. He realized that she'd found a way, wherever she'd been sent to, to make her magic active. 

        He sat up and she helped him. 

        "What are you doing, Katherine?" he inquired. 

        "I brought you and Klaus back. Hope needed Klaus, and since I would never take Elijah away from his peace with his present love, I wasn't going to even try bringing him back. You were the only other option. I know you may still hate me, but Klaus sure as hell wouldn't do anything for me if I needed it. You, on the other hand, can't resist playing the hero for those in need. Besides, we used to be quite the team, and we still can be if you wanted to be. Try not to hate me all that much. You may not know the feeling, but it sucks to be alone. Especially, when you have a price on your head if anyone finds out you're alive again. I wasn't going to be alone again," she replied. 

        Despite the fact that she'd just pulled him out of the peace he'd found, he couldn't deny that she was absolutely right. They'd always been a team, whether he hated her or not. Also, though he hated her for past things she'd done, he was always one to save those that needed it. Even her. He didn't know what it was like to be alone for any amount of time, but he had to admit that she had at least some honor in her, if she wasn't going to go against Elijah's wishes. He knew how much she would always love Elijah. He knew how much, deep down, she had to be hurting from finding out about Elijah, too. He understood her not wanting to be alone, so he understood why she'd brought him of all people back. She was right. He was the only one she could bring back that would protect her with his life. And she was definitely right about Klaus not doing anything for her, much less protect her. Klaus would rather watch her die than help her. 

        He sighed. 

        "Fine. I'll protect you," he told her, before finally asking, "Where'd you come from anyway?"

        "A prison world. Instead of ending up in oblivion, I ended up in a prison world. It has a different time there, but while there, I found a way to be able to look at what was happening to all of you. When I realized Hope was having trouble being in control, I knew I had to come back, whether I had my full strength or not, so I grabbed an ascendant and escaped. I had enough of Kai's tactics. I guess for those of us that didn't find peace, we all ended up in a prison world," she explained. 

        Damon never thought he'd ever hear that name again, nor did he want to even think about him, much less him hurting the one person that he would always be connected to, whether they both were vampires or not. He knew what Kai was like. Kai had brought misery to his life several years ago.

        "I'm sorry. Despite everything you've done to almost everyone, you didn't deserve what Kai tends to do to people," he replied, apologizing for Kai's actions towards her, even though he knew he didn't have to. He then had to ask, "Can you digest vampire blood?" 

        "I don't know, but I probably shouldn't try it," she replied.

        "Then let's get you out of here," he replied.

        A moment later, everything went black for her. 

        When she collapsed, he caught her with vampire reflexes. He then got to his feet with her in his arms, and blurred out of there, towards the hospital. 

        Several hours later, after the surgery had been successful, he was seated on her bedside, a hand on hers, waiting for her to awaken. 

        An hour later, she woke up to see that she was in the hospital, Damon on her bedside. 

        She sat up in bed, slowly and painfully. 

        "Thanks," she greeted. 

        "You're welcome," he replied. "What do you say we get you out of here and into a real bed?" he then added. 

        She agreed, so he took her home. Since the boarding house was being used for a school though, they went to the house that wasn't owned anymore, but had been owned by him and Elena before they'd both died. It was really nothing special. Just a small white house, which still had their furniture inside it. It needed dusting a little after a year, but it was still in shape.

        A few weeks of spending time together, Damon fell back in love with her, so they got back together. And so, their love story continued.