chapter twenty-five,

Opening the door to the girl's room, she found Kol also in her bed, asleep. She'd heard the two of them talking all night, Marian telling her father about the things she'd seen, people she'd met and places she'd stayed since they last met.

Marian told him all about the people she'd met in the two lifetimes she'd lived while he'd been daggered; she'd died in 1914 of a heart attack the same night and been reborn in France, living through two wars. She'd lived a long life then, giving birth to four children and remarrying in America after becoming a widow. She told him all about her mother Carrie and her unofficial sister Bonnie Bennett; they were the two people she loved most in this lifetime.

"Go away, Bekah," Kol growled. "Go annoy someone else."

"Sod off," Rebekah hissed. "Marian, love. Get up. I need your opinion on something."

"Huh?" Marian asked sleepily.

"It's nothing, darling," Kol said to her. "Bekah's just being a pest."

"Marian, you need to get up," Rebekah urged, moving forward to where Marian lay.

"What time is it?" the girl grumbled.

"It's just past eleven, love," she said.

The girl sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Really?"

Kol grumbled, sitting up beside her on the bed. "We stayed up until quite late, darling," he said. Marian smiled. She'd almost forgotten.

"Yes, you kept all of us up too," Rebekah mused.

Marian smiled embarrassedly. "Sorry," she muttered. She got a sudden shiver as she pulled the blanket off her, the crisp air nipping at her exposed skin. She had changed into her pyjamas before she'd fallen asleep.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Marian. I'm sure they are all just as interested to know what you've been up to these past hundred years," Kol said.

"I quite enjoyed hearing Kol's grumbling when you told him about the two men you married." The girl's aunt pulled her towards the door. "Come on." Marian hurried out of her room, wondering what her aunt wanted an opinion on. None of the siblings had told her about the ball they'd planned in honour of both their reunion and the seventeenth birthday of their beloved Marian. She was unaware that her uncle had slipped past her and into her room, sitting next to her father as she left.

"Married," Kol breathed in disbelief, running his hands down his face. It seemed strange to him that his daughter had become the wife of two men while he'd been daggered. He was angry with himself. How could he leave her for so long? Alone, nonetheless.

"She was happy, Kol," Elijah said softly to him. "I watched over her for many years. She's been around the world, that girl. France. Russia. Australia. She wrote a letter to me once." The ghost of a smile sat on his lips. "It was 1939. She was young, pregnant with her third child. She wanted me to come to France to see her. When I got there, do you know what I found?" Kol shook his head. "A woman expecting a son with her loving husband and two children, Sabrine and Christian. It was perfect in every way; I almost didn't want to intrude. But she pulled me into her home and gave me her newborn child to hold." Elijah looked at him. "His name was Kol."

Kol's eyes immediately flickered up to his brother's, unsure if he'd heard him correctly. "She... named her child after me?"

Elijah nodded. "It was the longest she'd ever been away from you."

"And she was happy?" Kol asked.

"She was," he confirmed. "And fiercely strong," he added. "Her husband and two eldest children were killed after Mikael had found her, so she took her newborn child and left for Australia where she married an American soldier and had a new family. She lived happily for another fifty-five years."

...

Inside Rebekah's room, Marian found three women each wearing a beautiful dress standing at the end of her bed. "What's all this for?" she asked, pointing to the girls in front of them.

"Which one do you prefer?" Rebekah asked.

"For you? Green one would suit your skin tone," she answered. "But I liked the red dress you were going to wear for homecoming better."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not wearing that ever again. It has a dagger-sized hole in it anyway."

"What's this for?" Marian repeated, still confused as to why her aunt was getting so dressed up.

"You can go now," Rebekah said to the girls, ignoring her niece. "Leave the green one here, take the others home." She turned to the witch who sat on her bed. "Thank you, Marian. Why don't you go get dressed and meet me in five minutes?"

The girl frowned. "Okay?" she said. "Where?"

Rebekah shrugged. "Follow the terrible music the boys are playing."

Marian frowned but did as she was told, walking from her aunt's room to her own. She got changed into a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt before checking her phone. She opened the curtains to let the afternoon sun stream into her room, opening the window to let the fresh air in.

She could hear arguing over the loud music that was playing as she made her way towards the upstairs living space where she assumed everyone would be.

"No, Kol, but you're in my house," Klaus said.

"Then perhaps we should go outside," her father challenged.

No one seemed to notice her arrival, focussed instead on their mother who intervened.

"Enough! Niklaus. Come." She beckoned the Hybrid into a separate room, leaving the other siblings alone.

"What happened?" Marian asked. No one answered. Instead, she heard someone clear their throat and Rebekah huff.

She couldn't stop herself from laughing as her two uncles and father began to sing 'happy birthday' to her. Clearly, Elijah and Kol had taught Finn the words while she'd been with Rebekah.

"Bloody hell, that was terrible," Rebekah grumbled.

"I think that was amazing!" Marian exclaimed. "Thank you," she said, moving toward each of them and giving them a hug. Kol held onto her, giving her a kiss on her forehead.

"Your life is worth every moment, don't let it slip away," he whispered to her.

"Did I do it right?" Finn asked quietly.

"You did great," Marian complimented, laughing as Finn's face morphed into one of confusion.

"You did well," Elijah corrected her, looking at his niece pointedly as she rolled her eyes.

"I think you all need bloody singing lessons," Rebekah said. "Horrible, the lot of you."

"Come now, Rebekah, surely we weren't that bad," Kol tried.

"Oh no, you were," Marian said, smiling cheekily up at him. "But it was perfect."

"Marian, I do suggest that you start getting ready," Elijah said.

"Yes, be dressed and ready by five," Finn said.

"Get ready for what?" she asked.

"The ball," Elijah said, looking confusedly at Rebekah. "Did you not tell her?"

"I thought it was going to be a surprise," she argued.

"She's not going to get dressed up if she doesn't even know why," Kol told her. "Marian, darling, we've decided to have a ball to celebrate your birthday."

"And our reunion," Finn added.

Marian smiled. "A ball? In twenty-first-century Mystic Falls?"

"It'll be more of a formal gathering," Elijah explained. "Your friends are invited." Each of the siblings watched as her face lifted. "And they have received complementary clothing for the evening."

The girl laughed. "You mean they'll be wearing ball-gowns?" she asked, amused. Marian couldn't imagine her friends wearing the traditional ball-gowns she'd worn in the past.

"Of sorts," Elijah said.

"What will I be wearing? I don't remember picking out a fancy dress recently."

"Yours is waiting for you in your room," Rebekah announced. "Don't worry, the boys had no say in what I chose for you. We all know how modest they make you dress." Kol glared at her, earning a sarcastic smile from his sister. "I've compelled some people to do your hair and makeup when you've got it on."

Marian grinned, slipping out of her father's hold and hugging her aunt. "I owe you one, Bekah!" she told her as she rushed to her room excitedly, finding a beautiful pastel blue chiffon dress laid neatly on her bed, a small note beside it.

A beautiful gown for a beautiful young lady

With love, Aunt Bekah

...

Marian hadn't expected it to take three whole hours to get ready for the event, though she guessed that the time it took to properly groom herself—not that she needed to, but she liked to feel her best when she looked her best—get changed and have her hair and makeup done all added up.

She tried her best not to laugh in shock as her three best friends arrived an hour early. The two girls looked beautiful; their hair done nicely for once. Penny wore a peach-coloured dress which ended tastefully just above her knee, while Hannah wore a lilac dress which touched the ground. Jack looked rather handsome in his suit and tie, and for once she could see why Hannah liked him so much—she'd never personally found the physical appeal that Hannah had told her about in secret.

"Happy birthday!" Penny exclaimed, rushing forward and hugging her best friend happily.

Marian laughed. "Thanks."

"Look at you," Hannah said, putting her hands out in front of her. "You look amazing!" After getting her hair and makeup done, Rebekah had made sure that Marian looked stunning, helping her put tape on the dress' neckline so she wouldn't accidentally expose her breasts to anyone.

"Not as amazing as you! I never knew purple was your colour," Marian complimented.

"It's lilac," Jack informed her. "And very hard to find a matching corsage for."

Hannah smiled at him, pinching his cheek. "But you know you didn't have to get me one, right?" she said as if she were speaking to a toddler. "Elijah said we didn't have to."

"Oh, Annie. It was so embarrassing," Penny interrupted. "I'd just gotten out of bed looking all scruffy and everything, and he was at the door! I was horrified."

The three couldn't help but laugh at Penny's words, knowing well that the girl had probably never been so embarrassed in her life. Penny had never really been good with males, only ever having spoken with her dad, older brother, Jeremy and Jack.

"So," Jack drawled. "Is this where you live?"

"This place is huge," Hannah added.

"Yep," Marian said, slightly uncomfortable. She'd always shied away from the riches her family possessed.

"I'm moving in," Penny announced.

"Oh my God," Marian laughed, thinking of what it would be like for Penny to stay with her family—it was bad enough when she'd seen Elijah, Marian couldn't imagine what it would be like if she lived with them. "No, you're really not."

this is the dress i imagined she'd be wearing

part ii:

tvd s3, e14, ""

wc: