It's In the Stars

“Just a kitchen fire. The chef was cooking and it all went up. So they had time to get everyone out, just they didn’t have a water system inside to stop the fire from taking over.”

“Oh THANK GOD,” Cami breathed in a deep sigh of relief at the news.  Looking up as different thought occurred to her, she then spoke again. “I’m sorry, but erm, who are you?” she asked, her tone a mixture of curiosity and genuine politeness, wondering how was it that  the other knew so much as well as seeming to be on top of the rebuilding plans. Cami couldn’t recall having seen her face as one of the managers before in the past, whenever she frequented this particular place. 

He didn’t say anything for a few moments as his emerald hues soak her in. Everything he has missed about her and more ; he loved her, so much that it hurt to know that the love he held for her was exactly what got her killed. “Camille.” Her name rolls off his tongue, a name he hasn’t spoken since her death. Before he knows it, her hand cupped his cheek and he wants to relax into her touch but he’s A F R A I D of letting himself embrace her so openly. Afraid that somewhere around, an enemy of his is lurking around the corner ready to see one a few of Klaus’ weaknesses. No. He would not let some piece of scum stop him from reuniting with someone he cared for. His hand reaches up to hers before a small but soft smile graced his lips, and in a swift move he’s stepping into her – bringing the blonde into his arms. Fuck them. He was happy to see her and he wasn’t going to shy away from it, “I’m real.” He answers quietly, “And it appears you are too.”

It was like a warm and utterly welcome fire burned through her hands in this cold winter’s day the moment, Klaus’ hand touched hers. Like it always did, every single time he took hold of her hand, or placed his hand over hers, back in the past. However, Camille didn’t have much time to gladly sink back into that familiar feeling of caring warmth and trusted tenderness before she was suddenly pulled into his arms. 

The intense warmth of his breath as he quietly replied to her question, his extremely familiar body scent, the very-much missed feelings of his arms encircling her...All of her senses captured in everything she had loved and missed about him. At this particular moment, all she could and also wanted to do was just stay peaceful and still, in this precious reunion with him. It was like all of her worries, fears, weakness and the rational side of her brain telling her that this was the least wisest thing to do if she wanted to keep him, his family and herself safe evaporated away very quickly and all that was in her mind and heart was : how extremely happy she was to be with him again. If she had felt cold, weak and beyond exhausted eversince coming back from the dead and having to go through that harrowing fever those last 2 weeks, now she could almost say that she felt touched by sunlit rays, rejuvenated, energize again by just simply being in the close presence of her beloved. 

Her breathing labored and her heart feeling overwhelmed by the just how intimate the proximity of their closeness was to each other, made her words stuck in her throat for a little while. While staring intensely at him, both of her soft hands, at the same time, reached up to warmly hold the sides of his upper neck like she used to do sometimes, for a few brief seconds, before one of the them slowly went upwards to run a few very gentle, lingering touches around his face. As if she was still unable to believe he was real and  alive, as if to memorize every single inch of his face for the millionth time again. 

melina looked up at the building in front of them before shrugging her shoulders. “can’t say that i know, i only got here today so my knowledge of new orleans is incredibly limited.”

Cami shook her head sadly. “It used to be such an ingeniously beautiful building. It’s such  great shame,”she sighed deeply. Finally turning around to look at the younger girl properly, she then smiled wanly as she spoke again. “Well then, I guess I should welcome you to New Orleans then. Welcome to the Big Easy, where the party never stops!” Her wan smile tilted upwards a little more towards the end of her sentence, fond memories of the city which she loved drifting back into her mind and there was a sparkle finally showing in her tired eyes. Cami had no idea why she felt so tired all of a sudden. Sure, the journey back to New Orleans had been a little exhausting but it shouldn’t cause her to feel like an old lady so quickly. No, it must be due to that fever which she still haven’t fully recovered from just yet it seems. One of the still lingering after-effects. 

“Neglect, it seems like.” Klaus stood behind Camille, hands in the depths of his pockets as emerald hues look to the building for a moment before they land on her. Her death tore him topieces, something he’s yet to get over. It was rare for Klaus to actually mourn the death of people, his entire life was surrounded by it. But he cared for Camille, deeply. “I have no doubt it was left abandoned and left for the homeless of New Orleans.”

The moment she heard his first syllable, Cami already knew who was standing behind her. Her breath hitched up to her throat and tears slowly started to swell up in her eyes without her control. No matter how long she had been dead, decades or even if it were centuries, she would always recognize his voice. His very familial presence. Even long before she realized that she loved him and when he was avoiding to keep her safe after Hope had “died”, she could already sense his presence anytime he chose to be near her. Even though horrible things had happened to her because of her life intertwining with his, she never once regretted meeting him. Nor falling in love with him. And like he once told her with such conviction, no matter the time and place, he would have always found her. 

Turning around slowly, the building temporarily forgotten already, Cami’s voice was a little tremulous when she finally found the ability to utter his name. “Klaus?” Her large, hazel green eyes took him in slowly. She wondered how he had been all these years. Did he lead a happy life with Hope and the rest? Had he been taking care of himself and living up to his full potential? And then she remembered the little tidbit of news she had been given last week while she was still in Mystic Falls. He had died . Along with Elijah. 

Had he now returned from the dead just like her then? Her former best friend who had helped her when she returned,  had only very little news to tell of The Original Family since they were not of their upmost concern. Or was this just merely a trick of her mind? A hallucination of sorts induced by the lingering after-effects of the strange fever that she was still recovering from? She reached out her hand to gently cup his cheek while another touched his shoulder. “Please tell me you’re real,” she asked along with her actions.  It wouldn’t have been the first time she had hallucinated him being with her. He was the first person  she had hallucinated during that awful fever which she struggled with during her first week of her return. 

“Rebuilds,” Trinity said, looking over her paper work. “A fire took the building last year and they finally got everything signed off with us to get it rebuilt. The plans look good though. Should be like it was always here.”

amara  turned  to  gaze  at  the  building,  her  brows  furrowing  at  how  broken  up  it  seemed.  she  had  only  been  around  for  two  years  so  she  had  no  idea  how  things  in  the  city  used  to  appear.  regardless,  it  still  seemed  sad  to  know  that  it  was  once  a  perfectly  good  place  where  people  would  go.  ❛  i’m  not  quite  sure,  i’m  sorry.  ❜  she  admitted,  biting  her  lip.  ❛  perhaps  it  was  abandoned  ?  ❜

“The people who owned this place. They would never have just upped and abandoned it to neglect just like that. Their family had owned it for generations. It was part of their heritage and legacy in this city. I just can’t imagine them leaving it to ruin just like that.”  Cami shook her head, her face contorting to an expression of deep worry. “Something big must have happened to them. Something very bad.” She then shook her head before exhaling out deeply and sighing. There was nothing she could do about it now. She had bigger and more concerning things to sort out for herself currently. She could find out about what happened to the Abotts much later in the future. Turning her head to the side, Cami then started to pay more attention to the petite stranger beside her.  There was something pretty familiar about her face. The blonde was pretty sure she had seen her face once upon a time before. Somewhere in a page of the extremely thick and heavy O’Connell book that had been passed down for centuries within the family and among Kieran’s files.