A/N: I know that I promised twenty chapters, but I've decided that I'm going to end it at nineteen. This was always going to be the last chapter from the very beginning. You guys are super supportive and amazing, and thank you for all of your feedback. I hope that you enjoy this (last) drabble.
-Angie

"Transition" - May, 2030 - Age 18

Caroline awoke to feel Klaus disentangling himself from her arms.

"Trying to sneak out on me?" She asked sleepily.

She felt him pause and then get back into bed, pulling her close to him.

"Never love, I just have some things to do. Unfortunately, I'll be away for most of the day today," He said, his breath on her ear making her shiver.

"Mmm? Why?"

"I have to take care of a few things in the city."

"What kinds of things?" She asked curiously.

He grimaced. "Apparently there's a small coalition of werewolves outside the city that have decided to attempt to overthrow me."

"Hmm. I'm sure that'll go very well for them," Caroline mumbled.

She felt Klaus's chest rumble in laughter behind her. "Well, they won't have very much time to succeed. I'm visiting them in an hour or so."

"By 'visiting them' do you mean 'slaughtering their entire village'?"

"Yes."

She still wasn't comfortable with him murdering huge groups of people, and she doubted she ever would be. She suspected she might feel differently about his murderous tendencies if she didn't have Hope to worry about.

Unfortunately for the werewolf packs, Hope was her first priority, which meant that she'd trade the lives of thirty traitorous werewolves for her daughter's wellbeing any day.

"Why were you leaving this early though?"

He never left before she got up, and if he did he always woke her up to tell her he was leaving. This whole thing screamed something being wrong. He stiffened slightly and then squeezed her tightly for a moment. "It's just more convenient," He said, getting out of bed and pulling on a pair of jeans.

She was immediately suspicious. "Oh? How so?"

He was an excellent liar in general, but he could never get one past her—not anymore, at least. He shrugged, and Caroline frowned before hearing some movement in the hall. She immediately sprung out of bed and walked out to see Hope waiting near the room, fully dressed. She turned back to Klaus. "What's going on?"

"Look, Mum, don't get mad—" Caroline and Klaus both snorted as one, and Caroline glared at him, "—but I asked Dad if I could come along for the day. I still don't know anything about what he does, and if I'm going to be in charge at some point-"

"Are you serious right now?" She interrupted, whirling around to look at Klaus, "Why didn't you tell me? Is that why you tried to sneak off?"

He shot her a reproachful look, and she was reminded very vividly of a puppy that had done something incredibly stupid that he knew his owner wouldn't like, and was trying to make up for it by being cute.

She was not amused.

"Look, I'm eighteen. I'm an adult, and I'm going whether you like it or not, Mum."

Caroline gave Klaus the evil eye, and he winced. "Err-Hope, perhaps it would be better if–"

"I'm going," Hope said firmly. "If you try to go without me, I'll just follow you."

Caroline glared at her daughter (who glared right back even more intensely) for a few moments before sighing. "Fine. Klaus, you'd better keep the closest eye on her possible–"

"What kind of father do you think I am?" he asked irritably.

"The kind who takes his daughter along on work outings that involve killing people," Caroline replied. "You're also going to feed Hope some of your blood just in case."

Klaus rolled his eyes but bit into his wrist obligingly, holding it out to his daughter, who curled her lip, her eyes darting back from her mother to the blood.

"Drink or you're not going," Caroline said, her voice indicating that her decision was final.

Klaus bit his wrist again (as it had healed within seconds), and held it out to his daughter, who took a tiny bit before backing up.

"You know, if you're going to transition someday, you should probably stop being squeamish about blood," Caroline pointed out. "I'd also like to point out that you're going off to kill a bunch of people, and blood is probably going to be involved."

"It's not blood in general, it's Dad's blood," Hope said, making a face.

"I feel like I should be offended."

Hope shrugged. "You can if you want. I won't stop you. When are we leaving?"

"Go before I change my mind," Caroline mumbled, running a hand through her hair and dodging Klaus's attempt to kiss her on the cheek before slamming the bedroom door behind her and flopping back into bed.

XXX

"So, what exactly are we doing?"

"We're going to investigate the pack, and, if necessary, I'm going to kill them," Klaus said calmly, his hands in his pockets as they walked together towards the bayou.

"Oh," Hope said, her eyes darting around.

She'd never been to the bayou before, mostly because there had never been a reason to go, and she was taking in all the sights.

"I have some ground rules," Klaus continued slowly.

"You mean Mum has some ground rules," Hope said teasingly.

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter who made them. It matters that they are followed. Understood?"

"Yep."

"If I tell you to run, you run back to the Quarter as fast as you can, and you do not look back. I don't care what they're doing. If they're torturing me or locking me in some sort of ritual that looks deadly, and I tell you to run, you run."

"Okay," Hope said, having no intention of following the directions if she could help somehow.

He seemed to know this and gave her an assessing glance before continuing. "You do not fight unless it is in self-defense. You are simply watching."

"Okay."

He nodded, apparently satisfied with her response, and they kept walking until he flung an arm out to stop her from moving. "If you are killed, you have my blood in your system, so you will begin to transition. I know that we were told that it would happen anyway should you die, but we just wanted to be sure. If that happens, I need you to run back to the house as fast as you can. We don't want to trigger your werewolf gene by accident. All right?"

"Okay."

"In addition, you will not undermine my authority, do you understand? No matter what I do or how gruesomely I kill, you will save your questions for after we get home."

She nodded, wondering why it would even be necessary to caution her. She knew that he'd killed before (how else would he have taken over New Orleans, otherwise?)

They walked together to the werewolf camp, and she saw her father practically change into a different person before her eyes. His posture straightened, his walk became more confident, almost a swagger, and a smirk bloomed on his face.

It was terrifying.

"Come out," he boomed, projecting rather than yelling, his arms thrown out in a mockingly welcoming gesture. "I know you're there. I can smell you all."

She almost instinctively sniffed, and didn't notice anything different, but remembering her father's warning, she kept her mouth shut.

"Don't make me find you, because I will, and I will not be merciful when I do."

A man came out from behind one of the trees, and Hope heard a sharp gasp from the other direction. One by one, the werewolves emerged from the tree line, and her father's sadistic smile grew with each that revealed themselves.

He clasped his hands behind his back. "I've heard that there's a plan to kill me," he said casually, pacing back and forth.

The wolves remained silent.

"If anyone would like to come forward and tell me, I may let you live."

No one moved, and Klaus kept pacing, a calculating expression taking over his face. He stopped suddenly and walked up with purpose to the first wolf who had emerged. "Care to shed some light on the rumor?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man stuttered.

"Oh, I think you do. I think you do and you're willing to tell me in order to keep your miserable traitorous life."

"Don't do it!"

Klaus, Hope, and the pack all swiveled to look at a young woman, her head held high. "Don't tell him," she repeated.

"So there is a plan?" Klaus asked, his smirk growing. "Well, if no one comes forward with the details in the next ten seconds, I'll have to kill you all to ensure my safety," he said. "Oh, and I'd kill the rest of your pack, too. You know, just to be thorough," he added, almost as an afterthought.

The wolves remained silent.

"Ten...Nine...Eight...Seven...Si—"

"It was his idea," the first wolf burst out, pointing at another in the middle of the line. "He did it."

"Is that so?" Klaus asked, turning to the wolf. "Is this true?"

The accused wolf stood his ground, his jaw set.

"What was the plan?" Klaus asked, stalking closer to the wolf predatorily.

"We were to lure you here tomorrow, and a witch would be here to desiccate you."
"You're just a fountain of information, aren't you?" Klaus said, turning to the wolf who had spoken (the same one who had spilled the information so far). "Who is the witch?"

The man seemed to figure that he should go big or go home. "Genevieve."

Klaus snorted. "Of course it is," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Right, well, thank you for the information."

Hope had to restrain a scream as the wolf's heart fell on the ground.

There was a split second where everyone stood still before the wolves attacked, running at Klaus, who efficiently tugged out every heart. Hope stood back from the fight, having expected something similar to happen, but was taken by surprise when she felt someone grab her from behind.

There was a sharp pain in her neck, and the world went black.

XXX

When she woke, the first thing she registered was how bright everything was. The smells and colors and sounds were all so much more intense, but in a good way. She blinked again, her eyes focusing on her father and mother bending over her, both looking like they'd run a marathon.

"How are you feeling?" Caroline asked anxiously.

Hope considered her answer for a moment or two. How did she feel?

She felt...new. Excited. She felt like the world had suddenly become so much bigger and more promising. She closed her eyes and let herself focus on her body. Warmth spread from the tips of her fingers and toes all the way to her still-beating heart. Everything had clicked into place. She felt like everything finally belonged.

"I feel...I feel right."

A/N: Thank you so much for reading this. The feedback you guys have given me has been amazing and overwhelming in the best possible way. I'm a bit sad that this universe is closing, but I hope this drabble felt like a good end point.
I've gotten quite a few messages telling me that they don't want me to end this story, but all good things have to end sometime, right? I have a lot of other projects that I'm working on, so if you haven't already checked out my other fics, and you want more things to read, I hope you do :)

All the hugs!
-Angie