Impulsive

"Maria, where are you?" asked Marcel, as soon as his friend answered her cell phone.

"I'm coming home on foot. A few things have happened, I'll explain later."

"Do you think we should go?"

"No. Stay there and enjoy the rest of the night but please take care of them, Marcel. They are my family." she said before hanging up.

Maria continued on her way but she had the strange feeling of being followed by someone. She didn't stop walking and tried to act like everything was normal. But in a quick movement, she turned, grabbed the person by the neck and leaned him against a tree.

"Hello, Love."

Maria released the hybrid and looked at him.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" he asked "I'm surprised to see you alive."

"Why? Would you prefer it to be dead?" she asked sarcastically.

The trybrid turned her back to leave but the original grabbed her arm.

"My Maria would never turn her back on me while I talk to her."

"Yeah ... You know what, Klaus?" she put his mouth close to the blonde's ear and whispered "Your Maria no longer exists."

She moved away quickly and disappeared into the shadows of the night.

"Klaus is unbelievable!" exclaimed Hayley.

From the moment she woke up, Hayley hadn't stopped complaining for a second about how stupid the attitude of her daughter's father had been.

"I can't take this anymore." Kol said, leaving the room.

Freya and Cami were with Hope in her bedroom, leaving Elijah, Rebekah and Hayley in the room, waiting for the hybrid.

"Why did you attack her, Hayley?" asked Elijah, drinking his drink.

"She threatened our family so when I saw her, I realized that I had an opportunity to end our problems. I just wanted this to be over."

"You don't know if she threatened us.# Rebekah said "You have no evidence."

The hybrid sighed and faced the original brothers.

"So it will be like this? Are you going to be against me because of a woman who should have died a century ago?"

The blonde couldn't take it anymore and grabbed Hayley by the neck.

"She shouldn't have died a century ago and if you say anything else that offends her ... and I may not be able to control myself."

She dropped the werewolf and turned away.

"You didn't even talk to her but ishe is still making your head." she complained and left the room, furious.

As soon as she got home, Maria went straight to her room and took a bag of blood from her minibar. It had been a few days since the last time she had drunk blood and was in need. Of course, a simple bag of blood does not satisfy it like blood coming directly from the veins, but at that moment it would have to do.

She changed clothes and lay down on the bed.

It was not under those conditions that Maria expected to meet the Mikaelson's again.

She knew them well and knew they would not rest until they could find each other and talk about everything that had happened since they left New Orleans.

New Orleans, 1920

It had been exactly 1 year since the Mikaelsons left New Orleans.

Maria and Marcel were doing a great job rebuilding the City. Twelve months later, they had created a community of vampires that commanded respect throughout the French Quarter.

"Maria ..." started the brunette

"I won't, Marcel. You don't need to insist any more, I've made up my mind."

"The governor insists that you go to the party. Please, Mar ... We should both go, to show our respect for humans and to try to gain their trust even more."

"It's been a year, Marcel! One year! And they didn't come back ..." stared at his friend "Who knows what might have happened."

Marcellus sat next to Maria and hugged her sideways.

"I understand what you're feeling but you can't stop your life because of it. Or do you intend to spend all eternity regretting the fact that they have not returned?"

Maria looked back at him.

She thought about it and stood up.

"You better get out, Marcel. I have to get ready for a party."

"Is everything okay with Maria?" asked Sofia, turning to Marcel

"Yes, she just went home earlier."

"Should we go back too?" asked Regina

"No. She said to enjoy the rest of the night."

And they took advantage. The night had gone well.

However, when they were preparing to leave the French Quarter, someone stopped them.

"Marcel! Good to see you."

"Klaus."

Regina and Sofia opened their eyes wide.

"K-Klaus? Klaus Mikaelson?"

"Did you hear about me? Fantastic."

The hybrid approached with an evil smile on its face.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends, Marcellus?"

"I would love to but we have to go."

"They're friends of Maria, aren't they?" He turned to the young women" You know what? They don't need to answer. You are human and she has always been very sympathetic to your species." she turned his back to leave "Welcome to New Orleans. Enjoy your stay."

The original disappeared, leaving Marcel and the two young women intrigued.

"We will. It's our time." The vampire broke the silence.

The next day, Maria and Marcel agreed to visit the fighting center that the oldest had created in the old church of St.Anne while Regina and Sofia decided to go shopping and take a walk around the French Quarter.

"So this is your fight club? I must say that I am impressed, Marcellus. I can't believe you created this." said Maria, as soon as they entered the old church, which was empty.

"I wanted to create a place where vampires could relax, train and release some of their anger."

The trybrid walked around the place and faced his friend.

"Have you trained?"

Marcel laughed when he realized what she was getting at.

"It's not worth trying, Maria. I will not fight against you."

"Why? Don't tell me you're afraid of losing?"

"Of course not. But if we fought I would take it easy on you, I don't want to hurt you."

It was the witch's turn to laugh.

"Take it easy with me? I think it would be more the opposite." she smiled "Come on, Marcellus. Show me you're worth."

"If you insist ... it looks like I'm going to have to scratch you." she said entering the fight area "But you can't use magic, it wouldn't be fair."

"Life is not fair, Marcel, but that's okay. If it makes you feel more confident." she said, taking off her coat "Let's start, shall we?"

The fight started with low intensity.

A few blows here and there, but Maria easily sidestepped Marcel's attempts.

"You're making things too easy, little warrior. Don't take it easy with me just because I'm a woman, show me what you're capable of. Show me that you know how to fight."

"Okay, you asked."

It was then that the real struggle began.

It was difficult to say who had the advantage. The combat was balanced.

Marcel arrested the witch and said:

"You should have chosen to take it easy."

In a quick movement, she let go and pushed him away and pinned him.

"Nah. I prefer a fair victory."

She released her friend and helped him strand up.

When she looked at the gym door, she was surprised.

"What is he doing here?" she asked, turning to Marcel

"Sometimes he comes here to train and vent his anger."

Maria turned back to the entrance and left the ring, walking towards the guest.

"Elijah Mikaelson."

"It's good to see you again, Maria." He said polite as always.

"At least now I'm not about to kill anyone." she smiled sarcastically.

"I saw you learned how to fight."

"I didn't have a choice. Without you and your family to defend me, I had to learn to take care of myself. But I also had a good teacher." Marcel looked and turned his attention back to the original "Did you really plan to train?" enjoyed

"Actually, I hadn't come here to train. She hoped to find Marcel to ask him some questions about you, but I didn't expect to find you"

"So you don't actually train?" she asked, ignoring what he had said. "This is really surprising, I couldn't imagine the original nobleman without a suit."

New Orleans, 1919

"Why do you only wear suits, Elih?" questioned the youngest

"What do you mean?"

"Well ... I never saw you with anything other than a suit. Why?"

Elijah put down the book he was reading and faced the young woman.

"I think it's just my style and this is how I feel most comfortable."

"Style?" Klaus asked rhetorically, however in the division - In what century, brother? 1500?" laughed

"And I can't believe you're alive." He looked at her intensely "Marcellus, please leave us alone."

The bridle looked at his friend and nodded.

Marcel granted the nobleman's request and left the old acquaintances alone.

"Come on, Elijah. We will fight while we speak." she said entering the ring

"I just want to talk about ..."

"And I just want to fight, so what's the problem in combining the useful with the pleasant? Don't be a coward again."

Elijah was willing to do anything to have a chance to talk to Maria, even to fight her, if she wanted to.

He went to where Maria was already.

"So what do you want, Elih?"

Hearing the witch call her that nickname, left Elijah without reaction, a moment she took the opportunity to attack the original.

"Why didn't you ever tell us you were alive, Mar?"

He released himself from the grip of the trybrid.

"You also never told me you were alive." she strayed "If you had returned to the city that night and had not abandoned me, you would have known that I was alive. Well, not alive, considering that your father killed me."

"You have to be more specific, Maria."

Elijah pushed Maria away and placed himself on top of her.

"You're not holding back." commented "Your father ... "kicked the original "...went to the mansion. He found me and tried to kill me but I sent him against the wall. Marcel appeared and gave me some of his blood to help me heal, but Mikael ended up breaking his neck and stabbing me. If I'm alive, it's thanks to Marcel."

The original pinned the youngest against the nets that surrounded the battlefield and both stared at each other.

"Why are you back?"

"This is my home, my city." whispered "Do you think Marcel rebuilt this city and built this empire alone? Of course not. He needed my help."

He stepped away from the touch of the original and walked around.

"Do you want revenge?" asked Elijah

"Do you really think I want revenge?" laughed "If I wanted revenge you wouldn't be standing at this moment."

Maria saw her ring start to shine and automatically panicked.

"Fuck."

She quickly left the ring and went to her bag.

"Marcel !!!" she shouted, knowing perfectly well that the vampire would hear her.

"What's up?"

"My friends are in danger." affirmed "I'm going to do a localization spell but I need to know if something happened last night, after I left."

"Well ..." he started "I didn't tell you before because I didn't think it was relevant and I didn't want to worry you but Klaus ..."

"What did my brother do?" the original vampire was immediately on alert.

"He showed up, saw me with your friends and realized right away that they were your friends."

"And you didn't think it was relevant to tell me that? If you had told me, today I would not let them go to the French Quarter and they would not be in danger."

She packed up and prepared to leave.

"What about the location spell?"

"I don't need him anymore. I know perfectly well where they are." she turned to Elijah "Will you accompany me, Elijah?"

He nodded and joined his old friend.

Klaus was in the room with Hope when he suddenly started to hear a lot of movement downstairs and realized what it was all about. He smirked, took his daughter to Hayley and went downstairs.

Maria almost ran into the Originals' mansion and shouted:

"Okay, Klaus! I'm here! Now give me my friends, before I do something I won't regret!"

"You were taking too long, dear." he went down the stairs "You don't need to be upset, your friends are fine, you just wanted to use them to lure you here."

"Where are they?" she asked, grinding.

"Niklaus, if you wanted to attract Maria here, kidnapping her friends was not the smartest thing to do."

Freya, Rebekah, Kol and Hayley with hope in their arms, appeared on the balcony.

"Maria, what are you doing here ..."

"I'm just here to get my family back."

"We are your family too." contested the original blonde.

"You used to be my family before. They are my family now." she replied "Give me back my friends, Klaus."

"I will return them as soon as you agree to stay but we all talk and ask you some questions."

"You don't need to stay and answer. I find your friends and take them safely." murmured Elijah to the trybrid.

"How sweet of you to offer to do that, Elijah. But it will not happen. Her only option is to do as I say."

Maria glared at klaus but turned to Elijah and tried not to be rude.

"I appreciate it but this fight is not yours, it's mine." she looked at the hybrid "I will only ask one more time, Niklaus Mikaelson. Give me back my friends."

"Only if you stay." he replied, looking at her.

For the first time in a long time, Maria felt that she had no choice but to accept those conditions. If it was necessary to get her friends back, it was exactly what she would do.

"Ok." She looked him right in the eye "You won, Klaus. I stay."

"Fantastic."