Note: I do not own TVD or The Walking Dead.
Chapter 21
[Debussy – Clair De Lune]
There was a celebration in the town square that night. It wasn't one of the usual parties that had hours of extensive organizing by the young Miss Forbes. Instead, it was simply were everyone came to together when word got around about Klaus. Maggie didn't realize just how much of a presence he had on the town until her family went to the celebration. It was an impromptu miss mash of chairs and tables gathered around a tarp thrown down where everyone was dancing. The torches were blazing, providing the ambient light to the evening. Music came from an assortment of various people getting up to play and breaks taken by the stereo.
These were times people didn't have a lot to celebrate. They had all been through hardships to survive this long and Maggie was in awe to be standing the crowd. Her group was leaving in the morning, but they decided they would spend the last night in the square with the others. Even though they wanted to go, there was still a hint of reluctance in them.
But in the morning, they would be gone before most people recovered from the dancing and stale beer.
Maggie was content with not dancing or putting on a pretty dress. She just threw on a cardigan over the tank top and jeans. She was fine watching with the couples dancing and taking in the laughter and smiles. For a little while, it made her feel better on the surface. She had a lot weighing on her mind though, especially thinking about her conversation with Lucy and Beth.
Sitting over on one of the park benches, Maggie noticed she wasn't the only one not in the mood for dancing. It surprised her to see the young blonde with a frown on her face. She expected her to up with her friends without a care in the world. But at the same time, as soon as Maggie saw her sitting alone on that bench, she got it.
"May I sit here?" Maggie asked of her.
She startled out of her leaning her chin against her hand on the arm rest. For a vampire, she hadn't even noticed Maggie approaching.
"Oh, sure," Caroline Forbes murmured, glancing down at the space of the bench Maggie took up. She at least put out more effort than Maggie. She had a small black dress on with a square neckline and form fitted silhouette. Maggie couldn't tell if she was dressed for a celebration or a funeral.
They were silent at first, leaving Caroline to think Maggie just wanted to sit down for a few moments. At first, Maggie just watched the couples. Her eyes lingered particularly on her sister dancing with Jeremy Gilbert. She could tell she wanted to dance with him, but she was reserved.
It made Maggie feel guilty briefly. She couldn't help but feel like something had failed, something was missing this time. She remembered how happy Beth was singing on the porch in the other timeline. But at the same time, it was then Maggie realized it wasn't really her job to try to fix anything. It wasn't up to her. Things happened the way they did for a reason.
"It seems strange, doesn't it?" Maggie spoke aloud to Caroline.
The blonde looked up and had to tuck a few curls behind her ear. "What does?" She asked of Maggie. Compared to the Caroline she had threatened, this one didn't have a reason to be afraid of the doppelganger.
"Wanting something for so long, wanting to be free of someone and now that it's here…" Maggie explained with a shrug of her shoulders. She didn't feel the desire to be one of those people whirling about on the dance floor or slinging an arm over the shoulder of a friend with a toast in the air. "It just seems…" She wasn't like Elena, who she spotted in the distance, broad smiles and all, gloating. "Anticlimactic."
A humorless grin appeared on Caroline's face and she bowed her head, twisting her fingers in her lap. "And here I thought there was something wrong with me," Caroline said, looking up to Maggie. "For not wanting to be celebrating someone who's been daggered and locked up for eternity," It was an exaggerated statement, but it was the hope of what would become of Klaus for many. "No matter what horrible things he's done," It just didn't sit right with her.
Maggie had to smirk a little at the way Caroline said everything so lightly, then though it was quite the somber topic. "What would you do?" Maggie wondered if she had it her way.
For that Caroline didn't really have an answer though. She opened her mouth at first, but nothing came out before she gave a defeated shrug. "I don't know, I just wonder if things could have been different," She said. Different somehow.
Maggie nodded and felt a chill on her skin. The indecision in Caroline reminded her of the first indecision she had about Kol. When she was told to be afraid to him and she had seen what he could do, but she was still drawn to him.
"He said something to me once that causes me to wonder," Maggie said instead. For a moment, she leant back, staring absently at the crowd without actually seeing them. "Honestly, I'll never really know if he meant what he said or if he would go back on," Maggie admitted frankly. "But I'll always wonder…"
The more she thought about it, the more Maggie recalled that afternoon she and Elijah carried Kol up to his room after his breakdown.
She remembered Elijah helping her carrying Kol up the stairs, his feet dragging against them because of his height as they went. She remembered feeling Klaus watching her, not knowing that he was staring at her shoulder. She remembered his questions that day.
"That Mark on your shoulder," Klaus pointed out, cocking his head oddly at it. The mark was more visible with the way Maggie was leaning over Kol. "He gave it to you, didn't he?"
"I don't see how it's any of your business," Maggie snapped out thoughtlessly, not wanting the hybrid around her a moment longer. She paused and then looked over to him, "But yes, he did."
Where could she even begin to explain how that happened?
She didn't have time to decipher the odd look on Klaus either. He wasn't really looking at her, he was staring at his little brother on the bed.
"That's what he was doing last night…" Klaus murmured, drawing a chill on Maggie's skin from his tone.
"Listen, I get it," Maggie reached the end of her patience with him. "You want to kill me and quite frankly, the feeling is mutual. But whether you like it or not, you and I have one thing in common." More like one person.
"And right now I have no idea what's wrong with him, so how about we focus on what's more important here and table the murderous plans for another day?" Maggie sneered out.
Klaus' eyebrows rose momentarily at her bluntness.
She glared at him, but she remained protectively by Kol's side. She wasn't trying to threaten him. He thought about it for a moment.
When it came down to it, after all the backstabbing and betrayals, he always made sure his family was okay. Even if his version of okay was lying safely daggered in a coffin.
"No," Klaus disagreed with her in a low tone. His eyes shifted from his baby brother with a slight glaze in them to Maggie. They settled once more upon the Mark on her shoulder. He knew that symbol, he recognized it from his other brother.
"Killing you," Klaus said without really looking at Maggie for who she was, "would break him."
It wasn't a question or doubt, it was a frank statement. A statement that Maggie didn't sense had any direct hostile, except for the brutal truth in it. There was something resigned in Klaus' expression that to this day Maggie didn't quite understand.
It was that one simple statement he left her with that caused endless thoughts of doubt.
Back in the present, Maggie thought about that conversation a lot, particularly how things could have been different. She never knew how much he believed what he said. She did notice that he didn't try particularly hard to go after her again, but at the same time she knew what he was capable of. Her family had experienced it and she wasn't sure if she could excuse it. She saw that look of panic on his face when he realized what he had done the other night.
"And I think it's good to wonder," Maggie murmured to an awe silenced Caroline. The blonde didn't know where the doppelganger went mentally, but she didn't dare interrupt. Maggie would wonder if things would have ended differently the first time if Klaus knew. At the same time, she wondered if she was putting too much faith in that one statement. "Because that means you haven't given up," She said. "There's still a little hope and doubt," She explained. If you wonder, you haven't completely written that person off.
"After every awful thing he's done and everything we've been through," Maggie spoke, realizing it wasn't necessarily just about Klaus' actions, but the hardships that brought them here to this place in time. "You still believe there's a chance… No matter how small or insignificant, there's still a chance," Maggie thought that said something a lot in itself.
"There's hope," Maggie murmured the one driving force many of these people around them still hung onto. "that we can do better." It wasn't just her and her family, but every young couple that danced that night. Every Council member that made decisions for the safety of their people. Every survivor that was struggling to live to the next day, to find a reason to keep surviving.
"Hope that humanity can do better," Maggie corrected herself because it was really about all of them and not just her story. "And I'm not saying that day will come tomorrow, a century from now or even ten," She added on with a faint snort before looking to Caroline seriously. The blonde looked like she was on the verge of tears, but she was strong enough to not look away.
"But I didn't kill him because I still think there's a chance we can wake him one day and things will be different," Maggie explained. It wasn't something she had considered. Quite frankly, she thought about killing Klaus a lot, but at the end of the day, it didn't seem right because of that moment of wonder and doubt. "And if you would like," Maggie offered out to Caroline. "I could make sure you're there when that day comes."
In the slight furrow of her brow and the rapid blinks, Maggie could see that she wasn't sure why this almost stranger to her was making this offer. But she didn't question it, she didn't protest it. Maggie didn't ask her to explain what she felt. Instead, Caroline was allowed to give a short, emotion choked nod and that was all Maggie needed. It was really all that needed to be said.
"Thank you," Caroline said quietly.
[Maroon 5 – Won't Go Home Without You]
"Stop the car, 'Lijah," Kol said when they came around the corner. He saw the torch lights and the people gathered in the square. It was lively. Normally, he wouldn't guess that Maggie would be too eager to attend anything like this. However, deep down, he knew she was there. "This is good enough," The Original said impatiently.
"Kol!" Rebekah protested from the front passenger seat. Despite, his sister's objection, Elijah did slow the vehicle down.
"We haven't even made it back to the mansion!" Rebekah tried to stop Kol, but he already had the back door open before the tires even halted. "Kol!" Rebekah called out, but she didn't get an answer. Turning in her seat, all she saw was the back of his jacket before he slammed the door shut behind him.
With a huff, Rebekah looked over to Elijah, looking for some rational explanation for Kol's irrational behavior. Elijah just inclined his head in a slight shrug and raised his hands from the steering wheel. There was a fraction of a smirk on his lips as he watched his little brother, but he didn't bother explaining it to Rebekah.
Kol's eyes darted among the faces as he stepped into the crowd. The music carried over loudly from the speakers, but he doubted Maggie was on the dance floor. It just wasn't her, unless he dragged her out. Instead, he followed his gut instinct, which brought him along the edges of the tarp floor. He noticed some of the humans that startled at his arrival and parted way for him. He didn't pay them attention.
His eyes zeroed in on one of the park benches, upon which two females sat, one brunette and one bright blonde. His brisk steps slowed down as he took in the sight of them talking. His shoulders eased up and he casually stuffed his hands into his pockets. He didn't have to get all that close before her eyes lifted towards his direction. He liked to think that she sensed him coming.
She seemed surprise to see him and she bit her lower lip to stifle her facial reaction. A faint smirk greeted her and he inclined his head slightly. Maggie murmured an excusal to Caroline before rising and approaching him slowly.
"You're still here," Kol observed to his relief.
A dimple appeared on Maggie's cheek from a lopsided smirk. "I am," She agreed, knowing that he would have known the moment she tried to leave anyway. Maggie folded her arms over her chest, even though she saw Kol pull his hands out of his pockets. Those fingers were itching to reach out towards her.
"I thought maybe you would have left," Kol voiced his thoughts aloud. If things weren't so serious, Maggie would have marveled in how subdued he was. But her problems aside, he had been through a lot too, including rationalizing and laying his brother to rest in a tomb.
"I am still leaving," Maggie stated, earning a concerned and apprehensive look from Kol. "My family, we're leaving for New Orleans," She explained, giving a short nod towards the dance floor. Through the people, if she tried, she could spot Carol trying to cheer up an antisocial Daryl.
"When?" Kol asked quickly.
"Tomorrow morning," Maggie declared.
There was a moment Kol just nodded, he thought about it and then pulled a considering frown. He gave a shrug of his shoulders before saying confidently, "That's plenty of time to convince you not to go." That taunting smirk followed his words, his playful nature that Maggie couldn't stand and couldn't get enough of.
Maggie wasn't going to lie, it caused her heart to skip a beat. With that, Kol reached up his hand several hairs behind her, his fingertips brushing across his skin as he did. It caused Maggie's eyes to narrow on him and he refused to break eye contact. She had to remind herself to breath.
Maggie shook her head away from the touch. "Kol," She nearly rolled her eyes. "You can't say things like that to me," She had to keep her voice from cracking.
"Why not?" Kol challenged, the smirking disappearing, but he didn't back away from her. He didn't like the pain he felt from her and especially the way it showed in the torch lights reflecting in her eyes brighter than normal.
It took Maggie a long moment before she could voice her fears. "Because I don't think I can handle it if you're wrong," She whispered before looking back at Kol. "If something happens and you leave again," She was barely holding it together, like cracked glass waiting to shatter into pieces.
Kol's expression fell. The words stung him, because he didn't doubt that she was speaking the truth. Her gaze fell to the ground, not hearing any objections or correction from him. Silence ticked by and it made her stomach churn. She was so sick of silence and she didn't want any more of it.
Maggie stepped back and began to turn away from Kol. His fingers slipped away from her.
But he snapped out of it. "Margaret, wait," He reached out to her elbow, and he found it didn't take much to stop her. He didn't bother being shy. He stepped up to her, placing his hands on her forearms to keep her from running. He leant down to look her frankly in the eyes, lowering his voice between them.
"You're right," He blurted out. Maggie almost opened her mouth to protest, to clarify what exactly about, but he didn't give a chance. His lips fumbled over the words, she could tell he was spewing out his thoughts as best as he could as they came to him. "I panicked, I freaked," He used the modern terms rather strangely with his accent, "When I woke up… So many times, I've been daggered and I lose time. But all these memories and emotions… I didn't know what to do with them," He admitted frankly.
Maggie's feet felt a little more rooted to the ground as she cocked her head, really listening to what he was saying. There was no confident, emotionless façade, she felt she was really looking at him.
"And maybe I didn't take it very well," Kol proceeded. Maggie's eyebrows rose in a challenging manner. "Okay, I took it terribly," Kol corrected himself, shouting at her outside the old witches' house wasn't his shining moment. He had to put the smirk away before he continued seriously, "And you're right, I didn't listen and I didn't understand."
"But," Kol stressed the word and his hands moved down to takes hers, holding them tightly. "I'm here now," He whispered to her. "I should have been sooner," He realized and apologized, "and I'm sorry I wasn't." Maggie's eyes grew wide at the unsolicited apology from Kol of all people.
"Help me understand," He pleaded of her finally.
Maggie felt torn. Opening up and expressing herself had never been easy, especially to someone that had viciously snapped her neck. He wasn't the first one that begged her to help understanding what was going through her mind. In fact, she had denied the other two.
Maggie pressed her lips together, feeling the warmth of his hands and the hollowing thudding in her chest. She absently looked to the people around them, feeling Kol's eyes watching her closely each moment.
"There's still one more place I want to see before I leave," Maggie said instead before glancing back to Kol. She asked of him, "Will you come with me?"
Kol's brow furrowed at the request, but it only took him a moment to see past what it was. He gave a short nod to the chance to speak to her privately, spend some time with her alone.
"I know you want to understand," Maggie began again when it was just them. Rather than getting into a vehicle, she led Kol away from the celebration and took the streets by foot. She moved at a rather slow and leisurely pace. The truth was, she had until tomorrow morning and she was a vampire that didn't tire easily now. There was no rush and they had a long talk between them.
Kol didn't appear to hurry her either. He remained silent and walked by her side until she spoke, he matched her steps easily with his height. His eyes hardly left her and made Maggie feel even more nervous. Part of her felt silly for being nervous around him, after everything, but it was because of everything she was nervous.
"But I don't even know where to start," Maggie admitted. Things had gotten complicated and messy. She was terrible explaining ordinary things, never mind all this.
"How about you start from the beginning?" Kol suggested in a rather calm and quick tone.
Maggie's eyebrows rose at that. "You mean, everything that's happened?" That was quite a lot to cover. Kol just nodded simply. "Are you serious?" Maggie blurted out thoughtlessly.
"Why not?" Kol challenged, remaining stubborn. "I meant it, Margaret," He caressed her name gently. "I'm listening, I'm not giving up."
She didn't know if he meant he was not giving up tonight or ever. Either one caused her heart to skip to another level of fast pounding. It was what she had wanted all this time, she realized.
"Okay," Maggie gave in quietly. "Okay," She repeated when it really began to sink in. She took a moment to clear her throat and tuck her hair behind her ear. From the beginning, she thought, she was finally getting her chance.
It took a bit to start back to the point where she woke up in the boardinghouse cell. A frown appeared immediately on Kol's face at the explanation of her panic and disorientation. That frown would remain on his face through most of her words, partly pensive and partly unhappy to hear what had happened. But he didn't object and he didn't rush, he did quite literally what he said he would do; listen.
It wasn't just that he listened though. It was when Maggie explained how awful it felt to realize that he didn't remember her. That the only things she wanted was her family safe and to have him, but she had neither in that moment. When she choked on the words at that point, his hand smoothly reached out to hers at her side and took it. The action was firm and he held her tight.
She looked down at their hands briefly, but threading her fingers through his as they walked.
Eventually, they drifted off the main roads and into the woods. Kol never asked her where they were going, because frankly he was having a hard enough time listening to her. Especially when she talked about the times she nearly died in the hospital and when she was bit by the walker. While he agreed to listen to her, Maggie knew it was also a strain on him. It showed in the way his expression shifted, partly due to the emotions he could feel from her and the anxiety the whole discussion was creating. At times, he tugged at his hair and it took a few moments before he nodding, urging her to tell him more.
He always said, tell me more, after taking a deep breath.
His expressions twisted in a number of different ways. His nose would wrinkle sourly, almost like a child pouting. Under less serious circumstances, Maggie would have found it endearing and laugh. His brow would furrow harshly. His jaw would lock at times. There were points that drew a vast amount of anger, and she felt the grip on her hand tighten considerably. But he didn't take it out on her. Sometimes, it took a bit before he calmed down, but he didn't lash out at her.
There were several points that he did stop and ask her questions though, particularly when it came to the ghosts and witches. With the ghosts, he asked her to recall almost word for word what every ghost said to her, starting with Sheila Bennett in the hospital. He seemed especially keen on the discussion about the witchcraft involved. Admittedly, he was probably more knowledgeable about it than her and gave a small break from focusing solely on her.
He got particularly hung up on the specifics of Esther's spell, asking questions to the point it almost got annoying. But Maggie bit back her impatience, trying to see the point Kol was driving at and trying to understand. He was really trying and she admired that.
"So Esther," Kol refused to refer to her as his mother. "Honestly believed that linking you back to prior the bond forming would break it?" He clarified one more time.
He said this while guiding her over a fallen log in the woods. He held both hands out to assist her down when it was her turn, even though she didn't really need it. "Yep," Maggie stared down at her feet, squinting a little bit in the darkness. "At least, that's what Ayana told me," Maggie said.
Kol let out a scoff before a slew of what Maggie guessed were profanities followed in another language. It almost sounded like German to her.
"Kol?" She asked, her hand still remained in his as they kept walking through the woods.
He was shaking his head. He cleared his throat and went back to English. "A Mate's Mark cannot be removed," He declared quite firmly and quite confidently. "The bond cannot be severed. They're inseparable, no matter what spell tries to interfere." That was the whole point of it.
The way he said it so decisively caused Maggie to reply before she could think better of it, "You make it sound like you've tried."
"Well, I have," Kol responded bluntly with a sigh passing through his shoulders.
Maggie's stomach gave a nauseous turn. Her eyes became more fixated in watching where she was stepping in the darkness. She knew he had been deeply upset when he remembered everything and resented her to an extent, but she didn't know how far.
Instead of confirming that, Kol explained in a direction she wasn't expecting. "When Elijah lost his mate…" He shook his head, thinking back to that century. "It was a dark time for us all. He fell apart," Kol admitted honestly. Elijah's name caused Maggie to pick up her head and forget about her problems momentarily while Kol continued talking.
"He was downright suicidal, you have no idea," Kol said. She had no idea what it was like to pull her own sibling out of the sun, out of trying to burn themselves because it was less pain than what they were enduring already. "We tried anything. We couldn't bring her back, of course, but we had to do something. Anything to ease the pain…"
"And did you?" Maggie wondered. It was hard to think of Elijah in such rough shape, but it had been centuries since that time. He had a lot of time to put himself back together before Maggie met him.
"We tried… Eventually Nik decided to dagger him," Kol shrugged his shoulders. His eyes stared vacantly at the trees around them, guided by the moonlight filtering through the foliage. "It actually caused a bit of a spat between us, I ended up daggered next to him."
"For how long?" Maggie's voice rose with concern.
Kol's eyes rolled upwards nonchalantly a moment while he recalled, "Oh, about eight years. He woke me up when he needed help running from Mikael." It was ironic now that he thought about it. His siblings fought and bickered viciously over the centuries to the point of adversaries. But there was nothing like a death threat, particularly from their parents, to bring them back together.
"My point is…" Kol went back to the subject, not really wanting to dwell on that part of history. "Mates aren't meant to be separated. They're pairs," He stated it so simply and the logic of it really was.
Maggie's mouth fell open in a soft 'o'. "And if one dies…" She thought aloud, not really needing to finish the sentence.
Kol just gave her a pointed nod.
For a few minutes, Maggie was silent. She looked down to their hands. She tightened Kol's and in response she felt his thumb brush over her knuckles.
[Keane – Somewhere Only We Know]
They broke through the trees into a small clearing. She heard the hum of the water long before they saw it. Despite that, she was nearly grinning ear to ear at the familiar sight. It actually caused Kol to falter in his steps. She could see more of his silhouette in the darkness, there were less trees blocking out the moonlight and some of it glittered over the breaking surface of the water.
"Here?" Kol's teeth flashed in the grin, pleasant surprise in his voice. "This is where you wanted to go?"
"Yes," Maggie nodded, the grin growing into a smile.
"Why?" He had to ask. He had a pretty good feeling why, but he just wanted to hear it from her.
"Because this is where I stopped running," Maggie explained as they took a few steps closer to the river. It was where it wasn't just about surviving anymore.
"It was where I felt alive again," She looked to him specifically before glancing out towards the horizon, particularly where the water pooled after the drop off.
The third point was arguably the most important. "And it's where you let me in," She finished in almost a whisper.
The smile remained on Kol's face, but it grew a little smaller and his gaze shifted. It was the type that caused heat to rise to Maggie's face as she realized it was awe. She bit the inside of her cheek until she snapped him out of it by tugging on his hand, "Come on, there's more I want to tell you."
It was that moment she decided that what Lucy had to say didn't matter. She couldn't picture her Kol being some two thousand year old warlock responsible for the existence of vampire immortality. Kol was just Kol to her. While it was eerie to think there were other people very similar to them, very involved so long ago, Maggie decided she didn't care. Like she had said before, she was tired of being tied to their ancestors and responsible for them. This was the present and her reality, there wasn't anything that could change the way she felt right now.
Because of that, she decided to tell him everything up to the point that he remembered. They ended up sitting on the same boulder that Maggie had jumped from, next to each other, their knees nearly bumping. It was the same spot Kol told her about his previous love for Alexia. With telling him everything, it also meant talking about what happened at the hospital with Elijah. That was by far the hardest part of their talks. Everything else could be blamed on the action of witches and emotional strain that Maggie was put through. But that moment with Elijah was a moment of character weakness, a betrayal in one of the worst ways for Kol.
His hand slipped out of hers while she explained how much she felt her judgment had been clouded by the blood in her system. Her emotional state hadn't helped either. His hands went into his hair at first, tugging at it in aggravation. Then they moved down to his temples, rubbing harshly against his skin before covering his eyes at the bridge of his nose.
At first, he was silent and unresponsive. It scared her, because she wasn't sure what he would do. She hoped he wouldn't lash out like he had the first time. "Kol, please say something," Maggie begged quietly when she couldn't take it anymore.
His shoulders heaved in stiff movements before his face reappeared from his hands. "I just…" He stared absently at the waterfall below them. "I need to know," He sat up a little straighter to look at her. "I need to know. Don't try to spare my feelings, Margaret. I have to know the absolute truth," His words fierce and it caused her veins to go cold at what he was about to ask of her.
He hated himself at this point, for needing to get this out. But after everything, after Elijah trying to kiss her the first time and then hearing about this… He had to. "Is there any part of you," He began. It made him sick in his stomach just thinking about it. The tendons in his neck strained before he was able to finish the question, "Is there any part of you that loves him?"
Maggie's expression twisted with guilty at the anguish she was causing him. And she had no one to blame but herself this time. The answer though, looking at him was obvious. She didn't waste a moment thinking about. It felt right in her gut and heart.
"No," She said in a low, but confident tone.
The response was quick. Apprehension rippled through Kol. The tension in his features eased, but the fear was still in his eyes. He was still on the edge of belief.
"I do care about him," Maggie clarified. To say anything less would be a lie. She did genuinely want Elijah to be happy, but it couldn't be with her and she didn't want it to be. Now that she saw it in a clearer mind, she understood. "But I don't love him," She didn't care for him in the way that Kol feared.
"And even if I did," Maggie confessed honestly. "It wouldn't be enough," She reached out to his lap to reclaim the hand that had clung to hers up to this point. "Because he wouldn't be you," It didn't matter what he. She doubted she would feel the way with anyone else, certainly not with this bond.
The fear eased out of Kol's eyes as he searched Maggie's, looking for an inkling of doubt in her words and conviction. She didn't count how much time passed before he found none. His hand curled around hers and his other clasped over top of them. The warmth was relieving compared to the chilling breeze at the top of the waterfall where their feet dangled off the edge. Kol raised her hand to his mouth, exposing her knuckles before pressing his lips against them. Maggie's heart broke at the way he squeezed his eyes shut so tightly. She felt the relieved sigh that passed through him, his ragged breath falling against her hand.
Her behavior wasn't forgivable and he wasn't really the forgiving type, but Maggie thought that gesture was about as close as it got.
He was silent several minutes while he held her hand against his mouth. She could feel the tension easing out of him and she had to fight the urge to pull him into her arms. When he was finally calm enough, he simply murmured against her flesh, "Tell me more."
His eyes were downcast when it came to the circumstances of her death. She didn't need to get into terrible detail with what happened there, but the emotion was still there. Maggie noticed how quiet and reserved Kol became during that time and she understood it was out of guilt. She had her suspicions he felt guilty about the way everything went down when she woke up the next morning and she flinched away from him. She even wondered her if he shouted at her out of guilt outside the Greene House. But at the time, she wasn't ready to accept his guilt.
It wasn't the case this time as she watched how worn down he was becoming. She knew she probably didn't look any better. If it was possible, he seemed tired and raw, but yet he still urged her to tell him more.
And so she did, including what happened when their marks reappeared. She told him about calling Elijah and how difficult the bloodlust was. Kol's head picked up when she told him about retrieving his body and the things she had to think about in order to be able to do it. She told him about going back to the mansion, the confrontation with Rebekah. Kol nodded as the story started to become more familiar with him. He asked her what happened after she snapped his neck. Maggie noticed he didn't seem particularly upset she had done so.
"Do you think he meant it?" Maggie wondered, after telling Kol about what Klaus said to her.
Kol placed his other hand over atop hers as he thought about it. "Perhaps," He murmured finally. However, he also thought of all the times that Klaus manipulated his words to go back on them. "But I have too much to risk to chance finding out," Kol decided firmly.
Maggie took a shallow inhale at the way he looked at her when he said that. She wanted to believe he only meant her. Tonight she felt like there was a hope that things might work out between them.
"Kol…" She said his name gently. "I'm so sorry," She gave sincerely. "For the things I've done…" She wanted to take them, especially her agreement with Mikael and what she did with Elijah. "All I wanted was my family to be safe… And you."
Kol nodded faintly. Her apology and explanation didn't make the actions go away or make them okay, but he could understand them a little better now. He looked away from her face down to their hands, entwined atop each other in a complicated bundle.
"All this time," He murmured his thoughts aloud. "My emotions were back because of this…" He had felt like there was something wrong with him. An invalid, broken and unable to control most of his desires.
"I didn't know," Maggie replied quietly. If she had known that first day, she would have fought a little differently for them.
Kol inhaled deeply and he shifted in his shoulders in a way she wasn't sure if it was relieving or determined. He looked her in the eyes, more assured of himself than he spent most of the evening. "Do you have any idea how insanely infuriating it is," He posed the rhetorical question to her, his mind made up. "To spend every moment with someone, not knowing why I was feeling the way I felt, but knowing I was falling in love with you and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop it."
The mention of love caused Maggie's heart to pound in a way that felt like it was reverberating through her chest. But she stilled, because she also heard the frustration that oozed through his voice and the way he spoke in the past tense. She faltered under his gaze and had to look away from him.
But that wasn't all he had to say and he leant closer to her, to make sure she heard him very clearly when he finished, "Just to find out that I've done it before."
Maggie's head whipped back to him quickly. "What?" She gasped. Was he saying the past tense wasn't actually the past?
Her wide-eyed expression caused a smirk to pull up on Kol's lips. "Margaret," He said before she could interrupt. He wanted to make himself very clear. He pulled one hand back from theirs so he could tuck some of the hair away from her eyes and behind her ear. He took in the emerald shade of her eyes, which were so dark in the starry night. Many hours had slipped by during their talk, the celebration was probably long over, but he didn't care. He noted the faint suggestion of freckles on her skin and the slight chap to her lips from talking for so long.
"I love you," He confessed what he never came out and said in the other timeline. "I loved you then," He watched the smile that formed on Maggie's face as he spoke more. "And I love you now." While things were different this time around, that was the one fundamental truth that hadn't changed. It drove him crazy to develop such feelings, especially while she was human, but it made sense in a twisted way.
Maggie opened her mouth at first, but then decided that words weren't enough. She pulled her hands back from his so she could reach up to him. She leant up and caught his lips swiftly with her own. They were soft and warm compared to the crisp air, but drew a chill from her for a different reason. Kol didn't hesitate for a moment before kissing her back. The first few moments were hurried before he familiarized himself to the feel of her. Her fingers slide through the hair at the back of his neck.
One arm slid around her lower back, pulling her closer into his side and the other caught her knee. She felt him tilt to his head to the side, wanting to deepen the kiss. She wanted to shift herself to face him properly, but she was also reminded of the fact there was nothing supporting her feet.
Maggie eased back from the kiss, but lingered close to him, her nose nearly brushing against his. "Kol," She whispered, it felt so damn good to say his name and see the smile in his eyes in response. "Can we go home now?" She didn't care where that place was, but she wanted it to be with him because she was home with him.
The smile in his eyes picked up on his lips. She saw it for a moment before there was a blur of motion and she let out an 'Omph' noise. Next thing she knew she wasn't sitting on the boulder, but her arms were still around his shoulders. He had her by her lower back and the back of her knees gathered against his chest.
"Hold on, darling," He teased her, before blurring out of the clearing by the waterfall, carrying her in the way she hated.
[Justin Timberlake – Mirrors]
"Kol! Would you put me down already?!" Maggie's voice came from the other side of the apartment door while the Original clicked the lock.
"Nuh uh, not yet," He taunted her before kicking the door open with his feet. He carried her bridal style across the threshold of Alaric's old apartment. It was quiet and most of the furniture was untouched in the arrangement he didn't really care for. No noise came from the appliances in the kitchen because Maggie had cleaned them out and unplugged them in preparation for leaving Mystic Falls. But it was still a quiet sanctuary that had once been theirs.
Maggie could have put up more of a fight, but she didn't bother. She was looking at him incredulously, in a way that was torn between wanting to smack him and wanting to kiss him. He kicked the door closed behind them before taking confident strides towards the bedroom area.
"There," Kol decided, stopping at the foot of the bed. "Right about here," He smirked at her as he set her down on the edge of the bed. Her feet dangled off the edge and his hands lingered on her hips. She shook her head at him.
"You're just…" She spewed at him, her nose wrinkling as she tried to think of the right immature insult. "So…"
"I'm so what?" Kol challenged, raising his eyebrows at her playfully.
Rather than answer him, Maggie reached up and framed his face with her hands on his cheeks. She pulled him down for another kiss. It was tender and long. It caused her toes to curl at the way he caressed her lower lip between his own. Her fingers trailed along his jawline, feeling the faint stubble and warmth from the touch. He stepped up into the space between her knees at the end of the bed.
It was while Maggie tasted him on her tongue that her hands moved down to his shoulders, slowly pushing the fabric of his jacket off and away. He got the hint, pulling one back at a time before shedding the sleeves. The jacket fell to the ground with a thud.
"Kol," She sighed out his name when his lips moved down to her neck. Her hands ran over the fabric of the shirt he had under his jacket, feeling the tension in his muscles along his back and sides as he leant over her.
She gasped loudly when he nipped at a sensitive spot of her neck. His hands pushed up at the hem of her tank top, seeking out the warmth of her flesh. Her fingertips looped through the belt line of his jeans while she tilted her head to the side for him. She felt his feet adjusting, kicking off his shoes before she fumbled with kicking off her own.
His mouth moved away from her collarbone to look at her and kiss her lips. "I love you," She mouthed before returning the gesture, her breath mixing in with his. Soon, her back was hitting the comforter of the bed as they shifted back. He hovered after tossing his shirt over his head and aside into the room. Compared to their previous time, this time he wasn't in a hurry. Kol took his time in listening to the soft noises he could elicit from her when his hands ran along her body, particularly squeezing her breast. He took in the way her cheeks began to flush and her mouth remained parted, always eager to taste him.
His lips were on her collarbone, moving down between her breasts when he stopped. Her chest was beginning to rise and fall quickly. At first, Maggie thought he was teasing her, but he froze, hovering over her. He lifted his head slowly, there was a frown etched deeply in his expression and Maggie realized something else was wrong. Her legs shifted impatiently underneath him, her thighs tucked around his waist.
"Kol?" She urged, feeling the dark sensations starting to ooze into him through the mark on his chest.
"I just…" He squeezed his eyes shut again, trying to block the demons out of his mind. "I'm sorry," He apologized again, and it really started to alarm Maggie. For someone who was so adverse to apologizing for his behavior, he was doing a lot for one night. She understood why when he said, "That night… What I did to you…"
He didn't know and he nearly really killed her. He knew he was so close to actually killing her.
"Kol," She stopped him, her voice was firm and assertive. "Look at me."
Honey eyes reluctantly followed her request. She moved her hands from his shoulder blades back to his cheeks, making sure he didn't falter and he saw how confident she was. "It's okay," She said. It wasn't okay what he had done, but she decided that it was okay. That was the decision she was making.
"I forgive you," She whispered. She could make that decision because she loved him. She could forgive him because that's what people who love each other do.
"But –" Maggie's fingers moved over Kol's lips to silence any further protest.
"I forgive you, Kol," She repeated meaningfully. She didn't need to say what exactly she forgave him for, just like she didn't need to hear what exactly he was feeling guilty about. It didn't matter, she decided, and slowly she could see him understand that.
His throat rolled through a thick swallow before he nodded faintly against her fingertips. Maggie moved them away from his mouth then to let him speak. He didn't know what else to say other than to whisper, "I love you."
She smiled at him, broadly and lighter of any previous burdens she had been carrying. "Show me," She urged him. He smirked briefly before leaning down to kiss her firmly, fully intending on carrying out that request to the full extent.
The late hours blurred together as it became a slow burn. First, it was the careful match of removing the fabrics of clothing between them. Then it was the burn of feeling his flesh against hers, the warmth and tingling of sensations that it brought. She felt the quiver he gave when her hand brushed over his mark, feeling the grooves of the scarring and becoming familiar with them again. Maggie gasped at the way he teased her flesh with his teeth and his hands grasped under her thighs, pulling her hips up against his.
Maggie let out a panting cry when she felt herself stretching around him as he eased into her. He watched her, how she responded to him before leaning into her, kissing just below her ear. Her moans followed afterwards, from the gentle and slow way he rolled his hips into her. Her fingertips dung into his shoulders as he leant on his elbows around her. She trailed her lips along his neck, burying her face into the crook of his neck.
Between the scent of his natural husk, the faintly salty taste on her lips and the shivers running rampant through her body, she felt the burn in her throat. While she felt alive and human in that moment, there was no denying the nature of what she was. Before she really thought better of it, the fangs slipped out and she sank them down into his neck.
Kol let out a surprising grunt and he froze momentarily before he recovered. Maggie moaned and some blood slipped at the corner of her mouth as she took in the first gulps before Kol grounded his hips into her harder. His hand moved up her neck and into her hair before giving it a firm tug, a reminder.
Maggie's lips broke away from his neck with a gasp, coming up for air. Red was stained on them and down the corner to her chin. Kol leant back to look at her, to see the darkness of her eyes, clouded by red and black, and the veins that moved around them.
Without a word, Kol pulled her hand off his shoulder and held her wrist exposed in the air. He didn't take his eyes off her, watching her reaction as the veins began to move around his eyes and the whites of his eyes disappeared. Her mouth parted open while she panted and saw his fangs before he sank them down into her wrist. Her fingers flexed at the stinging pain of the sensation before it went away. Her arm tingled, almost numb, from the feeling of blood being away.
Drinking from her helped cure her venom, but it was also more than that. It was about having a taste of his mate. This woman was his and she belonged to him, even after he pulled his lips away from her wrist. There was a brief moment they stared back at each other in awed silence before there was a blur of motions. Kol ended up on his back with a grunt and Maggie straddled over him. She wasn't normally one for giving into her animalistic nature, but looking down at him sprawled underneath her and the mark on his chest, it beckoned her. She licked the blood away from her lips and decided staring at that mark, she wanted to mark him again tonight. Maybe it sounded strange, but she wanted to make him hers again.
It was a gesture Kol wasn't shy about returning either later that night, when Maggie was on her side and he was thrusting into her from behind. She was moaning from the sensation of him around her, particularly the hand that held the front of her to him at the apex of her thighs, spurring it on further. But she gave a loud cry out when he choose then to bite down into her shoulder.
The following morning, Maggie was face down in a pillow on her stomach. She stirred, feeling movement around in the bed she collapsed in afterwards. The covers were gathered around her loosely. The movement startled her though, because she knew it wasn't coming from her.
"Kol?" She called out in a bleary tone, squinting and struggling to open her eyes. It seemed so much brighter now that the sunlight was coming through the curtains.
"Right here, darling," He answered her, the weight on the bed shifting closer to her as he slid back under the covers. Maggie lifted her head towards him, her hair sticking out in all sorts of directions from the sheets and being tugged on.
"What were you doing?" She mumbled while she shifted closer to him. Her arm went across his chest, seeking out his warmth and comfort.
"Nothing, I just had to make a few phone calls," He whispered gently to her, smirking at her tiredness. She never was much of a morning person. She just nodded numbly, seeming to be satisfied with that response before laying her cheek against his chest.
She relaxed against him and he thought she was going to nod back off to sleep. Propping his head up behind one arm, his other hand stroked down lightly along her arm, probably keeping her awake, with a lazy grin.
"Wait," She muttered suddenly. Her eyes snapped open. She was lying in a nice, warm and cozy bed in the morning sunlight. The morning.
Kol narrowly ducked his chin from getting bumped by her head picking up off his chest abruptly. "What time is it?" She asked of him, those emerald eyes suddenly alert and wide.
"A little after ten o'clock," He answered her calmly.
"Shit," Maggie muttered. "I'm supposed to be with my family," She explained shortly and started to sit up, to scramble to get out of bed.
"Whoa, relax darling," Kol stopped her by reaching out to grab her upper arm. Her head whipped back to him in confusion. "I already radioed them."
"You did?" Maggie froze dubiously. He didn't really look like he had been off talking to anyone, lying in bed only in his boxers. Granted, it was more than what she could say.
Kol smirked, as if he knew a secret no one else did. "Yes, I told them you were a little preoccupied," Maggie shot him a scowl at the innuendo. "And we would be ready at the mansion at noon."
"Oh," Maggie sagged back against the mattress. That was still two hours away, so she didn't have to panic as much as she thought she did. "Wait, what do you mean we?" She asked suspiciously, suddenly getting caught up on his word.
That smirk remained very broad on his face before he answered her, "Last night, I decided…" He drew the words out slowly and tauntingly. His hand moved up along her arm, to her collarbone, taking in the sight of her naked beauty leaning over him. "If I couldn't convince you to stay in Mystic Falls," His eyes moved back up to hers, "Then I would have to go with you."
Maggie was surprised. She never once considered asking him to leave his hometown. For all the things that happened in Mystic Falls, this was still where he was born. He had more history here than he had with her. "Really?" She couldn't hide the smile it brought her though.
Kol nodded, grinning at first, but then his expression changed as if he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, but I probably should tell you," He drawled out. "When I told Elijah and Bekah, they decided to come too." He knew that they wanted to check in on a particular street rat they had left in charge of New Orleans. More importantly, they wanted to get away from Mystic Falls for a while after everything that just happened.
Maggie's eyebrows just about disappeared into her hairline. "You mean, my family… and your family," She repeated in disbelief. "Are both going to New Orleans?" It was hard to picture Elijah packing into the car next to Daryl and Carl. Talk about extreme differences.
Kol gave a shrug of his shoulders, playfully replying, "It should be an interesting road trip."
Maggie shook her head, "Uh, yeah…" Her voice trailed. As much as her was surprised at the turn events were taking, she was thrilled. She wasn't going to have to say goodbye to Kol, because she honestly had no idea she would have done it, even if they hadn't started to make up last night.
"We should probably go," Maggie realized. It was two hours away, which wasn't a lot of time if they had to factor in another family going with them. Especially a family of vampires that would need blood bags and all the other things that needed to be prepared.
"We don't have to," Kol whined with a pout on his lips as Maggie started to climb out of bed. His siblings were adults, they could take care of themselves.
"Kol, they probably need help packing," She reminded him, while she bent over looking for her clothes strewed across the room. How does one even go about packing up a mansion that Original vampires lived in?
Rather than answer her, Kol tucked his other hand behind his head too and watched her put her underwear on. She could feel his eyes on her while she shimmed into her jeans. She paused when she found her tank top, which had been ripped open. She vaguely recalled Kol doing that last night. She shook her head and decided to take his shirt instead.
"Come on, Kol," She urged him, after pulling his shirt over his head. He still hadn't moved an inch, just grinning lazily at her.
"I'd rather just stay here and enjoy the view," He replied cheekily.
[Train – Marry Me]
Maggie shook her head at him and bent over to grab his jeans. She fully intended on throwing them at him. But she stopped when she felt something in them.
The smirk on Kol's face was wiped off in an instant when he saw her reaching into the pockets. He blurred out of the bed, but it was too late. He stopped next to her. The teasing and lightheartedness in her expression was gone as she stared down at what she found. Her mouth hung open with shock and confusion, maybe even a little fear.
She knew what it was. She recognized the glint in the sunlight and the cut of the stone. She even recognized the slight fade in the metal. It needed a professional cleaning, but it was still beautiful. "Kol," She found her voice again, full of uncertainty. She looked up to him. He appeared like someone who had been caught red handed.
"What is my mother's ring doing in your pocket?" She wondered. She had to know what this was doing there.
Kol swallowed thickly. He hadn't really expected to show it to her any time soon and definitely not like this. "That's… where it was the night you died," He admitted. It had been right there in his pocket, so close. Rebekah had caught him considering it in the kitchen that afternoon. She had been so close.
Maggie's expression was frozen as she held the ring in the air. He couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"I had promised," He choked on the words at first, trying not to get too caught up in the past. But honestly, it was hard not to. "Your father that when the time was right… I would ask you properly," He said. Properly certainly wasn't watching his mate get staked in his living room by his half-brother or standing half naked in front of her now after their bizarre journey.
Maggie tried not to think, because if she did, she would break down. She didn't want to think about the fact Kol had honestly been thinking about proposing to her. After how much she pushed him to admit his feelings and everything that led to becoming his mate, she couldn't think about the fact he also wanted to marry her.
"And how," Maggie had to ask. It was easier to think of that other possibility being in the past, but she was standing here today with the ring in her hand still. "Did you get it again?" Her voice shook.
"I asked your father," Kol admitted gently. "And I made him the same promise."
The jeans Maggie was holding onto fell to the floor. She covered her mouth while staring down at the ring. Her fingers shook, grasping the delicate stone.
"I'm not asking you to marry me today," Kol tried to coax her to look up at him, but she only listened. After everything, she was still a young woman, hearing for the first time a young man had asked her father for her hand in marriage. Not once, but twice.
"I don't know when the right time will come," Kol confessed. It was ironic now that he had promised he would ask her when it was right. How the hell was he supposed to know it was right? After their experienced, he figured out that it could come and pass before he even knew it. But he would still try his best. "I know we still have a lot to figure out," He admitted. "With our relationship to our families," It would certainly take some time and explaining for that. "With discovering each other and who we are. Who we are," He repeated, it was about them as individuals and them together.
She was silent, just staring down at that ring. He couldn't for the life of him figure out what she was thinking. Maybe she would bolt? The emotions he sensed off of her were all over the place – a disjointed mess.
"Margaret," He urged gently, "Breathe." He reminded her, noticing how still she was. She would pass out at this rate.
She nodded, stirring and doing as he said. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself as best as she could. "Yes," She blurted out.
"Pardon?" Kol narrowed his eyes on her in confusion. Yes what?
She looked up at him. Instead of insecurity and doubt, there was a surprising level of confidence in her eyes. "Ask me now," She requested. It was impulsive, but she just knew.
It was Kol's turn to give her a dazed look with his mouth hanging open.
"You're right," Maggie admitted. "We are a little messed up," Even though she said it, she was smiling. "And it is going to take some time to figure things out. To figure out how to get our families to understand. To recover from this and move forward. To find out who we really are," Maggie continued, thinking there was still so much about Kol she didn't know, but she looked forward to it.
And that was the beauty of the bond, she realized. It wasn't a matter of if they would work things out, but when they would work it out. Because while she felt it in her soul, the bond proved undeniably that she would never work it out with anyone but him. It would be Kol at the end of the day and everything else was only a matter of time, which they had a lot more of now.
"We need time to learn who we are, to find out who we are together. It won't be easy, but it will happen. And I want to do all of those things with you, Kol," Maggie confessed, despite herself the tears started to well in her eyes.
As Maggie spoke, Kol's expression sobered up. He closed his mouth and a gentle grin appeared in its place. It lacked any over the overconfidence or condescending looks he normally gave to other people. It was as content as the broad smile Maggie gave him.
"But I would rather do all of those things with my husband," Maggie said the word aloud for the first time, making it a real possibility that Kol and her husband could be the same thing. The way he looked at her didn't cause an ounce of doubt.
"So ask me now," She requested softly.
Just when he thought nothing could surprise him, she awed him with another. His lips quivered as the emotions passed through him. Surprise into acceptance and reality, which afterwards came excitement and happiness. He stepped up closer to her. His hands found the strength to reach out to her hands, gently plucking the ring from them.
"Margaret, you are the most infuriating and beautiful woman that has ever haunted me," Kol said honestly. A short laugh escaped from Maggie as she smiled up at him. The first tear slipped out of the corner of her eye. Her hair was a mess. Her lips were chapped and swollen from kissing him so much the previous night. But those eyes never seemed brighter.
"The worst mistake I ever made," Kol teased her just a little bit more. Her nose wrinkled slightly at him, before he said, "That I look forward to making again and again." The wrinkle in her nose eased up and she held her mouth over hand as he began to sink down to one knee. He held onto her other hand with the ring still before him.
"I love you," He declared simply. He didn't need to fluff the statement up more than it was. It showed in his eyes and the way he worshipped her the night before. It promised how he would worship her as his wife every night after. He held the ring out, "Will you marry me?"
Maggie could have been cruel and hesitated. But she was already nodding and answered him, "Yes."
Kol smiled broadly, letting that simple word sink in before he looked down and carefully slid the ring on her finger. It glided smoothly over her knuckle before settling right where it belong. He rose up from his knee. Her hands went to his cheeks and she rolled up on her toes to kiss him. They were a few short pecks, partly because Maggie was so excited she could barely stand still before they settled on a long and tender kiss. Her arms looped around his neck and his moved around her waist.
She tilted her head to the side and her hands began to wander down. The direct skin spurred him on and his hands slipped under the baggy shirt on her frame, pulling her body flush against his. He couldn't help but break the kiss to tease her, "I thought we were going to help my siblings pack?" He quirked an eyebrow at her.
"They can wait," Maggie muttered quickly. She leant up to whisper against his lips, "I've got to make love to my fiancé."
Author's Note:
What do you think? I know jumping to the engagement but seem a little quick, but it can be a long engagement, and I hope the logic/reasoning behind Maggie saying yes makes sense. Let me know what you think of the Kolie make up and all that jazz!
There will be one more short chapter which is the epilogue (of the wedding, of course)!
Oh and the Clair De Lune song choice isn't because I like Twilight. It's because I first heard that song in the closing scene in Ocean's Eleven and I always wanted to use it one of the closing scenes to one of my stories since then.
Please leave a review!
Review responses –
Songtoyou: I'm glad you loved it! Yes, we will be seeing much more of the Lucy/Silas/Magdalene story in Emerald Rage. In fact, it'll mostly be my variation of the search for the Cure from TVD for that storyline. But I can guarantee I'll be mixing things up in a way you won't be expecting. The interesting thing with IRR is we see a little bit of Lucy's take on the backstory, in which Maggie sympathizes with her more, but also keep in mind how Lucy might be skewing the truth. Did we hear the whole story?
Darkangel: Thank you! I appreciate it.
Nynaeve55: I love that you picked up on some of those smaller details! Yes, I did like making the comparison of Tyler to being the "Original Hybrid" because that was one thing I noticed on the show lately, how they made the connection with Tyler becoming more and more like Klaus so I thought it would be fitting in IRR.
And with this chapter, we see Kol and Maggie start to work through their problems. They addressed some of the major issues, but it's important because it's still a work in progress. There are still things they have to talk about, like especially what Maggie went through after her transition. I didn't want to leave it as a happily ever after ending because it wouldn't be real. No story really has any perfect closure to it, so their story will always be ongoing.
This story was really about character growth for Maggie and Kol. Maggie especially being thrown into an extreme situation and finding out that she cannot control everything. Kol opening up and being more patient and expressive. So this story was fun to write to just have the characters develop in a different way than they would have in Irish Rose. It was also a chance to introduce the doppelganger storyline that would be the center of Emerald Rage. We haven't seen the end of Lucy. In Emerald Rage, we will find out just what exactly she did to Silas and Magdalene, how she can see ghosts on the Other Side, and what will happen to Kol and Maggie in the race for the Cure.
Lucy is one of my favorite characters to write because I don't think the show developed her enough. I can't imagine after 2,000 years a scorned woman would still be hung up on a bad romance. So I really made it about her strength as an individual who feels the need to prove to the world that she is independent and she does so in a very twisted way.