Hi. Sorry for the long wait. Copying and posting the story suddenly seemed like a chore and I didn't really feel the motivation to do it. I kept telling myself to, but it was hard.
Anyway, I'm back now and guess what? I just got my first vaccine dose two days ago. I feel alright and less scared now, but I can't wait until the pandemic is over and life can go back to normal.
I hope everyone is staying safe, and to those going back to school, have a good school year.
Enjoy this chapter.
"Hey, O." Bellamy greets as he steps into the house, Clarke and Hope at his heels.
"Bell!" She leaves her colouring book on the table and rushes to him. Without missing a beat, he catches her in his arms and spins her around, letting her giggles echo throughout the entire house.
The girls by the door simply smile in amusement as they make their way towards the coffee table to put down their bags. They are just starting to pull out their homework as Bellamy rushes by with Octavia on his back, depositing her at her spot at the table.
"Who are we supposed to learn about today, O?" He asks her, getting out his own books.
"Mmm. Becca and Alie Praimheda, the co-founders of Arkadia." She quickly replies, earning a smile from her big brother. "But isn't Hope supposed to teach me math first?"
"Well, Lincoln's coming over later so Bellamy can tutor him." Clarke answers the girl. "So just for today, Bellamy will teach you first, ok?"
Octavia just nods and the group gets started on their work; Bellamy explaining to Octavia how Becca and Alie Praimheda, twin sisters, brought the whole country together after the Fire War, Clarke memorizing the first 20 elements of the periodic table, and Hope writing an essay on a random topic she drew from a hat.
The group was so immersed in their work that they barely noticed when the doorbell rang.
"Go get started on Science with Clarke, O." Bellamy nudges his sister towards said girl before heading to the door. Nodding, she pulls out her science book from the shelf under the coffee table.
"Hi Lincoln." He welcomes the boy in. "There's some space at the table beside Hope, so you can sit there. Do you want anything to drink?"
"No thanks." The pair walk into the living room.
"So, what subject do you need help in?"
"Well, I was hoping you could teach me how to solve some word problems in math-" Lincoln was cut off by the sound of laughter from the three girls sitting at the table.
"Bellamy teaching you maths?" Clarke laughs. "I think it'll be more like you teaching him."
"Yeah, he's shit at maths." Hope says before clapping her hand over her mouth.
"That's you on dishes today, Hope." Octavia teases, high-fiving Clarke before going back to her homework.
"Ok, so not maths then?" Lincoln shrugs sheepishly at an embarrassed Bellamy. "I also need help with-"
"Ask him for help with the Art History project." Hope cuts in. "He's a total History nerd. Just don't expect him to draw anything."
"I do need some help with that." Lincoln smiles and Bellamy nods.
"O, can we use some of your art supplies?"
Octavia hums, not really paying attention as she tries to arrange the planets in their orbit.
"Thanks, O." Bellamy goes to the crafts section of their little study area and pulls out some craft material; cardstock, markers, glue, colour pencils and coloured paper.
"So who are you doing the project on?"
"Ok Octavia, I think you're done for the day." Hope tells her sister as the younger finishes her addition worksheet.
"Yay." She jumps up from the table, barely remembering to keep her things, before racing off to find her mother.
The few weeks of physiotherapy at home had been good for her, and she was now able to walk down the steps without so much as a wobble, and could walk almost the entire length of the house without needing to stop. Everyone was really proud of how far the little girl had come.
Even so, nothing could stop mama bear Diyoza from appearing.
"Octavia, slow down or you're going to fall." They can hear the woman call out as she appears behind the girl not five minutes later, the younger dragging her into the kitchen.
"Mama. Can I have some hot cocoa, please?" Octavia begs with a pout on her face. "I was a good girl today."
Diyoza nods, not one to deny her daughters' requests, and pulls out a packet of premix.
"No, mama. Not that one." She shakes her head in disapproval. "The one from the big can."
Diyoza looks at her confused. "What can, little Pocahontas?"
"The one in the cupboard. It was... umm..." Octavia pauses for a while, trying to remember where Bellamy had taken it from. "I can't remember, but Bellamy knows."
Hearing his name, he starts to realise his mistake. They might share the same mom, but the woman she calls mom, isn't the same one he did. So when he said it was their mom's special hot cocoa, he meant it as their mom by blood and not Diyoza.
Excusing himself from the table, he heads into the kitchen to take control of the situation he inadvertently created.
"Hey, O. How about you go read a book while I remind mom where the hot cocoa is kept?" He asks her, nudging her back into the living room, before explaining his little slip up to Diyoza.
Octavia, meanwhile, decides to walk around the table, observing everyone else's work. "What are all those colours for? H. Li. Na. K. Who put random letters on this thing? Don't they know things need to be in alphabetical order?"
Clarke has to hold in a laugh. She had just voiced out the same questions her class had when they were given their own copies of the periodic table to memorise.
"Whoever did it is silly. Right, O?" Clarke grins as she looks over the periodic table once again.
"Yep, they need to go back to kindergarten to learn their ABCs." Octavia announces just as Clarke pats her head and pushes her towards Hope, thankful for the short reprieve but also needing to focus on memorising it for her test next week.
"The girls were dressed in ele... el... egle... lan... agen..." She tries reading off Hopes paper, stumbling over the words before giving up.
"Elegant, Taev." Hope tells her. "It means to look really fancy and polite."
"Elegant?" She tries, and Hope nods. "Too difficult. Why must they make words so big?" She walks over to Lincoln as he colours in a picture.
"Pretty." She comments, earning a smile from the boy.
"I could teach you how to draw it if you like." Lincoln offers, and she immediately accepts.
Taking a seat beside him, she grabs a pencil. Lincoln on the other hand, grabs a piece of paper and begins tracing a shape onto it. Then, he takes her hand and guides her along the shape.
"Backward B..." He recites as they draw the first half of the butterfly. "Forward B... Add a V... 1. 2. 3."
"Now can you try it on your own?" He lets her hand go as she nods, eager to try.
"Backward B... Forward B... Add a V... Umm." She stops for a second, trying to remember the next step, before checking the earlier drawing. "Oh! 1. 2. 3."
"Wow, Octavia. That's a beautiful butterfly." Diyoza praises as she hands the girl her hot cocoa. "How about you colour it in, then we can put it on the fridge?"
She nods enthusiastically, nearly forgetting to put the cup down in her rush to obtain her colour pencils. When she's done, she proudly hands it over to her mama who pins it onto the fridge.
"Thanks for your help, Lincoln." She gives him a hug before rushing off to find a toy to play with.
If she had turned around, she would have seen the knowing looks passing between the two girls, a boy blushing bashfully while the other glared at him, and a mother who's not sure to awe or be frightened by the thought of someone already feeling affectionate towards her young daughter.
~~Two days later~~
"You sure you don't want me to tag along, little Pocahontas?" Diyoza asks her daughter for the hundredth time that day. "I don't have anything to do right now, and I'd love to take you there."
"I'm sure, mama." Octavia giggles as her mother ties off the braid with a red ribbon. "Hope, Bell and Clarke are coming with me, and we'll be fine."
"Ok, but remember to listen them and when they say it's time to come home, it's time to come home." Diyoza reminds the girl sternly. "And don't forget to look left and right before crossing the street-"
"And don't let go of Hope, Bell or Clarke." Octavia recites, cutting her off. "Mama, I know. You've been telling me the same thing for the past few days."
"Less cheek, young lady." Diyoza pokes her squishy little cheek. "And you know I just want you to be safe, little Pocahontas."
"I know." The little girl gives her mother a hug as she whispers in her ear. "I love you, mama."
"I love you too, my little warrior." She whispers back. "Now go have fun. Your friends are at the park too, ok? Don't be shy. Go mingle with them."
"Yes ma'am." She salutes the woman before rushing towards the door where her siblings were waiting. In her eagerness to get to the park, she completely misses the look of warning passed between the mother and her three companions.
It's a short walk - much shorter than the walk from their own house, Hope notes - and the group watches as Octavia takes in her surroundings after being cooped up in the house for over a month. They had wanted to bring her out earlier, but were too afraid of her running around and getting injured. They also weren't sure how she'd react to meeting people she didn't remember.
In the end, they chose to arrange a little play date with some of her closest friends from school, once she was feeling better.
After the accident, their parents had called regularly to check up on the girl, having seen the accident first-hand, and to tell the children how their friend was doing.
Upon learning of her amnesia, they collectively decided the truth would be a little much for a girl who had just woken up from a coma with no memories, so they told their children not to tell her of it.
Now, the few of them have planned a sort of play date so Octavia could refamiliarise herself with her friends, and so that returning to school on Monday wouldn't be too scary for her. And also so that she wouldn't be alone.
The group crosses the street to the park, finding a group of parents and their kids waiting in front of the play area.
"Octavia!" A boy with olive skin and dark wavy hair comes running up to her, pulling her into a hug. "I'm so glad you're ok. We all saw-"
"Ilian!" A girl with fair skin and dirty blond hair nudges the boy, cutting him off before he could say anything he wasn't supposed to.
"I mean, we heard you fell out of a tree and got hurt really bad. How's your head? Do you remember me?" He pokes the scar at her temple, trying to see if she would wince.
"Excuse my twin brother over here." The girl from earlier pushes his hand away. "He has absolutely no manners. I, on the other hand, do."
"Hi, I'm Niylah." She extends her hand for the other girl to shake. "It's great to see you again after so long, Taev. We've missed you at school."
"Yea, recess isn't as fun without you." Another boy approaches them. His short hair is brushed back and neat, a complete contrast from Ilian. "Hi, Octavia. I'm Artigas."
"Hi." Octavia says unsurely, looking around at her supposed friends.
"Want to go play on the jungle gym?" Niylah asks her, already leading her towards the play area. "That used to be your favourite."
Octavia's face lights up at that, she had been eyeing it on the way here and really wanted to try it. Turning to Bellamy for permission, she's off running the second he nods his head.
They watch as she nears the jungle gym before seemingly freezing in place.
"Octavia?" Hope is the first one to her, trying to get her to respond. "Octavia, you ok?"
Bellamy's soon beside her, and follows her line of sight... to the site of the accident.
Fear fills his entire being. Is she remembering something? Are her memories returning? Does she remember him leaving her?
"Hey, Octavia." Clarke shakes her lightly, breaking her out of her stupor. "Are you ok?"
Her friends stand off to the side. Watching them warily, unsure whether to approach the girl or stay away.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Octavia shakes her head, trying to clear the fog from her mind. "I just thought... Something felt a little funny... It was like there's... I don't know."
She shrugs, turning to her friends. "Sorry. I don't know what happened." Her sheepish smile turns genuine as Ilian throws an arm around her shoulders.
"It's fine. Niylah forgets stuff all the time." Ilian begins. "Like this one time she was supposed to..."
The atypical family and the other parents watch their kids as they find their rhythm once again. Soon enough, the kids are laughing, playing and joking around as if the past few months had been nothing but a dream.
They can even see them pushing each other around, running and chasing after her in a game of tag, or at least what they think is a version of tag they've invented, making use of the sticks lying haphazardly on the playground, and thrusting them around as sabers and swords.
Overall, they're overjoyed to see their kids happy and playing with their best friend once again. And the pair of teenagers and a kid, that their sibling is running around, her cheeks painted a healthy blush as she shouts over the chatter of the playground.
The day couldn't have gone any better, and they hope nothing bad will ever happen to her again.
~~The next day~~
"Don't worry Taev." Hope reassures her sister as they walk down the corridor towards the latter's classroom. "Niylah, Ilian and Artigas will be with you, and I'm just two doors down if you need me." She points towards a door covered in plants made out of construction paper and craft sticks.
The younger girl just nods. "I can do it." She reminds herself before spotting Ilian and Niylah already in the room. "Bye, Hope."
Hope looks on for a second, watching as Ilian all but tackles her into a hug before Niylah leads her over to their shared desk. "She'll be fine." Hope tells herself, walking into her own classroom to her seat next to Gaia, and sharing a smile with Lincoln.
"How was school today, little warrior?" Diyoza greets as said girl sits at the counter, waiting for her after school snack.
Octavia just shrugs. "Math was ok, but Science and Social Studies was boring. Clarke and Bellamy made it fun."
Diyoza just laughs, ruffling the girl's hair as she places a muffin in front of her.
"What about you, Hope?"
"The usual. We had a quiz in Math and I got a 98-"
"That's great, Hope!" Diyoza beams at her eldest. She, herself, had never been too good at Math, her favourite subject having been lunch and gym, so she's glad that trait hadn't been passed on to her daughter.
"Gaia got a 100, though." Hope pouts. "But Ms. Cartwig said my art history project looked really good and that I might get a really high grade on it and have it pinned on the board. So we're even."
Diyoza can only smile at her daughter's competitive spirit. Her and Gaia have been competing to be the best ever since Hope joined the class last year. They had a friendly rivalry of trying to one-up the other, and it has pushed them to do better, something their teacher had happily noted on Parent-Teacher Day.
"Well, I'm glad you two had such a good day at school." She turns to the two teenagers seated at the other end of the counter. "And how was your day?"
Bellamy groaned. "I can't wait for summer. Mr Pike seems to have it out for me. He keeps picking on me in class."
"No, he doesn't." Clarke chuckles. "It only seems that way because you're never paying attention. So when he does call you, he catches you completely off guard."
Bellamy simply huffs as Clarke continues to tease him, ignoring his sister and pseudo-sister's poor attempt of muffling their giggles.
"Also, we'll be in high school next year, Bell." Clarke reminds him, looking at him pointedly. "It's going to be a hundred times tougher than middle school is. We'll have loads of homework and assignments and tests... Don't forget volunteer work and all the clubs we'll need to join because it will look good on college applications..."
"Volunteer work? After school clubs?" He turns to her, questioningly. "I'm sorry, but no. That means spending more time away from home, more time away from O, and I'm not leaving her on her own. There's no way in the world that I'm ever going to do that."
"Bellamy..." Clarke tries before Octavia cuts her off.
"Bell. I love you, but I'm a big girl now. I'll be eight soon and perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Besides, I'll have Hope with me."
"No. I'm not leaving you here while I do something that others are making me do just because it will look good and stuff." Bellamy protests. "Besides, I'm only going to ACC, and they accept everyone, so who do I need to impress?"
"Ok, kids." Diyoza cuts in, breaking the tension among her charges. "While it's good to plan for the future, what you kids are talking about is still far far away. So how about you finish your snacks and start doing your homework. We can talk about this another day, and when your father is home."
The kids solemnly nod, quickly gobbling up their snacks before finding their usual seats around the coffee table.
"That's going to be a fun discussion." Diyoza mutters to herself, already thinking about the possible arguments that will arise from this conversation, as the kids begin on their homework. "A fun discussion, indeed."
And this has been an AngelFanfics productions.