Originally posted: April 12th, 2017

Someday

I stopped watching TVD midway through season 5 and I don't fully know what happens after that. I've been wanting to write again for a long time, but I can't seem to post anything. I found this drabble on my computer and thought I would share it. It's set in an alternate ending to TVD. I figured the gang would probably always be on the run. Something simple and fluffy. Not my best work, but being hyper picky is what caused this extended absence of mine.

Somehow, life only seems to get more complicated through the years. Crazy doesn't stop at the Mystic Fall's town line. Instead, insanity appeared to be a natural state that ruled the lives of Caroline and her friends. Sirens, Silas, Witches, Curses, death, rebirth—all of it had come and gone and yet not even a decade had passed since Caroline stood on that float and waved to her subjects as she was declared Miss Mystic Falls.

It seemed like a lifetime ago and, in many ways, it was. Now not only was she technically dead, but she was a mother—far earlier than was on her original human plan.

Her children were perfect, though their uprising was proving to be less so. Given one crisis or another, the girls hadn't had a proper home yet and they were bordering on three years old.

Little Lizzie didn't bat an eye. She was as tough as her namesake. Whether it was a car, a couch, or a rundown motel, Elizabeth never struggled to get a good night's rest. Her sister, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.

Without just the right amount of cuddling and good night stories, Josie wouldn't—or rather couldn't—sleep.

Tonight, they were in a motel off route-66, waiting for Alaric. Lizzie, as per usual, was fast asleep—and Josie was staring at the ceiling.

"Can you tell me a story?" she asks.

Caroline, who had no shortage of tales to tell, walked over to her daughter and settled so that Josie could rest her head on her lap.

"Which one would you like to hear?" Caroline asks.

"The one about someday," Josie replies eagerly.

Of course, Caroline thinks. Of all the stories she'd told, only one had enchanted Josie so. Unfortunately, it was the one that Caroline herself wasn't sure she was fully ready to accept. Still, as Josie clung tighter to her mother's lap, Caroline knew it was the only tale that would allow her daughter to rest.

And so, she settled into the familiar tune, "once upon a time, there was girl who never felt like anyone truly loved her. Even though she had many friends and a town that adored her, the girl still felt like she was alone."

"Was she sad?" Josie questions.

"From time to time," Caroline admits, "though she would never let anyone know how she really felt. One day, after riding in a chariot with a boy who she thought could be her prince, the girl fell into a deep slumber. When she awoke she was different than before, stronger. Even so, there was something missing."

"Love," Josie filled in, knowing the story by heart.

"Not just any love," Caroline clarified, "a great love. The kind that can outshine the sun. She'd searched for it all throughout the land, but every time she'd thought she'd found it, it would shatter."

Pausing, Caroline looked down at her daughter who was looking up at her, completely enraptured. This was Josie's favorite part, "that was until a big bad wolf came storming into town. At first, he was careless and unkind. The girl thought that anyone without a heart couldn't possibly grow to love, but as time went on the wolf fell in love with the girl. He showed her parts of himself that he'd kept hidden for a millennium. For her, he opened his heart, and for him she allowed herself to admit that she deserved to be loved."

Stroking her daughter's hair, Caroline continues "though the two were made for each other, their timing wasn't right. Soon their lives were disentangled. He had to leave and she had to stay. But while they couldn't be together yet, the girl knew something deep in her heart."

Josie held her breath, waiting with pure anticipation, "the girl knew that the wolf would always love her and that someday they would pick up their story again. He'd told her once, that one day she'd show up at his doorstep. At the time she'd scoffed, but now—when her world seems full of uncertainty—she knows that he was leaving the door open. Giving her a promise, a promise of a day—someday—when she could finally have a great love."

After a few moments, Josie's breathing began to slow. Just as she was about to fall asleep, Josie whispers, "Mommy, what if someday never comes?"

Caroline pauses for a second, having thought the same thing to herself a few times over the years.

And though Josie is asleep when she settles on an answer, Caroline says "there are so many days in forever, someday is bound to be one of them."