chapter xvi

"You've grown up so much." Ellie caressed Kurt's cheeks. She hadn't looked away for a second, or stopped touching him, and Kurt had reciprocated. Blaine's hand on his back kept assuring him that this way okay, that Kurt would be allowed this reunion with his mother, however temporary it would be, and afterwards was when they would turn the focus back to Blaine. "Are you – you aren't d—?"

"I'm not," Kurt answered quickly. "It's a long story. I don't really understand why or anything, but then I am still trying to adjust to the apparent existence of afterlives when yesterday I didn't even believe in an omniscient higher power."

Ellie's lips stretched into a smile, and Kurt felt a rush of pleasure. He'd made his mother laugh. She brushed his cheek again and opened her mouth but—

"I think it might be my fault, ma'am."

Mother and son looked at Blaine, and the boy blushed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," Blaine quickly backtracked. "It's just that nothing happened until I went into a coma."

"There's no need to call me 'ma'am'," Ellie said, smiling kindly. Blaine's shoulders relaxed, and his hand slipped a bit on Kurt's back. "Unless you're trying to impress me, that is?" she added archly, raising an eyebrow as she looked between Kurt and Blaine's bodies; Kurt barely even thought to be embarrassed or scared, having finally realised why Burt so often said Kurt looked like his mom despite their dissimilar features.

"Oh, I," Blaine stammered, hand frozen on Kurt's back and eyes frozen on Kurt's face. "Well, we—"

"Mom," Kurt interrupted before Blaine tripped into a hole, linking his fingers with the other boy's and letting their hands dangle between them, "this is Blaine Anderson, my – my b-boyfriend." Beside him, Blaine inhaled sharply and his grip tightened, but he didn't say anything. Ellie didn't lose her gentle smile – in fact, it only grew, and with it grew Kurt's ecstatic relief. "Blaine, this is my mom, Elizabeth Hummel née August."

"It's an honour to meet you, Mrs Hummel," Blaine said. "Kurt's talked a lot about you."

"Oh, there's no need for such formality here; 'Ellie' will be fine. Keep your manners for Burt."

Ellie laughed and Kurt couldn't help throwing himself forward again. He wrapped his arms around her waist – accidentally brought Blaine with him, but his boyfriend just adjusted their grip and pressed close to Kurt's side – and tucked his face into her shoulder and breathed her in (she was so much smaller than he remembered, so much more human and fragile and strong; she only came up to his nose; she was shorter even than Blaine), because she was really here, and she didn't care that Kurt had introduced her to his boyfriend. He'd known she would have accepted him because he and his dad had talked about it, but for his mom to be able to confirm it herself . . .

"I love you so much, baby," Ellie murmured into Kurt's shoulder. "I always will, okay?"

"I love you, too," Kurt choked out. "Mommy, I missed you so much."

For the first time in over a decade, Kurt cried in his mother's arms; for the first – and, Kurt knew, the only – time ever, his mother cried in his. Earlier, he had been too stunned and overwhelmed to cry, but not he shock had worn off. He was still overwhelmed by how surreal this was, of course, but it was somehow simultaneously more and less consuming.

He never thought he'd see his mom again. He'd made his peace with it years ago, as much as he could – focused on his dad still being alive, even if they'd only in the past and a bit started really talking again. If Kurt were religious, he'd call this a miracle.

He isn't going to start rethinking his belief of an all-knowing God, but perhaps there is a kindly higher presence.

Or perhaps it wasn't so kindly. Neither Kurt nor Blaine's body was dead, and Kurt didn't want to think what his mother's would look like after a decade in the ground; once Kurt left here, he would never

It was a fair while before they managed to stop crying and separate, and the only sign Kurt allowed himself to give to Blaine to let the other boy know he's seen him wiping his face was a thumb smoothing over the back of his hand.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Ellie asked, her eyes darting over Kurt's face.

Kurt said quietly, "Ten years and three months."

Ellie's eyes grew sad and distant. "Oh, my poor baby." A pause, during which they just looked at each other, hands ready to touch at the slightest whim, and Blaine was warmth at Kurt's shoulder. "Ten years. Grown into such a handsome young man . . ." Her eyes slipped to Blaine and she smiled again. "With good taste."

Blaine ducked his head and blushed, and a smile pulled at Kurt's lips. "Of course," he said, "I've always had good taste."

"We still have a lot to catch up on," Ellie murmured. Kurt blinked quickly and a burst of air slipped unbidden through his lips, crushed out of his lungs by invisible bands. He nodded and frantically cast his eyes around for somewhere comfortable.

"Why don't we go onto the pagoda?" Blaine suggested gently, squeezing Kurt's hand, before leading the Hummels over the bridge. He tried to move away a little once the three had settled on the floor, but Kurt pulled him close. He hadn't forgotten Blaine's terrified tears of not too long ago, even if his mind was mostly consumed by thoughts of his mother, and he'd spent too long looking for Blaine to even think about letting the boy out of his sight. They ended up with Kurt and Blaine facing Ellie, her and Kurt's knees touching and hands tightly gripping, with Blaine tucked closely against Kurt's side.

"Kurt, I want you to be honest," Ellie said, blue eyes staring imploringly into blue eyes. "Is Burt – is your dad – is he happy?"

Kurt nodded slowly, hesitantly. "He – earlier this year, he remarried. A widow. She's a really lovely woman and she – she has a son, so I—"

"I'm so glad," Ellie breathed, her shoulders curling inwards with their sudden loss of tension. "I'm so glad you're both happy. I hoped so much . . ."

"Mom, what – what happened? What – is this place?"

Ellie hesitated, and then she reached up to run the backs of her fingers over Kurt's cheek.

"Oh, my darling, I wish I knew," she said regretfully. "But I guess you're old enough now to know that parents don't have all the answers."

Kurt nodded and again blinked away tears. He's had a few lessons in the humanity of parents. He's had a few lessons in the mortality of parents, too.

"All that matters now," Ellie said, "is that we get you two home." She looked soberly at Blaine, and reached forward to rest a hand comfortingly on Blaine's own. "Tell me about this coma."

Kurt held on tightly to his mother and his boyfriend, and tried to ignore the chill that had come to settle on his heart.

"Are you sure you don't remember what she said?"

Kurt shook his head and looked miserably at his lap, where one of his hands was entwined with Blaine's and the other with his mom's. "No, it took me a while to figure out she wasn't just insane, and then I just . . . got stuck on getting to Blaine, I think." He shrugged apologetically. "It all happened too fast. I'm sorry."

"I'm not complaining," Blaine said, pressing a kiss to Kurt's cheek. Kurt blushed and smiled, and watched Ellie's thumb sweep across the back of his hand.

"There's nothing to apologise for," she assured him. "There are sure to clues around here somewhere."

Unless there was a library hidden in a distant corner Kurt had missed, he seriously doubted it. "Mom, how did you meet Dad?"

Ellie smiled as if she knew exactly what Kurt was doing but humoured him anyway. Kurt allowed himself to drift, losing himself in the warmth of Blaine at his side, the small circles Blaine was drawing on Kurt's waist over his shirt, and the sound of his mother's kind voice without the distant quality of the VCR. Warmth rolled slowly through him, enough to thaw out his chest, and Kurt welcomed it. The only thing that would make this better was if his dad were with them; then everyone he loved would be in the same place.

Kurt sat up straight, startling both Blaine and Ellie, but he barely noticed, too focused on the phantom feeling of nails digging into the skin above his heart.

"She said something about love," he blurted to bemused expressions. "The woman from the hospital – she said something about love and hope and-and connections and . . ." He frowned in concentration, trying to reach for more than vague impressions.

"Love conquers all," Blaine said, pink colouring his cheeks, and Kurt blushed bright enough to match. "It's a classic trope, especially in the fantasy and fantasy/sci fi genres."

"It can't be that easy; that's too cliché."

"Actually, Blaine might be right." Both boys looked at Ellie, who herself was looking at the shorter boy contemplatively. Her eyes slid over to Kurt, and she smiled. "You brought me back."

"How?" Kurt asked through the sudden blockage in his throat.

"I suppose I wasn't really . . . here. I've been fading for a very long time, but I could feel something which drew me here. When you spoke, I thought, 'That's my son,' and I was back." Her smiled widened, and Kurt couldn't help but smile back, even though the action knocked free a few tears.

"Whatever that something was, it's attracted quite a few others, too," Blaine said quietly. For the first time, Kurt directed his attention outside the pagoda and across the pond.

Whereas before the people had been wandering, lethargic and ghostly, around the castle, with never too many in one place, now around the pagoda stood a crowd so thick that they wouldn't be able to pass without touching, and so silent it was no surprise Kurt hadn't noticed them gathering. They were surrounded on all sides, and Kurt didn't know whether it was more or less terrifying that most of them appeared to be looking in the wrong direction, as if they'd just stopped walking.

Ellie, however, was nodding. "I thought I could feel them. Maybe this is the connection the woman mentioned, sweetheart."

"You mean like they're all – and you're – you can all sense each other?" Kurt asked, sceptical but unable to dampen the jealousy burning in the pit of his stomach.

"Kurt. Not like that," Blaine whispered, tightening his grip on Kurt's hand, his eyes intent and painful on Kurt's.

"No, darling. I don't feel your soul as strongly as Blaine but I promise," Ellie said, her hand grounding on Kurt's cheek, "I would be able to feel you no matter where we are. You are my son."

Kurt nodded, pushed back his emotions, held on tightly to his boyfriend's hand.

"Should we worry about them?" he asked instead, indicating outside the pagoda.

"I think we could bring them back," Blaine said. He shifted onto his knees and placed his spare hand over where he and Kurt were already holding hands, and with little more than a glance to Ellie, he continued, "Kurt, you-you saved me, too. Before—" He shuddered, so Kurt tightened his grip and tried to emanate comfort. Just in case.

When Blaine opened his eyes again, they shone bright and wet and wide. "You saved me," he repeated. "When I realised you were really – you, thinking about how much I care about you brought me back.

"Maybe we could try something like that with everyone else."

"But none of them know who I am," Kurt said breathlessly.

"You're the most moral, compassionate person I've ever met," Blaine said with an earnest, beautiful smile. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

Kurt untangled his hands, but the other boy didn't even have time to look confused before Kurt was pulling him forward by the collar of his shirt and crashing their mouths together. Blaine's teeth caught on Kurt's lip and it stung, but it was more than made up for by Blaine's gasp of surprise and the exchange of hot breath between their open mouths that was so much more thrilling than Kurt had ever imagined.

The boys immediately sprang apart, breathless and red-faced, when Ellie pointedly cleared her throat from beside Kurt. She grinned, quipped, "Save it for behind bedroom doors, okay?", and then stood up. Blaine quickly followed suit, but reached out a hand to help Kurt up anyway. Kurt blushed, but accepted it all the same.

Figuring out how to rejuvenate the other souls (such as it were) took a great many trials and errors, and even after, it was slow going. Many of them didn't even register Kurt until they had been partly woken; some weakened as they grew more defined; dozens didn't speak English; most were confused, tired, and didn't react well to realising they were dead, even if they remembered dying.

Even so, the hardest part was sharing their theory. While there were a surprising number of people who believed in the power of love, there were many who were more sceptical than even Kurt.

But Blaine asked, at every sign of doubt, "Who are you thinking of?" and the other person's face would soften (or grudgingly accept the theory).

As the number of aware people gradually began to overtake the number of those asleep, Kurt noticed that he, his mother and Blaine were getting more and more looks.

"You two don't belong here," Ellie murmured when Kurt mentioned it. "None of us do," she added at Kurt's stricken expression, "but you least of all, sweetheart. You two have a different sense to the rest of us."

"It never wanted you," Blaine said faintly, and Kurt held him close.

Sometime later, as they looked at the growing number of the conscious, Kurt said, "I can't believe we're basically relying on Chinese Whispers."

"If only we had a stage and mic." Blaine bumped his shoulder against Kurt's, almost succeeding in appearing carelessly playful. "Then we could make sure everyone's got the right whisper."

"If only," Kurt echoed, at the same time Ellie said, "Why don't you use the pagoda?"

Blaine perked up. "Yeah! I'm pretty good at projecting my voice – what about you, Kurt?"

"Why us?" Kurt said, staring wide-eyed at his mother. "Why can't you do it?"

Blaine tugged on Kurt's hand; his expression just said, You know why.

"But – but I've never lead anything before," Kurt tried against the swell of panic in his chest. "Rachel always took charge in Glee and I don't know the material well enough to lead any study groups at Dalton—"

"Kurt," Ellie interrupted, an amused smile tugging at her lips as Blaine stifled a laugh, "you were the bossiest kid I'd ever met. When you were five, you spent forty minutes teaching your dad how to hold a teacup correctly and you told him off every time he had it wrong; I think you'll be fine."

Blaine laughed, and then kissed Kurt's cheek in apology when Kurt glared at him.

"Fine," Kurt grudgingly agreed, "I'll try."

The three of them made their way back to the pagoda, and on one of the bridges, Kurt and Blaine on top of the railing. Ellie rested a hand on Kurt's shin after he almost fell into the murky water ; Blaine, somehow, was managing just fine on his own.

"Excuse me," Blaine called, grabbing the attention of those closest. It didn't take long, and as Blaine began talking Kurt looked around.

There were, in total, probably no more people than three classes at Dalton (and fewer than two at McKinley) put together. Most of them were adults, at least thirty, some of whom appeared to be convinced this wasn't real, perhaps only a dream as Kurt and Blaine first had; but there were a handful who were even younger than himself, grouped close together, holding hands. They looked terrified.

Everyone was wearing vaguely European or North American dress. Some of the more recent styles included shoulder pads.

"Why should I believe you?" snapped a man in a suit. Kurt almost snapped back because who the hell matches corduroy pants with a corduroy jacket and figures he has the right to question others, but Blaine's fingers rest lightly on his back over his shirt, out of sight of everyone, and he reigns his instincts in.

"Fine, don't," he said, "but if this is real, you've spent what looks like the last forty years being broken down by whatever thing dragged you here, and the only way any of us are getting out of here is if we work together. And if this is a dream or a hallucination or whatever, then what does it matter what you do?"

"I'm not gonna be bossed around by some sis—"

"Watch it," Ellie warned, speaking for the first time, in such a dangerous tone that Kurt's heart swells.

"Sir," Blaine said, and the man looked slightly mollified. Kurt barely resisted rolling his eyes. "We may just be teenagers, but we're also—Kurt is the only person here who the – the voice didn't bring here." The man now looked disturbed, and a couple of the children began to cry. Kurt's mom's hand twitched on his foot, but another woman in the crowd pushed forward and comforted them. "If you think is just an extremely vivid nightmare, that's okay. But we need you. All of you," he added, turning his gaze to everyone. When his eyes landed on the children, he smiled, and Kurt couldn't tear his eyes away. "We need you to be brave. And then we can all go where we belong."

"Will I get to see my family again?"

"Yes," Kurt said. "You will."

The crowd seemed rejuvenated again, and Kurt and Blaine climbed from the railing. To Kurt's delight, after Blaine's feet landed on the bridge, he held onto Kurt's waist to keep him steady.

Ellie engulfed them both in a hug before Kurt's feet had more than brushed the ground. "You both did so well," she said.

"Thanks, Mom," Kurt whispered, and gave Blaine's cheek a sneaky kiss while the other boy said, "Thank you, Ellie."

And then Ellie's and Blaine's arms both tightened around Kurt's body, and Blaine whimpered, and the children began to scream.

"Kurt," Blaine choked out, gripped Kurt's shirt so tightly his knuckles were stark white.

"What's going on?" Kurt glanced between their faces, and everyone else's, and his heart thumped in his throat. "Mom?"

Ellie stroked a trembling hand down Kurt's face, and, despite how she tried, the terror in her eyes was bright.

"That thing that attacked you," Blaine said, not even seeming to notice the tears starting to slowly roll down his cheeks, "there are more of them."

The air seemed to shake.

In the distance, and very faintly, there echoed the sound of wood exploding against stone.