persephone's orchard : k.m.

what happened to us? - chapter 24

Six Months Ago.
The Bayou.

'Hey dad.'

The forest was particularly sweltering that day. The hybrid girl had the soundtrack of crickets in her ears as she sat down next to her fathers shallow grave. A slight breeze kept her cooler, it wove through the trees as Astrid crossed her legs.

'I'm beginning to wonder where you are. I didn't think I'd put much thought into this.' Elijah told her that talking helps.

And she listened to her big brother.

'I'd like to think you found peace. That maybe you just went back to wherever the hell Rosaline and Esther pulled you from and maybe Deryn's there too.' She picked up a dried leaf near the site and began to crunch it even more. 'I'm also beginning to realise the extent of what may unfold over these next few months. Truth be told dad.. I'm quite nervous.'

20 minutes earlier.

'Where the bloody hell is she?' Klaus Mikaelson was on the phone to Marcel Gerard that morning as the vampire arrived at the swamp. 'I'll find her, don't worry.' Marcel rolled his eyes. 'You better! She can't just run off in a strop!' Nik was throwing a tangent and Marcel made a comment.

'Maybe you could just communicate with your wife?'

He got hung up on.

Now.

'.. and I can't help but wish that you were here to tell me what to do with Nik. I love him. I really do but I refuse to be dragged into-'

Her vampiric hearing had timing.

She shot up instantly, 'Can I not talk to my dead father in peace?!' Astrid eyed the foliage in front of her with a hands balled into fists, sniffing the air until she smelt a particular cologne.

'Tell Nik I'm fine, Marcel!'

Her son tried to vamp behind her but she was too quick, pressing him up against the nearest tree in a chokehold with an equal amount of speed, the scuffle making some dirt brush up on her green vest. 'Are you though?' Marcel asked with genuine concern.

'Yes I am and you need to stop playing spy for him.' She let go of his neck and walked away as he rubbed it, feeling the imprint of her rings. 'I'm only keeping him happy, Astrid you know that.' Marcel tried to reason with her.

'Don't involve me in that. If he wants to check up on me then he should be out here.'

'You're expecting a lot from the most emotionally unavailable person we know.' Marcel followed her as she began to walk away.

Flashback.
1925.

'It's been six years Astrid! How many times am I gonna find you out here?'

It had been six years indeed. Six long winding years since the Mikaelsons had abandoned their city and while the new Klaus Mikaelson partied in Chicago with his latest accomplice Stefan Salvatore - drinking away his mournful sorrows - Astrid Mikaelson stayed here, contemplating the future of their city.

'You can't just run from your problems every time something comes up!'

She stopped in her tracks. Marcel suddenly realised how he belittled the situation. 'What do you want me to do Marcel?' She paced up to him, 'You told me to stay in power, I did. That means I need to mourn in private.'

He stared at her in silence before she walked away again, treading over a log as the Bayou sun beat down on her.

Flashback Over.
The Bayou.

'In fact, emotional unavailability should I be something I'm used to considering who I just spent the last century with.'

Marcel was trying to purposefully get to her, to gain a reaction. He needed something from her, a standing point to help the others fix the fractured Queen.

'That's rich coming from you.' She chuckled, shaking her head before turning around, 'You wanna talk about emotional vulnerability? Fine! Wasn't it you, Marcel who banned the witches from practicing their craft in the Quarter because of a few lunatic waywards? Wasn't it you who created the Crescent Curse because of infighting?'

'Astrid stop.'

'It's true! You wanna talk about emotional vulnerability? You wanna talk about harsh dealings? If you're the King of anything Marcellus Gerard you're the King of that.'  She paced up to him, 'What do you want me to do, Marcel? Go back to the Compound? Get on my hands and knees and beg Nik for forgiveness?'

'You two wanted to rule this city together, you've got your chance and now you've both run to opposite corners because of your shitty communication.'

Astrid's jaw hung low and she laughed, shaking her head, 'You know what?'

'What?'

'Fine.'

She vamped back to the Compound.

Mikaelson Compound.

Nik was still hiding away in his bedroom as per usual, not wanting to speak to anyone after what had happened only a week before. He overheard Astrid arrive, knowing it was her because of her shallowed breaths and heartbeat.

Recognising his lover.

He vamped out of his room quickly, hiding away even further as he watched her walk through the Compound floor. His brow furrowed when he noticed how tired she was. Her olive eyes flickered as her steps slowed down, taking deeper and deeper breaths as if she was trying to stop tears flowing.

Stopping just before the dining room, she finally collapsed. The woman simply crouched down with her head in her hands, Klaus's heart ached when he saw her back convulse - deciding to go down there when faint crying encased his ears.

'Astrid.' He breathed as he reached the bottom of the stairs and paced over, she didn't move from her position as he crouched down too and placed a gentle hand on her back. 'You've got to talk to me.' He whispered and she looked up at him, 'You just do what you want anyway.'

Klaus gulped.

He didn't know what to say. Words between the husband and wife were scarce within the first week after, this was the first proper conversation they had since the argument.

When he didn't reply, she put her head in her hands again. He was her weakness and she hated it. She contemplated momentarily not giving in but she needed something; some kind of contact just to soothe her in that moment. Nik had sat on the floor now, he was to the left of her - his black leather boots and grey jeans were just visible when she lifted her head up.

'What can I do to help you?'

Nik knew these episodes all too well. Throughout the last thousand years, the Mikaelson hybrid often found himself to feel for those who felt exhausted in such a way, he knew how it felt. Astrid's throat was closing up as she sat on the floor next to him.

The hand he had on her back was still lightly touching her spine as she took it and pulled it round her, feeling safe as she leant into his chest. 'Please love. Talk to me.' He practically begged her but she shook her head. 'Why?' He looked down at her as she tucked herself further into him.

'Not now. Please not now.'

She shook her head as she spoke violently and he placed a hand in her hair, it was shaking as tears pricked in his eyes. That time was emotional for the pair, everyone understood it. The woman practically laid in between his legs and she spoke again.

'I've gotta stop crying all the time.'

She sat up and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. 'What are you thinking about?'

'What happened to us, Nik?'