Broken Souls

29

With the Scooby gang having 'stolen' Esther's coffin, and have probably raised her by now, Sol's nerves were on edge. Her best chance to kill her children would be at the ball in a few days, but what if she doesn't want to wait? Things were different with the siblings. They still had a lot of things to talk about with one another, but they weren't constantly fighting, nor plotting. Finn also wasn't free to be manipulated, having come to enjoy his life now.

These thoughts swirled her head as she was curled up on the couch, head resting on Elijah's thigh. His fingers gently brushed through her hair, eyes watching her expressions shift with her thoughts. "Will you share your worries, my dear?" He asked softly, her head turning to look up at him.

"What if she does something I don't remember seeing? What if she decides waiting for the ball isn't the best plan? What if she succeeds?" Her voice cracked as tears began to pool win her eyes.

"Everything will be fine. We've all been planning for every outcome. She will show up to the ball, though. If I know my mother, she'll want to take us out when we least expect it, in one fell swoop." He watched as she silently buried her face into his stomach, taking in his scent, in hopes of relaxing her worries. "What can we do? What about that cleanse you mentioned?"

Pulling her head back to speak, she noted, "That'll make or break us."

"Then, we won't let it break us."

Five minutes later, the Mikaelsons, Kai and Sol were all sitting in the living room. Enzo had been warned it was probably best to stay in his guest room for the evening to avoid getting caught in possible crossfires.

Kai wondered what this family meeting was called for, eyeing the big jar, paper, and pens on the table. Sol was visibly nervous, her hands wringing in her lap. However, the young witch kept her tone light and even playful. "Alright, my loves, time to cleanse all the grudges and pettiness you're holding in. We're going up against Esther soon, and I'm sure we'd all be more reassured if we're all confidently on the same page." A determined look overtook her nervous features, eyes gliding across each of the siblings.

"So, consider this your therapy. Each of you is going to fill a sheet of paper with your grudges, confessions, or things you want discussed in a calm manner. You all can fight it our til you're exhausted later. This is more for your emotional and mental states, okay? Fill out the sheet, separate your topics, fold 'em up and drop them in the jar. One by one we'll go through everything. Everyone will have a chance to say their part, uninterrupted and we'll try to work it out. Sound good?"

"When you say everything..." Kai wondered just how long he'd be trapped in this living room with the Original Family Drama band.

"Everything, Kai. You're family, too, so you're stuck here as well. I'm sure you'll be entertained some way or another," she lightly narrowed her eyes at him. "I need your help keeping them from fighting." Sol passed out the pens and paper to each siblings, watching as they silently separate to write in peace. The lot of them were hesitant to air out all their secrets and petty grudges, but Sol seemed to feel this would help them in the long run. If it made her feel better, they didn't feel this could go horribly wrong. She had yet to be wrong about something.

"Why do you know so much about this stuff?" Kai turned to the siphon with a furrowed brow.

"Therapy stuff? Well, after I killed both my parents the state believed it best for me to see a psychologist. Clearly didn't do much for me, seeing as my life ended there and began here. However, I did pick up some good techniques to help out the Mikaelson's communicate better." Her eyes met Kol's as he dropped his folded bits of paper in the jar. Placing a kiss on Sol's cheek, he flopped back onto the couch to wait for his other siblings.

One after another, the filed back into the living room and dropped their paper into the jar. Sol smiled at the half full jar, having picked the biggest one she could find. "I hope you all took this seriously. You only get out what you put in. I would know, considering I'm here." She joked as her hand swirled the papers in the jar.

Humming she plucked out a paper, unfolding it, her eyes saddening at the words written.

'I could hear everything from inside my coffin.'

As devastatingly sad as it was, it was an easier problem to deal with. It could ease the Mikaelson's into the way this would work. Before she read it aloud, she gave reminders to the siblings and ignored Kai as he read over her shoulder.

"Remember, no speaking over each other, no interrupting. You do not decide how people feel, you listen and try to understand why they felt that way. Then, you try to do better next time."

The siblings all straightened up at her words, unsure of what would be discussed from their other siblings. Clearing her throat, Sol finally read the slip of paper in her hand. The Mikaelsons all looked at one another, gazes finally landing on Finn who was gripping his hand together.

No one said a word though, unsure of how, or who, to start. Solène expected as much. That was the point of this, other than finding mutual understandings, she wanted them to learn to communicate their problems better to avoid such festering that lasts centuries. "Okay, Finn, would you like to explain how that felt for you?" Calmly, she folded the paper up to give Finn her full attention. The fireplace crackling was the only sound in the room as they all watched Finn clear his throat.

"Well, it was quite upsetting, when I realized what was happening. After so many centuries of being asleep, I started to become conscious. I could hear you all fighting when you were close, waking one another up, but always leaving me behind. It was... disappointing, realizing I was left alone in a coffin while the rest of you were in and out of the ever-changing world, Niklaus never leaving it."

The Mikaelsons were stunned at the new information, clearly never thinking that their eldest brother could hear everything happening around him.

Surprisingly, it was Nik who spoke up first. "I am sorry, brother, for subjecting you to such a thing. I had no idea you had become conscious over the centuries, nor should I have left you daggered for so long." He found himself troubled. Just this past week with his siblings had been amazing, almost bushing away the events of the past millennium. He'd really let his anger and paranoia get the best of him, keeping him form his family. It took his soulmate pointing it out to him, and saying that his siblings still loved him for him to see more clearly. Just how much had his siblings suffered at his own hands? Niklaus felt shame for the first time in centuries.

"You were always uptight, but we shouldn't have kept you in a box so long." Kol shook his head, feeling bad his brother was essentially in a conscious coma for centuries.

"We won't be returning to our coffins anymore, Finn. You needn't worry about such things anymore." Elijah added, remembering the daggers hidden underneath the wood in the fireplace. They still had yet to melt, so they began to assume there was protective magic on them. It was probably time to ask Sol and Kai's assistance on that.

"I'm sorry for not waking you up, Finn," Rebekah's yes met her eldest brother, heart twisting. She was always chasing after some new love or getting back at Nik to even think about what Finn was going through.

"How do you feel now?" Sol asked, a soft smile on her lips. Her heart felt so warm seeing her family participate so well, trying to communicate their feelings on the matter without upsetting someone else.

"I am very happy to be with you all now. I don't want to be anywhere else. We're family, nothing will change that." Finn nodded his head resolutely, feeling hopeful they could truly be family once again.

"Then," she held up the slip of paper with his words on it. "Would you like to burn the past and start new?" Wordlessly, Finn stood, taking the small piece of paper from her fingers. Standing before the fireplace, he dropped the paper and wash as it turned to ashes. He found it surprisingly... therapeutic. Suddenly overjoyed with his soulmates idea, he placed a tender kiss atop her head before returning to his seat.

"Let's see what's next."