Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Anastázia was on cloud nine when she returned home. She felt like nothing in her world could ever go bad ever again. She had nearly entirely forgotten all of the treachery her family went through and was still going through before she entered the doors to the Mikaelson home. Then, reality struck her. Chaos was taking its usual place amongst the family so far as Stas could see. Rebekah was on the dining table, being pinned down by Klaus and the dining table's decorative vase was shattered below their feet. Klaus' friend, Camille, stood in the corner of the living room away from the mess. "Dear sweet Cami," Rebekah turned her attention to Klaus, "you're so afraid that you'll ruin her, you keep her behind glass like some breakable object. She's not precious. Nik, every woman that you and Elijah bring into our lives turns to poison. Michelle is a great example. Look at her, all depressive in her bedroom. She hasn't held her child in days, leaving Anastázia to tend to your mistake. One wrong turn and she might just jump off of the balcony. Cami will grow toxic too." Rebekah growled at Nik. Stas rushed in and handed the antidote to Cami, who knew exactly who to take it to. Then, Stas hurried over to Klaus to help control her younger sister.
At the exact same moment, Elijah joined in on helping controlling Rebekah too. Stas cracked her knuckles and got into position. "I've beat your ass many times before, I'll do it again, sister." Stas warned as she and her brothers tackled Rebekah and held her down on the table.
Within seconds, a new and improved (and antidoted) Freya rushes into the room. "Hold her." She announced. She came to Rebekah's side and began to scrape off the mark from her wrist. Where there were once rebelling grunts, were now painful shrieks erupting from Rebekah's mouth. Freya chanted a strange spell and peeled the mark off of her. As soon as she did so, Rebekah calmed down. Stas, Elijah and Nik all released their grasps on her and allowed her to stand up on her own.
"Well, that was annoying." Rebekah announced.
"No shit, Reb." Stas groaned, palming her forehead.
* * *
"Come on, Michelle. It's Christmas. Don't you wanna hold your baby?" Stas bounced Belle in her arms.
Michelle made an indecipherable grunt. She still hadn't moved from her position on the bed. At that point, Michelle's broken heart and depressed manner wasn't because of what Niklaus had done. It was something more than that. It had been almost an entire week of her laying in her tear stained bed. Stas plopped herself down next to Michelle and began patting her head. "If you want to go, you can go. I'll buy you a cab, I pay for a place for you to stay far away from here. I know all of this can be too much. I understand if you don't love Niklaus anymore." Stas reasoned with her friend.
"No." The first word Michelle had spoken in a week.
"What?" Stas inquired as she laid Belle down on the bed in front of her.
"I still love Nik." She spoke.
"Then what is it?" Stas asked, glad to finally hear some kind of response from her.
"I can't do this. I can't be a mother. At least to a Mikaelson. I've been drained. I love Nik, I really do. But I cannot be with him. I cannot be a Mikaelson. He hasn't even stopped by to check on me this entire week, you know that? Because he knows I can't do this. He knows that the moment I left this house, the moment I left his support, hell even before that— when I first had given birth to Belle— I couldn't do it. I can't be a mother. I can't be a Mikaelson. I don't have family to run off to. I don't have friends outside of you. I need to leave." Michelle admitted.
"So... you'd just leave her? Here?" Stas asked about Belle.
"You wouldn't tell anyone why I left, would you?" Michelle looked up at her confidant.
Stas bit the inside of her cheek and felt tears welling up. How could she do this? She was a mother? You don't just give up being a mother! After all of the suffering and struggle Michelle had seen Stas go through trying to become a mother, she drops motherhood like that?! Stas wanted to say so many horrible things to Michelle, but she knew if she made her stay— it'd be worse for Belle. Imagine having a mother that didn't want you? It'd be worse than never knowing. Also, it'd likely drive Michelle insane— contributing to the bad situation it'd put Belle in. "Leave then. It's just so sudden that you decided this, I wasn't expecting it." Stas' lip quivered, not because she was sad. But because she pitied her niece. But, at that moment she made a silent vow to care and protect Belle at all costs for the rest of their lives.
"I've been thinking about this since she was born. I just couldn't bring myself to say it to anyone. And when I saw Nik with Aurora, I thought: this is my chance. My chance to run. But, I couldn't do it without knowing if Belle would be okay. The only reason I stayed for so long was because of Nik." Michelle explained, finally sitting up in her bed.
"I have cash in my purse. Grab as much as you need and leave. Now. And I mean now!" Stas screeched at Michelle.
Michelle jumped up in fright and hurried out of the door. Stas grabbed up Belle and laid her against her chest, bouncing her up and down. And that was it. That was the end of it. The end of Michelle's secretive misery. That was the last that any of the Mikaelsons would ever see Michelle ever again. It was horrifying, truly. And unjust. And unfair. And it came out of nowhere. I understand. But, it was what was meant to be since the beginning.
