long and lost (cordelia goode x reader)

can the city forgive?

You had told yourself you would never go back. You had considered it many times, but you could never follow through with it. For the last twenty years, you had tried to abandon that part of yourself, but your powers had always found a way to make themselves appear just when you had managed to forget them. When you heard about a job position opening in New Orleans, you were hesitant to consider it and made up your mind to turn it down, but something was drawing you to the position. You knew exactly what it was, your ties to the city were too strong to ignore.

So you took the job. You found a small apartment that would allow you to simply pay rent by the month rather than entering a lease, just in case you couldn't bear being in the city. You hadn't been to New Orleans in over twenty years, there was no way to guarantee you would be able to handle being in the Big Easy again. It wasn't until you were settled into your apartment that you finally let your mind wander to the blonde woman now only twenty minutes from you. You wondered exactly what she had been up to in your time apart, you knew she had become the Supreme and exposed the existence of witches to the world, but other than that you had no idea what was going on in her life. You decided to pour yourself a hefty glass of wine and pull your laptop out from its place to do some research of your own.

Typing Cordelia's name into your laptop, you found numerous articles regarding Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies and began to read the first link that appeared with your search. The article was from 2014, dated for when Cordelia had finally gone public about the Coven. You could remember exactly what you were doing when news broke about the existence of witches, your ex made an off-hand comment about how Cordelia was a fraud just trying to scam people for money and you somehow managed to start a fight by defending her. In the back of your mind, you knew Cordelia had always been capable of being the Supreme, she was the only child of your previous Supreme.

Several glasses of wine later, your brain had managed to convince you to take a trip to the Academy to see its success in person. You had gone through every news article available on the internet, trying to piece together the most recent history of the Academy you had grown up in. You had even crept onto Cordelia's social media, finding that she was no longer married. Another quick search resulted in the discovery of Hank's obituary, which piqued your interest as Cordelia hadn't even mentioned him on her social media since before the incident. This led you to believe that they had separated before he died.

Once you had concluded your research and your bottle of wine, you decided to give up on trying to stay up any later into the night. You abandoned the mess you had made in your living room and stumbled to your bedroom, barely able to keep your eyes open as you shredded your clothing before fumbling into your bed. It wasn't hard for you to fall asleep, as soon as your head hit your pillow you slipped into a dream-filled sleep. Unsurprisingly, Cordelia was the subject of several of your dreams that night.

The next day, you found yourself in front of Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies. You knew that if you had put it off any longer, you wouldn't have made the trip. Your breath hitched as you made the final step in front of the door to the Academy, this was it. You were sure you could turn around and leave without being seen, but you knew Cordelia probably sensed the change in the energy around her that came with your presence. Hesitating a moment, you took a deep breath and finally raised your hand to knock at the door in front of you. There was no way to describe what you were feeling being back on the property of Miss Robichaux's, the last time you were there you were leaving for college without any plans to return. You were nervous, to say the least. Cordelia's reaction to your return was unpredictable, would she resent you for being away for so long without contact? Would she be excited to see you after all this time?

As soon as your knuckles tapped against the door, it swung open to reveal a brunette younger than you with a curious smile on her lips.

"I was wondering if you were going to knock, I could see you through the curtain. How can I help you?"