All the cards

62

Amity stood out on a balcony, watching the festivities in the streets below. She heard her siblings talking down below about Lucien. Kol walked over joining her.
"So Freya's about ready to pop the champagne, but you're up here?"
"You know I don't drink."
"Yeah, I know."
"Would've thought you'd be with Amira or Davina?"
"Nik stole Amira."
"And Davina?"
"I... got upset earlier. Think I freaked her out."
"So apologise."
"I will. Maybe after I give her some space."
"Davina hasn't always been a friend of our family, but she does love you, and she's spent every waking minute trying to bring you back. Everything she's ever done in the past year has been to bring you back."
"So you approve?"
"She loves you deeply, and you love her. I can't resent her when she brings such joy to your life."
"Right." He sighed. "So you're back to being normal Amity instead of super Amity?"
"Pretty much."
"Why couldn't you fix Finn? Why did it take so much effort?"
"I once took an oath to follow nature. My job was to make sure nature was balanced, but I also can't use magic to harm anything. I chose to follow a path of light. Of good."
"Of course." He said, teasingly.
"When Finn was bitten, nature had already claimed him. Lucien's bite was a mark of death. I was supposed to leave it alone, but I didn't. I challenged nature's course, stopped Finn from dying and basically pissed off nature. I defied her."
"So Mal and Aria... what?"
"A thousand years ago when I was still Zia, Lia and I figured Mal was too much for the world to handle. So we linked he and I together. Where I chose a path of light, he chose a path of dark and Lia chose no path. She can dabble in either. We were a perfect balance. So I linked myself to Mal to ensure the balance stayed the same, and Lia cursed me to live a life without knowledge of my previous being. Anytime we died, we'd just be reborn."
"So you cursed yourself so that Mal would be cursed too. Get rid of light and dark and the scales remain balanced."
"Yeah."
"So Mal just offered to give up all of his power and be mortal again to save you?"
"Yeah, by locking away our powers, nature can't reach me."
"I should probably thank him."
"Mal's my brother, just as much as you are. He'd never admit it, but his heart isn't made of stone. Plus, I suppose after dozens of lifetimes, power doesn't mean what it used to. He's been a friend to Davina though."
"She mentioned it." He shrugged. Amity put a hand on his shoulder.
"Go see her. I'm going to go pay a visit to Isaac."
"The human. Have fun." He smirked.

"This is a surprise." Isaac commented when he opened the door.
"Can't a girl just visit her boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend. I like the sound of that." He stood aside to let her in. "So did anyone die or is this visit purely social?"
"Finn almost did. I saved him, but then I almost... honestly I don't really know what would have happened. Just that it would have been bad. But then Lia and Mal saved me and now I'm just an original vampire. And a witch. But not a sorceress. So... no one's dead and I wanted to see you."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Isaac was gazing at her as she talked, and she looked at him. "You're staring."
"Yes I am."
"Why?"
"Because as interesting and crazy as your life is, I'm a lot more interested in you."
"Why?"
"You're something special. And not because you're an original vampire or sorceress or a witch. Because you're kind and loving. You're sweet and there's a light in you that always shines." She softly reached out and touched his cheek. She didn't have to say anything.
"When do I get to meet your aunt?" She asked after a silence, letting her hand drop.
"How's tonight?"
"I'll be free. I just have to make sure Hayley's okay first."
"Perfect. Come on, I need to go grocery shopping." He said. He led her back out to the door, grabbing a jacket on his way out.
"You cooking tonight?"
"Yeah. Aunt Lor doesn't get to have a proper home cooked meal often."
"You'll poison her."
"I will not. I've cooked myself food before."
"There's a reason your kitchen looked like it had never been used before."
"It was new. Remember? Knocked down a wall and had it renovated..."
"Can I at least help?"
"You came for my kitchen, didn't you? You didn't come for my company." He teased and she rolled her eyes.
"There's no reason I can't want both." She pouted.
"Fine."
"What are we making?"
"Lasagne."
"You get the ingredients and I'll meet you at the store."
"Where are you going?"
"I need to make sure Hayley has something to do. I don't want to leave her alone."
"Okay. See you."
"See you." Amity smiled and sped away.

The compound was busy. Klaus and Amira were in his studio. He'd managed to get her to sit still as he painted her. Freya was with Finn in another room, spending as much time with him as she could. Kol had left, which left Elijah and Hayley to try to avoid each other.
"No moping." Amity cut in to her thoughts and Hayley looked up.
"Hey."
"I can send Elijah out of the compound if you're trying to avoid him."
"I'm not avoiding him. I'm just..."
"Avoiding him." Amity said.
"You don't have to babysit me, you know."
"Don't I?"
"Shouldn't you be with your boyfriend?"
"He can wait."
"I'm fine. Go get your happy ever after. You more than deserve it."
"Hayley-"
"I'm going to give Mary a call. Talk to the kids and then I'll take a nap."
"Okay."
"And you're not going to sit here and watch over me. Go to your boyfriend, and spend some actual time with him."
"I'm meeting his aunt tonight."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah."
"I guess that makes sense, since we've all met him." Hayley looked up. "Know what you're wearing?"