The Stars to Her Moonlight

It was late getting back from London, but even while her eyes burned, Hope knew she couldn't sleep. She took Albus's offered glass of bourbon; he'd started supplying it when she'd offhandedly mentioned she enjoyed Old Forester one evening, and settled onto a cushion on the floor before the fire.

Sighing, she took a sip.

"Elijah's my uncle, but you probably guessed that?"

Albus sat in the chair and crossed his ankle over his knee, nodding as Newt sat on the floor next to the chair, leaning against it. 

"I assumed a relation of some sort," Albus murmured, "I imagine seeing him was a bit of a shock."

Hope scoffed and smiled without humor. "That's an understatement…" she trailed off, tracing her fingertips along the ridges of the glass she held. "Many things contributed to my mom's death, and he was one of them." 

Not meeting their eyes, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Elijah could have prevented her death, and he chose not to. He claimed to love her. Swore to protect her. Then let her die." 

Hope furrowed her brow. "I don't like living with bitterness, but I can't bring myself to forgive him. I shouldn't have to. Sharing blood doesn't excuse people for their actions."

They shared a silence as Hope finished her glass and frowned at the emptied contents.

"Hope," Newt murmured.

Glancing up, she met his gentle green eyes.

He hesitated at first before nodding slowly. "Remember when you told us you got drunk before going to the forest?"

Swallowing hard, she looked down at the glass and up at him again. "I remember…" her voice a low whisper.

"You know, you can tell us everything you need to, yeah?" He moved closer and took her hand, which she realized was cold under his warm touch.

Hope let out a shaky breath. "I know I just don't…want to feel the pain that comes with the memories."

"But numbing it won't make it go away. It will only make it more difficult to understand."

Spending the last few years alone, she didn't reach out to the remaining family she did have, and she refused to talk to anyone other than the bartender at happy hour. Perhaps she hadn't handled her depression healthily, but she'd been trying to survive.

Hope had been traveling in a dark night for so long, guided only by the dim flicker of a dying sun. Now, she had a sea of stars shining bright enough to lead her home.

Leading her to them.

They were the light to her darkness.

She lost herself in the golden flecks of his eyes and smiled softly. "I thought I knew what love felt like, but I was wrong. It feels like this moment."

Newt smiled, dimples in his cheeks as he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "I love you, Hope. Memory or not. Past, present, and future.

Biting her lip, she glanced at Albus, and her heart twinged with warmth from how he watched them. Eyes twinkling happily. It was so obvious he was looking at the two loves of his life, making Hope's soul dance.

She looked down at the glass and offered it to Newt.

"I won't need this right now."

He was right. Hope didn't need the drink right now. 

She just needed them.

Smiling softly, Newt set the glass aside, taking her hand and squeezing it before his brow furrowed in thought. "Do you think he knows you're related?"

"I wondered the same thing." Hope frowned, looking at Albus. "He's smart- always has been." Returning her eyes to Newt, she couldn't help but smile. "Remember when I first arrived? I was playing chess in the hospital wing, and I could remember how to play, but I didn't know where I learned it? Elijah taught me. He's always taught me things like that. Strategic thinking to stay ahead of the enemies I inherited from my dad. Growing up, it was kind of a team effort.

"My Aunt Freya and Uncle Kol would teach me magic and help me grow to control my power. My dad and uncle Elijah taught me strategy. My mom and my aunt Rebekah…" Hope smirked then. "They taught me how to fight."

Albus chuckled. "I'm going to take a shot in the dark and assume you are quite like your mother?"

Hope couldn't help but grin even as tears stung her eyes. She nodded and smiled happily. "Very much. I'm like my dad in some ways and my mom in others. She was never afraid to stand for what was right. I wish I had a picture of her."

Sighing, she let herself get lost in her memory. It was the first time in years that she let herself think about her- not in a passing thought, but to remember specific details about her. Hope leaned against Newt's frame.

"I have the impression Elijah is very wise," Albus nodded, stroking his short beard, "I suppose he'd have to be, given his age."

Hope watched his expression and knew he was contemplating something. She raised a brow and smiled. "Go on then. Share with the class."

He glanced at her and chuckled low in his throat. "I don't doubt he knew Lisette, but I don't think he was there to find out if you killed her. I have a sneaking suspicion that he knew you hadn't but used the information of Lisette's death to start a conversation with you. His entire purpose was to see your reaction to the name Mikael. To confirm what he suspected."

"How could he just assume who I am?"

Albus shrugged. "Perhaps you weren't the last to see Lisette. If she did favors for him, I imagine she'd be inclined to share certain information. Especially if her vision hinted at who you are. If she knew you were a Mikaelson, she might go to the Mikaelson she's been dealing with."

Nodding slowly, she sighed. "I wonder if Mikael is even nearby then."

"I asked this before, but…" Newt started.

"Who's Mikael?" Hope finished for him with a forced smile. She nodded. "In one word? Asshole." She took Newt's hand into her lap and began playing with his fingers. "You know that Esther created the first vampires and my grandmother. Mikael was her husband, but not my grandfather."

Albus and Newt nodded slowly, brows knitting in concentration as she relayed the story of Mikael and Esther and her affair that led to Klaus, which, in turn, led to her. The longer she talked, the more tired she became but continued even as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Mikael hated him so much," she murmured, "my father, and he did nothing to deserve it. Beaten for being different." Hope sighed and moved so her head was laid on Newt's lap, basking in the warmth of the fire and the sensation of him stroking her hair from her forehead. "They once told me that Rebekah was the only one brave enough to try to stop it. One night, while he slept, she went to Mikael with a knife. Elijah stopped her before she could do it."

"That's terrible…" Newt murmured.

"Hm, he doesn't exactly win father of the year. Not that he ever claimed to be my dad's father. Always called him an abomination." She rolled her eyes. "My dad has done many terrible things already, and he'll continue for a few more decades, but he did one thing Mikael never could…"

She met Albus' sad eyes. "He changed," She murmured, "When I was born, it took him a while, but he eventually set aside his ambitions. For me- to keep me safe. He lived in fear for a thousand years, trying to escape the father who hated him while still fighting for his affection. Not that he'd ever admit it." Hope smiled crookedly. 

"He wanted me to have the father he never had, and I never once felt wrong for my blood status. Not once did he make me feel like I should be ashamed of who I am."

Hope leaned her head back, stretching her neck with a satisfying crackle. "Anyway. After my family was turned into vampires and Esther's spell backfired with the blood lust she hadn't been expecting, Mikael took it upon himself to become a vampire. So that he could kill his monstrous children." She rolled her eyes scornfully. "He's been chasing them all this time, forcing them from one city to the next."

"I thought you can't die." Newt frowned, forcing Hope to look at him with a sad smile, then glanced around the room, recalling that Albus had charmed the space to hold their voices. No prying ears would hear what she said next.

"Hm, Mikael holds the one weapon that can kill an Original. The law of nature and witches forbids anything to exist without a weakness of some sort. It's why vampires burn in the sun and the reason vervain only began growing after their creation. A wooden stake to the heart is an efficient method to kill the average vampire. For my family, it's more of a temporary dirt nap. A thousand years ago, there was an oak tree, a white oak tree, to be specific. My family has since burned it to ash when it was revealed that it could permanently kill an original, but not before Mikael fashioned a stake. He carries it with him now, ready to use at all times."

Newt pulled Hope a little closer, and when she looked up at him, she saw the real fear in his eyes. "What if he finds out about you?" He whispered urgently, glancing over at Albus, who watched Hope similarly worriedly.

"Hey." She sat up a little taller and stroked Newt's cheek gently with her thumb. "I'll be alright. If he ever does find out, we outmatch him a million to one. It's no contest."

"Don't get cocky, Hope." Newt frowned. "If he finds you and-"

"It's not cocky if it's true." She countered with a half-smile. "When Elijah said his name, I didn't feel fear, Newt. I felt shock maybe- hatred certainly, but I am not afraid of him."

Newt pursed his lips into a thin line. "Just because you don't fear him doesn't mean you shouldn't," he sighed softly and said more quietly, "I fear anyone who could take you from us."

Unfortunately, she couldn't deny his fear. Tribrid or not, she couldn't control fate more than they could, but what could she say? How could she ease that fear?

"That's why these moments are so important," Albus murmured, lowering himself to the floor and joining them, "we can't control the future, no matter what we know. Tomorrow might not come, so we must choose to live today." He rested a hand on Hope's stomach while his other squeezed Newt's hand. "While there is fear in the unknown, there is also unmatched beauty."

Hope smiled softly as she watched him lean forward and tenderly kiss Newt's lips. She listened to his heartbeat slow as Albus brought a calm over them.

When the fire was burned to embers, they retreated to bed. Hope between them comfortably. She rested her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes with a soft sigh. The sound of Albus' gentle breaths next to her signaled he'd fallen asleep, but Newt was obviously wide awake.

His fingertips stroked featherlight across her pelvis, and as she pressed her head against the crook of his neck, he dipped his hand between her legs. Hope was suddenly happy she'd discarded her panties before climbing into the bed.

Reacting immediately, she sighed against his neck and spread her legs wider. Focusing on the soft circular motion his fingers made against her clit. It was a slow, simmering heat that built in her core. Soft and sweet, he gently kissed her temple, massaging her sensitive bud.

Newt's middle finger continued stroking her clit in a slow, tight circle while a wave of wet release soaked his fingers.

"Newt…" she murmured softly, closing her eyes as she neared an orgasm.

"I love you, Hope," Newt whispered against her ear before kissing under her jaw.

Hope parted her lips to respond, but a soft, whiney breath released as her vision blurred. She fell into soft, pulsing waves that traveled up her body in deep tingles, making her shiver as if she were cold.

"I love you." Hope breathed barely above a whisper. "My shining stars." She smiled.

Newt chuckled, stroking her cheek, and quietly murmured.

"Our moonlight."