Hope had accepted Landon's death. It took some time, even a couple of years and heartache because off of her emotions were heightened with being a full tribrid. She stood there looking at him, face to face and this was Landon. Nobody playing with her mind, nobody playing pretend that he was here it was really Landon Kirby. ❝ Landon.. what did you do? ❞ She questioned as her brows knit downwards.

"I made a deal." Landon said simply, regretting it the moment he said it. There wasn't anything he didn't want to tell her, but he knew how she would react. If she knew the extent of it, Hope never would have been okay with it. "To come back, I mean. And I promise, I will listen to your questions and tell you all about it, but can I just...enjoy that I'm here and get to see your face for a minute first?"

Nodding her head, Elena understood. ❝ You don't need to explain. It's been hard on the town losing Matt but he's in a better place now where he won't have to suffer. ❞ Elena had to think like that because if she thought for a moment that he was getting tortured or something she would lose her mind. ❝ Sorry you came back at such a sad time here. ❞

"It's okay, it's my luck." Landon always had bad timing, it seemed like. Even when it was right, it wasn't. Her words gave him a flare of guilt too; Matt wouldn't have come through supernatural limbo, Landon wouldn't have had him, but he wished he could confirm that. Give his friends and family some peace. "I'm sorry he's gone. That's horrible." He said, debating if it was worth asking but his morbid curiosity got the best of him. "What, uh - what happened?"

It was good to see Landon's face. She had talked to him while she was on the other side between life and death. ❝ Are people like you even allowed to take one? I'm sorry! I don't mean that in a rude way at all, I just never thought of it that way. ❞ She spoke quickly as she tucked her hair behind her ear. ❝ It's really good to see you too. I'm glad that you're here! ❞

Landon let out a laugh, shaking his head. "Riley, I don't think you could be rude if you tried." He meant it too, even if the only time he'd spent with her was in limbo. Rude people usually didn't care if something sounded rude. "And I don't know if it's been done before, but I did it. So I'll be around for awhile, if you ever want someone to talk to or anything."

❝ I'm sorry, am I supposed to understand? ❞ Amelia questioned at the man who muttered to himself. Part of it was her paranoid mind about herself.

"No, I'm sorry, I tend to talk to myself." It hadn't really been something to watch out for in limbo. Aside from the dead, he was usually by himself. "I've been away awhile, I just hadn't heard about the mayor."

❝ Wait... Landon? Did someone die that you're supposed to take? Did I die and not know it? Last thing Lizzie and Hope told me was that you were the ferryman guy. ❞ Caroline spoke toward the young male before her as she wasn't sure what he was asking about what was kidding him.

"Mrs. Salvatore." Landon straightened immediately. He didn't know why he was suddenly so formal, it had been years since he'd been a student and even then, Caroline hadn't been who he answered to. But he couldn't help it. "No, no, I'm sorry, nobody's dead." He said with a shake of his head, immediately cringing. Obviously, someone was, but not for any involvement on his part. "Yeah, I, I was. Am. Sort of. It's a long story. But I'm not here for anyone, I'm just... I got the chance to come home and I took it." Did that sound as weak out loud as it felt? "I'm, uh, I'm sorry. About Matt." Landon added, remembering the memorial he'd walked by.

It wasn't abnormal for Athena to speak to strangers, in fact it was very common for her and to speak her mind. ❝ I'm soyrr.. I couldn't help but overhear. Kidding about what? ❞ She questioned as she stood back up from putting items back into her bag.

Landon glanced over at the voice. That was what he got for talking to himself. Wasn't that what always happened? "No worries. I just hadn't heard." He said, nodding to the memorial. Matt Donovan was dead, as soon as he came back. That kind of irony wasn't lost on him.

Elena had gotten a lot better with her emotions, especially when it had been a couple of weeks now at this point since Matt's death. Did she plan on forgetting about it? No. Did she plan on looking into it? Most likely because it was not an animal that did this. ❝ What? ❞ She questioned at the voice of Landon.

"Oh, no, nothing. I just hadn't, uh - I didn't realize." Landon said lamely, gesturing towards the memorial still set up. He had known Matt Donovan, even if only in passing moments when he was a student. He honestly hadn't known that Matt was still alive, but he wasn't going to be a jackass and say it. "I just got back into town, it's just my timing that it'd be when something like this happened."

All it took was a name. A name that triggered her love for him to push its way back inside of her, like a flicker that opened back up pushing its way to break open for him. She sat there and just looked at him for a moment, to ensure that he was real because the only time she was him was in death and she wasn't able to die. She was immortal like her Mikaelson family or how they were truly immortal. ❝ That sounds just like you. ❞ She smiled in his direction.

"It is me. Really." Landon said with a small smile, taking a hesitant step closer to her. He knew how impossible it was. What all had to be going through Hope's head. They had said their goodbyes and accepted what had become of them. But still, it would be a lie to say she wasn't a big part of that he'd done what he did to come back. "You're not dead, I'm not dead. It's a really long story and you'd hate some of the details, but...I'm really here, Hope."

Riley had only known Landon because of the time that she was between life and death. The option the just fully die or come back to life. She about stopped in her tracks when she saw him almost thinking that she was dead again and poked her arm to double check. ❝ Landon? What're you doing here? ❞

A smile full of relief crossed Landon's face immediately. Of all the people he had watched cross over, Riley was one he was happy hadn't left. That she had gone back. Gotten another chance. "Hi." He grinned, taking another step towards her. "I'm, uh, I'm taking a sabbatical." It wasn't a full truth, but it was as close as he could get without having to get into the details. "I'll be around awhile. It's really good to see you."

This had to have been to last person Hope would have thought to see in her lifetime now. Landon Kirby. The man who she fell madly in love with and had to give up and walk away from no matter how badly she didn't want to, no matter how bad she wanted to stay with him. ❝ Landon... ❞ She spoke as she blinked seeing his face once again.

"Hope." Landon said back simply. There was so much to say, so much he wanted to say, but...what was there? They'd had their goodbye. He didn't think he would ever get to leave limbo. Hope had probably moved on, hell he wanted her to. Nobody deserved happiness more than Hope Mikaelson. "I've spent a long time trying to think of something cool to say if I saw you again, but I have to be honest, now that it's happening I am at a loss for words." He said, knowing he was on the verge of rambling.

↳ @newbornfallsstarter

It felt weird to be back. Wrong, even. It was worth it, and it was what he wanted, but being whole and alive again still felt like touching a piece of live wire. None of that had anything on seeing Hope Mikaelson in the flesh. It seemed fitting she was the first thing he saw. She always was. He had a million things he wanted to say to her, but the only thing that came out was, "Oh, shit." when he saw the name on the bench she was next to. Talk about timing.

Courtney had agreed to help set up for the night's event and there she was in the midst of a crowd heading to town to do just that, when she overheard someone. "Everything alright?" She turned to face him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, everything's good." Landon's words were a reflex. Even after decades in limbo, some things didn't change, apparently. "Would you believe I had no idea it was time for all this?"