𝒻𝒾𝓇𝑒 & 𝑔𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒.

a little bit of downtime was bliss for bridget, even if it was for a couple of minutes she’d take it these days. she sat down on a park bench letting out a small sigh as she closed her eyes taking in the peacefulness. “mhm. peace.” she said quietly to herself before that peace was interupted by her phone ringing. “spoke too soon.” she shook her head answering the phone call, a few moments after she hangs up and get’s up from the bench and starts to make her way back home before realising the person in front of her dropped something. she picked the object up and walked faster and yelled for the person. “hey — you dropped something —” she said eventually catching up to them and tapping them on the shoulder. “i wasn’t sure if you heard me back there but i think this is yours” she said handing over the object.

❝Oh my god, you are a LIFESAVER.❞ Kat exclaimed in relief while her fingers wrapped around the keys that she dropped. For some reason she did not even NOTICE that they slipped out of her hand in the first place, but... ❝My friend would have killed me if I lost them.❞ She explained, jokingly. ❝Thank you so much for picking them up for me.❞

davina’s smile was polite, slightly reserved and there for customers, they didn’t need joyful beams of happiness they just needed the shopkeeper to not look like they were angry. “that’s alright, i’m sure we can find something. who is it that you’re looking to buy something for ? what are their interests generally when it comes to reading ? ”

   He’s minding his business – eh, sort of – until he sees the figure up ahead. This part of town, his part of town, was that of broken street lights and bar fights. The person in front of him? Not from this part of town that much was certain with their clean shoes and almost shiny looking attire. “Whatcha doin’ ‘round here?” his voice is laced with some sort of accent as he wonders more out of suspicion than curiosity. 

It was one HELL of a situation: Kat was late ( which never happened to her before ) and now it seemed like she got lost as well. That itself was nothing that a little ORBING could not fix, but where was she supposed to orb? This was the address that her friend had given her. ❝I, uh...❞ She trailed off in discomfort when the male talked to her, but she tried to stay somewhat confident. ❝I’m looking for a restaurant. I was supposed to meet a friend, but it seems like she sent me the wrong address and now I don’t really know where I am.❞

the bell above the door rung indicating that someone had entered the quaint bookshop. it was a sharp sound breaking the silence that had enveloped the store in the absence of customers and it brought davina out of daydream that had captured her attention while she took inventory in the back. the brunette’s gaze snapped towards the door leading to the shopfloor, “i’ll be right there ! ” she young witch called out, closing the inventory notebook before making her way out, small smile on her lips facing the prospective customer, “what can i do for you ? ”.

   There’s something about it but Kira couldn’t put her finger on it. Her lips purse before she blows out the air. “An older woman, I think? It’s so beautiful and old – I don’t know why she’d get rid of something like this.” Especially something that seemed so important with initials engraved in them.

❝I don’t know either.❞ The whitelighter-witch admitted in a quiet tone. If she owned something like it, Kat certainly would not want to let it out of her SIGHT. Leave alone get rid of it. ❝Maybe she needed the money?❞ It was a SAD thought, but it was not entirely unlikely, was it?

   “What do you think of this?” she asked the other as she held up the almost antique locket for them to see. “They don’t make lockets like this anymore. I wonder who S.C. is.”

❝Mhm?❞ Kat's eyes dropped to the locket in the blonde’s hands and she studied it for one moment before she raised an eyebrow. ❝I don’t know, but it’s beautiful.❞ Her emerald green eyes wandered to the girl’s face. ❝Who brought it in?❞

henry had a hard time keeping his EMOTIONS under control, he adverts his stare from the glare she sends his way. he should’ve kept his mouth shut tight instead of blurting out what he couldn’t control in the moment. he wasn’t this guy, he didn’t get UPSET easily. all because of a little girl. ‘ for all we knew you could have just left ‘ she hit a NERVE. he clenched his fist and his jaw tightened. “is that what you really think? that I would just.. LEAVE?” henry knew abandonment all too well, and to think he could EVER do that to his family. this was driving him insane. “I-I’m sorry, I just-” henry shook his head, the world seemed so insignificant compared to meeting his daughter. “THE DEVIL? you SHOW up, you tell me I’m your FATHER, and you EXPECT me to believe that? you EXPECT me to believe that I-” he drew in a long breath, a hand running over his face in frustration, “I abandoned you?” baby blues PLEADED into hers, for her to say it wasn’t true. for her to tell him anything else,  anything else would suffice than hearing what a failure of a father he was. 

It was hard. Hell, maybe it was IMPOSSIBLE to control their emotions in a moment like this. Everything about this situation felt like a nightmare - because she ALWAYS dreamed of finding her mother, finding her father, just the way it happened in the movies: She wanted to be reunited with them and run into their arms, but instead of doing THAT she needed to attempt to convince him that he was, in fact, her dad. It hurt more than she could bear and that pain made her say things that she did not even MEAN, but she could not take them back. Kat remained silent, at least until he questioned if she expected him to believe her. Did she? Didn’t she? ❝NO.❞ She decided, praying that the tears that were burning inside of her eyes would just go away. ❝No, I don’t expect you to believe me, but I KNOW who you are. I know who I am. Seriously? How was I supposed to know what happened? All I know is that Cade took me and when I came back you weren’t there. No one could tell me anything about you and what was I supposed to think? I was ELEVEN.❞ What kind of a child would choose to believe that the people she loved more than anything would not return to her?

TDF Task / TDF Event Number 7

Headcanons for the alternate reality (dream sequence).

Kat is currently attending college, studying art history and dance.

People tend to compare her to Hermione Granger. She cares a lot about her grades and absorbs knowledge like a little sponge. It makes it hard for her to find new friends sometimes - she has the constant urge to correct them, if only because she wants to watch them thrive. The people that look past it and open up their minds to her gain a friend that will be 100% loyal to them at all times.

She is already living her dream and helps one of her friends (open connection) with their yoga and dance studio, instructing some classes of her own.

The beauty of the world is important to her and she spends a lot of time travelling to find the perfect locations to take pictures. They all land on her social media accounts, but she keeps them in a trillion photo albums as well.

She recently returned from a journey to Africa that left her in awe.

Being lonely is something that doesn’t work well with her, which is why she always travels with friends (open connections). 

Magic fills her with joy and she tends to use it to share that feeling with others. She’s very capable of working defensive magic, but she rarely ever uses it.

She loves her family very dearly and doesn’t remember the kidnapping, whatsoever. All she remembers is a wonderful childhood, with lots of loving moments.

SCREW LOGIC. logic went out the window when he found out he had a daughter, a daughter he cant remember, he believed her and as hard as it is, how could he just wake up one day and not remember his child   HIS children, what kind of FATHER did that make him? to forget them so easily, as though they never existed. his heart plummets, && he’s fighting the lump in the back of his throat. there were no words, they were HOPELESS and so was he.  she might have it worse with all of her memories of him still intact, while he has NOTHING to compare it too, but it SHOULDN’T matter. this heartache is worse than dying, even when he can’t remember what falling to his death felt like. henry lowered his head, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment in guilt. he feels sick to his stomach, to have to even feel like this, to have his daughter see him like this. it’s not her FAULT he’s like this, and he wouldn’t want her to think it either. a few lingering seconds pass and henry eventually finds his voice of reason, “You’re telling me I’m your FATHER and you didn’t care HOW i died? does that make much sense to you? because I’m trying, I’m really TRYING to understand here.” 

The whitelighter-witch found it hard to LOOK at him, really look at him, while he reacted to the things that she said. Henry’s expression would have allowed her to read him like an open book, but she did not WANT to. What right did she have? He didn’t remember her - she was nothing other than a stranger to him. Nobody liked sharing pain with strangers, RIGHT? Kat’s grip tightened around the door knob and she could not keep herself from glaring for a second. ❝Don’t give me that crap. I spent MONTHS in the hands of the devil and all I wanted was to go home. To be with my parents, my siblings. When I finally did, no one could tell me anything about you OR mom. You both disappeared without a trace - we didn’t even know if you were really dead. For all that we knew you could have just LEFT.❞ Sometimes it had been easier to believe that. To convince herself that mommy and daddy were alive and well - that they needed to stay away to be safe and happy. No child wanted to believe that their parents were gone FOREVER, especially when there weren’t any bodies to bury. Nothing to say goodbye to. Nothing to make her believe that they wouldn’t come back to her... She simply never thought that their reunion would look like THIS.

“Katrina..” a swift kick of reality hitting him in an instant watching her WALK AWAY, her back turned to him. they were quick and fleeting, he–afterwards had no idea how to explain what flew out of his mouth and into the air, making this more complicated then need be. he could’ve walked away, made this easier for himself. instead, he decided to stay and work this out. crazy as it seems, it’s like the girls eyes resemble his—-a part of him. how is that possible? how is any of this possible? there was an explanation after all and she just said it all. “you think,” he paused, he has to think logical about this, whatever way he looked at it. “I-I’m your father? WIFE, KIDS, I have a family?” he did what he normally did, the wedding ring dangling around his neck, he nervously toyed with it,  “how is that possible?”

❝I don’t think you’re my father. You ARE my father.❞ Because that was who she was: Katrina Mitchell. The daughter of Paige Matthews and Henry Mitchell - his daughter, if he told her the TRUTH about his identity. A family. The whitelighter-witch gave him a small and bitter laugh when she glanced over her shoulder to look at him. Up into those eyes that were so DEVASTATINGLY familiar and foreign at the same time. ❝You used to have one.❞ What was left of it? Her mother disappeared, just like he did. The redhead left Mystic Falls for three years. HJ spent one year travelling and Tam... God, who knew what her twin was up to these days? ❝I don’t know.❞ She told him, momentarily lifting her chin in defiance. ❝I was a CHILD when my parents went missing.❞ It was all a blur, especially since she attempted to forget all of the memories that she made during her time with the devil. ❝All I know is that I came home to find out that every adult I ever relied on was gone. I didn’t care HOW it happened.❞ It just happened - and it sucked.

“He did,” Stefan nodded. “But it wasn’t for you. It was for him. Because he wanted something. He wanted to manipulate you. Make you care. And you do. You do care. Because you’re good, and kind, and loving.” He sighed softly. “But he took an interest in your family a long time ago. He took an interest in  YOU . Because of what you can do, because of your gifts. Because you’re special, Kat. He targeted you when you were just a little girl. Not because he cared for you, or trusted you, or wanted to protect you. It was because he wanted your gifts. He wanted to take you and control you and make you hurt.”

“Maybe he did deserve to die.” he said softly, shrugging slightly, as if he himself didn’t know the answer. “It doesn’t mean that it’s not allowed to hurt. That you’re not allowed to hurt.” 

His chest swelled painfully at the young whitelighter-witch’s words. Even now she was thinking of HJ. Of what Cade’s death meant for her family. “You know that you deserve that, too right?” Stefan asked her, looking sincere. “Not just Henry. You.” They both deserved that. Someone to take care of them. Someone to love them. Through everything. “You’re nineteen years old, Kat, you don’t deserve to have this much weight on your shoulders.” He smiled slightly at her and curled his fingers into her upper arm, giving her a gentle squeeze before he turned his head to press his lips to the side of her head again, As he did, Stefan squeezed her a little tighter to him, encouraging her to let him support her. The way she deserved. Thumb lightly circling the skin of her arm, he allowed the feelings of protectiveness and love he felt for the young girl to flow through him until his hand glowed that soft yellow colour, and he tried to pass those feelings along. 

Stefan may be a whitelighter – he may be meant to heal people, the supernatural, anybody who needed it – physically, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do everything in his power to push that further. To try to heal, to comfort the most painful parts of a person’s soul. That was what he focused on now. His will to protect the girl next to him. Like he’d done all those years ago.

❝I know. I KNOW that’s what he wanted and he frightened me. I missed my brother, my sister, my parents and I’m grateful that you found me, but... what did I come home to? Paige and Henry were GONE.You were gone and it hurt like HELL. We didn’t have anyone anymore - not even Cade.❞ And even as a child, Kat felt so god damn RESPONSIBLE for the fate that her siblings endured. So yes, she knew that the devil wanted to use her, but maybe she should have LET him. Maybe it would have spared them the loss of their loved ones.

MAYBE. It seemed to be such a big word right now and a part of her wished that Stefan could have told her that Arcadius DESERVED it - because what if he didn’t? What if he was another VICTIM of circumstance? What if he came back and made her pay the price for her betrayal?

The thought alone made her cling just a little bit harder, but she nodded her head in response to his words. Yes. The whitelighter-witch knew that she deserved it too and yet, she was so used to being on her own. Sure, she had people in Africa, but she always kept them at a certain DISTANCE. She could do it again, but her siblings? Kat didn’t want them to go through that.