✧ fractured sanity ✧

“Not normally, at least I like to think so.  But today?  Today dumbass Dr. Mikaelson was absolutely in the building.”  She gave the woman a sympathetic glance, which didn’t come easily to her, and shook her head.  “I can only imagine how difficult it is for you.  But with everything you’re going through, I think just getting by from day to day is an accomplishment.”

.

“We all have our moments, the days don’t normally last, it’ll blow over before you know it. Try not to let it get to you, you’re a good doctor.” She said earnestly as she reached out to touch the woman’s arm. She smiled and nodded at the others words and glanced down at her stomach. “I just hope that she’s healthy.” 

Austin glanced over towards the woman with an apologetic smile “oh uh, i’m sorry. I guess that really does make things a little difficult” he hurriedly added as he leaned himself against his crutch. He glanced into the direction that he was being pointed to and with a soft nod he murmured “actually, that does look familiar. I’ve only got myself to blame, I don’t normally wander so far out.” 

.

“It’s alright..” She smiled as she lifted her ice chips to her mouth and chewed slowly. She watched him lean against his crutch before nodding at his words. “That’s okay, everyone wanders every now and again. No harm done.” She said as she watched him. “Would you like me to walk with you?” 

A faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips as his blue gaze lowered to her features, the nickname that only she had ever called him falling from her lips tugging at his heartstrings as he maneuvered them towards the elevators. “You’ve called me that since the day we met,” Leonidas explained. “The only person in this world to call me Leon and the only person I would ever allow too.”

.

As they walked Seraphina found herself staring up at him, allowing her to guide her forward. She trusted him blindly despite not knowing anything about him. She smiled brightly when he told her she was the only person in the world to call him Leon, the only person he would allow to call him that.

“Then I will continue to call you that.” She whispered, reaching up to stroke his cheek. “I can’t believe I found you again..” 

Hazel wasn’t privy to the same level of gossip as most of the staff - her time was largely spent in the garden, turning her attention to the plants the trees in a desperate attempt to find…something.  Some part of her that felt lost.  She did need to come inside from time to time, though, and it was one of those times that had brought her face to face with the pregnant woman.

“I can’t say that I do - but congratulations.  There’s nothing quite so precious as bringing life into this world.  I wish I could help you more than that, but all I can truly offer is to come outside with me.  You may find that the peace of the garden will help ease your mind.”

.

Looking down at her belly all Seraphina could do was nod, “Thank you..” She whispered before looking back up, “I suppose going out to the garden would be a nice change of pace. Probably would be nice to go outside.” She admitted as she stroked her stomach. 

Seraphina had been told labor could take hours. Hers had started no more than fifteen minutes ago, but it had her laid curled up in her bed and cradling her pregnant belly until finally she’d decided to get up and see if walking helped. She didn’t want to call for anyone and with Leonidas at work she was left wandering the halls alone. 

As she walked the contractions got worse and worse, she couldn’t remember if that was normal or not. She knows thanks to Leon that she has three other children, a five year old son, two year old son, and a one year old daughter. 

But she didn’t remember anything about their births, she didn’t remember how it went, or how it worked. She only knew what the doctors had told her and right now her brain couldn’t retain anything. 

Cradling her stomach she whimpered as she leaned heavily against a wall, trying to focus on her breathing when suddenly a really rough contraction made her entire body tense as her knees began to buckle. 

“Oh no... no no no, not right now, baby girl, please not right now.” She pleaded with her unborn daughter, her head falling back as she tried to hold it all together. 

Her husband was at work, she was in the middle of a hallway without a doctor or nurse in sight because she’d gone wandering down an empty corridor hoping that the peace and quiet would calm her racing nerves. 

While Hope hadn’t been part of Seraphina’s case at all, the story of the pregnant woman with no memory was a hard one to miss hearing.  And while the amnesia made her curious as a neurology resident, she hadn’t wanted to dig too deeply - it was a case that made her profoundly sad, and that was virtually impossible to do.  Better, she thought, to let doctors without emotional attachment handle it.

“I’m fine,” she promised in an overly casual voice.  “Just needed to yell at a dumbass.  By which I mean myself.  Are you alright?”

.

“I’m sure you’re anything but a dumbass.” Seraphina smiled as she stroked her belly, when the woman asked if she was alright she nodded. “Yes, as alright as I can be. Still trying to put the pieces together.” She admitted, looking down at her belly. 

Leonidas stood unwavering as her gentle touch met his features, tracing each outline with cautious movements before she finally spoke and he gave a shake of his head before pulling her into his frame, arms wrapping around her as he placed a gentle kiss to her head, before pulling back slightly, a faint hint of a smile quirking at the corners of his lips before he dipped slightly, a single hand taking one of her own as he gave a slight bow, raising her digits to his lips. “Leonidas Kimball, at your service,” Leo stated casually, lips ghosting against her skin before he placed a kiss to the back of her hand. “You don’t have to remember everything right now, love. Let’s just get you back up to your room before anyone discovers your missing and the hospital goes into a frenzy.”

.

Being wrapped in this man’s arms should have been scary, it should have been an awkward and weird embrace because for all intents and purposes she did not truly know him. 

But still she fell easily into his arms, wrapping around him and feeling strangely at home. 

When he gave her his name it made Sera’s heart take off, she watched him kiss the back of her hand and smiled, “Thank you, Leonidas...” She whispered, the name felt odd in her mouth, but familiar at the same time. 

“Leon...” She whispered, her eyebrows furrowing. “I don’t know why, but I want to call you Leon.” 

// OPEN // @farfromhomestarters​

Kennedy woke up, like every day not exactly knowing what time it was or how long she’d been sleeping, but she knew the lights in her room were on so it was daytime. Turning around just to find someone walking through the door to her room, she mustered up the strength to sit up and turn to face them, offering up a small smile. “You probably have way more important things to do today than to be coming here every few hours.” she said, her voice hoarse from just waking up. “What’s going on in the outside world?” 

.

When Kennedy sat up Seraphina offered her a soft smile, she’d met the girl not too long ago but felt the need to at least visit her, knowing how stressful and scary everything must be. “I brought you this.” She said before producing a cup of ice chips. “I didn’t know if you could stomach the thought of anything else at the moment. It was her favorite thing to eat at the moment, it was easy on her stomach, it eased her cravings to chew, and it made for easy conversation.

“I heard a riveting conversation between an older couple, apparently the pudding here tastes like ass.” She said with a grin. 

One wrong answer.  One time that she’d been questioned by an attending in the OR and spoke without thinking, and that had been enough to make Hope spiral.  The minute the surgery was done she was gone, storming into a supply room and stifling her scream behind a hand.  “Idiot!” she shouted.  “You knew that answer like the back of your hand and you couldn’t even produce it under pressure?  Hospital with your last name on it and you make yourself look like an ass?”  She kicked a rack a few times, hard as she could, and tried to refocus.  “Get out there.  Get out and be better.”

One more kick was all she allowed herself before she smoothed her hair back and stepped out of the supply closet, nearly running into someone standing outside.  “Excuse me.”

@farfromhomestarters​

.

Seraphina had been walking by, cradling her bump in her hands. She was getting further and further along every day, which was normal, her pregnancy was progressing, her belly dropping lower as her body prepared itself for birth. 

She’d been passing by a closed door labeled supply closet when she’d heard yelling from the other side, she’d stopped to just listen when the door suddenly opened and someone came stepping out. 

“So sorry... I just..” She stopped to study the young girl, “Are you alright? I thought I heard yelling..” She said softly.

Austin’s 85 year old roommate had an impressive feud going on with the woman across the corridor. The impressive part being that both were bedbound, awaiting surgery and somehow still managed to piss each other off on a regular basis. It had been them that he had to thank for finally getting out of bed, he had been unable to take their bickering any longer and that was it. 

Today had been no different, but he was becoming fatigued faster than usual and as a result had ended up taking a wrong turn. The grip he had on his crutch was becoming a little unsteady, but he was too stubborn to ask for assistance standing. “Uh, hey” his voice was hoarse from not having spoken for a few hours as he attempted to flag somebody down “can you direct me back to ortho. I must’ve taken a wrong turn or something.”

@farfromhomestarters​  

.

Seraphina was nursing a cup of ice chips and some kind of blue raspberry syrup, she had been craving it like crazy. She was rubbing her belly while pacing up and down the hall munching on her flavored ice. 

When she heard someone speaking she turned, realizing that there wasn’t anyone else around she froze a bit, one hand still on her swollen belly and the other holding the cup of ice chips to her mouth. 

Lowering it slowly she finished chewing and swallowed, “I think asking the amnesiac patient was your first mistake. But, I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s that way.” She said as she pointed, she had overheard a few nurses talking about Ortho a bit earlier and directing patients that way. 

The sob that left her throat had finally broken through his cold exterior, his already furrowed brows deepening as he stepped forward and a hand rose to cup her features, digits brushing hair behind her hair before resting against her cheek and jaw line. Her words shooting daggers into his chest as he attempted to mask the fact that they had left him winded and struggling for breath before he leaned forward to rest his forehead against her own. “I thought you left us,” Leonidas finally managed to breathe out, his voice wavering slightly. “I had no idea. When you left I just- I thought that was it. You weren’t coming back. It seems so big then and now- It all seemed so trivial in the weeks following but you were already gone and I thought that was it. I thought you hated me.”

.

When his hand cradled her features, fingers brushing hair behind her ears before cupping her cheek and jaw line. Then suddenly his forehead is resting against hers, causing her eyelids to flutter shut. It felt somehow so familiar yet she couldn’t remember anything like this before at all. 

But that didn’t matter as she reached out to touch him, fingers resting against his face, trembling as she touched each feature, fingers brushed against his lips, his cheek bones, his brow. 

There wasn’t an area she left untouched, mapping out his entire face and committing it to memory, not wanting to forget this man ever again. 

“I didn’t... I.. I don’t know why I left but I promise I would never have left you, not you... never you..” She gasped, finally opening her eyes. “I.. I don’t remember your name... but I know I know you.. I know it in my heart.” 

The tears that brimmed in her dark hues only caused for a further ache in his chest, the brokenness in her voice keeping him from moving even closer no matter how much he desired to reach out and comfort her. She had left him, left their children, taking his unborn child with her and ignoring him for months. She didn’t deserve his comfort did she? 

“But you did,” Leonidas spoke again, forcing his voice to remain steady, the coldness in his features evident as he hid every ounce of emotion from being evident. Something he had perfected since she had left him. 

It wasn’t until she looked back up at him, telling him that she didn’t understand that his features faltered. brows furrowing slightly as an audible sigh left his lips. “I don’t either,” he countered, shaking his head. “I don’t understand what’s going on with you. You look at me like I’m a stranger. Like you don’t even know who I am. What the hell is going on, Sera? Why are you back now?”

.

When the man only affirmed that she had left, left him, left her children, it broke her. A soft sob rose in her chest and broke as it left her throat. At his questions she could only shake her head. “They said I was in an accident, they found me on side of the road, bleeding from my head. They said I must have tripped and fallen in the dark, bumped my head. Bumped it good enough I lost my memory. I only remembered my name...” 

Looking back up at him she took a step forward, “Please.. I wouldn’t.. I wouldn’t just walk away from my family, I couldn’t have. Please.. you have to believe me.” 

Glancing down at his hands she spotted the place where a wedding band would go on his finger, she reached forward to touch it, looking up at him again. “We were married... right? We have children.. I’m the mother of your babies.. please, trust in me that I wouldn’t lie to you.” 

Landon hadn’t wondered about his birth parents, in all honesty he was happy with his adopted family. His parents were caring and supportive, he got along with his siblings, as well as siblings could get along. Though as he grew older his interest in learning about where he came from shifted, learning more about the genetic effects they could hold on him, he wondered if there was something from his parents that could have been passed on and if it would come back to bite him at the wrong time and far too late for him to do anything about. Which is how he started down the line looking into where he was from, spending his free time and money on tracking down the people and getting court approval to open sealed documents. 

Finding out your mother’s name might seem like a big deal to most, and looking down at the papers with her signature on it and her name printed he expected to feel something. But like the many legal documents he dealt with he just looked at it clinically and felt nothing. That was till that name showed up on the board of the hospital he worked at, at first wondering it was some illness, cancer or something of the like that brought her in. 

He had avoided the room she was in and tried his best to keep from the very floor, not wanting to bump into her. He was sure there would be no magical moment of her looking at him and just knowing that he was her kid but he rather not have the interaction yet. While walking through the lobby however he looked up from his phone too late and was already face to face with the woman. Eye wide at her question he looked around and then shook his head, “No, of course not.” He answers, rather honestly if he thought about it.

.

The man looked shocked, unprepared, it confused her. She didn’t understand it just like she didn’t understand how she’d ended up in this predicament. At his answer, the wide eyes and the way he shook his head. It made her deflate just a bit, cradling her swollen belly with crossed arms as she looked down.

“Oh...” She whispered softly, “Okay, I’m sorry.” She continued, looking away and chewing at her lip worriedly.

She supposed she should go back up to her room now, she was unlikely to find anyone who actually knew her here and she had to talk to her doctor soon, they were hopeful that doing cognitive therapy might help to jog her memory. But she wasn’t holding out much hope herself.

It had been months since the last time he had seen, or even heard from, his wife. The argument now seemed so trivial and yet she was gone and seemingly uncontactable, leaving him to raise their children alone. His relationship with Cami had started out as a means to fill the void that she had once filled and now it seemed as though she was the only thing keeping him going on a daily basis. The idea that anything had happened to her had never even crossed his mind, her having just up and left him easier to swallow than the though but when he saw her standing there in the lobby on his way out for a smoke it was as if the entire world had stopped moving, his breath catching in his throat as his movements halted and his blue hues remained trained on her, trying to convince himself that he wasn’t hallucinating before he eventually approached. 

A hand instinctively reached out slightly as he went to speak her name only to stop in his tracks, hand outstretched slightly as she spoke and in an instant he could feel his heart drop in his chest, brows furrowing. “What- What do you mean, Seraphina,” Leonidas questioned cautiously. “Of course, I know who you are? Where the hell have you been? You just up and leave after one single argument and then you’re gone for months? You don’t answer my calls or my texts? Left your kids…”

.

When the man spoke, actually said her name, it made her heart leap in her chest and for a moment excitement fluttered in her stomach as she cradled it happily. Maybe this man was it, maybe he was the husband she had somehow lost. 

But then as he continued on, questioning her as he told her about the single argument they’d had, her up and leaving, leaving him, leaving their children. 

“Ki ..Kids?” She whispered softly, her voice breaking even more as devastation filled her chest. “I..” 

She looked down at her pregnant belly, stroking it as her stomach now flipped uneasily. “I.. I wouldn’t leave my children..” She said softly, though she sounded unsure. 

After all how would she know? She had amnesia, maybe she had been in the middle of leaving her family, taking her unborn child with her and as she walked away from her life she had been in an accident that had left her without the memory of the argument that had caused her to walk away. 

The tears built in her eyes as she finally looked back up at him, “I don’t understand...” 

As she stood in the hospital lobby she looked around, trying to see if she could spot anything that might look familiar to her, a smell, a sound, anything. 

Her fingers were clasped together and every now and again she glanced down at her ring finger. The tan line on her finger wasn’t terribly obvious, but it was enough to tell her that she had been married at some point. 

She had no idea if that meant she was divorced now or if her husband simply didn’t care that she was gone. The idea devastated her so she tried not to focus too much on that and instead focused on trying to find a familiar face. 

When Sera saw someone approaching her she kept her gaze on them and tried not to get her hopes up, “Do you know me?” She asked softly, a little brokenly. 

❝ And I’ve lost who I am, and I can’t understand why my heart is so broken. ❞

Character Chart Character’s full name: Seraphina Ariela Kimball

Reason or meaning of name:  

Seraphina: This name translates to “burning ones” and are in reference to the seraphim from the Jewish scriptures. The seraphim are the highest-ranking angels of God and are known for their intense passion and zealous love.

Ariela: Lion of God. Ariela is a girl's name of Hebrew origin and a diminutive of the name Ariel.   

Character’s nickname: Sera, Phina, Ari, Ela

Birth date: February 5th, 1058 Physical appearance Age: 31 How old does he/she appear: 31

Weight: 128 Height: 5′ 5″ Body build: Slim and trim physique, muscular build around her shoulders, back, and legs.

Distinguishing marks: Scars on her neck from the attack by her husband. Predominant features: Her smile Hair color: Brunette Personality Positive personality traits: Self-reliant, Idealistic, Intellectual, Free Spirited. Negative personality traits: Unpredictable, Rebellious, Stubborn, Impulsive

Mood character is most often in: Usually Seraphina is filled with pride and joy. Determined But since being resurrected she’s been more withdrawn and uncertain. Slowly she’s getting her old self back.

Character’s greatest joy in life: Her children, ever since the day she became a mother they have been the center of her core. Character’s greatest fear: Losing her family

Character is most at ease when: She’s with her husband, Leonidas. 

If granted one wish, it would be: To bring her husband peace Why? She knows that wherever he is, he blames himself for what he did. She just wants him to be at peace, even if she hasn’t found him yet. Character’s soft spot: Like most things it has to be her husband, he brings out the best in her. He lets her true colors shine.  Is this soft spot obvious to others? Absolutely, anyone who has seen them together would know. Its obvious from just one glance alone. Greatest strength: Being Independent Greatest vulnerability or weakness: Being Tenacious Goals Drives and motivations: Her passion, the memories of the ones she loves and fears that she has lost forever. Immediate goals: Find her husband. Long term goals: Help the resistance achieve their goal, to learn more about being a witch. How the character plans to accomplish these goals: She hopes to get others to help her, talk with other witches. See if they can offer any advice or guidance. Maybe they can use their magic to help her find Leonidas. Past Birthplace: Israel Childhood hero: Her father Education: She learned from her mother, who taught her everything. But her father also taught her important life skills. Religion: Judaism Present Current location: New Orleans, Louisiana Currently living with: Herself Religion: Judaism Family Mother: Belina Relationship with her: Close, Seraphina loved her mother very much and respected her passion. Occupation: Artist

Father: Abbe Relationship with him: Extremely close, her father was her utmost confidant. She told him everything. Occupation: Candlemaker