Hope wakes up to the feeling of a feather-like touch on her back. She can feel Josie tracing a pattern on her shoulder-blade, and the auburn haired girl immediately knows what got her girlfriend's attention. Hope opens her eyes, and they immediately fall on the clock on her nightstand.

9:00AM

The Mikaelson girl sighs, and the touch stops. Hope takes it as her cue to turn around and face her soulmate. When she does so, she's met with a sight that makes her smile fondly. Josie has a sheepish smile on, and her cheeks have a light pink color. The tribrid lazily wraps her arm around her girlfriend's waist and pulls her close. She doesn't hesitate to bury her face in Josie's neck to take her scent in. Feeling the brunette so close to her is calming, and her scent is almost driving Hope insane. They stay like this for a while, Hope holding Josie close, and Josie letting her fingers wander all over Hope's back. The tribrid pulls away first, but only because she wants to see Josie's face. When they're finally looking each other in the eyes, the Saltzman girl quickly leans in and leaves a kiss on Hope's nose, making her giggle.

"Hi, love." Hope finally says.

"Hi." Josie says, her voice coming out shyly.

"Do you like my birthmark?"

There's a teasing tone to Hope's voice, and added to her question, it makes Josie blush again.

"It got me curious."

Hope hums. "It means I'm from the Crescent Wolf Pack."

Josie smiles and nods. "It's beautiful."

Hope smiles back. "Thank you."

The tribrid lifts her hand and gently starts playing with her girlfriend's brown locks. Josie's hair is soft under Hope's touch, and the feeling makes both girls smile softly as they look into each other's eyes.

"So..." Hope says, her voice so quiet that Josie almost misses it.

"So?" The Saltzman girl tries to encourage Hope to keep talking.

The Mikaelson girl swallows the lump in her throat, and she breaks eye contact while doing so. When she looks back into her favorite brown eyes, she sees a little bit of worry in them, so she quickly decides to just say the words she's been dying to say.

"You remember." Hope blurts out, unable to hide the emotion in her voice.

Josie takes a moment to answer. She looks at Hope and sees just how affected her soulmate was by her loss of memories. The Saltzman girl thinks of what she finally remembered the night before as a warm feeling settles in her chest. As gently as she can, the brunette reaches for the tribrid's hand. Josie places their palms flat against each other, and when their eyes meet, she intertwines their fingers.

"Yes, I remember everything."

Hope's smile is almost blinding. She quickly leans in and leaves a peck on Josie's lips. The brunette giggles and leans in to get a proper kiss from her soulmate, but just as their lips are about to touch, there's a loud knock on the door. They jump apart from the sudden interruption. Then, Hope groans loudly and turns to lay on her back, not facing Josie anymore.

"Who is it?" Hope calls out.

"It's Lizzie." The blonde answers, her tone of voice betraying her annoyance. "Is my sister with you?"

The auburn haired girl looks at the brunette laying next to her. Josie's cheeks are pink, and she's tightly holding the sheets over her body. Hope can't help but smile fondly at the way her girlfriend seems to be shy all of a sudden.

"Yeah, she's here."

"Good, you have 15 minutes to join us in mom and dad's office."

"What?" Hope says. "Why?"

After a couple of seconds of silence, Josie nudges Hope's arm.

"Don't wait for an answer, I think she left."

"Why is everyone always interrupting us?" Hope groans as she pushes the sheets off of her body and stands up. "We can never be alone for long. I just wanted to spend the day in bed with you."

Josie stands up as Hope talks, and when her girlfriend is done, she lets out a sigh.

"I know. We'll get that. One day when we're done with high school and have an apartment together."

Hope stops for a moment as she's lowering her shirt to cover her chest. Josie's words make her mind go into overdrive as she overthinks what that could mean. Her and Josie... They could build something together. They could have what Hope's been craving since she lost her parents.

"Are you making plans for us, Saltzman?" Hope says as she lowers her shirt over her stomach.

The Mikaelson girl's tone of voice is teasing, yet hopeful. It's Josie's turn to stop what she's doing. The brunette turns around and meets her soulmate's eyes. She offers a small smile to Hope, a little shy to say her next words.

"Yeah, I am."

Just as Hope smiles back, Josie's face gets sad, and she looks down.

"Jo, is something wrong?"

"We might not get a future."

The tribrid is utterly confused. For a second, she wonders what Josie could mean, and then the answer drops like a ton of bricks. Hope quickly walks to Josie and wraps her in a tight hug.

"You're thinking about the Merge." The Mikaelson girl quietly says.

Josie nods, and brings her arms up to hold her girlfriend.

"It could ruin everything, and keep us from having that future."

The tribrid takes a step back to look at the brunette. She needs to look into Josie's eyes while she says her next words.

"It won't." She says without hesitation. "You know, you're not just a witch anymore, you're a wolf too. Maybe that changes something, maybe you won't even have to go through with the Merge."

Josie gives her girlfriend an incredulous look. "Right."

"Look, the thing is we don't know. Just like everything else concerning that soulmate bond we share. Maybe it changed things for the Merged, and maybe it didn't." Hope takes a deep breath. "But the thing I can tell you for sure is that nothing is taking you away from me. We've been through a lot, and I don't doubt that we'll go through more, but it's you and me from now on."

Josie's eyes are filled with tears and it prompts Hope to interrupt her speech and kiss her. The auburn haired girl quickly places her hand on the back of Josie's neck and pulls her soulmate in for a passionate kiss. She tries to pour her soul and conviction into a single kiss, and Josie seems to believe it since she reciprocates it with as much intensity.

At one point, Hope uses her free hand to grip Josie's shirt. She balls the fabric in a tight fist, hoping it will steady herself because her knees feel weak by the way Josie's kissing her. It's not that Josie's doing anything that could get Hope hot and bothered. The thing is the Saltzman girl's fingers are touching Hope's skin where her shirt doesn't entirely cover her waist and it brings the Mikaelson girl back to the night before.

Hope has more to say though. So, with every little bit of strength she has, the tribrid softly pushes Josie away. For a second, the brunette doesn't realise what's happening and chases her soulmate's mouth. When Hope doesn't meet her lips again though, Josie's eyes flutter open. The Mikaelson girl gently pulls Josie's head closer to hers so their foreheads are pressed together.

"I'm not losing you, do you understand? Nothing's gonna take you away from me." Hope says with conviction. Then, she lets a little smile appear on her face. "We have a future to live together after all, right?"

Josie's eyes are once again filled with tears, but her smile tells Hope that they are not bad ones this time. The brunette nods once and then places her forehead back on Hope's.

"I'm good with spending the rest of my life discovering what our soulmate bond implies and how it will evolve with time. You're the love of my life Josie Saltzman, always and forever."

Josie's heart is beating so loudly she's actually afraid Hope might be able to hear it. The brunette never thought someone would feel that way about her. She wondered for a long time if she would have to settle to be everyone's second choice. And now, she has the only tribrid in existence declaring her undying love for her. For a second, she thinks back to her 13 year old self. How she was totally fascinated and enamoured with the girl that is now her soulmate. Time can sometimes really arrange things for the best.

"Always and forever sounds perfect to me."