Hope didn't expect to feel a shift in their bond as soon as Alaric's car disappears from the road that leads to the school. But when she no longer sees the car, Hope feels empty. It's just now that the tribrid realizes how much space Josie took in her life. 

Hope walks through the halls, alone, with no hand to hold. She gets to her own room, and the silence that fills it when she closes the door is deafening. Hope leans against the door and closes her eyes, doing her best to steady herself. Josie's been gone for a few minutes, she shouldn't miss her that much already.

The more time passes, the worst Hope feels. 

The next day, Hope realizes that it doesn't hurt. It does way worse than hurting actually. 

Hope walks in Alaric's office, panic written all over her face. 

"I can't feel Josie." 

"What did you-"

Hope quickly repeats herself. "I can't feel Josie! I can't feel her anymore Dr. Saltzman." 

Alaric quickly stands up when he sees his student that is usually emotionally guarded, on the verge of crying. He walks closer to Hope, but the Mikaelson girl takes a step back and turns her back to him.

"D-do you think… that the bond could be severed by space?" Hope asks, her voice breaking.

Alaric walks closer again, and places what he hopes is a comforting hand on Hope's shoulder.

"I don't know Hope. Does it hurt?" 

The tribrid shakes her head. "No. I told you, I feel nothing. Empty."

"Empty?" He says, curious.

Hope sighs loudly and turns around. "It's like there's a Josie sized hole in my life. I knew I'd feel her absence, but I thought I would at least feel her."

"I see." The man caress his beard, deep in thoughts.

They're both startled when Alaric's phone starts to ring. The man quickly excuses himself and takes the call.

"Caroline! Hi, how are-" He abruptly stops talking. "I see." He hums. "Yeah, we didn't know what would happen." He pauses and listens. "She's here with me." 

Suddenly Hope decides to listen more closely since they're talking about her. 

"Yes, she feels like that too." There's a small pause. "Of course, give me a second." Alaric hands the phone to Hope. "Josie would like to speak to you."

The tribrid's eyes widen. "Really?"

He smiles. "Yes."

Hope hesitantly takes the phone. "Hi?"

Josie sniffles. "Hi…"

Hope immediately knows Josie's been crying. "Josie, what's wrong?"

"I-I can't f-feel you. Since we've been in that plane… Hope, do you think we're not soulmates anymore?"

"I-I…" Hope swallows the lump in her throat. "Yes, we still are. Your name is still tattooed on my skin. Is my name still on yours?"

"Y-yeah."

"Then it must mean we're still soulmates. That kind of thing doesn't just disappear, right?"

"Right. Why can't I feel you then?"

"I can't feel you either. It must be because of the distance separating us. Do you remember the movie night? The way I could feel even your smallest forms of pain? The connection between us gets strong when we're physically close, and nonexistent when we're too far away from each other."

For a long moment nobody speaks. Hope doesn't know what she could add. She refrains herself from begging Josie to just hop in the next plane and come back home. For now, she needs to be in control and be a comforting presence in Josie's life. 

"Do you even miss me?" Josie ends up asking. "Or are you realizing how easier your life would be without the soul marks?"

"No!" Hope quickly blurts out. "I miss you. I swear I do. Josie, I-" Hope takes a deep breath. "I realized how empty I feel without you. You filled a place that was left empty for so long, and now that you're gone… I feel this overwhelming emptiness again. I don't think I could deal with this for long."

"Really?" Josie's voice is small.

Hope lets a small smile stretch her lips. "Really. Like you told me the other night… Enjoy your time, and then come back to me."

"Okay."

"Have a good day Josie." Hope says, the smile evident in her voice.

"Have a good day too Hope." Josie replies, a new lightness in hers.

Hope hands Alaric the phone. "I'm going for a run."

Without another look at the man, Hope walks out of the headmaster's office. She can't believe she actually confessed all of this to Josie. Her level of freak out is the highest it's ever been. 

*

Two days later, and Hope spent most of her time as a wolf. It's just easier this way. Her wolf form helps the emptiness to go unnoticed. So Hope runs around the forest for hours, and comes back to school to sleep. As soon as she gets in her very empty room, the empty feeling catches up to her.

So Hope takes long and hot showers. She spends her little time as a human in her own room and avoids every little interaction with Josie's father. She would rather not have a repeat of her conversation with Josie. Admitting she missed Josie was really hard the first time, she couldn't see herself do it again. 

It's been four days that Josie's gone when Hope doesn't get to avoid Alaric anymore. 

The tribrid's been feeling restless all night. It felt as if she was feeling too much, like she needed to clear her heart and mind. She's just about to get out of her room to head to the woods and take it out as a wolf, when there's a loud knock on her door. Hope doesn't even have to open the door to know her mentor stands on the other side. 

The tribrid opens the door with a sigh. "Good morning Dr. Saltzman."

The man is smiling. "Morning Hope! Were you heading out?"

"I was, so if you don't mind…"

Hope manages to get out of her room, but Josie's father quickly follows her. 

"Follow me to my office first, please."

"Why?" She says, getting irritated.

"I have something to show you."

Hope sighs, but she follows the man to his office. He's still her headmaster after all. When he opens the door of his office, Hope's heart skips a beat. 

There, in the middle of the room stands none other than Josie Saltzman, her very own soulmate. The thing is, Josie wasn't supposed to be home until at least three more days, maybe even four. Caroline and Lizzie are there too, standing on the side of the room, but Hope barely notices them since her eyes are glued to Josie.

The brunette's smile is even more bright than in Hope's most vivid memory. Her smell is even better than the one from the flower fiel Hope's been running in for the past two days. 

Suddenly it makes sense. Why she's been feeling too much. It's because Josie got back, and her emotions came crashing back to Hope.

Not caring about the eyes following her every move, Hope walks quickly to her soulmate and pulls her in a tight hug. The feeling of emptiness is gone, and Hope couldn't be more relieved, more happy.

"You're back." The emotions makes it hard for Hope to talk, but she still manages to get that out.

"I am." Josie replies, her embrace as tight as Hope's. "I begged my parents to come back earlier."

All Hope can do to answer is to nod. She nods and she squeezes Josie tighter. The tribrid feels the tears on her own cheeks, but she can't do anything to stop them. She has a hard time believing what's happening though.

 A couple of months ago, if someone would have told her she'd be crying because she missed Josie Saltzman, Hope would have laughed. Even though she knew they were soulmates, Hope didn't feel the bond as strongly back then. Everything is more intense since Josie got her own mark. It's as though their bond is now complete. 

"Hope… You're crushing me."

The tribrid immediately lets go of Josie. For a second Hope is about to apologize, but then she sees the smile on Josie's face. Instead of giving her an apology, Hope decides to smile sheepishly. They look at each other for a long time, neither knowing what to say next.

"It's good to see you again Hope." Caroline says suddenly.

The tribrid turns to face the blonde woman. Something about Caroline Forbes always intimidated Hope. 

"Likewise Mrs. Forbes." Hope replies with a small smile.

"I've heard a lot of things concerning you in the past few weeks." 

"Mom!" Josie says in a whine. "Can this wait until tomorrow? I'd like to spend time with Hope. Alone time." Josie quickly corrects herself when she gets weird look from her family. "To talk! And maybe cuddle, if Hope's up for it."

"Yeah… yeah, I'd like that too." Hope says nodding her head a couple times. 

Caroline and Alaric exchange a look.

"I guess we can accept that." Josie's mother says with a soft smile.

As soon as the words are out of Caroline's mouth, Hope's smile gets bigger and she takes Josie's hand in her's, leading her out of the room. Josie follows with a giggle, under the curious eyes of her parents and sister. 

They quickly get to Hope's room, and when the door closes behind them, they're left alone for the first time in four days. 

They're alone after a very emotional confession that was made over the phone. 

They're alone after longing for each other for four very long days. 

"I want to see it." Josie says as she stands at a good distance from Hope.

Josie's words lack explaining, but Hope knows exactly what Josie wants to see. 

"Only if I can see yours." Hope finds herself saying.

They look each other in the eyes for a long moment, neither wanting to be the one to break the eye contact. Hope takes a step closer, and Josie does the same. They're close enough to touch now. Without breaking eye contact, Josie lifts a hand until her fingers are brushing the collar of Hope's shirt. Hope reaches out and takes the hem of Josie's shirt in her hand. At the exact same time, they break eye contact and push each other's shirt out of the way. 

The view of Hope's soul mark fills Josie's heart with happiness, and soon her eyes go back to Hope's face. As for Hope, as soon as her eyes fall on Josie's mark, they turn gold. This time, it's not just a flicker, they go full gold and don't turn blue again. Josie's hand goes from Hope's collarbone to her neck, gently forcing the tribrid to look at her.

"Hope…" Josie gently says. "We're okay. I'm not leaving anymore."

Hope blinks a couple of times quickly. When she finally opens them, they're blue again. She looks confused.

"I-I…"

"It's okay." Josie comforts her soulmate. "Let's get on the bed together, okay?"

Hope let's Josie guide her to the bed, and together they lay down. The tribrid lets the brunette spoon her, and suddenly she feels a little better. A little less disoriented. 

"What happened?" Josie asks softly.

"I have no idea."