*disclaimer: I don't own this stuff, but you guys know that. unbeta-ed

Hello *waves timidly* I think I can actually see you glaring at me through the monitor...

Firstly, I want to apologize. I haven't been around in a while because real life is in insane overdrive right now. I work in a field that is feast or famine, so when a project comes along, I get swallowed whole by it. I fully intend on picking back up on Dead by Dawn soon and I want to thank you all for your amazing support, especially those of you who checked in to make sure I was still alive. :D I've just been incredibly busy trying to keep the lights on. Or in my case, keep the candles lit.

That's not a guilt trip, I promise.

Did it work?

Nevermind.

I was waiting in a lobby this morning when this story came to me and refused to let go. I feel compelled to let Claudine have her final word. I think she deserves that.

Thank you a million times over for your awesomeness. Citizen.

The Descendant

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I heard their rushed but quite footsteps long before their faces appeared down the corridor, so I braced myself, gripping my knitting needle tightly in one hand. I knew there would be no surrender or peace, only death. I understood that only one side would walk away from this and I had to be honest with myself, because these times don't lend themselves to fantasies, I wasn't sure if it would be my side that survived.

But I would fight.

I would fight in the hopes that it would save one of the ones I love. If my life and sacrifice would mean the survival of any of my family, it won't all be in vain. If Claude could live on and have happiness I would do this for him. If grandfather could maintain his kingdom, then the mission was accomplished. If cousin Sookie survived and thrived in her human life, this would mean something. My death would be for a reason. It was my responsibility, no, my duty, to defend them.

My life has always been about duty.

The duty to protect and defend the ones I loved. I gladly embraced my role as Godmother to Sookie at grandfathers request because it was an honor to do. He saw her as precious and vulnerable, so my assignment was to protect her. He asked this of me and the glimmer of pride in his eye upon my acceptance of his request gave me a rush of joy. The glimmer of acceptance in his eye after I told him of the first time I'd protected her from death gave me a feeling of belonging.

Which I only realized in that moment was what I was after all along.

I knew it was too much to ask to be favored by him, but to feel accepted was enough. I knew he prized his human kin above the others, but he treasured my strength and bravery. So I excelled. Claude told me many times to live my own life, like he did. To break free of the expectations and obligations of the Fae. That they were selfish and senseless in their war and violence and I knew he was right.

So I searched for something more.

I began to pursue my ascension. It filled me with purpose in my own existence that I could live on and protect many. It gave me meaning to know there was more to all this murder and death than to diminish into dust at the end and be joined in the Summerland by all creatures, good and evil. I could make a difference. I could find beauty and peace in this life, and although it couldn't be mine, I could have it vicariously. I could touch it, taste it even, and breath it in like sweet warm air. Life. So my transformation to Angel was newest my aspiration.

But duty called.

My fertile cycle began and with the extinction of my race upon us, I did what was necessary. The father was a nice man and I found him attractive so it was an easy decision. It was my responsibility to repopulate our dying race, and again, I took it as an honor to carry forward the bloodline. Grandfather encouraged me because it would increase our people, The Fairy of Air, and prolong our royal lineage. I was happy to set aside my ambition for the greater good.

The Greater Good.

And as soon as the words enter my consciousness, they echoed in the hollow cavities of my mind.

I looked back towards the room where I left Sookie and remembered all that have fallen already, and I wondered. I turned my head back down the corridor and saw the eyes of my approaching enemies flash with evil and wickedness, the blood on their clothes, the depravity of their hearts, and something struck in my mind that I could no longer avoid. The truth in my soul bubbled forward. I was forced to be honest with myself, because times like these don't lend themselves to fantasies, and the truth was that none of this made sense.

This body growing inside my womb was not just the continuation of a bloodline. She was my child. My heart swelled with warmth and my eyes welled with understanding. My heart and my duty lie with her and her alone. And I grew angry that her life did not mean enough to be protected, or saved, or treasured and that those around me were too blinded by war and greed and selfishness to save the truly Innocent.

She was my Greater Good, my something more, my life's duty…and she fulfilled what I'd been after all along. She was the reason I lived and was ever born at all.

And I would fight.

But not for them.

I would fight for Her.

The footsteps were upon me now and she needed to know.

"I'm here, baby," I murmured reassuringly as I gently laid my hand on my growing belly and readied myself. But the sadness was so great I wasn't certain of anything anymore, or if I even had the strength to defend us.

And then I felt her kick.

Because she wasn't giving up on us yet and she was ready to fight back, too.

And with the strength that she lent me, I lunged forward into battle knowing I had something truly worth defending and no matter what, we would be together, even in death.

As I clawed and stabbed, tearing my way through the enemies with a vigor and ruthlessness I didn't know I was capable of. I kept this knowledge with me, and it gnawed inside me, feeding my rage. I fought mercilessly, pitilessly, but I suddenly felt a jolt from above and a trickling down my forehead. As the blackness overtook me and I collapsed to the ground, I curled in around myself on the cold floor but I couldn't be sad. I was peaceful and a smile danced in my heart because I knew in all this madness I had finally found my purpose. In my dying moment, I knew.

She was my salvation.

My ascension.