Title: Something Keeps Me Holding on to Nothing
Author: clarahow // agentroxylancelots // charleybradburies (will be posted after challenge)
Fandom: Defiance (SYFY)
Characters: Kenya Rosewater & Stahma Tarr
Pairing: Kenya/Stahma
Length: 250w
Rating: M for referenced character (not-actually-)death.
Follows canonical character death and non-canonical character undeath.
Summary: "You and I walk a fragile line; I have known it all this time, but I never thought I'd live to see it break."
Notes: Title and summary from Taylor Swift's 'Haunted'.
For: FFW Challenge #98: Haunted + femslash100 drabble tag #6 - prompt: Kenya/Stahma - Forgiveness (requested by vitiate_me) + femslash100 drabble cycle #11: kinks - prompt: restrained

Kenya’s heartbeat is too loud, her steps too heavy. She’s a dead woman, walking, and she knows she shouldn't be here. It'll do her no good...but what good was being alive if she couldn't interact with the people, the city she loved?

She'd only be a ghost now, if she stayed…but Kenya couldn't bring herself to leave Defiance, certainly not like this.

She scans the area to confirm that she’s alone, and pads over, kneeling down before the grave - her grave.

She’s worn gloves, expecting the grave to be dirty, but it’s far from that: carefully tended to, the single vine creeping up the tombstone's edge making it look practically picturesque. She strips off a glove and touches the stone, hoping perhaps that'll make this feel like reality.

Kenya hears rustling on the small cemetery's north side, and dashes back to its opposite edge, hiding behind a tree since she cannot convince herself to vacate, and braces herself for tuning out Amanda.

But the person that's come is not Amanda.

It’s Stahma. Stahma, who - is crying. Sobbing, more accurately.

Stahma, cloaked in white, sporting multiple black handkerchiefs.

Stahma, who kneels at Kenya's grave and chokes out an apology through a flood of tears, who leans forward and kisses the top of Kenya's tombstone.

Stahma, who says as she's pushing herself up from the ground, "I love you...I will never forgive myself for how I've wronged you, Kenya."

Stahma, who can't know that Kenya immediately whispers, "I do."