My Moonlark

Part 6-Keefe's POV

"WAKE UP, HUNKYHAIR!"

Keefe jerked awake, his heart slamming into his ribs. He blinked several times and realised that the pair of distinct gold-flecked brown eyes in his vision had been in his dream and not in front of him as the last wisps of his foggy mind cleared. A slow smile spread on his face as he realised what that meant. His vision landed on his bodyguard Ro, towering over his bed. Her face held no emotion, but Keefe knew her better than that. He could almost sense the irritation she was trying to hide. He felt himself grinning at that thought.

Keefe stifled a yawn. "What do you want, Ro?"

She gave a gasp (that was too loud to be considered genuine) and stepped back. "So you've finally remembered other people around you exist as well."

"You don't have to be so dramatic," he mumbled.

Ro picked at her nails, which were bright green this time, matching her lime pigtails. "See, but that's like asking you not to disobey your bodyguard and sneak out. Which, if you haven't realised, you've already done."

Keefe felt annoyance flare in him. He feigned innocence, forcing his voice to be annoyingly sweet. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Ro sighed, long and loud. "I thought we were past the denial stage, but I guess not. Look, I know you snuck out last night. Just admit it before flesh-eating bacteria get involved."

Keefe sat up. "Okay, fine. You got me. But it wasn't a big deal; I was fine."

"You may have been alright, pretty boy, but I didn't know that. I thought it was already established that you can't leave without telling me. So unless you tell me that you were out somewhere, miraculously with Blondie—which I'm sure didn't happen since Blondie wouldn't have agreed to it, and even if she did, her goblin bodyguard wouldn't have let her—you are not getting out of this. Tell me what you were up to and maybe I'll rethink my decision on tying you to the bed to keep you here. "

Keefe smirked. "But I was out somewhere with Foster last night."

Ro opened her mouth several times, then closed it. At last, she sighed again and shook her head in exasperation. She marched out of the room, and Keefe swore he heard her mutter something about "lovesick boys needing a good kick in the head."

He turned to his left, reaching for his imparter. His smile widened as he realised Sophie was hailing him at the exact moment he had thought of hailing her. He answered almost immediately, before he realised he probably should've checked his appearance first. But all thoughts vanished from his mind as he caught sight of Sophie in her pyjamas and her slightly ruffled hair, biting her lip. She was absolutely adorable. His heart gave a leap as he realised she was hugging his stuffed moonlark along with Ella beside her.

"Did you-" Keefe started, but Sophie interrupted with the answer right away.

"Nope. You?"

"None at all."

Sophie grinned broadly, and Keefe felt his lips stretch into a smile of his own.

"Was this your first dreamless night in a while?"

Sophie started to nod. "It was my first time sleeping with no nightmares in a few weeks."

Keefe noticed the difference between what he'd asked and what she'd said right away. "Did Silveny transmit to you, so your sleep was nightmare-free?"

"Nope. It wasn't Silveny this time. I didn't have nightmares because I was dreaming of-"

But she turned very, very red and stopped abruptly. Keefe felt a smirk form on his face.

"You were saying?"

Keefe almost laughed out loud at the glare Sophie directed at him. But as he met her brown eyes, he couldn't help but marvel at the happiness reflected in them. It brought him back to his own dreams.

"I wouldn't blame you if you'd dreamt of my roguish handsome features, as long as you make sure to thank me later."

"Thank you," she said drily, though her lips were pulled up.

"But," Keefe felt his voice get lower, though he hadn't intended to do so, "if it makes any difference, I...dreamt about you too. So...Thank you for that."

Sophie smiled, and Keefe felt his heart trip over itself. She reached up to tuck a strand of her hair out of her face and seemed to realise the current state of her hair. Her cheeks reddened, and Keefe grinned. He had to admit—only Sophie could still look cute all rumpled and bed-heady.

"Well, I better get ready. I'll see you at Eternalia in a few minutes."

Keefe started to nod when Sophie's words caught up to him. He frowned slightly.

"Aren't you supposed to be staying at Havenfield today?"

Sophie looked down at her hands, which were fidgeting with Ella's right ear. "I...talked to Sandor about letting me help out today as well. And... I've decided that I'm going to help out with the rest today."

"Are you sure?" Keefe pressed, though he already knew the answer.

Sophie nodded. "I want to help, so we all can overcome this as fast as we can. You helped me feel at peace last night. I want the Lost Cities to regain their peace as soon as possible, and I want to help in any way I can."

Keefe sucked in a quiet breath. He met her eyes. He didn't need to be an empath to translate her emotions then—he could see the nervousness she was feeling. But he could also see the determination burning behind, a determination so intense only the moonlark could've possessed it.

He knew then, what had changed within him last night.

After the fall of the Neverseen, the progression of time had seemed to stop. Nobody had known what to do to try and move on past this chapter of their lives. It had felt like being trapped in a dark tunnel without being able to see the end. But being with Sophie had opened Keefe's eyes to the end of the tunnel, a bright light slicing through the seemingly never-ending darkness. A strand of hope that he could latch onto. Sophie had given him hope for the future, and the promise that he could face anything with her by his side. Of course Sophie would want to make sure the rest of the Lost Cities would see the light at the end of the darkness as soon as possible—it was one of the things he loved about her. Pride and amazement (and lots and lots of love) swelled in his chest as he looked at her. A thought crossed his mind and he whispered it to himself, though he was sure Sophie had heard it, by the way her cheeks flushed and her eyes shone.

"That's my moonlark."