Keeper of The Lost Cities: Book 9: Showdown

Chapter 12 - Third Person POV

A/N: Been looking forward to this chapter for a loooooooooonnggg time fufufufufufu ;) 

Sophie sat on the sand, swirling little patterns into it with her finger. Tam had sent her the crystal, telling her to go there, but as far as she could tell, it was a private stretch of a beach. And since the leaping crystal was blue, it was probably in a Forbidden city. She was supposed to wait for someone, but whoever that someone was either did not know how to read time or had no sense of punctuality.

She had a good idea of who this person was. 

Though now that she thought about it, that person was somehow always there. 

She sighed again and looked forward to the sunset, the sun deciding to hide behind the sea, which was lapping at her ankles, the way dogs bounced around their owners. Suddenly, she heard soft crunching in the otherwise smooth sand.

"Foster?"

Every single possible thing in Sophie's body scrreeeechhed to a halt.

Foster? Foster? Foster? kept replaying in her mind.

Sophie turned around and saw the one and only Keefe Sencen standing on the beach, a couple of yards away from her.

The breeze tousled his already professionally messed-up hair, but his signature smirk was missing from his face. Pain covered his eyes and he stumbled back a few steps.

Stop, she heard his voice in her head. Whatever it is you're feeling, please stop.

Sophie took a deep breath and tried to focus on the ocean and the sunset - but her mind only wanted to think about the fact that Keefe Sencen was standing there. Then she mentally smacked herself.

She must have been successful because Keefe stood only a few steps behind her. "Foster," he breathed.

"Nope." she refused to look at him.

He sat next to her - though he was testing the waters he was swimming in and sat a little bit away. "Listen, I know you're mad-"

"Mad? Keefe, I'm not mad." she (finally) whipped around to look at him. "I'm bloody furious."

He did a double-take and opened his mouth to say something, but Sophie beat him to the chase. "You don't just get to leave a note, dye Iggy a new color and leave."

Keefe - like always - tried to break the tension with a joke. "Yeah, but you liked the color, right?"

She took another deep breath in and tried to keep her emotions under control. "Don't. Change. The. Subject. Keefe, we could have helped you."

He laughed, but all joy was gone from his voice. "No. No, you couldn't have, Foster, and you keep trying to fix everything by yourself, but you can't do everything."

"That doesn't mean you can't try!"

He exhaled. "Yeah. It does. You're the Moonlark, Foster. The Moonlark. I should have been the least of your worries-"

"Have you seen or even asked about your father, Keefe?" she looked at him. "Did you know he sleeps in your room?"

Keefe reeled like the words were a slap, but Sophie was on a roll. "Did you know Fitz literally stays up at night staring at everything he has, that has some connection to you? I'm not the only person you've worried, Keefe." she looked away. "And as much as you'd hate to admit it, your dad actually cares about you."

"They need to get used to it, then."

Sophie stared at him. "Don't you care about the people who care about you?"

Keefe exhaled. "Yes. I do." He hesitated. "Some people more than most."

Sophie seemed to give up all tactics. "Keefe. Please? We all miss you."

He sighed and looked away. When he turned back to her, his eyes seemed to carry as much pain as Sophie's probably did. "Don't you understand? Sophie, I left for your own good. My commands... they would just keep hurting-"

"And we'd tolerate it. We'd get used to it, Keefe, together, just like we always do."

"You can't tolerate forever. And some things don't stay normal forever."

"Keefe, are you scared?"

The question startled him. It was rarely that he was asked how and/or what he was feeling. "I... I don't know."

Sophie reached for his hand. "Then let's not know together. Please? Team Foster-Keefe, back in commission." she gave a small, sad smile.

He sighed and pulled his hand back. "I can't."

"Why?"

Keefe (almost) erupted. "Foster. Open your eyes. Stop trying to be everyone else's bodyguard and let us protect you too!"

"I don't need protection."

He snorted. "Yeah, you do." he looked away. "Those who are closest to you hurt you the most."

"Keefe." she waited for him to look at her. "Why are you so, so scared of hurting me? What are you trying to protect me from?"

It took a full 30 seconds for Keefe to reply, "Love."

Sophie knocked back two steps. "What do you mean?"

Keefe rubbed his hands over his face. He muttered something about now or never. Finally, he looked up. "I... I really like you, Sophie. I always have," he looked away (why does he like doing that?) "and I always will."

Keefe looked away, not even wanting a glimpse of what Sophie's face looked like.

Sophie, on the other hand, had a whole lot of hurt in her heart. But when Keefe said what he did, something shifted into place, and just like that, all of that hurt was gone. Because that's what Keefe did. He made everything better. And Sophie knew how much Keefe had been through. She knew how much support Keefe had given her.

Keefe felt a hand slip into his as Sophie came up to him. "I do too."

Keefe pulled his hand away. "But you can't. You can't."

Sophie backed away from Keefe, like his seemingly new favorite emotion would start rubbing off on her. "What is wrong with you? It's like you're a blonde-hair-ice-blue-eyed version of Tam now."

"Can we not make that comparison?"

"I'm leaving."

"I know you have to."

Sophie took two steps forward then turned back around. "You're not going to stop me?"

Keefe met her eyes and didn't let their gaze drop. "No. Your place is there."

"And yours is too. You're an elf, Keefe. That's why Fitz brought me to the Lost Cities all those years ago. Because I didn't belong here."

"Foster. We are different people. I am not the Moonlark. I am not a genetic experiment. I am not a Regent. I am not a leader of Team Valiant. You are. And you need to go." he looked away. "I'm not important."

Sophie walked toward the light. When she was two feet away from it, in a small voice, she said, "You'll always be, to me. And I'll never hate you."

The light whisked her away.