He Left Me - KotLC fic (after Unlocked)

Chapter 4

Keefe's POV! Kinda just 1.7k words of filler, but it's what I've got :) sorryyyy. 

I straightened at the sound of Sophie's voice. Her mental voice, echoing in my mind.

Truthfully, her nightly transmitting was the only thing keeping me going. I had to stay alive, to see her after this war was over.

Sitting upright on my borrowed bed, I pulled out my sketchbook, opening to a drawing of her. She was in her school uniform, blond hair falling around her shoulders. Her mouth was slightly open, the way it was right before she would smile at me. Her eyes, though, were already smiling. The drawing wasn't colored, but I could almost see the gold flecks in those beautiful brown eyes.

They think you're dead, and they want me to plan your funeral.

I flinched at the thought of my Sophie next to my dad in the Wandering Woods, accepting condolences from a line of people. Sophie planting the seed with my DNA. I remembered what it was like to watch her tree sprout, growing into a sapling as elegant as her.

I'm not ready, Keefe. I can't... make it final. I can't lose hope.

She couldn't lose hope. She had hope in me.

I wrapped my arms around myself, propping the sketchbook up on my knees. I wasn't ready to lose her. I wasn't prepared for how much it would hurt to lose her.

I saw our statue today. You're looking at me, with such... awe. I don't know why. Linh did all the work.

Of course it was awe. This beautiful girl had just given Linh enough power and control to hold up the entire dome of Atlantis. Sophie held her up, despite the waves of exhaustion I could feel wafting off her.

Fitz and I agreed to be friends. He said he was mostly jealous of how you cared about me, and that's why he thought he....

I snorted, flipping to a drawing of her and Fitz. Sophie was looking at me, but Fitz was looking at her, and the look in his eyes was not love. He looked at her like he wished he loved her. And he looked at me with jealousy. Foster was as oblivious as always.

I almost missed her next words. I found an orange tree today. Have you tried an orange? They're some of my favorites.

I had, actually, tried an orange. When I first left, I came to the Forbidden Cities, in what humans called Florida. There were lines of trees with odd fruit, and I overheard the humans calling them oranges, so I tried one.

The peel is not tasty.

I picked a ton and then Edaline and I peeled and juiced them. The first couple exploded on us.

I laughed at the picture of Sophie and her mom covered in the fruit. They both looked so surprised. Almost better was the picture of Sandor and a few gnomes laughing at them.

Almost. Sophie looked good in orange.

Another image came in, one of Sophie...

Ugh. I pushed away the image, not wanting to see that much. At least not this way. My cheeks burned.

We made popsicles, these frozen human treats. Grady got home today, too, and he and Oralie and Bronte showed up in black cloaks. Nearly gave me a heart attack.

I shuddered at the thought of the Neverseen showing up at her house. Especially when I wasn't there for her.

They want me to meet them in Eternalia tomorrow. To plan...

Keefe, If you can hear me, please come back. For me. I can't... I can't live without you.

She can't live without me. I wanted to curl up around those words, hold them tight. I wanted to leap back to Havenfield, take her in my arms. I wanted to be there for her.